Claimed Darker by Em Brown

Chapter 40

DARREN

Past

We step into my residence. On the dining table is a large bouquet of long-stem roses. I haven’t bought flowers for anyone since I had to buy a corsage for high school prom. But I was having trouble coming up with a birthday gift that Bridget won’t turn down or feel unnecessarily guilty about. Cheryl said that flowers are hard to return and helped me place an order for two dozen.

Just as I expected, Bridget says, “Oh my gosh, you shouldn’t have.”

“Who says they’re yours?” I return, startling her. I shake my head. “Of course, they’re yours.”

“They’re gorgeous.”

She goes over and inhales their scent. Spotting an envelope with her name on it, she picks it up.

“Your birthday present,” I explain.

She protests, “The roses and dinner would have been enough.”

“Just open it.”

She does and pulls out the paper inside. “This is letterhead from my internship.”

“Read it.”

“Dear Donor, thank you for your generous contribution of twenty thousand dollars toward the purchase of a refrigerated van for our food recycling program—”

Mouth agape, she stares at me. She scans the rest of the short letter and looks back at me.

“Now if you tell anyone that the donation came from me, I will go through all of your hard limits with no safe words.”

I made the donation through an offshore account in Bermuda, so it should remain anonymous.

Bridget squeals and jumps on me. She crushes her lips to mine. I can’t help but feel fucking proud of myself. This do-good shit has its perks.

Her arms wrap my neck as she kisses me harder than she’s ever kissed before. My body responds immediately. Holding her up with one arm, I cup the back of her head and return her kiss. I get the faint taste of her Dirty Shirley. I could tear her clothes off and do her right now. But I have more elaborate plans.

Setting her down, I start stripping the clothes from her in between kisses. She wants me bad and can’t stop crawling onto me. I pull her arms from around my neck and hold her away from me.

“We’re going down to the club first,” I tell her.

“But I’m naked.”

I go to the coat closet and pull out a cashmere topcoat. It’s long enough to cover her ass.

Bridget folds her arms. “Like that’s not going to call attention. Why didn’t you wait until we were downstairs before undressing me?”

I grin. “Because it’s more fun this way. You want the coat or not?”

She takes the coat and puts it on.

“Go get your heels from the bedroom,” I instruct next.

“You’re not going to make me stand too long in these?” she asks after returning with the shoes.

“You don’t have to worry. I’ll be stringing you up tonight.”

She seems to like the idea and smiles coyly.

“High heels are an instrument of torture that some misogynistic man created,” she says, slipping on the heels.

“Don’t blame men. Women are the ones choosing to buy them.”

“True, but I didn’t buy this pair. You did. So that means…”

Standing before her, I reach underneath the coat and grab a buttock. “We already established that I’m sadistic. That’s different from misogynistic.”

She wraps her arms around my neck. “There’s probably plenty of overlap.”

“It’s just a coincidence of orientation.”

She raises a brow. “So if you had a guy for a sub, you’d make him wear high-heeled shoes?”

I crush her to me. “Why not? I’m an equal opportunity sadist.”

“Have you ever had a guy for a sub?”

“No, but I’ve seen several scenes between two men. If you’re interested in watching, I can arrange it.”

“I’m interested in getting it on with you. Right now. And if we’re going to go down to the club, let’s go before I start dripping all over myself.”

“I like a woman who knows what she wants.”

We walk down to the club. I like the rigging in the dungeon room better, but it’s an austere room, so I had one of my staff members make it look more romantic with rose petals strewn on the floor and candlelight.

From behind her, I circle an arm around her waist, pull her into me and feel her up beneath the coat with my other hand.

“You up for a little bastinado tonight?” I ask.

“What’s that?”

“Torture of the feet.”

“Will I have to wear high heels?”

“Nope.”

“I’ll try a little if I have my safe word.”

I bend down and remove her shoes. After taking the coat off her, I walk her to where several cords of rope dangle from the rigger. Taking one the cords, I start with a chest harness and bind her arms bent behind her back. Then I have her kneel on the floor and individually wrap and knot rope about her upper thighs. I then do her thighs just above the knees. Next comes more cords of rope to connect her to the rigging above. Once everything is secured, I hoist her off the floor. The entire process takes just under fifteen minutes.

Once she’s spreadeagled and suspended in midair, I go over to the cabinet and retrieve an electric pump set with tubes for the nipples and clit.

“Your first birthday surprise,” I say as I coat the edge of a tube with lubricant and fit it snuggly over an areola. The other end of the tube is attached to the pump. I do the same with the second tube. The third tube goes about her clit. I turn on the pump, which sucks the air from the tubes, pulling her nipples and clit into them. I disconnect the pump.

“How do they feel?” I ask.

“Oh…um…tight…” Bridget murmurs.

“Remember your safe word?”

She nods as she stares at the tubes protruding from her breasts.

I shed my clothes except for my boxer-briefs and select a medium-weight cane. I tap it over the tops of her breasts, then her belly and legs, warming up her body. She jumps when I land the cane sharply against an inner thigh. I run my fingers around the bottom of the tube, admiring how long and swollen her clit looks inside. I decide to grab a Magic Wand and touch it to the tube. Bridget groans.

“I bet you want this on your clit?” I muse aloud.

“God, yes,” she replies, letting her head fall back.

I place the vibrator against a tube on her nipple. She writhes in her bonds. I set aside the Magic Wand and continue with the caning. She yelps and screams but doesn’t use her safe word. She cries out particularly loud when I strike the bottom of a foot.

“Jesus!” she yelps in dismay.

I notice she hasn’t expressed concern about being heard by others at the club. I smile to myself. She’s getting used to the place.

“Let’s see how your clit and nipples are doing,” I say before breaking the seal of the tubes.

Her nipples and clit are the most engorged they’ve ever been. I lightly pinch a nipple, making her squeal loudly. With all the blood drawn to the tips, they’re extra sensitive. I pick up the wand and put it to the other nipple.

“Sh—!” she cries as she twists her body to avoid the vibrations.

“Hold still.”

But she continues to flail in the rope like a fish caught in netting.

“That wasn’t holding still,” I admonish.

Putting aside the wand, I crack the cane on top of her breasts, catching the nipples. She shrieks. I set the cane down and tend to her clit next. She shivers when I run my thumb over the pink flesh, which looks smooth and pearl-like. I go down on one knee and lick it. She releases a haggard moan.

“Now for your second birthday surprise.”

She raises her head and watches me go back to the cabinet and return with a clitoral suction vibrator. I turn it on and nestle the aperture over her clit.

“Oh, wow,” Bridget says. “I get to come, right?”

“Since it’s your birthday, you can come whenever you want.”

She looks at me with gratitude.

“You like the clit sucker?” I ask.

“Yes.”

I smack her breast.

“Sir,” she adds.

I cycle through the different settings, and she seems to like the steady and consistent vibrations over the other patterns.

“I’m gonna come,” she huffs.

“Already?”

“Yessssss.”

She strains against her bonds, then spasms. She cries and grunts at the same time. I lower the intensity before eventually turning it off. I can see her cunt flexing and contracting still. I caress her between the legs, where she continues to throb. Her body trembles with my touch.

“Oh, God,” she exhales.

“Like that?”

“Yes, thank you.”

“Let’s give it another go then.”

This time, I grab some bondage tape so I can secure the clit sucker to her hands-free. I turn it on and pick up the cane again. The closer she gets to coming, the harder I strike, momentarily pulling her back from her climax. The blows to the bottoms of her feet exact the loudest cries. The pleasure generated by the vibrator allows me to cane her harder. The one I land on her inner thigh will leave a mark for at least a day or two. My cock strains as I watch her body ricochet between pain and pleasure. It’s a beautiful sight.

She throws her head back as she’s hurled into her orgasm. Her body looks like it’s in the throes of a seizure. I continue to rain the cane down on her.

“Get it off,” she says through clenched teeth. “Get it off, get it off.”

“Not till you come again,” I reply, grabbing her foot and giving the bottom a good whack.

I can’t tell if she can feel it over the intensity of the clit sucker. Devilishly, I click the power up a notch.

“Shit!” she shrieks before her body devolves into a new set of convulsions.

Her body bucks violently. I back off the intensity of the vibrations. I can’t wait much longer before sinking into her. Plus, her neck’s probably sore.

I adjust the rigging and pull on some ropes to change her position to one that’s more upright and facing a wall of mirrors. Behind her, I step out of my underwear and rub my hardened shaft before sinking into her pussy. Fuck. She is crazy wet. My body is on cloud nine as I thrust into her.

Grabbing her hair, I pull her head up. “I want you to see yourself coming.”

“I don’t need to come again,” she says.

“It’s not an option, Bridge.”

Reaching around her, I click on the clit sucker again. Her eyes widen. I pound into her harder, occasionally rubbing against the vibrator. I look in the mirror and see that her gaze is lowered.

“I want to see those eyes, Bridge.”

I tug on her hair so that she looks up. Her brow is furrowed, her teeth clenched. She glances down.

“Eyes up and open,” I command, slamming my hips into her for emphasis. “I want you to see how fucking amazing you look when you come.”

It takes some apparent effort, but she manages to keep her gaze fixed on the mirror until the moment her orgasm blows through her. Her mouth is wide open as she emits a scream that starts off silent at first. I bury myself in her, feeling her coming around me, and I’m lost. I couldn’t control it if I tried. I meet her orgasm with mine in a haze of thrusting and bucking.

“Get it off! Mercy!” she sobs through chattering teeth.

I withdraw and turn off the vibrator, then lower her to the floor before removing it. Sitting down, I cradle her in my arms. She looks at me with glassy, moist eyes.

“I hate and love you at the same time,” she murmurs.

After holding her for several minutes, we eventually get up and head back upstairs. As we prepare for bed, my phone rings. It’s Hao Young.

“I should take this call,” I tell Bridget, who’s brushing her teeth at the bathroom sink.

I walk out of my bedroom and, out of an abundance of caution, out of my residence altogether so Bridget doesn’t hear the call. No one but me, Cheryl and Marshall know the current code for the elevator. And, more recently, Bridget.

“I wanted to follow up on our call from last time,” Hao Young says. “How about you come to Hong Kong three weeks from now? I’ll get several initial meetings setup so that you can meet everyone. A lot of them worked for your father. He chose good people. It’s a skill I think you have as well.”

The timing works well, I realize. It’ll coincide with Bridget’s last week for the semester when she’ll be busy with finals.

“Sounds good,” I reply.

“My colleagues are looking forward to seeing you, and I have every confidence that you will do your father proud.”

After the call ends, I step back inside my place.

“There you are,” Bridget greets. “Why did you take your call out there?”

I search for a reason. “Because…I was worried the call might run long and didn’t want to keep you up in case you were ready to go to bed.”

She smiles. “That’s sweet of you.”

I’m taken aback. I’ve never been called “sweet” before.

“But who’s calling at this hour of the night?” she asks.

“An old business colleague of my father’s in China,” I reply.

“About business?”

“Yeah, he wants me to fly to Hong Kong to talk about some business opportunities.”

“Oooo, like what?”

“Don’t exactly know yet.”

I head to the bathroom to brush my teeth so I don’t have to talk as much.

“When would you go?”

“In three weeks. I think it’s finals week for you.”

She nods and crawls into bed. By the time I’m done brushing my teeth, she’s asleep. I stand there and watch the slow and steady rise of her chest as she breathes.

Life is pretty damn good right now. I’ve got the woman I want, and I’ve got an opportunity to make a name for myself, something that will be way more challenging than running a nightclub.

Yeah, life is good.