by A. C. James
In the center of the room sat a beautiful dark wooden queening stool with black padding. Tessa stopped in front of it and gestured for me to approach.
“Take your clothes off.”
“Excuse me?”
“You’re a slow learner, aren’t you? I said no questions. Do you want this or not?”
“Yes.”
“Then take your goddamn clothes off.”
I dropped my army satchel on the floor and began peeling off my clothes layer by layer. I hesitated when I got down to my cotton underwear and bra.
“All of them,” she said in a commanding tone.
Standing naked except for the silver locket around my neck, I waited for further direction. She walked around me in a circle, looking me up and down appraisingly.
“Not bad. Have a seat,” she said, pointing toward the queening stool.
I sat obediently, feeling a bit apprehensive and uncharacteristically shy. “What are you going to do?”
“Again with the questions. Think of it as fishing. You’re the lure and we’re going to tease him until he breaks.”
“What? You think he’ll go for that?”
“Why? Because he slips into chivalry out of habit? Holly, he’s a vampire and he’s still a man. He won’t be able to resist your blood.”
I gulped. “My blood?”
“A word of advice—don’t look him in the eye. Look at the ground, and by all means scream all you like.”
“You mean don’t scream, right?”
Tessa smiled and ran her tongue over the tips of her fangs. “No, scream as loud as you want to. He gets off on that. And no one will help you no matter how much you beg. We’re used to it around here.”
“What else does he get off on?”
“You wanted to know what it means to submit. It means no questions. No hesitation. You will do everything to the letter immediately.”
Her words were making me think of how I submitted to Arie spanking me. It still surprised me a little. Both his request and that I would oblige without much of an argument. But if I was being honest with myself I was curious from the moment I’d set foot in HFC and I wanted to receive his spanking as much as he wanted to give it. Thinking of his hand lingering on my ass before peppering it with sharp, stinging spanks was already making me wet.
“I think I can do that.”
“You will also address him as sir and speak only when spoken to.”
This didn’t surprise me when I remembered Arie commanding me to address him that way in the apartment. “Okay, I get it.”
She walked across the white marble to the armoire and opened the doors to reveal an assortment of bondage apparatus on shelves to one side. The other side was lined with drawers, and I wondered what they contained. Do you really want to know? Plucking something black from the shelf, she crossed the room and without words hooked black leather cuffs to both my wrists. They were hooked to another set of cuffs which she buckled to the arms of the queening stool. I didn’t have time for second thoughts. Tessa walked over to an intercom by the red door and pushed a button.
“Have Arie meet me in my dungeon.”
A broken reply came through the static on the intercom but I couldn’t make out the garbled response. Tessa crossed the room and came to a stop in front of the queening stool. She reclined in front of me with her ankles crossed neatly. Without preamble she extended her fangs and bit into my thigh. She did it so suddenly that I didn’t have time to protest. An involuntary gasp escaped my lips.
Tessa raised her head and licked the blood that trickled from her lips as she acknowledged Arie’s entrance. I didn’t even hear him at the door. A slow smile formed on her lips. I could see her skin beneath the sheer white blouse she wore with a black leather corset skirt. When she stood to greet him her black spike heels clicked on the marble.
“Arie, how good of you to join us.”
Arie glanced at me but seemed to look through me, fury burning his eyes as he turned to Tessa. “What are you doing? Holly belongs to me.”
“What does it look like I’m doing? Interviewing her—I do like to sample my employees and make sure they’re up to snuff.”
“I told you before. Holly belongs to me. I thought we had an agreement,” Arie said through clenched teeth.
“Join us. There’s plenty to go around. You’re too pale. We are only pale when we haven’t fed. You have not fed today,” Tessa said.
I smiled, looking through my lashes toward the ground. An unruly strand of hair dangled over my shoulder, brushing my breast. The temptation of my smile seemed to be his undoing. His nostrils flared at the sweet copper smell of the blood that dripped down my thigh. He watched the single drop as it rolled down my leg, falling to the white marble below like an angel from the heavens. I could feel him holding back the thirst that burned in his veins.
Arie crossed the open expanse, his movement so swift that it left an indistinct outline trailing behind him. He knelt in front of the queening stool as he lapped up the blood running down my leg. His tongue trailed from the tip of my toe up my calf, and to my thigh until he latched his mouth around the punctures.
Desire comingled with his unquenchable thirst. I wouldn’t have even fantasized of this, let alone acted on it, without Tessa. All the dismal thoughts crowding my brain were easily forgotten. Arie’s mouth closed around the punctures in a passionate haze as his hand trailed up my other thigh. Restrained to the queening stool, I’d never felt so alive. It had nothing to do with Arie being a vampire and everything to do with how I felt with the leather around my wrists, holding me in place. I felt his fingers brush across my satin folds before separating them and pushing two fingers inside of me.
I let out a moan and glanced up.
Tessa stood watching like a proctor would oversee an exam. She lowered herself to lounge beside her pupil. My lips parted, my head tilted sideways with knees splayed wide. Tessa looked once more at Arie, who still drank while slowly moving his fingers in and out of me as he stroked my clit with his thumb. Tessa caressed the inside of my other thigh. Thrusting her fangs into the soft awaiting flesh with fierceness, I didn’t have to fake the scream that released from my throat with primal force. It surprised me even though it shouldn’t have as I thought about Isla. What did surprise me was the level of arousal I felt with Arie’s fingers stroking my pussy as they both fed from me.
But Arie released the punctures, inhaling like one would whiff the bouquet when decanting a fine wine. Tessa released my thigh; her smile at Arie dripped with my blood. Arie leaned toward her and kissed the blood from her mouth as he trailed his tongue across her lips. Still his fingers continued their torturous assault as he kissed Tessa. The way he kissed her wasn’t passionate, but as if he was simply cleaning my blood from her lips. And it didn’t make me jealous like the other women who’d lavished their attentions on him. I felt him push a third finger inside of me and groaned with need to feel his weight on top of my body, his cock thrusting inside of me like his fingers did now.
Tessa moved away from him, licking her lips.
“Leave us,” Arie said.
Tessa rose from where she knelt next to him and winked at me as she exited the room. As she left us alone in her elaborate dungeon, Arie removed his fingers and I shivered when he withdrew his touch. The smell of the leather, wood, and hint of orange from the polish used to clean it were overridden in my mind by the faint metallic smell of my own blood. I turned, and Arie regarded me, his expression unreadable.
I was grateful for the queening stool supporting my weight. If I wasn’t sitting I felt sure that I would faint. If not from the blood loss then from the erotic situation; one I’d fantasized a few times, but never quite like this. Part of me couldn’t believe I was doing this, while another part of me couldn’t wait to see what Arie would do to me. And if I was honest with myself I wanted it just as much as he did. I wanted him to make me come again and again, now that I knew it was possible for someone else to make me orgasm.
He pulled the riding crop down the skin of my taunt stomach and through the blood smeared across my inner thigh. The feel of leather running down my skin sent shivers through me. I could absorb all the sensations and observe but felt powerless to articulate my feelings or fears, or the unbelievable desire at the thought of the riding crop welting my skin. And knowing how he got off on fear, I didn’t think it would matter if I did. I trusted him and I knew he wouldn’t hurt me. Not without my consent, and the over-riding feeling that went beyond my fear is that I wanted this. With him looking down at me naked and strapped to the queening stool, I felt powerless to question how or why I wanted this. But I did. More than anything I’d ever wanted or needed. And I did need it. Spanking, or my supernatural bond to Arie, had kept the visions away once before and I wanted to see if it could happen again.
“You’re not afraid?” he asked.
“Oh, but I am.”
His mouth quirked in amusement and he held the riding crop in one hand and palmed the other end. “But you want me despite this.”
“Despite it, because of it, and more,” I said, while my heart hammered against my chest.
“I’m going to hurt you.”
“Yes. I know. I want to do this with you, very much.”
“Why?”
I blinked while I considered my answer. “You want to know what I’m afraid of? What I’m really afraid of?”
Arie arched an eyebrow, looking down at me while holding the riding crop that would bite into my skin just as he did.
“I’m afraid I’ll leave here and never feel the rest of my life the way I feel when I’m with you. You make me feel things I’ve never felt before. And that’s the thing of it, isn’t it? Even if you hurt me, you accept who I am. Just like I accept you,” I said breathlessly.
Arie closed his eyes and sighed. When he opened them, he looked almost apologetic. “You won’t get what you’re looking for out of this kind of arrangement.”
“Arrangement?”
“Submitting to me, pleasing me—I would like it very much to have you submit to me. I’ve tried to deny it, but the simple truth is that I want you regardless of the past.”
I knew then that this wouldn’t be about love, whether I was falling for him or not. At this moment it would be about submitting, nothing more and nothing less. And that’s what I wanted. I realized that he needed this perhaps even more than I did. I didn’t care that he couldn’t love me just yet. It was a revelation that I accepted the baggage that came with his past because I felt more alive than I’d ever felt, every time he touched me.
“Okay,” I said, looking down at my feet as Tessa had instructed.
“Okay?”
“Yes. I want this. I want you. I want you to fuck me.”
He walked across the room to the armoire and pulled a towel from the bottom shelf. When he returned he wiped the remaining blood from my legs. He looked down at me and then released my wrists from the cuff restraints that had restrained me to the chair.
“Kneel.” He pointed to the floor in front of the queening stool.
Obediently, I knelt at his feet.
“Now hold out your hand.”
I held out my hand and he grasped it, turning it palm up. So fast that I didn’t even see him move, he brought the riding crop down, swatting it across my palm. I was surprised it didn’t hurt—it only stung.
“Does that hurt?”
I shook my head and my mouth felt dry.
“Stand up.”
Remembering what Tessa said, I kept my eyes on the floor as I rose to my feet.
“Good. Now walk over to the bed. Stand and spread your legs hip-width apart.”
I obliged, feeling a little scared and excited at the same time. This was the single most erotic thing I’d ever experienced. Arie walked over to the armoire and removed a pair of handcuffs from its depths. He strode across the room, standing between me and the bed. He set the riding crop on its surface.
“Hold out your hands in front of you. Side by side.”
When I did, he secured the cuffs around my wrists. The steel felt cold, yet made my skin feel hot and prickly. Arie crouched in front of me like a jungle cat. He trailed the riding crop down my navel and then down even further, across my swollen clit. I quivered at the feel of leather brushing my most intimate area. Rising from the floor, he trailed the riding crop around my midriff as he circled around me. Without warning he flicked the riding crop just below my bottom and I felt the sting across my pussy. Its bite sent fire through every nerve ending and brought tingling shockwaves of pleasure. It doesn’t hurt. He circled around my front and whipped the riding crop across a nipple. Unexpectedly, I let out a moan.
“Hush,” he said in a whisper that brushed my ear as he walked around me again.
Arie pushed me down onto the bed. I landed flat on my stomach with both arms stretched and cuffed in front of me. He used the riding crop to guide my legs so they were spread further apart. I felt the sting of the riding crop under my bottom and across the swollen folds of my pussy again. This time I anticipated the waves of pleasure that followed as I felt heat trail down my thighs. He hit me again across my ass.
“Please…” I moaned.
“Please what?”
I needed release. I needed to feel him inside of me. He trailed the riding crop from the base of my neck, down my spine, and stopped just above my ass. Slowly, he trailed licking bites with the riding crop up my thighs, and this time when he hit my clit, I cried out. I could feel the wetness between my legs.
“Feel good?”
“Yes,” I said, my voice barely a whisper.
“Yes what?”
My mind went blank. I knew the response he was looking for, but in the haze of pleasure I’d forgotten Tessa’s instruction. He bent down close to my ear and he smelled musky and masculine—a complete turn-on. “You will address me as sir.”
“Yes, sir.”
“I’m going to fuck you now.”
“Oh, please, yes…sir.”
He laughed.
I heard the zipper on his jeans as he unfastened his pants and with one thrust I felt him inside me. He thrust again and again, his face at my neck where I felt his breath, hot and heavy. I could feel him bury deep inside of me as he fucked me from behind, my body bent over the side of the bed.
His fangs penetrated my shoulder, but I could feel my pussy clench around him in an earth-shattering release as the pleasure-pain sent me over the edge. Arie followed, disengaging my shoulder, and I felt his final release as he plunged deeper inside of me. His weight felt like lead on top of me and he stayed like that for a few minutes, resting inside of me. I felt a warm gush roll down my thighs when he pulled out of me. I pushed myself off the bed and turned to sit on the edge. Arie unbuckled my cuffs and I stretched my arms out, rotating my hands.
“Did I hurt you?”
I gave him a reassuring smile. “No.”
He reached forward and brushed an escaped tendril of hair out of my eyes. I should’ve felt tired but I felt energized and alive. Still fully dressed, Arie zipped his pants. I had wanted to feel his skin against mine and for him to hold me. I padded barefoot across the cool marble, retrieving the pile of my clothes heaped behind the queening stool where Tessa had kicked them.
I pulled my shirt over my head and threw on my jeans. All the while Arie watched me, almost possessively, and I felt my cheeks flush. I finally knew ho
w to keep from having visions. Pain. Pleasure. And a supernatural bond. All combined and rolled into a confusing swirl of emotions that I didn’t have time to process. Sliding my army satchel over my shoulder, I headed for the door, following Arie’s lead. He opened the door for me. I looked back into the room over my shoulder. Holy hell! Never had I experienced something so hot in my whole life.
CHAPTER 16
Under a painting with a red star on South Clark Street, I shivered. I knew it was a vision and that I’d been pulled into someone else again. I just didn’t know who the hell I’d been pulled into this time. It certainly wasn’t Katarina. I pulled a compact out of my oversized purse, grimacing at my sick-looking skin, framed by a flash of bleach-blonde. It was disconcerting looking into a mirror and seeing someone else staring back at me. The cool night air had little to do with the chills. I couldn’t wait to take a hot shower. At the end of a two-day run I almost couldn’t remember the last time I ate. I had some cheesy fries with ranch dressing at some bar but that had to be yesterday… maybe the day before, even.
A man walking along the sidewalk looked away from me and picked up his pace. The drug-induced weight loss made me so thin that my collarbone and cheekbones protruded despite renewing my makeup. I dabbed a cotton swab with powder over my face. He hurried past, refusing to make contact with my dark circled eyes that sunk into my skull. I looked down at my shaking fingers and put the compact back in my bag.
Just a little bump to pick me up and then I won’t be so edgy.
I knew I would crash hard if I didn’t get off the street soon and get another line.
These bugs…these bugs under my skin. I picked at an open sore on my arm. My prematurely aged features had scars that I began to scratch just like the sore. I stopped scratching at my face to return my attention to my arm. With claw-like fingers I picked and picked its rawness. It stunk of infection. I looked down, sickened but unable to stop.
I shifted from one foot to the other in the cold, wearing silver hooker boots with buckles. A tight jet skirt stretched over my ass. You could see everything as I bent to pull a cigarette from the pack tucked into a tattered boot. When I stood, I pulled down my dingy low cut shirt. It used to highlight revealing cleavage before I became so skinny. I lit the cigarette and inhaled a long drag. I felt my stomach coil in revulsion, trapped in a drug-induced haze, trapped in a body I didn’t want to be in.