DANE
Six weeks.
That’s how long Bellamy has been my submissive now.
I haven’t made love to her since the first night, but I’ve fucked the hell out of her on a weekly basis since then. She’s usually tied up, facing away from me. I can’t look into her eyes when I’m plunging inside her. It messes me up. Makes the whole thing feel deeper than it should.
The discipline is waning as she learns exactly how to maneuver around me, what to say, and ways to anticipate my needs.
Bellamy Miller officially lives to serve me, and I should feel guilty handcrafting my perfect sub out of someone so green and naïve, but when I hear that exquisite, peaked breath as I gift her a sweet release, I know she’s just as satisfied with this arrangement as I am.
And so it shall continue.
“You’re coming to Nashville with me.” I stay to her that particular Monday, leaning in her doorway.
She glances away from her computer where she’s actually doing work now. I give her assignments, tedious, mind-numbing assignments everyone else claims to be too busy to complete, and she does them without so much as a single complaint. She even thanks me for the work and finishes most tasks on time if not exceptionally early.
I couldn’t have asked for a better hybrid employee.
“Nashville?” she glances at her calendar. “Oh, the conference. It’s next weekend.”
“Yes.”
Her jaw slacks. “Oh. Um. I’ll have to figure out a way to tell my parents, but yeah. Okay. I’ll go.”
“Like you had a choice.”
She smiles, dipping her chin but keeping her focus on me. She’s looking at me like that again. There may not be love between us, but she’s smitten. I know that much.
All I have to do is keep her at a distance. That should prevent this perfect arrangement from becoming null and void, ruined and soiled. With equal parts sex and love-free commitment and dedication, we should be able to keep this going for as long as we both would like.
“I’ve never flown before,” she says.
“I’ll ensure the private jet is stocked with champagne.”
She tilts her head, smiling.
“This Friday, Bellamy, I’m taking you out on the town.” A spark ignites in her eyes though I pretend not to notice. “I’ll have a dress sent sometime this week, and I’ll have Marlene book your appointments at Bellisima Spa.”
“Thank you.” Her fingers trace her lips, camouflaging a smile. “Looking forward to it.”
It might be dangerous to take her out on a date at this point when we’re dancing along the razor’s edge. But she deserves it. She’s a good sub who doesn’t complain, doesn’t ask for anything, and rarely steps out of line.
Rewarding her good behavior is just as important as reprimanding her when she misbehaves.
“Dane?” she calls after me as I step away.
“Yes?”
“Do you want to get lunch today? I always eat alone, and it’d be fun to get out of the office for a change.”
This is going to hurt me just as much as it’s going to hurt her, but it’s just the way it has to be.
“It’s not a good idea, Bellamy.”
I leave before I have a chance to watch her face fall.
THIRTY
BELLAMY
“We’re having company over for dinner tonight,” Mom announces Friday morning during breakfast prep. “Please wear your Sunday best.”
“Can’t make it tonight,” I say dryly. “Work thing.”
I’ve been drooling over the intricately beaded peach and gold dress Dane had sent earlier in the week, and my check-in time at Bellisima is at ten o’clock this morning. I’ve waited all week for this.
“You didn’t mention that before, and it’s not on the family calendar. You’ll have to reschedule it.” There’s a finality in my mother’s words that send a thick dread to the pit of my stomach. “Our guest is coming from out of town. Your attendance is mandatory, and Waverly, why on earth do you look so tired this morning? You feeling okay?”
My sister wears dark circles beneath her clear blue eyes. This house creaks and moans, and I’ve woken up several times in the dead of night to the sound of doors shutting and footsteps trekking down the hall.
At first I refused to believe it.
My sister, the golden child, sneaking off in the middle of the night to spend time alone with our stepbrother?
It didn’t make sense, and it was so unlike her and obscenely far-fetched that I laughed it off.
And then it happened again.
And again.
And then I heard my father talking to our mom in his study one night. I only caught bits and pieces of the conversation, but it went something along the lines of he was worried about Waverly’s virtue, and he wasn’t comfortable sending her off to college in the fall. He even intercepted her acceptance letter to Utah.
Waverly doesn’t know yet, and I don’t have the heart to tell her. I’m still figuring everything out, piecing what I know together, and waiting for the right time to get out of here.
I’m taking her with me. She won’t have a life if I don’t.
“Are you going to tell us who’s coming?” Waverly asks, massaging her temples.
“Your father will talk to you about it this evening,” Mom says.
***
My stomach sinks as I knock on Dane’s door.
“Come in,” he calls through the thick wood.
I step in, taking small, hesitant steps in his direction.
“What’s with you?” he asks.
“We’re going to have to postpone our night out.” I soften my gaze, hoping he’ll show mercy toward me.
His jaw sets, his eyes narrowing. “And why would that be?”
“I have a mandatory family dinner tonight.” My head hangs, and my eyes wince as I await his response. I’ve been doing so well lately with not disappointing him.
“You’re almost twenty-fucking-three for Christ’s sake.” He rises, hunching over his desk with clenched fists. “When is it going to end? When are you going to get the hell out of there? Let me help you, Bellamy. I’ll put you up in an apartment downtown. You’ll be free once and for all. What are you waiting for?”
He remembers my birthday is next month?
“My sister.”
I don’t talk about Waverly much with him. For one, I know he doesn’t care and for another, he doesn’t like getting-to-know-you chats.
“I’d been waiting for her to graduate from high school, and she did a few weeks ago. Just waiting for the right time.”
“You’re scared.”
“I am not scared.”
“You’re terrified. Your parents have brainwashed you into thinking you’ll never survive in the outside world,” he sneers. “That’s exactly what they do. That’s how they control you. They paralyze you with fear.”
“If I were so terrified of the outside world, would I have agreed to all this? Would I have handed my virginity to some strange man in exchange for a salary and a few pretty things? Would I move Heaven and Earth to ensure my family believes wholeheartedly that I sit in a cubicle all day? Does that sound like a girl who’s afraid to take a giant leap of faith into the unknown?”
“Then jump, Bellamy, before I’m forced to push you.” He straightens his posture and lifts his brows. “Because one way or another, I’m getting you out of that situation.”
So he does care about me…in his own way.
“I appreciate your concern.” My palm faces toward him. “Believe me when I tell you it’s going to happen. My sweet sister is a bit naïve, and she still eats from the palm of my father’s hand. Convincing her to come with me is going to take a bit of work on my end.”
“Then I suggest you get busy. You never know when the day will come when your entire life is turned completely upside down,” he says. “And I’d hate for your sister to be blindsided by something horrid all because you were waiting for the right time to show her the light.”
He has a valid point.
“I’ll talk to her tonight. I’ll plant the seed. I’ll feel her out,” I say. “We have to dress up for this dinner, so I’ll bring it up when we’re getting ready.”