Hanging On (6 page)

Like a good submissive, Drew followed Jonas’s lead. His attention came to rest on her. She caught glimpses of this streak in Drew the previous night.

She still wasn’t sure he had it in him to be a sub, and she didn’t want to let herself entertain fantasies in that direction. Flashes of his face between her legs made her knees weak with need.

“Ask it,” she ordered. Damn Jonas. Now she was stuck with this role.

There was no way to cut him loose without running the risk of ruining Sabrina’s big day. A fledgling submissive needed a trainer. Sophia made a mental note with large, flashing neon letters. She was going to get Jonas back for this.

“How much do you charge for training?”

The question had an edge she recognized as jealousy. A string of curses flowed through her brain. She was going to have to deal with that unreasonable emotion first. She absolutely hated this kind of relationship with a submissive. They were so damn needy. He had to learn that this was only play and that she did not belong to him.

Jonas’s eyebrows shot skyward. He pointed toward a drawer in the desk.

“You might find something useful in there to help explain the price of training. We’re going to take a break in the kitchen for about a half hour.” Without another word, he left the room, closing the door tightly behind him.

Sophia didn’t move to lock it. Nobody would dare interrupt. She looked over at Drew, noted the dangerous set of his lips, and then crossed the room to check out the contents of the drawer Jonas indicated.

They were different kinds of Doms, Jonas and Sophia. She doubted he had any of the materials she really wanted to use on Drew. She hoped he had something she could use to remind Drew what kind of punishment was coming.

Though she hadn’t wanted to take on a new submissive, she knew she had already changed her mind. Her nipples hardened and her pussy pulsed with anticipation. With one impulsive act, Drew overrode her reluctance to engage in a sexual relationship with him.

God, how she wanted to fuck him!

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Now, she only needed his permission. More than wanting it, Drew had to ask for it. The drawer yielded various restraint devices, illustrating the differences between her style and Jonas’s. Sophia liked to use toys of all kinds. She liked to dominate multiple partners. He and Sabrina were so tame in comparison. She wasn’t even fully aware of all the ways in which he dominated her, and he likely preferred it that way.

Sophia wanted Drew to know exactly what she was doing to dominate him.

Digging deeper into the drawer, she found a short whip. Lifting it, the strips of leather spilled over one another like a waterfall. She’d used a similar one on Livia the night before. She didn’t want to hurt him, just teach him a lesson.

Sophia lifted the whip from the drawer and set it on the desk in plain sight. Then she looked up at Drew. He had watched silently, his blue eyes clouding with worry, probably wondering what she planned to do next. The secret she could never tell him was that she was making it up as she went along. Submissives needed to trust that their needs were going to be met, that their Dom knew exactly what she was doing. Sophia hadn’t expected to see Drew today, and she had never taken on someone to train.

Rounding the desk, she stopped inches from Drew. Sparks crackled between them. He would be hers before the night was over, or they would both go up in flames. She placed her hand gently on his cheek and searched his face for consent.

“Tell me what you want, Drew.” She kept her voice low and sultry, directing him in the same tone she would use to praise him during and after sex.

He leaned down to kiss her. In that second, she faltered. She hadn’t kissed him last night. She knew only what his lips felt like between her legs.

Her breasts swelled as he moved closer, wanting to feel him against her, wanting that intimacy.

Drawing on her reserves, she regained control before any permanent damage was done. He couldn’t know how much she wanted his kiss. The hand on his cheek slid to cover his mouth. “No touching without permission.” She made no attempt to move him away from her, but she did drop her hand. She needed his senses to be filled with her. “Be honest, Drew. Tell me what you want.”

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He shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans, restraining himself.

When he spoke, his sweet breath fanned her lips, her cheek, and her chin. “I want to kiss you, Sophia. I want to touch you all over with my hands and my mouth. I want to know the taste of every square inch of your body. I want to feel you beneath me, naked, as I thrust into you slowly and deeply. I want to watch your face when you come and know I gave that to you.” Sophia smiled, a serenity settling over her as he tried to seduce her with words. Oh, man, he was good. She might enjoy this more than she thought.

She parted her lips ever so slightly. Drew’s breathing sped up as the heat between them increased. “Do you want to know what training entails?” He nodded. Remembering her earlier warning, he also vocalized his answer. “Yes.”

“Take your shirt off, and get on your knees.” He slipped his light cotton shirt over his head. For the first time, she noticed it said Sensual Secrets in faded print across the chest. How had she missed that earlier?

He dropped to his knees, settling automatically back on his heels.

“Eyes on the floor in front of you.” She waited for him to comply. “This is the position in which you will wait for me to discipline you.” He tensed.

“Yes, Drew, you have definitely earned another punishment. You’ll get some of that now, but I’ll save the majority of it for later.” His chin lifted. He gasped. “Sophia…”

“Mistress,” she corrected. “You have not earned the right to use my name.”

The tip of his tongue darted out, licking his bottom lip. She wanted to suck on it too badly. “Mistress…”

“Not yet, Drew. First, we have some rules to discuss. Pay attention because I do not care to repeat myself. Breaking any of the rules will result in punishment.”

He lowered his eyes automatically, already submitting in small ways. It was a beginning. She could already see that sexual torture would be more effective with him than whipping.

“Four nights a week, people come to me, and they pay a lot of money to be tied up and whipped. You will never come to me there.” She wanted to

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add that she didn’t want to see him there at all, that she didn’t want anyone else touching him, but that would be going too far.

Leaning over, she snagged the whip from the desk and moved to stand behind him. He tensed anew. His hands came out of his pockets to clench on his thighs.

She ran the tips of the leather tongues over his shoulders, watching them twitch at the caress. “You’re special, Drew. I don’t usually care to train new submissives, but I can’t seem to resist this challenge.” He wasn’t going to submit easily. In other subs, that was a deterrent. With Drew, it was somehow different. Even now, he fed her need to be in control as he fought his need to be in control.

Sophia licked her lips, knowing he was completely unaware of just how nervous she was. “Work is purely business. My time with you is pleasure and pain. Make no mistake, this will not be easy for you. I am demanding. I expect complete obedience, and my punishments always exact a price.” He started at her use of the word “price,” and a slow blush crept up his chest. Her heart sang to see he realized his mistake. She wanted there to be no question that she didn’t have sex in exchange for money.

Cupping one palm under his chin, she lifted his face. “And when you are a good boy, Drew, when you do exactly as I want, the rewards are worth it.”

The muscles in his jaw relaxed, and he swallowed. The clouds were gone from his eyes, replaced with smoldering flames. He wanted her.

“No matter what happens between us, there is no romantic relationship implied. You and I are friends, nothing more. You are free to date and do as you please when you are not with me, and so am I. The only restraint I put on you is that you cannot come without my permission. This means you can’t have sex with your date unless I say you can, and you can’t masturbate unless I say you can.”

From the heat in his eyes, he didn’t see that to be a problem. Sophia didn’t react. He would find out what that rule would cost him all too soon.

Given his reputation, she expected him to start dating again within a week after she slept with him, which she planned to do later that evening. She couldn’t wait to punish him
and
his date.

“I advise you to date women or men open to threesomes, darling.”
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The wheels in his head were turning. He likely wanted to know what rumors she heard about him to make her leave the gender of his date open-ended. She wasn’t going to tell him she was guessing. Of course, she had overheard Ginny and Sabrina talking about how Drew liked to date couples, but she wasn’t going to get into that with him here and now. Neither of them knew specifics, and Sophia wasn’t going to pretend she did.

She released his chin and drew the stiff handle of the whip across his shoulders. “Do you have any questions before I carry out your punishment?”

“Yes.” His voice was husky and low with desire. It affected her too much.

She leaned against the desk behind him, wanting to give him safety and space, but not too much. “Ask them.”

“I know Jonas and Sabrina do this kind of thing, but they keep it in the bedroom. I’ve seen other people who take this sort of ‘friendship’ public.

Given my career, I can’t have this public, especially not when I’m in a submissive role where I’m not sure I belong. We’re in a wedding together, which means we’ll be together in public. How do I know when I’ll have to watch my behavior or risk your wrath?”

While she didn’t hide who she was or what she did for a living, she wasn’t a publicly demonstrative person, either. “All punishments will be administered privately. I expect that when we’re together in public, you treat me with dignity and respect. If we’re with one another, you must be next to me. You showed some natural submissiveness by standing behind me this afternoon.”

He turned sharply to glare at her. “I’m standing because my ass is too sore to sit for long.”

Sophia smiled in response to his discomfort. Whether he knew it or not, he had been standing next to her because he felt a bond with her. The room was vast, and there were many other places to stand. “You’d better get used to it, Drew. I’ll leave you sore more times than not.” He exhaled in resignation and turned back, facing away from Sophia, just as she had positioned him. It was the price of being with her. “Mistress, you still didn’t answer my question. How do I know?” Closing the space between them, she leaned down to whisper in his ear.

“The game is always on until one of us calls a time-out. It’s a game, Drew.

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It’s sensual and sexual. It’ll push you past the limits you thought you had into something unbelievable, but it’s just a game. What’s the safe word?”

“Onion.” He was hoarse. It was a good sign.

“That’s the word that will halt the action. It only starts up again when we both agree to start it again.”

She dipped her head so that her breath fanned on his neck below his earring. He trembled. “This game only works when we have clear rules and clear boundaries.”

He tilted his neck ever so slightly, opening himself to her. “How often will I get to see you?”

Sophia shrugged and stood up, moving away from him. “Whenever. I work. You work. I have a social life. You have a social life. I’m thinking once or twice a week.”

The pulse on his neck ticked faster. “What if that’s not enough for me?”

“If you want to see me, it never hurts to ask.” She chuckled at her own joke. The handle of the whip itched in her hand, begging to be used. “Are you finished?”

Slowly, he turned, twisting until his eyes met hers. “May I kiss you?” Hunger emanated from every pore of his body, knocking the breath from her. She wanted him to kiss her, but she knew she wouldn’t be the one in control if he did. She needed to keep that secret from him as long as she could. The game was over as soon as he found out just how profoundly he affected her, and the damn man had yet to touch her.

“No, but I will make it part of your punishment.” Drew sighed, and his laugh was self-deprecating. “I don’t remember the last time I did anything so desperate for a kiss. But, good God, Sophia, I can’t get you out of my head. I can’t stop imagining what your lips feel like on mine. I want to know if your mouth tastes as sweet as your pussy.” The obvious punishment would be a whipping, but she knew there wasn’t enough time to make him sorry. Last night’s spanking hadn’t seemed to affect him much. When they rejoined the rest of the guests, most of them would look at Drew to see how he was coping with the discipline.

Sophia fixed him with an impish smile. “Are you aware that most of the people out there know exactly what I’m going to do to you?” Anxiety made his eyes wide. Now she had him.

“Stand up and drop your pants.”

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With excruciating slowness, he rose, never taking his eyes from her. He fought for courage, or at least to camouflage his apprehension. The result was a total lack of emotion. She couldn’t have that. The success of their games depended on him opening his feelings completely. It confirmed that whipping him was not the wisest course of action. She had to bring his emotions back into play.