Knowing the Ropes Read online

  Good.

  There’d been some strain between them. No surprise there, but he was pleasantly surprised there hadn’t been more. The ex and the current were bound to be a little judgmental and harsh toward each other, each wondering what does he see in her? And they were very different people. Selene, for all her submissiveness in some areas, was strong, a go-getter. Natalie, he realized more than ever, needed to get her act together before she could survive outside “captivity”. She could be struck by lightning and turned vanilla as a vanilla bean, and she’d still feel like she needed someone to guide her, help her make decisions.

  Maybe they’d be good for each other.

  He opened the door as quietly as possible, then stood in the doorway to watch the dark head and the fair bent together.

  Over a laptop, he noticed.

  Cool. Selene must be helping Natalie job hunt. He’d been hesitant to help much, afraid he’d pull her back into depending on him for too much. Perhaps a woman would be safer, a good example rather than a crutch—especially another submissive woman.

  So good to see his women getting along so well.

  His women? Ha! Nice thought, but his inner caveman needed to take it easy.

  Natalie wasn’t his anymore. She still had a place in his heart, though, as a dear friend and someone who’d taught him a lot, including lessons he was pretty sure she’d never meant for him to learn.

  Like he was a dominant but not a master, that he loved the sensation of possession and control in the bedroom but didn’t want that kind of full-time responsibility over another adult human. Hell, he hadn’t even been settled enough to think about owning a pet until recently. Why had he thought owning a slave would work for him?

  And Selene wasn’t his yet. At least not that either of them had admitted.

  But she would be. Sure, they’d both started out talking the no-commitment talk, but he knew by now that he wanted more, and he was pretty sure she did too. He wasn’t sure how to define where he saw them going together. Not master and slave, more than playmates and definitely…kinkier…than most lovers. Dom and sub, sure, but there was more to it than that.

  He wanted to come home every night and find her on his couch, laughing with a friend or curled up reading. He wanted to wake up next to her every morning. Maybe get a cat, or a big goofy dog if they got a bigger place. Both, even, if the cat and dog could get along.

  Wait a minute.

  They. Place. Together.

  Joint mortgage?

  He poked at the idea.

  Yeah.

  And that, more than anything else, made him realize what was going on.

  Good kinky sex could be just good kinky sex, simple and basic and wonderful as that. Waking up together? Well, good sex led to infatuation, which led to wanting to spend more time with your lust object, and he’d been writing it off as that for a while.

  But a joint mortgage? That was serious commitment.

  If you trusted someone enough to consider that…

  Yeah, better face it. Nick was in love.

  And he wasn’t quite sure how or when to tell her.

  Luckily, for the moment, he was off the hook thanks to Natalie’s presence.

  They still hadn’t noticed him. Must be one hell of a conversation. He could only catch a few words—dedication, skills, opportunity. Yup, talking about work, though in a way that was making them both smile a lot.

  He coughed, and they looked up. Natalie looked like a deer in the headlights—probably some holdover from life in hell with Derrick. Sitting equals slacking or something.

  Selene, on the other hand, looked positively radiant.

  “Your lord and master is home, ladies,” he announced, expecting Natalie to look bewildered and Selene to giggle.

  Natalie did exactly as he expected—she looked as if she wanted to genuflect or something but knew he was teasing and resisted the impulse.

  Selene didn’t.

  Instead, she blushed, a rose-red veil spreading over her cheeks. She dropped her eyes, looked away, but before she did, she let her gaze linger enough to set him smoldering.

  Maybe the girls hadn’t been talking about job hunting after all.

  Or maybe, just maybe, Selene had been contemplating more permanent arrangements as well.

  If their plans for the evening hadn’t included other people, he would have changed them to include wining, dining, crazy-yet-tender sex and then a deeper conversation than they’d had until now about future plans.

  Unfortunately, there was a cast of thousands involved, all planning to meet at the Cambodian place on Centre Street in about twenty minutes.

  A cast of thousands that included Natalie, the last person on earth, other than his mom, he’d want anywhere in the vicinity when he and Selene tried to negotiate the tricky terrain of moving from lovers to people in love.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  The evening air held a hint of autumn, but it was still warm and soft, scented with honey-sweet alyssum planted in containers scattered around the roof deck. Nick and Selene had the whole triple-decker to themselves tonight. Natalie was at her mom’s, Kate and Stephanie were off at another of Kate’s readings, this one in Provincetown, and Mr. and Mrs. Figueroa on the first floor had left in the morning for their daughter’s in New Jersey.

  With no other plans for the evening, and no one who might disturb them, or be disturbed by them, Nick and Selene were planning a pleasant evening in.

  Chicken marinated in lemon and basil on the grill, a bright Riesling from Selene’s old stomping ground of the Finger Lakes in a glass, nipple clips on her nipples, and their latest sex-toy purchase, a silicone device shaped like two eggs joined at the ends, inside her pussy, sending low waves of lust through her every time she shifted on her knees.

  Because she was on her knees at the moment. It would be a few minutes until Nick needed to attend to the chicken, so he was sprawling back in his Adirondack chair and sipping his wine. She had been sitting and sipping too, until about a minute ago, when he’d smiled like a cat and told her what he wanted.

  It was good to be alone in the house.

  Now she knelt on a seat cushion between his jean-clad legs, her white T-shirt pulled up to expose her clamped breasts, her short, pleated schoolgirl skirt flipped up on itself, tucked into its own waistband to expose her ass and cunt, and Nick’s glorious cock was in her mouth. The musky taste of him was a perfect appetizer, salty and rich and a bit like brie, only a thousand times better. With each sloppy, wonderful slide of her mouth along his hard length, Selene could feel herself getting wetter, feel herself clenching around the balls inside her. They were weighted somehow, and with each movement, each clench, they shifted, teasing at her G-spot.

  It wasn’t enough to bring her off, not by a long shot, but enough to make her pelvis feel heavy with heat and blood, make her clit hard and eager for attention, make the cock in her mouth taste that much better. Add to that the silky feel of his shaft between her lips, the pressure of the tweezer clips on her nipples and the rude joy of being bare-breasted and bare-assed in the open air if not exactly in public, sucking a cock as if she were some kind of back-alley whore (or a naughty, thrill-seeking exhibitionist, which was more like it), and she could feel hot juices slicking her pussy lips and trickling down her thighs as she engulfed his cock, sucking at various rates to offer different sensations.

  She swirled her tongue around the head, toying with the sensitive little opening until she tasted his rich, salty pre-come, teasing around the ridge. Used her tongue on the shaft, swirling and licking as if he were made of chocolate ice cream.

  No hands, that was the rule tonight, or at least for the moment—he was known to change such rules when the mood struck him. She wasn’t very practiced at that, and she let his cock pop out of her mouth a few times, half-gagged herself at others. Her bright rose lipstick was smeared all over Nick, and no doubt all over her face, and she was, to her own embarrassment, drooling.

  It didn’t matter
. Not to her, and not to Nick either, based on the noises he was making, the way he was muttering, “Oh, good girl. Good, good girl. Good, naughty girl. Sucking me so nice,” as a constant litany, almost prayerful in its heartfelt, throaty intensity.

  She felt his body tensing, his cock twitching as if getting ready to surge and fill her mouth with his come. She looked up, hoping he’d read her gaze and tell her whether to continue. She couldn’t imagine that he’d want to stop now, close as he was, but sometimes, she swore, he liked to torture himself as well as her, holding off his own orgasm until he was crazy with need. She’d learned not to make assumptions over which it would be on a given night.

  Her answer came in the form of strong hands buried in her hair, moving her, forcing her rhythm.

  She felt the pressure as if he touched her between her legs, adding to her excitement. Just as he groaned and filled her mouth with his hot come, he pulled off the nipple clips, sending shockwaves of pleasurable pain surging from her tender nipples through her swollen, bared breasts, shooting down her body into her pussy. She fought against the urge to bite down as she fluttered and clenched on the toy inside her and waves of orgasm washed over her.

  “Hope I didn’t spoil your appetite with that little snack,” Nick said over the rush of blood in her ears. He pulled her up onto his lap, sprawling awkwardly in the Adirondack chair, and cuddled her until they both had enough wits to remember the chicken.

  It was a bit overcooked, but neither of them gave a damn.

  Especially not after Nick cooled her flaming nipples with ice from the ice bucket and then put the nipple clips back on her.

  Especially not after he told her what he intended to do after dinner. “I’m going to tie you up,” he said, falsely casual. “Not just the simple ties we’ve been doing, but a bit of serious ropework. Once you’re wrapped up in rope, unable to move, I’m going to paddle you and whip your breasts with the light suede whip, because I know they’re already tender and that will make them hurt so beautifully for me. And then I’m going to cane you.”

  She set down her newly refilled wineglass so abruptly that wine sloshed over the sides.

  Then she picked it up again and took a nerve-soothing slug. Criminal way to treat a decent wine, but her nerves were all aquiver with a combination of arousal and anxiety.

  Mostly arousal.

  “Wow,” she said, then collected herself enough to admit, “I’m nervous, but I’ve been looking forward to trying that. A lot.”

  “Me too. A lot. I just wanted to wait for the right time, and since we have the place to ourselves tonight…”

  “Yay! I like Natalie, but it does kind of put a damper on things when she’s in the next room. It’s hard enough listening in when you’re just the single roommate. It’s got to be worse when you’re single because your last lover should have come with a warning label.”

  “I’ve been concerned about that too,” Nick admitted, “but on the other hand, it’s nice having Natalie around in some ways.”

  “I’m sure. She’s still running around as close to naked as she possibly can.”

  As soon as she said it, Selene bit her tongue, wishing she could take back the snark.

  For one thing, while you’d normally think a woman wouldn’t walk around semi-undressed in front of someone else’s lover, their relationship was hardly a standard one. If they weren’t precisely sure where they stood, no surprise Natalie was clueless.

  And it wasn’t like Selene minded Natalie’s skimpy outfits most of the time. Hell, she kind of enjoyed them too sometimes. But other times she thought Nick enjoyed them a little too much.

  But being snarky at Nick while he was in full-on dominant mode was asking for trouble.

  Interesting trouble, probably; trouble that made her clench up a bit and wiggle in her seat, causing the weighted silicone toy inside her to shift. That, in turn, made her clench a little more.

  That toy was evil in the best possible sense of the world. When she’d first tried it, at the recommendation of the cute clerk at Eros, she’d been disappointed. It felt teasingly good, made her achingly aware of her sexual needs, but it wasn’t enough to let her come.

  The first time she tried them with Nick around, she realized that was precisely the point.

  This toy was all about the tease, about knowing you were out in public with your pussy stuffed full, about needing to get off for so long that it seemed like burning desire was your natural state.

  In a public place, the toy was exquisite torture. In a semiprivate one, like Nick’s rooftop deck, it was even worse.

  Because Nick could do what he’d just done—lean over and tweak her now painfully sensitive nipples.

  Okay, she was going to pay for being a smartass, but it would be fun payback.

  Nick gave an evil laugh. “Actually, I was thinking more about help with the housework. She’s taking it a little far, and I need to talk with her about it, but I’m also lazy, so I keep putting it off.” He grinned like a big cat and leaned toward her, his mahogany hair, loose from his usual ponytail swinging forward over his cheekbones. “And yeah, the half-naked’s all good. I’m a guy, okay? I like half-naked women.”

  He cupped her breasts, swirling his thumbs over her inflamed nipples, making her gasp and arch her back. His eyes turned a deeper blue when he was aroused, and at the moment, they were shading toward cobalt, looking intensely into Selene’s. “But I’ll let you in on a secret. The Natalie eye candy is nice, but I prefer seeing you half-naked. Or fully naked. She’s a little skinny for my taste.”

  “Sure.” It was hard to keep a sarcastic tone when she was getting so turned on, but she somehow managed. “And that’s why you were with her for years. Because she was too skinny.”

  My God, what well of feminine insecurity was this garbage coming from? She’d promised herself up and down that she wouldn’t be like this, that she wouldn’t let herself push Nick for a commitment in any way, that she would be totally understanding of his decision to let Natalie stay with him because it really did make sense.

  Yet she couldn’t keep her damn mouth shut.

  Natalie would have, had their positions been reversed. Good subs didn’t act like this. Good slaves certainly didn’t. Natalie was always gentle, always soft-spoken, always respectful.

  Considering Natalie had been with Nick for years, that was probably what he liked long-term, not her own brasher ways. Hell, good girlfriends didn’t even nag like this, leaving the whole submission question aside.

  Pulling his hands away, Nick sighed. “Do we really need to have this conversation? We have a fun night planned.”

  Selene shivered. She knew Nick wasn’t like Derrick, knew it with an instinct deeper than reason. And she wasn’t like Natalie; she wouldn’t let a guy get away with crazy, dangerous behavior, like shaving her head and beating her bloody because she’d spoken out of turn.

  But for a second, all she could think was that he was going to punish her, inflict some kind of painful consequence for her flare of jealousy.

  She inched away, wanting to be far away from his touch but at the same time wanting to throw herself at his feet and beg for mercy. “I’m sorry, sir. No, sir. I won’t…”

  “Stop it!” The anger in Nick’s voice made her jump. “Don’t cringe at me, dammit. I’ve had to put up with Natalie cringing and apologizing and making herself small all the time. Don’t you start.”

  Fine. He didn’t want cringing and small, he’d get what he wanted. “You don’t want me to cringe? Don’t yell. I don’t deal well with yelling.”

  “And I don’t deal well with being made to feel like a pig or a cheater for wanting to help a friend get back on her feet. You’re supposed to be the big advocate for battered women. Can’t you see she’s not ready to strike out on her own?”

  “I agree she’s not, and it’s a good thing to help her. It’s another thing to have her cooking for you and cleaning and acting like a 1950s housewife. Serving you, like she was your slave.”


  Nick blinked. “She’s not serving me, not in that sense. She’s being a good…housemate.” His voice trailed off on the last word. “Do you think I’m taking advantage of her?”

  “I think it’s more the other way around.” Selene held up one hand and started ticking things off as she ranted. “She makes dinner every night unless you actually tell her we want a night on our own. She cleans the goddamn bathroom, and trust me, a woman does not clean a grotty bachelor bathroom unless she thinks she’s getting something for it. Maybe that’s just trying to pull her weight when she can’t pay rent, but I think there’s more to it. Her posture changes when you’re around. She lowers her eyes and raises her tits. Maybe she’s not even conscious of everything she’s doing, but on some level, she wants you back. Or at least wants to serve someone, and you’re here.”

  Selene bounced to her feet. The movement tugged on the nipple clips, but this time it didn’t feel good. This time it was just pain. “Someday she’ll wind up in bed with you, and it’ll seem like she’s always been there! You’ll let her because you can’t see how she’s just trying to get herself with someone more dominant because she can’t deal with taking care of herself. She has to learn to stand on her own, and you’re just encouraging her to cling to you.”

  “Do you honestly think that’s what I’m doing? Trying to lure her into being my sub again?”

  Selene had to stop her rant and think about the best way to answer that. She wasn’t convinced the way she came up with was particularly good, but it was less whiny-jealous-unreasonable-girlfriend than the first few things that came to mind. “I don’t think you’re trying. I think she’s trying, and you’re not telling her no. It’s flattering to have someone want you, and hell, if someone wanted to cook and clean for me and spoil me rotten, I’d find that pretty seductive. Extra points if it was a hot half-naked guy doing it.”

  “To repeat myself, a half-naked you is seductive. Random half-naked women, not so much.”

  “But she’s not a random woman. She’s someone you slept with for years. Someone you loved.”