Phantasie Read online

  PHANTASIE

  An Ellora’s Cave publication written by

  KIT TUNSTALL

  MS Reader (LIT) ISBN # 1-84360-524-4

  Other available formats (no ISBNs are assigned):

  Adobe (PDF), Rocketbook (RB), Mobipocket (PRC) & HTML

  © Copyright Kit Tunstall, June 2003.

  All Rights Reserved, Ellora's Cave.

  Ellora's Cave Publishing, Inc. USA

  Ellora's Cave Ltd, UK

  This e-book may not be reproduced in whole or in part by email forwarding, copying, fax, or any other mode of communication without author/publisher permission.

  Edited by Ann Richardson

  Cover Art by Christine Clavel

  Warning:

  The following material contains strong sexual content meant for mature readers. PHANTASIE has been rated NC17, erotic, by three individual reviewers. We strongly suggest storing this electronic file in a place where young readers not meant to view this ebook are unlikely to happen upon it. That said, enjoy…

  Author’s Note

  The stories in this book are fantasy only, taking elements of BDSM and D/s, without faithfully following a classic relationship. Neither story is intended to be a completely accurate portrayal of a real BDSM and/or Dominant/submissive relationship, which is much more than someone surrendering control to another.

  To learn more about the elements of a true power exchange relationship, visit shadowfind.com and drmsrealm.com.

  Or check out some of the other fine BDSM books available from Ellora’s Cave.

  Prologue

  Serena couldn’t hold back a whimper as the plane jerked when it encountered a pocket of turbulence. She grasped the armrest and closed her eyes, convinced she was about to die.

  “Relax,” said the calm voice of her seatmate on the right, by the window.

  Serena turned to look at the woman beside her, noting the startling contrast of the carefully applied makeup and razor-edged bob style of her ash-blonde hair to the khaki slacks and pink pinstriped shirt she wore. This woman looked like the type comfortable in power suits. She seemed out of her element in the casual clothing, with her hair pushed back by a pink headband.

  “It’s just a little turbulence,” she said, smiling at Serena. “It won’t hurt you at all. You just need some champagne.” With a subtle wave, the woman caught the attention of the young man serving first class. When he reached their row, she smiled up at him. “My, you’re a cutie.”

  A faint blush appeared to tinge his cheeks. “Thank you, ma’am. How may I help you?” His voice was thick with an accent, but Serena didn’t know which one. He could be from Lasënbourg, their destination, or any of the nearby countries, including Germany, Switzerland, France, or Italy.

  “Please bring us each a glass of champagne.”

  Serena shook her head. “Oh, just ginger ale—”

  She cut Serena off. “Don’t listen to my young friend. She needs alcohol.”

  The steward inclined his head. “Right away, ma’am.” He moved away without a whisper of sound.

  “I don’t drink—”

  “Make an exception,” she said airily. “You can join me in celebrating.”

  “What are you celebrating?” Serena asked.

  “Vacation,” she said with a grimace, as the steward returned with two glasses of golden champagne on a silver salver. He offered them their glasses before returning to his cubby at the back of the first-class section.

  Serena eyed it doubtfully.

  “You are old enough to drink, aren’t you?”

  She nodded. “I’m twenty-three.”

  She clinked her glass against Serena’s. “To new friends.”

  Serena repeated the toast and cautiously sipped the champagne, finding it dry and bubbly.

  “If we’re going to be friends, we should introduce ourselves.” She sipped her champagne before continuing. “I’m Regan Delaney.”

  “Serena Jensen.”

  “Are you married?”

  Serena shook her head, feeling a catch in her throat that left her unable to speak.

  “Good,” Regan said decisively. “You don’t need a man to be happy. All you need’s a good vibrator, and an occasional foray in the bedroom with an anonymous stud, right? I’ve lived thirty-four years without one, and I’m perfectly happy.”

  Serena shook her head. “I don’t know. I’d like to get married.” Her traitorous heart insisted on offering up a candidate.

  Regan shrugged. “If the right man came along, I guess I would too. I just don’t think there’s any such thing.”

  Serena made a non-committal sound, deciding not to disagree with her new friend. After what she had been through, how could she offer a counterview anyway?

  “Where are you headed?”

  “Castle Phantasie. I won the trip by being the one-hundred-thousandth customer at Castle Chocolate Company.”

  “That’s where I’m headed too,” Regan said. “I’m long overdue for a vacation. What do you do?”

  She shrugged. “At the moment, whatever’s available. I work part-time at an ice cream store to help make ends meet while I am starting a dog-walking service…” She trailed off as heat suffused her cheeks. She didn’t need any reminders of Ian McDermott, and tried to push away his image as it blossomed in her mind.

  Regan nodded. “I’m CEO of Synergies Systems.”

  She blinked. “What does your company do?”

  “We’re a high-tech company. We specialize in government contracts for a variety of technological needs.”

  “Sounds rough,” Serena said, silently adding, and confusing. What she knew about that kind of thing wouldn’t fill a sheet of paper. “What do you plan to do at Castle Phantasie?”

  “I’m going to get laid,” Regan said. “It’s been too long since I indulged. I may jump the first man I see.” She grinned as her eyes alighted on the elderly man and his wife across the aisle. “Once we arrive at Castle Phantasie, of course.” She touched Serena’s arm. “What about you?”

  She shrugged, not wanting to blurt out she was just looking to escape.

  “Maybe we’ll all see if Castle Phantasie’s reputation is deserved,” Regan said as she sipped her champagne.

  Serena frowned with puzzlement. “What reputation?”

  “Why, they make your dreams come true,” Regan said dryly. “It’s supposed to be like the fairytales. They claim Castle Phantasie grants your heart’s desire.”

  “Hmm.” Serena shook her head. “I doubt it happens, but I’m willing to keep an open mind.”

  “To our fantasies,” Regan said, lifting her glass. “May they all come true.” She didn’t sound optimistic about the prospect.

  Serena silently echoed her sentiment as she sipped her champagne and listened to her new friend talk about her job. She already knew her dream wouldn’t be waiting for her at Castle Phantasie. She had found and lost it in the space of one night, two weeks ago.

  She closed her eyes at the dart of pain accompanying the memory. She bit back the instinctive protestation of innocence as she once again remembered how Ian had ruined what she thought was their perfect night together.

  She bit hard on her tongue, trying to force back the parade of images that had haunted her for two weeks. Once again, they overwhelmed her, and she was unable to keep herself from reliving the pleasure/pain of that night.

  Chapter 1

  Serena’s Sentence

  “Do you think he’d mind, Auggie-Doggie?” Serena asked Ian’s full-sized Schnauzer as she rummaged through his drawer. When Auggie failed to do more than waggle his nose, she took that as consent. “I don’t suppose he would. After all, I can’t run around the house not wearing anything, can I?”

  She lifted a navy-blue pajama shirt
from Ian’s dresser and slid it on, shivering as the silk slid across her nipples, causing them to harden. “Oh, yummy,” she told the dog. Silk wasn’t possible with her budget, and she was almost glad for the deluge that soaked them coming back from the park. If the rest of her clothes hadn’t been finishing the spin cycle when she and the dog reentered the house, she wouldn’t have had the excuse to borrow any of Ian’s clothes.

  It was decadent to be parading around his home wearing only his shirt. Maybe she could indulge in a little fantasy while she wore it. She could picture herself lying against his silk-clad chest, minutes after they had made love. In her mind, she could practically hear him whisper, “I love you.” It was her favorite dream. She yearned for even an inkling that Ian felt the same way about her. So far, it didn’t seem as though she was making reciprocal appearances in his fantasies.

  “Yeah, right,” she muttered aloud as they left Ian’s bedroom, “like he’s ever looked at me that way before. I’m just the dog-walker to Ian.”

  Auggie left several feet between them as he followed her, indicating he still hadn’t forgiven her for the indignity of subjecting him to a bath in the Jacuzzi tub in the guest bathroom. His refined sensibilities must have been shocked when she got in the tub and scrubbed him. He was strictly a canine salon-only type of dog. “Get over it,” she advised him. “I couldn’t let you drip all over the master’s white carpets, could I?”

  Auggie kept his gaze turned from her as he padded into the living room to curl up by the fireplace. Serena shrugged and detoured through the kitchen to the laundry room, switching her clean clothes from the washer to the dryer before lifting the sodden clothes she’d stripped off in the laundry room as soon as she reentered the house through the back door. She dumped them in the washer, along with Auggie’s stylish angora sweater, started the load, and closed the lid.

  She padded into the kitchen, noticing the hint of chill in the Pergo flooring on her bare feet. She made a mental note to turn on the gas fireplace as she went to the freezer and rummaged for the triple-chocolate ice cream she knew Ian always had on hand. She found it buried behind a box of frozen carrots and lifted out the carton.

  She took a bowl from the cupboard and scooped in a generous portion before returning the container to the freezer. She plopped a spoon in the bowl and went into the living room, looking forward to a night spent curled on the couch, reading a book. She wouldn’t even turn on the stereo, although Ian had a state-of-the-art system.

  She would have watched Ian’s house and dog without pay, just for the silence. Living with four other girls in a two-bedroom apartment made her appreciate quiet time all the more.

  She spooned a bite of ice cream into her mouth as she walked into the living room. Her eyes widened when she saw Ian standing in the entryway, stripping off his soaked trench coat. A startled cry slipped from her, and she dropped the dish of ice cream on the white carpet.

  He looked up, and his eyes widened.

  Serena didn’t know what to do first. “You’re home early.” When she spoke, she realized a trail of ice cream was dripping down her chin. She wiped it away with the back of her hand, but otherwise, she found herself unable to move.

  He nodded, and the light caught the various shades of red and blond in his short hair. The rain had plastered it to his skull, causing it to hang forward and obscure his hazel eyes. “Something came up that forced me home early.” His gaze seemed to skim her from the top of her head to the tips of her blue-polished toenails.

  Serena pulled down on the hem of the top, which caused it to expose more of her cleavage. “You’re probably wondering why I’m wearing your shirt,” she said in a rush. “See, I took Auggie to the park, and it started raining on the way home. I had my other clothes in the washer, and, well, I couldn’t prance around naked, could I?” She took a deep breath and stopped prattling like an airhead.

  His lips twitched, as if he wanted to smile. “I don’t see why not.”

  “What?”

  “You didn’t know I was coming home early. What difference would it make if you pranced around naked?”

  The question caught her by surprise. Serena opened her mouth, searching for an answer. She finally said primly, “Auggie was here.”

  He did laugh then. “Augustus is rather a prude, I fear.”

  “I’ll, um, be out of your hair as soon as my clothes dry.”

  He pointed to the floor. “Don’t forget the ice cream.”

  She looked down, horrified by the dark stain spreading across the carpet. “Oh, no.” Serena darted into the kitchen and ripped several paper towels off the roll before returning to the living room. She got on her knees to gather the melting ice cream into the glass bowl.

  Serena’s hand stilled when Ian walked over to her, standing above her. She looked down and saw he’d stripped off his shoes. Black dress socks covered his large feet, and she found herself wondering if the old adage about big feet were true.

  When her gaze moved slowly up to meet his, she couldn’t resist a quick peek at his package. Her eyes widened when she realized he was hard. She raised her eyes quickly, tilting her head back to look at him. “Ian…” She trailed off as his hands dropped to his waistband. She forced herself not to look down as she heard the unmistakable sound of a zipper lowering.

  He cupped the back of her head, and Serena found it impossible to move. She knew she should get up and move away in an attempt to return things to a semblance of normalcy, but her limbs refused to cooperate. She kept her gaze glued to his, not missing the way his eyes took on more of a brown cast now that he was aroused. She licked her lips as he pushed gently against her head, bringing her forward.

  Her gaze slipped down, and the sight of his erect cock met her eyes. In Ian’s case, the saying was true, she thought disjointedly. She eyed his cock uncertainly, half-convinced this was a joke at her expense. “I—”

  He kept one hand at the back of her head, but the other lifted his cock and touched it against her lips. “Put your mouth around me, Serena.”

  She tried to shake her head, but his hold firmed, not allowing her to move. She hesitated, torn. Her brow furrowed with confusion. Why now, after all this time? She had lusted after Ian for almost the entire two years she had been Auggie’s dog-walker. In that span of time, Ian had never treated her with more than distant politeness. She wouldn’t have put money on a bet that he could pick her out of a lineup of six medium-height honey-blondes.

  “Serena.”

  She found it impossible to resist the command in his tone. It wasn’t as though she didn’t want him. Ian McDermott starred in her nighttime fantasies, and she often imagined he swept her off her feet without giving her a chance to protest—not that she would. She had tried to dismiss her infatuation as a crush, but that line of reasoning hadn’t made her think about Ian any less often.

  She took a deep breath before opening her mouth and touching the tip of his cock with her tongue. She explored cautiously, swirling her tongue around the head and corona, finding it easy enough.

  “Take my cock in your mouth.”

  Her pussy clenched as she opened her mouth wider and moved forward to take his cock inside. She couldn’t get all of it in, and when she had as much as she could take, she froze, unsure what to do next.

  “Suck me.”

  It’s like he’s reading my mind, she thought dazedly as she started sucking. The carpet was rough against her knees, and she realized she still held a wad of paper towels. She dropped them and braced her hands on his thighs as she swirled her tongue around his cock, pausing to trace the vein throbbing rapidly.

  She increased her suction and started moving her head forward and back. She hadn’t given head before, but she had seen it done in movies. Ian groaned, and his hand tightened in her hair. Moisture pooled in her pussy at his signs of pleasure, and she grew more enthusiastic. She made a sound of protest when he pushed her away. Serena looked up at him, frowning. “Was I doing it wrong?”

  His face h
ad flushed red, and he seemed to be gritting his teeth. “No. You’re doing it too well for me to last if you keep at it. You’re very good.”

  She smiled at the compliment.

  “How long did it take you to perfect your technique?”

  Her smile faded at the odd question. It sounded almost analytical, but there was an indefinable note in his tone. “I haven’t—”

  “Never mind. Who cares?” Ian grasped her arms and pulled her to his feet. “Come with me.”

  She followed him into the bedroom, ignoring the voice of caution in the back of her head. She was twenty-three and had waited too damn long to have sex. She didn’t care if Ian only wanted a one-night stand. She would be fine with that. Once again, she ignored the voice of doubt.

  Inside the bedroom, Ian closed the door on Auggie, who had followed them. He turned to her, pulling her into his arms for a kiss. His mouth was firm and hard on hers, giving no concession to her possible lack of experience.

  She felt branded as his tongue pushed through her lips to probe the depths of her mouth. Her body responded to the expert touch, even as her mind rebelled at the way he seemed to still be distant from her, despite how close they were to each other. She broke away. “Wait, Ian, I don’t know about this.”

  He moved his hands to the top button of her pajama top. “What’s to know? You want me, don’t you?”

  “I—” She let out a startled gasp as his fingers invaded her bare pussy. She couldn’t keep her hips from bucking as he stroked her clit.

  He stared into her eyes as his fingers pushed inside her. “Are you going to pretend you aren’t turned on?”

  She shook her head. “I do want you.”

  “Good.” He bent his head to kiss her again.

  Serena ducked away. “It’s just, I’m not sure I want it like this. You seem…” She trailed off, searching for the right word. She tilted her head, trying to analyze his mood. “Angry,” she settled for saying, though that wasn’t quite it.