by Tara Sue Me
She hoped they weren’t going to have sex.
Lance hadn’t appeared to be in a mood for sexy times when he stood by the bar earlier. Victoria didn’t either. But that didn’t mean they weren’t going to.
She was never touching alcohol again.
Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad if she closed her eyes. Maybe they would do whatever they were going to do quietly, and it’d be completely normal like…
Hell, she was hiding under a guy’s desk. There was nothing even remotely normal about what she was doing. She needed to get that in her head. Cloudy and sloshed as it was at the moment.
Victoria walked into the room and right in the middle of a blue rug, knelt on her knees. Celeste told herself she was surprised and that Victoria kneeling was the most unexpected thing ever, but it did no good.
Somehow she’d known. Something in his mannerisms whispered seductive suggestions with his every move.
Not only that, but she wasn’t so out of it that she tried to pretend the thought of a power exchange relationship with Lance wasn’t the most arousing thing to ever cross her mind. She could think it as long as he never found out.
God, he could never find out.
Victoria straightened her back and less than ten seconds later came the methodical sound of footsteps. The door closed. The footsteps came closer. She closed her eyes.
Holy shit, why had she thought this was a good idea?
Her heart pounded so loud in the confined space she’d squeezed herself into there was no way the two inhabitants of the room couldn’t hear it.
“Look at me.”
His voice sounded more commanding than it ever had before and Celeste opened her eyes on the off chance he was speaking to her. He wasn’t of course, but that didn’t matter. As soon as her gaze fell on him and she saw how magnificent he appeared, she only wanted to keep looking at him.
“Sir?” Victoria asked and even being on her knees didn’t keep the irritation from her voice.
“Yes.”
“Before you say anything, I have a question.” At his nod she continued. “I thought you said you didn’t do D/s here?”
“I don’t. This is a first.”
Victoria liked the sound of that. It was obvious by the way her face seemed to beam at his words.
“It would be unwise for you to assume that’s a good thing,” he said, and Victoria deflated. Lance, however, didn’t stop or acknowledge the change in her demeanor. “What did I tell you this morning about your arrival tonight?”
“That you would send a car.”
“And yet I recall I was late arriving tonight because someone decided to play games with me.”
“That’s because,” Victoria shut her mouth at the sight of Lance snapping his fingers in her face.
“Not another word.” The roughness of his voice made Celeste's body yearn in the most peculiar way. “Not only was I late, but you refused to be anywhere near me the entire evening. I don’t play vindictive or childish games and I will not accept anyone serving me to play them. I believe we discussed as much when we first got together, did we not?”
“Yes, Sir.” She huffed. “But would it have killed you to come get me? You know, like a real date?”
“You don’t think we’ve been real?”
“I think if we had been, you would have picked me up instead of sending a car.”
“A car you agreed to ride earlier today.”
Victoria didn’t have a response. Celeste could barely breathe. What was he going to do? Would he spank her? Make her suck his cock? Fuck. How much longer would she be stuck under this desk?
Lance didn’t seem bothered by her lack of reply. “There will be a car waiting for you outside in five minutes. The driver will take you home. You are free to find another Dominant as I am no longer yours. You are excused.”
Victoria gracefully rose to her feet and left the room without saying a word.
Celeste took a deep breath and let relief wash over her body. Nothing was going to happen in his room tonight. Now all she had to do was wait until Lance left and she could escape to her own room.
She waited.
Why wasn’t he leaving?
Why was he standing there?
He turned and faced the desk. She sucked in a breath. Did he know she was hiding? But how?
“I will not play games with you, either. Get out from under my desk, Celeste.”
Chapter Seven
Lance crossed his arms and waited for Celeste to come out from under his desk. He knew she would; it wasn’t a matter of if, but when. In less time than he expected, she crawled out and stood up, though she stumbled twice in the process. Fuck. How much had she had to drink? She refused to look at him, but studied the blue rug he had on the floor.
If she was his submissive, he’d command her to look at him. But since she wasn’t, he’d allow her to look at the floor. For now.
“Tell me why you were under my desk.”
She pressed her lips together as if she wasn’t going to answer, but then she took a deep breath and replied, “I had to see if I was right, Sir.”
Fuck what it did to him when she called him ‘Sir’. He wanted to take her over his knee and thrash her soundly for spying on him with Victoria. Push himself into her, take her to the edge of pleasure, and make her stay on the edge until she begged him to let her come. He silently counted to ten to get himself back under control. “Right about what?”
“Right about you being a Dominant.”
He’d been ready for any answer other than that one. “Look at me,” he commanded her. “If you’re going imply you knew before entering my room that I was a Dominant, you can look me in the eyes when you talk to me. And while I appreciate the formality, I’m not your Sir. I’m only Lance.”
She lifted her head and though he expected to see a hint of fear, her eyes were calm, showing perhaps interest, and definitely arousal, but no fear. He could think of only one conceivable reason and the implications if he turned out to be correct left him speechless for a long moment. “You’re not inexperienced with the lifestyle,” he stated.
“No. I’m not,” she replied even though he hadn’t asked a question.
“You’re a submissive?”
She shrugged. “I’ve never been to a club or a group or anything like that. It’s just something a man I dated was into and he introduced me to what he liked. I wasn’t aware it was a real thing people did and gave names to until it became more mainstream years ago.”
Lance almost stumbled under the weight of her words. He repeated them in his head to make sure he’d heard her right before asking questions. A few of her words, 'man' and 'years' in particular, stood out. “How old were you when this man,” she’d used 'man' and not 'guy', “introduced you to his preferences?”
“Nineteen.”
Fuck. Still so young. “How old was he?”
Her eyes danced with mischief. “The first man or the one I learned the most from?”
He tried to school his expression, but he probably didn’t do a great job. “How many Dominants have you been with?”
“Only the two. The first one was twenty-four, and I was with him for six months and the last man I was with for three years. I left him a year ago and I haven’t been with anyone since, Dominant or not.” She sighed. “He had just turned forty and didn’t want me to go to Juilliard or play the violin. He wanted to settle down and have a ton of kids. I wasn’t at that point in my life. I’m still not.”
His head spun trying to process everything she said. His cock, of course, needed no such clarification, being perfectly content with hearing her say she’d served two Dominants for almost four years.
“Why tonight?” He asked. “What made you decide tonight was the night you’d find out for sure?”
Her cheeks flushed again like they had earlier but a hue darker this time. “If I had to guess, I’d say it’s a combination between too much alcohol and that mask you were wearing.”
“The
mask?” He didn’t remember taking it off, but he wasn’t wearing it anymore so he obviously had at some point.
“When you had it on and you smiled, I instantly thought of the wolf from Little Red Riding Hood,” she said.
“I made you think of what?” he asked because she looked serious when she said it.
“Whenever you smiled, it made me want to comment on the size of your teeth and then I could imagine you saying something about eating me up.” She laughed, but then seemed to realize both what she said and that he wasn’t laughing because her expression grew serious. “Sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. Like I said, I also blame the alcohol. I rarely drink.”
“No need to apologize, I asked.” Lance shifted his feet. Her laugh had been low and throaty and hadn’t done his cock any favors nor had the images her unexpected comment about eating her brought to mind. And as a result, he was uncomfortably hard.
He should tell her to leave his room. Leave it this minute and not to return, but he couldn’t get his mouth to form the words. Instead, he took a step closer to her. “And what did you see happening if you discovered I was a Dominant?”
Her eyes grew darker and her lips parted. The tip of her tongue appeared only long enough to wet them. She looked at the erection he didn’t try to hide. “I… I don’t know.”
“Look at me.” He waited until she met his gaze before adding, “Liar.”
Her mouth opened, and he waited for her to deny what he’d just said, but she swayed and whispered, “Yes, I am.”
Fuck. What the hell was he doing? By her own admission she’d had too much to drink. As soon as the words left her mouth, he should have shown her the door. And he hadn’t. He’d kept her in his room. Not only that, but he’d pushed her. Even now they stood so close all she had to do was move forward an inch or two and she’d be able to feel how hard he was for her.
“You’re drunk,” he said. “You need to leave. We’ll discuss this more when you’re sober.”
“But-”
“I wasn’t speaking because I find the sound of my voice pleasant, Ms. Walsh. Since you are a submissive and have confirmed the suspicion you had about me, you should listen and leave now. And take those heels off. You can’t stand without swaying and I won’t have you tripping and breaking your neck on your way down the hall.”
Without a word, she slipped her heels off, and walked to his door. Her hand hovered above the door knob, and she glanced over her shoulder. He made his eyes as cold as possible until she turned back around and opened the door.
He didn’t breathe until it closed behind her.
Chapter Eight
Two weeks later Celeste wasn’t sure if she’d made up the evening she spent hiding under Lance’s desk or not. Though she only saw him a few times since the party, not one of those times had he brought up the discussion he’d said they would have after she sobered up. Nor did any of his mannerisms hint that anything out of the ordinary had ever passed between them.
Unless she counted her daydreams, and of those, she had plenty. In her favorite, she knelt before Lance, just as she'd seen Victoria do. Except when Lance spoke to her, his voice didn't have an angry edge to it. Granted, it was still a demanding tone, but it was sensual. Seductive. In her fantasy, he spoke only her name, and when she looked up, he held out a hand to assist her to stand. She knew that meant he wanted her to play for him and she turned to get her instrument. But before she took a step, his hand was on her shoulder, spinning her around. She was in his arms and he lowered his head to taste her lips.
Reality, however, was infuriating as hell because she didn't know what he was up to. Did he want to play some sort of game? One that only he knew the rules to? She didn’t think so, especially when she remembered what he said about how he didn’t play games when he was chastising Victoria.
Even then, she waited another week before knocking on his bedroom door. It was a Tuesday night and Barbara had retired not long after dinner. A few days after the benefit, Barbara had asked her if Tuesday evenings would be a good time to meet and eat together on a weekly basis. She’d agreed and had since learned that the older woman went into the city on Thursdays to have lunch with Micheal.
Though she enjoyed their dinners together, she had to admit she was glad Barbara had turned in for the night and would be unaware of her visit to her grandson’s room.
“Come in,” Lance said in response to her knock.
She opened the door and stuck her head in. “May I come in?”
“Yes,” he said. “Close the door, please.”
She closed the door and pressed her back against it, feeling odd for some reason at being in his space again. He was sitting on a love seat in the sitting area of his room, and at her entrance, he put down the papers he’d been reading. She didn’t make up the interest she saw in his eyes. “What can I help you with Ms. Walsh?”
“It’s not really anything,” she said.
“If that was true, we wouldn’t be having this conversation because you would be in your room instead of mine.”
He had her there. She took a deep breath. “I was wondering when you would come to me to discuss the night of the benefit. It’s been three weeks.”
“I see,” he said, but she had no idea what he was looking for. “Come sit down.”
She’d prefer to stay by the door. Easier to make a quick getaway. Not that she thought he would do anything to make her want to run out the door, but she liked having an exit within arm’s reach. However, she saw the determination in his eyes and he didn’t have to say a word for her to understand he wouldn’t do anything else or likely say anything else until she did what he asked.
She pushed back from the door and walked the few steps needed to get to the seating area. He moved over, giving her room to sit next to him if she wished. She did not and sat instead in a lone armchair.
He chuckled but said nothing until she sat down. “Now then,” he said. “You said you’ve been wondering when I would come and discuss the night of the benefit with you?”
“Yes,” she said, almost adding ‘sir’ until she remembered his opinion on her use of the title.
“Did it cross your mind to think I was perhaps waiting for the same from you?”
“Why would you wait for me?”
He raised an eyebrow. “Because you were intoxicated, and I wasn’t one hundred percent certain you would remember our conversation.”
She dropped her head, ashamed once more at her behavior the night of the benefit. Thank goodness Lance had been the only one to observe it.
“Celeste?” he asked, his use of her first name felt oddly intimate.
She looked up and met his eyes, recalling what his last statement had been. “I didn’t forget our conversation.”
His pleasure at her response lit up his entire face. God help her, it was impossible to look away from him. She realized at that minute he didn’t want her to.
“I’m glad,” he said, and patted the empty place bedside him, “Come sit next to me.”
She rose and did what he asked, finding what surprised her when she sat down wasn’t that she’d obeyed him, but at how right it’d felt to do so. Curious to see how Lance felt, she looked at him, and her breath caught.
His eyes glowed with a sparkle she’d never seen. At least not on him. It was the look her last Dom gave her when she’d pleased him. All at once, the atmosphere in the room changed and the space between them became charged. The very air buzzed. Maybe because she somehow knew what was coming next.
He moved closer, his gaze touching her lips, returning to her eyes. “I’m going to kiss you,” he whispered, and all she could do was to reply just as softly, “Yes.”
He closed the distance between them and cupped her chin, but he didn’t move to kiss her yet. His thumb caressed her cheekbone with slow and seductive circles. All the while his eyes grew darker, heating her body with sensual intent.
The submissive inside her knelt in supplication and she swore she heard h
is inner Dominant roar as he came fully to life.
And yet when she closed her eyes, and his lips brushed hers, his kiss was soft and light. Again his kiss came, confident and controlled as he seduced her with that slight touch. She moaned. Wanting more. Needing more. He drew her closer, opened his mouth, and intensified the kiss.
Her body trembled as his lips grew harder and more demanding. Oh, God, yes. She clutched his shirt, the fabric fisted with her fingers. Without pulling away, he loosened her hair from its ponytail, letting it fall about her shoulders. He pulled his fingers through its length.
She whimpered when he broke away, but he silenced her with a sharp nip on her earlobe. He ran his tongue around the curve of her ear and whispered, “I want to feel you naked under me. To see you tremble with need and want as I stretch my body out above you, pushing your knees apart, and preparing you to take the full length of my cock.”
The sound of his voice and the words he spoke only heightened her need and in doing so reminded her how long it’d been. Not only how long she’d gone without sex but how much time had passed since she was able to allow herself to submit.
And damn it all, she wanted to submit to Lance. She didn’t care if it was a bad idea. That if anyone found out, it would be frowned upon. That if his grandmother knew, she’d be disappointed. She could handle both the frowns and the disappointment. What she could no longer handle was not having Lance.
“God, yes, Lance,” she said. “Please.”
He pulled back and made sure she saw his eyes. They were still dark with lust, but there was something else there as well and it was that something else that spoke to the inner need she’d denied herself for so long.
“If you’re certain,” he said. “And if we do this tonight, then I believe it’s time for you to call me 'Sir.’”
“Tonight, Sir?” She hadn’t expected him to suggest anything tonight. Hadn’t he told Victoria that he only played at his penthouse and never here? Or had she made that up in her tipsy stupor?