by Maren Smith
Chapter 3
This was either the best or worst assignment he’d ever given himself.
Fawn had been attractive enough in her regular clothing when she’d practically been vibrating with anxiety—seeing her now in what he would consider club-wear was making his cock strain at the front of his pants. Staying professional wasn’t easy when he had to keep reminding himself that he couldn’t fuck her, in case she was connected to Carmen.
Considering the stakes, keeping his mind on what he needed to do shouldn’t be so damned difficult. It was definitely not a problem he’d ever had before.
There was just something about Fawn… just like when she’d roused his suspicion, he couldn’t quite figure out what was different about her. Obviously he was attracted to her, but there was something more than that. She tugged at the same part of him that Grace Barnes did, the protective part of him. While that would be understandable if she was just an innocent he was using for his cover, he couldn’t figure out why he felt that way.
Especially because it didn’t take him long to realize she was questioning him about the Castle—and not in the same way most guests would.
She was good, damn good, he’d give her that, but he started to catch on as they made their way down the hall. Whereas most guests would be agog at the erotic statues, the lush surroundings, she had a different focus.
“So the cameras only randomly monitor the Castle? Is that really safe, Master D?” Clinging to his arm as they walked, her leather-clad breast brushed his bicep, nearly succeeding in distracting him. Her big brown eyes, which were very fawn-like now that he thought about it, were full of innocent worry, yet his gut told him her questions were anything but. “What if something happens while no one’s looking?”
“Perfectly safe,” he said, covering her hand on his arm with his to emphasize his words. “Didn’t they tell you at Orientation? There’s audio rigged all over the Castle too, and if you ever say the Castle safeword, the cameras where you are will switch on and help will be sent immediately.”
Her expression flickered before turning into a pleased smile. If he hadn’t been paying attention, he likely wouldn’t have noticed her look of anxiety before she covered it up.
Yeah, she was definitely up to something. Especially since she seemed determined to confirm everything that he knew Mistress Hardwick had said in her speech before everyone was even allowed to enter the Castle. He supposed there was a very slight chance she was just nervous and wanted extra reassurance, but the whole thing was setting off all sorts of little alarms in his head.
Dane decided it was definitely time to head down to the Dungeon. There was nothing like a scene to really see who a person was at their core, to learn their expressions, their uninhibited reactions. Right now he was pretty sure she was putting on an act and he wanted to see her at her most raw. He wanted to strip her down to who she really was and—
And find out that she wasn’t working with or for Carmen.
Dammit.
Dane did need to know whether or not she was, but he was definitely holding onto a small hope that she wasn’t. Because he was drawn to her. Attracted to her. Even felt a little protective of her, although that might be by her own design considering the questions she was asking. They were all geared towards Castle security but asked in a manner guaranteed to trigger a man’s protective instincts.
Which meant he needed to be even more on guard during the scene than he already was.
The Castle was amazing. Fawn wished she could have come here just for fun. She was asking Master D all the questions she needed to know about the building and security, but her mind was only half paying attention to his answers. It seemed the speech they’d been given at Orientation had been pretty thorough, which was kind of surprising. She’d kind of thought they’d been exaggerating. The other half was just enjoying the tour. The people. The artistically inventive eroticism of the wall sconces. Whoever designed this place had a wicked imagination and good sense of fun.
“Flora? Are you paying attention?” Master D’s voice was amused as he realized what she was looking at, and she felt herself turning bright red.
“Yes, sorry… um, Sir, what were you saying?” Crap. Now she was falling down on the job too. While she understood her brain wanting to procrastinate, wanting to do anything but the job, she didn’t exactly have a whole lot of options here. She needed to get it together. At least she’d managed to tack on a ‘Sir’ in there instead of forgetting again.
She wasn’t the only one gawking at the artwork, though, she saw at least one other couple stopping to examine another statue much more closely as she and Master D walked into the Grand Foyer. It wasn’t too crowded and, as with everywhere else, there were plenty of interesting sights to see. Her gaze was immediately drawn to a busty redhead who was completely naked other than a blindfold and walking on the arm of a severe looking Dominatrix who was obviously directing her steps in a low voice.
Fawn couldn’t help but shiver when she looked at them. The trust that must take…
She couldn’t imagine, because she didn’t think she’d ever trusted anyone that much. Her life didn’t allow for trust.
Envy welled.
“Flora? Flora?”
Master D squeezed the hand she had on his arm and jolted her out of her thoughts. Crap, she’d done it again. And also forgotten her Castle name. She was going to have to work on that.
“Sorry, Master D,” she said, giving him a weak smile. “There’s… there’s just so much.” She swept her free arm out, gesturing at everything and everyone around them.
The smile he gave her in return was sympathetic. “There is,” he agreed. Then the look in his eye glinted, turned to something a little more disconcerting. Exciting. “So let’s go somewhere that you can focus, hmm?”
“The Dungeon?” she asked, repeating his words from earlier, feeling more than a little breathless and this time it wasn’t just the corset. Excitement tingled through her and she told herself it was fine. If she didn’t play, she’d stand out. Besides, she needed to know all areas of the Castle because who knew where Mario would show up?
“Exactly,” Master D said. The way he looked at her sent a shiver down her spine and not entirely in a good way. She felt stripped bare by his assessing gaze, which—considering who she was and what she was doing there—was not comfortable at all. Suddenly he reached up and gripped the back of her neck and Fawn gasped as he began to propel her forward. “Let’s go, prisoner.”
He led her to the back of the foyer and Fawn couldn’t help but gape a little when he opened a half-hidden door beneath one of the staircases. Although her practiced eye had spotted it immediately, she knew surprise and awe would be a more normal reaction for the kind of person she was pretending to be.
Tingles went up her spine as they descended the staircase, electric torches lighting the way, but the fact that they were electric didn’t detract from the ambiance at all. She found herself huddling a little closer to Master D as anticipation and just a touch of fear shivered through her. The sound of dripping water, the smoky and dank smell of the air, the sputtering and hissing of the torches, all added to the overall creepiness of the place. It felt like she was actually being led into a dungeon, a real one.
The hall became darker and darker, and Fawn nearly squeaked when they finally reached the end of it and a seriously scary looking dude in a leather mask turned towards them. Bare-chested and wearing leather pants, his muscles bulged even more impressively than Dane’s. The mask covered all of his facial features except his mouth, and his lips were set in a forbidding frown.
“Another one for the cells?” he asked in a deep, scary voice, his lip curling up in a sneer. “Or just a voyeur?”
Master D laughed harshly. “This one is definitely going in a cell.”
Oh good heavens, she was pretty sure her panties had just been flooded with her arousal. She was scared to death of jail, so why was this turning her on? It didn’t make sense, especi
ally because she was as anxious as she was aroused. If she’d thought she was in over her head before, it was nothing compared to how she felt now.
Stupid vagina, stop enjoying this!
The masked man opened one of the heavy doors and Master D directed Fawn into the room using his firm but gentle hold on the back of her neck, but when she nearly stumbled he caught her immediately. She felt completely off balance, a little scared, and completely shocked at how much she was enjoying herself. This wasn’t what she was here for, but it was an unavoidable part of being here.
Don Lenzo had chosen the Dungeon program because it would give her the most freedom to wander the Castle without anyone keeping an eye on her, but Fawn had realized the program appealed to her when she’d been reading through the brochure. Reading was nothing compared to reality though, and ‘appealed’ was a vast understatement now that she was here and completely under the control of Master D.
Everything about the Castle was designed to make the guests forget about the world outside and seduce them with erotic, exotic pleasures, and Fawn found herself tempted beyond belief. Tempted, anxious, excited—she was a mess of emotions.
“Oh no,” she said, her voice higher than normal as she got a good look at the room. There was a large wooden frame erected in the center of it, like a doorframe but taller and wider, and it was covered with bolts and chains. The far wall was lined with instruments of torture, some of them leather, some of them gleaming metal even in the dim light. Despite her research, she didn’t even recognize what some of them were and her mind went blank trying to imagine how they could be used. The ones she did recognize were not reassuring.
There was a small cage in the corner—which actually did frighten her and not in the sexy way—and another corner had a pile of cushions which was the only softness the cell offered. There was an actual rack to her left and stocks on her right, and what looked something like the spanking benches she’d seen online next to the stocks, but so much more advanced than the ones she’d looked at. Exactly what Don Lenzo had signed her up for this weekend was finally sinking in.
“Right here,” Master D said roughly, moving her to the center of the room to stand beneath the large frame. Taking her left wrist in his hand, he lifted it above her head and pulled down a leather cuff which was attached to one of the chains and secured her wrist in it. It took him less than a minute, and then he pulled on the chain to shorten it, dragging her arm up into the air.
Fawn’s pussy fluttered as she stared at the black leather around her limb, holding her in place.
Bad vagina. Bad, bad, bad vagina.
The other hand went up and was secured in a similar manner. Then she found her skirt being yanked off and she squeaked as he pulled her leg to the side… ankle restraints. She wasn’t going to be able to move an inch. Would a regular submissive protest being so completely restrained so quickly? Fawn had no way of knowing. Part of her wanted to, but another part of her was loving everything that was happening to her. She was completely torn.
When Master D stepped back, his gaze slid up and down her body, checking her responses. Fawn was trembling, completely unsure of herself. All she had to do was say ‘red’ or even the Castle safeword, ‘onion,’ and everything would stop. But… even though this wasn’t going to help her finish her mission, it was necessary.
There was no way an experienced submissive, which she was supposed to be, would go to the extreme of saying a safeword just for a little bondage. She couldn’t blow her cover or get kicked out of the Castle, which meant she had to show she belonged here. Master D and everyone else had to think she was here to enjoy the Castle’s programs. They all needed to be convinced that she wanted this.
That last part actually wouldn’t be all that difficult.
The G-string Janice had given her was soaked. Even if her brain thought she was totally in over her head, her body was completely on board. She didn’t think she’d ever been so aroused in her life.
And since she was all tied up with no way out, and this was needed for her cover, she might as well just give in and enjoy herself, right? Fawn could almost feel all the tension in her body unwinding as she gave herself over to whatever the hell Master D wanted to do with her.
The almost glazed look in Fawn’s wide eyes was killing Dane. She looked like she was right on the verge of going into subspace just from being restrained to the frame. Her entire body had relaxed and he could tell that she was completely in the moment.
Which confused the fuck out of him.
He’d thought she might try to act submissive or maybe even be a little submissive but this… This was an almost extreme reaction. They hadn’t even really started the scene yet, but she looked almost blissful. She definitely wasn’t trying to fool him into thinking she was into this—she was.
The suspicion that she might be connected to Carmen now seemed almost ludicrous in this moment—but he couldn’t let go of everything else he’d observed either. Which was the true Fawn?
When he stepped in front of her, she looked up at him with big doe-eyes, eager and aroused, lips parted, her breasts heaving slightly above the top of her corset. His cock pulsed. Maybe he was crazy and she really was just a subbie. In which case he needed to make sure she had a good time, because that was his cover.
“Okay, pretty girl,” he said, his voice deepening as he got more fully into his Dom headspace and away from his professionalism as an agent. He cupped her chin in his hand, tilting it up to look at him and her pupils dilated with excitement, her breathing coming a little faster. The reaction wasn’t just submissive, it was needy. And the part of him that loved fulfilling a submissive’s needs responded instantly. “Let’s see how you take a flogging.”
Fear. Eagerness. Worry. Anticipation. Right now the expressions flitting across her face were completely open and easy to read.
She sucked in a breath when his hands moved to her corset and undid the front, quick-release buckles. One quick movement and the whole thing slid off her body, leaving her breasts hanging in the open air, brown nipples tightly puckered. Her shoulders hunched, as if she tried to pull her arms in to cover herself, only to realize she couldn’t.
“Relax,” Dane murmured, tossing the corset to the side. Although she was eager, she was also nervous, almost shy. It was entirely possible she wasn’t used to playing with someone she’d just met. He walked around behind her, enjoying the view of her splayed out, wearing nothing but a tiny G-string. The little wisp of fabric couldn’t hide the small mound of curls on her pussy or her arousal, and it definitely did nothing to hide the twin globes of her spankable ass.
When he placed his hands on her shoulders, she jerked slightly.
“Red for stop, yellow to slow down,” he whispered in her ear. “And if you forget either of those, you say the Castle safeword.” His fingers caressed her shoulders, slowly moving down her back and getting her used to his touch, and he could feel her shiver and then slowly relax.
Of course, when his hands moved closer to her ass she started to tense up again, but he was already pulling away and moving over to retrieve one of the floggers from the wall. One that would be more thuddy than stingy.
Fawn had to clench her jaw to keep from begging Master D to come back and keep touching her. Granted, she’d gotten kind of tense when he’d first taken her corset off, but only for a few minutes. Casual sex was the only kind of sex she’d ever had but it had still been a bit of a shock to be totally vulnerable, spread out, and naked in front of a man she’d just met an hour ago. Then she’d gotten over it once he’d started to touch her, his hands caressing down her back…
Watching him move over to the wall with all the naughty torture implements, she’d realized that, of course, he’d want to do more than just touch her with his hands. That’s what the Dungeon program was about. That’s what she was supposed to want.
Hopefully he didn’t choose anything too awful, because this was definitely entirely new territory for her.
When he picked up a leather flogger with a lot of long, thick strands, she realized she had no reference for knowing what was too awful. But surely he wouldn’t go right in with something severe, right?
Turning, he saw her expression and smirked. Looking like a leather god, he walked forward, circling around her again.
“What are your slow and stop words?” he asked as he moved behind her again.
She felt all of her muscles tensing and then relaxing again, because she couldn’t hold them tensed.
“Yellow and red, Sir,” she replied, her voice a little hoarse.
“Good girl.”
Leather lashed at her skin, striking her between her shoulders, and she cried out, more in surprise than pain. It didn’t hurt exactly, but she didn’t quite know how else to describe the sensation either. The leather strands thudded and they stung a little but the feeling went deeper than that. She also hadn’t expected them to fall on her upper back.
The next strike hit where she expected—on her exposed ass—and she found herself wriggling at the sensation.
Then her upper back again… then back down to her ass…
There was a rhythm to it, one which was almost hypnotic and Fawn found herself falling into it. Her body felt like it was humming, her entire back starting to tingle, and somehow that just made her wetter and hotter than ever.
“Oh…” A deep shudder went through her as her mind seemed to shut down. For the first time in as long as she could remember, she didn’t have to think, didn’t have to plan, didn’t have to worry… she could just feel. And it felt so good.
The soft moans of pleasure Fawn was making were driving Dane wild. Her body undulated in the restraints, practically reaching for the touch of the flogger. Although her first reactions had been a little unusual, she’d gotten into things quickly and he could only assume she wasn’t used to being flogged. Which was too bad, because she obviously needed more of it.