“Actually, she said I wasn’t dominant enough for her, and I knew you and Ben were Doms, so I wanted some advice about how to become more dominant.”
Jon was silent for a moment, and then he burst out laughing. He laughed so much, he couldn’t stop.
Nick felt himself go bright red at the attention they were suddenly getting and wished Jon would stop.
The laughing brought Ben over, thankfully without Kat, who Ben indicated was getting dressed.
“All right, old man, you’d better stop before your false teeth fall out.” That insult brought Jon to a stop, as it was intended. But when Jon told him what Nick had just said, Ben then joined him laughing. Nick stared. He wasn’t used to Ben laughing. He was normally such a sober guy.
Kat then came over and asked what the hilarity was all about. Nick studied her. Amazingly, she didn’t seem to be suffering any injury from the caning. He stood up, but felt a bit out of place when the guys failed to give the same courtesy. As he falteringly sat down again, Ben took Kat’s hand to kiss it.
“My love, we have a guy issue here. If I call a cab for you, are you okay going home alone?”
She looked at them in bemusement but let Ben arrange for a ride home as he suggested.
Sitting down again a few minutes later after seeing Kat off, Ben asked, “Okay, let me get this straight. You want some advice on how to become more dominant even though you are the least dominant person we know.”
Wincing at the brusque, but accurate, assessment, Nick responded, “Yes, that’s it in a nutshell. Can you help?”
Ben looked at Jon who shrugged his shoulders, and the latter replied to Ben, “You’re the trainer. I’ll leave it with you to give him some hints. Besides which, Ellie is my sister. I’m not going to tell any guy how to get off with her.” He then turned to take a swig of his beer.
Giving his friend a look of exasperation, Ben turned back to Nick who waited hopefully throughout this little interchange. “Um, all right. Rule one, if you are in a club like this, don’t stand up. It might be the gentlemanly thing to do—and in other circumstances, like in a restaurant, we’d do that.” He gestured at himself and Jon. “But here we have to show we are in control and not the lady.”
Nick frowned. It seemed somewhat odd. You were either a gentleman, or you weren’t. But that was probably part of his problem. He was too much of one. “Go on,” he sighed, knowing this was going to be hard, fearing that what they told him would mean he would never get together with Ellie.
“Along the same lines, if the sub is going to respect her Dom and obey him, he has to be strong, not giving into her whims.”
As Nick reflected on this for a moment, he cupped his jaw with his hand. “But how do I know it is a ‘whim’ and not a cry of pain, or fear, or something like that?”
“Then he has to be aware of her needs by means of communication and not just the sounds she makes. That’s rule three and when safe words come into play. You’ve heard of ‘safe words’ haven’t you?”
Nick nodded. “The submissive uses a safe word when they are frightened and need you to stop.”
Ben was into his full training mode now. He gestured with a finger as he continued, “That’s essentially correct, but communication is also about body language and why a Dom needs time to get to know his sub.”
Feeling bewildered, Nick stated, “You’ve lost me.”
“A Dom will keep a careful watch on his sub’s body and face to see if they are tensing more than normal. They will get to know little signs, maybe a grimace or flinch that tells him he’s going too far. I think you’d left the scene earlier, but I stopped hitting Kat not because she used her safe word—which, I hasten to add, she has never used with me—but because I could feel her muscles tightening up as I laid my hand on her back between each hit. Kat tightens up and doesn’t relax again when she’s had enough.”
Nick exhaled explosively. “Christ! There’s more to this than I was aware of. How do you get to know everything you need to?”
“By watching, by listening, by being patient.”
“But how can I be patient at the same time as dominant? To me the two don’t go hand in hand.” Nick’s feeling of bafflement got worse.
“Well, one way is by taking time to learn your submissive’s limits like I just explained with Kat, and you can do this by means of scenes like the ones in this club.”
Nick winced and sat back. “I think we’re getting off track. I’m not sure I want to learn about the whole sadomasochism stuff, just the dominating stuff.”
“Oh boy, do you have a lot to learn about the lifestyle. Yeah sure, some people do it just for that sort of ‘stuff’ as you call it—subs as well as Doms. But all parts of the lifestyle are intertwined. One of the methods of controlling or dominating your submissive is to punish her when she is misbehaving like I did with Kat earlier.”
Looking up, stunned at that, Nick starkly asked, “What exactly had she done to warrant that?”
Ben smiled. “We hadn’t done a scene for a while, and she deliberately started flirting with some guys at the bar, knowing perfectly well I’d resort to caning her or something similar.”
Jon joined the conversation at this point, leaning his head toward Nick as if they were confederates. “What Ben is failing to explain properly is that is exactly what Kat wanted. So who was controlling whom there?”
A “humph” from Ben was all the response he got.
Chortling at the look on Ben’s face, Jon continued, “Rule four or wherever you’ve got to, never use discipline without good reason. When you punish your sub, it should be with a knowledgeable and careful hand. At least Ben is experienced enough to be cautious even when goaded into action.”
Ben leaned on the table, his body tensing. “Let’s make this clear. I. Wasn’t. Goaded. I knew exactly what she was doing, and I let her.”
The laughing got louder. “Sure. We believe you.”
“Do you want me to teach Nick how to dominate your sister or not?”
“Go ahead.” Jon still grinned broadly. Nick knew from Ellie that the two were great friends, but Jon was a mischief-maker who loved winding Ben up.
“Look,” interjected Nick. “Can’t I punish her without hitting her?”
“Yep. You can ignore her.”
“Tried that. She didn’t show any more interest in me.”
Ben relaxed, turning his back to Jon to talk directly to Nick. “No, what I meant was, if she is playing up, it is often to get your attention, so ignoring her or denying her a climax often works.”
Nick spurted into his drink at that. “I beg your pardon.” The thought of telling Ellie not to climax was incomprehensible. She’d give him a look of “fuck off.”
Jon patted him on the back. “Nick, Nick, Nick,” he said, shaking his head. “You are the one in charge. If you want to be dominant, then she has to obey everything you say. The rules really are simple. Take control and don’t let her get under your skin. I know my sister. She can be manipulative, so do things your way, not hers. Be assertive and don’t let her get away with any misbehavior. Again, knowing Ellie, I’m aware that her enthusiastic outlook to life can get her into trouble. Let her know you won’t accept any mischief. Possibly by means of tone of voice, or words, or body language, but don’t dismiss the B&D side of the life.”
“The what?”
“Bondage and discipline. The punishment side of things. From what Ben has told me, not that I really wanted to know with Ellie being my sister and all, but she loves being dominated like that.”
Nick saw red at that moment. What did Ben know about tying Ellie up and caning her?
Seeing his alarm, Ben reassured him, “Kat and Ellie went to a beginners’ BDSM event in the spring, and Ellie thoroughly enjoyed it. Every aspect of it.”
Forget about seeing red. Nick now felt sick, and he guessed he had gone pale. He really wasn’t sure he could do this. Dammit. Why couldn’t Ellie be ordinary?
Chapter Four
However, Ellie wasn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth, and as she exited the cab with them both, she grinned gleefully.
Rebecca just smiled back while Jon grimaced at her enthusiasm. “God, I had forgotten what a pain you are when you get excited about something,” he groaned.
Taking hold of Ellie’s arm and walking toward the entrance door with her, Rebecca declared loudly, “It’s nice to see you so happy. You’ve been so down in recent months.”
It was Ellie’s turn to grimace. “Well, having friends around me who are all getting married and producing babies, after finding the loves of their lives, has a lot to do with it I’d say.”
“So Nick isn’t going to be Mr. Right for you, then?” Rebecca asked slyly.
“Nick! Hardly. Why on earth did you raise his name?”
“Maybe because I know he likes you.”
“Sure, like a dog loves his mistress. Now shut up about him. I want to enjoy myself.” It had been a couple of weeks since Nick had cornered her in the gallery and she had given him a brutal put down. Despite this, she didn’t fail to notice the look Rebecca then gave Jon over her shoulder. Ellie stopped to turn and glare suspiciously at her brother, before staring back at Rebecca. That look they had given each other worried her. “What?”
Jon pushed her shoulders to enter the club. “Come on, Titch. Only you could be late for your own party.”
Not entirely happy that something wasn’t going on, that thought went out of her head when she spied Ben and Kat already at a table in the corner of a side room with a view of the action taking place. She hurried over and greeted them, flinging off her jacket quickly in her hurry to sit down. Laying her arms along the back of the chair, she turned to watch the proceedings in the room, which seemed to include a shibari demonstration, the art of bondage. Ellie saw that the woman on stage was having a long length of rope wrapped around her body. Every now and then the person doing the wrapping would tie an elaborate knot under the breasts, around the waist, and so on before continuing.
She was so absorbed, she didn’t notice when Matt and Lissa arrived until they stood before her, looking totally bemused. “Shit, Ellie. I knew you were interested in this stuff, but are you girls safe here?” asked a worried Matt, pulling his wife closer to him protectively as he looked around him, concerned. Lissa didn’t seem too worried, just fascinated by all the goings-on around her if the look on her face was anything to do by. She was the sort of person who took everything in silently.
Ellie encouraged them to sit, partly because she didn’t want them blocking her view. “Shame Gina and Dan can’t be here, but their honeymoon does take some precedence, I guess,” she joked, referring to another couple in her group of friends.
“I also guess Jessie isn’t here tonight, what with having a baby now.” Lissa referred to the last of the Champagne Friday girls.
“Actually Jessie was going to come and leave Catherine with Sam, but she came down with a bad cold. Jessie, not Catherine. She sounded very annoyed over the phone in between her sneezes,” Ellie said, laughing.
“Jessie’s a lot less shy these days, but I can’t quite see her in a place like this,” argued Matt.
“Rubbish. She would have loved it,” declared Ellie. She always wanted everyone to love what she did, and things like BDSM, which took place in this club, was what she loved. She found the whole lifestyle fascinating, and, ignoring the slightly patronizing looks of her friends, she continued to look around at what was going on. As her gaze moved toward the entrance, she did a double take.
Quickly turning back to her friends, having previously turned her chair away from the table to view the action better, she closed her eyes briefly in resignation and groaned. “Please tell me I am seeing things.”
“What?” Kat, who was sitting next to her, turned her head to peer over her shoulder. “Oh, it’s just Nick.”
“Yes, I know it’s ‘just Nick.’ I was hoping you were going to tell me I was mistaken.” She leaned forward, resting her forehead in her hands, her elbows on the table.
Footsteps stopped immediately behind her chair. “Jon, Ben, Matt, ladies.” Nick greeted everyone.
Starting to feel sick, Ellie guessed that they were all in on this. She was going to kill each and everyone one of them afterward in a variety of evil ways, the vilest she could come up with. Looking up she stared daggers at everyone, but Rebecca in particular, knowing that she must have had something to do with this.
Ben leaned over, taking her hands firmly in his. Even when she tried to pull away, he held her. “Ellie,” he said sharply to make her stop. “Nick wants you to give him a chance to show you that he can be dominant. Let him do a scene. That way you will both know one way or another.”
She couldn’t have been more flabbergasted, partly with the idea of doing anything dominant with Nick but also the fact that he had clearly colluded with her friends on this.
As she took this in, the others at the table melted away, leaving just Kat and Ben, who was still holding her arm, and Nick at her back, plastered so closely she could feel his erection. Ben caught her gaze and held it, saying firmly in his Dom voice, “Let him try.”
Nodding lightly to him, he let go, raising his eyes to the man behind her. Some silent message communicated between them, but she couldn’t read it. Ellie smiled, guessing it was something like, “I’ll be watching you.” Ben rose swiftly, and taking Kat’s hand, they left the table, too. Ellie stayed where she was, waiting to see what Nick would do. She wasn’t going to make it easy for him.
A moment later he leaned his hands on either side of her against the table, fencing her in. She tutted to herself. That was fairly standard domineering stuff. He would have to do better than that. “Come with me, Ellie.” This wasn’t quite a demand, more than a request.
Her lips twitched in amusement, aware she could get her own back and have some fun, so she turned her head slightly, looking at him out of the corner of her eye. “Uh-huh. You and whose army will make me?”
She felt his body tense as he leaned in further to whisper in her ear, “A disrespectful attitude like that will only get you punished.”
Part of her wanted to burst out laughing at this totally out-of-character persona he was putting on, or trying to put on. But part of her was also intrigued to see what he would do next. She guessed he had been having some lessons from Ben.
“Oh yes?” She turned to look him directly in the eye, wanting to really push him, pulling out of his forceful embrace as she did. “How exactly are you going to accomplish that?” she stated in the most patronizing tone she could muster.
A giggle rose in her, knowing her dig had hit home, as his face tightened. But she didn’t expect his next action. Snaking an arm around her waist, he lifted her bodily off her chair, which wasn’t easy due to their similar heights. Shifting her under his arm, he walked in a determined line toward a nearby spanking bench which, coincidentally, just happened to be unoccupied.
Dumping her in a heap on top of the bench which forced an “ow” from her, he proceeded to spread her knees and strap her legs down. When she went to push up to get away from him, he simply pressed her down again very decisively, gathering a wrist firmly to tie it to the bench. She made her annoyance known vocally, loudly telling him exactly where he could go fuck himself.
Nick stoppe
d what he was doing, and coming around to the head of the bench, he leaned forward, his arms either side of her head. “Your safe word is ‘Red.’ Are you giving me your safe word, Ellie? Do you really wish me to stop?”
Getting fed up of this game, she ignored his question. As he moved around the bench to tie her other wrist, thinking her silence meant she was continuing, she took advantage of the moment to try to untie her wrist. Instead of grabbing hold of her as she expected, he just stood there, arms folded, legs spread, giving her a particularly controlling look that she had seen Ben use before now, and along with a raised eyebrow, he waited until she subsided and let him tie the other wrist. Okay. I’ll go along with this, for the moment at least.
Wondering what form his punishment was going to take, she pondered on the various possibilities that she had been shown at the BDSM conference she had attended. Nick moved down the bench, and facedown as she was, she felt him, rather than saw him, raise her dress over her buttocks and run a hand over her globes. Capturing the gasp that threatened to escape, not wanting to give him the satisfaction, she then couldn’t hold back the next one as she felt his fingers venture inside her panties to caress her. God, she was so easy!
“Uh uh. Don’t think you’re getting aroused, my girl. This is supposed to be a punishment for your appalling attitude.” With that, he swiftly laid a quick spank on her.
Her first thought was one of shock, but that was probably because she really hadn’t expected him to go through with it. It didn’t particularly hurt. She smiled to herself. She might actually enjoy this.
Several more hits followed. None of them were desperately hard, which wasn’t surprising since Nick wasn’t known for his brutality. In fact he was the sort of person who refused to kill a spider.
Just as her butt was beginning to feel warm, there was a pause. She tried to look over her shoulder at him which wasn’t easy in this position. His expression was one of “what do I do next?”
The Sub Who Switched [Doms and Acquaintances 3] (Siren Publishing Allure) Page 3