Brat and Master by Sindra van Yssel Page A

seated himself on the wooden bench in front of it, and lost himself in Chopin for a while.
    * * * *
    Amanda woke up when Snowball, her cat, swished his tail against her face. Amanda sneezed and picked up the big white ball of fur and set him back on the floor where he belonged, intending to roll over and get more sleep. It was way too early to be up after a late night at the club. But once she’d gone to all that effort, she was wide-awake, and two minutes later, she got out of bed.
    “You got what you wanted, didn’t you?” she asked Snowball as she fetched a can of food from the drawer above the kitchen counter. Snowball meowed innocently in response.
    She knew she probably shouldn’t have a cat. She wasn’t very allergic to Snowball, but there was no doubt she felt stuffier at home than she did when she was out. But the cat was the one constant in her life. He was alternately toppish and indifferent, like most cats, but he was always there for her, and when she was sick or depressed, he curled his warm body against hers and stayed until she felt better. He might be a selfish little beast, but he was hers, and he wasn’t going anywhere.
    She scooped the cat food into Snowball’s bowl and set it on the floor. Snowball feigned indifference, walked past the food as if on a mission, then slowly circled his way back and buried his nose in it.
    “You’re not fooling anyone, you know.” Getting no response, Amanda walked over to her desk and opened her laptop. Callie had been great to snuggle with, but she had a feeling there would be a letter waiting for her, telling her more about Callie’s man troubles. As soon as the computer connected to the wireless, she started working her way through her e-mails, hoping to find a job offer.
    Hi, u r hot. Saw u at the club. Let me know if u want to flog me.
    Delete. That was the problem with handing out cards indiscriminately, but if people had questions about the demo, she wanted to answer them. It would be nicer to be called hot by someone who was willing to spell out words. The fact was, she didn’t feel very hot lately. She’d had to bleach out the blue-black hair, as well as the little pink stripe she had down the middle, in an attempt to make herself look better for job interviews. Now her hair was the mousiest shade of brown ever, and she was probably lucky the bleached-out black hadn’t turned a brassy red. She knew she wasn’t walking as proud or carrying herself as well.
    She opened the next one and read Jeremy’s mail.
    Another scene? The one they did had felt awesome, and she wanted to repeat that experience. But afterward he’d seemed so distant, and if it hadn’t been for Callie, she’d have suffered a major drop. Giving herself over to someone was intense, and with Jeremy it had been more so than usual. She’d wanted to be held more. She’d wanted to be kissed more. The feeling that something was missing had lingered when she’d come home.
    No thank you , she typed and then fetched a couple of addresses from her bookmark folder to answer his question about where to get floggers. The idea of him with a flogger in each hand, swinging them against her back and her bottom, made her shift in her chair. Maybe he’d wrap it around to tease her breasts or her pussy with the tips. She squirmed some more. When he’d spanked her, he’d been so skilled, so, well, masterful. He knew how to stroke her, keep her on edge, and make her come. She erased the message and replaced it with I’ll only tell you if you use them on me.
    Then she deleted that one too.
    What I need is some good exercise, to give me an endorphin rush I can come down from without all the emotions of another scene with Jeremy. Then when I’m done, I’ll answer him. Time to go biking.
    She reached out to close the laptop down without answering, and then stopped. What the hell. What do I have to lose? She typed, Do you bike? I’m going biking in Legion Park, if you want to join me. I’ll be