Perfect Stranger (2 page)

He considered speaking. Taking control of the situation. But he couldn’t yet predict her response, couldn’t be sure he wasn’t taking the wrong tack. So he waited. And was rewarded when she took a deep breath and walked towards him.

“My name is Dana.” There was the tiniest hint of southern twang to her voice. It made him want to hear more.

“Eric.”

“We have two hours and a ‘no fucking’ rule. I promise not to do anything that might push most people’s limits. But if you have any hard limits you’d like to give, to be safe, please feel free to do so. We can use yellow if I get close to anything you have issues or concerns with. And red, of course, if you need to stop.” She looked past him, towards the bathroom. “If you have a problem with full nudity, I’ll need to adjust my immediate plans.”

So. She really was going to go through with it. He couldn’t help but shake his head in denial, even though he’d suspected this was coming. She wrinkled her forehead and leaned back ever so slightly. He gave himself a mental slap at the involuntary response that had caused her to put more distance between them.

“I realize you’re a Dom, but you signed up for this. You chose to do this. Right?”

Maybe he should come clean. Tell her that though the Doms had been dressed in sub gear, they hadn’t been auctioned off as subs. The idea, other than raising money for charity, was to give subs the chance to choose who they would be able to scene with. Nobody from the club would ever have considered that the Doms on stage wouldn’t be running the scene. He watched the tiny dots of sweat form above her lips. Watched her hold her breath, then force a jerky inhale. Her nervous determination called to his basic nature, enhanced the attraction that was already there. He’d taken on this task, so it was his job to give her what she needed, regardless of what she wanted, if he was able. And he suspected that in this case, giving her what she wanted might actually be what she needed.
Shit
.

He gave her a very brief, very tiny nod. He could do this. It wasn’t as if he hadn’t submitted before. Though it had been years ago, when he was new to the scene, he’d been encouraged by a mentor to experience both sides of the play. He’d agreed that it was the smart thing to do, but he hadn’t had any intentions of repeating the experience after all this time. Still, he could man up if it was in the best interests of this woman who needed him. Maybe he was being egotistical to think that she needed him, that he had something he could help her with. But, well, he was a Dom after all. His ego was quite healthy.

“Yellow and red, then?” she asked, her eyebrows raised. He was impressed that she insisted on clarification. Holding her own in a role he was sure wasn’t natural to her. Well, then, he could do the same.

“Yellow and red. Yes.”

She licked her lips and darted a quick glance at his face. Slowly, and with only a barely discernible tremble, she reached a hand out to him. He managed to remain relaxed until she picked up the damn leash instead of touching him, and gave it a slight tug downward. His jaw locked and his fists clenched. But he forced his knees to bend and kept his mouth closed. She took a step closer. Then another, until she was close enough for him to smell the faint scent of her, feminine and enticing.

Though he still couldn’t quite unclench his fists, he forced the rest of his body to relax. Even when she moved her hand up the leash and unclasped it from the damn collar. She stepped closer, her dress just brushing his nose. He resisted raising his cuffed hands and using them to yank her even closer. Or push the hem of her dress up higher. She slid her hands around his neck and unbuckled the collar. He felt a level of tension fall away along with the leather. Her fingers danced lightly along his throat, up his chin. She cupped his face, brushed gently along his cheekbones. It was…soothing. He didn’t want to be soothed. It sort of made him wary.

For several minutes she simply stood there, stroking his face, brushing her fingers through his hair. It was something he could easily imagine doing to a skittish sub, someone who needed to be gentled to his touch and presence. It rankled. He didn’t need to be gentled. He wasn’t fighting her; he was giving her what she’d asked of him. Hell, he’d gone to his knees for her.

Her hands fell away and she stepped back. It was a strange relief, when before he’d just wanted her closer. She dropped down in front of him, her head bent so he was staring down at the crown of her auburn hair. Her fingers fumbled a bit but managed to remove both of the wrist cuffs. He let his arms fall to his sides, wondering what the hell she was planning. Maybe she trusted him to do what he was told without being tied into position. He honestly couldn’t decide if that would be better or worse. There was still a little bit of hope that there would come a point when what she needed was for him to take over. Take control. Being untethered would definitely make that easier.

She rose, taking his elbow and urging him up as well. Then she kicked off her shoes and pulled her dress up over her head. It was interesting that she didn’t order him to undress her. Wasn’t taking her time or making a show of it. The black fabric was tossed to the side, leaving the smooth skin he’d already admired and now ached to touch. Preferably with his tongue. The small breasts that meant she didn’t need a bra practically begged for his mouth. The scrap of black satin that was her panties disappeared quickly, and then she reached for him.

There were no orders given, but he knew she wanted him to remain still. He managed it by pretending he’d ordered her to undress him. She took more care with him than she had with herself, lending authenticity to his imagination. Of course, the fact that what she was removing was a leather harness that normally adorned a sub did the opposite. Still, her hands smoothed over his chest with care as she unsnapped this and peeled away that until he stood before her completely nude.

He expected her to take a step back, observe what she’d revealed. He should have remembered that nothing this woman had done tonight had been according to his expectations. Instead, she grabbed his wrist and led him past the bed and to the bathroom.

He managed to somewhat maintain the internal fiction that he’d told her to prepare them a shower as she turned on the water and patiently tested the stream until it was the temperature she preferred. He’d only used this room a couple of times, and never actually used the shower stall. It was huge, the stone tiles a warm, welcoming color that was only enhanced by the strategically placed, securely fastened bars that could be used for holding on or for attaching cuffs and chains. There was a long bench at one end, a rain showerhead on the ceiling, five showerheads arranged on two walls and a wand with a very long hose that would allow it to reach all corners of the stall.

It fully complemented the lush bathroom that was nearly as large as the attached bedroom. The jetted tub could seat four, if those four were willing to be very close to each other. He’d used it for just that purpose with a play partner who’d wanted to experience an orgy. He looked again at the plush rug, the fluffy white towels on the heated rack, the basket of every kind of toiletry you could imagine. There was a long, wide divan that was nearly the size of some beds and a toilet that looked like it had more computer components than his laptop. The bidet options could be adapted to some interesting play, so he supposed he was glad she seemed intent on the shower at the moment. He could only push his pretend scenario so far.

His mysterious beauty seemed satisfied with the temperature at last and stepped into the shower, reaching back for his wrist to lead him in behind her. The water wasn’t quite as hot as the near boiling he usually set it to, but since the room itself was heated, he wasn’t complaining. Water spattered against her back as she brought him to the center of the stall. He was tempted to watch the drops that hit her shoulders as they glided down towards her breasts, but he watched her face instead. He had to get a handle on her. Figure out what she needed from him. She looked determined, a little bit wary, and more than a bit sad. Her breathing was even and her nipples were starting to pebble, but he couldn’t be sure if that was excitement or the environment. He suspected the latter. There was no telltale glint of moisture between her thighs. Was it time for him to take control? Lead her to pleasure? He’d been in scenes that were more about emotion than sex, understood sometimes that was what the sub, or even the Dom, needed. But even in those scenes, sex and pleasure, or sometimes pain, had been the path to emotional release.

Of course, in every one of those instances he’d known his sub, understood what it was that she needed and had a plan for how to satisfy her. To say he was flying blind right now was a massive understatement. As a Dom without a sub, he’d expected to be bid on by those who were too shy to approach him otherwise, or someone he’d played with in the past who wanted an encore. It hadn’t occurred to him that someone would expect him to play the sub, nor had he imagined he’d be in any kind of emotional situation with the potential for serious consequences if he fucked things up.

Then again, maybe he was overthinking things. Assigning this neediness to her so that he could feel like he was playing the hero. He managed, just barely, to keep from rolling his eyes. Now she had him second guessing himself.

Dana took a deep breath and dropped his wrist. She examined the various shower heads and flipped switches until only one of the three behind her and both of those next to him were shooting water. One was above his head and she angled him until its stream hit his neck and shoulders with a pleasant massage. The other was lower, hitting his ribs, and he began to think of ways he’d like to direct all the streams on her.

“Are you all right?” she asked, her voice soft enough that he had to lean forward slightly to hear her over the water.

“Yes. Are you?”

Her lashes flew up as she met his gaze, and she blushed. Her swallow was almost audible, but she didn’t answer him otherwise. He didn’t really need her to. She wasn’t all right, she was clearly going through something, and he was clueless as to how to help her.

Turning her back to him, she studied the bottles on a shelf in the wall before selecting one and pouring a large amount into her palm. She turned around and immediately placed her palms on his chest, the slightly cool gel warming quickly as she moved her hands over his flesh. Tentative at first, her touch firmed up quickly, intermingled with pauses while she squeezed his muscles in what he could only interpret as delight. Amused, he resisted the urge to flex.

Circling him, she washed his chest, back and arms before returning to his chest. When she darted a quick glance at his face and licked her lips, he mentally braced himself. Sure enough, her fingers lingered on the nipples she’d washed with a cursory once over. She flicked, then squeezed, though not hard enough to cause him any real discomfort. Laying her hands flat on his chest, she brushed her thumbs back and forth across his nipples. He wasn’t particularly sensitive there, but he took pleasure in feeling her hands rest against him and in watching the delight dance across her face. He wanted very badly to thread his fingers through her wet hair and pull her mouth to his chest, then order her to finish cleaning him with her tongue.

He tensed with the effort and her hands tightened their grip against his slick skin. Too soon she leaned back, flicked her gaze to his face, then dropped her hands. She turned away to get more shower gel and he watched her pert ass while he fought for control. The view was counterproductive to his goal, but he was powerless to resist. She probably thought her butt was too big, but he had an urgent desire to fill his hands with the globes. She turned back to face him and he decided her breasts were an excellent alternative. Then she dropped to her knees and his mind went in a different direction entirely.

His partially erect cock hardened, though her hands had only gone to one ankle. She took her time working the soap up his leg, all the way to the crease of his thigh. His legs were spread wide enough that she was able to slide her hands the full length without brushing his balls. Damn it. She did the other leg then looked up at him as she put her palms on his ass. He almost laughed. He didn’t manage to stay still. Her mouth was inches from his cock, her hands tight on his ass, one finger sliding between his crack for a thorough cleaning, and he broke. He gently cupped her head with one hand, the other going to her chin to pull her gaze up to his.

Her shoulders sagged a bit as she let his hand take her weight, turning her face just enough for him to feel relief that she was accepting his touch for the domination it was. But she closed her eyes. He brushed his thumb over her lips and watched her throat work around a hard swallow. Then she pulled in a deep breath and he knew she wasn’t ready. Before she had to say anything, before she even opened her eyes, he dropped his hands back to his sides. He wouldn’t make her give him unnecessary orders.

She blinked her eyes open and the gratitude and determination in them told him that at least he was now reading her correctly. She rose, her movements sure and practiced.

Lifting a hand to the back of his head, she gave the barest of tugs. “Tilt your head under the water.” She ran her fingers through his hair. When she deemed it wet enough, she gently pushed him forward again. Moving to the bottles again, she made another selection.

“You can hold this handle if you need to,” she said, gesturing to a bar on the wall next to her. “Close your eyes and bend over.”

He did as she ordered, but placed his hands against the wall behind her instead of using the support bar she’d offered. She hesitated, and he knew he was pushing things by caging her between his arms, but he wouldn’t hold the handle, and he sure as hell wouldn’t clasp his hands behind his back, as he would expect his sub to. Not unless she specified. After a moment, she moved her hands to his head and he breathed a discreet sigh of relief. With his eyes closed and her fingers massaging shampoo through his hair, it took him a minute to realize that the tantalizing heat just in front of his mouth and nose was her breasts.