No Going Back (Siren Publishing Allure)

by Redrae Gunn

  “Awesome.” David grinned as he patted Caleb’s leg. “Next dress, I’ll just point my hand at you, and then you take over. Don’t forget to ask for objections. Sometimes she’ll see something I wouldn’t have thought of. She’s smart, not a mindless-do-exactly-what-she’s-told-no-matter-what type of person.”

  Caleb nodded. He knew that he liked control all the time, but being Dominant all the time like David had been too intense, so he had given up on anything except scenes at The Cave. Yet David was doing it with ease, and he wasn’t in a sexual relationship with Tayen. Caleb telling Tayen to strip and her doing it, without objection, in the middle of his bedroom, would be a dream.

  Caleb was pulled from his fantasy when Tayen emerged from the dressing room in a spaghetti-strapped, dark-blue dress that had some sequins on it. She looked down at the hem that was four inches above her knees. She looked at David. He pointed at Caleb. Tayen tensed for a moment then relaxed and looked at Caleb. Caleb motioned with his left hand for her to twirl just like David had. Tayen did her twirl gracefully, just as she had for David.

  “Objections?” Caleb asked.

  “This dress seems more for if we were going to a club or dancing, not a formal gathering,” Tayen admitted focused only on Caleb. “I like the sequins and the spaghetti straps though.”

  Caleb nodded his head and then waved her back into the dressing room. As soon as the door to the dressing room closed he leaned over to David.

  “She just did it, didn’t question why. Jesus, you’re right. She’s submissive,” Caleb admitted and then looked down to where his khaki pants were now being forced upward. “Dude, I’m pitching a full tent.”

  David handed him the first thing he could find, a shoe box missing a shoe. “Here, sorry, I guess I don’t have that problem with her.”

  Caleb placed the box in his lap and gave David a look of gratitude.

  A few seconds later Tayen came out of the dressing room. It was a long gown in red and white sequins with a small train. Tayen liked the way it hugged her body, but it didn’t seem right either. She looked at Caleb. He motioned for her to twirl. She did and then looked for his approval.

  “It’s beautiful on you,” Caleb said, “but it seems more for Christmas, not summer, Tayen. What do you think?”

  “I totally agree.” Tayen sighed, glad he’d seen that she looked like a candy cane. “I love the dress though.”

  “We’ll get the dress, Tayen, but save it for a Christmas party with me,” Caleb said sternly.

  Tayen giggled and twirled once for Caleb’s pleasure, and then he waved her back to the dressing room.

  “That was excellent, Caleb,” David said. “I’ve actually never seen her respond like that to someone else. It gives me hope.”

  “Hope?”

  “That she can find someone who fills the needs in her that I can’t.” David shrugged. “I know I don’t do it for her sexually. I wish the best for my best friend. That’s what she is, you know. Tayen’s the one person that knows all my deep and dirty little secrets and loves me anyway. That makes her my best friend.”

  “You are a lucky man,” Caleb said. “I don’t know how I’m going to walk out of here.” Caleb glanced at the box in his lap.

  “Only one dress to go, and oh, my, God,” David gushed, “this one is it. You’ll die.”

  “I feel like I’m going to die now,” Caleb replied. He flexed his penis against the shoe box, and David laughed at the audible thump.

  David grinned. “Sometimes I think that if I had even one heterosexual gene in my body I’d be content. But I don’t. I see girls look at her, too, and I’m like…What. The. Fuck? I’ve gotta protect her from both sexes. I should get hazard pay.” David laughed.

  “This is beautiful.” Tayen’s voice was heard from inside the dressing room. Then she emerged. True blue and white sequins in large stripes clung to her body from her chest to just under her butt. The hem of the dress came to the ankles and then split in star shapes up her thigh. It had one skintight strap across the shoulder and dipped low under her arm.

  Caleb licked his lips as Tayen’s eyes focused on him, waiting for instructions. Caleb finally motioned for her to twirl. When she turned, he commanded her to stop. She stayed with her back displayed to him. The back had a large star shape cut out of it, and the cut showed her lower back.

  “Lift your hair please, Tayen,” Caleb said. Tayen immediately complied and waited. “You can continue.” When Tayen faced Caleb again, the look in her eyes was unmistakable. She adored the dress. It was sexy yet tasteful, shiny not gaudy, elegant yet fun.

  “Tayen, this would be my choice,” Caleb’s deep voice rolled through her body. “Do have any objections to this dress?”

  “None, sir,” Tayen replied looking down at the dress and then at Caleb. “Oh, man, you’re going to have to wear a sequined tie for this to match. That’ll look so good on you.” She stopped. Her eyes were wide.

  Caleb laughed. “I hope so, Tayen. I usually don’t wear sequins.”

  She covered her mouth as she laughed. “I bet you don’t.”

  Caleb pointed to David, and Tayen’s attention shifted to David. Her grin was unmistakable. She loved the dress. “David, is this not the Statue of Liberty, Native American style?”

  “Warrior, you are so amazingly beautiful.” David beamed, clapping his hands. “Oh, the food will be amazing, the drinks will flow, but you, dahling, will be the talk of the night. Don’t forget we need to get shoes.”

  “I hate shoes,” Tayen spat.

  Caleb cleared his throat forcefully, and Tayen turned to face him. “Sorry, Caleb, would you like to pick out my shoes?”

  “I would enjoy that very much,” Caleb said and looked at David. “I got this. I have a foot, shoe thing. She’s a nine and a half.”

  David looked up surprised and nodded. “She does like heels, but it’s a five-hour gathering,” David offered.

  “I’ve already taken that into consideration,” Caleb replied as he headed to the shoes. “Please see that she finds me when she has changed, and I want that Christmas dress.”

  David left to find Tayen. She was peeking around a rack of dresses, staring at Caleb. David motioned for her to go to him. She lifted her chin and started for the shoe section.

  “Mr. Wilson?” Tayen was nervous as she approached Caleb, without David. It had been different when David was right there. “Are you going in a tux or a suit?”

  “Seeing as you will be in white and blue, I was thinking of a white tux,” Caleb said pulling his brows together. “Objections?”

  “God no,” Tayen replied, picturing it. “You’ll look amazing in a white tux. So then are you a bow tie or a tie guy? Cummerbund or vest?”

  “Do you have a preference?” Caleb asked. “I want my date on my arm, not hiding from me.”

  “I don’t think any date you took would hide from you,” Tayen said, looking directly into his intense, green eyes. “I think the white tux does really well with a vest, and if you wear a vest, then it’s sinful to wear a tie.”

  “Why is it sinful?” Caleb smiled.

  “Because a man in white, with a vest, says ‘I’m confident and can handle anything.’ It really doesn’t matter how good-looking the guy is. He’s still going to be sexy as hell. The bow tie is just the finishing touch on a well-wrapped present.”

  Caleb raised an eyebrow at her and said nothing.

  “Every girl likes a well-wrapped present,” Tayen defended her choice. When Caleb still said nothing, Tayen defended herself again, “Honestly, Caleb, if there are two presents for you and one is wrapped like crap because it was a last minute gift, with no thought behind it, you are going to go for the other present. The one with the pretty paper, wrapped with care, because the present has thought behind it. It usually also has a pretty bow on it. The other present does not. Which one would you want to rip open?”

  Caleb reached out and touched his finger under Tayen’s chin. “Are you saying that I will be a well-wra
pped present and you will enjoy unwrapping me?”

  Tayen blushed but didn’t look away from his eyes that searched her with intensity she had never seen in a man’s eyes before. “It was just a comparison,” Tayen said.

  “And you are looking forward to unwrapping me?” Caleb asked, not letting Tayen off the hook that easy.

  “I’m sure that any woman, anywhere, would enjoy unwrapping you,” Tayen whispered, her heart hammered in her chest. She hadn’t been this close to a man in a long time and certainly not one this intense or unforgivably handsome. She was relieved to know that her hormones were still working. Still working was kind of an understatement. Her hormones had just gone into overdrive.

  “I believe the question I asked referred to you,” Caleb said, holding her gaze.

  Tayen felt the air suck out of the room, and she managed to keep her gaze on his. “Of course I would,” Tayen said and swallowed hard.

  “Thank you for your honesty,” Caleb said. Then he remembered her need for an equal exchange when it came to honesty. “You have no idea what that means to me.” He released her chin and stepped back. “I have to be honest and tell you that seeing you in that dress made me think of one of those really expensive fireworks. One that makes me wonder just how big the explosion will be if I were given the chance to light the wick.”

  Caleb’s words made Tayen bring a hand to her lower abdomen, and she exhaled softly. Caleb chuckled and commented on her reaction. “You’ve had the same effect on me since we met in the hallway.”

  Tayen lowered her eyes but managed a smile. “Thank you for the compliment, but I’m sure that’s not altogether true.”

  Caleb stepped close to Tayen and pressed his hard cock into her thigh. “Honesty means something to me. So when I say something to you, please understand that it is the complete and honest truth.”

  “I need honesty, too,” Tayen said, turning to face Caleb. The heat from his hard cock had caused muscles in her pussy to clench tight. “If it’s something I really don’t want to talk about, I’d rather say that I don’t want to talk about it than lie.”

  “I’m glad we agree,” Caleb said. “So as I said, you’ve had the same effect on me.”

  “May I pick out your tie and vest to match my dress?” Tayen asked. “But you can’t look until Saturday.”

  “Then I will do the same with your shoes,” Caleb said. He saw Tayen tense, frown, then recover.

  “Deal,” Tayen said and held out her hand.

  Caleb couldn’t help but smile. She was a woman of her word, and her handshake meant something. Women weren’t like that anymore. Hell, men weren’t like that anymore. She was disarming him quickly. He’d already told her more than he’d told anybody else he’d ever been with. He took her hand and shook it.

  Tayen skipped away to pick out his accessories, and Caleb grabbed the sequined, white sandals with a two-inch heel. The heel was wide, and the sandals had an arch support in them. The straps over the sandals were small but flexible leather, and the two straps around the ankle guaranteed that she wouldn’t walk out of them with her narrow feet. Her narrow and delicate foot was the first thing that he had noticed when she stepped barefoot from the dressing room.

  * * * *

  Mr. Bergan dropped the three of them off at the front entrance of the building. Caleb held the door for Tayen as they walked into the lobby and then she hooked her arm into his. Tayen slowed slightly, and Caleb realized that she hadn’t taken any time to see the lower level of the building.

  “I’ll bring the dresses and everything upstairs if you want to show her around, Caleb,” David said, politely excusing himself. When Tayen looked at David, he nodded his head to Caleb. Tayen nodded her head just a fraction and looked at Caleb.

  Caleb noticed that Tayen hadn’t hesitated this time when David transferred over control. It made him feel proud of how brave Tayen was. She obviously trusted David completely, and that trust was now in Caleb’s hands. It was a cool head trip, stroking his ego and everything in his being just the right way.

  “I’d love to,” Caleb said to David and then turned his full attention to Tayen. “Shall we?”

  There was a coffee shop that boasted organic beans and hand-ground coffee. Opposite of that was a small, dark bar that smelled of polished wood and beer. Both shops opened to the center of the lobby and to the street. Inside the building there was a hair salon, bookstore, sushi bar, and pottery store, each opening into the alleys that were filled with people. Finally at the far end was a Bed Bath & Beyond and a leather store named Chaps.

  Tayen started for the leather store, and Caleb hesitated. “Can we go inside?” she asked, the fragrance of leather filling her lungs.

  “I need to be honest with you,” Caleb said looking into Tayen’s eyes. “There’s an obnoxious girl that works here. Her name is Alissa. I made out with her one time. She isn’t my type.”

  Tayen snorted then mumbled an apology, so Caleb continued, “She still hits on me, and she hassles any woman that I am even friendly with. She is a rich girl, and Mommy and Daddy have set her up with an apartment here while she finishes out nursing school. She wants to be an RN.”

  “Well, Caleb, you are in luck.” Tayen grinned. “I am so used to being hassled it rarely fazes me, and I happen to be a PA, so she’s got nothing on me.”

  “I don’t think you understand,” Caleb insisted. “Tayen, I have to have control in the bedroom. She slings it at every girl that I’m with. She tells them that I can’t make love.”

  “So you fuck then?” Tayen asked, matching his honesty. “Probably you fuck hard. Need some means of restraint? Blindfolds? Spanking for perhaps pleasure and punishment? You can go for hours, a test of your control, making the woman you’re with come, probably several times, but only when you tell her to do so?”

  Caleb’s mouth fell open. He nodded his head.

  “David is a Dominant, Caleb.” Tayen looked at the ground before glancing back up. “I’m a submissive. David is in charge of everything from when I wake up to what I wear. He decides when I eat, what I eat, when I work out, but I still have my sense of self. I have my own money, my own vehicles, I even get my own space. We have lived like this before, and no, we are not sexual. David has a longtime partner.”

  “So his longtime partner has no problems with the arrangement?” Caleb asked.

  “Actually, his partner, Sean, finds it very agreeable,” Tayen said. “Sean loves David, David loves Sean, and in the bedroom, Sean submits and David dominates, but Sean can’t do the twenty-four seven TPE, um, total power exchange.”

  “I know what a TPE is, Tayen,” Caleb said softly.

  “I didn’t offend you, did I?” Tayen asked, reading his expression. Caleb shook his head and smiled. “Well, TPEs can be intense, and they can hurt both people involved, but the TPE with David and I just isn’t quite a TPE.”

  “Expand on that please,” Caleb said.

  “Well, it kind of happened over time,” Tayen admitted. “It’s something that I would prefer to talk about with David here because he can add to my side of the story. I hope that is acceptable, sir.”

  Caleb felt himself grow hard when Tayen said “sir.” Her honesty was so precious, and she probably had no idea how it was so comforting for him. Caleb sighed.

  “I haven’t seen Ms. Vanilla yet,” Caleb said, and Tayen chuckled at Alissa’s nickname. “She can harass me all she wants, but I don’t want her harassing you.”

  “Should we happen to run into Ms. Vanilla, my bad attitude will not reflect badly upon you, Caleb,” Tayen promised, grinning wickedly and winking.

  “That would please me very much, Tayen,” Caleb replied. He watched Tayen reach for her abdomen again, and then she went into the store as he followed. Tayen was going to be the death of him, and Caleb knew it. He wanted to possess her, in the bedroom, completely. He thought of Tayen strapped to his bed, helpless, giving herself to whatever he wanted.

  They were admiring the merchandise. Tayen had li
cked her lips as she ran her hands across some of the leather shirts. Caleb was content to watch and take note. Then…Alissa came from the back room.

  Chapter 3

  “Oooh, Caleb,” a venom-filled voice coated with honey called from across the store. “I didn’t see you at first.” Alissa glanced around the store and noticed Tayen focused on a shirt that had more chains on it than leather. “Are you here with someone?”

  Before Caleb could answer, Tayen’s voice called out to Alissa, “Miss, do you have this shirt in a large?”

  Alissa rolled her eyes and went to where Tayen was standing. “Well, this one has adjustable chains, so a medium will go to a large. A large will chain up to a medium,” Alissa said to Tayen, keeping her eyes on Caleb. “Your bra will show in the back.”

  “Yeah, don’t need one of those in this kind of a shirt.” Tayen waved at her.

  “I can see you probably never need one actually,” Alissa said loudly, pointedly looking at Tayen’s chest.

  Tayen glanced down. She had a full B cup, small C cup, nothing compared to Alissa’s double Ds, but those double Ds were already starting to feel the gravity. Tayen frowned when she looked at Alissa’s breasts.

  “Real men prefer quality to quantity.” When Alissa’s mouth fell open, Tayen added, “Plus there’s something about the feel of soft leather against the nipples. Don’t you agree?”

  Caleb barely stifled his laugh. He had never seen Alissa rendered completely speechless.

  Tayen walked to the counter where a young man was staring wide-eyed at the exchange between Tayen and Alissa. “Perhaps you can help us?” Tayen asked. The man nodded his head and walked behind Tayen until they came back to the vests that Tayen had been looking at. Alissa still stood there.

  Caleb looked at Tayen, held her gaze, and said, “I think we have enough help, Alissa. You can go back to whatever you were doing.”