by Radclyffe
Allie receives a surprise from friends and discovers her fantasy is nowhere close to the real thing. Ryan turns out to be the key that unlocks Allie's true power to please.
Previously published in Erotic Interludes 3: Lessons in Love, edited by Radclyffe and Stacia Seaman (Bold Strokes Books, 2006); republished in Radical Encounters (Bold Strokes Books, 2009).
Acclaim for Radclyffe’s Fiction
“Dangerous Waters is a bumpy ride through a devastating time with powerful events and resolute characters. Radclyffe gives us the strong, dedicated women we love to read in a story that keeps us turning pages until the end.”—Lambda Literary Review
“Radclyffe’s Dangerous Waters has the feel of a tense television drama, as the narrative interchanges between hurricane trackers and first responders. Sawyer and Dara butt heads in the beginning as each moves for some level of control during the storm’s approach, and the interference of a lovely television reporter adds an engaging love triangle threat to the sexual tension brewing between them.”—RT Book Reviews
“Love After Hours, the fourth in Radclyffe’s Rivers Community series, evokes the sense of a continuing drama as Gina and Carrie’s slow-burning romance intertwines with details of other Rivers residents. They become part of a greater picture where friends and family support each other in personal and recreational endeavors. Vivid settings and characters draw in the reader…”—RT Book Reviews
Secret Hearts “delivers exactly what it says on the tin: poignant story, sweet romance, great characters, chemistry and hot sex scenes. Radclyffe knows how to pen a good lesbian romance.”—LezReviewBooks Blog
Wild Shores “will hook you early. Radclyffe weaves a chance encounter into all-out steamy romance. These strong, dynamic women have great conversations, and fantastic chemistry.”—The Romantic Reader Blog
In 2016 RWA/OCC Book Buyers Best award winner for suspense and mystery with romantic elements Price of Honor “Radclyffe is master of the action-thriller series…The old familiar characters are there, but enough new blood is introduced to give it a fresh feel and open new avenues for intrigue.”—Curve Magazine
In Prescription for Love “Radclyffe populates her small town with colorful characters, among the most memorable being Flann’s little sister, Margie, and Abby’s 15-year-old trans son, Blake…This romantic drama has plenty of heart and soul.”—Publishers Weekly
2013 RWA/New England Bean Pot award winner for contemporary romance Crossroads “will draw the reader in and make her heart ache, willing the two main characters to find love and a life together. It’s a story that lingers long after coming to ‘the end.’”—Lambda Literary
In 2012 RWA / FTHRW Lories and RWA HODRW Aspen Gold award winner Firestorm “Radclyffe brings another hot lesbian romance for her readers.”—The Lesbrary
Foreword Review Book of the Year finalist and IPPY silver medalist Trauma Alert “is hard to put down and it will sizzle in the reader’s hands. The characters are hot, the sex scenes explicit and explosive, and the book is moved along by an interesting plot with well drawn secondary characters. The real star of this show is the attraction between the two characters, both of whom resist and then fall head over heels.”—Lambda Literary Reviews
Lambda Literary Award Finalist Best Lesbian Romance 2010 features “stories [that] are diverse in tone, style, and subject, making for more variety than in many, similar anthologies…well written, each containing a satisfying, surprising twist. Best Lesbian Romance series editor Radclyffe has assembled a respectable crop of 17 authors for this year’s offering.”—Curve Magazine
2010 Prism award winner and ForeWord Review Book of the Year Award finalist Secrets in the Stone is “so powerfully [written] that the worlds of these three women shimmer between reality and dreams…A strong, must read novel that will linger in the minds of readers long after the last page is turned.”—Just About Write
In Benjamin Franklin Award finalist Desire by Starlight “Radclyffe writes romance with such heart and her down-to-earth characters not only come to life but leap off the page until you feel like you know them. What Jenna and Gard feel for each other is not only a spark but an inferno and, as a reader, you will be washed away in this tumultuous romance until you can do nothing but succumb to it.”—Queer Magazine Online
Lambda Literary Award winner Stolen Moments “is a collection of steamy stories about women who just couldn’t wait. It’s sex when desire overrides reason, and it’s incredibly hot!”—On Our Backs
Lambda Literary Award winner Distant Shores, Silent Thunder “weaves an intricate tapestry about passion and commitment between lovers. The story explores the fragile nature of trust and the sanctuary provided by loving relationships.”—Sapphic Reader
Lambda Literary Award Finalist Justice Served delivers a “crisply written, fast-paced story with twists and turns and keeps us guessing until the final explosive ending.”—Independent Gay Writer
Lambda Literary Award finalist Turn Back Time “is filled with wonderful love scenes, which are both tender and hot.”—MegaScene
Applause for L.L. Raand’s Midnight Hunters Series
The Midnight Hunt
RWA 2012 VCRW Laurel Wreath winner Blood Hunt
Night Hunt
The Lone Hunt
“Raand has built a complex world inhabited by werewolves, vampires, and other paranormal beings…Raand has given her readers a complex plot filled with wonderful characters as well as insight into the hierarchy of Sylvan’s pack and vampire clans. There are many plot twists and turns, as well as erotic sex scenes in this riveting novel that keep the pages flying until its satisfying conclusion.”—Just About Write
“Once again, I am amazed at the storytelling ability of L.L. Raand aka Radclyffe. In Blood Hunt, she mixes high levels of sheer eroticism that will leave you squirming in your seat with an impeccable multi-character storyline all streaming together to form one great read.”—Queer Magazine Online
“The Midnight Hunt has a gripping story to tell, and while there are also some truly erotic sex scenes, the story always takes precedence. This is a great read which is not easily put down nor easily forgotten.”—Just About Write
“Are you sick of the same old hetero vampire/werewolf story plastered in every bookstore and at every movie theater? Well, I’ve got the cure to your werewolf fever. The Midnight Hunt is first in, what I hope is, a long-running series of fantasy erotica for L.L. Raand (aka Radclyffe).”—Queer Magazine Online
“Any reader familiar with Radclyffe’s writing will recognize the author’s style within The Midnight Hunt, yet at the same time it is most definitely a new direction. The author delivers an excellent story here, one that is engrossing from the very beginning. Raand has pieced together an intricate world, and provided just enough details for the reader to become enmeshed in the new world. The action moves quickly throughout the book and it’s hard to put down.”—Three Dollar Bill Reviews
Top of the Class & Bonus Night
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Top of the Class & Bonus Night
© 2005 Radclyffe. All Rights Reserved.
ISBN 13: 978-1-63555-628-5
This electronic book is published by
Bold Strokes Books, Inc.,
New York, USA
First Bold Strokes Books eBook Edition: June 2019
Previously published in Erotic Interludes 3: Lessons in Love, edited
by Radclyffe and Stacia Seaman (Bold Strokes Books, 2006); republished in Radical Encounters (Bold Strokes Books, 2009).
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.
Credits
Editors: Radclyffe and Stacia Seaman
Production Design: Bold Strokes Graphics
Cover design by Tammy Seidick
Top of the Class
Allie punched in the first three digits of Cindy’s phone number and then hesitated. With a sigh, she pushed the off button and surveyed the mountain of clothes that had sprouted in the middle of the bed as she’d tried on and discarded outfit after outfit. Somehow, the excuse that she couldn’t go out because she had nothing to wear felt thin, even to her.
“I can’t believe I let them talk me into something as stupid as this.” She fingered the leather chaps she had purchased one summer for a horseback camping trip. Smiling, she recalled that the concept had been a little bit more glamorous than the actual event, but it had still been fun. Of course, most of the clothes she’d purchased for the eight-day excursion never saw any further use. “And they’re not going to tonight, either.”
Eyeing the black leather pants and mesh top with a shake of her head, she scooped up the whole pile and dumped it on a chair, then marched to the closet and pulled out what she usually wore for a night out with friends—jeans and a scoop-necked, ribbed white T-shirt. All right, so it was true that the simple attire always got her plenty of attention. The jeans hugged her high, tight ass, and with no bra under the form-fitting T-shirt, her breasts just screamed for a warm palm to cup them. The thought of fingers playing across her tight nipples caused her belly to twitch. “Okay. Okay. So maybe they’re right and I do need a little recreational sex, but vanilla will do me just fine.”
A glance at the clock told her she had less than ten minutes before Cindy and Jeri arrived to pick her up. She still wasn’t certain how she’d let them talk her into going with them to Chances, the local leather bar. Just because she’d played that stupid Truth or Dare game at Jeri’s birthday party and had even more stupidly told the truth about one of her favorite fantasies was no reason to repay her honesty by dragging her out to a club where she would only feel out of place.
“So come on, Al, tell,” Cindy prodded. “What’s your favorite jerk-off fantasy?”
“What makes you think I—”
Cindy and Jeri hooted her down, and Allie grinned.
“Okay okay. Truth.” She sighed. “I want to top this incredibly hot butch and have my way with her.”
“So why haven’t you?” Cindy asked.
“I haven’t a clue how to go about it. Afraid of being turned down, I guess.”
“Yeah, but,” Jeri chimed in, “if you didn’t have to worry about any of that…what would you do?”
“I’d tie her up and torment her and then fuck her silly.”
And after that, they’d badgered and cajoled until she’d agreed to at least go with them, just to see.
“So, I’ll stay for a drink or two to keep them happy, and then I’ll beg off,” Allie muttered as she leaned close to the mirror to apply her eye makeup. “At least then they won’t call me a chicken any longer.”
At the sound of her doorbell ringing, she shouted down the hall from her bedroom, “I’ll be right out!”
Hastily, she grabbed her keys and pulled open the door. “Oh!”
The woman standing on her front porch looked like she’d stepped directly out of Allie’s favorite wet dream. Short thick dark hair, cobalt blue eyes, a lopsided grin, and even, white teeth. The package was spectacular, and the wrapping even better. Long lean legs sheathed in skintight black leather, a matching vest over nothing but flesh, and a suggestive swelling below the wide studded belt that signaled a surprise tucked behind her fly. Her bare arms and stomach were tight with muscle. A silver bar pierced the top of her navel, and a tribal band tattoo circled her left biceps.
Allie resisted the impulse to touch her just to see if she was real.
“Allie?” Gorgeous Creature inquired.
“Yes?” Allie replied in a high, thin voice she barely recognized. She cleared her throat, feeling foolish. “Can I help you?”
Again the megawatt grin, this time accompanied by a subtle shrug of broad, strong shoulders that set off ripples of pleasure in the pit of Allie’s stomach.
“I’m Ryan.” Fantasy Lover extended her hand. “And I’m yours for the evening.”
Allie stared. Heartbreak Material was obviously a nutcase. “There’s been a mistake.”
Ryan smiled as if she’d heard that one before.
Allie hurried on, “I was just on my way out.” She started to close the door. “If you’ll excuse me.”
“Cindy and Jeri won’t be coming, so there’s no need to hurry.”
The little voice of reason in Allie’s head screamed, Close the door! but the part of her brain ruled by Id won out. She leaned against the half-open door. “How do you know them?”
Ryan slid two long tapering fingers into the slit pocket on the front of her vest and teased out a folded piece of paper. She held it out between her fingers. Clever fingers. “The work order.”
“I’m sure there’s…” Allie took the note, skimmed the few lines, and laughed in disbelief. “They paid for you to be my…slave?”
“If you desire.” Ryan nodded toward the paper. “Apparently they thought you would prefer that. However, if you would like to reverse the scene, that can be arranged.”
“I’m going to kill them,” Allie muttered under her breath. Still, she was beyond intrigued, and there really didn’t seem to be anything overtly crazy about the woman standing in front of her. Well, if you didn’t count the fact that she…hired out…as a sex slave. She looked Ryan up and down. “And if I want to be the slave, do you just…switch?”
“I can,” Ryan said seriously, “but you might prefer a replace—”
“No!” Allie spoke so quickly that she surprised them both. Blushing, she added hastily, “I mean, this…arrangement…seems fine.”
“I’m glad.”
Allie studied Ryan’s face, certain that she had heard gentle sincerity in her voice. But then, nothing about the situation was real. So what did it matter how she sounded? “You’re serious?”
“Yes, quite.”
“Are you…is this…safe?”
Ryan nodded. “If you mean me, yes. If you mean anything that might happen, the answer is also yes. I’m experienced, and you can trust that I won’t allow anything to happen that either of us would regret.”
Allie released the door, and it swung open as she leaned her back against the doorjamb, her arms crossed just below her breasts. The very idea of having sex with Ryan, a perfect stranger, was perversely exciting. She was hot. But every time Allie thought of actually dominating her, of being free to do anything she wanted with her, she felt a thrill that was entirely new. It went beyond physical excitement. It was as if every cell in her body buzzed with sexual anticipation. “And you’ll enjoy it?”
Ryan bowed her head, dropping her gaze from Allie’s for the first time. “It would be my pleasure to serve you.”
“I don’t know wh—”
“Perhaps you wish to bring me inside where it is more private. So you may examine me and determine if I please you. Mistress.”
Allie’s breath caught as heat raced over her skin. She knew if she thought about what she was doing, she’d close the door and leave Ryan standing alone in the dark. And she’d never know if her fantasies were any more than that—unrequited dreams. She’d imagined just what she’d do so many times—she’d only been waiting for permission. She stepped inside. “Follow me.”
Then Allie turned and walked
to her bedroom. She did not look back when she flicked on the small lamp just inside the door, but she knew Ryan was behind her. She could smell her. The thick, hot odor of desire. She sensed as soon as Ryan had lowered her gaze that she was saying Allie was in charge, and Allie didn’t intend to pass up this chance to do what she’d been dreaming of.
“Kneel by the bed,” Allie said, pleased by the quickly muffled gasp. She slowly circled Ryan’s kneeling form, all of her senses inexplicably heightened. She saw the tiny hairs at the back of Ryan’s neck flutter as she passed and heard the breath rush in and out of Ryan’s chest. Seeing all that power and beauty harnessed and waiting, hers to command, drove the last whispers of resistance from her consciousness. Everything in the room receded from her awareness except Ryan and the steady rush of blood into her pulsing clit.
She stopped and traced her fingernail along the edge of Ryan’s jaw, over her chin, and down her throat. “Take off your vest.”
Wordlessly, Ryan unbuttoned her vest and dropped it on the floor. Her breasts rose proudly, tight cones tipped with hard dark nipples. Allie grasped one and twisted slowly. With a groan, Ryan tipped her head back, her eyes half closed.
“Oh did I hur—”
“I am here for your pleasure.” Ryan caught Allie’s free hand and drew it to her other breast. “Pain arouses me. You can trust me to say enough.”