His Control Read online

  She’d taken a lacy camisole top I’d gotten as part of a gift from Lottie and paired it with a plain white blouse, leaving the blouse mostly unbuttoned and tied off at the bottom so that it framed the low neckline and sheer material of the top. She’d vetoed a bra even though, if I looked hard enough, I was certain I could see the outline of my nipples.

  Then there was the skirt. I had a suspicion that it had started life belonging to Codie. Or perhaps a child’s doll. Either way, it fit me like a second skin and barely covered my ass.

  “How am I supposed to bend over without flashing my underwear at everyone?”

  Dorly shrugged. “The way I see it, you have two choices. Either don’t bend over, or don’t wear underwear.”

  I glared at her. I’d always had long legs, and this skirt made them look even longer. I’d at least won the right to choose my own shoes rather than a pair of five-inch heels that made me feel like the giant in Jack and the Beanstalk.

  “We’re not done yet,” Codie informed me. She held up a small jar. “How do you feel about hair glitter?”

  “I feel like an idiot,” I muttered as I slunk along behind Codie and Dorly. “That’s what I should have told her.”

  This was the last time I let Codie play dress up. On top of the clothes that were getting a hell of a lot of attention, she’d put some glittery gel shit in my hair, and now my hair was some brassy shade of bronze. And sparkling. So was my face thanks to the make-up Codie had put on.

  At least one good thing would come from all this. If we ran into anyone from work, I doubted they’d recognize me.

  The moment I walked into the club, however, I felt that the odds of me seeing anyone I knew had gone from slim to none.

  Because this wasn’t a regular club.

  It was a sex club.

  “Um, Dorly?”

  She grinned at me. “Surprise.”

  I glared at her. “Are you kidding me?”

  She gestured for me to follow her, then took Codie’s hand so her girlfriend didn’t get lost in the crowd. We tucked ourselves into a back corner where the music wasn’t quite so overwhelming.

  “I thought we were going to the club where you and Codie worked.”

  “We did,” Codie said. “Dorly’s a bouncer, and I’m a waitress. It’s how we met.”

  “But this is a sex club.”

  Dorly half-shrugged. “Technically, it’s a BDSM club, but most people don’t make a distinction.”

  “The people here are really great,” Codie said. “They screen everyone. You can’t even walk in off the streets unless it’s an open night. Everyone here is either an employee, a paid member, or the guest of a member.”

  Dorly nodded. “She’s right. They take safe and consensual seriously. Complaints are investigated in-house with a team of badass security people, and they’ve got no problem calling the cops on someone if their behavior warrants it.”

  While still feeling strange about this being sprung on me, their reassurances helped with the anxiety. I’d only know them a short time, but I didn’t believe they’d do anything to put my safety at risk.

  “Everyone here’s really open about sex,” Dorly continued. “As long as you’re respectful, you can ask anyone anything. They get all kinds. Gay, straight, bi. Masochists. Sadists. People with specific fetishes. Voyeurs. Exhibitionists. People in long-term relationships. Married couples. People just looking to hook up for one night.”

  “As long as it’s safe and consensual, pretty much anything goes,” Codie summed up.

  I looked around again, letting my mind absorb everything at a slower rate now that the shock had worn off.

  “I have to ask,” I said after a moment, “why did you bring me here instead of a regular club?”

  Dorly shrugged. “You looked like you needed to unwind, and what better way to blow off some steam than a good fuck? It’s a hell of a lot safer to hook up with a guy here than it is to go home with some random from a bar.”

  “I don’t think losing my virginity to a leather and whips stranger is really my thing.”

  Shit.

  There I went, my nerves making my mouth run, and now I’d just blurted out that I was still a virgin, and I was getting that wide-eyed stare I hated.

  Dorly gaped at me, and when she finally began speaking, it was a rush of words. “Shit, Addy, I’m sorry. I didn’t know. I wouldn’t have brought you here if–”

  “It’s okay.” I said quickly. “It’s not some religious thing, or me waiting for Mr. Right. I’m just the sort of person who likes to know what I’m getting into. I don’t mean literally. I’m a scientist, so I know how sex works. There’s no surprise for me there. Or unrealistic expectations. I know the average penis size and how different a male orgasm is from a female one. And it’s not like I’ve never masturbated before–” I covered my face with my hands. “Someone please shoot me now.”

  Laughter made me raise my head, but Dorly and Codie didn’t look like they were laughing at me, just at the fact that I couldn’t stop talking.

  “I’m sorry,” Dorly said. “That was just a lot of information coming out all at once.”

  “I’m going to go home now.” I started to stand, but Codie grabbed my arm.

  “I think this is exactly where you need to be,” she said. “You said you’re not looking for love, right? You want someone who’s going to come at sex from a logical point of view. Physical pleasure without emotional attachment. But you want someone you can trust to make sure you enjoy yourself, and trust not to be some sleazy stalker or someone dangerous.”

  “Right,” I agreed. “I’ve been mentally and emotionally ready for years. I’ve just never had the time to figure out how to find someone like that.”

  Codie glanced at Dorly, then looked back at me. “I think I know someone.”

  “Who?” Dorly asked.

  “There’s this guy who comes in every couple of weeks or so. He’s polite, respectful, and I’ve only ever heard good things about him. I don’t know his name, because he’s not much of a talker, but he’s a member in good standing, which means his background check was crystal clean, and his behavior here has been above reproach.”

  “Who are you talking about?” Dorly asked again.

  “We call him Mr. K,” Codie said. “One of the girls heard him say his name once but couldn’t hear it clearly. All she caught was the ‘k’ sound. First, last, we don’t know that either.”

  “You know the important things, but not the personal things,” I said slowly. Maybe Codie was right. Maybe this was what I needed after all.

  “I can see if he’s here tonight,” Codie offered, “and ask if he’s interested, and it can be as impersonal as you want it. From what I hear, that’s exactly what he likes.”

  Tonight? I hadn’t come here thinking about having sex for the first time. Then again, I’d thought we were going to a dance club where I’d deal with the same sort of men I’d met back in Minnesota. I hadn’t known we’d be coming here, or that a place like this could offer exactly what I was looking for.

  There was one thing I had to make sure was clear if I was going to do this though.

  “He’d need to agree not to do any of the whips and chains stuff,” I said.

  “Don’t worry about that. That’s part of the whole safe and consensual thing. You’ll set down terms of what you want and what you don’t want before he even touches you.”

  I nodded before I realized I was going to agree. “Okay,” I said. “But if you’re going to talk to him, I’d prefer if you told him up-front what I was comfortable doing.”

  Codie smiled. “All right. Let’s start with bondage. How do you feel about handcuffs?”

  Nine

  Cai

  Today had been a weird day. Just all-around strange. I’d told Addison more about my family than I’d told any of my co-workers. In fact, Pansy was the only one who knew anything about my family, or anything personal about me, and that was mostly because we’d gone to college toget
her. I’d spent so much time tutoring her that, inevitably, those sorts of things had just come up.

  Maybe that’s what’d happened with Addison. Outside of times when I was working with a team during an outbreak, I didn’t spend extended amounts of time with anyone. It made sense that having someone in my lab would make me want to fill the silence.

  Except that wasn’t what happened. I hadn’t been talking because things had felt awkward without either of us saying something. I’d talked to her because I’d wanted to. I wanted to know who she was, how her brain worked. She interested me.

  Professionally.

  I certainly didn’t wonder what it would’ve been like to turn those platonic touches into something else. To feel her mouth under mine…

  My dick gave an interested twitch.

  That was just unfair. I’d been in the club for ten minutes, and a dozen half-naked women had walked by, but none of them had struck my fancy. It wasn’t a physical thing. They were beautiful, sexy. I could see ways their features would be considered by many to be superior to…others.

  “Hello.”

  A soft female voice caught my attention, and I looked around for a moment before looking down at a petite Asian woman I recognized. I’d talked to her a few times before. She was a waitress here, though I couldn’t remember her name. I thought I remembered someone mentioning that she was dating one of the bouncers.

  “I’m Codie.” She stretched up on her toes, as if trying to make it easier to hear her. “Can I talk to you about something?”

  I nodded and followed her a couple feet away to a shadowed corner. “How can I help you?”

  She smiled in a way that made me wonder if I should’ve worded that differently.

  “Have you found anyone to play with tonight?” she asked.

  Dammit. Were my people skills really that bad?

  “I thought you had a boyfriend.”

  “No,” she gave me a shy smile, “a girlfriend.”

  She was dating Dorly, then, the only female bouncer in this place. But if Codie and Dorly were dating, then…

  “I’m afraid I don’t understand.” Or, rather, I was hoping I didn’t understand, because I really didn’t want to have to break it to Codie that I didn’t want a threesome with her and her girlfriend.

  I didn’t share well.

  “Don’t say no until you hear me out.”

  This was sounding better by the minute.

  “I have a friend who’s looking for a nice, anonymous encounter with someone who knows how to be in control.”

  I folded my arms. This wasn’t getting any clearer. “What’s the catch?”

  “She’s a virgin.”

  It was on the tip of my tongue to say hell no, and then go back to looking for someone to take to one of the back rooms. But something about Codie’s request gave me pause.

  “Why would she want to lose her virginity to a stranger at a BDSM club?”

  “She wanted to feel safe,” Codie explained. “But she also doesn’t want a commitment. You know how it is, picking up someone at a club for casual sex.” She gave me a probing look. “Or maybe you don’t, being a large, strong man. But, for some of us, it can be…dangerous. Dorly and I told her that she’d be safe here.”

  “Then why me?”

  She met my eyes. “Because I’ve seen you here. You’re polite to everyone. Even though you’re a Dom, you don’t treat anyone like less. You don’t go the humiliation or degradation routes. She needs someone who can take control and make her feel good, and everything I’ve heard about you says that you can do that for her.”

  Codie seemed genuine, and for once, I didn’t want to be cynical about a person’s intentions. Still, I had to ask.

  “Did you tell her my name?”

  She smiled. “I don’t know your name.”

  Why wasn’t I walking away?

  Maybe because this was the first time since I left work that I hadn’t been thinking about Addison.

  “I would have conditions,” I said. “No names. No personal details.” I thought for a moment and then added, “I want masks. And no kissing.”

  “I’ll talk to her, but I’m sure she’ll be fine with that. She’s not looking for anything beyond this one encounter.” She gave me a quick list of some of the definite don’ts, and then glanced toward the back of the club. “Next to the last door in the back. Be there in fifteen minutes.”

  It was the longest quarter hour of my life. I was torn between wanting time to hurry up and thinking I’d made a mistake. That little voice in the back of my head kept getting louder until I finally started walking toward the room Codie had pointed out.

  She was waiting next to it, a mask in hand. “She agreed to everything.”

  I took the mask and put it on. “Thank you.” As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I felt like an idiot, thanking her. Fortunately, she’d already gone back to her girlfriend and didn’t see my cheeks growing hot.

  I gave myself a few seconds to calm down and then went into the room.

  The lighting was very dim, taking away the room’s harsher angles. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust, and then I saw the figure on the bed. She was tall and slender, her face almost completely covered by a mask, her curls a glittery bronze that I assumed was some sort of coloring.

  “Your friend said you agreed to my terms.” I pitched my voice lower than normal, not wanting to frighten her. Domination didn’t mean I needed to shout or scold. She was new to both sex and BDSM, which meant I needed to change my approach a bit.

  “I did.”

  Her voice was soft, pitched so low I had to strain to hear. Like she was scared. Or maybe she didn’t want to scare me away.

  I was half-way through unbuttoning my shirt before I remembered that I rarely undressed for sex. Then again, I was here primarily for her. I always made sure my partners left satisfied, but this was different. Being a Dom meant taking care of the needs of my sub. During the time we were in this room, she was my sub.

  I finished taking off my shirt and set it aside. “You may call me ‘Sir.’ What would you like me to call you?”

  She hesitated for a moment, then said in a voice that was very near a whisper. “May.”

  “Very good, May.” I toed off my shoes. “I want you to listen carefully because I don’t want there to be any misunderstandings. I’m going to explain how things will go tonight, and if you have any questions, please ask.”

  “All right.”

  For a moment, I thought she was going to say something else, but instead, she folded her hands in her lap and waited.

  “The first and most important thing you need to remember is your safe word. Unless you have something else you’d rather use, I would like us to use one that I’m accustomed to hearing. Watson.”

  James D. Watson was a scientist whose work I admired, and his name wouldn’t be something I’d likely hear in a sexual situation. Not that I’d ever had a woman know whose name it was. Most assumed it was either Sherlock Holmes’ partner, or actress Emma Watson.

  It didn’t matter which one she thought I’d gotten my safe word from, as long as she didn’t forget it.

  Ten

  Addison

  I hadn’t really thought about what Codie’s friend would look like because I trusted her judgment about his abilities where it mattered. Then he’d come into the room, and my already churning stomach had done a flip. It’d been a good kind of flip because even though his face was covered, I saw enough to see that he was, well, hot.

  And the fact that he reminded me of Cai both unsettled and comforted me at once. I knew, of course, that someone like him would never step a foot in a club like this but allowing myself to think it was him made my stomach twist with a desire I didn’t want to think about.

  It hadn’t been easy to focus on what he was saying while he was undressing, but I’d managed, and now we were about to get down to the real reason we were here.

  I laid on my back, trying not to start babbli
ng like an idiot due to my anxiety skyrocketing through the roof.

  “Relax.”

  No matter how quiet his voice was, that single word was a command, and it was as sexy as hell.

  “Close your eyes, May.”

  I obeyed.

  “What do you say if you want me to stop?”

  “Watson,” I said automatically.

  “How are you to address me?”

  A little thrill went through me. “Sir.”

  “Don’t forget again.”

  “Yes, Sir.”

  The tip of a finger traced along my collarbone, and I shivered. My hands curled into the bedspread. If he could make me feel this way with that single touch…I was glad I wasn’t adding emotions into things. I could only imagine what this would be like if I was doing this with someone I actually knew.

  Then his lips touched my stomach, and my brain did something it’d never done before.

  It stopped.

  Oh, yeah, I could get used to this.

  I made a soft, moaning sound and was rewarded with the sexiest chuckle I’d ever heard. I opened my eyes, watching as he kissed up my stomach, pushing my shirt up as he moved. When he lifted it over my breasts, I gave a nervous laugh.

  “Don’t doubt how beautiful you are,” he said. “If you take nothing else from tonight, take this: never allow anyone to make you feel like you deserve anything less than a man who will adore you.”

  This wasn’t like what I thought S&M would be like. Wet, hot lips and tongue licking and sucking every inch of my breasts before latching on to my nipple. I gave an inarticulate cry as pleasure shot straight south, making me press my legs together.

  “Can I touch you?” My voice was breathless. The question seemed to startle him, and he raised his head. “You said I could ask questions.”

  He smiled, and I wanted so badly to see his eyes. “I did. Yes, you may touch me, but you’re not allowed to touch yourself.”

  With hands and a mouth that talented, why would I even want to touch myself? I didn’t ask though. Instead, I was touching all that beautiful, tanned skin and firm muscles. He wasn’t huge but was just big enough for me to feel small, something most men couldn’t do.