She brushed her hair and couldn’t help but fiddle with her brush. It was flat and square and perfect for administering a spanking. She reached back and ran the bristle side over her butt cheeks. Would he spank her with that side?
Flipping it over, she ran the wooden base along her thighs and slipped it between them. Would he spank her there?
Curious, she spread her legs wider and gave herself a slap with it. Ow. But it didn’t sting that much, and she knew it probably wasn’t the same as someone doing it to her. Sort of like the pretend hands.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t anyone around to spank her, so she’d have to do it to herself.
She closed her eyes and tried to imagine a situation where Simon was spanking her. What would she have done for him to spank her? He had only spanked her once when they were together, and that had been for fun. Would he do it harder if it were a real punishment?
That one time he’d spanked her, he’d used his hand, and while it had felt good, she couldn’t help but wish he’d done it harder. Looking back now, she realized she should have told him, but at the time she was embarrassed. Who actually said to someone, “Sorry, but could you spank me harder?”
It was frustrating as hell, because no matter how hard or how many times she spanked herself with the brush, it just wasn’t good enough. Unsatisfied, she put the brush away and stepped into the shower, knowing her vibrator would leave her unsatisfied tonight and not for the first time.
• • •
“Master Neal,” Luke DeVaan said from his place at the front desk of his BDSM club. “Haven’t seen you here lately. Glad you decided to stop by.”
Simon plastered a fake grin on his face. He hadn’t planned to stop by the club, but following Nathaniel’s visit, he had felt compelled to come. Needed the release he knew he’d find. “I decided it’s been far too long since I allowed myself the release that follows a hard scene.”
Luke didn’t pass any kind of judgment or look at him like he was a freak. That was the comforting welcome of this club. Here, he fit in.
Luke pulled up a screen on his computer. “There are several single subs here tonight who would likely be a good match for you.”
Simon cringed. A good match for you. But of course Luke would know what he was, and being a responsible club owner, he would want to ensure any submissive who agreed to play with Simon knew anything pertinent about him as well.
“Thanks,” Simon said. “But I think I’m going to observe for a while.”
Simon bade Luke good-bye and stepped into the comforting familiarity of sex and leather. His body relaxed as he breathed in the air tinged with arousal and need.
Yes, he’d made the right choice in coming tonight. He needed this. It’d been far too long. His gaze swept across the room, taking in who was present and who was available. He recognized a few subs. Most of them he’d never seriously consider playing with, but there were a few he’d taken before.
He took a seat at the bar and ordered the one drink he was allowed per night. He’d planned to use the time at the bar to scope out a willing partner, but every woman he looked at reminded him of Lynne.
Lynne. Fuck. She was here in New York. So close and yet farther away than she’d been when she was in Delaware. Nathaniel said she wasn’t interested in membership at the club, but what if she changed her mind? What if she showed up?
He’d stay away from her—that was what he knew he should do.
But another part of him, a more honest part, knew he wouldn’t be able to. She’d look up at him with those wide, innocent eyes that had first caught his attention when they’d met in person after chatting online for two months. Just one look and he’d been a goner. And he knew it’d be the same way if she showed up in his life again.
He needed to get her out of his system. And fast.
Standing, he nodded at a nearby submissive who’d been watching him since he walked in. He knew her. Knew she could take him. At his nod, she approached him and dropped to her knees before him, her head bowed.
“Are you free tonight, girl?” he asked.
“Yes, Sir,” she replied.
“Are you willing to submit to me tonight?”
“Yes, Sir.”
She’d been with him before; she knew how he was, what he liked, what he needed. But he had to make sure.
“I’m going to hurt you.”
Her only response was a breathy “Yes, please, Sir.”
Chapter Two
On Sunday Lynne was merely bored, but by Monday she knew she had to get out of the penthouse or she’d go crazy. What she needed, she decided, was new lingerie. Lingerie always made everything better.
As far as addictions went, she thought her obsession with lingerie was relatively harmless. She limited how much she spent, though it did help that the Wests paid her well. And she usually tried to buy when the designers were having a sale. No one else knew about her addiction, because her love life was nonexistent.
Late Monday morning, she called for a cab and made her way to what had been her favorite shop for upscale lingerie when she lived in the city. She felt like a kid at Christmas, thinking about what she’d look for. Knowing she had sexy things on underneath her clothes always made her feel more confident and secure. For her first week of school, she thought a simple bra and panty set would work.
Once she made it into the store, she waved hello to the sales associate on the floor, smiling brightly when the woman scurried over to her.
“Lynne! I thought you had fallen off the face of the earth. Where have you been?” She leaned closer and whispered, “You missed our annual clearance sale. That’s not like you.”
“I know. It killed me to miss it. I’m living in Delaware now, but I’m here in the city for the summer.”
“Delaware?” The saleslady looked at her in shock. “Why?”
“Job. The law firm I was working at let a lot of people go.” She shrugged. “I was one of them. But I have a great job now, and I love it. Delaware has been nice.”
“As long as you’re happy.” She pointed toward the back of the store. “Got some new corsets you should check out.”
“I’ll go look.” She adored corsets. Maybe she should get a corset and forget the bra and panties. Either way, it didn’t hurt to look. She walked to the corset display, surprised to find another customer already there. Not wanting to disturb her, she scooted behind her to look at the corsets to her left.
“Lynne?”
She stiffened and turned in surprise. “Anna Beth?”
The tall woman with dark hair stood with one hand on her hip. “Look what the cat dragged in. It is you.”
Lynne gritted her teeth. She supposed she should have felt a fondness toward Anna Beth. After all, Anna Beth was the one who’d given her the final push to actually attempt the BDSM lifestyle. But Lynne didn’t. The woman was a total bitch.
Anna Beth’s look was cruel. “You still reading those ridiculous books, or did you become woman enough to handle a real Dom?”
Lynne would never forget the day Anna Beth had caught her reading a BDSM romance in the employee break room. She’d shaken her head and said reading about it was fine, but living it was so much better. She then went on to brag about hot Dom after hot scene after hot sex, shutting up only when the break room was invaded by a senior partner. Later that afternoon, Anna Beth had left a card on Lynne’s desk with the name and address of the club she frequented.
There had been no way in hell Lynne would want to go to Anna Beth’s club. Instead, she had gone home and joined an online BDSM group. From there she’d met Simon. She supposed she had Anna Beth to thank, and she hated feeling like she was indebted to her.
“Actually,” Lynne said, “I broke up with my Dom. I’ve moved to Delaware and didn’t want to do a long-distance thing.”
It wasn’t the truth, but she wasn’t about to say Simon didn’t think she was submissive, and besides, Anna Beth would never know any different.
“Delaware??