Ladder 54: Five Firefighter Romances

by Maren Smith

  “It’s not,” she sniffled. “Please take my phone and undo my hands. I won’t push again.”

  “Since you dropped your phone, I pocketed it. Don’t worry. You’ll get it back tomorrow morning.” Troy landed a few more taps. “By the way, Dixie? You’re missing a word.”

  Dakota cursed under her breath. She knew this had been a bad idea from the start. She wanted to be the girl Troy tied up and had his way with, no matter what she had to do to accomplish it. Fuck. She never expected to be this aroused. He unraveled her quicker than anyone else she had ever known. “I’m sorry for pushing you, and I won’t do it again.” She swallowed hard. “Can you please unbind my hands, Sir?”

  “Nah, not yet.”

  “What do you mean not yet?” Dakota huffed but immediately regretted it. His palm smacked her sit spots and she squealed in protest. The slaps stung so bad! She hated when he targeted there. He kept punishing her already sore thighs until her knees buckled, and she sank to the floor, listless and in tears. “I’m sorry, Sir.”

  Troy unbound her arms, and rubbed his hands up and down to circulate the blood flow again. He scooped her up as if she weighed nothing, and he brought her out into the main room, setting her down on the bed with ease. “Stay here.”

  She cocked an eyebrow, but she was in no position to argue. She watched him pull a few objects out of his toy bag, a massive bag that could probably house its own generator, and she bit down on her lip. Before she could get a good glimpse, he flipped her over. An icy cold gel trickled along her most private opening, one she hadn’t let anyone play with in many years, and she cried out.

  “Anal play is a hard limit.” She flipped her preference like a switch. His finger pressed against her tight rosebud, but he didn’t enter her. Yet. “Refresh, please? I’ve changed my mind.”

  “You can’t refresh your limits like we’re living in an active web browser full of choices.” Troy ran the tip of his finger across the sensitive opening several times, but she stifled a moan. “I think your body will react nicely to a butt plug. It will intensify the sensations of everything else I’m doing. You mentioned it more than once under the things you wanted to engage in column.”

  “I have the right to change my mind, Troy.”

  “Did I hear your safeword, Dakota?”

  “No, Sir.” Damnit. Unless he hit an actual hard limit, one they had previously discussed, she didn’t plan on speaking her safeword at all. His actions at the moment didn’t justify such a negative response. A hard object replaced Troy’s finger at her back entrance and she let out a long, shuddering breath.

  “Relax,” he instructed as he slid the plug inside of her and then seated it fully.

  The slim object tickled along long-forgotten nerves, and she moaned. Troy had been the first man who ever convinced her to engage in any sort of anal play including sex. Her body responded just like he anticipated it would. Did he remember everything about her? Troy tapped a finger on the plug, rocking it a little and she struggled to stay still.

  “Okay, you’re right. It feels good. Can you please take it out now, Sir?”

  “I knew it would. You can remove it tomorrow after you leave here.”

  “Are you serious? Tomorrow?” Her tone sounded anything but respectful. “Tomorrow is so far away.”

  “Come on, Dixie.” He tugged her off the bed and placed her on the floor. “No more whining. We’ve got your wish list to try out. Let’s go downstairs and have some fun.”

  “I think you’re enjoying this way more than me.”

  “Well, sweetheart, I disagree. Your pussy’s glistening with arousal. I’d say you’re having a good time too.” Troy winked. “Come on.”

  Chapter Three

  “You look so intense right now.” Dakota sat on a padded bench on top of a fluffy white towel, naked from the waist down. Troy picked out a heavy flogger with falls made of cowhide and suede or so he said. She didn’t know a lot about the array laid out before him. So many choices. He selected three additional implements, each with different materials, knots, thickness, and weight. She admired the way he picked them out, tested them, and set them to the side. His eyebrows furrowed as she watched.

  “I haven’t gotten to play in about a month. This one is Bluebell—” he showed her a brilliant navy flogger with alternating strips of light blue, teal, and black, “—she can either bite like you owe her money or trail the softest butterfly kisses along your ass. It’s all in the handling.”

  “Don’t you have a reddish one?”

  “I do and I brought her with me, but I hadn’t planned on using Dragon’s Breath during our scene. She’ll light up your ass and thighs with a killer sting. I’ll let you feel it once but I won’t use it until we’ve played together a few more times.”

  “Oh, okay.” His causal tone threw her way off, but she didn’t let him see how quickly her insides turned to jelly. “Should I take off my bra before we play?”

  “Yes. I’ve also got something else for you to wear. You mentioned it in passing but you didn’t list it as a limit or a fetish. Like the jeweled plug in your ass, I think you’re going to enjoy what I have for you.”

  “What did I mention?” Dakota unhooked her bra and caught it in her hands. She rested it on the bench and then got to her feet until she was only a few inches away from him.

  “You’ll see,” he chuckled. “Damn, I can fit everything in these suckers.” He tugged out a small packet from one of his fondly mentioned pockets, at least twenty by the look of things. “One day I’ll get all the other doms to start wearing cargo pants.”

  Unprepared for the sharp pinch of a nipple clamp, she yelped. Before she could protest, another pinch followed. Her nipples pebbled immediately, and were now adorned in teal and silver chains. “I’ve never tried clamps before. It’s not a sensation I can compare to anything else, but they look pretty.”

  “I concur.” Troy flicked the chain and it tugged on her sensitive nubs. “They look sexy as hell on you.”

  “Thank you, Sir. Did you actually memorize all my limits including things I wanted to try out?”

  “Yes. My buddy quizzed me. We’ve been working a lot of overnights together. It filled in some of our downtime.”

  “Did you talk about me? Have I met him?”

  “He’s an experienced dom, sweetheart, and one of my closest friends. Besides, I didn’t get into all the details. Just enough so I could have a sounding board to bounce ideas off. You might have met Blake the night of the auction, but we’re veering off the path.”

  “I’m not a stay on the road type of girl.”

  Troy shot her a look, but then he continued without acknowledging her statement. “Pay attention to what I’m about to say. Going into a scene knowing what the other person wants and expects almost guarantees a good time. You talked to one of the women I played with a few weeks ago and you were amazed at the smoothness of the scene. The part you didn’t see was the month and a half or so of planning it took to ensure it all went well. The two of us met a bunch of afternoons and worked out shorter songs and scenes.” He rubbed a spot on his throat. “The short answer to your question? Yes, I memorized what you sent to me, but I’m not sure why you sound shocked. Have you ever played?”

  “I tried to play, but all I could think about—” She looked up at the ceiling and then back down. “It didn’t go well. It wasn’t at all what I wanted.”

  “What did you want?”

  “Can we just start our scene?”

  “Say what now?” Troy shook his head, as if not believing he’d heard her correctly. “No, we cannot. Answer my question.”

  “I’m not in the mood to answer any more questions. I’d like to get on with things.”

  “Uh-huh.” He bent her over his left arm, landing a series of smarting slaps to her upper thighs. After one particularly hard smack, she screeched and bucked. “You feel like answering questions yet, Dixie?”

  “Yes, Sir!”

  “What happened during your
session? I want to make sure I avoid whatever occurred so you aren’t left unfulfilled.”

  “I played with a wonderful top, and I’d watched him scene with a number of different people, but he wasn’t you.” Why did her heart lift at the confession? She was tipped upward and onto her feet. Dakota looked up at Troy, but it was hard to keep her eyes on him.

  “Well, I’m here now.” He stroked her cheek.

  “I know you are, and it’s not the same situation. Tell me something. Are you going to spank me every time I change the subject?”

  “It wasn’t about changing the subject, sweetheart, it was refusing to answer my questions. In this case, the answer could have changed my plan. I’m not poking around for my own amusement; I felt the information could be important.”

  “I’m starting to understand. I’ll do my best not to push anymore, Sir.”

  “I’m happy to hear that. Something I forgot to mention during our emails was the need for a nonverbal safeword.” He placed a small orange ball in each of her hands. “If either of these balls drop, the scene ends immediately. You’ll be turned away from me and with the music blaring, I might not be able to hear your safeword or your colors. If you’re not ready for this, we can drop the music.”

  “No, I’m okay with this setup. I’ve been wanting to be on the receiving end of your flogger for months, Sir.” She smiled as Troy led her to the Saint Andrew’s cross. She wasn’t going to be restrained, it was more for her to lean on, and it was in a larger room giving them more area to play in.

  “Months, huh?”

  “Uh.” Heat rushed to her face and she quickly pressed herself to the cross so she wouldn’t have to look at him. “Yeah.”

  “Since you brought it up, how long exactly?”

  “I don’t think—ow!” Dakota jumped when his hand expertly met the soft juncture between her ass and thigh several times. She pedaled her feet as if she could escape the onslaught. “Sir!”

  “I didn’t ask you to think, Dixie.” Troy positioned himself behind the cross, forcing her to look at him. “How long have you been home?”

  “Three months.” She cleared her throat.

  “You’ve been coming to the CCC for three months, and you never thought to approach me? You watched me play, took mental notes, spoke with the bottoms I played with, but you couldn’t just talk to me? Wow.” Troy jabbed his fingers through his hair with a sigh. “Of course I wouldn’t have noticed you, you weren’t supposed to be here, because I thought maybe if you did return home, you would have just spoken to me.”

  “May I defend myself?”

  “No, let’s shelve this topic. I apologize for delving into it. No more intense conversations tonight. Okay?”

  “Your apology is accepted.” Dakota tried to get her body to let the stress go, but the conversation placed her on edge. “Do you mean we’ll have intense talks later on?”

  “I don’t mean anything, other than hanging up that line of conversation.” He left her line of vision, and soon she felt him at her back. Troy rubbed her shoulders, down her neck and spine. He didn’t typically get worked up, so she figured it was his way of admitting how uncomfortable seeing her the other night must have made him. “Relax, Dixie.”

  She let her mind travel to the fantasy she’d built up in her mind. Troy touching her with his glorious floggers while music pumped out of the stereo. The tawse licking along her body, leather slapping. So many nights her fingers slipped inside her heat while she listened to rock music playlists on her phone all while imagining Troy’s fingers bringing her to climax. Goosebumps flared out along her body, and she licked her lips. Adjusting her grip on the tiny objects in her hands, she squeezed them once to make sure she could easily let go if needed.

  “Let me just say this out loud to make sure I understand. If the scene gets too intense I’ll let the balls fall, and you’ll see them and stop everything. Right?”

  “Yes, exactly.” He moved a piece of her hair that had slipped out of her ponytail back from her face. “I’m going to try out a few different ones. We’ll do one without any music and then I’ll do a few shorter songs before tackling a longer one. This is brand new for you. Don’t be afraid to speak up.”

  “Yes, I understand, Sir.” She blew out another breath. “Safety and comfort first.”

  “Yes, always.” Troy moved his body away from her, and she missed his heat immediately.

  Dakota pressed her body closer to the wood, letting her limbs relax against it. The first flogger fell across her ass like a masseuse with a strong hand. The leather strips licked along her back, and then down to her thighs. The pattern without a pattern repeated a few dozen times, at least, but she lost count. Dakota yelped when a harsh sting bit the roundest curve of her ass.

  “I bet you used Dragon’s Breath on the last stroke.”

  “I did, but I had a feeling you wouldn’t like her,” he mused from somewhere behind her. “My favorite is Bluebell.”

  “Are all your floggers female?” Dakota groaned, her question left unanswered as the strips caressed her butt. She never imagined this type of sensation from the wicked-looking implement. The leather thudded against her, over and over again, and she relaxed even deeper.

  “First song, Dixie. One minute and thirty seconds. Here we go.”

  The opening lines of ‘You Shook Me All Night Long’ by AC/DC reached her ears, and then Bluebell danced to the rhythm, gyrating up and down Dakota’s body with flair. She loved the way it touched her, controlled by such a skilled hand. The last strains faded away almost as quickly and she blew out a long breath. Troy touched her face, and she blinked open her eyes. She didn’t realize she’d closed them, and it took her a moment to focus on him. “I think I like your style.”

  “You think?” He waggled his eyebrows. “How are you feeling, sweetheart?”

  “I want more. I liked it so much more than I thought I would.” Remembering her rules, she pursed her lips. “Please, Sir?”

  “Upcoming song is two and a half minutes. The next one features thinner strips, which equals more sting, but the time between each blow will be a little longer. This is Bertha.” He held up another pretty flogger. Double the amount of tails and knots compared to the previous implement, and it looked intimidating. “She’s mean and green.”

  “That sounds like something you’d use to clean a bathroom and is environmentally friendly to boot. My new rocket sponge is a mean, green cleaning machine.”

  “Focus, Dixie.”

  “All right. I’m ready, Sir.”

  Guns N’ Roses’ ‘Paradise City,’ a very condensed version, played next. Like a finely tuned instrument, the flogger found its beat. It stung, but then bloomed into a lovely burn. Dakota drummed her heels up and down a few times, but she didn’t cry out with pain. She loved the way the heat built and spread, over and over until the song ended. She sagged against the cross, breathing harder than before. Troy turned her around to brace against the cross, as she recovered. A bottle of water tipped to her lips, and she sipped from it.

  “I think I’ll mail Bertha to a friend,” she smiled. “What do you think?”

  “Who do you know outside of Big Banks who would receive and enjoy such a gift?”

  “No one, but that’s not the point.” Dakota handed him the bottle, then twirled her wrists a few times. She breathed in and out for a few moments, letting her head get back to a good place. “I liked the bite of Bertha, but she got intense faster than I expected.”

  “Noted.” He switched a huge royal purple-colored flogger from hand to hand.

  She got back into position and spread her legs wider than before. A sexy painting she hadn’t noticed earlier hung on the wall, and she smiled. It was a thoughtful gesture. “Are you going to tell me the name of your purple implement?”

  “I’ll give you one guess.”

  “Hm, I better make it a good one.” She went silent wondering if he had thought of an unusual song while naming this flogger. Could he have fondly remembered t
he goofy song she’d dedicated to him on the radio every year? One wild Halloween, she’d gone as a sexy purple wizard. Dakota had gotten tipsy, and proceeded to belt out a badly off-key version of ‘Purple People Eater’ via karaoke. Troy refused to let her live it down, and whenever the chorus hit from then on, they would croon it together. Dare she imagine he’d thought of her when he used it? Dakota smirked. “Okay, my guess is Flying. Her name is short for a one-eyed, one-horned, flying purple people eater.”

  “Damn straight she is.”

  “Does she hit hard?” Dakota wondered about the intensity of the purple flogger since the falls were so thick.

  “Yes, but I’m combining implements so I won’t use her very much. Don’t be afraid to let go of the balls.”

  “Not a very good life motto,” she mused.

  “Good thing it ain’t mine, sweetheart.”

  Her favorite song of all time, ‘Pour Some Sugar on Me’ by Def Leppard belted out over the speakers, and her inner bad girl woke up. It was hard to stay in place and not twirl around like the catchy beat made her want to do, but she succeeded. The mixture of fabrics, not knowing where the strips would caress, and the overall tone of the song immersed her completely into the scene. Stress and guilt ran out of her muscles, left her body, and allowed real relaxation for the first time in several years.

  Like the name of Troy’s heavy purple implement, Dakota flew out into bliss, soaring to an endorphin high.

  * * *

  Troy zoned in on Dakota’s gorgeous body, letting the tails lick up and down her back, over her ass, down to her sexy thighs. He fell into the rhythm of the song, keeping a close eye on her hands. It required skill to land the flogger where he wanted it to go, but even more to multitask while rock and roll sang out over the speakers.

  A bright flash of orange caught his eye and he dropped the handle down on the floor with a thud.

  Troy pressed his body against Dakota’s. Whispering soothing words as he cupped his hands around each of hers, he then scooped her up against his chest. He brought her over to the couch in the corner, wrapped a blanket around her, and cradled her close. She sighed with pure contentment. After a few minutes, he encouraged her to sip water and nibble on the chocolate snacks he’d brought for her to consume.