VelvetValentines

VJ
&
Sierra
Summers

Book 1 in the Velvet Scenes series.

Elise and Derek have the perfect relationship—or so she
thinks. When she discovers an invitation to a Valentine’s Day Bacchanal at Club
Velvet Ice, she begins to wonder. Especially since it’s addressed to
Master
Derek.
Forcing Derek to come clean about the secrets of his past also forces Elise to
confront her own desires, as Derek puts her love—and her courage—to the test.
Now they must discover if they have the strength to trust in their own
feelings, and in each other, so their love can survive

.

A
Romantica®
BDSM erotic romance
from Ellora’s Cave

February 10th

Master Derek,

Come and spend the holiday with us – and don’t forget the
handcuffs.

Velvet Ice is hosting our annual Wicked Winter Night on
February 14th.

Your room is ready and waiting, enjoy our Valentine’s
festivities.

Complementary gift bags for all our members.

Don’t forget your golden coin.

Lust is in the air!

The Staff of Velvet Ice

Elise Sanders re-read the silver writing inside the black
invitation. What in the world was Velvet Ice, and why was Derek being referred
to as “Master”? She’d read the thing three times and it didn’t make any more
sense now than the first. She looked back down in the desk drawer the
invitation had been in. Lying under the invitation was a shiny gold coin,
stamped with a V on one side and a whip on the other.

“Hey baby, did you find the stamps?” Derek’s deep voice came
from behind her. “Can’t mail cards to your nieces without stamps.” He nuzzled
the side of her neck. She closed her eyes for a second and enjoyed the feel of
Derek’s tongue behind her ear.

She couldn’t help but melt back into his embrace. It had
been that way since the first time she’d seen him, staring challengingly across
the courtroom at her. She’d met his soulful brown eyes and had forgotten, for
just a second, the judge and jury. She’d even forgotten the terrified young man
sitting behind Derek at the defense table. For that split second there’d been
no one in the courtroom except them, and Elise had known her life was about to
change forever.

Two years later Derek could still turn her mind to mush with
a look. All he had to do was trail a finger down her shoulder and her body
melted like candle wax. If she sometimes thought she saw a shadow of
dissatisfaction in his eyes, she blamed it on her own insecurities. Now, having
seen this invitation, she wasn’t so sure.

Elise grabbed the coin on impulse and slipped it into the
front pocket of her jeans. “No, but I did find this.” She turned to face him,
holding out the invitation. “Why is it addressed to
Master
Derek?”

Derek snatched the thick, embossed paper from her hand and
crumpled it up, tossing it into the small wire trash bin next to the desk.

“It’s nothing, baby.” He tried to wrap his arms around her
but Elise maneuvered her way free.

“It doesn’t look like nothing. It looks like something you
ought to tell me about.” She wasn’t normally a suspicious woman, but something
about the words on the invitation was nagging at her.

Derek crossed his arms over his chest and blew out a long
breath. “Elise, it’s just something left over from my past. My
past,
baby.”

“If it’s part of your
past,
then you shouldn’t have
any problems telling me about it.” The uncomfortable expression on her lover’s
handsome face sent her nerves twanging, compelled her to push him a little
more. “Derek, we’re supposed to trust each other. It can’t be so bad that
you’re afraid to tell me.”

Streaks of red marked his cheekbones. She wasn’t sure if it
was out of embarrassment or anger. Elise felt a knot of worry begin to twist in
her stomach. She stood quietly waiting for him to say something, anything. When
he refused to even look at her, Elise lost her patience.

“I love you, Derek, and I’ve shared the most intimate things
about my past with you. You
say
you love me, but apparently you don’t
feel you can do the same.” Her anger died, drowned under a wash of hurt.

“Don’t ever question my love, Elise.” His eyes snapped and
she didn’t have to wonder anymore why his face was red. The man was pissed.
“You are everything to me.
Everything
.” He pinned her with a hard stare.
His lawyer stare, designed to cow the most resistant witness. “You shouldn’t
have been snooping in my stuff in the first place.”

Elise froze—no way was Derek Thomas going all legal on her. Her
normally easygoing nature went up in flames as the famous Sanders red-headed
temper took over, pushing the hurt aside.

“I wasn’t
snooping
in your things. The damn thing was
lying there when I went to get the stamps. You’re the one who told me where to look.”
He was so not going to blame her because she’d found something she apparently
wasn’t supposed to see. “What else are you hiding from me?” His deep-brown eyes
widened but no words passed his lips.

Frustration drove Elise on. “Dammit, Derek, you look like I
ran over your dog. What’s so difficult about answering my question?”

He closed his eyes and clenched his jaw so tight she was
surprised he didn’t crack a tooth. Then he drew a deep breath and met her gaze.

“Fine. You win. Master Derek is who I used to be.” He turned
and walked into his bedroom. She heard him open his walk-in closet and rifle
loudly through the contents.

When he came out he had a whip wrapped around his arm. Her
mouth dropped open in shock. The thing had to be at least six feet in length
from handle to tip. He held it comfortably, like he’d used it many times
before. He stroked his long fingers over it the way he’d touch a lover. His
whole demeanor was different. Her passionate, playful boyfriend was now
serious, dark, almost menacing.

Elise thought she should be afraid, but she wasn’t. Instead
she was confused and a little bit nervous. Not in a bad way. No, this kind of
nervous made her heart race, her nipples tighten painfully and her mouth water.
She’d never experienced this side of Derek, hadn’t known it existed. Their
lovemaking was always so sweet and gentle—he treated her body as if she were
made of crystal.

“Yes, baby, it’s exactly what you think it is.” He walked
over to her, behind her. His hot, moist breath slid across her nape.

“In that past you are so desperate to know about, I was a
sexual Dom, Elise.” She jumped as the handle of the whip slid across her
shoulders and around her throat to brush over the tops of her breasts. A shiver
worked its way through her, starting at her core and shaking her whole body.
Her nipples peaked and her panties grew damp. “My lovers were my submissives,
and Velvet Ice is the club where I would go to play with them.”

The moment he mentioned ex-lovers the spell he was weaving
broke and Elise was left frozen where she stood, unable to form a coherent
sentence.

“What’s wrong, baby? Can’t imagine yourself tied to my bed
while I do all kinds of dirty little things to you?” The disgust in his voice
broke her heart. The brief touch he’d just given her was far from being
dirty.
No, that small demonstration had only managed to fire up her
curiosity and make her wonder what else he liked to do. And whether she’d like
it too.

“Derek…” She paused, not sure what to say. She didn’t
understand his anger.
He
was the one keeping secrets. She was the one
who had the right to be pissed off.

He moved to stand in front of her and let the whip fall to
the floor at their feet. He cupped her cheek, his big hand infinitely gentle.

“Baby, I don’t want you to know that part of me.”

A lump formed in Elise’s throat when she saw the sadness in
Derek’s eyes.

“Why not? Derek, help me understand.”

“Remember our first date?”

Elise remembered it like it was yesterday. They’d had
dinner, then sat at a little jazz club downtown until closing time, sharing
their life stories.

“I knew that night that I wanted something more with you
than a few dates,” he told her earnestly. “I was attracted to everything about
you.” A little flame kindled in his eyes, echoed low in her belly as they both remembered
their first, electric kiss.

He sighed. “That night you told me about your first lover.
How he spanked you, and how much you hated it. You told me how he hurt you when
you had sex.”

“Derek, wait a minute. I think you misunderstood what I was
really saying.” He cut her off with his finger to her lips.

“No, baby, I understood you perfectly. I knew that night I
would have to choose between my old way of life and a new way, with you. I
chose you.” He stroked her lower lip with his thumb, cradling her face in his
hand. “I still choose you.”

In the back of her mind, Elise knew that he’d given up part
of himself for her, and at some level she was overwhelmed. In awe. But only at
some
level. The rest of her was even angrier than before.

“I never asked you to change for me, Derek,” she began, fire
in her tone.

“I know,” he interrupted. “But I also know you couldn’t
handle what I liked doing. You’re too sweet, too delicate for that kind of
lifestyle. Especially when I already knew you didn’t like it.”

Elise backed away from the man she loved. He was making her
question every aspect of their relationship, and it terrified her. Left her
feeling adrift and alone. She grabbed her anger and held on tight. At least
angry she could ignore the soul-deep hurt.

“You arrogant son of a bitch. How dare you sacrifice
yourself for the sake of my
sweetness and delicacy
?” She didn’t even try
to keep the sarcasm out of the last three words. “I don’t even know you, do I?”
He flinched at the disbelief in her tone, and her heart broke a little bit.
“And if that’s how you see me,” she shook her head, “well, then, Derek, you’ve
never really known me, either.”

Derek moved in on her, grabbing her arms above the elbow to
prevent her escape.

“Yes you do, baby. You know me better than anyone ever has.”
She turned her face away, unable to look at him as she imagined all the lovers,
the
submissives
, who’d known him far better than she ever had. “Elise.”
He caught her chin between his finger and thumb and gently forced her to face
him. “I’ve never kept any secrets from you except this. And this is a part of
my past.”

“It’s only in your past because of me. I’m not stupid,
Derek. I know enough about psychology to realize that when something is a big
part of your life, it’s a part of who you are, not just something you do.”

“Baby, listen to me.” There was something close to
desperation in his voice. “I’m no longer that guy.”

She wanted to believe him, but the doubt was there in his
eyes. She felt cheated, cheated out of a large part of who he was.

“For how long, Derek? You already miss that part of your
life.” She cut off his denial. “I saw the look on your face when you touched me
with that whip. So how long, Derek? How long will it take you to blame me and
then resent me for what you gave up?”

Elise pulled herself from Derek’s grasp and he let her go.
He swiped his hand through his hair, leaving it in dark, silky spikes around
his face. “What do I have to do to get you to believe me?”

She backed up toward the front door. “Why didn’t you cancel
your membership at this club?” He didn’t answer, but she didn’t really expect
him to. It was just another hint, another piece of evidence that he wasn’t as
free of his past as he claimed. She sighed, suddenly exhausted. “I don’t know,
Derek.”

She was heartsick and soul weary as she made her way to the
front door. “I love you, but how can we make a future together without trust?”

Unable to face his agonized dark eyes any longer, Elise
grabbed her jacket and keys and stepped out the door, out of the warmth of his
condo and into the cold Michigan night.

Derek slammed his fist into the closed front door.
Goddammit, why the hell did she have to find that damn invitation? He scrubbed
his hands over his face. Why the hell hadn’t he pitched the damn thing when
he’d received it?

He turned and walked to the small trash bin. Bending over,
he retrieved the crumpled vellum and smoothed it out, stroking his thumb over
the embossed silver lettering.

If he were honest with himself he would admit that he missed
that part of his sexuality. But fuck, making love with Elise was beautiful. He
loved every contour of her body. Her every sigh and whisper stroked over him,
warming his soul. When she came, he reveled in the feel of her wrapping herself
around him and holding him tight. He loved her, loved her more than he could
ever have believed possible.

He’d watched her face as she told him the story of her first
experience with sex. It tore at him to know that the man she’d given herself to
had turned her first time into something ugly and painful. Derek had known in
that moment that there was no way in hell he could tell her about his Dominant
tendencies, much less about Velvet Ice.

The notorious Detroit club looked like any normal nightclub
on the first floor. It was only by special invitation that a person made it to
the second, and only members made it to the third floor play area and
individual rooms.

He hadn’t stepped foot in the place since his first date
with Elise. Instead he’d put his coin in a desk drawer and let it gather dust.
Picking up the whip from the floor, he moved over to flop onto the couch. He
rubbed his fingers back and forth over the supple leather. He’d forgotten how
good it felt just to hold the thing in his grip. For a moment when he’d run the
handle along her neck, Derek could have sworn Elise’s breath had hitched and
her skin quivered.

He groaned as his cock hardened. He’d been half aroused from
the moment he’d seen Elise with the damn invitation. It just fucking figured
that the forbidden thought of Elise under his whip, his flogger, would make him
hard as a rock.

He gave a little groan and pressed his palm over his
erection as if he could subdue it by sheer determination. The slight
stimulation just made it worse.
What the hell
, he decided. He was hard
and Elise had left him alone and in need. Derek closed his eyes, tipped his
head back on the couch and gave in to the fantasy he’d been denying for the
last two years.