The Exhibitionist (The Submissive #6) (22 page)

“When’s he giving his talk?”

“Sunday afternoon. Tonight and Saturday night, if it’s like last time, there’ll be a party in the courtyard.”

“That sounds like fun.”

“We watched it from a balcony last time we came. It was fun, but it’d be a lot more fun if we stayed in the courtyard,” I said. “We wouldn’t even have to play. I’d be fine with dancing.”

“I’d love to dance. It’s been ages.” Julie’s eyes grew large. “Oh! I heard there’s a chance the owner will be building a similar space in Wilmington.”

“You haven’t heard the latest?” I asked, and she shook her head. “He
is
building a similar space. He’s going to start when he finishes the remodeling of the club in New York. Nathaniel’s going to be a partner.”

“Really? That’s so exciting!”

I nodded. “I think it’s going to be exclusively for the Partners in Play group.”

“That’s even better. I mean, I don’t mind having everyone over for meetings and parties, but after a while …”

Because he had the largest house in the group, plus a stocked playroom,
and
a guesthouse, most of the group’s meetings were held at Daniel’s house, so I knew where she was going and completed her sentence, “It gets old.”

“Very. I know Daniel will never say anything. He feels like it’s something he should do.”

“It’s a big responsibility and really too much to expect one couple to handle all the time.”

“At least now I know it won’t be forever and our time’s limited. That’ll help.”

Before too long, we were pulling through the iron gate. We stopped while Nathaniel gave our information to security.

“I like how safe this is,” Julie whispered.

“Me, too.” I knew anything Nathaniel was involved in would also have top-notch security in place. “In fact, Nathaniel’s going to bring up security with Daniel on Sunday morning when they meet to discuss changes to the group.”

Both men had agreed to set aside a few hours to discuss potential changes for the Partners in Play group. I was looking forward to the new regulations. Hopefully, they’d make everyone feel more secure.

The guard let us through and we took the driveway that led to a big stone building. But Nathaniel didn’t stop. Instead he drove around it to the separate facility we’d be staying in overnight.

The place was spotless. Painted with a light grayish blue and with a small fountain in the far corner, the building felt light and airy and calming. The floors were a light gray stone. It certainly didn’t look like any BDMS club I’d been in before.

“Master DeVaan said to apologize that he’s not here to welcome you personally,” the front desk clerk told us. She looked over all four of us as she checked us in. I wondered if she was in the lifestyle. I didn’t try to guess what role she took. I’d learned through the years, I guessed incorrectly most of the time. Currently, she looked as though she could fall on either side with a black T-shirt, hair pulled back into a neat ponytail, and her fingernails filed short and painted a neutral color. “There was a snag with the evening’s entertainment and he’s taking care of that.”

“It’s no problem,” Daniel assured her. “We’ll find our way around.”

The clerk nodded and lifted a folder. “Master West, I put a schedule in your packet. Your talk is highlighted with the time and location.”

Nathaniel thanked her and we made our way up to our room, telling Daniel and Julie we’d see them later. The color scheme from the lobby carried through to the room, which was similarly decorated in blue-gray. It was a good-sized room and held a king bed. Nathaniel pointed out the hidden loops at the corners.

“For tying people up,” he said.

Of course there would be ties. It was a BDSM club.

“Want to go look around?” he asked.

“Sure.”

He took my hand and for the next hour, we explored the property. My favorite area was the courtyard outside our balcony. A redbrick patio was done in a herringbone pattern and surrounded by willow trees. The branches swayed in the light breeze. At one end, a long buffet was being set up with tables and chairs nearby for eating. The other end, however, had a much different purpose.

While we watched, a handful of men were transforming the patio by adding benches, whipping posts, and a St. Andrew’s cross. I closed my eyes, imagining playing on some of the equipment while others looked on. I really hoped Nathaniel decided to play in the courtyard. It would be filled with people and, if it was the same as the last conference, hypnotizing music. To play in public with that atmosphere would be so much fun.

“Did you reserve a balcony?” I asked.

“No, we have one in our room. I didn’t see the point in reserving one.”

His answer was matter-of-fact and didn’t really tell me what I wanted to know. I sighed and opened my mouth to ask him if we could skip the balcony in favor of the courtyard, but he shook his head and put his finger over my lips.

“I’m not telling you my plans. Don’t ask me.”

He hadn’t collared me yet, so I thought about asking him anyway, but decided to trust him instead.

More people were arriving, and I recognized a few of the Partners in Play group. Evan and William arrived together and not long after they came in, Kelly arrived alone. Jeff and Dena weren’t coming and Cole was out of town. We walked over and made small talk. They all mentioned how they were looking forward to Nathaniel’s talk on Sunday.

For once, Evan and Kelly didn’t argue. At most of the group functions we’d attended in Wilmington, they seemed to bicker a lot.

I mentioned it to Nathaniel when they left to see the rest of the property.

“Maybe being out of town is good for them,” he said.

“We should keep them out of town, then,” I joked.

He laughed and then said he wanted to see the room he’d be giving his talk in, so we went into the main building to find it. The talks were to be held off the main lobby in large rooms set up with rows of chairs, like a theater. We went into the one he’d be speaking in and Nathaniel chatted for a few minutes with the woman setting up the sound system. Once everything was confirmed to his liking, he wrapped his arm around my waist, pulled me close, and kissed me.

“Let’s go get ready,” he said.

T
he music’s
thump, thump, thump
slowly worked its way from my ears, to my mind, and gradually eased into my muscles, loosening them, filling my body, and I soon found I was unable to do anything except sway to the beat.

While we had been eating dinner, a dance floor was put in the courtyard, flanked on one side by the play area and on the other, the eating area. Currently, the bulk of the people were on the dance floor. Men and women of all ages—from twenty to retirement—were dancing, and it didn’t seem to matter who they danced with. Men danced with men and women danced with women, and in one corner, a group of three men danced with one woman. Tonight, everyone was wearing masks and I thought maybe that accounted for the uninhibited mood.

Alcohol wasn’t allowed, so everyone was sober, but the very air seemed to be intoxicating. Even Nathaniel, who didn’t care much for clubs, was tapping his foot. He wasn’t acting as though he would be making any move to the dance floor, though. Daniel stood at his other side and Julie looked up expectantly.

“I don’t think this is my type of music, kitten,” he said. “If Nathaniel’s okay with it, why don’t you and Abby go dance?”

I glanced at Nathaniel and he nodded. “Go on, my lovely. I’ll get more enjoyment out of watching you than joining in myself.”

Julie and I didn’t have to be told twice. She reached for my hand and we made our way onto the middle of the dance floor.

Julie wore a half mask of navy and gold that matched the flirty skirt she wore. Her cheeks flushed a light pink as she turned toward me.

“I haven’t danced like this in forever,” she said.

I was wearing my black lace, one-sleeve dress. It was the same dress I’d worn to that seedy club in New York. But I chose it because it matched the black mask covering my face as well as the black leather collar that was very obvious with the low neckline of the dress and the way my hair was pulled up.

“Me neither,” I said.

We didn’t talk after that. The music was simply too loud. But I could feel her laughter as the crowd pushed us together. I closed my eyes and let the music sink into my body, allowing it to overtake me. My hips undulated and as the song went on, I felt as if I were the only person on the dance floor.

My eyes flew open as someone swung me around and I found myself facing a large wall of a man. I took a step back, my eyes searching the crowd at the edge of the dance floor for Nathaniel. I expected him to motion me back, but instead he nodded. To my left, Julie was dancing with another guy I didn’t recognize. When she saw me looking, she shrugged. Apparently, Daniel hadn’t minded, either.

It made me feel wanton and wild. I didn’t recognize the woman I became on the dance floor. Whoever she was, she was free and uninhibited. Very similar to when Nathaniel and I played in front of people. I wasn’t sure why, but even though I felt like someone else, for some reason I still felt safe and secure. I couldn’t make sense of it, but I didn’t worry about it, either. I didn’t know the large man dancing with me, but he made me feel sexy and sensual—not attracted
to
him, but just feeling sexy in my own skin.

I threw a look over my shoulder and I knew what it was. Though Nathaniel was watching me with that intensely sexy look of his, others in the room were, too. It was the same as having sex in public. Something about people watching me, wanting me, but unable to touch me. Hell, part of me thought it made me sound like a freak. And I was having too much fun to feel like a freak, so I decided not to think about it anymore. Instead I looked back to Nathaniel.

He watched me with a look of unadulterated lust and longing. He no longer tapped his foot, but stood completely still, his eyes locked on my every move. I circled my hips, dipped my knees, and swayed with my arms over my head. For him.

Over his shoulder, I noticed a group of strangers watching.

For them.

But wasn’t that wrong?

I closed my eyes once more and imagined I was a harem girl, dancing for Nathaniel, my sheik. In my mind, I was naked and taunting him with my body. Showing him how I could pleasure him later with the moves of my hips.

I wasn’t sure how much time passed, but as it did, I grew more and more turned on. Needed him more and more. Craved his touch. Yearned for his command. And it suddenly hit me that the people watching saw how much dancing for him turned me on and that made me want to dance even more. For him. For them. They blurred together.

The music slowed and as it changed, I looked for Julie. When I found her, I motioned that we should head back to our men. I didn’t want the dancing to end, but I knew I couldn’t slow-dance with another man. Julie slid away from the guy she’d been dancing with and we slowly walked back to the edge of the dance floor.

“I can’t believe Daniel and Nathaniel allowed us to dance with those two guys,” she said.

We took one last look back to where we’d been dancing. The two men were now dancing with each other. Julie raised an eyebrow and I simply shrugged.
Who knew?

As soon as I got within touching distance, Nathaniel took me in his arms, pulled me close, and whispered coarsely, “That was damn near the hottest thing I’ve ever seen.”

“I danced for you,” I said, pushing my hips against his, feeling his erection. “It was all for you.” Well, not all of it, but most of it. Maybe.

“I think I understand it now,” he said. “At least in part.”

“The dancing?”

“No, we’ll talk about it later.”

He pulled me in front of him so my back was to his chest. “Right now we’re going to watch for a few minutes. Then I’m showing you what happens to sexy submissives who tease their Dominants.”

“I look forward to it, Master.”

He ran a hand down the front of my body, brushing my breasts. “Did you enjoy putting on that little show?”

“I enjoyed dancing for you, Master. Knowing you were watching turned me on.”

His hand moved lower, inched by my belly button, making its way to where I yearned for him. “And did you know that nearly damn near every man in this place was watching you? Getting turned on by the way you moved that hot little body? Imagined it was them pressed up against you?”

“My mind was on you, Master. Wanting you to get turned on. Wanting you to imagine how you’d feel pressed up against me. I danced for you. But,” I whispered, “I knew they were there. I knew they were watching and saw me getting hot for you.”

His finger slipped even lower, so near my clit and yet not touching it. Just teasing. “It worked. I’m so turned on right now. Your little show made me so hard I might just bend you over a table and fuck you in front of everyone.”

It wouldn’t be so crazy. Already there were couples engaging in various sexual acts all around the courtyard. To our left, a woman knelt between a man’s knees giving him a blow job. In another corner a man had a woman pressed against a wall while he fondled between her legs.

I fluttered my lashes at him. “Yes, please, Master.”

Nathaniel brushed aside the fabric of my thong and dipped a finger into my arousal.

“The thought of me taking you like that turns you on, doesn’t it, naughty girl?”

I couldn’t very well say it didn’t, not when he could feel how wet I was.

“Oh yes, Master,” I said, grinding my pelvis against his hand. “It makes me so wet.”

His breath was hot in my ear. “What turns you on more, dancing with the other guy for me or thinking about my taking you in front of everyone?”

“You taking me, Master.” Then to prove my words, I circled my hips again.

“Better watch it, Abigail. You don’t have permission to come. Though I bet these people would love to watch me spank your ass.”

I stopped my hips and waited. Maybe he’d let me come soon.

He removed his hand from my dress. “Hold that thought.”

“Hold that what?” I asked. Did that mean …?

“Is my naughty girl curious?”