OnlyIfItPleases Read online

  “Okay. Good,” Walt said.

  “Walt, are you going to provide Carol aftercare or am I?” Hart’s voice cut in.

  She could see Walt hesitate. An hour ago, the idea of Walt cuddling the curvy redhead would have stirred her to jealousy. Now she didn’t care. Go to her. You know you want to. Besides, it was better than being ignored by Hart when she was supposed to belong to him. She hoped it was going to be an interesting weekend. Of course, if things got bad she could bail, but she was going to give it a try. Hart’s opinion carried a lot of weight at the Devil’s Workshop. If he approved of her, she would have a much easier time finding a new Dom. And she definitely needed a new Dom, because the old one had passed his expiration date.

  Walt took a furtive peek at her. Now you want to know if I approve? A little late. And she noted the way he did it, as if he didn’t want anyone to think he needed her approval. Either way, Carol had been taking the brunt of what was going on. No gentleman would leave her to wait. “Go ahead,” she said. She didn’t care if Hart and Carol heard or not.

  Walt shot her a glare—no doubt he’d intended for her answer to be as surreptitious as his question—and put his arm around Carol. They moved to a black velvet couch that was halfway across the room. Hart watched them for a moment, and then crouched down and put his eyes almost on a level with Vanessa’s. “So. Why should I keep you?”

  “Excuse me?”

  “I’ve sometimes trained submissives for other men as a favor or for a fee. Never for as little as a hundred dollars, and I don’t owe Walt a favor. So the question is, why shouldn’t I just let you go?”

  Oh great. Walt’s going to go cuddle Carol and I’m going to be left all alone. But there were worse things than being left alone, and as handsome and self-confident as Hart was, maybe a weekend with him was one of them. Certainly it was if he didn’t want her. She could get some things done, including repairing the screen door. She had reading to catch up on. She volunteered at the library one night a week and had a stack of borrowed books she hadn’t gotten to. But as she gazed at Hart’s beautiful brown eyes she knew that wasn’t what she wanted. Part of her wanted to say she didn’t need training. She wasn’t some kind of animal, after all, and the word had never sat well with her. But most of her wanted to be told exactly what he liked and how he wanted it.

  She was also more convinced than ever that Walt had set this all up on purpose. “How much do you usually charge?”

  Hart frowned at her and her heart sank. “Lesson one. If I am going to train you, my questions are not to be answered with questions.”

  “Yes Sir.” She gritted her teeth. How was she supposed to answer his questions if she wasn’t fully informed? “Maybe I was going to offer to make up the difference.”

  “Were you?”

  “No.”

  “I didn’t think so. A girl as lovely and as submissive as you hardly has to pay for play partners.”

  She smiled. “Maybe, then, you should keep me because I’m lovely.” She tilted her head. “Why do you think I’m so submissive?” Walt never seemed to think she was quite submissive enough, mostly because she didn’t like to take pain.

  “Because you sat there quietly while we played with Carol. With only a little complaint. Mind you, I don’t think you’re well disciplined, but you obviously wanted to try, even in a situation that didn’t meet your needs.”

  “Didn’t meet my needs. That’s an understatement.”

  “Did you doubt you would be rewarded for your patience?”

  She sighed. “Look what happened! He gambled me away.”

  “Some people might think that a weekend with me was a reward.” Hart’s eyes twinkled.

  Some people might think you’re arrogant too. She wasn’t sure how to take Hart. But she knew he was in demand by the subs who came to play at the Devil’s Workshop, and it couldn’t just be because of his accuracy with a single tail. Or because of his looks. She wanted to find out why. “Yes Sir.”

  “You’re willing to be trained?”

  She took a breath. “Yes Sir.”

  “We’ll use the standard safe word. Red. Do you know how to use a safe word?”

  “Yes Sir.” She smiled. She was in her comfort zone now. She loved saying yes Sir.

  “Have you ever actually used yours?”

  She thought back to when Walt wanted to play with a zipper—a line of clothespins attached by a string that would all come off at once. She didn’t mind having her nipples clamped for a little while, especially by light tweezer clamps, but she had known the zipper would be way too intense, and she’d used her safe word because it was the only way to stop him. “Yes Sir.”

  “Good. Use it if you have to. We’ll figure out where to go from there, if it happens.”

  “Yes Sir.”

  “The first thing you’ll have to learn is to stop saying yes. And Sir.”

  She blinked. That was the one thing she thought she was doing well. Was she supposed to say no? She opened her mouth to protest, and he pushed two fingers in, stopping her from saying anything. She gave them a suck, as she supposed he wanted her to, and pushed her tongue between them when they separated. At some point over the weekend, she expected she’d be sucking his cock. Until then, fingers would have to do. She knew now he’d be thinking about it, if he wasn’t already.

  “Listen first. When I haven’t asked a question of you, you’re allowed to remain silent. Use that to your advantage.”

  She nodded and he withdrew his fingers.

  “I wish to be addressed as Master Hart. Nothing else. Not Sir, because I’m not just a Dom right now, I’m your Dom. Not Master, because the power we are exchanging is temporary, not permanent. I am not your Master. I like words to be precise. I also want to use them to help us both get into a certain headspace. I want you to be able to feel your submission as fully as possible. And I want to feel in control. So I don’t want to hear yes from you. Or no. Instead of yes, I want you to say, ‘only if it pleases you.’” Mull that over in your mind for a moment or two. Nod when you feel you’re ready.”

  Only if it pleases you. She wasn’t sure she understood why “only”. But “if it pleases you” might sound a bit too much like “whatever” without it, she supposed. She nodded.

  “You can do that?”

  “Y—Only if it pleases you, Sir.”

  He raised his eyebrows.

  Hadn’t she done it right? Oh. “Only if it pleases you, Master Hart.” And I do want to please you.

  “And instead of no, I would like to hear ‘Not unless it pleases you, Master Hart.’”

  “Not unless it pleases you, Master Hart.”

  He chuckled. “It does, so we’re going to do it anyway.”

  “I didn’t mean—”

  He smiled at her. “I know. You were just repeating the phrase to make sure you had it. And I think you do. Congratulations. That is lesson one. Now we’re going to go sit at one of the tables over there, and you’re going to tell me what makes you tick. What you love and what you don’t. What your limits are. What makes you wet.” He stood and reached out his hand to her. “Rise, Vanessa.”

  She wondered how she was going to get through such a conversation with a near stranger. Limits were easy. It was the other stuff that would make her blush. She took his hand and let him help her to her feet. “Only if it pleases you, Master Hart.”

  He grinned. “Good girl.”

  She wouldn’t mind hearing that phrase from him several more times.

  Chapter Two

  Hart sat across the table taking in everything Vanessa said. Some of it he had suspected from weeks of watching the lovely Latina and Walt play in the club. She insisted she wasn’t into pain, but she made some exceptions, especially when she was turned-on. Clearly, however, she wasn’t a serious masochist. What she wanted most of all was to know she had satisfied her Dom. The protocol he had given her was designed to let her focus on that. He’d never have used it with someone like Carol, who simply craved
sensations. What Vanessa wanted was something deeper, and very hard to create for a single weekend. But that was what he had to work with, and he wanted to make it work for both of them.

  He’d probably be doing her more of a favor if he took Walt aside and taught him to be a better Dom. The man wanted to learn, that was clear. But he seemed to think learning was about tying new knots and learning how to swing new implements of flagellation. Vanessa was never going to want a single tail used on her. She didn’t like canes, riding crops or even stingy floggers. Walt wasn’t giving her the one thing she needed most, which was the knowledge that if she followed directions she would be found pleasing. Being a Dom was so much more than giving sensation.

  “Is there anything you need to go to this weekend that we need to work around?”

  She shook her head. “Is there for you, Master Hart?”

  “Shakes of the head and nods are not sufficient answers either. Is there anything you need to do this weekend?”

  Her face fell at his rebuke. “Not unless it pleases you, Master Hart.”

  He didn’t enjoy correcting her, but he did enjoy hearing her do it right. “Good girl.” It was because his weekend was free that he’d agreed to Walt’s proposal in the first place. Mostly free. For the past several weeks he’d spent his weekends working on his pet project. He wanted to open a new BDSM club, one that was more selective about the guest list than the Devil’s Workshop, and that was open during the week to provide education. There were a lot of experts in the community, and they needed a place to share, not just to play. This weekend, however, he’d decided to take off from that. Karl, who was helping him build bondage furniture, was out of town. The couple who owned the warehouse he was buying for the purpose, Cal and Cecilia Robertson, were out of town at a religious retreat, so he couldn’t finalize the negotiations with them either. They’d promised they’d be considering the last few details and would be in touch.

  “I have tickets to a baseball game Sunday, but you can come with me to that. Do you like baseball?”

  She smiled. “Sure. I mean, only if it pleases you.” She cringed as if expecting to be punished for the way she answered.

  “Good. I’m also giving a demo on predicament bondage tomorrow night. I’ll need a bottom for it. If I think you can handle it, I’ll use you. If not, you’ll watch. I don’t usually have trouble getting a volunteer.”

  He could see the gears turn in her head. She didn’t seem very experienced, and he’d only seen her at the club the last couple of months. He didn’t even know if she knew what predicament bondage was. He’d learn more of her limits and her abilities in the next twenty-four hours. He did know she’d been antsy when Walt was swinging at Carol, because he’d seen her reactions. Presumably she wouldn’t have the same issues with sharing him, since they weren’t in a relationship—but maybe she would. If so, she might be driven to push herself a little.

  He respected limits, but he enjoyed pushing them too. He liked to think he could get more out of a submissive than other Doms could, and leave them feeling they’d accomplished something. But the discussion had gone on long enough, and Vanessa was showing signs of nervousness. It was time to give her something concrete to do.

  “Now then, I’ve been wondering what you look like without that dress.” It was a half-truth, because he’d seen her in just panties at the club three weeks ago. Walt had been spanking her and Hart had watched with interest from a distance. Still, up close and personal was different. I can touch now. And I intend to. “Stand next to me.”

  Vanessa bit her lip but rose and walked over to him. He turned the chair away from the table so there was a place right in front of him for her to stand. With his hands on her hips, he guided her into position to face him. She put her hands behind her back. There was a zipper down the middle, already partway down to show off some cleavage, but it was easy to see how to take it the rest of the way off.

  He put his hand out, palm up. “Everyone’s style is different, of course, but I like my submissives to be naked. Give me your hand.”

  She placed her hand in his. He could feel her pulse racing.

  “Does that bother you, Vanessa?”

  “Yes.”

  Some masochists would be bratty to get rough physical attention, but he didn’t think Vanessa was one of them. He got up and gave her a hard swat on her ass. He was rewarded with a shriek. She glared at him. He moved her hips back into position and settled back down on his chair, ignoring her look for the moment.

  “Does being naked here bother you, Vanessa?” he asked again in the same calm tone of voice.

  She stopped to think, and then her eyes lit up as she figured out what he wanted. “Only if it pleases you, Master Hart.”

  “Very good. It does please me, actually.”

  She sighed in relief. “Oh, good.”

  “That doesn’t mean you’re going to keep your clothes. It just means that I enjoy having you bothered. Hot and bothered, especially.”

  Vanessa’s cheeks turned a lovely shade of pink.

  “Give me your hand again, Vanessa.”

  She placed her hand in his palm. He moved it to the zipper of her dress. “Now,” he directed. “But slowly. Bare each bit of skin for me, little one, inch by inch.”

  “That’s hard.”

  “Yes, it is. Because you have to think about it.”

  She stared at him as if willing him to change his mind.

  “If you’re going to keep trying to give me the evil eye, we can stop now, Vanessa, while your clothes are on. I won’t tolerate it. I expect your submission, and when it’s not in your heart, I expect you to still act as if it was. Mistakes—words, looks or gestures—will be punished. Doing as you’re told will be rewarded. Now lower that zipper. Slowly. Look straight at me as if I’m the only one here, and the only one who matters, and you want me to be pleased by what I see.”

  For a moment he thought she was going to rebel. He wasn’t going to punish her for that struggle, because she really couldn’t help it. Besides, he had his own struggle going on. He wanted to soften, and take her in his arms. He didn’t want to lose her before the weekend had even started. But he didn’t want to let on either. Hart Wolfe, tough-ass Dom, could get a girl’s heart racing. His insecurities could not. He owed it to her to give her what she thought she was getting when she agreed to Walt’s crazy bet.

  Vanessa tugged on the zipper. She jerked it a bit to get it going, and then slowed down, revealing a lacy blue bra with flowers on it, then a soft tan stomach with a bit of curve. Then, finally, a matching blue thong. From her tan line he could see that her swimsuit covered a little more than her underwear did, but clearly she did her tanning in a bikini. She shrugged the sleeves of the dress off her shoulder and it fell to the floor.

  He smiled at her, reaching up and stroking the curve of her shoulder with the back of his hand, then the swell of her breasts. Then he flattened his hand and ran his palm over her belly, enjoying the feel of her smooth skin. “Beautiful, Vanessa. Such a lovely body.”

  “I’m too big,” she said.

  Her response surprised him. The fact that she was willing to sunbathe in a two-piece indicated a certain amount of body comfort, and he thought she was truly beautiful. “No you aren’t. You’re just right.” He slid his hand around to her ass and squeezed, feeling the flesh compress in his hand. “You have padding, so I don’t have to worry about breaking you when I need to spank you. Although I’m hoping that you’ll behave and I won’t have to.”

  “That’s nice of you to say.”

  “I don’t have to say anything nice at all, Vanessa. You’re mine for the weekend. And I say your curves are wonderful, because that’s what I think. They please me.” He leaned back. “Pretty underwear. I appreciate that too. But I want it off. Your panties first.”

  “Panties first, Master Hart?” She looked surprised.

  “Yes. You’ll have to bend to get them, and that will give me a delightful view.”

  “U
sually Walt lets me keep them on.”

  “I am not Walt.”

  Vanessa bit her lip. She slipped her panties over her hips and then shimmied out of them. He was right, the bra showed her cleavage magnificently when she did that. When she straightened, he saw that a patch of brown fur covered her mound.

  He reached out. She pressed her legs together. He shook his head. She moved her feet until her thighs were just a few inches apart, and he slipped his hand in between. Her pussy was soft, warm and deliciously wet.

  “I want you to shave for me in the morning. But I will give you a choice about it, since it won’t grow back until after the weekend and our deal only extends so far. Will you do that for me?”

  She blinked twice before answering. “Only if it pleases you, Sir.”

  He grinned at her. “It pleases me very much. As does your wet pussy.” He slipped a finger inside and she gasped. He took it out again. “More of that later.”

  “Right here? In public?”

  “Now you can remove your bra.”

  She put her hands behind her and looked around as if to see who was watching. He was about to tell her to keep her eyes focused on him when she froze. He followed her gaze.

  Across the room, Carol was naked on the same spanking bench he had seen Vanessa on three weeks ago. And Walt was tapping her bare bottom with a riding crop. Apparently aftercare had morphed into the beginning of another scene. He’d known that Carol hadn’t reached her limit with the game Walt and he had been playing. She had a taste for the extremes and a massive endurance. He’d discovered for himself that it meant that she was never quite satisfied, and that when he wanted to move on to sex or cuddling she wanted to be lashed another fifty times. Carol was always happy to play with him, and she was a good friend, but he could never be what she needed, nor she for him. Tops loved her the first few times, happy to find someone who could take everything they had to give before they realized they couldn’t give enough.