Enraptured (10 page)

“You don’t have to consent to any of this,” Roman said. “You’re here of your own volition. If you’d rather not, we can all go upstairs and have lunch and you can go home, instead.”

“Lunch? No,” Jessica said hurriedly. “I want to stay here, with you. With you guys, I mean.”

“Okay, so are we good?” Lauren asked. “I don’t want to move forward until you’re comfortable.”

“We’re good. Thank you, ma’am.”

“Good girl. Hands on the wall, Jess,” Lauren said, and Jessica obeyed.

“I’ll need to remove your bra and panties,” Roman said. “So I can see the skin on your bottom when I paddle you, and so Lauren has a blank canvas on which to land her flogger.”

“Yes, sir,” she whispered.

Roman moved in behind her, feeling the heat of her bare skin radiating through his clothes as he reached around and removed her bra first, letting it fall to the floor. He ached to touch her beautiful, pert breasts, but refrained. Too soon, and not his place. Yet.

He was careful when removing her panties to keep his fingers from roaming. He could smell her feminine musk, a heady aroma that immediately aroused him.

God, she smelled like a bitch in heat, and it was sexy as hell. Fuck. His cock hardened. He couldn’t wait to paddle that amazing, heart-shaped ass.

He’d have to wait for her to fall out of position, though, first.

Chapter Six

“A
re you ready, Jessica?” Lauren asked, putting her hand over the girl’s and placing it farther out so she’d be able to brace herself on the wall.

“Yes, Mistress.” She sounded nervous, and the hint of curiosity mingled with fear in her voice spiked Roman’s desire.

“Don’t move, darling. Here we go, lightly at first.”

Mistress Lauren let the flogger fall gently on Jessica’s bare back, the long suede strips dancing across her skin. Jessica gasped, but didn’t move. Roman could tell that Lauren had barely touched her with the flogger, merely gave her a taste of the sensation.

“Good girl,” she murmured, and flicked her wrist, sending the flogger forward harder this time. Jessica moaned but didn’t move.

“Lovely,” Roman said. “Surely you can take more, don’t you think?”

Jessica turned her neck and looked at him with a small smile. “It’s not so bad.”

“Wonderful,” Lauren said. “Face the wall, I don’t want to accidentally hit your face.”

Jessica turned back to the wall quickly, and gasped again as the flogger whipped down with more force, a splay of pink splotches appearing on her back where the implement made contact.

“How we doing, sweetie?” Lauren asked, pausing.

“Green, Mistress. Thank you.”

“Oh, it is my pleasure indeed. Now don’t move, I’m going to do this properly now.”

Roman smiled. Here in his dungeon, with a beautiful woman in submission, he was his happiest. Today he probably felt happier than usual, even. Was it because of Jessica?

Possibly.

She cried out when Mistress Lauren flogged her with more intensity, instinctively pulling her hips against the wall in an effort to escape the lash.

“Uh-oh, someone moved,” Lauren sang. “Roman, if you’d please.”

Roman tossed the paddle from one hand to the other, loosening up. “I’m going to support your waist with my arm, if that’s okay,” he said to Jessica.

She looked at him and nodded. “Okay.”

Roman leaned next to her, wrapping his arm around her petite hips, her ass pushed out, waiting for his paddling. But he had to go easy on her, since while her back was a lovely shade of pink, her bottom was not.

“Are you still scared of me?” he asked, not sure what he wanted the answer to be.

She laughed a little, and looked away for a moment as if she were feeling shy. It was so cute. “In a good way. Yes.”

“You need to be warmed up,” he said. He gave her a couple of light spanks, relishing the feel of her skin, of her firm, round buttocks beneath his palm. Her ass was meant to be spanked, absolutely.

“Here we go. Breathe,” he ordered, and gave her one swift swat with the paddle.

Tears came to her eyes immediately. “Ow.”

“You’re the one that moved out of position, knowing that if you did I would paddle you,” Roman said, fighting an unusual desire to comfort her. Emotions had no place in his training, they never did until Elisabeth, and look where that had gotten him.

Lauren glared at him. What?

“Are you okay, pretty girl?” she asked Jessica.

“Yes, ma’am, I’m fine. Just wasn’t expecting that to hurt so much.”

“Roman tends to do things that hurt,” Lauren said. “So remember that now, and try not to move.”

“Yes, Mistress Lauren.”

“Still green?”

“I sure am, ma’am. Thank you.” Jessica got back into position, facing the wall.

Lauren looked at Roman and winked before bringing the flogger down twice in quick succession.

Jessica rolled out of the way to avoid more, then quickly got back into position. “Sorry! Sorry, that doesn’t count. I didn’t mean to.”

“Oh, but it does count,” Lauren said. “Doesn’t that count as moving, Roman?”

“It does,” he agreed, and wrapped his arm around Jessica’s waist again to stabilize her. “Another spank with the paddle might help you remember not to move next time,” he said, and brought the paddle down hard.

“It was an accident!” Jessica said.

“Doesn’t matter,” Roman said, holding her still in his arms. She felt so good, so close. Fuck. Focus. “Moving out of position puts you in danger. The goal here is to teach your body to obey for your own safety. Getting whipped on your back won’t harm you, but getting a lash to the eye certainly would. We want to avoid that.”

“Sorry, sir.”

Roman spanked her with the paddle twice in a row, and she bit back a squeal even though he really held back from giving it his all. He didn’t want her to be scared of a paddling, or a spanking from him. Not too scared, anyway.

This time when she got back in position against the wall, she held it.

L
ater that afternoon, they finally emerged from the basement dungeon for lunch. Jessica felt amazing, full of energy and excitement. Her body ached but she didn’t care. She wanted more. Specifically, more from Roman. But how would she tell Lauren that without hurting her feelings?

“I love crab,” Jessica said as she scooped another bite into her mouth. “Your cook is fabulous.”

They ate outside to enjoy the weather. If only Roman let some nature into his home as well. The man could at least open the curtains for the view of his expansive lawn, for crying out loud.

But apparently Roman liked it dark. Hmm.

“I think,” Lauren said, sipping her soda, “that we need to go over some things you’d be interested or not interested in for the future.”

Roman nodded. “We should have done that before. If you had, Lauren, you’d have known ahead of time that Jessica didn’t want to be called a little whore.”

Jessica blushed at the words coming from Roman’s lips. After all, he was the one who’d paid her. Surely the irony didn’t escape him.

“It’s okay,” Jessica muttered. “I suppose I am.”

“No,” Roman said. “You’re not. You’re completely un-whore-like. It’s not flattery, just a fact.”

“And he knows from experience,” Lauren laughed.

He shrugged, as if to say, what of it?

“I haven’t cashed that check you gave me,” Jessica said. “I wanted to make sure I was actually into this scene first, you know, in real life.”

Lauren was in the middle of cracking open a crab leg, but she didn’t miss a beat. “Any thoughts, so far?”

This was it. Now was the time to tell Lauren that she wasn’t interested in being trained by her. But what if Roman didn’t want to train her as a sub? What if by ending it with Lauren, she ended any chance she had of seeing Roman again?

“I don’t know,” she lied.

“Do you like kissing me?” Lauren asked bluntly. “You can say anything, I won’t get offended. In fact, let’s make it less about me, more about you. Do you like kissing girls?”

Okay, this she could do. She would just be honest. “I do like kissing girls, but that’s pretty much it.”

A glance passed between Lauren and Roman. “So, how do you feel about a woman touching your breasts, your nipples?”

Jessica shook her head. “I’m sorry, I’m just not that into it. It’s not that I would hate it, but . . . it doesn’t do anything for me, sexually. I’m into men, mainly.”

“How about oral sex with a woman, giving it, I mean?” Roman asked.

She tried to keep from looking at her crab, but couldn’t help it. “Not into it.” That was putting it mildly.

Roman laughed. “Okay, how about receiving? If a woman tied you down and licked your pussy?”

Oh my God. Hearing Roman talking about her pussy was too much. She flushed. “I like the idea of being tied down and eaten out,” she said slowly. “But when I imagine it, I’d like it to be a man, not a woman. No offense.”

“None taken,” Lauren said. She squeezed her lemon slice over her fingers, rubbing them together.

“What if a woman used a vibrator on you?”

She shook her head. “I’m sorry, Lauren. Kissing you in the pool was one thing. And I love the idea of being trained as a submissive, because I know there’s a lot to learn, and I want to learn. I do. But I . . . I may have been too quick to agree to be your submissive. I’m sorry.”

She looked up at Lauren, whose face didn’t betray any emotion one way or another. “You’re right, Jess. Marc didn’t even ask you, really, before he offered you the experience.”

“It’s okay,” she said.

Roman sipped his drink, watching them. “Jessica, you don’t have to continue with this if you’re not into it. In fact, I’d highly recommend that you don’t do anything you’re not comfortable with.”

Her eyes stung with unshed tears. “I feel like such a loser. Like I led you on for nothing. It wasn’t my intention.” She took Lauren’s hand, hoping to rekindle the easy friendship they seemed to have before. “I really like you a lot. You’re gorgeous and strong and amazing. Would I sound like a complete douche if I said it’s not you, it’s me? Because it is.”

Lauren clasped her other hand over Jessica’s. “Don’t worry about, sweetheart. It’s fine. We can still be friends.”

“Really?” But what could Jessica possibly offer her if not her admittedly poor submission?

Lauren laughed. “Of course really. Besides, I think we’ll be seeing a lot of each other if you plan on continuing your training.”

Roman cocked his head to the side. “Are you offering my services on my behalf, Mistress Lauren?”

“Oh come on, you know you want to. I saw how you looked at her today.”

“Lauren. We need to speak privately.” His tone was sharp, clipped.

Uh oh. It seemed pretty clear that he didn’t want to train her. Jessica looked down at her plate, her appetite gone.

“Excuse us,” Lauren said, and stood.

Roman followed her back into the house, leaving Jessica sitting alone at the table. Feeling like a fool. An unwanted fool. If she had a car, she would have left right then and there. But Lauren was her ride, so that wasn’t possible. She’d just have to stick it out.

Damn it, she shouldn’t have told them the truth. Then at least she’d still get to see Roman while Lauren was training her.

She held her breath. Their voices, snippets of the conversation, carried out to the lawn. They must have left the front door open. Being on the side of the house, Jessica couldn’t tell for certain.

“
You shouldn’t have done that. I can make my own arrangements.
” Roman’s voice. What arrangements? With her?

“
Give me a break, you’ve had your eyes on her since she started at the club.
” Lauren sounded annoyed.

“
I sincerely hope Marc gives you a sound spanking when he hears about this.
”

Jessica gasped. She couldn’t imagine Mistress Lauren getting spanked. But she could easily imagine Marc Wilde doing the spanking. Yeah, she could imagine that.

She squirmed in her seat. Finally, she stood and walked over to them. Sure enough, they stood in the front hall with the door wide open, in a heated debate.

“I don’t want you guys to fight. Sir, I know you’re way too busy to train me, and I understand. Here.” She handed him back his check, slightly rumpled, folded in half. “Maybe I could just get my job back?”

Roman turned to her, looking at the check. “You can have your job, if you’d like. You can also keep the money.”

“I don’t want to keep the money, sir.”

“Of course you do.” Lauren shook her head. “You should keep it, Jess. You earned it. And it’s not like this guy needs it.” She gestured her thumb toward Roman as if he weren’t standing right there, a look of amusement on his face.

“That’s true,” he said. “Consider it a gift.”

“I will
not
, sir. I can’t take it. I don’t want to be obligated to you. Especially when I’m not giving you anything in return.”

Roman took a step forward until he stood, towering over her. He took the check from her trembling hand and crumpled it, dropping it to the floor like it was garbage.

“There. Do you feel better now?”

Did she? Yes. At least now she wasn’t in anyone’s debt, and she had been honest with Lauren about not wanting to be her sub. So she’d just have to go back to the status quo, working her ass off at the club and lying to her parents about being in school so they’d send her money for rent. That part was the worst.