by Yvette Hines
After two more sips, she picked up the note and went to her room.
She wouldn’t call him, but she’d still hold his shirt and note dear. Using them to fortify herself as she set out on a new path, find a Dom. This time she wouldn’t cheat herself and settle for anything less then what she envisioned having with Brad. Someone she could submit to full.
~YH~
After stopping at his hotel for a shower and change, Brad went to see his twin. He’d learned something from Gabriella last night. As he’d been running away from his feelings and emotions for her, attempting to deny himself what he wanted out of fear, he took a page from her book and shared with his family. Even as he wasn’t fully sure what he was getting himself into, he knew he had to take a leap. Brian was first.
When Brian opened the door, partially dressed in jeans and his undershirt, his brother said, “Well if it isn’t the invisible man.”
Brad knew his twin had been right. In the couple weeks they had been there, he’d taken off and didn’t answer his phone when Brian called him leaving multiple messages. “I need to speak with you.”
“Come on in.” Brain stepped away from the door.
As his brother sat in the plush chair, Brad took up the one at the desk.
“What’s up?”
Unsure of how to begin, Brad gazed out the window for a moment, taking in the view of the city. He wasn’t looking at Brian when he began. “I don’t have much time, but I wanted to be honest with you.” He glanced over at his twin. “I’m in love with Gabriella. I’m not sure if you member the woman—”
“You took home last night. Small, petite with a hot body. Vaguely.” Brian smiled.
“Yea, that’s the one.”
“Congrats. I’m happy you found love.”
Lowering his gaze to his hands, Brad shook his head. “It’s not that simple.”
“Why not? Whatever you have to do, don’t mess it up.” Brian’s voice held a strange tone.
Brad raised his head and stared at his brother. Like himself, he could not really recall the last time Brian was in a long term relationship. They were both professional men that enjoyed dating a variety of women. Brad was surprised they didn’t own stock in condoms by now.
That thought brought his mind to last night and the fact there hadn’t been a condom involved in their lovemaking. The thought had not even crossed his mind once he’d awaken to her sensual kisses. He’d only wanted to be with her, connected to her on the deepest possibly level. He wasn’t concerned about STD’s, as a provider he religiously kept himself up to date. However, he didn’t know if Gabriella was on birth control. Amazingly, the thought of her pregnant with his child made his heart swell with pride and joy.
“Earth to, Brad.”
Quickly, lifting his head, he saw his brother lifting a single brow giving him a peculiar look. Brad realized he’d been lost in his own thoughts for more than a minute. “Sorry. A lot on my mind. My thoughts are all over the place.”
“Apparently. Love has been known to do that to a man.” Brian let out a heavy breath.
“Well, like I was saying, things are complicated between Gabriella and I.” He took a moment before going on. Stared at Brian, he said, “China Doll is in the lifestyle.”
“China who?”
Leaning back against the chair, Brad repeated, “China Doll. That’s Gabriella’s scene name. She’s in the same community as our sister, Josh and Mike.”
“Shit.” Brian rubbed his hand over his bald head and slammed backwards into the chair. “First Alesha…now you.” He shook his head. “What does this mean? You moving to Charlotte and going to start only wearing black leather?”
“No. I’m not moving.” Brad shook his head. “That’s just stereotype. We’ve both seen that Josh and Mike don’t dress like that. And I’ve been to the dungeon and people wear various styles of their own.”
“Whatever. It’s your life.” Brian was no longer looking at him, he was staring out the window his expression pensive.
“I don’t expect you to understand. Fuck,” the word broke from his lips hard. “I don’t even understand fully what I’m getting myself into. I just know I have to try it. Not just try it, live it.”
Brad waited for his brother to look at him again. When Brian finally did Brad continued, “There’s something about it.” He tapped the center of his chest. “I don’t know if it’s only because I care for Gabriella or because I’ve always shied away from Dominance and leading, taking on the carefree attitude because of fear of letting others down. But, with her…I like knowing she can count on me to protect her, guide her…pleasure her like she needs. When she kneels at my feet and stares up at me with those trusting amber eyes, I could just—”
“Fuck.” Brain launched up from his chair and slashed his hand through the space between them. “Damn it, enough!”
The explosive tension in the room between them hit a high level. Brad had not seen his brother this upset, at him especially, since they were in college. Brian had been going through an emotional break up that he never shared with him. But for almost a year his brother had been bitter, angry and emotionally lost to even his twin. Brian had recovered through party and dating, and Brad had moved into that scene along with him, mostly to stay connected to his brother. The rage had seem to pass and Brian’s smile had return, more strained, controlled, but it was there.
“Brian, look, I’m sorry to unload this on you.” Brad rose slowly. “I love you. I want you to be the first to know.”
Seeming to get himself in check, Brain stepped to him and embraced him. “Love you to, man. I am happy for you. Whatever you have to do, don’t mess it up.”
“I’m going to try my damnedest.”
When they broke apart, Brad kept a hand on his brother’s shoulder, trying to assure himself Brian was truly okay.
Seeing his assessing gaze, Brian smiled. “It’s all good. Look you said you didn’t have a lot of time so get out of here.”
“I am. Later we’ll do dinner around six.”
“Got it. Since you have to take Alesha back her car, I’ll let you explain to her that we will not be there.”
“Chicken. Scared of a little girl.”
“With two big ass men to protect her…hell yeah.”
Brad laughed. “This is true.”
With that, he left. Minutes later he was in the car and driving to his sister’s house.
~YH~
When Josh opened the door, Brad handed him the keys. “Cowboy. One of the people I needed to see. You have a few minutes?”
“Hey, Brad.” Josh let him in and patted him on the back. “For a friend I do. I just got back from a sight visit. Mike and Alesha are meeting with a client.” He nodded toward the side room, where the night before it had been filled with holiday revelers.
It now held a conference table with Mike at the head, Alesha inputting stuff in a laptop beside him and three other people. All of them staring down at a large draft print out.
Lowering his voice, Brad said, “I want to ask you about being a Dom.”
Titling his head, Josh stared at him. Brad noticed there wasn’t a lot of shock in his friend’s features, more curiosity.
“Alesha told you.”
Shrugging, Josh kept if voice equally low. “She did mention you being the ‘Dom’.” Josh made quotation marks in the air. “That China Doll had submitted to before the dungeon attendees to be released from Reel.”
Shaking his head, Brad said. “That turned out to be a whole fiasco in itself, but by now I’m sure things are taken care of. I’m sure you can figure I have a lot of questions in my head.”
Leading him up the stairs, Josh pulled a key out of his pocket and opened a room Brad had never been in before.
“There’s no better place to have this conversation but here.” Josh said, closing the door behind them.
Brad was speechless. He’d never considered that he sister and her men scened in their home besides her performing an occasion
bow. Now, as he stood in the middle of a room with so much equipment and toys he was stunned, to say the least. “I’m not even sure what to ask anymore.”
Chuckling, Josh said, “Let me explain first what the BDSM community is and isn’t. Then we’ll begin with your initial question, what it means to be a Dom and follow that up with the role and responsibility of a sub. Especially since they hold all the power in the relationship, not the Dom.”
That bit of knowledge brought Brad’s gaze back to his friends. “Seriously?”
“Absolutely. That’s why they are given a safeword. A Dom’s role is to discover what pleases his sub, push them past what they are comfortable doing and knowing their limit…things they refuse to participate in for specific reasons. As a DM, Dungeon Master at Strong Blends, I know this was the problem with China Doll and Reel.”
Brad knew that too from talking with her last night. In the past he would have believed this information would’ve been too much for him. However, now with his future with Gabriella on the line, he couldn’t wait to learn all he could.
Taking off his jacket, Brad said, “Let’s begin.”
chapter ten
“Well, if it isn’t Mister Very Vanilla.”
Brad allowed the door of the Leathered Dragonz to swing closed behind him. Moving forward, he shook the hand of the big man white man in his green leather ensemble, including a matching cowboy hat with antlers. “Brad. K, I believe.”
“Dom K, but for you, K is fine.” He returned his hand shake. “Have you come to take me up on my offer?”
It was almost comical to see the big man giving him a wink. Shaking his head, Brad, smiled. “Yes and no. The offer of training.”Brad stepped over to a rack and pulled out one. “Specifically the technique to execute the dragontail.”
“Well, well. Someone is not so vanilla anymore.”
The trainer’s words were true. Yesterday, after four hours with Josh, where he tagged out and Mike came in for another three on the use of toys to add to his education. Brad was more than equipped with knowledge on a base level. He knew he still had a lot to learn, but he just need to be able to work with one sub and together they would grow as he strengthened his understanding.
“You’re right. Do you have the time to train me, I know Christmas Eve is tomorrow.”
“It’s no problem for me. What is your time frame?”
“Roughly four days.”That’s when China Doll would return from her parent’s house.
“We can start today, do more tomorrow take off Christmas and finish up on the following day. You will not be as good as I am…” A wide smile stretched across his features. “But, you will be good enough to have a satisfying ending to any sub. If you follow instructions well.”
Holding his arms away from his body, Brad said, “I’m your clay.”
K’s face transformed into a more stern, serious expression. “Cupid, assume the position. He’s my sub that is smaller in stature, like a female…” He paused.
Brad understood Dom K’s unspoken question. “Yes, a female sub is what I will have.”
Brad saw a man, come out of the curtain shielding the back room dressed in jeans and a purple leather vest, and move to a door on the other side of the store.
“Remember, it doesn’t matter if the person you are having a session with is male or female, the body gets respected the same.”
“Got it.”
Dom K began moving in the direction the short man disappeared.
“Should I purchase a dragontail first?”
“No need, we’ll use my prime whips. If you’re good, I’ll even gift you with one.” He winked at Brad as he passed through the door.
Liking the trainer a lot, Brad chuckled, and followed him into another room.
The room was decorated in black, with gray carpet and thick padding on the wall, Brad assumed for insulation of sound.
The blond haired sub was now standing naked with his back to them and his hands up in the air.
Dom K walked to his sub and cuffed him to two chains hanging from the ceiling and locked two other cuffs secured to the floor around his ankles. Then he stroked the subs back with his hand and whispered to him in low tones.
The moment seemed so intimate, Brad almost turned away giving them time. However, he recalled Mike telling him the importance of connecting with a sub before a session, no matter how long the relationship had been going on.
Moving away, Dom K went to the wall that had four different lengths of whips on the wall and selected one. It was a folded piece of leather with a handle. “Four foot is one of my favorite lengths, so I’m going to teach you how to use that one.”
“All right.”
“The most important reason I’m going to give you one of mine, is because even though I work the leather intensely of all the dragontails I make, they still are a bit stiff when new. It takes months sometimes to break one in just right.” Dom K held the whip away from his body, the tip of it pointed at the floor and made circling motions. “See how it swirls perfectly, looping around?”
Brad stood to the side and listened. “Yes.”
“You know it’s just right.” He smiled. Taking another one down, he handed it to Brad. “Now, I want to show you practice throws. You will not actually use it on Cupid, but I will. Still you need to know the weight and feel of it. The same motions you used to practice through can be taken to the body of your sub.” Demonstrating a few pops of the whip, K said, “If you can get the basic skills down today, then tomorrow I will have you work on contact.”
Taking the other whip from him, Brad followed Dom K’s body positioning and throwing instructions.
Several of Brad’s throws, flick of the wrist, caused the tip to falter and dive toward the ground.
“Better,” Dom K said. “Always think of it as an intension of you. Your reach, your touch. You wouldn’t allow your finger to touch your sub in a way you didn’t want or would cause hurt, the whip must be thought of in the same way.”
They went through multiple body positions, and stances that K would make him throw the whip in.
Brad’s shoulder was starting to burn. That shocked him; since he normally spent hours in the gym lifting weights.
“I know you’re feeling it now. But, don’t allow your grip or technique to suffer. Some sessions your sub may require maybe longer than others.”
Gritting his teeth, Brad pressed through the pain.
“Let’s talk about the body of a sub next.” Dom K moved closer to the handcuffed man.
Listening, Brad stepped beside the trainer.
“When tossing the tail at your sub, you want to concentrate in these two areas, the upper back.” The Dom rubbed the sub’s back and moved his hand down to the center of it. “And/or the buttocks area from the top to about upper part of the back of the thighs.” His hands followed his words.
Brad recalled, Mike talking to him about staying clear during impact play of a person’s kidney area and their lower spine. As a medical professional, Brad already knew it was where the internal organs were closer to the surface and striking those places could cause damage; both external and internal.
“Okay. Stand to the side and I want you to watch me with Cupid for a moment.” Dom K didn’t step away, but took his dragontail at the handle and tip and rubbed it along his subs back repeatedly, whispering to him again.
Then the experienced Dom stepped back. “You want to be further away when you first start, the length of the tail and some. You can gradually move closer to them.” He assumed one of the stances he’d shown him, angled slightly away from the body with his front foot pointed toward the restrained man.
“Using the dragontail is not a hurried activity. Slow and steady will achieve a lot more for you and your sub than just slashing it about as most inept Doms do.”
The first snap went out and Brad found himself transfixed in the skill and grace of Dom K. His heart began to pause and beat in the rhythm of the each throw in the session as he im
agined him and China Doll together in a similar position.
~YH~
“Mommy.” China entered her family’s home and wrapped her arms around her mother who opened the door for her. She’d called the house thirty minutes ago to let them know she was pulling out of the airport in her rental.
“Gabriella, oh, sweetie, I have missed you.” Her mother kissed her several times on the cheek.
“I’ve missed you and Dad, too.” She leaned back and looked at her mother who was now sixty-two years old, who was still fit and active. “You look fantastic.”
Her mom waved the comment away. “Just a little water aerobics three times a week at the Y to keep myself in shape.
“It is working.” Her mother was where she got her coloring and height, Gabriella was the oldest child but the shortest of all her siblings.
“I’m glad your home. You sound so stressed on the phone.” Her mother placed a hand on Gabriella’s cheek and assessed her.
“I’m good, Mommy.” Gabriella told her, seeing the questions in her mother’s eyes.
“Okay. When are you going to bring your Dom home to meet your family?”
Holding in the sigh, that wanted to escape, Gabriella pressed a smile on her lips, hoping it pacified her mother for the moment. “As soon as I have a permanent one worthy enough I will.”
“Is that my, baby girl?” Donovan Mitchem, a tall dark-skinned man, with a full head of gray hair came around the corner and saved his oldest daughter from any further inquires.
“Daddy!” Moving away from her mother, she let her father sweep her into a bear hug. “I have not been your baby since Marc came along.”
Marc was her brother, the second Mitchem offspring.
“You all are my babies. The boys just get all edgy when I say it to them.” Her father kissed her on the top of her head as he set her feet back on the ground.