Beware Falling Ice Read online

  Snuggling with him for aftercare was pretty nice, too.

  While she’d watched countless forced orgasm scenes at the club or at private parties, until now she’d personally been hesitant to go there. It wasn’t even a trust issue for her as much as it was a self-conscious issue.

  What if she couldn’t come during one of those scenes? She didn’t want to hurt Andrew’s feelings or leave herself feeling less-than.

  But we’ll have a weekend together.

  A weekend where she’d likely be eager to get out of her head for a few hours here and there.

  They weren’t the first of the dinner group to make it to the club, and the open play session was already in full swing by the time they arrived. After getting checked in and bringing in their things, Andrew wrapped his arms around Rachel from behind, his chin comfortably resting on her right shoulder.

  “You still feel like playing tonight?”

  “I’m here, aren’t I?”

  “That’s not the answer I was looking for.”

  She glanced back at him, spotting the hint of a smile on his face.

  “Yes, Sir, I still feel like playing.”

  One thing she’d never had to worry about was him crossing her boundaries, violating her hard limits. If anything, he always left her wanting a lot more in a scene, stopping well before she was ready to.

  Everything she’d ever read or heard about good Tops told her that was one of the signs of a good one.

  There was always time to do more later, but he couldn’t un-do something that went too far.

  “A little mouthy for someone about to get their ass beat, aren’t you?”

  She pulled his arms more tightly around her. “I’m kind of hoping that’s what happens tonight. I need the mental vacay.”

  Even their bodies felt right snuggled together like this, with clothes separating them.

  “Looks like Eliza and Rusty already claimed our favorite bench over on the new side,” he said. “I’ll go put our stuff over there and we can socialize while we’re waiting for them to finish.”

  “Thank you.”

  He kissed the side of her neck before walking over to where he’d left his implement bag, grabbing it, and carrying it through the doorway to the dungeon addition everyone still called the “new” side.

  There was a mix of friends and strangers in attendance tonight. Not everyone who’d gone to dinner had come to the club to play. Tilly and her guys, for example, who had left their daughter with other friends to babysit while they ate. Tony and Shayla had opted to go home since Shayla wasn’t feeling very well.

  Rachel knew quite a few of the regulars at Venture but hadn’t been a member for as long as Andrew had. She walked over to where Kel’s wife and slave, Mal, was sitting at one of the tables in the social area and joined her to chat.

  “So how are things with you?” Mal asked after they hugged.

  “Other than not looking forward to next week’s trip, peachy.” She filled her friend in.

  Mal’s expression clouded, darkening. “What is it about asshole uncles?” she muttered.

  “Oh, that’s right. Sorry. Didn’t mean to bring back bad memories.”

  Mal waved her off. “It’s okay. Water under the bridge. But at least you’ll get to see your brother again.”

  “I am looking forward to that.” Andrew had stopped to chat with Scrye and June on his way back. “As long as the weekend doesn’t scare him off.”

  Mal glanced over where Rachel was looking. “Him? I don’t think Godzilla could scare him off you. I’ve watched you two play. He’s crazy about you.”

  “Should that worry me?”

  Mal let out a chuckle. “Hey, I’m the resident queen of poor self-image, okay? Just let whatever happens, happen. You’ll spend the rest of your life kicking yourself in the ass if you don’t even try.”

  * * * *

  Andrew kept tabs on Rusty and Eliza’s scene and had Rachel ready to step in as soon as they vacated the bench. He preferred this one, tucked away in the corner of the new side, with fewer distractions from people socializing and talking nearby.

  It allowed him to focus fully and not feel self-conscious that he was putting on a “show” for other people. It also provided fewer distractions for Rachel, less of a chance of her being pulled out of subspace once he got her into it.

  Rachel stripped while Andrew readied his implements, getting them laid out on the rack Eliza had just vacated after her scene ended. Other than their snuggling for aftercare following a scene, Andrew didn’t have any rituals—elaborate or otherwise—with Rachel regarding the start and end of their play. He’d never felt right instituting any since they weren’t dating or sexually intimate, and technically they were only play partners.

  If that status changed, however, he knew what he’d want to do.

  He’d want her to start every scene kneeling before him, her forehead against his feet so he could stare at the gorgeous, rounded curve of her back and ass before he put his marks all over her flesh.

  And he’d have her wearing a collar of his choosing.

  When his cock twitched over that thought, he tried to shove it out of the way and focus. Too many guys let their dicks or their egos overrule common sense and boundaries.

  He refused to be that guy.

  Rachel trusted him, and unless or until they firmly agreed to move the boundaries, he wouldn’t take any chances and do anything to blow her trust in him. He knew first-hand how easy it was to lose trust in someone, having been on the receiving end of it with Kandy.

  Once Rachel was naked and straddling the bench, he used rope to bind her arms and legs to it the way he always did before stroking his fingers down her back, stopping at her waist.

  “Ready?” he asked.

  She wiggled her ass at him, a playful cue he loved.

  They had fun.

  Yes, there was sadism and tears and swearing and marks, but it was fun first and foremost.

  If it wasn’t, what was the point?

  She always pulled her brown hair back into a ponytail for their scenes. He liked that because it gave him a ready handhold. He grabbed it now with his left hand, pinning her upper body to the bench as he smacked her left ass cheek with his bare hand.

  She wiggled her ass at him.

  “Good girl,” he said before smacking her right ass cheek.

  Back and forth he went, up and down her ass and the backs of her thighs, increasing the force of his swats until she writhed under his hands. Finally giving her a respite, he leaned in close to her left ear.

  “Color, pet.”

  “Green, Sir.”

  Yep. Subspace achieved. He could tell from the slight slur in her speech.

  His cock twitched in response.

  Yes, he’d be rubbing at least one out in the shower later, after taking her home. No doubt about it. Playing with her always left him horny.

  Still, he’d take horny over dreading seeing her, the way he’d gotten with Kandy at the very end, always on guard and never sure if he’d be dealing with the sweet and lovable woman or the psycho bitch from hell.

  Rachel was always sweet, always a joy to spend time with.

  That’s my answer right there, isn’t it?

  * * * *

  As always happened when Rachel played with Andrew, she dropped hard and fast into subspace. It seemed they’d only been playing for a few minutes when he wrapped up their session with several hard strikes from a cane that she knew would leave some red lines which would disappear in a couple of days.

  Then he untied her, wrapped a blanket around her, quickly wiped down the bench and gathered their stuff, and led her over to one of the aftercare couches to snuggle.

  This was the best part, closing her eyes and resting there with him, enjoying the rush of endorphins still surging through her system and safely tucked against Andrew’s body.

  No one in the world but the two of them.

  She wasn’t a bounce-right-back kind of player. At
least, not anymore. Not since she’d started playing with Andrew and realized how deep their sessions put her into subspace.

  She was definitely glad she wasn’t driving tonight. All her stress had temporarily melted away while tied to the bench and being worked over.

  I really need to put orgasm play on the table.

  Because she couldn’t imagine anything that might make their scenes better than adding that to the mix.

  Finally, when she felt ready to people again, she rolled over in his lap and looked up into his face. His brown eyes stared down at her as he stroked her cheek.

  “Welcome back, pet.”

  She offered him a smile. “Thank you, Sir.” It’d be so easy just to keep calling him that. Even outside of the dungeon.

  Don’t rush.

  “Was that a good enough stress relief for you?”

  “Yes, Sir. Thank you.”

  She didn’t mention the hard bulge she felt pressed against her shoulder. She felt a little badly about that, but he’d never, not once, pressured her for sex. Not that they could have sex there at the club, but they could always start playing in private, at his house. The walls of her condo were paper-thin and wouldn’t be conducive to any kind of loud play.

  Even more reason for me to talk to him about expanding our boundaries.

  She found one of his hands and laced fingers with him. “Thank you for this.”

  “The pleasure is all mine, pet.”

  That. Yeah, hearing that word also did good things to her.

  She’d seen him play with others before. She never would have played with him in the first place if she hadn’t.

  She was the only one he called pet.

  And he was the only one she’d ever felt comfortable calling Sir.

  “Whatcha thinkin’?” he asked.

  She offered him a smile. “More like what I’m feeling.”

  “Feeling what?”

  “Feeling really good.”

  Chapter Six

  They texted all week and talked on the phone a couple of times. Andrew picked her up a little before six Thursday evening, and they stopped for dinner in Clearwater before checking into their room there. It was located just minutes from the airport, and Andrew could leave his car parked there for free over the weekend.

  He collapsed face-first onto the bed closest to the AC unit along the far wall. “Yay, a bed I don’t have to make.”

  “A whole weekend of beds you don’t have to make. Oh, hope you don’t mind but, when I stay somewhere, I usually don’t have housekeeping service the room. I prefer my privacy.”

  He rolled over. “That’s fine, as long as you don’t hog all the towels.” He grinned. “Or the toilet paper.”

  If nothing else, she’d have a fun weekend alone with a guy she was looking forward to getting to know better. “I promise if we run out of TP, I’ll walk down to the front desk and get us more.”

  “Atta girl. Take one for the team.” He rolled back onto his stomach. “Just promise not to molest me in my sleep or awaken me before daylight. Except on Monday.”

  “So I can molest you on Monday?”

  He snorted and rolled onto his side to face her. “I thought you wanted to have some talks first? I’m okay with wild hotel monkey sex.”

  “Depending on how Saturday goes, I might let you liquor me up and spank the hell out of me Saturday night to get my mind off things.”

  He sat up, swinging his legs over the side of the bed and meeting her gaze. “In all seriousness, if you want to play this weekend, all you have to do is ask. I’m never going to force myself on you. And if you want to get drunk and have me be your DD, I’m good with that, too. But I won’t play with one or both of us drunk.”

  “No morning remorse, huh?”

  “Well, maybe, but without the annoying hangover or missing memory.” He patted the edge of the bed next to him and she moved to sit next to him, cuddling with him like they did during aftercare following a scene.

  With his arms folded around her, her head against his chest, it was horribly tempting to say fuck the flight and fuck the trip and just spend the whole weekend there in that room with him.

  “Thank you again for coming with me,” she softly said.

  He kissed the top of her head. “Hey, even if this is as sexy as the trip gets, I still mean it that I’m happy I could be here for you as a friend.”

  She looked up at him.

  Part of her wanted to throw herself at him right then.

  Fortunately for her, he wasn’t that kind of Dom. He was a gentleman, even if he could shred her ass and leave her feeling the good kind of pain and bruises.

  Before he could pull away, she brushed a kiss across his lips. “Sorry about the drinking comment. I wasn’t thinking about what you went through with your ex.”

  His expression softened. “I appreciate that, but that wasn’t why I said it. I mean it that I don’t want to fuck things up with you.” He smiled. “And if I take really long showers this weekend, and you need to use the toilet, you might have to knock to interrupt me. I’ll leave the door unlocked and promise not to peek.”

  “Yeah, well, if you come out of the bathroom and hear a weird buzzing noise, you might want to go back into the bathroom again for a few minutes.”

  He snorted. “Maybe we need to discuss orgasm play sooner rather than later. Not like we didn’t exchange test results already.” They had early on, because it simplified things in case they’d decided to take their play to a more sexual level. No extra delays needed. Neither of them had been sleeping with anyone else, and Andrew wasn’t doing any intimate kind of play with others.

  “How about we tentatively schedule a session for Saturday night after I survive the afternoon with my family?” she suggested. “I’ll probably need a spanking and orgasms then.” She stared into his eyes, hard. “And I’d be happy to give you a blow job. Or…more.”

  * * * *

  Holy…fuck.

  Somehow, they’d taken a hard left turn—and he did mean hard—from teasing and playful into sexy and serious.

  “How about we call that a date?” he said after swallowing to regain spit so he could talk. “With the caveat that I won’t hold it against you if you change your mind. You haven’t had to try to wake me up early in the morning. You might hate me before we even get to the airport tomorrow.”

  She had this adorable little snorting laugh that he loved hearing her make. “I’ll take you grouchy and undercaffeinated over some of my relatives.”

  “Again, don’t be so sure.”

  He opted to wear a pair of boxers to sleep in that he’d brought specifically for that purpose. She wore an oversized T-shirt and panties—more than she normally wore when they scened, but it still looked sexy on her.

  Fortunately, he had his laptop open on his lap, and the sheet pulled up, so she couldn’t spot his reaction to her choice in sleepwear.

  Man, this might be a longer weekend than I thought it’d be.

  Unless, that was, Rachel was serious about taking things further.

  His usual routine after they played and said good night for the evening, either outside the club or after a private party, was for him to go home, take a shower, and masturbate to memories of playing with her.

  Just like he’d done after dropping her off at her place last Saturday night.

  Okay, so I’m a fucking idiot.

  The “perfect” woman for him had been in front of him the whole time. He’d just been too scared of getting burned again—or scaring Rache away—to grow a set and say something.

  Some fucking Dom I am.

  * * * *

  When the power plant alarm blared in his right ear from the nightstand between the beds, Andrew frantically groped for it to shut it off. That’s when he realized the TV was on, but muted. It was the only light in the room other than the bathroom light.

  “Good morning, sleepyhead,” Rachel said.

  “Oh, my god,” he moaned. “It’s fucking eaaarrrlyyy
.”

  “You are not a morning person, are you?”

  He peeled an eye open and stared at her. It looked like she’d already gotten her shower, dressed, and packed before his alarm even went off.

  Somehow, without waking him in the process.

  Okay, so she’s a ninja subby. “No I’m not a fucking morning person. I already warned you about that.” He lifted his head. “Why are you even vertical? How are you vertical? I don’t smell coffee.”

  “I’m used to getting up early.”

  “What time is it?”

  “Almost five.”

  “Almost?” His head flopped back onto the pillow. “Motherfucker,” he muttered. “I’m beginning to think you’re a damn sadist.”

  “Want me to make you a cup of coffee?”

  “You’d better, because I take absolutely zero responsibility for anything I say before coffee. Or even during or immediately after coffee. My body needs some time to get the caffeine absorbed and processed so the peopling skills can kick in and make the world safe against me and my evil superpowers. There’s a damn good reason why I work from home and this is one of those reasons.”

  She giggled.

  He arched an eyebrow at her. “Are you seriously vertical and dressed and ready to go right now?”

  She nodded. “Yeah. Been ready for about fifteen minutes.”

  He finally rolled over, closer to the edge of the bed. “Motherfucker,” he muttered again with a sigh. “This is damn early.”

  “I know.” Her voice changed. “And I really appreciate it.”

  It was her tone of voice that finally sliced through the tendrils of sleep tenaciously clinging to his system. Yes, that was it. He had a metaphorical dragon to slay for this particular lady.

  With a heavy sigh, he dragged himself into a sitting position. “How long do I have to get ready?”

  “We need to be downstairs for the airport shuttle in thirty minutes.”

  “Okay.” He sat there for a moment as she started getting the little kid-sized coffeemaker going. “Sorry if I’m grumpy today.”

  “No worries. I understand.”