Submissive Seductions

by Christine d'Abo

Genres: Short Stories; Contemporary Romance; Erotic & Steamy Romance

Synopsis

Sometimes getting what you want…makes you crave something more Purchasing a Dom from a charity auction was the wildest thing Liz had ever done. The chance to bring her secret fantasy to life, to be a submissive—even just for one night—was worth any price. And Gareth was everything she wanted in a Master. He touched, he taught, he tantalized. He opened her world to pleasures she’d never imagined. But was it enough? After one night turned into a blurred-line relationship, Liz’s feelings for Gareth went beyond desire. Yet the kink, no matter how hot, had her wondering if she could ever have a normal relationship. Her Dom was a man with a tragic past and he’d put rules in place from the start.  If Liz chose to break them would she lose the intense passion she’d just discovered—as well as the man she loved?... Praise for Chistine d’Abo’s 30 Days “Sexy, fun and deeply emotional. Bravo!”--J. Kenner, New York Times bestselling author

Release date: February 16, 2016

Publisher: Lyrical Press

Print pages: 194

Sample

I’m still not entirely sure what possessed me to say yes when Connie asked me to attend the charity auction at her BDSM club. I mean, this was all new to me and I really didn’t have a fucking clue about the lifestyle or if I actually wanted what I thought I wanted. But all of the proceeds were going to support a suicide hotline, to which she damn well knew I would say yes. And, really, it was the best chance I had to give this a go, yank my fantasies into the daylight. Or spotlight, in this particular instance.

Buy a Dom for a night.

Rent a man and get him to take control, all in the safe confines of a club with people who knew what they were doing.

A hard chance to pass up.

Still, I had to question myself: What the hell was I thinking? It’s not like I knew who any of these people were, or what was truly expected of me. How could I honestly walk in there and offer myself up like the proverbial lamb to a man whom I didn’t know the first thing about?

So, the plan in my head had been to go and watch, take some notes, and figure out if this was really what I wanted. What harm was there in watching, right?

So naïve.

In typical Connie fashion, she wasn’t about to let me sit on the sidelines. Oh no. I should have anticipated my best friend’s need to meddle.

Connie had told me there wasn’t a dress code. No, Liz, you don’t have to get all fancy. Not really. Go as you are and you’ll be fine. Just shave and pluck, put on some of that nice jasmine vanilla cream of yours, and the men will eat you up. Maybe wear the new Diesel jeans, they show off your ass. Oh, and here’s a nice corset! I had no doubt she thought she was being comforting, supportive even. What she actually did was make me even more nervous about going than I was in the first place.

I had put on the Diesels and a midnight blue corset I’d picked up a few months ago. The coloring went well with my blond hair and pulled in my slightly thick waist. I hoped the outfit would be enough for me to blend into the crowd. I didn’t want to stick out like the obvious newbie I was. Connie had emerged from her room wearing PVC and stilettos high enough to have my calves screaming for relief. She looked like a Dom’s wet dream. I’m surprised Stephen let her out in public without him, looking like that. It also served to remind me how completely out of my element I was about to be.

Before I’d been able to turn tail and hide in a corner of our apartment, she grabbed my arm and hauled me to the club.

Arriving at the Tail Whip was a bit of a shock to the system. There were lines and lists and bouncers to get through—the club was closed to only members and guests, which I found reassuring. Even with our names on the list and our invitation in hand, I have to say the third degree that the bouncer put us through would have chased me away under normal circumstances.

Not that it killed my nervous excitement in the least.

Clearly I was a sucker for punishment after all.

The club building was pretty much a converted warehouse. The rafters were exposed and lights dangled from long chains. The walls were concrete blocks, painted in an array of blues, grays, and blacks. I knew there wasn’t any alcohol, so I was surprised to still see a bar tucked off in the corner. The main area had a large stage, and it looked like the organizers had thrown up some makeshift curtains to hide the participants.

The majority of the patrons had on even less than Connie. You’d think it was the people in the crowd up for bid and not those on the stage. I would have fit in better if I’d hauled off my corset and put electrical tape over my nipples like that woman over there. Damn, that was going to hurt coming off. Maybe.

“You’re a bitch,” I hissed as she pulled me toward the front. “I look like an idiot.”

“You look fine, Liz. It’s not like you’re a member yet. Besides, some of the Doms like an understated image. More than a few, in fact.” I should have known then that she’d been planning something. She had that wild look in her eyes that she got when Stephen was about to come over to play.

“Not that it will matter.” I tugged up the top of my corset before rocking up on the tips of my boots to see over the naked shoulder of the man standing in front of me. “I can’t see me getting a Dom. At least not a good one with what I can afford.” My luck I’d end up with a first-time Dom and the two of us would do nothing but stand around and stare at each other. “I’m still not sure I even want to do this.”

I had limited money to spend on things that weren’t bills. The new job with Schultz Associates was, well, still new, and I had student loans to pay back and a future house to save for. Shelling out a couple hundred dollars for what essentially amounted to a rent-a-date seemed pretty irresponsible. And desperate. I wasn’t desperate.

Well, maybe sort of desperate.

Wiping my hands down the front of my jeans, I hoped I didn’t look as nervous as I felt. I didn’t think Doms would necessarily want someone who they thought would freak out at the first sign of a whip.

“I told you, I’ll chip in. You’ll win one of them tonight. Trust me.” There it was again, that glint that told me Connie was up to no good.

She was my best friend in the whole wide world, and the only person I knew who was a sexual submissive. It was one of the things that had caught my attention at college, how she would home in on particular men, sometimes the ones I wouldn’t expect, and take them home. It wasn’t until we became roommates during our second year that I realized exactly what she did with them once she got them home.

I’d bought earplugs early on. Then I quickly misplaced them.

I’d masturbated so many nights listening to Connie and her Doms, I’d never be able to admit it to her. It wasn’t that I was turned on by them—it was the sounds, the tones, the glimpses of red skin I’d see on her body the next day.

When she’d eventually settled down with Stephen, things changed with her. It was fascinating to watch Connie change from the wild girl looking for a hot time to the devoted girlfriend who got off on having her man spank her ass.

I knew I was jealous of what Connie and Stephen had. What I could never be sure of was if it was the spankings that were so appealing, or the idea of finally having someone I loved be so intimate with me.

The crowd around us continued to buzz with excitement, growing in noise and size as we got closer to go live time. I tried hard not to stare at the press of bodies around me. Most were in varying degrees of nakedness and all seemed aroused. There were a few people who I assumed were Doms scattered throughout. It was surprisingly easy to pick them out and not because of the clothing they wore. They had an air to them that was unmistakable. A confidence, bordering on arrogance in some cases, that rolled off them in waves.

Those were the ones I looked at, studied with my sidelong glances. The women looked powerful, like they could be running a large corporation, or be cops, anything that required power and control. My gaze didn’t linger as long on them. I was straight—well, for the most part. I wouldn’t kick a beautiful woman out of bed, but I didn’t think I was ready for something like that.

No, my eyes were on the guys.

“I don’t have a clue whom to bid on.” God, this was weird, like considering what cut of meat to buy at the market. While it wasn’t as frenzied as Tina’s bachelorette party we’d gone to last month, there was certainly less clothing. Not that I have an issue with nakedness, I’m just not used to seeing it in such abundance. “I’m not you. I feel like such a fake here.”

Connie sighed and draped an arm around my shoulders. “Don’t be an idiot. You’re fine. Now, they’ll be starting soon. Don’t do anything about bidding until I tell you to. Just watch and learn.”

It was odd, being at an event like this. This wasn’t a part of who I was, the public displays and flaunting of sexuality. I worked in an office, at a desk. I flirted with my married boss because he’s old enough to be my dad and is of the generation where it’s not taken seriously. I don’t bid on men with the intent of asking them to tie me up, spank me, and make me scream before they make me come.

The MC stepped out onto the middle of the stage, a microphone in hand and a grin fixed on his face. He was wearing tight leather pants, but no top. His nipple piercings glinted in the spotlight. Umm, ouch. Maybe ouch? I’d have to ask Connie.

“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to our Third Annual Auction for Hope. All proceeds tonight will benefit the local suicide hotline.”

I clapped along with everyone else and did my best to ignore the tingling starting up in my legs. This didn’t have to be about me at all. I was simply here as a willing supporter of a good cause. There was no reason to focus on the possibility that I might find a Dom here tonight. Someone to help me relax and get my head straightened out.

“Tonight we have some of our club favorites ready and willing for you to buy them!” The crowd erupted in cheers and catcalls. Bodies bumped into me and I could have sworn someone grabbed my ass.

“Now, now, settle down.” The MC wagged his finger at the crowd. That only served to jack the excitement further. “If you don’t behave, we won’t get to play.”

Connie started laughing. “Christian is eating this shit up tonight.”

“Who is he?” It would figure Connie knew the man.

“He’s one of the bouncers for the club. A big old sub if you can believe it.”

No. Way.

I looked the man over again, but there was no way I would ever have guessed the buff, jovial man strutting about the stage was a sub.

“Is he gay?” I turned to look at Connie. “Not that it matters.”

“Straight as a board, our Christian. He likes his women in control, though I don’t think he’s found one yet to his liking.”

If there was any chance I was a Domme, I would have jumped at the opportunity to be with a guy like him. But the one thing about my sexuality I was certain of was that I didn’t like to take charge between the sheets. Or on the couch.

Anywhere, really.

Christian leaned forward. “Are you ready to get this party started?” Cheers exploded around me. “I can’t hear you.” Another roar from the crowd, this one deafening. “Excellent! Then here we go!”

When the first person came out onstage the crowd around us pulsed with excitement. It was enough to send a shiver through me, stopping somewhere in my pussy. The scent of arousal wasn’t one I’d ever encountered on such a strong level before. Like being hot boxed at a concert and unintentionally getting high, I felt my body responding to the incidental touches from those around me. The cardboard number card grew sweaty in my hands as I watched the first sub come onto the stage.

I don’t know what I’d been expecting, but she didn’t look weak or scared. The woman, who looked to be several years older than myself, walked with purpose to the front, clasped her hands together, and lowered her gaze. She was in excellent shape, most of her body not hidden by the PVC halter top and skirt she wore.

She wasn’t the only one either. Some of them were confident, a few cocky. All of them were beautiful, especially when the Doms in the crowd came to claim their prizes. I got so wet at the sight of them being led off the stage, some by leashes, others by the hand or wrist, all going willingly to experience something I had only imagined before.

After a solid twenty minutes, Christian came back out onstage, still grinning. I wondered if he ever stopped. “I know you’re going to be disappointed, but that was our last submissive for the night.”

“We want you, Christian!”

The crowd laughed and even I couldn’t help but chuckle. Christian for his part pointed in the direction of the voice and made a tsking noise in the mic. “Not tonight, my lovely. Poor Christian has work to do.”

The rumble of disappointment was easy to feel.

“We’ll take a short break and then it will be time for the Doms. Get your cards ready.”

Connie was practically bouncing in her stilettos as she chatted with a few people around us. I probably should have at least made an attempt to join in the conversation, but at this point I was starting to freak. The Doms were next, which meant I really had to make a decision on whether or not I was actually going to do this. It’s not like Connie was forcing me to be here. She wouldn’t get mad at me if I tore up the number card currently clutched in my hand and ran screaming out of the club.

She might, however, be a bit disappointed that I wimped out after she’d gone to such lengths to get me an invitation to the event. The last thing I wanted to do was disappoint her.

Better to do this. Worst case I could simply take the Dom with me to a local coffee shop and have a conversation with him. I mean, what better way to figure out if this is something that I could be into than to have an extended chat with a man who saw to the pleasure of others?

The tension in my shoulders lessened as I made my decision. There really was no pressure beyond what I was putting myself under. I scanned the stage to see if Christian was about to come back out when the movement of the stage curtain caught my attention. There was a man standing on the other side scanning the crowd. He was clearly checking out the audience, and from the slight frown on his face I don’t think he liked what he saw. When his gaze landed on mine, I instantly felt myself blush.

Damn.

He stopped frowning.

His hair looked black in the dim light and I couldn’t make out his eye color from this distance. Not that the details matter because he was simply the most attractive man I’d ever laid eyes on. Completely out of my league. He frowned again and for a moment I thought he might turn around and disappear back behind the curtain. Instead, he pulled the curtain back a bit farther so I was better able to see the rest of him.

God, he wasn’t just handsome, he was fucking gorgeous.

Looking away, I really did focus my attention on Connie and her friends then. There was something intense in that man’s gaze that unsettled me down to my very core. I didn’t like the butterflies that had decided to take up residence in my stomach, or how I knew he’d been the reason they were there.

Thankfully, it wasn’t much longer before Christian came back out on the stage. It was impressive how quickly he managed to work the crowd up. Over the break there’d been a bit of a shift of the crowd, some of the Doms had moved away to be replaced by people who I assumed to be subs. The competition was going to be fierce.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we are ready to rumble once more. This time, it’s Doms on parade!”

Shit. I took a deep breath and got ready.

Connie grabbed my arm and gave me a squeeze. “Okay, here we go.”

“I’m not sure how much to spend.” What the hell was it worth to spend a night figuring out fundamentally who you were? I don’t think you can actually put a price tag on something like that.

“I told you not to worry about the money. Plus, I have a plan.”

“Connie.” I know I was whining, but I’d been on the receiving end of her plans on more than one occasion. They usually ended up with stains on my clothing and several bruises.

“Shut up.” Connie grinned. “Don’t vote on this first one. Or even the second. I’m waiting for someone particular to come up.” Connie squeezed my bare arm, her blood red nails digging into the skin. “He’ll be worth every penny.”

“Had him before?” Taking my best friend’s castoff wasn’t something I’d had in mind when I’d agreed to come tonight.

“Well, kind of. He’s a friend of Stephen’s and we’ve hung out a lot over the past few months. I’ve done a scene with both of them once. Just trust me, okay. Gareth’s perfect for you.” Normally, trust wasn’t an issue between us, so I was willing to roll with it for the time being. God help her if he turned out to be some sort of weirdo.

I’m not sure what Connie’s definition of perfect was, but the three men who came ahead of the man she had in mind would have been pretty fucking amazing as far as I was concerned. They were fit and attractive and I had no doubt they could rock my world. So what if one of them had more piercings than me, the second looked like he belong. . .