The Dom With a Safeword (6 page)

“Yes. Get your camera ready. I’m going to open it and you snap as many pictures as you can.”

“But what if we catch some ghost in the middle of getting changed?” Q asked. “That would be awkward.”

Sabrina glared at her friend. “Very funny. Just do your part, please.”

“Yes, ma’am,” she said with an exaggerated salute.

With a deep breath, Sabrina slowly pushed open the door. It creaked on the hinges as the dark interior lit up from the hallway light.

Q’s shutter clicked several times in succession while Sabrina pushed the door open all the way.

“A
closet
, Sabrina?” Q sighed and perched a hand on her hip. “A haunted closet?”

Sabrina’s heart sank. She frowned at Q and mumbled, “Sorry.” This time she meant it.

Q’s expression softened as she wrapped her arms around Sabrina and pulled her close. “Don’t be sad.” She kissed the top of her head. “We can always try again.”

Q was kind to humor her, despite failure after failure. Maybe she should let her off the hook and start going alone. Or maybe she should just hang up her badge and give up for good. In a fit of discouragement, she tugged away from Q’s embrace and pulled off all her gadgets, tossing them on the floor. Then she shucked her vest, lowering it more gently – she had spent time decorating it, after all.

When she looked up, Q was standing in the closet, holding Sabrina’s flashlight. “Fuck.”

She rushed to her side. “What?”

Q looked at her with a wicked grin. “Someone’s got a kinky side.” She fingered a long stick hanging on the back of the door.

Next to that stick was another, this one with tendrils of leather hanging down. Like an old-fashioned whip. No. She’d seen that on one of Q’s websites. A flogger, she thought it was called.

On a shelf inside the closet sat neatly displayed items, all in pristine condition. Toys, looked like. Adult toys. She recognized the vibrators, she wasn’t a complete idiot. Every girl had one. Hers was purple.

The rest of the toys were foreign. A few downright scary. She looked at Q then did a double take. Her eyes gleamed as she toyed with the flogger tendrils, her lips parted in a small smile. Holy shit. Q was turned on by this?

“You know what this stuff is?” she asked her. Q didn’t move her gaze from the flogger. “Of course you do. Creepy as you are.”

She snapped her head to Sabrina and raised a brow. “You’re not so innocent. I’ve seen you browse that fetish site.”

Her face heated. “To buy clothes!”

“Mm-hm.”

Changing the subject, Sabrina grabbed a chain with two clips off the shelf and analyzed it. “What’s this?”

“Nipple clamps.”

She gulped. Her eyes must’ve looked like saucers because Q chuckled beside her. She tried to imagine the ends attached to each nipple, pinching it tight. A rush of warmth slid through her, tingling her most intimate parts. She threw the thing back on the shelf. She picked up a long, flexible stick with a leather tip instead. “And this?”

Q’s gaze flicked from her face to the toy in her hand then she smiled. “Turn around and I’ll show you.”

Sabrina spun, putting her back to the wall so fast she slipped off her heel and toppled all the way into the closet. Her heart raced and her clit throbbed. What the hell? Why was she turned on by this?

Q laughed and took the crop from her hand. “No? You’d probably like it.”

Yes. She squeezed her eyes shut. What? No! No, no, no. She was not a freak. Not like Q. A delirious giggle escaped her. She opened her eyes to see Q staring at her in question. “I just called you a freak in my head.”

Q took a step toward her. “Don’t count yourself out of that number so soon, little girl.” She swung the crop twice, smiling when it whistled through the air th
en placed it back on the shelf.

What would that feel like against her skin? On her ass and thighs? She could almost feel the sting as it slapped against her flesh. She felt herself clench…down there. She was getting wet. Was this what had been missing from her sex life all this time?

“
Here.
” Q placed a pair of leather cuffs in her hand. “What do you think of these?”

She turned them over. The leather was soft but strong. The silver buckles made them look industrial but still sexy. “Um.” She cleared her throat. “They look very…well-made.” She tried to hand them back but Q had turned away.

“See anything you like?” came a deep voice from the hallway.

Shit. She scrambled out of the closet with her hands behind her back, feeling like a toddler caught with her hand in the cookie jar.

Jude stood, arms crossed, in the hallway.

“It was her idea,” Q said. “I tried to stop her.”

Sabrina could’ve kicked her. “Traitor,” she hissed with a glare.

He took several steps closer, a stern set to his jaw and a determined look in his eye. Now why did that fill her with dread at the same time as making her flush with excitement?

He put out his hand as he stared at Sabrina. “Bring them here.”

Instinct had her moving toward him before logic kicked in. Why was she obeying him so easily? She did Q, most of the time, but that was because Q had proven she wouldn’t take no for
an answer. Apparently all Sabrina needed was to hear a stern tone and she turned into a puppet. How annoying.

He kept eye contact the entire long-ass journey from the closet to where he stood. When she gingerly placed the cuffs in his hand, he looked at Q. “Do you know how these work?”

Q looked a little less affected by his presence but still nodded obediently.

Gaze back on Sabrina, he said, “Would you like to see?”

The challenge in his voice had her stumbling for a reply. A simple
no
would do. But she waited too long. His mouth shifted the tiniest bit – like he’d assessed her and found something he liked.

The tension in the room cranked up a notch.

“Give me your wrists,” he demanded.

She hesitated, looking to Q for help. Her eyes were locked on Jude. Sabrina’s silent pleas went unanswered. Some friend. Where was that damn stick when she needed it?

His voice drew her back. “Afraid I’ll trap you in my sex lair, Jersey girl?”

Hmph
.
Not one to back down from a challenge, she slapped her hand into his. With a smirk, he wrapped the first cuff around her wrist. He took his time fastening first one then the other securely, buckling it, searching for the right hole to slide the metal tongue into. His expression remained focused but every once in a while he looked in her eyes, as if checking her reaction.

Her heart thudded in her ears. Swallowing was suddenly difficult. Each touch seemed electric – sizzling across the sensitive skin on her wrist. Her eyes fluttered closed as she soaked in each feeling. Hard, uncompromising cuffs, callused but gentle hands. The sensations blended together and put her in some kind of mind-numbing haze.

She realized he’d stopped touching her and popped open her lids. Jude was there, his lips quirked up in an amused but sexy smile. She looked down at her bound wrists – one cuff on each, with two buckles fastened, and a length of leather hanging off each. She could tell the two could connect if he chose to buckle them together – or onto something, like a headboard or railing. An image came to mind – her tied, spread-eagle, to a bed, Q stalking around her like a lion assessing tasty prey. And
damn if she didn’t get wetter.

She gave her head a shake and twisted her wrists this way and that. Funny how her movement wasn’t constricted yet they still made her feel trapped – in a deliciously exciting way.

“So…” she said, forcing herself to speak matter-of-factly and not betray her arousal. “You do this to women then?”

“I do. When they want me to. I don’t lure young women who don’t want it.” He gave her an ironic grin. That deep male voice, right there and up close, did such nice things to her insides. “But you…” He traced a finger along her bottom lip. “You look like you need it.”

Q appeared beside her. “If she says yes, you have to share.”

Share? What?

“And you.” He dropped his hand from Sabrina’s mouth and fingered a piece of Q’s silky hair. “What side of the crop do you fall on?”

“Both,” she answered.

What the hell were they talking about? Some secret kink code? She needed to pay closer attention to those websites. Or, heaven forbid, read one of Q’s dirty books.

Q looked Sabrina over with a calculating eye. That never boded well. She nodded to Jude as she backed away a little. “Fasten them behind her.”

Sabrina gasped. “Q!”

Jude raised his brows. “Usually I’m the one giving orders, but I’m curious to see where this is going. However, she hasn’t said yes. I need that.”

Her tight breathing settled a bit. At last someone was making sense.

Then he focused on her and put a single finger under her chin then made her look up at him. “Willing to try this, little ghost hunter? I’m letting your friend call the shots here.”

No
almost spilled out, but, there was a
yes
too. Mouth half-open, ready to speak, she tried to think. Her mind spun to a halt.

It came out as a squeaky whisper. “Yes?”

Before she could say more, he turned her, gathered her wrists in a firm hold and fastened them together. If Q wasn’t here she’d be bolting for the door but… She glared at her traitorous friend, vacillating between terror and a fucking annoying as hell desire to keep tumbling down this rabbit hole of debauchery – with Q at her side. Or standing over her with a wicked smile, stick thingy in hand.

Sabrina looked up at the ceiling and whimpered. Dear Jesus, where were these thoughts coming from?

“Can you hold her against you?” she heard Q ask.

Jude tugged her tight up against his chest, facing her forward, arms locked in his hands.

Q nodded in approval then stalked toward her. “Now you’re in trouble, little girl.”

Sabrina felt her breath go in and out in shaky waves. And were her knees trembling? She hadn’t been this nervous since that first kiss when she was thirteen.

Q stepped in close and pushed her hair back from her face. Her eyes fluttered shut as she leaned into the
touch. Was she so sex-starved?

“Relax, beautiful,” Q said softly. “Just tell me you don’t like it and I’ll stop. Jude too. Okay? We’ll let you go if you tell us to.”

Her awareness centered on the loud beat of her heart, on Q waiting patiently.

She’d liked it in the dressing room alright, when Q had put her mouth on her. This wasn’t any different, was it? Yes. It was. There was the almost stranger at her back, breathing so close she felt the warmth on her neck, in her hair. Tremors ran through her again. He gripped her arms so tightly.

She could always wiggle free, stomp on Jude’s foot, kick Q in the –

What the hell was she thinking? Kick Q? She’d never in a million years hurt that girl. And now she was rambling in her head like a lunatic.

They’ll let me go if I say.
She clung to that thought as Q lowered her lips to hers.

“God forgive me,” Sabrina whispered. Their lips touched.

Gentle. Giving. Cinnamon. Q tasted spicy like cinnamon. And familiar, though they’d never kissed. Soft lips pressed against hers, before they lifted away to press in again. Sabrina returned the kiss eagerly, and took some flesh, liking the feel of Q’s bottom lip between her teeth.

When she nipped harder, Q pulled back and gave her a stern glare. “Behave, little girl.”

Then she grabbed Sabrina’s hair and held her place while she did exactly what she wished to Sabrina’s mouth. There was no timidity now. Just a woman on a mission to prove exactly what kissing a girl was like.

Sabrina groaned quietly, inhaling the warmth of Q’s breaths, dissolving into mush. Q kept on kissing and biting and licking. Between her legs turned liquid and hot. She squirmed and wanted so much to arch forward and grind herself on something…on someone.

The tug and small twinges at her scalp, the lack of freedom, the sheer control of her body by theirs, and the kissing that went on forever – she succumbed, and all her resistance fell away.

At last, slowly, eyes bright with passion, Q pulled away. Sabrina whispered breathlessly, “I’m so going to hell.”

Q chuckled and loosened her fingers in Sabrina’s hair. “Poor girl.” Then she pressed more kisses in a soft trail down Sabrina’s neck.

Goose bumps rose on her arms. The kisses crossed the vulnerable part of her throat and she gulped as a tide of arousal tingled to her breasts and southward. At the spot between her shoulder and neck, Q bit. Her teeth hung on for a long second, marking her. Sabrina yelped and squirmed against Jude.

His grip hardened. “I think she likes it,” he said, amusement coloring his voice.

Q ignored him, seemingly lost in her own world of nibbles and licks. When her lips grazed behind Sabrina’s ear, her breath tickled. Sabrina giggled and arched her back. Her breasts pressed against Q’s, shocking her into a sharp awareness of what they did.