Rebound:Curvy Seduction Saga – Book One(20)

"This is the first time in as long as I can remember that I don't have  some committee to be on, or a charity to throw a fundraiser for, or some  cocktail party to plan. I didn't realize how much time being the social  good girl took up." I very neatly avoided talking about how lonely I  felt.

"Would you like me to pleasure you, mistress?" Ilario crossed the room and sat on the edge of the desk.                       
       
           



       

"You're sweet, but maybe later." To be honest, I was a little orgasmed out. A tragedy in itself.

Ilario's eyes traveled up my legs, stopped and paid special attention to  my boobs and had genuine interest in them by the time he made it to my  face. The guy did wonders for my ego.

"Would you like me to help you find a new project?" he offered.

It was so important to Ilario to feel needed. I was sure that was at the  core of his submission and I completely understood. I'd committed to  these men as much as they had to me and that meant relationships outside  of the bedroom too. "I love that you're offering to help. What do you  mean?"

He relaxed, leaning his arms back on the desk and looked thoughtful. "If  you are used to doing many things with your time, of course you are  bored now. Dominic, Cade, and I can do your bidding, we can challenge  your body, but we are not here to challenge your mind."

I sat up and dropped my feet to the floor. A huevo, he was right. I'd  expected the harem to be my everything. It had been tons of fun setting  it up, and Lord knew it had been fun to play with the guys. My original  plan was to be their Domme.

It hadn't exactly turned out that way. Partly because Gray had taken charge where I couldn't.

Of course he had.

I didn't know squat about being a Dominatrix. Porn videos aside. If I  wanted to become one, I needed to do more than fool around with one and a  half submissive men.

I needed to learn what make guys tick. What turned them on. Why were some submissive and others so alpha-liscious.

Maybe in the process, I'd learn what made Gray tick too.

The need inside me to prove that I was more than the simpering chubby  girl who needed a full-time bodyguard was still there. A ménage  one-night-stand hadn't fulfilled it. A whole harem of men hadn't either.  I needed to think bigger. Much, much bigger.

I stood up and hugged him. "When did you get so wise?"

He hugged me back and gave a lingering nibble to my earlobe. "I am, how do you say, a smarty smart-pants."

I laughed, something I hadn't done enough of lately. "Yes, you are."

His hug moved from my back and down to my ass. "So, what will be your project?"

I let his hands wander and considered how much having this group of  people around who supported me, believed in me, had changed my life. I  was a stronger, happier person in just a few weeks.

On the other hand, everything I'd done on my own had gone to hell in a  handbasket. I had thought being the bad girl would mean no friends, and I  had definitely cut ties with all my former girlfriends. I also thought  it would mean dirty, but mostly meaningless, sex. Not real  relationships.

But what I had with Ilario wasn't meaningless, and I could say the same  of Dominic. Cade still hadn't shown us his inner ooey-gooeyness, but I  wasn't sure he showed that to anyone.

Then there was Gray. Our relationship was...weird at the moment, but I had no doubt he was there for me when I needed him.

I was far from being the fat, simpering ingénue of a few months ago. I  had resources and I knew how to use them to get what I wanted.

For my new idea, I would rely on those resources. I was going to get help.

"Inviting you guys was step one. I just now realized there's a step two,  and three, and twenty-three. I think you and the other guys are going  to enjoy it as much as I am." Oh, yes. It would be fun all right, and if  I approached it right, Gray would have to help me.

I left Ilario and went in search of the key to my plan. I found him in the garage. Of course.

Now to make the key fit in my lock. That sounded dirtier in my mind.

I pulled down my shirt to reveal a bit more cleavage and smoothed my  hands down my jeans. Not that he noticed. "Grayson. I need your help."

His head was buried under the hood of a car and he didn't bother to come out. "Don't you have a whole harem for that?"

The sound of his voice, sardonic though it was, went straight down my  spine and circled around to create a warm feeling in my stomach. I  wanted to reach out and touch him, take some comfort there. Our  encounters had been brief and stilted since the first night he'd left me  alone with the harem.

I'd decided to change our dynamic. Now I was reaping the consequences. I  couldn't allow myself to believe we would ever go back to the way they  were before.

Nothing would change between us if I didn't even try to get what I wanted for myself or from him.

"I'm ready for phase two of my plan."

Tools clinked and clanged. He could have fixed the Hubble telescope by  the time he responded. "Huh. I'm almost afraid to ask. But what's phase  two?"                       
       
           



       

I knew he was trying to act like he didn't care, but, I was excited  anyway. This would draw him back into my web. "A big project."

More clanging and banging, but his head finally made an appearance. He  wiped his hands on a rag and leaned back against the car. "Forming a  harem isn't big enough?"

It should have been. It took days of planning, weeks of research, and a  month to execute. I needed way, way bigger. Something tough, that didn't  happen overnight because I had the money to make it so.

Here it came, the big reveal. "Tell me about your sex club."

Gray's eyes narrowed and bordered on a glare. "Are you talking about a distraction or a project, naughty Angel?"

Was that interest in his voice? I'd forgotten what that sounded like  coming from him. I waved off his concern. I didn't need him guessing at  my ulterior motives. "I don't want to go. Well I do, but for research."

He folded his arms and crossed one leg over the other. "For what, more sexcapades with the puppies?"

I almost snorted at Gray's nickname for the guys. Didn't do any good to  inflate his ego by playing to it. "No, I'd like to get some training. In  real BDSM. Learn to be a Dominatrix."

"It's not that kind of place." Gray's tone turned gruff. "Foster Bennett  doesn't train anyone unless they are on their knees in front of him."

Gulp. I couldn't help but imagine myself on my knees, the mysterious Foster Bennett wasn't who I envisioned kneeling for.

"As fun as that sounds, I'd still like to talk to him. I don't want to  deal with any of the elite madams or escort service providers. They work  with people from the world my father lives in but pretends isn't there.  There have to be people with money who aren't so uppity."

"You mean people who've worked for it instead of inheriting. New money  has its own society too, babe. I'm not sure you'd be welcome."

This was the old Gray I knew. He never used to pull punches with me and I  trusted him because of it. We'd lost that somewhere in the last few  weeks.

He was right, I needed to have something to offer that would be valuable  to the nouveau riche, if I was going to be accepted by them. "The  disgraced daughter of the ivory towers can dish out all the gossip about  the dirty laundry of Fifth Avenue's kings and queens. That must be  worth something."

"You're still thinking about the world you came from. The people you  want me to introduce you to don't respect gossip and backstabbing. They  aren't into the politics. They work hard and play harder. Which is why  the Asylum exists. They pull themselves up by their bootstraps, not  Prada sandal straps."

That stung. Even more so because he was right. I didn't have a clue what  life was like without money. I didn't have anything to offer Foster in  exchange for training me to be a Dominatrix.

Maybe I could suck his dick, without Gray watching.

I'd hoped by bringing the subject up he'd tell me no one else would be allowed to train me in BDSM except for him.

But I don't think he could. He was in charge. End of story. I was asking  to learn how to be in charge. That left no place for Gray.

Shit. I hadn't thought of that. How could he be in control of me while I controlled someone else?

It sort of worked with the harem. Except totally not. Gray was never around. Not how I wanted him to be.

"That's why I need your help. Can you get me in to...what's it called  again?" I knew perfectly well what it was called. This was giving Gray  the upper hand.

He folded his arms and narrowed his eyes at me. "The Asylum."

"Like mental?"

The easy conversation and stupid small jokes between us were how we used  to be together. I hoped he'd take the bait. I needed to find a way to  keep it there, or at least remember what it felt like so when I missed  him, I could pull it out like a photograph.