Authors: Jennifer Denys
Chapter Two
Once Sam got out of Jessie’s apartment, he rushed to get online to view the Serena Books website and see the types of books his friend was reading. He was still amazed that his shy, pedantic friend was reading erotic books. This really was fantasy for her. He’d seen her at parties, on the rare occasions he could get her to go to one, and she hardly said a word to anyone.
Reading the blurbs for several books online, he managed, in their following conversations, to get around the fact that he hadn’t actually read any of these books before. To his amazement, he found he quite liked them, although he was worried how he would manage talking to Jessie about them. Their normal conversations were very easy, but they centred on sci-fi and fantasy. There wasn’t anything that personal in their discussions other than preferring one character over another.
One of his major hang-ups when initially dating was how to talk to girls. He was a computer geek. He dried up after the initial
what do you do, where do you come from, do you like sci-fi
type questions.
Okay, I shall think about these as fantasy, too, and I won’t get nervous
. In fact, many of them seemed to be based in the sci-fi-fantasy world anyway, but included sex—tons of it.
Their first couple of ventures into this new genre went okay, and they had very amiable discussions, both trying hard not to get too personal and reveal their own sexual preferences, which would have been very awkward, although it hadn’t been easy.
Tonight they were more relaxed and were reading a book in which a woman had been persuaded to go to a sex club with a younger male acquaintance who was now disguised as a Dom. He actually owned the club, but she didn’t know that, and he was in the process of restraining the heroine. It was a good story.
Will she guess who he is? Will she enjoy or hate the D’s elements of her visit? Will she turn from him and all he is when he finally reveals himself?
* * * *
“Now, I liked this bit,” Jessie stated, startling Sam out of his reverie. “Few authors writing about BDSM seem to realize that you can get claustrophobic by being tied up, and this author makes a point of including that in this story.”
He frowned. “I thought claustrophobia was fear of small or tight spaces, not being tied up.”
“Another person who doesn’t understand,” she declared, rolling her eyes upward in exasperation.
Sam crossed his arms, clearly waiting for her explanation, so she continued, slightly patronizingly, “If you think about small, tight spaces as places you are restrained in and can’t get out of, then you can see that claustrophobia transfers to any form of restraint. It is more accentuated if your hands are tied and even more so if they are held behind your back.” She finished explaining with a shudder.
Sam uncrossed his arms. “I didn’t know you were claustrophobic.” He paused. “But I’ve been in an elevator with you before now.”
“Ahh, but the elevator was always moving and I could hold in any panic. If it had stopped between levels, I would have been a screaming wreck.”
“Remind me next time not to go in one with you again. I might end up deafened. Ow,” he cried as Jessie leaned over and hit him light-heartedly on the shoulder. She grinned. Only with Sam did she feel this playful. She wished she was braver to do more than touch him humorously.
They continued to read.
* * * *
Sam broke their peaceful reading. “You know, instead of sitting here discussing these stories, we could just try them out.”
Silence ensued. Sam was appalled. He couldn’t believe he had just suggested that. It sort of just came out without any intention of saying what was on his mind. Oh shit, he thought, part of him hoping she hadn’t heard, but part of him wondering what her reaction would be if she had.
Jessie’s head whipped up, her brown hair, tied back in its usual ponytail, lashing her face. “I beg your pardon.”
He wasn’t sure whether he heard indignation or surprise in her voice. At least it didn’t seem to be horror. Well, he’d said it now, so he decided to push it a bit further. “Well, we could sit here all evening debating whether you would feel too claustrophobic to be tied up while having sex, but until you actually try it, you have no idea how you would feel.”
Jessie looked like she was absolutely stunned.
Ignoring her disquiet, Sam continued really getting into the idea. “We’ve just said that the books all talk about bondage being one of trust, the sub trusting her—or his—Dom, so if you are being tied up by someone you truly trust, it should be all right, shouldn’t it? Don’t you agree? Anyhow, if you have a safe word, that gives you a big degree of control.”
Worried that she was sitting there so silently, he suddenly sat forward, frowning. “Oh God, I’ve made a total prat of myself, haven’t I? Jessie, talk to me. Say something, even if it’s to say you will never speak to me again.” He ran a hand anxiously through his straight hair, hoping she would say something soon and stop his rambling.
The corners of her mouth lifted as if amused by his nervous gestures. He finally stopped gibbering enough for Jessie to get a word in. “No, I’m not going to say that. I am still getting my head around the fact that you have just suggested we have sex, and not just sex, but sex with bondage. My mind is chaotic with images of kinky bedroom games!”
Sam looked away sheepishly. “Yes I have, haven’t I?” He paused, turning to look back at her face, trying to judge her reaction. “What do you think…shall we?” he asked quietly then held his breath, awaiting her answer anxiously. He wasn’t quite sure why he suggested this. It wasn’t as if they had gone out of their way in the past trying out sci-fi scenarios, but for some reason this idea popped into his head, and he couldn’t stop himself asking it. In fact, the suggestion came to him while they were reading their second erotic romance the other day, but he didn’t feel brave enough to ask her then.
“You want to have sex with me?” Her voice went up. She looked at his eyes, seeming to analyze him just as intently as he was her.
“Yeah…that’s what I said.” Sam frowned, not sure how to read her. Had he wrecked their friendship in one fell swoop? He sincerely hoped not. She was more than a friend—she was his best friend.
Jessie cleared her throat and looked away. “You’ve never shown any indication you were attracted to me that way before.”
“Neither have you,” he responded. Then he quickly continued, “But this is not exactly boyfriend-girlfriend thing. It’s research. It’s continuation of our book discussion, it’s—” Sam stopped as a sudden peal of laughter emanated from Jessie, and she doubled up, tears streaming down her face.
He knew his attempt to persuade her to do something totally out of her comfort zone and totally contrary to everything they had done in their friendship before now was amusing, but he didn’t think it was that funny. When her shoulders started shaking with silent laughter, he stood up. “All right, it was a stupid idea.” He walked around the sofa to leave the room.
Jessie finally drew a breath and held out a hand to stop him as he passed by. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you.” She gasped between breaths. Calming down, she knelt up against the back of the sofa, facing him, resting an arm along the back with her tear-splattered glasses dangling from one hand, wiping her face with her other hand. She then took a deep, shaky breath. “All right, I’m game.”
Sam stood halfway to the door. His jaw dropped. “Y–you’re game. You mean you will?” It was his turn for his voice to rise.
“This is probably the stupidest thing we’ll ever do, and at no time do I want to destroy our friendship, so we must both agree on a safe word to stop it when either thinks it’s going too far or we really can’t go through with it,” she said, gesturing firmly with her hands. He smiled as he saw her nipples hardening in anticipation of what they were about to do, and she squirmed uncomfortably, clearly hoping he wouldn’t notice.
“Agreed,” he said quickly. “Mine is Klingon.”
“Ohh, too easy.” Jessie derided him, knowing he was a big
Star Trek
fan. “Okay then, I’ll have to be Romulan.”
Sam put his hands on his hips and stared at the girl on the sofa who suddenly looked very cute in her green, fluffy jumper. He had never really thought how she looked in her clothes before. Maybe it was because of her nipples peaking against the material. He shifted his feet as he had started to feel tight in the crotch of his jeans as he felt himself getting hard. “Are we really doing this?”
“You came up with the idea, so you take charge. Besides I’m more sub than Dom,” she said. Sam realized she had unconsciously revealed more of herself to him than she intended. “Although that means I’m the one who has to be tied up, oh God.” She ran a nervous hand through her hair as she tried to backpedal. “Of course, we don’t have to start with bondage. There are other scenarios we could consider.”
He moved closer to the sofa, putting a hand on her hair, smoothing it down. “But you’re the one with bondage issues,” he said gently, cupping her chin, lifting her face up, making her look him in the eye. “So it’s only right that you get to be tied up so you can overcome those issues…so the next question is what do you have that I can tie you with?”
“What—you mean
now
?” She squeaked, putting a hand to her heart. “Oh, God, I’m having a heart attack.”
He grinned. “Actually, I have to go soon, but how about tomorrow? Otherwise we’ll both get cold feet if we leave it any longer.”
He felt her pull away from him in relief. He knew she was still nervous at the prospect of what was to come. “Okayyyy, but we can’t recreate the scene from this book. I seem to recall she was tied to a spanking bench, and I don’t have one of those handy.”
“Oh, Miss Sarcasm!” Sam looked around the room as Jessie looked sheepish at her waspish response. “It doesn’t have to be that literal. In fact, it is probably best to start at the basics and just tie you to the bed like they did in one I read over the weekend.” This was one of the few that Sam had read since starting this. A woman met a man at a sex venue, who turned out to be a colleague. Consequently, the woman was reluctant to go any further with the guy, but he used his wiles to persuade her he was the man for her, including a scene where he tied her to a bed. “One of the issues in BDSM play is that the person being tied up isn’t hurt by the bonds, so we won’t use anything coarse. Do you have any soft ribbons or material or some sort?”
“Err—probably some stockings might work.”
Sam stared at Jessie, looking her up and down as she blushed at his inspection. “
You
wear stockings?”
She rubbed a hand down her thigh and grimaced. “I bought them once for an office party, trying to be more sexy, but found suspenders to be one of the most uncomfortable things ever invented—that and underwire bras. Both of which were invented by men to torture women.”
It was Sam’s turn to laugh loudly, as her disgusted expression was very amusing. “Okay then. You dig out your torturous stockings, and I’ll see you tomorrow.” He was nearly tempted to place a kiss on her cheek as she looked so endearing but resisted, somewhat surprised at his reaction. There had been enough surprises for one night and more to come tomorrow, he suspected.
Chapter Three
Jessie was incredibly nervous by the time Sam came around the following evening. Still stunned that her best friend had suggested sex, she was worried because she hadn’t had a lover in such a long time.
By the time they got to her bedroom and she rummaged in a drawer for the appropriate stockings, her heart was beating violently. She had to sit suddenly on her dresser.
“Are you all right, Jessie?” Sam asked in a concerned voice. “You’ve gone very pale.”
“I seem to be having an attack of the vapors, but apart from that, I’m well,” she replied breathily, trying to inject a little humor into the situation.
“You’re not the only person feeling nervous here. My last relationship ended when she called me boring. I was never sure if she had meant as a person or in bed. I hope it wasn’t the latter.”
She laughed at his expression of hard-done-by.
He sauntered over to her, taking the stockings from her tight grasp. “Now remember, it’s all about trust. You trust me not to hurt you. You know perfectly well I will untie you when we’re finished, or immediately, if you want.”
“I was less worried about the tying-up part until you reminded me, and more about the getting naked and having sex bit,” she said ruefully.
Sam grinned wryly. “We don’t have to do this. If I don’t turn you on, it’s not exactly going to be much fun.” He seemed to be holding his breath, awaiting her answer.
Jessie smiled. “Actually, I think I am very turned on. It’s more embarrassment of what you’ll think of my body.”
“Ha! I’m worried you’re going laugh at my puny body after those hunky alien men you lusted after.”
Jessie did laugh and then stopped at Sam’s indignant expression. “Idiot! Of course anytime you want to hang about in the gym and gain some muscle, it might give you some bonus points,” she said, flirting, surprised at herself as flirting didn’t come easy usually.
“What, time I could spend watching repeats of
Star Trek
?” They both chuckled. “Come on.” He took her hand and led her to the bed, throwing the stockings onto it. He briefly looked in her eyes then cupped her face with both hands and lowered his mouth, kissing her very tenderly. Her lips trembled, belying her fears. After a moment, Sam lifted his head and reached up to undo her ponytail, releasing her wavy hair which fell to her shoulders. He smiled. “I rarely see your hair down.” He then lowered his hands to undo the buttons of her blouse.