Indulgence (Taking Chances #1) (10 page)

Our fingers laced together, Luke tugged me up the next flight of stairs.  I trailed my hand along the bannister, lost in the sights and sounds of this place mixed with the feeling of Luke’s hand in mine.  The energy that filled the house was more intoxicating than anything I’d ever experienced before in my life.  Darkness shrouded the staircase, lit only by candlelight, and yet I could see with perfect clarity.  

Luke glanced over his shoulder.  His lips twitched into a faint smile.  “All right,” he started as we reached the landing, “this next room is nothing like what we just visited.  I feel I might need to prepare you for what you’re about to see.”  

The husky edge to his voice resonated through me.  I took a deep breath, forcing myself to focus on what I was about to see rather than the man I was with.  Liquid heat bubbled inside of me.  Controlling my desires was becoming increasingly more difficult the longer I was in his presence.  “Prepare me for what?”

For a moment, Luke didn’t respond.  He directed me down this hall and that, leading me to our destination.  I couldn’t help but noticed how people looked at us as we passed, and yet he seemed entirely unfazed by their whispers and stares.  I watched as his chest rose and fell with each breath he took.  Just as I was about to restate my question, he pulled me down a dark hallway and came to an abrupt stop.  

In a swift motion, Luke pushed me back against the wall near a set of double doors.  He leaned into me, almost as if he were covering me, protecting me from prying eyes.  His tongue darted out over his smooth lips and his eyes burned into mine.  The light green, mixed with hues of blue and gold, glistened in the flickering candlelight.  He bent his head down, his nose close to mine.  “I’m assuming, since you’re a fan of Sebastian’s, that you’ve read
Do As I Say
?”

I swallowed hard at the mention of that book.  Oh, yeah, I’d read it all right, and at the mere sound of the title, I was pretty sure I knew what lay behind the double doors.  It was a world I’d only read about and heard tales from my best friend.  Amber raved over the Dominant and submissive lifestyle.  It allowed her to work out her control issues. At least, that’s how I took it.  While I’d read a lot of books involving BDSM, I’d never been interested in it.  It was great for other people, but the idea of pain as pleasure felt a little skewed to me.  That didn’t mean I didn’t enjoy reading books involving it though.  “Shane and Mazie are one of my favorite fictional couples,” I answered honestly.  

“Mine, too.”  Luke’s smile grew brighter than ever.  “Wanna know a little secret?”

It was hard for me to think.  The closeness of his body and demure cadence of his voice left me wanting, tingling from head to toe.  Luke narrowed his eyes, gauging me for an answer.  “Yes,” I squeaked.

His mouth drew in closer to my ear.  I could feel the warmth of his breath glide over my feverish skin.  “They were inspired by this room.”

My head dropped back, hitting the wall.  “Get out of town!”

Luke pushed his mask up the bridge of his nose as if he were wearing glasses.  “It was six year ago that he watched a couple in this very room.  They were his inspiration for the book.”

“So the rumors are true?”

“Which ones?” Luke chuckled.  “There are quite a few.”

I turned my head slightly as a couple moved past us into the room.  A serenade of cries and moans of ecstasy echoed from behind the doors as they opened and closed.  

My heart skipped a beat.  Or maybe two or three.  A hint of need and uncertainty shivered down my spine.  “You know,” I whispered, looking around us as if someone might hear me.  

Luke took a step closer to me.  Our bodies only a breath apart.  He pressed his palms against the wall around my head.    “Why don’t you tell me?”

I stammered, my heart rattling against the cage that was my chest.  The scent of his cologne mixed with the heady aroma of sex did things to my body.  “That Sebastian sneaks around here, undetected, watching people fuck.”

Instead of laughing, as I expected, Luke simply smiled.  “Sebastian sees everything that goes on here, Red.  Nothing escapes him.”

“So this isn’t some big publicity stunt to make him more money?”  I clapped my hands over my mouth.

This time Luke did laugh.  He dropped one hand and rested his elbow against the wall, leaning into me.  His throat bobbed with laughter.  He reached for a strand of my hair, twirling it around his fingertip.  “Sebastian has all the money he needs.  He makes nothing off of all this.”  He motioned toward the hall with his hand.

I fought to control my breathing.  Each time he touched my hair, my blood pressure skyrocketed.  “If it’s not publicity, then why do it?  It seems like a lot to go through for a story idea.”

Luke moved to mimic my stance.  He rested his back against the wall, and loosened the bowtie around his neck.  He popped the top button of his shirt and crossed his arms over his chest.  For the first time in what felt like an eternity, I thought I might be able to breathe.  Except for the fact that our arms now touched, which kept my already jumbled nerves pulsing with energy.

“Well, you’re not entirely wrong about publicity.  Sebastian’s publisher never anticipated his books to fly off the shelves as they did.  Hell, it shocked the fuck out him.  His first book,
Indulgence
, hit the New York Time’s bestseller list three days after being released.”

Luke propped his leg against the wall and nodded at a young man who walked past us and entered the room, yet he didn’t skip a beat.  “His agent was the first person to suggest the parties, since that was the basis for his first book.  It was meant as a joke, but his publisher loved the idea and ran with it.  At first, Sebastian was uncomfortable with the idea, especially since they wanted him there.  Just because he enjoyed writing about sex didn’t mean he wanted to fuck everyone who showed up on his doorstep.”

Here I thought I knew everything a fan girl could know about Sebastian Hawk, but I didn’t know this.  I hung on Luke’s every word.  “Well, I guess that explains why he doesn’t participate.”

“Yes,” Luke confirmed.  “He agreed to the first
Indulgence
party on the contingency that he wasn’t required to partake.  They agreed on the condition that he had to remain on the premises at all times during the event.”

Luke tilted his head, meeting my eyes.  He dropped his arms from his chest and tucked his hands into his pockets.  “So instead, they forced him to be a peeping Tom,” I teased.

“Pretty much,” Luke chuckled.  “But because of
Indulgence
, he’s learned a great deal about sex.  It’s a place for inspiration.  People have a knack for doing things that are impossible to make up.  Take the gentleman downstairs who wanted to add you to his harem earlier.”

A giggle rose in my chest.  I covered my mouth, careful to keep my arms over my tits.  “Harem.  Now that’s funny.”

“But true,” Luke stated with certainty.  “I can see Sebastian taking a moment such as that and gracing it on a new character.  Say maybe in a bar where she’s waiting for her best friend to meet her for drinks after a long day.  She’s tired, but a cute bartender has caught her attention.  They talk and flirt, but are interrupted by a brainless moron.”

My hand dropped from my mouth.  Inside my mind, I watched the scene unfold just as I would in Sebastian’s books.  He painted me a picture with words, pulling me into the scenario.  I might’ve lived the moment, but I wanted to know what happened next.  “Does the bartender come to her rescue?”

Luke pushed off the wall, moving in front of me.  His eyes darkened and his expression grew serious.  “The bartender would most definitely come to her rescue.”

My arms suddenly felt heavy and my body trembled.   I tried to swallow but my mouth was dry, a physical manifestation of my complete nervousness.  “Since this is one of Sebastian’s books, does that mean the bartender and the woman…”

“Fuck?” Luke murmured.

I gasped as that word fell from his lips.  My body brimmed with excitement at the connotation of that one little word.  I stood frozen against the wall, unable to think let alone breathe.  The corner of Luke’s mouth twitched into that cocky, crooked smirk.  “Sebastian enjoys sex, Red.  You can bet they fuck in ways we could only begin to imagine.”

The dark undertone to his voice sent a wave of desire flooding through my veins.  Luke was so close; I could’ve easily closed the distance between us.  Those sexy lips of his parted, and I ached to nip his bottom lip between my teeth and suck it.  Locked under his spell, I felt Luke move closer, blanketing my nakedness with his strong frame.  Our breaths mingled together into the sweet perfume.  His eyes burned behind that mask.  Energy hummed between us.  Forget the room, I found what I wanted.  This man, buried cock deep inside of me.

I watched his breathing increase the closer we moved together.  My focus lingered on the proximity of his mouth.  I needed to feel him, to touch him, to run my fingers through his hair.  I reached up, about to take his hat off when he snapped back.  He jerked away, and the look of longing I’d just seen vanished, leaving in its place a distant, vacant stare.

“I’m sorry, Red.  I didn’t mean…”

I reached out for him but pulled my hand back, afraid to scare him away.  “No, Luke.  It was my fault.  This place is getting to me.  That’s all.  Let’s just go inside.”

A war raged in his eyes.  He lifted his hand and then dropped it back down at his side, balling it into a tight fist.  “Fucking rules,” he muttered under his breath.

I squelched the feelings bubbling in my chest, determined not to push him away.  Motioning toward the door with my head, I reiterated, “Show me the room.”

His steady, blue eyes weighed me carefully.  “Are you sure?  What you’re about to see in there isn’t for the faint of heart.  Even Sebastian had a hard time seeing some of it the first time.”

“What about you?  Do you have a hard time seeing it?”

The look on his face softened.  He nodded once.  “At one time, but not anymore.”

“If you can handle it, I can.”

He smiled with rapt amusement.  “If you’re sure.”  I extended my arm out toward the doors.  He turned toward them, pausing at the threshold.  Luke placed both hands on the doorknobs and inhaled.  For a moment, I thought he might turn around.  Maybe he was having second thoughts about escorting me.  Instead, he took another deep breath, straightened his body to his full height and turned the knobs.  

We stepped into the room and closed the door behind us.  A sense of pleasure and fear skidded down my spine.  The room was much larger than the last one we’d been in.  It was dark, almost dungeon-like in feel, yet luxurious in adornment.  Squares were partitioned off with retractable stanchions.  Unlike the last room, there was no one standing around watching.  Everyone was in the middle of action.

“Stay close,” Luke instructed.  He took my hand and entwined our fingers.  

I did as directed, keeping close behind him at the same time staying as close to the wall as possible.  The sounds I’d heard from outside were magnified exponentially.  Unlike the last room we’d visited, this one held an energy that housed ecstasy mixed with pain and raw emotion.

“This first part of the room is predominantly D/s,” Luke explained.  “The bondage is light.  They thrive more on control and submission.”

As he spoke, I noticed a guy with blond hair and a decent body tied to a bed.  I couldn’t see much of his face but got a great view of his ass.  Another man stalked around the bed, trailing what appeared to be a riding crop along the bound man’s back.  My heart caught in my throat as I watched the man holding the crop pull back and hit the restrained guy’s thighs.  The constrained man’s body convulsed, jerking at the crack of the crop over his bare flesh.  His head jerked back and every muscle in his arms and legs tightened.   

I wanted to run up to him and release him, to rescue him from his assailant, but Luke squeezed my hand, stopping me.  “He’s okay, I promise you.”

I pointed toward them.  “But how?”

“It only hurts for a moment, but the pleasure that follows for him is immense.  Look.”

In that moment, the man holding the crop was on his knees.  He was rubbing the spanked man’s ass with the palm of his hand and appeared to be whispering to his captive.  The look on the spanker’s face wasn’t malicious at all.  There was a note of respect and even care in his eyes.  He started to kiss the bound man’s tears, drawing them together in an electrifying kiss that sent waves of heat coursing through my veins.  The captor released his captive’s arms and started to stroke his hard cock.

“See what I mean?”

I nodded, finding it difficult to breathe.  These two men shimmered with passion and heat that electrified the room.

“There’s more to see.  Let’s head this way.”

Obeying orders, I continued to follow close behind Luke.  I pressed my head into his back, clinging to his hand.  The mixed sounds and emotions of this room confused me.  Seeing those two men go from a moment of derogation to passion left me perplexed and wanton.

“What you just saw was mild,” he warned.  “You must understand there’s more to BDSM than merely the Dominant and submissive lifestyle, which is often glorified in books.”

“I get that.”