Leigh is tired of repressing her sexuality. Finally over her devastating marriage break up and with her young son happy and settled into a normal life once more, she decided it’s time to indulge herself and give in to her increasingly intense fantasies of being submissive to a man. She goes to a very specific party, totally focused on picking up a short term, no emotional strings involved partner.

Leo is tired of the “average” submissive woman. He wants someone who he can dominate in the bedroom, but who will challenge him and help him grow in the rest of his personal life. When he sees the mother of one of his Elementary School students at the party, he knows one of his greatest fantasies is about to become a reality.

What neither of them realised is the fact that even the Fiercest of beasts can be tamed with love.

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Cover Art created by S.L. Carpenter

Excerpt 1:

“You can’t wear that!” Leigh exclaimed.

Anne stood on her doorstep in a dark red silk pirate shirt and a pair of loose-fitting black leather pants. Leigh had been expecting Anne to wear something more…revealing. Still not dressed herself, Leigh had answered the door in her terry cloth robe, knowing it would be Anne. They were planning on going to a bondage pick-up party in less than twenty minutes and there was no time left for Leigh to make Anne go back home and change now. She sighed. I bet she planned this, she thought disgruntled.

The silk of Anne’s shirt was loose enough to conceal Anne’s rather impressive breasts, and was laced up to her neck. Her leather pants were sexy, but hung loosely around her thighs and legs. If she had wanted to, Anne could have looked a total knock-out, but dressed down as she was, she wasn’t particularly eye-catching at all!

Evidently Anne had been serious when she had warned Leigh that she didn’t want any male attention tonight.

With her long, warm brown hair braided back into a single plait hanging halfway down her back, Anne would certainly attract minimal attention tonight. Leigh wondered for a second if she should be dragging her best friend to the party as her escort. Reminding herself of the two pints of Ben and Jerry’s she had bribed Anne with, she firmed her resolve.

Anne simply smiled at Leigh’s outrage and pushed firmly past her to enter the small house.

Leigh’s five-year-old son, Nathan, was sitting in front of the TV watching the Nickelodeon channel. He looked up as Anne entered the house and jumped up from his cushion on the floor.

“Aunty Annie!” he cried out, rushing over to hug her.

“Hey there, little man.” She picked him up and hugged him back. “How are things going?”

“I’m great. Mr. Ashcroft gave me a gold star for my coloring this afternoon! He said I did really well keeping in the lines.”

“Aahh,” murmured Anne, “Mr. Ashcroft has struck again.” Shooting a teasing glance at her friend, she half-turned and asked, “So how is the studly Mr. Ashcroft?”

Nathan frowned. “But Annie, only horses are studs. Mr. Ashcroft said —“

Nathan was cut off by Leigh. “Nathan, go clean your teeth. We’ll be leaving for Nanna’s in a few minutes. Are you packed?”

“Mooom,” the little boy whined.

“Come on, champ, I’ll help you pack for the night.” Anne shot Leigh a laughing glance, knowing she had been about to receive a lecture, again. “Let’s leave your mom to get dressed in peace, huh?”

Leigh noticed the speed with which Anne hustled her son out of the room. As well she should! she huffed, teasing me about Leo Ashcroft indeed!

Leo Ashcroft was Nathan’s teacher and a very studly man. He was around six foot one to Leigh’s own five foot eight. With mahogany brown hair that was just slightly longer than the current trend and wickedly glinting green eyes, Leigh knew she was not alone with the mothers when she sighed and drooled over his magnificent form and laughing eyes.

But sometimes, when Nathan pulled her into his classroom after school to show her a particular picture he had drawn, Leigh wondered if it was her imagination when she felt his heated eyes following her movements. His beautiful green eyes seemed to hide so many secrets. They could be hot and wicked one moment, then laughing and teasing the next.

Leigh knew Nathan revered his teacher, the only male role model currently in his life. Damien, her ex and Nathan’s father, had simply decided one afternoon three years ago that having a wife and small son was simply too much hassle. He had left, leaving her world, and everything she thought had been in it, shattered.

Leigh shook her head at her maudlin thoughts and headed for her small bathroom. With Anne taking care of Nathan’s packing she really should finish her own dressing. Digging into her closet, she found right at the back under a pile of T-shirts the blood-red and black corset she had bought many years ago.

Looking critically at it she decided with a bit of luck and a lot of Anne’s help she should still fit into it. Digging deeper she found the leather micro-mini skirt she had usually worn with it, and the black stiletto sandals.

As she pulled the fishnet stockings she had bought earlier up her legs, her eyes fell on the lion’s face she had tattooed on her right thigh. She had gotten the tattoo just a few months before Damien had left her. She had always loved lionesses with their proud, regal bearing. The way it was the women who did all the work hunting and gathering, protecting and teaching their cubs. The men were virtually useless unless their physical strength or seed was needed by the female.

On top of that, her star sign was Leo, which was where her initial love of lions had sprung from. She often glanced at or thought of her tattoo to give her strength to help her through the day. Coupled with her rather healthy pride, she often thought of herself as a lioness, protecting her young and working night and day to keep him happy, healthy, and safe.

She often reminded herself what she had come through, what she had survived and rebuilt from. She was not some weak little creature who was reliant on anyone else. She had a decent job, even if it only was working retail in a soap and bath ware store. It kept her happy, kept her bathroom filled with wonderful perfumed oils and salts, and paid most of the bills. It was enough.

She didn’t need or want a man, except for sex, which she was currently nearly desperate for. The pitiful few dates she had been on in recent years had been extremely far apart, and so pathetic they had never reached the sexual side of things.

Leigh had thought for months that letting a man into her well-ordered life would be inviting disaster. If she had been so mistaken by Damien, a man who had seemed to love his son and their life together, how could she possibly trust her instincts now?

After all the stress Damien’s desertion had caused, she was certain she didn’t want to bring another man into Nathan’s life unless she was sure he’d stick around for the long haul. Nathan had lived through enough upset and change in his young life. They both deserved to be more than a passing fancy.

The only current interest she had in men, she firmly assured herself, was to use them as a stud service. Leigh smiled as she thought of the large purple dildo Anne had bought her for her birthday last year, which had been a very close companion. Anne had bought her a pint of Chunky Monkey and given her that in front of Nathan, and when Leigh had climbed into bed later that night, lying right there in the middle of the bed had been the jelly vibrator!

When the last of her stupid dates had flopped, Leigh had finally come to grips with her fears. She was secretly scared that she’d been fantasizing and daydreaming so much about a dominant, strong lover, that she now couldn’t subconsciously face sleeping with a man who wasn’t interested in bondage.

Leigh had chastised herself for being such a moron, but the thought continued to persist. In the end, it had been why she had capitulated to Anne’s constant pleas for her to explore her bondage fantasies. Leigh needed to know if she could settle for a vanilla man, or if she had daydreamed herself into a corner where only her bondage fantasies could satisfy her.

What she ideally wanted, she had realized, was a man who could play the dominant lover, who could satisfy her darker sexual cravings, but also be a normal, happy man and a father to her son. With that thought she returned to her excitement about the pick–up party she had convinced Anne to attend with her.

The party was quite a distance away from the little city she lived in and so there shouldn’t be anyone at the party who knew her particularly well. The friend who had wrangled the invitation for her was a casual acquaintance of the couple hosting the party and had assured Leigh no one from her small circle of friends would be present.

Back in her teenage years she and a few friends had dabbled in bondage games. But it had been many years since those carefree times, and the play had never been particularly serious. Now she was older and wiser, and her craving and curiosity about bondage was more intense than it had been all those years ago.

Hearing Nathan and Anne heading back into the lounge room, Leigh shook her head and hustled herself. It was nearly 8 pm and they had to get going. Quickly pulling on her mini-skirt over the fishnets, she also grabbed a pair of sneakers for driving. As she stashed her stilettos in a small backpack, Leigh called out to Anne to help lace up her corset.

Twenty minutes later and feeling as if her ribs were breaking apart from the strain of the corset, Leigh threw on a long-sleeved shirt to cover her exposed breasts. Anne’s comment of “rather you than me” rang in her ears and Leigh reminded herself of all the fulfilled fantasies and sex that would come from her outfit. Anyway, she looked great. She might think her torso would break and pop from the corset that cinched her waist and flattened her small tummy, but her breasts were lifted in such a manner that could entice even the most restrained of men, and her hour-glass figure was shown to perfection.

Picking up a few other essentials, she was ready to leave a moment later and closed her bedroom door to collect her son and friend.

Dropping Nathan off with her mother for the night, she saw her son settled and kissed him goodnight. Promising to be back before he awoke in the morning, she kissed him a few more times, ruffled his beautiful blond curls and returned back to the car and Anne. Anne had the map and instructions, and was designated navigator for the evening. One last wave at her mom and son, and they were on their way.

Excerpt 2:

Leo took one last look around the small party and cursed. He had driven out here all this way to make sure no one who would recognize him would be present, and he had been right, he didn’t know a soul at this party. The eternal problem of some of his students’ parents finding the secrets of his sexual private life was still safe. But that didn’t help him solve the problem that there wasn’t anyone interesting here, again!

Hoping he had missed someone the second or third time around, Leo once again critically scanned all the females present. There were a number of female subs here, some of whom he knew vaguely from other parties he had attended in nearby cities. He silently gritted his teeth in frustration. He was tired of submissives who couldn’t make up their own minds about anything. He knew that’s what most submissives were like, but he wished he could find a woman who would be submissive in bed, but still retain her thoughts and opinions outside the bedroom, like at parties such as this one.

After taking three submissives in the past year, Leo had discovered that while he wanted his woman to be submissive in bed, he also wanted her to be more assertive in other aspects of their lives. He didn’t want a woman say “yes” to every little thing he said. He wanted her to have a brain of her own, thoughts and opinions of her own. He didn’t want to pass a comment on the local political climate and have her instantly agree to everything he said. But with his previous lovers, when he had tried to inject some reality into their affairs they simply accepted anything he said and agreed with his viewpoint. It drove him nuts!

Yet Leo was hesitant to start a sexual relationship with the vanilla women he knew back home. He had tried a few vanilla relationships over the years, but when he had tried to introduce the lightest of bondage games the women had invariably freaked out on him.

The relationships had instantly turned sour and fallen apart in a big heap. It had been easier to simply give up and turn instead to fully-fledged submissive women. The problem is, he decided, that there is no middle ground. What I really need is an independent submissive. Sighing at the oxymoron, Leo tried to think of an alternative as he sipped on his rum and coke.
Shaking his head at yet another blonde submissive who was making her way over to him, he put his half-finished glass down on a nearby table and turned to walk out the door. As he turned, creamy flesh wrapped in black and red silk and leather caught his eye. Glancing back, Leo caught his breath.

Standing tall and regally, a proud tilt to her chin stood Ms. Renkin. Dressed up as she was, she easily surpassed every wet dream he’d ever had about her.

A tiny black leather mini-skirt barely covered her ass. His eyes lingered on that shapely ass, eventually running down her legs taking in the black fishnet stockings and three-inch high heels.

His mouth suddenly dry, Leo determinedly raised his eyes to take in the stunning black and red satin corset that had created a mountain of cleavage. Her breasts were so tightly held they threatened to topple straight out of her corset and over whomever was lucky enough to be standing in the way. Her soft blonde hair was lightly curled and softly glowing against her smooth white shoulders, framing her pretty face to perfection.

As his eyes ran back down the deliciously long length of her legs he noticed a tattoo on her right thigh. It seemed to be the face of an animal, though he couldn’t tell from this distance and through the peek-a-boo fishnets what animal it was.

Finally managing to get some blood back into his brain, he realized his faint surprise both at the tatt, and at finding Leigh here tonight. He would never have picked her as the type of woman who would be interested in getting a tattoo. Then again, he had never thought she would be interested in bondage either. He licked his lips as his desire mounted.

Leo noticed one of the other doms, Harry he thought was his name, rush over and start animatedly talking to the two women. Leo watched, interested to see which of the two women would be dominant and how quickly they would turn poor Harry away. He was shocked when he saw Leigh begin to flirt with the man, and even more shocked a few minutes later to realize that Leigh’s friend was watching her carefully.

After watching the three of them interact for a few minutes it became obvious to him that Leigh’s friend was acting as the dominant partner, but she appeared to be taking her cues from Leigh.

It was obvious the two women were great friends and had known each other for years. Leigh’s friend was taking most of her cues from Leigh’s body language and small movements of her head. There was also a lack of intimacy in their contact, Leo realized. They would touch hands, or wrap arms around each other, but it was with a friendly closeness, not the same closeness and possessiveness one would expect from a lover.

As these thoughts sank into his shocked brain, another, more important thought was forming. Leigh is interested in bondage. Leo was trying to get his head around this concept when he noticed Leigh’s friend politely, yet firmly getting rid of poor Harry. He saw Leigh slowly studying each man around the room, wariness combined with an eagerness and calculation that he had seen a few times over the years.

She was definitely searching for a lover, he realized. And he suddenly moved forward with a new purpose. If Leigh was searching for a dominant partner, it could bloody well be him.

For months now he had debated with himself whether or not he should ask Leigh out. Part of his reason for hesitating was the thin line of ethics. He taught her son at school, and even though it wasn’t considered strictly unethical to date the mother of a student, it was a fine line and liable to raise a few eyebrows and ignite a few tempers.

But more importantly for him anyway, was the knowledge that he would have had to settle for a safe, vanilla relationship with her. It had been that factor that had ultimately kept him from approaching her and made him waver between lust and satisfaction.

He knew himself well enough to know he would never be fully satisfied with that sort of safe, boring relationship with Leigh. So it had been simpler for him, and in the long run for her, to not have a relationship at all. But now, Leigh was obviously searching for a dominant lover, or she wouldn’t be here as a submissive with her friend. Well, if she wanted a dominant partner, he would certainly fit the bill. The rules had miraculously changed tonight, and from here on in he was determined it would be he who made the rules in their relationship.

* * * * *

Leigh continued to search the room. She and Anne had started their quest in the entryway, where a number of people were crowded, saying hello and goodbye. Leigh was immensely grateful she and Anne had worked out a code of blinks for men whom Leigh was and was not interested in.

As Leigh was looking for a dominant partner, she had to be seen acting in a submissive manner. That was why it had been essential to convince Anne to come along. Anne was acting as her dominant partner, vetting the people they talked to and politely getting rid of those men and women with whom she wasn’t interested in.

Anne and Leigh had moved from the entryway to the kitchen and then out here to the living room. There were still heaps of men they hadn’t talked to yet, but Leigh hadn’t found anyone yet with whom she really wanted to start a relationship. Anne, thankfully, was being very patient and had even sort of gotten into the swing of things being her protector. She was easily able to work out from Leigh’s body language whether she was interested or not in each man, and they were used to each other’s mannerisms. They were working well together as a team.

As Leigh was starting to think about moving out into the backyard she noticed yet another man approaching them.
“Head’s up.” She warned Anne.

Turning fully to watch the new “applicant” as she was now thinking of them in her mind, she felt her breath catch and she nearly choked on her sip of water from the glass she had taken from the kitchen. Oh shit oh shit oh shit. She found herself silently chanting. It was Nathan’s Mr. Ashcroft. Now she was in trouble.

Blinking rapidly, Leigh desperately hoped he would disappear, simply being a figment of her imagination brought on from her fantasies. When he came to a halt in front of her she realized that the night was certainly going to take an interesting turn.

“Hello, Leigh” he quietly said. Leigh turned to Anne and blinked once. No use putting it off, she wryly thought. Thankfully, Anne merely raised an eyebrow, obviously recognizing the man in front of them.

Leigh suddenly realized what the interesting look on Anne’s face meant. She was suppressing a mad fit of giggles. Glad someone finds this funny, she thought sourly.

“Why hello, Mr. Ashcroft. What a surprise finding you here tonight. You know Leigh, my friend. I’m Anne.”

As Leigh warily watched Anne take control of the conversation, she knew her friend would milk the situation for all it was worth. As Leigh felt her face redden, she couldn’t decide if it was from embarrassment or anger at the glee Anne was finding in the awkwardness of her situation.

Leo, evidently taking the hint from Anne, played along.
“Yes, Anne,” he replied, “I recognized you as Leigh’s friend. I’ve seen you pick up Nathan a time or two?”

Anne nodded. “Oh yes, Nathan is my honorary little nephew. Leigh has been…tied up…a few times when it’s been time to pick up Nathan. He worries a little if no one is there for him, so I’ve gone in her stead.”

Leigh felt a nearly overwhelming urge to strangle Anne. She was virtually choking on her giggles now, the pun she created lighting up her features and causing little devils to glint in her eyes as she looked up to Leigh.

Unfortunately, Leigh needed to keep her position as a submissive, or the whole night would be a wasted effort. Even so, Anne wasn’t stupid. She would see the anger and frustration in her eyes and give up teasing her eventually.

“May I speak to Leigh privately?” Leo politely requested. Instantly Leigh felt Anne stiffen in indecision. It was one thing for Anne to tease her, Leigh recognized, but quite another to abandon her. Leigh knew Anne would be reluctant to stand alone at this party; she hadn’t really even wanted to come at all.

Leigh stared down the couple of inches her stilettos gave her over Anne. Hazel eyes stared into gray, as Anne silently questioned whether Leigh was okay with this. Knowing she simply had to find out what Leo wanted and whether he would create a fuss over his new knowledge of her sexual desires, Leigh knew she needed to speak to him, and now was as good a time as any.

Leigh breathed easier when Anne screwed up her nose a little, but graciously nodded.
“Yeah. Sure.”
Leigh nodded her gratitude to her friend and hugged her close.
“It’ll be okay…I’ll just be a few minutes, okay?” she whispered in Anne’s ear.
“’Kay. Be careful. And don’t desert me for long,” Anne whispered back.

Leigh let go of her friend and looked over the hunk of a schoolteacher who stood before her. He held out an arm, the essence of politeness, yet Leigh knew it was his way of asking her permission to take her away from here. Away from the party, from her normal, safe life and probably from all the preconceptions she had about herself. She knew from the glitter in his green eyes that he would challenge her and push her limits. And she would undoubtedly love every minute of it.

Leigh took his arm and let him lead her out of the room, towards the shadowy gardens in the back yard. She felt as if she had accepted an invitation to dine with the devil. A very handsome, sexy devil, who would love every morsel of her body and soul. Glancing back at Anne as they exited the room, Leigh knew her friend would be able to handle herself back in the party. It should be herself she worried about now.