She was doing so well. He was genuinely impressed when she shouted out, “Nine.”
For the final stroke, he turned up the vibration speed on the dildos until she was quivering, her skin sheened in sweat as she valiantly tried to stave off her orgasm. Taking pity on her, he delivered the last stroke.
“Fuck,” she shouted, in place of the final number. Her eyelids fluttered shut, her hands clenching into fists as her body was wracked with what was very clearly a powerful, extended climax. She mewled and moaned as the orgasm hurtled through her, finally sagging heavily against the cuffs.
He clicked the remote to off and moved to quickly release the harness. He pulled the phalluses carefully from her body and dropped them in the washbowl. Finally, he helped her to stand upright and released her wrists, holding her arms as he brought them down to her sides.
She opened her eyes, still breathing hard. “Whew,” she said, pushing back the hair from her face with both hands. “That was intense.”
“It was,” Caelan agreed. “And you took it really well—for the most part.”
She looked up at him, confusion on her face. “For the most part?” she repeated.
“Yes. All the way to that last stroke. You came, didn’t you?”
“Yes,” she breathed, her expression suffusing with pleasure. “It was amazing.”
He nodded, letting his dismay show in his expression. “Unfortunately, it was also without express permission.” He watched her dawning understanding with restrained amusement. She seemed to have totally forgotten that rather important directive.
“I’m sorry,” she blurted. “I just—”
He stopped her mid-sentence, placing two fingers against her lips. It was definitely early on in the training process, but with only a week to work with her, he would have to pounce on every infraction. “No excuses. Even though it’s only your first day, the rules still apply. I’m afraid you’ll have to be punished.”
Chapter 5
Punished.
The word echoed in Skylar’s mind. In spite of the powerful, thrilling orgasm Master Caelan had just wrested from her and the lovely hot sting from that difficult but wonderful whipping, just the word sent another zing of arousal directly to Skylar’s clit.
In the dark romances she so loved to read, the subs were always getting punished by their gorgeous Doms. Her favorite was when the Master would bend the lovely, naked slave girl over his muscular thighs and smack her ass until she was in tears. But not the messy, snotty, puffy-eyed tears of real life. No, in the novels, the heroine’s eyes remain luminous and clear, her breathy little cries sending electric sparks directly to her lover’s cock. Spanking over, all forgiven, he takes her into his arms and kisses the pretty tears away as he lays her gently on the bed…
Master Caelan’s voice jerked Skylar from her fantasy. “Before I punish you, let’s examine those welts. You took a substantial whipping. I’m pleased with your ability to handle erotic pain.”
Warmth suffused Skylar at this praise. “Thank you, Sir.” She glanced back at herself in the mirror, thrilled with the pretty pink stripes he’d painted so symmetrically on her ass, one above the other in parallel lines. The guy clearly knew his way around a whip.
“Come into the bathroom for some aftercare.”
Skylar followed him into the small bathroom, which contained a single sink, a bathtub and a toilet. There was barely room for the two of them, with Master Caelan being so big. “Did you play football in college, Sir?” she asked, curious.
Master Caelan pulled a tube of Arnica from the cabinet beneath the sink. He regarded Skylar with a raised eyebrow. “Perhaps I neglected to mention it before, but while you’re in training, which is whenever you’re with me, you will remain in slave mode. That means you don’t speak unless you have express permission to do so. While in training, you are property—my property. If you have something relevant to say, you must first ask permission to say it. Once granted, then you may speak.”
“Yes, Sir,” she replied, chastened. She had known that rule about asking permission to speak—she’d just forgotten. But it was his other words that resonated in her being. Property. Though her mind rejected the word, her body and her heart melted with lust and longing at the thought of being truly owned and cherished by another.
But then the tiniest quirk of a smile lifted one side of his mouth as he added, “I never played football past what they forced on us in middle school. I didn’t think the risk of a brain injury due to repetitive head trauma was worth the fun of rolling around in the mud with a bunch of pubescent boys.”
Skylar laughed, enchanted with this enigmatic man, who could be both stern and playful within the span of a moment.
She sighed with pleasure as he rubbed the soothing balm over her welts. She liked his touch, both gentle and assured. She liked his smell—part fine leather, part Bay Rum. She had the sudden crazy urge to turn around and kiss him. Of course, she didn’t dare.
“Now, for your punishment,” he announced, placing his hand on the back of her neck.
A shiver of anticipation moved through Skylar’s loins. Would she be able to tolerate a spanking on her welted ass? Where would he sit so she could drape herself sexily over his lap?
He guided her back into the room and toward the wardrobe. Opening the doors, he rummaged a moment and then pulled out something, which he held toward her. She saw, to her dismay, a clear, silicone butt plug. The thing was huge—quite a bit thicker than the slender vibrator he’d used on her before. He stripped away the sterile wrapping from the plug and turned toward her.
What the hell? There was nothing sexy about butt plugs. She wrinkled her nose with distaste, taking an involuntary step back. She very nearly blurted out her reservations, but recalled herself in time. A trainee did not blurt things out.
“Permission to speak, Sir?” she asked instead.
“Yes. What is it?”
“Um. You know I don’t like butt plugs. Could—”
“That’s why it’s called a punishment,” Master Caelan interrupted. “You will insert it yourself and wear it until it pleases me to remove it.” He fixed her with a stern expression, dominant power radiating around him like an aura.
A lump of anxiety formed in her throat. While she could handle anal sex in the right atmosphere with plenty of sexy buildup, she hadn’t been kidding. She hated anal plugs. But she didn’t want to fuck up any more than she already had by coming without permission. Biting back a sigh, she took the offending object, along with the tube of lubricant he offered.
“I think your best bet is to remain standing while you insert it,” Master Caelan instructed. His eyes were twinkling and it looked like he was biting back a smile. The bastard was enjoying this! “You might want to use a finger or two to loosen yourself up first. And I recommend plenty of lube.”
Biting her lower lip and steeling herself, Skylar flicked open the top of the tube and squirted a healthy dollop over the tip of the offending object. She handed the tube back to Master Caelan and positioned herself between the two mirrors to see what she was doing.
Bending forward slightly, she slipped her still-gooey right index finger into her bottom, avoiding eye contact with the man towering over her. So far, so good. Blowing out a breath, she pressed the tip between her ass cheeks. She pushed slowly, making a conscious effort to relax.
It went okay until the widest part of the plug. Closing her eyes, she drew in a deep breath and pushed. “Ouch,” she cried as a sharp pain shot through her anus. Her muscles clamped down, forcing the object out. She very nearly dropped the gooey thing.
She glanced beseechingly up at Master Caelan, who stood implacably nearby watching her. “Yellow light,” she blurted, not quite daring to go straight to the scene-stopping red light.
Master Caelan gazed calmly at her. “I understand you’re feeling stressed right now. But you’re in no immediate danger. Take in a deep breath and let the tension go when you release it. Instead of giving in to your fear,
show me your submissive courage. I know you can do this.”
Skylar bit her lip. The six-year-old inside her wanted to hurl the stupid plug across the room. But at the same time, she wanted to please her trainer. She wanted to live up to his high expectations of her.
She closed her eyes. Recalling his instruction, she drew in a deep breath and let it slowly out. Feeling a little calmer, she pushed tentatively on the plug, trying to coax her unwilling body to accept it. But again, when she got to the flared bulb of the plug and pushed, another sharp pain hurtled through her. Tears of frustration and pain filled her eyes. Before she could stop herself, she cried, “Red light!” as the gooey plug fell from her fingers and bounced on the dungeon floor.
The room was silent as a tomb as Master Caelan regarded her. The disappointment in his gaze was worse than any kind of angry response she might have expected. She’d let him down and she hated that.
It was easier to feel anger than remorse, and she clung to that childish feeling. This wouldn’t have happened if he’d paid better attention to her cues. He’d pushed her too far, too fast. Hadn’t he seen and understood her distress? It was his fault she’d been forced to use the island safeword.
What would happen now?
Master Caelan bent down and retrieved the plug without a word. He vanished into the bathroom and she could hear the sound of running water. He returned a moment later. “Safewords are a last resort, Skylar. They are only to be used when you feel you are in danger, and you’re not being heard. I’m surprised and disappointed you felt you needed to use it just now. You had full control of what you were doing, and your ass is perfectly capable of accepting that small plug.”
Small plug? There were bigger ones?
“That said, what’s done is done. You used the safeword, and all action ceases. You’ll receive your punishment in a different way.” He reached for the O-ring on her collar and hooked his finger around it, jerking her forward. Turning, his finger still in the ring, he dragged her from the room. He marched down the hall, yanking her along in his wake. He stopped in front of the first door on the right and pushed it open.
Flicking on the light, he pulled her into the small, cramped room. Letting her go, he pulled back the bolt and opened the door of the tall, narrow cage. “Get in,” he ordered flatly.
Skylar shrank back. Did he really expect her to get in that tiny cage? There was no room even to turn around, much less sit down. She swallowed hard, again blinking back tears. There was nothing sexy about this. She didn’t like confined spaces. Maybe she could try the plug again? Her anal muscles clenched at the thought.
He stared her down, willing her to obey.
Reluctantly, she stepped into the cage.
He clanged the door shut and slid the bolt home. “Someone will be along in a while to collect you for dinner.” Turning on his heel, he left the room, pulling the door shut behind him.
Stunned, Skylar gripped the bars of the cage. She thought about trying to undo the bolt, but she didn’t dare. The bars were too narrow, anyway, to get her hand through. A blinking red light high in the corner caught her eye. A small camera was aimed at her. She supposed that made sense, since it couldn’t be a good idea to leave someone all alone in this awful little room.
She reached back to stroke her welted ass as she stared at the restraint rack across from her. That looked kind of sexy. Despite her screw up, she had to admit that this place was pretty exciting. And whatever else he was, Master Caelan definitely wasn’t a pushover.
Though she wouldn’t have admitted it aloud, she could manipulate most guys into doing what she wanted. Yes, she’d heard the term “topping from the bottom” many times in her life, and was aware that she did it. But she had needed to do it with the idiot guys she sometimes ended up scening with. Otherwise, she wouldn’t get what she wanted.
Clearly, Master Caelan wasn’t the kind of man she would be able to manipulate. She wasn’t entirely sure yet if that was a good thing or a bad thing. At the moment, it felt bad.
She hated being left alone. And she couldn’t even sit down. She turned slowly in the cage, barely able to process what had just happened.
At the clubs, when she used her safeword, that was that. The scene ended and she went on to something new. Yeah, the Doms were usually pissed off, but they were generally clueless wannabes anyway, and she hadn’t cared. But Master Caelan was different. He was a professional. He knew what he was doing. He’d believed she could handle the butt plug. And in truth, she probably could have if she’d tried harder to relax.
But damn it, she didn’t want to.
It had been a long day, getting from Charlotte to Hatteras. Then she’d had to wait nearly an hour for the private motorboat that took her to the island. That ride had lasted nearly an hour. She’d barely had a chance to catch her breath before she was thrust into the grooming, presentation and first session. No wonder she’d blurted the safeword. Her guard had been down. She was exhausted, not to mention hungry and thirsty. While all that was true, in her heart of hearts, she knew those were just excuses.
She sighed. Here she was, starting off her first day of training with a punishment. And not the sexy kind. At least he hadn’t turned off the light. That would really have freaked her out. How long was she going to be stuck in here? How was she supposed to pass the time?
With another sigh, she leaned back against the bars, trying to get more comfortable in the narrow space. This was no fun. No fun at all.
“Guess that’s why it’s called a punishment,” she muttered.
Sometime later, her eyes flew open at the sound of the door opening. Somehow, she’d fallen into a kind of doze while still standing, her back resting against the bars.
A young woman she hadn’t seen before entered the room. She had dark, smooth skin, her hair shorn so short it was almost a crewcut. Her face was striking, with high cheekbones, a delicate nose with flaring nostrils and bee-stung lips painted a shiny red. Her eyes were so dark Skylar couldn’t distinguish the pupil from the iris. Like Maya, she wore a clingy, low-cut dress, though hers was white. Her breasts were large and practically spilling out of the dress, her nipples clearly visible beneath the stretchy fabric. Her feet were bare.
“Hello, Skylar. I’m Shani,” she said in a high, fluty voice that sounded like music. “I’m a staff slave here at Desire Island.” Shani unlocked and pulled open the cage door. “You okay?”
“Yeah. I think,” Skylar said, grimacing as she stepped out of the small space. “How long have I been in there?”
“I couldn’t say for sure. But it’s time for dinner in a few minutes.”
They left the punishment closet and walked toward the elevators. Down the hall, Skylar could hear the sound of a whip cracking followed by the sound of a man moaning in either pain or ecstasy—or both.
“How is your first day going?” Shani asked as they rode the elevator to the first floor.
“It’s been pretty intense,” Skylar replied. She frowned. “I feel like a jerk for already screwing up bad enough to be put in the cage.”
Shani made a dismissive tsking sound. “Hey, don’t sweat it. The cool thing here is once you’re disciplined, it’s over and done with. You get to start fresh as soon as the punishment is over.” She gave a small laugh. “There’s not a slave here who hasn’t spent time in that cage at one time or another, including me.”
“Wow,” Skylar replied, surprised. “Everyone just seems so perfect. It’s hard to imagine any of you fucking up.”
“Hey, we’re all human. The training can get super intense, as I’m sure you’re already discovering. As long as you give it your best effort, that’s really all Mistress Ella and Master Ryan expect.”
“Are they a couple, those two?”
“Who, Mistress Ella and Master Ryan?” Shani scrunched her nose and then laughed. “Not hardly, seeing as Mistress Ella is gay.” She shook her head emphatically. “No, not a romantic couple. They’re business partners. Mistress Ella actually owns
Maya. You’ve met Maya, right?”
“Yeah,” Skylar said, her impressions of both Mistress Ella and Maya shifting in the kaleidoscope of her thoughts. Now that Shani had laid it out, it made perfect sense. “And Master Ryan…?”
“Footloose and fancy-free, as my dad would say,” Shani replied. “As you might imagine, our female guests, and a few male ones too, sometimes try to get a little too cozy with our resident hottie. But he’s super professional about it. Rumor has it he had a rather substantial heartbreak somewhere in his recent past.”
“And what about Master Caelan?” Skylar asked, striving to keep her tone casual. “Is he, uh, footloose and fancy-free?”
“As far as I know,” Shani replied. “He kind of keeps to himself more than the other Doms.” She flashed a sly grin. “Why are you asking? You interested?”
Skylar looked away, her face heating. “No,” she lied. “Just curious.”
They stopped at Skylar’s room. “You’ve got about ten minutes to wash up before dinner. I’ll be back to collect you.”
“Can I put something on?” Skylar asked. “I mean, besides this?” She touched the collar, its fit around her throat reminding her of her status.
Shani shook her head. “Other than for initial presentation, trainees are kept naked unless you’re specifically told otherwise.” She smiled. “Don’t worry. Nudity is so common on the island that no one bats an eye. Plus, we have two other trainees right now, so you won’t be alone. They’ll be at dinner with us so you’ll get to meet them. See you in a few.”
Left alone, Skylar used the bathroom and unpacked her things. She pulled her phone from her purse and looked at it. She’d signed an agreement stating she wouldn’t contact the outside world without express permission. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t check her email and messages, did it?
Deciding she could, she unlocked her phone. There was a message from Rhi. “Good luck! We’re both so proud of you!” The message was followed by four smiley face emojis and several x’s and o’s. Skylar smiled at the text, visualizing her sweet friend. Would it really hurt anyone if she replied?
One True Master: Desire Island Series - Book 1 Page 5