Starboard (Anchored Book 1)

by Sophie Stern

  “But if we’re going to be talking about looks and relationships, I could say the same thing.”

  “What could you say?”

  “That it’s strange you’re single,” I comment, turning down a quiet road. GPS says we’re five minutes from her house, and I’m getting curious to see where this woman lives.

  “I’m not as pretty as you,” Christina smiles.

  “You should know better than to talk down about yourself in front of a Dom.”

  “Why?” She teases. “Are you going to spank me?”

  “Do you really want to go there?” I ask. “If you’re teasing me about it, perhaps your Dom earlier tonight didn’t do a proper job beating that bottom of yours.”

  Suddenly, the car feels a lot hotter, and I wonder if she’s getting as turned on by this as I am. The idea of spreading her out and spanking her makes me fucking hard as a rock. I want to see her bottom turn from pink to red, and then I want to kiss her. I want to kiss every inch of her body, taking away the pain, making her feel like she can fly.

  I want to finger Christina, make her come apart using only my hand. I want her to come undone for me.

  I want her to scream for me.

  And then I want to make love to her slowly, deeply, perfectly.

  I want to fuck her so wholly that she doesn’t need anyone else, doesn’t need anything else. I want to fuck her so she knows that she’s perfect, so she knows that she’s beautiful, so she knows that she’s the most incredible woman at Anchored.

  “He did an okay job,” she says finally. “But I’m still sitting,” Christina points out.

  “Maybe he just didn’t want you to be sore tomorrow.”

  “Being sore is half the fun,” she says quietly.

  I pull up to a two-story house and park in the driveway. It’s a blue house with a big yard. There’s a chair on the porch, and I imagine Christina likes to sit there while she watches her daughter play.

  “What are you saying, Christina?” Oh, I think she’s inviting me inside, but I want to be sure. I’m more than happy to take her inside and show her what it truly means to be Dominated, what it really means to give herself over to someone. I’m more than happy to do that, but she has to be ready.

  She has to want it.

  She has to ask for it.

  I’m not going to play with someone who can’t say what they want, what they need. If she wants me to come inside, I’m not going to assume. She can ask, and I will give her anything she needs.

  Christina looks at her house, and then she looks at me, and then she looks back at the house. She takes a deep breath, and she seems to be wrestling with the decision she has to make.

  Finally, she turns to me.

  “Zack,” she whispers. “Would you like to come inside?”

  Chapter 11

  Christina

  I take a deep breath as I unlock the door.

  “Wait,” Zack says, and my heart drops. Is he backing out? Is he changing his mind?

  “What?” I turn back to him, trying not to sound too disappointed. He has every right to change his mind. BDSM is all about being safe, sane, and consensual. If he doesn’t feel like the moment’s right, then that’s fine. I’ll be okay. Everything will be okay.

  “Do you want to call someone or text someone before we go inside? I know we’ve only just met, Christina. I want to make sure you’re comfortable with me before we’re alone in your house.”

  “Oh,” I blush. Talk about being a fucking gentleman. “No, I’m fine, but thank you. I have your business card.”

  “If you’re certain,” he says.

  “I’m sure.”

  We go into the house and I drop my bag next to the door. Zack steps inside and I close and lock the door behind him. Then I point to the kitchen.

  “Can I get you a drink?”

  “The only thing I want is you,” he says, and he pushes me against the wall and kisses me hard. If I was wearing panties, they’d be soaked, but I didn’t change back after the club. I just grabbed my bag and threw my coat on. Beneath the coat, I’m only wearing my black bra and miniskirt.

  And suddenly, I feel very, very naked.

  And very, very excited.

  Playing at Anchored is fun and exciting. It feels a little bit dangerous and a little bit naughty, but Zack kissing me in my own house is different.

  This is passionate.

  He kisses me like he needs me, like he wants me, like he can’t bear the thought of not touching me. He kisses me like I’m the sexiest woman he’s ever seen and for a minute, that’s how I feel.

  Odessa’s words echo in my mind.

  You are just a submissive.

  Right now, that’s how I feel.

  I feel like a submissive playing with her Dom, her Sir, her Master.

  I feel like a submissive who is being taken care of.

  I feel like a submissive who is about to be made very, very happy.

  “I’ve wanted to do this since the first night I saw you,” Zack admits.

  “Kiss me?”

  “Hold you, touch you, taste you.” He takes my hands and pins them over my head. My jacket falls open, revealing my bra and miniskirt. “You’re beautiful, Christina. Lovely.”

  “Thank you,” I whisper.

  Instead of answering, he kisses my neck, trailing his lips down to my collarbone and just above my breasts. My bra pushes them up and out, and he licks the top of each breast, but doesn’t pull my bra down.

  “We’re going to have so much fun tonight,” he murmurs.

  “I know,” I groan, wiggling. I want to touch him, too. I want to run my hands over his chest and up his shirt. I want to slide my fingers down his pants and grab his cock. I know it’s hard now. It was hard in the car. It was hard at the club. I want to feel him, touch him.

  I want to get on my knees in front of him and worship his cock. I want to lick him, slide him down my throat. I want to hear the noises he’ll make as I take my time playing with him. I want to make him lose control.

  I want to make him come undone.

  “Stay still, beautiful,” he whispers, nipping my neck.

  “But I want to touch you,” I whine.

  He nuzzles me. Then Zack slides his hands down my arms and to my face. I keep my hands above my head, not moving, as he strokes my cheeks.

  “You’ll get your turn,” he says. “But I have a feeling you haven’t been taken care of completely in a very long time, Christina. Is that right?”

  I nod. I’ve slept with people since Cameron died. I’ve had sex. I’ve fooled around and given blowjobs and had my body touched, but I would never say I’ve been taken care of. That hasn’t happened.

  Not in a very long time.

  Not since I can remember.

  Not since my husband was alive.

  I shake my head, trying to clear out thoughts of Cameron. I love him. Loved. I loved him, but I don’t want to be thinking about him right now. Not tonight. Tonight is about me and Zack.

  “Hey,” he whispers. “Stay with me, beautiful.”

  I nod.

  “Let’s get you out of this coat, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  I lower my arms and he helps me out of my coat. Then Zack hangs it on the coat rack by the door. He kicks off his shoes and helps me out of mine. Then he leads me into the living room. He looks around for a second.

  “You have a lovely home,” he tells me.

  “Thank you.”

  It’s messy, but he doesn’t seem to notice or care. There are toys on the floor and there’s still a bowl of cereal on the coffee table from breakfast. I had two little girls here until lunchtime. I didn’t really have time to clean.

  Maybe I just didn’t have the energy.

  I’m not sure.

  “Where’s your bedroom?”

  “Upstairs.”

  “Do you want to show me the way or do you want me to carry you?”

  “I get a choice?”

  “You always get a
choice, Christina. That’s why you have a safeword.”

  “I want you to carry me,” I whisper. I can’t really say why I’m choosing this except that it feels nice to have someone taking care of me and looking after me.

  “Come here,” he says. Zack doesn’t look like a typical Dom, at least not the type of Dom I usually see at Anchored. He’s not in leather pants. He’s not in boots. He just looks like he came to the club after a long day at the office, and I realize that might be true.

  He’s got a suit on with a matching tie, and he takes his jacket off and hangs it over the back of my couch.

  “We can hang that up in the closet, if you like.”

  “Come here,” he repeats, and I get the feeling that Zack isn’t used to repeating directions.

  I cross the space between us quickly. Suddenly, I feel nervous and excited. My belly is exploding with butterflies. I feel like my heart is soaring and it’s hard to believe that in just a few minutes, we’re going to be naked upstairs together.

  We’re going to be naked in my bed.

  We’re going to be naked and Zack is going to be touching me.

  “Put your arms around me.”

  I wrap my arms around his neck, and then he lifts me. He carries me like I don’t weigh a damn thing, and for the first time in a long time, I don’t feel self-conscious about my body. I feel comfortable. I feel pretty.

  I feel desired.

  “Which door?” He asks.

  “The first one.”

  He pushes open the door and carries me to the bed. Then he sets me down in the middle of it. Luckily, I at least made my bed today and my room, at least, seems to be mostly clean.

  Zack looks around for a minute, taking in the room. I know he’s not being nosy or judgmental. No, he’s got that Dom look in his eyes. He’s trying to figure out what toys I have on hand and what items he can use to play with me.

  “All right, beautiful,” he says. “Where do you keep your vibrator?”

  “What makes you think I have a vibrator?” I blush, and he laughs.

  “Well, I’m going to spank you for that,” he says.

  “I thought you were going to spank me anyway.”

  “Now I’m really, really going to spank you,” he teases.

  “It’s in my underwear drawer,” I point to the dresser, and Zack heads over to the top drawer. He opens it and laughs. Then he turns to me and raises an eyebrow. I know why he’s chuckling. The entire drawer is filled with vibrators, dildos, and toys.

  “Couldn’t choose just one?” He asks.

  “A girl’s gotta do what a girl’s gotta do,” I say.

  “Oh, princess, we’re going to have some fun.”

  Chapter 12

  Zack

  I pick a couple of things out of Christina’s toy drawer, and then I come over to where she’s kneeling on the bed.

  “You like to kneel?”

  “For you.”

  “You looked beautiful last week when you were working on being graceful.”

  “It was hard,” she admits. “It’s difficult for me to get up and down without falling or tripping or looking silly.”

  “I think you looked lovely,” I tell her honestly. “And if it’s something you’re interested in, I’d be more than happy to help you with it.”

  “Really?”

  “You look surprised.”

  “I guess I just assumed, you know, that tonight was just…tonight.”

  “It could be, if that’s what you want.”

  “And if I want more?” She looks hopeful, but nervous, so I kiss her. I kiss Christina until I feel her entire body relax.

  “If you want more, Christina, then all you have to do is ask.”

  “My life is complicated. I don’t know if you’d want a relationship with me.”

  “Why? Because you have a child?”

  “Yes.”

  “I’m not sure why that would be an issue,” I tell her honestly. “Most people our ages have kids, honey.”

  “I guess…a lot of guys think a woman with a child is too much trouble to be worth it.”

  “I don’t think you’re going to shock me with anything in your life, Christina, and I don’t think you’re going to be too much trouble.”

  I don’t want to make her cry, but she’s tearing up, so once again, I kiss her. I kiss her and kiss her and kiss her until she relaxes beneath my touch.

  “I have a history, too,” I tell her. “And if you want to date me, which I hope you do, you’re going to learn all about it.”

  “Do you have kids?”

  “No, but I have a crazy ex-wife.”

  “Really?”

  “You seem surprised.”

  “I am, a little. You seem far too in control of yourself to fall for someone who isn’t.”

  “Well, I was young, and I thought we cared about each other. As it turns out, she only cared about my money. She still comes around from time to time to ask me for some. I’m sure you’ll meet her at some point.”

  “You two still have contact?”

  “Not at all. She goes through Anthony. Once she hears I’ve got a serious girlfriend, though, I’m sure she’ll show her face sometime.”

  “I look forward to breaking her heart,” Christina says, and I just laugh.

  “You don’t sound scared of her.”

  “Exes don’t scare me,” she says.

  “What about you? What’s your ex like?”

  “Dead,” she says.

  “Woah, I’m sorry. I was not expecting that. I figured you were just divorced, like me. I’m really sorry, Christina.”

  She sighs, but doesn’t look like she’s getting scared or afraid. Sure, it’s weird to have this conversation at the beginning of sex, but it has to happen sometime. It might as well happen before the pleasure, rather than after.

  “He was a military man. Deployed. I still don’t know the exact details of what happened. I’ll probably never know. All I know is that I had a husband, and then I didn’t. My little girl had a daddy, and then she didn’t. He was here and then he was gone and I was alone.”

  “That’s why you refuse aftercare,” I realize, pointing out the obvious. “You didn’t want to get emotionally involved with someone who was going to leave you.”

  “Exactly,” Christina says. “Getting over my husband’s death was…is…a work in progress. I have my good days and my bad days, even now. It’s been two years, and I still miss him.”

  “You know, my father passed away when I was young,” I tell her.

  “I’m sorry, Zack. That must have been awful.”

  “It was,” there’s no point in sugarcoating this. Losing a parent is terrible, horrible, but it is not the end of the world. “I was very small and I don’t have many memories of him, but it was still hard, and it was hardest on my mother, but she gave me some very good advice.”

  “What did your mother say?”

  “She said the pain never really goes away. It fades a little, sure. Your open wound scabs over and turns to a scar, but you still have a scar, and you have it forever. You always remember the person you lost, and you always miss them, and you always ache for them, but you learn to deal with the pain, and you take it one day at a time.”

  “That seems pretty accurate,” Christina says. She nods a little. I’m still standing next to the bed and she’s kneeling on it. That can’t be comfortable, so I help adjust her body so her legs are dangling off the side.

  “Have you been with anyone since you lost your husband?”

  “Yes.”

  “Are you nervous about being with me?”

  “A little.”

  “Why are you nervous, Christina?”

  “Because you don’t let me skate by,” she says. “You’re going to make me give to you. You’re going to make me be open with you, vulnerable with you.”

  “And that scares you?”

  “A little bit.”

  “I have a secret,” I tell her.

 
“What?”

  “It scares me a little bit, too. Being open with people is never easy, but that’s the point of a good D/s relationship, honey. It’s all about honesty. It’s all about vulnerability. It’s all about being open.”

  “You’re right. Cameron – my husband – and I, we never experimented like this. I’ve never been in a real relationship with someone where D/s was a factor.”

  “You’ve had play partners, but not a real Dom?”

  “Exactly. I’m a little nervous.”

  “You should be nervous,” I say, sitting next to Christina on the bed. “But you shouldn’t be scared because I will never do anything to hurt your heart.”

  “Only my ass?” She chuckles, and I pull her over my lap.

  “Oh, yes,” I say. “Thank you for reminding me. I believe you did have a spanking coming to you.”

  “Hey, come on now,” she protests lightly, wiggling a little. It just makes my aching hard-on worse. “Don’t be that way.”

  I pull her skirt up to reveal her bottom. She still doesn’t have panties on, but her bottom isn’t red anymore and she doesn’t have any bruises forming. Her Dom earlier tonight went light on her, which is understandable since it was, as far as I know, their first time playing together.

  I run my fingers over her bottom and Christina quivers beneath my touch.

  “You look beautiful like this,” I tell her. “And sexy as fuck. I can see your ass, your pussy. I can’t wait to be inside of you.”

  “Oh, I can’t wait for that either,” she whispers.

  “Tell me what you want me to do to you, Christina.”

  “Right now?”

  “Right now.”

  “I want you to finger me,” she whispers.

  “Ask me nicely.”

  “Will you please finger me before you spank me, Sir?”

  “That was lovely,” I slide a finger between her lips easily. She’s soaking wet, and her body tenses as I slide inside of her. “Fuck, you’re tight.”

  “More, please,” she groans. I can tell she’s trying to hold still, but she’s wiggling on my lap.

  “I think it’s time for your spanking,” I tell her. “I did promise you one, after all.”

  I place one hand in the middle of her back, holding her in place, and with the other, I touch her ass, warming her up. Her skin is soft and pale. Pretty.