Claimed (The Billionaire’s Command Part 2)

When I got off the phone with Mark, my heart was pounding. Had I really just done what I

thought I did? I had. I had taken him up on his offer, and now I was going to pack up my life and move
to San Diego.

I couldn’t believe it, in a way. This was basically the opposite of how I did things. I was the

analytical type. I would generally make a pros and cons list whenever I wanted to make a big life
decision and agonize over it for weeks before finally making my call.

But this, this had only taken days. I hadn’t made a list of pros and cons. I hadn’t even thought of

one in my head. I made this decision based on my gut instinct, and my gut instinct told me I wanted to
be with Mark Selzer.

He had swept me off my feet in Hawaii, tracked me down in Minneapolis and after a second

night of the most amazing sex I’d ever had in my life, offered for me to come live with him in San
Diego. It’s funny how things come to you when you least go looking for them. I had sworn off men for
good after my last relationship ended in disaster, and yet after only one real date I had found myself
falling for Mark.

Just to add to the crazy, it turned out he was the heir to the largest resort company in the country

and was worth billions of dollars in his own right. Oh God, Lisa’s going to be so excited, and then
want to kill me at the same time.

Lisa was my best friend, who always wanted me to date guys, probably so she could live

through me vicariously, since she was happily married. She was away on business and getting back
the next day, I hadn’t even told her about Mark finding me here in Minneapolis.

My head began to spin. Everything was happening so fast. I didn’t really do fast. I liked to take

things slowly, take calculated risks. I wasn’t the type of girl who moved halfway around the country
for a guy.

He did offer you a raise though. That was true, but what if the relationship crashed and

burned? I’d have to find another job, in a new city where I didn’t know anyone, in an economy that
could only be described as ‘complete shit’.

I needed to do something useful. I needed to do something practical, to stop thinking about how

crazy this was. I went to my computer and opened Craigslist. I needed to find a place to rent now,
after all.

Browsing through what I could only describe as exorbitantly priced apartments, I began to

calm down. This was going to be fine. People moved across the country all the time. I was going to
make more money, this would be a great opportunity for advancement, and there was nothing that said
that Mark and I had to take things quickly. We could move slowly. It was going to be fine. I was going
to be fine.

* * *

“Are you fucking kidding me?”
I wasn’t sure exactly what Lisa’s reaction would be when I told her about Mark, but now I

knew.

“You’re dating a fucking billionaire? And you’re moving to San fucking Diego?” Lisa’s

language always got a wee bit more colorful when she was excited. “Oh my God, Caroline, I want
your life. Seriously, I’m going to murder you and steal your identity so I can be you.”

“I’m pretty sure Mark knows what I look like now,” I replied, laughing. “So you’re not mad

I’m abandoning you for California?” I asked while we sat in our favourite coffee shop during our
lunch break the next day.

“Of course I’m mad! I’m fuming! But I’m way happier for you than I am mad. Of course you

have to go. I mean, Minneapolis isn’t filled with billionaires that want to date you, that’s totally a
demographic you need to stick with.”

“Yeah, I dunno. I’m kind of wondering if it was the right thing to do.”
“Of course it was! You said it yourself, you like the guy. You’ll make a ton more money there,

and you’ll get to go out with someone you like. Maybe it doesn’t work out. You just come back here,
and you’ll have a hell of a story to tell, and hopefully some awesome jewellery to hawk.”

I laughed. “Well, hopefully that won’t happen. I do like this guy. I didn’t really expect myself

to date anyone new. I haven’t dated anyone in over a year now, I’ve pretty much forgotten how it
goes.”

“You’ll be fine, Caroline. Don’t worry about it. And remember, I’m always just a phone call

away. And I promise I’ll come visit, especially in the winter.”

“Thanks, Lisa. You’re a good friend.”
Three weeks later I was packed up and ready to go. All of my things were in a moving van, I

had a few essentials and some final boxes shoved into the back of my old car that I really hoped was
going to make it all the way to California in one piece.

“Well, here goes nothing,” I muttered to myself as I got into the car and turned it on, driving

towards the highway, going west. I’d found an apartment and paid the security deposit. Mark had
wanted to pay for an apartment for me, or let me stay in one of the ones he owned, but I refused. It
was just a little bit too much for me too quickly, but Mark understood completely and dropped the
subject.

My heart pounded with every mile marker I passed. I had done this before, of course, packing

up completely and leaving. The difference was, last time literally no one in my life knew about it.
This time Lisa and I had gone out for breakfast one last time while the movers were getting my things
ready. She told me I could call her anytime, and as I pulled out onto the highway, I felt that first urge
to reach for the phone.

I didn’t know if I was making the right decision. I had no idea. I hoped I was, but I was still

nervous about it. I guess not knowing what the future holds is what life is all about though.

The drive to San Diego was going to take me three days. I wanted to get the bulk of it out of the

road as quickly as possible though, so I drove straight through to Denver, arriving at the hotel I’d
booked at almost midnight. I was too exhausted to do anything except collapse in the bed and fall
asleep, and the next day I kept going.

I drove from Denver to Las Vegas, where I spent the night in a not-too-bad hotel off the strip,

where I hoped my packed car would be safe for a night. Waking up the next morning and finding my
belongings were all still there, I did the final five hours to my new home.

I’d given a key to the movers, who were already there and unloading my things when I arrived.

By mid afternoon when they left, all of my things in boxes on the floor of what was my new home, I
was completely exhausted. I had just moved across the country. For a man.

Ten minutes later, as I lay sprawled on my couch looking at the boxes I absolutely had zero

desire to unpack, that man in question knocked on my door, pizza in hand.

“Hey, I thought you’d be in by now, I wanted to surprise you with some food and maybe a hand

getting all your stuff unpacked.”

“You should know better than to show up at my place unannounced,” I teased.

“Yeah, but this time I brought pizza, which I figure right now is probably more useful than

flowers.”

“You have no idea,” I replied, hungrily grabbing a slice and practically devouring it. “Thank

you, I haven’t really eaten since breakfast. I’m exhausted, and I’ve barely unpacked anything.”

“Well, it’s not like you need to be completely unpacked tonight.” Mark moved towards the

boxes in the kitchen as I collapsed on the couch once more, precariously balancing the box of pizza on
the arm of it.

“Do you have any preference about what dishes go in which cupboard?” Mark asked, opening

one of the boxes.

“No, as long as it makes sense, I don’t care.”
I watched with gratitude as Mark began unpacking for me, putting my plates, glasses, cutlery

and all my other kitchen stuff away, taking care of some of the most annoying things to unpack.

“Thanks Mark, for coming by and helping,” I told him, getting up. The energy from the pizza

gave me a second wind, and I got up and started unpacking some books, sliding them haphazardly into
my bookcase and being thankful that of all my quirks, caring about books being sorted alphabetically
or however wasn’t one of them.

Three hours later, we were done. Empty boxes lay flattened in a pile, to be taken to my little

storage locker downstairs. We collapsed onto the couch together, both of us exhausted by now,
finishing off the rest of the now-cold pizza.

“Welcome to San Diego,” Mark told me, and we toasted with our slices since we didn’t have

any champagne.

“Thanks for coming.”
“Hey, no problem. It’s not easy moving to a new place, and I appreciate that you’ve done it for

me, the least I could do was come over and help you get settled in. And speaking of settled in...” he
continued, leaning over and planting one of those perfect kisses of his on my lips. My body
immediately reacted, knowing what was coming next, wanting more. Pulses of pleasure began to run
through me, a small moan escaped my lips and my hips pressed against Mark involuntarily.

The next few hours were easily the best welcome I’d ever had to a new apartment.

* * *

Two days later I started at Mark’s company. He introduced me to my new boss, Danielle,

himself. She was an older, stern woman, with a bit of an old librarian look about her, but she was
actually quite nice. I had my own office once more, and I immediately set about learning how
everything worked at the company.

No one knew Mark and I were dating, to my relief. It wasn’t something I wanted to be known

publically. Everyone just knew I was a new hire, and that was that. I picked up the work pretty
quickly, filled out a number of forms for human resources to take care of, and just as the clock was
about to strike five, my phone rang.

“Hey, I was thinking, you probably want to stay in and buy things like groceries tonight, but

would you let me take you out on the town tomorrow?”

“That sounds good, definitely.”
“Awesome. Listen, I want to take you somewhere nice. Go down to Elizabeth’s Boutique on

Market Street tomorrow and pick something out. They know to expect you.”

“Are you sure? I have a couple nice things in my wardrobe now.”
“I’m sure. I want to do something nice for you, consider it a gift for coming all this way.”
“Wow... thanks!” I replied. I was lying when I said I had some nice things, I had never bought

anything that wasn’t from a sale rack. It wasn’t that I didn’t make any money in Minneapolis, the job
there actually paid pretty well. It was just that I wanted to get rid of my student loans as soon as
possible.

Maybe dating a billionaire had its little perks after all!
The next day on my lunch break I walked down to Market Street and found Elizabeth’s

Boutique, a cute little designer dress shop. As soon as I walked in the attendant was all over me.

“Oh you must be Caroline, Mark told us you’d be in today,” she told me as she brought over

racks and racks of dresses. “I’m Andrea, I’m here to help you pick out your dress for today.” I wasn’t
used to being treated this way in a clothing store, most of my clothes came from shops where there
was one person, maybe two people during the peak times to help customers, it certainly wasn’t one on
one service.

“Now, do you have any preferences in terms of style, or color?”
“Umm... not really, no, I hadn’t really thought about it. I guess, I kind of like blue, I think it goes

well with my eyes, or maybe green?”

“Fantastic, I love the idea of green. Let’s get you into an emerald dress.” Andrea looked me up

and down, and I could feel myself starting to blush. I wasn’t used to salespeople looking at me so
openly like this.

“I think we’re going to start of putting you in something form fitting. You’re hiding it there

somewhat, but I suspect there’s a great shape under that suit, and you’ll look amazing if you show it
off.”

Half an hour later we had the perfect dress. It was turquoise, with a sweetheart neckline and ¼

sleeves, hugged my curves before ending just above the knee. It was both sexy, flirty, but also classy,
without revealing too much.

“You’ll need a pair of shoes to go with it,” Andrea urged, moving me towards the back to the

store.

“Oh no, I couldn’t, Mark said to just buy a dress,” I protested. I knew I didn’t have the money

to pay for any of the shoes that were in here myself. I had already caught a glimpse at the price tag on
the dress I was going to buy and almost fainted..

“Mark told me you could buy anything you needed sweetie, and believe me, I think you need a

new pair of shoes with that dress.”

Reluctantly I agreed, and when I left the store I had a brand new pair of white heels that went

perfectly with the dress. I knew I had a white Guess clutch in my apartment somewhere that would
finish off the outfit perfectly.

Mark was picking me up at 7, so when I was finished work I went home to have a quick

shower and get ready before we were to go out.

When I finally had my entire outfit on, my makeup done, my hair let down over my shoulders, I

smiled at myself in the mirror. Even I had to admit, I looked pretty good in what I was wearing. I
twirled around and giggled to myself. I hadn’t worn clothes this nice, well, ever. Hell, the dress alone
cost more than a month’s rent back in Minneapolis.

When Mark rang at my door I answered enthusiastically. He looked me up and down and let

out a low whistle.

“Damn, that’s a hell of a dress,” he told me as he kissed me softly on the cheek and extended a

hand, which I took.

“Thanks, I’m glad you like it, seeing as you paid for it.”
“If that’s the kind of thing you buy with my money I’m letting you buy a whole new wardrobe!”

he answered.

Mark had parked his car outside my building, and my jaw dropped when I saw it. He drove a

veritable sports car! Sleek, low to the ground and metallic looking, it practically screamed money.

“Wow, you drive this?” I couldn’t help but ask.
“Yeah, get in!” he encouraged, and I did as he asked, sliding into the smooth passenger seat and

giggling with excitement as the engine roared to life.

As we drove down the city streets, I realized this car was designed for the highway, or the

racetrack. The engine purred, like it wanted to go faster, like it needed more as we drove through
streets where the speed limit was 35.

We finally pulled up in front of a restaurant. I’d long since lost track of where in town we

were, I hadn’t even had the chance to go anywhere except find the grocery store near my house, the
Hibiscus offices and Elizabeth’s boutique.

As soon as we entered I felt out of place. This was the sort of place celebrities ate at. Soft

lighting, tables set far apart, waiters darting silently like ghosts in between tables, this wasn’t the sort
of place I normally ate at.

The waiter greeted Mark by name and led us to a table that I had a sneaking suspicion was

Mark’s regular seat. As we were led past the other diners, I felt like everyone was staring at me, like
they would immediately recognize me for being a fraud. I didn’t belong here. Sure, I was wearing an
expensive dress, but surely everyone saw through it and saw the kid who grew up in a lower class
family in Oklahoma.

When we sat down I leaned forward towards Mark. “I didn’t know we were going to go

somewhere this fancy!”

“Of course! This is our second official date, I wanted to make it special for you.”
“I don’t belong here at all.”
“Nonsense. Of course you do. There’s no reason why you don’t belong here. You’re with me.

Besides, you’re a human being, aren’t you? Relax. You look fine, no one thinks you look out of
place.”

Mark’s words reassured me somewhat, and I decided my paranoia was probably more

responsible for a lot of these thoughts than anything else. I relaxed a bit and looked at the menu.

There wasn’t a single item on the menu for under $50. But, it looked absolutely delicious. I

spent ages going through the mouth-watering entrees, trying to decide on something. I settled on the
coq au vin, which the waiter assured me was a wonderful choice.

“So, how were your first couple of days working for my company?” Mark asked. “Be honest,

I’m using you as a spy to see how my other employees are really doing,” he joked.

“Honestly, it’s been good. I like Danielle, I like my work, it’s interesting. I haven’t gotten a

chance to do a lot yet, but I like how it’s going. And I have to say, I like the fact that it’s October and I
can still go outside without even wearing a jacket.”

“Yeah, that’s definitely one of the advantages of living here. I hope you didn’t pack all of your

winter clothes, you probably aren’t going to need them.”

“If only it was cheaper to live here, it would be perfect.”
“That really is the downside of the city. Especially with the huge influx in tech companies that

have come around lately, rent prices especially have become pretty bad.”

We continued dinner, chatting about ourselves. I noticed that, like me, Mark never spoke of his

childhood or his family. It was almost as though we both realized neither one of us really wanted to
talk about it.

When dinner was finished Mark and I went for a walk around the city for a little bit before he

offered to take me home.

“Unless you’d like to come to my place...” he offered with a twinkle in his eye.
“You’re right, I don’t know what it looks like, and you’ve been to my place,” I replied,

slipping my hand into his.

Ten minutes later Mark’s car slipped into his parking spot in the garage underneath his

building. We took the elevator to the top floor, which opened up directly into his suite. Enormous,
expensive and open plan, the place was hands down the most amazing apartment I’d ever been in.

“Jesus, you live here?” I asked as I walked around, looking at the expensive furniture, the

granite counters in the kitchen, the enormous flat screen hanging up against a wall in the living room
and everything else. I knew Mark was rich, of course, but it’s one thing to know a person has more
money than you’re ever going to see in your lifetime, and another entirely to physically see it spent in
front of you.

“I guess you like it then?” Mark asked sheepishly.
“I do! Yeah, sorry, I guess I kind of invited myself in to stare,” I blushed, realizing what I’d

been doing could probably be considered rude.

“Don’t worry about it. Here, let me show you the bedroom.”

* * *

Although I hadn’t expected to, I ended up spending the night at Mark’s apartment, in his bed. I

hadn’t slept in another man’s bed in a long time. This was different, this felt right.

I lay awake after we had sex. I could hear Mark’s gentle breathing, soft and rhythmic, his hard

chest moving up and down as he slept. He had tied my wrists to the bedposts then gone down on me,
his tongue doing things to me that drove me insane as I writhed under him.

I still didn’t know why I loved being submissive to him like this, but I did. The more he did it,

the more I wanted it. The more I needed it.

The next three months absolutely flew by. Mark and I saw each other three, maybe four times a

week. He wasn’t kidding about travelling a lot; there were quite a few weeks where he was away on
business during which we wouldn’t see each other at all. And when he wasn’t working on the
business, he was working on his charity, an organization dedicated to helping disadvantaged kids get
access to computers, textbooks and tutors for school. Mark loved his charity, and spoke about it
constantly. As the time passed, I found that I missed him when he was gone. I wanted to spend every
waking moment of every day with Mark. I began to realize after a while that I was well and truly
falling in love with him. There was absolutely no doubt about it.

We were lying in bed, in his enormous, ridiculously comfortable king bed, both of us staring at

the ceiling, exhausted from the sex we’d just had, when he asked me the last thing I had ever expected
to hear.

“Listen, Caroline, I want to ask you something.”
“Yeah?”
“Before I start, I want you to know that it’s totally fine if you say no. I’ll understand.”
“O...kay...” I answered, not really sure where this was going.
“I want you to be my submissive. I want to claim you, to make you mine, every second of every

day. It would mean that no matter where we are, no matter what, you would have to do anything and
everything I ask of you.”

I didn’t know what to say. I hadn’t been expecting this at all. His submissive? That sounded

really permanent somehow. I mean, I liked it when he tied me up, when he spanked me, when it felt

like he had all of the control, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to make it permanent.

“I... would have to think about it, I think,” I replied eventually.
“Of course. Take your time. I don’t want to pressure you into anything you don’t want to do.”
I wasn’t sure why I didn’t immediately say no. I mean, wasn’t that what anyone else would

have done? Who agrees to be their boyfriend’s submissive?

The next day Mark was going away for a week to Seattle. I spent my days working, my nights

sitting in my apartment, wondering about what my life would be like if I took Mark up on his offer?
And what if I didn’t? Would he break up with me? I didn’t want that, of course, and I also didn’t
know if it would happen.

At the same time, thinking about the things Mark might make me do if I was bound to listen to

his commands every second of every day sent my heart racing. What if he wanted me to have sex with
him in his office? In a public place? I’d have no choice but to obey, to do exactly what he wanted. I
could feel my panties moistening at just the thought of it.

The question was, however, did I want to move this fast? I wasn’t a trusting person by nature,

my upbringing and former relationships had ensured that. We had only been dating a few months, after
all. I felt like I knew Mark, and yet at the same time, I also knew there were things he wasn’t telling
me. What were those things? Would I consider them deal breakers? Those were questions I might not
even know the answer to before making this decision.

My body wanted me to say yes, but my mind wanted me to say no.
By the time Mark came back from Seattle I still didn’t have an answer for him. He told me

again that it was fine, there was absolutely no rush. I appreciated the fact that he gave me the time to
come to my own decision without pressuring me into doing something I wasn’t comfortable with. In
the meantime we continued dating, seeing each other. I found myself sleeping over at his place more
and more, and every time he went away on business I felt my heart panging, longing for him.

A month or so after he had originally asked me about becoming his submissive, Mark asked me

out to a charity dinner his family was holding.

“I don’t want to go, I absolutely hate these things. I know my father holds them on purpose, to

make us all stand around and look good in photos and pretend we’re a normal family, but I despise
them more than anything. Also with Teach the Children, it’s good for me to show up at my family’s
dinners, for the exposure and everything. That said, I’d love to take you as my date this year. You
would have to meet the rest of my family. I promise you, my sister is lovely.”

“Well seeing as you’re selling it to me as such a fun night, how can I say no?” I answered.

Mark smiled at my sarcasm.

“Yeah, well, I figured it’s best to be honest. The dinner’s in New York, we’d have to fly over

there the morning of, then fly back the next day.”

“I’d love to go with you.”
Mark never mentioned his family. Well, rarely, anyway. I’d gotten the impression that his

family and his childhood weren’t things he wanted to talk about. Every time it was brought up he good
moody and distracted. To me, that was perfectly fine. It went well with my complete distaste of
talking about my own family, and we lived in a comfortable acceptance that neither one of us wanted
to talk about our pasts.

The next Saturday morning Mark and I flew out to New York City. I had gone shopping the day

before for yet another expensive dress; Mark insisted on buying it for me, and I definitely didn’t mind.
In a way it was nice, having someone willing to buy my nice things. I knew the amount I was spending
was like pennies to him, but I still liked the fact that he was willing to do it. I had never had such a

nice wardrobe before in my life.

The dress bag was in the back of the car as we headed to the airport. I assumed we were flying

commercial, but to my surprise, rather than heading towards the departures section of the airport, the
car driving us instead made a turn down a service road. Dust flew up behind us until we finally
reached a gate. The driver spoke to the guard for a minute, then we were waved through and driven to
a hangar where a private plane stood, waiting for us.

I couldn’t believe it. We were going in a private jet?
“Is this really for us?” I asked, looking at Mark.
He grinned, noting my obvious excitement.
“Yup, certainly is. I don’t like flying commercial. Too many chances for delays, it’s not as

comfortable, that sort of thing. Besides, we’re flying on business, so I can take the business’ jet to get
there.”

He took my hand and led me up the stairs into the interior. Leather seats lined one side of the

plane, with tables in front of some of the chairs in case anyone wanted to get some work done. On the
other side of the plane was a long banquet table with built-in dishes, I suppose so they didn’t slip
during takeoff and landing. At the back of the plane was a conference room with a large table in the
center. This was incredible! I didn’t even know planes looked like this. I mean, I knew businesses
had private jets and all that, but I had never stopped to think about what they might look like inside.
This was definitely nicer than the flight we’d taken to Hawaii. Not too shabby for my third ever flight
on a plane.

I sat down in one of the leather seats and did up my seatbelt. When the plane took off, I grabbed

the side of the chair, still not used to the sensation of flying.

“Not a confident flyer?” Mark asked from his seat across from me. He had opened up his

laptop and I knew he was planning on getting a presentation he had to work on for next week finished.

I shook my head. “No, I’m not used to it.”
“How many flights have you taken before?”
“Um, well, the trip to Hawaii was my first time ever on a plane.”
“Oh! Well, then yeah, that’s completely understandable. Don’t worry, you’ll eventually get

used to it.”

“Thanks. Once the plane levels out a bit I’m usually better. It feels more normal, you know?”
“Yeah, I do, definitely.”
Just then the stewardess came by to take an order for breakfast. To my surprise, she was able

to order whatever I wanted. This definitely wasn’t like the flight to Hawaii! I ordered some fruit and
pancakes, while Mark wanted some eggs, toast and coffee. We munched away, Mark trying not to
drop crumbs into the keys of his laptop while he worked.

The closer we got to New York, the more nervous I found myself getting. I wasn’t sure what to

expect with Mark’s family. Hell, he hadn’t even told me their names.

We arrived in the middle of the afternoon. I’d never been to New York City before, and I

marvelled as I looked out the window of the car driving us downtown.

“One day I’ll take you here for a holiday or something, so you can really get to know the city. I

would have loved to do it now, but coming into the holidays and the end of the year I’m afraid I can’t
spare the time away from the office.”

“That’s alright,” I smiled. It was true that Mark had been spending a lot longer than he usually

did at the office lately. It was still nice to be able to spend a whole day with him, even if we’d lost
three hours due to time zone changes and were going to one of those fancy rich people dinners.

When we got to the hotel, we pretty much had to start getting ready straight away, otherwise we

were going to be late. I slipped into my dress, a floor length, navy blue curve hugger that shimmered
every time I moved. I absolutely fell in love with it as soon as I saw it. I paired it with silver heels
and a pair of diamond earrings Mark had given me for my birthday in September. When I came back
out into the living room, Mark let out a low whistle.

“Damn, you look good,” he murmured, leaning in and kissing my earlobe gently. I could feel my

body reacting to his touch, but forced the thoughts away. We were going out, there was no time for
anything like that.

“Hey, before we go, I decided I want to give you a taste of what it would be like to be my

submissive.”

I didn’t know what to expect as Mark moved over to the table where there lay a little box. He

brought it over to me and I opened it. Lying in the bottom of the box was a small egg-like silver
vibrator. I looked up at Mark, my eyes filled with both confusion and a little bit of worry. We didn’t
have time to play with this, we had to get going. He smiled and took the vibrator out of the box.
Slowly, tantalizingly, he slid my dress up my leg and reached in between my thighs.

A small gasp escaped my lips as I felt his fingers finding the thin fabric of my panties and

slipping through to the other side of them, to the folds of my sex.

He pressed the egg inside of me slowly, carefully, and I grabbed at his shoulders.
“What are you doing, we have to get going!” I exclaimed, worried, but excited at the same

time.

Mark pulled his fingers out from inside of me. Suddenly, the vibrator began to work inside of

me, buzzing to life and immediately making my legs feel like jelly. I gasped and looked up at him, and
he grinned, turning off the vibrator and pulling a small remote from his pocket; it looked like a garage
door opener.

“What...” I started, but my voice trailed away. I didn’t even know what to ask.
“For tonight, you’re mine. You’ll never know when I turn this on, and when I do, you’re going

to have to work hard to stop people from noticing.”

Suddenly it clicked. I realized exactly what was going to happen, and my eyes widened. A part

of me wanted to tear the vibrator out of me, throw it away, go to the party normally. But still,
something inside of me resisted. Something inside of me made me stop, made me do as Mark wanted.
I didn’t really know why, but I obeyed.

He took my arm and led me back to the waiting car. My mind was swirling with thoughts. I

didn’t know what to do. I didn’t know how to react. I mean, what was I supposed to do? I had to wait
with this thing inside of me, wait until Mark decided he was going to turn it on. He had complete and
total control over it, complete and total control over me tonight, and just the thought of it was turning
me on. I couldn’t believe it. This wasn’t how I was supposed to act. This wasn’t me at all, and yet it
was happening.

On the way to the hotel, Mark described his family to me.
“My mother is the ultimate family matriarch. She’s what you think of when you think cranky,

old, rich white woman. Don’t be surprised if she randomly sprouts off some terrible racist opinion,
there’s a good chance that will happen in your presence at some point. She’ll look down on you,
she’ll make disparaging comments about your appearance, but she’ll do it subtly enough that you’ll
feel rude if you reply back.”

“She sounds lovely.”
“Yeah. She was actually a decent human being when I was young, believe it or not. I think

arthritis has made her cranky.”

“Don’t worry, I do actually get along with most people.”
Mark smiled wryly. “Don’t say that until you’ve actually met my family. My father will

probably actually like you. He’ll be incredibly polite, he’ll be charming, but under that facade is a
man that you don’t want to know.”

That was all Mark said on the subject. He was silent for a minute, living his own memories,

then continued.

“My sister will be there as well. She’s lovely. She’s older than me by a couple years, thirty

five now. She runs the east coast side of things, as you know. She’s easy to have a conversation with,
I think the two of you will get along fine.”

As the car pulled up to the upscale luxury hotel where the charity dinner was taking place, I

could feel my nerves starting to take over. What if I screwed this up? What if I completely
embarrassed Mark? There was a very real possibility of that happening given the ticking time bomb
inside of me. It could go off at any minute, and then what? Would I be able to hide it from everyone?
Would they hear? Oh God, what if someone heard? What if someone figured it out? What would I do?
It would be humiliating.

Every terrible scenario I could possibly think of ran through my head. Thoughts swirled

around, each one worse than the last. Butterflies ran through my stomach as Mark took my arm as we
left the car. He led me through the hotel’s lobby to the first floor. A man in a tuxedo at the door
checked our names off a list and we were led into the Selzer Family Charity Dinner.

As soon as I walked in I found myself even more overwhelmed than I felt in the car. There

were at least a hundred people in the enormous room, each one dressed in more expensive and
elegant clothes and jewels than the last. I felt like a fraud. I didn’t belong here. What was going to
happen when I didn’t know what fork to use with my salad? I was going to embarrass myself, and
Mark.

My fear was so strong I almost forgot about the little egg inside of me. Oh God, I was never

going to survive this night.

Before I had a chance to dwell on just how terrible I was going to be at this, an older woman

came up to us. Dressed in black from head to toe, but with expensive gold jewellery lining her arms,
ears and fingers, she had a shrewd face. Her body was frail, but it was obvious her eyes were still
very full of life, gleaming blue, the exact same shade of blue as Mark’s. That’s why I wasn’t
surprised when he introduced her:

“Caroline, I’d like you to meet my mother. Mother, this is Caroline, my girlfriend.”
“How do you do Mrs. Selzer, it’s lovely to meet you,” I told her, extending a hand out. She

looked at my hand coldly for a minute, as though deciding whether or not it was clean enough to touch
before briefly shaking it with her own hand. Her handshake was frail, but I had a feeling she made
sure it seemed that way.

“Caroline. I suppose you’re not from a good family, are you? You don’t have money of your

own?”

I was taken aback by the sudden brusque questioning, but I put on my sweetest smile.
“No, my family has no money. I’m afraid I may not live up to the standards you desire for your

son.”

She made a noise that sounded a little bit like a “hrumph” as she looked me up and down.
“Alright, well, Mark’s a big boy, I’m sure he can make his own decisions.”
After couple of minutes of very unpleasant conversation later she was gone, slinking off like a

snake to find another unsuspecting victim.

“You were definitely right about your mom, she’s a treat.”
“Yeah, when people complain to me about having to bring girls home for dinner, they have no

idea how easy they have it. My dad will be nicer to you though. Oh, here he comes now.”

When I saw the man coming towards us, I almost did a double take. It was like looking at Mark

thirty years in the future. Mark’s father’s hairline was a few inches further back, there were more
lines on his face and his nose was just a little bit bigger, but apart from that he was the splitting
image of his son. He greeted me with the same warm smile I’d become so accustomed to from his
son.

“You must be Caroline, welcome, welcome!”
“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Selzer,” I replied as I shook his hand. His handshake was strong,

confident, everything I would have imagined the family patriarch’s personality to be.

“Oh please, call me Anthony. Everybody else does, and you’re practically family now, from

what Mark’s told me.”

If I didn’t know better, I would have thought Mark blushed next to me.
“You’re too kind, although I am honored that Mark thought to bring me here tonight.”
“Yes, we were starting to think he might swing the other way, he brought so few of his

girlfriends to these things to meet his family,” Anthony joked, and I laughed along lightly with him. I
could tell Mark wasn’t comfortable, although he was doing his best to hide it. Eventually, after a few
more minutes of chit-chat, his father excused himself to go speak with someone else.

“Well, there you go. I told you, my father’s charming.”
“Yes. You’re absolutely right there. But I know people can be far different in private.”
Mark pressed his lips together and nodded, and I didn’t press. Instead, I took his hand and led

him towards one of the waiters. I could use a glass of champagne after having met both my
boyfriend’s parents in quick succession tonight.

“I’ll be right back, Caroline, if you don’t mind. I just need to go to the bathroom quickly,” Mark

said, excusing himself. I moved over to the wall, where I could observe what was going on in the
room without being noticed.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, the egg I had practically forgotten about buzzed to life inside of me.

I gasped and just about dropped the flute of champagne I was holding as my legs almost immediately
turned to jelly. The vibrations were low, slow, but enough that my body immediately reacted. I could
feel the juices inside of me building up and a small moan escaped my lips that I managed to kill
almost immediately.

I knew I couldn’t let anyone notice what was happening to me. I looked around, half looking for

Mark, to see where he was that he was doing this, half checking to see if anyone else around could
hear. The buzzing felt so loud inside of me, I was sure everyone in this room knew what was
happening to me.

But as I glanced around, I saw no wayward eyes, no one seemed to notice what was going on

inside of me.

I, on the other hand, was very acutely aware of every little vibration of the egg inside of me.

Fire radiated through my body, coursing through me from my most sensitive areas. The vibrations
were strong enough that I wanted more, that I needed more, but not so strong that I was going to get
that release I wanted, the release that with every passing second I needed.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, I felt Mark’s hand on my back. I jumped at his touch, the sensation of

his fingers against me driving me completely wild. Still the egg buzzed inside of me.

“Enjoying yourself?” he asked with a sly, knowing smile.
I could only stare at him.
“I can’t believe this is happening,” I finally whispered, not trusting my voice to go any louder.

“Oh my God!”

Mark’s smile widened.
“I thought I’d make sure you enjoyed yourself.”
Suddenly, the egg stopped. A small, almost involuntary moan escaped my lips as the vibrations

suddenly stopped. As much as it was incredibly embarrassing, as much as I couldn’t imagine going on
with it, my body wanted more. It wanted to finish the job.

Mark handed me a glass of champagne from a tray being carried around by a waiter and handed

it to me, it took all my willpower not to down it all in one go.

“Come on, I want you to meet my sister, she’s the only decent member of this family.”
Mark took my arm and led me over to a tall woman with the same dark complexion as he did,

with almond eyes and a beautiful smile. The Selzer family certainly were blessed, genetically.

As soon as she saw Mark, the woman beamed and excused herself from the conversation she

was having.

“Marky! How are you?” she asked, coming over and embracing him gently.
“I’m good Sam,” Mark replied, returning her embrace before motioning me over. “I want you

to meet my girlfriend, Caroline. Caroline, this is my sister Samantha.”

“Hello, Caroline. Lovely to meet you,” Samantha said. “You can call me Sam, everyone else in

the family does. I had no idea my brother even had a girlfriend, he’s been keeping you a secret!”

“I didn’t want to taint her too quickly, I figured if she met everyone right away she’d run off

screaming.”

Sam laughed. “Well, I can’t argue with that logic. God knows I lost more than one boyfriend

after they met mom.”

After having met Mark and Sam’s mother, I couldn’t tell whether or not Sam was joking. She

took me by the arm.

“Please, Caroline, come and have a drink with me while Mark goes and does the rounds.”
I dutifully followed her, flashing Mark a smile as we headed towards the bar. I could

practically feel his eyes on my ass as I moved away, and for a brief moment I wondered if I was
going to feel the vibrations from the egg still inside of me. When there was no movement, no buzzing,
I couldn’t tell if I was relieved or disappointed. To tell the truth, it was probably a little bit of both.

Sam handed me a glass of champagne and held hers up in a toast.
“To love, I’m so glad to see my little brother happy,” she said, and we both sipped, the

bubbles fizzing as they hit my tongue, but doing nothing to satiate the butterflies in my stomach. Even
though Mark had told me Sam was the nicest person in his family, I was still nervous. I didn’t want to
make a complete mess of things. After all, I knew I didn’t fit in here. I might have a nice dress, but I
knew that didn’t matter. These people came from money. They lived and breathed this environment.
To me, it was so foreign. I didn’t know what to do, how to act. I felt like a fraud, like the instant I did
something wrong, made a mistake, slipped up somehow everyone would stare at me and laugh at the
poor person who thinks she’s one of them.

“Relax, Caroline,” Sam told me. “You’re doing fine.”
I tried to give her a small smile.
“Is it that obvious I feel out of place?”
“No, I’m just really good at reading people. See that guy over there?” She pointed out a man in

his forties with a woman who had to be half his age hanging off his arm. I nodded.

“He grew up in Washington Heights. His father was never around and his mother died of a drug

addiction when he was ten. He ended up somehow getting out and going to college, made a fortune
designing apps for major companies. He’s only had money for about two years.”

“Really? I never would have guessed.”
“That’s because it’s all about how you act. If you act confident, act like you belong here, you

belong here. I’m sure that even though he’s got all this money, he’s feeling exactly like you are. He’s
not like Mark and I, who grew up in this kind of crowd. But he hides it. Shoulders back, chin up,
smile like you’re the most beautiful woman in this room and you’ll fit in perfectly.”

I did as Sam suggested, and funnily enough, I even felt more confident as I was doing it.
“There you go. You’re too gorgeous to hide against the wall.”
“Thanks, Sam. I appreciate it,” I told her, flashing her a smile. I liked Mark’s sister.
“Don’t mention it. Here comes Mark, making sure I’m not scaring you,” she joked, motioning

as Mark came over.

“Well, that’s about all I can take of mingling through the crowd. I always forget, living on the

West Coast, how much I hate the people that live on this one.”

“That’s not nice Mark, that includes me!” his sister retorted.
“Well, obviously I don’t include you in that, you’re lovely. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I think

I’d like to enjoy a few minutes alone with my date.”

Sam smiled at me as we walked off, and I practiced my new look of pretending I belonged.

Mark led me up the stairs to the small balconies overlooking the rest of the party.

“You’re looking more comfortable than you were earlier, that’s good,” he told me, and I

repeated the conversation I had with Sam.

“Oh, good. She does notice these things, Sam. She’s a good sister. Just like you’ve been a good

date.”

Suddenly, the little egg inside of me began to buzz once more. For the second time this evening,

my eyes widened as vibrations coursed through me. Instantly it felt like the vibrator had never been
turned off at all. All the feelings from before rushed back. My body was on fire. My legs felt like
jelly. Pleasure radiated through me from my sex, from my most sensitive areas.

Once again, I was completely mortified.
“Oh God,” I whispered, not sure if it was more out of pleasure or fear.
I clutched at the edge of the balcony, looking out at the crowd of people huddled below. There

had to be over a hundred of them, the elite wealthy, the who’s who of New York City all here tonight,
all only a few feet away from me, none of them aware of what was happening to me, of what Mark
was doing to me without even putting his hands on my body.

My breath caught in my throat as I looked up at Mark.
“Please...” I started to beg, but I wasn’t sure what I was begging for, so my brain wouldn’t

finish the sentence. Did I want more of this? Of course I did. My blood had reached a rolling boil
now, there was turmoil inside of me. I needed release, and I needed it badly. But at the same time, I
was so embarrassed. What if Mark gave me the release I wanted? What if he turned up the motion on
the vibrator? It would all happen here, in public, so close to all these people! The thought horrified
me.

Mark touched my arm gently as he smiled. The feeling of his fingers against my skin made me

react like I never had to his touch before, and my back automatically arched towards him as I inhaled
sharply. His fingers were like velvet.

“Yes, Caroline?” he asked, looking as innocent as a schoolboy, his eyes widening as he

feigned ignorance at what I was pleading for.

“Please... oh God, I need... more,” I finally begged.
“More? I don’t understand, you have to tell me exactly what you want,” Mark whispered into

my ear, the feeling of his hot breath on my skin driving me insane.

“Ohhh,” I moaned involuntarily, my lips quivering. I knew what Mark wanted. He wanted to

hear me say it, he wanted me to spell out what I wanted.

“I want you to make me come,” I whispered back to him, my legs feeling weaker and weaker as

I said the words. A part of me was horrified that I’d done it, that I’d actually said it, but at the same
time it turned me on to hear myself say those words, to have to beg for it.

An instant later, Mark didn’t say another word, but the buzzing inside of me grew even

stronger. Another low moan escaped my lips as my body was finally getting what it had wanted, what
it had needed for so long now.

The pressure inside of me building, I knew it wouldn’t be long now until I came. I could feel

my breath coming faster, my heart beating at a quick pace. My legs tensed up as I could feel it, the
waves washing over me.

Mark knew exactly what was happening, and he took me into his arms. I collapsed into his

embrace as the orgasm overtook me completely. Burying my face into Mark’s shoulder, I opened my
mouth in a silent moan as I fell into an ocean of pleasure. Wave after wave of pure ecstasy crashed
over my body. My eyes squeezed shut, I stopped thinking, I stopped breathing, I stopped everything so
I could focus entirely on the pure pleasure coursing through my body.

It felt like the orgasm lasted both an eternity and only seconds at the same time. When I finally

came back down to earth, Mark switched off the vibrator inside of me. My legs were like jelly, and I
suddenly realized just what I’d done in public. I grabbed the balcony and looked down at the
multitude of people milling around, as though nothing had happened. No one had noticed anything,
nobody had realized that only seconds earlier Mark had taken me to the ultimate peak of pleasure.

Relieved and satisfied, I looked up at Mark, who was still holding me in his arms, and smiled.
“See, that wasn’t so bad, was it?” he teased, and I punched him lightly on the arm as I finally

trusted my legs to hold my weight once more and stood up once more.

“I guess it wasn’t too bad,” I replied. I still felt such a multitude of emotions, my head was

spinning.

“Good. We’re just in time, too, I think they’re about to get us to find our tables and serve

dinner.

Sure enough, a couple of minutes later someone went up to the podium and it was announced

that the meals were about the be served. Mark slipped his arm in between mine, and we made our
way back down the stairs towards one of the tables at the front of the room.

“This is going to be the worst part, our family is all going to have to sit at the same table and

pretend to be civil to each other.”

I could only nod in reply. I had to admit, Mark’s mother scared me. His father wasn’t so bad,

but I knew there was something more there, something Mark wasn’t telling me.

Mark and I had seats facing away from the stage. To my relief, Sam’s name card was on the

other side of me.

Mark’s father was the next to arrive at the table, seating himself down. He immediately turned

to me.

“How are you doing, Caroline? Are you enjoying yourself?”

“I am, thanks. I’m getting to know Sam, we’re getting along wonderfully.”
“Excellent, it’s good someone’s taking care of you while you’re here.”
I glanced discreetly at Mark when I heard the comment, but his face was like marble. Still, I

knew he’d heard the comment, and I knew it had been meant to be heard.

Before I had a chance to reply, however, Mark’s mother arrived, being attended to by two of

the wait staff who had evidently been charged with helping her into her chair.

“I’m just old, I’m not useless,” she snapped as she grabbed the back of the chair herself,

steadied herself for a second, then sat down.

“Now, give me my cane,” she ordered, and the staff did so before immediately leaving,

obviously glad they were away from the cranky old woman.

“I swear, it’s like they think I’m a cripple,” Andrea Selzer complained to no one in particular

as she settled into her seat.

“That’s because you are a cripple dear. We’re old, get used to it. Embrace it,” Mark’s father

retorted.

“Easy for you to say, you can still walk without a stick holding you up.”
“Yes, well, you would be able to as well if you’d ever listened to what the doctors told you.”
I wasn’t sure if I should be amused at the old married couple fight, but going by the look on

Mark’s face, he was horrified that I had to see this.

“Come on mother, it’s fine. You’re in your seat now, and they’re going to start bringing out

dinner.”

Sure enough, the waiters came by with the first appetizer. Mark immediately grabbed the

smallest fork on his plate, making sure I noticed, and I did the same. I was thankful for his subtle help,
there were three forks on the table alone, I wouldn’t have had a clue which one to use without him,
and being here with his parents was absolutely not the time to make any major social faux-pas.

The first few dishes went relatively uneventfully. We made small talk, his father asked me

about my work, and his mother refrained from making the comments about it she obviously wanted to.

All through the meal, however, I could tell something was wrong. It was something I couldn’t

quite place, couldn’t put my finger on exactly, but I knew it was there. There was a tension, like an
unspoken secret between all of the members of the family. I had thought I’d felt it when Mark spoke
about his family, but I didn’t know what it was. Now I knew I wasn’t imagining it, something was
definitely up.

When desert was brought out, an absolutely beautiful dark chocolate and raspberry soufflé that

tasted like heaven, Mark’s mother made the comment that sparked everything.

“Well, goodness me, I couldn’t possibly eat this dessert, it’s so rich, and I have to watch my

figure.”

I noticed out of the corner of my eye as she said this Sam putting down the spoon that had been

halfway to her mouth with her first bite. Not realizing the implications, I still took a bite of mine, and
Mark’s mother glowered at me.

“Of course,” she continued, “I suppose s ome of us don’t really need to care about our

appearance.”

It took me a second to realize that she was insulting me, saying that I didn’t need to care about

my looks because I didn’t belong in society, but before I had a chance to say anything in reply, Mark
had already opened his mouth.

“Shut up, mother. Caroline’s my guest, my date. Let her enjoy her meal without gracing her

with your passive aggressive bullshit for once in your God damned life, would you?”

I had never, ever heard Mark speak that way with anybody before in my life. Hell, I wasn’t

even sure I’d ever heard him swear before. Going by the reaction of everyone else at the table,
neither had they. Our mouths were open, eyes wide. Mark’s mother’s face had gone such a deep shade
of red I was starting to worry she may have had a heart attack.

It took me a second to realize I wasn’t breathing as I waited with bated breath to see what else

was going to happen.

Mark’s father was the first to speak.
“If it wasn’t for the fact that it would look bad in front of all our guests, I would kick you out of

here so fast,” he told Mark in a low voice, nothing at all like the friendly, kindly old man I’d met
earlier.

“Don’t worry father, I wouldn’t want to embarrass you,” Mark replied icily. “You know what?

We’re leaving. The two of you have abused me emotionally my entire life. I’m not about to let you do
it to Caroline as well, who deserves a hell of a lot better than this family.”

With that Mark suddenly stood up and took my hand. I stood up as well. He grabbed our

soufflés and our spoons and I followed him out of the hall, all too aware that this time all the eyes in
the room were on us. We had been seated at the front of the room, we had to pass by nearly everyone
else to get out, but I didn’t notice. I didn’t care that everyone was staring. All I could think about were
those last few words Mark had said to his parents before he stormed out.

That explained everything. That explained why he was always so furtive when it came to

talking about his family, that explained why he was always so happy for us to talk about other things.

I hadn’t realized that Mark had gone through the exact same thing that I did.
My heart was crushed for him. I wanted to hold him close to me, to comfort him, to tell him it

would be ok. For a parent to betray that trust that a child puts in them, for a parent to abuse their child,
it’s one of the worst things I could possibly think of.

As soon as we left the room and found ourselves in the lobby of the hotel, Mark grabbed his

hair with his hands.

“Fuck, I’m so sorry Caroline. I’m so sorry.” He kept repeating the phrase, over and over as he

moved in circles around the room.

“Mark, it’s ok. Calm down, I’m here,” I replied, moving over to him and gently taking his

hands in mine. He stopped pacing when he felt my touch and looked me in the eye.

“I’m sorry. That must have been humiliating for you.”
I shook my head. “Absolutely not. I had no idea you were emotionally abused by your parents,

honestly, I really admire your strength for even being able to be in the same room as them. Come on,
let’s go back to our hotel.”

Mark hailed a cab and ten minutes later we were in the room of our hotel. Mark took off his

jacket and collapsed on the bed. I sat behind him and rubbed his shoulders.

“I’m here, if you want to talk,” I told him. “If you don’t want to talk, that’s fine too.”
For a minute I thought Mark was going to choose the second option, but then he got up and went

into the suite’s living room. It was like I instinctively knew what he wanted me to do; I followed him
over and sat down next to him on the couch.

“I just... I just couldn’t take it anymore, you know?” he finally said.
“I know. I know exactly what you mean.”
“It’s been so long. And it’s so hard. I mean, everyone always thinks I have the perfect life. I

have money, I’m not bad looking, I’m constantly named one of America’s most eligible bachelors. But
none of them know this secret, this horrible, terrible secret that I’m hiding inside. I wouldn’t wish this

on my worst enemy, but I couldn’t talk about it. Who was going to believe me? My parents are some
of the richest, most respected people in the country. Besides, what can even be done about it? I’m an
adult now, I have to take care of my own problems. There’s no one to tell.”

“I know exactly what you mean,” I replied softly. “I understand so much better than you know.

Even when you do tell people, they don’t always believe you.”

Mark looked up at me, but I barely noticed. I was staring into space, my own bad memories

coming flooding back to me.

“You’ve been through the same thing,” he finally said, and I nodded.
“It was when I was young. When I was figure skating. I didn’t know what it was at first. I

mean, in school we always learned to be afraid of strangers, to be afraid of people that hit us, that
touched us where we weren’t comfortable. None of that happened to me, but it still didn’t feel right. It
didn’t feel good.”

“Exactly. It felt like there was no one to talk to, no one you could turn to. It felt like no one

would believe me, and even if they did believe me, they’d just tell me to harden up.”

“That’s it, yes. Mine took the form of my mother forcing me to be a figure skater. Every time I

practiced, every time I went to a meet, I hated it more. I would cry in the change rooms before I had to
go out there. Once, early on, when I was six, I refused to go out. I already started to hate it. I hated the
pressure my mother put on me. I hated all of it. She spanked me so hard I was still crying when I went
onto the ice. But I never dared tell her I didn’t want to do it anymore. No matter how many times she
told me I was pointless, no matter how many times she called me a loser, said I was disappointing the
family.”

“How did you get out of it?”
“I eventually ran away. I planned it for months. I waited for my mother to go to work one day,

packed up my things, and left. I’d just graduated from high school, but I was still seventeen. I had a
friend who was older, she had been one of the coaches. I told her everything, and she invited me to
stay with her. I did, for a few days, then realized I was going to have to get away, since I found out my
mother was trying to find me. So I spent most of the rest of my cash and bought a bus ticket to
anywhere. I ended up in Minneapolis.”

“I admire your courage, Caroline. You have courage I don’t. I never ran away. I stayed. I don’t

know why. I guess I’m just weak, but I was never able to break those bonds completely.”

“You’re not weak. Absolutely not. They’re still your family. It’s not easy to just cut them out

from your life entirely. Especially not in a situation like yours, where they’re in the public eye fairly
regularly, where it would be impossible for you to really run.”

“I guess so. Still, I decided tonight that I’ve had it with them. It was enough to abuse me all my

life, but I didn’t want you to be subjected to it either. Especially now, knowing that you’ve been
through it already, that you know all of the horrible feelings associated with it.”

“I know, I understand completely.”
Just then, Mark’s phone began to buzz in his pocket. He took it out and looked at the screen; it

was his sister. Tossing the phone aside, we both watched it buzz in vain.

“I guess she’s going to have gotten the brunt of it from my parents. Hopefully she’s not too

upset with me.”

“Even if so, Mark, it’s not your fault.”
“I know, but I still can’t help but feel a little bit guilty. She’s my sister. I probably should have

protected her more.”

“She’s a grown woman, just like you. She can make her own decisions.”

“Yeah, you’re right. Still, I should call her back.”
I went into the bedroom to give Mark some privacy while he called his sister. Funnily enough,

I’d completely forgotten about the fact that I still had that egg inside of me, and I slipped it out
carefully. It had only been maybe an hour ago that Mark had made me cum in front of all those people,
none of them having the slightest clue as to what was going on inside of me, and yet it felt like a
lifetime ago.

Ten minutes later Mark came into the room. He looked stressed, I could tell.
“How did it go?” I asked.
“About as well as could be expected, I guess. She wanted me to know that she still supports

me, but to be careful. She says my father was absolutely livid, which was about what I expected.”

“What do you think he’s going to do about it?”
“I don’t know. It’s hard, you know? After all, I run companies that he still technically owns. He

could have me fired tomorrow, very easily.”

“Do you think he’ll do that?”
“I honestly don’t have a clue. I’m not going to worry about it for now. I think I might just try

and get some sleep. We’re flying back tomorrow and I don’t want to spend another minute in this city
more than I have to.”

We both lay down on the bed, but neither one of us could sleep. The night had brought back a

whole bunch of bad memories, memories I’d long since shoved down into the depths of my memory,
that I hadn’t thought about in years.

I wondered if my mother was trying to find me. I wondered if she ever tried to find me, or if

she decided that at seventeen it was obvious I was never going to have a figure skating career and
wrote me off as her daughter.

As I stared at the ceiling, my thoughts turned. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t realized what Mark

had been going through. I should have noticed, I should have figured it out.

I reached over and wrapped my arms around him, and he murmured his appreciation. I knew he

wasn’t sleeping either, but I didn’t want to interrupt his thoughts.

What I didn’t know was what was going to happen in the future, now that Mark had finally

stood up to his family.

* * *

Eventually I must have drifted off, because when the alarm finally went off I was jerked out of

my dreamless sleep. I could feel Mark stumbling around for the snooze button, and I moaned and
shoved my head back into the pillow. I didn’t know how long I’d been sleeping for, but I knew it
wasn’t nearly long enough. This was going to be a long day.

Ten minutes later the shrill cry of the alarm went off once more and we both dragged ourselves

out of bed.

“You look terrible,” I joked, stifling a yawn.
“You’re still beautiful, even with dark rings under your eyes,” Mark replied, sticking his

tongue out at me, and I laughed.

A hot shower did us both some good, and we packed up our things, ready to go. Ten minutes

later we were speeding towards the airport, the limo driver stopping for coffee at Mark’s request. We
sipped our drinks in silence.

“So, what do we do from here?” I finally asked.
“Well, it depends. For one thing, we might get to the plane and find out my father has

requisitioned it, in which case we’ll have to fly commercial back to San Diego. That would also be a

pretty good indication that I don’t have a job waiting for me there anymore. I might not have an
inheritance, either.”

“Well, whatever happens, we’ll get through it. It might even be a good thing, getting away from

working in your father’s company. Even if it costs you the money, no amount of money in the world is
worth destroying your mental health for.”

Mark smiled at me.
“I guess that means you’re not going to break up with me if it turns out I’m not super rich

anymore?”

“Of course not! I’m not only in this relationship for the money,” I teased.
“Thanks, Caroline. I do really appreciate that. I wouldn’t have expected you to be like some of

my exes, who would have dropped me in an instant if I didn’t have money, but it’s still good to
confirm it.”

“No problem.”
Just then we pulled up to the hangar, where the plane was ready for us. We climbed in, and

three minutes later were taxiing towards the runway.

“Well, this is a good sign, at least,” I said as we took off. “You’re still allowed to use the

company plane!”

Mark nodded, then took out his laptop.
“I’m going to try and get some work done, I think. It helps to take my mind off things. And after

all, I’m not fired yet.”

While Mark worked I got a few more hours sleep, and we finally landed in San Diego five

hours later.

Over the next few weeks I began to realize that not all was right with Mark. He hadn’t quite

been the same since New York. He was working less on the business and more on the charity, which I
knew made him feel better. I could tell he was hurting inside, I could tell that even though he seemed
fine on the outside, there was something inside that was bothering him.

When we went out one night, eating pizza at a small eatery downtown, I finally asked Mark

about it.

“Look, I know there’s something wrong. I know you’ve been through a lot, but it hurts me to

know that you’re hurting inside and not seeing anyone about it, not talking to anyone about it.”

Mark stopped for a minute, pausing before he finally answered.
“You’re right,” he finally replied, sighing. “I’ve been trying to hide it, I didn’t realize I was

actually so obvious that it was that noticeable, but I’m definitely not over this whole family thing.”

“Of course you’re not, that’s completely normal.”
“It’s funny, though. I mean, it actually relieved an enormous amount of stress when I finally

confronted my parents. Like, all the words I thought to myself in my head during my childhood, all
those times I wanted to say something but didn’t have the guts to, confronting him finally made all the
stress of never saying those words go away.”

“Yeah, I know what you mean. It’s like you finally said everything you ever wanted to say,

right?”

“Exactly. I thought life would be pretty much perfect once I finally did it. I always thought I’d

cut those ties, I wouldn’t care about it anymore, and I’d be able to move on, to live my life happily.”

“And you can’t?” I asked softly. This part I didn’t understand. I had left, and never looked

back.

“Yeah.” Mark paused for a little bit, idly breaking one of the pizza crusts on the edge of his

plate up with his fingers. Then, he spoke again.

“It’s weird. I thought it’d be so much better, but I feel empty. They might have been shit

parents, but they were still my family. And now I don’t even really feel like I can go to Sam, I feel so
guilty about leaving her in the middle of things, to deal with my parents, so it’s like I’ve lost my
whole family. No matter how terrible they might have been, you always learn that you’re supposed to
be good to your family, you know? Then I feel bad and start hating myself for not being able to break
away from it all.”

“Don’t feel bad about having feelings, Mark. You’re allowed to feel whatever you feel.”
I reached across the table and grabbed his hand, and he smiled and squeezed back.
“Thanks, Caroline. You know, I don’t know what I’d do without you. You’ve been so amazing

to me through this whole mess. Plus you’re the only person I know who really understands what I’m
going through.”

“No problem. I know you want to blame yourself. I did too, when I left. Maybe if I’d been a

better figure skater, maybe if I’d worked harder, my mother wouldn’t have treated me like she did.
But eventually I realized that wasn’t true, but they were still my feelings. Don’t blame yourself, but
don’t feel bad about feeling whatever it is you feel either. Your feelings don’t make you weak, going
through this makes you strong.”

“I love you, Caroline.”
The words came from out of nowhere, they blew me away. I’m pretty sure I sat there staring at

Mark for like, five minutes.

“Sorry if that’s too forward,” he continued, realizing I wasn’t saying anything. “I don’t want to

ruin what we have, but I want you to know. I love you, I realized over the last few weeks. I don’t
know what I’d do without you in my life.”

I smiled. “I love you too, Mark,” I finally replied. And as I said the words, I knew it was true.

Hell, I’d known I was in love with Mark for a long time, I was always just too afraid to say it, too
afraid to ruin what we had. And speaking of what we had, I realized that since we’d come back from
New York there had been no more talk of me becoming Mark’s submissive. I guess with everything
that had happened we got sidetracked by other things. But now, I knew what I wanted. I knew what I
felt that night at the charity dinner when I came in front of all those people, when Mark had complete
control over me.

“Not only do I love you, but I want to be your submissive,” I said, almost whispering in case

people from other tables were listening in to our conversation.

A grin spread across Mark’s face.
“I was wondering if you’d forgotten I’d even asked. I didn’t want to bring it up again after the

trip, but hey, I’m glad you did, especially since that’s your answer.”

I began to blush, realizing what I’d just said, realizing what it implied.
“I think we should get a sundae to celebrate, I hear they do an amazing one here,” Mark said,

motioning the waitress over.

I didn’t hear Mark order the Sundae, I was still just completely taken aback by what had just

happened. Mark had told me he loved me. Like, really loved me. Then I said the same and agreed to
be his submissive. Just like that, in the last minute, my life changed so enormously. I didn’t know how
yet, but I knew it had changed.

“Hey, Caroline, you okay?” Mark asked. I must have really looked like I zoned out. I smiled at

him.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Great, actually.”

“Good, I’m glad.”
We barely got out of the restaurant before Mark and I were all over each other, and as our

hands roamed our bodies as the car drove us back to his place, I wondered if we were even going to
make it that far before we’d ripped each other’s clothes off.

* * *

For the next week or so, things were pretty much as close to perfect as I could imagine. Mark

and I were happier than ever. I was getting used to being his submissive. He bought me a beautiful
silk collar studded with diamonds that simply looked like an accessory to everyone we met in public,
but that was our secret little representation of his ownership of my body.

It was exciting, really, knowing that I had to obey every one of Mark’s commands. He had

always been dominating in the bedroom, I knew that, but this took things to a whole new level, a level
that sent chills down my spine and pleasure radiating through me whenever I even thought of it.

As far as Mark went, our talk at the restaurant helped. He was no longer withdrawn, he was

basically back to normal. He mentioned to me that he might try and get in touch with Sam, to try and
apologize and fix that relationship. I encouraged it, absolutely, as I thought it would be good for
Mark.

Still, it was almost like I was waiting for the other shoe to drop. There was no way this whole

thing could go this perfectly. I know any drama in my family never did. There was no way Mark’s
father could simply forgive him and move on, as much as I hoped that was what happened and wanted
it to.

Finally, it happened. I was working in my office one day when Mark came down to see me. I

immediately knew something was wrong. It wasn’t just Mark’s paler-than-usual face, or the worried
crease lines in his forehead. For one thing, he very rarely, if ever actually came down to my office, to
avoid any rumours that we might be seeing each other, even though we both knew it was the worst
kept secret in the office.

He came in and closed the door behind him, then practically collapsed into the seat on the other

side of my desk.

“Mark, what’s wrong?” I asked. I normally referred to him as ‘Sir’ now, but we had decided

that whenever we were at work or in public I’d just call him ‘Mark’ in case someone else overheard.

He waited a minute before answering, collecting his thoughts. When he spoke, it was almost

like a whisper, nothing like the confident, deep voice I was used to.

“My father’s disinherited me.”
“Oh my God, that’s terrible!”
“Yeah, well, I wouldn’t care if it was just that. He’s also removing me from the board and

getting rid of Teach the Children.”

I immediately knew this was really what was upsetting Mark.
“What? How can he do that? I thought you had complete control over the charity.”
“I thought so too. It turns out that’s not actually true. All of the money to start it up was

originally in my trust fund, my father had to sign off on it to sign it over into my name. I sent him the
paperwork and his lawyers told me they had been signed and filed. Today the lawyer told me that
was a lie. Technically the charity operated out of the trust, so it’s still in my father’s control up until
his death, as the trusts are set up so that they can be collapsed and rescinded.”

“What the hell? Is the lawyer allowed to just lie to you like that?”
“Since he was my father’s lawyer and not mine, apparently it’s fine. Completely fine. I don’t

even... I don’t know what I’m going to do. He could have done anything else. I didn’t give a shit

about the inheritance. I could make my own way in the world. The company doesn’t really mean
anything to me. I’m proud of the work I do for it of course, but that’s it. But the charity, that’s a low
blow. Teach the Children is my baby. I’m so God damned proud of those kids, so proud of what
everyone working there does. I can’t believe my father would stoop so low to take the one thing he
controls that I value more than everything else he owns. Actually, correct that, I can believe it. I can
absolutely believe it.”

I could tell as he spoke that Mark was going from shocked to angry. The determination, the

confidence was back in his voice, and I was glad to hear it.

“We’re going to find a way to get the charity back, Mark,” I told him.
“You know what Caroline? You’re right. We absolutely are.”
“Tell me what you need me to do. I’ll do anything to help us get the charity back. There has to

be something.”

“You’re right, there has to. I don’t know what it is yet, I have no idea, but we will find it.

We’ll find something. We have to.”

Making plans to meet that night in Mark’s office, he left mine and went back to his own.

Finding that I couldn’t concentrate on my work, I decided to go down the street and grab a coffee from
the place I liked. I sat at the table against the window, watching people go by and thinking about what
Mark had told me. I felt absolutely devastated for him. It wasn’t fair at all what his father had done.
That charity was what Mark lived for, he cared so incredibly much about what they were doing. To
take it away from his was cruel, it was then that I realized just to what extent Mark’s father was angry
at Mark no longer taking the abuse anymore.

I spent the afternoon wondering what we could possibly do to get the charity back. It was so

important to Mark, it was so important to all of the employees and volunteers of the charity, and of
course to the hundreds of kids that were helped directly because of what Mark did every single year. I
didn’t know what was coming. I didn’t know what we were going to do.

What I did know was that we were going to do something. I knew deep down that I would fight

as hard as I could, do everything I could to make sure that Mark’s father didn’t win, that he wouldn’t
manage to punish Mark for daring to stand up to abuse. I knew exactly what Mark had gone through in
daring to cut ties with his family, to move away from that forever, and I knew how hard it was. Now I
was going to help him through it.

To Be Continued...

In case you missed it, please don’t forget to check out part 1 of this series:

Seduced

: When Caroline's company won an all expenses paid trip to Hawaii, she thought all

she'd be doing was lying on the beach drinking mai tais with her best friend Lisa. Little did she know
her life would be turned upside down when she ran into Mark Selzer in the elevator.

Expecting their one night of passion to be only that, Caroline is shocked when Mark shows up at her
door two weeks later. Will she be able to open up enough to let him into her life? And how will she
react when she finds out he's the heir to the largest resort company in the country?

About the Author

Hi! I’m Victoria Villeneuve. I’m a small town girl at heart, with dreams of living in a cabin in

the country with my two dogs and my amazing boyfriend Mike. When I’m not writing you can usually

find me enjoying a nice mocha in my local coffee shop, reading some of my favourite books by the
lake or playing soccer with my friends.

I want to thank you for reading my story, I do hope you enjoyed it. I love to hear from my fans,

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