“How about you?” She looked back to Daniel.
He didn’t think he’d missed anything. In fact, he was hanging on every word, and he was used to listening carefully. It hadn’t been said. But he thought he could guess. Louise wanted to be able to fly out to Chicago now and then. He didn’t really have a choice but to let her, but he didn’t want to. And at the same time, he knew he was being irrational. She’d be safer going back to one dom, over and over, than having a new one every week, even though the latter would make him less jealous. Her safety was much more important than his ego. “Try what?”
“Oh!” Louise smiled. “Rob has offered to teach you how to dominate me.”
He blinked. Rob didn’t have much time, and yet that was how Louise wanted to use it? He supposed he should be flattered. And Rob was willing, even though it would cost him part of his precious time with Louise? Perhaps he and Rob were more similar than he thought.
They both, it appeared, wanted to make Louise happy.
Can I do it, though? Can I really become the dominant man Louise wants?
He’d never had any problems taking charge in a courtroom or in his own office when it was called for. But ordering Louise? If that was what she really wanted—and he really wanted to serve her—he would do it if he had it in him. “If that’s what you wish, Louise, of course I will.”
He expected a funny look for the way he said yes, but she jumped into his arms again and gave him big hug. He grinned and kissed her. It didn’t bother him that Rob was watching. See whose she really is? She kissed him hard, pushing her tongue into his mouth. The aggressiveness of it made his heart melt, and he lost himself in the moment. Which only made it harder when she broke away and gestured for Rob, and he found himself watching a kiss that had just as much passion in it. It was different, though. Her face was tilted upward, and Rob’s hand was in her hair. He wasn’t hurting her, but he was definitely asserting his dominance.
Rob let her go and looked at Daniel. “Are you free now?”
“I’m not kissing you. Sorry, I just don’t go that way.”
He enjoyed the brief look of discomfort that went over Rob’s face. Clearly the other man was hetero through and through. At least that was one thing he didn’t have to worry about.
“What a shame,” said Rob. Daniel was still willing to bet he didn’t mean it. He considered Rob’s original question. He had one appointment, but it wasn’t critical. He could call and cancel it and offer to reschedule for an evening, which the client would prefer anyway. But he needed to do it now before the client left work.
“I think I can free the afternoon up. Just a moment.” He didn’t want to leave Rob and Louise alone together again, but his client’s privacy was sacrosanct. He left the room, shutting the door behind him, and walked down the empty hall several steps before calling his office. He got his aide to text the client’s number to him, and then he called. He thought it would work out, but if he was going to ask for a reschedule, he’d rather not do it through a secretary.
He remembered Rob’s comment: “I don’t think this is going to work.” Recalling how he’d felt when he’d tried dominating her before, he had to say that on that, at least, he and Rob agreed.
“MAYBE IF I was naked and kneeling for him when he came back in? That ought to make an impression.” It was all Louise could do to stop from pacing around the hotel room. It had seemed big when she’d entered it with Rob the first time, but now it was almost claustrophobic. She had asked a lot of Rob. He’d probably ask a lot in return, sometime, but that didn’t bother her. In fact, she liked that idea. Still, in asking, she’d put herself in charge in a way. They were doing what she wanted. Hopefully that would change in a few minutes, and both of the delicious gentlemen would have her dancing to their tune.
Rob chuckled. “Just wait. Sit on a chair. We need him to tell you what to do, not for you to try to anticipate right now. You anticipate too much, and he won’t get any practice. I hope we can work together, but I don’t think he likes me very much.”
Louise nodded and sat in the chair. She didn’t want to agree with Rob. And she had confidence in Daniel. “He’s capable of working with people he doesn’t like.”
Rob nodded. “We’ll see. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. In the meantime, wait.”
“Is that an order?”
Rob grinned. “Yes. And it’s probably the hardest thing I’ll ever ask of you. I honestly think you’d take to a cane better than you would to waiting.”
She crossed her hands in her lap. She didn’t want him to feel he had to test the comparison.
Rob looked away for a moment, lost in thought, before returning his gaze to her. “You know, I’ve known a lot of tops and bottoms and switches. And a lot of people sometimes take a role on that’s perhaps different than their nature from time to time. But what is true with almost all those people is that in their primary relationship, they need to be what they are at their core. Daniel might be able to top someone, but I don’t think that’s who he is. So whether he’s able to top you and be truly comfortable with it—well, I’m still dubious. Maybe he can, out of a sense of service. Whether doing it with that motivation will be enough for you is another question.”
Louise nodded. “Only one way to find out.” She remembered how she’d felt when Rob had said the spanking and the belt were to turn him on, not her. The idea that it was about his pleasure had turned her on and made it easier to take. Being spanked might feel good even if it wasn’t to please a dom, but it wouldn’t be the same. Maybe it had all been a stupid idea, and maybe she was being selfish. But she didn’t want to back out now. Maybe Rob could unlock something in Daniel she hadn’t been able to.
“Hmm.” Rob turned away from her again, walking to a window, apparently admiring the city skyline, what there was of it. He didn’t turn until there was a knock on the door. Louise started to get up to get it, but he gestured for her to stay. She sat back down, relaxing. Rob was in control, and he was good at that. It was oddly freeing to be told what to do.
“Come in, Daniel,” said Rob. “She’s waiting for you. Everything straight?”
Daniel nodded. “How is this going to work?”
Rob grinned. “It’s going to be challenging. But basically, I’m going to encourage you, and you’re going to top her. She said you tried this once before, and it didn’t work. Did you have a safe word arranged?”
“Yes. Abracadabra.”
Rob chuckled. “Now that’s a word unlikely to be uttered in ordinary love talk. Well done. So then, at its most basic, BDSM isn’t about a bunch of toys, but it’s a place to start. I could teach you how to use a flogger or how to administer an over-the-knee spanking or how to tie a woman up. All those are primarily technical matters. Does any of that appeal to you?”
Any of those would be fine. But Daniel shook his head. “No.”
“Well then, to the more obscure. Waxing, perhaps?”
“Ouch.” Daniel echoed her own sentiment. She did not enjoy having hairs ripped out of her body, even to have her eyebrows done. More than that sounded excruciating.
“It can be simply a warm sensation, if the candle is held high enough and done over an oiled area with only very fine hairs. A woman’s body is full of such areas.”
“No. Why don’t we ask Louise what she wants? That’s really what all this is about.” Daniel turned to her as he had so often. She usually loved that look in his eyes, but she wished he would take control rather than look to her for guidance now.
“I did,” said Rob, before she could speak. “That’s where I got the first three suggestions from.”
Daniel was still looking at her, and he didn’t speak until she nodded. “Fine. Of the three, then”—he thought for a moment—“teach how to tie someone up.”
Rob nodded. “I didn’t bring a lot of rope in my suitcase, so we can’t do any intricate bondage. But I have a few short lengths, suitable for binding wrists or ankles to bedposts. But you’re the top. Louise is y
our submissive. She wants you, needs you to make decisions, so she can be free to obey.”
There was an uncomfortable silence. This isn’t working. Her stomach felt heavy, and she tried to think of some kind of solution, some way of saving face for everyone. The friction in the air between the two men was obvious. Daniel was using as few words as possible to answer Rob, who under the circumstances was being a saint. Then again, she suspected the source of Daniel’s animosity was his affection for her, and she found that hard to hold against him. She was actually touched by his jealousy.
Daniel walked over to her. “Kiss me.”
She relaxed. Maybe this will work after all. She stood up, wrapped her arms around him, and kissed him deeply. For a change, he pulled away before she was completely out of breath. He smiled at her. “Bring me some rope,” he told Rob. “Turn around and present your wrists to me behind your back together,” he told Louise. “I’m going to tie your wrists.”
Behind him, Louise could see Rob frown, but he reached into his suitcase and got the rope anyway. Clearly Rob didn’t appreciate Daniel giving him orders.
Louise turned as directed, with some reluctance because she wanted to keep an eye on both of them. But she smiled to herself. Daniel was taking charge, at least. She pushed her hands behind her back. She tried it back to back, and then turned them to put her palms together, finding that put less stress on her shoulders.
“Generally speaking you want to remove any clothing you’re not going to want in the way later before you start tying,” Rob said.
“Generally speaking we’d be doing this just us two in the privacy of our own room, wouldn’t we?” Daniel shot back.
Fuck. Suddenly being tied up in a room filled with two male egos didn’t seem nearly as attractive. She wiggled her hands, though, because she wanted the attention back on her, as much to stop them from arguing as anything else.
“Sometimes. Sometimes bondage is done at play parties, in front of dozens of people. It changes the dynamic and, depending on the submissive, may make the experience more intense. Some girls turn such a delightful pink when asked to obey in front of an audience.” Rob crossed to move in front of her and ran his hand along her cheek. “Louise knows. We’ve done all sorts of things online in front of other people. But in person is an entirely different step. This time the audience is me.”
She heard Daniel breathing hard, and it wasn’t a good sound. Suddenly she felt the rope wrap around her and tighten, and she didn’t care. If Rob could goad him into being rougher, that was all to the better. It was going to be a wild ride. And Rob was right: having an audience did make her cheeks warm with embarrassment. She couldn’t imagine doing this in front of a whole crowd. Well, maybe getting her hands tied, but what she hoped would come next? No way. Not unless she was asked very nicely. Or maybe if she was ordered. She was starting to get turned on.
“You don’t want to do it that way.” Rob’s voice cut through her reverie. “A single rope will cut into her wrists painfully and possibly injuriously. Untie that, and follow directions.”
She looked over at Daniel in time to see his face darken. But he untied her wrists nearly as fast as he’d tied them, and he regained his composure at the same time. “For you,” he whispered.
“Double the rope in two, wrap them around her wrist, and then pull the two ends through the loop created by the bending of the rope. Here, do you want me to show you?”
Daniel must have given some sign of assent, for he backed away and Rob tied her wrists together again. It was different, the way he did it. She didn’t know how many times the rope was wrapped around her wrists, but the pressure was distributed over a larger area, and it was more comfortable, even if it lacked the suddenness of Daniel’s attempt.
Then they untied her, and Daniel gave it a try. No one would ever call Daniel a slow learner. In moments her wrists were bound securely, much as they had been when Rob tied the knot. She pulled at it, but she couldn’t get free.
Daniel pulled her to him suddenly, his hand on her stomach at first, slowly rising until he cupped her left breast. He kissed the back of her neck, nipping at it, and she felt the fine hairs there tingle with excitement. Hands bound, she was powerless to resist him. Not that he couldn’t overpower her anytime he wanted. But gentle Daniel wasn’t that type of person. This was a new side to him, and it excited her. She knew he cared for her. If he could be convinced to play rough, he’d be just about perfect.
He lifted her skirt and stroked her thigh. She heard Rob clap Daniel’s back, and then he walked away to stand near the window. He watched them with a soft smile on his face.
“Do you like him watching?” Daniel whispered in her ear.
“Yes.” Whether it was because it was Rob, the man who’d taken her to so many places in her imagination, or just because it was someone safe, she didn’t know. Being watched was another one of those things that sounded sexy, but in reality, if it was a stranger, it might be very different indeed.
Daniel suddenly pulled at her shirt, and it opened. A button flew off it, distracting her for a moment until he grabbed her breast through the lace of her bra. Her nipple tightened under his touch. “I bet he likes watching a woman as beautiful as you.”
Inch by inch, her skirt was being pulled higher as well. She felt the soft breeze of the room’s air conditioner on her thighs. It made her extra aware of the dampness between her legs.
“You don’t have any panties on,” Daniel murmured in surprise.
She blushed and shook her head. “No.”
He moved his hand until it rested on her mound. The skirt pulled up and bunched above his wrist. His finger slid across her clit, then found her opening. “Such a beautiful woman you are, Louise,” Daniel told her. “And mine. All mine.”
If that last was partly directed at Rob, Louise was past the point of caring. Her fantasy of Daniel controlling her was coming true. Combine that with the man watching them both, who she knew but was also a near stranger, and her core was burning with desire. Daniel knew her body and her responses. He knew just how much pressure she liked on her clit and when to speed up and when to wait.
He pinched her nipple softly as he fucked her with two fingers, his hand angled so that the rise between palm and fingers rubbed against her clit with each motion. Each touch built the fire inside her higher.
“Spread your legs, Louise. Lean on me, and I’ll support you. Let’s give him a show.” Daniel’s voice was pitched low, and she didn’t know whether it carried to Rob or not. Embarrassed, she obeyed. She glanced at Rob through the haze of her desire and thought she saw the corner of his mouth turn up in response. His cock, pressing against his jeans, was rock hard.
That bit of knowledge—that she was pleasing one master while submitting to another—brought her to the edge. Daniel’s next rough thrust with his fingers pushed her over. Forgetting she was in a hotel room, she screamed as her pleasure took her, making her shake against Daniel, juices gushing around his fingers. He held her while the aftershocks coursed through her, making her shudder in his arms.
Sated, she wanted to return the pleasure she’d been given. She pushed her bottom up against Daniel, hoping to rub against his hard cock, wondering what she’d be asked to do next. She frowned, then looked up at him with open eyes. He was smiling at her, that loving, caring Daniel smile. He wasn’t quite all the way soft—something was stirring in his tailored slacks. But he wasn’t hard. She knew what his big cock felt like when he was excited, and what he’d done clearly hadn’t aroused him. It was for her, all for her. She froze, not sure what to do and not sure of her emotions. She didn’t know whether to be flattered at the lengths he would go to in order to please her or disappointed that it didn’t arouse him as much as it aroused her. Even Rob, who’d only been watching, was more turned on.
He bent down to loosen the ropes. She wanted to run from the room as soon as she was free, but that would be selfish. Daniel had tried his best. It wasn’t Rob’s fault either. But she n
eeded to please as well as be pleased. She stayed there in Daniel’s arms, but she couldn’t fake comfort any more than he could fake arousal. He let her go, obviously sensing something was wrong. Hell, he might even be smart enough to figure out what. She backed away, having trouble meeting anyone’s eyes.
Rob broke the silence at last. “You did a good job, Daniel; you really got her going. The first thing a sub needs to know is that she pleased you.” Louise wondered if Rob knew what was wrong too. She doubted it. There was no hint of guile in his voice, no sly dig.
For a moment, she thought Daniel was going to look her in the eye and lie to her. “You’re wonderful, Louise. Any man would love to have you in his arms, and I love it when you come.”
That was Daniel, through and through. She should have known he’d find a way to avoid lying and put the best face on the truth. “Thank you.”
Rob said, “Now I hate to shoo everyone out, but there’s a meeting I can’t miss in twenty minutes, and the conference I’m going to is in the next hotel over. And I would like a few words with Louise before I go.”
Daniel looked to her for guidance, as she knew he would. She nodded. “If it’s just a few minutes, would you mind waiting for me?”
Daniel smiled and tilted his head down a fraction. “Not at all.” He shot Rob a glance that Louise couldn’t quite catch—a warning, perhaps?—and walked out of the room.
Rob waited for him to leave, and then walked forward. He pulled her into his arms, sensing her need for comfort even if he didn’t understand the reason. “I hope that helped. But what I really wanted to say was that I’d like to see you again. Are you free Friday night?”
Tomorrow. She and Daniel often did things on weekend nights, but she’d left this weekend clear on purpose, and Daniel knew why. Another night with Rob, submitting to someone who enjoyed being on top, and who she liked? “Yes. Please.”
“The last meeting of the conference gets out at six. Be here then, and I’ll tell you the dress code in an e-mail. We’ll eat dinner, and then go to a club.” He was telling, not asking.
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