Avery winced, took a long draw of her beer and edged closer to Grayson’s side as Greg brought a wooden paddle down on Cassie’s already reddened ass, her throaty cry accompanying the lift of her head as she glanced back at them. He didn’t care for the way Cassie narrowed her eyes when she saw him with Avery and decided not to linger.
“Over here is a fucking bench,” he explained, leading the way to the next apparatus that sported padded side rests for knees and arms to prop a sub up in a perfect pose for fucking, as Leslie now demonstrated. The way the experienced sub had jumped into another scene with someone else didn’t bother him. If only he could get Cassie to move on without constantly pestering him for more attention. Faint pink lines still shone against Leslie’s pale skin from where he’d cropped her, and the view her spread knees offered revealed her puffy, glistening labia wrapped around a wide dildo,
“Sheesh,” Avery muttered before swigging another gulp of beer and averting her eyes.
Grayson experienced another tug of familiarity at her mumbling; something about the way she uttered that word poking at his memory. Frustrated, he asked her point blank, “What’s your last name?”
She jerked and tried to step back, but he held onto her hand, refusing to let her go far. “If that’s a requirement for your… guidance, then…”
“It’s not,” he cut her off. “I still can’t shake the feeling I know you, that we’ve met before.” When she shifted her eyes over his shoulder, more suspicions kicked in. Reining in the urge to demand answers, he changed tactics, reaching out with his free hand to grab the thick braid of caramel colored hair resting between her shoulders and using it to pull her closer. She flinched, whether from the sound of wood smacking against bare flesh or from his hold, he couldn’t tell, but she made no attempt to pull away from him. “Did Sydney mention the club safeword?”
She nodded, the top of her head ramming his chin. Her face reddened with her apology. “Sorry. Yes, she said it was red.”
“Excellent. Remember it. And if you return after tonight, wear your hair down and change into a skirt or shorts.” He watched her pulse flutter in her throat as he pressed her body flush with his and he ached to see what other responses he could pull from her with a simple order or touch.
Avery gulped and then nodded again. “Okay. Where are we going?” she asked as he released her hair and moved away from the other couple after catching another glare from Cassie. Under other circumstances, he would deal with her insolence in a way Cassie wouldn’t care for but thought it best if Avery didn’t see that side of their lifestyle yet.
Grayson had seen and dealt with his share of confused, reluctant women, but none more baffled than Avery as he led her upstairs to the loft and started to explain each piece of equipment. But curiosity kept her going, overriding embarrassment and confusion. “This is a fucking swing.” He lifted a dangling strap attached to the webbed seat, a cuff hooked on the end. “I’m sure you can imagine how I can restrain someone on it. But nothing can settle the mind better than first-hand experience. Hop on.” He patted the seat, challenging her with his gaze. She possessed the most expressive face, every thought and insecurity portrayed in her eyes and around her mouth. Small, white teeth sank into her plump, bottom lip, tempting him to deliver his own bite to that soft flesh.
Avery shook her head and tried to back away even though curiosity and interest shone in her eyes. Tightening his grip, he held her in place. “I was just going to watch, not participate.”
“Watching is fine for titillation, but only goes so far to appease curiosity. Sit on it and I’ll only restrain one wrist. That will be enough to give you a small example of what bondage is like, and if it might be for you.”
Grayson held his breath as she looked back at the swing, even though he enjoyed watching her sort through her feelings and the option he presented her. When she nodded and handed him her now empty beer bottle, he released his pent-up breath with relief, surprising himself by how much he wanted to push her.
“I’ll… give it a try,” Avery agreed before cowardice sent her fleeing.
Her long dormant libido had awakened in the last thirty minutes with as much ease and heat as when Grayson had guided her to a self-induced climax using just his voiced commands. Her curiosity about the dangling contraption stemmed more from what he would do to her, how he could bring her to another shattering release than from her interest in the kink going on around the loft. She’d known she might have to participate eventually in a scene with him if she wanted to get to know the man better, but as she settled on the swing and gripped the lines attached on each side that connected it to the ceiling, she couldn’t stop trembling with apprehension from both the unknown and with giving up even a token of control. The number of people teeming around the loft was of some comfort. After succumbing to Darren’s machinations without second-guessing why a man like him would all of a sudden be interested in someone like her, she’d learned to be extra wary of attentive men she knew nothing much about. If it hadn’t been for their anonymous first encounter and Grayson’s generous time and kind offer to help a virtual stranger,
she wouldn’t do this, no matter what her body was clamoring for.
“Excellent,” he murmured, reaching for her right hand and lifting it above her.
As he attached the cuff around her wrist, he kept his eyes down, focused on her as she looked up and watched his every move. His fixated attention and the warm approval reflected in both his voice and eyes helped to ease the tremors racking her body, but also increased the rush of heat spiraling through her veins. Avery tugged on the restraint, sucking in a gasp at the vulnerability the bondage brought about. Before she could balk, Grayson gripped her braid and tugged her face up to meet his as he bent over her. The slight pull on her scalp elicited a curl of desire in her abdomen that threw her for a loop, the same as when he’d tugged on it downstairs.
His warm breath brushed over her lips as he asserted in a low, toe-curling voice, “Concentrate on keeping your eyes on me, nothing else.” He rubbed his lips over hers, keeping her head immobile for the light touch she swore she could feel between her legs. “Trust me, Avery.”
Grayson locked her in his gaze with those three, simple words, the need inside Avery branching out to include more than just her body. And then he covered her mouth with his own and all rational thought fled as he kissed her with a thoroughness she’d never enjoyed before. For the first time in weeks, tension rolled off her, fear and uncertainty slipping away under his potent command. What started out as a soft coaxing as their lips clung and tongues stroked, soon turned into a ravaging possession of all her unsuspecting senses. Her breathing turned heavy, her body arching toward his of its own accord, as if it controlled her instead of the other way around. He swallowed her moan before running his exploring tongue along her tender gums. With harder pressure, he drew her air inside his mouth as he tickled the sensitive skin on the roof of her mouth in an oddly arousing maneuver.
Instinct forced Avery to jerk on her arm again despite the heated pleasure building inside her body. Shockingly, her inability to move had her pussy swelling, her thick cream pooling between her legs, preparing her for more, so much more, and rendered her oblivious to the soft moans of painfully induced pleasure echoing around them. With no other recourse left except to wrench free and cry a halt or sit there and enjoy, she let go, basking in the assault on her senses that stripped her anxieties away for a few moments of a mind-consuming new experience.
By the time Grayson pulled back, her lips were almost numb, yet she found it difficult to resist the urge to beg for more. Lowering his head, he yanked on her hair again, arching her neck. She expected to welcome his lips on the tender curve of her exposed shoulder, but instead felt the astonishing effect of a sharp nip. The arousal already humming through her body escalated from that quick prick of pain and left her shaking with need, a heated state only he had ever driven her to. Avery couldn’t fathom what it would be like to have him controlling her whole body in such an intense way, or what her response might be to the harsher pain she’d witnessed others receiving tonight.
“C’mon, sugar,” he stated, releasing her braid and reaching to free her arm. “You look like you’re ready for your second drink.”
Avery stood and leaned against his hard frame, needing a moment to gather her thoughts. The man possessed an air of authority that went beyond his position as sheriff, a manner that both drew and scared her. After viewing the few scenes downstairs, she imagined he would label that demonstration vanilla, whereas, for her, it had been a taste of decadent chocolate.
Wanting to learn more about him and his preferences, she conjured up the nerve to ask, “Would you mind explaining more of this?” She nodded toward the other apparatus in use behind them.
“Not at all.” Latching onto her hand again, he steered her toward a contraption that resembled a gymnastic vault, until you saw it up close.
“Oh.” Stumbling to a halt, Avery stubbed her toe on the heel of his boot, but the throbbing ache didn’t keep her from gaping at the woman riding the dildo attached in the center of the padded vault, her glistening body bowing as she struggled to maintain her balance with her eyes locked on the man next to her. Fascinated with both the equipment and the look on the woman’s face as her partner flicked a small, leather strap on one nipple, Avery couldn’t help shifting closer to Grayson. “Ouch,” she muttered before curiosity prodded her into questioning the woman. “How can you let him do that?” The man’s eyes whipped toward her, the censure aimed her way drawing a shiver down Avery’s spine.
Tearing her eyes away from that cold frown, Avery flung her gaze up to Grayson. “What?” He shocked her by answering her confused inquiry with a sharp pinch to her own nipple. Without thinking, she slapped a hand over the throbbing tip, her face burning with her surprised utterance. “Ouch!”
“Sorry, Devin, she’s new.” Grayson pressed two fingers under her chin, tilting her face up to his. “Master Devin’s sub is trying to concentrate on pleasing him. Speaking directly to a sub during a scene, or without her Dom’s permission is distracting for both people.”
“I don’t…” She looked back and then pulled Grayson away from the other couple. “What do you mean? I need permission to talk to people, that’s why you did that?”