Free I Need You: A Valentine's Anthology by Vera Roberts

somewhere, a long time ago when she was doing her thesis. She’d remembered how she felt when she was studying, up at all hours of the night; writing and rewriting her paper just to make sure the thoughts in her head sounded the same on paper. Now once again, she was alone in her solitude, dissecting her thoughts.
    What was He doing?
    What was He going to do?
    Was it going to hurt?
    Did she want it to hurt?
    Shh... tesero , shh...
    It was going to be a different night. Her Master promised her a special night because of the holiday and she wondered what He had in mind. They went out to dinner at a very nice restaurant, followed by a stroll down Santa Monica pier, where they studied the stars and talked about everything under the moon. The driver dropped them off back at their hotel and upon entering the hotel, Nick blindfolded Zerrin and led her back to their hotel room. He then told Zerrin assume the position, awaiting his further instruction.
    There Zerrin was, kneeling on the floor with her eyes downcast. Her hands were behind her back as she awaited His instruction. She used the quiet time to calm her mind and prepared herself for that evening’s play scene.
    It was quiet. Too quiet. She could hear her thoughts, screaming at her and feverishly tried to silence each of them one by one.
    It was deathly quiet. She could hear the leaky faucet in the hotel room, and the soft buzz of the air conditioner through the vents, making her cold nipples hard.
    It was eerily quiet. If it wasn’t for the fact she could occasionally hear Him grunt and curse under His breath as He finished His work, she wouldn’t know He was in the room.
    “You may remove the blindfold, tesero .” Nick instructed.
    Zerrin removed the blindfold and was stunned by what she saw. Candles were lit everywhere and soft R&B music played in the background. Zerrin looked around the room for a short while before her eyes landed on the stripped down king bed with restraints at the head and foot.
    It was completely covered in saran wrap. She was going to have a talk with Tony when they got back to New York.
    Her attention turned to the end tables, which had several metallic pots and burners. Zerrin bit back her fear as she wondered what was in the pots. It was clearly something she had never done before and while she considered herself adventurous and willing to try most things, a part of her was quite apprehensive about a few things.
    Fear of the unknown.
    Nick had always surprised her when it came to the play scenes , though there were times Zerrin did wonder what in the blue hell he was thinking. This was one of those times.
    Her eyes searched for Nick and found him in the corner, sitting in a chair and watching her. His blue eyes sparkled like the ocean and a slow smile formed on his lips, confident in his ability to surprise her.
    “May I speak, Sir?” Zerrin asked.
    “You may,” Nick nodded.
    “What is this?”
    “You mentioned a long while ago how you wanted to try wax play .” Nick got up from his chair and stood directly in front of Zerrin, his crotch at eye level with her. “I’m here to fulfill your fantasy.”
    “You’re going to paint me, Sir?” Zerrin smiled.
    “Like the beautiful canvas that you are,” Nick held out a hand and Zerrin grabbed it, steadying herself. He led her to the different burners and Zerrin saw the wax boiling and bubbling inside the pots.
    She could blame mainstream society and all of those soft-core pornos she had seen on late-night Cinemax, convincing everyone that hot wax was taboo and kinky . The couple would ooh and ahh as they poured wax on each other and the woman always arched her back and pursed her lips as if the hot wax dripping down on her lulu was the greatest thing ever.
    Maybe she was a little apprehensive; the wax looked hot and she was afraid the pain might be too much to bear. She then remembered Nick would never intentionally hurt her unless it was something she’d specifically