Boss (33 page)

Obviously sensing her distress, he guided her to the right, toward a large, private area with chairs, a couple of couches and rows of small, elegant lockers. The top ones had brass nameplates, the others appeared to be available to anyone. Right now, they were the only people in the alcove.

“It can be overwhelming,” he said.

She was glad for the reprieve.

While he dropped his bag onto a chair, she studied the surroundings, seeing a cozy, elegant bar off to the left, with waitresses clad in flowing goth-looking dresses.

“We’ll have a walk around. Let you get comfortable.”

Over here, the music was somewhat muted, and she was able to talk to him conversationally. “I’m not sure whether I can go through with that pole thing.”

“There are a couple of others in more private spaces.”

“That’s not reassuring.”

“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do. You have a safe word, and I’ll be watching you.”

She knew that was true.

Pulling out her leash, he asked, “Are you brave enough for this?”

Ice dripped down her spine.

She forced herself to remain calm so she could think. A part of her found it to be a humiliating idea, but she realized she’d be close to him. Then she remembered the way it had looked the other day. “Yes, Sir,” she whispered.

“
Fuck.
Kelsey. Kelsey, my Kelsey.” He clipped it onto the D-ring, and she curled her fingers around it. “You okay?”

“I think so.” Slowly she dropped her hand. “Yes.”

“We’ll move at whatever speed you’re comfortable with.”

She drew a steadying breath.

“I’m going to leave the flogger here. We can come back for it later.”

Knowing he didn’t expect her to scene immediately reassured her.

“Ready? We can have a soft drink at the bar, if you want. Or we can walk around. Your choice.”

“Walk around,” she said, curiosity overcoming apprehension, at least temporarily.

He looped the leash around his hand a couple of times, ensuring she was close.

“So fucking proud to be with you, Kelsey.”

He made her heart soar.

When they entered the main area, she was surprised that no one seemed to notice them.

She thought, with the way she was on display and a leash, everyone would look at her, but most people were occupied with their own scenes and conversations.

A short woman walked past, followed by a tall blond man, wearing tight shorts and a top that was nothing more than a leather
X
. There was a leash attached. Another man, wearing only a pouch of sorts, crawled behind his Dom.

What she might have thought was unusual seemed to be the norm.

They walked past a Dom who was flogging a sub attached to a St. Andrew’s cross, while a female stood in front of her, a vibrator pressed hard against her pussy. The woman was screaming, her head tossed back.

A Club Monitor strolled over and offered a scarf, presumably to stuff in the poor sub’s mouth.

No one stared at any of the scenes. If they were watching, it was from a distance, and there was nothing overt about it. In a strange way, it was like being at any other club.

They passed one of the women dancing in a cage. Kelsey couldn’t help but reach up. Her hand went through the image.

“It looks real,” he said.

“Eerily so.”

“Bonds is part owner,” he said against her ear. “He’s got a division dedicated to perfecting holograms, believes they’ll change the world. Not just prerecorded projections, but real-time ones, meaning he could appear to be in a London meeting, sitting in a chair, or holding court, while he’s holed up in California.”

While he’d been talking to her, his intimate tone and the heat from his breath made her feel undeniably feminine. “I had no idea,” she said. “Having seen your watch, it makes sense.”

Nathan led her from the main part of the club and down a hallway to another small, more private space.

Music here was much different, more solemn, a chant of some kind. There were fewer people. There was a pole and a spanking bench. One was occupied by a gray-haired woman in a plaid miniskirt, tight white top, bobby socks and saddle shoes being spanked by a man wielding a wooden ruler.

While they stood there, separated by the scant foot or so of slack that Nathan allowed in the leash, they watched a male Dom approach the pole with his male sub walking in front of him. The sub cleaned the post then moved toward it with no hesitation.

In that instant, she was humbled.

The man got into position and his Dom secured him, as if they’d done it a dozen times. And maybe they had, she realized.

Nathan drew her to a nearby bench where they could watch without disturbing the scene.

The two were in tune with each other, evidently unconcerned with anyone else.

The Dom’s stunning black flogger fell again and again, and his sub appeared to absorb the blows rather than fighting them. The Dom spoke, even though she couldn’t make out the words, not that it mattered because it seemed the couple had their own form of communication.

Viewing a flogging was like seeing poetry come to life. She was captivated.

“What’s it like for you?” she asked, leaning close to him. The guy on the pole looked relaxed, and the Dom’s motions were rhythmically effortless. He occasionally touched the sub to check on him.

“There’s not much I enjoy more than sceneing with you. Whether with my hand or belt, and definitely the flogger. I’m watching you, anticipating what you want, what you can need. I’m feeling your reactions. Your pleasure, your pain, your willingness to take it for me… There’s an emotional component that’s hard to convey, but it’s there. An intimacy no one else can share.”

She nodded, not sure she understood him exactly.

“Tell me,” he said in return. “What’s it like for you?”

She glanced back at the man on the Punishment Pole. “I haven’t really thought about it much.” To her, it was all wrapped up in her feelings for Nathan. Their personal and work relationships were so intertwined that they had become impossible to separate. And the sex… She’d told him early on that she had trouble orgasming with a man. With him, that had never been the case. In fact, she was almost constantly on the edge, something she’d never experienced until the last few days.

The floggings, spankings and the mind fuck that came from them had transformed her.

She realized she had needed a man who understood her, who was as passionate as Nathan and willing to give her what she hadn’t known she’d needed.

Knowing he was still waiting for an answer, she came up with, “Empowering.”

“How so?”

“You’ve given me a way to let myself go, to surrender in the moment.” She turned toward him and saw that he was intently regarding her. “Having a safe word has given me a way to try new things.” She shrugged. “Like getting a spanking with your belt. Being cuffed to your bench. Because of that…”

“Go on.”

“I’ve never been this sexual. And the mixture of pain and pleasure? I like it.”

“I’m pleased to be part of it.”

They watched the Dom work over his sub for a while longer. Then eventually the pair moved on.

“Are you ready to try?” Nathan asked.

Bravery seemed to be a concept that lived somewhere other than within her. “I’m not sure.”

“Since my bag’s up front, I won’t be beating you. I want you to know what you might expect.” He stood and put a small amount of pressure on her leash. “Come with me.”

He led her to the Punishment Pole. Even though they’d watched the sub clean the pole, Nathan grabbed a sanitizing wipe and went over it again.

Despite her intimidation, she went up to it and pressed her body against it.

“Raise your arms. Leave them there. Consider yourself tied by my order.”

A week ago, that might have sounded ridiculous. Now she understood completely. He wanted her desire to please him to be stronger than any binding.

Nathan bent to extend the spreader bar and tapped her ankles until her feet were where he wanted them.

He hadn’t attached her, but the sensation was every bit as strong as if he had.

“You’ve come so far, Kelsey. I am so damn proud.”

She forgot they were in public and instead remembered them being alone, pressed against the wall. This was no different, she knew. They might be in a public setting that heightened her awareness, but he was still the Dom, and she was his willing sub.

With one hand still holding her leash, he stroked her upper thighs with his free hand then trailed higher, beneath her skirt.

She wanted to accept everything he offered.

He gave her a few teasing spanks. She’d been aroused for over thirty-six hours. And she realized he’d been right to deny her. Her response was immediate, and it wouldn’t take much to flame into need.

“What do you think?”

“I’m not.”

“Exactly what I’d hoped for,” he approved.

Nathan slipped his fingers inside her thong and toyed with her, bringing her to the point she had to fight off an orgasm.

Then, annoyingly, he moved his hand aside.

Frustration seeping through her, she rested her head against the cool vinyl.

“Yeah, you’re about ready. Come with me, beautiful sub.”

She moved back about a foot and waited while he wiped down the vinyl.

As promised, they went to retrieve his bag, and she was grateful for the reprieve. When they returned to the Punishment Pole where they’d observed the scene, she was much more confident and at ease than she had been.

Nathan removed her leash then asked, “Do you mind taking off your boots?”

She did so while he pulled out cuffs and attached them to rings above her head.

“I want your feet flat on the ground tonight,” he explained as he crouched to wrap a set of soft, Velcro cuffs around her ankles. “You’re free to use your safe words. And I want you to get everything possible that you can out of this experience.”

Goosebumps rose on her arms, and the air conditioning felt extra cold.

“Come here, Kelsey.”

Grabbing a burst of confidence, she went to the pole.

He secured her ankles to the spreader bar that he’d already adjusted. “Now reach up your hands.”

Nathan stood and tugged her into place then tightened the cuffs one more notch. “Let me know if your shoulders or arms feel numb.”

She was stretched almost uncomfortably far, which meant her motions were restricted. There wouldn’t be any escaping his lash.

“Do you need anything? A blindfold? Gag? Your nipple clamps?”

The thought of the distraction they would provide made her warm a little. “I thought my nipples couldn’t be exposed.”

“I can put them on under your top.”

“Then yes.”

He moved in front of her and reached inside her clothing to tease her nipples until they beaded. Then he clamped each, a little closer to the tip than she ever had. “That freaking hurts, Sir.”

“Give it a couple of minutes,” he encouraged. “Once we get going, you’ll be glad. Otherwise, you wouldn’t feel them.”

“I’m not sure I believe you.”

She turned her head to look when he reached inside the bag again. Her eyes widened when she saw him pull out clothespins. “What are they for?”

“Your toes.”

In reaction, she arched her feet, but he’d fastened her so tightly it was difficult to get away.

“Uncurl them immediately.”

“I’m scared to.”

He raised his eyebrows.

“Do I have to?” She squeezed her eyes closed while she followed his order.

He placed the first one. It didn’t hurt as bad as she’d feared, and her confidence rose to heroic proportions. Then he placed another on her other foot.

She rocked her ankles as much as she was able, but the pins wouldn’t dislodge.

“Are they painful?”

“No.” That wasn’t the right word. “It’s more annoying than anything.”

As he grabbed his flogger, she noticed that the clothespins were becoming uncomfortable and the nipple clamps were starting to bite. Then she became aware that her brain was receiving so much sensory information she couldn’t pick out which thing hurt the worst.

“Go with it,” he suggested. “If you struggle, it will seem magnified.”

She gritted her teeth and rested against the pole.

He skimmed his fingers up her legs and she instantly relaxed. But the funniest thing was that she was unconcerned whether anyone was watching or not. This was about her and Nathan. Self-consciousness vanished.

He tucked her hem into her waistband and rubbed her buttocks. She let the pole take even more of her weight.

“Yes,” he said.

As he had done before, he pressed his body against hers. The position was familiar and reassuring, and the weight of him made her feel more secure. But it wasn’t just that. His spicy, masculine scene and the dominant way he handled her allowed her to give herself over.

She felt his erection against her. The knowledge he wanted her as badly as she craved him equaled the power balance.

“Do you know what I’m going to do to you, sub?”

“Yes, Sir,” she whispered.

“Tell me.” He spoke directly into her ear.

No one but her would ever hear him. He was masterful at that, creating a cocoon where she was free to be who she wanted.

“Tell me, Kelsey,” he repeated.

“You’re going to flog me, Sir.”

“Are you going to like it?”

“Yes.”

He pulled back far enough to warm her up with gentle spanks, then harsh rubs.

Near her, she saw a woman being led to the St. Andrew’s cross. And she heard a gasp as a man was hoisted from the ground.

The volume of the music increased and the wall in front of her was a swirling, soothing pink. Deviation provided an erogenous feast that seeped through her.

Nathan began flogging her.

With a soft mewl, she exhaled.

The leather felt like soft caresses on her buttocks, between her thighs. Because of the outfit, some of the hits licked her skin, others fell mostly unnoticed on the leather halter top.

She was aware of pressure from the clamps and the clothespins and the way he stroked her right forearm. Pain and pleasure merged to become the same sensation.