Submissive Seductions (10 page)

Gareth didn’t have the same tells that I did. He didn’t lick his lips or bite his cheek when he got nervous. But surprisingly, he would drop his gaze. An odd thing given what he enjoyed doing in the bedroom. Though I’ve come to the realization that who we are when the door closes doesn’t encapsulate everything about us as a person.

Currently, Gareth was staring at a spot on my chest—probably my cleavage. It was a really nice corset and did its job spectacularly.

“Yeah, I think I do.”

There was that internal Snoopy dance going on again.

“What’s your safeword?”

“Book.”

“Book? Really? That’s very . . .
book?
”

“Don’t make fun of the safeword, Liz.”

“Right. Sorry. Book, it is.”

I had to step away then and give myself a minute to get back into character. I also knew that he’d need a few moments of quiet himself. It really is a different headspace when you’re doing a scene, even if it’s with someone you care about. Especially then. The last thing you wanted to do was fuck it up and hurt them.

As weird as this was, I wanted to show him that I could be the woman he could trust to take the next step with. The only way I could think to do that was to pretend to be something I wasn’t, to give him something he needed.

I loved him enough to make the effort.

Starting up my saunter around him once more, I made sure to scoop up the riding crop from where it had fallen. The leather wrap around the handle had cooled down, but it wouldn’t be long before we had it hot and sweaty once more.

It was time.

I had a Dom to train.

CHAPTER 9

The apartment was hot. I’d turned up the temperature when Gareth had been bringing the bookcases up from the car. The last thing I wanted was for him to be cold, but holy shit, I might have put it up a few degrees too high. A fine prickle of sweat lined his bare shoulders, making them glisten in the low light.

He’d been on his knees, waiting for me to finish my poking and prodding for the past fifteen minutes. If our positions were reversed, I’d have been totally freaking out in my head. It doesn’t sound as if it’s a long time, but when you have someone standing over you and you’re completely at their mercy, oh yeah, it’s a lifetime and then some.

Honestly, I had been biding my time as I mentally went over everything Stephen told me I should do. I wasn’t experienced at using whips, paddles, and canes, and there was a real possibility that I could hurt him if I did something wrong. Gareth had been too good to me over the months for me to screw up and do him harm.

Slow and steady won the kinky race.

“Stand up and take your pants off.” I hadn’t realized how dry my mouth had gotten. I think this was probably the longest I’d gone not speaking in recent memory. I hate silence and can’t resist the compulsion to fill it.

Gareth loved the calm. I had been fascinated to watch his muscles tense and relax as the minutes ticked on. He jumped at the sound of my words, but moved to comply.

“Make sure you fold everything and place it on the chair. I don’t want your shit everywhere.” God, that was bitchy. Go me!

“Yes, Mistress.”

I growled as he walked away from me, his perfect, naked ass swaying as he went.
Am I this way? Vulnerable and sexy?
The urge to care for him warred with my need to spank his ass, turning it red.

Maybe I had a bit of Domme in me after all.

He placed his clothes on the chair and was about to turn around. “Stop!”

A ripple passed through him and his ass clenched.

As if he knew what was coming. Maybe he did.

“You have a very nice rear end. I want to see more of it.” Amongst other things. “Bend over and put your hands on the arms of the chair. Stick that ass out for me to examine.”

He’d put me in a similar position once. It was during our second scene, the first one out of the club. We’d gone back to his place where he’d gotten things ready ahead of time. The only thing in his living room was a sturdy wooden chair and a paddle. That had been a great night.

Walking up behind him now reminded me of how turned on he’d been then. I’d thought he was going to fuck me so hard I’d feel it for days. Instead, he’d fucked my mouth, making me swallow his come. That wasn’t how I’d wanted that particular evening to end.

Tonight, I would change the outcome to something more suitable.

I ran my hand down his side to the small of his back, before cupping his ass cheek. I gave it a squeeze, letting my nails dig into the flesh and leaving marks behind. Gareth sucked in a quick breath, but he held still.

“Do you enjoy that?” I squeezed the other cheek and then raked my nails down the flesh. “I now understand the appeal of being able to mark you. I’m leaving such pretty pictures in your skin. I could scratch my name there and watch it soak back in. My mark, my claim on you.”

Fascinated with the red lines, I continued to make lines across the expanse of his back, his ass, the back of his thighs. The hair on his legs caught on my nails, tickling the sensitive skin beneath. The longer I continued, the more his body began to shake. Typical Gareth, he took everything with his normal quiet demeanor.

I needed to shake things up.

“You’re being such a good boy. But I don’t think you’re appreciating what I’m doing for you.”

He turned his head and peered at me over his shoulder. “What?”

I gave his ass a slap so hard my hand stung. “Pardon?”

He gasped, but his gaze didn’t leave mine. “I’m sorry, Mistress.”

“That’s better.” I went back to scratching his skin. “Now, what I was saying was you aren’t showing your appreciation for what I’m doing. I want you to
talk
. Tell me what you’re feeling as I do things to you.”

Ah, there it was, a little flash of panic. Stephen said Gareth had held things too tightly for years. He needed a push to get him out of that dark shell and back into the light of day.

“If you can’t do that, then this can stop right now. Go ahead and use your safeword. I don’t mind.” I pulled back at the same time he grabbed for my hand.

“Please, stay. I’ll try, Mistress.”

Without waiting for my response, Gareth resumed his position, even widening his stance. My heart pounded as my brain finally caught up to everything we’d been doing. Yeah, I know I’d planned this, but planning and doing are two very different things.

A deep breath. Start with the basics, with what you know and everything will come up aces.

I moved so I stood behind him, but slightly to the side. “Start talking.” I punctuated my words with a slap to his left cheek.

Gareth groaned. “It stings, but you didn’t hit me too hard. You aimed a bit too low for it to really make an imp—”

I spanked him three times as hard as I could manage. He cried out as he squeezed the arms of the chair. “It wasn’t an invitation to critique my technique. Tell me what you’re thinking. Feeling.”

“It hurts. I’m not used to feeling pain this way. I haven’t been on this side of things before.”

I moved to his other side, knowing how things could change from a good pain to a bad pain if the blows weren’t spread out a bit. Another three slaps and his skin started to take on a light red color.

“I didn’t think I’d enjoy being spanked. I’m still not sure if it’s my thing. But I love your hands on me.”

I could tell he was starting to sink down into his head a bit. That first time between us at the charity auction had been my first experience with what Connie called sub-space. It was weird and freeing, a type of mental numbness that allowed you to turn your brain off and simply exist for a while. As much as he teased me about not having a switch in my head, I did. It seemed he did too.

Another thing we had in common. Another connection.

Instead of continuing the spanking, I dropped to my knees behind him and bit his ass. Now, when I did something similar as a sub, Gareth enjoyed directing me. He never let me play where I wanted, do to him what I really wanted to do.

His body was clean, but the scent of recent sweat clung to him. I licked across the cheek, enjoying the feeling of his fine hairs against my tongue. Fuck, he’d stopped talking again. I bit down hard enough to pull a yelp from him.

“Christ, that hurt.”

“Tell me.”

The growl that came from him was clearly his Dom self wanting to come out to play. I gave him a little slap to remind him that Mistress Elizabeth was here instead.

“Tell me.”

“I wish I could see what you’re doing. I want to see the expression on your face as you’re on your knees. I love seeing you on your knees.”

Oh.

I squeezed his cheeks hard with my hands, taking a moment to fight off the unexpected rush of emotions.
Don’t lose it now, Liz. Work to do.

Now, I hadn’t done a lot of extreme things with Gareth in our time together. Nothing that people who are more experienced in the lifestyle than I am would consider
out there
. But there are lines Gareth has pushed me past that I’d never considered going across before.

It was about time I did some pushing of my own.

Spreading his ass cheeks, I leaned in and nipped along the inside ridge of his ass. The muscle tensed hard beneath my teeth and he tried to stand up.

“Don’t you dare!” My words were hot against him, bouncing back to echo in my ears. “I didn’t say you could move.”

“Liz, I—”

“Are you safewording on me? Over a little rim job?” I could tell that caught him off guard. “Get your hands back on those arms and don’t move.”

Apparently, Mistress Elizabeth
really
wanted to do this.

Who knew?

With my hand on the small of his back, I pushed him down and encouraged his legs wider. His cock, which was hard, hung heavy between them. Leaning in, I ignored the voice in my head that was freaking out about the fact that this couldn’t be sanitary and licked a swipe along the back of his balls and along his perineum.

The skin and the smell weren’t what I was expecting. The overwhelming scent of Gareth washed over me, the same bitter saltiness coated my tongue that did when I sucked his cock.

“God, that feels so good.”

The problem with being a sub pretending to be a Domme is that it’s really easy to lose yourself and forget your role. I mean, I’m not ashamed to admit I get off on getting
him
off. I love when I can cause those little slips in his control by doing exactly what he wants. So having him slip and become a moaning mess as I lick and nip my way along his balls and ass was heady shit.

“Touch my cock, Liz.”

And then everything snapped back.

I pushed him forward, more in an attempt to get separation than to punish him. I was surprised to find that I shook nearly as much as he did. We’d both let our control slip and had briefly forgotten our new roles.

“I think you’ve forgotten who’s in charge here tonight.” I licked my lips, the taste of him still lingering. “You don’t have permission to tell me what to do.”

Gareth squeezed his eyes shut and chuckled. “Yes, Mistress.”

“You forgot.”

“Yes, Mistress. I did.”

“If you’re not going to follow the rules when I try to do something nice for you, then you’re not going to have the treat.”

Wisely, Gareth didn’t respond.

“I think it’s time we changed things.”

Gareth cocked an eyebrow.

The poor man. He didn’t have a clue what was in store for him. “I think it’s time we took things to the bedroom.”

Connie really was the best friend a girl could have. When we came up with this idea, she immediately went off on a rant of,
here’s exactly what I would do to Stephen if I had a chance
. I hope it never comes to that between them, because I’m not sure Stephen would survive. Once she got past her own fantasies, she helped me plan out what I was going to do for Gareth.

More importantly, she helped me set everything up.

The man in question was currently trailing behind me, buck naked. He’d been surprisingly quiet since I’d suggested the bedroom. Maybe this was where he was having his own mental freak-out, knowing that I wanted to have sex with him. But proving once again that he was a stronger person than me, he didn’t say anything about it.

“I want you on your knees at the foot of the bed, hands behind your head and eyes down.” Gareth nodded, but that wasn’t what I wanted. I managed to land a smack on his ass as he moved past me. “What was that? I didn’t hear you.”

“Yes, Mistress.”

I think I might have preened a bit.

“You have been a bad boy. Not listening to my commands. Questioning my authority. Trying to take over. I don’t know what your other Dommes have tolerated, but I won’t put up with a toppy sub.”

I was impressed he managed not to laugh.

“It occurs to me that even though you’re a Dom, you haven’t had the proper training. You’ve learned everything ad hoc. I intend to show you exactly what it means to be a sub so you will understand.”

He looked up at that, a frown pinching his face. “I understand, Liz.”

Okay, time to drop the mask for a second. “No, I don’t think you do. You try to. You are generous and kind and have somehow managed to worm your way into my head faster than anyone else I’ve ever known. But you don’t
understand
. You will, though.”

I had to look away from him as another rush of emotion rolled through me. Dammit, why couldn’t I do this for him without turning into some sort of basket case? God, I would be a mess if it turned out his feelings for me weren’t the same as mine toward him.

Connie had put everything we’d discussed on my dresser and had covered it with a tea towel. The blue-and-white-checkered pattern hid the tools I was going to do my best to use. Flicking the towel away with a single swipe, I tossed it over my shoulder and stared down.

“What to choose, what to choose?”

It was all an act. I knew exactly what I wanted to use on him first, the order of the other items would follow in due course. There really was an advantage to having experienced the sensations from all of those things before.

First things first. Restraints.

“Stand up and walk over to the closet. Open the door.” I actually had to stop myself from throwing a “please” on the end. It really didn’t feel right bossing him around.
It’s only one night, Liz, suck it up.