Knowing the Ropes (3 page)

Good call. The newbies, especially the youngest and most hapless, were her special charges.

By the time he came back with Alison, Selene had one arm around the crying girl, saying, “Obviously a case of brains melting in the heat. You forgot tact. He forgot he was married. His brain melt was worse than yours. And there’s nothing wrong with saying no. Doms aren’t gods, you know. We just like to pretend they are—as long as it’s fun.”

Two things entered Nick’s head simultaneously.

One was that he liked Selene’s attitude. She was kind but not squishy about it, and he bet she didn’t take shit from anyone. She might take orders, if it entertained her, but not shit.

And she got it. She might be new to the scene, but she got that it was about people shaping fantasies, not fantasies shaping people.

That was more than Natalie ever understood. She really thought it was all about living out
The Story of O
, and never mind that half the stuff in
The Story of O
wasn’t even physically possible, let alone a good idea.

Part of him immediately felt guilty for the negative thought about Natalie. Yeah, she was a little bit crazy, but for a while, crazy had been hot, and he’d encouraged her.

The rest of him decided that he wasn’t leaving without Selene’s phone number and e-mail—or ideally, with Selene herself.

As Alison whisked Kat away, probably to the women’s room, Selene grabbed his arm. “So,” she asked conspiratorially, “what really happened?”

“Pretty much what you heard. The guy’s been part of Kinksters for a while. He came in with this ‘I am a true Master and superior to anything female’ thing, but people come in to this with all kinds of crazy ideas; we figured he’d learn. Then he gets pulled in as a contractor on my software project, and I find out he’s married.”

“I suppose it would be too much to hope that it’s an open marriage?”

“Not likely if he hasn’t mentioned a wife to anyone here, let alone brought her to meet the gang. So when I saw him hitting on Kat, I thought I should drop the wife-bomb. The rest, you saw, although you missed the amazing way he turned being wrong back on her.”

He spouted off Craig’s most appalling, taken-straight-from-cheap-porn lines in what he hoped was a good imitation of Craig’s arrogant, slightly nasal voice.

Selene sputtered with laughter. “My God—him! This has to be the same idiot who hit on me earlier, the one who used lines that would make a Neanderthal blush. That poor kid! I’d been envying her courage. At her age, I wouldn’t have had had the nerve to come to something like this. But maybe it’s just as well. I missed out on some good clean dirty fun, but at least I had a chance to grow some common sense before I got started.”

Common sense. What a concept. Yes, he could definitely get to like this woman. The big brown eyes, cute smile and killer curves didn’t hurt, but the attitude really appealed to him.

Chapter Three

The meet-and-greet ended at five o’clock. Alison and Garth came over to say good-bye to Selene and Nick. While Garth and Nick chatted, Selene touched Alison’s arm and asked, “Confab in the lady’s room?”

Alison let Selene pull her just a few steps away. It occurred to Selene that Alison probably didn’t want to interrupt Garth to say where she was going, so she was staying in sight. Then Alison leaned in and whispered conspiratorially, “If it’s about Nick, he’s a great guy. He’s one of Garth’s best friends, and he’s pretty much the opposite of a dom to duck. I’m going to do the responsible-friend thing and say you should just talk and smooch tonight, but if you wind up playing, I know he’ll play safe.”

Selene hugged her and whispered back, “Thank you! I’ll try to behave—but no promises!”

And so kinksters spilled out onto the muggy streets of Boston singly and in twos, threes and larger groupings. Selene found herself with Nick, drifting toward an early dinner somewhere. He had a place in mind but hadn’t actually told her where, and she found she liked the feeling that she’d put herself into his hands in this small way.

The more she talked with Nick, the more his cool blue gaze and warm smile distracted her, and the more she felt his body language sync up with hers. No, not exactly in sync but one step ahead, anticipating her next movement and influencing it, as if starting to mold her already. She watched his big hands, imagining them alternately caressing and slapping her breasts, her thighs, her ass.

She looked down at his feet when she imagined her fevered thoughts were too obvious in her eyes, then imagined herself kneeling there, naked, trembling, wet.

Actually, she didn’t need to imagine the wet and trembling part. Her panties already felt suspiciously damp and her knees were shaky.

They walked more or less in silence. Between traffic noise, noise from the perennial construction along Atlantic Avenue and the melting heat, talking seemed far too much like work. Even the breeze off Boston Harbor was sticky.

By the time they crossed a bridge over Fort Point Channel, she was wishing she’d worn flats, even if they wouldn’t have looked right with the outfit. She prayed that the restaurant would be an informal place where she could slip her shoes off under the table.

Once she saw the restaurant, her feet breathed a sigh of relief.

The Barking Crab was a tribute to the beachside clam shack. Rough picnic tables covered with butcher paper—they even provided crayons for doodling. A mix of fried and steamed seafood, with a few more sophisticated but still basic selections. And outdoor seating on the harbor, so she could kick off the damn heels and relax. “It’s a tourist trap,” Nick said, “but it’s fun.”

Soon they were drinking cold beers—he’d recommended the fascinatingly named Smuttynose, from a brewery in New Hampshire—and awaiting plates of fried scallops, fried calamari and steamed mussels. Selene hadn’t eaten a great deal that day and the frosty, hoppy beer was making her feel pleasantly euphoric.

Or maybe that was Nick.

She stretched out her bare foot, brushed it against his calf. Hard muscle under soft denim. Nice.

Yeah, Nick might just have something to do with the euphoria.

He took the hand that wasn’t holding her beer.

No, he didn’t exactly take her hand. He covered her hand with his and closed his fingers around her wrist. Then he looked into her eyes.

A slow, sensual smile opened on his face as he said, “That’s better. Isn’t it?”

It wasn’t really a question, but he was giving her an out if she wanted it.

She didn’t. That firm grip on her wrist hinted at so many things she’d dreamed of. “Oh yes,” she breathed. “Better.” She dropped her voice a notch. “And wetter.”

It may have been purely coincidence that the woman sitting behind her giggled at that second, but Selene was sure she’d overhead.

Heat flared in Selene’s cheeks and, to her surprise, between her legs. She squirmed in her seat, less from actual embarrassment than to enjoy the pressure the movement put on her swollen lips.

Under the cover of the first round of food arriving, Nick leaned forward. “So, you enjoy a little bit of public embarrassment? I’ll file that away for later.”

“You’re so confident that there’ll be a later?”

“What do you think?” He ran one fingernail down the tender inside of her forearm.

His nails weren’t sharp, but she still shivered.

“What about the common-sense test?” she asked. Her voice sounded a little desperate to her own ears, grasping at verbal straws. “Don’t I fail it retroactively if I go home with you tonight?”

“If you come home with me and let me lock you in a cage, then yes. But to do that, I’d need a cage, and where will I find one in downtown Boston on a Saturday night?” He laughed. “I’m regretting that test. It’s making us both think we have to be sensible, and right now I’d rather be impulsive.”

“Would it help if I said I wasn’t thinking of much of anything except you?” Had that really come out of her mouth? “Okay, you and food. I’m starving.” She grabbed a ring of fried calamari and popped it into her mouth, hoping the squid would keep her from saying anything too stupid. Calamari had the texture of bubble gum, in her experience, and it was rude to talk with your mouth full.

Damn it if this place didn’t manage to make calamari tender. Delicious too, with a nice, crunchy coating and a bit of spice.

Much tastier than what she’d been expecting but not nearly as effective for keeping her safely quiet.

“Try it with a bit of the banana pepper,” Nick suggested, picking up a calamari ring and a piece of yellow-green pepper. She thought for a second he was demonstrating the proper technique.

He wasn’t.

He reached across the table and held the food before her lips. “Try it,” he urged.

Her mouth opened of its own accord.

He brushed his finger across the pout of her lower lip, making her shiver.

She opened her mouth slowly, took a tentative nibble to test the pepper’s heat, then parted her lips wider and engulfed the food and Nick’s fingers.

Unfortunately, there was only so much room around the morsel for tongue and fingers to work their wiles upon each other. She did her best, though, sucking and nibbling on his fingers while he moved them against her tongue, tantalizing something besides her taste buds, which were already busily dealing with piquant pepper and warm, spiced calamari. She found she was leaning forward to take him, wanting to feel more, liking the sensation that he was filling her mouth.

She wanted him filling her mouth with his cock, wanted him to move in her mouth as he was now—no, harder, more forcefully, claiming that piece of her as his.

She arched her throat, tried to convey the fantasy through what she did to his fingers, and discovered that the calamari and pepper were interfering.

She coughed.

It didn’t stop the lovely, depraved images running through her head. Frankly, it fit with them, because the blowjob she was imagining was the kind where you might find yourself almost choking on cock but not wanting to stop. The kind where you’d actually revel in the bit of discomfort because your lover was getting off so much on thrusting hard into your throat.

On the other hand, cock couldn’t actually end up in your windpipe, but a stray piece of food could, and nothing spoiled a flirtation like a Heimlich maneuver and a visit to the ER.

Regretfully, she pulled away and actually applied herself to chewing and swallowing.

The pepper-and-squid combination was delicious, all right, but not as delicious as his fingers.

She thought of his cock deep in her throat, imagined how he might taste as he poured into her, felt herself flushing.

She forced herself to giggle. “Something more delicate might have worked better,” she said, making her voice stay even. “Maybe a taste of one of the dipping sauces next time.”

Something about the way Nick smiled in response let her know that he knew exactly what she’d been thinking, because he’d been thinking it too. Not just oral sex, because that was what you always thought about when you teased someone like that, but a very specific kind of oral sex, the kind that was claiming, almost brutal. “I don’t know. Are delicate morsels what you prefer?”

“Delicacy has its place. But so does less delicate, and that was perfect. Just considering other possibilities that might be…perfect in different ways.”

“Oh,” he said, smiling luxuriously, “we have time to try all sorts of morsels. This is just the appetizer.”

How in the world, she thought, shifting in her seat for the pleasure of feeling her slick lips rub together, was she ever going to get through the rest of dinner without begging him to take her on the table?

When they dragged themselves out of the Barking Crab and started heading toward South Station, Selene’s country-bred common sense informed her she was going to get on the Red Line back to Cambridge.

Her body had other ideas She knew it was too soon to go home with Nick. But for once in her life, she was going to play the game her way, not by the rules.

“Time to get you home,” Nick whispered. “Otherwise I’m going to rip your clothes off right here, and it’s too nice a night to get arrested.”

For a second, she thought about saying no, that things were moving too fast, and that sexual heat or not, it was too soon to know if they were suited in any other way.

But did it matter if they weren’t? It could be great if tonight turned out to be more than hot sex, but hot sex had been sadly lacking in her life lately, and they wanted each other so badly she could smell their desire over the estuary-exhaust-fume-and-hot-pavement stench of the summer night.

She meant to say yes, but instead, she found herself stretching to meet Nick’s lips without speaking a word, wrapping her arms around him as he drew her close. Their lips met, and any vestiges of inhibition Selene had went up in flame. Hell, she was surprised their clothes didn’t go up in flame as well. Nick’s big hands gripped her ass, grinding her against him. He was hard, jutting against her belly but not quite able to tease her clit through their clothes. His cock was close, though, so close and so hot. She could almost feel him moving inside her, his cock mirroring the pulse of his tongue in her mouth, mirroring the blood throbbing in her clit.