Taming the Tease Read online

  "I'm usually not here this early in the morning," she said with a smile, not an overly friendly one but not entirely dismissive either. Still, she didn't really want to get wrapped up in a conversation with them, she just wanted to lie down and bake in the sun for a little bit. Terrible for her skin, but she'd put sunscreen on and she wanted the warmth.

  Swimming in the pool last night when it was empty had been calming, soothing. Today she needed warmth and background noise and guys checking her out. It was validation at its finest.

  Getting out her sunscreen, she slathered it over her arms and then her chest and stomach while the two guys watched. Hiding a smile, Maria pretended she didn't notice them practically salivating while she smoothed the white cream over her breasts. The bathing suit she'd worn today was meant to draw attention. Her sisters liked to call her a tease; Maria preferred to think of it as appreciation awareness. Guys needed to know that plus size girls were hotties too.

  These two definitely seemed to appreciate her efforts. Too young for her, but maybe they'd take the lesson back to school with them.

  "Would you mind helping me with my back?" she asked, just a little bit coquettishly. Guys putting on sunscreen tended to turn the process into almost a massage - and she could definitely use one.

  Okay, maybe she was a bit of a tease, but she wasn't harming anyone.

  The two hotties jumped up, the one with reddish hair grabbing the bottle of sunscreen before his friend could. "No problem, just turn around," he said, grinning eagerly.

  Maria smiled sweetly before turning, pretending she hadn't noticed the male posturing. The best way to get continued male attention was to ignore it. Made them think their competitiveness had gone unnoticed and work harder to get the attention they wanted.

  Dios mio!

  There was a Greek god getting out of the pool.

  She barely noticed the strong hand rubbing sunscreen into her shoulders as she stared across the blue expanse at the man getting out on the other side of the pool. Tall, blonde hair that was darkened by the water, and the kind of body that women drooled over in front of their own boyfriends and husbands. Hell, just looking at him Maria had the urge to fan herself.

  When he turned to walk over to the chair his towel was draped over, red bathing suit clinging to the long, lean muscles of his legs, she could see that his profile was just as attractive as his back. How had she not seen him before?

  Then again, this really was way earlier than she was normally at the pool. Her dreams had been rather troubled, which was what had gotten her up this morning. Although if he was here in the mornings, even if it was only a couple of times a week, she might have to change that.

  Not that a guy like that would ever talk to her. Maria might like her curves, but she knew that most guys who were into lots of exercise and having hard bodies liked skinny, muscular little girls who matched their physical perfection. She had the muscles, but it was under soft flesh and even if she starved herself, her bone structure was too big to ever be truly skinny. So why bother trying to force herself into a mold she’d never fit? But she could certainly appreciate the eye candy.

  She watched, fascinated, as he dried himself off, running the towel over his short hair and then down his body. Squeezing her thighs together, she grinned. Hello new fantasy fodder! Sure she got tired of using her vibrator to get the big O sometime, but having new imagery always helped to spice that up a bit.

  The man looked over, directly at her it seemed, and Maria froze. College hottie behind her was saying something as he moved on to covering her lower back with sunscreen, but she didn't register a single word he said. How could she when there was a man who looked like that actually looking at her?

  And then he looked away, tossing his towel over his shoulder and heading towards the exit, and Maria remembered to breathe again. Talk about potent!

  She turned away, reminding herself that it's not like he would ever be interested in her. In fact, he was going through the exit without a second glance back. There was no way he'd felt the same thing looking at her as she'd felt looking at him. Pasting a smile on her face, she turned back to thank the guy who had helped her with the sunscreen.

  Still, she couldn't help but glance after the Greek god. After all, he had a very nice ass... and it was headed straight into her building! Holy crap! He must be the new guy upstairs. Mrs. Pierce next door had mentioned that he was a "good looking young man" - Holy Understatement, Batman!

  He'd been living there for what, close to a month? Maybe she should do the neighborly thing and bring him some brownies later. Not that she thought he'd be interested in her, but if he wasn't a total jerk then it might be fun to flirt... and if nothing else, she wouldn't mind getting a closer look than the view afforded from across the pool.

  Chapter 2

  Maria spent a frustrating morning at work dealing with suppliers and an irate Executive Chef at the restaurant she worked at. Murphy's Meals was a wonderful, family owned restaurant that was considered a community staple, but since it wasn't a chain, sometimes the suppliers could get a little sketchy about their shipments. One of the annoyances of being a small business.

  But she loved her job most days, not in the least because she loved the owners, James and Jeanne Murphy. She'd worked here as a hostess in high school, eventually becoming a server. Right after college she'd done some job hopping and she'd come in to have a comforting meal, a bit depressed and frustrated because she just couldn't figure out what she wanted to do for her career, and Jeanne had sat with her and listened. And at the end of it, Jeanne had offered her a job as daytime manager until she could figure out what she wanted to do.

  That had been three years ago. She'd taken over the position with enthusiasm, and although she occasionally had to cover evenings it wasn't common enough to be a nuisance, and she made enough money to cover her expenses. It turned out that she loved her job and it had become her career rather than a placeholder position. Plus, she got to interact with people all day, and at a place like Murphy's, she didn't have to pander to asshole customers when they came in. They were more likely to be banned than catered to.

  When she finally got off work, around 8 pm, after she'd stayed to help through the dinner rush, she checked her phone to find that she had seven missed calls and four new voicemails. Groaning, she scrolled through the missed calls. All three of her sisters had called her, and her mother had called her four times. She wondered whether the voicemails were all from her mother or if everyone had left one.

  Plugging in her hands-free device, she started her car while she listened to them. One from each of them. Well at least they weren’t all from Mama. Maria didn't think she could take that much haranguing right now. All four messages said basically the same thing, just delivered in different words and different tones of voice - We missed you last night, looked around and you were gone... where did you go and are you okay?

  Ick.

  Every single one of them, worrying over Maria's single state and thinking that she must be taking it hard that her youngest sister was getting married. It would be a hell of a lot easier to take if everyone would stop acting like she must be upset over it. There was nothing more guaranteed to make her upset!

  "Sorry, but I'm not calling any of you back," she muttered under her breath.

  It was times like this that she cursed having three sisters. She'd never really had a best friend outside of them, she hadn't needed one. Of course she'd had female friends, but it was her sisters she'd always been closest to. After college she’d lost contact with the friends she’d made there and she’d never really made any new close friends. It was her sisters that she hung out the most with, that she vented to, shared secrets with...

  And she could really use someone to vent about her sisters to right now. They had good intentions, but her entire family was driving her up the wall.

  "Screw it."

  Sitting alone in her apartment with her phone turned off, eating Ben & Jerry's, might not make her f
amily feel any less troubled about her, but it sure as hell made her feel better. What was wrong with having a night like this anyway? Maria liked sitting and watching rom-coms by herself, eating whatever the fuck she wanted. Okay, it'd be more fun with her sisters here, but the point was that she didn't need a man.

  Although it might be nice to get laid.

  Mmmm... she wondered what that Greek god from this morning was doing. Just knowing he was in the same building made her feel all tingly and hot. Unfortunately, the moment she started considering ditching the ice cream and grabbing her vibrator, someone knocked on her door. For just a quick second, a porno-esque fantasy ran through her head - maybe her thoughts had drawn him! Maybe he was at her door, hunkalicious and needing something from his eager neighbor!

  When she peeked through the keyhole, her fantasies took a swift retreat. Recognizing the grey curls of Mrs. Piece, she shoved down her disappointment (which was silly anyway since the Greek god didn’t even know her) and opened the door.

  "Good evening Maria, I'm sorry to bother you," the older woman said, peering up at her with an apologetic smile. In her early eighties, Mrs. Pierce insisted on living in her own apartment with her own things. Although her granddaughter stopped by on a regular basis, she often relied on her neighbors for help with little things.

  "No problem, Mrs. Pierce, what can I do for you?" she asked.

  "I'm making cookies and I thought I had enough brown sugar, but I'm half a cup short. Do you think you might have some?"

  "Of course, I'll be right over with it!"

  "Thank you dear!"

  Well so much for a night of dreaming about the Greek God. Maria knew from past experiences with Mrs. Pierce that she was now in for an evening of giving up detailed descriptions of everything going on in her and her sisters' lives, hearing about every last detail of Mrs. Pierce's granddaughter's life, and eating some seriously delicious cookies. All in all, right now, it sounded kind of relaxing. Plus, she knew that Mrs. Pierce be delighted to hear all about Lara's engagement party, and she wouldn't be one of the people clucking over Maria's single status. Mrs. Pierce firmly believed in holding out until the right man, no matter how long it took.

  It was an attitude that Maria fully appreciated.

  ******

  Leather, sweat and sex. That's what the Dungeon of Stronghold smelled like. The sounds were even more erotically disturbing. Screams. The crack of leather against flesh. Moans. Whimpers. Begging.

  It wasn't even making him a little bit hard.

  Okay, that was a lie, he was a little hard, but being at half-mast wasn't where he should be, not when he'd just finished a scene of his own. The blissed out little subbie that he was unhooking from the spanking bench had been wonderful, but Rick just hadn't felt anything with her. Feeling desire, even if he wasn't interested in the woman in question beyond a scene, hadn't been a problem before, but apparently it was now.

  Fortunately Anna's hard limits within the club included sex. She was a newer sub and still getting used to public scening; she wasn't comfortable with the idea of sex in public yet, although she'd consented to manual and oral stimulation, and the use of toys.

  Rick loved watching a woman orgasm just as much as he loved watching a woman writhing with need when she was denied climax, but tonight, neither had done much for him. He'd been into making sure Anna got what she needed, the lack of spark or real connection between them wasn't her fault, but he was glad that her own boundaries forbear real sexual contact between them. That way he didn’t have to find a nice way to reject further intimacies between them.

  "Thank you, Sir," she said, glowing up at him as he wrapped her in a blanket. With her red cheeks, slightly reddened eyes, and happy smile, she was the very image of a well-satisfied submissive. That made him feel slightly better.

  Twenty minutes later, Anna was well enough to return to the locker room on her own two feet, and Rick found himself back at the bar with his friends. For once Andrew wasn't behind the bar, he was off scening with Ellie - a very sweet submissive and masochist who had absolutely no interest in a Dom beyond the scene, and therefore was a good match for him - but Adam, Angel and Patrick were all sitting at one of the tables, chatting. Rick strode over to join them.

  "I doubt she'll be around again anytime soon," Angel was saying to Patrick as Rick walked up. The pretty brunette was obviously emphasizing her Asian heritage this evening, the design on her corset had a mandarin neckline with a deep keyhole that showed off her cleavage. She was wearing a collar made out of matching fabric, and her hair was up and held in place with chopsticks, keeping it off her neck. Adam's fingers were running back and forth along the back of her collar, and Rick recognized the territorial look in his friend's eye.

  The aggressive, blonde haired, blue eyed Dom wasn't used to waiting for what he wanted, but Angel was no pushover, and so she wouldn't be wearing his collar anytime soon. Just recently she'd announced that she didn't care how much of her stuff was in his house, she wasn't officially moving in until they'd been together for a year.

  Suffice to say, Adam had been more possessive than ever after that. Not that he thought she was going to leave him just because she didn't want to move in, it was just his natural reaction to her declaration of independence.

  "Who are we talking about?" Rick asked as he sat down at the table, giving Adam and Patrick a nod and Angel a smile. Naturally tactile, she leaned over to give him a hug. Rick pulled her in tight, smirking at her Dom over her shoulder.

  "You're supposed to ask permission before letting another Dom touch you," Adam growled, tugging on Angel's hips to pull her back. Rick let his hands linger down her arms as she pulled away. Adam glared at Rick through narrowed eyes. Superficially, the two of them looked rather alike, although Adam had facial hair and tended to be compared to a Viking. In both looks and demeanor. Whereas Rick was usually seen as more clean cut and easy-going.

  Rick grinned and winked at Angel, eliciting another growl from Adam.

  "Oh stop it, it's just Rick. Sir."

  Ever since Adam had realized that Angel didn't exactly run on his leash, he'd been remarkably easy to tease. It wasn't something any of their group of friends got to do very often, and for the single ones - like Rick and Andrew - it was fast becoming their favorite game. Patrick didn't play, but then again Angel didn't encourage him either. She definitely encouraged Rick and Andrew.

  Eventually Adam was going to stop putting up with it.

  "Do we need another lesson on manners, sub?" the blonde Dom asked, biting her earlobe. Angel's eyes half-lidded as she shivered. He had her pulled up against his body, nestled between his legs, rather than allowing her to sit on her own stool. Rick watched enviously. Not that he disliked being a voyeur, but his enjoyment of watching them was also tinged with his jealousy.

  "If it pleases you, Sir," she replied, a sultriness to her voice.

  "If you'd behaved, it would have pleased me sooner. Now you'll have to wait. Brat. Now answer Rick's question."

  Angel pouted as both Rick and Patrick laughed. Every so often she would try to top from the bottom and it was always amusing to watching Adam catch her at it. He always kept her guessing as to how she'd be punished for it.

  "What was the question again?" she asked.

  "Who's not coming back here anytime soon?" he repeated, waving at one of the subs that was serving drinks. He'd been here often enough recently for them to know that he just wanted a glass of anything on tap.

  Making a face, Angel sighed. "Leigh. Ever since she got back together with dickhead, she's been doing whatever he wants to do. I don't think she's even told him about this place, there's no way he'd be okay with her coming here."

  "That's too bad." Their group had rather liked Angel's best friend. She was sweet with a sunny disposition, despite the fact that she'd met them all after a recent breakup with her long-term boyfriend - aka Dickhead. Rick thought she might even be a bit of a submissive. She was definitely attractive enough to appeal to him; a
little skinny on top, but he'd definitely appreciated her well-rounded hips and ass.

  The generously endowed tease he'd seen at the pool flashed through his head, cutting right across his mental image of Leigh. Yeah, those were some delightful proportions. Anna's had been close to those... but there was just that little something missing. A spark that he’d felt from just looking at pool-girl. That spark had definitely been missing when he’d met Leigh too.

  "Yeah, I really wish she'd just give up on him, but something always sends her back."

  "We feel the same about Jared," Patrick said, looking at her sympathetically. Well, as close to sympathy as his expression ever came. The scar that ran down the side of his face, leftover from a playful sword fight in high school with his best friend, tended to twist his expressions a bit. "Haven't talked to him in days."

  Angel made a face, wrinkling her nose in a manner that was as adorable as it was disdainful. "Yeah, I didn't think there was anyone worse than Michael, but Marissa definitely takes the prize. I understand Leigh's relationship better than I understand theirs!"

  "We've been wondering for years if he'll ever manage to get away from her, but every time she draws him back in," Rick said, turning to accept the beer the submissive had brought him. The pretty blonde imp gave him an inviting smile, but he just kept his own smile neutral and nodded his thanks before turning away.

  "Don't feel like playing again tonight?" Patrick asked, once the server was out of earshot. Rick just shook his head. Maybe if he saw someone that he actually felt a stirring of interest in, but he wasn’t going to force another disappointing scene tonight.

  "I wish I had more female friends," Angel muttered. The guys all looked at her, their expressions ranging from amusement to disbelief. It was well known that Angel preferred guy friends to girls, although she’d become fast friends with Jessica, Hilary, Lexie and Olivia. They and Leigh were the exceptions to her rule; something that Adam struggled with but tolerated for her sake. "What, I do! I'm sure if I had them, they'd be awesome, and then I could hook Rick up."