The Love Trials 1 (The Love Trials 1)

***

I showered quickly and tried to dismiss thoughts of Jaxon from my brain. He was entirely too confusing and arrogant for me. I wasn’t sure who he thought he was. Master, my ass. He was so full of himself. I quickly pulled on my clothes and carefully applied my makeup. I wanted to look good if Hunter saw me. At least that was what I told myself. I hurried down the stairs and saw Jaxon waiting for me in the foyer.

“Ready?” He reached his hand out to me as I walked up to him, but I ignored it.

“I guess. Where are we going?”

“On a drive.”

“A drive where?” I frowned.

“You’ll see. It’s a secret.”

“I’m confused.” I sighed as we walked out of the door. “Is this part of the course?”

“Every teacher teaches differently.”

“I don’t really understand the point of the academy.”

“What do you want to understand?”

“Why are you bringing girls here for free to teach them to seduce men? What do you get from it?”

“The pleasure of knowing that I made a difference.” He responded, and I shook my head.

“Makes no sense. What pleasure?” I frowned. “How do you make money?”

“I have benefactors.”

“What benefactors?”

“So many questions, Nancy. Can’t we just enjoy the day?”

“I don’t get it. What does a drive have to do with a fantasy or me seducing Hunter?”

“The drive is taking us to a place that will answer some of your questions.”

“Oh my God, you’re not taking me to a strip club, are you?”

“No,” he laughed. “Though that would be a good idea.”

“So where are we going?”

“Wait and see.”

I changed the subject. “Who goes through the applications?”

“Why?” He opened the car door for me.

I jumped into the passenger’s seat of his black convertible BMW and sat back in the plush leather seat. “Curious.”

“We have a committee that goes through each application.”

“Oh, okay.” I looked away from him. So maybe Hunter hadn’t been the reason why I’d been accepted. “Where are we going?”

“Patience, grasshopper.”

“Yes, master,” I replied sarcastically and laughed.

“I like the way you’re thinking.”

“So, Jaxon, tell me more about you.”

“What do you want to know?”

“Age, where you went to school, why you think you’re such hot stuff—that sort of thing.”

“I’m twenty-five. Went to Harvard undergrad, Wharton for business school.” He shrugged. “I’m boring.”

“Why are you so guarded?” I looked at his profile, talking my thoughts out loud.

“I’m not.”

“On the train, I smiled at you. If you’d been so interested in me, why didn’t you smile back? You gave me a nasty look.”

“I didn’t give you a nasty look. That’s your imagination. And I wasn’t interested in you. I had a thought about what it would be like to f**k you. That was all.”

“Wow, nice. That makes me like you more than I did before.” I rolled my eyes at him, and he laughed.

“I like that you don’t hide back your thoughts.”

“Why would I?”

“I don’t know. You just seemed more reserved on the train.”

“I guess.” I leaned back into the seat.

He’d been correct in his thoughts. I normally wasn’t so outspoken. I wasn’t sure what it was about him that made me just forget all my inhibitions.

We didn’t speak for the rest of the ride. Instead, I looked at my surroundings. They were really quite picturesque. It was exciting to be surrounded by so much green and nature after living in cities all my life.

We pulled off a tiny dirt road and I looked at Jaxon with narrowed eyes.

“Where are we going?” I frowned.

“You’ll see.” He gave me a quick glance and smiled.

“Uhm, no. I barely know you and you’re taking me to the middle of nowhere. Tell me where we’re going.”

“You should have thought about that before you got in the car with me.” He smirked. “I warned you that you need to be more careful.”

“Whatever.”

“Whatever? Ha. Aren’t you mouthy?” He smiled to himself. “Not that that’s a bad thing. I like a woman who likes to use her mouth.”

I ignored him and stared in front of me, anxious to see where we were going. Then I saw a huge, grey concrete building with a small, black door.

“Where are we?” I leaned forward, my heart racing.

I closed my eyes for a second. I knew he’d looked like a psycho on the train. Why had I gone with him so easily? This was it. He was going to kill me.

“You’ll see.” He laughed. “You can open your eyes, Nancy.” He pulled the car for a stop, and I jumped out of the car.

“Tell me or I’m not going anywhere.” I looked towards the ground, saw a rock, and picked it up. “I’ll hit you. Don’t test me.”

“Oh, Nancy.” His lips twitched. “This is a store.”

“What sort of store is this?”

“It’s a sex store.”

“Sex store?” I looked back at the building.

“There’s a lot going on in there. Don’t worry.” He took a step towards me. “I’m not going to take you to the rooms.”

“The rooms?” I frowned and took a step back.

“The rooms where we get to try out all the different equipment.”

“Oh.” I frowned again and stared at him carefully. I no longer felt as worried. I felt excited. I wanted to slap myself.

“I want you to choose an outfit.”

“Outfit?”

“For tonight.”

“Tonight?”

“When you become Nancy the stripper.”

“Nancy the stripper?” I made a face. “One, that sounds boring, and two, I’m not becoming a stripper.”

“That’s your fantasy, right?”

“It’s not anything I want to be in real life.” I shook my head.

“But you’d like to see what it feels like?” He raised an eyebrow. “You’d like to see how one dance can turn on a man?”

“I don’t know.” I bit down on my lip, imagining myself dancing for Jaxon.

“The first lesson you need to learn about seduction is that you have to be sure. You have to be confident. You have to own your sexuality. You have to be proud of what you want. You cannot be embarrassed. You cannot lie to yourself. You have to own it. Your sole purpose is to entice. Doubt in your mind will confuse your intended target.”

“I don’t want a target. I want a man. A man who—”

“This isn’t the time for the lovey-dovey shit. That comes later—if you do your work well.”

“You mean if I wiggle my ass fast enough?” I shot back, and he laughed.

“You get it.” He grinned. “Only, you want a man to get hard as soon as he sees you, not when you start wiggling on him. Once you can get a man hard from one sight of you, then you know you’ve got it.”

“What sort of outfit am I looking for?” I sighed.

He was right. I wanted a man to have to have me. I wanted Hunter to take one look at me and rush over to me. I wanted Jaxon to push me down on the bed and have his wicked way with me. I wanted his eyes to be green with lust and desire. I froze as I realized that my thoughts had switched from Hunter to Jaxon in a heartbeat.

“Whatever you want.” He started walking towards the building. “Don’t be nervous, Nancy.”

“I’m not nervous,” I lied and followed him through the doors.

My eyes widened as I walked through the door. It was completely unexpected. The place was bright and full of color.

There was a row of doors to the right with blacked-out windows, and to the left were aisles and aisles of items that I gathered were sex toys.

“Go to the back and make a left. You’ll see the outfits there.”

“You’re not coming?”

“No. Surprise me.” He grinned. “I’m going to check out the toys.”

“What for?”

“You’ll see.” He winked at me and walked away.

“I’m not going to sleep with you,” I whispered behind him and took a deep breath.

This was not what I had signed up for. Then I laughed at the irony of my thoughts. This was exactly what I had signed up for. I walked to the back of the room and took a left. There were racks and racks of outfits. I walked directly back, and my mouth dropped as I realized just how little material there was in most of the outfits. There were dresses so short they wouldn't cover my ass, crocheted tops that would show everything, beautiful silky pieces that were so sheer they would show every imperfection. Leather pieces that were so tight they'd hug every inch of me. Crotchless panties. Tops with no material where the br**sts would be. I gasped as I looked at all the outfits. There was no way that I could wear any of these pieces. I moved on to the next rack.

This contained dress-up pieces. I saw a schoolgirl’s outfit, a cheerleading outfit, a nurse’s outfit, and a clown’s outfit. I burst out laughing. Who would wear a clown’s outfit to seduce someone? I stepped back and thought for a moment. I needed an outfit that was sexy but something I'd still be comfortable in. I knew there was no way in hell I was wearing a piece that had my br**sts hanging out or my ass showing.

I wanted to surprise Jaxon though. I could tell that he didn't expect much from me. I knew that he assumed I’d get the least sexy outfit. And every fiber in my body wanted me to get the long nightgown I saw at the end of the rack. But I wanted him to be shocked when he saw me. I wanted his eyes to widen in surprise and lust. I wanted to put him off-kilter. I wanted to show him he didn't know me as well as he thought I did.

Yeah, I'd come with the hopes of being with Hunter, but I was no longer the innocent schoolgirl who'd daydreamed about her teacher. A lot had happened to me since then. I was no longer a silly little girl. I was a woman. I was a woman who was ready to win her sexuality. I was a woman who was intrigued by Jaxon.

There was an unmistakable attraction between us, and I was drawn to him like a moth to a flame. There were secrets in his eyes. There was something to his story. There was a man behind the mask. A part of me wanted to unravel his secrets. I wanted to unravel him. I just didn't know why I was so drawn to him. Or maybe it was just the lust. I couldn't deny that my body craved his touch, no matter how light and subtle.

I looked back at the outfits and pulled out a dress. It was black and sheer with small straps. It would probably fall just under my ass, and I knew it would show everything. I'd go braless, but I'd wear some panties.

I walked over to the row of panties. All were thongs. Some were edible. Some were crotchless. A couple had a lock and a key. I grabbed a plain black thong and was about to walk away when my hand involuntarily grabbed another pair—a crotchless pair this time. These was for my night with Hunter, I told myself. I'd allow Jaxon to teach me all he knew, but I wouldn't sleep with him. I'd save myself for Hunter.

I flushed as I thought about seducing Hunter. Would he like it? I closed my eyes to picture his face, but all I could think about was Jaxon. His dark, brooding face filled my mind. I could see his green eyes staring at me, with his perfect white teeth grinning as clearly as if he were standing right in front of me.

I quickly opened my eyes and rubbed my forehead. I was worried that I was getting in over my head. I wasn't even able to concentrate properly anymore. My mind was playing games on me and my body was reacting in ways I'd never experienced before. I hurried to the front of the store to pay for the items before Jaxon found me.

"There you are." I heard his voice behind me as I finished paying.

"Hey." I smiled at him as I grabbed my bag. My body flushed as I thought about wearing the outfit for him.

"You paid?" He frowned.

"Yes. I wanted it to be a surprise."

"You shouldn't have paid."

"Why not? I wanted to pay. It's my stuff."

"You're too hardheaded. I wanted to pay." He sighed. "What did you get?"

"You'll see later."

"Hmm." He looked like he wanted to say something more, but he didn't. "Okay. Let me pay for my stuff."

"What's that?" I glanced at the items in his hand.

"You'll see." He smiled.

"Tonight?"

"Unlikely." He shook his head.

"Oh." I was slightly disappointed.

"Unless you want to?" He picked up a box from the counter and showed it to me.

"What's that?" I stared at it wondering what it was. It looked like a slightly larger silver bullet.

He grinned. "Something to pleasure yourself with."

"What?"

"You have to be able to give yourself pleasure to know what pleasure you want from a man."

"Okay?"

"Plus, there's nothing that turns on a man more than watching a woman pleasuring herself. It makes a man determined to give her more pleasure than she can give herself."

"Okay," I said again.

"I want to watch you play with yourself, Nancy," he whispered in my ear. "I want to see your fingers rubbing your cl*tgently. I want to see your legs spread while this bullet brings you to the brink of orgasm. Them I want to bury my face in your pu**y and let my tongue finish you off."