Ordered not to come, she moved gingerly with her swollen clit jammed against the dildo, careful not to jar anything as she rose from the chair and moved to where Dominic sat. He helped lower her to her knees, then spread his legs, slipped a fingertip under her chin and lifted her face to him.

She felt her clitoris harden under his cool gaze, stifled her moan.

He smiled faintly. ‘You’re learning.’ Reaching out his other hand, he drew a small riding crop from under some magazines on a nearby table. ‘If you need help remembering who gives orders here’ – he slid the crop over her shoulder, up her throat, then set it on the chair arm – ‘I’ll remind you. Now untie my sweats and take it out.’ Soft, curt, a small stricture to his voice.

She fumbled with the knot, nervous after his warning, anxious to please.

‘Jesus, Katherine,’ Dominic irritably said, the beast inside barely leashed. ‘Stop. I’ll untie it. It’s a damn slip knot. There. Do you think you can manage now?’

‘Fuck you and fuck your orders.’ Overlooking the dildo in her anger, she sat back on her heels, gasped and quickly came up on her knees.

His hands were on her throat in a millisecond, his thumbs pushing her chin up so she saw the cold fury in his eyes. ‘No, Katherine,’ he said through his teeth. ‘Fuck you.’ Dragging her head forward, he prised her mouth open with his fingers and forced his cock into her mouth. ‘If you bite me, I’ll whip you. Don’t think I won’t.’

Her mouth relaxed; she’d been about to do just that.

‘Smart girl. Now do a good job and I’ll let you come a few times. Screw with me and I’ll see that you don’t come for a year.’

Her mouth full of cock, she glanced up in shock.

‘I can, Katherine; I can do anything I want with you. Make sure you swallow. That’s an order.’

She shouldn’t be aroused by his brute malevolence; it was grotesque, shameless. But even as Dominic held her head in a hard, unyielding grip, guided the rhythm, forced the depth of her descent whether she choked or not, coercing her without compunction, she couldn’t help herself. She responded to him beyond conscious control, her body recognizing his voice, his touch, his capacity for pleasure; he made her wild, lustful, frantic. Reason had nothing to do with one second of her response to his demands, nor did it control the rush of her heart or the flush on her cheek. He was her self-contradictory craziness and bliss. He was the only man she’d ever wanted, perhaps the only man she’d ever want.

The dildo stabbed sensationally deep inside her each time she leaned forward to draw his rigid length into her mouth. Her clit swelled even more against the stainless steel, intensifying the fierce bliss, her powerlessness against the solid, inexorable thrust of the dildo was perversely exciting, radical, intense. Soon her sex was creamy wet, the pearly fluid seeping out around the dildo, her desire at fever pitch, her nerves skittish, panic beating at her brain. What if she couldn’t curtail her climax? A year! He couldn’t mean it! He couldn’t do it – could he?

‘Don’t you dare come,’ he whispered on a suffocated breath, so near to orgasm the top of his head was beginning to lift off. And a tremulous second later, his pressing orgasmic urgency inexorably erupted, his climax burst in hot gouts of semen, jetted, spurted, filling her mouth faster than she could swallow, the overflow seeping through her lips, trickling down her chin.

After a last jerk and a muffled grunt, he finally released her head, leaned back, shut his eyes and softly exhaled. His chest was still heaving when he felt his erection begin to pulse. First staggered, then unnerved, he promptly opened his eyes and sat up. Christ. Since when was he ready to come again a second after orgasm? He knew the answer: she was kneeling between his legs.

On the other hand, the part below his head was doing just fine and he had five more days to enjoy her.

Sliding his fingers down Kate’s cheek as she knelt trembling before him, he softly said, ‘You’re almost there, aren’t you. You’ve been very patient. I appreciate it.’ He slid his fingers under the belt. ‘Ready?’

A fraction of a second, then his query registered. ‘Yes, please,’ she whispered, quivering, hardly daring to draw a deep breath for fear she might climax, the need for orgasm like mainlining some drug. The more she had the more she wanted.

Jesus, he was going to have to fuck that sweet, eager young thing sooner rather than later. But at the moment: he flexed his fingers and gently lifted the belt.

She instantly came with a tiny, feverish groan, eyes shut and breathless. He gently lifted again and another climax, sharper, more intense, immediately washed over the first. She screamed, a wild, startled cry, and clutched his thighs to support herself as her knees gave way, as the tempestuous, high-pressure orgasmic convulsions ravished her body.

What Dominic did next was an arbitrary lapse of judgement, or a deliberate depravity. Or a calculated attempt to distance himself from unwanted emotion. Or perhaps it was nothing more than a thoughtless impulse in this house that occasionally hosted hardcore entertainments.

Dominic jerked hard on the belt.

Katherine shrieked at the violent spasm exploding through her overwrought nervous system, viciously ripping through her core, ravaging her glutted senses. Then, she went pale as a ghost and began shuddering.

Oh fuck. What the hell had he done? Had he lost all sense of proportion? Had he turned into some goddamn monster? This was Katherine for Christ’s sake. Calling himself every kind of evil fiend, Dominic instantly unclasped the belt, cautiously eased out the dildo and flung it away. Gently lifting Kate up into his arms, he tenderly settled her on his lap, drew her against his chest with exacting care. ‘Jesus, I must be out of my mind,’ he said, rough, breathless. ‘I’m so goddamn sorry.’ He kissed her hair, her cheek, the curve of her ear. ‘I shouldn’t be messing with someone like you.’ Stretching back, he grabbed a towel from the bed, wiped her mouth, her chin. ‘I’m such a bastard.’ He rubbed his chin in her hair, gently stroked her forearm. ‘If you want, I’ll get down on my knees and apologize. Just say the word.’