Mr.Black: Meet me at the Grace Streetbrownstone.

He looked at his watch and clocked the time –2:25 p.m. She had forty-five minutes to get there.

Seating himself on the duchess chair, hepeered out the window. The day was gorgeous. Thinking about hislast interaction with Elsa, he shook his head, still unable tobelieve the balls she had to try and tell him he was ‘free toleave.’ He should punish her for that statement.

The more he thought about it, the moreappealing the idea sounded, but what and how? He hadn’t planned itout ahead of time and all forms of punishment were to be carefullypremeditated and not haphazardly doled out. Elsa and her fuckinglight. What a joke.

Still tired from the flight, he leaned hishead back and closed his eyes.

He woke with a jolt when he heard her carpull into the driveway. He glanced at his watch. 3:35. She was damnnear thirty minutes late. Standing, he moved to the window andflung the curtains aside to see her looking as beautiful as ever,but moving leisurely toward the front entrance.

Irritated, he seated himself back in thechair and crossed his arms over his chest. He heard her stumble inthe front door and drop her bag. By the sounds of it, the contentsspilled out and she cursed under her breath.

He listened as she scooped up the items, eachsecond passing by slowly as thoughts of punishment returned. Shewas supposed to be ready and available to him within forty-fiveminutes. Was that so much to ask? Was she intentionally trying toelicit a negative response from him?

When Elsa came around the corner, Victorswore if she had anything less than an apologetic look on her facehe would seriously lose it. She had left the door open and he feltthe heat and muggy air float in, causing the air-conditioner tokick on. She lingered in the entry way, only infuriating him more.What the hell was she doing anyway?

Finally pushed beyond his limit of patience,his voice boomed, “Elsa, get in here.”

He heard the door slam and she peeked aroundthe corner. The light from the bay window lit up her face and herstunning yet fearful eyes. Wobbly on her feet, she steadied herselfas she walked into the living room.

He stood and took in every detail of herobviously freshly showered body. “Why the hell are you late?”

“Victor, I…” she started in but he didn’tcare why. There was no reason that would suffice.

“Save it.”

He marched toward her and wrapped his armsaround her body, her warm, damp skin clinging to him through thesheer fabric of her white dress. He hiked her dress up and dug hisfingers harshly into her ass, making her gasp. In one motion, hisskilled hands pulled the dress up over her head and he flung it tothe side. Her bandages were still in place and though he wanted tocause her pain for having made him wait and for having told him toget out of her office, this wasn’t the way to go about it. Heclaimed her mouth and as he thrust his tongue in, he pushed herback toward the chaise and down onto it. Laid out before him, Elsagazed up at him with fear vividly sparkling in her eyes.

Without speaking, he quickly rid himself ofhis clothing and stood over Elsa, allowing her to drink up hisdominance. He was taking her and he didn’t need her fuckingpermission. She belonged to him. As he approached her, she turnedher face to avoid eye contact, but he wouldn’t be denied. He placedhis finger under her chin, forcing her to look at him.

“Rule number nine: eyes on me at all times,”he stated, spacing the words evenly.

His mouth found her breasts and he nipped ather pebbled nipples and pulled them to a point with his teeth.Elsa’s back arched, pushing more of her breast into his mouth. Shecarefully wrapped her legs around his torso and locked her anklestogether as he slid into her unhurriedly.

As he plunged into her tight, wet depths, thepressures of work were forgotten. She was wet… so wet… andeach slow thrust eased his tension and the smell of their mixed sexcleared his mind. When their tongues danced and twisted inside eachother’s mouths, even her punishment was momentarily brushed aside.Elsa’s wordless moans breathed against his mouth pushed him overthe edge. He had hoped he would last longer, back pressure was toogreat. His thrusts came quicker, deeper and harder until he hit hercervix and stilled. When he released into her, he opened his eyesto see her smiling up at him.

But the smile… it wasn’t real. He had seenher phony joy before - the first night he met her at The Brewery.She offered that same bullshit fake smile to the asshole that hadhis hands all over her.

Suddenly, his anger was back. Did she thinkhe couldn’t read her?

Pushing himself off of her, he pointed towardthe stairs. “Get cleaned up. You have ten minutes. Do you think youcan comply with that request?” he asked acidly.

Elsa sat up and gritted her teeth, but heldher words and moved quickly.

What the hell did she have to be pissed offabout? He was the one who had been slighted by her lack ofcompliance.

As a wicked plan formed in his mind, hewondered just how invested she really was in this game. Hewould find out.

***

Elsa moved at double speed to wash herprivate parts. She was still shaky from the rear-end collision shehad just been in. She wasn’t at fault, even so, there were laws andshe prayed she wouldn’t get in trouble for leaving the scene of anaccident. She left her insurance card and hoped that was enough.Her adrenaline was still surging through her veins. Not onlybecause she had left before the police arrived, but because sheknew there was going to be hell to pay. There was no way Mr. Blackwould let her being late slide. She leaned over the sink andsplashed her face with water, ready to face her punisher.

As she descended the stairs, she tightenedthe strings of her silk robe and tried to slow her breathing andheart, but it was an impossible task with everything that hadhappened.

When she entered the living room, Victor wasdressed and waiting by the bay window. He motioned for her and sheapproached cautiously. When he saw her nervousness, he smiled. Heloved this. Elsa pushed her chin out and squared her shoulders. Shewould be the champion, she repeated.

When he saw her new found courage, he let outa disgusting, breathy chuckle. “We’ll see how brave you are whenyou find out what your punishment is, Ms. Cassidy,” he commentedwith a facile tongue. “We’ll also see just how invested inthis game you really are.”

Her eyes nervously darted back and forthbetween his irises, trying to read his expression, but she couldonly see Mr. Black’s dark eyes flashing a firm warning in herdirection.

Moving behind her, he kissed her necktenderly and untied her robe, letting the soft fabric fall and poolaround her feet. The cool air chilled her skin and goosebumpscovered her entire torso. Victor ghosted his fingers over her upperarms and he ground his shaft into her lower back.

“Are you invested, Ms. Cassidy?”

Her body tensed and she woodenly nodded.

“Are you sure?” he asked in a sing-songtone.

God, would he just get on with it? How badcould it be? She immediately bit her bottom lip for thinking such athing. The last time she let those words slip into hersubconscious, she ended up having to watch Patrick have sex withanother woman.

Again, she nodded.

Victor pushed her forward toward the windowand stepped away to open the curtains widely, letting in thelight.

“Do not move and do not speak, Ms. Cassidy.For any reason. Not even if someone comes to the door.”

What kind of wrinkle was this in the game?Elsa peered over her shoulder as Victor pulled the chair to theshadows and seated himself to watch the show.

Elsa stood like that for nearly twentyminutes wondering what kind of punishment this was to simply standin front of a window until she saw the first group of people walkby on the sidewalk that was only a few hundred feet away. Her bodystiffened and her natural response was to cover herself. Sheflinched and reached for her robe when she heard a tsk tskbehind her. She quickly straightened herself but lowered herhead.