Licorice Whips

by Bridget Midway

  Sweet cleared his throat before he answered. “I learned to cook when I was a teenager in school. I think it was my need to control even back then.” He would leave out the real reason he started to cook and bake. Sweet had to learn about portion sizes and eating a balanced diet out of a need to take control of his body. “In cooking, you control everything. The temperature, the ingredients. You have the basics down. The recipe.” He kept his stare on the gradually changing sugar from granules to liquid. “Then you can make subtle changes. You can add spices.”

  When Sweet glanced at Nikla, he noticed her wide smile.

  “You light up when you talk about cooking. You can tell you really love it.” She moved in closer to him.

  “I do love it. It’s the only thing that makes sense to me.” He raised the pot from the flame and moved the sugar around the bottom of the pot. “What I love the most is the transformation, changing something from one thing to something completely different.”

  Then time when Sweet looked at Nikla, he noticed the shocked expression on her face.

  “Did you look at my business plan?” she asked.

  Sweet shook his head. “No. Why would you ask that?”

  “Because that’s the name I want to call my business, Transformations by Nikla.” She crossed her feet as she stood in front of him and didn’t wobble at all. “I enjoy helping people get to their best health. For me, it has nothing to do with being a certain weight or size. It has everything to do with getting to know your body and loving your body.”

  “Is that why you’re so hard on me and my business?”

  Nikla’s smile disappeared and she dropped her gaze back to the melting sugar.

  Sweet recognized that her wall had gone up. He had to keep her talking. “So you and your parents.”

  Nikla released a long breath. “You’re not letting that one go.”

  “Answer.”

  “My parents divorced as soon as I graduated from high school. I’m the baby. I think they hung on just for me.”

  Sweet took a step aside and held up the pot off the heat. “Here. Take this and swirl it around in the pot.”

  Nikla hesitated. She stared at the caramel the same way she looked at the store. He wondered where the confident woman who marched up and down in front of his store had gone.

  “It’s going to burn if you don’t swirl this.” Sweet presented her with the pot again.

  This time, Nikla took it and made a circular motion over the flaming blue eye.

  Sweet noticed her tentative method but at least she tried. “Faster.”

  When she paused, Sweet took matters into his own hands. He stood behind her and placed his hand over hers. He gripped the handle and moved the pot around.

  To keep from touching the stove, and a great way to get her body closer to his, Sweet wrapped his free arm around her and put his hand on her incredibly flat stomach.

  Nikla stiffened under his touch at first before she relaxed into him. Her back brushed against his chest. Her ass pushed against the front of his jeans. In response, Sweet bore down on her.

  Nikla spoke as a way to break up the tension in the air. “And this is nothing but sugar? No water or anything else in there?”

  “That’s right. It all melted.” Sweet enjoyed feeling her toned arms as she moved the pot under his manipulations. Before his mind continued to wander, he pressed on with his questioning. “Finish telling me about your parents.”

  Sweet brushed his thumb over her stomach to ease her fears.

  “My dad owns his own business. My mom, as soon as the ink dried on her divorce papers, moved back to Maryland to be with her family.” Her last statement seemed to hurt her to even say.

  Sweet’s heart thudded at her admission. “But you’re her family.”

  She snickered. Through her laughter, she sounded like she agreed with what he said and like she’d made that same argument to herself. “She wanted to stay close to her parents and siblings.”

  “You hated her for that.”

  Nikla whipped her head around to glare at him. “Why would you say something like that? I don’t hate my mother.”

  “But you didn’t appreciate what she did. Instead of saying she wanted to be close to your grandparents, aunts, and uncles, you said she wanted to be close to her parents and her siblings. You’re disassociating yourself from her like she was a stranger.”

  Nikla dropped her gaze back down to the pot. “She didn’t even ask me to go. She just...left.”

  Sweet watched her. His heart broke for her, for her sadness and disappointment. Instinctually, he held onto her tighter as she continued swirling the hot sugar.

  He thought she would have shrugged away from his touch. Nikla held onto his arm that he had around her body.

  Her vulnerability struck his heart, a place he’d kept closed off after Melinda had torn it to shreds.

  “What about you and your father?” Sweet asked.

  Nikla straightened up. “Work in progress.”

  Sweet nodded. He’d pushed her enough. Despite her wanting his rental property, he didn’t want to see her broken.

  He peered into the pot. “Okay, we want the caramel dark but not burnt. If you notice it getting too dark for your liking, pull it off the stove eye onto a cool surface and keep moving it around.”

  Nikla nodded and did as instructed. What a good student. The way she took direction, the way she folded into his arms, she would probably make an exceptional submissive.

  Sweet liked the color he saw in the pan. “Excellent.”

  “I do know how to cook, by the way. I have never made candy.” Nikla looked into the pot to observe her creation.

  With great reluctance, Sweet released his hold on her. He turned off the flame on the stove and set the pot on an unused eye.

  He reached behind himself to the counter and picked up some butter. “Now it’s time to drop the butter into the sugar and let it cool it down until we have caramel.”

  Nikla glanced at him. “And that’s it?”

  “We’ll add one more ingredient after that.” He nodded. “Then that’s it.”

  She blinked as though she thought the whole process would be a lot harder.

  Now Sweet understood why Masaun liked teaching. Sweet enjoyed seeing that little connection to the lesson he taught. “So why were you so afraid to come in here?”

  Nikla started to say something but stopped herself. She released a nervous giggle. “Well the alternative is worse than this.”

  Sweet rutted his eyebrows. “What do you mean?”

  “You proposed two businesses. I wouldn’t want to be in your other world with you.” She laughed and shook her head.

  “What other world?” Sweet knew what she meant but he had to hear her say the words.

  Nikla’s shoulders dropped as she stared at him. “I Googled you and found out your other life, unless that journalist was a liar.”

  Sweet regarded her for a moment, wondering how to proceed with her. Honesty had been helping him the entire time. No reason to stop now. After pouring in some heavy whipping cream, he had Nikla stir the concoction together before having her set the light brown liquid to the side.

  “The article didn’t lie.” Sweet leaned against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest. “I am a BDSM Dom when I’m not working.”

  “Oh.” Nikla’s bottom lip trembled. “I see. And you do your thing–”

  Sweet cut her off. “At a place called The Dollhouse down at the Oceanfront. Have you heard of it?”

  She nodded as though afraid to admit out loud that she knew the place.

  He pointed to her. “You look scared. Is it because it’s unknown to you?”

  Nikla shook her head. “It sounds like you hurt people.”

  Her statement made him bristle. “Far from the truth. I give what my submissive wants. Sometimes what they want is something intense.”

  Nikla released a nervous snort. “Submissive.”

  “Or slave.”
<
br />   At that moniker, she glared at him. “So it makes you feel like a big man to–”

  “To give a woman what she wants? Absolutely.” He kept his stare on her, not wanting her to break down, but trying to see if she would challenge him. “But I don’t only play at The Dollhouse. And I don’t have to use the standard whips and chains that you see.” He scanned the kitchen. “I could play with you in here. There are enough implements in here to make a woman submit and bring her to an intense orgasm.”

  Nikla regarded him for a moment before she burst into laughter. “In a candy store? Yeah, right. I’d like to see that happen.”

  Sweet shrugged. “Your wish is my command. Stay right here.”

  He darted into the main candy store and grabbed a small hand basket for his goodies. He loaded some licorice strings, a few large lollipops, a couple of candy rings, a candy necklace, and some jellybeans.

  When he returned to the kitchen area, he found Nikla looking like she wanted to head to the door.

  “Are you quitting?” He’d worded the question to challenge her.

  Nikla turned back to him and took a deep breath. She shook her head. “No.”

  He smiled. “Good. Take off your clothes and get on the table.”

  Chapter Eleven

  What the hell had Nikla gotten herself into with this situation? Had she actually dared Sweet Hawkes to show her some of his BDSM moves in his candy store? The fact that he came back to her with a basket full of goodies and in a quick amount of time really made her nervous.

  Nikla felt the sexual tension between them while she helped make the caramel. Sweet didn’t hide his erection when he stood behind her to help her swirl the sugar. It took a lot of strength not to fall to the floor when he wrapped his other arm around her waist.

  When he touched her as she talked about her mother, she melted. In her mind, she wished—no, prayed—that he would kiss her neck or the side of her face. With her body pressed against his, she took in his incredibly masculine scent. His essence combined with the smell of the caramel made for a very decadent treat indeed.

  Even before meeting Sweet, Nikla had fantasized about having a man dominate her. Having the real thing in front of her scared her to death. Nikla didn’t think he would hurt her. She would have to admit to herself that she wanted this life, wanted this treatment.

  “I don’t think this is a good idea.” Nikla inched toward the back door.

  Sweet set the basket down behind himself. “Why is that? You came in here so you must not be afraid of me.”

  “It has nothing to do with being afraid of you.” Not all of it, she wanted to say.

  “You have a great body so you can’t be ashamed of that.”

  Nikla had no words for that compliment. She swallowed. Based on his statement, she took a step toward him.

  “Let me show you what I can do.” Sweet patted a waist-high butcher block table.

  The idea of being on something meant to carve meat on struck her nerves again. “Why do I have to be naked?”

  Sweet peered into the basket of goodies. “There are things I have that would only work on bare skin.” He went into a drawer and pulled out a long white tablecloth. He draped the table. “Let’s take this slowly. Come here.”

  “What if you have cameras in here and you use the footage to blackmail me against getting that space?” Nikla posed the argument so that she could run through her pros and cons list in her head on why she shouldn’t take this crucial step with Sweet.

  “For one thing, I told you I don’t play games. Second point, I would be in this alleged video footage so I would be implicating myself. Besides, people already know that I’m in the Lifestyle.”

  “Yeah, but they don’t know I’m not.”

  “Not yet.”

  With Sweet’s two-word reply, he said what Nikla had been thinking. She balled her hands into fists and wondered why she couldn’t move from her spot.

  “This is crazy.” Nikla shook her head.

  “It’s only crazy if you don’t like it and you have me continue. But before you can establish that you don’t like it...” Sweet patted his hand on the table again.

  Nikla volleyed her stare from the table to Sweet. Her heart raced as she tried making up her mind on what she wanted. Did she want to take this crucial step? Did she want Sweet to be a part of that decision?

  Sweet took a deep breath and squared off in front of her. “Take off your shoes and stand in front of the table.”

  Nikla gazed up at him as though looking at a complete stranger. The tone of his voice before had always commanded her attention. Now she felt powerless to do anything else. Yet her feet still refused to budge.

  “Now!” Sweet barked.

  Nikla blinked. After a beat, she padded to the table, turned around so that she faced him and slipped her feet out of her flip flops.

  Sweet held Nikla around her waist and, in one smooth motion, lifted her in the air and placed her on top of the table. “Lie back and relax.”

  “Hard to do when I know what’s coming.” Nikla complied, reclining back and keeping her arms fixed to the sides of her body.

  “No talking unless I tell you to do so, understand?”

  Sweet took this dominating thing seriously. With each command, though, Nikla felt a tingling throughout her body.

  “Okay,” she replied.

  “No. You will not answer me that way when you speak.” Sweet went over to his basket and started pulling out items. “When you address me, you will call me Master Sweet.”

  As soon as Nikla jackknifed up at that directive, Sweet quickly added an addendum. “Or you may call me Sir. One of the two. Understand?”

  Nikla reclined back. “Yes, Sir.”

  “BDSM is not all about pain, although there are people within the Lifestyle that enjoy that intense feeling. The Lifestyle is about sensations. Some people like it harder than others. And some people who inflict the discipline like to work on people who enjoy it rougher than some.”

  “Where do you fit in?” Nikla asked.

  Sweet circled the table and stood behind her head. She drummed her fingers against the table until he spoke. When she felt his warm breath over the side of her face, she knew he had knelt down beside her head.

  “I enjoy the reaction. When I get the response I seek, no matter how intense, I get a rush.”

  Nikla swallowed. She stared up to see if Sweet would stand directly over her head. He did for a moment before he moved off to the side of her. Without a word or permission, Sweet started undoing her wraparound sweater.

  As an automatic response, she held his hands to stop him. Sweet stared into her eyes. In the silence of the kitchen, only the hum of the enormous refrigerator as the background noise, he shared a whole dialogue with her.

  Deep down she knew he wouldn’t hurt her. He would push her. Sweet had been pushing her all night, getting her to confess her feelings about her parents. She hadn’t shared that information with Deana.

  Sweet also shared a side of himself that she suspected he hadn’t shown a lot of people. While he cooked, he became vulnerable. He allowed her inside of a world that he felt the most comfortable.

  Nikla returned her hands to their position next to her body and allowed him to open her sweater. Then he placed his hand on her chest between her breasts.

  “Breathe.”

  Until he made that command, Nikla hadn’t realized that she’d stopped breathing until Sweet made his next move. To prove to him that she had heard him, she took in a deep breath, arching her back in the process, then exhaled.

  “Good. Another part of playing is the names.” He moved back to her head. “I’ve asked you to call me Master Sweet or Sir. Conversely, you get a name, too.”

  Nikla started to open her mouth to argue to keep her unique name until Sweet cut her off.

  “In keeping with the candy theme, I think I’ll call you Sugar Baby.”

  She glared at him. “Why is that?”

  Sweet reached f
or something in the basket he’d brought. “I have a feeling you’re going to be very sweet.” He removed a large blue cup. “Close your eyes.”

  Again, she stared at him with suspicion before complying.

  “People imagine that to control someone, it takes brute strength and force. Not true.”

  At that moment, Nikla felt something light on her eyelids. From the sensation she felt under her eyebrows and below her eyes, the item seemed to be circular.

  “Keep your eyes closed and keep those chocolate coins on your lids, understand?” Sweet instructed.

  Unable to nod or move her head, Nikla smiled before she answered. “Yes, Sir.”

  It took all of her strength for Nikla not to knock the candies from her face. She wanted to watch Sweet, see his every move. Right now he had her set up to experience something delicious. Her heart started to race just thinking about his next move.

  “Normally, I would start with some light sensations like this.”

  Nikla braced for what Sweet considered as light. It didn’t take long for her to feel something tickling the bottoms of her feet. She flinched at first, jiggling the coins on her eyes, then settled into the sensation.

  Sweet moved the item from her heel to her sole and over each toe. “How’s that feel, Sugar Baby?”

  “Mmm, good.”

  “Now would be a good time to tell you about the safe words.”

  Nikla’s smile slipped down her face. “Safe words?”

  “Yes. If I do something you like, you should say ‘green.’ That tells me I can keep going.”

  Nikla didn’t say anything. She would have thought saying she liked something would have given him the green light to keep going. She had to respect his lifestyle and the rules within it.

  Sweet continued. “If you like what I’m doing but it’s getting to be intense, I want you to say ‘yellow,’ understand?”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  Sweet moved the fluffy item up her ankle to her knee where her yoga pants stopped. Then he moved down her other leg. “And if what I’m doing is too much for you to handle, you say ‘red’ and I’ll stop.”