His Little Tart (7 page)

Instead, she’d dreamed. Men tied her up, stripped her, teased her. A woman in leather whipped her. Women had never been a part of her waking fantasies. She was blindfolded and fucked, and she didn’t know who was doing it. She woke up several times in a sweat, her pussy dripping. She knew she didn’t want all those things, but that didn’t stop them from invading her sleep and turning her on. Maybe returning to Bondage Ranch would make the dreams worse. Maybe she wanted more of those dreams. She didn’t know. But once she realized she was going that way, she made up her mind to continue. She wondered if moths had the same impulse just before their wings got singed by the flame, but that was silly. Moths were attracted to light because bats preferred the darkness—they were instinctively avoiding their main predator. This was more like flying straight toward the bat’s mouth.

Maybe Aidan would be there and might be available. But if not, she would ask someone—Alex, most likely—who was safe to play with. Or maybe she would watch.

She didn’t know what she was going to do when she got there. She just didn’t think she could stay away.

In spite of that, she sat in the car for five minutes after pulling into the parking lot before walking toward the door. She wasn’t dressed for Bondage Ranch. The day before, everyone seemed to be wearing latex or leather or something skimpy, especially the women. The men, as usual, were less fashion conscious, but even many of them dressed up in fetish clothes. She was wearing blue jeans and a red sweater. She had a black bra and panties on underneath that might stand out less, but it wasn’t like she was going to walk in and strip off.

She was going to stick out like a sore thumb.

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She knocked on the door, and a man she didn’t know opened it. Dark and as tall as Aidan, he looked down on her with amusement. “Are you lost?” he asked.

“Um, no.” She couldn’t read him. Did he really think that? Did she look that out of place? She wasn’t even sure where one could be going to that one would accidentally end up at Bondage Ranch. It was pretty out of the way. “I’m here for Bon—”

“You don’t seem to be carrying any religious literature, but you sure do look dressed for church.” He squinted at her.

“I’d wear a dress to church,” she snapped. “Where’s Alex? Or Dylan?” She’d much rather deal with Alex, but either would do in a pinch.

“They seem pretty busy.” He chuckled. “If you’re one of those Regency Dance folks, I think that’s next week.”

“Do I look like I’m dressed for a Regency dance?” she asked sarcastically.

“Nope, you look like more the square-dancing type.” He took a step back, to her surprise, and offered a meaty hand. “Name’s Diego.”

She took the hand and shook it, and stepped in before he changed his mind. “I’m here for the Bondage Ranch event.”

“I know. I saw you in the scene with the ice cream last night. It was hot hot hot, but if I were your dom, I’d have let you come. After another hour or so.”

“So you knew who I was all along.” She supposed it was funny, but she was too nervous to appreciate it. And the idea of going through an hour more of what Aidan was doing to her before being allowed to come both turned her on and sounded frustrating at the same time.

“Yep. And Alex and Dylan are in the living room.” He gestured her in with what she thought was a friendly smile. She wasn’t sure. He made her nervous.

Alex’s eyes lit up the moment she noticed Constance, and she hurried across the room to give Constance a hug. “I didn’t know you were coming back, but I’m glad you did.”

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“Surprised?”

“The way you ran out of here like a scared rabbit? A little.” Alex bit her lip as Constance made a face. Did she really look like that? But Alex’s warm smile softened the blow. “A lot of intense things go on your first time. It was your first time, wasn’t it?

It’s not too surprising you needed some time to process.”

“Process,” Constance repeated, thinking of the way she’d slept. She hadn’t allowed herself to think about what it felt like to be tied up and at Aidan’s mercy, until she’d gotten into bed. She’d done everything she could to avoid processing any of it.

But she supposed she had, after a fashion, anyway. What she knew for certain was that it had evoked powerful desires.

Alex chuckled. “Yep.”

“Where’s Aidan?”

Alex shook her head. “No idea, dear. There’s a chance he’s off playing with someone. I hope you realize that. You’re welcome to look, but all I can tell you for sure is that he’s not here.”

Off playing with someone. She wasn’t sure she could deal with that. She knew she didn’t have any sense of ownership over him, and intellectually there was no reason why he shouldn’t hook up with whoever he wished. She’d stupidly even suggested it.

But that didn’t mean she wanted to see it. She was not going to go in search of Aidan.

Besides, if he could play with anyone he wanted, so could she.

Not that there was anyone else she wanted to play with.

“Learn about yourself, Constance, but be careful with your heart. Don’t mistake having an intense experience for having a profound one.” Alex chuckled. “I sound like I’ve been hanging around Master Bruce too much! But honey, you can’t go around here dressed like that. People will stare!”

Yeah, but she’d be more comfortable with them staring at her for wearing too much than walking around in her underwear. “Let ’em,” said Constance.

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“They’ll probably assume you’re a domme too. Male subs can be kind of pushy at times.” Alex grabbed her hand. “Come on. You’re a bit small for most of my clothes, but I think I might have something that fits. I’ve a few dresses I can’t bear to get rid of that I keep in case I lose weight at some point. Which probably isn’t going to happen, as Dylan keeps buying me chocolate. I don’t know how you stay thin around all those lovely sweets of yours.” She led Constance to the stairs, then up. Constance didn’t know if she wanted to go, but it was hard to resist Alex.

“You’re gorgeous. And I’m not exactly thin.”

Alex laughed. “Yes, you exactly are. At least compared to me.”

“I guess I know the sweets will always be there if I want them, and really, just a taste is all I need, and I’m tasting all the time. But if I could have a figure like yours—”

“Sounds like willpower to me. See what happens to that willpower if you find a dom who says he likes curves.”

“Ha! It all goes to my hips. If it went to my boobs, sure.”

The hem was way too short for that, but at least it covered her ass. She’d have to be very careful to smooth it down when she sat. There were black-stitched seams that ran from the shoulders down to the hem, which seemed to help exaggerate the curve of her breasts. She didn’t know whether to be disappointed or relieved when Aidan wasn’t at the bottom of the stairs to see.

Alex introduced her around and then let her go, and she stayed and chatted for a while. There was a man with a topless woman on his lap in one of the chairs, and he was being quite free with his hands, but for the most part, people were just talking in

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the living room, which seemed pretty safe. She wouldn’t run into Aidan boinking some other woman if she stayed there, and there were plenty of people to talk to. But the longer she stayed, the more awkward the conversation seemed. She’d never been all that good at parties with lots of strangers, and this felt like another party. She’d worked on her small talk from a professional point of view, but usually people wanted to talk about her pastries. Not having anything she baked to offer made her feel more naked than the skimpy dress did. And she wasn’t getting any closer to understanding what she’d come for. Her heart pounded uncomfortably at the thought of heading to the dungeon, but she knew that was where she needed to go. She still wasn’t sure whether she was back for bondage or for Aidan, but she suspected it was both, and the chance for either wouldn’t likely come her way again. It would be silly to have driven here and not take advantage of the opportunity. She excused herself and headed down the hall to the dungeon.

But Aidan wasn’t there, with or without female company. The first thing she did was scan for him, her gaze ignoring flesh and latex, chains and ropes. She quickly satisfied herself that he was absent. The room was much less crowded than it had been the day before. She found a chair to sit on and settled back to watch. She steeled herself to keep her gaze steady and not to turn away at the thought that the things she was seeing were too intimate to be watched by a stranger. People played here knowing they were going to be watched, and if she could figure out what she liked, that would be progress.

Well, only if I can ever have it.

Not too far away from her, a couple was playing on one of the two large X-shaped crosses in the dungeon. She could see them in profile. The woman, who was taller than average, was strapped naked to the cross, which angled forward from vertical, letting her rest her weight on its broad, black-enameled wooden arms. The man was thinner and probably shorter, although it was hard to be sure between the woman being on her toes and the angle she was leaning at. He had a multitailed flogger in his hands, and he

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was using it to land blows on her upper back. Constance didn’t think she liked the idea of being flogged, but for some reason, this scene was safe to watch, possibly partly because the wielder of the flogger was smaller than his target. It seemed less abusive somehow. The sub didn’t seem to be in any pain, either. Her eyes were closed, and she looked peaceful.

The dom switched his aim to his sub’s bottom, and the sub started to squirm. She remembered her reaction to being spanked by Aidan. Part of that had been at the helplessness of being picked up, but the hand on her bottom had definitely aroused her.

Even remembering it set her pussy to tingling. And clearly all those leather tails striking the ass of the woman she was watching gave the woman the same feeling. The woman’s legs were spread, and while everything was moving too fast for Constance to see, especially as she didn’t have the perfect angle, she couldn’t help but wonder if some of the tails were striking her pussy or perhaps caressing it as the dom slowly drew the flogger back for another strike. Would that hurt, sting, arouse? All of the above? She didn’t think she’d be volunteering for it anytime soon, but maybe she’d ask the woman when they were done, if she could do so without intruding.

Or maybe not.

As much as she wanted to know, it seemed like an awfully personal question. She wasn’t in the habit of asking her friends about their sex lives, and certainly not strangers. Although maybe in a way it was safer to ask strangers. Constance kept watching. The small man was clearly skilled at what he did. The woman moaned with pleasure. When he asked her if she would like it harder, she answered, “Oh God yes, please!”

Constance took a deep breath. That response was the most arousing thing about the whole scene, spoken with deep need and desire. It echoed every surrender Constance had gasped to a ravishing lover in her fantasies, even if her daydreams hadn’t involved floggers. She watched, fascinated, as the tempo increased, the whip made more noise against flesh, and the woman writhed on the cross. Even though the

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dom looked nothing like her fantasies, Constance warmed to the scene. She quit wincing every time the flogger hit flesh and started to imagine what it would feel like.

Thinking about it made her skin tingle.

“I could do that to you, if you wanted.”

She looked up and saw Diego. She didn’t think he was trying to tower over her, but he was anyway by standing there. Would he swing the whip harder than the man she’d been watching? She wanted to know how it felt, and Diego was certainly more attractive to her, but she shook her head.

He shrugged and smiled. “You don’t trust me, do you? That might be sensible of you. But your desire is obvious from across the room, so I hope you find someone safe to explore with. I think the man you were playing with before is outside.” He nodded toward a door on the far side from the one she and Aidan had used to get stuff out to her car.

“Oh!” She was out of her seat before she realized what she was doing. Only when she heard the chuckle behind her did she realize she’d given away her eagerness.

“Enjoy,
chica
,” said Diego. “And good luck.”

She stopped and looked back over her shoulder. “Thank you.”
He’s really not a bad sort. But obviously, I have the hots for Aidan.
There was no point in disguising that from Diego anymore, either, if there ever was. She did, however, try to slow down her pace and keep some dignity about it. And she pulled down her skirt, which had ridden up when she stood.

There was a big sign someone had placed there, with a large and colorful mosquito with what she hoped was an out-of-scale proboscis pointing straight down.

The words Bug Spray indicated what the mosquito was pointing to, and Constance decided she’d better heed the warning, especially as most of her legs were exposed. She lifted the skirt to make sure she covered every inch mosquitoes might be able to get to and decided not to look around to see who might be watching as she did so. She’d rather not know. Fortunately the little beasties didn’t seem quite as attracted to her as