Soft Skills Read online

  Elle had the impression that he had rehearsed this little speech. Still, she had no idea where he was going. If it was super-important, he would have waited until they were at his place.

  The car stopped, and a group of three, well-dressed men drew closer to get a better look. Elle turned her head away, embarrassed by the impromptu gag.

  “No, Elle. Face ahead.”

  But she couldn’t make herself do it.

  Cunningham made a disappointed sound as the light changed. He went up a little farther, then pulled over abruptly and jerked up the parking break without turning off the car.

  First he yanked the panties out of her mouth. Elle moved to wipe away the drool that came with it, but Cunningham batted her hand away. “You’re about to get a lot sloppier.”

  “I’m sorry. Please don’t punish me.” But of course she didn’t mean it. Things had been so busy lately that most of her domination had come from light S&M sessions at the office. It had been weeks since they’d used the sexual toys that Jonathan kept hidden in his desk, and Elle missed that.

  For whatever reason, she never felt so cherished as when they were hurting her just a little. Or a lot. Things hadn’t started that way, but she’d learned to equate sexual pain with pleasure.

  Cunningham slowly unbuckled his belt. Elle tensed. He was going to make her suck him off!

  She smiled. This couldn’t have gone any better than if she’d planned it out.

  But Cunningham pulled the belt free from his pants. “Get out of the car, Elle.”

  “What?”

  Cunningham didn’t bother repeating himself because of course he knew when she was stalling for time. Elle unbuckled the seat belt and pushed open the door.

  A few passers-by gave her a curious glance, but no one was close enough to see the look of terror on her face.

  Cunningham exited the car and closed the door behind him. He came around, the belt in his hand, and touched the hood with his open palm.

  “You’re in luck,” he said with a sadistic smile. “The car isn’t hot. Bend over it.”

  Elle slowly bent over the sleek, black vehicle. Lights from a nearby bar reflected in the car’s shiny finish. She carefully placed her hands on the hood, her elbows bent, and let her cheek rest on the warm metal. A lock of her hair fell in front of her eyes. Cunningham leaned close, his lips grazing her ear.

  “You’ve been a very, very bad girl, Elle.” He tucked the hair behind her ear. “I want you to see what I’m doing, and I want everyone who passes to see your pretty face as I punish you.”

  She whimpered. Frankly, the idea of getting a public spanking terrified her. All those people watching, looking at her, judging her… watching Cunningham take her in hand and assert his dominance over her…

  An unexpected frisson of excitement left her trembling. She hadn’t known she wanted this until now, but she did want it, very much. She inhaled deeply, her eyes fixed on the belt that dangled loosely from Cunningham’s grasp.

  He took a step back and raised his arm, and the belt disappeared from view. This was the worst part, not knowing when the blow was going to arrive.

  Elle stayed immobile, tensed. She heard voices approaching, and then she knew what he was waiting for.

  The belt descended quickly and landed on her rump with a dull smack. Elle squirmed. She was already getting turned on from being in this submissive position, held there by nothing more than the strength of Cunningham’s iron will. Now that the spanking had started, she was getting wet… and she didn’t have on panties. The entire world would see how aroused she was.

  “Count, Elle.”

  “One,” she said.

  “One. Thank you, Cunningham, sir. I’m sorry for inconveniencing you.”

  Elle wanted to protest that it was unfair to make her deliver such a mouthful, but she found herself saying, “One. Thank you, sir. I’m sorry for inconveniencing you.”

  Cunningham reached under her skirt and tweaked her supple inner thigh. “You forgot a word.”

  Elle thought for a second, then spit the sentence out properly in a rush.

  “Better. More feeling next time.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  The belt disappeared from view again, and a moment later it landed in the exact same place as the first strike. Elle promptly expressed her gratitude, and Cunningham continued without saying anything.

  He knew what he was doing. She’d thought that the skirt would mean little physical discomfort, but she hadn’t counted on him managing to treat the same area so thoroughly.

  She could sense that people were standing there, watching. Underneath her, the car’s high-performance engine continued to purr.

  “Are you ok?” a man’s voice called out.

  Cunningham stepped back. “Go ahead and answer, Elle. You may face him.”

  Elle straightened slowly. She really just wanted to curl up and die of humiliation. She turned, her hands fidgeting with the bottom of her silky shirt, which had come untucked.

  “I’m fine,” she mumbled. When she looked up at the man, she saw that his pants were tented with one hell of an erection. In fact, seven or eight men stood there, watching, and they all showed the same physical reaction. Elle shifted uncomfortably. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but something about this interaction was… strange.

  “No, I meant are you ok?” the man repeated.

  He wasn’t talking to her, Elle realized with a start. They were all staring at Cunningham. She quickly glanced around, then smiled self-consciously. Cunningham had managed to pull over in front of a row of high-end pickup bars, many of them gay, all of them kinky as hell. Elle knew for a fact that there was a world-famous BDSM club at the end of the street, although she’d never been there. What would be the point when her life had become what people went to that club to simulate?

  One of the men licked his lips and stepped forward a fraction of an inch, then moved back bashfully. “I don’t suppose you’d be interested in a second submissive, sir?”

  Elle went rigid, and she shot the man an evil glance. “No,” Cunningham said. He sounded amused as heck, and Elle wanted to scream. “But I do find that I’ve got a small problem and I need four of you to help.” He swung his wrist in a circle, and the belt whistled through the air.

  “Sure,” a man said enthusiastically. He was unattractive, quite out of shape. Elle fought not to wrinkle up her nose.

  “Not you. You. And you.” Cunningham pointed.

  A third one stepped forward eagerly, a large man, a little brutish, with hunger in his eyes. Elle shivered and looked at Cunningham. He was larger than these men, but he was also outnumbered. If they decided they wanted to take her away from him, she sure as hell couldn’t stop them, and she wasn’t sure that Cunningham could, either.

  Elle studied the crowd and noticed how deferential they were, and she realized that she was safe from the mob. Cunningham was an alpha male. It didn’t matter if there were a thousand men watching. He was king here, and he would protect her. She shivered. But who would protect her from Cunningham?

  “The problem is that she’s been a very naughty sub. Haven’t had time to discipline her recently, and she’s forgetting her place. Now, I’d like to tear up her ass a little, remind her who’s in charge, but you see the paint job on the car? Can’t risk her dodging my punishment and me messing it up. Turn around, Elle, and pull your skirt up.”

  Elle closed her eyes, bit her lip and turned around. She slowly wiggled as she lifted the bottom of her skirt up over her hips. The fresh evening air caressed her damp, naked sex.

  “See, it’s not my car. It’s my friend’s, and I don’t think she’d appreciate me handing it over to her with big chunks taken out of the paint.”

  She? Elle almost spun around when she heard that. Of course Cunningham had female friends, but Elle couldn’t figure out how he could have innocently come into possession of a woman’s car unless said woman had spent the night.

  The deal was that they were in a
relationship, and that meant no fucking other people on the side. In situations where Elle was shared, at least one of her lovers was always present, to see that things didn’t get out of hand, yes, but also because it turned them on to see her with other men. Elle loved it. Her best memories came from the times when they stretched her beyond her limits.

  But other women had never been part of the deal.

  “If two of you gentlemen could be so kind as to restrain her arms, I would very much appreciate it,” Cunningham said. “And the other two could hold her ankles. This will only take a few minutes, then you’ll be on your way.”

  Rough hands grabbed each of her limbs, restraining her. She couldn’t even turn around now.

  “Since I can’t remember what number we were at, we’ll just start from the beginning.”

  And damn Cunningham, he laid that first welt down right on top of the others. Elle squealed and tried to wiggle as she haltingly gasped out, “One. Thank you, Cunningham, sir. I’m sorry for inconveniencing you.”

  Her struggles didn’t get her very far; the strangers held her down firmly. The man to her left was actually quite attractive, with thick, wavy dark hair and dark eyes. Between brutal strikes, Elle glanced down from the stranger’s lust-warped face to the bulge straining at the front of his pants and got an extra thrill.

  Cunningham had purposefully chosen the most attractive men, just to make the experience that much better for her. If she was lucky, he might fuck her in front of them after.

  “Last one,” Cunningham announced in that “prepare yourself” tone of voice. Elle braced herself, and when his belt connected with her raw skin, it drove all the air out of her lungs. She nearly saw stars.

  Yet, miraculously, she found a way to speak. “Twenty. Thank you, Cunningham, sir,” she gasped. “I’m sorry for inconveniencing you.”

  “Let her up, fellows.”

  The men released her limbs, but Elle stayed bent over, panting, trying to get a grip on herself. Her pussy was sopping wet, dripping down her thighs. She wanted, needed to be fucked. She left her skirt hiked up in the hopes Cunningham would be so turned on after disciplining her that he’d take her right there, on the side of the street, claiming her in front of everyone.

  His large, warm hand touched between her legs, and Elle began to tremble. “You’ve put me in an awkward position, Elle,” he said loud enough for everyone to hear. He smoothed his palm over her stinging buttocks. “You didn’t even thank these strangers who were kind enough to donate their time for your education.”

  “Thank you for helping me.”

  “You can do better. Turn around and look them in the eye.”

  Elle slowly straightened and turned. The crowd had grown to three times the size as before. It was still mostly men, though two women wearing stretchy, black catsuits caught Elle’s attention. She had never met a dominant woman, but she instinctively knew that’s what they were; she damn sure recognized that unflinching look in their eyes.

  The men who restrained her had moved a respectful distance away. “Thank you,” she said shyly, feeling like a child who had been taken to task.

  “Do you find any of these men attractive?”

  Elle looked at Cunningham, startled. There was no way she could honestly answer that question without upsetting him. Was there? He raised an eyebrow, waiting.

  “Yes, sir.” Her cheeks burning, she looked at the ground.

  “Who?”

  Elle pointed without looking, indicating the man who had caught her attention.

  “Does he make your cunt wet?” Cunningham roughly shoved two fingers into her tight little hole, and Elle gasped, leaning into his body.

  “Not like you do, Cunningham,” she said softly. She looked up at him, sucking the edge of her upper lip into her mouth.

  “I understand that, my pet,” he murmured. “Haven’t you learned by now that it brings me great satisfaction to watch other men enjoying you? And to watch you embracing your sensual, sexual nature?”

  “But why?”

  “Why is the sky blue?” Cunningham twisted his fingers inside her, and Elle clutched the rich fabric of his sleeve, her eyes closing. “If you agree to this, he will be the first man to fuck you who I don’t already know. He’ll wear protection, of course. Are you comfortable with that?”

  Elle couldn’t stop smiling, and she couldn’t meet Cunningham’s gaze anymore. Even though he wanted her to enjoy this stranger, she still felt like she was betraying him.

  The man in question stood there patiently. He had full lips, a strong nose, and piercing black eyes. Elle’s heart beat faster.

  “Elle?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good.” Cunningham’s demeanor changed. He pulled his fingers free and thrust them into Elle’s mouth, pushing down so that she was forced to her knees. “Ask him to fuck you.” He removed his fingers.

  Elle licked her lips, tasting the tangy flavor of her juices. “Will you please fuck me?”

  “I’m not sure.” The man crossed his arms.

  “Convince him, Elle.”

  She nervously licked her lips. “Please, please fuck me.”

  “Why should I? You’re so disobedient that your Dom had to pull over his car and discipline you on the side of the road. Even then he enlisted the help of strangers to keep you still. Why would I want to fuck you when in any one of these nearby bars I can find dozens of obedient men and women, desperate for my touch?” His harsh words were only slightly undermined by the hardened bulge in his pants.

  “Because my Dom wants it,” Elle said.

  The crowd laughed, and Elle looked at Cunningham, unsure what she’d said that was so funny. He plunged his fingers in her hair, a little smile on his lips.

  “She enjoys giving oral sex, and she can easily accommodate even the largest of men. Her pussy is hot and welcoming, and I’ve never known a woman to get so wet. Most of all, she loves sex.”

  “I don’t know,” the man said, though his eyes were hungrily raking down Elle’s body. “I was in the mood to fuck a man today. How’s her ass?”

  “Heaven.” Cunningham pulled a condom from his pocket. “No need to take my word for it.” He held the condom in front of Elle. “Take it in your mouth.”

  She gingerly accepted the foil packet between her teeth.

  “Now crawl to him. Slowly.”

  Elle lowered herself the rest of the way down and began crawling the few feet between Cunningham and the handsome stranger. The concrete was rough under her palms and knees. It was humiliating, and by the time she was at the stranger’s feet, even though her pussy was already convulsing lightly from excitement, she wanted to curl up and die.

  The man crouched and squeezed the sides of her face. “Pretty girl,” he murmured. “Don’t worry.” He didn’t let go of Elle as he stood, and Elle came not only to her feet, but up onto her toes as he pulled higher. “You’re beautiful stretched out like that.”

  He kept her balanced there while he ran his hand over her bare ass. Elle’s calves began to cramp, and her body, pushed to its limits, trembled. She blinked, hoping to convey that she couldn’t take much more. With a smirk, he released her carefully, plucked the condom from between her lips and handed it to her. His breath smelled like peppermint. “Pop that hat on my cock, baby.”

  Trembling, Elle fumbled with the man’s jeans. They were tight, and she almost broke a nail undoing the button, but finally she got the fly down.

  He wasn’t wearing underwear. That caught her off guard, and it stoked her imagination. What kind of man didn’t wear underwear? One who preferred to keep his cock easily accessible, ready for action.

  She certainly respected that.

  She reached a hesitant hand into the shadowy darkness beyond his open zipper, and her little finger rubbed up against the man’s erection. He was so warm that Elle almost jerked her hand away in surprise. But she twisted her wrist and slid her fingers deeper into his pants until her hand was filled with his girth.

&nbs
p; He growled in satisfaction, his entire body rumbling with the low, deep sound.

  Elle pulled him free. His cock was long and thick, and it curved slightly to the right. It was so erect that it had a purple tinge, and veins pulsed along the shaft.

  “Sheath me.”

  Trembling, Elle carefully tore open the condom. She’d never put one on a man before, but she’d seen it done often enough.

  But it wasn’t as easy as it looked. The ring was too tight for what it was supposed to cover, and it kept moving, shifting whenever she tried to unroll it.

  The onlookers laughed, and Elle concentrated, trying to get the damned thing to stay in one place. She fumbled it in her hands, then realized she had turned it over.

  “No,” Cunningham said. “That one’s no good now.” He tossed a new condom to the stranger, who handed it to Elle.

  This time she did better. Though in the end, it seemed a little cockeyed, neither the stranger nor Cunningham complained. At last she rolled it down his length.

  The man smiled wickedly. “You’ll be punished for taking so long. Get on your knees and suck me.”

  She knelt, happy to be given an order that she knew she could carry out to any man’s satisfaction. First she attended to the bulbous head, but it was strange to be sucking on a condom. It reminded her of being at the dentist.

  The man grunted softly, and that was all the encouragement Elle needed. She took more of him in her mouth, wrapped her lips around the base and sucked for all she was worth.

  He tensed up. “Stop.”

  Elle stopped and waited, allowing the man’s erection to cradle in her mouth.

  “Up.”

  She released him from her mouth and stood. The man reached under her shirt to fondle her breasts. He circled her nipple with his fingers, pinching and squeezing them at his leisure.

  Then he lowered his hands to her buttocks. Elle gasped; the skin there was so raw. But the stranger only seemed to take pleasure in her discomfort. He grabbed one of her ass cheeks, pulled up on the firm globe, and slipped a gentle finger into her tight, dry little hole.