Learning the Hard Way Read online

  In a swift move, Troy wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her onto his lap so that she straddled him. In her tantalizing dress with the slit that went up to her throat, he knew she wouldn’t have a problem getting her leg around him in the garment.

  “No, we shouldn’t.” Ava tugged down on the dress that covered her pussy.

  “We should do whatever the hell we want.” Troy fisted her hair and brought her close to him.

  He hoped he kissed her hard enough and with enough passion to make her forget their pre-assigned labels: professor, student, escort.

  More than with Meredith, Troy wanted Ava. If he could have just one night, it would make his year.

  Ava’s scent, that intoxicating sexual aroma, filled the back area of the limo. Troy slid his hand up her leg until he reached her hot pussy. His fingers brushed her satin panties, causing Ava to shriek and push back from him.

  She held his wrist. “I don’t—”

  “Trust me.”

  Troy pulled aside the crotch of her panties and slid his middle finger inside of her. Not only was she hot like lava, her pussy dripped with her essence. When his finger dove into her, she grabbed the lapels of his jacket. He felt her hips undulate.

  Troy latched his mouth onto her breast, circling her nipple with the tip of his tongue. Hearing her moan almost made him shoot a load in his pants.

  Despite her earlier protests, Ava moved faster and faster. “The driver.”

  Troy let go of her nipple long enough to answer her. “Can’t hear us.” He slipped a second finger inside of her.

  At that moment, she screamed. No way the driver could have missed that sound. The exclamation could have shattered the darkened glass surrounding them. She ground down hard on his digits, her body trembling as her pussy clamped down on his fingers.

  Just when Troy didn’t think Ava could get any more beautiful, he watched her come. With that tease, he needed more. He had to taste her.

  Troy slid his fingers out of her and into his mouth. Her salty goodness satisfied his taste buds. “More,” he growled.

  In a controlling move, he pulled her off of his lap and sat her next to him. Then he got down on the floor of the limo between her legs. He hooked his fingers into the sides of her panties to pull them down.

  The limo slowed to a stop. With great reluctance, Troy stopped moving and looked out the window. He saw his house, then heard the driver getting out of the vehicle.

  Still between her legs, Troy said, “Come in the house with me. I can take you home.”

  Ava adjusted the top half of her dress. “No, I can’t.”

  Faster than stepping into a cold shower, Troy’s erection softened in a nanosecond. Had she been teasing him during the ride home?

  Ava’s hand dove into her small purse. “Do you have a cell phone?”

  “Sure. Why?” Did this lovely woman want to do phone sex now?

  “The driver works for a relative of a friend of mine. I don’t need him reporting that we did something after the party. I’ll call my phone with instructions on how to get to my house.”

  “No.” Troy pulled off her panties then snatched her phone from her hand. “If you want either one of these things, you’ll come in the house with me.”

  He sat next to her and adjusted his clothing. The smell of sex would just have to stay in the air.

  “Stop playing around, Mr. Whitten.” Ava reached for her items but Troy kept her back with one arm.

  “I’ve told you what you need to do.”

  The door opened and Troy moved over to it. “She’s coming with me.” He held her hand.

  Initially she resisted, staying seated in her spot. After taking her so far in the car, she couldn’t want to go home now, not yet. Then she scooted over toward him.

  Troy looked at the driver. “This is our last stop.” He pressed money into the driver’s hand. “Thanks for the service.”

  The driver slammed the door and mumbled something about it being an early night. God willing, Troy’s night had just begun.

  Chapter Six

  Still in her red gown, Ava paced in Troy’s house, amazed at the strength in her legs considering he had rendered her boneless just moments ago. Vartinucci had done that to her earlier that night for a different reason.

  He’d made up a part of her past, along with Richard, that she wanted to erase from her history. She didn’t want to pull Mistake Number Three with Troy. Her mind and heart couldn’t take the pain.

  “Please give me back my phone and I’ll call a cab.” She held up her hand.

  Instead of giving her phone back, he held her hand and led her down a hall. “Why didn’t you ask for your panties back?” he asked during the trek.

  Ava swallowed. Why hadn’t she asked for her undergarment back? Did she secretly want him to keep a memento of their failed date?

  He twirled the red, shiny garment around his finger. “Want me to keep them?”

  “You’re crude.” Yet, she liked it.

  Troy slipped off his jacket and hung it on the back of his chair in his sparsely decorated bedroom.

  As he took off his bowtie, he sauntered to Ava. “Do you want me to keep talking dirty? Does that turn you on?”

  She blinked. “Okay, we’ve gone too far with this. You’re my student. I’m your teacher.”

  He tossed his tie onto a dresser then undid the top few buttons on his shirt. “I’m a man. You’re a woman. What goes on here stays here. I do have to make one confession before we go any further.”

  She swallowed hard. It had hit her that her impromptu actions landed her in a house with a man she only knew as her student and nothing else. If he did something to her, would anyone know how to find her? Dina the detective would know. Vonda had arranged the transportation, so she would know where Troy lived. She shouldn’t have anything to worry about…she hoped.

  “What is it? Are you married? Have kids? Run a meth lab?” She couldn’t imagine what he could say to her.

  “I’m a Dominant. I enjoy pushing people to their limits.” He didn’t crack. He didn’t smile.

  Out of everything she thought of, she didn’t expect to hear that from him. To break up the tension, she laughed. “Very funny.”

  Troy shook his head. “Not kidding.” He took off his shoes and took them to his closet. “I like taking control, during play and during sex.”

  “Play?”

  He nodded. “It’s what I did during dinner with your hand.”

  She wrung her hands together. “What else do you do?”

  “You want to experience it for real?” Before she could answer, he shook his head. “No. You’re not ready. This is not how this works.” He stood directly in front of her. “We should sit down and have a conversation about this.”

  “We’re talking now.” Although fear gripped her, she smiled. “Teach me.”

  He stared at her, studied her. She could almost hear him weighing the pros and cons in his head. To encourage him, or maybe show him how far she would go, she removed her shoes.

  “No.” He shook his head. “What I do will mess with your perception.”

  “Of what? Of you? Of me?”

  “Everything.” He removed his keys from his pocket. “Let me take you home.” Troy turned to the door.

  Ava had other plans. She slipped out of her dress, showing him her nude body. Even with Richard, she had insisted that the lights be off whenever she’d gotten naked. With Troy, all of her fears and resistance went away. She didn’t know if what he did to her in the backseat of the limo had anything to do with it, or his hand-holding game. No. Not a game. Play. He had manipulated her with a couple of cues.

  “Put your dress back on.”

  “You’re a Dominant, right?” Ava ignored his directive and continued with her education.

  Troy didn’t respond. He continued to glare at her while she stood in his bedroom naked.

  “What would that make me?” She had to know.

  He undid the cuffs on his s
hirt. “A fool if you think this is as easy as getting naked in front of a stranger. It’s more than that.”

  “So tell me. I’ll teach you about ethics.”

  “Is this ethical? Tell me, Professor.” He approached her. “If I said that I knew a man who was a Dominant and he met this woman who wasn’t in the Lifestyle but wanted to learn on the fly, what would you say? It’s crazy, isn’t it?”

  She looked into his crystal blue eyes. She didn’t find anger or regret or even fear. He had hope in his return stare. He searched for something that she had been looking for since her last relationship. She wanted someone honest.

  “I don’t think what you do and what I want are crazy. I think to deny our desires is crazy.” She reached out to touch his arm, but he jerked back.

  He turned his back on her like he wanted to leave again, but stopped himself. After a beat, he turned back around to her. “Fine. You want to do this? We will.” He approached her again. He placed his hand on her stomach, which made her gasp and flinch, but she stood her ground. “Bondage, domination, sadomasochism is what I’m into.” His hand crept up her body until he rested his hand on her chest and closed his eyes. “You’re scared.”

  Ava took in a deep if not ragged breath. “No, I’m not.”

  He opened his eyes. “If we do this, we do it honestly. You have to tell me the truth no matter what, understand?”

  When Ava slowed to answer, he asked her again. “You have to tell me what you want.”

  “I thought this whole thing is what you wanted.” What she had seen on TV and movies, it seemed like the Lifestyle centered around the one in power.

  “I decide when we play. I decide what kind of play we do. I administer the discipline.” He pointed to her chest. “You regulate it.”

  The connection of his finger against her body felt like he sent electric sparks through her.

  “How?” Standing naked in front of him felt like she’d given up all of her control.

  Troy slid his hand down to her breast. “If there’s something you like, you say green.” He cupped her breast and twirled her now hardened nipple with his thumb.

  She exhaled. Ava could barely keep standing while he played with her tit. Her breathing increased as she closed her eyes. If this treatment defined BDSM play, she wanted more.

  “If you like something but it’s getting intense, say yellow.” Troy pinched her nipple between his thumb and index finger.

  The feeling sent a sharp bolt of pain from her breast to the top of her head and down her body. She sucked air in between her clenched teeth and got on her tiptoes to endure it. She did feel like she had to endure this. She couldn’t give up or give in no matter how harsh. Deep in her heart, she knew Troy would want more from her. Ava wanted to give him more.

  He continued squeezing until she had to grab his arm. “Are you okay?”

  She nodded her head while holding her breath.

  “Breathe. It helps with the pain.” He pinched harder. “Exhale. Breathe.”

  Ava puffed out some air and had a gasping breath as she tried to breathe normally. Out of nowhere, she felt Troy grip the back of her hair and jerk her head back while pinching her nipple hard enough to produce tears and pressing his knee against her pussy.

  “If you can’t take this, if it’s too hard, say red and I’ll stop.” He growled this information in her ear.

  “R-r-red.” She shook her head, ashamed of herself for quitting.

  Troy released her breast first before letting go of her hair and taking a step back. He shouldn’t have done that. His knee provided her the support she needed.

  Ava nearly fell to the floor until Troy netted her in his arms.

  “I got you.” Troy helped her to sit on his bed. “Intense?”

  Unable to talk right away, Ava nodded.

  “Need some water?”

  She shook her head.

  “Need something to eat?” Troy’s accommodating nature right now seemed out of place for what he had just done.

  Ava shook her head again. She didn’t know how to answer because she didn’t know what she wanted. How could this lifestyle be real? Moreover, why did she like it? Why did she like her boundaries pushed?

  “Are you ready for more?” Troy asked.

  Ava glanced up at him. “There’s more?”

  Troy laughed. “Absolutely. I’ll be right back. Get yourself together. You’ll be standing soon.” He left the room, leaving Ava to stew in her thoughts.

  What else could he do to her? Would she want it? She dragged her hand up her arm. Everything about her felt electrified. If she felt that alive now, she couldn’t imagine what else he could do to her.

  Troy returned to the room carrying what looked to be a leather handle with streamers coming down it. “Stand.”

  Ava rubbed her hands over her thighs first before she stood.

  He pointed to a waist-high dresser. “Put your hands on that and bend over.”

  She padded to the dresser and gripped the top.

  “Hopefully you’ll find this cathartic.”

  She craned her head around. “What?”

  Before he could answer, he raised his hand and allowed those same streamers to hit her back and slide down to her ass.

  “This is a flogger.” Troy administered another hit and another while he talked to her. “It’s made of deer-hide leather. I had someone in North Carolina make this for me.”

  Smack.

  Smack.

  Smack.

  It sounded worse connecting to her skin than it felt. With each hit, she allowed her mind to roam. She graduated the top of her class and now she let this man—this stranger, her student—flog her, discipline her like she imagined slaves or an animal would be. She clawed the dresser with each hit the more she thought about it. Just when she started to turn around to stop him, he stopped her with his voice.

  “Remember. You’re controlling all of this.”

  Smack.

  “I’m not doing this very hard. I’m making enough of an impact for you to feel it and for it to sound worse that what it is.”

  Smack.

  She flinched. A tear rolled down her nose and clung to the tip for dear life.

  “If you want this to stop, say red.”

  Her back started to sting more with each hit. It also felt hotter than normal, like he must have been flogging her with those streamers on fire.

  As soon as she’d gotten used to his rhythm, he stopped for a moment so that he could now use two floggers on her. He smacked her back with a crisscross pattern.

  For as odd as this seemed, especially on a first date, Ava hadn’t thought about work or her friends or Richard. Her concentration stayed on Troy, the floggers, and her feelings.

  “Red.” Uttering her safe word had nothing to do with feeling pain or humiliation. She experienced something new.

  Troy placed both floggers on the dresser next to her hand. “You okay?” He put his hand on her back.

  The coolness of it shocked her more than anything else. She flinched and turned to look at him. “More.”

  “More discipline?” He continued rubbing her back.

  She shook her head and hoped he knew what she desired right now.

  Chapter Seven

  Ava wanted Troy, a strange reaction after he had just tortured her tit and whipped her like a stubborn mule. Her nipples hardened so much that they ached. Only the touch of his hand or a lick from his tongue would soothe them. Her clitoris hadn’t stopped throbbing since she stripped down. She felt her intimate juices running down her legs.

  He held her hands and put them on his pants. “Take them off.”

  Ava pulled her hands back. “We did things your way. Can’t we do things the way I want now?”

  It was bad enough he had gotten her to do so many things she’d never let Richard do. Allowing him to finger her in the backseat of the limo and bringing her to orgasm pushed her way out of her comfort zone. The treatment in his bedroom had really tested her. Sh
e couldn’t deny that she had loved the entire treatment from beginning to succulent end.

  He shook his head. “No. My house. My rules.”

  Ava counted to ten in her head before she continued speaking. She had to take control of this situation. “I need…you.”

  Troy regarded her for a while before reaching into his pants pocket and retrieving her phone. “I don’t want this to break when my pants falls to the floor.” He placed it on the dresser. Then he swung her panties back and forth. “I can’t decide if I want to tie your hands with these or just keep them as a souvenir.” He took a deep whiff of them. “Smells so good.” He circled her as she remained cemented in her spot.

  “Please, Mr. Whitten.” Ava didn’t bother turning around to face him, not even when she felt him brushing her panties across her naked backside.

  “Good. Keep calling me Mr. Whitten. I’m starting to like that.” He feathered the panties up her back and over her shoulders.

  Ava, to her surprise, didn’t stop him or fight him. Her body knew what it wanted. After he dropped her panties to her feet, Troy stood in front of her. Considering she was completely naked, she didn’t try covering herself up or reaching for her dress. She had allowed this man to flog her…and she loved it.

  With a gentle tap on her side, nonverbally Troy got Ava to acknowledge her dress and panties on the floor. She peered down before regarding him again.

  “Pick them up and hang them in the closet.”

  Without question, she picked up both items and hung them with care in his closet. That was way different from Richard. Knowing Richard, he would have had sex on top of them and wouldn’t have even cared if they got stains on them.

  Troy had more instructions for her when she returned.

  “Shirt first, then pants.” Troy stared at her with his intense blue eyes.

  “No.” She crossed her arms over her chest.

  This time Troy blinked. “No? You’re standing here naked and you’re saying no?” He chuckled. “I think you’ve lost your leverage. Or are you bucking for a spanking next?” To give her a taste of that treatment, he swatted her ass cheek and squeezed it for good measure.