Sculpt-Paige_Michaels-Becca_Jameson

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Published by The Hartwood Publishing Group, LLC,

Hartwood Publishing, Phoenix, Arizona

www.hartwoodpublishing.com

Sculpt

Copyright © 2015 by Becca Jameson and Paige Michaels

Digital Release: December 2015

All Rights Reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination, or have been used fictitiously and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales, or organizations is entirely coincidental.

Lucinda Chatman has dabbled enough in BDSM to know what she wants—a firm Dom who can control her no matter what she throws his way. Her checkered past in the world of BDSM, however, keeps her out of the limelight. She has pissed off some of the big players in Minneapolis and is less than welcome at most venues. For months, she has stuck to her new day job teaching pottery to children and trying to stay out of trouble.

Theo Matthews hasn’t had a full-time submissive for a long time. He’s spent the last few years climbing the corporate ladder as a broker while practicing Aikido on the side. When he spies Lucinda at a club, he watches her every move while she reacts to a scene and decides to approach her. Could it be she is just the sort of bratty submissive he’s been hunting for? Someone who will challenge him every step of the way and keep his cock hard at the same time?

When Theo confronts Lucinda and immediately puts her in her place, sparks fly. He makes demands on her that keep her panties wet and her mind running for the first time in her life. In return, Lucinda challenges him every step of the way, wondering if he can take the level of heat she needs.

There are obstacles, however. Lucinda’s ailing father needs her in Atlanta. And Theo isn’t sure she will remain interested in a Dom like him once the newness has worn off. She needs a firm hand. But will she still need his type of dominance after she recognizes how life has beaten her down into the woman she has become?

Lucinda stood in the corner of the dark bar watching the scene play out before her. She wasn’t supposed to be here, wasn’t supposed to be in any BDSM club. But she’d been dropping by weekly “dungeon night” at Exotica for the past few months, and thus far, she hadn’t been caught.

But now, Julian and Morgan were in the middle of a circle of people, and Lucinda knew she should make her way to the exit quickly. Except she couldn’t stop watching them. Morgan was strapped to a St. Andrew’s cross with no clothes on. Julian circled her, a crop in his hand. The ink-black skin of his free hand danced across the pale, almost-translucent flesh of Morgan’s breasts. His hand skimmed past Morgan’s nipple and along her collarbone toward her neck where he encircled his fingers in a loose chokehold. Morgan moaned loud enough for most of the bar to hear, and Lucinda felt heat pool low down in her stomach.

“You want that,” a voice said from beside her, and Lucinda froze.

She turned and looked up into the face of an unbelievably tall biracial man, his build massive and imposing. “Excuse me?” she whispered, and then cleared her throat and tried again. “Do I know you?”

“You want that. You want someone to own you like that.” His gaze swept down, and Lucinda felt every bit of it like needles dragging across her skin.

“I don’t…” she started, but then trailed off as he stepped closer. She could smell his breath as it wafted across her skin. Minty. Mingling with a hint of alcohol. It made her lick her lips. Her eyes darted from his full lips to his gorgeous perfect skin, that shade everyone dreams of attaining that only those of mixed races are capable of. She glanced higher still. His eyes were dark. Mysterious. His hair was also dark, almost black, and cropped so short she wasn’t sure of the texture.

“They’re very happy together. He used to play with other people too, but now it’s just her. I’ve seen them other places. He owns her.” The man’s voice was like smooth whiskey with a kick that burned afterward.

Lucinda inched back, and the man followed. She stopped and raised her eyes to glare at him. “You’re in my space.”

“I am.” He moved closer, and Lucinda almost, almost looked down, but she wouldn’t. She didn’t know this guy, and she wasn’t going to be intimidated.

“Do you mind?”

“Do I mind what, beautiful?”

“Do you mind backing off? I was watching a scene.”

He paused but didn’t move back. “You were devouring a scene. I could feel the lust pouring off of you. You want that, or maybe you want them?”

“I know them,” Lucinda blurted out. The man lifted an eyebrow. “I used to work with them.”

She had no idea why she said that. She didn’t know this guy and definitely shouldn’t be calling attention to herself. Julian would be furious if he knew she was there. He’d made his instructions about her not being near him or Morgan very clear. And for all her bravado the last time she saw them, she was terrified of Julian and what he was capable of.

The man stepped even closer, and Lucinda pressed against the wall behind her. His warmth assaulted her senses almost as much as the size of him. His massive chest was at eye level, and the packs of muscles covering his body made Lucinda want to reach out to see if they were real. He leaned forward and tilted her chin up with one finger.

“You know them. So then, which is it? Do you want them, or do you want that?”

She shook her head, but he gripped her chin tighter. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

A half-smile kicked up on the left side of his face. “It’s a simple question. Are you looking to be part of them, or are you looking for someone to own you like that?”

“Neither. I can’t be owned.”

He laughed. “Oh, sweetheart, everything about you is begging to be owned. So is it Julian you want? Because you won’t get him. He belongs to Morgan as much as she belongs to him. And I don’t see them being interested in a third.”

Lucinda huffed. She had no idea who this guy was, but she didn’t need a lesson in the relationship dynamics between Julian and Morgan. If anything, she was partly responsible for them. “I don’t want Julian.”

The man grinned, and it was like she’d given him the golden ticket. “Excellent. I was hoping that’s what your answer would be. What’s your name, sweetheart?”

“None of your business.”

He placed his hands on the wall on both sides of her head and leaned in so she felt every part of him against her. His warm breath skipped over her neck and up to her ear. “You are going to be so fun to tame,” he whispered, and she couldn’t stop the shiver it caused.

She wanted to lift her hands and push him away. She wanted to tell him she wasn’t interested, but her throat had gone bone-dry, and her skin prickled with sensation. Before she could get her bearings back, he dropped his mouth to her neck and nipped her skin. She squeaked, and he pulled back with his gaze full of desire. He dropped his arms, and she instinctively shifted forward, trying to hold on to his warmth.

“Phone,” he said.

“What?”

“Honey, you need to get better at this if you’re going to be with me. Give. Me. Your. Phone.”

Her mind was spinning. Be with him? She didn’t even know him. She didn’t know his name or anything about him. She opened her mouth to say this, but he held one finger up, and her mouth snapped shut.

“You’re intrigued, sweetheart. I can tell by your shallow breaths and the blush along your skin. It’s a phone number, not an internal exam, and it’s a one-time offer. In or out?”

She couldn’t stop herself from handing her phone over. The curious side of her was intrigued. It had been so long, too long. It didn’t have to mean anything. He was right, it was only a phone number. His thumb slid along her wrist as he took the phone from her, and she gasped.

“Good girl.” He tapped his number into her phone and handed it back. “Theo.” He pronounced it like Tay-o, and she wondered about his background. Biracial, but maybe from another country, though he had no accent.

“Theo,” she repeated.

“And you are?”

She swallowed, hoping to gather moisture in her still-dry throat. “Lucinda…Sir.”

He shut his eyes for a moment and tipped his head back. Lucinda almost stomped her foot in frustration. She wanted to see the expression on his face, see what calling him Sir did to him. See if she had any power whatsoever in this game. But he hid it. And when he finally looked at her again, his face was a blank canvas. Nothing.

“You should use that number, Lucinda. We’ll play. See how it goes. See if I can break you.”

She huffed. “Maybe I’ll break you.”

He laughed and shook his head. “You won’t. Now, the scene is finishing. Should we go say hello to your friends?”

Lucinda felt the blood drain from her face. She shook her head, and Theo watched her with a thoughtful expression.

“Not such good friends after all, then.”

“I didn’t say they were.”

He lifted his hand and touched her cheek before dropping it to circle her neck. Her entire body tightened as he squeezed her neck the smallest amount. “You like to push, sweetheart. You’ll be a very interesting partner to play.”

He squeezed her neck one last time before dropping his hand and turning away. Lucinda was lightheaded and breathless from the action. She’d never had anyone hold her that way. And as she turned toward the exit, slipping from Exotica while Julian untied the restraints on Morgan’s wrists and ankles, all Lucinda could think about was how to get Theo to touch her like that again.

∙•∙

Theo watched the red-headed beauty slip out of the bar, her eyes shifting to see if Julian or Morgan noticed her. There was a story there, Theo was certain, but he wasn’t going to go digging for it. Not when he could make her tell him.

Theo usually didn’t find his type at bars. It’d been a year since he’d had anyone permanent in his life, and the women who liked his kind of kink wouldn’t waste their time in bars with BDSM theme nights. He’d come tonight on a whim. And had been surprised to see Julian and Morgan playing. They usually went for the private members-only dungeon in St. Paul.

Theo ordered a scotch from the overly flirty, too-skinny bartender—women without curves were like young boys to him, uninteresting and generally unsatisfying—and surveyed the bar. It was populated with mostly amateurs and people he was sure would never go beyond a little silk necktie bondage in their sex play. A woman standing with two of her friends eyed him from the end of the bar, but she was dull in comparison to the fiery passion of Lucinda.

He’d watched her for several minutes as she stared at Julian and Morgan’s scene. At first, she seemed poised to leave, but she couldn’t peel her gaze from Julian’s crop working Morgan’s body. If Theo hadn’t distracted her, Lucinda might have dropped into subspace from the exhibition alone. But he was damn glad he had drawn her attention, because he’d discovered a hidden gem, unpolished and ready to be turned into something spectacular.

It was a gamble taking her neck, but he suspected behind the bratty behavior was a masochist who wanted to push him into hurting her. Pain sluts weren’t hard to find in BDSM, but ones filled with fiery passion and confidence were rare. Where had Lucinda been hiding herself?

Theo took another sip of scotch and nodded at Julian as he gathered Morgan into his lap at a nearby booth. She was blissed out, deep in subspace, and probably raw as hell. Theo’s cock stirred, and he wondered what Lucinda would look like after she’d been flogged. If she’d be spitting mad and ready to go after him, or if she’d succumb easily. He hoped she’d put up a fight. His cock grew stiffer, and he swallowed the last of his scotch as his phone buzzed in his pocket. He looked at it and smiled. Lucinda, already.

Lucinda: I’m free tomorrow.

He considered for a moment then texted back.

Theo: I’m not. That’s not how this will work.

Lucinda: If you want me, you should clear your schedule.

Theo: It’s you who wants me, brat. Come to my house next Friday at 7.

He typed in the address to his Eden Prairie home and waited to see if she would complain about having to drive outside the Twin Cities, but she surprised him.

Lucinda: Friday works, I guess.

Theo: Make sure your weekend is clear.