The Dom's Dilemma Read online

  Claudio flicked through his emails as he searched in the freezer for the lasagna his Italian nonna had pressed on him the last time he'd visited. With his half Greek, half Italian heritage, and a plethora of excitable Mediterranean females in his extended family, food and advice was always freely given. Whether you wanted it or not. His nonna—grandmother—was convinced he didn't cook, which was true enough, and insisted on filling his freezer. Hence the reason he didn't cook.

  One email caught his eye as he shoved the food into the oven. Seonagh.McMath. A nice and simple, not stupid email address. He'd seen enough of those to last him a lifetime, and it put him off the senders’ big time.

  Once he'd clicked the oven shut Claudio opened the email. It was straight and to the point.

  "Thank you for your email. The 13th at 7.30 will be perfect. Ring the bell. Thank you for agreeing to do this. Seonagh McMath.

  That was all. Evidently Ms. McMath was a woman of few words who got to the point—he liked that.

  Claudio typed out and sent a brief acknowledgement as he waited for his food to cook. Once he'd eaten, he forgot her as he attended to the backlog of emails regarding his work as an illustrator. Ten days away was nine too many to not fall behind. He really needed to slow down, and smell the daisies—or the leather of a new flogger.

  That thought, of course brought his mind back to Dommissimma and Seonagh. If the meeting at her shop was satisfactory, he'd confirm the tentative booking he'd made for the following Wednesday at the club. It could be interesting to say the least. Fiona and Lizzie, Domme and sub had offered to be dungeon master and sub buddy, and he knew fine well Linsey, or Tay, her co-owner would be around somewhere. Probably in the monitor room. For a private BDSM 101 session, there would still be a fair few people about. Some might say it was overkill. Claudio wouldn't. Not since a friend had almost been had up for grievous bodily harm many years ago. There was no such thing as too much security as far as Claudio was concerned.

  Especially with Athol and Edan's daughter. Bloody scary, I must be a masochist as well as a sadist, agreeing to this. However he knew they would have covered everything with Seonagh before approaching him.

  It didn't stop him dressing carefully for their meeting.

  Seonagh's shop was in a small town around twenty miles from Dommissimma and ten from his own home. As Claudio worked from a purpose built studio attached to his house, his commute was twenty yards. He'd deliberately created a covered walkway so he had no excuses about bad weather, and not going out in it. It also saved him time at either end of the day. As he frequently forgot the time, he'd set the alarm on his phone.

  True to type, he needed it, and he had to resist adding just a few more strokes to his latest illustration.

  He hated being late.

  Luckily he wasn't. He drew up outside the shop five minutes early. The closed sign was up, but a light inside showed him the place wasn't empty. He looked around, expecting to see Athol or Edan's car, but the street was deserted. Maybe there was a private car park behind. Whatever, he was here, so he'd go in.

  Claudio slid his legs to the tarmac and got out of his Porsche. Okay, he accepted it was fucking poser central, but he loved it, and fuck those who didn't. His car was not penile envy. It was a good-looking, fast driving way of getting from A to B. Even if he did have to obey the speed limit, and control the throbbing engine.

  He raised a mental eyebrow at that thought. Penile envy and a throbbing engine? Athol would have a field day with that notion.

  Claudio smiled to himself as he flicked the button to lock his car, and then walked the five steps to the door.

  Why oh why did people think to hide the doorbell? Shop or not, it still needed to be findable.

  Claudio searched up and down the doorjamb, for that elusive button. Nothing.

  "Well, ring the bell why don't you? That big brass thingy next to your head. With a clapper and string—well clanger thingy."

  He spun around and laughed at the red headed, green eyed, hot as Hades woman, in a long green and blue patterned dress and if he judged correctly, no bra, who had appeared next to him, as if by magic. "Clanger thingy?"

  She giggled and her eyes lit up. "Whatever. Sorry, I dashed to the Co-op for milk. I think I've had every milk drinker in the country pass through today and ask for a glassful." She unlocked the door." I'm down to half a pint."

  Claudio swung the clapper of the bell and admired the deep resounding noise it made. How he had missed that he had no idea.

  "Hello, welcome." Seonagh, he guessed—hoped—it was her, held the door open. "You, I assume are Claudio? Or I've just let some random in, and the dads will kill me."

  He nodded. "Not a wise thing, agapitos. You need to be more careful."

  The rebuke was obvious and she colored. "True but I have a killer left jab, kyrios and a set of car keys at the perfect angle to maim. And as yet, I am not your dear. I may never be."

  "You speak Greek?" he asked her in that language.

  She nodded, and replied in the same tongue. "A little. I did languages at uni. Italian and Spanish mainly, but I took Greek as an extra. It was handy on holiday to be able to say, 'Oy mate I never ordered that'."

  He smiled. He knew well, how some restaurants added dishes and charged them.

  "Something you would never do," he said in rapid Italian.

  "Exactly," she replied in English, albeit with an enchanting, soft Scottish accent. "Anyway come in. I need to talk to you before the dads get here."

  That intrigued him.

  "So, speak." He followed her through the café and bookshop to a comfortable lounge behind the shop. "You live here?"

  "Did. This bit's soon going to be incorporated into the shop and upstairs will be a studio to rent out. I've bought a house." She didn't say where. "Take a seat, and I'll make some coffee." She walked toward a door at the back of the room and opened it. She paused with one hand on the doorjamb. "Look, are you really happy with doing this? I know the dads. When they club together, they can be a bit, well let's call it overpowering for want of a better word."

  He looked her up and down. She didn't cringe. If anything he thought she steeled herself not to look away, and down at the floor. Her fingers twitched and the pulse in her neck beat erratically.

  "I'm fine with it." Especially now I've met you. "More to the point, are you? Really happy about it. Did they tell you I'm a sadist, and I'd expect you to accept that?"

  Her mouth opened and no words came out. She looked shell shocked. However even as he put a hand out to steady her, she swallowed heavily and blinked several times. Then she swayed.

  Hell, I hope she's not going to faint. I'm not that sort of sadist.

  Chapter Three

  Bloody hell fire, what am I letting myself in for? Seonagh closed the door with exaggerated care and leaned against it. The ringing in her ears subsided and her misty vision cleared. For one awful moment she'd had a horrible feeing she had been about to pass out. That would make a great impression. Fainting before he did anything at all.

  "Say that again. No," she added quickly. "Don't. I heard you the first time. Sadist. Defined in the dictionary as 'deriving pleasure from inflicting pain, suffering, or humiliation on others'. That sort of thing?"

  "Without the humiliation bit, and only if my sub wants it, but that's a very basic idea," Claudio said, and nodded, presumably in agreement. "It's more complicated than that in some ways and simpler in others." He stared at her steadily with calm dark eyes and a serene expression. Seonagh felt a bit like an insect under a microscope. Every fiber of his being seemed concentrated on her.

  "It's what I am. A sadistic Dom."

  "Right, ah I'll make the coffee. You can expand on that later." She turned on her heels and went into the kitchen. Coward. She heard him chuckle as she went.

  Why, she wondered, after she'd switched on the kettle and splashed cold water over her heated cheeks, did his words conjure up pictures that made her wet? She wasn't sure what she wanted, bu
t the thought of being at his mercy was somewhat erotic and juice inducing. But pain? Yes, she thought some pain would be involved. Reading and research showed her it might be. However it had also showed her that pain came in many forms, lots of it as pleasure. She wasn't sure if his sort of pain was a bit one sided on the pleasure aspect.

  She spooned coffee into the cafetiere and sniffed appreciatively. You couldn't beat Kenya's finest. Put milk into a jug—oh how proper—and hunted out some sachets of sugar. Then she went back into the lounge.

  Claudio was sitting in the big old armchair by the fireplace—her favorite chair—with his legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles. She'd almost decided to send the chair to the tip, but changed her mind at the last minute, considering it would be good for tea breaks during the working day. Now she was glad she had.

  The stance defined his well-toned body, and outlined a rather exceptional bulge in his jeans, and made her decide she'd definitely keep the chair. She could sit in it and dream.

  His long black hair hung loose over his shoulders and down his back and a silver stud, with a diamond in it, glittered in one ear. He'd looked up as she reentered and smiled.

  Do not drool. Damn if I could bottle that smile I'd make a fortune. Instant climax.

  Seonagh set the tray on a side table, cocked one eyebrow at him, and hoped to hell he wasn't a mind reader. "Coffee how?"

  "Black, thank you. So what did you want to talk to me about? Or have you changed your mind?" He took the mug from her. "Am I three steps too far?"

  Seonagh sat on the settee set at right angles to his chair, and sipped her coffee. She eyed him thoughtfully over the rim of her mug. "No, I don't think so. Well not yet anyway. I wanted to make sure you were on board with this and not just doing it as a favor to Athol and Edan."

  Claudio put his mug down. "I was at first, now I'm not. You…" He hesitated, and his dark eyes seemed to have fire shot through them.

  It was arousing and interesting.

  "I?" Seonagh prompted.

  He stared at her and frowned. Her insides turned to mush, and she knew exactly what her books meant by 'a Dom like look'. Hell on wheels, that is hot.

  She bit her tongue to stop herself asking more. If I want to see what it's like to be a sub, maybe this is where I start to shut up and listen. The problem was, she had so many questions she wanted to ask before she even decided to go ahead. And those queries would be better asked without either Athol or Edan around.

  "You intrigue me. And I thought you called them dad?"

  Seonagh laughed. That was a topic she could answer easily. She suspected there would be more she couldn't. "Sometimes, but it gets confusing. They were Athol and Edan for years, but Gordon, my wee brother started to call them Daddy Ath and Daddy Ede and it sort of stuck. By the way they aren't—his dad. But as he's my brother and I call his dad, my stepdad, dad, he decided they needed to be daddies as well. And before you ask I've no idea which one is mine by blood and I don't want to."

  "Fair enough. So, if you want to talk before they get here, talk. I presume you asked me to arrive early?"

  "Half an hour. Some things are best not discussed in front of parents. Even those active in the lifestyle." She stumbled over the word, and felt her cheeks heat. Bugger it. Why am I acting like a four year old saying willy for the first time? "Right here goes." She fished a sheet of paper from out of her skirt pocket and looked at it closely. "Oh and intrigue you how? Now, would sex be involved?"

  His eyebrows went up and his lips quirked.

  She grinned. "Okay, well, remember I'm book knowledgeable and reality ignorant. What would being a sub entail? Your sub. How and where? What do you use for safe words, how would I have to dress?" The questions came out thick and fast, her words tumbling over each other. "Would we do stuff where people could see? What…"

  "Stop." Claudio twisted, leaned forward and put his hand over her mouth. "Slow down and take a breath." Slowly, he removed his hand. "Breathe."

  He smelled of citrus cologne and man. A heady mix. Seonagh inhaled deeply and not just to help her do as he said. "Yeah, sorry. Oh shit, should I call you Sir?"

  Claudio chuckled and shook his head. "Not at the moment. So let's see. You intrigue me because, I think inside you there's a sub waiting to be let out. I'd like to be the one to do it. My sub? I don't know, not yet. How? Slowly step by step. Where? Dommissimma I think. Safe words? I've always used traffic lights, but that can be discussed. Dress?" He chuckled. "Or undress?"

  "Dress," Seonagh said fervently. “I'm too curvy to feel happy with it all hanging out."

  "Perfect. I love a curvy body and a curvy body in a bustier even more. Scene in public?" He raised one eyebrow. "Why not? No, just think about it; don't shoot back an instant response. But if you're happy doing what you are doing, why hide? Right, anything else?"

  "Lots, but if my ears don't deceive me that’s Athol's Harley puling up outside. Be prepared for the interrogation of both of us to begin. Oh, and you never mentioned sex."

  "Do you want it?"

  Oh yes please. She hesitated and the moment was lost.

  Claudio smiled, and looked ten years younger than she guessed the mid thirties he was. "Let's say, that's negotiable as well. I don't usually, but hey I'm an open minded Sadist. And as I said you intrigue me. Dictionary definition, a mysterious or fascinating quality. I love mystery. And the anticipation of sex is just that. A mystery waiting to be solved."

  "Ah good," Seonagh said and watched her blush spread down her chest. "The jury's still out on my side."

  "Fair enough, sex—or the anticipation of it—shouldn't be rushed, Now, before we're invaded, tell me. Do I say I'm happy to take you on and see what happens?"

  Seonagh grinned as the throaty roar of a motorbike stopped suddenly and there was a knock on the back door. "I hope so."

  ****

  "Dad, stop prowling, you're wearing a hole in the carpet. I might be moving out but best Wilton needs to be cherished not route marched on. And it will fit my new study perfectly. If it's in one piece."

  Athol stopped his wandering around the room. "Yes, okay, right, so where are we?"

  "Waiting for you to sit down, calm down and let us begin," Edan said. "You're like a lion deciding where to pounce, and no one here wants to be your victim. Cool it."

  Athol grinned shamefaced and nudged Seonagh along the sofa. "Let your old man plonk his bum."

  "My old man isn't old, and what's wrong with that chair?" She nodded to another armchair similar to the one Claudio sat in. "It's empty."

  "But I can't stare at Claudio and give him the ‘don't diss with two Doms' daughter’ look from there." He twisted to look Seonagh in the eyes. "You sit over there. Then I can see both of you."

  "Dad, hell on wheels." Shit she was whining now.

  "Seonagh."

  Claudio's deep, slightly accented voice went straight to her pussy. Oh my god. Climax central. Grief, not now for fucks sake, act cool She clenched her thighs and looked at him.

  "Sit where your papa directs. You want them here, so you do as they say." 'And as I do,' was the unspoken addendum. Seonagh found herself complying before she realized what she'd done.

  Athol smirked. Edan studied his nails, but she saw his shoulders shake. Claudio stared at her steadily until she wanted to scream. Or get onto her knees and nuzzle his cock. She'd read that greeting in a book and it had turned her on so much, she'd had to resort to her vibrator, fondly called Arnie.

  "Shall I make more coffee?"

  Did Claudio really whisper, 'coward', to her? His face was expressionless, as he looked at Athol and Edan in turn. Even though he didn't glance in her direction, Seonagh could feel his mind focused on her. It was unnerving and enervating at the same time.

  "I'm fine, honey," Edan said. "Coffee-ed out."

  "No, thank you. Talk instead," Athol said emphatically. Edan squeezed his knee and Athol flashed him a grateful look.

  They really are worried. That I will, or that I won't?


  "Okay, where shall I start?"

  "Over what you've decided? Do you think we're stupid?" Edan demanded. He put his hand over Athol's mouth and winked at Claudio. "No, don't answer that."

  Claudio chuckled. "I wouldn't dare. Athol at his Domliest scares me shitless." He grinned at Seonagh. "You might need to hold my hand so I don't run."

  She loved that… playfulness she guessed was the best way to describe it. It was good to know he didn't take himself too seriously all the time.

  Athol snorted. "That'll be right Martakis. You, who has been known to reduce subs to tears."

  "Of pleasure."

  "Well, duh, if you say so."

  "We know fine well you asked Claudio to come earlier than us." Edan interrupted the other two men's bantering and looked at Seonagh. "Has he told you what he is?"

  "A man?" Seonagh raised her eyebrows and opened her eyes wide in mock surprise. "A Dom? Oh you mean a sadist. Yes, he's told me."

  "So what have you decided?"

  Chapter Four

  Claudio waited, somewhat impatiently he admitted to himself, to see what Seonagh would say. It mattered that she'd say yes, he realized. When he'd told her she intrigued him, he meant it. She called to him on so many levels, not least the fact that he wanted to be the one to show her how she could and, he was damned sure would, sub so perfectly.

  Only for me. He'd fight wars to make sure that if she did agree to sub, and accepted it was for her, it would be as his sub, no one else's. And come hell or high water he was going to be the one that introduced her to the lifestyle, even if he had to curb his sadistic tendencies. After all, it wasn't as if he wanted a slave or a sub 24/7. Or even, he allowed, someone who accepted his most extreme proclivities every time they played. Claudio loved his desires and needs but anticipation was a great high. It was even better sometimes to play gently and build up to full-on sadism. But I want to do it with her.

  The vehement thoughts surprised him. He'd never thought he could be quite so bothered about someone he hardly knew.