As You Wish Read Online Free PDF Page A

go. With Ryan, she didn’t have to hold anything back.
    “Second, I’ll tell you when to come to me. I’ll leave a note in your mailbox at least one day ahead of time, telling you where and when. Otherwise I won’t mention it. You’re the boss, and I’m the gardener.” He sneered as if that meant something more than what it sounded. “Until we’re in a session, then I’m the master and you’re my slave.”
    “What if I’m on call and can’t make it?” Patricia bit her lip. Any other plans she would cancel, but duty nights were her responsibility.
    “Just write me a note and leave it in my mailbox.”
    She nodded. Maybe she could switch duty nights occasionally. “All right. How often will we…meet?”
    “Part of the mystery.” He folded his arms across his powerful chest. “There is one more thing.”
    “Yes.”
    “Two actually.” He glanced around the room. “I prefer your hair down. When you come to me, I want it down.”
    “Of course.” The memory of him telling her to take her hair down stole her breath. Her skin tingled. “What’s the other thing?”
    “No taking care of business yourself, Princess. No touching, teasing, tickling, or otherwise helping yourself.” He unfolded his arms and reached for her, pulling her against his hard body. “Do I need to make myself clearer, or would that embarrass you?” His voice dropped to a whisper as if he thought someone might hear him. “Or is that what you want?”
    Patricia stared at him. His arms were like bands of steel around her. His heart beat against hers.
    He dropped his arms, almost pushing her away. “I thought so.” He turned toward the table, pulling the seedling tray closer. “I’m done with you now.”
    Patricia stepped away from him. “Will I get a note from you soon?”
    He shrugged. “It’ll be soon enough. I won’t forget if that’s what you’re worried about.”
    She walked as far as the door. Her legs felt rubbery. She’d always thought that was a stupid cliché, but apparently it was true. “You won’t tell anyone, will you?”
    “Your secret submission fantasies are safe with me.”
    Ducking her head, she hurried out of the potting shed. She’d hoped to have a conversation with him.
    She’d fantasized about asking him to join her for lunch.
    She hadn’t even conceived of having plain vanilla sex with him. And out of the blue, she’d become a submissive. No one became a doctor without discovering some weird stuff about the human animal, but she’d never imagined she might have something weird lurking in her own mind.
    Then she’d said the magic word. How many times in her life had she said, “Anything,” and never known what it could really mean. She pushed open the front door of the house. Unable to stop herself, she walked down the long hall to stand in the doorway to the formal dining room.
    The whole room was done in dark Victorian paneling with red drapes and a huge red-patterned Persian rug covering the oak floor. The carved dark oak table in the center seated fourteen. All fourteen chairs stood sentry around it. The two at the ends were the only ones with arms. The image of Ryan sitting at the head of the table motioning her forward haunted her.
    She fled the room before she had to break one of his rules.
    * * * *
    Ryan hid in the potting shed until Patricia was back at the house. Then he fled to his own house, taking the long way below the crest of the hill, so if she looked out the window she wouldn’t see him knocking off early.
    He couldn’t do what he’d planned on doing today anyway. Weeding the patio behind the house would take more than one day, and he didn’t want to be that close to her again this soon or he wouldn’t be giving her a day’s notice before their next session. He’d have her down on the flagstones in one position or another until both of them were exhausted.
    When he’d thrown down that particular gauntlet this afternoon, it hadn’t been meant as a challenge. Sure,