Free Unknown by Christina Quinn

table.
    “You like the idea of serving one individual.” He deduced as he sipped that blood again. I nodded a bit too rapidly and had to close my eyes. He has you drunk again . Shut up Miss Manners, I might get some!
    “Y-yes,” I breathed shakily as I gathered my courage with a deep breath. “You.” He smirked in victory.
    “Have you ever done any thing like this before?” The question made me drop my eyes. I shook my head no. “Well it won’t be like the books you read—that’s fantasy. It’s one thing to fantasize about branding someone, giving someone to another because they displease you, et cetera. It’s another thing entirely to do it.” He finished the blood and pushed the empty glass aside. “The trust it takes to do what we’ll do, will bind both of us to each other. This will be the most intense relationship you’ll even enter into. And for you, I believe it will be cathartic.”
    “Cathartic?” I tilted my head to the side, and it was his turn to nod.
    “You are wound so very tight. You rarely let go or show much emotion—other than nervousness. I want to unwind you, unwrap you and see your very soul laid bare before me.” Thank him for the wine and leave, this is too much. I didn’t leave. I did tug down the hem of my dress and trace my thumbs over the soft fabric.
    “H-how would you do that?” I reached for my wine glass again, and he gave me that stern look once more. I contented myself with swirling the wine in the glass. His eyes darted to the water glass and I sipped that instead.
    “I would take you somewhere more private, strip you down, and tie you up with this ribbon.” He slid his fingers seductively over the red satin. “Then I would use my fingers, lips, teeth and tongue to bring you again and again until you begged me to stop. Then I would bring you twice more. Now, once you were panting and utterly exhausted, I would use the riding crop. I would tease you with it until you were begging for more—at which point I would stop completely. ” A wide smile spread his lips and those eyes glanced up to stare at the chandelier like he could see it unfolding before him. “Perhaps I would tease you about begging me to stop, but I would hold you right on that edge, and bring you screaming into orgasm with my bite at your throat.” If there had been charcoal between my knees at the beginning, it would have been a diamond by the time he finished. He smiled wide, showing those delicate little white fangs. “And then—if you hadn’t passed out—I’d untie you, and let you see how absolutely concupiscent watching you writhe had made me.” I flushed as red as the ribbon in his hands, and Miss Manners fell silent as his eyes returned to me.
    “So… I…I take it there will be some sort of contract?” I canted my head to the side and he slowly shook his head.
    “No, I don’t want you as a plaything, Autumn—I want you as a companion. My demands on you will be few. You naturally follow every subtle cue you’re given already.” To drive the point home his gaze settled on my wine glass, and I set my water down and took a sip of the oaky wine. “Besides, the idea of a contractual obligation cheapens the bond between us.” He traced his index finger over his now empty glass. “The idea of you being submissive to me because that’s where you long to be is far more arousing isn’t it?” I nodded slowly and shifted in my chair. “As far as what I will and won’t do to you—as in any relationship it should be an ongoing dialog. I will promise to never be cruel to you, and to never hurt you in any serious fashion.”
    “I-if I say no?”
    “Oh, I would indulge you. We could still date, but we’d end up in the same spot. You are naturally inclined that way.”
    “I… I’m not so sure. I mean…with Garrett I didn’t join him in h-his…” I trailed off I couldn’t figure out a way to say it that wasn’t vulgar.
    “It may seem simple on the surface, but there’s