Waking Kiss Page 20

  “What are you doing?” I said against his lips.

  He stilled and drew away, sat up and shook his head like he was coming to his senses. “It’s ridiculous idea, no? You and me?” Ruby ran a hand through his hair and sprawled back on the floor. “Oh, Ash-lee, Ash-lee. Ash-lee. You love Liam. I warned you. He doesn’t love anyone.” He looked over at me. “I’m sorry, girl. Is very sad.”

  “Not sad.” I sat up, brushing dust off my leotard. “Our relationship ran its course. Not that we ever had a real relationship.”

  “You keep saying that. You and Liam both. Liars.”

  “We didn’t. We were always going to end things. It was just a little uglier at the end than I expected.” Ugly. Miserable. Horrifying. I felt sad, but also strangely free and clear. I didn’t want to be with any more guys who made me feel bad.

  Rubio leaned up on his elbow, his face lighting with a sudden thought. “Hey, Ash-lee. Come with me to the party tomorrow. To Liam’s.”

  “Why the hell would I go to Liam’s after what just happened?”

  “To make him jealous,” he said, growing more animated with every word. “You go to Liam’s to show you don’t need him. That you are not at home crying into your pickles. You go with me.”

  “Crying into my pickles?”

  “Maybe he’ll see what he’s missing and he’ll think about how he hurt you.” He batted his eyes. “Me, I won’t play with you too hard. No whips. Maybe just a pink crop like the glitter kinksters use.”

  I pushed to my feet as he reached to grope my breasts. “What the hell is a glitter kinkster? Stop touching me.” I was about to give a resounding no to his offer, but then I pictured myself going down the stairs to Liam’s play room, dressed in tight sexy clothes, looking around the room like those other women, like I was hot and available.

  Because I was hot and available.

  When I thought about it, it wasn’t such a bad suggestion. That was why I’d done all this, so I could find an actual partner to fall in love with, someone who wasn’t as guarded and closed off as Liam. His party would be full of kinky prospects and, as a bonus, I could show him that I was over him. “I might go,” I said. “But I’m not showing up with you. If I go it will be on my own.”

  He considered that a moment, then reached out and grasped the tip of my shoe. “I like you. You have quiet shoes now. I think maybe even…without the money…I would have asked you to do the ballet.”

  “Liar,” I said, kicking his hand away. “You would have asked Heather. She has bigger boobs.”

  “Okay. You’re right. But I think you’re good in it anyway. I like how you dance.” He jumped up and reached out a hand. “Come on. It’s late now. I’ll walk you home.”

  Chapter Sixteen: Play Room

  I was sitting at the table in the guest room Saturday night when Mem came to get me.

  “Ishi?” His knock was sharp, his voice low. “Are you…occupied?”

  “No.” I’d brought a girl up from the party but I’d sent her down again. Nothing about her measured up, even though she’d dropped to her knees and worshipped my cock like it was gold-plated. I couldn’t stay hard.

  I’d drunk too much, that was all, and I was tired. I stared down at the dog-eared paper spread out in front of me, the mish-mash of notes I’d scrawled at this table a few months ago with Ashleigh trembling in my arms. Watch hands around face. Don’t lock door. Restraints okay.

  Don’t call her a bad girl.

  It always hurt.

  I had hurt her too, distanced myself and pushed her away. The party went on beneath me, the drumbeats of music reminding me that life went on, that people were having fun and enjoying themselves as they always did, just as I would again. Eventually.

  Mem entered and crossed to me. “She’s here.”

  “Who’s here?”

  He paused. “Little Ishi. She is downstairs.”

  I spread my palms on the cold, slick tabletop. I’d never expected her to come here. She didn’t belong in this careless crowd, not yet, not when she was so new to the lifestyle. I hauled myself to my feet. “Why did they let her in? She’s downstairs? In the play room?”

  He nodded. “She was headed that way.”

  Oh God, she was headed for the play room. I pushed past Mem with a muttered curse. I didn’t know if I was going downstairs to play with her, beg her forgiveness, or throw her into a taxi. If she was with Rubio… Well, if she was with him, it was exactly what I deserved.

  I stopped halfway down the stairs and scanned the various play spaces. I saw Rubio first, standing near the back wall, engrossed in a conversation with one of his off-and-on playmates. He wasn’t with Ashleigh then. I felt relief even though I had no right to be possessive.

  I finally found her lingering near the corner on the left side. She was wearing her representation of sexy, but on her it was a caricature, an ill-fitting skin. Teased hair rather than sleek locks, a tight, low-cut dress that made her look more child than woman. My nerves throbbed with anxiety as she prowled the fringes of the room. I stood back in the shadows and watched, because it wasn’t my job to rescue her. Isn’t that what I’d snapped at her last night? We’re finished. Have a nice life. If she wanted to play with someone, I had to allow her to do it.

  Except that she didn’t know all the rules, only what I’d taught her.

  My fingers tightened on the stair rail as a couple guys strolled over to her, the one in leather gear offering her a drink. I knew them. They were safe players, like all the people I invited here, but they didn’t know Ashleigh. They didn’t know she was inexperienced, that she’d been abused as a child, that she was vulnerable.

  I started toward her but I wasn’t the only one watching out for her. Rubio got to her first, chatting her away from the guys, greeting her with a kiss and a hug. If his nudity bothered her, she didn’t show it. When I got to her side I took her arm.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked in a low voice.

  “If she wants to be here, who cares?” said Ruby.

  I held up a hand to him. “Don’t start with me. You know she doesn’t belong here. She’s not…” She’s not like the other girls. “She’s not experienced enough,” I said instead. “If you want to play, Ash, you should come some other time and I can…maybe…”

  “Help me?” she provided when I snapped my mouth shut. “You don’t have to help me anymore. You don’t have to be responsible for me.”

  I tried to draw her away from Ruby so we could talk privately, but she planted her feet. I frowned at her. “When I said that yesterday—”

  “No, Liam. You can’t tell me we’re finished and then try to prevent me from living my life. This is what you wanted for me. You said that. You told me I could come play at your house. You told me I could fuck Ruby if I wanted to,” she said, gesturing at him.

  She was right. I’d said all that ridiculous shit to her for some reason. “I meant you could do that kind of stuff when you were more experienced.”

  “Oh God,” said Ruby, throwing up his hands.

  “I still care about you a lot,” I said, tuning Rubio out. “I always will. It’s just— I’m not sure you’re ready yet to swim in this pond.” I held her gaze, communicating my concern for her well-being. I’m the only one here who knows, Ash. I want you to be careful. I’m afraid you’ll get hurt.

  She twisted her hands in front of her, looking past me to scan the room. “Why don’t you play with me, then?” she asked, squaring her shoulders. “If you think I’m not ready, why don’t you do some scenes with me? Ease me into the swing of things?”

  I stared at her. Why hadn’t I foreseen this clusterfuck? I’d helped her overcome her fears. I’d released her and now she was here, and she wanted to play. If I didn’t play with her, there were ten or fifteen other guys who’d be happy as hyenas to take her under their wing. Rubio would play with her in a heartbeat. She looked over at him when my silence stretched out too long. “Or you could play with me. You promised me a pink crop
.”

  I narrowed my eyes at him. “You promised her a pink crop?”

  He spread his arms. “She wants to play, Li-am. I know she’s a beginner. Why don’t we all play together? We show her good time, both of us. You rather someone else…?”

  No, I wouldn’t rather someone else, but both of us? Ruby and I had shared dozens of women in the past, but this was Ashleigh. I scratched my forehead and looked at her, struggling to remain detached. I had no right to possessive feelings or jealousy and she…she looked guardedly interested in Ruby’s suggestion.

  Okay. Fine. Maybe…both of us. With both of us, I could keep an eye on her and still keep my emotional distance. With both of us, she could see that Rubio wasn’t the prince she thought he was. With both of us, I could touch her and fuck her again and not feel like I was losing my mind.

  “Sure, both of us,” I said, in a voice that didn’t quite sound natural. “Three is always a lot of fun. You want to try it, Ash?”

  She looked around the play room, at all the other depravity going on, and nodded with a spreading smile. “Okay, I guess so. Why not?”

  Why not, indeed? She knew I wouldn’t let anything happen to her. Ruby took her hand and led her to an unoccupied bondage rack in the corner and I followed without a word. He nodded me toward the adjacent wall of implements. “Go get stuff. Pink crop, most important thing,” he said with a grin.

  While I crossed the room, he started undressing her. I had to numb myself from the urge to run over and stop him. I was already half naked and Ruby was fully naked, so why did I want to shield her from everyone’s gaze as he pulled her dress up over her head?

  He took off her bra next, pausing to kiss and caress her breasts before folding the bra and placing it on top of her dress. I studied her, looking for signs of ambivalence or anxiety, but she seemed okay with what he was doing. After all, they’d become very close “friends.” When he reached for her skimpy black panties, I walked over and stopped him. “That’s enough for now. This is her first time playing in public.”

  Ruby frowned like he might argue but then he shrugged and looked down at my hands. All I’d collected in my distraction was a couple of leather cuffs. “You bind her up,” he said, rolling his eyes. “I’ll get the gear.”

  He left Ashleigh and me alone together. She cracked a nervous smile and crossed her arms over her breasts. “You’re okay with this?” I asked. “You’re sure?”

  She shrugged. “It’s just play, right?”

  “You can put your bra back on if you want. A lot of people play in clothes.” I turned and gestured around the room, where absolutely no one was playing in clothes. “Maybe not tonight, but…”

  By the time I turned back her arms were at her side. “I’m being brave,” she said. “I want to do this.”

  Fuck me. I’d only exhorted her to be brave a hundred times or more over the course of our sessions. “Let me have your hands,” I said gruffly. I buckled on the cuffs, leaving her wrists very little room for movement.

  “Are you okay with this?” she asked, watching me as I worked the clasps. “If you’re not comfortable—”

  “Honestly, I never expected you to come here. So I don’t know how I feel about it. But since you’re here and you made a promise to Ruby about the pink crop…”

  “That was kind of a joke.”

  “Was it?” I said with an edge to my voice. “It’s not going to seem so funny in a minute or two.”

  Ruby was back with a strap and a flogger, and yes, a whippy pink riding crop from God knew where. “Arms up,” I said to Ashleigh. I clipped the cuffs to the chains on either side of the bondage frame, then stood behind her to test the slack. She’d need a bit of room for writhing around, but not too much. She looked back at me and through all my numbness, my confusion, I felt a powerful surge of desire. I pressed the outline of my rigid cock against her ass. “The safeword is twinkletoes,” I said in her ear. “Use it if you need it, because”—I rattled her cuffs—“in this case, you can’t walk out the door.”

  “Yes, Sir,” she said in a quavery voice.

  Was she scared? She deserved to be scared, but I still reassured her out of habit. “I won’t leave you until the end of this scene, I promise. Not until you’re unbound.”

  She took in a deep breath. “Thank you.”

  I spoke over my shoulder to Ruby. “I’ll get her warmed up for you.” I caressed down past her waist, her delicate hips and firm bottom and landed a slap to her right ass cheek. Another followed to her left. She clenched her hands in the cuffs but there was no other reaction. I wished now I’d let Rubio strip off her panties because I would have loved to feel her skin against my palm. Instead I stopped between every few smacks and slid my hand beneath the sheer black material.

  “I’m waiting,” said Ruby in a sing-song sneer. “If you can stop feeling her up for a minute.”

  “Give me the flogger.” He handed it over and I stroked fingers down her back. “Okay, baby?”

  “Yes… Yes, Sir.”

  “All right then. Here we go.”

  *** *** ***

  I grasped the chains and stood as still as I could. The first blow fell, a jolting, stinging impact. Liam didn’t start out too hard with the flogger, just warmed up my back and shoulders with thuddy strikes. I couldn’t tell if I liked it. I felt overstimulated by the noise and activity around me. The music beat in the background as the flogger landed on me in spreading stings, four, five, ten times or more.

  In some way the sensation relaxed and loosened me. Then Liam stopped and Rubio stepped closer, caressing his hands over my waist and stomach. He nuzzled his face against my ear, murmuring something in Portuguese as his fingers traced lower to massage the gusset of my panties. Rubio had good dance-partner hands and it felt great, but I wondered what Liam was doing. I didn’t want him to be jealous.

  But what right did he have to be jealous?

  Then Liam appeared at my other side and grabbed my teased-out hair. “What the hell is this mess?” he whispered. “Who are you?”

  Before I could answer I felt a biting sting on the outside of my right thigh. I jerked and turned my head to see Ruby with a big smile, an erection, and a pink crop. “Move, Li-am,” he said. “You’re blocking my strike zone.”

  “Don’t move,” I said to Liam, only half-kidding.

  “I’ll hold her for you,” Liam assured Ruby, shooting me a look. He braced a leg in front of me and curved an arm around my waist. “There. Now you can’t miss.”

  Rubio stung my ass cheeks with the crop again, and again. For a cute, pink implement, it hurt like hell. I jerked away at each stroke but thanks to Liam, I couldn’t go anywhere and I definitely couldn’t run away. “Having fun?” he asked when Ruby took a breather to flick a nearby woman and flirt with her.

  Honestly, I was having fun. I liked the sting and the feeling of being bound and helpless in the chains. I liked being able to connect with Liam this way, on his terms, in his play room. I hadn’t wanted things to stay angry between us.

  “I’m having a blast. Are you having fun?” I asked back, smiling to show how much I appreciated this experience. Liam buried his fingers in my hair and tilted my head and kissed me.

  I’d wanted him to kiss me, to acknowledge our history and our closeness, but this kiss felt wrong and not close at all. It was a player kiss. He wasn’t present in it, not the way he used to be. I wished we were both naked back in his cottage, feeling deeply connected, but that was a onetime thing. I arched my hips against the front of him, only to brush against the cool roughness of his jeans.

  “Ouch!” I cried out against his lips as something harder smacked my backside. That would be the strap, and Rubio the maniac wielding it. I gave Liam a pleading look and he reached out to his friend.

  “Give it to me. Let me have a go at her.”

  I almost sagged in relief when Rubio handed it over without an argument. Now his hands were on me again, around my waist as if to help me pirouette, but I wasn’t
doing any pirouetting right now. Ruby gazed at me with a curious, attentive look. I was staring right back at him when Liam landed the first stroke.

  Oh my fucking mother of God!

  I spun around to Liam. “Please, no. Ow, that’s—” It was much harder than Ruby had hit me. I wanted to reach back and cover myself but my hands were cuffed above my head. Ruby grinned down at me.

  “Oh, no, little girl. You must hold the position.”

  “Help me out, Ruby, will ya?” asked Liam.

  “Certainly.”

  He wrapped his arms more tightly around me. His muscles bunched against my skin as another blow fell and I struggled helplessly, trying to pull away.

  “You remember the safeword?” asked Liam.

  “Yes, Sir. But…”

  Another stinging blow. It wasn’t unbearable, but it hurt so much. “Make him stop,” I begged Rubio.

  “You don’t want to stop,” he said, his dark eyes glittering. “Let go, Ash-lee. He’s trying to help you let go.”

  “I thought he would—ow!— I thought he would hit me softer than you.”

  He shook his head. “I told you. You don’t listen. I told you Liam Wilder plays hard.”

  My ass was on fire. I was shaking in the cuffs, my arms straining to defend myself, but I was defenseless and Rubio wouldn’t let me move an inch. I hopped from toe to toe like that could soothe the pain. “It hurts,” I cried. I jerked as Liam hit me again, catching me under both ass cheeks. Adrenaline surged through me as I processed the spreading, aching fire. Ruby’s hands slid down and rubbed over my panties, soothing my flaming cheeks. It was such a relief I almost sobbed.

  “Is he done?” I asked.

  “For the moment,” said Ruby. “He’s giving you a break.”

  I felt a second set of hands caressing me. I smelled the scent of Liam, felt the presence of him at my back. I looked over my shoulder and he smiled at me, which gave me the courage I needed. I was a masochist—I wanted this—but I was still kind of scared. What if he pushed me too far? What if I had to use my safeword? Some unseen signal passed between the two men and Ruby’s hands tightened on me again. I braced for pain and Liam didn’t disappoint me. It was no harder than that one demo stroke he’d given me so long ago, but now the blows came one after the other, two, three, four in a row.