Chapter 6
JANIE
I’m surprised how quickly Ariel reaches me when I ask her out to an emergency girl-talk lunch.
“What, were you like, already waiting for me?” I ask when I get to Paris Greens.
“I was already downtown.” She waves her hand at me impatiently. “You said this has something to do with Tag? Was he a dickhead at your family thing? Do I need to send Lyle and Austin after him?”
“No. He was…kind of great? And it wasn’t just Tag who was great at the party.” I laugh at Ariel’s comical gasp of shock. “There was someone else.”
“Someone else.” She shakes her head in disbelief.
The server comes over. I order a plate of fries and a protein smoothie. Ariel asks for a strawberry lemonade. “I already ate—just had lunch with my dad, actually.”
“Oh.” An uncomfortable, swirly gut feeling takes over my insides. “We could’ve done coffee or something instead—”
“No, this is great. Tell me everything about Tag. And who’s this other guy?”
“Nobody you know.” I hate, hate lying to my best friend. In fact, I’ve only ever lied when it comes to my true feelings about her father.
“And this all happened the day after we talked about my men?” She shakes her head again, but she’s grinning with pride. “I’m a terrible, corruptive influence.”
“Yeah, messing around with two guys must be contagious.”
When we’re done laughing, she gives me a serious look. “So it was good, obviously, or you wouldn’t be all flushed and happy looking. They were safe with you? Respectful?”
I nod. I still can’t believe they did all that with me, and seemed to expect nothing in return. It was like getting me off was their goal. Tag was always a generous lover, but together with Mr. Capulet, it was like I was the only person in the room who mattered to them.
“Do you think I did all that too fast?” I ask. “Like, the three of us didn’t have any agreements in place beforehand. I’m not dating them, like you’re dating your guys.”
“Hey.” Her green eyes take on a sharp edge. “I’m not judging you. Don’t judge yourself.”
“You’re right, you’re right.” I sigh. “I’m not used to any of this. I feel so out of my element.”
Our drinks and my plate of fries arrive. Ariel steals a fry and pops it in her mouth, wincing immediately. “Too hot, too hot, too hot.”
“Here.” I nudge her lemonade over.
She takes a grateful sip. “So, tell me if I’m correct about your quandary: you have to decide if you’re really giving Tag another chance, or what. While also figuring out how cool you are with the fact you messed around with two men at once.”
“Yeah.” I carefully blow on a french fry before taking an experimental bite.
My phone buzzes in my purse. I pull it out and peek at the screen.
“Tag wants to take me out tonight,” I whisper, showing Ariel his text preview.
She tucks a strand of blond hair behind her ear. “Are you going to do it?”
“I’m not sure. I want to. But I don’t think I should.”
“Why don’t you think you should?”
“He broke up with me. No explanation, just the it’s not you, it’s me bullshit. How do I know he won’t do pull something like that again? I can’t be secure in a relationship where he’ll drop me for no reason.”
“You have to talk to him if you want reassurances.” Ariel’s voice is soft. “I mean, I’m all for the kind of closure that can be reached through planting ridiculous rumors about him on his favorite online spaces. But there are other, healthier kinds of closure. I suppose.”
I laugh. “You’re right. I can always tell him that if he doesn’t give me a good, real explanation for our break-up, then this is the last time I come around him. If my family keeps inviting him to events, I won’t go.”
“There’s that shiny backbone.” Ariel grins.
“Let’s do this right now.” I start typing back to Tag, giving him the ultimatum I should’ve given months ago, while Ariel looks on.
While I’m in the middle of typing, a new text comes in—this one from Mr. Capulet. I swipe past it with a flick of my finger and carefully keep my focus on the screen. Did Ariel see it? When I work up the nerve to check her expression, she doesn’t seem like she noticed at all.
Phew, that was close. If Mr. Capulet and I ever take things further, I’m going to need to talk to Ariel. I can’t stand keeping secrets from her—not secrets like this one.
TAG
Janie’s light brown eyes are wide as I bring her into Salt. I try to see the place from her point of view, because over the past year, I’ve gotten used to the sights.
Brilliant spotlights of different colors shine down, slowly circling the room to alight on different couples and groups. I go up to the bar where Jaden, the bartender, is mixing drinks.
“Tag.” Jaden has to shout over the shaking of his drink mixer. His mohawk is lime green, and he wears matching eyeliner. “What’s up? Who’ve you brought with you?”
“This is Janie.” I lead her forward, keeping my hand protectively against her lower back. I don’t want her to feel abandoned or uncertain for a second in this place. It’s my favorite club, and I want her to love it, too.
Even if I can’t convince her to love me.
“Nice to meet you,” Jaden says. “I’m Jaden. Can I get you a drink?”
Janie looks up at me, as if asking permission. Does she know she’s a natural submissive?
“Get whatever you want, sweetheart. If it’s alcoholic, you have a one-drink limit.”
She orders a sangria, I order a scotch and soda. We hold up our drinks in thanks to Jaden, and I leave a tip on the counter. A sign says that all tips will go to an organization that advocates for runaway teens, so I leave a little extra.
I lead Janie through the room. At one spot, a skinny man stands completely still, a tray held in his hands bearing drinks and snacks. Several people sit in chairs around him, ignoring him while helping themselves to refreshments.
Janie watches for a moment before her attention is snagged by a woman lying over a spanking bench, wearing only a bra and panties. The woman’s Domme swats her ass with a paddle.
I lean close to Janie. “What do you think?”
“I could never hit someone like that.” Her eyes are wide as she speaks.
“Could you be the person on the bench?”
Those gorgeous eyes grow even wider. “I’m…I’m not sure.”
“But you’d like to try.” I say it with hope, but also a growing expectation.
Her cheeks turn pink with a blush. “Yeah.”
“I thought so. Let’s walk down the hall over here. There are some more private areas.”
As we walk, we go past small rooms. There are no doors, but everyone here knows that you aren’t allowed to step inside an occupied room without an explicit invitation. I’ve seen Christopher playing in these rooms before, always with a woman, almost never with the same one.
In one of the rooms, a man kneels in front of two women, alternating licking at their pussies. Each time he switches, the new woman grabs his hair and grinds against his face.
In the next room, a man seems to be directing a couple to have sex. He sits back, hands on his knees, and barks orders at them. “Fuck her harder—use your hips, Jake. Tracy, open your legs, girl. Let him fuck you deep.”
Janie watches for a long moment. I can tell she’s getting more aroused. She’s been turned on since we arrived, I think. But watching scenes seems to get her even hotter.
We pass a small room decorated like a college classroom, complete with a lectern and a few desks.
After that, we pass a room decorated with various religious props, and then one made to look like an executive office.
The way Janie pauses at the office makes me think she’s had feelings for Christopher for a while.
“This room will work.” I lead her into a stereotypical BDSM-style dungeon. It has a St. Andrew’s cross, a spanking bench, a sex swing, and a flat bench with restraints.
“Um…work for what?” Janie looks torn between examining the different furniture and props, and bolting straight down the hall and out of the club.
I sit down on the flat bench and pat my lap. “Will you sit here with me, sweetheart?”
Nodding, she perches on my knees. It’s not quite what I had in mind—I wanted her leaning into me, cuddling against my chest. But I haven’t earned that kind of affection from her.
“You wanted me to tell you, honestly, why I broke up with you last year.”
She nods. “But now I’m afraid of the answer.”
“The thing is, I want to hurt you sometimes.”
She doesn’t flinch, but her body goes stiffer than it was.
“Not a lot. But I’ve been dreaming of spanking you, making you squeal when I pinch and bite your nipples, maybe make you cry while I fuck your face and you choke on my cock.”
Her body language is unreadable. I’ve fucked up. I know it. I should never have told her. I should’ve just kept this to myself and loved her from afar. Fuck.
“If you want out now, Janie, I’ll let you go. No questions, no begging.”
It’ll kill me to do it, but in the end, I want her to be happy. No matter what. Up until now, I’ve been selfish by hanging around after our break-up. It ends after this. I’ll let her go and I’ll leave her alone.
“So you want to spank me?” she asks. “Like, right now?”
She has to feel the giant boner pressing into her ass.
Gone are the days when I softened my desires out of fear of scaring her away. “I want to spank you so hard you have red marks into next week. And then I want to get behind you and fuck you so hard you scream in pain and pleasure.”
She gets off my lap so fast, I fear she’s going to bolt.
Instead, she gestures toward the spanking bench. “So, do you want me on that?”
Surprise renders me speechless. I thought she would balk. But my girl is more adventurous than I’d thought.
“No.” I let a wolfish smile grow on my face. “I want you right here on my lap so I can feel you flinch every time my hand comes down on your sweet little ass.”
All this time watching other couples and groups play at this club. All this time learning from other Doms, asking questions and watching how they work.
Finally, I get my turn.
I gesture at Janie’s dress. “You might want to take that off, sweetheart.”
She sends her gaze toward the hallway.
“If anyone’s watching,” I say, “it’s because you’re hot and they like our scene. There’s no shame in this club. Anyone who isn’t into something, they walk past. Understood?”
“Yeah.” Her hands go to the hem of her skirt.
“Wait.” I grab her wrist. “We need a safe word. You know what that is?”
She narrows her eyes at me. “I’m not that innocent. I say the word, and the action stops. Right?”
“Right. The club safe word is red, but you can pick whatever you want.”
“Red is fine.”
Hand still on her wrist, I tug her toward me until she stands between my knees. “More importantly, sweetheart, I don’t want you to do anything you don’t like. Don’t suffer through a scene you hate just because you want to please me. We can find other things we both like. Understand?”
She nods, her light brown eyes serious. “I understand.”
“Good.” I pat my lap. “Get up here and accept your spanking, Janie. You’ve been very naughty.”
Another idea sparks in my head. I kiss her cheek before she can get into place. “And if you want to call me Daddy, sweetheart, I certainly won’t mind.”