The Dom With a Safeword (16 page)

A warm fluttering in Q’s chest started as she looked into Sabrina’s eyes. The temptation to tell her again that she loved her was strong, but she resisted. Repeating it would just make her look pathetic, since Sabrina obviously wasn’t ready to reciprocate. The silence was getting too long to be comfortable. Time for a distraction.

With a glance at Jude, Q shrugged. “Put the scissors down before your arm gets tired. She’s too chicken to follow through with her threats most of the time. She’d have to touch me and that scares her.” She swallowed a grin and hoped Jude was watching Sabrina, because this was going to be fantastic.

“Chicken?” Sabrina growled. “I’ll show you chicken.” She stomped over to Jude and grabbed the scissors out of his hand. “I try to tell you that I accept you as you are, and you mock me. Do you think I’m just some cutesy doll that you can play with? I’m just as tough as you are, you know. Just because you can get me to kneel at your feet doesn’t mean I’m a doormat.”

“I appreciate the fact that you don’t expect me to change who I am for you, Sabrina. And I know you’re not a doormat. But the fact remains that You. Are. Chicken.”

“We’ll see about that.” She stalked over to Q. Crouching beside her, she opened the scissors and slid them up the outside of Q’s thigh until the denim was caught between the blades. She paused and looked up at her uncertainly, as though waiting for her to object.

“Do it.” Jude’s voice was low.

The feel of the cool metal against her skin made Q’s breathing uneven and sent thrilling shivers through her. Maybe she shouldn’t have marked “no” next to knife play. But having Sabrina do this was a bad idea. Making an excuse to have her close was one thing, but she was dizzy from the mix of dominant and submissiv
e feelings rushing through her.

Scissors running along her bare skin. Sabrina kneeling shyly at her feet. Carefully, Sabrina cut upward until most of her thigh was visible. She cut around the front of her leg next, leaving the white pocket hanging out the bottom of the leg hole. As the scissors approached her inseam, Q wished she had something to grab onto, to steady herself.

As though her thoughts were audible, Jude’s big hands wrapped around her upper arms from behind, making her feel both safe and a bit trapped. She hadn’t even noticed him move in their direction. Q licked her lips and exhaled, realizing she had been holding her breath for too long. Squeezing between them, Sabrina cut away the fabric from the back of her thigh, and then Q felt her plant a kiss there. She squeaked.

Sabrina moved back into view and frowned up at her. “Did you just squeak?”

“No, it must have been a floorboard.” Sabrina kissed the back of her thigh? That was more than a little shocking.

Jude snorted. “That was Q. Whatever you just did, do it again. I liked that noise.”

Sabrina cut the other pant leg faster. Had she had freaked herself out? When she was done, Sabrina stood back and admired her handiwork. As Jude let go of her arms, Q looked down at herself.

“Wow, Sabrina.” Q grimaced. “Now they’re much...
sluttier
. You like?” She turned a little to give her roommate the full effect.

“You started it.” She smiled. “Besides, they’re not really slutty. The back doesn’t even show cheek.”

The banging of her heart must have been heard by neighbors a block away. She fought to erase the kiss on the back of her thigh from her memory, but the tingling there still hadn’t subsided. “Fine. Whatever. Are we going to get any painting done today? Poor Jude has had to suffer through our shenanigans enough.”

“Don’t worry about me,” he drawled. “This is much more entertaining than painting.”

Q chuckled and threw a roller to him.

With three of them working, getting the first coat on the walls didn’t take long. The open window made for a cool breeze, and when they were done they sipped the sodas Jude had brought them while looking for spots they’d missed.

“How’d you get so good at renovating houses?” Sabrina asked. “I mean it’s more than just painting you’re doing here, isn’t it?”

“Sure.” He nodded. “I worked for a builder in Spain for a while, and another in Norway. I started out as a bricklayer. I can do electrical work, plumbing…the works. I’m multi-talented in many areas.” His twisted smile had distinctly dirty undertones.

Q scoffed.

“And you have an enormous ego. Hey! Here’s spot you missed,” sang Sabrina, putting her soda can down on the window ledge. She pointed to a section Jude had painted.

Frowning, he walked to her. “Where? I don’t see anything.”

“Right here!” Q saw Sabrina’s intention an instant before she rolled paint across the ass of Jude’s jeans.

Mouth pressed into a hard line and eyebrows raised, Jude drew himself up to his full height and looked down at Sabrina. She dissolved into a fit of giggles and covered her mouth with a cupped hand, looking like she was trying to hold back more.

Apparently Jude’s Dom Face didn’t work on the mischievous little brat. Q snickered.

“Yes, very clever.” His smile was dangerous. He walked to Q and took the soda can from her hand, putting it beside Sabrina’s on the ledge. When he turned back, Q bit her lip and tried to look contrite.

“Kneel, Q,” he ordered. “You too, Sabrina.”

He really wasn’t wasting any time, was he? Part of her objected loudly.  Did she respect him enough to kneel to him already? She decided to give it a shot. If this sucked, he’d have to earn it next time. As Q sank to her knees, Sabrina grabbed her hand and did the same. She looked
up at Jude, who was damned tall from this vantage point, then quickly averted her eyes. She couldn’t believe she’d forgotten to ask about eye contact rules.

“You may look at me unless I tell you otherwise.” Jude walked to the painting supplies, set his roller in the tray and put the lid back on the paint can.

As soon as his back was turned, Sabrina moved to get up. Q rolled her eyes and lunged, pulling her back down.

“Seriously?” Sabrina hissed.

“So what kind of punishment do you think you’ve earned?” He swaggered toward them, a gleam in his eye. With a slow nod, he drew Q to her feet and led her to the scaffolding. From up under the lip of the platform, he pulled down a set of leather cuffs that trailed a length of rope.

“Really? That’s not even fair!” Q glowered. “You planned this out ahead of time and were just looking for a reason.”

“No.” He grinned wryly. “With two naughty girls around I need to try to stay a step ahead.” Without warning, his eyes turned to flint. “Now are you going to cooperate with the cuffs, or are we doing this the hard way?”

Q weighed her options, and decided to play along. After all, she’d been hoping today wasn’t just going to be about home improvement. She shoved her wrists out to him.

He shook his head. “Not so fast. Lose the clothes.”

She furrowed her brow. “What? All of them? I just laughed because she was laughing! I couldn’t help it.” Q tugged at the bottom of her t-shirt – she was thankful she’d had the foresight to wear one of her nicer sets of under things. But she still didn’t want to part with her clothes. Not yet.

He arched a brow. “Keep bra and panties on for now. I can always cut them off if they get in the way.” His steely gaze made her want to obey. At least for now.

Blushing, she pulled off her shirt and peeled off her shorts then kicked them both to the side.  She offered her wrists more politely this time, and Jude fastened the cuffs on her while making no secret of perusing her body.  He traced gentle fingers down the side of her tattoo, from her ribcage, over her hip, down her leg, to where the design pooled at the top of her foot. His investigation had brought him to a crouch, and his lips and tongue brushed briefly over her hipbone. A trickle of moisture dampened her underwear as he stood.  With the rope he tied her
arms above her head to an O-ring hidden under the scaffolding platform.  A few feet to her right he pulled out an already paint-splattered chair and sat down.

“Come here, Sabrina.” He held out a hand. Q hoped this wasn’t freaking her out. “Ah, ah,” he corrected. “Did I say you could get up? Crawl.”

Q winced and waited for Sabrina to tell him off. There was a sound of indignation, but after that there was nothing but the slide of skin on hardwood. Sabrina’s expression read half angry, half aroused. The sight of her smooth tanned thighs – more exposed when the dress was
rucked
up for crawling – made Q squirm where she stood. She wished she could follow behind her and watch her move.

When she arrived and knelt beside him, Jude patted his lap expectantly.

“You...
you want me to sit on your lap?” Sabrina asked. Q could hear the hope in her voice.

“Over my lap, little one. Face down, to be more precise.” He watched her carefully, as if he was waiting for her to balk or bolt.

Her forehead creased and she rocked from knee to knee. Looking like she was trying to touch him as little as possible, she rose to her feet and draped herself across his legs with a little whine.

Because of the way Jude had angled his chair, Q had a pervert’s row view of the action.

He stroked her back and murmured, “
Shh
. Good girl. Pull up the hem of your dress until it reaches your hips and make sure it stays there.  Understood?”

A sob escaped her, but she complied. “My
safeword
is ghost, right?”

“Yes,” he replied. He chuckled as he stroked the gold lettering across the back of Sabrina’s purple panties. “Naughty? A bit late for a warning. It should say that on the front of your dress just to give a guy a fighting chance. Like a name tag.”

Another wave of heat hit Q. She’d bought those for Sabrina as a joke last Christmas. She’d never guessed the girl would actually wear them, let alone that she’d get to see them on... or ever so slowly sliding down. Jude slipped them to the tops of Sabrina’s thighs and left them there. Clenching her legs together didn’t relieve the throbbing of Q’s clit – it only made things worse.

Jude raised his hand and brought it down in a resounding smack. “Should little subs play tricks on
Doms
?”

Other than a slight squirm, Sabrina was silent. Two more slaps landed in quick succession, making her screech. Her gaze flew to Q, and she looked indignant. She was totally going
to tell him off in three, two…

“I’m sorry, Sabrina,” Jude said when the first syllable left her mouth. “Did you say something?”

Seething, she threw a dirty look over her shoulder at him. “No.”

“You didn’t answer my question, little one. Don’t you have something you want to say to me?”

Q could see that the answers racing around in her friend’s head weren’t at all polite or mollifying. Her imminent backtalk was cut off by Jude applying his hand to her backside. Would this spanking finally get Sabrina to watch her mouth? She doubted it. He swatted her so many times her ass turned a delicious shade of pink.

“
Ow
,
ow
,
ow
! Stop! I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have
pranked
you,” Sabrina conceded finally, trying to shimmy sideways off of Jude’s lap. He held her in place with the hand that was still in the small of her back.

“I’m not done with you yet.” He grinned, pressing the fingertips of his spanking hand to one rosy cheek. Her muscles jumped under his touch and a quiet moan escaped her. His gaze settled on a hardware store bag beside the chair. He leaned sideways a little, fished around in the bag and pulled out an old-fashioned style wooden paintbrush.

“No, Jude!” Q blurted. Sabrina’s head whipped around and she paled.

“You’re not in charge right now, Q. I’m not going to p
ush her farther than I should.”

She had no idea what his intentions were but it was difficult for her to not intervene on Sabrina’s behalf – especially when wooden implements made an appearance. She watched in apprehension as he pulled the store plastic off of it.

“You color up very nicely, Sabrina.” He stroked the blotches he’d made. With a wicked smile, he switched to caressing her with the soft bristles of the paint brush. She twisted around on his lap, breathing hard then whining when he wouldn’t release her.

“Oh... Oh stop! It... tickles!” she gasped.

He ignored her, spreading her legs apart and dragging the brush lower. She panted and squirmed. “Tickle” didn’t seem to be the right word. As she pulled ineffectively at the cuffs, Q inched forward, needing to be closer – wishing she could help touch her.

“I should get Q to take some pictures of you like this sometime.” Jude looked up at Q. “What do you think?”

The tableau of the two of them together made her wish desperately for her camera. Not that she could use it while she was tied up like this. Her smile to Jude was feral. “If you untie me, I’ll go get it now.”

Sabrina renewed her struggle to slide off his lap. “No, Q!”

Jude gave her a sweet smile. “Oh, but I can’t untie you now, Q. You might run away, and it’s your turn next.”

“Fuck you,” she threw back. “I don’t like spanking.”

“Oh, but I do. And you didn’t mark it as a hard limit. The only way you’re getting out of an over-the-knee spanking today is if you
safeword
.”