Tempting Elizabeth Read online

  Luckily, Flynn had slept hard and several of his staff had gone in early to prepare a platter of sandwiches and an assortment of sides for Flynn to pick up on his way to Zodiac. When Lincoln held Saturday morning demonstrations for members, he often asked Flynn to provide lunch after the session.

  Flynn was running just a few minutes late and arrived at Zodiac right after ten. He hurried to put everything in the refrigerator to keep until lunchtime. On most Saturdays he didn’t stay for the demonstration. It often didn’t interest him. But today’s session was about crops, and admittedly Flynn had never been extremely comfortable using one, so he’d signed up for the class.

  Flynn spun around in the break room just as Lincoln was entering. “Hey. Didn’t see you last night.”

  “Yeah, I got stuck at work. Trust me. I wasn’t pleased.”

  “I bet. I noticed you’ve gotten more and more comfortable leaving the restaurant to run without you. Must have been bad.”

  “Very.” Flynn sighed. He could hear voices in the main room and knew most of the people had probably arrived by now. “How many people signed up for this morning?”

  “Eight including you. Pretty good turnout.”

  “Great.”

  When Lincoln nodded over his shoulder and turned to head toward the gathering members, Flynn followed him.

  The moment he stepped into the main room, Flynn froze. He’d known Lincoln and Carter’s third partner, Rowen, would be teaching this class, but Lincoln had failed to mention that Elizabeth was among this morning’s participants. He fought the urge to groan. On top of that, Rowen waved him forward. “Good. I was hoping you would show up. We didn’t have even numbers. Can you pair up with Elizabeth?”

  Oh, so it could get worse. Flynn stared at Rowen for more than a heartbeat before glancing at Elizabeth. She apparently felt the same way Flynn did about the arrangement because her arms were crossed, her lips were pursed, and her eyes were narrowed.

  “Have you two met?” Rowen asked.

  “You could say that,” Elizabeth responded.

  “Oh good. That’ll speed things up. Everyone else knows each other, so we can skip some of the introductions and get right to work.” Even though Flynn knew Master Rowen was a fantastic Dom, he apparently wasn’t perceptive enough to detect frigid body language. Or maybe he simply wasn’t paying close attention or didn’t care. After all, it wasn’t his body that was going to get cropped by an angry, vengeful ex-coworker.

  Rowen spun to face the group as Flynn sauntered slowly toward Elizabeth and then plopped down onto a folding chair alongside her as everyone took their seats. The demonstration was taking place in the center of the main playroom. Unlike when the club was open for business, today the lights were on. The walls and ceiling were painted black, but the place had a totally different glow with the ceiling lights all on.

  In an effort to avoid eye contact with Elizabeth, Flynn glanced around, pretending to be interested in the way the area was arranged with several spanking benches in a half circle behind Rowen.

  Flynn considered the ramifications of this potential disaster. A lot of things could happen here. Perhaps this could go in his favor and he could convince Elizabeth to secure a membership at Breeze instead. On the other hand, she might instead dig her heels in deeper by the end of the session, challenging Flynn and infuriating him further.

  It was hard to concentrate on anything Rowen said at first, but eventually Flynn managed to ignore the closed-off woman at his side and listen to Rowen’s explanation about sizes and lengths of crops, and the materials they were made of; the implications all of that had on impact.

  When Rowen finished, he asked who wanted to come up first and demonstrate for the rest of the group. Luckily, a man and woman Flynn knew to be married agreed to be the guinea pigs. Ana rubbed her hands together while her husband, Mike, shook his head and glanced at the ceiling indulgently.

  “Remember,” Rowen said, “the purpose of this class is to improve your knowledge and skills with the crop.” He grinned at Ana. “Not to get some sort of revenge on your own Dom.”

  Ana blinked her eyes dramatically, setting her hand over her heart in mock exaggeration. “Me? I would never. If Mike even suspected me of stepping out of line like that, he would ensure I couldn’t sit down for a week.”

  “Uh huh.” Rowen went along with their banter. “Then you won’t mind going first, right?” He handed her a medium-sized crop made of supple brown leather.

  Mike took her chin in his fingers and gave her a good staring. That was all he needed to do to communicate to her that she should probably behave.

  It wasn’t uncommon for couples to attend these seminars. Any time a couple wanted to add a toy to their repertoire, they benefited from some instruction and then actually trying it out on each other. No Dom should use a tool he hasn’t experienced himself. And what better person to demonstrate the effects on him than the woman he would eventually use the tool on in the future?

  Half the reason Flynn had come this morning was because so far no one had ever used a crop on him. That was the main reason he hadn’t done more than experiment with crops himself. He’d used them occasionally, but more often than not he did nothing other than tease a submissive by running the leather tip over her body in a way that heightened every sensation and kept her wondering.

  Rowen guided Mike to lean over a padded bench, instructing him to set his elbows on the leather. He proceeded to repeat a lot of what he’d said in the last hour while Ana got into position.

  Elizabeth sat up straighter next to Flynn. He’d tried to ignore her until now, which hadn’t been too difficult since she hadn’t moved a muscle or said a word. Now, she set her palms on her jean-clad legs and rubbed them as if she were eager to use that crop on Flynn.

  Yeah, this could go very badly. Flynn didn’t usually have any hang-ups about letting people demonstrate on him, but the thought of letting this particular woman anywhere near his ass with a crop made him grit his teeth.

  Ana started out slow and gentle, learning the feel of the handle and how much pressure it would take to make Mike flinch.

  Eventually Rowen stopped her to say, “Okay, it’s time for real skin. Lower your jeans, Mike.” He turned to face the room. “Everyone else, grab a crop and do the same thing Ana just did. Doesn’t matter who goes first. You’ll both have a chance to get a feel for it.”

  Elizabeth nearly bolted off the chair to grab a crop from the pile Rowen had demonstrated. Why wasn’t Flynn shocked? Of course, she would want to go first. Assert herself. Fine. Flynn shouldn’t care. Let her go first. If she thought it might be funny to make him wince in pain, he would return the favor when it was his turn.

  “You’re a little too pleased with yourself,” he informed her as he met her at another spanking bench.

  She shrugged. “Have you been cropped before?”

  “No. Have you?”

  She bit the corner of her lip, hesitating a moment before answering. “No. Not exactly.”

  Flynn lifted a brow, but for the first time in all the years he’d known Elizabeth, she glanced away nervously, showing a small crack in her otherwise permanent self-confidence. Flynn didn’t comment. The moment was personal. Revealing. The idea of being on the receiving end of a crop struck a nerve with Elizabeth. Again, for the first time, Flynn sensed a small crack in her façade. Maybe she was human after all.

  The moment passed, but it left an impression on Flynn, causing him to blow out a breath and try to relax. After all, he reminded himself, she couldn’t exactly do anything too aggressive without getting as good as she gave. As far as Flynn was concerned, letting Elizabeth go first was ideal.

  He leaned his elbows on the sides of the bench and spread his legs a few inches. Like every other man in the room, he was wearing jeans. Feeling the impact through the denim first would help him get over the shock before revealing his ass.

  He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Elizabeth Kepler was about to see his naked ass.
This shouldn’t bother him since he too was going to get a good gander at hers. And he was certain the view would be better for him than for her. He couldn’t lie. He’d wondered more than once what her butt would look and feel like. It was impossible not to. Even if he never liked her personality, no man could ignore her body. Tall and fit with pert breasts and an ass that made people do a double take.

  The moment Elizabeth set a hand on his lower back, he flinched. “Get a grip, big guy. I haven’t started yet. I promise to go easy on you at first.”

  Flynn glared at her over his shoulder. “Do I need to remind you who gets to go second?”

  “Nope.” She smiled, and then she turned her attention to the crop and gave a light swing, barely touching his ass. After a few more swings, she got into the rhythm better, and when Rowen came over, he only had to adjust her wrist a bit to help her get a better slap off the end of the crop.

  The next strike stung, but not too bad. Elizabeth was concentrating hard, her expression serious every time Flynn glanced at her. He forced himself to disassociate a bit from what was happening, focusing on Elizabeth’s face instead of his own state of submission.

  Eventually, she turned her attention to Flynn. “You ready to experience this for real?”

  “Yep.” Flynn somehow managed to act nonchalant as he stood, unbuttoned his jeans, eased the zipper down, and then tugged both the denim and his boxer briefs over his butt. He turned around without delay and resumed his position, his jeans bunched on his thighs, his undeniably hard cock bobbing against his belly.

  Elizabeth didn’t say a word as she once again set a hand on his lower back, just under the edge of his navy T-shirt, pushing it up a bit. Surprising him, she tucked the crop under her arm and smoothed her other hand over his butt. “I don’t see any pink. I assume you didn’t feel too much through your jeans.”

  “Not much,” he managed to murmur. Her damn hands were distracting. Considering how much he disliked her, she had him fucking hard and her touch felt good. He wasn’t super psyched about her striking him with that crop, but he would get over it for the purpose of education. Doms needed to experience their own toys, he reminded himself. For some stronger Doms, this could be a challenge, but it was a necessary evil. “I’m ready. Go ahead,” he said, hoping to encourage her to stop touching his ass.

  Finally, she eased her hand off his heated skin. At first she did nothing but tap his butt several times on both sides, and then she started to increase the pressure. Damn, he had to admit she was good. Not that he enjoyed her cropping him, but he was impressed with her ability to warm up a submissive so perfectly before increasing the pressure. It was exactly what he would do. And he would. As soon as they switched places.

  “You okay?” Elizabeth asked between swats. “We should have discussed a safeword.”

  Flynn twisted his head around to meet her gaze. “Elizabeth, if you cause me to need a safeword, we’re going to have problems that extend way beyond the obvious animosity.” He lifted a brow.

  She rolled her eyes. “What an alpha thing to say. Not everyone needs to experience actual pain in order to get uncomfortable enough to safe out, and you know it, big guy.”

  “That’s twice you’ve called me that. The first time you hadn’t seen my cock yet, so I know that’s not what you’re referring to.” He grinned, hoping to throw her off balance.

  She smirked. “Hardly. I was simply talking about your height.”

  “Uh huh. Fine. Carry on.” He turned his face away from her and closed his eyes. It would be best to pretend some other person was cropping him and concentrate on how it made him feel. That was the entire point of this exercise.

  The sharp sting of leather was nothing like a palm or a paddle or a flogger. All of those items spread out the point of impact. But the crop, much like a cane, zoned in on a small square of space and left a lasting burn.

  As Elizabeth grew more confident, she picked up the pace and continually added to the force.

  Flynn held his breath at times, enduring the sting while at the same time trying to ignore the feel of her fingers on his back and images of the two of them switching places any moment now.

  It was Rowen who interrupted the demo, addressing the entire class. “Great. I think you all have a good handle on it. Time to switch.”

  Flynn wasted no time jerking his jeans and briefs up over his erection and securing himself. When he turned to face Elizabeth, she was holding out the crop for him to take. “You handled that better than I expected, and I’m not going to lie, I won’t be as calm. I don’t have a submissive bone in my body. Educational purposes and all that.”

  Chapter 6

  It took every ounce of strength Elizabeth possessed not to tremble as she handed Flynn the crop and then switched places with him. Nervousness about being on the receiving end of this demo wasn’t her only affliction. She was reeling a bit from dominating Flynn, albeit only semantically. Damn, the man’s body was fucking fine. And his ass… She’d nearly gasped when she set her hand on it and felt the strength. The man had a seriously firm backside.

  And now it was her turn to be on the receiving end of the crop. It wasn’t a coincidence that she’d pushed off the chair earlier and snagged a crop first. She’d wanted to go first and set the tone of this weird engagement.

  As she leaned over the sides of the bench, resting her forehead against the cool leather between her arms, she took several deep breaths. Why was this so hard? She struggled every time she was on the receiving end of a demo, but not usually as much as she was today. It shouldn’t matter to her that she already knew the man holding the crop. This was a demo.

  When she’d agreed to attend this class, she hadn’t realized the toy in question would trigger ancient memories of a whip. It shouldn’t have. The two things weren’t that similar. But, there was no doubt she was a bit shaken.

  She wasn’t too pleased letting Flynn dominate her in any way, even if it was for education, because she didn’t want him to get any ideas. This was a one-time deal.

  Elizabeth hissed slightly when Flynn set his palm on her lower back, just as she’d done to him except he managed to “accidentally” push her white cotton shirt up enough to touch her bare skin. “Safeword?”

  She tipped her head toward him and shot daggers with her eyes.

  He shrugged. “Not kidding, Elizabeth. I’m not even doing a demo without a safeword. Red?”

  She gritted her teeth. “Fine. Red.” She jerked her face back toward the bench, not wanting him to see that her cheeks were undoubtedly red with fury. He’d bested her already.

  This is not a fucking contest. It’s a demo. Why did everything with her have to be a competition?

  “I’ll start easy,” Flynn whispered before he landed the first blow.

  She flinched, even though she could barely feel the touch.

  “You okay?”

  She twisted to see him again. “Of course, I’m okay, big guy. You haven’t done anything yet. I’m not a baby. Go ahead and get started.”

  “You don’t have to be such a badass every second of every day, you know. Maybe loosen up and relax. You’re well aware that you’ll be much better at using this toy after you’ve experienced it yourself.”

  God, this man was infuriating. “Don’t be so condescending,” she gritted out, hoping no one else in the room was listening to them spar. “It’s none of your business whether or not I like to relax. There’s no rule that says I must enjoy submitting to you for a few minutes. I’m just here for the experience.”

  The last hour and a half had been the longest in her life. Her neck was stiff from stressing out over both the man now holding the crop and the concept itself. She’d been high-strung already this morning at the thought of someone striking her. When she’d seen Flynn enter the room, she’d nearly groaned out loud.

  “Fine with me, but use the safeword if it gets too intense.”

  Elizabeth held her breath, her entire body stiffening as she held back the urge to spin
around and give him a piece of her mind.

  Flynn didn’t mention her rigid stance. Instead, he stroked her lower back lightly with his fingers while he dragged the tip of the crop back and forth over her butt. He did this for several moments. At first, she wanted to tell him to get on with it, but she kept her mouth closed because she didn’t trust her voice.

  Eventually, she began to relax marginally, focusing on the feel of his fingertips against her skin. Gentle. Kind. Soothing. No one ever touched her like that. She didn’t let them. But Flynn didn’t need to know that. She could pretend she didn’t care or wasn’t fazed.

  When he finally lifted the crop and began to lightly tap the swell of her butt cheeks, she was much more relaxed than when he started. Did he realize that?

  He was at least as attentive as her, increasing the impact gradually in small increments. There was definitely a skill to being able to read the submissive and judge what they needed. Of course, nothing could substitute verbally checking in with them, but it was important to watch for signs of distress or enjoyment in between.

  Surprisingly, the crop didn’t feel as bad as she’d expected. At least not the way Flynn was using it. She could tell when he grew more confident with his actions because he stepped closer and struck harder. “Spread your legs a bit more, Elizabeth.”

  She sucked in a breath at his words. Why did he need her to spread her legs? This wasn’t a sexual demonstration. She hesitated, but after a moment decided it would be easier just to follow his damn instructions than break the scene to glower at him. So, she complied, stepping out a bit farther than necessary to avoid him repeating the demand and pushing her emotionally over the edge.