Page 91 of Gamble
“To turn yourself over to me completely. To let me show you what you might be ready for, what you might enjoy, what might become part of who we are together. Later… we’ll talk about limits. Your desires. But tonight, let me introduce you to my world.”
Reagan looked around the room again, at all the equipment and possibilities, then back at Elijah’s face. She saw patience there, and desire, and something deeper that looked like love. He wouldn’t push her beyond what she could handle. He wouldn’t hurt her in any way that wasn’t ultimately about bringing her pleasure.
Most importantly, he was offering her a choice. Not demanding, not assuming, but asking her to trust him with her body and her boundaries while he helped her discover parts of herself she’d never known existed.
Her answer came easily.
“I’m ready,” she said, her voice stronger than she’d expected. “I trust you completely.”
The smile that spread across Elijah’s face was brilliant, transforming his features with pure joy and satisfaction.
“Then let’s begin,” he said, preparing her for their first scene. She hoped it would be the first in a long line of firsts they’d share together in life. Elijah’s hands were on her in seconds. “I need you naked.”
The need she heard in his voice tamped down the wave of anxiety at the thought of being naked here at Elijah’s club. In front of Elijah’s co-workers. There were no words that could express her relief that he’d closed the blinds, making sure they would have privacy.
She was grateful he was taking care of her bridesmaid dress, not that she had plans to wear it again anytime soon. Only after he’d stripped her of her panties and bra did he spin her around so she could see herself in the floor to ceiling mirror lining one whole wall.
Elijah’s eyes were a shade darker than she’d ever seen them as their eyes met in the mirror. “I’ve never seen anything or anyone more beautiful than you, Reagan.”
Her heart expanded at his praise. She’d been waiting her entire life to have a man look at her with even a fraction of the admiration and love that Elijah gazed on her with in that moment.
A whole minute went by with the dungeon master silently appraising her body. Caressing, pinching, nibbling. She felt like such a newbie. What was she supposed to be doing? As she contemplated that question, it hit her. It was in that moment she found herself grateful that as a submissive, she didn’t have to come up with anything clever to say. She didn’t need to know what to do. She just needed to follow his lead.
As if he had heard the war in her head, Elijah took her hand and led her to the farthest corner of the room. There, a large St. Andrew’s Cross awaited their next submissive.
Had he remembered her mentioning seeing a cross on her first visit? Of course he remembered.
Pulling her to a stop at the cross, Elijah lifted their joined hands up until she felt a small handle jutting out from the wood.
“Hold on here, baby, and stretch your other hand up.” Her racing heart sped up as she felt the first leather cuff wrapping around her left wrist. Once he had her buckled in, he walked behind the cross in order to secure her second arm.
Wow, that had happened fast. In just a short minute, Elijah had her secured face forward against the heavy wood.
The heat of his body pressing against her, trapping her against the wood, actually calmed her heart rate. She’d squeezed her eyes shut, making the scent of him that much more important to her senses.
“Breathe, baby. I’m not going to hurt you.” With a low growl, he added, “At least not tonight.”
Her mind raced, forcing her to ask, “What are you going to do to me then?”
His mouth nibbled along her exposed shoulder, up higher to suck on her ear lobe sensually before whispering, “I’m going to see if I can make you fly.”
It was jarring when he quickly stepped away from her, leaving her exposed and restrained before him. She couldn’t see him as she was facing into the corner, but she listened intently as Elijah moved around the room. It sounded as if he was opening drawers or cabinets looking for something.
More rustling. Something falling to the floor. With each passing minute, her suspense spiked until she was a ball of nervous anticipation.
The soft brush of leather across her ass made her jump.
“I’m leaving your legs free on purpose, baby. I want you to be able to move and wiggle as I introduce you to your first flogger. If I do my job right tonight, you shouldn’t feel any true pain. Only submission and pleasure.”
“What am I supposed to do?” Her uncertainty shining through.
Elijah’s hand cupped her right breast, pinching her nipple just hard enough to steal her breath before answering. “Stop thinking. Stop worrying. Just feel.”
Just feel.
He didn’t make her wait any longer. She hadn’t gotten a good look at the implement he was using on her, but even as a novice she recognized with only one swipe against her flesh that it was made from thick, heavy strips of leather. She suspected Elijah could make her cry out with pain if he wanted to, but as the second lash fell across her ass, she was both relieved and a little disappointed that his strokes were so light. As promised, there was no pain, but by the tenth lash a low heat was growing across the taut skin of her bottom.
Reagan released her first whimper when the eleventh landed lower, catching her upper thighs. Was his delivery getting harder, or was that her imagination?
