Club Wonderland

by Christine d'Abo

  This time her answer came slower. “No.” She let her gaze drop to the point where their bodies touched. “I knew you would if I said Red.”

  “That’s why things like safewords exist. There are agreements, contracts, conversations that normally happen between a Dom and his sub before they get to the point where we were Saturday.”

  “I pushed you into it. I was the one taking advantage.” Alice groaned and covered her face with her hands. “All because I had to follow you there.”

  The front of her shirt pulled tight across her breasts. Gael could picture them in perfect detail—naked, nipples hard, pale skin—and his cock responded. Fuck.

  “Why do you think you’re broken?”

  Alice shifted in her seat, moving her knees away from his. “Do you know what I did as a kid?”

  “No.” He’d done his best not to give her or her history much thought. The less ammunition he had to torture himself with, the better.

  “I was a child model. My mom had me in magazine ads and kid’s beauty shows. If Toddlers in Tiaras had existed fifteen years ago, I would have been on it.”

  Ah. It explained a lot about her. “The experience broke you?”

  “Not really. I didn’t love it. Though it was fun as a kid getting to dress up and have people tell me how pretty I was. For a while I thought I was a princess.”

  As she spoke, he could picture the beautiful child she must have been.

  “As I got older, though, I didn’t like the pressure of having most of my life taken outside of my control. My mom had me on a strict diet and exercise routine. I was always going between school and auditions or photo shoots. When I turned sixteen I officially announced my retirement.”

  “Your mother didn’t approve.”

  “Hell no. She was furious. Told me I was throwing away an opportunity that most women only dream of having. But I’d had enough of having my life lived for me. I didn’t want to be a puppet anymore.” Alice bit down on her bottom lip. “So that’s why I can’t figure out why what I did, what we did at the club, why it...”

  “Why it turned you on so much?”

  Her single nod was the only response he was likely to get.

  Alice White was having a crisis and he was the reason.

  “Do you think it was a onetime thing?” Her voice had gone soft. “That I’d gotten wrapped up in...everything?”

  It was possible that being surrounded by the sights and sounds of sex had punched her libido in the gut, sending her body out of control. It was likely if they were to spend a weekend, just the two of them alone in a house, Alice would grow to hate his controlling ways.

  The thought of her naked in his home, a collar around her neck, knees spread and ass in the air, had him wishing there was more room in his pants.

  “Do you want the answer to that question?” He must be mad even considering having a second time with her. It was a surefire way to sabotage his chances with Uncle Stephen. Worse, if he didn’t do things correctly, she might begin to want a commitment from him that he wasn’t able to give.

  He’d been there. Had his expectations shattered because of his own failed attempt at reading the situation. Tina had been clear about looking for a Dom only for sex. But he was young enough to believe he could change her mind, make her want him on a more permanent basis if he gave her everything she wanted. Had he realized she was married to a man who didn’t share her love of the lifestyle, Gael wouldn’t have given her a second glance.

  No, he sucked at relationships. It was better for both of them if he kept Alice at arm’s length, showed her what it meant to be a submissive, and then set her free to find someone else who could care for her.

  He shouldn’t feel any desire to wrap his arms around her, keep her beauty all to himself to cherish. And by no account should Gael Hernandez want to tie her to his bed so he could show her what it really means to be cared for.

  Fuck that.

  Still, when she sat a little bit straighter and narrowed her gaze at him, he couldn’t help but be pleased.

  “What do you mean?”

  “There are things you can do to see if you were simply caught up in the moment.”

  “Things with you?”

  “No.” Liar. “Not the way you’re thinking.”

  This was it, the moment when things would either be broken between them forever, freeing them both of this madness that had gotten to them at Wonderland, or drag them both down a path Gael wasn’t sure either of them wanted to take.

  He stood, then crossed the room. If she were going to do this, he didn’t want her to feel he was pressuring her in any way. People needed to choose this for themselves, otherwise they’d never reach the state of bliss that could be achieved.

  “Gael?” Alice had gotten to her feet, but she’d made no move to come toward him.

  He couldn’t back down now. He owed it to them both to take things to the next step.

  Making sure she was looking at him, Gael let himself slip into his Dom self. “Go to the bedroom and take off your bra and panties. Bring them back out to me.”

  That was all he was going to give her. No long-winded explanations, no promises of anything sexual. One clear and simple order for her to follow. She either did it or kicked him out.

  Alice swallowed and her hands fluttered at her sides. “Why?”

  “Because I said to.”

  She took a step forward, hesitating for a heartbeat before turning and running up the narrow stairs. It took every bit of his control to keep from running up after her, wanting to catch a glimpse of her perfect body, if only for a moment. Instead, he kept himself rooted in place and cast his gaze around the tiny living room.

  It was only after he’d managed to survey half the contents of her bookshelf did he hear Alice start down the stairs once more. Her arms were crossed and each hand was squeezing something.

  “Here.” She held out the panties and lace bra for him, without meeting his gaze. The blush on her face was as deep red as he had ever seen on her.

  The scent of her arousal clung to the thin fabric of her panties. Gael held her gaze as he lifted them to his nose, deeply inhaling the scent. “You’re not to wear anything beneath your clothing until I tell you to.”

  Alice turned her face away, her gaze landing somewhere past him. “How will you know if I do or not?”

  “I’ll know.” He put the undergarments in his pocket. He’d keep them with the panties he’d taken from her at the club. Apparently he’d started a collection. “I expect you to come to work tomorrow like this. If you are wearing underwear, then we both know that you have no interest in this lifestyle. I would ask that you respect my privacy and not mention this to anyone.”

  “And if I do what you ask?” Alice recrossed her arms, sending her full breasts moving uninhibited beneath her shirt. “What then?”

  He hadn’t thought quite that far. He’d have to come up with a plan. “We’ll see.”

  He hated that he couldn’t keep his gaze from her. His hands itched to reach out and touch her skin, pull her hair away from her face so he could bite down on her neck. If he stayed much longer, things would quickly slip out of his control.

  “Tomorrow. Don’t be late for work.”

  Gael didn’t look back as he left her house, even when he heard her soft, “Yes, Sir.”

  God help him.

  Chapter Eleven

  Normally Alice enjoyed when her mother came to Toronto and they went out to supper. It was an evening that they would take some time to plan out, work in a show or a trip to a museum, maybe some shopping, before they’d head back to Alice’s place. But when her mother showed up unexpectedly two hours after Gael had left, taking her good panties and bra with him, Alice wanted to crawl into a corner and die.

  “I need to eat and shop. You can drive.”

  Alice managed to put her off for an hour while she showered and tried to figure out the best thing to wear. She’d stood in front of her underwear drawer, staring at the la
cy bras and matching panties for all of ten minutes, deciding what to do. Gael wouldn’t know if she cheated tonight. She could dress the way she wanted, to ensure her comfort while taking her mother out.

  She’d gone so far as to pick up a bra, running the stiff lace between her forefinger and thumb.

  He wouldn’t know. Would he?

  Of course he would. She was the worst liar in the entire world. One look at her guilty face and he’d be able to read her every thought. Sorry, Sir, but my mom has a mandatory panties rule. Maybe next time.

  Did she really want to give up on this without giving it a proper try?

  The drawer thunked shut, the sound reverberating in her room from the hard slam of wood on wood. Gael Hernandez really was a bastard.

  So sans underwear, Alice found a dress that would hold everything in place as best as possible, then took her mother shopping.

  For the next several hours she had to fight to concentrate on what her mother was saying. They’d decided to stay close to Alice’s house and took the transit to the shops. With each step Alice’s thighs rubbed against her bare pussy. The air tickled her, sending shivers through her body. Free from her bra’s normal constraints, her breasts rubbed against the soft fabric of the dress, causing her nipples to harden. Anyone looking at her for all of three seconds would be able to tell how turned on she was. Please dear God, don’t let my mother notice.

  Whether through divine intervention or simply their preoccupation with the incredible sales they had managed to find, her mother had barely looked her way, content to prattle on about random things. It wasn’t until they finally made their way to their favorite Italian restaurant that it started to get more difficult for Alice.

  The hard wooden chair was a solid force against her pussy. She tried to shift herself into a more comfortable position, but her constant wiggling did little more than keep her on edge. She didn’t know if masturbating was against Gael’s rules, but it might become a moot point in an embarrassingly short time.

  Getting herself off on a chair while at supper with her mother...certainly a new one. And more than a little disturbing.

  Conversation between them had died down considerably while the waiter brought them water and menus. Alice wasn’t being the most attentive daughter just then, but the building pressure between her legs was preventing more than a little rational thought.

  Her mother cleared her throat. “I guess you’re wondering why I showed up unannounced today.”

  Alice cringed. She hadn’t given her mother’s unexpected arrival the amount of consideration she normally would have. “I was curious. I thought you wanted me to come up and spend some time—”

  “I had to come see a specialist this morning. Pain in the you-know-what, if you ask me. Why my doctor couldn’t do these tests at our hospital, I don’t know. Thank you for asking, darling.”

  “Specialist?” Alice looked up over the menu as her mother’s words sunk in. “For what? You didn’t mention anything about this.” God, this was so typical. Her mother loved to drop bombs like this on Alice’s lap with no warning. “Is this about your sleeping problems?”

  Her mother was wearing a sundress and a large wooden bead necklace. The blues and yellows of the fabric were the perfect complement to her skin tone and brought out the color of her eyes. Alice had always thought her mother looked amazing and not close to her fifty-three years. She couldn’t imagine her mother being sick, not in a serious way. Hell, the woman rarely got the cold or flu. It was as if the germs were too in awe of her to dare land on her body.

  They would normally jump over to Alice instead.

  “Yes, it was. I need to go to a sleep clinic, and they said they want to run some other tests, as well.”

  “Specialist. You can’t get into to a place like that on short notice.”

  Her mother had the good grace to blush. “Things have been going on longer than I might have let on. I might need someone to stay with me for several weeks after they’ve finished their prodding.”

  Alice instantly stopped squirming, her gaze snapping to her mother’s. “Mom, I can’t take several weeks off work.”

  “Of course you can.” She reached for a roll and carefully broke it into quarters before buttering each one. “You can speak to your boss and tell them there’s a family emergency. I’m sure they have some policy about caring for sick family members.”

  The thought of begging Gael for time off flashed through her mind. She had no doubt it would be a more pleasant form of begging that what she’d have to do with Mr. Gibson. Not that Gael would have any influence with the partners or HR. As an associate lawyer, he had to follow the rules the same as she did.

  “I should be able to get a few days—”

  “I’ll need you for two weeks.”

  “That would use up all of my vacation.”

  Her mother stopped moving and leveled a frown at her. “You can take it with me. We’ll be able to spend some time together, and I can introduce you around to some of my friends. Gwen’s son is a dentist who just opened up an office in Barrie. I think the two of you would get along wonderfully.”

  Every muscle in Alice’s body had gone ridged. “You’re trying to set me up.”

  “If you have to be with me for that long, it would be nice for you to have a friend to spend some time with. I won’t need you at my beck and call twenty-four seven. You could go out to supper, go for some walks.”

  “Are you even sick?”

  She shouldn’t have asked. Not only was it rude, but this was her mom she was talking to. The woman might be a master manipulator, but she never resorted to lies when she could make anyone do anything by beating the person over the head with the truth.

  “Alice Elizabeth White.”

  Oh damn.

  The rest of her punishment was postponed when the waiter brought their starter salad. The moment he stepped away, her mother gently placed her napkin by her plate and clasped her hands together on the table.

  “I have never lied to you, nor would I about something as serious as my health. I was simply trying to help you take advantage of the situation, putting you in the path of a nice man. Kevin is divorced and is looking for a new start. He’s attractive, knows how to look after a house and his parents. You could do far worse.”

  “I can find a man on my own.”

  “And yet you live alone.” Her mother sighed, her eyes falling closed for a moment. “You haven’t changed since you were a child. You’d float away if I wasn’t standing over to keep you in line.”

  Any desire Alice had for her food evaporated. “I am more than capable of looking after myself.”

  “When I arrived at your home today it looked as if you hadn’t showered in days.” Her elegant eyebrow lifted, saying more than her mother’s words ever could.

  “I’ve been home sick.”

  Liar and a coward. Gael’s voice echoed in her head.

  “That’s an even better reason for you to come with me.”

  “Mom, I can’t come with you. I have to go to work tomorrow.”

  “Alice, are you being difficult on purpose? I’m simply trying to do my best to look out for you. And I happen to need your help. I don’t ask for a lot from you.”

  The old her would have simply given up and acquiesced to the request. She could easily call in sick one more day, then book the vacation time. Carmela might question her, worried that there was something serious going on, but she’d agree to the vacation.

  Gael was another story.

  “Well, I can see there’s no point in continuing this conversation.” Her mother picked up her salad fork and began to eat. “You seem to choose the opposite of everything I ask of you recently. You don’t want to meet a nice man, you don’t want to consider trying a career that would not only give you more flexibility, but more financial security. And heaven forbid you help your mother when she needs it.”

  Alice stood up so quickly, her chair scraped loudly across the floor, getting the attent
ion of the few people sitting around them.

  “I’m leaving.”

  Her mother frowned, the lines around her mouth stretching as she did. “Sit down. You’re making a scene.”

  Scouring her purse for her credit card, Alice tossed it on the table. “Have them charge me. I...I can’t stay here anymore. Sorry.”

  “Where are you going? You can leave me here alone.”

  The pressure squeezed Alice’s chest, making it difficult to pull any air in, and grew with each passing second. In a blink she was sixteen again, her mother trying to direct her every move, taking the control out of her hands.

  “You know how to get back to my place. There are lots of cabs around here if you need one. The guest bed is made up if you want to stay.”

  “Alice—”

  “Bye, Mom.”

  Tears made it difficult to see the door as she pushed her way through and out into the street.

  * * *

  Not wanting to take a chance of running into her mother back at her house, Alice took a taxi over to Petra’s condo. She hadn’t unloaded on her friend in a while, but there was too much going on in Alice’s head right now to handle on her own. She loved her mother to death, but the woman had a way of driving her mad.

  She trudged down the hallway, knowing Petra would find a way to make her feel better. Her friend had a way of spinning things around so Alice had no choice but to see the upside. Although Petra might not exactly be the sex-goddess in person she tried to be online, she was grounded, and better still, understood Alice.

  She got to the door and knocked several times. Where the hell was Petra? It wasn’t like her friend not to be around. If something had happened to her...

  Alice pressed her hand flat against the door and turned her head to better hear. Nothing. Getting her cell phone from her purse, she was relieved to find a message from Petra waiting for her.

  “Hi, hon. Today has been crazy. We’re meeting with the awards committee today to figure out what the hell to do about the complaints about Darcy and I. God only knows how that’s going to end up. Oh, and he said he won’t be able to pull Mantastic from the competition now because of his brother. Never mind, too many details for the phone. I wanted to let you know that I’m okay. I miss you. I feel like I haven’t seen you since this whole web awards thing started. Let’s do lunch soon. Okay? Call me.”