A Passionate Discovery (Self-Discovery Series) (2 page)

"Hello,
gorgeous, you're late."

The new
arrival, who Carla immediately surmised was Scarlett's date, was handsome, she
couldn't deny that.

"And
this must be the elusive Carla," he said, holding out his hand and
smiling, though only after lifting Scarlett into his arms and twirling her
around, before setting her down with a kiss.

"Carla,
this big hunk is Daniel, Daniel, my best friend Carla." Wrapping her hand
in his Scarlett looked up at him adoringly.

Carla was
stunned by the depth of feeling in her friend's eyes; she'd never seen Scarlett
look that way at a man before. "It's nice to meet you, Daniel."

"And
you, Carla, I feel like I know you personally, even though we've just met; Scarlett
speaks about you all the time." As if it wasn't something he did usually
he laughed when he shook her hand.

"Thanks,
I think," Carla said, raising an eyebrow in her friend's direction,
wondering what Scarlett had said about her, in her opinion she wasn't
interesting enough to talk about.

"Everyone
else is already down in the basement, but if you would like to eat first I'll
stay with you," Daniel told Scarlett, the look on his face suggesting that
she was the most important thing in the world to him.

"Um, Carla,
would you mind if we grab something to eat after I introduce you?" Scarlett
asked nervously. That night amounted to a coming out party for her and she was
more than a little concerned. No one outside of those involved in it knew about
her secret life, not even her best friend, and she wasn't sure how Carla was
going to take what she had to say.

Seeing Scarlett
so nervous, and obviously embarrassed, was a first for Carla; her friend had
never been anything but confident and in control before, no matter where they
had been or what they were doing. "I'm really not that hungry," she
said finally. She had no idea what was going on, but it was clear that it was
something out of the ordinary.

"Okay,
well what I'm about to share with you is something I've been hiding for a long
time." Scarlett hesitated, biting her lip anxiously. "This is a big
step for me, letting you into this part of my life, but if you can't handle it,
I'll understand. Just say the word and I'll drive you straight home; I just
hope that it won't change our friendship."

Carla
could see the desperation in her friend's eyes and felt a moment's panic. What
could be so bad that Scarlett would worry about their friendship, she wondered.
"Scarlett, I love you, but I have to be honest, you're scaring the shit
out of me right now."

"I
think you're making things worse than they need to be, babe. Just take her
downstairs; if she freaks out, we'll take her home." Daniel winked at Carla
before turning and holding out his hand to his date. Scarlett took his hand and
Daniel smiled. "Just stay close behind us until we introduce you, Carla."
With those words he led off with Scarlett at his side, while Carla followed
behind them, her stomach tying itself in knots.

CHAPTER TWO

Daniel
opened the basement door and ushered Scarlett inside, "Close the door
behind you, Carla." He smiled at her before wrapping his arm in Scarlett's
and leading her down the carpeted stairs. 

Carla
nodded and walked through the door, closing it behind her nervously.  As she descended
the stairs into the huge basement her eyes widened in surprise and trepidation;
never in her life had she seen anything like what was before her eyes.  She
held her breath as she took in everything.

There were
close to fifty people filling the huge space, all of them in a series of unimaginable
positions.  The furniture that graced the room was completely foreign to her,
as was the sight of people being whipped, or bound to strange objects.  She
felt her head grow light as she looked around at the sensual chaos, and had to
remind herself to take a breath.

"You
okay, Carla," Scarlett bit her lip, fearful that her friend was going to
completely freak out and run back up the stairs.

Nodding
her head, Carla took a few more deep breaths and tried to calm her racing
heart.  It was pretty obvious to her that Scarlett was involved in some really
strange stuff since she had brought her here, and she was trying to keep an
open mind because she was her friend.  Her mind was in shock, but what surprised
her the most was the fact that she wasn't completely repulsed by the sight
before her.

Her grey
eyes turned to a pair of women, one of whom was bound; her hands stretched high
above her head, while the other flogged her. The sounds of pleasure escaping
the lips of the woman being flogged sent a strange wave of heat through her
body. That surprised her more than the act she was witnessing.

"I
told you you were making more of this than you needed to." Daniel smiled
as he watched Carla’s face, and the expressions that crossed it.  It was
apparent to him that she was enjoying the show. "Carla I'm going to ask
you to wear this while you're down here, so no one mistakes you for a
submissive." He pulled a sterling silver bracelet from his pocket and
waited for her to give her consent.

Reluctantly,
Carla tore her eyes from the couple and nodded, still too shocked to speak. She
held her hand out to Daniel and he slid the cool metal onto her wrist. 

"If
you feel like joining in," he grinned widely, showing a perfect smile,
"just take it off."

"Um
no, I think I'll just watch," she whispered as her face flushed bright
red.

Daniel
laughed deeply. "Shame." He pulled Scarlett into his arms and
whispered into her ear, when he finished she walked away.

Carla was
about to follow, until Daniel's voice stopped her. "Give her a few minutes,
Carla, she's going to change." He smiled at her again and held out his arm.

She took
his arm, feeling a little uncomfortable not having Scarlett with her, and he
led her over to a long leather couch. He motioned for her to sit and then
joined her. "Listen, Carla, this was a huge step for Scarlett, so I hope
you're okay with this."

"I
love Scarlett like a sister; I'm not sure about all this," she whispered
softly, not wanting to be heard by the other guests, "but if this is what
she wants, I'll support her."

"I'm
glad she has a friend like you then. Just one more thing; we don't talk about
this room."  His voice turned stern.  "I'm sure you understand that
we all have lives outside of what you see here. Scarlett assured me we could
trust you, and I trust her completely."

For
reasons she didn't understand, his change in tone made her nervous and she
nodded quickly.  "I promise I won't speak about it." She hated how the
intensity in his eyes made her voice shake.

"Good."
He smiled warmly, the earlier demanding tone gone from his voice. "Who
knows, maybe you'll discover it's something you'd like to try."

Carla’s
eyes widened at his comment and she shook her head quickly. The response made
him laugh and she blushed deeply again.  She clenched her hands tight in her
lap and lowered her eyes; she was in so far over her head she couldn’t see the
surface anymore and her heart was pounding painfully in her chest.

Scarlett
returned then and Carla was startled to see she was completely nude, except for
a slim black leather collar. Strangely enough, Carla had to admit her friend
had never looked more beautiful. Scarlett had always been gorgeous, with her
long legs, beautiful face and long, silky blonde, hair, but she appeared almost
humble this way, with a slight flush to her porcelain skin.  It suited her, Carla
thought to herself.

Scarlett
knelt at Daniel’s feet, thrusting her breasts up proudly, a content smile on
her face. "May I speak, Master?" she whispered the question
respectfully.

"Yes
you can, babe." Daniel reached out a hand and lightly caressed her hair.

"Are
we okay, Carla?" Her eyes lifted to her friend’s, desperate for her to
understand that this what she needed.

"Scarlett,
I could never not love you." She smiled, fighting the blush that rose to
her cheeks at her friend’s position. "If this is what you truly want, then
you have my blessing."  She meant it, she thought to herself as she kept
her eyes on her friend’s face, not wanting to look at the body on display.

"This
really means a lot to me, Carla, I would never want to jeopardize our
friendship, but it's been very hard hiding the truth from you."  A
relieved sigh left her lips; it had taken her two years to get up the nerve to
share her secret lifestyle with her friend.

"Carla,
I'd like to play with my pet, if you're comfortable being here." Daniel
smiled and glanced down at Scarlett with a heated glance.

"I'm
fine." Though she wouldn’t have admitted it if she had been asked, she was
curious to know what her friend did.

"Thank
you." Daniel smiled and stood up. "If you get too overwhelmed, please
feel free to return to the buffet upstairs." He held out his hand to Scarlett
and she stood to follow him across the room.

Left to
her own devices, Carla glanced around the room through lowered lashes.  She had
to bite back a gasp as she noticed a couple on a strange looking bench.  The
male partner had the female bound by her hands and legs and was taking her
forcefully from behind.  She turned her eyes away quickly, feeling as if she
were invading their privacy.

All around
her people were engaged in sensual acts of pleasure and pain; the smells of sex
and leather were inescapable. She had no idea why, but she found herself
getting excited, and had to cross her legs to stop the strange feelings between
her thighs. Her eyes found Daniel and Scarlett and she thought her heart would
stop.

Scarlett
was tied to what looked like a cross, her beautiful body stretched taut as Daniel
lashed her back forcefully with a strange whip made from dozens of thick
leather straps. Carla couldn’t take her eyes from the sight; her friend’s moans
of pleasure had her body tingling in ways she'd never known before. 

She'd
always thought Scarlett was beautiful, and wondered about her own sexuality
because of it, since men didn’t turn her on. She and Scarlett had talked about
it and she had discovered her friend enjoyed both sexes. They’d never done
anything but talk however; Carla had been too scared of risking her friendship.

Feeling
the strange wetness between her legs she stood quickly and hurried for the
stairs, needing to get out of the room for a moment. She was in such a hurry
she almost slammed into the tall man walking down the stairs. "I'm
sorry," she whispered in embarrassment, raising her eyes to find herself
looking into one of the most beautiful faces she’d ever encountered.

"Leaving
so soon, princess." His dark blue eyes were filled with humor as he
reached his arms down to steady the slight girl before him. She looked barely
old enough to drink, much less be playing in his dungeon.

"I, I
just need a drink." Forcing her eyes away from his gorgeous face, Carla
tried to catch her breath. Holy sin, he was beautiful she thought, her eyes
resting on his chest, which was covered by a gray shirt that looked ready to
burst at the seams.

A slight
smirk appeared on his face as he noticed her staring at his chest, and then his
eyes lowered to the bracelet on her wrist in disappointment. "You must be Scarlett's
friend." Too bad, he thought, she would have been a nice diversion to a
stressful week.

Forcing
her eyes back to his face, she couldn't stop the shiver of awareness that moved
through her. The man was absolute perfection.  His dark wavy hair had her
longing to run her fingers through it; the impulse startled her. What she had
witnessed was screwing with her mind, she thought, surprised by the desire that
struck her. "Yes I am, and I really need to get out of here for a few
minutes." Not meaning to be rude she swept by him and quickly walked up
the stairs, pushing through the door.

She couldn't
breathe, and the last thing she wanted was to hurt Scarlett's feelings. Her
heart was racing and her body was feeling things that made no sense to her; for
reasons she couldn’t explain she felt like crying. Finding her way to the
buffet she opened one of the bottles of champagne and filled a glass to the
rim; she wasn’t normally a drinker, but just then she felt a powerful need for
alcohol. She hoped it would calm her down and help her to make sense of things.

She took a
deep gulp of the bubbly liquid and coughed as it went down too quickly, choking
her. What was wrong with her, she wondered miserably. It wasn’t exactly a
normal day for her, but she was a sensible woman, not a child, and there was no
reason for her to freak out because she got turned on watching people being
beaten. Fighting mentally with herself, she took another big gulp of the
champagne.

"Are
you okay?" The girl wasn't part of his world, and it was clear she had
been upset by what she'd seen. He had warned Daniel that bringing someone like
her into their world was not a good idea.

Carla
jumped and spilled the glass of champagne down the front of her dress. Grabbing
a cloth napkin, she blotted away the dampness as tears fell from her eyes. 
"I'm fine." Now she was acting like a blubbering idiot, on top of
obviously being a sex fiend who was turned on by the scenes downstairs.

“Calm
down, sweetheart." Without even knowing why he did it, he walked over and
pulled the girl's small form into his arms. She stiffened and he was about to
let her go when she wrapped her arms around him and held on tight, sobbing.

For the
first time in his life, Jason was at a loss as to what to do. The only thing he
could think of was to hold her against his chest until her sobs subsided. 

What was
she doing? She felt horrified with her actions as she pushed out of the
stranger's arms.  "I'm s-sorry," she whimpered pitifully, having no
idea what had come over her. He smelled so good and she was surprised to find
she wanted to throw herself back into his arms, even as her face burned in
embarrassment. 

Looking
down at her petite form he found himself thinking she looked like a doll,
despite the tears that filled her beautiful eyes. She was definitely a beauty
he thought.  "Mind telling me what's wrong? Maybe I can help."  He
smiled in an effort to lighten her mood; a crying woman that wasn't kneeling at
his feet was something he had little experience with.

When he
smiled, she felt as though the breath had been knocked from her body and she
trembled in awareness.  "I, um, well." She was so embarrassed that
she couldn't form a coherent thought, let alone express it. It didn't help that
he was drop-dead gorgeous. She parted her lips to try and speak, but all that
escaped was a sigh of longing.

He
chuckled deeply, surprised to feel his cock twitch as she stared at him like
something she wanted to devour. He was a man, but women didn’t normally turn
him on unless they were kneeling and calling him master. "Sweetheart, if
you keep looking at me like that, this conversation is going to take place in
my bedroom."

"I, I
was- wasn't looking at…" Her cheeks burned even hotter, if that was
possible, and she covered her face with her hands. Could the humiliation get
any worse, she thought to herself? After twenty-four years she had finally
found a man desirable, and she was making a complete idiot of herself. 

"Hey,
none of that." With another chuckle he reached up and pulled her hands
from her face. "I'm flattered, sweetheart." She stared up at him, and
it was easy for him to see that he made her nervous. That was a big turn on,
but he knew from Daniel that this girl was pretty vanilla, unless she'd been
hiding secrets of her own from her friend; he hoped like hell that was the
case.

"So
what did you think of my dungeon?" He had to know the answer. As sexy as
she was, if she neither played in his world nor had any interest in it he
wouldn't pursue things any further.

"You're
Ja-Jason." Carla groaned softly, realizing she had not only made a fool of
herself, but she had done so in front of the house's owner. She was out of her
element with a man in the first place, but a man like him, there was no way she
could even think about him in a romantic way.