Page 204 of Masters of Control

“What was that?” Asad arched an eyebrow at his little brother before turning to head to the bar, so Cyrus had to follow after him. He could hear Cyrus’ sigh as he had to hurry to catch up.

“I was just wishing I hadn’t said anything,” Cyrus admitted as he fell in to step beside Asad. Raking his hand through his hair, he gave Asad a nervous side glance. “I just… I don’t know. Anna thinks I’m upset because you showing up with a girlfriend I didn’t know about makes me feel like I don’t know what’s going on in your life at all.”

That was fair. Though, truthfully, there was a lot Cyrus and their parents didn’t know about Asad’s life, and he preferred it that way. But he hadn’t meant to hurt his brother’s feelings. At least, he didn’t think he meant to, but hearing Cyrus admit to it gave him a little feeling of satisfaction he didn’t want to examine too closely.

“I don’t really talk about my relationships because I don’t want mom getting ideas in her head.” And also because he didn’t actually have relationships. He doubted his family wanted to know the details on his most recent fuck.

“But you brought your girlfriend to a family wedding? Mom is definitely getting ideas.” They reached the bar, and Asad raised his hand to catch the bartender’s attention. “She’s not even mad that this was the first she’d heard about Morgan.”

Asad shrugged because he didn’t really have a good answer for that. Thankfully, putting in the order for a glass of Sauvignon Blanc and paying for it meant he didn’t have to answer his brother right away. Cyrus was still watching him when he had his card back and the wine glass in his head.

“I figured it was better to introduce Morgan than to have mom trying to hook me up with someone when I already have a girlfriend.” That was close enough to the truth to feel realistic. “I don’t think Morgan would have taken that well.”

“Huh.” Cyrus cleared his throat as they headed back to the table. “Well. Anyway. I just wanted to say I’m sorry, and you don’t have to worry about me saying anything rude to Morgan. I like her. She seems good for you.”

Asad didn’t quite know what to say to that, so he didn’t. He also wasn’t amused to get back to the table and find that Mason had scooted into the booth, so Morgan could sit next to him, and he was holding her hand… completely platonically, he was admiring her nails—as if the bastard cared anything about nail polish.

“Hey,” Asad said, setting the wine down on the table and sliding into the booth next to Morgan. He reached his arm around her, pulling her against him, which had the happy side effect of pulling her hand from Mason’s. “If you want a woman, get your own. Stop touching mine.”

He was joking, but a hint of irritability had come out in his voice, enough that Mason raised his eyebrows and his hands in surrender. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Anna and Cyrus exchanging glances over his display of jealousy. It wasn’t entirely an act. He’d always been competitive with Mason. That was all. Mason didn’t know that his relationship was fake, so he shouldn’t be flirting with Asad’s girlfriend.

“I was just admiring her nails. They’re very pretty.”

“Uh huh.” Asad gave his cousin the dirty eyeball over the top of Morgan’s head while she snuggled into him and reached for her wine. “Planning on getting yours done sometime soon?”

“I get a manicure every other week, thank you. It’s why my hands are so soft.”

“They are very soft,” Morgan chimed in, because of course she did.

Asad shook his head and sighed.

“Are you saying I need a manicure?” he teased, settling comfortably into the seat. It felt strangely right to be sitting there with her, Cyrus and Anna across from him. He’d thought he was relaxed before, but he was even more so now. Having her as a buffer really did make a huge difference for how comfortable he was.

“Oh no, I like your hands rough. I mean…” Her cheeks turned very, very pink as everyone laughed. Anna elbowed his brother again as if to say ‘see?’ At least his soon-to-be sister-in-law was on his side. He was going to make sure she never found out he was lying to them. He liked Anna and didn’t want to hurt her feelings.

“Let’s talk about something else before we embarrass Morgan too badly,” Anna said, smiling kindly. “What’s everyone up to tomorrow before the rehearsal dinner? I know there’s a couple options to choose from unless you’re going out on your own.”

“Yeah, what’s with all the activities?” Mason asked. “I figured I’d have some more downtime, but every time I turn around, something’s been added to the schedule.”

Anna and Cyrus both grimaced.

“It’s the parents,” Cyrus explained. “It’s like a competition to see who’s the best host, except they’re not being cutthroat about it.”

“It’s like the nicest game of one-upmanship ever.” Anna rolled her eyes, then shrugged. “But it makes them happy. It’ll all be over after this weekend, then we can escape to our cruise and shut out the rest of the world for a week.”

Yeah, that sounded just like his parents. It was also a good ice breaker.

Relaxing in the booth, his arm around Morgan, Asad sat back and enjoyed and afternoon with his family. Later, he’d reward her for being such a great fake girlfriend. An orgasm or two should do it.

Chapter Sixteen

Morgan

Tied down to the bed with her hands bound above her head with one of Master Asad’s ties and her ankles spread and secured with two of her scarves, Morgan moaned as Master Asad pinched and twisted her nipples. Only the faintest traces of her welts remained, but the little buds were still extra sensitive from the lash of the belt the night before. His pinching and pulling was sending little shots of pain and pleasure straight to her spread, neglected pussy.

Straddling her waist, Master Asad appeared to be entirely focused on tormenting her breasts and nipples. He’d started off with little slaps and fondling, taking the time to suckle the tender buds before moving on to pinching and pulling, ignoring the bottom half of her body completely. It was driving her wild.

He scooted down slightly, so he could bend over and take a pert nipple between his lips again, causing Morgan to moan even louder and arch her back to try to thrust it deeper into his mouth. Between her thighs, her pussy ached with need, craving whatever kind of sensation he wanted to give her.