by Sara Brooks
She wiped at a bead of sweat on her forehead before splitting the tape on the box she’d just finished unpacking. After emptying it, the cardboard went into a pile to be recycled. She dove into the next box to find just one of many of the boxes she’d packed her DVDs into.
“Oh no way. You play too?” She turned to find Allison pulling one of her assorted game systems out of another box.
“Oh Lord, we’ve just lost Allison,” Mark muttered as he struggled to carry one of Beth’s overstuffed chairs through the door.
Beth jogged across the room, moving boxes out of his way to clear a path. She helped him position it just how she wanted and patted the seat. “Take a load off.”
He smiled gratefully at her, dropping down with a huff. Elena walked into the room, doling out beers to everyone. Beth declined, making her way back to Allison who was in the process of quietly reading off the titles to the games lining the bottom of the box.
“I game when I have time. Which hasn’t been much lately since she’s been packed away for the past few months.” She took the XBox from Allison, positioning it directly below the TV. “I take it you do too? Think I remember Ryan saying something about that.”
“Sure do. Just kicked Mark’s ass last night on Halo 4. I have to say, I’m impressed. You’ve got some choice games here.”
The admiration in the woman’s voice made Beth smile. Looked as if she’d found a gamer buddy. “You know, I’ve been thinking of starting up a gamer segment on my show one night a week or something. Depends on how the listeners respond on how frequently I’ll air the spot. But I could use some help planning and maybe even with the on-air presentation. Think you’d be interested in helping out?”
“Oh frak yes.”
“Battlestar Galactica. Nice. Still pissed they canceled it and Caprica. Think every decent sci-fi show gets scrapped well before it’s time. People have no imagination anymore. Anyway, I’ll get with you about it in a few days. So, anything in there you play in there?”
“Halo and Modern Warfare. Few of us play regularly on Friday nights if you want to hook up with us one night.”
Beth smiled widely at the thought of finding a girl who was as gamer too. It was as if she’d found the mythical Fountain of Youth. The thought of gaming with a group of friends nearly made her drool. “Those are too popular at the moment for my blood. The online game servers have shit for capacity and can’t handle a mass number of players during peak hours. Response times slow to a crawl. Especially for what they’re charging for live game time. They improve their rates and I’ll think about getting in on the first-person shooters regularly again.”
She accepted the water Elena handed her, nodding in thanks. “Besides, with my late hours at the station, I tend to stick to one-player RPGs. Then the only one I can get pissed at when I screw up is myself. Just hit a level forty-two Khajiit on Skyrim before I moved.”
Allison blinked a few times, her mouth dropping open. Beth held back a smile as she took a few long swallows. There were a few low grunts and groans as the guys wrestled her couch through the door. She waved them over to the wall between the chairs, watching as they maneuvered the heavy item into place.
Alex dropped to the floor, huffing out a breath while Patrick, Dade and Ryan all took up places on the couch they’d just carried in. Elena handed them cold beers, popping open one for herself as she settled on the corner of the coffee table.
“Patrick, you should know this now in the interest of full disclosure. I’m leaving you for Beth.” Allison handed Beth a stack of games, then took another stack and placed them under the console near the television set. “I think she’s my soul mate.”
He waved weakly at Beth. “No problem. I just discovered a new kink you may be encouraged to test out on her.”
Allison narrowed her eyes. “Patrick Conners, shut up right this minute.”
Patrick folded his hands behind his back as he rose and, despite the fact he was clearly exhausted, his eyes shined bright. He slipped between Beth and Allison, surprising Beth with the power wafting from his body. “Someone just earned a spanking.”
Allison’s expression changed as her eyes dropped to the floor, her cheeks tinting bright pink with embarrassment. Beth scanned the room for Ryan, curious as to what his reaction to the situation would be.
He simply met her gaze.
Since this was her house, she felt as if it was her job to break the tension flooding the room. “How about I order some pizza as thanks for helping me get everything out of the truck?”
Alex set his beer to the side. “Best place in town doesn’t deliver. I’ll head over and pick it up though. Easy enough.”
Mark tucked his tee into his pants as he stood. “We can drop the truck back at the rental place for you too. Then just all ride back in Allison’s car.”
“You sure? It’s really not worth a lot of trouble.”
Cooper chimed in. “Believe me, Junction Pizza is always worth the trouble. We’ll be back before you know it.”
Dade shrugged on his jacket while Elena collected the empty bottles. “Think I’m going to take off for the night. Got a few things to take care of. Nice place you have here, Beth.”
Beth watched Dade stalk down the driveway, his shoulders hunched. He walked as if he had somewhere important to be. “He seemed to be in a rush.”
“He’s on the calendar tonight for Sanctuary.”
Scott stood, brushing his hands against his thighs. “I’m going to head out as well. Need to get some work done before I head to the office Monday. Mark, need a ride back to town?”
“I’ll catch a ride with Allison to help out. Feel free to join in on a gaming session one night, Beth. Be kinda cool to have another girl around.”
Within minutes of the decision being made, she watched the lights of the moving van slowly lumber down the street with Allison’s car trailing a few yards behind. “I really didn’t mean for anyone to go out of their way for me.”
Ryan set a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. “If it really was trouble, trust me, they would have said so. Relax. I didn’t even ask them to come today when I said I was headed out here. Before I knew it, they were right there asking me if I needed a lift. Something tells me if I’d protested they wouldn’t have taken no for an answer.”
She turned, wanting to offer her thanks for all his help, but he’d already focused on a stack of boxes they hadn’t gotten to yet. She cleared her throat, deciding to start work on the box she’d been sitting on.
After a few minutes silence, Ryan suddenly broke the quiet. “Well now, what do we have here?”
“Something must have gotten misplaced during the shuffle. It happens. Better one or two boxes than a whole house full of chaos. If you don’t know where something goes, just leave it there and I’ll get to it later.”
“Oh I know exactly where this goes.”
The loud clink of glass caused her to freeze in the doorway. She’d been on her way to the kitchen to grab a dustrag, but the amused tone of his voice had her slowly turning around. She found Ryan standing there wearing a huge smile and holding up one of her glass dildos. The clear one with pale gold swirls dancing under the surface of the glass from the cock-shaped head to the tapered swirl at the other end.
She’d had it made just a few months before packing her apartment and hadn’t even had a chance to give it a test drive yet. Something about the look in Ryan’s eyes told her that wouldn’t be the case much longer.
“Some very interesting pieces you have here.” He rummaged through the box even though Beth guessed he wasn’t looking for anything in particular. “Expensive pieces from the looks of it. A few G-Spot simulators. A glass wand. A spiral baton and even one with nubs.” She grew redder with each item he listed. She knew she should have packed them more discreetly than she had. As it was, each dildo had been carefully slipped into a soft velvet bag. “And two graduated anal plugs to top off this very eclectic menagerie of sex toys. Interesting.”
Som
ething about his teasing tone as he held out the anal plugs snapped her out of her stupor. “Yes. I enjoy anal sex on occasion. It’s very…powerful.”
“I don’t disagree with you there, California. I have had my finger in your ass to experience how it makes you feel firsthand. And I saw how you reacted to the plug Dade used on you.”
He dropped the last two items back into the box, approaching her with the gold glass toy still in his hand. His thumb ran over the indention just behind the head, following the swirled taper before he started moving back toward the head again. The unhurried motion made her mouth go dry as tension bloomed low in her gut.
That is so fucking sexy.
“Right now, though, I’m more interested in this. It’s not a run-of-the-mill item. You had to have something like this specially made. It takes time, patience and most importantly, skill. I know because I know who made this.”
“What?”
“It’s a Meltdown original, isn’t it?”
“Yes.” She squeezed her eyes shut. This really can’t be happening to me. “How did you know?”
“Meltdown was incorporated right here in the good old town of Gatlin Falls, Virginia. Founded and run by its sole employee.” He gestured to the front window with his free hand. “Dade Ellingson.”
She scowled, folding her arms in front of her. “Well, shit.”
“Don’t worry, your little secret is safe with me. But you do have my admiration. Most people aren’t willing to invest this much in their sex toys. They look at those kind of items as something to get them off, not a piece of artwork.” He stopped, pushing into her space as he pinned her between his body and a stack of boxes. “These kinds of toys are the mark of someone who takes their masturbation very, very seriously.”
“Don’t most single women?” The feel of his body against hers spun up her arousal despite her embarrassment.
He leveled his gaze at her. “Toys aren’t just for solo pleasure and you damn well know it.”
She swallowed and nodded, curious where this was heading because he was doing an awful lot of talking. That wasn’t like him. Maybe he just wanted to taunt her with his discovery. Ryan never failed to surprise her, something she’d grown quite fond of.
“Someday you’ll give me a demonstration with some of those items in the box. A very slow, very thorough demonstration in order to convince me you’re competent with each one.”
The gleam in his eye indicated she’d been wrong. He had every intention of following his words with action. She cleared her throat, finding her voice. “Everyone should be back in a few minutes.”
He appeared undeterred. “Strip.”
She glanced over his shoulder, eyeing a curtain-less window. His body blocked her from view so anyone who happened to glance in would see only him—for now. Based on where this was going, anything seemed possible. They’d never discussed it, but she wouldn’t put it past him to exhibit voyeuristic tendencies.
“Introducing me to a new fetish of yours?”
“Either you strip, or I do it for you. And I’m not sure you’d enjoy my version as much as I’d bet you value your shirt. It looks vintage.”
“My grandmother’s when she was my age.” Her fingers were already on the buttons of the pale blue shirt before he’d even finished the command. When she reached back to unfasten the clasp on her bra, the piece of glass fell forward and touched her cleavage.
The shock of the cold made her gasp.
“Do you ever play with temperature sensation with this? Freeze it so it’s cold or run it under hot water for heat?”
She let her bra fall to the ground, unsurprised he knew about sensation play. He seemed to know a little bit about everything. A detail she found so very, very wonderful. “Yes. Just one of the things I like about glass.”
“There are more? Go on.”
Her breath hitched as he pushed the smooth implement against her breast, drawing concentric circles tighter and tighter until he reached the nipple. The bud peaked against the sensation and she had to take a few steadying breaths before she was able to speak again.
“The texture is smooth. I like that.”
“And yet, the end of this one is ridged.” His finger drew across the twisted surface and she followed the motion, mesmerized. It wasn’t a typical design for a piece and something that had only come onto the mainstream market in the past few years. She’d always liked the motion of the texture and it had taken quite some time before she’d settled on the exact design she wanted.
The fact she hadn’t yet used this particular toy didn’t help matters.
The fact Ryan was the one wielding an implement she hadn’t even tried yet just heightened her anticipation even more.
She fought to keep her voice even and level. “Yes, but it’s still smooth. It’s something different when I’m not in the mood for the real thing.”
Ryan snorted softly. “Well now. That can’t be entirely true.”
Her eyes widened. “What do you mean?”
“If that were the case, you wouldn’t have glass dildos in the shape of dicks.” He tapped the glass against her nipple again. It took everything in her to keep from sighing in pleasure. “If you just wanted sensation, you could get that from something far less expensive or realistic. These are specific in need. Special in their design. I’m familiar with Dade’s work. He treats each item as if it’s the only piece he’s ever worked on or will work on again. As I said, these aren’t something the casual user owns.”
“Do I detect a note of jealousy? Afraid you can’t measure up to my toys?”
He slid his hand around her nape, positioning her mouth just inches from his. His hold emitted strength and power—the kind where her knees weakened and turned her insides to molten lava.
“Don’t think for a second I’m going to let your comment slide, California. Just remember, punishment comes in many forms.” He leaned forward, pulling her to within a hairsbreadth of his mouth. “And it doesn’t always come when you expect it.”
He released his hold on her and disappeared into the kitchen and then reemerged a moment later with one of her informal dining room chairs. He positioned it near a few boxes so the back side was closest to the window. With the other stacks of boxes, she would be blocked from at least shoulder height down. She wouldn’t need to worry about her new neighbors seeing Ryan’s brand of sex.
Clever, clever man.
“Have a seat.”
Not obeying him wasn’t an option. She didn’t know what he intended to do, but it didn’t matter. She wanted this just as much as he did—maybe even more. She crossed her ankles as she sat, her heart thundering against her ribs. He stacked two boxes on either side of her knees, taking his time as he studied and analyzed the arrangement. His hands wrapped around her ankles and he lifted one at a time, placing each one on top of either box, opening her.
When he sat back and studied his handiwork, he frowned. “Not high enough.” He stood, vanishing around the corner and then reappearing a moment later with two more boxes in hand. He repositioned her feet on the higher stacks, smiling as he looked up at her. “Almost.”
He stood again, searching the room. When his gaze landed on her, his eyes lit and he circled behind her. He pulled off the red handkerchief she used to keep her hair tied back, running his fingers through the strands to spread out the long lengths.
The familiarity of his touch made something inside her jump for a split second before leveling out. She loved this particular gesture he used to ground her, to pinpoint her focus directly on him and nowhere else.
She’d heard about Doms who used this kind of thing to help with training a submissive, but she’d never actually seen it employed until Ryan. She doubted she was the only one he’d ever used the technique with, but since it was the first time she’d experienced such a thing it was special.
Just another item on the laundry list where her faith in Ryan as a Dom was confirmed.
He pulled her arms behind her, looping
the cloth through the slats in the chair to wrap her wrists before he securely tied it off. He made a noise that sounded faintly like satisfaction. A thrill shot through her at the sound. He circled around her again, kneeling between her spread legs.
The glass tapped against the wood seat, sending a wave of thrilling vibrations through her body. Dampness spread between her legs. She wanted nothing more than for him to thrust the toy into her and put her out of this exquisite agony. He pulled the toy back, studying each end as if he couldn’t decide which end to use. When they made eye contact, she willed him to hurry before their friends returned and completely ruined the moment.
Turning the glass so the twisted end pointed toward her, he moved it between her legs. The first touch of the tip of the toy at her entrance made her hiss. The contact was cold and a contrast to the scorching heat between her legs. Undeterred by the noise, he pushed the toy inside her.
The ribbed texture of the glass was in complete contradiction to the smoothness of the surface and she instantly knew she’d made the right purchase. He began moving the toy with rapid stokes and she quickly found herself caught up in the pace he set.
Everything in her was already poised to burst.
Her head fell back with a soft groan as he continued to slide the dildo inside her. The smooth surface glided easily against her inner walls and having someone else control the depth and pace of the toy allowed her to fully enjoy.
“You’ve come a long way since the shy little submissive who told me she wasn’t allowed to make noise during a scene.”
In response, she let out a deeper and louder groan as Ryan pushed the glass inside her.
Chapter Sixteen
As much as he loved teasing her with one of her own toys, the need to be inside her was too overwhelming. He set the toy to the side, reached around to undo her bonds and tugged her out of the chair, taking her mouth as he pulled her tight against him. Much to his pleasure, she melted against him as everything spun out of control. He let arousal course hot in his veins, the energy of it transferring to her.