But my head isn’t in the right space for deep thoughts and though my body craves the feeling of Ted’s hard muscles, I’m just not in the mood for sex. I’m too nervous. Too distracted. I want to call Beth and talk to her and pour out my woes, but my pride won’t let me. I’m being stupid and obstinate and bull-headed, but I’m determined to see this thing through to the end.
I miss my friends. Beth and Joan and Anna have been there for me since high school. We swore a solemn pact that we’d never let anything come between us and our friendship. Now I’ve let a guy do that and I’m not happy with myself.
Early Friday morning, just when my stress levels are about explode to the point where even drinking cannot save me, I get the phone call I’ve been simultaneously anticipating and dreading.
My palms are sweaty; my throat is dry. I’m terrified of what I’m about to hear. Yet sometimes, the only way forward is through.
The voice on the other end of the line speaks, and I absorb the words in silence. “Yes,” I say at the end. “Thank you. I’ll stop by this afternoon.”
When I hang up, I stare at the wall in my office for several minutes, my thoughts far, far away. Everything has finally clicked into place. It’s time to make some phone calls.
It takes persuasion to get the girls to meet me at the Friendly Drinker. All week, I’ve been getting the cold shoulder from them, but finally, they reluctantly agree to show up.
Chapter 10
“Ladies, challenge – fulfilled.” I set down the piece of paper in front of the girls with a shit-eating smirk.
Please. I can’t say no to a dare. I’m stubborn, often to my detriment, but the one thing I’m not is so stupid that I’m going to actually blackmail a co-worker.
There were two dares I accepted that night. One of them was a dare that Beth had offered. Not Anna. That dare? Apply for a job at McQuade and Perlman.
That was my big meeting on Wednesday. My interview with the environmental investment firm that I’ve wanted to work with for many months. The stress after? Not from blackmailing Ted Ashburn, or even sleeping with him. That was me, waiting the nine days for them to make up their minds that they wanted to hire me.
The piece of paper that’s in front of the girls? My offer letter. I start in two weeks. I cannot be more excited.
Okay – perhaps it was silly and immature of me to pretend to blackmail Ted so I could mess with my friends. Fine, it was both those things, but it rankled when they told me I’d given up on my dreams. I hadn’t. I was biding my time. I was building the skills I needed to make me irresistible to the company I really, really want to work for.
The delectable Mr. Ashburn? Ah, that brings me to my second dare.
Ted and I have been dating in secret for two months. We’ve kept it very quiet because, as I’ve maybe alluded to before, the rather staid and uptight firm of Statham, Brown and Clarkson takes a very dim view of employees dating each other. The policy is underpinned by a solid reason – we sometimes work on cases for competing firms and the partners believe that employees who date might disclose sensitive information to their significant others. Ted and I have been working on the same project and no ethics violations have taken place, but as Philip Statham is fond of saying – the policy is the policy.
I didn’t want to lose my job before I had a chance to interview at McQ & P. I don’t care what the HR managers say – it’s definitely easier to find a job when you already have a job. It makes me seem like a hotter commodity. It’s all bullshit, of course, but that’s the way the world works.
And in any case, Ted loves his job. I didn’t want to screw my boyfriend over.
The domination games? Ordering him around, making him cook for me, massage me, all that stuff? Even the unveiling of Ted Ashburn’s one-eyed snake in the office?
A few weeks into our fledgling relationship, Ted told me he likes to be dominant in bed. Our conversation did not go well. I’m going to confess – I freaked out, convinced he wanted me barefoot and pregnant. There even might have been some yelling and some crying. I’m sort of embarrassed by it.
Ted was amazingly patient with me, perhaps because Ted is really quite awesome. He suggested that we flip it around for two weeks. I could dominate him – he would obey every command. He told me I’d come to appreciate power play better if I had more experience with it.
There was a catch, of course. After two weeks of me dominating Ted, it would be his turn.
He didn’t think I’d take him up on it. I guess it’s still a relatively new relationship – he didn’t know that I can never turn down a dare, even if it means that at the end of the two week period, I’ll need to pay up.
I buy a few rounds of drinks to apologize for the charade. The girls are annoyed – partly because of the prank I pulled, but mostly because I’ve been dating someone for two months and kept it a secret. And I can understand. It’s killed me to keep this from them. Beth, Anna and Joan are my best friends in the whole wide world. Had it just been me that would have been affected, I’d have told them right away, but Ted was involved too and I couldn’t risk it blowing up in his face.
The reason I’m telling them now? Earlier this evening, after I signed my offer letter from McQuade and Perlman, I knocked on John Clarkson’s door and offered my resignation. Since I was working on confidential client information, there was no such thing as a two-week notice. My network access was instantly suspended and I got shown to the door. Such is life in investment banking.
Eventually, the girls are mollified by the combination of drinks and grovelling. “And when do we get to meet the boyfriend?” Beth asks.
“And does he have any hot English friends?” Joan adds.
“Right now and I don’t know,” I answer both of them. “I asked him to drop by to say hi.”
I look at Ted on our walk to his apartment. There’s no hiding it. I’m nervous.
“Relax, Nat,” he soothes me, in exactly the same way he’s eased my nerves through the two week period. “I care for you. I really like you. I’m not going to do anything to cock that up.”
I link my fingers in his and he puts his arm around my waist, drawing me nearer. Our shoulders are touching, our bodies bump together companionably as we walk.
It’s been a good relationship so far. Perhaps the best I’ve ever had. I don’t want to do anything to fuck it up either. I tighten my grip on his hand. “I know.” I pause. “Was I a good Domme?”
He laughs. “You need practice,” he says indulgently.
I glance at him. “Will I get a chance to practice? I thought this was a one-shot deal.”
He kisses me gently. “Natalie,” he says. “I’m incredibly touched that you are willing to trust me enough to try this. What kind of boyfriend would I be if I didn’t return your trust?” He shoots me an amused look. “You need to pay up, sweetness, but after that?” He shrugs. “I’m open to deals.”
I look at him, surprised. “You are? You’ll let me take another turn at dominance?”
“Let you?” He raises an eyebrow. “I wasn’t under the impression I let you do anything.” His lips twitch. “Only in the bedroom, remember, Natalie? It’s about sex, nothing else.”
I’ve dated this man for two months. I’ve dominated him for two weeks. Trust has built, enough for me to surrender my own tightly-held control. “I’m yours,” I say quietly. For the first time, I’m not nervous. “Do with me what you will.”
We are at the door of his apartment. An apartment which, he’s told me, contains a guest bedroom that’s been transformed into a dungeon. He’s confided that he isn’t the sort that gets a thrill out of playing in public. Being discovered is too risky.
I’ve never been to his place. I realize I’m quite looking forward to what could happen next. “You giving me the tour of your dungeon?” I tease.
He smiles as he pushes the door open. “You’re about to get the dungeon experience up close and personal,” he replies. His voice is as dry as kindling. “However, since it’s
not underground, I don’t actually call it a dungeon.”
I refrain from rolling my eyes at that, but I have to tell you that it takes some serious effort on my part.
He gestures me in, flipping on the entryway light as we enter. “Are you ready?” His body moves against me, pushing me against the wall. His hands envelop mine and hold me captive. I can feel the weight of his arousal pressing against my body and a shiver runs through me.
“When you asked me to pull my dick out at work,” his lips caress a tender spot at my neck, before nipping sharply, “did you wonder what price you’d have to pay in return? Did you stop to consider that that action might have consequences?”
Arousal burns bright in me, runs like molten, glowing lava through my veins. “I didn’t,” I reply, my voice thick with lust. “What price must I pay?”
His lips kiss a path from my neck down to the swell of my breasts. His mouth grinds into mine. “Maybe I’ll tie you down and spank you.” He takes my hand in his, and leads me down the hallway. “Strands of rope around each of your beautiful breasts…” He bites a nipple and sharp, painful lust twinges through my body. “Maybe I’ll lie your legs open and feast on your pussy.” He looks at me intently.
Desire dances on my skin, for this man, for what he already makes me feel and what he could make me feel. I shiver at the unknown nature of what lies ahead, but the predominant emotion I feel isn’t fear. It is anticipation.
“Are you ready to give up control, Natalie? Do you dare?”
He said dare. Dares are like fucking catnip to me. Besides, let’s just be honest. I’m turned on and I’m curious and it’s a dangerously potent mix.
I strip off layer by layer, getting naked for him. I sink to my knees, before raising my eyes to meet his. His lips curve into a slow smile as he surveys me.
When I speak, my voice is defiant. “Challenge accepted.”
This is going to be so good.
About Tara Crescent
***Get a free story from Tara when you sign up to Tara's mailing list. http://eepurl.com/IM0dT ***
Tara Crescent is a writer of erotic fiction. She believes in sassy submissives, firm Dominants, completely consensual relationships and happily-ever-afters! Her favorite kind of romance stories are ones that are somewhat believable.
In her spare time, Tara reads, gardens, cooks, and procrastinates about cleaning. From time to time, Tara blogs about what she's working on (and anything else that she finds interesting) at http://www.taracrescent.com. She lives in Toronto.
She is somewhat active on Facebook and Twitter, especially when the writing is going poorly.
Find Tara on:
Website: http://www.taracrescent.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/tara.crescent
Twitter: http://twitter.com/TaraCrescent
Mailing list: http://eepurl.com/IM0dT
Also by Tara Crescent
NEW! The Assassin’s Revenge Series:
Found (Book 1)
Bought (Book 2)
Freed (Book 3) – Coming May 18
Claimed (Book 4) – Coming June 1 – pre-order now!
Standalone BDSM Romance:
Teaching Maya
The House of Pain
The Professor’s Pet & follow-up short The Professor’s Girlfriend
The Audition
The Storm Series (Contemporary/BDSM Romance):
Storm Boxed Set (Episodes 1-5)
Which includes:
FREE! Storm: The Hottest Guy in Hollywood - A BDSM Romance (Storm Episode 1)
Storm: Kinky Valentine - A BDSM Romance (Storm Episode 2)
Storm: A Road to Forgiveness – A BDSM Romance (Storm Episode 3)
Storm: Tabloid Trouble – A BDSM Romance (Storm Episode 4)
Storm: Home is Where the Vibrator is - A BDSM Romance (Storm Episode 5)
Nights in Venice Series (BDSM Romance):
A Thief in Venice (Nights in Venice Book 1)
An Heiress in Venice (Nights in Venice Book 2)
A Starlet in Venice (Nights in Venice Book 3)
The Doctor Dom Series (BDSM & Medical Play):
Triage (Doctor Dom Volume 1)
Observation (Doctor Dom Volume 2)
Diagnosis (Doctor Dom Volume 3)
Relapse (Doctor Dom Volume 4)
Recovery (Doctor Dom Volume 5)
Doctor Dom Series Sequence One (Triage | Observation | Diagnosis)
Doctor Dom Series Sequence Two (Relapse | Recovery)
Chronicles of Raan Series (BDSM Fantasy):
Chronicles of Raan
Which includes:
FREE! Magic Everywhere (Chronicles of Raan Volume 1)
Raina’s Wedding (Chronicles of Raan Volume 2)
Leila’s Training (Chronicles of Raan Volume 3)
Adventures of Suzie and the Alien Series (Alien Erotica):
Adventures of Suzie and the Alien (Volumes 1-5)
Which includes:
The Alien, the Doctor and the Virgin (Adventures of Suzie and the Alien Volume 1)
The Alien Trains the Virgin (Adventures of Suzie and the Alien Volume 2)
The Alien, the Virgin and the Warrior Queen (Adventures of Suzie and the Alien Book 3)
Tentacle Monsters and the Virgin (Adventures of Suzie and the Alien Volume 4)
The Virgin Returns Home (Adventures of Suzie and the Alien Volume 5)
The Fairy Captive
By Alice Schermer
Text copyright © 2015 Alice Schermer
All Rights Reserved
Out then spak the Queen o Fairies,
And an angry woman was she,
"Shame betide her ill-far'd face,
And an ill death may she die,
For she's taen awa the bonniest knight
In a' my companie.
"But had I kend, Tam Lin," said she,
"What now this night I see,
I wad hae taen out thy twa grey een,
And put in twa een o tree."
The English and Scottish Popular Ballads,
1882-1898 by Francis James Child
Once upon a time there was a girl named Janet, who went to Carterhaugh and plucked a rose. In Carterhaugh she met a man named Tam Lin, and although she was warned about his maiden-taking habits, things unfolded in such a way that she found herself pregnant soon after returning home.
Because there were few shames greater than bearing a child out of wedlock, she returned to Carterhaugh one night, to seek herbs that would rid her of her burden. There she encountered Tam Lin again, and there they talked, and there she learned that he was held captive by the Queen of Fairies. Because she loved him, and because he feared he’d soon be given as tribute to Hell, they hatched a plan to break the Queen’s hold over him.
At nightfall, the fairy troupe rode by, and Janet brought Tam Lin down from his steed. She held fast, knowing that his freedom depended on her holding him true while he turned into all manner of beasts. She held fast, knowing that he was the father of her child and that her heart belonged to no other. But then the man in her arms turned into a great big snake, and Janet learned that although her love for him was strong, and her fear of single motherhood stronger still, neither was mightier than her phobia of all things slithery.
She let go, crying bitter tears, and the Queen of Fairies turned her head and spoke a word.
Once upon a time there was a girl named Janet, and she was lying on a short wooden pier, stoned out of her mind. She felt woozy, but not unhappy, as she allowed her glazed eyes to wander over the stars. Her mood was a pensive kind of mood, brought on by too much drink and too many joints gone straight to her head. It was a mood that lent itself to quick and rash decisions, so it was but a matter of time until one broke through the fog in her brain and made itself shine brighter than the others.
“I’m thinking about going to Carterhaugh,” she mumbled. Three heads — one ginger, one brown, one black with purple streaks — rose beside her, tilting and blinking abnormally relaxed eye
s at her. Greer, Shona and Bree, respectively her cousin, best friend and best friend’s best friend, sat up. Janet focused her stare on the white face of the moon and continued, slurring: “If things keep going the way they’re going. ‘S not as if pa does anything with it, he’s only gone there thrice in his life. I can spend Saturday cleaning up the place and ask Ian to cart my stuff over in his truck, and then I’ll camp there and install some wireless.”
“But Carterhaugh’s a dump!” Bree said, in a mellow-yet-scandalised tone. “It’s been abandoned for years. ‘S got no ‘lectricity or running water or heating, and you don’t know who hangs out ‘round there.”
“Vagrants,” Shona helpfully supplied. “Those woods are filled with vagrants. Vagrants and rapists.”
“And fairies,” Greer added. Three heads spun in her direction, but she held steady, or at least didn’t start swaying more than she was already. Greer was a big believer in the supernatural. Some of her obsession she’d come by honestly — her mother was highly superstitious, the sort of person who left saucers with milk outside the door after dark — but most of it was the pre-packaged sort of mysticism that people contracted when they spent too much time watching obscure TV shows and listening to Enya. Greer did plenty of both. “My mum says fairy magic is strong there.”
“Vagrant rapist fairies,” Shona declared, refusing to be outdone. She gave Janet a look. “Don’t go. Seriously.”
“Gotta,” Janet garbled back. She liked the idea more and more now that she’d had time to turn it over in her head. True, the last time she’d gone to Carterhaugh she’d been a small girl, and the woods had terrified her, and the lonely building lost amidst the trees hadn’t struck her as homely. Not exactly a dump, like Bree said, but she knew she’d need to put in work to make it comfortable. Still, it beat her current living situation. “I can get to the money Auntie Fiona left me now that I’m eighteen. I’ll use it to fix up the place. ‘Sides, it beats staying with da, ‘specially now that he’s drinking again.”
Twist (A BDSM & Romantic Erotica Boxed Set) Page 21
