To Love and Submit (7 page)

I’m a member of Boundaries, a private BDSM club in South London. I could meet you in Central London at, say 9pm and we could get a cab there together. Oh, and just for the record, I don’t normally take strange girls to kinky nightclubs either.

She really liked the sound of this guy, but she knew she was being irresponsible for arranging to meet him without knowing anything about him. He did sound genuine, though, and she had a gut feeling that he was all right.

Lol. Where were you thinking of meeting?

How about by Bond Street Tube Station, I’ll recognise you from your photo. Oh, and wear something sexy or they won’t let you in.

Sexy? Did she have anything sexy that would get her into a BDSM club? No, but there were advantages to working in Central London—she could nip out at lunchtime.

OK, I’ll see you then.

Great. Now, get to bed!

Ooh, how sexy, she thought
. Giggling, she replied,
Yes, Sir!! Night night. X.

Night night x

Logging off the site, it was all Rachel could do not to jump up and down like an excited child at a birthday party. She couldn’t believe she had just arranged to meet a complete stranger and let him take her to a nightclub, a BDSM one at that. She needed to talk to someone badly and Mandy was home now, although it was nearly quarter to three in the morning. Taking her life in her hands, she tiptoed into Mandy’s room and shook her awake.

“You’ve done what?” screamed Mandy, a minute later, groggy with sleep and alcohol.

“I’m meeting this guy I met on the site—he’s taking me to a BDSM club tomorrow night, isn’t that great?” Rachel giggled, and waited for Mandy to share her excitement.

“No, it fucking isn’t. You can’t just go off meeting complete strangers at dodgy nightclubs. For fuck’s sake, Rach, he could be a complete nutter!” Mandy was furious and Rachel could only gape at her in surprise.

“But, Mandy, you were the one who told me to join the site and meet someone,” she said, frowning. She felt hurt and a bit bewildered at Mandy’s reaction.

“Yes, but not someone you’ve only been in contact with for five bloody minutes. You don’t know anything about him.” Mandy dragged herself out of bed and reached for her dressing gown.

“I know enough,” said Rachel peevishly, and followed Mandy as she made her way into the kitchen.

“Really? Okay, what does he do for a living?”

Rachel hesitated. “Well, he… All right, I don’t know, but that isn’t important. I really like him, Mandy.”

“You don’t bloody know him, Rach. You can’t just go off with the first man who offers to give you a spanking.”

Rachel sighed in mock defeat. “Yeah, I know. I guess I got caught up in the moment.”

Mandy’s face softened when she saw the expression on her friend’s face. “Look, sweetie, I’m sorry for being so harsh about it, but I care about you. I don’t want anything bad to happen to you.”

Rachel smiled back and gave Mandy a hug. “I know, thanks. I’ll contact him in the morning and tell him I might have been a bit hasty.” Rachel turned her back on Mandy then uncrossed her fingers. She hadn’t actually said she’d cancel, and anyway, she didn’t need Mandy’s permission to go. It was flattering that Mandy cared, but sometimes she was so damned bossy that it was better to let her think she’d won the argument. She really did like Luke and had no intention of cancelling her date tomorrow evening, no matter what Mandy said.

Mandy seemed happy that she had persuaded Rachel to rethink and passed her a mug of hot chocolate. “Good. Okay, now that you’ve woken me up in the middle of the bloody night, you can fill me in on all the other messages you’ve had on the site.”

* * * *

Rachel sank into the warm, silky bath water and felt her muscles begin to relax. It was Friday night and she was going to Boundaries with Luke. She couldn’t wait. Luckily, Mandy was out so she wouldn’t be quizzed about where she was going, although it would be pretty obvious once she was dressed. Mandy was a nurse at a London hospital and worked different shifts, so she rarely knew when she was going to be around or not.

She thought back to earlier that afternoon and cringed as she recalled Mr Stone’s words just before she’d left the office. The day had started out all right, it had been relatively quiet as Mr Stone had been out at meetings for most of the day and she’d even been able to nip out to do a bit of shopping at lunchtime. She had found a couple of small alternative boutiques at the back of Neale Street in Covent Garden, and had found everything she needed for her sexy outfit.

When she’d arrived back at the office, Mr Stone still hadn’t been back so she’d kept her head down and cleared her workload. But then, just as she had been contemplating sneaking off half an hour early, Mr Stone had returned and asked her to pop into his office. He’d gone over some details for a meeting he wanted her to arrange and had handed her a fresh audio tape, which he’d said she could leave until Monday.

Finally, he’d sat back in his seat and had given her one of those looks that instantly sent blood rushing through her veins. His eyes had then roamed idly over her upper body, stopping at her breasts, before raising them to meet her gaze again. Her nipples had hardened—traitors.

“So, Rachel, are you doing anything nice at the weekend?” His deep, soft voice had teased her ears and Rachel had almost been tempted to tell him where she was going later that night. But, luckily, common sense had kicked in and she’d just smiled and said she had a date, but otherwise was going to enjoy a quiet weekend.

“That’s good. Well, have a nice time,” he’d said, smiling.

“Thank you.” Rachel had then stood up and turned to leave his office when he’d suddenly called her back.

“Oh, by the way…” There’d been a slight edge to his voice that had made her quickly swing back around to face him again.

“Yes, Mr Stone?”

“Just a word of advice. I’m sure you’re aware of the rules regarding the use of the company Internet for personal reasons?” He’d been watching her closely and would undoubtedly have seen the red flush that crept slowly up from her neck to the top of her head. “If you absolutely must search for non-work-related material at work, especially if it’s of a sexual nature, may I suggest you don’t bookmark the page?”

Fuck!
Rachel had felt as if the floor had disappeared from under her feet. The flush that had tinted her cheeks a minute earlier had then burned deeply and she’d stood, rooted to the spot as she’d tried to think of something to say. But how could she explain a bookmarked page titled ‘BDSM—Discover Your Kinky Side’?

Mr Stone, who had obviously been enjoying her reaction, had then smiled knowingly and said, “Goodnight, Rachel.”

“Er… Goodnight, Sir,” she’d muttered, and had scurried out of the door as quickly as she could.

Just thinking about it made her toes curl in embarrassment so, lathering her body with vanilla scented soap, she resolved not to think any more about Adam Stone. The fact that he knew about her interest in BDSM mortified her, but she didn’t want to spoil tonight by worrying about what he might think of her. She would try to put him out of her mind as best she could and concentrate on her date with Luke.

Little butterflies were fluttering through her stomach every time she thought about what might happen later with Luke. Any doubts she might have had as a result of Mandy’s warnings had been quickly dashed that morning when she’d logged on and seen a new message from him.

Hi Gorgeous
,
I’m pretty sure that you’ve just logged on to tell me you’ve changed your mind about tonight because you don’t know anything about me. As I would hate for you to have to miss out on a night of kinky fun, I thought I’d provide you with a short bio about myself, as well as my address and contact details. You should pass this information on to your flatmate and, if you haven’t already done so, arrange for her to call you at a pre-arranged time tonight so she can check you’re okay. If you need to verify any of the details I’m about to give you, I’m sure you’ll find plenty of information if you Google my law firm.

He then left information about his background, address, date of birth and occupation before saying that he was looking forward to seeing her later.

Rachel had of course Googled him straight away and had found plenty of information about him on his company’s website. He was thirty-two years old and a lawyer, originally from New York, now living in Notting Hill. He was divorced with two teenage children and had graduated from Oxford University with a first class honours degree.

And now, in a couple of hours, she’d be meeting him in person. She slid farther into the warm water, letting it gently massage her breasts, and closed her eyes. What would he be like? Strong, powerful and commanding, like Adam Stone? Her eyes shot open. She didn’t want to think about Adam Stone tonight. This was nothing to do with him so trying to compare Luke with him was crazy. No one could live up to Adam Stone so it would be unfair of her to set such high expectations. Even if Luke was half as sexy and dominating as him, she’d be happy.

When the bathwater had cooled, she climbed out of the bath and inspected her newly shaven legs and armpits. Then, when she was dry, she smoothed a sensuous body lotion all over her skin leaving it silky soft and smelling gorgeous. She applied her makeup slowly, taking time to make sure it was perfect. She’d even bought a new lipstick today, a bright ‘fuck me now’ red that she carefully applied to her lips.

An hour later, she stood in front of the mirror and hardly recognised herself. The short black leather miniskirt she’d bought hugged her bottom, and the matching black corset was laced up tightly, cinching her waist and pushing up her generous breasts. She slipped on a pair of black, very high-heeled patent shoes that made her look much taller than her five foot four and checked that her stockings were straight. Hmm, she didn’t look too bad, all things considered. She hoped Luke would agree. She’d backcombed her long blonde hair slightly, giving her an eighties rock chick look, and the image staring back at her in the mirror was definitely befitting of an attractive girl about to make her debut in a BDSM club.

Just then she heard the front door close. Damn, Mandy was back and she’d have to be pretty stupid not to work out where she was going. She stood still listening, and sure enough, almost immediately there was a gentle knock on her bedroom door and Mandy’s head peeped round.

“Wow!” she gasped, her eyes looking like they were about to pop out of her head when she saw Rachel. “You look amazing.”

“It’s not too much, is it?” Rachel turned back to the mirror, worried that she might look too tarty.

“No, you look really hot,” laughed Mandy. “So, you’re meeting Luke then?”

Rachel nodded. “Look, Mandy, I know you’re only looking out for me, but I’ve made up my mind and I’m going tonight, whether you like it or not.”

Mandy walked over to her and put her arms around her. “I know, Rach. I’m sorry for being such a bitch last night. I had no right telling you what to do.”

Rachel nodded her acceptance to Mandy’s apology. “You were only looking out for me and I appreciate that. I’ve left a printout of Luke’s details on the table to shut you up.”

“Okay. Can I call you later to check if you’re all right?”

Rachel grinned. “Luke actually suggested you do just that. I’m meeting him at nine o’clock so how about you call at about nine fifteen? We should be in a cab by then.”

Mandy nodded and gave Rachel another hug before leaving her to finish getting ready.

Twenty minutes later, Rachel was sitting nervously on the Tube, staring at her reflection in the window opposite. In about fifteen minutes she’d be coming face to face with Luke, and suddenly she wished she was at home in the safety of her flat, sharing a bottle of wine with Mandy and looking at BDSM websites. She closed her eyes and shook her head. What had she been thinking?

Five minutes later, the train pulled into Bond Street Station. She rose slowly from her seat and made her way to the doors. As she stepped onto the platform, a train going in the opposite direction stopped and she was very tempted to run across, jump on it and go back home. She stood on the platform, watching both the trains pulling out before turning towards the escalators.

Would he already be there waiting for her? Would he recognise her? Oh God, why the hell hadn’t she listened to Mandy?

When she got to the top, she stepped off the escalator, walked slowly through the ticket barrier then looked tentatively around for Luke. Apart from a couple of teenagers waiting for their friends, there was no one else around. She stood awkwardly by the entrance, trying not to look too conspicuous, which was very difficult seeing that she was wearing heels so high that she could barely keep her balance. Thankful she’d worn a coat over her skimpy outfit. She lifted her arm to check the time on her watch and when she looked up again she found herself face to face with her real-life Dom.

Chapter Seven

Luke was tall, muscular and even better looking than his photo, although still not a patch on Adam Stone. His dark hair was short and his eyes were a deep brown—
I could lose myself in eyes like that,
she thought as she smiled up at him. He took her hand, raised it to his lips and kissed it softly. “You’re even more beautiful in real life,” he said, his words accentuated with a sexy American accent.

“Thank you.” Rachel shifted from one foot to the other and tried to look more confident than she felt. “It’s nice to meet you.”

He took her hand and led her across the pavement, where a minicab was waiting. “After you,” he said, holding the door open for her. As the cab pulled away, she sat back in her seat and looked out of the window, trying to fight her feelings of apprehension. Luke was gorgeous and charming but, even so, she was suddenly having doubts—big ones.

“Are you regretting coming?” he asked softly as if reading her thoughts.

“No, of course not,” she lied. “I’m just a bit nervous, that’s all.”

“That’s understandable. If you’re uncomfortable at any time just let me know. We’ll talk about safe words and rules later, but I want you to know that you’re not my prisoner, you can leave any time you like.”