“What do you say?”
“I think it’s too early to say. This is all too new. It may be the novelty of it. I’m curious, yes. But whether I would want this to be a permanent part of my life? I can’t say that for sure. I’m sorry, but I can’t.”
“You are being honest. You should never apologize for speaking the truth.” He lifted her hand to his lips, lightly kissed the tips of her fingers. “I will look forward to convincing you that you indeed will desire to submit. Often.” He held her gaze. “Always.”
“Paolo…”
“I am afraid it is time to leave the restaurant. You have to prepare for this evening, yes?”
She bit her bottom lip. Nodded.
He helped her from her chair, then pulled her close and whispered, “Sensory play tonight, cara.”
She backed away to look him in the eye. “Sensory play?”
“Another learning experience for us both.” She looked unsure, so he cupped the back of her head and pulled her in for a quick kiss. “You will love it,” he said. “Trust me.”
Paolo walked Julianne out of the restaurant. He made sure he had his hand on the small of her back or at her elbow at all times. He wanted to keep that connection with her. But he realized it was not only a physical connection he wanted with her, but an emotional one as well. He could tell Julianne was holding a part of herself back and he worried she might always do so.
Regardless what Ben had said, Paolo knew what he felt for Julianne was stronger than what he’d felt for any other woman in a long time. Maybe ever. He had hope for a future with Julianne. A future he’d despaired of finding for the past ten years.
He walked her to her car, kissed her lightly again. “Be ready for me tonight.” She nodded and he stood in the middle of the parking lot and watched her drive away. The small clench in his chest was unexpected. Paolo turned back to go upstairs and put in a few more hours of work. He stepped up on the sidewalk and froze when he heard a soft, familiar voice call his name.
“Holly?” Ben was right. He couldn’t avoid her forever.
She stepped out of the doorway of a dress shop. She was still tiny, still wore her blonde hair long and straight. The slight smile on her face, however, was much different than the expression on her face the last time he’d seen her.
“Hi, Paolo.” She dropped her gaze. “Sir.”
Regardless how badly their marriage had ended, Paolo couldn’t help but remember the way she’d looked on her knees before him. The sound of her soft voice saying she was his.
That hadn’t lasted long.
“You look well,” he said carefully.
She took a couple bouncing steps toward him. Her silky red dress was cut low, showing a generous view of her cleavage. “Aren’t you glad to see me?”
Glad? “The last time I saw you, you said you never wanted to see me again.”
She waved his comment away as if it meant nothing. “It was a long time ago.”
That was true. He could forgive her impetuous temper. Looking at her now, he realized he’d forgiven her long ago. “You look good, baby girl.” The endearment rolled off his tongue, reminding him of how very young she’d been when they met. How very young they both had been. “What are you doing back in town?”
“I moved back a few weeks ago.” She gazed up at him with her big blue eyes. “I’ve missed you.”
“It has been ten years. You cannot have missed me too much.”
But he couldn’t deny the charge he got from the look of adoration that settled on her face. “I keep remembering our time together. I didn’t have anything to compare it to back then, you know. I think I made a mistake. I think we made a mistake breaking up. Giving up.” She looked up through her long lashes and her glossy red lips slid into a mischievous smile. “I thought maybe we could go up to your Playhouse.” She placed her hands on his chest and stroked his lapels. “And we could do a little negotiating.”
Paolo took a step back and her hands dropped to her side. He scrubbed his hand over his face. There had been a time when he’d hoped Holly would change her mind. A time when he thought they could have made their marriage work. But he knew then, as he knew now, that it would have taken more of a compromise than he was willing to make.
“We did not want the same things. We never did. That is not going to change.”
If he hadn’t seen it often enough in the past, he might not have noticed the quick flash of temper on her face before it was gone. In its place was a shaky smile. “People change. I’ve changed. Maybe you’ve changed too.” She closed the space between them again. “We could make it work this time. I know we could.”
Holly’s suggestion stirred nothing inside him. Paolo thought of Julianne and his plans for the evening. Had he ever felt as much keen anticipation during his time with Holly? If he had, the memories had faded like paint in the sunshine.
“Sorry, baby girl.”
She stomped her foot, letting a little of the drama queen he remembered slip out. “You don’t even want to try, do you?” He used to think her pout looked so sexy, but not anymore.
He’d loved her once, when he’d been young and impulsive. When he’d been an eager young Dom and had basked in Holly’s unabashed adoration. She was right. He had changed. “No. I do not.” He shook his head slowly and turned away.
“Wait!” Holly reached out and grabbed the sleeve of his suit coat. “What? Do you think you’re too good for me now with all your money and your businesses and your famous Playhouse?”
Paolo stared down at the fingers crushing his sleeve until she released him and took a quick step back. “Go. Before you say something you will regret.”
She balled her hands into fists and sneered.
“I have work to do. Be well, Holly.” He turned and strode away before he said something he’d regret.
When Paolo got up to his office at the Playhouse, he called Richard. “I saw Holly.”
“I knew she wouldn’t give up.” His mentor had been one of the few people to warn him against a relationship with Holly. They’d first met at a club when they were both still in college. Richard had never said, “I told you so.”
“She approached me a few minutes ago. Confused the hell out of me.”
“Why?”
“She said she wanted us to get back together again.”
“And you’re surprised?”
“I have not heard from her in years. Of course, I am surprised.”
“Holly isn’t happy unless there’s drama. You know that. She’s looking for attention.” All right, so perhaps Richard had said, “I told you so” a time or two. “In fact…”
When he didn’t go on, Paolo had to ask, “What?”
“I shouldn’t say anything. Never mind.”
“I called you. Tell me what you are thinking.”
Richard sighed. “I always thought that when Holly left you it was a bid for more attention. I think she expected you to chase after her.”
After all the accusations she’d thrown at him? Paolo had never considered she was playing a game.
“I was surprised you let her go that easily,” Richard went on. “I think she was too.”
“Easy? You think it was easy for me to hear my sub, my wife, say I took advantage of her? That I oppressed her and stifled her? To wonder why one day she swore she was mine and the next day she never wanted to see me again?”
“I know,” Richard replied calmly. “Drama.”
It hadn’t felt like drama at the time, it had felt as if his heart and his confidence had been ripped from his body. It had taken Paolo a long time to try again. Richard had always been there for him.
“I told her I had no interest in reconciling. She did not take it well.”
Richard didn’t respond. Paolo could almost see him nodding slowly, waiting for Paolo to think about the situation and draw his own conclusions. But he didn’t want to think about his ex-wife anymore. He had plans to make for tonight’s session with Julianne.
&nbs
p; Julianne stripped and knelt by the door of a different playroom than the one Paolo had brought her to before. While she took her clothes off, she couldn’t help but notice the large four-poster bed in the center of the room. The heavy rings attached to the posts. Her gaze now lowered to the floor, she heard Paolo open and close drawers, move around the room. The floor grew harder beneath her knees. Nervous anticipation made it difficult for her to be calm and prepare for their session.
She’d been foolish enough to Google “sensory play” when she got back to her apartment. It probably would have been better for her not to know what to expect. Hot. Cold. Hard. Soft. Pain. Pleasure. She had to believe there would be pleasure, otherwise she didn’t know if she could handle the idea of the rest.
“Deep breaths, Julianne,” Paolo called out, his voice sharp. She heard his sigh before his voice softened, smoothed into a seductive tone. “Remember, this is not the time to worry or think too much. This is the time to prepare to give yourself over to me.”
Julianne swallowed. Worry did push everything else out of her head. She’d forgotten his previous instruction about breathing. She closed her eyes and took long, deep breaths. Smooth jazz she hadn’t noticed before soothed her nerves further. What would be would be. When would she remember there was comfort in knowing that?
“Look at me, cara.”
She opened her eyes and lifted her gaze. Swept it up his black trousers to see that he’d taken his shirt off. Her mouth watered with the desire to taste his smooth olive skin but she kept her lips together. Her fingers itched with the yearning to run over his sculpted abs, but she didn’t move her hands from where they rested on her thighs.
Then she focused on the blindfold in his hand.
“What is your safe word?”
She swallowed. “Chardonnay.”
“You understand you only have to say your safe word and all play stops. You have that control. You understand this?”
“Yes.”
“Good.” He circled behind her. “We have five senses. Sight is the one we use most often. The one we rely on above all others. I will be taking that sense away from you tonight so that you may more fully experience the rest. Scent. Touch. Taste. Sound. This is what we will focus on tonight.”
She nodded. She’d expected that. She already knew the comfort of the blindfold. She could relax into the darkness. Submitting was much harder in the light.
The blindfold was heavy leather but was lined with something soft against her skin. The darkness was complete. There was no quick burst of panic this time. Only a sigh of relief. He could do whatever he wanted to her now.
“Come.” He helped her to her feet and led her over to the bed. “Climb up and lie on your back.” As soon as she had, he quickly tied her spread-eagle on the mattress. His motions were efficient, not rough, but there were no extra strokes or arousing touches. No seductive words to soothe her. She heard him walk away.
Paolo had spoken often of the role anticipation played in their sessions. Was his body heating up as he thought about what would happen this evening? Did his cock tingle and swell as her sex did? Julianne’s heart raced and she couldn’t stop the moan that escaped her lips.
She hated the waiting. And he knew it.
Julianne flinched as a loud slap sounded. Once. Twice. Three times. She didn’t feel anything. Was he striking something on his hand? Against the wall? Would the next one be on her body?
But then something soft and smooth slithered over her skin, across her breasts, over her face. A silky scarf. Paolo ran it down her abdomen, along each outstretched leg. She sighed and relaxed into the mattress.
Then a sharp slap of pain on her inner thigh made her cry out and arch her body, instinctively trying to get away from the next strike. It came anyway on the other thigh, quick and light. She thought he must have been using a crop. He’d played with her mind, getting her worked up with the sound of the strikes, then lulling her with the strokes of the soft scarf.
Paolo bounced the crop lightly up and down her legs. These swift touches didn’t hurt, but she knew now that at anytime they could. They would.
He ran the crop along her pussy, teasing the slick lips and even the threat of more pain didn’t stop her sex from clenching, didn’t stop her from craving more stimulation. He began to lightly bounce the flat blade of the crop faster against her pussy. As he gradually increased the speed, he also increased the pressure, each slap getting sharper, sweeter. Julianne panted as she tilted her hips, reaching for the next strike. Reaching for the orgasm that was almost there.
But before she could reach the peak, the crop was gone. The scarf was back, sweeping between her legs. The light friction against her throbbing clit was enough to set off her orgasm. She cried out, arched into the climax.
“Beautiful,” Paolo murmured. He brushed his lips over hers. “We have only begun, cara.” And then he was gone. She heard him walk away from her, leaving her alone to come down from the incredible, unexpected orgasm. And to wonder what else he had in mind. When the sharp odor of a flame, of smoke, hit her nostrils, she knew he’d lit a candle. Hot wax. One of the major items mentioned during that sensory play search.
But he didn’t come back over to her yet. He was still doing something else over at the prep area. The sound of something like ice in a glass reached her ears. She’d read that ice against sensitive skin could burn as much as heat would. She started to breath heavily again.
He was back at her side. Brushed his lips over hers again. “Relax. It has not been so terrible so far, has it?”
“No,” she whispered.
“Part your lips.”
What was he going to put in her mouth? A gag? His cock? Julianne opened her mouth and gasped in surprise as something cold and sweet slid between her lips.
“I do not know your favorite flavor of popsicle yet. You like cherry?”
She nodded. He continued to rub the long, narrow treat over her tongue.
“Suck on it now.”
She did as he commanded. It refreshed her mouth, dry from panting.
“Enough.” He slid the popsicle from her mouth and began to draw it over her skin. She quivered, but as long as he kept it moving, it wasn’t uncomfortable. Down her chin, along her throat and over her breasts. When he reached one of her nipples, he drew it around in a circle and then held the icy treat on the sensitive tip.
She caught her breath, but when he took the nipple in his mouth, her gasp turned to a moan. He sucked hard, licked long, then blew on the wet skin making her shiver again. And then when he teased her other nipple with the icy treat, she gasped again.
He used to play with Holly like this. She’d loved sensory play. At least, she said she did. Now he wondered if he could believe anything she’d ever said to him. Night after night in their small apartment off campus, they’d played. How could she have made a bid for more attention at the same time she said he smothered her?
Paolo bounced the long red ice pop lightly on Julianne’s nipple. She squirmed, her lips parted, soft breathy moans filled the air. It was a Dom’s job to know how hard to push his sub. How far to go. There was a fine line between challenging a sub and overwhelming her. Perhaps he had been too young to realize the difference when he had been with Holly.
He had to trust that he knew the difference now.
Paolo set down the popsicle and picked up a candle. He tested the temperature with a small drop on his wrist before he tipped the candle and let the melted wax fall onto the breast he’d just been cooling with the sweet ice.
Julianne hissed. Her body writhed in a graceful arch. She pulled against her restraints before settling back down onto the mattress.
“Does that hurt too much, cara?”
“Yes! No… Yes… More?”
He chuckled softly. “I love to watch you. This body you have given to me is so responsive. I am learning as much as you are as we play with the senses tonight.” He bent over to kiss her flat stomach, then dropped some hot wax into the indentat
ion of her navel.
“Oh…” she moaned. Her body danced against the ropes and he didn’t think he’d ever seen anything so lovely.
He picked up the popsicle again, focused now on the space between her wide spread legs. He rolled it over her smooth mound. As the ice melted, cold sticky sweetness flowed over her tempting pussy. “Don’t squirm.”
“Easy for you to say,” she muttered, but she held still as the icy treat chilled her skin and the cold liquid trickled through her folds.
Pride at her compliance settled in his chest, along with something sharper, something sweeter. Something too soon to name. His cock throbbed against his fly. His heart thundered in his chest. Perhaps he was the one being overwhelmed tonight. Paolo caught her lips in a crushing kiss before he reached for another candle.
Chapter Four
Work kept Julianne busy the rest of the week. She didn’t have much time to think about the incredible night with Paolo. The idea of sensory play had been frightening at first, but by the end of the session she’d fallen completely under his dominant spell.
Her days were filled with work, but her nights were filled with dreams of fire and ice, of slithering silk and sharp stings of desire. Each morning she awoke with her hands between her legs, trying to ease the overwhelming ache of need.
She let Stacey talk her into going out for dinner Friday night. The first thing Stacey wanted to talk about after she picked up Julianne was the guy she said was dating.
“I just met him,” Julianne said with a forced laugh. “We’re going out to dinner again tomorrow night, so we’ll see.”
“You made it past the first date. That’s a good thing, right?”
“Yeah. I like him but I don’t know if it will be a long term thing. We’re really different.”
“That doesn’t have to be a bad thing. I dated this one guy who was a big fan of red meat and mashed potatoes with gravy. Didn’t want to hear about anything else.”
Stacey was a nutritionist. She’d probably thought she could convert him to healthy eating. “Are you two still dating?”
Playing for Real: Paolo's Playhouse, Book 5 Page 5