WARNING: This book is not transferable. It is for your own personal use. If it is sold, shared, or given away, it is an infringement of the copyright of this work and violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
This book is for sale to ADULT AUDIENCES ONLY. It contains substantial sexually explicit scenes and graphic language which may be considered offensive by some readers. Please store your files where they cannot be accessed by minors.
All sexually active characters in this work are 18 years of age or older.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are solely the product of the author’s imagination and/or are used fictitiously, though reference may be made to actual historical events or existing locations. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely coincidental.
Cover Photo Credit: Aline Salazar
Used under a Creative Commons license.
Cover Design: Cherry Lee
Branded © 2008 Cherry Lee
eXcessica publishing
All rights reserved
Branded
By Cherry Lee
Prologue
This is the test, isn’t it? To see how still I can hold as the burning brand moves closer and closer to my quivering flesh. My stomach is curdled like old milk and my mouth as dry as paper. I embrace the roiling stomach acid and my thick, swollen tongue, because these small discomforts distract me from the larger one to come. I smell the steaming coals and the heated iron, and imagine I smell charred flesh, but it hasn’t happened yet.
No chains and shackles hold me. No stocks confine me. No hands hold me steady. I could bolt at any time, and return to the life I knew a mere two months ago. But I stand and hold my ground. I’ve chosen what is about to happen.
Clenching my jaw so tight my teeth creak, I brace my hands against the gate and grip the rough wood. The dark voice comes from behind me, so husky and sensual my pussy tenses and releases wetly. “Do you truly want to bear my permanent mark?”
As the brand nearly touches my hip, the heat already singing my flesh, I groan, “Yes. Yes, I want this.”
Chapter One
“This isn’t like you, Mel. You’re freaking me out.”
“Trust me, sweetie. You have nothing to worry about.” My sister’s voice was cool and smooth as silk, unruffled despite the fact we’d been arguing for the past twenty minutes. Or actually, I’d been arguing, she’d been responding in that calm, affectionate voice, refusing to rise no matter how I baited her.
“Well, I am worried. You’re involved in this strange lifestyle, you barely call anymore, and when we do talk you don’t sound like yourself.”
“Sondra, believe me, I’m more myself now than I’ve ever been my entire life. I know it seems weird to you, but have you ever known me to rush into anything? I’m embracing something that makes me happy, and I wish you could be happy for me.”
She was right. I was the impetuous younger sister, the one who threw herself into situations without considering consequences. If levelheaded Melanie told me she wanted to be living as essentially a sex slave in some mysterious man’s home, I had to believe she was quite serious and hadn’t been coerced into it.
“But it’s so…wrong! You’ve given up your job, your apartment, and you’ve surrendered your body to this man to…to do whatever he wants with. How can giving up your will be mentally healthy?”
“I haven’t given up my will.” Her voice remained infuriatingly calm. I wanted to reach through the phone line and slap her. “You wouldn’t believe the willpower it takes to do this, to be this. And I haven’t called because I knew you wouldn’t understand the life I’ve chosen. It’s just too difficult for an outsider.”
Outsider. I was an outsider now? To the sister who’d been closer to me than anyone in my entire life, any friend or lover I’d ever had? Her words hurt. I drew a deep breath and let it out slowly. This might be my one chance to reach out to her and keep our communication open. I knew I must choose my words carefully for once.
“You’re right. I don’t know anything about BDSM or about what draws some people to be dominants or submissives. But, if it’s as fulfilling as you say, maybe it’s something I should check out. How would your…master…feel about having a houseguest for a two-week visit? I’ve got some time coming at work and my plan was Cancun, but I’d much rather see you.”
There was a long pause. For a moment, I thought she’d turn me down, then Melanie spoke breathlessly. “Seriously? You’d come to Napa? Oh honey, I’ll have to ask Master Damien, but if he permits it, I’d love to see you.”
“Ask him then and call me as soon as you know.” I managed to keep the disdain from my voice. But inside her words rankled. Asking for permission from a man? Such bullshit!
Mel’s voice bubbled with excitement. “You’ll love the estate and the vineyards. It’s so gorgeous here, and as for the rest of it, honestly, at first you might be a little freaked out, but I think you’ll start to understand our relationship.”
I was already freaked out. Seeing dungeons, torture equipment and sex toys first hand could hardly make it any worse.
“I’ll send you a couple of very good books to give you an overview of the different elements of the lifestyle.”
Kinky sex homework. Nice. This should be a vacation to remember.
* * * * *
Master Damien approved Melanie’s request on condition he interview me first. I agreed, willing to do whatever it took to get inside the place my sister now lived.
The Dom’s voice on the phone was sex personified—magnetic, erotic, intimate, a low, pulsing timbre that made my pussy clench. “Sondra, I want to assure you your sister is perfectly safe and content and has chosen her new position in my household, entering into an agreement with a full understanding of all it entails.”
“Okay. I get that.” Visions of brain-washing still danced in my head, but I let it slide. The most important thing was getting the invitation. Once inside, I’d see how things really stood.
“I want to know what your expectations are of this visit. If you intend to harass Melanie or make her feel ashamed of her life choices, I won’t have that. She’s under my protection, and I won’t let her be hurt that way.”
“I would never hurt my sister. I just want to see her.”
There was a long pause. I listened hard, trying to hear him breathing, and imagining what this man who’d seduced my sister into slavery could possibly look like.
“Tell me about yourself,” he suddenly said.
“What do you want to know?”
“Tell me about your girlhood, your relationship with Melanie growing up.”
“We were very close. We fought as sisters do, over clothes, our room, all that, but overall we got along great. She was my best friend.” A wave of melancholy broke over me as I realized we hadn’t been that close in a long while. “But she moved away. We haven’t been in touch as much the last few years.”
“Do you enjoy your career and your life in Chicago? Are you happy there?”
“My job’s okay.” It was all the enthusiasm I could muster for my mediocre employment.
“Is there anyone special in your life right now? A significant other?”
“Uh, what’s with the twenty questions? I don’t mind telling you about myself, but that’s getting a little personal.” Truth was I hadn’t had more than a casual date in over a year, not since I broke off my three year relationship with Jason, which had honestly not been worth wasting three years on.