I didn’t know if Richard had been watching me wander around his estate, or if he had security cameras he could view, but as soon as I walked back into one of the open doors, he was waiting on me in the kitchen area.
“I’ve made a decision,” I said.
“Let’s sit.”
He pointed to a chair. Was he already testing me? Wanting to see if I could obey him? That was part of the job. I had no problem with authority at work, and this would be my job.
I sat.
“Would you like your pie?”
“My pie?”
“I saved it.”
I clapped my hands together in surprise. The walk, with the sound of the ocean in the background, had put my choices in perspective and my appetite had returned. “Yes. I would love it.”
He pulled both pies from the refrigerator and unwrapped them. He placed one in front of me, along with a fork. Then he sat next to me with his own. The gesture was sweet, considering he didn’t know if I was going to stay or go. The men my mother had dated would have just as soon thrown a pie at her if they weren’t getting what they wanted.
“Please tell me your decision,” he said, once he was seated.
“I am interested in accepting your offer. But I don’t want to give you my virginity, and then have you decide to end the agreement before the trial is over.” My goodness, now I was supposed to eat this lovely tart while I was talking about sex. What a day. “So if you’re interested in continuing this, then when the trial is finished, if you want to keep going, I’ll sleep with you then.”
“No.” He dropped his fork and let it clatter to the table. “That’s not an option.”
I’d been having to advocate for myself and for Bella for a long time, with a lot of people. First, convincing teachers they didn’t need to contact DHS when I showed up in the same clothes over and over again. Then convincing a neighbor to let me clean her house when I was fourteen. Then convincing the police, social workers, and a judge that I was the best guardian for my sister when I was only seventeen.
Richard was intimidating, and he made me uneasy, but this wasn’t the first time I had to stand up for myself. I was no doormat. I could play his role, but I wasn’t going to risk pregnancy or an STD unless the relationship was going to extend for longer than a day.
“I appreciate your time. But I can’t accept.” I pushed my chair back.
“Wait.” Richard nodded at the chair, but he didn’t stand up. “Sit back down.”
I raised my eyebrows, but I sat back down.
His blue eyes were serious as they studied me. “Why are you making this demand?”
“To protect myself. No one else ever has, so I have to. I am not willing to sleep with you, and risk any number of issues, for you to end the relationship after a day or two.”
“You would be compensated. You would receive a fee, which I will not name, if I were to end the agreement before the first month is up.”
That made me feel like a prostitute. But it didn’t really matter. Saving my sister was a priority over my feelings.
“By taking this job, I am risking pregnancy. And I’m risking contracting an STD.”
Richard’s face darkened. His jaw moved. It was obvious I’d offended him.
“I can assure you that I do not have an STD. I haven’t been with anyone in months, and I was tested. I will show you the paperwork. As for pregnancy, the shot you received at the club was the best precaution available, but if those were to fail, then you and our child would be fully supported for life.”
Supported? I guessed that meant he didn’t want to help raise a baby. At least he was willing to make sure a baby was going to have his or her needs met.
He wasn’t done. “I guarantee you that I will not let you be harmed. However our relationship ends, you will be better off financially than if we had not met.”
This was not an easy conversation for me to have. It was awkward, talking about my virginity as if it were a product. “That’s good to hear, but it doesn’t change my mind.”
“How can you expect to be a good submissive when you make demands?”
“Being a submissive doesn’t equal being a puppet. I am going to be a lawyer one day, and I plan to protect those who can’t protect themselves. It’s part of who I am. That won’t change.” I also wasn’t losing this tart again. I stuck my fork into the soft dough and speared an apple.
“This is my way of protecting myself.” I took a bite. Oh wow. I tasted just the right amount of cinnamon and cooked apple. “Giving up my virginity comes with real consequences. It’s not the same as wearing what you want, or eating what you want, or watching the shows you want. It’s not even the same as prancing around naked for you. None of those can make a baby.”
Richard glared at me, but it seemed to fade as I ate my tart. Maybe it was hard to be mad at someone eating an apple tart.
He inhaled and finally spoke. “Noted.”
Richard was silent for a long time after that.
I was sure I’d squandered this opportunity. Was that all he was going to say? I’d presented my side, and he was just going to say ‘noted?’
“Does that mean we’re finished here?” I asked.
“No. I’m taking time to consider your demand. I do think it will be difficult for you to submit to me, when you are so used to making your own way. I admire that you have the ability to push for what you want.” He gave a wry smile. “You will be an excellent attorney one day.”
I smiled. It was nice to hear that all the skills I’d had to work for would benefit me one day.
Richard leaned back in his chair. He seemed calmer now. “While I admire your tenacity, and I would appreciate it in the workforce, I will not appreciate it in my home. You’re here because I want a certain type of companion. It’s not up for debate.”
I was shocked that he’d complimented me. I’d assumed he’d be angry. But he wasn’t angry, exactly. It seemed more like frustration. I could sense it. Maybe he’d been expecting that we’d sleep together tonight. His gaze kept sweeping over me, lingering at my throat, my chest, my legs.
I wasn’t trying to avoid sex. I was trying to prevent unwanted consequences. “Can we compromise?”
“I’m not interested in conceding any of my requests. This is not a traditional relationship.”
“I don’t mean conceding on submission. Just the one thing — my virginity. Just because we aren’t going to have regular sex tonight doesn’t mean we can’t do other things.” I wasn’t sure exactly what other things I meant.
“So you’re willing to give up control?” Richard asked. “As long as we don’t have sex — intercourse, penetrative sex — then you’re willing to continue and submit to me tonight?”
We needed the money. Badly. I could do this. “Yes.”
“Then consider this to be the beginning of our trial period together. You, submitting to me, in all things except your virginity. Do you agree?”
Virginity was more than just one thing, and I’d heard it argued at college that it wasn’t a real concept, that it was a historical way to control women. But that was irrelevant now. Richard clearly had kinks that involved the term, and he wasn’t forcing himself on anyone. He was handling this in a constructive way. This was a much better method than trying to strong-arm unwilling girlfriends.
And in a traditional sense, I was a virgin. I had never been with a man.
I licked my lips. “Yes.”
“One last thing. If you need to stop because you are suffering, emotionally, mentally, or physically, then you say the word red. It will serve as our safeword tonight. We don’t always know our limits before we reach them. Do you understand?”
I was pleased that he’d offered me a way out. “Yes. I do.”
“Then let’s go into the bedroom.”
I placed my napkin on the table and stood. I was nervous. I hadn’t even really kissed a man.
When I was sixteen, one of my guy friends kissed me. He leaned in and touched his lips to mine when we were studying for a trigonometry test. But that was as far as it got. Even then, I knew the problems boyfriends caused. I had watched my mother and her friends invite an endless parade of men into their lives. At best, the men who played the boyfriend role were worthless, at worst, they were dangerous. They always wanted something.
I vowed at an early age that I would never have a boyfriend.
Lily and I had been friends since third grade, and she’d always been a level-headed and sensible person, even as a kid. But when we were fifteen, she was suddenly interested in boys. Her dad was not particularly reliable, but he wasn’t scary, and he came by every two weeks to give her lunch money and a new toy.
So she didn’t share my alarm at the thought of a boyfriend. When we turned sixteen, she started dating one boy in particular, and he didn’t seem worth the emotional energy she spent on him.
Now at twenty, I’d never been really kissed. I’d never been naked in front of a man, and now I was following a gorgeous billionaire to his bedroom. A billionaire who wanted to put his body inside of mine and take my virginity.
I had no idea what to expect.
I put on a good show of getting my way downstairs. I knew I couldn’t let him talk me out of my decision to wait on giving him my virginity. But I was far less confident that I’d acted.
I was experiencing the full range of stomach churning, heart pounding, mind racing anxiety. I could even feel my pulse fluttering in my neck.
His bedroom was large, as expected. The floors were hardwood, instead of tile. The ceiling was covered in hardwood planks that matched the floor.
“This is your first test. If you can obey me, then we’ll move on with the trial period.”
I nodded.
“Are you nervous?”
“Yes.” There was no point in lying. My hands were trembling.
“Thank you for being honest. Now we’ll begin.” Richard turned the full power of his dominance toward me. “Take off your clothes.”
Richard’s deep voice was no longer businesslike. It was rough. It was commanding.
Fire rushed through my body. I was stunned at how those words affected me. I froze for a moment.
Thankfully the zipper to the dress was on the side. I managed to get my right hand up and grip the zipper. I tugged, bringing it down. The dress was tight enough that it still clung to my body even as I pulled the zipper down past my ribs and onto my hips.
Once it was unzipped, I reached up and pulled the strap off my left shoulder, then my right. The dress fell, pooling around my ankles. I stepped out, still wearing the heels.
I stood in front of Richard in the black lace bra and panties.
I’d never had a bikini. I had one swimsuit that was a hand-me-down from Lily. It was a one piece, so this was now the least clothed I’d ever been in front of a man.
He watched me, but said nothing, although his eyes were darker. I let him look for a few moments.
I reached behind my back to unclasp my bra.
