Shane took her chin between his thumb and fingers, keeping his gaze locked with hers. “If we do this, from now on you call me Master. Got it?”
“Got it…Master.” She trembled under his touch, her eyes wide and scared.
“Good. Now, are you sure? Because once we start, there’s no going back.” Shane was hoping to scare her so badly that she’d back down.
But she only nodded. “Yes, Master.”
Damn—apparently he’d have to try a more drastic approach if he wanted to put her off the D/s lifestyle permanently. And that was exactly what he needed to do, he realized suddenly. In fact, Valentine was giving him a golden opportunity. If he could throw enough of a scare into her during their “lessons” he could erode her interest in kink. Then he wouldn’t have to worry about her going into some BDSM meat market like the Black and Blue by herself and getting hurt. It was the perfect plan.
“All right.” Shane nodded, letting go of her chin. “Be at my house tomorrow night and be ready for a punishment. After the way you acted here tonight you deserve it.”
CHAPTER 2
Valentine smoothed her short blue and green plaid skirt down and tried to calm the butterflies in her stomach before ringing Shane’s doorbell. She was actually pretty impressed with herself that her old Sacred Heart uniform still fit but it made her intensely anxious to be standing outside in public wearing it. Well, if you could call the quiet neighborhood that housed Shane’s subdivision public.
I look fine, she reassured herself for the forty-seventh time. More than fine—hot. She knew she was right because she’d spent two hours in front of the mirror getting ready. She was the perfect Catholic schoolgirl from her starched white shirt down to her black Mary Janes—with a few exceptions. For instance, the shirt she was wearing was a little too small and it was stretched tightly across her full breasts. Breasts that were obviously on display since Valentine had accidentally-on-purpose forgotten to wear her bra. There was no way Shane could miss her hard nipples pressed against the tight, white fabric and she couldn’t wait to see his reaction to her appearance.
Leaving her bra at home was Valentine’s most obvious wardrobe oversight. But there were other clues that she wasn’t quite the virginal schoolgirl she appeared to be at first glance. For instance, if someone should flip up the plaid skirt, which she’d had altered to be almost indecently short, they wouldn’t find the plain white cotton panties one might expect a schoolgirl to wear. Instead, Valentine had on a tiny white lace G- string so small it barely covered the slit of her pussy. Just knowing that she had on such naughty panties under her outwardly demure skirt was making her so wet she could barely stand it.
Shane had told her there would be no sex but that didn’t mean Valentine couldn’t do her best to change his mind—which was exactly what she planned to do. She didn’t just want to be his submissive, she wanted to be his lover too and she was determined to stop at nothing to get him.
It wasn’t just that she’d had a crush on him since junior high or the fact that he had the most incredible body she’d ever seen outside a muscle magazine either. Valentine wanted Shane as her man because of his fiercely protective and loyal personality and his good heart. She would never forget the second anniversary of her parents’ death when he had come over to her dorm room to comfort her. Peter had been in basic training and couldn’t come home and she had spent the entire day trying not to think of it. But when Shane showed up at her door, she hadn’t been able to help herself anymore. The tears had started to flow as he gathered her to him and put her head on his chest.
“It’s all right, sweetheart. I know it hurts, let it out,” he’d murmured in her ear. Then he’d lifted her as though she weighed no more than a feather and carried her to the couch. After she’d stopped crying, they had talked about the good times, remembering her parents for the fine and decent people they had been. Shane had ordered a pizza and the rest of the evening had been devoted to reminiscence. Still, later on when they were watching a movie on the couch, Valentine had felt the grief take over again. Without saying a word, Shane had put an arm around her and held her close while silent tears leaked down her cheeks and wet his white T-shirt.
It was that exact moment, Valentine often thought, when her schoolgirl crush had blossomed into full-blown love. She’d know then, in her heart, that Shane was the only man for her. The only one who could truly make her happy. And that was even before she’d known his interests lay in the same sexual arena as her own. Tonight she had the opportunity to prove to him that she was more than just that sad, scared little girl he’d comforted all those years ago. Tonight she could show him she was a woman with a woman’s needs and desires. It was a one-in-a-million chance and Valentine didn’t intend to waste it.
She lifted her hand to ring the doorbell again but before she could, the door swung open and there was Shane. He was so tall he made her feel short—which was rare because of her height. Valentine liked that she had to look up to him, even though the expression on his face was extremely forbidding just now. Tonight he was wearing the tight black leather pants she’d seen him in at the Black and Blue and a black T-shirt that left his massive arms bare. Even better, he was holding a riding crop in one large hand. Valentine’s stomach did a nervous flip-flop when she saw it. Was he really going to whip her with that? Oh God, maybe he was right and she had bitten off more than she could chew. Could she really go through with this?
“Shane? I mean, Master?” she corrected herself hastily.
His eyes flicked over her outfit. “Get in here. I don’t want the neighbors seeing you like that.”
“Like what?” She hurried into his house, which was a split-level ranch and scrupulously neat. Shane wasn’t one of those guys who couldn’t pick up after himself— he liked things in order and everything in its place. Come to think of it, Valentine couldn’t understand why she hadn’t picked up on his Dom tendencies earlier. Besides the neatness he was also a cop, which meant he would be very good at discipline. She wondered if she’d ever get to feel his handcuffs around her wrists and shivered.
“You know ‘like what’. Stand there.” Shane pointed to the center of the living room.
Valentine was disappointed but she went and stood where he’d indicated. “I thought we’d be in the bedroom.”
“Now why would we go there? Didn’t I tell you no sex? Although it doesn’t look like you dressed with that in mind.” He stalked around her, looming over her as she stood trembling, waiting for his next move. “What is this outfit you have on?”
“It’s my old Sacred Heart uniform—do you like it?” She stood up straight, thrusting her breasts out so he would be sure to see her hard nipples through the thin white material of her shirt.
“I don’t remember the skirt being that short. Or the shirt being that thin and tight.” He lifted the riding crop, tracing one of her nipples with its handle. Valentine’s breath caught in her throat as a throb of desire went through her.
“Master, I?—”
“Where’s your bra?” His voice was low and dangerous.
“I-I forgot it.” She studied the carpet, afraid to look him in the eye while she lied.
“Is that right? You forgot it? And why did you do that, Valentine?”
“I-I wanted you to see me. To see that I’m not a little girl anymore.”
“Oh, I’ve known that you were all grown up for some time, sweetheart. After all, not many little girls have your generous assets.” The riding crop traced her other nipple now, making a slow circle around her sensitive point.
Valentine gasped. “Oh God, Shane…”
