Ellis
It’s 8:45 a.m., and I’m refreshed as I trot down the stairs to the kitchen. Having experienced the best night of sleep I can recall in years has me in a great mood this morning.
I even had the dreaded dream about the woman in red, but this time, I could see the shape of her eyes, not just the color of her irises, and they were Camilla’s.
My plan is working. I’ll continue to gain power from her submission until the bizarre, unsettling dream stops resurfacing.
Stepping into the kitchen, I spot the tray Irene has prepared to bring up to my office. There’s a water pitcher and glass, my vitamins, a muffin, and an empty spot that’s no doubt for my mug of coffee.
She probably wonders why I keep coming downstairs, but I now have a reason to. There are people for me to see, and I hear the laughter from them drifting in from the dining room now.
“Mr. Burke, I was about to come up. Can I pour you a cup of coffee?” Irene asks with a smile. Even her mood seems brighter today as a light surrounds her dark eyes. I believe she enjoys having Camilla and Liam here, too.
“Yes, a cup would be great. Three sugars today please.” Once she hands me my mug, I stroll to the dining room.
Camilla’s back is to me, and Liam’s legs are swinging beneath his seat at the head of the table. He’s talking fast, and I’m only understanding every few words. Spotting me, his eyes brighten.
“Boss, hi.”
Camilla doesn’t turn around, but I can’t miss the way her shoulders lift as she sucks in a breath.
“Good morning, Bob. How are you?” Flinging his head back, Liam covers his mouth and snickers.
“My name’s not Bob.”
“Oh, right, it’s Carl.”
“Noooo, it’s Liam, but you can call me Mikey.”
“Mikey? Where did you come up with that name?”
“Ninja Turtles,” Camilla utters, still not turning around. I lean down and put my mouth to her ear.
“Good morning, my Rose.” Her breath hitches, and I believe she snapped her legs shut.
“Morning.”
“You’re in my spot, Mikey,” I say to him as I walk behind his chair and sit across from Camilla. “Where’s Emma?”
“She should be here any second. Can we talk after?”
“Sure.” I’d like to do more than talk to her now that I’ve seen how beautiful she is today. The swell of her magnificent tits is visible in her tight sweater, and her bare neck is calling to be kissed or even better–bitten.
“Good morning,” Emma says cheerfully after stepping into the dining room. Leaning over and smiling at Liam, she pushes her glasses up her nose. “What kind of trouble are we going to get into today?”
“I’m not in trouble.”
“Yes, let’s avoid trouble,” Camilla says.
“Are you finished with breakfast?” Emma asks him.
“Yep.”
“Then let’s go upstairs. I have some cool games in my bag we can play that will make us smarter. You want to get even smarter, don’t you?”
He sports a grin as Camilla attempts to pull his face in her direction to wipe dried oatmeal from the corner of his mouth.
He can’t get out of his chair fast enough, eager to take Emma’s hand, and it’s good to see him comfortable with her this early on.
The young woman is eccentric with her black painted fingernails that match her dark hair, glasses and makeup. Along with a loud yellow sweater and purple jeans, she’s wearing Converse tennis shoes that look like they’re covered in a comic book scene.
Interesting, but as long as Camilla and Liam are happy and she cares for him properly, I’ll live with her quirkiness.
“Let’s go to my office to talk.”
Camilla’s chewing on her lip and looking around the dining room. She’s nervous, but not in the way I’d like her to be. Whatever’s on her mind is weighing heavily.
“Don’t you want to eat your breakfast?” she asks.
“Coffee will do for now.”
Only nodding, Camilla leads the way to the stairs, and that’s fine by me since it gives me a chance to stare at her incredible ass as we climb them.
Once we’re in my office, she turns back to me, clasps her hands in front of her and lifts her chin.
“I have something to say.”
I smile. “I gathered that, and I think you conjured up some confidence with each of those steps we took, whereas my cock twitched more with each of them after staring at your ass, so please make it quick so I can touch you.”
Her finger comes out to wag. “Yes, see, we definitely need to have this discussion now.”
Sighing, I take a drink of my coffee and stroll around my desk to sit down.
“You seemed content last night when we returned from the guest house.”
“I was. Last night was amazing.”
Pleased, I smile. “Then what’s the problem?”
“I’m not going to have babies by two brothers. I mean, what does that say about me? And we’re just getting to know each other. It’s strange to me that you’re willing to be so careless.”
Crossing her arms, she raises her eyebrows. “So, I’m insisting we use condoms until I get on birth control, which I intend to do at my appointment I rescheduled.”
“OK, fine.”
“Oh, well, then good.”
“You seem surprised by my response.”
“I am … and there’s something else. Something much more important.”
“What is that?”
“I can’t be your submissive if I’m being held against my will. I was up most of the night, mulling over this situation, and for it to work, I have to trust you.”
“And I told you I would work on what you requested”–I wave my hand in the air–“about me being hot and cold or whatever the hell it was. I thought I was doing much better.”
“You have been, but it doesn’t change that if I leave here, you’ll demand Liam stay. I can’t accept that and be who you want me to be. A Dom and sub’s relationship needs to have a foundation of trust.”
Oddly, she begins walking backward until she’s against my closed door. With her arms still crossed, she leans her head back against it and looks to the ceiling.
“The experience in the playroom confirmed how intimate our relationship will be both physically and emotionally, at least for me, and much more so than engaging in sex on a kitchen island.”
My heart is racing, my irritability rising as I sense where this is headed.
“Get to the point, Camilla. What the hell are you wanting?” I snap. White-knuckling the arms of my chair, I inhale slowly, attempting to calm my anxiety.
“Respect, Ellis. Self-respect and respect from you. What kind of mother am I if I allow you to treat Liam and me like possessions?” Stepping forward enough to reach behind her, she opens my door.
“If you want me to be your submissive, to give myself over to you completely, then you’re going to have to tell me I’m free to leave if I ever wish.
“I don’t know if what Tony told me about you is true, that you do dangerous, sketchy work, but regardless, I don’t believe you’d ever harm Liam.
“What I’m trying to say is I’d never keep him from you if I did leave, but if you want our physical relationship to continue, you have to give me this. You have to give me the freedom to go.”
On her final word, she slips through my doorway, the space now void–seeming empty of the breaths the house was beginning to take. What the fuck?