Playing for Real: Paolo's Playhouse, Book 5

  Dedication

  For all the readers who loved Paolo’s Playhouse and wanted to see Paolo and Julianne fall in love.

  Chapter One

  Paolo Mancini sat alone in the back of the limousine as it slid silently down the crowded street. His distracted frame of mind was only one of the reasons he decided to have Jack drive tonight. He pulled a pen from the inside pocket of his suit coat, intending to study a sales contract on the ride across town to pick up his new submissive. But he didn’t even bother taking the papers from the case at his feet.

  All his concentration was focused on the upcoming session with Julianne. They’d completed their negotiations over dinner a few nights ago. It had been much more exciting than the discussions that led to the real estate contract waiting for his signature. He shifted in his seat, his body already reacting with anticipation. How could he think about contingencies and closings when he would soon have his hands on her again?

  Julianne was wonderful. Everything he’d hoped for and more. It wasn’t only her expressive face, fiery hair and responsive body. It was the way she’d admitted her desire for bondage sex when she didn’t even understand why. It was the way she cracked a joke when she was nervous. It was the incredible bravery she showed when she’d trusted her body to him, a stranger, only a week ago.

  Paolo absently ran the smooth pen through his fingers. He’d been pleased that she’d pushed through her fear and discussed hard limits and soft limits and safe words with him. He’d promised he was going to challenge her and he couldn’t wait to do just that. She couldn’t remain in her comfort zone and grow. He was pleased that she’d agreed to see him again at all.

  She was fighting the submissive soul that had been awakened when he’d bound her in rope for the first time, helping her act out the fantasy she’d been dreaming of for much too long. This was all new and frightening to her. He realized that. She was like a skittish colt, and he was going to have to train her carefully, with skill and patience.

  He drummed the pen on the seat beside him. He didn’t feel very patient tonight.

  Tonight he would bring her back to the Playhouse, the sexual fantasy club he owned where he and Julianne had met. This would be their first play date since their negotiations. Now that she’d given her consent, he was anxious to take the power she’d surrendered to him and run with it. To use it for both their pleasure.

  He’d show her that she could be submissive and strong at the same time. Prove to her that giving up control did not make her weak. That she could weave bondage and submission into her life. And hopefully into his.

  He stopped the frantic tapping and stuffed the pen back into his pocket. Paolo wanted more than a few play dates with Julianne. Already he could imagine a future with her, the kind of a committed full-time dominant/submissive relationship that he’d always wanted. He was certain Julianne was the sub he’d been looking for. He slowly rubbed his palms together, anticipating his hands on her soft skin once more.

  Although she couldn’t deny the connection between them, the attraction between them, it was entirely possible Julianne wouldn’t want to date a man who had admitted to wanting to dominate her all the time. Perhaps she would never want that. Doubts twisted in his stomach. It was too early to care this deeply one way or another.

  Jack pulled the car smoothly to a stop in front of Julianne’s building. It was time to push the worries away. It was time to be the Dom she needed him to be.

  And if his heart was broken in the process, that was a chance he had to take.

  Maybe she should cancel before it was too late. Julianne paced the living room floor, her phone clutched in her hand. She couldn’t pretend this was an ordinary date. Couldn’t pretend it was an ordinary man she thought about as she had showered and dressed to order. It was a play date. With a Dom. What had she been thinking?

  There was nothing wrong with her solitary life. She made her own decisions and didn’t have to answer to anyone. She wasn’t a submissive. She didn’t need to get all tied up in this—

  Her phone buzzed, vibrating in her palm. Maybe this was Paolo. Maybe he was cancelling. Maybe he realized this was a mistake. She glanced at the screen. It wasn’t Paolo. “Hey.”

  “You are still alive.”

  She grimaced at her best friend’s sarcastic tone of voice. “Stacey.” There had been a time when they saw each other at least once a week.

  “It’s been almost two months, Jules. You’re taking workaholic to the extreme.”

  “I know. Booming business is a mixed blessing.” Not that it was booming exactly, but it did keep her busy. “Sorry I haven’t called you back.”

  “Well, I’m not giving you a chance to blow me off again. I’m on my way to pick you up. We’re going to go get some drinks. Have dinner. Bad mouth all the guys who don’t appreciate us.”

  “Oh I’m sorry, Stace. I have plans.”

  “Yeah, probably picking out paint colors or something. Cancel them.”

  “I can’t.” And Julianne realized she didn’t want to. She might not be submissive but she had to see if what happened last week was a fluke. To see if she could give up control again. She wasn’t sure she could, even to get the best sex of her life. Even with a Dom as experienced as Paolo. A man as sexy as Paolo.

  What would Stacey think if she knew Julianne was looking forward to another bout of bondage sex with a man she just met?

  “Jules? You still there?”

  “Yeah. Sorry. I have a date.”

  “On a Monday night? Come on.”

  “Really.” The loud rasp of the buzzer made Julianne jump. “I have to go, Stace. I’ll call you later. Promise.” She disconnected the call and then slapped a shaky hand on the intercom button. “Yes?”

  “Julianne? It’s Paolo.”

  She shivered simply from the sound of his sexy, lyrical voice speaking her name. She swallowed before she could speak. “I’ll be right down.”

  “Buzz me in, Julianne.” There it was. The commanding tone that made her stomach tickle and her sex clench.

  What had she gotten herself into? “Okay. But I’ll be right down.”

  She grabbed her purse and locked the door to her apartment behind her. She’d walked up and down the narrow flight of stairs hundreds of times, but somehow tonight it seemed longer, narrower, her heels higher, skirt shorter, tighter. She was anxious to see Paolo again but still, she couldn’t help being nervous.

  He was waiting for her at the bottom of the stairs in the entryway, frowning slightly. He took the first few steps up, hand outstretched, to meet her. He looked elegant, more than sexy, in a loose black jacket over a white shirt. “I should have come up to get you.”

  She took his hand and his long fingers wrapped around hers, fingers that had strummed over every inch of her body. The electric spark of awareness might have been clichéd, but it was there just the same. She couldn’t let it zap her into submission that quickly. “There was no point in you climbing all these stairs just to come right back down.”

  As soon as they were off the stairs, he drew her close, their bodies not quite touching. He nailed her with his deep blue gaze. “From now on, I will walk you to your door and collect you there as well.” He brushed his lips lightly over hers, only long enough to tease, not nearly long enough to taste.

  She resisted the urge to lean into him. Instead, she shrugged as if her mind wasn’t screaming at her to end this now before he dictated more than how he would pick her up for a date.

  He stepped back then, looked her over, her hand still in his. A lock of his dark, wavy hair fell over his forehead and gave him a softer look. His familiar scent wound around her.

>   He wrapped his arm around her waist and led her across the foyer. “Have you been anticipating our evening as much as I have?”

  “I’ve been thinking about it a lot, yes.” She was excited to start their play dates. But she was also a little frightened about what he would want from her. What he would want to do to her.

  He paused with his hand on the door handle and looked over at her. He was so close she could have gotten lost in those eyes. “You sound nervous. Do you want to talk about it before we head out?”

  Hell yes, she was nervous, but she didn’t want to hang around here in the foyer to hash it out. “No. I’m okay.” She tried to keep her smile light. “I think we talked it all to death the other night.”

  He chuckled and she relaxed a little. “Yes. You are right.” He opened the door and they stepped out into the warm Monday evening air.

  Was that really a limo parked at the curb? A tall, broad man in a dark suit stood on the sidewalk. She glanced at Paolo as he led her to the long black car. “This is for us?”

  “Of course.” The uniformed man—was he a chauffeur or a bodyguard or what?—opened the back door for them. Paolo smoothly delivered her into the car as if he’d escorted dozens of women into the spacious backseat of this limousine at one time or another. And he probably had. A man as sexy and charming as Paolo, a man as dominating as Paolo, must have had plenty of women to ravish in the back of a dark vehicle.

  And the thought of being ravished by Paolo was probably more exciting than it should have been.

  The leather seat was soft and warm. Paolo slid in beside her and the door closed behind him, shutting them together in what a moment ago had felt like a huge space. Now that Paolo was beside her, he seemed to be sucking all the oxygen out of the air. Julianne started panting lightly, finding it suddenly hard to breathe.

  He didn’t seem to notice her difficulty. He took one of her hands in his, intertwined their fingers before he lifted their joined hands to his lips. He lightly kissed her knuckles. Tingles shimmered over her body.

  “The Playhouse must do very well,” she blurted out, her nerves getting the better of her.

  Paolo lifted a brow, paused a moment before replying softly, “Yes. I am happy with its success.”

  “I mean…a car like this? A driver like that? I didn’t expect…” She shut her mouth before she shoved her foot any deeper inside. It wasn’t any of her business. She sounded as if she was fishing for information. As if she cared how rich he was. As if she was surprised how rich he was. Even though she was.

  “Why should you expect anything?” Paolo replied smoothly. “I did not pick you up in this car in an attempt to impress you. The truth is that I would rather not have my eyes and hands occupied with driving when I could have them more pleasantly occupied.” He kissed her knuckles again. “Watching you. Touching you.”

  “Oh.” The word came out on a shaky sigh.

  “I have been looking forward to playing with you again,” he told her as the car pulled away from the curb. “I see you wore a skirt as I requested.” Their hands still together, he dropped them down onto her bare knee, then slid them up her leg until he reached the hem of her short black skirt. He caught her gaze, held it. “Did you follow the rest of my instructions?”

  Julianne hesitated, then nodded.

  Paolo slid their joined hands down her inner thigh and she automatically spread her knees as far as she could in the tight skirt, so he could reach under and make sure she’d left her panties in the underwear drawer.

  Since their fingers were still twined together, she felt, as well as he did, the bare flesh between her legs as he dragged their fingers through the wet, sensitive lips. Her sex clenched with the quick touch.

  “Very good, Julianne.” There was enough light left in the twilight to catch the flash of pleasure and arousal in his eyes. Julianne felt an unexpected matching pleasure at his approval. And then the resulting dismay.

  How could she declare she wasn’t submissive when she’d followed his instructions to the letter? When she felt a rush of pleasure simply from pleasing him? Was her denial only an attempt to pretend it wasn’t true?

  Paolo drew their hands out from under her skirt. “Do not put your knees back together,” he said softly, his lips brushing against her ear. “I like knowing you are bare and open for me. I like to catch the scent of your arousal in the air around us.” He lifted their hands to his lips and he licked her moisture from their skin.

  She trembled with the light touch of his tongue and the erotic words that flowed from his lips so easily. She looked out the tinted window at the buildings flashing by. It was time to get real. She was aroused. She was incredibly attracted to this man, but she was so far out of her comfort zone it wasn’t funny. Should she insist they stop now?

  While the rational part of her mind whispered that was exactly what she should do, her body burned and sizzled and ached to be under his control again.

  She couldn’t imagine never again feeling the incredible way she had when he’d tied her up in his fantasy room and played with her body. She couldn’t deny the feeling of rightness that snapped into place when he’d bound her and controlled her and—

  “Julianne?” Paolo caught her chin and turned her to face him again. “Are you thinking too much?”

  “I have a lot to think about.”

  “I know.” He cupped her face, ran his thumb along her bottom lip. “I am tempted to tell you what I have planned for our play date tonight, but I think it is better for you not to know.”

  “How can that be better for me?”

  “Anticipation can be sweet, Julianne,” he said in that lilting Italian accent.

  “Not all that sweet,” she complained, squirming slightly in her seat.

  “And yet you will wait.” There was that steel beneath his silky tones. “And you will stop squirming like a child.”

  Suddenly she felt like a child, not a twenty-eight-year-old woman who ran her own business and had been in control of her life for the past ten years. She wanted to lean on this man, wanted to whine when he wouldn’t let her have her way. She hated feeling this way, so unsure, when not so long ago she thought she knew exactly what she wanted out of life.

  “So am I allowed to touch you?”

  “What?”

  “This whole submitting thing. I’m confused. I feel like I’m not supposed to think for myself when I’m with you. I don’t know if I dare touch you without asking permission first. Or maybe I’m not supposed to take the initiative at all. Maybe I’m supposed to sit here like a blow up doll and wait for you to play with me.”

  “Where do you get these ideas?”

  “Now you sound angry. Are you mad at me?”

  “God, no.” He raked his fingers through his thick hair. She wanted to be able to do that. “You come up with these ridiculous statements that I do not know how to respond to.”

  “The other night you didn’t want me to move,” she reminded him.

  He sighed, long and deep. “The other night you were at the Playhouse as a bondage toy. There were certain rules for that scene.”

  “So what are the rules now?”

  Another sigh, indulgent and slightly amused. “I will give you the rules for our play date once we are in the playroom. Otherwise, unless I forbid it, you are free to move or touch or speak.”

  “Good.” But before she had the chance to take the initiative, the limo slowed and stopped in front of the renovated warehouse where Paolo’s Playhouse was located.

  “We’re here.” Paolo released her hand. “Pull down your skirt.”

  Julianne knew better than to point out that he was the one who had pushed her skirt up to her crotch. She tugged the fabric down, smoothing out the wrinkles. The door opened and Paolo stepped out, then turned and offered her his hand. There was probably an art to sliding from a car seat while wearing high heels and a short skirt with nothing on underneath. Julianne slid to the edge of the seat but couldn’t find a way to gracefully
step out onto the sidewalk. Paolo pulled her out, then caught her as she stumbled.

  “Sorry,” she mumbled, her hands clutching his shirt. “I guess I need a little more practice with that dismount.”

  His soft laughter was warm against her face. His lips brushed against her cheek and then he wrapped his arm around her waist. He turned to the driver. “Thank you, Jack.” He guided her into the building and to the elevator that led to the third floor. The door opened and Paolo swept them inside.

  He led Julianne into the same playroom they’d used the last time she was here. This time there was no chair sitting in the middle of the room where she’d been bound previously. Only the extra long sofa along the back wall. The walls were still covered with hooks holding lengths of ropes and chains, as well as instruments of…what had he called it during their negotiations the other night?…impact play. Floggers and whips and canes.

  Julianne shuddered.

  Paolo closed the door behind them then turned to look at her. “After I have closed the door for each session, you are to get undressed and kneel in front of the door while I prepare for the play. There is a low table there to place your clothing.”

  “This is it then?” she whispered.

  “This is it.” He smiled indulgently and brushed his knuckles lightly along her cheek. “When you kneel, place your hands palms up on your thighs and lower your gaze. Practice slowing your breathing, calming yourself. This is your time to ready yourself for your submission. Do you understand?”

  She nodded. Swallowed hard.

  He didn’t move, but ran his gaze over her body, from head to toes and back up again. He lifted a brow. “Then get to it.”

  “Oh. Okay.” She kicked off her shoes, then reached behind her back with shaky hands to lower the skirt’s zipper.

  Paolo turned and walked away without a backward glance. She stepped out of the skirt and draped it carefully over the table, then slipped off her blouse and bra and placed them on top. Then she tucked the shoes on the floor beneath it. She dropped to her knees as gracefully as she could, which wasn’t saying much. Maybe she should practice that. The smooth floor was cool beneath her bare skin. She hazarded a quick glance at Paolo before she lowered her gaze. He stood before the wall of ropes and chains and implements of impact, probably deciding which to use.