Ben From Accounting (Office Gentlemen Book 1) Read online

“A little,” I admit. I’m not really comfortable talking about this with Joanna, but if we’re really going through with this thing tomorrow night, something tells me I’d better get used to it and quick. “I don’t want you to judge me if I’m not as sexy as you.”

  She chuckles. “Honey, you don’t know how sexy you are. Here. Try this one.” She pulls a tiny piece of fabric from the rack in front of her.

  “Joanna, no,” I shake my head, shoving it back at her. She laughs again and motions toward the fitting room.

  “Try it on, Alice. You never know,” she winks. “Maybe someone fun will be there to rip it off you.”

  “Joanna!”

  “Go!” She pushes me toward the dressing room, and suddenly I’m alone with the dress, the mirror, and more thoughts than one girl should possibly have on a Friday night. I hold the dress up to my body and stare at myself in the mirror, and that’s the moment I realize I’m really going through with it.

  I’m really going to do it.

  I, Alice Cherry, am going to Anchored tomorrow night.

  I’m going to accompany my friend.

  I’m going to wear the dress.

  I’m going to be brave.

  And I’m going to have the time of my life.

  I take a deep breath.

  I can do this, I promise myself.

  I can do this.

  Chapter Six

  Ben

  I arrive early at Anchored. Things won’t busy or crazy until after ten, so when I arrive at eight, I have plenty of time to get acquainted with the layout for the night. Oh, I’ve been at Anchored plenty of times before, but June has really outdone herself tonight. The main stage is decorated with lush leaves and flowers. The smaller stages and the bar have similar décor. It’s a nature theme for the night, which means everyone is going to be dressed in either plant clothing or leather, and I have no idea which is hotter.

  Subs wearing skirts made out of leaves and flower tops?

  Count me in.

  “You like it,” June sidles up to me as I stand in the center of the room, taking everything in.

  “It’s nice,” I agree.

  “Good. I was going for nice,” she smirks sarcastically. When June bought the decommissioned mini cruise ship, she redid the interior and made it into a haven. She created this fantastic club where people can explore their wildest and most wonderful fantasies in a safe and calm environment.

  I love it.

  I love everything about Anchored.

  Typically, the club has a sort of nautical theme, but tonight, it’s flowers everywhere. There are vines, too, and I wonder if they’re real. Dragons forbid. We all know June rakes it in with the fees she charges to play here. She can go all out every now and then and it won’t hurt her bottom line.

  “What inspired the garden theme?” I ask. What can I say? My curiosity gets the best of me.

  “I wanted something different,” she shrugs. “Plus, there are going to be so many BDSM virgins tonight. I didn’t want to scare everyone off by having a bunch of hardcore stuff on display.”

  “I noticed some of the usual equipment is gone.”

  “Just for tonight,” June confirms. “I’ve never been into the hardcore BDSM stuff. There are plenty of clubs for that. My place caters more toward the mild-to-light BDSM players. The people who want to explore their exhibitionist side or the voyeurs…that’s who Anchored is for. Still, we do have a few of the more hardcore items for our hard players, and I set those aside for the night.”

  “Left the spanking benches, though,” I point out.

  June nods.

  “You never know,” she shrugs. “Maybe some of the newbies will get in trouble.” She smirks. “I can only hope.”

  June is a classic switch. She’s a submissive when it comes to her lover and husband, but she’s been known to share women with him that they Dominate together. June loves playing with other girls and when she does, she’s a Domme in every sense of the word. I’ve seen some of her scenes before, both with Ryder and with others. She’s always a joy to watch because June is completely expressive. She’s secretive when she wants to be. Hell, most of Anchored thinks she’s just a random bartender who occasionally plays here. Most of the members don’t realize she’s the owner because June values her privacy.

  Plus, when she comes to play, she wants to play.

  She doesn’t want to sit around answering membership questions.

  “How many newbies are you expecting?”

  “Quite a few,” she says. “Everyone had to pre-register and pay ahead of time. We’re going to have a ton of dungeon monitors on deck because I don’t want anyone getting excited and making stupid choices. I hate doing these open houses, but they’re a fun way to get to know new people in the community who might be curious about BDSM. Besides, it’s good to get some new faces in here every once in awhile.”

  “Who are the other dungeon monitors?” There are a couple of other Doms wandering around the main room of the club. Most of them I’ve seen play before. From what I can tell, June has chosen wisely. Each person I see here has a lot of experience. Two Dommes enter the room, and I smile. Good. It’s not just going to be boys in charge tonight at the club.

  “You, Renee, Alyssa, Alex, Zach,” she starts listing other names. Many of them I’m familiar with, but a few I’ve never heard of. “Tonight isn’t going to be a serious play night. Newbies can use the equipment if they have an experienced partner, Dom or sub. A dungeon monitor will be at each play station, though, and I want a couple of people roaming around.”

  “Where will I be?”

  “You’re a roamer,” June informs me. “If someone has questions, you can take them around the room. Just keep an eye on everything overall. Let them know where they can play, give them a tour, or even offer to do a demo with them. The goal of tonight is to let everyone have fun and unwind a little bit. We all deserve it.”

  Alyssa, one of the Dommes, calls to June, and she motions for Alyssa to wait a minute.

  “You’ll be great,” June tells me. “If you have any questions, find me or Ryder.”

  “Sounds good,” I tell her.

  She kisses me on the cheek and scurries off to help Alyssa, and I’m left wandering around until the night begins. Soon the doors will open and we’ll have the early-birds start to arrive. I’m curious to see the costumes and what everyone has chosen.

  Me?

  I went classic.

  I’m in black leathers and no top, showing off the abs I strive so hard to cultivate. The hours in the gym each week have paid off for me and I love coming to Anchored and getting the chance to show them off.

  Tonight, though, I’m not looking for just any submissive to scratch some primal itch. Tonight I want something more.

  I want Alice.

  It’s stupid to be pining over some girl I barely know, let alone some girl from work. Alice is sweet, but there’s no doubt she’s completely, totally vanilla. As shallow as it is, I don’t know if I can go back to that after so much time in the lifestyle.

  I want a girl that challenges me, yeah, but I also want someone I can be myself with.

  I’m a Dom: through and through.

  Would I be comfortable in a relationship where my partner didn’t want me to pin her down and spank her?

  Would I be okay with ordinary, monotonous missionary sex?

  Would I be accepting if my partner wanted the lights off?

  There’s part of me that wants to be willing to try. She’s interesting, and interesting is important to me. I don’t want to be with someone who bores me or who isn’t curious about the world around us.

  There’s more than just that, though.

  I need this.

  Being with someone vanilla means I’d have to give up something that I crave, and I don’t think it would be fair to her to keep that part of me locked up. I don’t think it would be fair for me to constantly want something more, something she couldn’t give.

  And that’s
why Alice and I can never happen.

  We can flirt at the office. We can joke around. We can casually touch each other: innocent finger grazes as we pass a pen back and forth. We can glance longingly at one another. We can even whisper, talking in deep voices husky from arousal.

  But that’s it.

  That’s all we can ever be.

  Alice and I will never be more than co-workers because me?

  I need the domination.

  And Alice?

  She’s innocent.

  Chapter Seven

  Alice

  “You look great,” Joanna tells me. “Stop messing with your boobs.”

  “I’m not messing with my boobs,” I insist, as I casually mess with my boobs. I push them up a little more, and then back down, and finally, I pull them up once more. It’s a fun night, right? I can show them off a little bit. This isn’t weird.

  “Seriously,” Joanna says as we walk toward the club. “You look great, honey. Everyone is going to love you.”

  I don’t need everyone to love me, though.

  The truth is that I have kind of a little crush.

  Okay, kind of a big, inappropriate, not-so-okay crush.

  And it’s on Ben.

  We work together. Nothing can ever happen. Nothing should ever happen. I can’t seem to help myself, though. When I got dressed tonight, it took everything in my power not to send him a selfie. That would be weird and creepy and super not work-appropriate, so I didn’t, but I wanted to.

  I wanted him to see me and how I look tonight.

  I could never get a guy like Ben. That’s obvious. Guys like Ben can have anyone they want. Why would they want an allergy-ridden nerdy girl with unmanageable frizzy hair and freckles?

  Not when they can have the beautiful receptionists with the 5-inch heels.

  Not when they can have anyone else.

  “Thanks,” is all I say to Joanna, and we head toward the doors of the club.

  Anchored is, as promised, completely beautiful. The club is located inside this little old cruise ship and it is, as far as I can tell, a magical wonderland of beauty and adventure. Apparently, the owner is more than a little kinky, and she remodeled the entire thing a few years back to make it this sort of haven for kinksters in the area.

  Joanna guides us into the club. We check in with this guy who makes sure we are who we say we are. Since I’m not a member, I have to show ID, but I can’t bring in my purse or wallet or phone or anything. Instead, I leave all of that in a little locker in the lobby, and then we go into the club. When we walk through the doors, I stop for a minute and look around.

  “Wow.”

  “Wow indeed,” Joanna agrees from beside me. “This place is ridiculous. Wow, it looks super beautiful.”

  “You mean the flowers aren’t always here?”

  “Not even sort of sometimes.”

  “That’s not a real sentence.”

  “Who cares?” Joanna shrugs. “It’s pretty.”

  Unlike the décor, the music is dark and sexy. When I look around the room, I think “beautiful garden.” When I close my eyes and hear the music, I think, “Someone is about to be fucked.”

  We walk through the room. Joanna shows me the main stage and the side stages. I guess that later in the night, there will be some performances. Right now, it’s still a little early, and things are still getting started. She’s been here many times before and seems to move seamlessly through the crowded room.

  Me?

  I follow awkwardly, but excitedly. I can’t stop taking in everything I’m seeing.

  I know now what she meant when she said I’m not a Domme. It’s easy to tell the Dominants and submissives apart here at Anchored. The partners who top are confident and determined. They walk with a certain air about them. It’s a prowess, almost. They’re looking for something – someone – and they’ll take it when they find it.

  The submissives are beautiful: both the males and females. There are many couples here tonight, but there are also single submissives exploring the club. Most of them have sharp, darting eyes. They’re just as excited as I am. A couple of them are eyeing the spanking benches on the pain stage. Joanna pointed them out right away.

  I look at them, too, trying not to stare.

  What would it be like to get a spanking up there?

  Up on stage?

  Out in the open, where anyone could see?

  Heat fills my belly. I feel excited here. I shouldn’t. I know that I shouldn’t. Getting excited at the idea of someone padding my bottom in public? That’s wrong. It’s not appropriate by any measure of propriety, yet it’s something I can’t stop thinking about. Suddenly, I kind of want it. I want that. I want a Dominant to pull me up on stage, tie me down, and just spank me.

  “What are you looking at?” Joanna says, stopping. Her eyes follow mine and then she smiles knowingly. “We can find you someone, if you like,” she murmurs.

  She doesn’t push me.

  Doesn’t judge.

  It’s one of the things I like about Joanna.

  “I don’t know if I want to,” I whisper.

  “That’s okay,” she says. “There’s no pressure.”

  “I don’t want you to feel like you wasted your money bringing me,” I tell her, suddenly embarrassed.

  “Hey,” Joanna grabs my shoulders and turns me toward her. “You stop that right now, Alice. This is not the place for a pity party.”

  “I’m sorry,” I bite my lip quickly, ashamed of my weird comment. She’s totally right. It’s just that I’m struggling. I want to do it. I want to climb up there and have someone Dominate me. I want to try it. It’s just that I’m scared out of my fucking mind. The reality is that nothing bad will happen to me. Whether I go up on stage or not is completely irrelevant. Whether I participate in any sort of activities with anyone or not tonight, my night will end the same way: I’ll go home. I’ll leave the club tonight and I’ll return home alone, and that will be it.

  I’m not here to find a husband or a boyfriend or a lover.

  I’m just here to see what this thing is all about.

  I want to be brave, but I’m afraid.

  “Look,” she says. “I have no expectations for tonight. You want to sleep with someone? Cool. You don’t? That’s fine. I don’t think I’ve wasted any money by bringing you here. We’re here to have fun and that’s what we’re going to do. Besides, haven’t you noticed all of the Doms here staring at you?”

  “What?”

  “You look fucking hot, Alice. Besides, you’re fresh meat. Everyone can tell. Don’t you know guys love that shit?”

  “What guys?” I ask, licking my lips. I look around the room, suddenly, and then I see him. Our eyes lock, and I should look away, but I don’t. I can’t believe he’s here. It’s him. It’s not my imagination.

  “That one, for starters,” Joanna says. “He’s been following us. He’s a dungeon monitor. His name is Ben. I’ve met him before. He seems nice enough. It’s his job to make sure the newbies play safe.”

  “Ben is a member here?”

  “Yeah,” Joanna says.

  “Have you two ever…?” I can’t finish my sentence.

  “Uh, no? What’s going on? Do you know him or something?”

  I don’t say anything, and Joanna’s jaw drops.

  “You do, don’t you? You know him.”

  “He’s Ben,” I whisper. “From accounting.”

  Chapter Eight

  Ben

  Alice Cherry looks good enough to eat, and apparently, tonight is my lucky night because she looks ready to be devoured. She spots me after an eternity, and her gaze locks on mine. Her friend is whispering to her, but Alice doesn’t look away. She just watches me with those curious eyes, allowing her gaze to follow mine.

  It’s time to make my move.

  I stride confidently over to her.

  “Joanna,” I greet her friend. “Lovely to see you tonight.”

  “Yeah, you too,” Joann
a smirks, choking back a giggle.

  “Alice,” I turn to the object of my desires. “Fancy meeting you here.”

  “Hi,” she squeaks out, but doesn’t say anything else.

  “I have to admit,” I tell her. “This isn’t the type of place I thought I’d ever see you.”

  “She’s scared,” Joanna tells me bluntly. “She wants to be spanked up on stage, but she’s afraid to go through with it.”

  “Joanna!” Alice shrieks. Luckily, the music is loud and the room is already filled with the sounds of people having fun. No one notices her little outburst. If I was her Dom, I’d probably spank her for it, anyway. Politeness and all that. As it is, I’m not her Dom. I don’t have permission to paddle that sweet little bottom, much as I want to.

  And, apparently, as much as she wants me to.

  “Is that true?” I ask her.

  “Is what true?”

  Time for lesson number one: never lie to a Dom.

  Joanna already knows this rule because she rolls her eyes at her friend.

  “Dude,” she mumbles under her breath. “Did you not listen to anything I told you about the club? You can’t try to trick him. He’s a fucking Dom.”

  “Thank you, Joanna.”

  “Yes, Sir,” she says, nodding quietly.

  Joanna is beautiful. She’s sweet, too, and funny. We’ve talked several times, but we’ve never played together. She usually has a partner, and now I’m suddenly glad we’ve never fooled around because it might make things awkward with Alice. Sweet Alice. How did she end up here tonight? Of all places I thought I’d bump into the little minx, this is the very last one I ever considered.

  “Alice,” I say. “I believe I asked you a question.”

  “It might be true,” she whispers. “I…I’m not sure.”

  “You don’t know if you want a spanking?”

  “I don’t know,” she agrees.

  “Well, what do you want?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “What brought you here tonight?” I go easy on her, trying to get her talking. The truth is that maybe Alice really doesn’t know what she’s interested in. The idea of paddling her has my dick hard. If she looks, she’ll notice right away, but I’m more concerned with getting her talking than with turning her on right now.