Hostile Takeover by Hill, W (best novels to read for students .TXT) 📕

She was vaguely aware of Rachel taking her pulse, checking her heart, making her breathe deep and then shallow as she did so. The woman wrapped a blood-pressure cuff on her, pumping it tight with calm efficiency. Marcie didn’t realize she’d zoned out until Rachel’s voice called her out of the fog. “Good. Vital signs are fine. I’m going to have you lie down now, check some other things, but I want you to start sipping on this.” She drew Marcie’s attention to a bottle with a flexible straw by the massage table. “It’ll taste a little odd, but it’s just a hydration mix. Salt, sugar, water and a little mint and some other things I put in to soothe the stomach and nerves.”

When she assumed that state, Rachel’s capable hands adjusted her legs so they were slightly spread. Marcie was completely naked now. The air touched her skin, made her shiver, though she knew it was warm in the room. “We’ll get a blanket on you in just a second. Oh love. You really pushed yourself over the limit, didn’t you? Let’s put an antiseptic salve on that broken and irritated skin right now, because we don’t want infection. Keep drinking now, small sips.”

When Jon’s wife rolled her over, she’d put a blissfully damp towel over a soft pad right under her backside so it wasn’t as uncomfortable as Marcie had anticipated. She smelled something fragrant and chemical at once, suggesting the damp pad was soaked with the salve.

“That will help for now. An additional healing balm will be added later. One of my own mixes. It has beeswax, aloe, some different extracts. Mixed with a bit of talcum.” Marcie heard the smile in the woman’s voice. “Smells wonderful and makes you feel like a pampered baby.”

Marcie floated. The smell of the antiseptic, the way Rachel had her laid out on the table, made her remember getting her nipples and her clit hood pierced. The pain had been excruciating, but throughout it, she’d imagined Ben there as if he’d ordered it, decorating the body that was his. That night, she’d gone home and looked in the mirror at the silver clit ring. Eventually, she’d bought two emerald beads for it, the color of Ben’s eyes. She’d worn them today, beads that teased her clit and labia when she moved. She wondered if Ben had noticed when he was caning her over his desk.

The night she’d purchased those beads, she’d fantasized about Ben tugging on the ring, attaching a tether to it. Her pussy had been so wet, making the ring and beads glisten even more.

Remembering, past and present coming together, her body reacted with a shocking contraction of arousal as she heard Ben’s voice. She cracked her eyelids to see him at the door. Rachel had covered her with a warm blanket, now that she was on her back, but his gaze still covered every exposed inch of skin with careful precision. “I called Cass, let her know she’s here for the night. How is she?”

“She’s going to be fine. Dehydration was the main worry, but she’s working on fluids now. The antiseptic will prevent infection, if she tends the area according to my instructions. In a little while she’ll feel much steadier. Then she’s all yours.”

She wished. Oh how she wished for that. On her side of things, it was already the truth.

* * * * *

She must have dozed off for a while, or floated around in that weird trance state, because when she focused again, she thought quite a bit of time had passed. She did feel steadier, but when she shifted, she winced. Sheesh, her muscles were sore. She probably needed to take a hot shower at some point.

Of course, with lucidity came a bunch of nervous feelings that compounded tenfold when she saw Ben sitting where she last remembered Rachel being. The woman had watched over her as she dozed, reading at one point, then peeling some carrots, a rhythmic, comforting clink-clink of noise from the peeler. Probably preparation for some meal she’d be cooking for Jon later. Though Jon could cook and sometimes did, Marcie had noticed at the group get-togethers it was always Rachel who brought Jon his plate or a refill on his drink, unless he specifically told her to stay seated so he or another could tend to it. Another of those many little clues she’d put together.

Rachel was an anticipatory sub, one who anticipated what her Master or his guests would need and took great pleasure in meeting those needs before they even voiced them. Some Masters allowed that; others required that a sub follow their direction exactly. She had a feeling Ben was a mix, depending on the situation, but she was a hundred percent certain what he truly wanted was a 24/7 relationship, no matter that he’d never committed to a woman in all the time she’d known him.

He hadn’t pursued a woman outside a club setting in the past couple years, but that only confirmed her opinion. All the intel she’d gathered said that Ben O’Callahan didn’t settle for anything less than exactly what he wanted. 24/7 subs—and the Doms who not only wanted them, but knew how to manage that type of relationship—were rare. Even those who said they wanted it often really didn’t, because the reality of 24/7 was a whole different thing. But like Ben, she didn’t want anything less. Further, she didn’t want it from any Dom in the world except Ben. He could call it youthful idealism or fantasy all he wanted. She knew differently.

She met his gaze, couldn’t tell what was going on there, but she didn’t have to figure out how to ask. When he saw she was awake, he rose. As he drew back the blanket, exposing her body to him without any preamble, the air now felt warm.

“On the floor, on this mat here.