Writes of Submission (32 page)

They followed Bunnie into the living room, where she was kneeling again in front of Wulf and holding up his mug. He took it with a smile and helped her back up, kissing the top of her head.

Allie gave the other two mugs to Karl and Brad and excused herself. Dante jumped up when he saw Nikki hobbling in with her drinks and took them out of her hands.

“What are you doing?” he chided her, putting them on a side table and helping her onto the couch. “You shouldn’t be carrying things.”

“Don’t be silly. I’m perfectly capable.” Nikki felt a small stab of disappointment at the informality of the exchange. She would never have thought she’d have the desire to be someone’s slave, but she had to admit that there was something oddly appealing about the formally ritualistic way that Wulf and Bunnie treated each other, at least in public.

She watched in fascination as they continued the photo shoot. Bunnie seemed completely enthralled by her Master. Nikki found herself envying the energy between the two of them. They looked into each other’s eyes deeply, seemingly oblivious to the camera pointed at them and clicking away. She imagined herself kneeling in front of Kane and Dante, looking at them with the adoring look that was on Bunnie’s face. The way Wulf would wind a hand in Bunnie’s hair and pull her head back made Nikki’s insides quiver and her panties begin to moisten.

Dante occasionally whispered suggestions to Karl, most likely about what kind of shots would be best for his publicity. When he came back to sit next to Nikki on the couch, he put a hand on her thigh with a smile and Nikki nearly threw herself on the floor in front of him. She’d had no idea that something so simple could be so erotic. Even though everyone had all of their clothes on, it was probably the most intimate thing Nikki had ever witnessed. There was one picture in particular, with Bunnie’s head resting on Wulf’s knee, his fingers stroking her cheek and an absolutely blissful expression on her face, that Nikki thought was more sexual than any porn she’d ever watched.

Knowing that Dante would freak out if she tried to kneel at his feet, Nikki settled for snuggling into his side. He put an arm around her shoulder and pulled her in closer, smiling. “Are you okay, babe?”

“I’m great.” She wanted to tell him that she was having to restrain herself from dragging him upstairs and begging him to fuck her. She’d never been so horny in her life. The sexual energy between Wulf and Bunnie was so tangible she could almost feel it stealing over her skin like a caressing touch. She ran a finger up Dante’s thigh, smirking a little at his hissed intake of breath.

He glanced down at her, whispering so as not to disrupt the session. “Behave, you.”

She pouted at him and whispered back. “I don’t want to behave.”

Karl’s voice stopped any reply Dante might have been about to make. “I think that’s enough for tonight, unless there are other shots you want to get, Dante.”

Dante stood abruptly, nearly causing Nikki to fall over onto the couch. She caught herself and sighed. There was a general hubbub as everyone said their thanks and good-byes and Bunnie put her coat back on.

She hugged Nikki before they left, leaning in to whisper into her ear. “Feel free to call if you have more questions for me. But just remember that sometimes bondage is the best kind of freedom there is.”

When they were gone, Dante took one look at Nikki’s face and swept her up into his arms. For once she didn’t protest, simply leaning her head on his shoulder as he carried her up to her room.

“You look worn out,” he observed as he put her carefully down on her bed.

“Not too tired for a little fooling around.” Nikki put out a hand to grab his shirt and pull him onto the bed.

He smiled and sat down, leaning over her. “I’ll only stay a minute. I want you to get some rest.”

She strained upward and his arms went around her as he lowered his face to hers and claimed her mouth. Allowing his tongue to enter her mouth was a strangely submissive gesture, as if his cock was invading her body instead, and she softened, feeling a wave of submission go through her. She wanted to belong to him as completely as possible, prove her devotion the way that Bunnie and Allie did for their men. If she could have merged herself into his body, she would have, gladly.

After a minute he pulled back slightly. Nikki reached down to run a finger over the front of his pants, feeling his erection twitch and grow at her touch. Trying to undo his zipper, she licked her lips and gave him the most suggestive look she could.

He chuckled, sitting up and letting her fall back onto the pillows. “Don’t be naughty, babe.”

“But—” She reached for him again. “I want to take care of you. Don’t you want it?”

“Of course I want it.” He stood up, belying his words. “But I don’t really think we should.”

She stared at him as he began to pace nervously around the room. Something was very wrong about this. “Why not?”

“Well, it just seems unfair to Kane for us to take this any further when he isn’t here. I’m not sure how it would change things.”

She struggled to sit up, her pleasantly submissive buzz draining rapidly out of her body. It left her with a slightly ashamed feeling, as if she’d thrown herself at someone who wasn’t interested. “You mean you don’t want to have sex with me unless Kane’s here?”

“No, that’s not what I mean at all.” He came back to sit on the bed, but not next to her this time, as if he didn’t trust himself. He was down at the foot, as far away from her as he could get. “I just mean that I don’t want to upset the balance of what we were starting. If Kane didn’t leave by choice, then it would be best to try to keep it as stable as possible while he’s gone.”

“What if he did leave by choice? What if he doesn’t come back?” Nikki had a sudden vision of herself sitting on the front porch of Clifftop, morosely watching Dante leaving to go back to his life, promising that as soon as Kane came back, so would he. Of course they would both forget about her at that point. Was it possible that he was more interested in Kane—

“We’ll deal with that when we know for sure.” Dante leaned forward to pat her knee. “It’s not that I don’t want to have sex with you, baby. You have to know that. If Kane doesn’t come back by the weekend, I promise that you and I will be together and it’ll be fantastic. But if—when he does come back, I don’t want it to seem as if we thought he’d left permanently. I just have a feeling it’ll be better this way. Trust me, babe.”

He watched her face as she worked through her frustration at his words. He was right, of course, but that didn’t help the despairing gloom that was stealing over her, pushing out all of the excited, submissive joy she’d been immersed in earlier.

She allowed herself to flop back onto the bed, defeated. He seemed to read her attitude as agreement, because he stood up and gave her a tentative smile. “It’ll all work out, you’ll see. Now go to sleep. This will make more sense in the morning, but I have an assignment to tide you over. I want you to dream naughty dreams for me tonight. In the morning it can help kickstart the next sex scene in the book.”

* * * *

“Wake up, sleepy head.”

Startled awake, Nikki looked around, trying to get her eyes to focus. Gradually she became aware of a blurred form standing in the open bedroom door and she blinked again. As the figure moved into the room it was no longer hidden by the hallway lights and she was able to make out Dante’s handsome features smiling down at her.

“Come on, babe,” he said cheerfully. “We have a lot to do today. We need to grab a bite to eat and then get started on the scene you were to dream about for me before we do that photo shoot for Allie and the guys.”

She yawned, willing herself to match his energy level. “Okay. What should I wear?”

“Something comfortable until we brainstorm what we’re going to do. Later we’ll have you change into something sexier.” He pulled back the sheets, smiling when it became obvious that she had slept nude.

She gave him a coy look and twisted herself into what she hoped was a sexy pose. “See anything you like?”

The grin on his face told her she’d been successful. “Oh baby, I like it all. You are an evil woman, you know that? You’re going to make me completely forget what I came in here for. What was it we were supposed to be doing today?”

She sat up and laughed, resisting the urge to pull a blanket over herself and marveling at how comfortable she was getting with nudity. “Thank you. You sure know how to make a girl feel good. Now hand me my robe so I can cleaned up. I’ll be down in a few and we can eat. I won’t hold you up too long.”

“I could help.” He waggled his eyebrows at her with a lecherous grin as he pulled her to her feet. “You know, scrub your back and such. All in the interest of time, of course.”

“Get going, you goof.” She leaned in for a kiss, running her hand down the front of his chest. The kiss started out chaste enough but soon escalated into a fierce tongue battle. He pulled her in tight and she felt the erection growing inside his pants. She pressed into it, rubbing her pussy against the rock-hard bulge, happy to feel it growing even larger. Then suddenly an image popped into her mind of the last time she had felt that part of him. Breaking the kiss, she stepped back with a frown.

His eyes widened. “Babe? Did I do something wrong?”

“No, it’s not you.” She pulled the robe tighter and slumped back down onto the bed. “I just remembered the last time I felt your…interest, and it struck me that Kane left us right after. I’m sorry.”

Dante stepped back and let his hands fall to his sides. “I understand. I know you’re worried and you miss him. It’ll turn out okay, though. Really. You’ll see. Just like we talked about last night.”

He didn’t seem reassured by the halfhearted smile she managed in response. His hand came up to briefly caress her cheek. “Trust me, babe. It’ll be okay. I’ll leave you to your shower.”

As he turned away, she knew she had to say something. She simply couldn’t bear the hurt look on his face. “Wait, please, Dante.” She held out her hand and let him pull her back into his arms. “I’m sorry I’m being so weird, but this is a lot to get used to. I still find it hard to believe that you’re both interested in me. Just as I was starting to accept that, Kane left, and his leaving really threw me for a loop. Please don’t take it as a comment against you. I really like what we’ve been doing and don’t want it to stop. I just really enjoyed having you both. I know it’s silly but I did.”

He nodded, stroking her hair. “Me, too. It’s okay, babe. We’ll work through this together. Go ahead and get your shower now. Just holler if you want me to carry you down to breakfast.” He closed the door behind him as he left.

A short time later, Nikki stepped out of her bedroom on the way to the kitchen. At the top of the staircase, she squeaked in surprise, almost running into Dante as he lounged there, obviously waiting for her. “What are you doing here?”

Instead of answering, he straightened up to his full height and closed the remaining distance between them. Looking up into his face, she was surprised by the firm but quiet voice he used as he said, “I love you, Nikki. I don’t understand what’s happening with Kane and as angry as I am at not being able to do the reveal the way we’d talked about, I
am
sure he didn’t just throw us away—or at least not you, at any rate. No one in their right mind would let you go. I certainly don’t intend to, with or without him.”

His face lowered toward hers and she melted into his arms as he kissed her forcefully. Their lips mashed together in the frenzy of his kisses. Finally breaking the contact to collect their breath, she whispered, “I love you too, Dante.”

Chapter 27

Allie’s voice interrupted their embrace with an impatient tone. “There you are! Come on, you two. We’re running out of time and if you want to eat, you need to get a move on.”

They turned in unison to see her standing at the bottom of the staircase, her hands on her hips. Her expression could have been frustrated or excited. Nikki couldn’t tell.

“On our way.” Dante held out his arm to help Nikki negotiate her way down as Allie whirled around and went back into the kitchen. Glancing at her face, he commented, “Your ankle seems to be doing better.”

“Yes, it’s just a bit sore today.”

“What do you think Allie meant by we’re running out of time?” he asked, peering after their hostess, who was back and practically throwing food on the table.

“I have no idea,” Nikki whispered, feeling a little alarmed. Allie was always so laid back that this impatient rush she seemed to be in was completely out of character.

Before Dante could say anything else, Allie was tearing up the stairs, sweeping past them. She stopped halfway up and turned back, as if with an afterthought. “Your breakfast is on the table. Don’t dawdle. They’ll be here any minute.” Then she was gone.

“Okay, that was just weird.” Dante shook his head in obvious confusion.

“Yes, yes it was,” Nikki answered distractedly, staring after their hostess. “Who is going to be here? Were we expecting anyone today? Other models maybe?”

Dante shrugged. “Not that I know of, but who knows? Let’s eat before she has a stroke and then we’ll figure it all out.”

Fifteen minutes later they heard the front door open and someone rang the bell on the desk. Before Dante could stand to see who was there, Allie flew past on her way to the front room.