But I saw this world through different eyes now. There was gentleness among the whips and collars. Tender caresses and fond looks, protective Doms and protected subs. More trust, communication, and affection existed between these people than there ever was in my socially accepted vanilla relationship with Alec.
I continued strolling through the sea of skin and black leather. This world wasn’t just becoming familiar, I realized. It was becoming home.
Someone grabbed my upper arm, jarring me out of my thoughts, and I knew before I turned it was neither Scott nor Byron. On some visceral, instinctive level, I knew exactly who it was.
“Glad to see Scott brought you back to us.” Victor’s voice and grin raised the hairs on the back of my neck. He always managed to cross paths with me when we came here, and just my luck, he’d caught me alone tonight. Persistent fucker.
I jerked my arm free. “I came back, yes.”
He gave a sarcastic laugh before his lips pulled into a sneer. “He hasn’t taught you to show respect, has he?” He raised his chin, emphasizing the fact that he was looking down at me. I had no doubt he expected me to drop my gaze like a good little submissive.
“He has, actually.” I raised an eyebrow. “He’s taught me to respect those who’ve earned it.”
Victor’s eyes widened, then immediately narrowed. He stepped closer to me. “You’re just the kind of sub who needs a good, experienced Dom to put her in her place.”
“Fortunately, I have such a Dom, and I know my place.”
He laughed coldly. “Which is why you’re disrespecting a Dom?”
“You haven’t given me a reason to respect you.” I defiantly held his gaze. This wasn’t the Domme talking. Though I’d come tonight to play the Domme, my default setting was sub, and the sub in me was ready to kick this son of a bitch in the teeth.
“I’m a Dom, you—”
“You’re not my Dom.”
“Obviously not. Or you’d show some respect.” Before I could speak, he snatched my arm again, gripping it hard enough to smart. “I could probably teach you a thing or two about submission if I could be bothered to put up with your attitude.” A few nearby conversations fell silent. Leather creaked, and out of corner of my eye, I saw two very large Doms start toward us.
I wrenched my arm free again and took a step toward Victor. The two Doms—and several more conversations—halted when Victor took a step back.
“I don’t respect every douche bag who struts in and calls himself a Dom,” I snarled. “I submit to Scott because he’s earned the right to command me to. You, on the other hand, can go fuck yourself.” With that, I turned on my heel and walked away.
He sputtered something after me, but it was quickly lost in several sharp, angry voices.
A hand on my shoulder made me jump. I turned to see a tall, leather-clad woman with bright blue hair and several piercings. A Domme, if her unflinching eye contact was anything to go by.
“You okay, hon?” She nodded in the direction I’d just come. “Looked like he was giving you some trouble.”
I shrugged. “I’m fine. He just needed a sub to put him in his place, I think.”
She laughed. “He’s needed that for some time.”
Another voice, male this time, said, “What did he say to you? Do you two know each other?”
“Was he fucking with you?” Byron appeared beside me, his arm around Charlotte’s waist.
“I’m fine.” I smoothed the air with upraised hands. “It’s taken care of.”
His lip curled into that mouthwatering smirk. “What exactly did you say to him, anyway?”
“I let him know he could go fuck himself.”
Byron laughed and clapped my shoulder gently. Charlotte and I made eye contact. She winked and silently mouthed, “Nice one.”
The blue-haired Domme gave a sniff of laughter. “I don’t think he’ll be a problem anymore.”
I turned around to see Victor being led toward the door by several people.
The small crowd around me dispersed, but a moment later, someone touched me from behind for the hundredth time tonight, but I didn’t flinch. I knew from the way he put his arm around my waist that it was Scott. He kissed my cheek. “I see you made some friends while I was gone.”
“Yeah, after I got rid of one in particular,” I muttered.
His eyes widened with alarm. “Meaning?”
I looked over my shoulder. Victor was in the midst of a very animated conversation with the two burly Doms and a Domme. He made sharp, defensive gestures as he spoke, and the Domme stabbed a finger in his direction as she backed him out the door.
When I turned back to Scott, he’d set his jaw and narrowed his eyes, glaring at Victor from across the room.
“What did he do?” he growled.
I put my hand on his chest. “It’s taken care of.”
“What’s taken care of?” He looked at me, his expression shifting from angry to concerned as his eyebrows knitted together. He pulled me closer. “What happened?”
I gave a dismissive shrug. “He apparently thought you haven’t taught me to show respect.”
“What?”
I shrugged again, grinning this time. “I told him you have. I just don’t respect every douche bag who comes along and calls himself a Dom.”
A startled laugh burst out of him. “You said that to him?”
“Right before I told him to go fuck himself.”
Scott beamed. “That’s my girl.” He kissed me, and his expression turned serious again. “You’re okay, though, right?”
“I’m fine, Scott.” I glanced in Victor’s direction just in time to see him disappear through the double doors. To Scott, I said, “So, did you get the rack fixed?”
He feigned offense, putting a hand to his bare chest. “Did I get it fixed? Please. Every piece of machinery in this building works because I’m here.”
“Guess it’s a good thing you weren’t occupied by a ball gag and a butt plug, then.”
“Not in this lifetime, darling,” he said. “Now, what do you say we go find you a sub before someone comes along and asks me to fix something again?”
“Or before I have to put another dipshit in his place?”
He chuckled and kissed my cheek. “I would pay to see that.”
~ * ~
Scott and I stepped out of the dungeon.
I let out my breath and brushed a strand of sweaty hair out of my face. Damien, the sub, was in the hands of Grace, his Domme, and I’d quietly bowed out while she took over rubbing lotion onto his back.
Scott put his arm around my shoulders. “I had a feeling you’d be a natural Domme.” He kissed me gently.
I smiled through the fatigue. “I didn’t realize how much work it was.”
He chuckled. “Not for the faint of heart, is it?”
“No, definitely not.”
“Why don’t I go grab us some water?” He kissed me again and released my shoulders.
“That sounds really good,” I said. “Actually, I could use some air, too.”
He gestured down the hall. “The veranda out by the pool is out that way. It’s usually pretty quiet.”
Quiet and deserted sounded almost as good as that water he’d promised. Though the scene with Damien was fun, my senses were overloaded. I needed to wind down.
Scott kissed my cheek. Gesturing over his shoulder at the room we’d just exited, he said, “I need to get some water for Damien, too, so I’ll meet you out there.”
We went separate directions, and just as he’d predicted, the veranda was empty. I rested my elbows on the railing. Rubbing the fatigue out of my right arm, I replayed my scene with Damien.
I got it now, the thrill of the power exchange. Though I’d practiced flogging on Amy and Charlotte, they’d never been my submissives. Volunteers for human target practice, but they were at the command of Scott and Byron.
Tonight, Grace had given Damien over to me and let me take command. He’d knelt before
me. He’d taken whatever pain I’d inflicted. He’d kept his orgasm at bay until I’d given him the word. If only for an hour or so, he’d been mine.
And now it was over. My pulse was back to normal, and though I was horny as hell, the excitement and adrenaline of the scene had worn off.
But still, I couldn’t find my footing.
Playing the Domme had been thrilling, that much I couldn’t deny. Scott had pegged me for a switch, and he was absolutely right. In spite of the thrill, though, something had been missing. It was fun, it just wasn’t the same.
Just like every time we’d played with Charlotte and Byron, I’d enjoyed myself, but I still gravitated toward Scott. With Byron, I figured my preference for Scott was simply habit. Scott was my Dom, my Master.
Tonight, I was no one’s submissive, but still I’d had to struggle not to focus on my Dom as he watched from the sidelines. Damien had deserved my full attention, both for his pleasure and his safety, and I’d fought to give him that. I’d managed to keep myself from getting distracted, but I was always aware of Scott. Whenever he was around, the air was electrically charged, his presence thrumming just above my skin, never escaping my senses.
I’d come here tonight to try my hand at being a top, and while I could play the Domme, my scene with Damien had only made me realize what I truly was:
I was Scott’s.
Blowing out a breath, I closed my eyes and rubbed my neck. This wasn’t supposed to be anything but sex. I wasn’t supposed to feel anything for him. What the hell did I feel for him? What was he doing to me? With a look, he could raise the hairs on the back of my neck. With a nod of approval, he could send a rush of warm relief through me. And simply by being in the room, half-naked and half in leather, he could make my clit tingle and my heart flutter like no one else.
Like almost no one else.
Every time I thought about my feelings for Scott, there was a pang of guilt in my conscience, and that pang of guilt was shaped like Matt. But why? I could play with Byron or Damien and it didn’t matter. But with them, it was just sex. There was no history, no longstanding friendship. Nothing at stake besides a few welts and orgasms, never mind…this. Whatever the hell this was.
I rubbed my eyes with my thumb and forefinger.
Goose bumps prickled my skin. I held my breath.
Leather creaked and a shoe scuffed behind me. “We’ve got to stop meeting like this.”
I looked over my shoulder. The low light from a nearby window cast a soft glow to one side of Scott’s face and his mischievous smile.
“We do keep ending up on out on decks and balconies, don’t we?” I said.
“I guess we just gravitate toward them.” He kissed me. “Maybe it’s a sign we should fuck on one eventually.”
I laughed. “Why does it not surprise me that your mind went there?”
“Can’t imagine.” He handed me a cold bottle of water.
“Thank you.” I unscrewed the cap and took a long drink.
After a long silence, he put his hands on my hips. “You okay?”
I nodded. “Just thinking.”
“Don’t hurt yourself.”
I smacked him playfully and laughed. “Shut up.”
Chuckling, he put his arms around me and kissed me lightly. “Okay, so what are you thinking about?”
“Just,” I paused. “Tonight.”
“Anything in particular?”
You. “Not really.”
He regarded me silently for a moment, probably searching my eyes for the unspoken thoughts I tried to hide. “So, how do you like being a Domme?”
The knot in my gut tightened, but I smiled in spite of it. “It was fun.”
“You don’t sound very enthusiastic.” He touched my face. “Something wrong?”
No. Yes. I don’t know. Swallowing hard, I dropped my gaze.
“Krissy?” He lifted my chin and inclined his head slightly.
I slid my hands up his abs and his chest, then onto the sides of his neck. “I liked being a Domme.”
He raised an eyebrow. “But…?”
Wrapping my arms around his neck, I pulled him down to me. “But I think I like being your sub better.” I kissed him. I exhaled through my nose as he put his arms around me. He held me closer, parting my lips with his tongue and deepening the kiss as my body melted against his.
“So you prefer being a sub?” he asked, breathing hard against my lips.
Your sub. “Yes, I do.”
“Hmm.” He brushed his thumb across my cheekbone. “In that case, what do you say we get the hell out of here?”
“You have something in mind, don’t you?”
The corner of his mouth rose, bringing my heart rate and body temperature up with it. “I was thinking,” he whispered, running his fingers through my hair, “that there’s a Saint Andrew’s Cross in my house…” He paused to kiss me lightly. “…with your name written all over it tonight.”
I shivered.
Chapter 27
“So, how was your night as a dominatrix?” Matt asked, hanging up his jacket as I closed the front door.
I grinned. “It was fun.”
“Oh?” He stepped toward me. “Tell me about it.”
“What do you want to know?”
Another step, his nearness combining with the intensity in his eyes and pushing me back.
He shrugged with one shoulder, a grin curling his lips. “Tell me everything. Since I couldn’t be there to see it…” The wall stopped me, but Matt continued his approach. “…I want you to fill me in on all the details.” He rested one hand on the wall beside me. “Tell me everything you did to him.”
The undeniable hunger in his eyes made my knees weak, so I casually leaned against the wall. I slid my hands up the front of his shirt, not sure if I intended to push him away or drag him closer.
“I’ll tell you about it later,” I said. “For now, I’d—”
“No, no, I insist.” He inclined his head. “I want to know all the filthy things you did to that man.”
“How do you know it was a man?”
His eyebrows jumped. “Tell me it—”
“It was a man.”
“Damn.” He chuckled. “I still want to know.” He leaned in, almost close enough to kiss me, and my knees shook even more when his breath warmed my lips. “I want every last detail.”
“Kiss me first.”
He shook his head. “I want to hear this first.”
“But—”
He put a finger on my lips. “I want you right now,” he whispered. “On your back, screaming my name, taking everything I want to give you…”
An electric shudder rippled from my clit right up my spine.
He grinned. “…but I know that as soon as we get started, we’ll be at it all night.” His fingertips trailed down the side of my neck. “All fucking night.”
I tugged at the front of his shirt. “Then let’s—”
“So if I don’t get to hear about all this now,” he said, his grin as infuriating as it was arousing, “then I might not get to hear about it at all.”
“And if I say I won’t tell you until you fuck me?”
He shrugged. “Then we’d be at an impasse, wouldn’t we?”
“So it would just be a question of who was more stubborn.”
Matt laughed. “Darlin’, you don’t want to try to out-stubborn me. I assure you, you will lose.”
I slid my hand over the front of his jeans, gently squeezing his hard cock. When he gasped, I grinned. “Is that so?”
He closed his fingers around my hand. “Yes, it is so.” He brought my hand up and kissed the inside of my wrist. “So, are you going to tell me?” He raised my arm as he trailed kisses up to my elbow, and there he paused to make a light circle with the tip of his tongue.
With a moan, I let my head fall back against the wall. There was no point in trying to argue with him. I wanted him, and if taking a few minutes to tell him about my night with Damien was
the price, then so be it.
“Scott introduced us,” I said.
Matt looked up from kissing the inside of my elbow. “At the BDSM club, right?”
I nodded. “Well, he introduced me to the Domme, Grace. Then she introduced me to Damien.”
He let my arm go and rested his hand on my waist. “Damien was the submissive?”
“Yes. We all talked for a while, then we went into one of the private rooms.”
“Could anyone see you there?”
“His Domme. And Scott. Scott was there.”
“That lucky bastard,” Matt whispered. “Tell me what he saw.”
I wetted my lips. “I made him strip.”
“Mm-hmm.” Matt leaned forward, dipping his head to kiss my neck. “And?”
“Then I—” I sucked in a breath as his soft lips and coarse stubble brushed the front of my throat.
“Keep talking.”
I closed my eyes and held onto his shoulders. How was I supposed to speak about last night when I wanted him right here, right now? “Matt, I—”
“Tell me more.” He kissed my neck again. “I’m not kissing you properly until I’ve heard everything you did last night.”
Stubborn bastard. I took a deep breath and somehow found the words. “I put him on his knees and—” I paused, swallowing hard. “I made him lick my pussy.”
“And did he?”
I nodded.
“Did he do it right?”
I shivered at the memory of everything Damien had done with his mouth. His eagerness to please had been there in every rapid, gentle sweep of his tongue. Like never before, I’d understood just how much control Scott must have had, because it had taken every last iota of willpower for me to stay in control of myself, let alone Damien.
Matt laughed softly. “He was that good, was he?”
“Yes, he was.” I bit my lip. “And I made him touch himself. At the same time. Without coming.”
A low growl emerged from the back of Matt’s throat and reverberated across my collarbone. “You are an evil, cruel woman.” He kissed just beneath my jaw. “What else did you make him do?”
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