“The doctor released me today so we finally have a green light in the boudoir. Unfortunately, my Captain’s a bit more conservative and has put the kibosh on any club play for another two months.” Her lower lip turned out in a pretty pout.
“So why are you here?” Lexie asked, amazed that her man would allow her out of bed with a green light on sex after her mandated maternity dry spell.
“My parents are in town and staying at our house. Rather puts a damper on romance, if you know what I mean. Tony has a room reserved for us.” Looking around for her husband, she frowned. “He’ll be along soon, I hope. He said he had something to discuss with Jonas. Rossi business I’m sure.” Her gaze captured Lexie’s and she took in her glowing complexion and perpetual dreamy expression. “So, Lex, how are things going with C4? Are they dynamite?”
That set the table to laughing just as the waitress brought their second round.
Playing along, Lexie grinned. “More like explosive. That reminds me. I’ve been meaning to ask, why ‘C4’? When I asked, Jonas brushed it off, like he’s embarrassed to talk about it.”
Regan looked around, scanning for any owner-Doms in the vicinity. When it looked all clear, she spilled. “There are several rumors flying around about that. Master Jonas was very popular around here before you hooked up with him, Lex. Sorry, the subs talk.”
“Yeah, well… with that face and body, I didn’t expect he was a monk.”
“All of our Doms suffer from the same condition,” Meg offered, “terminal hotness. Except with Jonas, he has a charm that attracts subs like metal to a magnet.”
“Rick told me the real story. Evidently, several years ago while they were still with the Special Forces, they were busy evacuating a building in Kabul where they’d found a bomb. They knew it would take longer to get everyone out than they had time left, so they had to diffuse it. The only problem was, Lil T, who was their weapons specialist, wasn’t with the team that day being off on some side mission for the general. Anyway, they had to get someone else to do it while Lil T talked him through it over the phone.”
“Holy crap!” Moon exclaimed. “That sounds like an action movie plot.”
“I know, right? So, the timer had less than fifteen minutes left, and it was planted in the air conditioning shafts. There was only one person they could call on to deactivate the bomb before it blew everything to smithereens, killing the team and all the people still left in the building.”
Moon and Megan spoke together in awe. “Jonas!”
Regan nodded, in her element as storyteller.
“Why Jonas?” Lexie asked in a near whisper. Although it happened years ago, the thought of Jonas deactivating a bomb scared the hell out of her. “Did he have special training? I thought he was a computer specialist.”
“He is, but he was the only man for the job.” Regan giggled.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
“The bomb was in an air duct, and evidently, Jonas was the only one small enough to fit.”
“Jonas isn’t small. He’s six-feet-two and at least 220 pounds.”
“Rick is taller and weighs more,” Regan replied.
“And Cap is even taller and weighs a bit more than Rick,” Megan added. “Dex was there, but have you seen that man’s shoulders? And Sean is taller and heavier than Jonas, too, although not by much.”
“So my peewee boyfriend climbed in an air duct, diffused a bomb by phone, and saved hundreds of lives? Wow! It sounds exactly like what he would do. He’s a hero.” Lexie wasn’t surprised. Jonas was one of the calmest, most in-control men she’d ever met. It was a bit disconcerting. The only time she saw him even close to losing control was when they were making love. That she could make such a confident and experienced Dom lose some of his famous self-control was a heady feeling, to be sure.
Regan reached across the table and with a mocking pat to Lexie’s hand, said, “Stuck with a peewee, poor dear.”
“I hear peewee makes up for his, uh, ‘shortcomings’ in other departments.” When Meg said this, both twins collapsed into fits of giggles and peals of laughter.
Regan finally managed to calm enough to continue. “The subs in The Club are convinced C4 is an acronym for something else. They’ve spent hours trying to think up what C4 stands for. You know, like 4-Cs. They think it has something to do with the size of his…”
“What?”
“You know… his.”
“I figured that,” she said with a touch of irritation in her voice. “I meant what do the Cs stand for?
“I’m not sure about all of them, but rumor has it his most important ‘C’ is rather large,” Regan said, winking at a red-faced Lexie.
Lexie skipped that one, having firsthand knowledge. “No comment. What are the other three for?”
“These are all speculative, Lex. One of the girls guessed colossal.”
“I’ve racked my brain,” Megan added. “I thought of charming and captivating, both are fitting for Jonas, but they don’t relate to the big C. The only other thing I could come up with close to colossal was considerable.”
“How about climactic?” Moon offered.
“Celebrated?” Regan giggled.
They all looked at Lexie who put her finger to her lips and tapped, as though deep in though. “Do I only get four? There are so many worthy adjectives to choose from.” Lexie gave them a thoroughly contented smile, just as a clearing throat sounded behind them.
“Gossiping ladies?”
They all turned to see Master Dex. He was usually in the lounge when Elena was performing. They should have known to watch out for him or one of the other owners.
“Regan… you have been a member longest. Tell the others the rules on gossip, please.”
“Yes, Master Dex. No malicious gossip will be allowed by submissives at any time.”
“Correct, and the punishment?”
“Public chastisement, which means thirty minutes on an open spanking bench with a punishment of the Dom’s choice.” The other girls gasped. Thirty minutes was a long time. Regan tried to explain, “We weren’t being malicious—”
“So you think telling Master Jonas’ new sub about his past exploits is appropriate?”
“Um—no. I guess I didn’t think about it that way, Sir.” Regan looked at her friend and said sincerely, “Sorry, Lex.”
“But Lexie wasn’t gossiping.” Megan objected in defense of her friend.
“Was she listening, asking questions, eagerly hanging on your every word?”
They looked at Lexie, who flushed as she nodded.
“Verbal responses are required here, Lexie.”
“Yes, Master Dex, I listened. I wanted to hear the rumors about Jonas.”
“So, you three subs have each earned a round. I will inform your Doms.” He impressed an intimidating glower on each sub, his look of disappointment blazing intensely into them until in turn, each one averted her eyes.
Lastly, his eyes fell on Moon. “You’ve been coming to our open sub nights for quite some time, young lady. Surely, you have learned the rules. Since you’re unattached that poses a problem, and you are not a club member either. When are you going to remedy that?”
“She starts training classes next week,” Regan offered. “But she’s a Domme.”
“No matter. You’ll find that a dominant’s training includes experiencing every piece of equipment and every implement we have on hand. I find that it keeps them better grounded when they know exactly what their submissive will be subjected to. I believe Master Dano is running next week’s training class. I’ll speak to him about a certain volunteer for a demonstration on the spanking bench.”
Moon gasped in alarm, both Megan and Regan grabbing her hand in support. Megan whispered reassuringly, “Don’t worry, Moon; Master Dano has a reputation as a gentle and kind Dom, especially with newbies.”
Dex’s outward mien of control did not crack upon hearing that, although his words clearly revealed his amusement at th
e other Dom’s expense. “I’ll have to fill Dano in on his new status as a marshmallow Dom. He’s an ex-Marine, must be getting soft since leaving the Corps. I’m anxious to see what his reaction is to his ‘kinder, gentler’ reputation.”
Scanning over the women at the table, he issued further direction. “I think each of you owes Master Jonas an apology. He is a hero, as you said Lexie, and I am disappointed to hear of him being disrespected. He saved many lives that day at the risk of his own.”
All four of them flushed with chagrin. They nodded, saying practically in unison, “We’re sorry, Master Dex.”
“Mm… I’m sure you soon will be.”
Moon stared after the intimidating man as he walked away. “Wow. I feel sorry for Elena having to deal with Dex all the time. That felt like the time I was called to the principal’s office in seventh grade.”
Megan nodded, knowing exactly how Moon felt. “Cap is the same way. I’m often left feeling like a naughty schoolgirl, and not in a good way.”
“What gives him the right to be judge and jury? We’re in the public area,” Moon complained.
Megan went on to fill in an obviously unsettled Moon and Lexie on the hierarchy at The Club. “All the owners are Masters. They have years of experience and somehow know the inner workings of a submissive’s mind. Dex isn’t just a Master here; he’s The Club’s Master Dom and outranks everyone with regard to authority when it comes to club matters. He has the most experience, except for maybe the general or Cap, and he mentors and trains the new Doms.”
Regan added, “I don’t know what they teach them in the Special Forces or if it’s simply because these men are badasses, but they command respect. I’ve even seen some of the Dommes simper and become docile in their presence. We subs don’t stand a chance.”
As they watched, Elena joined Dex, and his strict demeanor immediately changed. As he listened intently to what the little singer had to say, his expression was soft with affection. The next instant, he threw his head back, laughing delightedly as he guided his sub toward the members’ playroom, an arm wrapped around her and a large possessive hand on her ass.
As soon as he was out of earshot, Lexie asked, “What is an open spanking bench?”
Megan and Regan looked at each other in that silent way twins have of communicating. After a moment, Megan explained, “Once restrained on a spanking bench, the ropes to the scene area are opened and all the Doms in the club are allowed to take a turn if they wish with whatever the submissive’s Dom chooses.”
“On the bare ass...” Regan added with a frown.
“All of them will want to take a turn…” Meg grimaced.
“Sometimes two or three turns,” Regan concluded. “Especially if it’s a slow night.”
“You sound like you have some experience with this, Regan.” Lexie nervously rubbed her damp palms against her thighs. What had she gotten herself into?
“Regan has a lot of experience, don’t you, Sis?” Megan laughed. “A lot more. I’ve seen Rick blindfold her and let the Doms have at her with a paddle at least four times, and I’ve been a member less than a year.”
“Bite me, Meg,” Regan replied teasingly. Looking back at the other girls, she admitted with a shrug, “I can be a brat sometimes. So sue me. Usually the punishment is worth the crime, and the way Rick doles it out not always unpleasant.”
“Unless you have a sadistic Dom who won’t let you get off afterwards,” Megan grumbled.
“Hoping Cap will cut you some slack tonight, little sis? Of course, he won’t.” Tipping her head toward her sister, she said in a stage whisper, “Her man’s a stickler for the rules.”
“Cap does that to you?” Lexie asked with compassion in her voice. “He leaves you, um—wanting?”
“That’s putting it mildly. Tony knows that a spanking really trips my trigger. In fact, if he thinks I’ve been really naughty, he invokes the no-rewards-after-punishment rule.” Megan grimaced painfully as if memories were flooding her brain. “The rat bastard can be downright evil sometimes, but he does make it up to me eventually.”
“I can’t believe Cap would sacrifice his own pleasure that way,” Moon chipped in.
The three submissives looked at her in amazement, then burst out laughing.
Meg was the first to regain her composure. “Ah Moon, my naïve friend, who said Cap goes without?”
Parched from laughing, they called for another round only to find that Dex had cut them off at two because of their upcoming scene. As word got out, other subs came by their table to express sympathy, others their envy and others still to make ribald jokes about not sitting for a week. Lexie was beginning to get nervous, and it must have shown.
“Don’t worry, Lex,” Regan reassured, “Jonas is required to be there to monitor. He’ll make sure no one is too, uh… enthusiastic with his own sub.”
Moon looked at the other women as if they were insane. “You are out of your minds—to willingly agree to this—you’d have to be nuts. That’s why I’m taking the Domme class. I’m going to find out at long last what this is all about, only from the other, less painful point of view.”
“Don’t knock it ‘til you’ve tried it, cuz,” Meg laughed.
“From what Dex says, she’ll be trying it with Dano next week,” Regan added.
Lexie sat in wide-eyed wonder, thinking Moon might be the only sane one in their midst.
***
“You’re two for two with punishments, baby. Not a great beginning.” Jonas spoke from behind her as he buckled her ankle restraints in place. She trembled visibly as she turned her head and saw the crowd gathering behind the ropes. She could see Regan, who was already restrained on a spanking bench a few feet away. She was speaking earnestly to Rick, who wore a stern expression as he squatted down at her level in front of the bench. Their exchange wasn’t heated. Regan looked resigned, and she had a tear tracking down her beautiful face. Lexie looked on in wonder as her big dominant husband tenderly brushed it away with his thumb. Her eyes tracked down her body, and she noticed that Regan’s position was a bit different from her own. In consideration of her early pregnancy, a section of foam had been added to protect her belly, keeping it free from contact with the bench, adding no pressure that would harm the new life growing within.
Her line of vision to her friends was suddenly cut off as Master Tony stepped into view. She watched in surprise as he restrained Megan, but not to a bench like her compatriots. Instead, her wrists were pulled high above her head and her cuffs were affixed to a chain that hung down from the ceiling. Next, her Dom stooped low and attached her ankle cuffs to a spreader bar. Lexie was shocked to see that the bar was shaped like an inverted T with a horizontal rod and cuffs keeping her feet wide apart, the perpendicular one reaching straight and tall—rising with ominous intent— toward the juncture of Megan’s thighs. She watched as Tony adjusted the special attachment that disappeared beneath the hem of Meg’s ultra-short dress. Lexie recognized the addition as an electric wand called a Hitachi. She knew, because Jonas had one at home just like it. The extremely powerful vibrator brought on intensely powerful, sometimes unbearable orgasms.
“Cap is giving Meg a different form of punishment tonight,” Jonas said, having completed attaching her restraints. He’d been watching her fascination with the other two couples. He was bent over her back, his lips brushing warm and soft over her bare shoulder as he spoke. “Do you know why?”
“It hasn’t been very long since she delivered her twins. I imagine he’s concerned she isn’t ready for a paddling, Sir.”
“Yes, I suppose that’s part of Cap’s thinking, but the primary reason is that she enjoys a paddling too much for it to be an effective punishment. It’d be like me stringing you up in my ropes and calling it a reprimand. A reward isn’t quite what he has in mind for his bad girl. Now Regan, on the other hand, likes the exhibition, not the pain. Therefore, she earned a flogging. It’s the Dom’s choice, after all, and who better to know the ultimate pun
ishment for their sub.”
“I don’t understand. How is that a punishment? Looks more like a reward to me.”
“Ah, sweet Sunshine,” he chuckled in her ear. “Cap does indeed know his submissive. Notice he let her retain her clothes. Granted a revealing bra and short skirt, but she is still covered. Meg is a very private person, her Dom understands that, so she gets to maintain some of her modesty. Her punishment will be a very erotic display of her submission as she reaches climax, quite publicly and repeatedly, under her Dom’s watchful eye, of course.”
“Hm… thirty minutes of orgasm. I’m still not convinced that’s punishment.”
“Not for you, Lexie. That’s why you are on a spanking bench about to receive thirty minutes of creative paddling.” His lips nibbled across her cheek, finding the soft shell of her ear and latching on with a nip, followed by a soothing, teasing suckle. He nuzzled his face in her fragrant, loose curls.
In a stern tone low in her ear, he voiced his displeasure. “If you wanted to know about the rumors, you should have asked me, little subbie.”
“I did, Sir, but you brushed me off.”
“You should have respected my privacy then, Lexie. Wasn’t it obvious that I didn’t want to discuss it? I would have told you in time, but in my time, not yours. Do you understand the difference?”
She did, and the realization that she had disappointed Jonas, hurt him in a way that was surely as painful as the spanking she was about to receive. A thought occurred to her, which sparked a hint of anger.
“It’s not fair. I didn’t want to discuss my past either, but you made me. I remember a paddle being involved then, too.”
He pulled back and saw the pretty pout that encompassed her full, delicious lips.
“The difference being, that I asked for the answers directly from you, my sweet sub. I didn’t go around asking questions behind your back. I certainly could have asked Joanna or Peter, or your Grampa Stan if I wanted to do it that way.”
Stricken, she realized he was right. She had started it, asking the twins for information about Jonas. It didn’t matter that they seemed eager to share. She should have come right out and insisted he answer her, or respected his privacy. “I’m sorry, Jonas. You’re exactly right. I shouldn’t have pushed it. Forgive me?”
Unbind My Heart (Club Decadence) Page 19