“I haven’t done that much,” Ginny admitted. She could tell that her face was red. Maybe they would just chalk it up to her inexperience with kink rather than how turned-on she was by the conversation.
“Did the sensual play sound interesting? We could just give you a variety of different kinds of sensations. Cold, hot, soft, scratchy—that kind of thing.”
“So I’d be the only one without clothes?” Somehow the thought of sex was less intimidating than the idea of being naked while the two of them, fully clothed, played with her.
“Not for long.” Jeremy waggled his eyebrows. “I have no problem getting—”
“Slow down.” Liam lifted a hand again. “Let’s give you the chance to even it up a little.”
“What do you mean?” She frowned at him.
“A game of strip poker or something. That way we’ll all have the potential of having some or maybe even all of our clothes off.”
Jeremy shook his head decisively. “That would take too long. How about strip trivia?”
“Strip trivia?” Her ears perked up. She didn’t tell them that she was actually really good at trivia. Her feeling of vulnerability lessened a little at the image of them both having to get naked before she did. “Okay. I’m up for that.”
Liam’s face brightened, as if he’d been worried about her response. “Great.”
“Now, what about afterward?”
Ginny found she wasn’t worried anymore. She could handle this. They were being really cool about the negotiations. Surely they’d respect her boundaries when it came to playing. She smiled at Jeremy. “The sensual play sounds fine.”
“What are the limits?” He lifted a finger in pre-emptive warning toward Jeremy, and said, “Zip it. Let the lady talk.”
“No penetration.”
They both seemed a little startled as they exchanged a glance. “Deal,” Jeremy said with the air that it needed to be finalized before Ginny could change her mind.
“Deal,” Liam repeated a little dubiously. “Do you want to clarify—”
“No, she doesn’t.” Jeremy cut him off. “You heard the lady. It would be rude to question her decision.”
Ginny had a feeling she’d missed something that she might regret later. It seemed like she should be worried about that, but instead an idea struck her.
“I know,” she said.
“Know what?” Liam looked at her politely.
“I know what I want when I win.” She smirked triumphantly at him, as if it were a foregone conclusion. “I want the two of you to come to the party later.”
“Of course we’ll be at the party.” He looked confused.
“Yes, but I want you to serve the food.”
“We can do that.” Jeremy grinned. “No problem.”
“Wearing only assless chaps.”
The grin faltered. “Excuse me?”
She looked from one to the other, enjoying their expressions of shock.
“Only the chaps?” Liam asked uncertainly.
She felt a pang of sympathy. He’d tried to be as fair as possible about her penalty. She could be reasonable, too, she decided.
“Okay,” she conceded, “and a jockstrap.”
* * * *
“I still can’t believe I’m doing this,” Ginny muttered as the small cart came to a stop at the start of the hunt location. The woman pulling it was dressed as a show pony, complete with an elaborate harness, heavy boots, and almost nothing else. A man walked beside her, talking softly and holding the rein. Once the cart was still, he nodded at Ginny, but his attention was completely on the woman in the horse gear, who was stomping her feet and neighing happily. She shook her mane as she waited for Ginny to climb gingerly off the cart.
“Thanks,” Ginny said, although she wasn’t quite sure what the protocol was for addressing human ponies. As an answer, the pony gave a snort before she and her handler trotted out of sight along the path. Ginny straightened her fox ears and looked around. To win this thing, she only had to last three hours without getting caught. That would teach those two arrogant cops a lesson, she thought. She tried to feel antagonistic toward them but a smile crept onto her face instead as she imagined the two of them serving the food at the after-party wearing nothing but chaps and jockstraps. She could clearly picture their bare asses framed by the leather.
A long-ignored heat sparked to life in her bikini bottoms and her hand drifted down to her pussy, unable to resist the stirrings. “Well, what do you know? A couple of hot strangers and there is life in the old girl after all.” She glanced around guiltily but let her hand continue stroking the front of her pussy, relishing the pleasant tingle. She’d felt so guilty about Rick and Cindy that she’d avoided sex for far too long. It felt good to be thinking about the possibility of playing, and maybe more. But then she shook herself. “Never gonna win this way. I’d better stick to the plan.”
Looking around, she found a wonderful old tree not ten yards away that had a thick thatch of undergrowth around its base. A closer look told her that if she squirmed between that and the trunk she would be completely obscured from view by anyone not actively searching the greenery. Getting down on her hands and knees, she wiggled into position and settled down to wait for the great white hunters to arrive.
After a few minutes, there was the sound of a voice coming up the trail, talking steadily. Ginny peered through the brush and saw a group of men walking toward her.
“Are we there yet? I want to get started.” The voice sounded like the one called Jeremy, if she remembered correctly.
Then she had to clap a hand over her mouth to stifle a laugh as she heard Daddy Dave’s disgusted voice. “If you don’t stop making so much noise it won’t matter. You’ll never have a chance to catch her. Hell, the pups don’t even make this much noise.”
“Sorry.” Jeremy didn’t sound particularly sincere.
His partner shushed him. “Don’t be sorry. Be silent.”
Ginny peeked carefully through the branches of her hideout. A few feet away stood the two sexy hunks who were to hunt her, along with Daddy Dave and his two puppies, Chuck and Tony. As she watched they walked right past her tree, giving the briefest of glances around them before starting into the woods directly away from where she was sitting.
“Hold up a second.” Daddy Dave stopped them, and Ginny held her breath in alarm. “Don’t you even want to look around here to see which way she went?”
“Isn’t that what your dogs are for?” Liam asked. “To find the path she took and help us find her?”
Dave met his serious gaze and answered quietly, making Ginny strain to hear what he said. “On a real hunt, yes, but for the sake of this game we’re just here to keep you from walking off a cliff. It is called Clifftop Fantasies, after all. Besides, if she had five of us looking for her it wouldn’t be very fair, now would it? You already have an advantage over the other hunters since they’re all hunting alone instead of with a partner like you two are.”
Jeremy was much easier to hear since he didn’t whisper at all. “Right. We want to win this fair and square and then get her naked. She really looked hot in that outfit this morning and I for one can’t wait to see her in it again. At least until I can convince her to be in less.”
What an arrogant ass, she thought, even though her body was responding to his obvious interest. She resisted the urge to start stroking herself again. Then she had to choke down a giggle as a thought struck her. It would be really funny to follow along behind them as they hunted. When the horn sounded, she could step out and laugh at them. That would teach them to assume that just because they were cops they were automatically smarter than her.
“Here, it looks like someone went this way,” Jeremy called out suddenly. He took off at a jog into the woods, followed at a more sedate pace by Liam, Chuck, and Tony. Daddy Dave stood still for a moment, his eyes narrowing as he glanced around him. Ginny’s breath caught again as his eyes travelled over her tree. His gaze didn’t linger but she swore that he focuse
d briefly on the area where she was crouched before he grinned and turned to follow the others.
Cautiously working her way out of where she had been hiding, she once more took a few seconds to adjust her tail and ears before following after the group. It wasn’t hard to figure out where they were by the nonstop talking Jeremy was doing. Then she heard the harsh tone of Liam. “If you don’t shut the fuck up, I’m telling Sarge when we get home and you’ll be off SWAT. Fuck, dude, can’t you pretend you’re searching a warehouse for an armed suspect? Would you have diarrhea of the mouth then? No, you wouldn’t. So shut the fuck up and show some discipline.”
She caught sight of them and ducked behind a tree. Jeremy and Liam were a few yards ahead of her, facing off as they argued. She glanced to the side and saw Daddy Dave once more looking in her direction. Her breath caught in her throat and she froze, debating whether to run or stay still, hoping he hadn’t spotted her. A small smile crossed his face and his hand moved in a way that could have been a shooing motion as he positioned himself between her and the guys. Taking the hint, Ginny backed off a few yards to a bigger tree and waited for them to start moving again.
For the next couple of hours she followed their every move but had to work much harder at it than before. Jeremy must have taken Liam’s threat seriously since he hadn’t made a sound she could hear since they’d had their confrontation. She had to give it to the men. They must have been very good at their jobs. Most people couldn’t move this silently indoors, let alone here in the woods.
Occasionally she seemed to get too close, and the guys would stop and look around, making hand signals to each other. But then Daddy Dave managed to cover up the noise she’d made with his own footsteps or a convenient coughing fit. She began to lag farther behind, until she could barely hear anything from the group ahead of her. If it hadn’t been for Daddy Dave leaving her occasional clues, she would have lost them altogether.
Ginny was getting a little tired and thirsty, not to mention chilly, even though it was mid-April, when she almost walked into them. They were bent over studying the ground, apparently looking for tracks or something. The dogs were standing a little way off, looking bored. Ginny decided it would be funny to mess with the guys, so she crouched down behind a bush and waited until they were deep in discussion, pointing at something on the ground. Then she picked up a rock and threw it as hard as she could into the underbrush off to one side of them. It seemed to work. Jeremy and Liam jumped and then scrambled off in that direction, obviously hoping to catch her. Silly boys.
But not the pups. Tony had caught sight of her movement. He turned and stared in her direction, opening his mouth with a startled bark.
“Pup!” Daddy Dave stopped him before he had a chance to get the hunters’ attention.
Tony pointed his nose with a whine and an imploring look.
“Heel, pups.” His Master’s voice brooked no defiance. He snapped his fingers and strode off after Jeremy and Liam. With a last reluctant glance, Tony turned and followed the rest of the group.
Ginny waited for a few minutes to give them time to get ahead of her. It had to be close to being over, she thought, shivering a little. She was going to win. Those cops thought they were so smart—
But if she won, she wouldn’t get the chance to play with them. Wasn’t that the whole point of doing this? It would be fun to watch them serving food wearing only chaps and jocks, but it would be more fun to play strip trivia and then have a scene. Her body reacted again to the thought of being naked with them, being touched, caressed, played with. It had been so long, and they were so good-looking. Was it really worth giving that up just for the chance of feeling superior?
She had to catch them before the horn went off. She looked around, realizing they were almost back at the house. If they came back into the yard without her, they would have to admit defeat. She began to trot, listening for sounds of them ahead. Her mind began playing through possible scenarios for the evening’s scene as she went around a curve in the path and saw the group standing in front of her, apparently discussing their strategy.
If she hadn’t been so startled, she would have laughed at the expressions of shock on all of their faces at seeing her. Instinct took over and she whirled around, racing back along the way she’d just come. Even though she’d just been hoping to catch up with them, now that she could hear them chasing her she could think of nothing but getting away. She ran, forgetting about the scene she’d been planning and the fact that she’d decided to let them win. It was almost as if the fox costume had given her the instincts of a prey animal and she could only think of escaping.
She ducked behind a large tree, holding on to it and working hard to keep her breathing quiet so that they would pass by without hearing her. It might have worked but when she stopped running her human brain took over again. She peered out as Jeremy and Liam skidded to a stop, staring into the woods and listening for any sounds of her footsteps. For a moment there was complete silence as the guys looked at each other and Ginny contemplated her options. They really were nice guys, she realized, even though her heart was pounding with residual fear. But she couldn’t just let them win. She turned and ran into the forest, knowing they could hear her, glancing over her shoulder to see how much of a lead she had. She tried circling back around toward the house, hoping the pups wouldn’t be the ones to catch her. Somebody from their group probably would, but at least she’d make them work for it.
Jeremy and Liam were after her in a moment, racing through the underbrush with impressive speed. Ginny was no slouch, but she was way outclassed here, and she had to be careful to avoid branches and bushes. She tried jumping over one bush, hearing them directly behind her, but came down on a loose rock and ended up on her hands and knees. By the time she looked up, the guys were already standing over her, blocking her way.
“Woo hoo!” Jeremy whooped as Liam offered his hand.
Ginny fought down her panic and forced herself to meet Liam’s eyes. He looked concerned, not triumphant, as she’d expected. Jeremy was laughing and punching the air, but he didn’t seem to be particularly mocking, either, just excited. Her fear drained away and she gave a slightly shaky laugh.
“Thanks,” she said, taking Liam’s hand and allowing him to help her stand and dust off the dirt from her knees. “Guess this means you win.”
“Guess so.” He looked her over for injuries. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine.” She smiled ruefully, just as the horn announcing the end of the hunt sounded in the distance.
* * * *
The whole group trooped into the living room of Clifftop Fantasies, laughing and comparing notes on their outcomes. Ginny left the two guys discussing hunting with Dennis, found her duffel bag, and changed quickly into the dress she’d brought for the after-party.
She looked down at herself. Normally she didn’t mind dressing scantily to go to the club, but the fact that Liam and Jeremy were here changed things a little. When she’d first gotten involved in the kink community she’d had a terrible self-image. She’d been a cheerleader in school and had never quite gotten over the feeling that even a pound or two more than starving was unattractive. But seeing the women who were willing to get naked at the club—almost all of them normal-looking, average weight or more, and over thirty—had radically changed her views about feminine beauty. She respected them, especially the ones who weren’t Hollywood perfect. Every single one of them was beautiful and desirable. There was not one of them that Ginny would laugh at now for being brave enough to show their bodies. She suspected that most of them only started doing it because their Dominants demanded it and they wanted to show their respect and obedience, even if they weren’t particularly comfortable at first. The men in the leather clubs tended to want to show off their partners and no one else would dream of censuring it. So the women learned to accept each other and themselves, and they all enjoyed it. So much nicer than feeling like you couldn’t be sexy if you weren’t a size nothing.
>
Now she was committed to doing a scene with Jeremy and Liam. She was definitely interested in playing with them. Otherwise she wouldn’t have let them win. If she’d stayed put behind her tree for another ten or fifteen seconds she probably would have won the competition, but she was glad they’d caught her. Besides being undeniably sexy, they were funny without losing their dominant aura. On top of all of that, they were extremely good sports. If they were willing to wear assless chaps and serve food to the fox hunt participants even though they didn’t have to, then she could be a good sport about letting them claim their reward later.
She went looking for Carly. Her boss was in the kitchen, of course, readying plate after plate of hors d’oeuvres. She squeaked when she saw Ginny, running to give her a big hug.
“You looked absolutely adorable! Wasn’t it fun?” Carly shot a look over to where Dennis was chopping vegetables at the kitchen table.
“I have to admit it was.” Ginny hugged her back. “Were you able to find those items for me?”
“I did. Tony brought them over a few minutes ago. Are those two studs really going to wear them?”
“I heard that.” Dennis’s voice was low and dangerous, but Carly just waved a hand at him.
“Do you good to have some competition in town. Now you might have to work at the Crafty Dom Challenge this time.” She winked at Ginny. “Thinks he’s all that, just because he got lucky today.”
“Who got lucky?” Allie came through the kitchen door, followed by Liam and Jeremy. Not waiting for an answer, she looked questioningly at Ginny. “These two say they want to be waiters tonight, even though I hear they won.”
“Yup. I’ve got their costumes right here.” Carly gave them each a pair of chaps, which they eyed doubtfully.
“Is it sanitary to serve food like that?” Liam asked, eliciting a hoot of laughter from Carly.
“Would you ask that question if it was Ginny wearing it?”
He gave her a rueful grin. “That’s completely different.”
Arresting Dominance Page 4