The Ringmaster Ch 09

Yasmina stared out across her backyard, her mind in confusion. Four days ago, she had spent one of the most wonderful nights of her life with her new personal slave, Daniel. She had told herself that she was going to remain detached from him, that she was going to pretend that he was just another client, albeit it, a client that personally served her. And then, everything fell apart with his touch.

How could that have happened?

She was a professional. She had learned, years ago, how to do her job and there was no one that was better than she was. Her savings account was bursting at the seams, she had almost more CDs than her safety deposit box could hold and every credit card she owned carried a zero balance. She figured that she could approach her relationship with Daniel the same way she approached every other relationship she'd ever had. At arm's length and with total detachment.

But that night ... everything that she thought she knew changed in seconds.

A pair of monarchs flitted across the lawn and a catbird swooped low, his elegant tail feathers spreading, then tucking away as he landed and balanced on the fence pole. Balance. Something about the catbird's delicate act rung true to her. She had been doing a balancing act for most of her life, straddling that fence between being a dominatrix and being a human. For protection, she had conveniently hidden behind the shield of being The Ringmaster and had been successful in making sure that her heart never got broken.

But Daniel had broken through all of her carefully arranged bullshit with nothing more than the care in his touch.

How could that have happened?

She didn't have a clue. If she knew, she wouldn't be standing at this window, aimlessly staring out and pondering how her personal security had been destroyed. God, he was so beautiful! She could still see his eyes and just the remembrance made her cheeks heat.

She remembered waking up with his arms wrapped around her. She'd blinked her eyes against the brilliant sunlight that flooded the room and moved a bit, finding that there was a body plastered to her back and a pair of arms holding her tightly. Everything came flooding back: the lovemaking, the tears and the comfortable sleep in his arms. She instinctively knew that she was in trouble. She had pried herself out of his grip, called a cab and high-tailed it back to her house, canceling appointments from the next day.

When he called the first time, she didn't answer the phone. She was scared. Petrified of what she was feeling. Terrified that, for the first time since she was a young woman, someone had affected her enough to get inside her head. She already knew that the next place he'd be getting into would be her heart and she wasn't sure that he wasn't already in there.

Daniel was an interesting dichotomy of a man and a slave and the fact that he knew exactly when to play each role made her blood heat. He seemed to know exactly when she wanted, no,

needed

to relinquish control and he didn't say a thing about it. He just did it and seamlessly flowed back into his role. But he did it with care and concern.

Hell, why don't I just call it what it is?

Love. He did it with love. She felt it in his arms, strong arms that held her tight and promised protection. And love. But she wasn't ready for love. She didn't want love. She didn't need love, right?

The phone rang and she turned from the window, staring at the instrument for a minute before picking it up. It was Daniel.

"Good afternoon, mistress."

Tears filled her eyes and she took a deep breath. "Hi, Daniel."

"May I see you for dinner tomorrow?"

"Aren't you mad at me?"

"Mad at you? Why would I be mad at you, Yasmina?"

That subtle change again. Within the spanse of a few seconds, he had divined her mood and knew how to respond. "Because I left without saying goodbye." She wiped her eyes. "Weren't you hurt?"

"No. I don't own you, mistress. You own me. If you want to leave, you don't need my permission."

"Maybe ... " Yasmina took a breath. "Maybe I want your permission."

Daniel was taken aback by her words and it took a few minutes before what she really said sunk in. He closed his eyes and a warm feeling spread through his body. "You have my permission to do whatever you want, Yasmina. I won't put restrictions on you." He paused. "Unless you want them."

"Maybe I do."