Shades of Pleasure: Five Stories of Domination and Submission (14 page)

He caught her hand in his, turned it over and pressed a
sweet kiss to her palm. “That’s just it. You’ve been doing the giving for so
long you don’t know how to receive.” They shared a sweet moment of watery
glances and understanding half-smiles. “Now get going. I’m going to feel like
shit if you’re late for work. Then again, making you late could be fun…”

“You’re devious.” She shooed him away, before swinging the door
closed. She cranked on the water and, curious, tiptoed to the door and inched
it open. She caught him leaving the room, a glorious sight, nude male
perfection.

It was still hard to believe they were doing this—acting
like they were a thing, lovers. Just a few days ago, she’d thought he was out
of her life forever. What had she done to deserve such a wonderful man?

When she finally left the steamy heat of the bathroom some
twenty minutes later, she found the bed had been made. And there was a pyramid
of white boxes in its center. A huge red bow perched atop the stack. She
unwrapped all the boxes. Beautiful designer clothes, shoes, jewelry. Inside lay
a card in a white envelope.

To Elena,

Thank you for being who you are.

Kyler

Oh God. Could a man be any sweeter? Any more generous?

Somehow, she wanted to give back to Kyler, show him how much
she appreciated the sacrifice he’d made to let her keep her job.

But how? What could a girl who had nothing give to a man
with everything? Christmas was coming. Maybe by then she’d know what that gift
should be.

* * * * *

Kyler forced himself to wait until the end of the day before
driving over to TK Technologies. He had his reasons for waiting, the main one
being if he did find out the driver of what was once his leased Lincoln was Matt Becker, he wanted to follow him, see if he’d head back to Stacy’s house.

He couldn’t imagine why Becker would pay Stacy a personal
visit. She was a Domme. He was a manipulating ass, not a submissive. A
blackmailing, manipulating ass.

Maybe he was ready for another promotion, already. Stacy was
the CFO’s secretary, most definitely in a position to help him if he was after
a bigger fish. Shit, that had to be it. Stacy’s calls, her nervous act when
he’d gone to her house, she was looking for his help but was afraid to ask. She
was in over her head.

Becker was at it again. But this time, he’d catch the
asshole in the act.

He had his chance a few nights later.

Because Kyler had been in Stacy’s home plenty of times, he
knew her patio door didn’t lock properly. He’d told her to get it fixed more
than once, but she’d shrugged him off, joking that he was more worried about
her safety than she was. Besides, it locked fine, at least at first glance.
Anyone who thought to break in would think so. But if they jiggled the door a
certain way, the lock disengaged. How likely was it that a guy would stand
around playing with a door, hoping it would magically come unlocked?

This was why he’d known she wouldn’t fix it.

Sure enough, a little jiggle and the lock flipped up. He was
in, and no one was the wiser. He could hear voices, Stacy’s and Becker’s,
coming from down in her personal bondage dungeon, but he couldn’t make out what
they were saying. Being careful to avoid making any noise, he slowly descended
the stairs to her finished basement, stopping before he reached the bottom.

“You’ve been such a good slave,” Stacy said. “Come here.
Serve me. On your knees.”

What the hell? It seemed Kyler had been wrong about Becker.
He was a submissive.

But he supposed that didn’t mean he’d also been wrong about
Becker’s reason for being in Stacy’s house. He could still be trying to
manipulate her.

There was only one way to find out.

He raced down the rest of the stairs and stepped around the
corner, finding Stacy perched on the bondage chair she called her throne, eyes
closed, Becker’s head between her spread legs. Her eyelids snapped up a split
second after Kyler cleared his throat.

“Kyler,” Stacy said, eyes widening for a single heartbeat
before narrowing again.

Becker’s head swiveled as he twisted at the waist, glancing
over his shoulder. “Kyler?”

“Don’t stop, slave.” She fisted Becker’s hair and yanked,
turning him back around. “This is quite a surprise. I didn’t even hear you
knock.”

“That’s because I didn’t. I…You never fixed the lock.”

She smoothed her hands down her torso, sheathed in a red PVC
corset, her splayed fingers coming to a rest just above her belly button. “I
was hoping it might come in handy someday. And it has.”

“Then you want people breaking in your house?”

“Only one.”

Kyler shook his head. “What the hell is going on here,
Stacy? I came here today, thinking Becker was maybe trying to blackmail you
like he did Elena.”

“How gallant of you,” she said, a sultry smile blossoming
over her face. “But you’ve got it all wrong, in case you didn’t realize that by
now.”

“Why don’t you tell me how it really is then?”

Her smile faded. “I can’t believe you didn’t put it all
together. You’ve really disappointed me. In fact, I’ve totally lost interest in
our game now.” She curled the fingers of her right hand into Becker’s hair
again and pulled, glaring down at him. “What the hell are you doing? You don’t
eat me like a toddler lapping at a lollipop, you worthless animal. Either do it
right or leave.”

Was this the same woman he’d known all these years? On the
outside, she looked the same. But the Stacy he knew was down to earth, easy to
talk to. Outside of bondage play, she didn’t play games. “What game?” Kyler
asked, completely bewildered.

“This one. The game we’ve been playing since the day you
dumped me.”

What the hell? “I never dumped you. We were never…together.”

Something flashed across her face, but the expression didn’t
remain there for long. In less than a blink, her expression was frosty again.
“Is that really what you believe? Do I need to remind you of what you said to
me?”

Kyler was so confused, he didn’t know what to say next.
Obviously, he hadn’t just misread Becker, he’d also misread Stacy. In a huge
way. Looked like he’d somehow mislead her too.

He couldn’t remember having ever said anything to make her
think they were lovers. They’d never flirted. Never kissed or fucked. They’d
never played in a dungeon together. They’d never shared any really deep
intimacies. All they’d ever done was talk.

“It looks like you do need me to remind you.” Cruelly, she
shoved Becker’s head from her then kicked him in the center of his chest with
her spike-heeled boot. “You’re done. Go, learn how to eat pussy right. And
don’t come back until you do.”

Becker fell backward, catching himself with his hands before
scrambling back into his submissive position on his knees. “Yes, Mistress.”

Dressed in her PVC corset, and matching red fishnet
stockings and knee-high boots, Stacy sauntered over to Kyler, sliding a
black-painted fingernail between her lips. “I care about you, Stacy,” she said,
throwing his own words in his face. “Like I haven’t cared about a woman in a
long time.”

Shit, he had said that, a long time ago. And he’d meant it
at the time. But not in the way Stacy had thought. “I meant I care about you as
a friend. You’re a Domme. I’m a Dom. Neither of us are switches.”

“You could be. If you wanted me bad enough. You’d become a
switch if you loved me.”

“Why would you ask anyone to become something they’re not if
you love him? That’s not what love is all about, making people change.”

“Hey, I watched you over the past how many years? How many
women have you tried to ‘fix’?”

She was right. Now that he thought about it, he had tried to
change more than one of his former lovers. He’d fooled himself into thinking it
was okay, by telling himself that he was helping them become better. “That was
before. I know better now. Love is about…” He hesitated, realizing the real
reason why every one of his former relationships had failed. It wasn’t because
he’d been trying to change the women.

Love is about trusting, becoming vulnerable, giving of
yourself, your heart and soul. Whether the one doing the loving is a Dom or sub
or neither.

He’d always thought he’d known how to love. But he hadn’t.
He’d only known how to play the role of lover. He’d always been the kind of guy
to throw expensive gifts at his women. But that wasn’t truly giving. Those
things had only been poor substitutes for the one thing his lovers had all been
asking for—his heart. Just maybe, if he’d taken the chance, let himself become
vulnerable, rather than focusing on how he could fix the woman or how she was
failing him, he would have found true happiness with one of them. Maybe he
could have spared himself and them a lot of heartache.

“Oh, are you going to get all philosophical on me now,
Kyler? That’s so not you.” She sighed as she circled him, her eyes assessing.
“You’ve always had the unfailing ability to fool yourself into thinking you see
the truth, both in yourself and in everyone around you. Has that changed?”

“If you’d said that a month or so ago, I’d have had no idea
what you were talking about.” He swore his blood had turned to ice, he felt so
cold right now.

She stopped directly in front of him then, her expression
turning haughty. “Then you’ve had a revelation. How nice. Aren’t you going to
thank me?”

“No. Thank you for what?”

“Blackmailing Becker into getting you fired.”

“I quit.”

“Yeah, right. You quit.” Smiling, she patted his chest. “You
had no choice. Although I’ll admit, I was surprised to see you give up. I
figured you’d put up at least a bit of a fight. After all, you were so proud of
where you’d gotten yourself.”

“Let me make sure I’ve got this clear—you were the one who
cooked up that scheme with Elena and the money?”

Stacy shrugged again. “Maybe you expect me to be sorry, but
I’m not. You didn’t deserve to be VP. Becker does. He may be on his knees, but
he has a spine…and a heart.”

“So that’s really it? You did this because your feelings
were hurt?”

“No, I did it because you needed me to. You see, I turned it
around. I fixed you. Now, thanks to me, your eyes are open and you’re not
fooling yourself anymore. Someday, you’ll see that and thank me.”

He’d heard enough. He spun around, hands clenched into tight
fists, emotions pounding through his body. He was confused and hurt and sad and
furious, all at the same time. He’d been betrayed by a woman he’d once
considered a good friend. In one respect, he’d love to bring her down for what
she’d done, and Becker for the part he’d played in it too. He’d lost a job he’d
worked hard to earn.

But he was done with them, with games, with the shit. He
left, not speaking another word.

He realized, after sitting down that night and taking a
good, long look at his relationship with Stacy, that the only way to deal with
someone like her was to walk away. Fate had a way of taking care of the rest.

At least, in the long run, she’d taught him some things
about himself. Maybe she was right. Maybe someday he’d thank her.

“You don’t have to do this if you’re not ready. Like I’ve
said before, you don’t have to do anything to prove something to me.” Kyler
stood inside his front door, his fingers curled around the handle. He was
wearing his typical Dom gear—leather pants, and leather strap harness that
showed off his amazing upper body. “If I officially present you to the group
tonight, instead of just having you there as my guest, you’re going to be nude,
touched by strangers, expected to play the part of perfect submissive. Not to mention,
you may see me play with other submissives, both men and women.”

Elena couldn’t remember ever being so nervous. She didn’t
even try to hide it. Kyler knew her well enough to recognize the signs,
trembling hands, stuttering voice. Over the past year, they’d spent a lot of
time together, both in the dungeon and out. Talking. Touching. Sharing.
Exploring. In that time, they’d grown, both as a couple and individually. Elena
had learned a great deal about herself, thanks to Kyler. Like how hard it was for
her to trust. And she’d helped him come to terms with a few issues too. Like
how he avoided being vulnerable, stepping out of his Dom shoes and kneeling at
the feet of the woman he loved. It had been both the most challenging and
wonderful thirteen months of Elena’s life. “I know. I understand. But like you
said, you don’t have intercourse with them. Right? And no one will expect
intercourse from me either.”

“That’s right. It’s very different with you, my lover, than
it would be with a submissive seeking only a Dom. And no Dom or Domme is going
to even touch you without my permission, let alone demand intercourse.”

“I think I’m ready.”

“Okay.” He went back to the dungeon and gathered some toys
in a bag. “Just in case you decide you want to play,” he explained. “No
pressure. If you just want to watch that’s okay too. And I want you to tell me
if you’re ever uncomfortable or want to leave.”

“Okay.”

“You can’t wear that outfit if you’re going to be presented.
Go change.” He gave her jean-clad bottom a playful swat, sending her upstairs
giggling. She wiggled into a g-string and fishnet body stocking and clomped
downstairs in a pair of outrageously high shoes. On top went the white mink
coat Kyler had given her the night of their first official date. “Ready?”

“Yep.” She held Kyler’s hand as they walked out to the
waiting limo. “You said tonight’s sort of a Christmas celebration?” The
official holiday was still over a week away, their second Christmas Day
together. She didn’t care if Kyler gave her nothing. She was just grateful to
have him in her life. He’d already given her so many things—beautiful clothes,
expensive jewelry, himself. She couldn’t imagine anything that would be better
or more meaningful anyway. He’d totally spoiled her.