by Bella Grant
She nodded and continued to follow him down the hall to the very end. If they turned right, they’d go up one more flight of stairs to the dungeon, but he knocked on the door they stood in front of instead. When it opened, she had no idea what to expect, but it wasn’t seeing a woman dressed in a black leather corset dress with ruby red lips and thick, long, red hair. The woman was gorgeous. She suddenly wished she’d picked a nicer dress. The cotton summer dress she’d chosen felt childish in comparison.
“Rafe!” The woman grinned widely and hugged him hard before letting go and looking at Victoria.
“Dianna, this is Victoria, my guest for the evening.” He wrapped his arm around her shoulders, pulling her closer to his side as though to publicly claim her.
“Wonderful to see you again! And with a guest! Stanley mentioned you’d be arriving soon. I have the room all set up for you. He and his girl are already inside. Just finished their dinner.”
“He found a girl already? It’s a bit early.” Raphael checked his watch.
The beautiful woman laughed. “It’s Stanley… Like it was hard. If you’ll excuse me, I need to get back upstairs. There’s a new dominant arriving this evening for a tour, and I haven’t pulled his file yet.” She scooted around them. “Victoria, I’m sure Rafe has given you or will give you all the rules and regulations as well as all the disclaimers, but I want you to know that nothing happens here without your consent. Even the big, bad prince can’t disobey that rule, okay?”
Victoria was sure she meant to relax her, so she smiled warmly at her. “Got it, thanks.”
Raphael led her into the room that looked as though it had been yanked out of an old Victorian house and placed in the middle of downtown New York City. The carpeting, the wall paper, even the furniture, screamed Victorian era. In the corner of the room, she was startled to find a woman kneeling, facing the wall. Her hands were folded behind her back, and her eyes were focused on the wall.
“Rafe! Took you long enough!” A man dressed in tight black jeans and a black leather vest with no undershirt walked over to them, a wide grin on his face. “Glad you changed your mind.” He slapped Raphael on the back and grinned at Victoria, who began to think she had been crazy for entertaining this idea. She wasn’t into BDSM. That was too much, too intense. The woman in the corner wore cuffs on her wrists and her ankles, and the thick red collar around her neck symbolized more than she thought she could handle.
“Stanley, this is my Victoria.” She didn’t miss the way he introduced her, and the words made her blush. Her heart hammered inside her chest so loudly she was sure they could all hear it. Could dominants smell fear like dogs did? If they could, Stanley would surely get a whiff of her terror at that moment.
“Very nice to meet you, Victoria. That lovely lady in the corner is Cindy. She had a little bit of an issue at dinner with her etiquette, so she’s taking a moment to reflect. Another minute or two and she’ll be joining us.” He gestured to the lounge area of the room where they sat on the couches. “Cindy and I will be going to another room for our playtime. Relax. You look as though someone is going kidnap you, tie you up on that cross over there, and have their way with you.”
She swallowed hard and tried to find her tongue, her vocal cords—anything that would show she was an intelligent human being and not some simple little girl. “This is a bit much,” she managed to say, gesturing to the room in general.
“Yes, I suppose for someone who’s never been here, it is. To me, it’s just like home… Except I don’t use all this old English stuff in my dungeon.” He looked over his shoulder at the girl still staring at the wall. “Cindy, come.” He snapped his fingers and pointed to the ground beside him. The girl turned and crawled to his side with slow, deliberate movements. “Uh, what did you forget?” He held his hand out.
The woman cursed low and stopped moving. “I forgot to acknowledge your command, sir.”
“Back to the corner.” He waved his hand at her.
“Yes, sir.” She turned.
“And when we get upstairs, remind me to add ten strokes for the curse word you used. Do it again, and I’ll have to give you a soaping.” He grinned as he doled out her punishment, even more when her shoulders sagged.
“Yes, sir.”
“I wanted you to meet Cindy because she’s relatively new to the lifestyle, and I thought she might be able to put you a bit more at ease, but her behavior tonight is not cooperating.”
“What’s a soaping?” Victoria asked, her eyes avoiding the submissive kneeling in the corner.
“When I do it, I use a bar of soap to lather my hands, and I wash out the woman’s mouth. She sits with the suds in her mouth for a minute or so, then I let her rinse. The taste sticks around for a long time, though.”
She turned to Raphael, who sat quietly beside her, holding her hand. “Do you do that?”
He thought about it for a moment. “I’ve never done it before, but I wouldn’t say it’s something I would do if needed. Although, like I mentioned in the car, Stanley is a dominant, and a very strict one at that. He has more rules and protocols. I’m more traditional in my relationships.”
“Then why bring me here?” She pulled her hand from his. It was stressful enough having the company falling apart, knowing she’d given up on him, and now she was faced with every fantasy she’d ever had but at a much more intense level.
“I brought you here for three reasons. One, I wanted to take you somewhere you could relax. Your apartment is full of your work, the reason you are so stressed out. Two, that painting in your apartment, the submissive giving herself to her dominant—Stanley painted that, so I thought you’d like to meet him. The third reason will become clear once Stanley and Cindy remove themselves.”
She returned her eyes to Stanley, who sat with his satisfied grin on his face. “You bought that painting? It’s beautiful, isn’t it?”
“Yes. It is.” She exhaled.
“Well, Rafe, I wish I could spend more time with you, but Cindy has a lengthy punishment coming her way before I can get to the fun part of our session.” He pushed himself up from his chair and clasped hands with Raphael.
Walking over to his girl, he squatted down beside her, whispering to her. His face was tense but caring. Cindy nodded several times and responded correctly when he asked her questions. Once their exchange was over, Stanley took her hand and helped her stand. He called another farewell to Victoria and Raphael as he led his girl out of the room.
Victoria watched from the couch, feeling very much like she’d just fallen head first down the rabbit hole.
RAPHAEL
Raphael watched Victoria’s expression from the moment they entered the club after checking in at the front desk to the moment Stanley led his new submissive from the room. Victoria wasn’t a submissive, that much he gathered, but she definitely craved some of the same feelings submissives generally possessed.
He doubted she even understood it herself, but when she challenged him or provoked him, it was empty. She wasn’t looking to win an argument. She wanted him to put his foot down.
Although he shared many of the same kinks as Stanley, a full time dominant-submissive relationship was not one of them. Raphael hated labels. All that mattered to him was they both knew who was in charge, and they both fulfilled each other. Nothing else mattered.
“You can relax. I’m not going to jump on you.” He rested a hand on her knee, feeling the tension in her body.
“This has been a very weird day.” She leaned her head back and looked up at the ceiling, exposing her neck. He fought the urge to lick it and nibble on it. She wasn’t ready.
“What? No one’s ever proposed to you then taken you to a dungeon on your first date before?”
She shot him a wary look and looked around the room. She rose from the couch and explored the room. He watched as she picked up the falls of the large flogger hanging on the wall, letting the leather strips run through her fingers before moving on to the next object. She
stopped at the cane and winced before skipping it. He wanted to laugh. If she only knew how much she might love that evil little toy… But he wouldn’t tell her just yet.
“It’s like you’ve been in my dreams,” he heard her say, though he was sure she hadn’t meant for him to hear it. “Am I that transparent to you?” She turned to face him, standing directly in front of the St. Andrews Cross.
“To me, yes, but not to others, I suspect. I’m guessing all of your boyfriends have been extremely nice, gentle even, but you only found frustration with them. Not just with sex, but with everyday life. They would complain you worked too much, but when you pushed them to do something about it, to take charge when you were losing control, they backed off. Which only made you resent them for letting you drown.”
Her eyes widened as he spoke. He knew he was right. He’d seen it plenty of times with women who had submissive urges but didn’t understand what they were or how to fulfill them.
“I don’t think I could do what Cindy does. I’m not sure I could go that far.”
Her whispered confession, so full of fear, made him that much prouder of her. The honesty she gave him spurred his intent to have her. “I don’t want you to. I’m not a fan of protocol and all those rituals. Stanley loves them, and Cindy seems to as well, but you don’t have to like them.” He took another step toward her.
Her hands fidgeted at her side, grabbing her dress and letting go only to grab it again. When he reached her, he leaned down, capturing her mouth in a kiss meant to soothe her worry but which quickly turned into a heated mating. Her hands dug into his shoulders, clinging to him. Leaving her a bit breathless, he stepped back and motioned to her dress. “I would like you to take off the dress. Can you do that for me, Victoria?”
A moment passed while his sentence pushed through the lust he’d brought to the surface of her mind, but once it did, she nodded. She reached behind her neck to unclasp the hook, then wiggled out of the cotton outfit. With it pooling at her feet, he got another look at her breasts, still hidden behind the pink satin bra, but now he could also see the matching panties.
His fingers trailed along her hip, dipping into the string waistband at her sides. Keeping his eyes on hers, he slowly lowered himself and the panties, rolling them down to her ankles until she stepped out of them. He pushed away the dress and her panties. He was at eye level with her aroused sex. He could smell her juices, and he needed to feel it for himself.
Again he looked up at her, locking gazes as he purposely slid one finger between her folds beneath the small triangle of dark curls. When he pulled his finger out, he stood up, showing her the glistening finger before thrusting it into his mouth. “I haven’t even touched you yet, and look how ready you are for me.”
She swallowed silently and nodded.
“When you have been naughty before, talking back, being pushy, what are you looking for? Are you trying to get a spanking?” He ran his hands over the satin cups of her bra, not pinching like he wanted to, just rubbing her softly. He noticed the slow deep breaths she took as he continued to excite her with his words. “Please answer me, Victoria. Have you fantasized about being spanked? For being a naughty girl or a good girl?”
Her eyes fluttered away from his. He would allow her to hide for the moment, but not forever. “Yes.” He felt the heat of her breath on his face as she breathed out her answer. “For both,” she confessed.
He found the hook for her bra nestled between her breasts and casually undid the clasp. He felt the tremor run through her arms as he pulled the straps down, freeing her breasts from the lightly padded cups. Her dark, round nipples tightened with the chill in the air and arousal from his gaze.
Tossing the bra on the pile with her other clothes, he cupped her breasts in his hands, running his thumb over her taut nipples and lightly squeezing the generous mounds. “Good.” He kissed her jaw, her chin, down to her neck and nuzzling her where her neck and shoulder joined. “I’m going to spank you tonight, Victoria. For being a good girl, so it will be fun… pleasant even. And if you keep being so good, so honest, I’m going to make you come so hard you won’t care about anything else at that moment.” He kissed the valley between her breasts, still fondling her nipples. He could feel her heart beating against his lips.
“O-okay,” she whispered, though he doubted she would be able to say much else pretty soon.
“If you need me to stop, you have only to ask for mercy. Understand?” He released her nipple from his fingers and captured it in his mouth, flicking his tongue over the peak and sucking on her with his lips.
She groaned loudly at the sensations he was causing. “Yes!” She nearly yelled when his teeth scraped across her skin.
“Good. Now, I’m not going to lay you over my knee. I know that’s what you want, and that’s how you’ve pictured it, but I want to see these beautiful breasts bounce as much as your ass. So you’ll stand for your spanking.” He moved to the side of her, pushing her hips gently to get her to step away from the cross.
He could have done this at her apartment, but she had more places to hide there. She could easily escape into her own mind while surrounded by the comforts of her home. At the club, the very room itself acted as foreplay.
Taking her hands, he put them in front of her, letting her clasp them together. “Do not move these to cover your ass once I start. If you do, you won’t like it.”
“Okay.” She nodded again. Her soft, pink tongue ran over her lips, moistening the dry flesh. Her mouth was slightly open, pulling in steady breaths as she waited. He knew she’d fantasized about this moment for a very long time, and he could only imagine how many times she’d found pleasure with her hands on her pussy with this image in her mind.
With his left hand, he held onto her left arm, using his right hand to rub her backside. The creamy, soft skin ran beneath his palm, smooth and unblemished. He watched her expression, gauged her breathing as he pulled back and brought his curved hand back down on her right ass cheek.
A startled grunt escaped her lips, and she stepped forward with one foot, but quickly put herself back into position. The second slap didn’t surprise her, but she clenched her eyes at the sensation. Moving to her left cheek he repeated the pattern, two slaps to the curve of her ass.
Confident she was doing well, he increased the intensity of the slaps and watched as her ass bounced back after each swat. Every little yelp or grunt made his dick more aware than ever that his pants were still on.
She took the spanking better than he thought she would. Her ass turned the perfect shade of pink that he loved to see on such a milky bottom. Stopping for a moment to assess her breathing, he placed a kiss on her shoulder, nuzzling her as he did so. She leaned into him, a soft glow cascading around the smile she gave him.
“Are you ready for more? Can you take a bit more for me, Victoria?”
She nodded. “Yes, Raphael.” The glazed look in her eyes gave him the answer he wanted most. She was beginning to lose herself in the sensations, in the moment. A harsh slap on her ass, the crack of the impact filling the room. She winced but didn’t move away from him.
“So good for me.” He kissed her shoulder again, moving his hand to her chest and kneading her full breast in his hand. She let out a low moan and arched her back, pushing her tits out toward his hand. He grinned. Leaning down, he took her nipple into his mouth. Feeling the taut flesh beneath his tongue, he rolled it around, licking it and nibbling on the sensitive bud. She sucked in air and jerked back when his teeth bit down, but she had nowhere to run with her breast in his mouth. He released her and rose to her eye level. “Do not do that again, Victoria.”
“Okay.” She nodded, her hands still gripped together in front of her. He focused on her ass again and delivered half a dozen swats to her right cheek, harder and with no break between. She took big breaths but remained still. He rewarded her with a gentle rub of her tender flesh and more kisses to her breasts.
“How wet for me are you?” His fingers d
ragged down her torso to the small nest of curls already wet from her arousal. He grinned at her, taking in the new blush that covered her cheeks at his finding her secret. Sliding his hand through the patch of curls, he found her clit, swollen and greedy. One brush of his fingertip, and she squirmed beneath his touch.
He rested the pad of his middle finger on her clit and returned to reddening her left ass cheek. Each stroke of his hand made her lurch forward into his other hand. He could see the torn expression in her eyes. The pleasure of his fingers and the pain of his hand both felt good in their own right, but mixed together, she didn’t know which way to lean her body.
“Just enjoy it, Victoria, don’t try to control it,” he whispered and pulled his hand back, delivering harder swats.
The gentle bounce of her ass nearly made his eyes cross with lust. In his mind, he imagined having her on all fours, pulling her sweet ass toward him as he thrust his cock inside of her. He let himself imagine her red ass bouncing as it came into contact with his pelvis while he fucked her harder and harder.
The longer he traveled into his imagination, the harder his slap became. She writhed beneath him, her feet shuffling from one spot to the next, but her hands remained where they were. She bent more at the waist, giving her ass to him for his hand. He growled and delivered a sharp smack on a soft spot. Her hands flew back, covering the spot he’d just hit, and she stood straight up.
“Ow!” She hopped up and down. It was a tender area, he knew, and he had avoided it until that moment. Her eyes flew to his, an apology on her lips. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to.” She quickly righted herself, gripping her hands once more in front of her.
Victoria looked so contrite, he almost hated having to discipline her for moving. Almost. “I did say not to move your hands back here, didn’t I?” He ran his nails over the tender flesh. She hissed at the new feeling but didn’t move. He wasn’t pressing hard, as his intent wasn’t to hurt her but to awaken her senses to the idea that it was about to be unpleasant.
