The Flirtation Read online

  place. He felt a little silly now, especially since it had interrupted whatever the two of them were doing.

  “I wanted to know your thoughts on online relationships.”

  “I don’t have a lot of experience, personally,” Luke said. “Several members of the club have, though.”

  “Let me rephrase. What do you think of somebody like me having an online relationship?”

  “When you say someone like you, you mean . . . ?”

  Simon took a deep breath. “A sadist. That’s what I mean.”

  “I mean no disrespect,” Luke said. “But how exactly do you practice that online?”

  “I wouldn’t be in this case. It would just be more like taking the edge off.” He thought back to Lynne. “I’ve done it once before. We ended up meeting, but nothing really happened along those lines.” He didn’t add that he had been the one to break things off.

  “And you think you’ll have a different outcome the second time?”

  “I don’t think I’m going to get anywhere by doing nothing. And let’s face it: the club scene hasn’t really worked for me lately.”

  “In that case, give it a try. You could start with small things and work your way up. Who knows? You might find someone who’s willing to meet you and take some pain at the same time.”

  Simon laughed. “My perfect sub is out there just waiting for me to take the reins?”

  “Yes, and to beat her with them.”

  They both chuckled and hung up. Simon went back to his computer, feeling encouraged, and typed out an e-mail message to SSG. If she wanted to play online, he’d see how serious she was. He proofed the e-mail and set it up to send automatically at six the next morning.

  Chapter Three

  Lynne chewed her cereal while reading Simon’s e-mail. It had really been a fluke that she’d checked it at all before she went to class. But for whatever reason, she hadn’t been able to sleep well and had eventually gotten up much earlier than she usually did.

  Thank goodness for flukes, she decided, as she read through it one more time.

  SSG,

  I’ve been thinking about what you said and examining my own goals at the same time. I think you made a valid point last evening when you said trying something online was a good place to start.

  I don’t do a lot of this. In fact, I’ve done it only once before. But if you’d like to try, I will as well. I don’t want to start anything too strict or overbearing. We don’t know each other well enough for that yet.

  That said, I would like to get to know you better. If you are not comfortable with a phone call, perhaps we can continue with the instant messaging. Please send me an e-mail and let me know which you would prefer. Also, if you’re free tonight, let me know that as well.

  Best,

  SirSimon

  She hadn’t dreamed it. Simon had e-mailed her and wanted to try something online. Tonight. Suddenly, the next twelve hours couldn’t pass fast enough. She typed back a quick reply to let him know that she would be free.

  All day, the e-mail kept coming to mind and she had a hard time concentrating in class. She told herself not to be distracted; she was in the city to learn and to get her teaching certificate. And yet he was always there, in the back of her mind. Waiting.

  She made it home at three o’clock in the afternoon. In what she thought was a Herculean effort, she would not allow herself to log in to her e-mail until she finished all her schoolwork. Fortunately, there wasn’t much to do. Unfortunately, it was only five thirty by the time she finished. Unable to wait any longer, she turned on her laptop to check her e-mail. She was only mildly disappointed to see that she did not have a response from Simon, since she didn’t really expect there to be anything.

  She busied herself making dinner and then spent an inordinate amount of time cleaning the kitchen. It was stupid, as the kitchen was spotless to begin with. And even if it wasn’t, the Wests had a cleaning crew coming by weekly.

  She looked at the clock when she finished. Six thirty.

  Unable to stay away from her laptop any longer, she glanced over the recent posts on the online BDSM forum. She saw someone who might have been Anna Beth and made note of the username. She wondered if her Dom had liked the corset.

  Unable to think of anything else to do, she decided to exercise. Jumping jacks. Stretches. And those god-awful yoga poses Abby had shown her once.

  Finally. Finally. It was time.

  She hurried over to the place on the couch where she had set up her laptop. Earlier in the day, she told Simon that she preferred to chat online instead of on the phone. She wasn’t sure she could disguise her voice enough so that he wouldn’t recognize it.

  Was she being dishonest? Yes. She knew she was, and she knew Simon wouldn’t like it if he ever discovered the truth. In the short time they had been together, he’d repeatedly stressed how important honesty was between partners in a BDSM relationship. She told herself she wasn’t being that dishonest. But deep inside she knew she was wrong to lie to him.

  But that wasn’t going to stop her.

  At eight o’clock exactly, her laptop chimed with an incoming message.

  Hello, SSG.

  It occurs to me that I should call you something more meaningful. Unless you like to be called SSG.

  It didn’t escape her attention that he was talking as if she were there. He had not asked her if she was present. Nor had he asked for any sort of confirmation that she was, in fact, at the computer. It only proved what she knew. When Simon issued commands, he expected them to be followed.

  She thought quickly, not wanting him to think she hadn’t been ready and prepared for his message.

  Hello, Sir. SSG does sound a bit too clinical. You may call me Faye.

  It was the first thing she thought of. Her middle name. She didn’t think she had told him her middle name when they were dating. There was always a chance he knew somehow, but hopefully he would chalk it up to a coincidence. She also decided to add the “Sir,” believing this new step warranted the title, as it showed her trust in him. If he didn’t think so, he’d tell her.

  Thank you, Faye.

  It was ludicrous that she felt so happy at pleasing him. Especially since it wasn’t even a name she went by. The fake name wasn’t a rare thing, though. A lot of people played with assumed names. The practice was actually encouraged. But even so, she knew Simon would expect her to tell him who she was since they had a history. Maybe she would. One day.

  But that day wasn’t today.

  He wrote again.

  I thought tonight we’d just get to know each other a bit. How does that sound?

  It sounded like a perfectly reasonable thing to do, and if it had been anyone else, she would have jumped in with both feet. Even knowing him the way she did, the thought of getting to know him better thrilled her.

  Yet she wasn’t as thrilled about him finding out about her. For the entire conversation, she’d be worried something would strike a chord with him and he’d put two and two together and realize it was her. The only other option was to lie, and that was an even worse idea.

  She knew there was nothing to do but agree.

  Sounds great, Sir.

  His reply came quickly.

  I’m aware I’m an unknown. If I ask you anything you don’t feel comfortable with, just tell me. You don’t have to answer.

  And that was her out. If he asked her a question and she felt the answer would give away who she was, she would tell him she didn’t feel comfortable discussing that topic.

  With a sigh of relief, she replied.

  Thank you, Sir.

  His first question made her smile.

  If you weren’t talking with me right now, what would you normally be doing?

  It definitely wasn’t the question she’d expected. Far from it. She glanced at the quiet television. Should she tell him?

  What the hell? Honesty it was.

  You know those reality TV talent shows?

 
The singing ones?

  Yes. I’m secretly addicted to those.

  And one’s on right now?

  Yes.

  Turn it on. BRB

  She turned the TV on and waited for him to come back.

  Okay, I’m back. So tell me who in their right mind told this guy up now he could sing?

  She laughed, and by the time the show went off the air two hours later, she couldn’t remember a time she had had so much fun watching TV. Simon had a snarky side she hadn’t known about. They said their good-byes and good nights, and Simon said he’d e-mail her soon.

  She left her laptop open while she got ready for bed, and she was surprised to find an e-mail waiting for her after she showered. Just seeing his name with an unread message made her feel aroused and tingly.

  She flushed as she read the message.

  Faye,

  I had such a great time chatting with you tonight. I really enjoyed getting to know you better. I know we both want to take this slow, but I thought if you’d like to continue, we could add a few things along the way. Not too much and not too quickly.

  If you agree, your orgasms now belong to me. You will not play with yourself or come without permission. I know we’re only communicating via the Internet right now, but believe me when I say that I’ll know if you’re telling the truth.

  Yours,

  SirSimon

  She bit the inside of her lip. After chatting with him, she’d planned to spend some quality time with her vibrator once she finished her shower. The thing was, she still could. Simon wouldn’t know she’d read his e-mail tonight. For all he knew, she’d turned her laptop off and wouldn’t read it until tomorrow morning.

  If she played it that way, she could still have a marathon vibrator session tonight. It would be so easy. . . .

  Her shoulders slumped.

  She couldn’t do it. She had never been a good liar, and though she wasn’t sure what he meant by “I’ll know if you’re telling the truth,” she believed him. Either she’d feel so guilty, she’d confess, or he’d use his supersonic Dom sense to pull the confession out of her. She’d lived with Nathaniel and Abby long enough not to discredit the existence of supersonic Dom sense.

  Not only that, but being around the Wests had proven that things Did Not Go Well for submissives who disobeyed or lied to their Doms. The truth of the situation was, she’d told herself she wanted to experience another BDSM relationship. She’d sought one out. A Dom controlling a submissive’s orgasms was fairly standard and something she’d expected.

  But dammit all. Why did it have to start tonight?

  “Why didn’t I turn the computer off before I took a shower?” she asked the empty penthouse.

  She stared at the screen as if Simon were going to send another message, saying, “Kidding! Just seeing if you were paying attention.” No such message appeared, though, and after five minutes, she typed back a reply.

  SirSimon,

  I can’t remember the last time TV was so much fun. Thank you for sharing your evening with me.

  My orgasms are now yours.

  —Faye

  It felt all kinds of awkward signing her name as Faye. Looked weird on the screen, too. She checked her regular account to see if anyone had sent something to that account. Just when she was getting ready to turn the laptop off for the night, once and for all, an instant message popped up.

  Your response pleased me. You may make yourself come once tonight.

  Her response to him was swift.

  Thank you, Sir.

  She decided that sometimes it paid to be the good girl who couldn’t lie.

  Chapter Four

  After two weeks of playing online games with Faye, Simon was more sexually frustrated than he’d ever thought possible. He blamed himself. He’d always believed that he shouldn’t give his submissive an order that he couldn’t obey himself.

  Since telling Faye that her orgasms belonged to him and allowing her that one night to come, he hadn’t given her permission again. Because he was a damn sadist, he decided the same would apply to him. He had no idea two weeks could seem so long.

  Things were moving along great with Faye. They chatted by computer almost every day and he’d been pleased to discover that while she appeared sweet on the surface, she had a sarcastic streak that matched his. Things had progressed to the point where he’d really like to meet her in person to see if they were compatible off-line as well as online.

  He would have to tread sofly and with care before they took such a step. Asking to meet a woman who only knew of him what he’d told her online was a huge step. He knew he wasn’t a deranged maniac, but that didn’t mean there weren’t plenty of predators on the Internet who were.

  Before he asked her to meet in person, it might be better to push her a bit more online. So far he’d been pleasantly surprised that she didn’t whine or pout about the lack of anything sexual between them. Perhaps it was time he rewarded her behavior and added a touch of something physical.

  Or as physical as you could get while communicating via a computer. A webcam would be a nice place to start.

  He sent her a quick e-mail asking if she had the ability to do a video chat.

  Three hours later, he was packing up to head home and he still hadn’t heard from her. That wasn’t typical. Normally she’d reply almost immediately. He hoped he hadn’t turned her off by suggesting a webcam. Surely, she didn’t think they were just going to get by on e-mails and web chats?

  He wouldn’t push, though. Setting up a video chat with an almost perfect stranger would certainly give most women pause. At least it should. If she didn’t reply before their scheduled eight p.m. chat time, they could discuss it then. If he needed to pull back, he would. No matter how blue his balls were.

  By the time he made it back to his apartment, he’d accepted the fact that the video chat wasn’t going to happen. Not that night anyway. He’d convinced himself to such a degree that he didn’t check his e-mail until six thirty. He almost dropped his phone when he saw she’d replied.

  SirSimon,

  Please forgive the tardiness of this reply. I wanted to ensure I had the capabilities to do a video chat and to make sure I knew how to work it (new computer). I can get everything to work except the audio output. The input works fine, so I can hear you, but you won’t be able to hear me. I hope that won’t be an issue. I can get