It's
only one week until Christmas, so if you haven't yet, you'd better get
crackin'. But first you have to figure out who's naughty and who's nice. Good
luck with that...And then you have to check the darn thing twice.
How
many of you feel like every year you fall behind? I know I do. And how did I
end up with 80 gift bags and no wrapping paper? Do we all need this much stuff?
Where am I going to put it all? Is the spirit of the holidays really found in
gift cards?
See,
these are the deep thoughts I have in between figuring how to get my characters
OUT of the bedroom, and then subsequently back IN the bedroom. And then OUT of
the bedroom. And then...you get the idea.
Does
your list include things for yourself? Mine on Black Friday does! You can
resist an entire season of Mad Men on DVD for $10? My husband doesn't
understand why I would want DVDs, whether of movies or TV shows. His reasoning
is "You've already seen it. Why do you want to see it again?" Obviously
he's not a book lover either because then he would know the allure of reading a
book more once. Movies and TV aren't quite the same, but when you just want to
sack out on the couch, they're a great option.
What
things are you behind on this year? Is there anything you finally threw up your
hands about and said "forget it"? I did. Christmas cookies. Ain't
happenin'. Tell me about your foibles in the comments section so I don't feel
like such a loser.
And
happy holidays!
-- Cassandra Carr
MASTER CLASS by Cassandra Carr
Publisher:
Loose Id
ePublish
date: 12/11/2012
ISBN:
978-1-62300-068-4
Word
count: 47,250
Genre:
BDSM Contemporary
Ryan
Tomasi feels like a failure. His marriage is officially over; the ink dried on
the divorce decree. His friend Jack introduces him to BDSM and he agrees to
attend a Halloween party at a club. A submissive approaches him, offering
herself, and how can he refuse the kneeling beauty? They do a whirlwind scene
and Ryan is addicted—both to dominance and to her.
Lisette
Rinaldo is returning to the BDSM club for the first time since ending a bad
relationship with her former master. She spots Ryan and is taken by the
combination of self-assurance and nervousness the man displays as he takes in
his surroundings. And after he gives her an incredible re-introduction to the
lifestyle, she knows she needs to see the man again.
Ryan
and Lisette explore each other and the lifestyle, but what started out as
playtime quickly evolves into something more. The problem? Ryan isn’t ready to
get serious again and Lisette doesn’t want to fall in love with a guy who can’t
give all of himself to her. Both of them are going to have to break out of the
bonds holding them back from happiness.
EXCERPT:
“What
the fuck is an acceptable costume to wear to a Halloween party at a BDSM club?”
Ryan Tomasi muttered aloud to himself. He did that a lot these days, since he
lived alone after his recent divorce. “Sheesh.”
From
his Internet research, he knew people who practiced BDSM—the term “practice”
cracked him up every time—already dressed in some pretty outrageous outfits.
Between the leather daddies and the pony play, as well as the other strange
getups he’d seen online, Ryan wasn’t sure what to think. Full-body latex
encasement? He shuddered.
But
one thing was clear. He couldn’t keep fucking random women and feel good about
it or himself. The whole mess had started after Ryan’s now ex-wife had
blindsided him with divorce papers about a year ago, saying she didn’t love him
anymore. The fact he’d loved her and had wanted to work on the marriage
apparently wasn’t good enough, and Ryan found himself living in a rented house
with nothing but his recliner and a futon to sleep on. Over the past year, he’d
done what he could to rebuild his life, and now it was time to take the next
step.
Ryan
needed to find someone for more than a one-night stand and, it seemed, someone
who wanted to submit to him, since he’d found he really liked some of this BDSM
stuff, especially the dominating side. He felt like a fool on the bar scene,
and he really wasn’t a one-night-stand kind of guy, though that had been his MO
lately. He’d never even known there was a whole formal “thing” like BDSM until
his friend Jack, a fellow professor at the college where Ryan taught English
literature, had asked one day, while Ryan was lamenting his pathetic sex life,
if he’d ever engaged in any BDSM activities. Ryan had been taken aback, to say
the least. He’d thought that kind of thing was limited to porn. Real people
didn’t get kinky like that, did they? Hell, he’d gotten married at twenty-two
and had been with his ex-wife for almost fifteen years. It appeared he didn’t
know shit about sex—kinky sex scene in particular.
Ryan
had been shocked when Jack offered to let Ryan see what his submissive, Callie,
and Jack did in some of their “scenes” so that Ryan could get a feel for what
domination was all about. Jack didn’t allow any actual intercourse or other
sexual contact between him and Callie when they got together, which Ryan totally
understood, so there was a little bit missing from what he wanted to experience
after reading how great the sex could be.
But
just watching the way Jack dealt with Callie, and then having the opportunity
to try a bunch of things out himself during subsequent play sessions with the
two of them, had given Ryan a light at the end of what had been a very dark
tunnel since the ex had walked out on him. He believed he’d finally found what
he was looking for; what he’d been missing his entire life. The high from a
woman submitting to him was the most natural, yet most powerful thing he’d ever
felt, and Callie wasn’t even his submissive. What would that feel like?
Shaking
out of his reverie, Ryan decided reinforcements were in order and called Jack.
“Hey, man.”
“What’s
up?”
“Am
I interrupting anything?” He was almost afraid to ask.
Jack
laughed. “If you’re asking me if Callie is tied up somewhere waiting for me to
fuck her six ways to Sunday, no, you’re not interrupting anything. That’s
later.”
“TMI,
dude, TMI. Anyway, I need help.”
“You
need a lot more than help.”
“Yeah,
yeah. Seriously, I need to know what a Dom should wear to this Halloween
party.”
“Uh,
clothes? Usually only the submissives are naked.”
“Are
you going to help or not? You’re the one who said I should go to this.” Ryan
knew Jack was just messing with him, but as this Halloween party was his
“coming out” of sorts as a Dom, he didn’t want to make a fool of himself.
“All
right. I’ll take pity on you. What types of costumes are you looking at? What will
make you feel comfortable?”
Ryan
snorted. “Not sure anything can do that. I’m nervous as hell.”
“Remember,
a Dom needs to portray an air of confidence. If you don’t, no sub is going to
trust you enough to play with you.”
“I
know. And by the time I get there, I’m sure I’ll be a lot calmer. I’ve been
pretty good when I’ve played with Callie, haven’t I?”
Ryan
could practically see the smirk on Jack’s face.
“Yeah,
but I was there too. She knows better than to disobey me and that I would keep
the play safe. Goes back to that trust issue. Plus, you didn’t have any sexual
contact or anything that might’ve freaked you out. Speaking of that, you got
your medical test results, right?”
“Yeah.
Sent them to the club the other day.”
“Good.
They won’t let you in unless you can prove you’re clean. Now, back to the
costume. How about something easy like a police officer or a soldier? Some
take-charge type of thing would be fitting.”
“Oh,
I like the idea of a soldier.” Soldiers were powerful, respected—everything
Ryan thought a Dom should project. It was the perfect costume to convey the
image he wanted during his first public play. Ryan quickly typed that into the
search engine of the costume store. “Awesome. They have a pretty cool one.”
“See
how simple it is, once you’re not freaking out? I know this is all new and a
little scary for you, but remember, kinksters are people too.”
“Yeah,
yeah. You guys are going to be there, right?”
“Of
course. I wouldn’t let you go into the big, bad world of BDSM all by yourself.
Also, I’m your sponsor, so you can’t get in without me anyway this first time.”
“Okay,
cool. See you then. And thanks for talking me off the ledge.”
“Anytime.”
Jack
hung up, and Ryan looked over the costume specs. It had a camouflage shirt and
pants, along with a set of dog tags. He had black boots already for when he did
stuff around the house. Though he wasn’t imposing by any means at five-nine and
one-eighty, he wasn’t tiny either. Hopefully the costume would make him look
like a bit of a badass. He flexed his bicep. Maybe allow him to show off the
muscles he was just starting to develop with regular workouts at the gym over
the past several months.
* * * *
On
Halloween night Ryan dressed in his costume and drove to the club. Jack and
Callie were waiting just inside the doors, and when Jack saw him approach, he
spoke to the bouncer, who waved Ryan through without a word. Jack was clad as
Zorro, and Callie’s dress, if you could call it that, was liberally scored with
slashes. It looked more like a bunch of black bandages than anything else, and
Ryan wondered how long Jack would allow her to remain clothed. If he knew
Jack—and he felt he did after playing with him several times and spending hours
talking to him about BDSM and a whole host of other topics—not long.
He
wasn’t sure what was appropriate to say to Callie, so he forced his gaze away
from her and greeted Jack, who grinned.
“You
can tell her she looks hot. It’s not like you’ve never seen her naked.”
Ryan
smiled, relaxing. He pivoted back to her. “You look hot, Callie.”
“Thank
you, sir.”
“Shall
we?”
Jack
gestured toward the door at the end of the short hall, and Ryan could hear a
bass beat pounding from the other side. He nodded, swallowing thickly. Ryan
needn’t have worried, though. As soon as he stepped into the room and looked
around, his nerves settled.
I’m
home.
The
people around him were engaged in all manner of things, but even a cursory
glance at the various scenes playing out before him made him finally feel like
he was normal. He wasn’t a freak for wanting sex and control like this, despite
what his ex-wife had said when he’d suggested some pretty mild stuff to spice
up their sex life.
“What
do you think?” his friend shouted over the music.
“It’s
fucking perfect.” Ryan couldn’t have kept that note of awe out of his voice
even if he’d tried.
Jack
laughed. “I figured you’d say that. I’ll give you a tour, but we need to do one
thing first.”
“What’s
that?”
“Lose
the shirt. You’ll look way more Dom-ish without it.”
“Dom-ish?”
Callie repeated with a chuckle.
“You
behave before I decide to leash you,” Jack threatened. “Or maybe we can give
Ryan here some more practice with that paddle you hate so much.”
She
looked down. “Whatever would please you, Master.”
“Seeing
your beautiful ass bright red and ready to be fucked would please me greatly,
but we need to babysit Ryan for a bit longer before we can play.”
Ryan
pulled off his shirt and stuffed it into his brand-new toy bag. Who would’ve
thought a duffel bag he got at an academic conference would come in handy to
hold the instruments of pain and pleasure he’d spent a small fortune on?
He followed Jack through the club as the other man pointed out the public play
area, the theme rooms, and the staircase to the private rooms upstairs. Then
they all went to the bar, which served no alcohol so as to keep the clubgoers
sober for play, as Jack explained in answer to Ryan’s puzzled question. They
procured soft drinks—drinks were included in the price of the membership—and
found a comfy couch that was close enough to the public play area that Ryan had
a good view of several scenes taking place. Jack and Ryan sat, and Callie
settled on a cushion in front of her Dom.
“That
girl,” Jack said, pointing to a submissive tied to a St. Andrew’s cross as a
man whipped her from thighs to shoulders, “is a hard-core masochist. As you can
see, she’s not wearing a collar, so she’s not owned, but stay away from her.
Until you get more comfortable with impact play, all you’ll do is frustrate
both of you.”
Ryan
nodded, forcing himself not to wince as the man laid another welt on her ass.
“That
one,” his friend continued with a jerk of his head at another submissive, “is a
horrible topper-from-the-bottom. She’s definitely not a good fit for you as a
beginner. I’m not really sure why any Dom would play with her. It would drive
me batty to have a sub questioning my every order.”
Jack
dismissed a few more for one reason or another as they sipped their beverages.
There weren’t a ton of subs running around without collars, and Ryan was
beginning to believe none of them would pass Jack’s muster.
“She’s
a pretty one,” Jack remarked, and Ryan followed his gaze. He nearly swallowed
his can of soda pop whole. Pretty didn’t begin to describe the woman. She was a
few inches shorter than him, from what he could tell in his current position,
and had enough meat on her bones to be curvy. If he was going to be tying a
woman up and fucking the hell out of her, he wanted to be sure her ribs
wouldn’t crack at the slightest provocation.
Her
long brown hair was piled on top of her head, leaving the slim column of her
neck exposed. Ryan loved to nibble on women’s necks, and if he had this one
restrained, he’d happily spend hours torturing her in that spot. She was
wearing what looked like a harem girl outfit, with a jeweled bra and flouncy,
gauzy pants. From the looks of things, Ryan was pretty sure she was naked
underneath them.
Jack
had been speaking with Callie but straightened up. “Callie said her name is
Lisette, and she’s an experienced submissive who hasn’t been to the club as far
as Callie knows since her split with her Dom a while back. She’s not owned, as
you can see from the fact she’s not collared. The lack of a collar doesn’t
always mean a sub is not owned, but at open parties like this, all owned
submissives must be collared. As you know,” he continued with a grin in Callie’s
direction, “some of us can be possessive bastards, and it cuts down on
potential problems.”
“Makes
sense,” Ryan murmured. His friend’s eyes suddenly widened a little in
anticipation, and Ryan turned in the direction of his gaze.
“Hey,
do you mind if we go take advantage of that spanking bench? At these parties,
equipment doesn’t stay empty long.”
“No,
go ahead.”
Jack
helped Callie up and landed a hard swat on her ass. “Go get it for us, pet.
I’ll be right over.” He turned to Ryan. “Feel free to watch us or anyone else.
We should be back within a half hour or so. Callie’s been naughty lately and
needs a good dose of the belt.”
Winking,
he walked away, and Ryan laughed. Before Jack had agreed to bring Ryan here for
public play, he’d insisted on several private sessions at the house he and
Callie shared, so Ryan knew Callie’s favorite implement was the belt. He
doubted she would be too upset if Jack used it tonight.
A
completely naked woman, save for a collar, came by and took their empty soda
cans. Ryan gave her a small smile but kept his attention focused on the scenes
unfolding around him. Jack was busy tying Callie to the spanking bench, and the
masochistic woman was still being whipped—Ryan couldn’t hold back his wince
this time at a particularly hard strike—and a male submissive was going to town
on his Mistress’s pussy like he was mining for gold. Turning away from them, he
saw a female submissive strapped to what Jack had called a bondage table with
cane marks decorating her ass in perfectly spaced lines and her Dom’s dick in
her mouth. He’d never tried caning, but it looked interesting, if a little
scary. Hell, almost everything looked interesting right now.
Ryan
continued to watch as Jack bared Callie’s ass and started out lightly flicking
the belt across it. He’d explained to Ryan how important it was to warm the
bottom up by bringing the blood to the surface to prevent bruising, and Ryan
had spent long hours in the past couple of weeks practicing with a pillow and
the strap he’d ordered along with the other stuff Jack had said he’d need to be
able to play. The club had a nice selection of implements lined up on the walls
of the public play area, but Jack had recommended he get used to his own so he
didn’t make a mistake and hurt a submissive.
He
was just about to rise and make his way back to the bar when he caught movement
out of the corner of his eye. The submissive Callie had called Lisette knelt
directly in front of him, a bottle of water laid on her upturned palms. Ryan
raised an eyebrow.
Copyright
2012, Cassandra Carr
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