“Mary,” he warned again.
“Goodbye, Dmitri.”
* * *
On her knees, he owned her, his punishing thrusts slamming against her backside. His firm grip on her hips seared into her core, and she coursed higher and higher in the peak of ecstasy. His brutal slap on her bottom tore a scream from her throat, and the sheer force of her orgasm made her vision blurry as the warm, wet evidence of her climax slid down her thighs.
“What are you doing?”
Presley shot straight up on the couch and grasped her chest, her heart thudding. “Oh my God,” she snapped, spotting Cora standing near the hallway of their living room. “Make some noise, will you?”
Laughing, Cora dropped down on the cushion next to Presley. “Whatcha reading?” She snatched the e-reader out of Presley’s hands, examined the screen, and frowned. “You’re living the lifestyle now. You don’t need to read about it anymore.”
Presley squirmed against the couch cushion to sit cross-legged and glanced across the sunny living room to the wide-screen television against the far wall. Perhaps she’d taken the first steps toward the BDSM lifestyle, but she really hadn’t lived it yet, not until Dmitri took her into her first scene tonight. She still had no idea what it all meant for her, and she wanted to be prepared.
Cora still hadn’t moved and was obviously demanding an answer. Presley gave up on looking for an exit. “I’m researching.”
Cora’s nose scrunched. “Researching what?”
Presley did not want to admit it, yet Cora had been nothing but honest with her. Besides, from what Presley had witnessed last night in the dungeon, thoughts of her night ahead remained heavy on her mind. Hell, she’d masturbated once before bed, and those dark delicious sex acts she’d seen even consumed her dreams, which had led to her masturbating this morning, too. She was officially a mess and needed to find a solid place to land. “Um . . . what will happen to me tonight.”
Cora giggled. “Is that why you’ve been reading all day?”
At Presley’s nod and obvious wince, Cora placed the e-reader on the glass coffee table in front of the couch. “I thought you were doing it for fun. I didn’t realize you were researching. Honestly, girl, you can just ask me.” She patted Presley’s leg with a gentle smile. “What do you want to know?”
Presley sighed, not wanting to have this conversation but knowing she had no other choice. Her damn books weren’t giving her the answers she needed. “What will Dmitri do to me?”
Cora hesitated. “To be honest, I don’t know. He’ll decide the scene for you, but once you set your limits, he won’t exceed them. He might use a flogger, maybe bondage or a spank or two.” She shrugged, as if discussing toppings on a pizza. “The options are endless.”
Presley noticed the heaviness pooling low in her belly at those choices, though it was hard to imagine actually doing a scene. As much as she tried to place herself in the situations that she discovered in her books, she couldn’t. More so, she couldn’t imagine acting out those fantasies; her confidence had been wavering all day. “What if I screw up and do something wrong?”
“He’ll punish you,” Cora replied flatly.
Presley’s blood became ice-cold. Even in her books, punishment never looked enjoyable. While Dmitri had disciplined her, she doubted his punishments would be to send her to her knees. Some of the punishments in her books were brutal. “What will his punishment look like?”
“No clue.” Cora smiled, her eyes glinting. “Doms are creative buggers, so it’ll be something sucky. But you’re new to the lifestyle, and Dmitri will be softer on you than he would be on me.”
Didn’t that bring up an interesting thought? Part of Presley didn’t want to ask her next question because it seemed icky, but the other part of her—the curious part—couldn’t hold back. “Have you played with Dmitri before?”
“Never.”
Presley considered, trying to think up a good reason for that—even if it pleased her to no end that her friend hadn’t slept with Dmitri—but she came up short. “You’ve played with Aidan, Kyler, and some of the others, so why not him?”
“Not sure why.” Cora tucked her legs underneath her. “I did offer myself to him a couple of years ago, and he was sweet about it when he refused me.”
That didn’t surprise her. Dmitri seemed to have a sweetness under all his dominant touches and commanding voice. Heck, even Mary appeared indebted to him, and only someone of high quality could have that effect on others. “What did he do?”
Cora grinned, her eyes glossing over in a memory. “He spent a few minutes giving me some of the best compliments I’ve ever heard in my life. But he also said that because of external reasons, it wasn’t right for him to take me into a scene.”
“What external reasons?”
Cora blinked to awareness. “I have no idea, and he never went into more detail, but it didn’t matter. He was sweet enough, that’s all I focused on.”
Presley chuckled. “Yeah, I guess I would, too.” Nibbling her lip, she glanced down to her hands, which she was twining in her lap. “It’s hard to imagine anyone giving nice compliments over a few minutes.”
“That’s because you were with an asshole.” She snorted softly, dragging Presley’s attention to her. Cora’s eyes blazed. “You haven’t been treated right, is all, but don’t let Steven leave that impression on you. You’re amazing and sweet, such a good friend, and Dmitri will see those qualities in you.” She grinned. “And reward you for it.”
Presley laughed, though tension filled her chest. Cora might see those things, but the truth was, maybe she saw stuff others didn’t. If she’d been all those things, Steven wouldn’t have strayed, right?