by Livia Grant
“Like what, sir?” she whispered, unsure what he was looking for as he planted her in the odd chair. Garreth had clearly slid it backwards on its track, because she was still able to put her feet on the floor for now, her toes just able to touch the damp edge of the cold tank.
Alexander leaned down to brush his lips across her shoulder, nudging her hair out of the way as his mouth grazed her neck before stopping beside the shell of her ear. “Tell me anything. I want to get to know you.”
Sienna found herself mute, because his intimate touch had sent her thoughts somewhere else, and it was hard enough to speak even when she was fully aware. No matter what he called her, Alexander was a Dom in the truest sense. It was evident in the sophisticated rumble of his voice, the commanding way he held his fist in her hair, and the possessive way he nipped at the skin just below her ear.
“Speak,” he growled, and her lips parted at his command, but she couldn’t make words form.
What would she even say? What could he possibly want to know about her? About her boring life?
“You’re a quiet one, aren’t you?” he asked rhetorically, releasing her hair to walk around her. With a firm grip he captured one ankle, lifting it to attach it to the cuff on the seat of the chair. “There’s only one problem with that…” Alexander came back to the other ankle, repeating the process so that her legs were folded in such a way that she seemed to be kneeling, thighs stretched wide, over the chair.
“Sir?” she managed to ask, and he chuckled behind her.
“I like to hear my subs talk, and you’re mine for the evening.” Capturing her wrists from where she’d been bracing on her legs, he pulled them to the back of the chair, cuffing them separately to either side so she couldn’t budge forward at all. “That means you’re going to talk, little girl. Even if I have to make you scream first.”
The words plucked at the heat inside her, making her pussy clench with the promise of his dominance. Sienna shifted on the seat, testing her new bonds, and heard the metal links clatter against the chair. Each leather cuff was lined with silk, and not painful in the least, but as she stared down into the water she felt her breathing pick up in her lungs again. Panic teasing her.
Submerged. Fuck.
“Have you played long?” he asked, combing his fingers through her hair, drawing it back into a small ponytail. Far too short for much else.
“Yes, sir.”
Alexander jerked her back against the chair by the ponytail he’d just tied off. “How long, little girl?”
Sienna clenched her teeth, counting silently in her head, way too much thinking for play. “Nine or ten years. Sir.”
“Then you know the rules, you answer your dominant when he asks you a question.” He leaned close to her ear, now on the other side. “Next time you fail to respond to me, that will result in a consequence, little girl. Understand?”
Despite her issue with his language, her body responded with a rush of arousal, heat coiling in-between her spread thighs. “Yes, sir.”
“That’s my good girl,” he purred. Alexander wound a thick, broad strap just under her breasts, his thumbs grazing her nipples as he brought it around to buckle it in place, tightening it so she was securely held to the back of the chair.
Fuck. I’m definitely going in the water.
How long can I hold my breath?
As if it would help she took in a slow breath, and held it, trying to count to see how long she’d last.
“Garreth,” Alexander called and she turned to see the DM only a few steps away. They whispered for a moment, and then Garreth chuckled and walked down the stairs, disappearing into the main floor. Her Dom, the man who had drawn her name for the evening, to own her for the night, was still there – and she released the held breath from her lungs on a whine.
She’d only counted to eighteen.
Alexander was handsome, and devious in a way that she would normally be attracted to, and if he’d just stop calling her little girl she could slip into her role. Fade, disappear inside it. She could sense him even now, standing just behind her, and she wondered how she looked tethered to the chair with the dark straps folding her into position. Yes, this was something she could enjoy. The silence, the slightly uncomfortable positioning, it was more in line with how she normally played.
But then Alexander drew her back with his voice, “I haven’t seen you at Black Light before, do you play somewhere else? With someone else? I mean, do you have a Dom?”
“Overtime, sir, and no, I do not have a Dom.”
A quiet huff left his lips, and then he walked to the edge of the tank where she could see him. Tall, dark, and handsome. “Why are you here tonight, little one?”
Why? Sienna rolled her neck, testing her movement at the ankles and wrists, but found that she was so securely attached to the chair that the only thing she could move was her head. “I signed up, sir?”
“Obviously.” He sighed, looking down at her again. “You have such a lovely voice, I want to hear you speak. Just tell me about yourself.”
“What do you want to know, sir?”
The question seemed to frustrate him, and he pulled out an index card from a pocket on his suit jacket, glancing over it before he tossed it into the tank. Sienna was drawn to the way it floated on the surface for a moment, before it sunk and floated down to the bottom like a leaf falling from a tree. “Let’s start with what I know about you. Your hard limits for tonight were anal, fisting, blood play, and – of course – needle play, which we both had. ”
“Yes, sir.”
“I also had blood play, but I included fire play as well. Tell me, does fire play interest you?”
“No, sir,” she answered, staring somewhere around his forehead to avoid his intense eyes, wondering what else he had on his limit list.
“Does the water scare you?” he asked, moving a little closer. That predatory edge showing in each gesture.
Scared? That word made sense. It was a word that matched the tense fluttering in her belly, but she’d felt it before. She’d done scary things before, which meant she could handle this, right?
Sienna stared down at the water just as a set of lights lit up where they were. Overhead ones, embedded in the ceiling, and she groaned because now they might as well have been a main attraction on the floor.
It was worse than standing on the damn stage.
“Answer me, little girl,” Alexander purred behind her, and she turned as she heard Garreth climbing the steps behind them. “Ah, perfect.”
“Sorry, I had to interrupt someone to get to the costume box. Thanks for waiting for me to get back.”
“You should be here,” Alexander acknowledged, but Sienna was still focused on the reference to a costume box. That is, until he took a bright, silk, baby-blue bow from Garreth and held it in front of her. “This will complete the look I think.”
Sienna bit down on her cheek as she felt him working the clip of the bow into her hair, positioning it just above her ponytail. The click of it locking in place bothered her more than she expected. She liked humiliation, liked being shoved around, slapped, spat on, pissed on, talked down to – but this? This felt like someone trying to turn her into something she wasn’t.
A Little.
A charming, baby girl. Ready to giggle and smile for her Daddy Dom.
Sienna did not giggle.
For the first time in her years as a sub, Sienna wanted to argue with her dominant, wanted to storm off like one of those prima-donna submissives she’d seen in the past. And it was over a fucking bow.
Just as she was about to speak up, there was a scream from somewhere on the floor. Followed by a very loud, very clear, “RED!”
Alexander went stiff, and so did she, both of them turning to look across the main play space to see the couple who had matched last facing off. The woman had a collar and leash around her neck, draping down over her bra and underwear, and she was screaming at the Dom in front of her as a pair of monitors appeared t
o separate them.
“I guess they’re out of the game early,” Alexander laughed, and she bit down on the complaints she’d been about to make. “So, little girl, answer me. Are you scared of the water?”
“No,” she pushed the word through gritted teeth, and he stepped behind her. There was a distinct metal clink and the chair slid forward until it locked in place with the seat hanging over the water. To think she wasn’t scared was ridiculous, but she wasn’t admitting it to him.
“Good.” He tilted his head as he watched her from the side. “The bow looks lovely on you, little one. So, why don’t you tell me what you do for a living?”
While he slowly took off his suit jacket, she tried to steady her mind enough to ignore the bow she could feel brushing her scalp, the shining glint of the water in front of her, and somehow form language. “I have two jobs,” she muttered, and he paused rolling up one sleeve to listen to her.
“Speak up, little one. I want to hear you loud and clear.”
“I have two jobs, sir,” she said a bit louder, struggling to retain the honorific.
“Really? What are your jobs?” Alexander asked the question like he was at a dinner party, walking to the steps to hang his coat on the railing before he wandered back. He started on his second sleeve as he waited.
“I’m a stenographer, and I waitress a few nights a week. A stenographer is –”
“I know what a stenographer is, I work at a law firm.” He chuckled, but she stilled instantly.
Alexander was a lawyer? How in the hell had she managed to nab one of those assholes?
“That means you’re good at listening, right?” he asked, and she almost snapped at him. How was he getting under her skin so easily? Where was the usual comfort she had when she played?
“Yes, sir,” she answered through clenched teeth.
“Wonderful,” he purred. “Then this should be very easy for you to remember. Every time you refuse to answer me, I’m going to put you in the tank.” He lifted a metal remote from the floor which had two simplistic buttons on it, connected by a thick cable to the floor. Then he held out his hand and Garreth approached to offer a sleek looking vibrator to him. “But, if you answer me, I’ll reward you with this like the good little girl I know you’re going to be. However, there will be no coming without permission. I want you to have plenty of incentive to tell me about yourself. Understand?”
Sienna was stunned for a moment, trying to process what he’d said, and then she watched him sigh, and press the button in his hand. The chair pivoted forward smoothly, and she barely managed to gasp in air before she was under the water. It was cold, and her arms and legs immediately tugged at the cuffs, but there was no give.
Shit, shit, shit.
Before she could really panic, the chair lifted, and she found herself gasping as chilly water ran over her entire body. Naked skin forming goose bumps in the air of the room while she tried to recover. Alexander was still standing in the same spot, only now he was smiling. “Sienna, do you understand the rules of this game?”
“Yes, sir,” she hissed, and for some unknown reason she felt the rush of submission inside her. The thrill of obeying, even though she still wanted to shout at him.
“Good. Now, little one, tell me why you have two jobs.”
“Because,” she answered, and he waited for a moment, and then shrugged and pressed the button. Sienna drew in air just before she hit the water again, jerking against the chair once she was under the surface, frantically fighting her body’s urge to breathe.
Son of a bitch, this son of a bitch.
It was longer than the first dunk, she was sure, but when the chair lifted her out of the water she almost choked trying to draw in air. “Sir!” she called out as the rear legs of the chair met the floor.
“Yes, little girl?” Alexander raised an eyebrow at her, toying with the controls in his hand, his expression placid. “I’m waiting…”
Sienna whined, trying to think of what he wanted to hear – but the problem was he wanted to hear about her. There was no script for this interaction, no easy answers, she had to fucking talk to him, and that was the problem. “I need the money?” she offered and instantly flinched, waiting for the chair to pivot, but instead he moved close and brushed the stray strands of her hair off her cheeks.
“Good, girl.” He had swapped the items in his hands, and the dull hum of the vibrator made her open her eyes just before it slipped between her legs. Alexander nestled it in her folds until it was flush with her clit, and she bucked against the restraints as he found his mark and a zing of pleasure shot up her spine, making her stiffen. “Does that feel good, little one?” he purred.
“Yes, sir.” Nodding, she twisted her wrists in the cuffs, trying desperately to hold herself still so the pleasure would continue, but his damnable voice kept pulling her focus away.
“Tell me why you need the money. Is the stenographer position not enough?”
Sienna moaned softly, too well acquainted with the teasing buzz of a vibrator not to respond, but she didn’t want to answer his question. Didn’t want to talk about the personal details of her life. This was supposed to be play, one night of kinky fun with a random partner. It was supposed to be perfect for her.
Why was this asshole even asking about her job?
The delightful buzz of the vibrator left her suddenly, and as soon as he stepped back the chair pivoted, forcing her under the chilly water once more.
Alexander watched Sienna struggle, keeping an eye on the second hand of his watch. This was dangerous, a kind of play he’d never dare do on his own, but with an EMT at his back, he felt secure. When the second hand hit the mark, he pressed the raise button, and she lifted out of the water.
Her body was sparkling, the swell of her breasts glistening in the lights. Rivulets of water flowed between them to pool between her thighs, and he let his eyes enjoy the sight. Sienna was shaved smooth, and he wanted to explore her further, wanted to watch her come – but she was locked down tight. Refusing to speak about even the smallest of things, and that had to change.
There was an easy solution, though.
He just needed to break her first, and then he could get her back. Put her together in a way that would bring them both pleasure.
“Want to tell me why you need a second job?” he asked.
Sienna turned towards him, her short brown hair mostly pulled back in the ponytail, the baby blue bow damp and limp against the top of her head, and she looked beautiful in her disarray. The quiet little girl fighting to bite her tongue, to hold back whatever words she really wanted to say. There was a fire behind her brown eyes, and it was something he wanted to prod at, to bring forth.
“Little one,” he threatened, holding up the remote, and the way her eyes widened made his cock swell in his pants.
Pretty, pink lips parted, and her tongue flicked out to catch a bead of water. “I –” She looked distressed, but she wasn’t near breaking yet as her soft voice continued, “I don’t get enough hours as a court reporter, sir.”
“So, you supplement your income waitressing?” Alexander asked, stepping close to flip on the vibrator, but he held the buzzing implement in front of her. Tempting her. Waiting for her to respond.
Come on beautiful, come out of your shell.
“Yes, sir.” She nodded, keeping her eyes on the water. Part of him wanted to force her to look at him, to turn those warm, brown eyes to his, but physical interactions were clearly what she was used to. He had seen her relax as he’d held her chin, as he’d forced her up the stairs, and it was becoming clear that the only way to really push her was to make her speak.
Which meant, unfortunately for her, that he had found the button to push.
“Explain,” he demanded, and she shifted in the chair, her hips wiggling in the most enticing of ways.
“What do you want from me, sir?” Sienna sounded tense, exasperated, but that just meant she was one minute closer to breaking down.
“I want you to answer me without me having to ask you twenty questions.”
Her jaw clenched, eyes flicking up to his face for just a moment before she glared back at the water. So stubborn.
“Last chance, little girl. You want a reward or a punishment?”
“Punishment.” The word came out as almost a hiss between her teeth, and he couldn’t even stifle his laugh as he turned off the vibrator and stepped back.
“Alright then.” With a single press of the down button, he watched the chair swing forward into the water, her body submerging along with the metal of the chair. Lifting his watch he counted to the maximum time Garreth had provided him, watching the second hand tick by. At first she was still, he could see her in his peripheral vision, but then she started to really fight, and as soon as the time was up he lifted her out.
Sienna was coughing, gasping, whining loudly as she struggled against the cuffs binding her so marvelously exposed to the chair, and Alexander was grateful she’d spun this. Having a soaking wet little girl so frustrated was a veritable gift to him.
And Jaxson had questioned why he’d want to sign up.
For the first time since he’d drawn her name, she lifted those brown eyes to him with heat behind them, growling at him. “Why are you doing this? Why won’t you just play with me?”
“I am playing with you, little one. You just aren’t submitting to it.” He grinned when she let out a groan of frustration, a real noise from her. Things were progressing nicely. “Ready to tell me about yourself, yet?”
“What do you want to know?” Sienna raised her voice at him, and he noticed she’d dropped the sir from her language altogether.
Naughty little girl.
“What did you forget?” he asked.
“I have no idea!”
Pressing the button, he dunked her again, but it was more for shock value than punishment this time, so he let her back up almost immediately. She came up cursing under her breath, more animated than he’d seen her all night. Gone was the small, quiet girl who had seemed stunned to meet him on stage – this was a girl he could have some fun with. “You’ll refer to me as sir as you answer my questions, or we can keep playing the dunk tank game all night.”