“What’s that?” A soft female voice asked from next to me.

I turned to see a girl who could be the poster child for Homecoming Cheer Queen. She was blonde, blue-eyed, and very young. Her eyes were wide as she stared at my keychain, which I had on the table while lunching in a favored deli stop off Venice Beach.

The sun was warm, the sound of the waves a reassuring reminder of the permanence of the ocean, and there was a steady stream of tourists and locals to enjoy walking by on the Venice Beach strip.

“What do you think it is?” I asked her.

She looked up at me in annoyance.  This girl was not used to being questioned or not being answered.  She was the type to expect traffic to stop as she sashayed across the street, NOT in the crosswalk.

“Why don’t you just tell me?” She bratted out to me.

I laughed.  “Aw, does the princess not like being denied?  Out of curiosity, when is the last time a male said no to you?” I arched an eyebrow.

Her eyes narrowed.  “What are you trying to say?”

I sat up and laughed again, then sipped my soda.  “I said it, Princess Brat.  Tell me what you think, and I’ll answer your question, or walk.” I gestured past her to the long sidewalk.

The Princess’s facade began to evaporate as she saw I was serious. Licking her lips, she lowered her voice and asked in a much nicer tone, “Please, tell me what it is.”

I held up what she’d been staring at when she’d stopped.  “This?” I pressed the sides, and the Clover Clamp opened and closed.  “I think you know what it is, but want me to say it to you.  Isn’t that right? What’s your name, or I keep calling you Princess?”

She blinked and hesitated.  “Pam.”

I knew that was a fake name, but I rolled with it.  “Do you already know what this is, Pam?” I squeezed it open and closed again.

Pam was wearing very nicely cutoff denim shorts that really didn’t cover her ass more than her tiny bikini bottom.  She’d opted just to wear the top alone.  I watched her nipples pebble up under the thin fabric.  She knew.

I sighed. “Pam, I am not a nice man. If you want nice or polite, then look elsewhere. If you’re looking for something else, ” my hand strayed to the clamp, and she watched it with fascination. “Sit down, start being honest, or don’t waste my time.”

Her eyes came up to mine.  I let her see more of the real me in my eyes.  Her eyes widened once more, and she swallowed.  She held very still but didn’t sit down.

Leaning forward, I pulled a chair closer to me.  “Sit down, do as you’re told, be honest starting with your real name, or play with nice boys.  Now.”  I didn’t raise my voice.  I lowered it, but put the right inflection in it.

Slowly, she lowered herself into the chair.  Her eyes were still on mine.  “How did you know that isn’t my name?” 

“You hesitated too long.  Your face showed it.  I can tell when you lie to me.  Lie one more time and you’ll find out just how not nice I am.” I grinned.  

She swallowed again.  “What would happen?”

“Name,” I demanded.

“Annie.” She murmured. 

“Thank you, Annie.  Annie, did you ever get punished for lying as a child?” I asked.

She nodded.

“What did they do?” I asked and sat back to take another sip.  My sandwich was long gone, but I’d been nursing the fries.  

Glancing around, Annie leaned a little closer.  “I got spanked and my mouth soaped.”

I nodded.  “Classic.  Good parenting.  You’ve also answered what will happen if you lie to me again.” I shrugged.

She shook her head.  “I’d run.”

“Then run and don’t come back.  You can get up and leave now.” I gestured once more.  “Or you can tell me you do know what this is on my keychain and why it makes your nipples so hard.”

Annie blushed slightly and started to cover her breasts, but decided it was a useless gesture.  “Nipple clamp.”  She whispered.

“Good.  Good girl to finally admit it.” I nodded.  “Ever felt clamps before?”

She shook her head.

“But you’re very curious?”  I asked.

She shivered slightly but nodded quietly.

“Never tried clothes pins at home when alone?” I asked.

Annie blushed once more.  “How did you…?”

I held up a hand.  “Not a nice man, remember?  I know about curious girls like you, Annie.  Did you actually use them or did you chicken out?”  I knew the answer.  It was written all over her face.

Her eyes lowered.  “I chickened out.”

“Well, this clamp is worse than clothes pins,” I told her.

She cocked her head.  “How would you know?”

“You’re honest, so am I.  I’ve tried them…both before.  Not to get pleasure but to be…fair.  My submissive at the time asked if I had before when I told her to use them.  She didn’t disobey or stop letting me clamp her, but pointed out fair was fair.”  I sighed.  “D/s dynamics aren’t meant to be fair, but I indulged her.  She’s worth indulging.”

Annie’s eyes grew round.  “Submissive?  Dee ess dynamic?”

I nodded.  “Have you heard of such things before?  Remember what I said about lying again.” I smiled as if daring her to test me.

She thought about it, but her squirm told me I’d won that point.  “Yes.  I don’t understand them all that well, but I’ve heard of them.”

“Watched videos?  Read books?  Movies?” I asked.

She nodded.  “Yes. Yes, and yes.”

I eyed her a moment.  “How old are you?”

Her annoyed face came back.  “Why?”

“Because if you’re not old enough, this conversation stops here,” I answered.

She frowned and fished in her shorts’ pocket.  Brandishing a card, she handed it to me.  It was her CA driver’s license.  Annie was twenty-three…barely.  “Never been carded for a conversation before.” She grumbled and took it back.

I stared at her.  “For future reference, never, EVER show your ID that quickly to a strange person.  For all you know, I have a great memory, and now I have your address and other information about you.”

Her face blanched.  “Oh.  Well…I knew you weren’t going to believe me, so…”

“I know.  It’s fine.  I just want to teach you that before you run into someone who is not nice.”  I told her.

She frowned at me.  “You’re not nice.  Spanking me? Soaping me?” Her eyebrow arched.

“Good point, but, as I said, you could run or leave.”  I shrugged.  “If I reached over to take your arm and pulled you over my lap, would you run? Would you scream?  Would you be a good girl and take your spanking?”

She squirmed again, and her eyes became a little wild.  Annie was picturing all of it and how it would feel.

“Oh, and since you’re wondering…I’d remove the shorts and bottom.  All the better to get my point across.” I smiled.

‘I haven’t lied yet.” She protested.

“No, but you haven’t answered my question yet either.  Answer me.” I told her.

Her eyes pleaded with me.  “I won’t lie.  I promise.”  She was begging me to let that be an answer enough.

“And if you did…what should I do, Annie?  Tell me?  Tell me now.” I moved impatiently like I was getting ready to leave.

Her hands came down on the table.  “Please, don’t go.  Please.  If I did, then…then I’d know what would happen to me.  I…wouldn’t run or scream.” She gave half a smirk.  “Well, not at first anyway.  You’re hands look pretty big.”

I showed my left one to her with the palm showing.  “True.  I think it’d easily spank each cheek quite well in one swat, don’t you?”

She nodded.  “So…am I old enough to keep talking?”

I nodded back to her.  “Yes, although you are younger than I am comfortable with, since we’re being honest.”

Now, I had offended her.  “Why?  What’s wrong with twenty-three?”

I laughed. “Too emotional, too dramatic. Where do I begin? Too inexperienced? It is fun to train a submissive from the start so she is exactly what I want, but it gets old after a while.”

Her mouth opened to argue.

“Before you raise your voice to me and get perilously close to being spanked for a different reason, just tell me I’m wrong.  You walked by and saw the clamp, then saw me.  Something in you made you stop and ask about it.  That something is why your nipples hurt and your pussy is wet.  You keep squirming because you are imagining what being spanked by me would feel like. Would you like it?  How much?”  I stopped.  “Well?”

She closed her mouth and sat back. Her eyes lowered as she considered it. Finally, she looked up. “How…” she paused. May I ask how old you are?”

I nodded and told her.  

She looked surprised.  “You look pretty good for your age.”

“Thank you, Annie.  You’re sweet.  Will that gap be a problem?” I asked.  “Might as well get that over with.”

She shrugged.  “Not for me, or I wouldn’t have stopped to ask.”  She fidgeted.  “Should I call you Sir or something?” Her look was so open and sweet.

God help me.  This wasn’t a good idea, but her innocence blended with her blatant sexuality was hard to refuse.  I smiled gently.  “Not yet, Annie.  Jon will do for now.  Let’s set the stage a little.  Tell me when and how you first learned you were curious about kinky things.”

“Yes, Jon.” She nodded.  The girl wanted to Sir me so badly it hurt her.  Ah, sweet youth.

Annie began to be curious around ten years ago and has been reading and searching since then. She’d wrestled with a couple of boyfriends and earned playful swats but never had the courage to ask to be spanked.

“Too…embarrassing and…also…too vulnerable if the guy lost it, you know?” She shrugged.

“I do know.” I agreed.  “You’re wondering if you’re a masochist and also a submissive?”

She nodded.  We’d been discussing things so much now that Annie was relaxed and just being herself.  It was a marked improvement on the “Pam” I’d met earlier.

“Well, I’d initially say you have some definite submissive in you or you’d have bolted by now…and…you wouldn’t be debating whether or not to ask me to spank you.” I teased.

Annie blushed again.  “God, am I that transparent?”  

“No.  I just know the signs.” I answered.

Her eyes grew shrewd.  “How many of me have you known or…spanked before, Jon?”

“Do you really want to know?” I checked.

She nodded.  “Please?”

“Submissives under thirty would be a small number,” I told her.

“That’s a SMALL number?” She looked shocked.

I shrugged.  “I do have a few years on you, Love.” 

She grinned.  “Love?  I like that.”

“It’s an easy endearment that comes to me often.  Words can be potent, but…we’ll get to that later, Annie.”

She nodded and tried to show patience.  “Yes, Sir.”  She looked scared.  “Oops, sorry.”

Shaking my head, I laughed softly.  “It’s fine.  It’s been killing you, I could tell.  Go ahead, since I think we’re ready to start talking seriously about the next steps.”

Annie bit her lower lip and then licked it.  I’d have to warn her later on what doing that in public might get her.  “Next steps, what about…right now?” She squirmed again.

I reached into my satchel and got out a wet wipe.  Carefully, I lifted the clamp on my keychain and began to clean the end of it.  Her eyes took it all in, and her breathing became shallow.

“Do you know what complicit submission is, Annie?” I asked him.

“No, Sir.” She shook her head.

“I could command you to lift one of your bikini tops and let me put this clamp on and you’d let me, wouldn’t you?” I asked and looked at her very directly.

“Yes, Sir.” She whispered, and her hand began to move.

“No.  I didn’t say that yet.  Complicit submission is when I command you to do something to yourself in front of me because I can and you’ll obey.  You’re doing it to yourself, which makes the pain even more…intense?  Intimate?  Understand?” I asked.

She swallowed and nodded slowly.  “Oh God.  It would be…so…so intense!” Her head cocked.  “Don’t you want to hurt me?”

I tried very hard not to laugh at the question. “Of course, I do, Annie, and I will with time, but I want to test a few things first: your submission/obedience, your enjoyment of pain, and I want to watch you take the first steps to giving yourself to me.”

She nodded.  “Am I to do as you said, Sir?”

“You are.” I laid the clamp in front of her.  “Keep your eyes on mine for all of it.  Do not take it off until I allow it.  Understood?”

“Yes, Sir.”  She reached for it.  “Thank you, Sir.”

“For what?” I was flabbergasted.

“For being patient with a twenty-three-year-old kink virgin, Sir.  I…I want to please you.  I’ll do as you say, when you say, and try to be patient.” She looked around, but it was so crowded and people went by so quickly that it was almost like we were alone.

Annie slipped one nipple out from underneath its scant covering.  I’d be willing to bet it was her most sensitive of the two.  There was usually always one more than the other.  I made a note of it for later.

Her eyes came up to mine as she opened the clamp with one hand and began to stuff her nipple between the two pokey pads.  She had large, round, brown nipples.  

“Lovely nipples, Annie,” I murmured.

She smiled.  “Thank you, Sir.” Taking a breath and letting it out slowly, she let the clamp close around the squished nipple.

Her eyes bulged as the sharp, intense pain hit her.

“Hand off it,” I told her.

She obeyed, but her eyes began to fill with tears.  

“Now, I prefer to clamp both with a chain between them.  I can tug, command you to tug, or put weights on them.” I explained.  “Breathe.”

She nodded and tried hard to breathe normally.  It was tough.  

“In…out…In…out…” I coached her until I saw the panic begin to fade.

“Well, we’ve answered that you’re a submissive.” I went on.

She nodded, and the tears began to trickle down her cheeks.  

“I know it hurts here.” I pointed to the clamp.  “But how does it feel down there?” I pointed between her thighs.

For answer, she reached under her shorts and dabbed a little, then showed me the thick, clear lubricant she was feeling.  She was very aroused.

“Put your hand back on it,” I commanded.

She obeyed.  

I warned her, “Understand that when you take it off, there will be a new pain as the blood comes back into it. “

She nodded.  “Yes, Sir.” She whispered in the soft, submissive voice I’d get to know and love soon.

“You may take it off.” I put my hands on her bare knees.  She needed to feel support, contact, and a frame of reference.

She obeyed, and her eyes grew even wider as she moaned, then tried to stop.

“No, moan for me, little girl.  I like hearing it.  Never keep those sounds from me, understood?” I asked.

“Yes, Sir.” She moaned a little louder and put her hands over mine.  “Thank you for touching me.”

I nodded.  “I have responsibilities, too.”

Annie made no move to cover her nipple.  “Sir,…would you kiss it and make it feel better, please?”

I sighed.  “Straddle.” I sat back.

Annie wasted no time with questions but straddled my lap.  She’d done this plenty of times before.  Kink virgin? Yes.  Virginal?  Hell, no!  

I lowered my mouth to gently suck in her nipple and lick around it with my tongue.  Annie melted into my arms with a deep, relaxing sigh.  “Thank you, thank you, Sir.” She whispered in my ear, then kissed it softly.

“Want to learn a new trick?” I backed off a little to ask.

“Yes, please?” She asked.

He leaned back and opened his drink.  Taking out one ice cube, he applied it to her nipple.  “Hold still.” He eyed her.

She wriggled a little but held still.

“Good girl.” He smiled.

She smiled back, and her eyes grew deep and heated.  “Ooo, that feels so good now.” 

“Mmmhmm…ice play after nipple torture is often a favorite for subs.  Enjoying it?”  I asked.

She nodded as her eyes became a little dreamy. “Is…is this what it will be like…with you, Sir?”

“Yes and no.  It depends on you.” I answered.

“Me?” She was surprised.

“Yes, you.  You’ll have a lot of input on how things go.  Consent is always key, fundamental, and a requirement.  I will never do to you something you don’t allow.” I explained.

“Wow.  I…I didn’t know it was like that.” She replied. 

“It’s how it should be,” I commented.  “Have you eaten?”

She shook her head.

“Why am I not surprised?” I scowled.  I handed her my card and told her to get herself some lunch since I’d already eaten.  “Here, get me a refill, too.  Then, when you get back, we’ll begin to talk about things.  Okay?”

She nodded and went to do as I’d told her.

I enjoyed watching her go over to Eddie.  He looked past her to me with a grin and a shake of his head.  I’d hear about it later from him.  Sitting back, I took a deep breath and enjoyed the salt air and sun.  

Annie came back with her food and my drink.  I noticed her nipple was still bare.

“Did you just flash Eddie right now?” I asked.

She shrugged with an impish grin.  “He didn’t seem to mind, and you hadn’t told me to cover up yet, Sir, so what was I to do?”

“Do so now,” I told her.

She obeyed but was still grinning.  “Am I in trouble?”

“No, sorry to disappoint you, but…not yet.” I smiled.

She smiled wider and we began to talk of…things.  Beginnings are always so enjoyable.