Page 12 of Bound and Branded

No. I need to get my head on straight. I don’t like feeling like I’m out of control. Obviously. Everything in my life is about control. She’s the one thing that takes me back to a time when I didn’t feel like I had that. The one thing that makes me feel like I’m standing on the edge of a precipice and I might get pushed off or, hell, I might jump.

I don’t like it. Not one bit.

“The floors need to be done today,” I say. “And windows.”

She blinks. “Windows?”

“Inside. Not outside. And not the ones in the living room. You’re not getting on a ladder or anything. The bedroom windows, though. All the supplies should be in there. I figure you know how to do chores.”

“That’s something I definitely know how to do.”

The truth is, I have a cleaning service come once a month and do a deep clean. And I also generally have a housekeeper. I know what I’m good at. And I know what I’m not good at. I’m not good at keeping up on the day-to-day. I have enough money to cover up my weaknesses, and so I do that. What I’m doing with her… It’s a game.

But it’s the only way that I can play it, and I’m well aware of that. This is the only way she’s going to let me forgive her dad’s debt, the only way that she’s going to feel secure in it. And I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that there’s also something… Something like adrenaline that I’m getting out of this. Like I’m testing myself.

Testing if maybe I’m actually a decent person, or not.

The jury is out.

She goes inside and I head out. I get my truck and drive over to the barn. And I know that she doesn’t think that I have a real, working ranch, but I do. The horse breeding program is small, but it’s functioning. I don’t do any of this for money. I’ve established a billion-dollar conglomerate that I’m on the verge of buying myself out of. Liquidating as much of my assets as possible, and setting myself up to live here. I don’t need to grind all the time. I’ve been doing it my whole life. It’ll be interesting to experience life without that.

Of course, I’ll be by myself. That’s what happens when you don’t have family and every friendship you’ve ever made is transactional, or based around a shared kink.

But I’ll have the money to travel wherever I want to go. To do whatever makes sense to me. To not work so damned hard, like I’m still running from the gutter.

That’s some kind of freedom. And I know that I should just be grateful for it. I spent enough of my life scrapping for survival.

I’ll be the kind of rich prick I always dreamed of being. And eventually, I’ll be an older version of myself, still trawling clubs for kink with no attachments, and it’ll all start seem a little creepy.

The future is bright.

I can also double down and keep working on this ranch. Maybe I’ll build it up into something bigger. Right now, it’s manageable mainly with just me. That’s what I want.

I have a monster of a company already. I don’t need it to get all that much more intense. One day at a time. That’s one thing I’ve been good at for a long time. Survival.

I head down to the far north pasture and drive along the fence line, making sure there are no weak points. Then I head to the stables, and rotate through the horses, make sure each of them gets a good workout.

After about two hours, I hear the distinct chime of the Club app from my phone.

The adrenaline kick that spikes in my blood surprises me.

I don’t usually get this edgy about it. But it’s been too long since I’ve done a scene.

I don’t know if I’m testing myself or what by not just flying somebody out here. I don’t know why I’m playing games with this sub who clearly is scared to pull the trigger.

But here I am. Games for days.

In every aspect of my life. I open the app up, and click on her message.

If we were to do a scene, what would we do?

God dammit. I feel myself getting hard just thinking about it. I’ve never seen a picture of her. We haven’t traded any physical descriptions or anything like that. I don’t know how old she is. I don’t know anything except she’s new at this.

But she told me last night what she’s interested in. And it’s so, so easy for me to imagine the scene in my head. Of course, without features for this woman, it’s far too easy for me to put Avery in her place. Naked, on her knees in front of me, her hair in braids. Just like it was when I saw her two hours before. She would look good in rope. Just thinking about it makes me hard.

I decide to go ahead and use it for fantasy fuel for this exchange with the sub.

First off, I would take my time undressing you. Then I’d have to get a good look at you to decide exactly how I want to bind you. But we would start with something simple. Something that takes time, but doesn’t push you too hard. Something that makes you feel helpless. That’s what you want, isn’t it?

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