by Diane Leyne
“Oh, yes, Josh is a Dom. And his fiancée Jillian is actually his slave, and they are crazy in love. Now tell me, who are these two professors you mentioned?”
“I’m working as their research assistant two and a half days a week. It’s a great way to pay for school, and I’m learning a lot.”
“Ooh. Are they hot?”
“Seriously hot. In fact, when they interviewed me over Skype when I was in London, I just about lost the power of speech. We Skyped all summer, talking about their project, and we sketched out what they needed me to do and I was even able to access some materials while I was in London that aren’t available anywhere else.” She felt herself blushing. “I may have based several of my heroes on them.”
“Which ones.”
“My lips are sealed.”
“So… tell me about them.”
“Well, Dex dresses like the ultimate stereotype of a university professor except he isn’t. He has the clothes, but he just radiates masculinity and confidence. And Pat, well he likes to dress like a construction worker or maybe a truck driver and show off his muscles, but he specializes in Victorian poetry and he is one of the sweetest men I’ve ever met. And he’s brilliant. They both are.”
“Are you dating either or both? Or at least sleeping with them?”
Abby’s mouth dropped open. Lindy had inadvertently hit on one of her secret fantasies. “Nope. I work with them, Lindy. And besides, I’m older than they are. And I’d die of embarrassment if I tried to ask them for a ménage.”
“First of all, if they are full professors, they can’t be all that young unless they were child prodigies.”
“They are thirty.”
“And you are thirty-three, same as me, which is not exactly decrepit.”
“But I’m…” She indicated her body. “I’m fat.”
“No you are not!” Lindy’s tone was stern. “You may not be model thin, but you are not fat. Hell, look at me. I’m not skinny either, but I love my body and so does Jake. I once talked about losing a few pounds and he threatened to force feed me if I tried to diet.”
“You never used to be so comfortable. We both used to curl up on the couch watching chick flicks and downing pints of ice cream as we complained about our bodies.”
“Yes well Jake has forbidden me from dissing my body. He said he’ll spank me every time I do, and not the fun kind of spanking either. He’s six foot five and built like The Rock. He…” She sighed and smiled. “He loves me as I am.”
Abby’s eyes watered as she saw the love in Lindy’s eyes.
“Damn, girl. When do I get to meet this paragon, and does he have a friend or friends?”
“Say, I have an idea. Why don’t you come to the book launch on Wednesday? Jake will be there. It’ll be fun. You can check out a real BDSM club and I’ll bet you’ll see a bunch of folks there you recognize. You might even meet someone you want to play with.”
Abby took a big sip of wine. “I don’t know, Lindy. I’ve written about BDSM clubs, but to actually go to one?”
“So what? Come on, Abby. Have some fun. A book launch is the perfect time to be there. Everyone, well, mostly everyone, will be fully dressed. There are a few exhibitionists who I am sure will love a chance to get naked in front of the press. Besides, as a researcher, you have a perfect excuse to be there. And, you won’t need a membership to attend the book launch. You can come as my guest. But I’ll still need your paperwork for Saturday.” Lindy tried to look stern.
“And you are sure no one will hit on me or try to spank me or something?”
“Oh my god, no Abby. BDSM is not like that. The motto is safe, sane, and consensual and that is strictly enforced at the club. If you wanted to come during normal operations, and you’d have to fill out a whole bunch of forms and pass background checks to do that, even though you are my friend, then, based on your questionnaire responses, they’d either hook you up with a Dom who would be your trainer as you got comfortable or, if you were adventurous, they’d let you hang out in the unattached sub’s area and hope to get picked by one of the Doms for playtime.
“You wouldn’t get to choose your own Dom to play with, but you would always have your safe word if you decided to try it that way. I’d recommend that you start off with a training Dom. Not only would they help you to set your hard and soft limits and make sure you had a chance to try everything, they would also be able to answer your questions and get your feet wet in BDSM. They would give you lots and lots of orgasms, too. But there wouldn’t be an emotional component. They would just be a teacher.”
“A very hands-on teacher, it sounds like.”
“Hands-on, mouth-on, et cetera, et cetera.”
“I don’t think I’m ready to sign up for lessons, but maybe a book signing. Yes, I can do that. I’ll come!”
They clinked glasses.
“Oh my god. I can’t believe I’m going to a sex club.”
Chapter Three
Even though it had only been two and a half weeks, things were progressing nicely. Abby had gotten them organized and had started putting together an outline and a work plan which should get their book done by the end of April.
They were in their office bright and early since they both had nine a.m. classes to teach. Dex was getting together his lecture notes while Pat was playing with his new Nerf basketball. Abby had purchased it and installed a hoop at the back of their office door after she got tired of him throwing crumpled up papers at the garbage can and missing. So far, Pat was on average hitting two unwary visitors a day, including the head of their department twice in the last week.
“She’s so easy on the eyes,” declared Pat. “Although I wish she wouldn’t dress in those shapeless clothes of hers. We got a glimpse during that initial Skye session. I’ll bet her tits are a D-cup. It would be nice to be able to look at them for inspiration while we are working.”
“You will not sexually harass the researcher.” Dexter’s words were stern, but he was smiling. He knew that Pat wouldn’t harass Abby. And she did appear to have nice tits under her baggy tees. He’d spent many hours dreaming about those tits, fantasizing about sucking them into his mouth and biting lightly on the nipples as he tugged on them. He wanted to caress them and squeeze them and even fuck them. He was obsessed with Abby’s tits, but damned if he was going to admit that to Pat. If he did, Pat would never let go of his fantasy that Abby could ever be theirs. They were Doms, for goodness’ sake. Nice, normal women like Abby didn’t want to submit to not just one Dominant man, but two. And he certainly couldn’t imagine Abby letting him tie her to the spanking bench before he worked her over with his hand and his riding crop and his paddle and, if he were really lucky, with a cane before he fucked her brains out. He could fantasize it. Hell, he’d jerked off to the thought of it, but he couldn’t imagine her really letting him do those things to her.
“Dex, you know me better than that. On the other hand, I won’t turn down some hot sex with the female academic. That’s always been a particular fantasy of mine. She’d give me one of those stern looks over her glasses, and then she’d whip them off and let down her hair and I’d bend her over her desk and spank her ass red before I fucked her brains out.”
“You have that fantasy about every woman you meet.”
Pat’s expression turned serious. “But Abby’s special. We’ve spent the last four months getting to know her. She’s beautiful inside and out. And did you see that nice round ass of hers? Most women are too damned skinny nowadays. I don’t want to worry about breaking my sub when I’m disciplining them. Can’t you just imagine Abby strapped down to the spanking bench and sucking your cock while I reamed her ass? Think of how beautiful she’d look with our handprints on her ass?
“Come on, Dex. You want her just as badly as I do. She’s beautiful and hot, and I love her for her mind as well as her body, and I want her so badly that sometimes I can’t sleep at night. I want to bury my cock inside her as she sucks you off, and then we can swap position
s. I want to go to sleep with her tied to my bed and wake up with her, and I want her to call me Master, dammit, and I know you want the same things but you are just too damned stubborn to admit it.”
Dex’s cock stirred. Pat’s words were far to close to what his own imagination had come up with. But Abby was their collaborator. He decided to say as much to Pat. Again.
“For the hundredth time. It would be unprofessional to hit on her. And besides, what are the odds she’s into BDSM? You try to spank her and she’d probably scream bloody murder, and not in a good way. Even if I can’t have her in the way I want her, I don’t want to lose her. I want to know that when I come to work, she’ll be there every Tuesday and Thursday.”
* * * *
Pat looked over at Dex. He tried to look so disapproving, but Pat could tell by the way his arm was moving under the desk that he was adjusting his pants. The man had a hard-on at the thought of playing with Abby, but he refused to believe that she might be interested in BDSM. Pat, on the other hand, had some information that made him suspect that she might not be as averse to the notion as Dex thought.
He reached into his drawer and pulled out an e-reader.
“Last time Abby was here, she accidentally left her e-reader behind.”
“Well, then, give it back to her, Pat.”
“I will, but aren’t you at all interested in what’s on it.”
“I’m going to assume books, Pat.”
“Yes, but what kind of books?”
“Pat, I am not going to violate her privacy by going through her e-reader and neither are you.”
“Oh, come on, Dex. Stop pretending you aren’t as interested in her as I am. Aren’t you at all curious? Someone’s reading material can tell you a lot about them.”
Dex sighed, and Pat knew that he was weakening.
“Dex, what harm could there be. Bite the apple of knowledge. Or rather the Kindle.”
“Pat…”
“As it happens, I’ve already had a look. In fact, I was up late last night reading and jerking off to some of the books on this innocent-looking Kindle.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Dex leaned forward and planted his elbows on his desk. Pat wanted to grin. He had his attention now.
“While our prim and proper researcher loves thrillers and has all the latest books by John Sandford, Lee Child, and Iris Johanson, she also has an excellent collection of smut including the latest by Angelica Adams. It just came out two days ago. I checked.”
“Angelica who?”
“Angelica Adams, one of the hottest new names in erotica. She writes for a small e-publisher right now, but her stuff is really taking off. All the subs at the club swear that her books are the best. I’ve read a few of them before, but this new one is really hot. It’s another ménage novel. In fact, most of Abby’s erotica is of the ménage variety. Or BDSM. Or both. Seems our little researcher might not be as vanilla as you thought.”
Pat smothered a smile as Dex struggled to keep his expression neutral. He was hooked. Pat just had to reel him in slowly.
“These books are really on her e-reader?”
“Yup.”
“Doesn’t mean she wants to do that stuff in real life. Lots of vanilla people like reading about BDSM. Doesn’t mean they want to try it out in real life.”
“Doesn’t mean she doesn’t, either. I say we feel her out.”
“No feeling! We’ll sound her out. Slowly.” Dex paused. “But maybe we should wait until after our project together is over. I don’t want to lose a first-class researcher if she isn’t interested.”
Pat laughed. “I’m not waiting seven and a half months to get answers. I need to know whether she would ever be interested in submitting to me, to us. You know she likes us, Dex. Maybe there’s hope for more than just being friends.
“Look, tonight we’re going to Josh’s book launch. Maybe we pick up a copy of the book and bring it back with us. We leave it lying around where Abby can see it. Maybe we start a conversation about it. I’ll be subtle.”
Dex snorted.
“That noise is very uncouth Dex. I can be subtle.”
“I think that word does not mean what you think it means!”
Pat wadded up a paper and threw it at his friend. Dex was right. Subtlety was not his strong suit, but to get with Abby, he’d make an effort.
* * * *
Several hours later they were mingling with drinks in their hands. Since it was a BDSM club, there was usually very little alcohol served. Sometimes play could get extreme, and no one wanted someone to do something under the influence of alcohol that they regretted afterward. But after the scene they’d just witnessed, everyone felt the need for booze.
It had been like something out of a movie, with that reporter confronting Josh and then Jillian telling the reporter off before kneeling in front of everyone and declaring her love for her Master. It made Dex wish he had a woman in his life that loved him that much. Everyone had tears in their eyes from the impact of Jillian’s words, even him and Pat. He had tried to carefully wipe away the moisture without anyone noticing, but Pat didn’t seem to care who saw that he was crying.
The moment was bittersweet, though. Dex was pretty sure that the odds of finding a woman could feel like that about both him and Pat were remote at best. Pat may have convinced himself that Abby was the one for them and that they could win her over, but Dex was a realist. What were the odds that after looking for the right woman for so long, she’d walk into their office and pull up a chair? He had never admitted it to Pat, but he didn’t have to. No matter how much he tried to pretend otherwise, Dex knew Abby was the one for them. But what he wasn’t convinced of was whether they were the men for her. Like the song went, “You Can’t Always Get What You Want.”
Hell, every time she teasingly called him boss when he was being pedantic over some minutia or other, his cock stirred. Boss was so close to Master, and he could just imagine her looking up at him with those big green eyes and saying “yes, Master” when he ordered her to strip and lay across his lap for a spanking. And he could close his eyes and imagine her sandwiched between him and Pat as they took her together, her cries of ecstasy driving his own arousal higher and higher. But that was just a fantasy. Maybe they needed to face the fact that a permanent ménage relationship was a pipedream, with or without Abby.
He turned to Pat to say just that when he saw Liam and Connor O’Hara and their sub Cindy walk by. He watched them pass by Mac, Sean, and Michelle. And there was Michelle’s sister Serena and her two Doms, Lucas and Zack. Damn, he couldn’t get a good look. But he could see that those three triads were so happy. Maybe there was hope. Was he giving up too easily?”
He followed Liam, Connor, and Cindy’s progression across the room and saw they were heading toward her sister Lindy and Lindy’s Dom Jake. There appeared to be a third person standing with them, but he couldn’t see who it was because she was standing partially behind the large Dom. Jake and Lindy weren’t in a ménage. Maybe the third person was a friend of Lindy’s, not that it was any of his business. He took a sip of his champagne and contemplated the triads who were nearby.
Damn. It was possible to have a happy triad. Dex squared his shoulders and started to look over at Pat to tell him that he was willing to take a chance and pursue Abby when Jake moved and he saw something that nearly made him drop his glass of champagne.
“Dex, earth to Dex.”
It took a moment for Pat’s voice to penetrate. Dex looked over at his friend and then turned back to the sight he was staring at. It couldn’t be her, could it?
“Pat, Pat. Look over there.”
“And just what am I supposed to be looking at?”
“That woman beside Jake and Lindy. The one in the dark-blue tank, black miniskirt, and sky-high heels. Is that who I think it is?”
“Holy shit. Is that Abby? Told ya her tits were spectacular!”
Chapter Four
Abby smiled at Jake. She really l
iked Lindy’s fiancé, or should she refer to him as her Dom? But even if she wasn’t one hundred percent sure of the protocol for the situation, she knew she liked him. He had a quiet strength and confidence about him. And he was also pretty damned hot and physically, a great match for her old friend.
He clearly loved her, too, as he held her hand and gazed down in adoration. Same with Cindy’s men. She seemed more mature and warm than Abby had ever seen her. She had blushed and apologized for being such a bitch in the past and had blushed deeper when Liam, or maybe it was Connor, told her to let them know if Cindy started slipping into her old ways and they’d be happy to paddle her ass as often as was required. In fact, Connor, or maybe it was Liam, had added that they promised to spank her regularly just as a precaution. Everyone had laughed because the men were Doms and everyone knew that the twin Doms would be reddening her ass on a regular basis.
When Lindy had announced that Abby was also Angelica Adams, Cindy had acted like a star-struck teenager in the presence of Taylor Swift. She’d quickly gathered all the nearby subs who were now surrounding her and gazing at her adoringly.
“Lindy’s right. You have to speak at our book club meeting. Can you make this Saturday? Oh my god. When we send out the e-mail, every sub will be begging their Masters to let them come. We love your books. We actually were discussing Submitting to Two at our last get-together. Please say yes!”
Abby couldn’t do anything else. She quickly agreed to come and even agreed to do a reading from her next book, which wasn’t out for another two weeks, provided her membership application was approved. Cindy turned to Jake.
“Can you expedite it? Please!”
“It’s the number one application for review at our membership meeting tomorrow.”
She turned to Connor and Liam. “Please, please, please!” The two men grinned wickedly at their sub. Abby felt her insides twist at their twin expressions of desire and domination. She wished she had even just one man who looked at her that way. If she could have two, it would be like she’d died and gone to heaven. A ménage relationship was her secret desire and something she never thought she’d have an opportunity to experience.