TamingTara

Chapter Eight

Tara watched Joe leave the office. Friday evening, and he was no doubt off to have fun somewhere while she sat in the office alone. Oh well. It was good to have quiet, uninterrupted time without worrying about him sticking his nose into what she was doing. She wanted to review the proposals from the website designers again.

He’d been so pissed off she’d almost seen smoke coming out his ears that morning when he realized she’d met with the designers without him. A thrill of triumph had mingled with a measure of fear at his anger. At the thought of what he could do to her. And yet—wasn’t that her goal? To make things difficult for him, so maybe he just wouldn’t want to stick around. She felt like a little kid playing with matches, tempted to do something scary, fascinated at what the dangerous result might be.

She pushed aside thoughts of Joe and pulled out the folder with the proposals to work on. After spending some time going over them, she wandered down to the store to help out there for a while to see how things were going. Friday evening brought lots of tourists shopping up and down State Street and the store was full. She wished they had the soap deal and could sell some really cool olive oil bath products. She was convinced they would go over well with the same demographic who liked to shop for specialty food products.

How did she know that, though?

Dammit. That was Joe’s voice in her head, asking another damn question, making her second-guess herself, making her have to prove her gut was right. She sighed as she gave a credit card back to a customer, forcing herself to smile as she handed over their package. Finally business slowed a little and she could leave.

She didn’t want to go home and sit there all alone on a Friday night. But if she went to Le Château…would Joe be there again?

So what if he was? She didn’t have to have anything to do with him. She could find another partner, or partners, like she had before. Let him find his own little submissive to dominate.

But thinking about Joe doing things to someone else sent a dark thrill trickling down her spine. He embodied dominance—big, strong, intense, his air of authority unquestionable and commanding. Her insides quivered at the thought.

Maybe even watching him would be fun…

She chose a different outfit tonight, and dammit if she wasn’t thinking of the approving look in Joe’s eyes as he’d studied her last week in the black latex dress. Tonight she stepped into a slim black pencil skirt and a black bustier with a heart-shaped neckline. She left her hair down and loose.

She rubbed her thumb over the healing blister on the palm of her right hand before picking up her flogger. How much was she going to be able to do tonight? Oh well, there were other things she could try.

When she walked into Le Château, she couldn’t stop her gaze from searching the crowded room, looking for broad shoulders, dark hair…but she didn’t see Joe. That didn’t mean he wasn’t in one of the private rooms, already paired up with a sweet little thing who wanted him to…don’t go there!

She wandered through, exchanging interested smiles with a few people, then got herself a drink. Nerves fluttered in her tummy. She didn’t see Jason or Adam, the only two men she’d ever scened with there, and she hesitated to approach someone else. Not very dominant of her. Huh.

Two men and a woman seated on a couch began to attract some attention as they made out and Tara watched them for a while, a warm ache of arousal growing inside her. It was still hard for her to believe she was standing in this place watching people have sex. Then her gaze was drawn to another scene, where a man turned a woman so her back was to him and bound her hands behind her back. The position thrust her naked breasts forward. She turned to face him and he pushed her to her knees in front of him.

Tara edged closer and paused, knowing if they were doing it in one of the public areas, they wanted to be watched. Her mouth grew dry and her heart picked up speed as the man pulled his erection out of his pants, long and hard. He met her eyes briefly and the domination and sensuality in them made her tummy flip over.

“Open,” he commanded the woman. She obediently opened her mouth and he cupped her jaw with one hand, directing his cock into her mouth with the other. The woman looked up at the man, their gazes locked as he fucked her mouth, one hand still holding her jaw, the other holding her hair back so those watching had a clear view of his cock sliding in and out of her mouth.

Tara’s nipples tingled and her pussy ached, a low flutter in her tummy. She watched with helpless fascination. The woman’s pose was submissive, hands behind her back, on her knees in front of him, the man aggressively thrusting into her. That yearning started deep down inside her, a hot ache of need.

“This turns you on, doesn’t it?” a black velvet voice whispered in her ear.

She started, turning her head to see Joe standing beside her. She blinked at him but said nothing. He slid an arm around her waist and pulled her against him. She tried to jerk out of his grasp, but he held her tightly and her eyes slid back to the scene in front of her. His warmth and his scent surrounded her, that erotic spice and citrus fragrance.

The man lightly tapped the woman’s cheek. “Deeper,” he said. “Take it all.”

And he pushed himself further, it must have been right to her throat. One hand on the back of her head, he held her as he pushed in and Tara could see the woman was almost choking. Then the man released her, pulled all the way out and the woman gasped and swallowed, blinking rapidly. The tears running down her face did not take away from the look of ecstasy she wore. Heat flashed under Tara’s skin as she watched, wide-eyed.

“That’s a good little slut,” the man said and he bent and kissed the woman’s swollen mouth.

Tara melted inside, knowing her panties were wet and sticky. Joe shifted her so she stood right in front him, her back pressed to him, his arms linked around her, and they watched together.

“Gonna come in your mouth,” the man said. “Swallow it.”

He pumped into the woman again, harder, faster, and with a tight cry he came. Tara wished she could see it, see him coming. She’d never seen a man come. She’d had sexual relationships with men, but that had never been one of her experiences.

“Admit it, Tara, that turns you on.” Joe’s voice rasped in her ear.

She gave a jerky nod and Joe pressed into her from behind. Oh lord—he was hard too, his erection firm against her lower back, his thighs solid against her butt.

“You want that,” he whispered, bending his head to her. She shivered in his arms. His hand slid lower on her tummy, over the corset, lower…Her pussy clenched hard.

“No,” she said. “That’s not what I want.”

“What do you want?”

“I…I want to be the one in control.”

“Why aren’t you with those submissive boys tonight then?”

She blinked. “I didn’t…they’re not here.”

“There are others.” He nuzzled her hair.

She sucked briefly on her bottom lip. She didn’t want to admit to him last week’s scene had left her feeling let down, as though none of them had been truly satisfied.

“Remember what I told you—the best way to learn is to experience it. Come with me,” his voice cajoled, seduced, his hands caressing her stomach. “Let me show you.”

Heat raced through her, lust sliced through her. Everything inside her yearned to say yes.

The scene in front of them, the beauty of the woman’s submission, the thrill of the man’s dominance, combined with the hard strength of Joe’s arms around her made it so hard to say no to him.

“No.” The word came out like a whimper and he gave a soft laugh.

“Oh yeah, that was convincing.”

“Joe.”

He released her waist and slid his big hand around hers, giving a small tug. And she went with him.

He took her hand and led her out of the main room and down the hall, past the Red Room where she’d been last week and into the Black Room. She pulled at his grip, trying to resist, but not very hard. She tripped along after him in her stilettos.

Inside the Black Room, she eyed the equipment in the room nervously.

“Don’t worry,” he said, closing the door. “We don’t have to use any of that stuff.”

She turned wide eyes back to him.

“I wouldn’t even tie you up the first time,” he continued, moving toward her across the black carpet. “I would never expect a submissive to allow that much vulnerability with someone she barely knows.”

“I’m not a submissive.”

He stood in front of her, rested his hands on her bare shoulders and smiled. “Right.”

She opened her mouth to speak and he laid a finger over her lips, then bent his head and kissed her, a soft brushing of mouths. She jerked her head away, took in a sharp breath and he lifted a hand to cup her head and hold her there for him. He deepened the kiss, opened her mouth to him and licked inside her mouth.

Oh God. It was like his mouth took possession of hers. She trembled against him, then melted into him and kissed him back. His hands twisted in her hair, then tugged, sending a cascade of shivers over her skin. A low moan vibrated from her throat and he drank it in. He tugged harder, the sensations sharper now, tingling all the way to her pussy, and he pulled her head back to expose her throat to him. He licked his way down to the tender hollow where her pulse fluttered.

He pressed more kisses down over her collarbone and onto her breasts spilling from the top of the black bustier. A small tug on the bustier revealed her fully to him.

“So pretty,” he whispered, gazing at her nipples. His heated admiration sent a spiral of delight down through her and her nipples tingled almost unbearably. He bent his head to take one nipple in, licking over the tight bud first, then sucking it into his mouth—just the hardened tip of it. He closed his eyes, pressed her nipple between tongue and roof of his mouth and sucked.

She made a long, low noise as her body turned to liquid, and her hands fisted in his hair.

“You like that,” he whispered against her flesh. He sucked the other nipple, gave a small suckle to the soft flesh beside the nipple and kissed his way back to the other breast. He played like that for a long time and she couldn’t get up a single smidgen of resistance to drag his head away from her, the pleasure pouring over her at his suckling touch rendering her helpless.

Her legs weakened and when they threatened to give way, he picked her up and carried her to the bed in the room, a bed with a wrought iron headboard and footboard.

He laid her gently on the mattress and reached for her hands. He lifted them over her head and wrapped her fingers around one of the iron posts of the headboard.

“Hold tight,” he ordered her. She lay there, gazing up helplessly at him, feeling like her body was out of her control, soft and quivering and desperate.

He knelt beside her and with two hands hitched the hem of her skirt up. Higher. Higher.

“Christ, Tara.” He surveyed the black lace tops of the stockings attached to garters as they came into view. “That is so hot.” He stared at her for a long, heated moment, then continued to lift the skirt higher. Her breath caught as he exposed her panties, a black scrap beneath the garter belt.

“These have to come off,” he murmured and unsnapped the garters. Then he tucked two fingers into the panties and pulled them off.

God, how could she be letting him do this? But her aching, needy pussy seemed to be in control of her head and there was no way she could have moved. She should have been protesting, but her lips couldn’t form any words.

“Very pretty,” he said, studying her. The admiration in his eyes weakened her defenses even more. Her eyes drifted closed at the sensations pouring through her, the heat, the liquid heat burning inside.

Then his hands slid up over her torso to cup her breasts again. A moan leaked out of her and her breasts swelled. His fingers plucked at her nipples, tugging, twisting, adding to the spiral of sensations inside her. Her nipples were sensitive and were always the way for her to achieve arousal, but she was already aroused, so this was overload, a fierce, wicked, pleasure overload.

And then he picked up the flogger.

Her eyes widened, every muscle tightening. What was he going to do? Reason urged her to roll to the side to escape him, to get the hell away, but desire and curiosity made her stay put, to wait and see what he’d do, what she was about to experience. Because although she’d been taught how to use the flogger and she’d been using it on others, she’d never experienced what it felt like anywhere other than her own palms.

She bit her bottom lip, eyeing him fearfully but expectantly.

He swept the tails over her pussy, a soft brushing that sent tingles shooting through her. Down. Up, the tails catching on her clit, sending sparkles of ecstasy through her body. Down. Again. And again.

“Spread your legs.”

And she did.

Then he added a little wrist motion to achieve a light slap. She made a noise low in her throat, heat shimmering from her pussy over her entire body.

“You like that,” he murmured, eyes intent and focused on her.

She wanted to deny it, but words wouldn’t come. He continued on, delivering light little stinging blows to her pussy, while heat and electricity spiraled up inside her, tighter, hotter with every stroke. The buzz of a burgeoning orgasm tingled. God, from being spanked on her pussy! What was wrong with her! Her teeth sank deeper into her bottom lip as her body tensed. And yet, he took her higher. Higher.

And then he stopped.

Throbbing, aching, empty, she cried out with need.

He smiled at her.

He lifted the flogger and her pussy tightened in anticipation. But instead of hitting her there again, he delivered smarting little blows to her breasts. Another low cry escaped her as her nipples tightened painfully. A flush of pleasure radiated over her skin.

One breast. The other. Then back. He built an erotic rhythm that she sank into, lost in edgy pleasure.

“You need to come, don’t you, Tara?”

God, oh God, she did, she did. The thought entered her head, way back in the far recesses of her brain, that this was Joe, this was crazy, but she could not stop it. “Yes!”

He pushed her thighs wide apart, exposing her aching, wet pussy, and to her utter shock, he turned the handle of the flogger around in his hand and probed at her opening with the rounded end of it. Ah! God!

With a push it was inside her, filling her, and her hips lifted off the mattress, heels digging in, fingers curling.

“Oh Jesus!” she gasped. With one hand, he thrust the handle of the flogger into her, deep, over and over, picking up that rhythm again, and with the other hand he found her clit and rubbed. Tight little circles just where she needed them. Tension coiled in her, unbearable, straining, and then she shattered, sparks flying, intense, violent pleasure tearing through her.

She’d looked fucking amazing in that corset, pushing her tits up. He’d liked the little ivory ribbon threaded through the top edge of it and tied in a bow between her breasts. Tough black with a hint of softness. Sweet. She was the perfect size—for him anyway, since he didn’t find huge tits all that appealing, liking just enough to fill his hands—and shape, high and round and firm. When he’d seen the look of almost dazed fascination and arousal on her face, watching that scene, he’d known he could have her. She just needed to learn what was inside her.

Joe barely caught the basketball that slammed into him, thrown by Nick.

“Pay attention, buddy,” Nick called across the court. Nick had talked Joe into coming along to the center Saturday afternoon for a game with some of the kids. They’d played basketball together in college, but it had been awhile for Joe.

Joe dribbled the ball up the court, avoiding the kids, aimed for the basket and sunk it. He pumped a fist into the air as the kids on his team cheered. He grinned. But his mind wandered away again.

The debate about whether it had been a good idea to do that with Tara, considering who she was, kept ping-ponging in his head. Yeah, it could make things damn uncomfortable at work. On the other hand, this could make things better. Once he learned her triggers, gained her trust and her submission, it could only help.

Was there an ethical problem there?

Nah. It wasn’t like he would try to use his control over her for something unethical. He wasn’t going to steal from the company or make bad decisions. He was only trying to stop her from making him waste his time looking at useless information, excluding him from meetings he should be at and arguing with him over every damn thing. And if it helped her look inside herself and find out who she really was—hey, it was win-win.

He caught the ball, passed it to a lanky thirteen-year-old and jogged down the court, swiping a hand across his sweaty forehead. Christ, he was out of shape. He needed to get back into working out.

There was also still the fact that he could be putting at risk the only job he’d been able to find after months of pounding the pavement. Big risk—worth it?

He’d never been a reckless gambler. In the business world he liked to take calculated risks. Consider the pros and cons. Look at the issue rationally and logically. So he’d done that, there at Le Château, considered everything at lightning speed and made his decision. Now he had to live with it.

But he hadn’t quite taken into consideration the effect she was going to have on him. He was experienced and had shown many women their submissive nature, had pushed them past their boundaries—like a teacher. As he’d offered to be for Tara. And while he’d enjoyed it and had taken satisfaction from it, it had always felt…distant.

Not with Tara. It didn’t feel distant. It felt…personal. His body burned at the idea of teaching her about her sexuality, about the desires he knew haunted her. He ached to show her the kind of satisfaction she could find in submission in a way that made him almost…nervous.

And, lost in his thoughts, the elbow that hit him in the eye sent him stumbling to his knees on the court. Shit!