Chapter 46

When at last I stumbled through the front door, it was already midday. There was no movement in Mandy’s house. Despite my explaining the phone must stay behind for security reasons, several of her messages were waiting. Between unpacking, I found time to read them. They were graphic.

Soon enough I’d stopped, stroking my hardening length while glancing at her home. The last message was an audio file. Loud moaning. Soft pulsing splashes as she described precisely how deep her fingers had sunk. As well as what she was imagining.

“Quite the kinky imagination,” I murmured with a grin.

Right as I was about to call and tell her I’d returned, and how much I wanted her, I paused. There was another text. From a number I didn’t recognize.

But a quick check confirmed my guess and had my chest tightening. It was registered to Mrs. Cynthia Rivas.

With my heartbeat suddenly stammering, I re-read the single word message.

Subtle.

As my pulse wavered and a strange swirling began in the depths of my guts, I stared at the glowing screen. Then skyward. Again, at the screen. Once more up to the ceiling. With the room wobbling, I found the glossy glass and typed my reply.

But it worked.

Yes, it did.

As the world spun faster, and my stomach tumbled quicker, I gulped.

“Last chance,” I murmured.

Why the nerves? At that moment, doubt flooded me. About to leap across another line; one long-buried. Oh, I could reject her. Perhaps I should have, just as I’d sidestepped Miri in Arizona. But the way she’d reacted in Mandy’s kitchen. Or, rather, not reacted. A much deeper connection entangled Cinder with me. That had me curious. So, instead, my fingers tapped once more.

2pm. My house. Sluttiest outfit. Blindfolded.

Blindfolded?

Yes.

When no response arrived, I sighed. Okay, I’d been wrong. She’d never play. At least not with me. Far too dangerous. At that thought, my chest seized. For me, as well as her. But she had more to lose. Much more.

“Don’t blame her,” I muttered before continuing to unpack.

More than an hour later, as I prepared to step into the shower, the phone buzzed. One word.

Okay.

At first, I rocked back on my heels. Until that point, there’d been only a scant plan. But the vision of her green eyes appeared. The way they’d glowed at me before she’d averted them. Based on Mandy’s comments and what I’d witnessed, averting her gaze was rare. At the missing piece, slotting into my picture of her, a quiet gasp left me.

“Hope,” I murmured. “That had been the glow in her eyes.”

With the room blurring and pulse hammering inside my skull, I snatched the phone from the bed. As my fingers trembled, I texted Mandy. She needed to be part of this from the very beginning. To witness. And understand.

Cinder is coming over at 2. Wanna play with our new toy?

Our?

Yes. Some things are better shared. I’d like you to be there.

She into women?

Does it matter? If so, then you win. If not, change her mind, slut.

Yes, master.

After laughing at the row of smileys she sent, I gave her my instructions.

Already prepared for Mandy’s next visit, it took no time to check the gear in the special room. A final inspection confirmed all the video and audio feeds were on point.

Just as I’d walked back upstairs, the doorbell rang. After opening the front door, air hissed from my lips. Mandy. with that impish grin I’d missed, held open a heavy coat. Nothing but black stockings and glossy stilettos adorned her petite figure.

“Slut,” I murmured, while gesturing her inside and away from a sudden chilly gust.

“Yours, Jim,” she replied before hopping onto her toes to plant a kiss on my lips. “Missed you, master.”

“So I heard. Nice audio.” I chuckled while closing the door behind her.

At her giggle, I couldn’t help laughing louder. She was amazing. The world developed a growing hum as she glanced towards the open basement door.

“Yep. Head on down.”

“No, master,” she said, while tugging her collar from a pocket. “Not yet.”

After a quick nod, I took it from her. As my fingers affixed the shiny ebon leather to her neck, those brilliant blue eyes blazed up at me.

“Th-thank you, m-master,” she whispered while reaching into the coat again. “Um, I wasn’t sure. But this might be better.”

Rather than the blindfold, she slipped a wide black mask over her face. Trimmed with finely woven elegant sable lace, it revealed only her gorgeous blue pools.

“So beautiful,” I murmured, while running a fingertip along her heated cheek.

“Thank you, Jim.” She slipped the coat from her shoulders.

Before I could respond, she’d turned to descend the stairs. But those slender hips had an extra swing, and her high ponytail bounced with every strutting step.

After grabbing bottles of water, I met her in the padded room. Eyes wide, she again scanned its interior. But right as her mouth parted to ask questions, the doorbell chimed. So, instead, she surged onto her toes for another kiss.

“You’re amazing, master.”

At my smile and quick gesture, she dashed into a corner, giggling under her breath. Pulse roaring, I climbed back upstairs and approached the front door. But my hand froze on the handle.

Despite what I’d said earlier, right then, that really was my final chance. My life would never be the same once I opened that portal. Another gateway linking both my past and the future.

“Enough,” I grumbled and tugged open the door.

At the snowy white vision, the universe blurred and tumbled away. Nothing existed but Cinder, wrapped in three crimson bands. On some other distant plane, the links between us snapped together with a resounding crack.

Shiny silver-blonde hair in a tall ponytail, the Nordic goddess was trembling. She’d felt it as well. Trimmed with flowery black lace, the first strip of crimson covered her narrow, red-cheeked face.