The Darkest Corners (The Club Book 4) (2 page)

Bodies writhed everywhere, and the air was thick with sexual want and promise.

It was…erotic.

Tally was enraptured; her whole body lit from within.

*  *  *

“Your usual, Beebee.”

The drink slid across the bar, and she wrapped her hand around it. It was a light scotch with water. Completely illegal for a nineteen-year-old to be drinking it at the bar. But then, all of what was going on around her was illegal, and her scotch would be a minor infraction in the scope of the illegal sexual deviance that she was watching.

“Here again, Beebee?”

Tally turned and found the ridiculously handsome face of Professor Simon walking up to the bar. He was wearing his usual black pants and shirt, buttons only partially fastened. She blinked a few times and nodded. “Yes. Again.”

He leaned on the bar next to her, facing the crowd. “Let’s see. That’s twice a week and usually a visit on the weekends, for the past five months.”

Tally nodded. There was no denying she was utterly taken by the secret that was The Club Endulge, hidden in the basement of a Manhattan office building. She had purchased a membership before they’d left that night, without Eileen knowing, and gone home to read everything she could about BDSM and the lifestyle. And whenever she didn’t have class or studying to do, and was off from work, she was at The Club. Watching. Learning.

Simon turned to her and leaned in. “All of this watching. Mm. Makes a person very frustrated without participation. What do you do, Beebee, when you go home?”

This had been their dance for weeks. Long weeks. She knew Simon was interested in her, and she was certainly interested in him. But she wasn’t
ready
for him.

Tonight was different. Her regular answer, “Nothing,” wasn’t going to suffice. Tonight, Tally wasn’t going to answer. Beebee was.

“I get myself off,” she whispered in return.

His eyes widened at her answer. Not in shock from her answer, but that she had answered. “Do you, now?”

“Yes,” she managed.

Simon’s hand trailed down her arm. “And how do you do that?”

“A very nice vibrator.” Tally felt the gooseflesh rise on her arm. “And a dirty fantasy.”

“Oh, really.” Simon’s fingers trailed from her shoulder across her collar. “Would you care to share that fantasy with me?”

“It’s you.” She let the words out on a breath. “You with me in that room.”

He was unreadable now, his hand now caressing the back of her neck. “Tell me more. Tell me all of it.”

“I’m bottom up, naked and your paddle is finding home every time.”

It was a loaded answer in such a simple sentence.

“Is this a fantasy or a request, Beebee?” Simon’s hand stilled.

“Both.”

He studied her. “I have the same fantasy, Beebee.” His tone was quiet and low. “I want to make it come true. Would you like that?”

She nodded ever-so-slowly. “Yes, sir.”

“Before I take you over there and make you come for me, you understand that you don’t have to do this. This is of your own free will and consent that you agree to this.”

“Of course, sir.”

He smiled and ran a hand down her cheek. “That is a beautiful word, pretty one. Hearing you call me sir. Is that what you want?”

“If it pleases you, I would like you to try your hand on me first. I do not want to say yes until I have experienced this once without any strings attached.” Tally had planned this moment out in her mind for weeks. “But, yes, sir. I would like it if you trained me.”

“Oh, what a good girl.” Simon’s hand found her breast, and he trailed his fingers over her. “Just for tonight, to see if our fantasy will work, the safe words are simple. Green, yellow, red, and stop. Understood?”

“Yes, sir.”

“So pretty to hear that from your lips.” Simon took her hand and helped her off the chair. He led her down the row of alcoves and chose one with a saddle horse and an impressive collection of paddles. “Do you want the curtains open or closed, Beebee?”

“Closed for now, sir.”

He pulled the dark material over the opening and walked back to her, standing close enough that she could feel his impressive, straining length against her hip. His hand trailed down her side, to the edge of her pants, and slipped inside. “You’re sure about this, Tally?” His fingers found their way to her sex, and he stroked the lips that hid her excited, waiting bundle of nerves.

She dared to look at him. “Can’t you feel how wet I am, Simon? We’ve played the game for weeks. I’m ready. I don’t want to go home and fantasize again. I want to come here for the fantasy. I want you to show me that this is what I need.”

He brushed his mouth over hers, gently, with no pressure. “I will train you to be my little sub if that’s what you want.”

“Yes.” His offer was more than what she’d hoped for. She thought he would send her to someone else, and maybe come for her after. But being trained by this man she’d been teasing and teased by for weeks? The beginning of that fantasy.

Standing in front of her, he slid her pants down, off and to the floor. Tally stepped out of them, and he swooped to pick them up and fold them neatly. “I would have—”

Simon held up his hand. “Lesson one, pretty. A good Dom always cares for his sub. Even in little things like that.”

“Yes, sir.” Tally started to slip her shoes off.

“Oh, no no.” Simon’s hand on her arm stopped her. “No, my dear. Those stay on. I love what they do to your legs.” Tally nodded and secured her foot back in the pump. “Now, let’s get you up on the bench.”

He was very clear with his directions as Tally positioned herself on the saddle horse for the first time. She found her heart was racing, her body winding quickly to a fever pitch. Was this really what she needed? She was standing mostly naked from the waist down, in front of a man who was not her husband—not even her boyfriend—asking him to paddle her ass for sexual gratification. Just thinking about it like that, in a neat linear fashion, made her think that she was insane.

Then, at the same time, feeling the cool leather of the saddle horse beneath her skin, feeling Simon’s hands guide her into place, anticipating the swat and whatever else Simon had planned excited her, thrilled her, in ways she hadn’t thought she would ever discover. She didn’t want to hope.

Simon’s heat came close to her skin, and his hand fluttered over her exposed ass, raised in the air. The swat on her bare skin came suddenly and hard. It was the smack of hand on skin, once and twice—and Tally couldn’t stop the groan that escaped her. If she had thought her body was lit before, she was now in the throes of a consuming fire.

She felt Simon against her, his erection pressing into her thigh. His hands wandered to her hips, and his breath brushed her neck. “There are things that are usually expected within a scene that remain unspoken, Tally. But you’re not my sub, and we don’t have an arrangement. So I have to voice them.” He caressed the spot his hand had hit earlier. “After I have thoroughly spanked you and made you come, I would very much like to fuck you.”

Tally felt her body tremble at the request, and she didn’t hesitate. “I would like that, sir.”

“Thank you, pretty.” Simon moved back a bit and his hand swatted her ass again. This time it was harder but no less exciting, and she gave another throaty groan. “We must warm up your wonderful ass before we give you the paddle.”

Another shot of want tripped through her. “Thank you, sir.”

Again, another hit, and again, a little harder. Tally gripped the saddle horse hard, the warmth and tingle of his spanking spreading through her, charging her body and winding her toward her climax—

Tally caught herself panting and wanting to squirm. She had, after the few nights with Gerald and the few intervening interludes with a handful of other guys—and even a girl—given up hope that she would ever, ever find the key to the amazing orgasm she’d been seeking. That she could ever achieve that without a vibrator. Yet, here she was bent over, getting spanked and waiting for a paddle, flying quickly to the heights she’d only heard about.

Each of his blows grew harder and consumed her quickly into the lust that raced around her. She wanted this so much. She let her mind float out, away from her and discovered that she craved this. Her body was comfortable and suddenly relaxed. Simon’s hands caressed her between each hit and would dip to softly tease her.

He did that. The spanking did that. Bending over a saddle horse did it. Being half dressed and feeling utterly wanton did that.

“Where is your head, pretty?” Simon’s voice was soft as he ran his fingers over her satin, wet sex.

“Here, sir. With you, floating sweetly through my body.”

Simon grunted. “Impressive, Tally. Subspace so easily. Would you like the paddle now?”

“Oh, please, sir.”

His heat left her as he walked to the wall ahead of her. She was so relaxed, so ready for this she didn’t even lift her head to look. “What shall we start with?” Simon mused. She saw his feet as he walked the length of the wall. She didn’t care; she wanted his hands on her again. But he picked a paddle off the wall. “Mm. My favorite beginner.”

His feet led him back around the saddle horse. After two more hard slaps with his hand, he gave her a quick caress. “I’m going to tap you with this, so you know what it feels like. These are not your reward for being a good girl. They are your warning for what’s to come. What’s the safe word, Tally?”

“Stop works, sir.”

“Good girl.” He praised her with another quick caress. “Please, remember to use it if you have to.” His breath was on her neck. “But I’d be lying if I told I want to hear it.”

Tally’s body shivered from his words as he spanked her hard again. She wanted this so much…so much…

The next sensation on her ass was one of cool, firm wood tapped against her skin. Simon held it there for a moment, a contrast to the heat she felt everywhere on her body. “We’re going to do four, Tally. Just four. I know you’re not trained, but I want you to try not to come until the fourth. Would you like to count them out for me, pretty?”

“Please, sir,” she breathed.

The paddle moved away from her, and a moment later he struck. The hit was firm, hard, and expertly placed. It spread the tingle of the pain through her whole backside, a marathon of sensations through her, racing to her mind and back again to her ass. Tally tried to not make a noise and mostly succeeded save for the pleasured grunt she couldn’t stop. “One,” she finally managed to say.

“Tally?”

“Green, sir, please. Green.” It was her way of begging for the next.

The next hit did not disappoint. Its impact built the tingle, the tease throughout her body. Her pussy clenched, and her breath hitched. The motion of her body dragged her hard nipples on the leather of the bench. Her legs were shaking now, and she wanted more. “Two,” she gasped. “Green! Please! Sir!”

There was no praise or warning or caress—the paddle hit her ass hard and her mind spiraled nearly out of control. Every nerve in her body wound tight and screamed for release. Her breasts ached, her arms were weak, and her mind called out for relief. There was only one way to get it. “Three. Oh, God. Three, green, please. Three.”

The last hit struck her. Her body exploded in a wracking orgasm that tore away all senses and ability to think.

TWO

Dana smiled. It was a pretty smile that Liam had always hoped he could start to love. She had such a wonderful personality and so many things he ought to have loved and appreciated about her.

“Stay, Liam,” she whispered, her breasts brushing his side.

“I’m not leaving,” he answered.

“No,” Dana stated, leaning up. “Not leave today, I know you’ll stay. I mean don’t leave. Don’t leave Idaho. Dad would love it if you took over the farm. I would love it. We could make this work.”

“How is that fair to either of us?” Liam could tell his voice was sad.

“We’re good together, Liam. We are.”

“Oh, Dana, we’re not in love. I can’t make a vow to love you when we’re not.”

“Not every good couple has to be in love,” she said. “You’re a good man; we’re good in bed. We work as a great team. We care for each other.”

Liam let out a long breath. “Dana, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gone over this in my head. Over and over it. I want to stay. I want to fall in love with you. But there is something there that’s not right. I can’t put my finger on it and neither can you.” He traced the bridge of her nose. “I wish it weren't like this, Danes, you know that.”

“I have to try, Liam,” Dana said with a smile. “I wish I could figure out what it was.”

He nodded.

“When do you leave?”

“Two weeks.”

“But don’t you graduate next week? You’re not even going to stay the summer?”

“If I don’t do this now, I never will.”

Dana was quiet as she settled back on the pillow next to him. It was a comfortable silence for a long, gentle few minutes. She broke it carefully. “What about your mother?”

“My mother is well-cared for,” Liam answered. It was painful to admit.

“I thought you hated Hartley.”

Liam shook his head. “I did. For many, many years. Because he wasn’t my real dad. He wasn’t the guy who was supposed to be playing catch with me and Tom. He wasn’t supposed to be the one who was taking Violet to her daddy-daughter dances. When I finally grew up, I realized what an idiot I was. He was and is my real father. Greg was a sperm donor who ran the instant his perfect life wasn’t perfect.”

Dana leaned up again. “That is the most adult thing I have ever heard you say about him.”

“Well, come on. It had to happen sometime. I had to realize that he was so much better for us than Greg was. I focused all that hate on someone who stayed here to help my mother, and care for her and us. That was dumb of me. Hartley loves my mother more than flowers love spring and deserves that. I’m glad that they were able to have Annie before Mom got sick. He loves that little girl so much, and she’s what finally convinced me he wasn’t a raging asshole.”

Dana squinted. “I would have thought you were jealous.”

“I was, until one day I realized that he wasn’t treating us any differently than he treated her.”

“When did you have this epiphany?”

Liam sighed. “When we got the news that she’d probably never walk again. He didn’t run. He didn’t freak out or scream. He didn’t go to the bar and get drunk, and then come home, pack up and leave. Do you know what he did?” Dana shook her head. “He came home and started researching the best wheelchairs for her, how to prevent bedsores, and how to make the house handicap accessible, everywhere. By the time Mom got out of rehab, he’d gotten most of the house updated for her. He had an elevator built onto the house.”

“That’s what I remember,” Dana said. “You got so mad about it.”

“Because I thought they would move into a rancher,” Liam explained. “I thought we could get out of the house where I spent my so-called miserable childhood. And when I saw Mom’s face light up at the realization she could get up and down in the house, I finally realized what an asshole I was to him.”

“And now you trust him.”

“Oh, Dana, I always trusted him. I just didn’t realize it. He was always there for me even if I treated him like crap. If I asked him for help, he would give it. And I’m a jerk for treating him as less than my dad.”

“Are you leaving because you want to run away from him? From how you treated him?”

“No.” Liam ran his fingers through her hair. “No, not at all. I’m leaving because I need to. I don’t belong here. I don’t know where I belong. Farming isn’t for me. Living in Idaho City doesn’t work either. Boise isn’t the answer. I’m heading for Seattle, and I’ll see what shakes loose there. I have a tech degree now, so I should be able to find something.”

“You could work tech here.” Dana stared at him. “You know you could. There’s something more.”

“I guess that’s why I’m leaving. I’m trying to figure it all out.”

“I wish you’d reconsider.” Dana sighed, laying her head on his shoulder.

“We’ve been through it a dozen and one times, now, Dana.”

“I know.” She exhaled. “I just wish we could make this work. I don’t want my dad to pressure me into marrying someone else.”

“Oh, I’m convenience now?” Liam loved to teaser about this.

“Very convenient.”

He rolled so he was above her. “Let’s see. You could marry…Lonny Dunbeck.”

Dana laughed, running her hands down his sides to his backside. “Lonny Dunbeck’s IQ is room temperature at best, and he has the personality of a warm potato.”

Liam started to nibble his way down her neck. “How about Charlie Farron?”

“Charlie Chaplin?” Dana pulled her hand around to his hardening length between her legs. “With that damn hat and moustache? Please. I’ll have incredible cravings for duck soup all the time.”

“How about Jason Makerny?” Liam let her guide his erection into her.

She sighed as he filled her willing sex. “Jason Makerny is well known to have a pencil dick. And compared to what you’ve gotten me used to…”

“You like this?” Liam pulled back and thrust into her.

“Shit, yes.” She gasped, enraptured. “You spoil me with this cock.”

He nipped at her breath, enjoyed the feeling of Dana’s tunnel gripping him tightly as he moved. He was going to miss this. She was a supple, gorgeous and sexual woman who had at some point moved from a booty call to an exclusive in his bed. Her breasts swayed gently, temptingly as he thrust deep. It was never making love with them, but it was never just a fuck either. With them, it was always good sex. The chemistry in bed connected them.

Dana rolled them so she sat on top of him, the undulation of her hips erotic, pulling him into her. Liam knew what she wanted; he knew her body well. His finger dusted her clit, following as she moved. He watched as her hands wandered to her breasts, and she teased her own nipples, tugging and pinching. Just watching her was enough to pull him close to coming.

He worked his finger over her, Dana’s excited display a tell-tale sign that she was ready for her climax. Liam complied, knowing what she needed. His finger moved more roughly over her as she dropped to her hands and pressed her breasts against him. Her motion became frenetic, dragging over him, and scraping her nipples against him.

“Oh, God, Liam, yes, yes!”

“Coming,” he said, as the feeling of impending release gathered in his sac.

“Please, please.” She panted, throwing her head back.

Seizing the moment, Liam grabbed her hair with his free hand and pulled gently. “Come, Dana. Come on. Come.”

She was driving herself down on him, and he gave her the last key to her orgasm. He pinched her clit firmly. Dana’s climax grabbed her, and she groaned his name, “Liam!”

The grip of her pussy around him was his undoing and felt his climax race first up his cock, and release all the tension in his entire body. He thrust up, into Dana, the sensation of complete delight grabbing him and holding him for a moment.

As he dropped out of the ecstatic heights, Dana lowered herself to his chest, panting. She lay comfortably on him. He stroked her back and just held her. He was going to miss what they had, but it wasn’t love. Not the kind that they both craved. Not the kind they needed to make it work.

Leaving was the right thing to do.

*  *  *

“Liam Dunfrees.”

With the same sense of mediocrity he had been living in for the past few years, Liam walked the stairs to the platform. The chair of his department stood there, smile and holding a hand out to shake. He shook it and accepted the diploma with a smile of his own. He turned to the audience and found his family there: his mother and Hartley, Tom and his wife, Violet and Anna. All smiling and beaming and Tom letting out a shrill whistle of appreciation.

He waved and headed back down the stairs to his seat. The ceremony was almost over and then it was off to a restaurant for dinner. The dinner was delicious and fun, and it was only a delay tactic to keep Tom off his case. Which failed when Tom followed him to the bathroom.

“You’re really going?” Tom didn’t waste time diving into the tirade.

“Yes, I’m really going.” Liam tried to keep his voice neutral and firm.

“You’re just going to up and leave your mother here?”

“Tom, she’s not alone.” Liam tried to step around him.

“Your mother needs you.”

“Don’t you start with this, Tom. Don’t you dare. Mom doesn’t need me. No one here needs me. I’m an extra in a bad B movie, and with you taking over Hart’s store, Vi going hog wild on her 4C and environmental stuff, and Annie just being damn cute, I have nothing here. I’m a tech school grad with an associates in computer science. That gets me nothing.”

“And you’re going to leave Dana?”

“Stop, Tom. This is hard enough. We’ve tried to make it more than a casual relationship, and it’s not there. Don’t think that I don’t know what I’m giving up with her. But I want both of us to be happy, but lazy afternoon sex and a beer at the bar does not make for an enduring relationship.”

“You’re an asshole.”

“Think what you want, Tom. You never liked me. You’ve never liked anything about me, what I do, where I go, who I hang with. I need to get out into the world, away from here. I will only be in the way.”

Tom folded his arm and leaned against the door. “You’re not going.”

“Tom. Really? I’m twenty-one. There isn’t a person on this planet who can stop me from getting on that bus to Seattle next week. And I would bet that no one shows at the bus stop to say goodbye because they have other things that have to get done.” Liam shook his head. “I’m invisible here. An inconvenience at best. So please stop trying to care.”

Tom huffed. “I do care. You know I do. You’re my little brother.”

“I know, man.” Liam stuck his hand out. “Thanks.”

Tom nodded and shook his hand. “I’m proud of you.” He pulled him in and clapped him on the back. “You did it. I still think you’re an asshole for going, though.”

“Hey, we have to hold on to something.”

Just as he predicted, though, only Dana showed up at the bus station. Tom had to open the store, Hart and his mom had to make a trip to the doctor in Boise—it was the only time they could get her in. Violet and Annie had school. All of his friends were either back in class or at work.

He stood with Dana on the platform, in the brisk breeze of an early summer morning. She stood close, tucking herself into his arm. “I really wish we could make this work. Daddy asked me again why we couldn’t, and if you were really leaving.”

“Danes…”

“No, no…I get it. Believe me. I understand. We’re comfortable and that’s all we’ll be right now, and possible forever. You’ve told me before, you feel like there’s something missing from your life, and I respect that.” She looked down at her shoes. “Zander English asked me out.”

“And what did you say?”

“Yes.” Her answer didn’t even hesitate. “You didn’t want me to wait.”

“I don’t. You deserve to be happy.”

“So do you, Liam.”

The bus rumbled up and released the air brakes in a loud blast. The doors hissed open. “You’d better email me. I want to see pictures. Of everywhere you go. Above all, Liam, you’re my friend, and I want to see you happy, and settled and complete.” She kissed him sweetly as the driver grabbed his bag from the ground and made room underneath for it.

“Ready to go, son?” the driver asked.

“Yes, I am,” he answered, not taking his eyes off Dana. “Be good, Danes. I’ll keep up with you.”

She looked like she wanted to say something else, but stopped herself. “Promise me you’ll always let me know where you are. Promise?”

“Of course.”

“And promise me that you’ll remember you always have a place here.”

“Promise.”

Liam gave her one more kiss. A tender one, not meant to do anything else but say, ‘I love you in our own little way.’ Dana ran her hand down his jaw. No more words were spoken, and Liam grabbed his backpack. He found a seat near a window and saw Dana had backed up against the building. He wasn’t sure, but he though he saw tears in her eyes. He knew they were the same ones he had in his.

One last time, as the bus pulled away, Dana smiled. It was a pretty smile that Liam had always hoped he could start to really love.