“Master?” The breath caught in my throat. I knew I was gawking, but how could I do anything but? Robin Mills, the kid who’d lifted tens of thousands of dollars from my casino while underage, was the one I called Master, the one I’d given an allowance to, let into my accounts, and showered gifts onto for the drug I needed—the all-powerful “no.”

I’d never seen his picture, and while a time or two I’d caught his blurred reflection off a surface in the pictures he’d sent while spending my money, I’d never pieced together that it could be him. But all this time, he’d known it was me. My identity had never been a secret.

He’d come to the casino tonight and made brazen displays not because he was a dumb kid who hadn’t learned his lesson, but because he knew, after the day I’d had, that I’d make an example out of him. He’d wanted me to take him up to my office and get him alone, and I’d played into his plan perfectly.

Master was here to punish me.

“Very good, Troy.” Master set a hand on my desk and leaned forward, his slender fingers wrapping around my tie. He continued to hold my gaze, refusing to let me go. The blue of his irises burned through me, so fierce that, despite our size difference, I felt like I was the one at a disadvantage. “Now, will you tell me who’s the one in trouble?”

Arousal rolled through me, leaving me helpless against his word. Weak, I replied, “Me, Master. I’m the one in trouble.”

“Yes, you are. Good boy.” He tugged gently on my tie, effortlessly drawing me toward him. I was too stunned to do anything but obey. Without even knowing that Robin was Master, my body had responded to him. His command over me was so deeply ingrained that my body had submitted to him before my mind had pieced together who he was.

Master tugged my tie upward, a suggestion rather than a demand. I rose to my feet, following it, not wanting to disappoint him. I was broader and several inches taller than he was—tall enough that he had to tilt his head to look into my eyes when I was at my full height—but there was no mistaking our dynamic. Master was the one in charge, and he had been since the first day of our arrangement. The fact that he was Robin Mills didn’t factor into how I felt. I was loyal, and I was devoted. The past was forgotten. All that mattered was the future.

“Do you remember what I said earlier today?” Master asked. He lifted an eyebrow expectantly when he spoke, almost breaking me. He was more gorgeous in person than I could have imagined. “What I said when we were texting?”

For a terrifying moment, my mind went blank. My thoughts tripped over themselves, struggling to get over the look in Master’s eyes and the way having him here in person made me feel. What had he said? He’d been disappointed. And…

The memory struck me in the chest and left me breathless.

“You told me that I would be punished,” I said hoarsely. “And that… you’d teach me how to look after myself.”

Master afforded me a smirk. Slowly, he wrapped my tie around his hand, forcing me to hunch over until we were nose to nose. This close, I could smell subtle notes of omega beneath the woodsy scent of his aftershave. How decadent it was that an omega could control me this way—that someone so much smaller and younger than me could own me body and soul. It made every “no” so much better, and every punishment that much more arousing. “I did, didn’t I?”

I noticed when his lips moved to speak, and when they quirked to the side in amusement. I’d never wanted to kiss someone so badly, but I knew better than to touch without permission. It didn’t matter that sparks were going off like fireworks in my chest, or that my mind was choked with want for him—until he granted me permission, I wasn’t allowed to touch.

“I guess I should tell you what’s going to happen now that I’m here,” Master said casually. “Are you ready to accept the biggest punishment you’ve ever received, Troy?”

A shiver shot down my spine, and I spoke before I knew I was doing it. “Yes.”

My eagerness pleased Master. He grinned, then tilted his head to the side and brushed the tip of his nose along mine. My knees gave out, and I had to grasp the edge of my desk to keep from stumbling. Arousal pulsed in my veins to the same rhythm as my heart, turning my blood red-hot.

“Good boy,” Master whispered. I felt his words against my lips. “Drop to your knees. You’re going to welcome your new boss the best way you can—with that pretty little mouth of yours.”

I dropped to my knees without a second thought, not caring how Master’s hold on my tie made it tighten around my neck. I deserved the discomfort for being bad. And now, given instructions, I’d show Master that I could be good.

Master dropped my tie, then reached down and tugged the knot loose so it was no longer snug against my neck. He run a hand through my hair, pushing it back from my face, then lifted his brow again in an expression I was quickly coming to adore. “Aren’t you eager?”

I held my tongue. Right now, I couldn’t afford to mess things up. Master had come a long way to punish me, and done incredible things in order to see me in person. I would be good for him. I would show him that I was his.

“If I didn’t know better, I’d say you wanted this.” He hummed, then looked away from me and tugged open his belt. When it sagged, he undid his fly and lowered the zipper beneath, tempting me with a partial view of the plain boxer-briefs he wore. His stiffened cock pushed against them, its outline distinct. I imagined how fantastic it would look behind red lace and ribbons. “Do you want this, Troy? Tell me.”

“I do, Master,” I told him. My cock ached for touch and my body longed for release, but Master came first. I would use my mouth to welcome him into my world, and I would do it for however long he wanted. “Please, let me welcome you. I’m ready.”

Master tilted his head to the side. Then, smirk ever-present on his face, he slid his thumbs beneath the elastic of his boxer-briefs and lowered them. The shaft hidden behind the fabric came into view, long and thick enough to be satisfying without being too much. With it exposed, he left his boxer-briefs around his thighs and ran a hand through my hair, then pushed my head forward. “Suck.”

I didn’t need to be told again. I took him into my mouth, savoring his smooth tip before taking his length as deeply as I could. He shivered with pleasure for me, so I kept taking him in, sucking and lapping like I’d been born to do it.

“Oh, fuck,” Master whispered under his breath. He tightened his fingers in my hair, guiding me back and forth on his dick. I followed obediently. “That’s right, Troy. Fucking suck me. You like it, don’t you? You like having me down your throat…”

He pushed forward suddenly, holding my head in place. Tears beaded in the corners of my eyes, but I hummed contently to let Master know that what he said was right. I was his, and whatever he wanted me to do, I would do.

“If you keep your lips tight like that, I’m going to come down your throat,” Master warned me. In response, I tightened my lips, and he moaned. While there’d been times in the past where my conversations with Master had turned sexual, nothing had ever been like this. To be able to see the pleasure touching him brought fulfilled me. At last, I was able to give back in a meaningful way to the man who’d given me purpose and helped me aspire to greatness. It flooded my chest with warmth.

“You naughty little thing,” Master whispered. He was moving his hips now, pistoning into my mouth as I held my lips taut. “You want me to come inside you, don’t you? You want to suck all my cum down.”

I hummed affirmatively, and my cock throbbed. I wanted to taste him.

Master shivered. It ran through his whole body, into his thighs, and brought him to thrust into me a few times in rapid succession. The hand securing the back of my head held me in place, helping him push the deepest he’d been yet. Tears streamed down my cheeks, but I allowed him as far as he wanted to go and did my best to hold my lips tight for him. I wanted him to come more than I wanted it for myself.

“Oh, fuck. Here it comes. Are you ready for me, Troy?” He was breathless in a way I’d never heard before, and it excited me. Pleasure tingled in my groin, and I found myself pushing forward with my hips, humping the air as Master fucked my face. “Swallow it. Swallow it all. If you let a drop of it escape, you’ll lick it off the floor until I say it’s clean.”

Yes. Yes.

Fireworks went off in my head. I gave my body over completely to Master, and as I did, his balls clenched, and he emptied into me. I moaned and swallowed it as instructed, not letting a single drop fall. When I was done, I lapped his dick clean.

He looked down at me, eyes still lidded with lust. “What a good boy you’ve been, Troy.”

I rested my head on his thigh and caught my breath. The taste of him was on my tongue, and I committed it to memory. After so long spent talking on the phone and through text, he was here.

Master took a small step back and pushed my head so that I was looking up at him. When we’d reestablished eye contact, he spoke again. “But good isn’t going to save you. What happened? It was terrible, but it was also completely avoidable. How long have I been after you to be more attentive? All the times you’ve botched the figures, all the little details you’ve let slip you by… if you’d listened, you could have prevented some of your loss.”

It was true. I wanted to lower my head and close my eyes, but Master held me in place.

“So, your punishment is as follows.” Master’s hand left my head and wove around my tie instead. Slowly, he guided me to my feet. “Before, your money was my money, and everything you earned, you earned for me.” Master’s gaze was on me again, his eyes burning right through me. “But now? Everything about you belongs to me. Your money, your business, and your body.”

I was achingly hard already, and hearing him take possession of me so fully almost pushed me over the edge. My balls clenched, and I had to hold back from coming.

Master smirked at me, playful and impossibly sexy. His eyes shone, and in that moment, I felt like a prized and coveted possession—something of value to him, and something that would continue to produce value as the days, weeks, and months went on. It made me want to try my hardest to always make him look at me like that. I could give him all the money in the world, but it would never have the same effect.

The look remained as Master finished what he had to say. “You’re mine now, Troy. You might own The Palisade, but now, I own you, and you report to me. Is that an agreeable arrangement?”

It was an easy answer—I would give him anything he wanted. “Yes, Master.”

“Then let’s put our agreement to the test.” Master nodded at my office chair, but his eyes remained locked on me. “Take your pants off, Troy, and sit down. I want to play with what’s mine.”