His by Carolyn Faulkner (best historical fiction books of all time .txt) 📗

she stopped in place, knowing that he never wanted her to try to read his mind or anticipate what he might want from her. She was always surprised, anyway. But she could see the things he'd laid out on a towel on the bed, and she knew the way of things.

After looking her over from head to toe, touching here and there, he said but one word, in a hard, toneless voice, "Present", as if he was talking to a cocker spaniel.

Raina moved her left foot as far away fro the right as her panties would allow, then laced her fingers at the back of her head, lifting her chin slightly, proudly - as he required - and arching her back just the slightest bit, so that her already unmistakable breasts were pressed into even greater prominence. Even if she was going to be punished, he never liked her to be hang dog about it. Her master felt that she should consider even a punishment an honor.

And it was. It was an honor that he had even noticed her at first - although she hadn't let that on. Men like her Master didn't show up very often in this world, and lately it was even rarer than ever to find a man such as him. And when he'd called and invited her to dinner...

Raina had never been the type to swoon over a man in any way. She'd had a few romances in high school and college, but had very carefully never become seriously involved with anyone. She'd known exactly what she wanted, and it wasn't a husband or children. At least not then. And, she had to admit, even now, those two things were still pretty much at the bottom of her list of priorities.

She'd worked very hard in high school and gotten a scholarship to college even though no one ever knew, because she worked full time all the way through it. She took her seed money over to France, and studied at the right hand of a genius in perfumes, as well as wheedling her way into some of the finer cosmetic companies there.

She'd taken what she'd learned - and the remainder of her nest egg - back to the States several years later, and, eventually, through years of eighty and ninety hour weeks, she'd gotten herself to the top of the heap, and she damned well intended on staying there.

But her Master had had other ideas, and he hadn't been shy about voicing them from their very first official date, which he orchestrated completely after receiving her agreement that she would see him outside of work. It was a magical night, but there was absolutely no doubt as to who was in charge, although it seemed as if he'd done his research, because everything he had - from the food to the wine to their surroundings - was exactly what she adored most.

He'd put it to her right then and there - not being one to pussyfoot around. He'd told her that he knew her innermost desire, and that he was going to be the one to fulfill it.

Raina, of course, had guffawed at the idea, but one chortle later she'd looked at his face and all amusement had fled her mind.

He was serious.

But he couldn't possible know what dangerous, kinky, outrageous thoughts popped into her mind when she least expected them, or lived in the back of her head until the middle of the night, when she should have been sleeping, and made her writhe and twist beneath the silken sheets.

She wanted to submit. She needed to. It was a craving she'd felt all her life, but had stuffed down in favor of her driving ambitions. She was the one who gave the orders, and that was the way she preferred it, as far as work went, and work was her entire life at that time. It was everything.

But her master had realized, wisely so, that she was entirely unfulfilled personally, and somehow he'd also known exactly what it was that would fulfill her the most.

He certainly fit the part perfectly. When he walked into a room, like it or not, all eyes were drawn to him. He was a force to be reckoned with, and that force had chosen to focus his attentions on her, then and now.

And he'd proceeded to prove her wrong. He could know exactly what it was that she desired, because he had an even stronger desire to make her experience each and every one of those perverted variations.

And in the past year or so, he'd come awfully close to fulfilling her every desire. Sometimes uncomfortably close to some of them.

She stood there for a long moment in front of him, and knew better than to flinch, or ever try to cover herself from him. One of her hardest, longest lessons had been when they first came together in this capacity. Raina may have had all sorts of thoughts and longings and fantasies, but none of them compared to the reality in the least. She was a very naturally shy about appearing in front of anyone - especially him - naked, but he wasn't about to let her get away with any sort of innate feminine shyness. She was his, and when he wanted to see her, he didn't want to have to push aside those very pretty hands to do so.

The first time he'd caused her to submit on a more formal basis - although he'd taken control of the relationship from the beginning - they were downstairs in his den, which was much less formal than the living room that was strewn with priceless antiques, stuffed to the gills after they had gorged themselves on an exquisite meal prepared by his chef.

He'd poured an especially good after dinner wine, giving her a larger goblet than he took, saying, "I want you to drink it all."

Raina wasn't a drinker at all. She never could much get past the taste