The Flirtation (The Submissive 10)

She tugged at the dress and slowly pulled it over her head, revealing little by little the smooth expanse of skin underneath. She had been captivating through the computer screen. In person she was stunning.

She lifted her head, and when their eyes met, the look of longing, desire, and excitement took his breath away. At that moment, he hoped his eyes reflected the same to her.

“Go face the cross,” he said in a rough voice.

She moved without hesitation, and he couldn’t keep his eyes off her ass. In fact, if it weren’t for the fact that there was another practice session after theirs, he would have spent more time simply watching her. But, unfortunately, he couldn’t take as much time as he would like to.

“Lift your arms up,” he said. “Show me that you’re willingly putting yourself in my control. That you accept what I’m going to do to you.”

She lifted her arms, and he couldn’t help but notice they were trembling. The small show of nerves fed the beast within him.

“Oh, Faye,” he said, walking slowly toward her. “Do you know how long I’ve waited to have you like this?”

As he talked, he secured each wrist to padded leather straps above her head. He did the same with her ankles and then he took a step back.

“Holy fuck, Faye,” he said. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything so hot in my entire life. The sight of you, submitting to me this way. You have no idea what it does to me.” He shook his head. Maybe tonight in their room, they could do more, and then he would take his time. He took a bell out of his bag and pressed it into her right hand. “Since your voice is gone, drop this to safeword. Nod if you understand.”

She nodded.

He ran a hand down her back, feeling the skin he was getting ready to mark. “I’m only stopping when you drop it.”

She sucked in a breath, but nodded.

He took a flogger and began to warm her up, falling into a ritual he hadn’t performed in far too long. The mutual give-and-take never failed to turn him on. The dance of submissive and Dominant. Faye felt it, too. He could tell by the way her body swayed and the way she took each stroke he gave.

After warming her up with the flogger for several minutes, he put it to the side and picked up his bullwhip. Sometimes he’d make it crack in the air before using it, but it appeared Faye was already in subspace, and he wanted her to stay there for the moment.

“We don’t have the time here,” he said. “But after I get you down from there and back in our rooms, I’m going to put you facedown on my bed so I can fuck you while I look at the stripes I’m getting ready to put on you.”

She gave a lazy nod.

He studied her as he brought the whip down across her back. Her head fell back and she moaned. The sound was so unexpected, he stopped for a second. Warning bells sounded inside his head, but although it was so familiar, he couldn’t figure out why. He whipped her again.

She giggled, and he froze.

Why the hell did it sound familiar? He was torn between bringing the single tail down again and trying to put his finger on exactly where he’d heard that laugh before.

“Finally figured it out, didn’t you?” someone whispered from behind him. Another familiar voice.

He spun around. Anna Beth?

She was naked and wore only a victorious grin. “Yes. I’m a bit late. Somehow my practice session got scheduled before yours, and that wouldn’t do. I couldn’t risk the two of you seeing me before you started.”

Their commotion must have ripped Faye out of subspace, because she started pulling at her bonds. Her body jerked at the sound of Anna Beth’s voice.

“If you saw me, you would have run away. Isn’t that right, Lynne?” Anna Beth spoke with evil sweetness.

“No,” the woman he knew as Faye wailed from her position.

“Lynne?” he questioned, but even as his mouth spoke the word, his head recognized the truth.

Holy shit. What have I done?

She dropped the bell and sobbed.

“Serves you right, bitch,” Anna Beth spat. “Don’t you know not to lie to your Dom?”

A dungeon monitor stepped up beside him. “What’s going on?”

Simon didn’t know how to answer. Dammit all, this was a mess. He ran a hand through his hair. “You take care of that one.” He pointed at Anna Beth. “She disrupted my scene and harassed my sub. See to it that she’s punished appropriately. I’ll take care of my sub.”

My sub. Fuck. The truth was, she wasn’t his sub. She was a liar who had played him. Without talking, he stepped around the cross and jerked the mask off Faye. Faye who was really Lynne. She pleaded with tear-filled eyes, but they didn’t move him. All he felt was anger.

“I don’t know what kind of game you think you’re playing, but I’m going to get you down and then we’re going to the room, where we’re going to talk.” He cupped her chin, hard. “You can talk, can’t you?”

“Yes, Sir,” she replied miserably.

He unbuckled her, his movements nowhere near as gentle as he’d been when he’d bound her. She sniffled the entire time, but if she thought he was going to fall apart because of a few tears, she was sorely mistaken.

As soon as she was freed, she fell to his feet. “I’m sorry, Sir. I was going to tell you tonight. I promise. I just wanted to do the practice. To prove—”

“Quiet. I didn’t give you permission to speak. And stand up. You look ridiculous.”

She sniffled again and stood up, reaching for her clothes. Simon snatched them before she could get them.

“Wrong. You don’t deserve clothes.” He nodded toward the door, dismayed by the number of people watching the train wreck his practice session had become. “Go.”

“I get that you don’t want me. I’m so sorry. I’ll leave—”

He struck her backside once.

“Ow.”

“I don’t recall giving you permission to talk.” He pushed her out the door and into the hall.

“I know, Sir. It’s just—”

“Lynne?”

“Yes, Sir?”

“Shut the fuck up,” he said, and then instantly regretted doing so. If they were going to have a serious discussion, he needed to prove that he had his temper under control. Yes, he was mad as hell at having been played, but he needed to be in control of his emotions.

He forced himself to take deep breaths, and by the time they made it to the room, he felt calmer. Granted, he was still angry, but all things considered, he was in a much better place.

He pointed to the middle of the floor. “Kneel.”

Lynne’s head was bowed. She hadn’t looked at him since they’d left the practice room. He would let her escape his stare for now.

“Tell me what the hell you were thinking, pretending to be someone else,” he said.

Her face flushed. “I wanted to get back into the lifestyle, so I went online. I saw you and I wanted . . .” She took a deep breath. “I wanted to prove to you that I was submissive, Sir. That I could be what you need.”

“You think I need a liar?”

She winced as though he’d struck her. It didn’t make him happy and it didn’t make him proud. Yes, he identified as a sadist, but any pain he dealt out had to be mutually agreed upon.

“You might,” she said. “You did play with Anna Beth, Sir.”

She had him there.

“True, but I stopped as soon as I saw her for what she is.” Her shoulders slumped at his words. “What you’ve done is played me, acting like a spoiled child who would do anything to get what she wants, no matter the cost. Trust is one of the cornerstones of BDSM. How did you expect to have any sort of relationship when everything between us is built on a lie?”

She lifted her head at that. “I didn’t plan on having a relationship. I just wanted to prove myself.”