Free The Dollhouse by Stacia Stone

myself, along with a pair of patent leather stilettos.
    I wasn’t going anywhere dressed like this, if you could even call it being dressed at all. My skin pinked into a blush at the very thought of it.
    What about Julian? I could only assume that he had picked this out for me — that he wanted to see me in it. Thinking of his eyes on me, drinking me in, made my belly tighten.
    I quickly disrobed, not wanting to be naked when the guards came back. I donned the corset first and had to hold my breath to tighten the clasps in the front. I slipped into the panties and then pulled up the stockings which whispered like silk against my skin. The shoes came last.
    I studied my reflection in the mirror. The makeup on my face was at a minimum, like always. A touch of mascara was around my eyes and light blush on my cheeks, matched with a pink gloss on my lips that was so pale it was nearly sheer.
    My dark brown hair was loose, curls and waves spilling across my shoulders and down my back. I had been right about the corset, it lifted and separated my breasts into lurid prominence until there was an almost impossible expanse of smooth, creamy flesh. The stockings stopped high on my thigh, circling the top in a line of heavy black lace. And the little strip of fabric that served as underwear left little to the imagination.
    I watched my mouth fall open in a gasp and my eyes widen. Spots of color appeared high in my cheeks as I regarded myself in the full-length mirror.
    The delicate balance of seduction and innocence that I presented was apparent even to me. What would Julian think when he saw me like this? What would he want to do to me. I slipped into the black pumps, wincing as they pinched my toes.
    I was startled enough to stumble on the high heels when the door opened suddenly behind me. The reflection of my patron appeared in the mirror, his expression dark and unreadable.
    “ Julian—“ My voice was a near-whisper before I caught myself. “I mean, sir.”
    He came up behind me before I could turn to face him, not touching but so close that only the space of a breath separated us. He was like a well of heat against my back. I had to resist the urge to fall back into him.
    The expensive black suit that he wore was perfectly fitted and hugged his body in all of the right places. He didn’t have on a tie and the charcoal gray shirt he wore was unbuttoned at the top, giving me a tantalizing view of his throat and upper chest.
    “Quite lovely.”
    I shivered. His voice was like a brand that I could feel on the thin tissue of my heart. The room seemed to shrink around me, the walls closing in. I felt trapped by the pressure of his body at my back and the intense desire I felt to have his hands on my skin.
    “Thank you, sir.”
    “Would you like me to tell you what will happen tonight?”
    My heart shuddered to a stop. “Y-yes, sir.”
    He touched me then, his hand barely skimming the corset where it flattened against my belly. “I was very unhappy with you when you declined to return to me.”
    “What—?” And it hit me then that he would be upset at my refusal to return to the Dollhouse. I had only ever gotten the one day’s notice, of course. Had he been waiting for me? How upset had he been when I never showed up?
    “I’m sorry, sir.”
    “I’m sure you are.” His hand tightened on my waist, hard enough that it wrenched a gasp of pain from me. “But it was quite a public embarrassment, you see, so I think that your punishment should be public as well.”
    Punishment! I crossed my arms over my chest, instinctively wanting to protect myself from the thought. His gaze never left mine, eyes hard and unrelenting in the reflection on the mirror.
    “By defying my wishes, you showed your disrespect for me.” The hand at my belly moved lower, brushing too lightly over my inner thigh and lingering on the lace edge of my stocking. “That is worthy of punishment, wouldn’t you say?”
    Burning tears welled in the corners