by Megan Hart
That was the question, wasn't it? Simone looked at her phone again. She held it up, showing him the lack of incoming texts. Then she put it back in her purse.
Corrina, wearing a tiny lace bra and matching panties and carrying a tray with steaming cups of coffee, came into the living room. Gracefully, she put down the tray on the coffee table and then knelt in front of it to take the lid off a sugar bowl so she could spoon sweetness into one cup. Then cream. On her knees, she crossed to Aidan and handed him the cup.
"Tell her how you take yours," Aidan said.
All that time together as lovers, a much longer time together as friends, and he still didn't know. It didn't matter. "I'll make my own, thanks."
"You sure?" He passed a hand over Corrina's hair, unbound now and trailing to her waist in rippling golden waves. "She'll do whatever I ask her to do."
Of course she would, and of course Simone was not about to let her. "I'll do it."
"So independent." Aidan smoothed his hand over Corrina's hair again.
Simone had tried that a few times. Sitting at Aidan's feet. Playing the part of the sweet submissive. She'd been terrible at it.
Aidan must've known what she was thinking, because he laughed. "You'd have spilled the coffee on purpose in order to get a spanking."
Simone fixed herself a cup of coffee and sat back on the couch. "It was the spanking that I liked best. Not the other stuff."
"So, what about this guy? Anderson? Does he spank you?"
Simone glanced at Corrina, but the other woman sat serenely at Aidan's feet with her hands folded, one inside the other, her gaze on him. Attending him like a handmaiden. Simone would never have been able to pull that off, not in a million years . . . but watching it, seeing her adoration of Aidan and his clear delight in it, Simone couldn't help feeling a flutter of heat inside her.
She was a voyeur, after all.
Aidan's gaze got a little darker when she didn't answer right away. He leaned forward. "Simone. Does he spank you?"
"Not the way you did."
"What the hell's wrong with him?" He laughed, but looked pleased.
Simone shrugged. "He won't really talk about it. We've only been together a few times. He's into pinching. A little slapping. Hair pulling. That sort of thing. He's good at it. He gets off on it."
"But he doesn't text you back."
Simone sighed. "We're not dating. We're just . . . fucking."
"Oh, babe. When did you start to settle?"
Simone grimaced, sitting back against the couch. "When did you start getting so judgmental about my sex life?"
"Does he give you what you need?" This came from Corrina, who spoke quietly and respectfully, but it still surprised Simone she'd spoken at all. "You said he gets off. Do you?"
"I do."
"You like pain," Corrina said. "But you're not submissive."
"Did Aidan tell you that?" Simone gave him a long, cold glare.
"He didn't have to. I could tell." Corrina looked at Simone with a small but friendly smile, then leaned to kiss Aidan's knee, just once. "Aidan doesn't understand."
"Bullshit." He looked down at her.
Corrina looked back at him without flinching. "Respectfully, sweetheart. You don't."
"She's right," Simone said. "You never did, really."
Aidan scowled. "What do I need to understand? That this guy isn't treating you right? That you deserve better?"
"You don't even know him," Simone told him evenly. "And I already said, we're not dating. We're just fucking. And it's not so easy, you know. To find a man who will give me what I like."
"Most of them are too soft," Corrina said. "They're afraid of breaking you."
Simone looked at the girl with a newfound level of respect. "Yes."
"Was Aidan? Afraid of breaking you?"
Simone and Aidan stared at one another. "That's a question he'd have to answer."
"No. I wasn't afraid of breaking you. No matter what I gave you, Simone, you always took it. As much as I could give you."
"He's afraid of breaking me," Corrina said with a hitch in her voice. Her shoulders slumped. She lost her perfect posture.
Shit. Was she going to cry? Simone put her coffee mug back on the tray.
"She's not as strong as you were," Aidan said, and Corrina let out a low, muffled sob.
"Hey," Simone said to him. "Not cool."
"No, no. It's all right." Corrina looked up with wet eyes and a brave smile. "I need to get better."
"Aidan told me you were perfect," Simone told her with a sniff in his direction.
Corrina burst into sobs.
"Shit, now look what you did," Aidan said.
"I'm s-s-sorry," Corrina gasped. "I'm not perfect! I'm trying to be--"
"Nobody's perfect," Simone said harshly. "Hey. Corrina. Look at me."
Corrina wasn't Simone's sub, but she turned anyway. Simone waved a hand in Aidan's direction. "I was far from perfect for him."
Corrina swiped at her eyes, getting herself under control with visible effort. She straightened her back and shoulders and folded her hands in her lap again. She lowered her head.
"I'm sorry, Aidan."
At least he wasn't making her call him Sir. Or Master. He'd been into that for a while. Simone could still remember the bitter taste of that on her tongue.
Aidan looked at her, and Simone couldn't tell if he were angry or amused or turned on. Maybe all three. She tried to communicate her frustration to him with a look, but typically, he ignored her.
"Your outburst is uncalled for, Corrina," he said in a low, shiver-inducing voice that wasn't meant for her and should've turned Simone's stomach, but still managed to make her tingle. Just a little.
There was a reason they'd stayed friends, after all.
"I'm sorry," Corrina repeated, and got to her feet with a smooth, graceful motion Simone envied. Head still bowed, without even a glance toward Simone, she said, "should I get the chair?"
"I don't know. Simone, do you think I should get the chair?"
Simone gave him another long look. Now he was starting to play games, and that wasn't what she'd had in mind when she'd agreed to come over after dinner. There was that saying, though, about old habits and dying hard.
"I don't know, Aidan. What's the chair?"
"Get the chair, Corrina."
The girl shuddered, but went at once to the corner of the living room and pulled out a straight-backed chair. Worn, a little rickety, nothing special about it. She took it to the center of the room and turned it around so she could grip the back of it. She settled her feet at shoulder-width and bent her head to let her hair fall over her shoulders, exposing her back.
Aidan went over to her, running his fingers down the knobs of her spine. The dimples at the base of it, just above her hips. He brushed the last few strands of her hair over her shoulders, then looked at Simone with a small smile.
"Get the switch, Corrina."
Simone's nipples went tight and hard. Her clit pulsed. She remembered the switch.
Corrina hesitated, and Aidan's gaze turned assessing. "Now."
To Simone, he said as an aside, "she hates the switch."
But he'd use it on her anyway, because he liked it, and it was Corrina's place to do what he wanted. Her chosen place, Simone reminded herself, watching Corrina walk with her head held high but with hesitant steps to the armoire on the other side of the room. Corrina opened the doors and pulled out a long, slender switch of braided leather. She brought it back to him laid across her hands, eyes downcast, and held it out to him.
"Pomp and ceremony," Simone said. "Always the ritual with you, Aidan."
He didn't take his eyes off of Corrina, but his words were for Simone. "Now who's judging?"
She laughed, gently.
"Corrina. Get the clamps."
Corrina shivered, her nipples rising beneath the black lace of her bra. She had gorgeous tits. Corrina's lush curves made Simone feel self-conscious about her own lean
frame, but there was no denying her beauty.
Corrina went again to the armoire and pulled out a set of metal nipple clamps, the kind with the cruelly digging ridges. She brought them to Aidan and held them out on the flat of her palm. He didn't take them or tell her to move.
If Corrina were really perfect, she'd stay there until he told her what to do next. Simone had never managed that. She'd have either burst into giggles or been rolling her eyes by now. She was impressed.
"I'm going to get out of here," she said. "You two need some private time."
"Wait," Aidan said, still looking at Corrina, though his hand snaked out to grab Simone's wrist with unerring accuracy. "Babe, stay. Where do you have to go? Home? Alone? What fun is that?"
She laughed, though it stuttered a little at the grip of his fingers on her wrist. "Just because I like to watch, doesn't mean I need to see this."
"It's been a long time since we played." Finally, Aidan looked at her. Corrina, in front of him, still held her position with the clamps on her palm. He gave Simone a smile that not even so long ago would've charmed her into staying. "Stay."
"I can't."
"Because of him? Corrina. Put the clamps on and go stand by the chair.” To Simone, Aidan said, “I thought you weren't serious or dating."
"I'm . . . we're not. But that doesn't mean I want to just randomly join your party, Aidan. Jeeze." Simone watched Corrina slip out of her bra and put on the clips. They pinched her tender flesh, engorging the nipples. Simone swallowed hard, but looked back at Aidan. "I'm going to go. Thanks for dinner. We'll get together soon, okay?"
"Wait," Aidan said before she could get to the front door. "Simone, wait a minute."
She turned and he leaned in, close. He smelled good, though the cologne was new. He took her by the upper arms, pinching a little, but though she liked pain, she didn't like that. She pushed him away firmly until he let her go.
"She's right," he said quietly, obviously trying not to let Corrina overhear.
Simone didn't bother to keep her voice down. This whole evening was turning weird. Love and friendship, even like what she and Aidan shared, could only go so far. "About what?"
"I am afraid to break her."
Simone paused, looking over her shoulder at Corrina, who stood facing away from them, her hands on the back of the chair. "She's good for you. I can already see that."
"She's perfectly submissive. Takes direction. Genuinely wants to please me, but isn't weak." Aidan paused to pull Simone a little closer again, and this time, she let him. "You know I don't want someone who just rolls over and shows her belly."
Simone had a flashback to the feeling of his hands on her. She'd never been into the toys and props. Bare flesh on flesh had turned her on more than anything else, though the way those clamps had pinched Corrina's nipples wouldn't leave her mind.
"She wants to take whatever I ask of her, Simone, but . . ."
Simone crossed to the other woman and looked her in the face. "Corrina. You like pain?"
Corrina hesitated, then nodded. Her face had gone very red. Her engorged nipples, a lovely shade of the same. She was breathing pretty fast.
"You don't love it."
Corrina blinked, then lowered her eyes. "I love what pleases Aidan."
"And he likes to give pain." Among other things. Simone glanced at him, the adorable perv, grinning already with his tongue half hanging out. She rolled her eyes at him again and turned back to Corrina. "So you want to be able to take it."
"Yes. And I've tried, I'd do it. I'd do anything for him."
"I know you would, sweetheart." Aidan came up behind Simone to cup Corrina's chin and kiss her mouth.
"I can't make someone like what they don't like," Simone said to both of them. "I can help you learn to take more than you think you can, though. Which might make you like it better, you never know. If you're not afraid of it, I mean."
Corrina shivered and smiled at Simone, the two of them sharing a look that had absolutely nothing to do with Aidan at all. "I like being afraid, Simone."
Simone brushed some of the hair out of Corrina's face and leaned in to whisper, "It's good to know what you like."
Chapter 25
Aidan would've driven her home, but Simone had told him to take care of Corrina, instead. Now she stared out the window of the cab at the city lights, everything a blur because she could scarcely catch her breath. Everything inside her had become an inferno.
It was a fifteen-minute cab ride home, but she told the driver to forget about the address she'd given him first. She gave him another one and thumbed in Elliott's number, not caring that it was past one in the morning on a work night. Incapable of stopping herself, even though she knew better.
He sounded sleepy when he answered. ". . . Hello."
"I'm coming over."
"Simone?"
"Who else would be calling you at this time of night? Never mind," she said with a shaky laugh. "Don't answer that. Yes. It's me. I'll be there in twenty minutes."
"Simone, it'll be almost . . . shit. Two in the morning."
"Will you open the door for me?"
Elliott sighed, and she pictured him scrubbing at his face. "Yes. Of course I will."
Her grin felt hot and wild, spreading across her face. Burning across it. Simone leaned back in the seat, letting her knees fall open, slipping a hand up along her thigh, helpless to stop herself from tickling the outside of her pussy through her panties at the memories of what had happened in Aidan's house.
They had played together a few times with other partners, but it had always been Aidan leading the show. Directing the action. And this time . . . oh, fuck . . . Simone shuddered as an icy-hot chill ran down her spine, thinking of everything that had happened.
At Elliott's door, she knocked loud and hard, but only a couple times before he yanked open the door and ushered her inside. She didn't wait for him to kiss her, but launched herself into his arms.
"The neighbors," he muttered as he kicked the door closed behind them.
"Who cares about the neighbors?" She said into his mouth. Arms and legs wrapped around him, she took his lower lip in her teeth and tugged gently. "Take me upstairs, Elliott."
To give him credit, he did as she asked without another word, carrying her easily up the stairs and down the hall, where he tossed her onto the bed hard enough to knock the headboard against the wall. Simone laughed, rolling on the pillows and pushing up on her elbows to look at him. He wore a pair of flannel pajama bottoms that hung low on his hips and no shirt. Bare feet.
"Your toes," Simone said, "drive me out of my fucking mind."
Elliott looked down at them, then at her. "Are you drunk?"
"Nope." Simone arched, tugging at the hem of her dress to expose her thighs and watching the way his gaze went there at once. "It's been too long since I had you inside me, Elliott."
"I was going to call you tomorrow."
"Too late. I want you now." She rolled onto her hands and knees, wiggling her ass at him as incentive. "C'mere and put that big, thick cock inside my wet cunt and fuck me until I can't stand up."
At the sound of his surprised noise, she looked over her shoulder at him with a grin. "Too much?" Her gaze fell to the obvious thickness of his erection, tenting the front of his pajamas. "Something tells me no."
"I just . . . wasn't expecting . . ."
He looked so fucking adorable when he was flummoxed, and she was already on fire. Simone hitched up the hem of her dress, exposing the backs of her thighs and what she imagined would be the first hint of her silk panties . . . there'd be a dark spot on them, she was sure, of where she'd soaked through.
"I want you," she told him. "I want to make you crazy. I want you to fuck me until we both can't see straight, Elliott. I want you to fuck me so hard it hurts."
His hand had gone to the front of his pajama bottoms, rubbing and rubbing. Now the head of his cock peeked out over the top of the waistband. Just that small hint of it was enoug
h to make her pussy clench.
Simone groaned and got out of bed, her mind still awhirl with everything that had gone on with Aidan and Corrina, but also the sight in front of her. She kissed him, hard, grinding herself against him until he shuddered and gripped her ass.
"Take my dress off."
Elliott slipped the shoulder straps down, following the motion of his hands with his mouth. Nibbling and sucking on her flesh as he bared it, he tugged the stretchy fabric over her tits and belly, then off her hips. His lips fastened on her nipples, sucking until Simone let out a low, hoarse cry.
Then, he stopped.
He pulled away, eyes glazed with desire. He licked his lips. His hand went between her legs, thumb stroking her clit while his fingers curved against her.
"I need . . . something," Simone whispered.
"What do you need, Simone?"
"Fuck, I love the way you say my name." She kissed him again, holding on to him tight while he slipped a finger inside her panties.
"You're so wet," Elliott breathed. "Oh, shit."
"I need," Simone said.
"What do you need? This?" He dragged his teeth across her throat and down to take her nipple between them.
"Yes. Yes, yes . . ." she lost herself in the growing sparkles of pain the pressure of his teeth caused. But it wasn't enough. "Wait a minute, baby. Wait."
She untangled herself from him and went to his closet, where she'd seen the laundry basket once or twice. She found what she wanted in a few seconds and took them out, holding them up to show him. "Put these on me."
"What?"
She flicked her nipples erect and opened and closed the rubber clothespins in the air. "Put. These. On. Me."
For a moment, she thought he was going to say no. But then his eyes gleamed. He took the clothespins from her and studied them. He ran his thumb over her nipples, tweaking them even harder than she thought they could be. When he slipped them onto her skin, cupping her breasts to keep them steady, Simone tensed even though she was anticipating and yearning for the sting.
"You've done this before," she whispered.
"No."
"No? Never?" The weight of the clothespins made her tits bob, and Simone pushed her shoulders back to show off for him. She caught her lower lip in her teeth, breathing softly.