Today I would like to welcome Cassandra Carr to the blog.
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
Blurb:
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
Buy Links:
Amazon:
B&N:
All Romance E-books:
Loose Id:
Cassandra Carr is a multi-published,
award-winning erotic romance writer with Ellora's Cave, Siren, Sybarite
Seductions and Loose Id who lives in Western New York with her husband,
Inspiration, and her daughter, Too Cute for Words. When not writing she enjoys
watching hockey and hanging out on Twitter. Cassandra's book Caught was
recently named Best BDSM Book 2011 by LoveRomancesCafe and Impact was named
BDSM Book of the Month for May 2012 by BDSM Book Reviews.
For
more information about Cassandra, check out her website at http://www.booksbycassandracarr.com, "like" her Facebook
fan page at http://www.facebook.com/AuthorCassandraCarr or follow her on Twitter
at http://www.twitter.com/Cassandra_Carr.
Cassandra is offering one commenter a $5 Gift Card to a bookseller of choice. Just comment below with your email to enter.
