Licorice Whips (21 page)

What provided some comfort came from knowing just a little bit more about Sweet. She couldn’t believe when he shared with her about his background that he used to be insecure. So the sexy man had a heart and could be vulnerable. A wall still existed around him.

Maybe it had to do with his preoccupation with expanding his business. Maybe it had to do with her. She glanced at him as he drove. Sweet kept his stare on the road. As always, he looked intense.

He pulled his truck into the parking lot of a large building. Sweet parked behind the building. As soon as he turned off his noisy truck, he faced her. She regarded him while clasping her hands together. In her head she prayed he wouldn’t tell her he didn’t think she could cut it at this new venture. She wanted him to see something in her that no one else had. She could be strong. She could be brave.

Sweet pointed to the building. “What’s going to happen in there will be different than what I did to you at Decadent Treats.”

Nikla nodded, but remained quiet until he finished talking. She wanted to absorb every word.

He continued. “Once we hit the door, I expect you to follow my every word. In there, I am your Master. You are a submissive in training. Understand?”

She waited a beat, letting his heavy words sink into her head, before she finally nodded.

“Speak to me,” he demanded.

Nikla cleared her throat. “Yes, Sir.” She would refrain from telling him that they hadn’t gone inside of the establishment yet.

Sweet took his way of life and his role in it seriously. Her clitoris throbbed as she thought about what he would do to her behind the red door.

“I’m ready.” Nikla nodded.

Sweet jumped out of the truck first. Nikla reached for her door handle but Sweet wagged his finger at her as he walked in front of his truck.

When he got to her door, Sweet opened it.

“Thank you.” Nikla stepped out of the truck.

“You’re a lady. Just because you’re training to be a submissive, never forget that.” Sweet closed the door, then ushered her to the door of the club.

The polite gesture and his explanation brought the widest smile to Nikla’s face. Cool air from the ocean whipped around her bare legs until Sweet got her into the building.

Nikla stumbled into a dark hallway as her introduction to the club. The heavy steel door slammed behind her but she couldn’t stop shivering. From the dim hallways to the cries that seemed to come from all around her, even from overhead, the scene felt surreal yet scary.

She glanced up and saw a woman suspended from a large wooden X about twenty feet above the floor. Nikla gasped and clasped Sweet’s hand.

“Remember. You’re Sugar Baby in here, got it?” Sweet said.

Nikla nodded, but then remembered Sweet’s rule. “Yes, Sir.”

“You do what I tell you to do.” Sweet took his hand from her grasp.

“Okay.” She shook her head. “I mean, yes, Sir.”

“Quick study.” He patted her backside. “On your knees.”

Nikla stared at him. Surely he didn’t want oral sex here and now in the middle of the hallway. Would she even be allowed to do something like that in this place? Would she even do it? She swallowed hard.

Sweet blinked and faced her with his arms crossed over his massive chest. “Don’t make me repeat myself. Get on your hands and knees.”

Frozen to her spot, Nikla felt conflicted. What would it mean to her to drop to her knees for this man in these walls? She didn’t want to appear weak.

“I knew you would chicken out.” Sweet headed for the door.

After a deep breath, Nikla lowered herself to the cold concrete floor. She brought her hands down to the floor and waited. She heard the back door opening and hoped beyond hope that Sweet hadn’t gone back to the truck.

Too afraid to turn around to see where he’d gone, Nikla remained in her spot with her gaze aimed for the floor. She studied the dark gray color against her bare hands. The cool material and her position had her body trembling. She swallowed.

From behind her, she heard heavy footfalls.

“Don’t make me wait like that again.” Sweet continued down the hall.

Nikla suspected that he wanted her to follow him...on her hands and knees. She crawled down the hall. She couldn’t tell if she moved quickly over her hands and knees or if Sweet slowed his gait, but she reached his side. She crawled next to him in an eerie companionable silence like an obedient pet.

The idea of that accelerated her heart. Her knees already started to get sore from meeting the hard flooring. Nikla could do this. The fact that he had her crawling on the floor around strangers gave her a sense of pride, an unusual reaction considering the seemingly demeaning position.

Nikla brought her head up to scan her surroundings. At the end of the hall, Nikla spotted a tall man walking toward her and standing next to a beautiful black woman who wore what looked like a black leather one-piece swimsuit and high heels.

“Come over here with me.” Sweet tapped Nikla on her back. He aimed her toward a room and closed the door behind them.

The cozy room reminded her of a waiting room in Hell. Red couches stood out against the painted black walls. The only great thing about the room had to be the hardwood floors. They felt better against her hands and knees than the concrete.

Nikla scraped the tips of her shoes against the dark hardwood floors. Sweet led her to a couch. He sat first, then he pointed to a spot on the floor next to himself, a space he must have wanted her to occupy.

Just like when she dropped to her hands and knees, she assumed the spot just as dutifully. She sat back on her haunches. Fear gripped her before she brought her attention to Sweet. What kind of man would she see next to her? Since coming into this place, his whole demeanor had shifted. Then again, so had hers.

Nikla started to open her mouth to speak but Sweet shook his head, halting her from that thought.

“We need to go over some ground rules and some procedures.” He stared at her for a moment before he pressed a button on table next to the couch.

Within a minute, a petite blonde wearing a short pleated black leather skirt, a white mesh top, and no bra sauntered in the room. Nikla peered down at the woman’s feet. She’d had each toe painted a different color.

“Sweet iced tea for me,” Sweet said to the woman. He glanced at Nikla. Before she could speak, he said, “She’ll have an ice cold glass of water with a lemon.”

The simple gesture made Nikla smile. She liked being cared for, more than she thought she would.

The woman nodded once before starting to turn to leave.

“Wait.” Sweet stared at Nikla. “Take off your coat.”

Blazing heat engulfed Nikla’s face. “What?” She leaned close to him and in a low tone said, “You know what I have on underneath.”

Sweet’s scowl deepened. “I’ve only given you one directive since we got here. You do as I say. Take off your coat. Now.”

Nikla balled her hands and took a deep breath before she removed the garment as she sat on the floor. She unfastened her coat and slipped the garment down her arms. If she felt chilly before, she now had ice water running through her veins.

With her coat off, she kept her stare on the man who’d made the demand of her. She let the coat drape in front of her body.

“Hand it to her.” Sweet nodded toward the blonde.

The woman held out her hand. She smiled as she accepted the coat.

“Thank you.” Sweet nodded and the woman left as quickly and as quietly as when she’d first walked into the room.

“Would you like for me to continue kneeling?” Nikla kept her hands on her lap.

Sweet said nothing as he scanned her. He put his hand to her head and stroked her hair.

Sweet looked ready to crawl out of his own skin. He balled his hands into fists and released a low groan.

“Stay where you are or I’ll do something I will never regret.” He rubbed his hands over his eyes.

“Yes, Sir.” The address to Sweet had started to become easier and easier each time she’d said it.

The thought of that shouldn’t have given her comfort. It did. She knew what he expected. She knew what would make him happy. By doing that, it had pleased her. A wave of relief showered over her body.

“Is this what you expected?” he asked.

“What do you mean? Expected from this place? This room? You?” Nikla felt him bringing his hand down behind her head. He rubbed the back of her neck with his thumb.

Nikla closed her eyes and enjoyed the sensation. So strange that with just a few words and a thumb rubbed lazily across her skin how he easily controlled her. She couldn’t move. She didn’t want to move.

“All of it.” He removed his hand from her.

When he stopped touching her, she sobered to the situation. Nikla bit her lip. “This place is kind of what I thought it would be like. Dark and mysterious.” She gained eye contact with Sweet. “It’s like you. You’re very closed off.” Except for what he’d revealed about his last relationship. Nikla still found it impossible that a man this sexy would be without a woman for two years.

“Considering we’re going to end this in a couple of weeks, don’t you think I should be?”

“It would be nice to get to know the man who looks so comfortable to be in a place like this.”

Sweet put his finger to her lips. “Don’t over think this. It’s very basic. It’s just sensations.”

She slipped his finger into her mouth.

Sweet shook his head and removed it. “You do that, and I’ll want to do other things. In here, I can’t.” He nodded upward.

When Nikla peered up, she caught a blackened, overhead dome affixed to the ceiling. “Cameras.”

“Everywhere.”

Nikla looked around the empty room. “What is this room? Do people do what you do in here?”

“It’s called playing or you can call it discipline.” To give her a reminder of what he could do, he fisted her loose hair and pulled her head back.

The sensation to her scalp awakened her senses. “No man has ever touched me the way you do.” Nikla remained quiet after her admission.

“You’re surprised at how much you like what I do?”

She nodded. “It’s different from a fantasy.”

“To answer your question, this is the meeting room. It’s the room we use to get to know our submissives or slaves before we play with them. We establish rules.” He held up his finger. “First rule.” Then he released her hair.

“Always do as you say.” Nikla lowered her head.

“Second rule. No sex.” When he mentioned that rule, Sweet almost looked disappointed.

Nikla wouldn’t be so subtle. Despite their rule that they wouldn’t get intimate again, Nikla had hoped for a repeat performance. No man had ever gotten her to come as hard and as often as Sweet in the one time she’d been with him.

“So no sex–”

“In here,” he said, interrupting her.

The anxiety bunching in her stomach subsided. “Anything else?”

“What is it that you want?”

Nikla snickered. “That suite downtown.”

Sweet almost broke into a smile. Almost. “That’s another rule. The real life, our vanilla world, doesn’t exist here.”

“If only it could be that easy.” She sighed. “What do I want? That I don’t know. I do know what I don’t want.” She placed her hand on her chest. “I don’t want to get hurt. I don’t want to be made a fool of. I don’t want to be the joke of some elaborate prank. I don’t want to be inconsequential or some afterthought.”

“Good. Now tell me what you
want
.”

As fire filled her belly, Nikla felt compelled to purge her feelings. “I want to feel. I haven’t really been touched in forever. I want to be the center of someone’s universe. I want to matter. How can I do that as a–”

The word “submissive” got caught in her throat.

Sweet cleared his throat. He made her look at him. “This lifestyle demands a lot from both of us. You may find that my playing style doesn’t suit you. One thing you need to know for sure. As a submissive, you are powerful. You regulate the play within the scene. The focus will always be on you. You will be the center of it all. Can you really handle that?”

Nikla thought of the idea of being the focus of a man’s attention, of Sweet’s attention. A tingle rippled through her body.

“I want one other thing,” she said. “Tell me what you’ll do to me.”

Sweet leaned in closer to her. “I’m going to make you feel more alive that you’ve ever felt. You will feel completely spent, another great reason for me to drive.” He got quiet before he finished his speech. “I will push you. I can tell you’re strong enough to take it. I’ve never met a woman like you before.”

She took a deep breath. “Is that a good thing?”

Sweet stared at her for a while before he answered. “It’s the best thing. You’re about the most open person I’ve ever met.”

“You’re only saying that because I’m sitting here on the floor in my underwear.” Nikla laughed.

“Not the only reason.”

The waitress returned with their drinks. She placed them on the side table and walked out without a word. Sweet handed Nikla her drink. Feeling a little overheated, she took a couple of gulps of the lemon-flavored water. The refreshing liquid cooled her down a bit but not enough to douse the intense fire between her legs.

“Ready?” Sweet asked after he finished his drink.

Nikla nodded.

He took her drink. “Come with me.”

Since he didn’t tell her to stand, she crawled behind him again. Sweet led her down a darkened hallway to a room at the end. Only a sheer curtain separated the hallway from the activities that would happen in the room.

Nikla stopped in the center of the room. She scanned the space. From the stone walls to the heavy wooden furniture, the place looked like a dungeon. What really startled her had to have been the different torture devices hanging from the walls. Whips, chains, floggers, paddles. One more sinister than the next.

As she looked around from her kneeling position, she suddenly saw Sweet reaching over her head with a black band in his hand. Nikla jerked her head back and slammed against his legs.

“It’s a mask, not a blindfold.” Sweet covered her eyes, making sure to line up the eyeholes properly. Then he secured it behind her head.