“Can I get you a drink?”
“Erm, yes, I guess.”
The guy nodded towards the barman who responded in kind then walked away from us. His hand was still on my back. My cheeks flushed when I realised, heating to a volcanic level within seconds. Why was this handsome man being so hands on with me?
Talk about out of my depth. I’m sure some women would take it all in their stride; beautiful, confident ladies who are used to being the centre of attention. But I’m your classic wallflower. I lurk in the background and sneak up on men. All the guys I’ve had relationships with have been friends first. It’s like I don’t let my sexy out until you’ve known me for a while.
“Hi, I’m Leo, you are?” His question shook me out of my ponderings.
“Erm, I’m Penelope but no one calls me that really, well, unless I’m in trouble. I’m Penny, yeah, Penny.”
“Hello, Penny, lovely to meet you.” Leo took my hand in his free one—the other still at the small of my back—and lifted it to his lips. At first I felt like I was in some kind of period drama, then I became aware of driving dance music and disco lights in the background and I snapped back to the 21st century. He held my gaze as he kissed my fingers and the moment seemed to drag out forever. I was lost in his gaze, trying to work out just exactly what he wanted with me.
“Mr Crabtree, your wine.”
“Thank you, Drew.” He dropped my hand with a wink and turned to the barman to pay.
For some reason the name Leo Crabtree rang a bell with me but I was too wound up in what was happening to give it much thought. When I set out that night I was an attached woman with doubts, but I was heading into town to a trendy dance club because Richard had asked me to.
Richard and I had been going out for a few months and fell into a routine of meals out and pizzas in followed by a kiss, a cuddle and a fuck. It wasn’t anything very exciting but it was familiar and kind of fun. So when he suggested a night out dancing I was taken aback but excited to do something a bit different.
I was supposed to meet him outside, but after waiting for thirty minutes in the cold, I decided to go in. Good job I did because I caught Richard with his tongue down some woman’s throat. The look on his face when he saw me there in front of him was priceless. He didn’t even bother to say anything. He just walked away.
That’s when I ordered my first drink and propped myself up at the bar. I wasn’t looking for a man and I was quite shocked that such a hunky one was paying me attention.
“Shall we find a table?” He picked up the bottle and two wine glasses and walked away without even looking back. He was so confident I’d follow and of course I did. There was no way I’d walk out on the most thrilling thing that had happened to me in forever.
Leo strode purposefully around the dance floor and towards the VIP area of the club. I felt my stomach knot as we approached the security-guarded barrier but they nodded us both through. Clearly Leo was an influential person. I’d have never gotten through on my own.
And then it hit me, where I knew his name from. Leo Crabtree was the boss of one of the big new software companies. The ones that make the apps that people with mobile phones from this century use constantly. Crabtree Entertainment had adverts on the telly all the time; only the other day the woman on the financial bit of the news had announced how well they were doing, how Crabtree’s had seen pre-tax profit in the billions.
But this couldn’t be the Leo Crabtree, could it? I hadn’t ever seen a photo of him, so I didn’t really know. My stomach rolled. What if he was a billionaire? How would he react when he found out I was just a claims handler for a small insurer, that I lived in a one bed flat just on the outskirts of the rough side of town and didn’t even own a car? I dreaded to think.
We sat down at a table in the corner. It was quieter. I hadn’t noticed how loud the club was until I got away from the speakers and realised I could hear myself think again.
Leo poured two glasses of wine. I studied his hands and his long, delicate fingers. No wedding ring but a simple platinum band adorned his right hand. His dark grey suit shouted its quality and the dark, rich purple shirt beneath it was a real sign of decadence.
I took a sip from my glass, racking my brains for something to say. I really wanted to ask him if he really was the app billionaire but that seemed like a very crude line of enquiry. What if he took offence or worse still, thought I was a gold-digger? Being shy, I don’t really do much in the way of small talk. People tend to bring the conversation to me but Leo just looked at me.
“Why are you here, Penny?” he asked.
Okay, so we weren’t going to do small talk at all.
“Well, you know, to erm, dance and drink and stuff.” Way to go on the lying, Penny.
“Penelope, I know that’s not true. Tell me the truth.”
My full name put the fear of God in me whenever my mother used it and it wasn’t much different when Leo did, except the fear was somehow exciting.
“I came to meet my boyfriend but when I found him he was snogging another woman. I’ve been sulking and drinking since.”
He nodded. “I knew you were sad about something. Otherwise why would such a beautiful, vibrant woman be at a bar all on her own?”
I shrugged. “Well, this isn’t really my natural environment,” I confessed. “I’m less of a party animal and more of a home bird.”
“I can understand that; I have a great desire to take you home and keep you there.”
That should have sounded creepy in a stalker kind of psycho way, but it was hot. I wanted him to take me home and keep me there. Tied down and at his beck and call.
“I’d let you,” I blurted out before I thought it through.
He smirked. “Of course you would. I can tell you’re a naughty, wicked girl.”
I looked down to the table. When I looked back up he was beside me, his arm wrapped around my shoulders and his lips by my ear.
“I want to take you, Penny, but I need to tell you something first.”
Crazily, I knew what he was going to say before he said it.
“If you come with me, I will be your Master. I will expect you to obey my every command.”
He paused, but I wasn’t sure he wanted a response. It was merely for effect.
“If you come with me I will expect obedience but I will give you ecstasy beyond your imagining. You will be mine and I will treasure you. So, what do you think?”
What did I think? I was finding it hard to concentrate with his lean, powerful body beside me. His warmth enveloped me, the enticing musk and lime of his aftershave filled my lungs, and his presence overwhelmed me. It was crazy. This gorgeous man was propositioning me, not just suggesting sex but something far kinkier, far darker, far more tempting.
Where did that desire to accept come from? I’d had a few experiences of being playfully slapped or restrained by silly fluffy cuffs and I’d enjoyed them but I’d never thought of anything approaching what Leo was offering me. Like an exotic fruit that sounded at once terrifying and delicious, I contemplated his offer and what it meant.
“You can stop it at any moment, Penny. With just one word. Choose a word, any word and if you utter it, I will stop.” His voice was like warm syrup, his breath tickled gently against my ear I wasn’t thinking about if I’d accept his offer any more, I was thinking of a word to say to stop it. I’d made my decision.
“Wallflower.”
Leo tipped my chin up with one finger, smiled and pressed that grin to my lips. I surrendered my mouth to his. Thought stopped and instinct took over. I was intoxicated by him. I slid a hand up inside his suit jacket and outlined his lithe frame until my palm rested against his heart which was pounding. A blast of arousal engulfed me. He could have pushed me back over the table and taken me right there and I wouldn’t have cared about the audience.
However he pulled away, licked his lips and smiled. His smile was electric, I couldn’t resist blasting it back at him. I felt alive and carefree.
“Come on then, Penny, let’s go.”
As I said, it was like a story, a fiction. Such adventures didn’t happen to me. When we got outside, Leo draped his jacket around my shoulders.
“You know what? I can’t wait to get you home. I need you now.”
His kiss scorched my lips, our arousal beat together and intensified.
He grabbed my hand, checked both ways and pulled me across the road to the impressive limestone-fronted hotel opposite. He strode in like he owned the place. Maybe he did, if this was indeed the famous app billionaire, maybe he owned hotels too. Leo only stood at the desk for a few seconds before a young, smartly-suited man came to ask us if he could help.
“Yes, I’d like your best room available for the night, please.”
“Certainly, Mr Crabtree, let me check what we’ve got for you.” He clicked a few times at a computer hidden behind the desk and nodded. I was convinced this was the famous Leo Crabtree otherwise why did everyone know him without Leo even mentioning his name?
“Yes, I thought so.” The suited man nodded. “The penthouse suite is available tonight. Will that work for you?”
“Yes.” He smiled at me and I shivered under his wicked gaze. “I believe it will.”
“Wonderful, I’ll just take your card to make payment then I’ll get someone to carry your bags up…”
“No need,” Leo interrupted. “We don’t have any. We’re just here to fuck.”
The man behind the desk didn’t flinch. I did, however. My cheeks burnt red and I looked down at the floor. My God, wasn’t it obvious enough what we were here for without him announcing it for the world to hear?
“Don’t be ashamed, my dear.” He lifted my chin with his finger. “There’s no shame in what we’re doing.”
I forced myself to meet his gaze. I was an adult. I could have as much sex as I wanted. It didn’t feel very right to be exclaiming that to a mere stranger though. Sex is something to be kept behind closed doors, to do but not to talk about. At least that’s what I was brought up to believe.
“I’ll have to do something about that, Penelope. I can’t have you being ashamed of me now, can I?”
“Oh, I’m not!” I answered quickly. He looked sternly at me. “Sir, I mean. I was just a bit kinda flustered really. I’m…I’m…I’m not very good at this am I?” I sighed.
“No, not yet, but you will be. Chin up, girl. Be proud to belong to me.”
I nodded and he looked back to the counter where the manager loitered. He’d heard every word of our exchange I was sure, but I didn’t drop my gaze even though my cheeks burned.
“Right, I have your key here.” He passed it over the desk. “Do you need someone to show you the way, Mr Crabtree?”
“Oh no, it’s fine. I know where we’re going, thank you.” Leo grabbed my hand and pulled me off towards the elevator.
He knew his way to the penthouse in a fancy hotel. What could that mean? He was rich, clearly, and he’d definitely been here before. How many others had he seduced into being his slave? Did he regularly pop into the club, seduce a vulnerable woman then drag them over to the penthouse suite for a bit of dark and dangerous sex?
As the lift doors thumped shut behind us he startled me from my ponderings by pulling my hands behind my back and holding them there. The jacket he had draped over my shoulders dropped to the ground.
“You are mine, Penelope, and I want you to be proud of that.”
“Yes, Sir,” I gasped. He wasn’t hurting me but the shock of being restrained scared me. My heart pounded.
“I’ll have to punish you for that pathetic display my dear, you know that, don’t you?”
“Will you?” I asked.
“Yes, I will, and I’ll add in a few extra strokes for your insolence.”
“Sorry, Sir. I’m new to this and words just seem to pop out of my mouth. I’m sorry. I don’t want to upset you.” The words caught in the back of my throat.
“I’m not upset, Penelope. I see this as a wonderful opportunity to train you.”
Leo leant in and kissed down the slope of my neck. “I’ll teach you that you’re mine and the kind of behaviour I expect. Behaviour fitting of such a beautiful woman. Don’t hide your light, Penelope. Let it shine.”
He gripped my wrists tighter and dug his teeth into the sensitive dip between my neck and my shoulder. I yelped in pleasurable pain. It hurt but felt so good at the same moment. I was overwhelmed and dizzy with lust.
The lift pinged and the doors flew open. Leo stepped back, picked up his jacket then took just one of my hands in his. He still held me captive, but to anyone in the corridor he was simply indulging in a romantic gesture. I, though, knew his grip meant that I was his to do with as he wished.
What happened to me? When did I become the kind of woman who would leave a club with a man after only knowing them for a matter of minutes? And that guy has told me he’s kinky, that he wants to tie me up and spank me. I should have run a mile but I was curious and very attracted to his confident sexuality.
A swipe of a card and Leo pulled me gently into a room. When he flicked on the light I gasped.
The suite was enormous and windows encased it on two sides. One end was a living room, something from one of those make-your-house-beautiful magazines. Away from the windows was a huge bed that kings could sleep in. Several of them in fact, all at the same time. Everything was bright and new, the muted greys and minks highlighted with gold accessories. The room shrieked of opulence.
Leo walked in and threw himself down onto a sofa, treating it like home. He didn’t seem to see it the way I did. I was still standing at the threshold, the door closed behind me, stunned by the affluence.
“Come in, come in.” Leo beckoned me forward with a grin.
“Of, course, yes. I was, erm, admiring the view. Yes, right.” I stuttered and the movement forward I made was just as jittery. I wanted to turn and walk right back out, I felt so common, so small, so polluting. This wasn’t my kind of place at all. I’d never in a million lifetimes be able to afford to stay in the penthouse on my salary. Leo hadn’t even asked how much the room cost. How rich do you have to be not to care about something like that?
“Penelope, stop daydreaming and get here, now.”
His growled command focused me and I picked up the pace until I stood in front of him, my back to the brightly lit city beyond the huge wall of glass.
Fidgeting, I tapped my toes within the confines of my little, polite heels and laced and unlaced my fingers before me.
“Look at me, Penelope.” Leo’s voice was low but compelling.
I lifted my chin and my gaze met his. Hard, cold and incredibly arousing. I wanted to look away again, lest he saw the lust dancing in my eyes, but I daren’t. I kept looking forward, fighting my inward urge to cringe away from his intensity.
“You need to be punished and I’m delighted to be the one who gets to chastise you. Here in this room I am limited in what I can do. I can’t wait to get you back to my home, where I will be able to pick and choose the implements I use on your sweet, sexy body. Your arse calls out for a very particular paddle I have. I can almost imagine how it will feel when the leather impacts your flesh.”
He looked whimsical, the intensity of his stare lifted. I shifted, my thighs rubbing together, smearing my juices there. My heart pounded, my mouth dried. I imagined the scene and found myself painfully turned on.
“Anyway, less of the daydreaming of what I’ll do to you in the future and on to what I’m going to do to you now. Remember your safe word. If you yell ‘No!’ I won’t stop. I’ll take you past your barriers to free you, to break you, to make you mine. If you want it to stop call out ‘wallflower’ and I will cease your punishment immediately. Any questions?”
“Yes, Sir. Just one. If I use my safe word will all this stop? I’m scared, Sir, I’m not sure how much pain I can take but I don’t want to lose this before it’s even started. Does that make sense?”
“Yes, sweet thing,
it does. Don’t worry about that. Using your safe word will not turn me off. It will be a guide. I want to push your boundaries but I need to know where your limits lie. If you use the safe word I will stop, give you time to gather yourself, to talk to me if you need to. Then we will continue at a less intense level or I will stop completely if that is what you need. The safe word is your control, use it wisely.”
“Yes, thanks,” I replied with a sigh, and realised I’d not addressed him the way he expected. “Thank you, Sir,” I quickly added and he nodded his acceptance.
Leo sat in the centre of the sofa and stared up at me.
“Okay, Penelope. Take off your shoes and your dress and lie across my knee.”
I was expecting to be asked to lean over him, I was expecting to be punished. I hadn’t anticipated him wanting me to strip. I hesitated. I scrub up quite nicely. A well cut dress can hide a multitude of sins, but to stand before a man, a virtual stranger, in nothing but my underwear was inconceivable. He’d be able to see all my wobbly bits.
“Stop hesitating, Penelope. I want you out of that dress, now. Get on with it!”
His abrupt tone made me jump. I slipped out of my shoes, that bit I could do, and hesitated again. One look at Leo’s face had me lifting the hem of my skirt. He meant business. I was already in for the spanking of my life, the only one to date, I didn’t want to make it any worse than it was already going to be.
My natural good girl instinct took over from my hesitance and I pulled the dress up and over my head then threw it away. Standing with my hands clenched beside me, I resisted the urge to close my eyes, too. The desire to hunch over and to hide my stomach and thighs was immense.
“Don’t,” Leo snapped. I must have started to curl over without even being aware of it. “Let me look at you, Penny. You’re a beautiful woman.”
Shaking my head, I bit my lip before I out and out contradicted him. I’d not been in his presence long but I instinctively knew that was a mistake.
Leo sighed and shook his head. “What have they done to you, pretty thing, to make you doubt yourself so?”
I shrugged. How could I sum up a lifetime of catcalls and taunts in a mere sentence? Even those I loved had contributed over the years with digs about what I ate or where I had to shop to get sizes to fit. I didn’t want to let all that get to the front of my brain. There would have been tears and he’d have run for the hills.
Sexy Just Got Rich: Brit Babes Do Billionaires Page 6
