It had been nearly three weeks since Jace apologized for what he'd done and said. Three weeks since he'd taken me from behind in an alley and made me come hard enough to see stars. Three weeks since I'd had to listen to Everett, Lei, and Lorde all telling me why I was making a mistake.

Three of the best weeks of my life.

Jace had gone straight to Abel the morning after we made up, and my article had been returned before lunch. My boss was still a bit of an ass, but at least my career was back on track. And with my...exclusive access to the artist, I had plenty of material to choose from.

As for how much material Jace now had to work with...

He'd only been sculpting for the show now, his paints and canvases put to the side. I'd seen him create a couple pieces, watched as those strong hands molded and formed various types of clay into beautiful works of art.

Works of art that bore a resemblance to various parts of my body. My hands. My face with the mask I'd worn the first night we were together.

It had been insanely erotic to watch him create, to mold and caress with those strong hands of his. Which was probably why those sessions had almost always turned into incredibly hot sex marathons. We'd fucked in his studio, living room, kitchen, pool house...pretty much everywhere except for his actual bedroom. When we needed a bed, we went to his 'playroom.' I didn't mind though. We hadn't discussed exactly what this was between us, who we were to each other, and spending the night in his bed seemed like the sort of thing that could wait until we'd had that talk.

Right now, I was happy with what we had.

In those long hours, I learned more about the things that could bring me pleasure than I had with any previous lover. And more about myself as well. Jace wasn't simply teaching me about what it meant to be a submissive. He was teaching me about how anticipation could make culmination even sweeter, how the right kind of pain could make an orgasm even more intense, how denial could draw out pleasure until it was nearly agony.

Even now, as I sat at my desk, the memories of our times together warmed my skin and made me squirm in my chair.

Okay, so the squirming had more to do with the fact that my ass was still burning from his use of a flogger last night than it did from my memories. Both were responsible for how wet I was, and I knew if I didn't start thinking about something less erotic, I was going to need to slip into the bathroom on my lunch break and take care of myself.

Even though Jace had specifically forbidden me touching myself without his permission.

Which, of course, made it impossible to stop thinking about doing it.

It would be so easy, I knew, even here, to slide my hand under my skirt, to move aside my panties, and to slip my fingers between my folds. It wouldn't take much. Just the memories of the last few weeks and a few passes of my fingers over my clit.

Memories like three nights ago when Jace tied me up and showed me something he called wax play.

My skin tingled as my mind filled...

This was new.

All right, so technically, pretty much everything Jace had introduced me to was new, but this was new for us. Before, when he restrained me, he used handcuffs or similar things on my wrists, or if he wanted me completely tied up, he would spread me out on his bed until I was completely exposed.

Tonight, however, he had me kneel, legs apart, hands behind my back, head up. When I was positioned exactly how he wanted me, he brought out a set of soft leather straps and began to bind me. First, he wrapped cuffs around each wrist and ankle, then connected right wrist to right ankle, and the left side the same way. I shifted, testing each side as I catalogued how much motion I had. It wasn't much. Instead of restricting my side to side movement, it kept my arms behind me and my shoulders back, putting my breasts on display. And standing would be an impossibility until he released me. It wasn't exactly uncomfortable, but I was once again glad that Jace wasn't into tying me up and leaving me for long periods of time.

Then he brought over the candle, and a part of me wondered if this would be the place I finally drew a line. He gave me the same reassuring smile that he always did when we got to a point where my nerves were about to get the best of me. He never coerced me into anything I didn't want to do, but he did have a knack for soothing my worries until I decided to give him a chance. Granted, I hadn't regretted it yet.

"It's going to hurt," he said honestly. "But it's a special kind of wax, made specifically for this sort of thing, so it's safe."

I nodded, the butterflies still fluttering in my stomach. He cupped my chin and ran his thumb along my bottom lip. My eyes locked with his – a no-no for most subs, I now knew, but one he permitted for a reason he hadn't yet shared – and I flicked out my tongue against the tip of his thumb. Those jade eyes of his darkened to near-black and he cursed softly.

"The things you do to me," he murmured as he straightened. His posture changed, and I knew we were transitioning from reassurance to whatever it was he was going to do with that candle.

The first drops landed on the tops of my breasts, and I jerked at the sharp pain shooting across my nerves. It didn't last long, quickly turning into a tender burn, similar to what I felt when he spanked me or used a flogger. Not entirely unpleasant, but nothing I would have described as particularly pleasant either.

Not yet anyway.

If my time with Jace had taught me anything, it was that how things began wasn't always how things ended.

I gasped as another drop fell onto my breast, a little lower this time. I'd never minded my smaller bust, but as he dropped another bit of wax on my breast, I wish I was a bit bigger, if only to avoid the place I knew the hot liquid was going next.

His thumb moved over my hardened nipple, then up to brush across the hardened wax. My eyelids fluttered, and I leaned into his touch. He made a sound in the back of his throat and took a step back.

"I still don't have as much control around you as I would like," he said quietly.

His admission warmed me in a whole different way. Before I could dwell on it too much though, he was tipping the candle again.

The next drop landed directly on my nipple, and I couldn't stop myself from crying out. But even as the pain burned through my sensitive skin, I could feel my pussy growing wet...

"Savannah?"

I jerked back to reality, flushing as I looked up to see Abel's secretary standing next to my desk. "Sorry, just lost in thought."

Kathy gave me a bored look that said she didn't really care. "Mr. Updike wants to know if you've spoken with Robby about when to do the pictures for the article."

Shit. I knew I'd forgotten something.

I reached for my phone. "I'll give him a call right now."

She sniffed as she walked away, making it clear exactly what she thought of my promise. I rolled my eyes and picked up my phone. I wasn't really that fond of our freelance photographer, mostly because he loved to talk about his 'art' like the rest of us peons didn't understand what it truly meant to be an artist. Now that I thought about it, he and Abel were two of a kind, which made sense as to why Robby got away with coming to jobs looking like he hadn't showered or washed his clothes in a week.

He answered on the first ring and was surprisingly pleasant as we discussed a schedule for the photos. I'd fully expected to have to argue to get him to go along with my vision for something that focused on the art rather than Jace, but for once, Robby readily agreed with everything I suggested.

Then I heard a girl giggling in the background and realized that he actually wanted to get me off the phone so he could get back to his company. I wasn't about to complain, not when I was going to hold him to everything he agreed to. As soon as we ended the call, I wrote everything up and sent it off to Abel to make sure it was locked in.

Once that was done, I pulled up the article and the outline I'd written and finished up the last of what I had to do until the show. Well, except the photos and captions. I still had those left. And any new pieces would need write-ups. I expected that it would have taken me longer if I hadn't had specific insight into the pieces Jace already had for display.

I managed to polish my work until it was time to leave, but before I could fill my head with thoughts of Jace and what we were going to do tonight, my phone rang. It wasn't a number I recognized, but I answered it anyway.

"Hello?"

"Savannah Birch?"

"Yes?"

The next words she spoke stopped me in my tracks.