Tamed Read online

  Table of Contents

  Tamed

  Publication Information

  Dedication

  PRAISE FOR AUTHOR

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  About the Author

  Also Available

  Also Read

  Thank You

  Tamed

  by

  Desiree Holt

  Book Nine of the Rawhide Series

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales, is entirely coincidental.

  Tamed

  COPYRIGHT © 2018 by Desiree Holt

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the author or The Wild Rose Press, Inc. except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

  Contact Information: [email protected]

  Cover Art by Diana Carlile

  The Wild Rose Press, Inc.

  PO Box 708

  Adams Basin, NY 14410-0708

  Visit us at www.thewilderroses.com

  Publishing History

  First Scarlet Rose Edition, 2018

  Digital ISBN 978-1-5092-2027-4

  Published in the United States of America

  Dedication

  To all my readers who are Rawhide fans and who keep this series going and to my incredible editor Diana Carlile who has a world of patience with me and an unmatched skill as an editor.

  PRAISE FOR AUTHOR

  Desiree Holt

  “Desiree Holt is a must buy author for me and the start of this new series is the reason why…I couldn’t help but keep reading in order to find out how things would end…The action and mystery were fabulous in this story, fast paced and yet still not rushed or incomplete…While I have yet to come across anything Ms. Holt has written that I dislike, I admit her suspense stories are my favourite and this one is definitely tops.”

  ~Night Owl Reviews

  SILENCING MEMORIES

  “Once again Ms. Holt mesmerized me with her fabulous character development, her intelligent scenario, the steamy heat, and the sweet romance. When this is combined with every other fascinating element of this story, it was no wonder I couldn’t put it down. I have to say this is by far my favourite story by this author, and if I could give it higher than a five star rating I would.”

  ~Night Owl Reviews

  Chapter One

  The room was redolent with the scent of the cinnamon candles. Dani Maguire ducked her head, trying to find a breath of clean air. Alan loved the scent of cinnamon. Even insisted she drop cinnamon scented crystals in the water when she bathed. But she’d reached a point where the aroma of cinnamon nearly made her gag.

  Or maybe it was Alan Powell who made her gag. Two years in this relationship and try as she might, lately she couldn’t seem to find the key to make it work. He was a loving Dom, demanding but considerate, yet something deep inside her kept rebelling.

  Still kneeling on the floor, hands manacled behind her, lips aching from stretching around the girth of Alan’s cock, she wondered where they could go from here. She didn’t love him. The sex was still great, but she no longer found it…fulfilling. And that presented a problem.

  Alan bent to unlock the handcuffs and used his hands beneath her elbows to help her rise. His tall, lean body dwarfed her small one, surrounding her with his masculinity, a sensation she usually enjoyed. But lately, everything seemed to be just a little off.

  “I worked you hard tonight,” he murmured, long fingers brushing her hair back from her face. “I’m going to draw a hot bath for you, with those salts that you like, and bathe you just the way you always enjoy it.”

  But did she enjoy it? Did it please her? Or had it become an irritant? What she really wanted was to bathe him.

  Get over it, Dani. You’re just going through a phase.

  But was she?

  She stayed in the same position on the floor until Alan lifted her and carried her to the bathroom, lowering her gently into the fragrant bath. The heated water stung the skin of her ass where Alan had disciplined her earlier. She’d been less than enthusiastic about using her mouth on him, and although she’d done her best to hide it, he’d been all too aware. Bending her over the bed, he’d used the thin quirt on her, striping her buttocks with ten well-placed strikes.

  When he finished, he’d lowered her to the floor, held her mouth open with his fingers and worked his cock back and forth across her tongue. Somehow, she’d dredged up a semblance of desire and given him the release he needed. He wasn’t happy, but when he finished he hadn’t said a word. He’d simply bent down to kiss her and gone to draw the bath.

  “Just relax,” Alan murmured, squeezing the bath sponge. “You know I’ll take care of you. Don’t I always?”

  Yes, he did. But somehow, over the past few months, she found herself enjoying it less and less.

  “Dani?” His voice sharpened. “I asked you a question.”

  She blinked. “Yes, Master. You do.”

  That wasn’t the question she needed to answer, though. She needed to understand why that care had suddenly become so suffocating. Why she had begun to resent it in little ways.

  One of his large hands cupped the back of her head, bracing her body as he skimmed the sponge over her breasts. She closed her eyes and tried to relax at the light as a feather touch. A pinch on one nipple startled her, and her eyes flew open.

  Alan’s eyes were staring directly into hers, a strange look playing over his face. “Tell me to pinch your nipples again.”

  She swallowed. “Pinch my nipples again, Master. Please.”

  He took each one in turn between thumb and forefinger and squeezed them hard enough that lust shot straight to her core, making the inner muscles of her cunt flutter.

  “Well, that hasn’t changed.” His voice had an oddly hard edge to it. “I can still arouse you with that sweet edge of pain. I’ll bet your clit is already throbbing, begging for me to touch it.”

  As if to prove his point, his hand dipped beneath the water, parted the lips of her pussy, and brushed back and forth against the hard bundle of nerves.

  Dani shuddered with pleasure at his touch. Alan was right. He could still stimulate her, give her pleasure. So what was her problem? Where was this resentment coming from that she tried so hard to conceal?

  “I did not get to watch your face when you came tonight, Dani.” Alan was still massaging her clit. “I would like that pleasure now.”

  Oh, you would? What if I don’t want to give it to you?

  Damn! Where did that come from?

  Dani was beginning to think she was losing her mind. Alan had never been anything but a thoughtful, caring Master. Throughout their relationship, he had shown it in every way. When they were out, he was the soul of courtesy, although his hand at her back or on her wrist always let her know who was in charge. And in the bedroom, the moment he snapped on the collar, despite his sometimes harsh demands, he always soothed and gentled her afterwards. One of his favorite rituals was to lie in bed with her, both of them sated, and feed her munchies from his hand, hold her wine glass while she sipped.

  What more could she ask for?

  Something that calls to my heart as well as my body. Something where my every thought and breath is not under someone else’s control.

  Really, Dani?

  She’d been dismayed when she realized the emotional connection she’d felt with Alan had
faded until it was almost nonexistent. She had gone into this relationship hoping for one that would last. One that would be her future. Something was missing from her life. She wanted that lasting connection and was sorely disappointed to realize at last that this wasn’t where it was happening.

  And now this other thing, this resentment at everything dictated by him. But that’s what a Dom did, right? Up until now, that was what she wanted. Right? Wasn’t it?

  “Did you hear me?” Alan prompted. “I get the feeling you’re somewhere else tonight.”

  She shook herself mentally. “Yes, Master. You want to watch me come.”

  He was working her clit again, his eyes glued to her face, his hand still firmly gripping her head. “That’s right. Look at me, Dani. Don’t take your eyes away from mine. Put your hands on either side of the tub and hold on firmly. Good. Now spread your legs wide. Yes, like that. That’s very good. And do not try to close them.”

  Alan’s fingers had a clever, masterful touch. He never failed to bring a response from her or take her to the edge and withhold it, if he so chose. She gripped the porcelain edges of the tub and stared straight into his eyes as his thumb and forefinger continued to massage and pull on her clit.

  “Don’t close your eyes.” Alan’s face was so close to hers she could count every eyelash. “Do. Not. Close. Your. Eyes.”

  He punctuated each word with a tug on her clit, and her body responded to his touch. The pulse beating in her core radiated outwards, humming like the thrum of a vibrator.

  “Touch your nipples for me,” he ordered. “Don’t pinch them until I tell you to. Just take them between your thumb and forefinger. Pretend it’s my fingers you feel on them.”

  Dani’s nipples were already very sensitive from being compressed in the nipple rings most of the evening. Alan always put them on her as soon as he undressed her, then spent a long time licking and nibbling on the swollen tips. Now, just touching them sent streaks of electricity sizzling straight to her cunt.

  Alan slipped one finger inside her, and his eyes widened as he probed her channel.

  “Obviously I didn’t satisfy you enough tonight.” His voice held just a touch of amusement. “You’ve barely touched your nipples, and already I can feel the walls of your pussy fluttering around my finger.” He dipped his head closer and nipped the tender flesh of her ear lobe. “I love being able to make you come on my command. I know you love it, too. My control of the moment when you can finally climax. It makes the orgasm that much more intense.”

  “Yes.”

  “Yes, what?”

  “Yes, Master.”

  “And that’s what we’re going to do right now.”

  Conflicting emotions swirled inside her. The combination of her touch and his on the sensitive parts of her body caused the first quiver of a climax to rise within her. On the other hand, tonight more than ever before, she resented being at Alan’s mercy for everything. What the hell was going on with her, anyway?

  Lately, her emotions and her needs had become a jumbled mess. Unwilling to hurt the man who was such an incredible Dom, she struggled with her feelings and resentments until she knew ending this would be best for them both.

  End it?

  Her heart ached at the thought, even as she knew they were at that point. At least she was.

  “Stop thinking.” Alan’s voice was harsh next to her ear. “Whatever’s going on in that mind of yours is shutting down your body. Stop it. Now.”

  He pinched her clit, hard.

  Dani took in a deep breath, let it out slowly, and said the words he waited to hear. “I’m sorry, Master. Please forgive me.”

  “I think you need to be punished, Dani, for whatever stray thoughts are taking you away from me. No last climax for you tonight. And I forbid you to satisfy yourself when you get home. You will return tomorrow night at seven, and we’ll see if you’ve learned not to let your attention wander. Drop your hands to your sides.”

  She sat quietly while he finished bathing her, soaping every part of her body, giving special attention to her nipples, her cunt, and the crevice of her buttocks. His eyes were fastened on her, watching her, studying her, gauging every response as his hands glided over her skin, probed her, rinsed her.

  At last, he reached his hand to help her out of the tub and dried her carefully with a towel from the warming bar.

  “I have a feeling you were somewhere else tonight.” He moved his mouth gently against hers. “Is something wrong?”

  How to tell him, to explain what she was feeling, when she didn’t understand it herself.

  “I’m sorry, Master.” She bowed her head. “I know I was a little distracted tonight.”

  With two fingers, he tipped up her chin. “Look at me, Dani. If something’s wrong, you only have only to tell me. The last thing I want is for you to be unhappy. Don’t you know that?”

  She swallowed past the sudden lump in her throat. “May I dress, Master? I want to talk to you, but…”

  “But without distraction?” His grin was rueful. “I get it. And I have a feeling I’m not going to be too happy. But let’s get our clothes on first.”

  When they were dressed and she was seated in the huge arm chair in the living room, Alan handed Dani a wine goblet filled with her favorite Riesling and sat down on the ottoman at her feet.

  “Okay, beautiful. We’re just two people now having a friendly discussion. Okay? So whatever you have to say, let’s hear it.”

  She took a long swallow of her wine, enjoying the feel of it surging through her blood and hoping it would give her the courage to say her piece.

  “We’ve been together for two years now,” she began. “And it’s been a really great two years. You’re a wonderful Master, Alan. I couldn’t ask for a better one.”

  He smoothed his hand over his long blond hair and watched her with the hazel eyes that changed color so easily. Right now, they looked like a stormy sea.

  “I hear a ‘but’ in there.”

  She ran her finger nervously around the rim of the goblet. “Lately, I’ve had…different feelings. Strange feelings.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “About me? About us?” When she didn’t answer he sighed. “Look, Dani. We’re close enough that you shouldn’t feel you have to hold back, so just spit it out. Do you want to end this? Is that it?”

  She nodded, tense, uncertain of his reaction.

  “Is it me?” he asked. “Am I the problem? I thought—”

  “No.” She leaned forward quickly, sloshing her wine. “It’s not you at all. It’s me.”

  “Is there someone else?” His voice was tight and edgy.

  “No, no, no. It’s not that at all. I think…I think I just need some time to myself.” This was harder than she thought. Alan was a wonderful Dom, and she’d been lucky to hook up with him. “I feel so sad about this. I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you for the world.”

  He was silent for so long, sipping at his wine, she wondered if he was ever going to say anything. Finally, he reached for her free hand and took it in his larger one.

  “This has been coming on for a while, Dani.” His voice flowed over her like warm honey. “I’ve sensed it, although you’ve done your best to hide it.”

  She bit her lower lip. “Alan, I’m so sorry—”

  He touched two fingers to her mouth. “Stop. No excuses. We agreed when we went into this relationship that if it ever reached a point where it didn’t work for either of us, we part without any hard feelings. Right?”

  “Yes.” She nodded. “You’re right. It’s just that—”

  “We’ve been together a long time, and you still feel a connection.” He brushed his lips against hers, a tender rather than sexual touch. “Me, too. And I’m hoping it will always be there.”

  “I don’t deserve you,” she told him.

  He chuckled. “Okay, I’ll agree with that.” He swallowed some of his drink. “Can you answer a question for me? Feel free to ignore it if you want.”

>   “Depends on the question.”

  “Is it me? Are you just ready for someone new? Is it the lifestyle? It would help if I had a clue.”

  Should she tell him? She hadn’t really wanted to give voice to her feelings. She certainly didn’t want to tell him the connection between them had faded or that the dynamics were changing. Alan was a wonderful Dom, and he deserved the truth. At least part of it. Maybe he could give her some advice. The rest she’d have to figure out herself.

  “Okay, you’ll probably think I’m crazy, but here goes.” She looked away from him. “I think I’m playing the wrong role here. I have Domme tendencies that I’ve been suppressing for a long time.”

  He studied her for an endless moment. Dani squirmed under his scrutiny. Maybe she’d made a mistake, after all. Finally, he reached out and cupped her chin.

  “Actually, I’m not as surprised as you might think. I’ve noticed some…shall we say…resistance to things lately?” He stroked his fingers along the curve of her cheek. “You have to find your inner self, sweetheart. I wish you all the luck.”

  “Thanks you.” She smiled, some of the tension leaving her body. “You’re being very nice about this.”

  “Hey. I’m a nice guy.” His expression turned serious. “You may need some help with this, you know. To learn the rules from a different viewpoint.”

  “I know.” She gave him an impish grin. “I don’t suppose I could hire you as my tutor, could I?”

  “No, although it might be fun. But let me check to see who would be the best instructor for you.”

  “Thank you.” Impulsively she leaned forward and kissed him. “And Alan? No matter what happens, thank you for everything.”

  Chapter Two

  Dani stood near the front entrance to Rawhide and tried to slow her breathing. She’d never been to this particular club before. In point of fact, it was private. She hadn’t even known it existed until she ran into Katie Halliday at a party. They’d been friends in Atlanta, meeting at a club Dani visited and Katie managed and where her now husband was an active member. When they met for lunch to catch up on things, she was excited to learn that Katie’s husband was a part owner of a very exclusive dungeon.