Her stomach bottomed out and her pussy clenched. “Yes.”
He gave her a light kiss on the forehead. “Good girl.”
As they continued, Eva felt a little like she was on an escalator with no real options other than to finish the ride.
Gio stepped slightly in front of her and extended his hand to the DM. “Good evening. I’m Gio Parma.”
Ian, the DM, shook Gio’s hand. “Ian. I remember you from the wedding. It’s good to see you again. André said he was granting Adriana’s family rights here. Can I help you with something?”
“Is there a room available? Preferably with a St Andrew’s Cross.” He reached behind him and took Eva’s hand.
Did he know she was ready to bolt? Is that why he’d taken her hand? Whatever the reason, she was grateful and she appreciated him taking the lead. She wasn’t sure she’d have been able to look Ian in the face and ask him for a room to have sex in. How had she gotten into this mess? This had been so much easier at a club where she didn’t know anyone.
“Room two. Fridays or Saturdays you’re going to want to call ahead and reserve a room if you think you’re going to need one.” Ian peeked through the window before twisting the handle and opening the door for them. “Club safeword is ‘crisis’. I’ll be close by, in case you need anything.” Ian stood back and let them enter.
“Thank you. We’ll be fine.” Gio closed the door and set his kit on the cabinet near the sink.
Gio put his hands on her shoulders and gave her a gentle massage. “Now that we both know what the club safeword is”—he smiled and rolled his eyes—“tell me again what yours is.”
She chuckled. No, Ian hadn’t been very subtle. He was probably making sure she knew it, not him. “I don’t mix work and play, Gio. I’m sure Ian was surprised to see me back here.”
“You haven’t scened here before?” He sounded casual, but his body language was on alert.
“Not in the true sense, no. I work here,” Eva explained.
“I’m sure there are Doms here besides the employees. Doesn’t André allow his crew to fraternize with the members?” Gio had a silly smirk on his face that annoyed the hell out of her.
“André doesn’t care, but I do. I’m here to work.” Okay, that was lame. Why hadn’t she just kept her mouth shut?
Gio looked into her eyes, making her squirm. “Do you need money, Eva? Is that why you work here?”
“I don’t
need
this job, but I also don’t want it complicated.” Bartending was the perfect gig. She could visit with people in the lifestyle without an expectation that she was there to play.
With great confidence, Gio began unhooking her corset. “How did you learn about BDSM?”
She had no idea what to do with her hands. First she put them on her hips, but decided that was too snarky. Next, she began to fidget with the lace on her skirt. Why was this so hard? It was piss poor timing for Adriana to be away on her honeymoon. It wasn’t like she could talk to Sister Carol about this.
“Do you really want to talk about this?” Eva asked without looking up at him.
“Maybe I should have asked for a room with a spanking bench.” He tilted her chin until they were eye to eye. “I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t want to know.” Gio took her wrists and pinned them behind her back. “Do not move.”
At his firm command, Eva stopped squirming.
“Now. Tell me.”
She didn’t want to look at him, but he’d told her not to move. Fuck it. This wasn’t about sex. This was simply a conversation and one she didn’t want to have. Eva turned away from him and walked to the couch. She sat down, pushed the fabric of her skirt between her legs to cover her pussy and drew her knees under her chin.
“What is this, Eva?” Gio sat on the couch next to her.
She tipped her head down hiding her face. “I can either tell you or look at you but not both. So you pick.”
Gio was silent for a few moments. “You know… Every club I’ve been to seems to do things a little differently, but I’ve never visited one where the submissives gave the orders. I guess we’re going to need a contract after all.”
“Very funny. This isn’t about sex”—she shrugged—“not really. This is a conversation, so it doesn’t count.”
“You just arbitrarily decided what counts and what doesn’t. I see.” Gio’s voice was calm and low.
Eva wrapped her arms around her legs and refused to lift her head. Gio’s tone wasn’t reassuring at all. Eva was pretty sure she’d stepped into a big pile of trouble. “This isn’t about a scene, Gio. Be reasonable.”
“I told you I believe protocol is important. It helps you slip into your submissive mindset and I enjoy being in control. What you are doing now is unacceptable.”
The air rushed from her lungs as the word ‘unacceptable’ bounced around inside her head. It was the only word she had heard, the only one that mattered. She squeezed her eyes tightly shut and refused to allow a single tear to fall. “What should I have done?” she asked in a whisper.
“What do you think?”
She was listening closely for any signal that he was angry or hurt, but his tone was strictly neutral, a teacher helping a student work through a mistake in judgment. If anything, his calm demeanor made her feel even worse.
“I should have talked to you,” she muttered.
“Wrong. Try again.”
What?
Anger streaked through her and she lifted her head to glare at Gio. “What do you mean wrong? D/s is about communication. If something isn’t going right, we’re supposed to talk about it.”
“D/s is about a lot of things, including protocol and communication.”
Fuck.
Protocol wasn’t something she paid a lot of attention to. Every Dom seemed to prefer a different level. “Okay, within the constraints of protocol, what should I have done?” She hoped she’d kept the sarcasm out of her voice, but considering Gio’s raised eyebrow, she’d have to assume she’d been unsuccessful at that too.
“Safeword, Eva. When you’re in a situation and feel you cannot continue, you safeword.”
“We were just talking,” she argued, trying to wrap her mind around his point of view.
“You disobeyed two direct orders—‘Do not move’ and ‘Tell me’. If you felt you couldn’t comply, you should have safeworded.”
Damn it.
When he put it that way, it sounded so simple. “You’re right. I’m sorry.” Okay, that had gone easier than she’d expected. She hadn’t choked on her tongue.
“Resume your spot.” Gio tipped his chin toward where they’d stood by the door.
Her heart started pounding. Funny—after all this, she felt like telling him how she’d discovered BDSM wasn’t that big of a deal. Was she just being a drama queen?
Reluctantly, she walked back to where she’d been, chin up and hands behind her back. She kept her elbows tight against her sides to help keep her corset in place. With half the hooks open, the material gaped apart. Eva wanted to rip it off rather than stand there looking foolish. She’d made such a mess of this.
Gio left her standing there for at least a full minute before he stood in front of her. “Is there something you want to tell me?”
Just say it.
“Your ex-girlfriend Rhonda.”
Gio flinched. “Come again?”
“She cornered me in the breezeway and asked why you stopped attending class. By that time, I’d spoken to your roommate and I knew you’d left school. I told her as much. She blamed me.” Eva felt her face heat up and knew she was red with shame, but she continued. “She said I’d run you off by making you feel guilty for enjoying kinky sex. She said you’d taken her to a club… I asked her to take me.” Eva shrugged. “And the rest is history.”
“I see.” Gio’s jaw was set at an angle letting Eva know he wasn’t happy. He grabbed the two sides of her corset and pulled, releasing each closure instantly. “Lose the skirt and stand facing the cross.”
He reached for his buckle, unhooked it and slid his belt through the loops.
Eva was trembling from a potent brew of fear and arousal. She’d been out of her comfort zone since she’d walked into the room. With great trepidation that felt weirdly like anticipation, Eva took her position at the cross.
“How many direct orders did you ignore?”
“Two.” She knew where this was going and it wouldn’t be enough.
“You’re going to take two swats with the belt. That will clear the slate and we will continue with my original plans.” To listen to Gio, you’d think he was an ocean of calm.
“I want more,” Eva told him.
“You’re getting two, but I see we need to address your desire to top from the bottom also. Don’t worry. It will vanish quickly. Open your mouth.”
He was going to ball gag her, she assumed, leaving her unable to talk back, top from the bottom or anything else. If she opened her mouth and she allowed him to bind her to the cross, she’d be completely at his mercy. She thought through all the possibilities then opened her mouth.
Gio looped his belt and slid the leather between her teeth. “Bite it. I want your teeth imprinted in it.”
Eva glanced his way, surprised, but she followed his instructions. She made sure she used enough force to permanently mark it and she also ran her tongue along the rough suede as she inhaled the scent of leather. She wondered how many other girls had had held his belt in their mouths.
“Whatever you’re thinking, stop it. And to answer your unasked question… Yes, I can and will control what goes on inside that head of yours. While we’re together, I’m in charge. I have
all
the power, because you gave it to me.”
Her tummy bunched and she knew she was getting wet. He hadn’t even touched her, not intimately, and she was already aroused.
How did that happen?
Gio took her left wrist and pulled it toward the cuff. Once it was secured, he did the same with the right. He stepped behind her and slid her skirt to the floor. “Step out of it.”
It was a little awkward with her arms attached to the cross, but she followed his order. She stood there in just her panties, wondering if they’d be the next to go.
“Spread your legs. Put your feet just to the inside of the cross.”
Eva wasn’t sure how she felt about keeping her panties. They helped hide her wetness, but she’d also hoped they’d be having sex again, and wearing underwear was going to make that cumbersome.
Gio knelt down and cuffed her ankles then stood up and leaned his back against the wall looking at her. “I have some questions for you and I want honest answers or a safeword to come out of your mouth. No sass. Nod if you understand.”
She felt her cheeks flame, but she nodded.
“Open,” Gio demanded as he grabbed the buckle of his belt. He looked at the place where she’d held it and smiled.
When he held it up for her to look at, she was relieved to see only one set of teeth marks marring the finish.
“You
think
you’re still in charge. You’re a planner, Eva, and you’ve planned out how this evening is going to go. I’ve thrown you a few curve balls, but each time you’ve simply adjusted your plan. Tell me I’m wrong.”
“Why is planning a bad thing?” The world seemed to be tilting and Eva wasn’t sure how to right it.
He shook his head. “Would gifting your Dom with an answer instead of a question be so difficult?”
Eva closed her eyes. She just kept digging that hole deeper and deeper. “No… I mean, yes… To your original question, that is.” She gave him a chagrined smile, hoping to lighten the tension. “Yes, I was anticipating what your actions would be and yes, you’ve thrown me a few curve balls.”
She was too exposed. Being physically naked in front of Gio was hard enough, but he wanted inside her head. Didn’t he know it was dangerous in there? Dark and murky like a sink hole. Everything she did was wrong, everything she thought was wrong. Why did she think she could do this?
“This isn’t an elaborate chess game where you need to anticipate my actions and devise a counter attack.” Again he was patient with her.
“I know that,” she answered quickly, ashamed that he’d seen inside her head.
“Eva, I can understand why you’ve done that in the past. Scening with someone you don’t trust is a risk and it’s smart to keep your head in the game.” Gio’s voice softened. “You don’t have to do that with me. I won’t harm you. You know that. You can and
you will
let your guard down when we’re together. I promise I’ll keep you safe.” He pushed her hair behind her ear. “Believe me?”
“Yeah, I believe you, Gio.” She’d always felt safe around him. It was more than his physical size and strength. Sure, he could dribble most men without breaking a sweat, but it was his calm confidence that spoke to her.
“Good. Stop planning. Stop thinking. Put your brain on mute and just feel.” He gave her a quick peck on the forehead before moving out of her view.
Eva heard a few sounds and she tried hard not to analyze them. Instead she thought about the cuffs chaining her to the cross. They held her wrists at an odd angle and she didn’t like it. Reaching up, she wrapped her hands around the chain. It changed the pressure point and was much more comfortable. As soon as Gio joined her again, she felt a quick moment of panic and released them.
“You’re thinking again. Tell me.”
“I just wondered if it was okay for me to move my hands a little. This is uncomfortable.” She sounded like a frightened child and it embarrassed her.
Gio shifted something to his other hand before rubbing her back. “Of course it’s okay. What do you need?”
Eva repositioned them and looked to Gio for approval.
“Once we’ve been together a few times, we’ll fall into a natural rhythm. Give it time.” He palmed the nape of her neck.
Her knees went weak when he touched her there. She felt a bit of the tension ease. “Okay.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly.
“Anything else hurt or tingle?” he asked very seriously.
A smile broke across her face and she felt heating rising to her cheeks again. “Well…not in a bad way.”
Gio chuckled. “Glad to hear it.” He stepped back. “You’re very beautiful.” He sounded like he was scrutinizing a sculpture or something.
She didn’t know how to respond to that so she fell back on her mother’s manners lessons. “Thank you.”
“There is one thing marring your beauty, though.”