She was much warmer than she should be.  She kept her house cool, even in the winter, but it was like she had a damn furnace in the bed with her.  She tried to wiggle away from the furnace and froze when it squeezed her breast and made a low sound of masculine disapproval.

She opened her eyes and stared at the alarm clock.  It was just before five.  Normally she never woke up before her alarm went off at six, but she’d gone to bed early last night.  Apparently, she really did only need eight hours.  She was a little surprised by that considering she’d slept terribly the last few nights and exhaustion was setting in.

Hey, Ames?  There’s a strange man in your bed.

Not a strange man.  Mark.  Mark was in her bed.  He had climbed into her bed last night even though it wasn’t one of their agreed upon nights.  But why?

She closed her eyes and strained to remember.  Bad roads.  Right.  The roads were bad, so Mark had stopped.  Not that surprising.  He had slept over at her place in the past for all sorts of various reasons.  Of course, he usually crashed in her guest bedroom.  She’d never woken to find Mark’s hand on her breast and his morning wood pressing against her ass.

She decided she enjoyed this new sleepover arrangement far more than the previous.  She could get way too used to having Mark in her bed.  In fact, she had her suspicions that she’d slept so well last night because he was in the bed with her.

She rubbed her ass against his erection as need woke in her belly.  His low groan lit up her nerve endings and she gasped when he squeezed her breast again and then plucked on her nipple.  It hardened, and he kissed between her shoulder blades before pushing his dick against her ass again.

“Good morning, little slave.”

All the muscles in her stomach tightened at his low rasp.  “Good morning, Sir.”

He slid his hand down her stomach and cupped her pussy through her panties.  He rubbed her clit through the rapidly dampening fabric and she moaned her need.

“You’re not to wear panties to bed anymore,” he said.  “I want easy access to my slave’s pussy when I’m in her bed.”

“Yes, Sir,” she panted as he continued to rub her.

“Take them off.”

She yanked her panties down, squirming and wiggling to get them off her legs and feet as he cupped her breast again and toyed with her nipple.

When she was finally free of them, he pushed his dick between her ass cheeks and rubbed up and down.  His groan of pleasure made her pussy wet.

“Have you been fucked in the ass before, little slave?”  His hand pulled her thigh back and over his muscled thigh, as his dick slipped between her legs.  He moved his hand to her clit and stroked it with a rough touch.

“No,” she moaned, arching her hips against him.  “That - that’s an exit only.”

He laughed and nipped at her neck.  “Your body belongs to me and I want every part of it.”

“You are not fucking me in the ass, Mark Stanford.”

She received a hard spank to her pussy for her impertinence.  She squealed but he was already soothing the sting away with light caresses to her clit.  Fuck, having her pussy slapped should not make her so wet.  But it was kind of hard to deny that it did when Mark lifted his hand and showed her how wet his fingers were.

“Is it a hard limit?”  He asked as he lowered his hand to her pussy again.

“I – dammit, it’s really hard to think when you’re doing that…”

“Doing what?”  He pushed her forward on the bed a little before sliding his dick into her pussy.

“Oh!”  She curled her hands into the sheets and pushed back against him.  “That!  Doing that!”

He rubbed her clit as he fucked her with slow, sure strokes.  “Has my little slave missed her Master’s cock?”

“Yes,” she moaned.  She reached back and clutched at his hard hip as he pumped in and out of her.  “So much.”

“But you don’t want it in your ass?”

“Um, I – oh fuck!”  He pinched her clit and she shuddered all over.  “I don’t think I’ll like it.”

“How do you know if you’ve never tried?”  He rocked his hips in a hard motion and she tried not to scream with pleasure when he hit her g-spot.

“I could maybe try it, Sir,” she panted as she thrust back against him.  “Do you have, um, any lube?”

He made a sound that was half-groan and half-laugh.  “Not this morning, little slave.  You’re not ready for that yet.”

“God, make up your mind.”

This time her insolence got her a hard slap to the ass.  She cried out and squeezed around his cock.  He groaned and spanked her again before pushing her onto her stomach.  Before she could move, he was kneeling between her thighs and using her hips to pull her onto her knees.  He thrust hard into her and she made a muffled squeal into the pillow. 

His hand wound in her hair and he pulled her up until she was bracing herself on her hands.  He kept a tight grip on her hair and she stared glassy-eyed at the headboard as he pounded into her.  The head of his cock brushed against her g-spot with every stroke and she made inarticulate sounds of need and want.

He spanked her ass repeatedly, hard forceful swats that rocked her forward only to be stopped by the grip he had in her hair.  The pain in her ass and her scalp pushed her pleasure higher, made her curl her toes and plead for her climax.

When her ass was hot and red, when she was sure she would lose her mind from need, his hand slipped under her and rubbed her clit.  She came immediately, screaming and shaking and squeezing around him.  He plunged in and out of her.  If not for his hand in her hair, she would have been pushed face-first into the headboard with the power of his thrusts. 

He shouted her name and dug his hand into her hip as he stiffened and came inside of her.  Warmth flooded her pussy and her inner muscles squeezed and released him as he pulsated inside of her.  When he released her hair, she collapsed face-first into the mattress. 

With a low groan, he pulled out of her and rolled to the side.  Her body trembling, she curled on her side and made a contented sound when he spooned her.  He kissed her upper back before resting his head on the pillow behind her.

After a few minutes, she said, “Did it storm last night?”

“What?”

“Did it storm?  Is that why the roads were bad?”

There was no reply and she peered over her shoulder at him.  His guilt was plastered all over his face.

He cleared his throat.  “The roads were fine.  I was just near your house and, uh, really tired.  I hadn’t slept well for a few nights.”

“Me neither,” she said.  “Did you sleep better last night?”

“Yes.  Did you?”

“Yes.”

“Good.”

He kissed her upper back again before touching her ass.  “Do you have any of the lotion left that I gave you?”

“Yes.  I’ll put it on after I shower.”  She glanced at the alarm clock.  It was almost six and, wishing she could spend the entire day in bed with Mark, she pushed back the covers.  “I need to shower and get ready for work.”

“I should go.  I need to go home before I hit the office.”

Despite what he said, he stayed in her bed as she walked naked to the master bathroom.

“Hey, Ames?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for letting me crash here last night.”

“You’re welcome, Sir.”  She gave him a small grin and closed the bathroom door.

 

* * *

 

She expected him to be gone when she came downstairs.  Instead he was in her kitchen and pouring her a cup of freshly-brewed coffee.

“Thank you.”

He looked hot as hell in his rumpled t-shirt and jeans.  She wanted to drag him back to the bed and fuck his brains out.  Instead, the bracelets on her arms jingling, she sipped some coffee and checked her cell phone.

“Do you mind if I make myself some toast?”  Mark asked.

She shook her head before sitting down at the island.  “No, help yourself.  I’ve got some of Mom’s jam in the fridge if you...”

“What’s wrong?”

“What is that?”  She pointed to the small rectangular box wrapped with a red ribbon that was sitting in the middle of the island.

“It’s a gift for you.”

She stared at him before grinning.  “Yeah?”

“Yes.  Open it.”

She pulled the box toward her and untied the ribbon.  She pushed the lid off and stared at the necklace resting on soft velvet. 

“It’s beautiful,” she said.

The necklace had bright silver and purple rings in a chainmail weave.  A silver and purple heart shaped pendant dangled from the chain.  She touched the heart before picking up the necklace.

“Mark, this is so beautiful.  Thank you so…”

She picked up the small key that was in the velvet under the necklace.  “Why is there a key?”

She glanced again at the heart.  It had flipped over in her hand and she studied the padlock closure on the back of it before staring at Mark.  “The heart is a padlock.”

He nodded and she frowned a little.  “Do I attach the key to the necklace or just, like, put it in my pocket?”

“The key stays with me,” he said.

“The key stays with you,” she repeated before studying the necklace again.  She was missing something, something important but she didn’t…

“It’s a collar,” she said as the light came on.  “A slave collar.”

“Yes.”

“You want me to wear this instead of the leather collar?”

“You’ll continue to wear the leather collar in bed.  This is,” Mark paused, “a day collar.”

“Let me get this straight.  You said the master/slave thing was only in the bedroom but now you want me to wear a collar in public.”

“It looks like a necklace.”

“But it’s a collar,” she said.  “One I can’t remove unless you remove it for me.”

She studied his face for a moment.  “Why are you asking me to wear this?”

He didn’t reply.  She cocked her head at him.  “Is it because I’m having dinner with Julien and Pierre tomorrow night?”

“The necklace around your neck -”

“Collar.”

“The collar around your neck will serve as a reminder that you belong to me, little slave.”  Mark’s voice was unapologetic.

Somehow that lack of apology, the way he simply acted as if it was his every right to ask her to wear a day collar, was making her ruin a perfectly good pair of panties.

She took a deep breath, a little unnerved at how turned on she was, and said, “I told you I wasn’t going to sleep with Julien and Pierre.  You don’t trust me.”

“I trust you,” he said. 

He didn’t say anything else.  The silence stretched out between them like warm taffy.  She could hear the quiet tick of the clock on the wall.

“What if you lose the key?”

“There’s a second key.  I’ll put it in the nightstand in my bedroom.”

She chewed on her bottom lip and stared at the necklace before holding it and the key out to him.

He took them from her and dropped the key into his pocket after unlocking the padlock.  He stood in front of her.  “Hold your hair up.”

She lifted her hair and shivered all over when he draped the collar around her neck.  It was a snug fit around her neck, she supposed it was meant to be, and the click of the small padlock sounded very loud to her. 

Mark touched the heart padlock before smiling at her.  “It fits you well, little slave.”

“Thank you, Sir,” she whispered.  Her heart was pounding, her nipples were hard peaks and her pussy was pulsing with need.

He studied her flushed face then reached under her skirt.  She widened her legs automatically.  She was wearing stockings and he touched the wide band at the top of them before brushing his fingers against the soaked crotch of her panties.

Her flush deepened when he smiled.  “My little slave likes her Master’s gift to her.  Isn’t that right?”

“Yes, Sir,” she whispered.  It was pointless to argue.  His fingers were inside her panties now and there was no hiding that she was soaking wet.

“That’s my good girl,” he said.  He brushed a kiss against her mouth.  “Would you like your Master to fuck you before you go to work?”

“Yes, please, Sir.”

“Turn around.”

She turned and he bent her over the island before pushing her skirt up to her waist.  As he pulled her panties down her legs, she touched the collar around her throat.  She belonged to Mark, and she would wear his collar for as long as he asked her to wear it.

 

* * *

 

“Hey, Amy.”  Jane was walking by her office and she waved.

“Hey, come in for a minute.”

Jane stepped into her office and Amy held her arms out.  “What do you think of this suit jacket?”

“It’s gorgeous,” Jane said as she studied the forest green material.

“Thanks.  It’s a part of the new line and we’ve been struggling with the shoulders, but I think we’ve got it now.  Help me out of it, would you?  The sleeves are only pinned on and I’ve already poked myself like seventeen times.”

Jane laughed and waited for Amy to unbutton the jacket before she helped her slide it down her arms.

“How come you’re on this floor?”  Amy asked as she took the jacket and draped it over the mannequin.

“Kyla asked me to drop off a file to Mark,” Jane said.  “Hey, are we still on for shopping on Saturday?”

“Yep.  One o’clock at the mall on Barker Street, right?”

“Yes.  I was thinking I would invite Chloe.  What do you think?”  Jane said.

“I think it’s a good idea.”

“Great.  I’ll send her an email.  I really like her, Amy.”

“Yeah, she’s sweet,” Amy said.

“She is.  That’s a gorgeous necklace,” Jane said.

Amy touched the heart pendant dangling from the chain.  She’d had a meeting with her design team this morning and all of them had complimented her on it.  She had blushed then just like she was blushing now.  “Thank you.”

“Why are you red?”  Jane asked.

Amy glanced at her open door.  “Mark gave it to me.”

“Wow.  That’s very generous of him.  It looks like it cost a fortune.”

“It’s a slave collar,” Amy blurted in a low voice.

Jane stepped closer and studied the necklace.  “A slave collar?”

Amy flipped the heart over so Jane could see the padlock closure on the back of it.  “It locks with a key and Mark has the key.  I can’t remove it unless he removes it for me.”

“Okay.  That’s weird and a little sexy at the same time,” Jane said.  “When did he give it to you?”

“This morning.”

“At the office?”  Jane said.  “That seems…risky.”

“No, at my house.  He, uh, he came by last night and stayed over.”

“I thought you had agreed on Tuesdays and Thursdays.”

“We did.  I went to bed early because I was exhausted.  Mark let himself into the house and crawled into my bed just before ten.  He was tired too and we just slept.”

“Oh,” Jane said.

Amy touched the collar again.  “We had sex in the morning though.  Twice.”

She rubbed her sweaty palm over her skirt.  “God.  Sorry.  I’m oversharing, I know.”

Jane laughed.  “It’s fine.  I’m just wondering why he gave you the collar to wear when the master/slave thing is only supposed to be in the bedroom.”

“He wants me to be reminded that I belong to him.”

“Again, that’s weirdly hot.”

“You don’t think it’s over the top?”  Amy asked.  Her cell phone buzzed on her desk and she walked over and grabbed it.

“It totally is,” Jane said.  “But that doesn’t make it any less hot.  I wonder if… what’s wrong?”

Amy looked up from her phone screen.  “Mark just texted me.  He can’t come by tonight.  Selene needs him to cover for her at the club.”

“I’m sorry,” Jane said.

Amy shrugged and tried to look like she didn’t care.  “No big deal.  I’ll see him on Tuesday night.”

“See who Tuesday night?”  Luke strolled into her office and slipped his arm around Jane’s waist.  He kissed her and said, “What are you doing up here?”

“Bringing Mark a file,” she said.

“So, you stopped in to see my sister but not me?” 

Jane laughed and leaned her head against him.  “I was going to stop and see if you wanted to have lunch.”

“Sure,” Luke said.  He glanced at Amy.  “Cute necklace, Ames.”

“Thanks.”

Luke glanced at his watch.  “It’s eleven thirty, can you take an early lunch?”

“Let me just check with Kyla but it should be fine,” Jane said.

“I’ll walk you downstairs and wait while you ask.”

“Kyla won’t say no with you standing there.”

“That’s the idea,” he said with a grin.  “C’mon, gorgeous.”

“I’ll talk to you later, Amy,” Jane said as Luke led her toward the door.

“You bet.”

She waited until Jane and Luke were gone before slumping into her chair.  She stared out the window at the falling snow.  Despite having sex with Mark twice this morning, she’d been looking forward to tonight.  She shook off her depression and turned around to open her sketch book.  Mark had two jobs and was busy.  He enjoyed being with her, but she wouldn’t be his number one priority and that was okay.  It’s not like they were in a relationship, for God’s sake.

 

* * *

 

“I’m sorry, Mark.”

Mark looked away from the wall of screens in front of him.  Selene was hurrying into the control room and she sat in the chair next to him. 

“It’s fine,” he said.  “How’s your dad?”

“Better,” she said.  “Has it been busy?”

“Steady.  Wallace just finished up a show.”  He glanced at his watch before standing. 

“Do you have a minute to talk?”  She asked.

“Can it wait?”  He snuck another peek at his watch.  It was just after eleven.  If he hurried, Amy might still be awake when he got to her house.

Selene nodded.  There were dark circles under her eyes and she looked tired and unwell.  Mark sat down again and took her hands.  “Hey?  Do you need to go home and get some sleep?  I can cover the rest of the shift.”

She shook her head.  “No.  The club doesn’t close until three and you have to work at the office tomorrow.”

“I don’t care about that.  You look tired.  I know it’s difficult when a family member is sick.”

“I’m good.  Yeah, I’m tired but it helps to be here.  Keeps my mind off the fact that my father is dying.”

He squeezed her hands.  “I’m sorry.”

“Me too,” she said.  “You go home and get some rest.  You still look beat.  Did you even try the warm milk last night?”

“No, but I got a solid seven hours of sleep.  I’m just not caught up yet.”

“How did you fall asleep?”  Selene asked.

“He masturbates just like the rest of us single bastards.”  Trent strolled into the control room balancing a muffin and a cup of coffee in one hand.  “Daisy brought in muffins if you want one.  They’re in the staff room.”

He sat down in the chair next to Selene and took a bite of his muffin before pushing a few buttons on the keyboard in front of him.  He peered at one of the screens on the wall.  “Fuck, the Blue Room bed is soaked in cum.  What the hell did Peter do to that chick?  It’s like she fucking exploded.”

“Go home, Mark,” Selene repeated.  “Get some sleep.”

“Yeah, okay,” he said.  He leaned forward and kissed her cheek.  Guilt was brewing in his belly.  He wasn’t going home.  He was going to grab a few items from the toy room and then he was driving straight to Amy’s.  Watching the club screens all night had him horny as hell.

Is that the only reason you’re going to Amy’s?  What if she’s sleeping?  You gonna wake her up or just crawl into bed with her like her goddamn boyfriend?

He ignored his inner voice as he left the control room.  Staying at Amy’s last night had been a mistake.  One that he wouldn’t make tonight.  If his little slave was sleeping, he would wake her, fuck her, and leave.  Simple.