Seth roared from behind her as he, too, crashed over the edge.
Heartbeats slowed. Breathing eased.
She had collapsed on Mike's shoulder, too weak to move, with Seth a heavy weight on her back, one of his hands curled onto the sofa's edge. He mumbled something in what sounded like Scottish Gaelic before moving away with an effort. Mike caught Abby's head in his hands.
"He really likes to watch," he said and laughed.
Blushing, she drew away from him and tried to stand, but her legs refused to cooperate.
She grabbed the nearby end table for balance and waited for her muscles to solidify.
Seth stood. A jingle of his belt buckle and the purr of his zipper told the story of how he tucked away his dick and his hungers. Without a word to either of them, he walked to the kitchen. The pantry door slid open as he sought the trashcan. Mike stood as well, righting his clothing before following Seth to the kitchen.
"I hope that wasn't the chocolate-flavored condom."
Seth snorted. "You're a funny guy."
Upon their return to the living room, they both looked so cool and unruffled that Abby briefly wondered if she'd imagined the whole thing. But no, not according to her well-worked muscles and the stickiness between her legs and breasts.
They gathered at the door.
Abby scrambled into position.
Seth nodded and turned to Mike. "Is your honor satisfied?"
"It is," said Mike. "And she served well."
Seth flicked a glimpse her way. "Then she avoids dismissal."
Shock rushed through her body. She felt the blood rush from her face, swallowing against the rush of dizziness and nausea. A heartbroken wail rose in her throat. He should have told her. Why hadn't he told her?
"A lovely slut," said Mike. "She'll be welcome in the kennel."
Seth gave Mike an absent nod, then focused on her to ask his ritual question. "What have you learned today?"
God! She'd avoided dismissal by giving a blowjob to Mike. She'd sucked off her best friend's master! What kind of a person was she? The shakes started, chill bumps covering her body. Her eyes filled with tears. What had she learned?
"That I'm a horrible person. That I'm a terrible friend to Liz."
Seth frowned. "Mike has been well-served. There's no shame in that."
"My slave remains available for mentorship, if you so choose," said Mike.
Seth frowned. "The rules of the vanilla world no longer apply to you, girl. Make your peace with that. Avail yourself of the experience and assistance of Mike's slave. Now, I repeat, what have you learned today?"
She sniffed and hugged herself. Looking up at him with tear-bright eyes, she gave him a fuck-off answer. "I learned Mike punishes harder than you do."
He slammed out the door, much to Abby's satisfaction.
Chapter 11
Mike zipped his jacket closed as Seth crossed the driveway. Rain drizzled. A hard wind slashed. Tonight was unusually cold for spring, but that Scots fucker didn't bother to put on his jacket. Well, having had his bare balls shoved into a snowdrift when he was a kid probably ensured Seth didn't feel the cold like Mike did. Hell, could anything be as painfully cold as having your naked nuts shoved into a snowdrift?
Seth didn't look happy. The slave had mentioned she'd already been disciplined, yet there hadn't been a mark on her lovely white skin. There was no reason to doubt the slave, yet not one mark. He knew Seth to be a firm but fair trainer. His discipline lacked any sadism and that was why the slaves he trained trusted him. Yet, slaves certainly went out of their way to avoid sitting for a couple of days after a discipline session with Seth. Not Abby, though. Her ass had looked simply perfect.
He must have gone easy on her.
It must have snowed in hell.
Seth climbed into the car and slammed his door, cranking on the engine even before Mike had joined him. However, he did wait until Mike's seatbelt clicked closed before backing out of the driveway. The journey down the quiet street was fraught with silence. Mike waited until Seth had turned two corners before he spoke.
"So, did she just say--"
"Shut it," Seth snapped. His hands tightened around the steering wheel and caused the leather covering to squeak a protest.
Mike bit the inside of his cheek. Fucking hilarious! Thing were adding up to an anomaly, one his slave had alerted him to yesterday. Abby didn't have a clue how to sheath a man in a condom. That was one of the first things Seth taught a slave. Wasn't he using a condom during training sessions with her? According to Liz, Seth's alleged punishment was only days past. Yet her assdidn't have a mark on it.
Was Liz right? Did Seth have feelings for the tasty slave?
"I mean," Mike continued despite Seth's growl of warning as he did so, "you can understand my curiosity, dude. Two days after your punishment and not a bruise on that creamy skin."
Seth slammed on the brakes. Mike grabbed the door handle as the vehicle came to a hard stop with a rumble of anti-lock brakes. The car behind them swerved to avoid their rear end, fishtailing dangerously on the rain-slicked road. The driver tromped on his gas pedal, passing Seth with a one-fingered salute and a blare of his horn.
Seth turned in his seat to face him, his face set with an I'm-gonna-kill-you expression. "Are you accusing me of weakness?"
"Not at all," said Mike. "I've seen your work. Well..." He deliberately paused before diving in for the kill. "I've seen your past work."
"It was her first time." Seth gave a good imitation of a snarling bear.
Mike nodded. He noted with amusement that Seth's grinding teeth could easily be heard. "Yes, it was."
"As it was my first time punishing her, I needed a beginning point, a point of reference to gauge needed levels of pressure to ensure the effectiveness of future incidents."
Seth's voice was so cold Mike thought about turning on the car's heater. "Of course."
"More damage could be done by over-punishing than under-punishing. My experience as a trainer has proven such."
Mike nodded. "I can't argue your experience."
"It may have seemed light punishment to you, but I gained invaluable information. I now know her emotional limits, her pain tolerance, and her responses to punishment. That is the means to effective behavior modification, not the existence of bruises."
"I agree."
Silence settled between them, leaving only the swish of the wipers, the tick-tick of settling metal, and the low purr of Seth's overcharged engine. Finally, Seth faced forward, put the car into gear and resumed their passage down the street.
It was Seth who broke the silence. "Fuck you."
Mike roared his laughter.
Lights danced across dappled puddles. Trees bent in the distance. Cars shushed past with a hiss of tires on rain. Eventually, he caught his breath and spoke.
"Look, there's nothing wrong with liking the girl. Abby is a likable person."
"She is that."
"And she's a generous slave. What do you call her? Tolerable?"
Seth gave a nod. "She trains up well. I can see her becoming an extraordinary slave."
"For the right master, of course."
"Aye," Seth agreed.
Abby's house wasn't far from Mike's, so it wasn't long before Seth guided his car off the highway. The blinker chirped softly, the wipers swooshed, traffic eased by with a blast of sound and light. Seth made his turn and accelerated down the boulevard.
"Have you considered her placement? Where she'd best fit?" Mike asked.
Seth slowed and made another turn, bringing them to Mike's street. "I'm considering it."
Mike choked. "You're considering her?"
"Aye."
"That won't make psycho bitch happy."
Seth made a sound that hinted at a really bad batch of heartburn, which was pretty much Mike's reaction to the Mara situation as well. "She doesn't get to tell me what to do with my life."
"No offense, man, but she's done a good job of it for the
past two years."
"I have my daughter to think of," Seth shot back.
"Of course." Mike nodded. "And the past two years have shown her very capable of using Amanda as a tool to-- Well, you know."
"I know."
Seth pulled into Mike's driveway and stopped the car. With a nod, Mike began to exit. He stopped, hesitating a moment before giving a hard exhale of his breath. "Look, I don't want to get into your business--"
"Then don't."
"Abby is not capable of handling the kind of venom psycho bitch will dish out. Abby is just"--he waved a hand--"too damned nice. She'd try to help you and would only get hurt."
Seth sighed long and hard. "I know."
"If you collar her, psycho bitch will be vengeful. She'll take both you and Abby down for the sheer pleasure of it."
"She'll try," Seth said.
Seth's voice was hard, but so was his baby momma. Mara, the bitter. That about summed it up.
"And she'll use your daughter to do so."
"She'll try."
Chapter 12
Seth caressed her bruised butt, his hands touching and exploring, easing his pressure with each wince. He traced the pattern of the paddle marks on her skin with a fingertip. His breath wafted against her back. A glance over her shoulder proved Seth was undeniably turned on, if the erection tenting his jeans was any indication.
"My butt hurts," she said with an exuberant pout.
"No doubt," Seth replied. "You color up nicely."
His caressing touch brought a shiver. The quiver of her body rattled the chains that held her wrists above her head. "You act as though the bruises are pretty."
"You have no idea."
"Is sadism one of your kinks?" Maybe he isn't Mr. Right after all. That paddling from Mike hadn't been much fun.
"You took the punishment in service to me. You could've stopped at any time, but you chose to submit because it would please me. Thus, every bruise is a testament to your character. For you, submitted is committed." He paused and cleared his throat. "Such is beyond beautiful to a man like me."
The fullness of emotion in Seth's voice brought summersaults to her tummy. She blinked away tears. His praise meant more to her than she could express. It was, simply, salvation. However, a few more words of praise were in order. She hadn't had a very fun time of it, after all.
"I couldn't work yesterday. I couldn't sit at my desk."
Seth barked a laugh. "Give me a break," he said and gave her ass a friendly slap.
She yelped and then laughed her delight when her bruises did little more than twinge. The chains rattled as she jiggled and giggled. Seth swung her around so she faced him and shut the bedroom door. It clicked into place, securing the harness and holding Abby's back to the door.
She tugged at the cuffs. "I feel a little silly."
"It can't be comfortable either."
"Master!" She again laughed upon witnessing his half-smile.
Seth reached up and checked the cuffs, giving them a tug to test the chain. He next checked the harness that held her to the door. Everything held firm. He backed away from her and spent a few moments running his gaze along her naked, chained body.
Abby shifted, allowing the bedroom lights to dance across her skin. She licked her lips and fluttered her lashes, arching her body into the light's kiss. Seth's eyes darkened as his pupils expanded. His lips flattened into a hard line.
Testing his control was one of her life's pleasures; somewhat like cheesecake. She would pay for it later, sure, but it was so worth it. "Like what you see, Master?"
His lips twitched. "Tolerable."
That was Seth-speak for yes. Happiness bubbled in her chest and in her voice. "Only tolerable, Master?"
"You'll look better in a moment." Seth pulled a red-and-black flogger free from his belt and shook it open. "Tonight's training session is geared to assess your capacity for breast and nipple play."
As he spoke, he tapped the flogger against his thigh. Worry flickered though Abby, but she brushed it away. After all, she'd successfully endured both Mike and Seth's corporal punishments--although Mike's had sucked far more than Seth's. As to this, how bad could it be? He wasn't about to damage "property," right?
Seth drew the handle of the flogger across her breasts.
She shivered, her nipples tightening at the expression on Seth's face. It sharpened and tightened with hunger as he watched the leather contrast with her pink skin and rosy nipples. His ice blue eyes dilated from sexual excitement. Arousal moved though her body in a wave of sweet-and-spicy heat.
Seth tapped a taut nipple with the flogger's handle. Her womb clenched so hard she gasped. He bounced the flogger handle between one nipple and the other. A trickle of moisture eased down one inner thigh.
She couldn't deny that he liked her breasts, scars and all. What was it he'd said? There's nothing about your body I don't like. That had to include her breasts, right? In truth, every time he saw them, each time she'd offered them to him, he'd reacted with hunger. Breast and nipple play, whatever that was, she could handle it.
* * * *
He crossed Abby's chest with the flogger's tresses, the bite of the leather drawing a gasp. She froze in place, her mouth hanging open and her eyes going wide. A normal reaction; one he expected as she assimilated the sensations and reactions of her body. He striped her again, crisscrossing her breasts as he made a pleasing decoration on her skin.
She went chalk white and sweat broke out across her skin.
Shit!
Her full-bodied scream ripped through the room. She twisted and kicked, her shrieks ringing in Seth's ears. He'd touched upon something in her psyche, something he doubted she was aware of, but was clearly an emotional line in the sand. Sure, pushing a slave to her breaking point was a part of his job, but that fact didn't make it any less shitty.
He tossed the crop aside and reached for the releases. "Easy, li'l one, I'll have you free in a second."
"Stop! Stop! Stop!"
Abby fought the harness, jerking the leather so hard it was difficult to reach the emergency release. She was gone. Her body was here, yes, but mentally and emotionally she was somewhere elsewhere.
"You're almost free," he said. "Hold still for a moment."
"Stop! Stop! Stop!"
She continued to howl and struggle. Seth hauled on a leather strap, dragging her weight closer toward him enough to free the last hook from its anchoring. The harness fell from her, leather pooling around her feet. She wrenched open the door and raced down the hall.
* * * *
"Ogod, ogod, ogod..." she sobbed.
Lunging into the bathroom, she slapped on the light and wrenched open a drawer she hadn't touched in over a year. Grabbing a handful of bandages, dressing, and support wraps, she tossed them onto the counter.
"Ogod, ogod, ogod."
Cranking on the water, she grabbed a washcloth and immersed it. The water rushed; the mirror reflected...stitches, all over her boobs, holding her skin together, thin strips of thread holding sliced flesh against sliced flesh; stitches, tiny nips of thread that ringed her nipples; her nipples, cut from her body and stitched to her flesh; tiny little bits of thread holding her severed nipples to her body. Pain and bruising...pain and bruising...
"Ogod, ogod, ogod."
Hands shaking, tears streaming down her face, Abby examined her breasts, lifting and shifting them, back and forth and back and forth...where was she bleeding? The stitches, where were they breaking? Where am I coming undone?
She searched and searched and searched until exhaustion caught her. Finally, reality returned.
No stitches marked her skin.
There was also no Seth.
"Seth? Seth, where are you?"
On the other side of the house, the front door closed. You may opt out by telling me to stop, he'd told her. Legally, I'll obey, but will do so on the understanding this will permanently end your training.
Seth had gone. He was forever gone!
Abby collapsed beside the toilet and vomited.
Chapter 13
She heaved and spat and sobbed. Everything was over. Seth was gone. What had she done?
Behind her, the running water stopped. A shadow covered her and something cold was placed on the back of her neck. "Easy, li'l one," said a familiar, brogue-touched voice.
She lifted her head, dislodging the cold pack. "Master?"
Unfortunately, her tummy wasn't finished and she was forced to resume the unpleasant business for a while longer. The cold pack was returned to the back of her neck.
"I'm sorry," she managed when she could again speak. Her voice hitched as her body struggled and clenched. "I'm sorry...for saying...stop. I didn't...mean it."
Seth seated himself beside her on the edge of the bathtub. He plucked the damp washcloth from the floor before offering her a glass of water. "Here. Swish it in your mouth and spit. Don't swallow."
Abby obeyed, then resumed her apologies, while Seth reached over and flushed the fouled toilet. He snapped open the washcloth and used it to wipe away the sweat and tears from her face.
"Just relax," he said.
"But, Master, I want to tell you--"
"Enough." Tugging her between his knees, he yanked a towel from its holder and wrapped her in its warmth. "Lay your head on my leg and relax."
Sitting as directed, she focused on steadying her breathing. Her tense muscles began to ease and her tummy stopped its clenching. She'd started shaking sometime during this event and gratefully snuggled into Seth's warmth.
"Master?"
"Aye?"
"Is this sub drop?"
"Shock."
"Shock? Why am I in shock?"
"We'll talk about that in a bit."
They remained quiet, Abby huddling into the towel and Seth's warmth. "I wasn't aware my bathroom was so cold."
"The heat lamp is on."
She looked up to find it was true. It was getting a bit toasty in here, come to think of it. Sparkles of sweat dotted Seth's brow. He wasn't comfortable, yet he'd stayed.
In Training Page 8