Perfect Stranger (4 page)

With his arms up and back, his chest was thrust out, his abs pulled in, his body a display of muscles that she couldn’t deny were achingly attractive. She’d never thought herself particularly superficial, had never dated a guy that she considered gorgeous, but
wow
. She clenched her thighs against the ache that was developing in her core just from looking at this amazing specimen of man. The truth was, she never in a million years would have had the nerve to approach a guy like this for a real scene, let alone a date.

Bringing her attention more fully back to her task, she figured she might as well get as much enjoyment out of it as she could. After today, she wasn’t sure how long it would be before she’d be willing to risk a relationship with anyone, let alone a Dom. She promised herself a generous session with her credit card and her favorite online toy store when she got home.

She started moving on him rhythmically, her free hand coming to his thigh to brace herself and give her leverage to really move. The hand she used on his balls maintained its slow, steady motion, in contrast to the fast fucking she gave him with her mouth. Then she stopped, lodging him as deeply as she could, resting for just a second before rising slowly and allowing her teeth to graze him just slightly. When she reached the top she suckled hard, then resumed her previous pace. He only lasted another minute before his large hand came down to cup her head and hold her still while he released into the condom.

She was breathing hard, those damn tears sliding along her nose and onto his thigh, but she didn’t mind his hold. It felt right. She’d given him what she could, served him as best she knew how, and it was almost over. She managed to stop the flow of tears and hoped he’d think the wetness was from her hair, strands of which draped across his thighs. She remained still, content to let him choose when to let her up.

It took a few minutes, but finally the hand holding her head slid off and she slowly released him from her mouth. She leaned back onto her heels and licked her lips before looking up at him. His face wasn’t quite so serious now, she was pleased to see. Before that could change, she jumped up, slid the condom free and went into the bathroom. When she returned, he’d folded both arms across his chest and his feet were flat on the floor, the little pillow kicked to the side. But he was still sitting. She used a warm, wet wash cloth to clean him, then a hand towel to pat him dry.

She glanced at the clock on the wall. Fifteen minutes left of their two hours. Close enough. Since he didn’t have any clothes other than the sub harness, as far as she knew, she didn’t figure she needed to redress him. Keeping her head lowered, she quickly worked her dress over her head and adjusted it until it lay correctly. She picked up her shoes and gave him a deferential nod.

“Thank you, Sir.”

She turned and crossed to the door, letting the tears free.

* * *

Eric waited until she had the door all the way open before he called out to her.

“Stop.”

She did, one hand on the door, the other holding her shoes against the door jamb. She didn’t turn around, but she didn’t step forward either.

He moved up behind her, close enough for her to feel, but not quite touching her.

“We still have thirteen minutes.”

Her head jerked to the side, an almost, but not quite, negative.

He closed the tiny distance between them, his arm going around her waist, pulling her back against him. He tried to see her face around the wet strands of her hair. Her eyes were closed but tears slid freely down her cheek. Fuck this. He picked her up, ignoring the little squeak she made, and returned to the chair. He much preferred a big lounge chair to this fancy one, but he’d make do. It took a little effort to tuck her up against him so that they were both comfortable within the leather embrace, but she didn’t fight him. She rested her head against his chest, and let loose. No longer silent tears, she sobbed against him wetly. He stroked her hair away from her face and leaned his head back to wait her out.

It didn’t take long for her breathing to slow down and her sobs to ratchet down to sniffles. He snagged the hand towel she’d left on the side table and brought it to her face, growling at her when she moved to take the towel herself. She acquiesced and he blotted the tears from her face before putting the cloth to her nose.

“Blow.”

She glared at him for all of half a second before giving in.

He debated his options, made his decision. Rising with her in his arms, he strode back to the bathroom and set her in front of the divan. “Dress off.” This time she tried a scowl, but he turned away before seeing how long she’d last, worried he wouldn’t be able to hold back his smile.

The jetted tub was easy to work and filled fast. By the time he’d selected an almond scented bubble bath and poured a liberal amount in, the tub was half filled. When he turned, the dress was off, her scowl had morphed to an uncertain frown, and her arms were crossed over her stomach. He knew modesty wasn’t her issue, and actually would have been easier to deal with than whatever it was that she was still holding in.

He wasn’t entirely sure she’d let him pick her back up and put her in the tub, so he held his hand out to her instead. She stared at it for a good minute before sighing and taking it. He helped her step in, then got in behind her and nudged her down between his legs until they were lying with her back resting against his front.

“Can you tell me what this was all about?” he asked gently.

“You agreed to let me be in charge,” she reminded him.

“Your two hours are up now.” His lips quirked, but he was pretty sure he managed to keep the amusement from his voice.

“We haven’t negotiated a scene. I haven’t agreed to obey you.” She almost sounded belligerent, but it edged more towards tired and his smile faded away.

“True.” The water was high enough, so he stretched for the controls, turned the taps off and the jets on. Then he ran his hands through the hot water and up her uncovered arms. “Can you tell me what this was all about?” he repeated.

She sighed, let her head rest back against his shoulder. “I needed to say goodbye to someone. In a way I wasn’t able to before he…died. I…I’m sorry if you feel used. That wasn’t my intention.”

“Not in a negative way,” he assured her. He continued to move the hot water up her arms, pushed a small wave to where her breasts rose above the water.

“We’re going to be very clean tonight,” she observed.

He laughed. “I guess we are. There are worse things to be.”

Her eyes had closed and her hands had floated to the top of the water, tangling slightly with his.

“Eric.”

He waited patiently and was rewarded after three full minutes when she continued. “I was in love with my Master for a long time. Years. He died last month.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.”

She nodded her head. “It was…difficult. He was sick for a while.”

Something in the way she said it let him know there was more. He stayed quiet, continued to move the water around them, let his arms tangle with hers, then separate.

Finally she sighed. “I was in love with him, for sure, about six months after he became my Master.” Her voice was a little shaky and her arms moved back to wrap around her stomach. “At some point, I guess I wanted…needed more than he could give. But I loved him, so I didn’t leave. And then, slowly, I stopped loving him. I’m not sure he ever loved me. No, that’s not right. He loved me, in his way, but I don’t think he was ever in love with me. It took me a while to decide it wasn’t enough, and start to think about looking for more.”

“Was it a club only relationship?”

“Basically, without the club, though. We played at his house or play parties. He didn’t want a partner, a girlfriend. Only a sub.”

“And you needed more.”

“Yes. I came to. It wasn’t his fault, I knew from the beginning what he was looking for. And it worked for me, for a long time. I didn’t want a 24/7 Ds thing. He’d been in one and it had gone badly, so he was very wary of any kind of relationship outside of a scene.”

“There’s a lot of ground between scene-only and 24/7 slave.”

She was quiet for a while before responding, “Yeah, there is.”

“And that’s what you started to want?”

“Yes, but I wasn’t sure how I wanted to go about it. Everyone I knew in the scene, I knew through him. I didn’t really want to start dating anyone else, or doing scenes with anyone else, but I realized I had to leave him so that I could get to the place where I’d be willing to look at someone else.” She rolled her head against his shoulder. “I’m not sure any of that makes sense. I hadn’t really sat down and figured it all out yet. Clarified it in my own head, you know? Because he got sick before I could decide what I wanted to do.”

“And it was too late.”

“Not just that, but he was sick, and his family came, and I…I wasn’t needed. He didn’t want me to help. Wouldn’t let me take care of him. Which made sense for the relationship we had.”

Ahh.
“But not for the one you’d come to want.” He crossed his arms over her torso and finally let his hands come to rest, one on each of her shoulders. Her breasts were squished underneath his arms, her arms trapped under his elbows.

The sniffles started again and she turned her head so she was facing away from him. “He was a good man, a good Dom. We had amazing scenes. He never shirked the after care, never pushed me too far, but never let me rest on my limits. He always took care of me. He…he was a good Dom.”

“He didn’t want a service sub.”

“I didn’t want to be a service sub.” A hint of anger. “I just wanted to take care of him sometimes. See to his needs beyond a blow job. I know it’s silly. I know I made him happy, gave him what he needed. That should have been enough for me.”

“We all have different needs. It’s unfair to expect one side’s needs to be met and not the other.”

“I loved him.”

He squeezed her tight. “I know you did.”

They sat there until the jets ran through their cycle and shut off. He helped her stand, and she stood quietly while he dried her off, then he returned the favor. This time, when she moved the cloth over him, his dick refused to listen to the message that now was not the time to get excited. When she was done, she looked at it, then up at him. The heat in her eyes was as unmistakable as the sorrow he’d seen earlier.

He led her into the bedroom, thinking.

“When did he get sick?” he asked, with a dawning realization.

“Almost a year ago.”

When she’d said her lover had died a month ago he’d assumed…well, he shouldn’t have assumed anything, but now he wondered if she was closer to letting go than he’d thought. Though she’d loved her Dom, she hadn’t been
in
love with him for years and hadn’t been sexually active with him for nearly a year.

“I’m honestly not sure what’s best for you right now,” he admitted.

Her eyes widened in astonishment and he laughed.

“You should probably go home. But I’d like to see you again. When you’re ready. Both inside the club, and outside.” He wanted to see where this might go.

She blushed, then nodded. “Okay.” She looked down until he was pretty sure she was staring at his cock. Then she brought her right hand to her mound and slid a finger through her slit.

“Shit,” he muttered. Then he cleared his throat. “Stop that.”

A smile teased her lips. “We aren’t doing a scene. We haven’t negotiated anything, I haven’t promised to obey you.” Her finger moved up to tease her clit, then slid back into her wetness.

“You’re staring at my naked dick.”

“Well, you could put it away if you didn’t want me to do that.”

He crossed his arms over his chest and worked hard to glare at her. Which she didn’t notice, since she wasn’t looking anywhere near his face. “Bondage?” he asked.

Her finger stopped moving and she closed her eyes. “Yes, please.” He had to strain to hear the whisper .

“Do you need pain play?” Somehow his hand had made its way to his cock and he was stroking it.

“No, Sir. I don’t mind some, but I don’t need it.”

He swallowed, tried to keep focused. “Anal?”

She shivered. “That’s fine.”

“Anything you need from a scene?”

“No, sir. Just you. Just your orders. And your touch.” Her hand stopped, then dropped to her side. She looked up at him, hesitated. Then gave in.

He could see it, though she didn’t drop to her knees or offer her wrists or anything like that. But her body relaxed as she gave her submission to him. He was pretty sure she’d been near subspace a few times during their scene together as she’d sunk into the rhythm and routine of taking care of him. It was why he’d let her continue when he’d had to fight his other instincts, the ones that said take charge of the scene, demand information from her until he could give her what she’d needed. The fact that she’d clearly been getting something from the experience, something she’d seemed to need very badly, had stayed him. And made him intensely curious about what it would be like to play with her the way he normally would.

Now he was being rewarded for his patience. Handsomely.

“On your knees,” he commanded, just so he could watch the graceful way she dropped to her knees and placed her hands at the small of her back, the controlled movement a testament to her desire to serve. He ran a hand over her head. The bottom half was wet from the bath but the top half was dry, though a bit frizzy from all the heat and the fact that the drying hair hadn’t been brushed. It gave him an idea. He bent down to kiss the top of her head so that she would know she pleased him, then he turned away.

It only took a few minutes to gather his supplies, but he didn’t hurry. When he passed by her, he wasn’t surprised to see her in the same place, her face serene, her eyes downcast. He placed the items on the foot of the bed, then walked around the room, lighting the many candles with the fireplace lighter provided. He crossed to the door and flipped the light switch.

She was beautiful in the candlelight and he had to remind himself she wasn’t his sub; this might only be for one night. Well, not if he could help it, but unfortunately he wasn’t in charge of everything. Taking cuffs from the bed, he wrapped the padded wrist restraints securely around her, smoothing the Velcro down, checking the tightness carefully. He repeated his actions with her ankles, pleased that her breathing had deepened with only those actions. He resisted running his finger along her neck, not wanting to remind her that it was naked, that she didn’t belong to him.