I breathe deeply and savor the scent of her. Brianne’s soft blonde curls cascade over the pillow. Her body feels so small and fragile in my hands, reminding me how much I would sacrifice to keep her safe. She had a long night tonight, so I wasn’t surprised that she fell asleep almost immediately when she laid down on my bed. I’m tired as hell, too, but I still haven’t completely put this thing with the Dominicans to rest.

I slip out of bed without waking her and walk outside, pulling out my phone to make a call.

The phone rings a few times before I hear the click of someone answering. “It’s late,” says a voice with a heavy accent.

“I’m ready to make a deal,” I say. I thought this would be harder. From the moment I decided buying the Dominicans off was best, I thought it would feel like a defeat, like I was giving up. I thought it would make me resent Brianne for being a weakness that could be exploited. Except I feel none of that. I feel only calm. Serene. I’m doing exactly what I have to do to protect my Princess. There’s no defeat in it. I realize there’s nothing I wouldn’t give for that.

The man on the other end sighs. “I’ve told you, Mr. Pierce. We want you to pay for making fools of us.”

“Yeah,” I say. “I get that. And I’ll pay you a hundred million dollars a year for the rest of my life. How’s that for payment?”

There’s a long, very silent pause.

“Can you even afford that?” he asks.

“Yes,” I say. I’m willing to give more, too, if this doesn’t work. I’ll give him every last penny if that’s what it takes to get them to call off their dogs. I just want to know I don’t have to worry about them hurting Brianne anymore.

“Two hundred million right now. A hundred a year after that,” he counters.

“Fine,” I say. “I’ll have a contract sent to you. You should know,” I add. “If anything happens to me or the people I care about, the money will stop coming. So it’s in your best interest to make sure nothing happens to us. Do you understand?”

The man chuckles. “Yeah, I understand.”

I get the signed copy of the contract back the next evening. Seeing it is like a massive weight off my chest. It’s over. Hell, I won’t be surprised if the Dominicans assign a security detail to Brianne and I now just to make sure their payday doesn’t end. My life and hers are now worth a hundred million a year to them. I had to force Brianne and Lacey to miss classes today, but they will be happy to know it’s safe for them to get back to their normal lives now.

Then again, Hunter will probably be disappointed. I look out to the back porch where Hunter and Lacey are sitting together on the patio, drinking wine.

Brianne leans into me at the kitchen island, looking up to me with those adorably sexy blue eyes of hers. “What’s that?” she asks, looking at the contract in my hands.

“This is assurance that it’s over. They aren’t going to bother us anymore. You can go back to your normal life.”

She looks down, picking at something on the countertop. “What if I don’t want my normal life anymore? What if I want you?”

I grin. “Are you implying I’m abnormal?”

“Only in the best ways,” she laughs.

I sweep her up in my arms, sitting her on the countertop and bending in to kiss her neck. “I’ll tell you what’s abnormal,” I say. “My submissive getting away without being punished for so long. You’ve been naughty as hell, and I think it’s time you paid the price.”

She laughs as I carry her upstairs toward my playroom. She punches my back and kicks playfully, making half-hearted attempts to escape the whole time. Every step I take toward the playroom molds me more and more into the dominant, until my face is set hard with resolve. I kick the door open and throw her down on the bed, glaring down at her.

When she sees the look on my face, her smile fades, replaced by something hungry and full of lust.

“Don’t you dare move,” I say.

She gets a dangerous glint in her eyes. “Or?”

I narrow my eyes. I’ve forgotten how much I still need to teach her. How much I still get to teach her. I turn my back to her so she doesn’t see the satisfied smirk on my face.

“When I turn around, I expect to find you with all your clothes off. I expect you to be on your knees and showing me that perfect ass of yours. Am I clear?”

“Yes, Sir,” she says. I hear the sound of clothing dropping to the ground and the snap of elastic. When I haven’t heard anything for a few seconds I turn around.

I find my princess is doing exactly as I asked. I walk a slow half-circle around where she kneels at the foot of my bed, admiring every line of her smooth body, relishing in the knowledge that it’s all for me, and it has only ever been for me. She’ll always be my virgin.

She’s more than that, though. The thought strikes me out of nowhere, and maybe for the first time I’m standing face to face with the reality of what this relationship is becoming. I don’t give the thought the time to fully form though, because my Princess is waiting for me so patiently, and I can already see how badly she wants it.

First thing’s first though, she need to be punished.

I have a small freezer embedded in the wall of my playroom, and I open it to pull out a container of ice. I can tell Brianne wants to look so badly to see what I’m doing, but she obediently keeps her head down.

I strip my clothes off and hold a single ice cube above the small of her back. The cube melts from the warmth of my fingers and droplets patter to her skin. She jumps slightly at the sensation. I kneel beside her and bend to suck the water from her skin, letting my lips and tongue linger enough to enjoy her taste.

She makes no sound, but her breath quickens. I let more drops of cold water fall on her body, quickly following with my mouth each time. I press the ice cube now between her shoulder blades, dragging a path down her spine and watch as goose bumps form in my wake. I trace the same path with my mouth, kissing away the cold from her skin.

“Now it’s time for your punishment,” I say, removing several ice cubes and placing them on her skin. I put one in the small of her back, one between her shoulderblades, and several more down the length of her spine. “The sensation of extreme cold begins to feel like pain very quickly. And this particular pain is for lying to me about your intentions when we met.”

She begins to shiver, and though I would like nothing more than to remove the source of her discomfort, I don’t. I keep focused on the greater goal. When she steps into this room with me, one goal rises above all else: the perfect orgasm. Every single time she enters here, I have no bigger purpose than to give her the most mind-shattering, life-changing orgasms I can possibly give her. It’s her reward for being my submissive and it’s part of my promise as her dominant. Outside this room, there are many other elements to our relationship, but in here… One rules above all else: I’m in charge.

I remove the ice, kissing my way between the cold patches of skin until she’s nearly warm again, relishing in every sigh and moan she gives me.

But I don’t stop. I place more ice across her back, knowing full well that the cold will feel more intense this time.

The difference between myself and other men isn’t just that I can introduce a woman to extremes. It’s that I can push those extremes further than they thought they could handle. I know how to bring my submissive to the absolute brink and then help her ride the wave of euphoria all the way back to me.

Determining the limits of a submissive is one of the most intimate experiences any dominant can have. Pain, as unpleasant as it is, has a way of stripping away all nonessential concerns. All the vanities and insecurities of the outside world can disappear in an instant in the presence of pain. It forces the body’s most primal drive to take control and demand one thing and one thing only: survival. And nothing activates the nerves like the survival instinct. Endorphins and adrenaline will flood her body, and that’s exactly when I’ll strip away the pain, when I’ll shock her system with pleasure.

“You’re nearing your limit, Princess,” I say as I watch the cubes of ice pooling and melting, dripping down her body as she shivers.

“No, S-sir,” she says through clenched teeth.

I slap my palm across her bare ass and she jolts forward against the blow. It’s not a hard slap, but it’s enough to surprise her, and that’s enough. “Don’t lie to me, Princess. You’re nearing your limit. Aren’t you?”

She nods her head.

I lean close to her so she can see into my eyes. I can see all the strength and determination in hers, the will to push through whatever it takes. I can see how badly she is trying to trust me completely and believe that I wouldn’t put her through this if I didn’t think the reward would be worth it.

“You’re not alone,” I say softly, kissing her tenderly as she shivers against me. I pull back long enough to speak between kisses. “I’m always going to be here for you.”

“Always?” she asks. I’m about to swipe all the ice from her back and get her straight into the bed but I see something in her eyes that stops me.

“Always,” I say.

“Even after the c-contract?” she asks.

“Always,” I repeat.

She kisses me again, eyes squeezing shut, and I know the time is right. I run my hand down her back, removing the ice and most of the water before I easily flip her over. I crawl over her, kissing a path from her neck to her nipples, circling them with my tongue. She spasms against me, every movement of my lips and tongue amplified by the endorphins flooding her system. I know I don’t have as long as I would like before the chemical reaction dulls and the pleasure recedes, so I position myself between her legs and guide my hard cock inside her.

She gasps, scissoring her thighs around me and digging her heels into my lower back, urging me deeper. I give her what she wants and more, pinning her wrists down on the bed above her head.

Her pussy grips me so tightly I can barely stand it. I grit my teeth, pounding into her. Her head is thrown back, eyes squeezed shut. I don’t focus on my own body or the sensations exploding across my skin. I just look at her perfect, angelic face and I listen to the moans spilling from her lips. I ride the current of her orgasm with her. My cock pulses inside her with my own release. I grip her tightly as she bucks against me, grinding into me and gasping for breath.

When I’m finally spent and she has come down from her climax, I collapse on the pillows beside her, sighing with satisfaction.

“Do you have any idea how fucking amazing you are?” I ask.

She rolls to her side, resting a small hand on my chest. “I think you did all the work,” she laughs. “Unless mindlessly humping you counts,” she adds.

I chuckle, leaning forward to kiss her. “You know,” I say. “I’ve spent most of my life trying to find something. I’m still not sure I know what I was looking for--happiness, satisfaction, accomplishment--but I’ve finally found it. It’s you. You’re what I’ve needed all my life.”

She squints at me. “Is this the part where Ashton Kutcher runs out from behind the curtains and tells me I’ve been Punked?”

I smirk. “Maybe if the show hadn’t been canceled like… seven years ago.”

“You really mean all that?” she asks, lips parting slightly as her big doe eyes bore into me.

I kiss her again, letting my lips linger on hers. “Yes. With all my fucking heart.”

“You’re not still mad about the writing thing?” she asks.

“Not a bit. But you need to let me read it when you’re finished. Who knows, I may want to publish you.”

She laughs. “Oh God. You really want to read it?”

“Yes. Every word.”

“Well,” she says, clearing her throat. “I don’t know if it’s just the crazy and amazing sex talking, but I think I love you.”

“You think?” I ask, rolling on top of her and pinning her arms down. “You think?” I repeat, chuckling as I tickle her sides.

She laughs, trying to break free. “I know!” she cries. “I know, I know! No more!”

“I’ll stop when you say it.”

“I love you!” she laughs.

I straighten, straddling her waist and sitting back on my calves.

Her smile fades and her eyebrows draw down and together. “I love you,” she says seriously.

I bend to kiss her softly, pulling my lips back, but keeping my forehead against hers. “I love you too.”