She wasn’t out to impress her clients. Or her business associates. Or a man, for that matter. Carla wouldn’t wear make-up if she was going to the spa, so why wear it while treating herself to a day of debauchery?
Instead she found a tube of cherry lip gloss. It gave her a hint of color, but she cared more about the fact that it moisturized and tasted like candy. Next, jewelry. Considering the, ahem, situations she expected to get into later, she didn’t want to wear anything delicate, or that could get snagged or lost. She chose a thick gold cuff for her left wrist—a birthday gift to herself when she’d turned forty. Then she remembered Coco Chanel’s advice; before you leave the house, remove one accessory. So Carla took off the bangle, and decided it was the right move.
Her hair was still damp, so she spritzed it with a styling spray to control the flyaways, did another quick twirl in the mirror, and then headed over to Jake’s.
When she rang his front doorbell, Carla had a flutter in her stomach, and her nipples had tightened, even more noticeable poking out through the form-fitting fabric. Definitely a side effect of going braless, the cool morning air swirling under the dress. But Carla knew it was more than that.
I’m excited.
Her job was immensely satisfying, and it certainly had a lot of instances where celebration was in order. Every time a verdict went her way, or she landed a big settlement, Carla was geeked.
But standing on Jake’s front porch was a different kind of excitement. Like getting onto a roller coaster after waiting in a long line. She was nervous and giggly and psyched and amazingly turned on, even though he hadn’t yet opened the door.
When the door did open, Carla jumped.
“Good morning,” Jake said.
“Good morning,” she managed to answer, taking him in.
He wore jeans, an untucked button-down shirt with much of his chest bare, and his dark hair damp like hers. He looked like he was ready for a Gap photo shoot.
He’s gorgeous.
He smiled at her with those blue eyes. “You look lovely.”
It was said with such obvious sincerity, Carla blushed. She’d purposely dressed for herself, not for him or anyone else. But the way he looked at her, the glint in his eye, the curl of his mouth, she knew he liked what he saw. And she had to admit that pleased her. “Thanks.”
“Ready to eat?” he asked.
“Absolutely.”
“Good, because I’m starving.”
Jake dropped to his knees, raised the hem of her dress, and ducked underneath. Gripping her hips, he moved close, parting her legs with his body, and took her with his mouth.
“Oh. My. God.”
Carla staggered backward, pressing against the door frame. There was no teasing like yesterday. No tickling her with his breath, getting her warmed up. His tongue went straight for her most sensitive spot, and he pinned her with his mouth, devouring her.
Carla’s legs wobbled, and she wished she had a bedpost to hold, handcuffs to keep her on her feet, the challenge of standing under her own power making every sensation sharper. He found the rhythm she liked, and she ground against him. Finding her balance, Carla hooked her right leg over his shoulder. Her breasts bounced in the form-fitting dress, nipples pointed straight in the air.
Why didn’t anyone tell me about escorts when I was in my twenties?
She stared out into the neighborhood, wondering if anyone was watching him take her like this, and somewhere deep inside, Carla liked the idea, even imagined for a moment that she was totally naked for all to see. Her muscles clenched tighter, the pressure building, the roar once again filling her ears. She grasped his hair and pulled him closer, riding his mouth.
Zero to orgasm in sixty seconds.
Carla’s legs folded, but she managed to catch herself, holding on to Jake’s shoulders as he continued to consume her. A moan shuddered from her throat, and she bit back a scream.
When the shudders of orgasm slowed down, Jake carefully balanced her back on her feet and stood up. He grinned, his chin glistening with her juices. “Ready for coffee?” he asked.
“I don’t need any,” she said on a puff of breath. “I’m up.”
“Me, too.”
Carla lowered her gaze to the erection straining against Jake’s jeans. She reached for him without thinking, needing to touch him.
He caught her wrist. “Remember the rules?”
She chewed her lower lip, tasting cherry. “Sorry. I forgot. I’m new to this.”
Jake’s eyes twinkled. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to punish you for that.”
Carla squirmed at the thought, still a little afraid, but mostly so turned on she wasn’t sure she could walk.
As if sensing the weak tremor in her legs, Jake looped an arm around the small of her back and led her into the house. It was a simple gesture, polite, but somehow it felt even more intimate than when he’d just gone down on her. Carla remembered the intimacy of holding hands with a boyfriend, his arm around her as they walked, and she realized she missed that as much as the orgasms.
Well, almost as much.
When they reached the kitchen, he guided her into a chair at the table and went to the refrigerator. Jake brought out two plates of fruit salad and set one in front of her. Grapes, cherries, and cubes of apple, various melons, kiwi, and an assortment of berries.
“No fork?”
Jake sat across from her and popped a slice of kiwi between his lips. “Eating with your hands is sexier, don’t you think?”
Carla selected a particularly juicy chunk of watermelon and placed it in her mouth. Sweet and cool and wet. Delicious.
“Napkins?” she asked.
Jake lightly took her hand and brought her fingers to his mouth. He gently sucked off the fruit juice, taking her into his mouth and moving his tongue over the pad of her finger.
A shiver fanned out over Carla’s skin.
“I’ve got some on my lips, too,” she said, surprising herself with boldness. Based on his oral skills, Jake was no doubt an excellent kisser. The thought of his mouth on hers, the stubble on his jaw grinding against her cheek, their tongues dancing was enough to make her toes curl in her Guccis.
For a moment, Jake didn’t react. He just stared at her, and Carla wondered if she’d crossed a line.
“Is kissing okay in your, um, profession?” she asked. “I know in Pretty Woman, Julia Roberts didn’t kiss any clients because it was too personal.”
Jake’s eyes crinkled at the corners. “I just went down on you in the doorway. Some people would consider that to be pretty personal.”
“I…”
Jake leaned in and touched his lips to her cheek, cutting off her comment, slowly moving across her chin, and then meeting her mouth. He tasted like fruit and guy and something tangy. Carla realized, with a bit of a shock, that the tangy flavor was her own juices.
Jake’s tongue softly met hers, and she closed her eyes and allowed herself to feel it. Some men kissed with their lips, others with their tongues, but Jake seemed to kiss with his whole being. Just as he’d devoured her moments ago, he made love to her with his mouth now, and Carla could feel herself getting more aroused than she’d thought possible. She loved to kiss even more than holding hands. It was her favorite part of being a couple.
The thought made her pull abruptly away.
She and Jake weren’t a couple. This was a business transaction. She had to remember that. Here she’d been worried about Jake taking a kiss personally. Stupid. He was a professional. It was Carla who was in danger of making things personal.
Jake put his hand on the side of her face, brushed some hair behind her ear. “I like you, Carla. I like being with you. I enjoyed kissing you just now. I’m not some heartless robot driven by greed. I regret that we got off to a somewhat confusing start. I hope you can get beyond that. You deserve to have a good time. You owe it to yourself.”
She giggled nervously. “So, you read minds, too?”
“I’m going to do things with you
that you’ve never imagined. Not to you. With you. Relax. Don’t overthink it. This is fun.”
“How did you become so wise when you’re so young?”
He winked. “I’ve learned a lot from older women.”
Jake brought a piece of strawberry to her lips. She opened her mouth, and he circled it around, lightly, teasing her. Carla finally strained for it, catching it in her teeth, taking the succulent fruit into her mouth. Then Jake brought his lips to hers, sharing the berry, the sweetness binding their kiss. Carla’s reluctance seeped away, and she lost herself in the moment.
“So,” she said when he pulled away, “aren’t you going to feed me while I’m blindfolded?”
“Isn’t that from the movie 9½ Weeks?”
Carla nodded. She thought that scene was one of the sexiest ever.
“If you’d like me to. We could spend an hour where I feed you all kinds of things. Or I can take you to the pleasure dungeon and make you come a dozen times. Lady’s choice.”
A dozen?
Carla didn’t know if that many orgasms in one day were even possible. But since sexual pleasure was the whole reason she was here, she’d give it her best shot. She plucked a slice of apple from the bowl, popped it into her mouth, and said, “All done.”
Grinning, Jake took her hand and led her into the house. This time they passed the bedroom where Jake had handcuffed Carla, and came to a closed door at the end of the hallway. Hand on the knob, Jake paused.
“There are going to be some things in here that might seem scary,” he said. “But that’s part of the fun. If you wanted to have plain, vanilla sex, you could easily find some guy to accommodate you. The point of the dungeon is more than just orgasms. It’s to push boundaries. To see how much you can handle.”
Carla could feel the anticipation building. “You’re freaking me out a little.”
“Last night you said you wanted to test yourself, go places you’ve never gone.”
She had wanted that last night. But now? She didn’t know. The only thing she was sure of was that she wanted Jake. Or at least she wanted what he could do for her.
“Have you changed your mind?”
“No, no.”
“But you’re apprehensive.”
“Yes.”
That’s the polite way of stating it. It’s actually more along the lines of scared shitless.
“Do you know what a safeword is?”
“If I want to stop, I say a word, and we immediately quit.”
“Right.”
“Why can’t I just tell you to stop?”
He placed his hand against the small of Carla’s back, and his eyes glinted. “Because begging for mercy is part of the fun.”
Carla shivered, and it went right down her spine and stopped between her thighs, making her tingle.
“My safeword is injunction,” she managed to say.
Jake raised an eyebrow.
“It’s the least sexy word I know. Besides sailboat.”
He grinned. “Yeah, we don’t want to go there.”
“No, we don’t.” Carla liked that they could joke about her meltdown. She still had the fear, but at least she’d gotten beyond the embarrassment. Yesterday had changed a lot of things, and she knew today would change more.
I just hope I can keep up.
“Okay, injunction it is. Here we go…” Jake opened the door and ushered her inside.
Carla hadn’t been sure what to expect when Jake had told her of his dungeon of pleasure. Perhaps something dark and medieval, like out of a horror movie. Or stark and clinical, like a dentist’s office. Instead, it resembled a home gym. Well lit, mirrors on the walls, one of those spongy mat floors, and equipment strewn about everywhere.
There was a large X frame, with shackles on it.
A pillory.
A massage table, with padded black leather and various restraints.
A rack filled with various naughty things. Dildos, paddles, cuffs, canes, whips, vibrators, ball gags, and seemingly out of place, a jar stuffed with a bouquet of peacock feathers and a row of candles.
But the strangest thing was a steel frame bearing a seat and strange, mechanical gears. To Carla it looked like one of those machines where you worked your triceps or quads.
“That’s the Stallion,” Jake said, obviously following her gaze. “It’s a fucking machine.”
“A fucking machine?”
“One eighth horsepower. Five-inch stroke. One hundred and eighty strokes per minute. You sit in various positions, I attach a dildo to the moving rod, and off you go on the ride of your life.”
Carla’s eyes widened. Math wasn’t her strongest suit, but one-eighty a minute equaled three strokes a second. “Is that even legal?”
“Want to try it out?”
A tremor seized her that had little to do with arousal and a lot to do with fear. For a moment, she wanted to return to the fruit salad and Jake’s mouth on her. This whole pleasure dungeon thing seemed like a mistake. “I don’t think I can handle it.”
Jake squeezed her hand. “You’re going to be surprised by how much you can handle.”
“I don’t know about that…”
“Okay, but before you get too worried, here’s what I want you to do. I want you to look around and tell me, on a scale of one to ten, which things scare you the most, and which turn you on the most. Okay?”
Carla nodded. She could do that. “Where do I start?”
“How about right here,” he said, gesturing to the apparatus in front of her.
“The Stallion…” Carla considered the thing. “I give it seven on the scare meter.”
“And the sexy meter?”
“Two. It seems like I’d be having intercourse with a Bowflex.”
“Okay. The pillory?”
Carla imagined bending over, her head and hands locked in the wooden device, while Jake took her from behind. Seemed like there were good points and bad points to that one. “Five scary, five sexy.”
The next device Jake indicated was the giant X. Carla considered that a moment and quickly deduced a person could be chained to it, arms and legs splayed out. After her adventure last night, the thought of standing there, legs spread, being at Jake’s mercy, seemed like it could be fun.
“Four scary, seven sexy.”
“How about the table?”
“It’s just a table, or am I missing something?”
“It has ten straps on it. You can be positioned on your back, or your stomach, and when you’re fully secured, you’re completely immobile.”
With the pillory or cross, it seemed she would have some wiggle room. She could handle that. But not being able to move at all—that was pretty frightening.
“Two sexy, eight scary.”
“Okay, let’s look at some of the toys.” Jake took her by the hand to the rack against the wall, and picked up a dildo the width of a soda can.
Carla laughed. “Is that a sex toy or a murder weapon?”
“It’s a sex toy.”
“It’s exhibit A for the prosecution. Three sexy, ten scary.”
“A ten? Really? If you were really turned on, plenty of lubrication, you don’t think you could handle this?”
That sounded like a challenge. “You’re saying it wouldn’t rip me in half and hurt like hell?”
“It wouldn’t.”
“Okay. Seven scary. But it seems more like giving birth than having fun.”
Jake picked up a paddle.
“One sexy, five scary. I’m not into pain.”
“No one has ever spanked you?”
“Not even when I was a child and I intentionally spilled cherry Kool Aid on my parent’s new white couch.”
“Intentionally?”
“They wouldn’t let me stay up past my bedtime to watch a movie.”
Jake cupped her ass and pulled her into him, and Carla felt herself pinned by his stare. “You are a naughty girl. Maybe a spanking would do you some good.”
Carla m
ight have found the whole talk of naughtiness and spanking funny if she couldn’t feel his erection pressing against her. As it was, his hard length pressing against her pantyless crotch was all she could think about. And even though she knew his one rule was not to touch his cock, she was feeling playful, and defiant, and she ground herself against him, thrilled by how his eyes widened.
“Yes,” he said. “You’re very naughty. I bet you’ll be begging to be spanked by the end of the day.”
“Not going to happen,” Carla said. She continued to rub herself against Jake’s bulge. Carla had done it to see his reaction, but she was beginning to really enjoy the sensations and revel in taking control. She wanted to feel it with her dress off. Or with his jeans off. Or both.
“I still have that hundred dollars you lost. Double or nothing you’re going to beg me to spank you.”
“Deal,” she breathed.
Jake pulled away from her. She tried to hide her disappointment, but could feel the pout on her face.
He held up a candle.
“Romantic,” she said. “Unless you intend to stick that up my ass.”
“I have other toys for that. This is to drip hot wax on you.”
“Ouch. That doesn’t seem like fun. Two sexy, seven scary.”
“Afraid it will hurt?”
“I’m not afraid of pain. But I don’t find it to be a turn on.”
“It isn’t about pain, Carla. It’s about testing your limits. Surrendering yourself to sensation. Letting someone have control over your body.”
She shook her head at that last bit, fighting the urge to take a step backward. “I like to stay in control.”
“You misunderstand,” Jake said. “Are you here against your will?”
“Of course not.”
“Can you stop anytime you wish?”
“Yes.”
“Then you are ultimately in control. It’s your car, Carla. You’re just allowing me to take the wheel for a little while.”
It was an interesting analogy. And Carla was anxious to let Jake drive again. “Actually I’m paying you to take the wheel.”
“Exactly. I’m your chauffeur.”
She liked the sound of that.
“All right, so how about this?” He held up a Hitachi vibrating wand, identical to the one Janet had bought Carla.
Want It Bad: A Kinky Romance Page 10