Authors: KB Alan
Perfect Stranger
Perfect Stranger
Dana goes into the BDSM club not quite sure what she needs in order to move forward with her life. When she discovers the club is hosting a charity auction, she makes a desperate plan. If she can secure one of the men being auctioned, maybe she can find the peace that she's been looking for. A stranger with no expectations—it just might work.
Eric agrees to be part of the club's annual charity auction because he's between subs at the moment, and it's for a good cause. He's a Dom used to knowing what a sub needs in a scene with him and how best to provide it. But what happens when the thing a sub needs most is for Eric to drop to his knees at her feet?
This is a SHORT story (approximately 13k words)
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Perfect Stranger
Perfect Fit Book 2.5
KB Alan
This book is dedicated to my readers. Thank you for every single one of your letters, reviews, likes, and best wishes. You make all of this craziness worth it!
Dana only gave a brief glance to the poster declaring that there would be an auction that evening. She was at the BDSM club, but she wasn’t even close to being ready to start playing with anyone. Not yet. Probably not for a while. Just getting herself into the club was a big enough step for now, and she’d promised herself she could work her way up into playing, take her time finding someone she’d be willing to take that step with.
She took a look around and spotted a few people she knew right away, though she’d never been there. Her former Dom had been a member before they’d connected and though she hadn’t been interested in going to the club, she’d been willing to go to play parties with him and had met a lot of people in the lifestyle. Apparently she should have believed Harrison when he’d told her that the club he went to was nothing like the sleazy place she’d explored in college. Then again, he’d been happy enough to stick to playing with her at home or at play parties in private homes, so it hadn’t been an issue.
Apex was attractive, though. Not too edgy or gaudy. There were comfortable looking seating areas, a bar that she’d been told didn’t have alcohol but did have some snacks, water, soda and juice, and an area set up as a small store, with what looked like floggers, vibrators and various other toys. A man with a clipboard stood in front of a hallway that she suspected had the playrooms and she could hear music coming from behind a curtain, so she figured there was a public play area beyond.
A hand settled lightly on her shoulder and she only just managed not to jump. Vince met her gaze checking to see how she was holding up. He was one of the club’s owners and a friend of Harrison’s. She gave him a small smile. Though they’d been at the same parties a number of times, she’d never had much of a conversation with him. But when she’d gathered the courage to email him about visiting Apex, his response had been quick, courteous and welcoming.
She dipped her head politely.
“Thank you for arranging the guest pass.”
“You’re welcome. I’m glad you’ve made use of it.” He gestured to the empty stage. “Perhaps you’d like a low-key start. One hundred percent of the auction proceeds go to a charity the members have voted on. The winners get two hours of the Dom’s time. It might be a nice way for you to get to know someone without any pressure.”
She looked at the stage, more as a way to avoid meeting Vince’s eyes than because she thought anything had changed since her last look around. “I don’t think so,” she said softly. “Maybe next time. I’ll just watch.”
He carefully placed a finger under her chin, moving her gaze back to his with utter gentleness. “There’s no pressure to move at a pace you’re not comfortable with, Dana.”
She swallowed around a lump that seemed ever present in her throat these days.
“Thank you, sir. I’m glad I’m here. It’s good to see some familiar faces and your club is really very nice.”
He smiled and it was beautiful enough to make her wish she was ready to think about exploring. “I’m glad you came. If you need anything, just look for one of the employees in the white shirts. They tend to stand out, and they can always get word to me.”
She found a seat in a row of chairs filling up in front of the stage, figuring that watching the auction was a safer way to entertain herself for a while than heading to the public play area.
A man she didn’t recognize, dressed in an elegant suit, emerged from behind the curtain. He moved to the microphone and gave it a little tap, then spoke.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we’re about to start the auction. If you’d like to participate, please take a seat.” Her attention shifted away from him as someone else stepped onto the stage. Though vaguely aware that the MC was still speaking and the crowd had begun murmuring over the arrival of a line of men, she didn’t really hear anything past the pounding of her heart and the blood rushing in her ears. Her attention had focused completely on the man who had been at the front of the line, wearing a leather harness that screamed sub and an aura of power that shouted alpha male. He looked near her age, late thirties, with short, dark hair—but not too short. She could imagine him looking nearly as sexy as he did right now, completely covered in a suit and tie. His strong features and bright eyes called to her. Were they green? It was hard to tell from that distance.
He scanned the audience, his gaze dancing over her with no hesitation. Her throat went dry, an impossible feat as the rest of her felt sticky with heat despite the excellent air conditioning.
An idea began to form, one that she immediately dismissed as insane but still couldn’t force out of her head. It took effort, but she managed to concentrate past her heartbeat, past the rumble of the crowd, to the man at the microphone and the instructions he was giving. Two hours, no sex allowed. She’d missed the name of the charity the money was going to, but it didn’t matter, shouldn’t matter, because there was no way she was going to participate. No way.
Bad idea
.
And yet, she still hadn’t looked away from
him
. The first in the line of men very much
not
wearing suits. The man she could win tonight, claim two hours from…if she had totally lost her mind. And if she could focus well enough to figure out what she needed to do.
It had never occurred to her to consider a sub. There was no question that she was one herself; she’d never had the slightest desire to be a top. Now, a sub seemed like the perfect answer. She could do what she needed to do, without asking. She could take what she needed to take, give what she needed to give, and it would be his task to let her.
Her brain tried to convince her that she should look at the other men. Maybe find one that wasn’t quite so attractive, or so…strong. She’d known of a couple alpha-male subs, mostly military men or high-powered executives. They wouldn’t be looking for what she had in mind. Then again, the point here was that she would get to choose how they spent their two hours. Of course, being attracted to the man wasn’t even a necessity and could actually be a distraction, so the smart thing to do would be to check out the other options. Her gaze never strayed while she considered that logic, and then ignored it.
“As you all know, these unattached Doms have agreed to be auctioned off tonight to support our charity drive.” The MC’s words finally managed to regain her attention.
She blinked. Doms? Flicking a glance at the rest of the lineup, she saw they were all similarly attired in basic sub fetish gear, hands cuffed together in front of them, so she felt excused in her assumption. And yet they still managed to pull off a Dominant vibe.
“What you may not know is that they lost a group bet, which is why they’re up here dressed as you see, rather than as they’d prefer.”
The audience laughed and offered appreciative catcalls. Dana briefly wondered what the bet must have been to have the stakes be so high. She couldn’t imagine what would have a whole group of Doms agreeing to act as subs, but it must have been big. She wished they’d get on with things. Although, maybe now that she knew the men weren’t really subs, she should reconsider. But they had agreed to play the part for this event, and now that she had the idea in her head, she didn’t want to miss this opportunity. A stranger meant no expectations, no need to do the getting to know each other dance. Get in, get out, go home. Perfect.
A skinny guy on a couch against the wall called something out that Dana missed completely, but the man she was watching raised an eyebrow and gave him a very Domly look. The audience laughed. She shuddered.
Bad idea, this was definitely a bad idea
. Her gaze fixed on the simple leather collar he was wearing, leash attached but hanging freely down his chest, then travelled to the cuffs that held his wrists together.
Making herself look away, she scanned the area and spotted Vince. As if he felt her regard, he turned and met her eyes. There was no way to know what he saw in her, but he gave an encouraging nod and a little head tilt towards the stage.
“All right, enough of that now,” the MC declared. “Let’s get this thing started.”
* * *
When the woman now walking in front of Eric had grasped the leash hanging down his chest, turned on her heel, and begun leading him out of the room, the audience had given an audible gasp. He suspected she hadn’t noticed. As she’d approached, he’d tried to get a read on her. Expecting flirtatiousness of either the shy or audacious variety, he’d instead found grim determination and a hint of sadness. All right, he could work with that. She’d just donated a nice sum of money to a worthy charity to get him alone for two hours. He supposed that earned anyone the right to be singularly focused.
They stopped at the door leading to a long hallway of playrooms. Marcos, one of the club managers, offered the list of available spaces. His nameless purchaser scanned the list and quickly pointed out her desired room before he could consider taking charge of the decision himself. Marcos shot him a look, but managed to keep any smirks to himself before turning to show them to their door.
She wore what could theoretically be called a plain black dress, but was in reality a sinful delight. It showed off her curves, stunningly long legs, and a whole lot of luscious, tan skin. What it didn’t do was give a clue as to her kinky preferences. Top or bottom? Could go either way. And there were no accessories to make the proclamation. No wrist cuffs, no riding crop, not even plain jewelry. Just the dress with the low back and high hem that made him want to get his hands busy exploring the landscape.
Marcos opened a door and she swept inside without a pause. He eyed the other man, hoping for some explanation, some clue, but received only an elegant shrug before the manager pulled the door closed behind him, leaving Eric alone with a woman who he had yet to exchange a word with. Not that that was a problem. He just wasn’t used to being…unsure of what was happening. It left him unsettled and he pulled in a deep breath as unobtrusively as possible.
At the sound of the door closing, she pulled her shoulders back, dropped the leash, and finally spoke. Her murmured “stay here” wasn’t exactly what he would have expected, had he gotten around to trying to anticipate what she was going to do rather than anticipating what her legs would look like wrapped around his ears. He curtailed his immediate impulse of responding with, well, anything, and managed to hold his tongue. He needed to figure out what was going on, what this woman was looking for, and, more importantly, what she needed, before he did or said something that would screw it up. It was pretty obvious that she wasn’t just a sub looking to tease a Dom she’d never met before. Something was going on and her vulnerability called to his instincts, strongly. Of course, her beauty only intensified those instincts.
He considered himself a damn good Dom, which meant resisting the nearly overwhelming impulse to yank her to him, dropping them both to their knees so that he was surrounding her, letting her take comfort in his strength. No, unfortunately being strong for her right now was going to be a whole hell of a lot harder than that. It meant staying where he’d been when she’d issued her command and trying to figure out what this woman needed. Her tense shoulders, short breaths and the fact that she’d crossed the room, braced her hands against the bedpost and simply stared at the wall told him she for sure needed something. She hadn’t just bid on him for a lark. The fact that she’d been allowed into the club, and more importantly, allowed to enter the bidding and walk off with him, told him she wasn’t a clueless newbie. She had to have been vouched for by someone, though he was quite certain he’d never seen her before.
She turned, but didn’t move back towards him. There was no mistaking the way her gaze met his for only a second before darting around the room, then settled on his chest; the way she nibbled nervously on her lip and twisted her fingers together before hiding her hands behind her back. That lasted only an instant before she jerked them back around and placed her palms defiantly on her hips, as if in challenge. Oh yeah, definitely a sub. He relaxed a bit.