Miranda left? She wasn't even at the Castle? Ana struggled to swallow back her confusion, only to fall victim to a completely different tidal wave: jealousy. Who the hell was Sam?
"Well," Kaylee interrupted herself, shuffling the papers into quick and expert order. "That doesn't matter now. We've got your paperwork, and everything looks good. Congratulations! You're legal." She gave the papers a sharp rap on the desk, slipped them into a file folder, and dropped the folder into an inbox on the desk. "Let's get you a bracelet and a change of clothes."
That was it?
Ana gestured after the file. "Aren't you going to look at it?"
"Oh, no. Marshall will do that when he gets back. He prefers to do the processing part himself, so he can get to know his guests and make sure they're matched up right. He's 'hands on' that way."
An itch of awkwardness crawled up Ana's back. She looked from Kaylee to Jackson, who listened with the smallest of smiles when she said, "The brochure says he's hands on in other ways, too."
"Don't worry," Kaylee shook her head as if she'd anticipated Ana's discomfort. Perhaps she had. "Miranda left instructions that she will handle any potential disciplinary situations. No one will touch you against your will."
"That wouldn't happen here, anyway," Jackson added. "This castle runs on consent, even when it's veiled as consensual non-consent."
Miranda had tried last night to explain the concept of consensual non-consent. Of all the things on the fetish list that Ana hadn't understood, that one had ranked right up there at the top. How could anyone find sexual enjoyment in being 'forced', even if only via pretend? It wasn't always about sexual enjoyment, Miranda had said, but Ana understood that even less.
"Let's get you that bracelet." Kaylee breezed past her, heading toward that open cabinet. Ignoring all the unnerving things Ana couldn't seem to take her eyes off, Kaylee pulled open a drawer and began to dig through its contents. "What program did you guys opt for?"
"Personal fantasy."
"Okay, so the Individual Program." She shuffled through a series of plastic-wrapped baggies. "That means you get the—ah ha! Here they are—the red bracelets." She pulled out two and came back to Ana. "Here you go. You wear this one, and you can give Miranda the other when she comes back. She's already got the white one."
The colorful plastic looked almost like real metal when Ana slipped it onto her wrist. She studied it against her skin, but her mind had already drifted to more important matters. "How long before Miranda gets back, do you know?"
"You know hospitals," Kaylee said, and then jumped with surprise when Ana vaulted up out of her chair.
"Miranda's at the hospital? What happened? Is she hurt?"
Both Kaylee and Jackson stared at her, before exchanging mirror looks. An entire conversation passed between them in only a few short seconds.
"Miranda didn't tell you what's happening?"
Shaking her head, Ana looked from him to her. "Only that there's an emergency."
They were Miranda's friends, not Ana's. As good friends were wont to do, before her eyes, Ana watched them close ranks to protect whatever secret Miranda was keeping from her.
"The last couple of days can't have been much fun for you," Kaylee finally offered, sympathy tainting her smile. "Not quite the vacation you envisioned, huh?"
Ana didn't know what to say. "Can't you tell me anything?"
Kaylee looked at Jackson again, and for a moment, Ana was sure that, if only they'd been alone, Kaylee might have. But they weren't alone, and by the time Ana turned back to Jackson, he was picking invisible lint off his boot and the matter was closed.
"Miranda's not hurt," Kaylee said, ending the awkward silence. "Apart from that, if Miranda wants you to know, she's the one who should tell you."
"Fine." Ana shoved away from them both. She slipped Miranda's red bracelet onto her arm so she wouldn't lose it. How pathetic was it of her—that she would actually find that comforting? It felt like she had a small piece of Miranda with her, even though she was alone. "Where's Wardrobe from here?"
"Straight down the hall." Kaylee followed her to the door, even going so far as to hand her a map as she walked out. "Pick out any costume you like. That's half the fun of staying here, getting to be someone else for a little while."
Ana didn't want to be someone else. All she wanted was to be someone Miranda felt comfortable confiding in.
"Ana, wait."
Ana paused in front of a door labelled '101' with a sign on the wall that read, Violet Wands, Shocking the Hell Out of Your Submissive One Node at a Time. She looked back at Kaylee, who had left the Master's office entirely to come and take her hand. She gave Ana's fingers a comforting squeeze, then took an awkward breath and held it a moment, before saying, "This place can be wonderful, but it can also be hard to wrap your head around on your first day."
"It's my second," Ana reminded her. She appreciated the effort, but she didn't want Kaylee's pity. She was unhappy enough right now to want to cry, and the last thing she wanted was to give up that final shred of dignity by breaking down in tears in front of a stranger.
"If your vacation is anything like mine was, your second day won't be any better." Kaylee managed a small smile, then squeezed Ana's fingers again. "I've known Miranda for almost a year now. She's the best Mistress the Castle's ever had, but she's also the kind of friend who would never hurt someone she loved. I wish I could ask how you two met, but she wouldn't appreciate it. She loves her privacy."
"Yeah," Ana agreed, and that was the problem, wasn't it? Miranda kept secrets the same way she kept Ana's cell phone. It was a fight not to resent the double standard.
Empathy flickered in Kaylee's gray eyes. "If you're not doing anything special, maybe you'd like to have lunch with me and some of the other ladies? It's nothing fancy," she hastened to assure her. "We're going to the buffet. The staff have a private dining room, so it'll be just us girls—Hannah, Sara, Chelsea, and maybe Sinclair, if she can get away from her shop. Have you been to the candy shop yet? Everybody raves about her chocolate raspberry cake balls, but I love the white chocolate and caramel-drizzled pretzels. I could eat them all day long, but then I'd have a backside wider than this hallway and, really, Marshall doesn't need any help hitting the target as it is."
Ana snorted, then quickly covered her mouth. "I'm sorry. That wasn't funny."
"It wasn't? Dang it, and I tried so hard."
Ana came as close to laughing as she'd been since Miranda had left. She rubbed her forehead. "Thank you, but if Miranda comes back, I…"
"You'll go to be with her," Kaylee agreed. "I understand completely." Linking her arm with Ana's, she led them down the hall toward Wardrobe. "But in the meantime, why be alone when you can get to know the rest of us?"
Why, indeed?
CHAPTER TWELVE
Six women were screaming with laughter, all but falling out of their chairs, and Ana was one of them. She pressed her hand to her side, in complete agony, but unable to stop laughing.
"Pink panties," Hannah said, trying to finish the story over her own giggles. "Pink bra, tights and a tutu. I even got him to put a pink ribbon in his hair, and he streaked all three dining halls during the peak supper hour. By the time he got to the banquet hall, he was so into it he pirouetted between the tables!"
"He wore those panties well," Kaylee laughed.
"Oh my God, yes, he did!" Holding her stomach, Sara gasped for air, trying to control her mirth. "I still can't believe he did it."
Hannah spread her hands in humble acknowledgement of their accolades. "That, ladies, is how you win a bet against a Master."
"I'm surprised he accepted the challenge in the first place," chuckled the redhead at the end of the table—Chelsea, Ana thought her name was. Or was it Sinclair? No, wait. Sinclair was the carrot top, and Chelsea was the redhead. She was having real trouble keeping them straight, but she remembered that Kaylee had said Sinclair had the candy shop, and it had definitely been the carrot top who'
d brought the peanut butter brownies. No one, Ana included, could stop eating them.
"I knew he'd take it." Hannah smirked, popping another piece of brownie into her mouth. "He's too competitive for his own good. Besides, I told him I'd do something he's always wanted if he won. Something I've never done for him before."
"Ooh!" Ana joined the other women in teasing Hannah for the salacious details.
"You swallowed?" Sinclair guessed.
"You let him take you to the No Zone?" Chelsea asked.
Sara looked at her. "What's the No Zone?"
"You know." Chelsea waved one hand meaningfully behind her, circling her whole backside region. "The 'No' Zone."
Laughter temporarily forgotten, the other ladies of the Castle blinked at her.
"You mean, Kade doesn't do anal?" Kaylee asked, eyebrows arching.
Chelsea echoed her surprise. "Sure he does."
"I think she meant he gave her a choice," Sara told her.
"We had a choice?" Sinclair asked.
"Come on, guys. Don't scare the newbie," Kaylee chided. "We always have a choice."
"That's right," Chelsea added. "My choice was, 'Heating KY or Cooling KY.'"
That got everyone laughing again, and Hannah sniffed. "My offer didn't have anything to do with swallowing or anal. Geez, you guys."
"What was it, then?" Kaylee asked, and her face brightened as she sat up straight. "Oh! I know! You let him zap you with his wand!"
"I'm pretty sure he 'zaps' her with his 'wand' on damn near a nightly basis," the pregnant woman muttered, throwing everyone back into ribald laughter.
"His violet wand," Kaylee specified.
"That's what I meant," Sara lied, her blue eyes wide with mock innocence, though she couldn't keep a straight face for long.
"Sure it is," someone else laughed.
"Cooking!" Hannah finally said, exasperated. "I offered to cook for him. Every last one of you, get your minds out of the gutter! No Zone, my ass," she muttered, sending them all into peals of laughter again.
"Oh, oh! Look who's here!" Chelsea crowed, pointing behind Ana.
Ana turned just as Miranda stepped through the door. For one brief second, Ana tried to rekindle her earlier upset, but all Miranda had to do was come to her with a hug, and Ana jumped up from the table to hug her back. The scent of lavender wafted over her, along with something else faint and new. Leather. Straw. Barnyard animals. Pulling back, Ana noticed Miranda's old-fashioned riding uniform for the first time. It was a lady's riding habit—the somber black gown and smartly-cut jacket were echoed in ribbons under the jaunty top hat that had been pinned atop her chestnut curls. The only splash of color was the white silk cravat tied at her throat.
"Are you ready to go horseback riding?" Miranda asked. Maybe it was because Ana knew she'd been at the hospital, but the smile she offered seemed a weary one.
Ana wanted to ask if she was all right, but now that she knew about the hospital and, more importantly, knew she wasn't supposed to know, she wasn't sure what to say. "We can wait if you're tired."
"No, lovely. I'm fine." Miranda rubbed her back, and then drew back further in order to take in Ana's gown. "You found Wardrobe, I see."
The weariness in Miranda's words gave way to naked appreciation, and Ana blushed. Although they had spoken of Harem girls and dancing the Seven Veils, the costume Ana had chosen with Kaylee by her side was completely different. The Harem fantasy was something she'd wanted to do with Miranda, and so, after walking amid those aisles and aisles of lavish costumes, Ana had settled on a gown much like Kaylee's. A rich lavender, it was flounced in ribbons and sequins, with a full skirt that made Ana feel like a princess.
"Turn for me," Miranda said, admiring the way it narrowed her already trim waist and amplified her small breasts to their best possible advantage.
Much like the Sam in Hannah's story, Ana spun a dancing pirouette. Whispering folds of fabric caressed her legs.
"What do you want to bet the 'ride' Miranda takes her on has less to do with horses and everything to do with their bedroom upstairs?" one of the ladies mock-whispered behind them.
Burning heat rushed Ana's cheeks, though it was hard to tell if it was embarrassment from having something so private voiced out loud, or pleasure, because now all Ana could think about was getting Miranda back upstairs so they could take both these silly costumes off.
"What happened to respecting the Doms and Dommes of the Castle?" Miranda chided, but there was humor in her eyes and her gaze never once left Ana's.
"Have a heart," Sara laughed. "We've waited all these years for a chance to tease you, but you never gave us anything half this good to work with."
Ana grinned, despite her discomfiture over the direction the conversation had taken. Maybe she meant something to Miranda after all, if that was what her friends who knew her best were thinking.
"The Pony Parade is in the Nursery garden today," Kaylee spoke up.
"And that's exactly where we're going." From under her arm, Miranda took a roll of white and tan clothing and shook it out, holding it up to Ana as if to measure the fit. "I had to guess the size, but this looks about right. The pants might be a little tight, though." She tossed Ana a wink. "Since when did that hurt anything, though?"
If it meant Miranda might stick around a while, Ana didn't care how tight her clothes were. She took the tan riding jacket and shirt Miranda held out, only briefly wondering why she was being given trousers to wear instead of another elegant gown similar to Miranda's. Thoughts like those, however, took an abrupt backseat when she spied the cordless silicone vibrator in Miranda's other hand. It was purple, like her dress, shaped like a butterfly and meant to be worn much like a pair of ladies' underwear.
"What's that?" she asked, knowing full well exactly what it was intended for.
Miranda's smile grew positively wicked, sending butterflies of a different kind dancing all through her. "It's for you to wear on the way. Turn around."
Setting a pair of riding boots on the floor and tossing the tan breeches over her shoulder, Miranda physically turned Ana when her legs balked.
"What?' she gasped, staring across the table at all the Castle ladies, who were staring unabashedly right back at her. Ana was appalled. They, on the other hand, seemed highly amused. "You want me to change right here?"
"We can either spend ten minutes walking back to my apartment where you'll have privacy, or you can change here and have an extra ten minutes to ride the horses at the Pony Parade." Without waiting for her to choose, Miranda began unlacing the back of her gown.
"Isn't that cute?" Sinclair said, smiling as she propped her chin in her hand. "She still has her modesty."
Chelsea snorted. "Let her do a couple of 101 classes. I guarantee that won't last."
For ten more minutes of riding her first horse, Ana willingly let modesty go hang. She shucked off her dress so fast that she tore a seam.
"Don't worry, they're meant to rip." Miranda stripped her all the way down to her skin, right there at the table. And while Ana stood trying to get enough buttons on the shirt undone so she could crawl into it and be covered, Miranda bent to hold the straps of the butterfly device open for her. "Step," she said cheerfully.
From this vantage point, it really did look like underwear. The Castle ladies must have thought so too, because they giggled when Ana climbed into them and Miranda dragged the straps up her legs to nestle that faux butterfly snugly against her sex. Right there, in front of everyone, Miranda put her hand between Ana's tensing thighs and adjusted the fit until it was inescapably secure.
"Oh, I remember that evil little thing," Hannah said.
Ana wasn't sure anything this purple or innocuously shaped could be termed as 'evil' until Miranda pulled out an egg-shaped remote control and flicked the button. The silicone butterfly came blazing to life and Ana yelped, arching up onto her tiptoes. The vibration was softer than the Miranda wand, but startling in its effectiveness. She spread her legs as if alread
y straddling a horse, but the elastic straps around her thighs kept the butterfly in place. Cheering laughter erupted all around the table as Miranda increased the intensity.
"Just a little something to help keep you focused and paying attention," she purred, brushing her hand across Ana's throbbing lower half as she held the pants open next for Ana to step into.
Ana bit her tongue to keep from moaning as the crotch of the too-tight trousers pushed the vibrator closer for an even more effective result.
"I told you it was evil," Hannah crowed, sparking more snickers and grins.
Now, Ana understood. She gripped Miranda's shoulders, clinging to her, helpless to do anything but feel as Miranda pulled the riding pants up over the butterfly and her hips. She adjusted the fit across her buttocks with a slap to the taut and well-padded seat. The sting of that slap awakened every erotic nerve the butterfly had missed.
"Cushioned pants," Ana said, fighting not to moan or pant. "Can I do whatever I want and wear them for the rest of the day?"
The ladies at the table burst out laughing.
Miranda pursed her lips, pretending to consider the half-hearted request even as she eyed the curves outlined by the tight beige fabric. Ana didn't need the butterfly to react to the sexiness of that stare. "Why not? I'll bring the riding crop home with us so we can give those pants a proper breaking in. You let me know when I'm done just how much padding you think is in that seat."
With a click of the remote control, she increased the vibration, and Ana almost levitated from the intensity of her need to take Miranda then and there.
"Don't do it!" Sara mock-whispered, cupping her hands around her mouth as if that alone could somehow prevent Miranda from hearing her. "It sounds like a fun offer, but it's a trap!"
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