Denys, Jennifer - Friendly Seduction [Friends and Acquaintances 2] (Siren Publishing Classic) (6 page)

“I’m happy to provide assistance. It’s just I don’t know how much help I am giving you.” Lissa swore to herself. She sounded so pathetic, but Matt had never shown any interest in her before this, and she was not sure how to cope with his sudden attention now. She mentally kicked herself. A voice in her brain was shouting at her
to shut up and not spoil things. In fact she could have sworn it was Gina’s voice.

“Please don’t stop now. You can’t believe how much help you were last time. I got tons of pages done.” He sounded genuine.

She was surprised and pleased. “Really? That’s brilliant. Can I read them?”

“
No
!” Matt looked anxious.

Stunned at his outburst, Lissa took a half pace backward. She stood openmouthed, not sure how to take it. On the one hand, he indicated she had helped him tremendously and wanted her further help but, on the other, seemed reluctant.

He ran a hand through his hair and looked guilty. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to startle you, it’s just I’d rather talk you through the bits I need help with.”

“Oh. Okay, no prob. So what’s the scene we’re working on today?” Lissa herself was anxious. It wasn’t going very well so far, and she was nervous about what was going to happen. Had he touched her like that last time just to practice the scene, and would he touch her like that again? As for the kiss the way he grinned at her afterward indicated he had been taking advantage of the moment as much as practicing it for his book.

“Come and sit so I can recap.” She slowly followed him to the sofa and watched him quickly move some handwritten pages. She was curious and tilted her head trying to read them, but he deposited them out of her reach before she could see anything. He patted the sofa and began before she had fully sat down. “Right, so, Felissa has run away…”

“
Felissa
,” she cried in amazement, suddenly sitting ungraciously on the seat with a thud.

Matt grinned ruefully. “Yeah, that’s what I decided to call the girl. Well, you helped create her. The least I can do is name her after you.”

She was momentarily speechless. This was the last thing she was expecting. “Thank you. Wow. I’m stunned.”

Ignoring her shocked state, he continued, “Anyhow, as I was saying, she’s run away from her owner and has been tracked down by Garin, the bounty hunter.”

“Garin, huh. Not Matt, or Fematt.” She giggled at the long-suffering look on his face.

“Fematt, eh. You nutter.” He grinned at her.

Pleased to have this banter after the worrying start, she relaxed back in her seat.

“Shush and let me finish. Felissa is resisting Garin partly because she is attracted to him, as he is to her. This causes him some concern because he has to give her back to her master.”

“Yup, got that.”

“So in this scene she has escaped from him while they are in a space station getting supplies, but he catches her and he is angry. Naturally. It is his job to return her after all. But he is doubly angry because he is confused by his attraction to her, so he decides to whip her as punishment and to deter her from trying to run away again.”

Lissa went stiff. Matt had stopped and was looking down checking his notes. She quietly asked, still unsure she had heard him correctly, “He did what?”

Matt’s head came up from his notes. “Whipped her,” he stated as if it happened every day of the week.

“W–Whipped her… Um, why?”

He looked at her, chagrined. “Well, it features in some of those books you gave me, and you mentioned punishment of some sort goes down well with female readers. Was I wrong to include it?” He sounded unsure.

“No. No, not wrong. Just surprising.” The more she thought about it, the more she liked the idea. She grinned and relaxed back into sofa again. “Yup, it’s growing on me. Okay. So he whipped her. What happens next?”

“Actually, I haven’t got that far. It is the whipping I need help with.”

She sat up stunned again. “How exactly?” she asked tentatively, her heart beginning to race.
Surely this isn’t going the way it seems to be going?

“Well, I hoped I could recreate this scene with you.” He looked at her with hopeful eyes.

Yup—it’s gone exactly the way I thought it would go
. Her voice rose. “You want to w–whip me?”

He smiled ruefully. “Well, actually it’s just a bamboo stick like you use in gardens, but I need to know how it feels to wield such an instrument. You can be clothed. I’ve it tried against the bed, but I need to try it on something animate.”

She winced and straightened her back in anticipation. “So you’ve never done this on a person before?”

“Nope.”

“And you want me to be the first?” She was still horrified by this turn of events, if aroused at the same time.

“I’ll do it gently. I promise. But I need to see how your body reacts.”

“Hell. I can’t believe I’m agreeing to this.”

“You will? Excellent!” He jumped up in excitement.

She groaned. He was like a puppy dog at times. She stood quickly before she lost her nerve. “Come on then. Where do you want to do this?”

They both laughed at the same time and said, “The bedroom.”

Lissa held back as she entered the room and held her arms wide. “Um, Matt, I’m wearing good clothes here. Can you lend me something else to wear?”

Looking her up and down, he lingered on her bottom half encased in a tight skirt. “If my jeans fit you, I’m dumping you as my research assistant.”

“Oh ha-ha.”

Grinning at her response, he rummaged in a drawer and pulled out some old sweatpants and T-shirt. “Will these do?”

“Sure.” She turned to leave the room to go to the bathroom.

He moved to stop her. “Where are you going?”

Laughing at his bewildered face, she said, “You surely didn’t expect me to strip off and change in front of you?” Shaking her head at his hangdog expression, she left the room to change and returned with the sweatpants turned up considerably as Matt was much taller than her, with the drawstring pulled tight.

The bamboo stick was in his hand. “Oh my God. Is that it?” Her voice rose in fear. She had seen one before of course, but never considered it in the light of it being used to whip someone.

He furtively concealed it around his back.

“Matt!”

Tentatively, he brought it out. “It will be all right. I’ll be gentle, fairly gentle.”

“Fairly,” she said weakly as he moved toward her, dropping the menacing stick on the side of the bed before gathering her hands to tie them. He then turned her to face the door and lifted her hands up so he could attach them to the same hook he had used before. She could feel his breath on her face. He then placed a quick kiss on her cheek. Her cheek tingled, and she bit her lip to stop from moaning in delight. God, she was a pushover!

“Okay?”

“Oh, sure, I love being your whipping dog. It’s been my life’s dream.” She then felt herself flushing. She had actually had some erotic dreams about Matt which included him tying her up and flogging her, so it wasn’t far off the truth. She was thankful she was facing away from him.

“Comments like that will only get you punished,” he threatened melodramatically, pretending menace.

Giggling at his bad acting, she felt the loss of his warm body as he moved back from her. The swish of the stick as he tested it behind her made her flinch.

“Are you ready?”

She nodded. She was so terrified that’s about all she could do. Her mouth was dry from fear. The first hit was against her buttocks which were well covered because his T-shirt nearly came down to her knees. She trembled in response. Not because it was bad but because she hardly felt it at all.

He suddenly moved close and laid a gentle hand on her back to calm her. “Oh my God. I’ve hurt you.”

Lissa laughed in sheer relief. “Matt, you hardly touched me!”

“Why are you trembling then?” he asked anxiously.

“That was more in anticipation, I think. Try again.”

“Okay, if you’re certain?” He certainly didn’t sound sure himself, but she heard him move back in readiness for a strike.

She then felt the second hit, slightly harder than before angled lower than the previous. It was still all right. She could take more. “And again.”

“God, you’re a glutton for punishment.” He then groaned at his pun but proceeded to whip her harder.

It caught the side of her hip. She resisted the urge to jerk her body to the side. Okay, he was getting into it now
.
But then so was she, Lissa realized. There was something about being tied up and whipped by someone she fancied that was very erotic. She felt her panties get wet.

The next hit came—much harder than the others. “Ow. Ow. Ow.” She grimaced at the pain, not having expected it to be that hard. He had taken her at her word.

“That’s it.” She heard him fling the stick down. “I’m not doing any more, but before I untie you, describe the pain for me quickly while it is fresh in your mind.” He moved in close, his hands on her hips steadying her, caressing her where he had hit. God she enjoyed the feel of him touching her.

“Lissa!”

She shook her head to gather her thoughts. “Um, sharp, sort of stinging, hot. I mean, my backside feels hot. Since I can’t see what you’re doing, I found myself listening out for the swishing noise so I knew when a hit was coming. ” She turned her head so she could look at him briefly, and then ducked her head, embarrassed, as his face was very close to hers. “I’ll tell you something else. It is very arousing!”

He chuckled behind her and untied her. As her arms dropped, he bent down and surprised her immensely by lifting her into his arms.

“Ahh,” she cried as he suddenly stumbled. She hastily clutched him around the neck.

Straightening up, he gathered her more closely to his body. “Sorry!” he said breathlessly. “It seems so simple in the books when the hero lifts the girl effortlessly.”

She tensed. “Are you saying I’m fat?”

Chuckling at her comment, his breathing returning to normal, he moved toward the bed. His balance was steadier now. “Hell, no.” To show he meant what he said, he laid her down unhurried on the bed without any visible effort this time. There was no dropping her in a rush like she expected.

“Wow, talk about sweeping a girl off her feet. I’m impressed—and you think you’re no good at the romantic stuff.”

He grinned. “I’ve had an excellent research assistant who is helping me learn. Besides, this isn’t me doing this, it’s Garin.”

She giggled. Then her eyes widened as he moved onto the bed next to her. “What are you doing now?”

Lifting a hand to cup her face, he pushed a stray lock behind her ear before rubbing a thumb across her lips. She quivered. “Shh. Garin lays Felissa on the bed,” he stated, referring to the book. “He expects her to jump off, but to his surprise, she doesn’t. She gives him a look of passion and longing. That’s it, just like that.”

It wasn’t hard for Lissa to recreate such a look. She swallowed nervously, knowing it was a genuine look, her hands fluttering against his arms as she wanted to hold him but was anxious about touching him.

He then bent his head forward, and, clasping the back of her head firmly with one hand, he kissed her. It wasn’t like the last kiss which had been short and sweet. This was long, slow, lingering, passionate, tingling, arousing. His tongue pressing firmly between her teeth, he stroked her tongue and then withdrew only to plunge in again. As their tongues met, she felt ripples of desire rush through her body and her clit began to pulse.