Once they were both seat-belted in, he turned to her. "Ready?"
Her eyes went wide. "Are you going to drive like an asshole?"
He laughed. "No, I'll drive carefully. But I sometimes have to, you know, work the bugs out of the engine by flooring it." With that, he pulled out of the parking lot onto the street. "You'll have to tell me where to go since Brad has had the pleasure of taking you home regularly for two weeks now."
Conversation was tremendously easier with Eric. "So how did you get into selling furniture?"
He laughed again. "It's just something we do."
"What kind of furniture?"
He seemed to think about this for a moment. "Specialty stuff."
Then it hit her. "Oh, like theme stuff? I have a girlfriend who is really into the middle-ages and she had to order some cross frame chairs from a place in Chicago."
"Exactly like that," he agreed. “We just have a lot of local customers who prefer to buy it from us. People who frequent our club," he stopped dead then tried to change the subject. "So straight on Sycamore, then a right at sixty-eighth?"
"Yeah," she said. No, it hadn't gone unnoticed that he changed the subject. "You guys have a club?"
"Just a private thing we have on the side with a few other friends. They run it, we're just investors really." He turned strangely silent.
She knew she should probably just leave it alone and so she did. "So my parents go to bed at eight-thirty every night and my friends are all blowing me off so it might take me a bit longer to arrange a steady ride than I'd hoped..."
"That's okay," he said brightly. "I don't mind driving you home. I'm pretty sure Brad doesn't mind either."
That's when she recalled the look Eric had given Brad earlier. “So am I doing a good job?”
“Of course, why?” he looked over at her with a bit of concern. “Did you think maybe we didn’t think you were doing well? Because I assure you you’re doing great. We have plans to keep you as long as we can. Having you around is going to mean Brad and I can take more time off.”
She yawned but didn’t want to stop the conversation. "So was Brad ever in the military?"
"Marines actually, before college. Why?" Eric gave her a quick sidelong glance.
"He's always so," she paused, trying to find the right word. "Commanding?"
"Brad is a very in-your-face kind of guy. But, you always know exactly what he expects and where you stand with him, right? He's also fair and honest and one of the nicest people I know. I couldn’t have a better friend,” he said.
“I didn’t mean anything by it. I like Brad. I was just curious. He has a very orderly, always prepared, practical, military thing going on. And he sounds like a drill sergeant sometimes. That’s all,” she said with a quick smile, worried she might have again treaded on forbidden territory yet again. She was famous for doing that.
Eric chuckled. “Yeah, he is very much like that. That doesn’t scare you does it?”
Shaking her head she said honestly, “It will take some getting used to but really it makes me want to call him Sir and salute.”
A full belly laugh came out of Eric. “Wow. That’s funny. I have to tell him that.”
Panic flooded her. “No, don’t tell him that, he’ll want to fire me.”
“Doubtful. Last I heard he was already planning the schedule through next year. He does have a sense of humor, you know. He just isn’t as open with it as I am with mine. Once you get to know him better you’ll see.” He gave her another reassuring smile.
Then they began talking about movies and before she knew it, they were in front of her house. She hated it when that happened. There were days she wish work never ended just so she could talk to Eric. Now, she was wishing the ride home was longer. “Thanks for the ride. I’ll see you tomorrow at one again.” She gave him a sweet smile. She really did like Eric despite the fact he was older. A lot older, she’d discovered. Of course he probably wasn’t interested in some twenty-nothing college girl, but it didn’t keep her from flirting.
“Alright. Get some sleep. Maybe read a book, relax. That will help.” He flashed that brilliant smile at her.
She closed the car door and hurried up to the house, unlocked the door and waved before going inside. He waved back, but waited to pull away from the curb until she was safely inside. Closing the door behind her, and locking it, she went straight to the kitchen to grab a soda. Then, giant bag of books in tow, she descended into the basement and threw herself onto the bed, exhausted.
But she couldn’t sleep. She was going to have to wind down first. Looking warily at the can of caffeine-free soda in her hand she sat up, set the soda on the bedside table and opened her book bag. The three books Eric had given her were sitting on top. She took them out, setting them on the headboard. Maybe she would read. She reached back and grabbed the books again and looked at them. One was called Story of O by Pauline Reage. Another was The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty by A. N. Roquelaure, and finally there was one called Carrie’s Story by Molly Weatherfield. They were all dog-eared as if they’d been well read. The first two had boring covers. The third, however, had a mostly naked woman’s backside on it. That’s the one she decided to start with. She was a relatively fast reader and the book wasn’t too long.
Settling in she began reading. As she read she found herself getting warm and felt the familiar tingling of arousal between her legs. She paused long enough to strip down to her underwear and continued reading. It was tempting to rub herself off, but she refrained. She wanted to know what happened. Before she knew it, she’d finished the book and it was only eleven-forty-five. Her nimble fingers slid between her thighs, finding her clit. Starting slow, she rubbed herself, increasing speed as the fantasy of Eric tying her up and licking her clit ran through her mind. She could imagine him flogging her ass. Oh God he was beautiful. She wondered how big his cock was and what it would feel like buried deep inside her. As she came, she lifted her hips, imagining them meeting his.
She took a few deep breaths. Looking at the clock she decided she had time to read another. Next, she picked up Story of O. Once again, some of the acts and images the books evoked sent warmth and arousal through her. Enough so that she took the dildo she kept hidden in the closet out of its box and ran it over her clit as she read, bringing herself just to the brink of orgasm, then stopping to read some more. Some of what she read repulsed her. It was too far over the top, but when a particular scene aroused her, she savored it, masturbating herself until she came. The flesh between her legs was sticky and wet - wanting. When she was done she realized it was too late to read the third. It was already almost two in the morning. She couldn’t help but wonder why Eric had loaned the books to her. These weren’t just erotic stories; they were downright kinky and somewhat scary. Scary in the fact that some of what the books described turned her on so much that just thinking about it, and putting herself and Eric into the story, she almost came without any stimulation to her clit at all. Nothing had ever made her feel this aroused before.
She looked at the clock warily. Her only class the next morning was a management practicum and the professor followed the book religiously. She could read and catch up. With a final glance at the clock she picked up The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty. By the time she finished reading it was five-thirty in the morning and her sheets were wet. Now she knew why Brad had reacted the way he did. What had he said? She tried to remember. That’s Eric, right to the point or something like that? What did that mean?
She began wondering if Eric was into bdsm. Did he like to tie women up? Spank them? The mere thought sent a shiver of excitement through her. She bit her lip and took a deep breath. As far as she saw it she had two choices. She could take a shower and stay up (considering her heart was pounding in her chest at all the sexual thoughts of Eric tying her up and using a flogger on her), or she could go to bed, feign illness for the morning, and get up by eleven so she could get to work by one.
She debated bringing the books
in with her the next day to give them back, but decided it was too soon. She didn’t want Eric to know that the books interested her enough that she’d been greedy and read all three in one sitting, sacrificing sleep to do so. No, she’d wait at least a week then casually bring them back as if they hadn’t surprised her at all. Then she could just say, “They were interesting,” and leave it at that. After all, she wasn’t discussing bdsm with her boss. That was just unprofessional. Of course so was flirting with him and so was fantasizing about him.
With that she set the alarm for eleven, turned out the light, and went to sleep.
Chapter Four
She didn’t feel the least bit guilty about ditching her class that morning and the bus ride in had been comfortable enough. She sat behind the register watching over the customers with a wide grin. Customer service had always been one of her strong suits. In every job she ever had she always made good marks on that during reviews. Eric was out that afternoon, thank God. She wasn’t sure she could look at him after reading those novels and the fantasies she’d had about him. Just thinking about it made her draw her thighs together in response to the immediate arousal. The last thing she needed was to get aroused at work by thinking about her boss. Of course Brad and Eric didn’t feel so much like bosses. Instead, it was like working for friends and she didn’t mind going that extra mile to please them. If that meant being tidy and always on time and following orders to the letter, that’s what it meant.
Feeling like she was being watched, she turned around only to catch Brad regarding her thoughtfully.
“Drill Sergeant, eh?” He actually smiled at her and shook his head.
She immediately turned six shades of red and wanted to crawl under a rock. “I can’t believe he told you I said that.”
With an open laugh Brad leaned back in his chair. “I’m just very goal oriented. Things need to get done and I’ve found dealing with most things in the most direct manner possible is the best way to proceed. Now, speaking of, you seem overly contemplative today. What’s up?”
“I, uh, nothing really.”
“Still problems with that Paul guy?”
He’d actually remembered Paul’s name. With nervous energy she grabbed the rag from under the counter and wiped down the counter, the register, and the credit card terminal. “No, I just, it’s nothing.”
“When you get nervous, you clean obsessively. Did you know that?” He pointed to the rag her in hand.
She smiled and set the rag down. He was right and obviously very observant.
“You read one of those books he lent you.”
Mortified she tried to say something, but the words wouldn’t come out. How did he know?
“That’s a big yes if I’ve ever seen one. Guess it’s a good thing Eric isn’t here, huh? Awkward.” Brad sucked a deep breath through his teeth. “I told you the night you started that I didn’t think you’d like them.”
She took a deep breath and looked around to make sure the customers were out of earshot then lowered her voice. It all came tumbling out. “So his ex-girlfriend left the books at his house and he loans them to me, it makes you wonder if he’s into that kind of stuff. I mean the first book was… and the second I couldn’t even believe… and the third one was just so… Oh my God.”
Brad’s eyes went wide. “You read all three?”
“Oh yeah.” She picked up the rag and continued wiping everything down furiously.
“In one night?”
She turned to him, noting the huge grin on his face. The jig was up. That was the truth of it, wasn’t it, she told herself. She did read all three of them in one night. It spoke volumes and those volumes didn’t scream dislike. “Well, yeah, but because it was like watching a train wreck. Like I couldn’t look away or like I couldn’t believe what I was reading.”
“So you just had to read more?” He was still smirking and then he started laughing.
That’s when she realized how ridiculous and childish she sounded. “Okay, so I was fascinated and intrigued by them. I’ve never read anything like that. They were interesting.”
“Well, maybe you’ll consider reading more,” he said carefully, regaining his calm composure.
Her mind began to race. More? “Why?” she finally asked.
“Quite frankly, I think you enjoyed it. But mostly because we have a lot of women customers who come in here for that particular type of erotica and some have asked if we had a woman in the store who could give them recommendations. I just thought if you liked it you could read more and it would be a great help to the customers,” he explained quite seriously.
Well that made sense, she thought. “Oh. Maybe that’s why Eric loaned them to me to begin with.”
“Oh, yeah that’s probably it,” Brad agreed with a smirk.
A young woman about five-four with blond hair and blue eyes approached the counter. She was clearly timid. Conservatively dressed and carrying a large brown handbag she leaned in close, eying Brad warily. “I’m here to pick up an order. It’s under Mary Alexander.”
Her voice was so soft that if Amy hadn’t been paying attention she might have had to ask the woman to repeat herself. She looked on the order shelf, found the order and pulled it. She pulled out all the books. The woman’s eyes went wide.
“I just want to make sure they’re all here,” she said quickly, noticing the woman’s obvious discomfort. Looking over the list she realized this was the erotica and bdsm order she’d pulled yesterday so she was careful to act nonchalant. Had it been her order she knew she would have been more comfortable if the clerk acted as if it was no big deal. She scanned the books, carefully placing them back in the brown By the Book bag. “That’s fifty-nine and sixty two cents.”
The woman paid with a credit card and all but ran out of the shop with her head down.
“And that’s why we needed a woman working here,” came Brad’s voice in her right ear.
She jumped.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.” His hand grazed her back and the fine hairs on the back of her neck stood up in absolute pleasure as her nipples hardened.
“Do a lot of women order their porn and then pick it up later?” Amy asked, trying to shrug off the confusion coursing through her. Brad’s touch was a huge turn on, but she wanted Eric.
“One man’s porn is another man’s pleasure. Or in this case, woman’s. Let’s order pizza for dinner. Eric should be back by then.” Brad posted a coupon for office supplies on the corkboard. He turned to her and pointed to the coupon. “Don’t let me forget that we have that, it’s like twenty bucks off.”
It was her turn to laugh. “Okay.”
Just then Eric showed up carrying Starbucks. He handed one to Amy, “Mocha Latte, for you gorgeous. And a Frappuccino for you,” he said, handing Brad a cup. “And one for me.”
She couldn’t help but feel a little surprised. How had he known she liked Mocha Latte? All he’d ever seen her drink was regular coffee with sugar and cream. “How did you know?”
“It was a guess,” he said. “I almost got you Pumpkin Spice, but you seem more Mocha Latte. Did that timid little sub come get her books?”
“What?” Amy turned to him, confused.
“That Mary something,” Brad said. “Yeah, she came in. Amy helped her. I thought she was going to bolt out the door.”
“The guy who gets that one is going to have his work cut out for him,” Eric said quietly to Brad.
But Amy had heard him. She decided not to say anything. Instead she grabbed a few books off the counter to put away. “Be back in a few, I’m going to go put these back on the shelves.”
Both men watched her leave and exchanged another one of their wordless looks.
She wasn’t stupid. Maybe a bit naïve, yeah, but not stupid. She’d heard him yesterday when he’d called Kali a Domme. He had called Mary Alexander a sub. The shop had an uncharacteristically large bdsm sections in both fiction and non-fiction. Eric had given her some bdsm books to read.
He and Brad were part owners in a club of some sort. Putting two and two together wasn’t a stretch. But to completely verify her suspicions, she had to find out what was in the back rooms – and she didn’t mean the main storage room.
She returned to the register and resumed her place behind the counter helping the customers. Again, nine o’clock came quickly and again, Eric took her home. He didn’t mention the books, so evidently Brad hadn’t said anything. Or maybe Eric didn’t want to bring it up either.
Either way it was fine with her. They mostly chatted about movies on the way home again. They were both fans of action movies.
“I thought Alien vs. Predator was kick ass,” he was saying as they pulled up to her house.
He was so good looking. He had a sharp jaw and high cheekbones, well placed apart eyes and his face had symmetry. She also liked that he had that bad-boy look with the shoulder length blond hair. He kept it in a ponytail, but it was still hot. And he didn’t always shave. Not to mention he was a big guy. She’d only seen him in t-shirts but she imagined his chest and arms were impressive. All her reservations about him had melted. There was no way the man next to her was sadistic, cruel, violent, or even a misogynist. He seemed like a normal guy. A normal guy who was really hot and who, regardless the fact that he was older, really made her feel stupid and swoony, like a teenager.
“Earth to Amy?”
A flush of red ran up her neck and into her cheeks. “Sorry, I was just thinking,” she said feeling stupid.
He smiled at her. “Hey, I know this is probably really unprofessional of me, and maybe even a bit bold, but would you like to have dinner Saturday night after work?”
Her eyes went wide. “Won’t Brad get mad?”
“Why, did you have dinner plans with him?” He laughed, clearly kidding.
“No,” she said. “I mean won’t he freak out if you and I go out outside of work?”
“He won’t care.”
This was almost too uncomfortable. “I don’t know, is it like a friend thing or a date thing,” she asked carefully, wincing like she did when she was unsure.
Training Amy (BDSM Erotica) Page 4