“It does not look like BDSM as I know it.”
“Thank God,” Daniel added. “Because for a second there I was seriously confused. I thought it was just me. Jeez, are those couches or benches?” He pressed his hands on one of the wide, backless platforms, testing the amount of spring.
“Lounges, I guess,” Delia suggested. “Since they only have arms and no backs?”
Mara had ventured deeper into the room to investigate the drawers.
“Aha! Here’s the good stuff.”
She turned around, brandishing a set of leather cuffs. Delia gasped at the coincidence. White leather, not black. Her favorite. What else was in there?
Before she could move forward, Daniel stopped her with a firm grip on her shoulder.
“Hold up. Where do you think you’re going, missy?”
“Oh. Um, sorry, Master.” She aimed a sheepish grin his way and then dropped her head, trying to look penitent. She was so eager to root around in the drawers full of goodies that she’d forgotten herself.
“Maybe later, if you’re a good girl, I’ll let you play with some of the toys. But for right now I want you to kneel here and wait.”
“Yes, Master.”
She had worn a very short leather skirt, and he’d told her not to wear anything under it. Kneeling in it with her knees spread, as Daniel preferred, was pretty much going to put an end to any modesty she had. She wondered if the pretty pixie girl would notice. Or care. She knew Daniel would.
But he wasn’t really looking. He’d walked over to stare into the drawer with Mara, pulling things out and examining them. His broad shoulders blocked them all from her view.
“You’re here to answer questions, right?”
“Yes, Sir. Dru said you were relatively new to the lifestyle.”
“Cool.” He opened another drawer, and now she could see him pointing to something. “So what the hell is that?”
“Oh, nice choice, Sir,” Mara replied instantly. “That’s a—”
She turned and looked at Delia, then up at Daniel. And then resumed her explanation in a low murmur, so Delia could only catch a word here and there.
“Murmur murmur murmur very, very safe. Pyrex, actually. Murmur murmur.”
“Murmur murmur murmur too hot?”
“Not if you’re careful. But if you’re anxious, you could always go the other way with it.” Mara pointed across the room to the largest of the tables, where a full pitcher of ice water sat sweating on a tray next to an even larger pitcher of pale-salmon roses.
“Oh, I like that idea. Okay, we’ll definitely try that out. What about this?”
“You might want to save that for a special occasion.”
“I’ll take your word for it. So I wonder where all the stuff with batteries and wires is?”
Mara opened the third drawer, and Delia heard her inhale sharply.
“Whoa.”
“I know what that is.” Daniel pointed. “And that thing there. I think I know what that is, but I have no idea why it would be here. And I’m not ashamed to admit the rest of it looks scary as hell.”
Mara laughed, nodding her head. “Yeah, there’s stuff here even I don’t know what it is. I think I saw somebody use one of those in a porno once, and you’re right, it is scary as hell. If you want help with that I’ll need to go get somebody else. But you know how to use that, right?”
“Yep.” He sounded very pleased with himself. “I’ve seen people use that in a whole lot of pornos. That’s a classic.”
Delia was about to explode. And she knew Daniel was probably well aware of that.
“Looks like this last drawer is all smaller whips and stuff.”
“Hey, these cute bottles up here are lubes. Look, they’re labeled and everything. God, it’s like they’re potions.” The pixie opened a bottle and took a cautious sniff. “I love this room.”
Delia whimpered; she couldn’t help it. Not only was she dying to see the contraband, they were standing over there talking as though they’d forgotten she existed. She felt like yelling, Hello, horny person over here. Sex toys are for sharing, you know!
But instead she whimpered, and earned a steely glare complete with raised eyebrow from Daniel. It made her wet.
Or rather, wetter.
As did the look Mara shot her way—she clearly took in all the exposed parts and enjoyed everything she saw. It was definitely a sultry look. Between the hot pixie’s come-hither gaze and her master’s sexy Spock eyebrow, Delia thought she might burst into flames on the spot.
Her brain registered, in a very quiet and methodical way, that she’d just thought of that guy standing over there as her master.
“Mara, will you hand me those cuffs, please? Only the wrists for now. And that chain.”
Delia hadn’t even noticed the big, exposed ceiling beam, but now Daniel was standing under it with a determined expression on his face. He rolled up his sleeves as he surveyed it from one direction, then the other, and then turned to Mara again and took the cuffs she offered.
“Do you think you could go ask somebody if those eyehooks up there are safe for, oh, about your same weight? I’d hate to assume they were hard points and then find out the bad way they were left over from somebody’s Boston ferns.”
“Of course, Sir. I’ll be right back.” And off she went, closing the door behind her, while Daniel approached Delia with the cuffs.
“Left hand up.”
She dropped her gaze and lifted her wrist, trying not to squirm as he fastened the cuff into place and checked the fit carefully before releasing it.
“Right hand.”
Was he going to say anything? Ask her what she thought? Tell her what was in the drawers, now that their tour guide was out of the room?
Apparently not.
“Stand up and strip.”
She stood, but her fingers hesitated over the clasp that secured the neck strap of her halter top. “Master? Isn’t she coming back? Did you want me to wait until—”
“I want you to take your clothes off, Dee.”
He was very clear. He was not smiling. He seemed, in fact, sort of pissed off that she wasn’t already naked.
Swallowing hard, she unfastened the clasps at her neck and waist, letting the soft fabric fall into her hands and then to the floor as she bared her torso. The zipper to her skirt seemed hard to undo, until she realized the problem was that her hands were shaking. She took a deep breath, forced herself to calm down, and let the leather slide down to join the shirt with a quiet flump. She stepped out of it automatically, then stood waiting to see what would happen next.
Unable to ever let clothes remain where they fell, Daniel quickly scooped up the two pieces and arranged them over the back of a chair. He should probably be making her do that. A real Dom would make her do that.
Then he pushed a finger through the loop on her collar, tugged her close enough for a hard, fast kiss, and was away again before she could even bring her hands up to embrace him. Not another word, completely ignoring her while he arranged the chains and perused the items in the drawers some more. She was still standing there, clad only in the collar and wrist cuffs, when the door opened and Mara the pixie came back in the room.
She walked right past Delia as if she were part of the furniture. Stood next to Daniel with her head lowered and her hands clasped behind her back. Waiting for him to acknowledge her.
“Yes?” Daniel asked impatiently. He didn’t even spare a glance at the woman.
“Sir, Dru said the rings are safe up to three hundred pounds, but as the equipment is new to you, she requires that I stay to assist. Or if you would prefer somebody else, I can get one of the dungeon monitors.”
“You,” he said a fraction too quickly. “You’ll do fine. You can help me figure out how to rig this chain, for starters.”
“Yes, Master Daniel. There’s actually a pole for that.” Mara stepped to a shadowed corner of the room and returned with a long black pole sporting a funny hook on the
end. Perfect for attaching clips to eyehooks at a distance.
He took it and gave it a quick toss, catching it in the other hand. “Awesome.”
Within what seemed like seconds, he had arranged a carabiner a third of the way up the light chain’s length, and snapped it into place on the ceiling hook.
“Bring me those other two clips,” he snapped, and Mara placed them in his hand almost before the words left his mouth.
And something turned in Delia’s chest, sliding down into her stomach to lodge itself there, a thumping, uncertain heat. Because something critical had changed over the past few minutes, and it had finally identified itself loud and clear as she watched her husband—her shiny, new, made-to-order master—interact with this other submissive.
Daniel wasn’t acting. He wasn’t glancing over to her for confirmation that he was getting it right. This, what he was doing, wasn’t for her benefit. It was what he wanted.
This isn’t just about me anymore.
Mara had been inclined to dismiss the couple from the start. From about the time Dru indicated they were married, her first thought had been that they were lookie-loo types, playing around to be edgy because it was hip and daring. They would act cool but reveal their ignorance in painful ways, most likely, and they would forget all about the lifestyle once they started trying to get pregnant.
Her first glimpse of them did nothing to change her mind.
Oh, they’re freakin’ adorable, she’d thought.
He was Mr. Thinking Dominant, probably trying to overcompensate for never being as big and brawny as the rest of the dudes on the football team. In other words, likely an asshole with control issues who took himself way too seriously.
And she was obviously a Bad Sub.
Bad sub! No biscuit! Mara had said to herself when she saw the blonde head popping up over the hubby’s lanky shoulder. And she’d hidden her smirk when she tattled on the wife, but there was certainly a smirk.
She’d been so ready to dismiss them. Even as Dru had explained Mara’s role for the evening, Mara had been assessing the equipment at the club and wondering if there would still be any free agents on the main floor by the time she got through with Kinky Kindergarten.
She should have known she was in trouble when she got her first eyeful of Dee and had to mentally peel her bottom jaw off the floor.
The pouty, pink blowjob lips, the bouncy cheerleader ponytail. But with a cute white collar and a very charming doe-eyed blink. She was Amie in sub form. And despite the moment of cognitive dissonance that association had caused, Mara had to conclude it was a very good look.
And then he’d laughed at the Thunderdome joke, revealing humor and geeky depths to go with the glasses, and the deal got just that little bit more interesting.
When she left them in the Rose Room, she took a moment to catch her breath and gather her thoughts. Considering in a new light what Dru had told her, Mara put her initial judgments aside and tried to figure out the couple’s deal.
He had the vibe down, that much was clear. He was a fledgling Dom and didn’t really even know his way around the scene yet, but he was obviously getting there fast and enjoying the trip. When they’d checked out the equipment, she’d almost been able to hear the gears in his brain kick into overdrive. The way his eyes lit up when he saw the glass dildo and the ice water made it pretty plain he was anticipating torture with all the delight of a seasoned sadist. And he was perceptive enough to exert the control Mara had offered, playing the mind game with his sub, not letting her hear more than a word here and there.
So she had no choice but to be a good sub and wait, patiently or not.
Good sub.
No biscuit.
Dru had mentioned the wife had the experience, that the husband—Master Daniel, she decided, thinking she should start calling him that in her mind so she didn’t forget when she went back into the room—was the newbie. And might only be doing it because his wife had mentioned she was into it.
And that was the problem, right there. The wife didn’t think of him as a real Dom, she thought of him as her husband being a good sport. The last thing a sub should be thinking about her Dominant is, “Gee, what a good sport he’s being, for topping me.” So Mara’s job would be to help Master Daniel realize he was doing it right . . . and help Dee see that, regardless of what she’d started out with, what she had on her hands now was a Dom. Who deserved all the focus and attention and service a sub owed a Dom in exchange for the marvelous topping he provided. The game, as she is played.
After confirming the obvious, that the eyehooks in the ceiling were for the purpose of suspending submissives, Dru had fixed Mara with a very direct look and asked her what she thought of the pair awaiting her back in the playroom.
When Mara had hesitated, Dru had smiled and cut off her fumbling attempt at a response. “Stay with them, please. Congratulations, you’re officially on the staff tonight. Your job is to make sure nobody gets hurt in there. Let me know if he’d rather have one of the gorillas from the floor, all right?”
“Yes ma’am.” Mara couldn’t help grinning. “If I’m a staff member, can I still play? With the two of them? I mean, if they ask, may I . . .”
“A staff member of this club? Flirting and playing with patrons? Of course not, Mara,” Dru mugged. “I’m shocked, shocked that you would suggest such a thing. But I also assume you know you’re not actually a staff member, and that you’re smart enough to ask the master nicely first if you may play with his sub, and be discreet about whatever takes place.”
And so when she returned to the Rose Room, her black leather corset adjusted down slightly to show off a bit more cleavage, it was all, “Yes, Master Daniel,” and trying to pretend she wasn’t affected by the master’s enthusiasm. Or by the hot naked sub they were arranging to chain to the ceiling.
Once she’d helped suspend the chains and secure the clips to the cuffs on Dee’s wrists, Mara stepped back and tried to get some perspective on the scene. She had felt too close, too fast, with these pretty strangers. But taking in the big picture was even worse in its way.
There was Dee, arms overhead and legs spread, testing the play in the chain to which she was shackled. She could barely reach her heels to the floor. Gorgeously naked, with skin that glowed golden in the faux candlelight. Mara had determined with some relief that the many, many candles deployed to such effect around the room were actually LEDs, but they still flickered and gleamed. And they still provided a romantic overtone that was unusual for a dungeon.
The white collar and cuffs and the links of the chain caught the moody lighting and drew the eye, helping to make a centerpiece of the suspended sub. And in the foreground, the master paced in a short arc, toying with his sleeves and looking thoughtful. He was trim and graceful, with economical movements and an air of decisive calm about him.
Dee was watching him. He was studiously ignoring her. Getting into character, Mara decided, working himself into the scene like an actor about to perform.
When he stopped and turned to observe his sub, Mara’s breath caught for a few heartbeats. The anxiety in Dee’s eyes, in every line of her body as she struggled to keep her balance, was a sharp contrast with the serene elegance of Master Daniel’s posture as he looked at her for a few seconds and then released a gentle sigh.
“What are you expecting, I wonder?” he mused, almost as though he were talking to himself. He stepped off again, this time circling behind the sub. Mara could see Dee struggling with herself not to turn her head to watch him, then losing that struggle after a few seconds.
“No. Eyes front, Dee.” Not barked, not growled or snapped. Stated. Mara liked that. It was controlled. If Master Daniel was still learning, he clearly had a certain knack.
“Mara,” he said next, to her surprise, “since you’re staying with us for the evening, would you like to help?”
She had been standing with her hands clasped behind her back, a loose approximation of parade rest. Now she was glad h
e couldn’t see her wringing her hands together. Would she like to help? Even without knowing exactly what he had in mind, she thought she would very much like to help.
Mara nodded. “Yes, if it pleases you, Master Daniel.”
“It does. Or it will. Get the clear item we were discussing, put it in the pitcher. And then bring me the thing I left lying on top of the other stuff in that bottom drawer. And as for you—” he fired a brisk slap to Dee’s bare ass “—it’s time you were introduced to some of the purchases I made the other day at your favorite store.”
Mara rushed to find the glass baton and smuggle it across the room. Fortunately, the table where the icy water pitcher sat was out of the other sub’s sight line, so she wouldn’t be able to see the long, ribbed dildo being plunged into its ice bath.
She would be able to feel it soon enough. As she would feel the slender tawse that Mara fetched next. When she returned to Master Daniel with it, he just nodded. He was knotting a black silk scarf in place over Dee’s eyes, so it was clearly to be a night of limited information and many surprises for her fellow sub.
“Kneel right there and wait with it.”
Still holding the forked strap, she knelt, the movement placing her next to one of Dee’s feet. Mara wasn’t certain how much to fall into line, how far Dru would want her to go. But she felt a definite atmosphere in the room, a growing sense that Things Were Going to Happen very soon. She studied the sub and Dom in front of her, trying to feel her way into the scene with them.
Master Daniel had been jingling something in his pocket, something that didn’t quite sound like coins or keys. Now, his attention back on Dee, he pulled his hand out and revealed two devilish-looking butterfly clamps, each bearing a small crystal weight.
“Safeword.” Master Daniel spoke softly, and Dee took a moment to respond. She was already zoning out, it seemed.
“Brussels sprouts.”
“Blech.” Mara thought she’d said it under her breath. When both of the others turned her way, she shrugged. “Good word.”
Daniel nodded. “Certainly not something Dee’s likely to blurt out in the throes of passion. And hopefully she won’t blurt it out right now, either, when I put these on her nipples.”
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