Chapter Three
The car swerved as Patrick laughed out loud. “Shit, don’t startle me like that.” He controlled the vehicle swiftly and grinned at a Kowloon double-decker motor bus driver. “We don’t want to be bus fodder. We’d be travelling the place as a splatter for years.”
Caness shuddered. “That is so bl…blinking gruesome.”
“Yeah, so stop cussing eh?”
“Ha, it’s bog-standard, basic UK English, even. I assume it’s an acquired taste or sommat.”
“So you say. Definitely a bratty sub.” He sobered. “However, not in my world. They’re on the wash your mouth out with soap list.”
She shuddered. “That is red. Mega big word red. And you just swore.”
“Don’t do as I do, do as I say. If you are my sub you’ll abide by that. I hate cussing, so if you do it, there will be repercussions of some sort.” He grinned. “Just not something on your red list. Simple. How about a nice spanking?”
She laughed. “That’s not a punishment.”
“Well…” His tone became serious. “I’ll sort something out. Now, do we see where this all goes, or do I drop you at your door and drive away?”
Caness waited until he’d navigated the next roundabout. With all the building going on this part of Kowloon, it was a nightmare to drive, and in the black rain, she was damned sure it was even worse than usual. Patrick seemed totally at ease, though, and held the steering wheel loosely. She’d have it in a death grip by now. Or have abandoned the vehicle by the roadside and be a sobbing mess on the area where once upon a time the pavement was. Now it was under a sea of construction. Caness had long decided she’d not drive in Central or TST—Tsim Sha Tsui, the vibrant shopping tourist and business area of Kowloon—if it weren’t a life or death situation. So far it never had been.
She bit her lip. How she wanted to see where it all led but… “If I say no, what then?”
He shrugged, changed lanes, and sent the car through a gap that made her breathe in and hold her breath, as if that would make the car narrower.
Idiot.
“I’d say what a pity, may I take you to dinner once we’re not likely to get drowned and try and persuade you.”
It was almost worth saying no, but somehow she accepted that would be a bad move. Every book she’d ever read emphasized open and honest.
“Um safe words and such?” She might not have played much or whatever Patrick called it, and be almost a novice, but boy, she was well read.
“Of course. I prefer red for stop, yellow hold on and we talk, and green is all systems go, but if you have other words you want…”
She shook her head, realized he was concentrating on the road through Hung Hau, never easy at the best of times, and cleared her throat. The thoughts uppermost in her mind made it difficult to talk. She waited until they were climbing the hill in the direction of Sai Kung before she spoke. “They’re fine by me. I’ll remember them.”
“Is this a yes?” He sounded so casual they could be discussing the price of hairy crabs on Sai Kung harbor front. Only the way he held the steering wheel in a white-knuckle grip showed how tense he was. Although that could just be the driving conditions, she didn’t think so. He’d not been like this earlier, before the subject of sub and Sir had arisen once more.
Caness took a deep breath. She needed to sound confident and in full control of what she said. “Yes.”
“Yes what?”
Oh hell, she’d forgotten the most basic of things. “Yes, Sir.”
His grip relaxed and once more he held the steering wheel in a normal grasp. “Then, pet, look in the glove compartment. There’s an envelope with your name on it, just in case we got to this point. I had intended to come and see you tomorrow anyway. You’ll find a clipboard to lean on and a pen there as well. Can you read and write in a car and not be sick?”
“Yeah.”
He made a harrumph of disappointment. “Yes, Sir, pet. We might as well start as we mean to go on.”
Oh God, I’ve done it again. This sub thing is way harder than I expected.
She hadn’t thought it would be easy. After all, she was so much in charge in every other area of her life, it would be hard to put herself into someone else’s hands, and let them, in effect, take over. But even from her limited experience, she knew she wanted to try. “Yes, Sir. I can read and write anywhere and not feel sick. Even on a boat in the Bay of Biscay in a gale.”
“Then you’ll find a checklist of what are your hard, soft, and no limits.” He flicked the windscreen wipers to rapid and grimaced. “This weather is getting worse much faster than predicted.”
The car rocked as a vicious gust of wind hit it. Patrick corrected the swerve and reduced the speed to little more than a snail’s pace.
“I’ll be glad to get back,” Caness said with heartfelt feeling. “It’s as if some giant hand wants to take hold of us and fling us to Macau or somewhere. I’ll be glad to be inside with the curtains drawn.”
“No giant will take you when I’m here, pet. I’ll cut him off in his…prime.” He flashed her a grin, and she sniggered.
“That could be interesting. Even so I’d still rather be home.”
“Not just because of the typhoon, I hope. Caness, pet, I have to ask. Do you know anything from experience instead of reading?”
She’d been waiting for him to ask that. It would be oh so easy to fudge and answer, but Caness decided that open and honest had to be her mantra. “No, Sir, not much. In practical terms, I’m almost a BDSM virgin.” She sighed. “A few half-hearted spanking sessions and a forced orgasm session doesn’t really count. Not with the wannabe Dom I dated, anyway. I’m looking forward to you changing that. I’ve been ready to learn properly for a while, but no one interested me enough to try. With respect, Sir, you do.”
“Thank the lord for that,” Patrick said. His pleasure and relief showed in his tone. “Okay, read it whilst I head for home.”
“You never did say where your home is,” Caness said. She found the envelope and slit it open, then clipped the contents to the board and began to read. Within minutes she was damn sure she’d left a damp patch on the seat. God, it made her hot and bothered just reading the possible limits. Caness bent her head and addressed the first side of the papers. She swallowed heavily. Good lord, ball gags and shackles? That should send her running for the hills, not running for her lady pads. Even though she didn’t fancy the gag at all and that was a hard limit—she ticked that box most emphatically—it still made the pulse between her legs throb hard. The shackles now… Hmm. She ticked soft, then scrawled it out and wrote, Yes, as long as I can cry red if I hate it, not certain enough about it to say it was totally okay, but intrigued as to how it would feel to be unable to move whilst Patrick… Patrick did… Did what?
“Next house to yours.”
“Sorry?” She came out of her reverie about him, her, and shackles with a jump. “Next to me?” He must have money then, as did she. Hers was from her godmother, bless her, who to everyone’s surprise had played the stock exchange most successfully. She rather thought Patrick had earned his himself.
“The Choys’ old place?” Caness asked him, as she ticked no limit for spanking and blindfold. After much consideration and crossing out for wax play as well, and soft for nipple clamps and scribing. Really she wanted to try most of them, but needed to talk about exactly what each meant first. She hoped her seeming timidity wouldn’t put him off. It wasn’t timidity, it was caution. Surely he’d applaud that?
“They were great neighbors.” Caness said. “I’ll miss them.”
“So will I be,” Patrick replied, with a grin.
The Choys had moved to Sha Tin to be closer to their son, and she’d wondered who had purchased the property. Now she knew.
“Yeah, Alexander Choy is a friend, and he knew I was looking for somewhere in Sai Kung, so when his parents wanted to move, he contacted me. I never thought it would be that close to you. Miss ‘Clatter’ is a quiet lady who works in finance, she won’t bother you. Ha, little did he know eh? You’ve always bothered me, pet.”
“They’ve never been able to say my name, bless them.” She had to ask the question uppermost in her mind, apart from wax play and scribing, that was. “What if I’d have said no to you, though?”
“Oh, pet. It wouldn’t have made any difference to the end result. We’d’ve just taken longer to get to this point. Master and sub, or neighbors, we’ll be friends anyway. I’d just try the water torture on you. Drip, drip, what about this…drip, drip how about that… And always friends.”
“Thank goodness.” She turned back to her lists.
Ten minutes later, she sat back and wriggled. “All done. What now?” The rain thrummed on the roof of the car and the trees at the side of the road were almost bent double. Even in such a heavy and well-made vehicle, the weather made its presence known, as cold air found its way inside and the car was buffeted as it moved steadily forward. It was a relief to think they were almost home.
“Put it in the envelope and we'll take it inside and talk about it. First though, we need to make sure we’ve got backup food, light, and heat. I’m fine, and can survive for weeks. How about you?”
She grimaced. “Well, enough for the typhoon anyway, and probably a week or so after if I have to. I’ve lived here long enough to have an emergency store cupboard, even if I do get sick of tinned tomato soup and instant noodles.” Even condoms. Mind you I’m not sure they’re still within the use by date. “I’ve just had a thought. How can you be fine when the Choys only moved out a few days ago? Did you have a secret stash somewhere of essentials or something?”
He laughed. “Or something. Money. My team worked all yesterday and last night it was ready. Furnished and ready for occupancy. The final few bits I did first thing before I headed into TST, where I’ve been using the apartment above the gallery.”
So I could have bumped into him anywhere. Gah, I wish I’d’ve known, I could have detoured to make sure I did or something. “And now?”
“And now I’d love to show you it all, but it’s your call.” He used his pass to open the Villa complex gates and drove along the crescent to their adjacent—and identical—homes.
“So yours or mine?” He gave nothing away to how he hoped she’d answer.
It was a joint garage. Why hadn’t she noticed his car? Idiot, I haven’t been in the garage all week. He could have parked a Chieftain tank and she wouldn’t see it until she went to get her car out on a Saturday. She rarely used her car except at weekends.
“Well, can we go into mine so I can make sure everything is as it should be, get changed and stuff, then go to yours?” Caness asked him and waited dry mouthed for his answer.
God I hope so.
“We can go into yours to make sure everything is secure. Then anything else that happens, pet, will be in my house.” He activated the remote to open the garage door, drove inside and parked in one of his allocated spaces. Next to her Mini, his car looked enormous.
“Our session starts now. Say, yes Sir, if you agree we are now in the negotiating stage.”
Here where the storm couldn’t touch them, lack of sound was absolute with only the ticking of the cooling engine to break it. The silence seemed to stretch to breaking point.
It’s up to me. Go for it. Be brave and get on with what I want in life. “Yes, Sir.”
Did she imagine he relaxed?
“Stay there.” Patrick took out the heavy briefcase he brought with him, walked around the car and opened her door.
“Don’t forget your toothbrush.”