The Professor's Pet (A BDSM Romance Novel) by Tara Crescent Page B

looking forward to cropping you.”
    I gulped at the implied threat of those words, but my pussy gushed at the implied promise. My eyes darkened with lust.
    “Hurry this up, please,” Jake said softly. “My flight’s at midnight, and I really want to get a chance to put the shopping to use first.”
    “Okay,” I whispered. I was enveloped in lust; my body was responding to his arousal with my own. I walked towards the counter. “Can I get some help with the floggers and the crops, please?” I asked the young clerk. My voice was finally relaxed; my mind was on Jake, and the things he was going to do to me.
    The clerk helped me pick a flogger and a crop that wouldn’t hurt too much. “Best to start light,” he said. I just made sure they didn’t say ‘beginner’ anywhere.
    “Do I have a couple more minutes, Professor Ballard?” I asked Jake. I really wanted to buy a ball-gag, as submissive fantasies went, being gagged was one of my favorites. I also really wanted a spreader bar; the idea of being helpless, unable to clamp my thighs together as my lover played with me, again and again, till I was helpless and drained from my orgasms was another powerful fantasy.
    He nodded. “Absolutely,” he said. “I’m very much looking forward to this.”
    I could feel his raised eyebrows as I looked at the gags. My hand hovered over a package, but Jake stopped me. “Too large,” he said. “Start smaller, else you’ll just hate it, and never try it again.” He pointed a more suitable size; I reached out and grabbed it. I also grabbed a spreader bar, ignoring his amused chuckle, and went to the counter, reaching for my wallet to pay for all my toys.
    His arm stopped me. “ No way, Emily,” he said firmly, handing the guy some cash.
    “Jake, it’s over two hundred dollars,” I whispered, aghast. He gave me a slightly irritated look; I shut up instantly.
    ***
    In the car, I started giggling, finally just laughing outright. “I can’t believe I did that,” I exclaimed.
    His lips twitched. “You are a funny one, Emily,” he drawled. “You think nothing of coming over to my house, kneeling on my patio, sucking me off, but this? This is being brave?” He shook his head. “Strange.”
    “Oh,” I said. I guess he was right. “It didn’t seem that risky, I guess. I did sort of know you.”
    He just shook his head. “Try to be a little less trusting, Emily,” he said. “As it is, you are asking to be devoured by the wrong guy. You need to take better care of yourself. Ask questions, be wary when you seek a Dominant after we are done.”
    My face must have fallen, because he stopped talking. “Okay,” he said wryly. “I’m going to stop the lectures. Let’s go try out the toys, if you still want to?”
    It wasn’t that he wasn’t right, because he was ; I should be more careful. He thought that my falling face was a result of his lecturing, but I searched my heart and mind, and that wasn’t the cause of the disquiet. Instead, it was his casual reference to me seeking a Dominant at the end of our eight weeks. He’d said something similar this morning, and he’d said it now, and both times, a little lance of pain had slid through me.
    If I had any sense, I would have cut my losses right then, before I gave him the power to break my heart. But I’d never been known for caution, and though every logical voice in my head told me to run away, I ignored them all and turned to him.
    “Your place or mine?” I asked him.

Chapter 5
     
    Emily:
    We drove back to Jake’s hotel room. I was lost in thought; the Jake at my side was very different from the Jake of my one-night stand. He was still arrogant and amused, but there was more patience, and more communication. That first night, for the most part, he’d just barked out orders and I had obeyed. My obedience had thrilled me, but here, now, I actually felt like I was learning something from him.
    “Penny for your thoughts,” he remarked.
    “You aren’t