by Thianna D
“Good morning,” he said loudly, capturing everyone’s attention. “I’m R. C. Cowen, the owner of Elan Isle and Ye Olde Kinke Faire. Well,” he said with a deep chuckle, “for about twenty-four more hours. You may or may not know that I’ve been actively seeking investors. Ever since my partner folded and left the area, it’s been just me trying to run this as well as my other ventures. As luck would have it, a company not only offered to invest, they bought me out.”
Out of the corner of her eye, Becca saw movement and she looked toward it. Her breath caught in her throat as she watched Kendrick striding purposefully toward the group. He looked so wonderfully strong. Gay, damn it. He’s gay! She wondered if there was such a thing as homoflexible.
“And here’s the CEO of the company,” Cowen said in a good-natured tone. “Let me introduce Kendrick Finleigh of Finleigh and Associates.”
Kendrick shook Cowen’s hand and then turned toward them. Cowen ceased to exist as all Becca saw was Kendrick.
“Good morning,” he said. “I’m sure this will come as a bit of a shock, but as of today, the Faire is closed.” Murmurs rippled through the actors. “My associates and I have been heavily involved in BDSM for years. We know what it takes to make a successful club and what will kill it. Currently, the Faire is not a success in the making. At least not by our standards,” he added with a slight smirk.
“He’s hot,” Cassidy whispered and Becca nodded.
“We saw what went on yesterday,” Kendrick went on, and the smirk was gone. “There was a lot of unacceptable behavior which included a sub being whipped by someone who did not know what they were doing. I won’t put up with that. From here on out, there will be stringent rules in place, including that you must be trained and proficient in any acts you do while a part of Ye Olde Kinke Faire. Each of you will be interviewed and tested. And no, you do not work for us. Your contracts end today. If you wish to be hired on with us through the summer, you’ll have to prove you know what you’re doing or are at least willing to learn.
“We don’t plan on opening the doors to visitors until July. By then there will be a lot of changes. I was on the phone this morning with Chandler Roe, who was the original architect for the cabins and the Faire, and have asked him to come finish the project my way. This summer will be a soft opening to show our community what kind of vacation spot this will be next year. By next year, there will be at least ten more shops, several more eateries, controlled stages for demos, and dungeons. This year we won’t use the current dungeon for anything except soft play. The building and equipment aren’t secure enough for anything else.”
Kendrick paused and his eyes looked over the crowd. By the way some of the people looked away, Becca figured he’d looked them in the eyes. When his eyes met hers, they went from firm to pleased and she couldn’t stop her smile.
“We’ll be hiring,” he went on, “more dungeon monitors and skilled lifestylers and fewer actors. For those of you that wish to continue to work at the Faire and we deem acceptable but not trained enough, you will create and build a persona to interact with our visitors. One thing I’ll state clearly is that any employee of Ye Olde Kinke Faire will never have sex with a visitor while on shift. Off shift, your sex life is your business, but on the clock? You don’t get laid unless you’re doing a stage scene.”
“Shit,” grumbled a guy a few feet away from Becca. “Why do this shit if we don’t get sex?”
Cassidy shook her head in disgust but Becca was watching Kendrick. The way his eyes fastened on the speaker, he’d heard him. “If you can’t get sex on your own, I’m not paying you to get some,” Kendrick said sharply. “This isn’t Nevada and we aren’t a pleasure house. This is a kink club. Visitors can have as much sex as they want, wherever they want, on Faire grounds. You cannot. And if you don’t like that, you’re welcome to pack your bags and go to the docks. There will be two ferries to Sequim today. And it would be best if nobody wastes our time if they aren’t in it for the money, the contacts, and the knowledge they’ll gain.”
Several of the actors and a few of Cowen’s employees stood up and headed toward the cabins. In fact, about seventy percent of the people left in one rush. Kendrick appeared relieved and amused at the fact. “All right. For those of you who are left, you’ll meet with three members of my team today. You must pass muster with all three of them to gain a position here. This is nothing against any of you personally, but we’re putting a lot of money into this venture and it will work our way. Bottom line.”
Becca glanced toward where Cowen had stood but he was missing. She looked around and spotted him making his way quickly back to the docks. Running with his tail between his legs.
“Neil, Alice, Craig, and Joseph will each take one of the benches across from me where Becca is standing.” Kendrick waved toward her and she felt inordinately please he remembered her name. “Meet with three of them. At five tonight, we’ll let all of you know if you have a position with us or not. We want you all packed and ready as those that are staying will be rehoused in different cabins. Those that aren’t will be taken to Sequim immediately. Once that’s accomplished, we can work at making this one hell of a kinky adventure.”
As Kendrick’s friends moved in her direction, Becca and Cassidy stepped away from the benches. “Well?” Cassidy asked her, a sparkle in her eyes. “Stay or go?”
Before Becca could respond, a strong presence walked up behind her and she swiveled around and came face to face with Kendrick.
He reached out and placed a palm against her cheek. “How are you feeling, Becca?” His eyes softened and she could swear he was only aware of her in that moment.
Why did he have to be so nice? “I’m fine.” He cleared his throat and raised an eyebrow and she felt all of ten years old for her automatic answer. Masters Dennis or Rob would have spanked her ass so hard she couldn’t sit down for such a lie. “Sorry, Sir. I’m achy, but okay. Cass helped me clean my back this morning.”
“How does it look?” he asked, turning slightly toward Cassidy but keeping his eyes on her.
“Good. The doc did a good job,” Cassidy said, her eyes going back and forth between Kendrick and Becca.
“Good.” Kendrick drifted a thumb along her cheek and pushed a stray lock of her hair behind her left ear before he dropped his hand. Her face felt naked without it there. “Will you be staying, Becca?” His blue eyes were so intent on her it was like being under a spotlight.
“We hadn’t decided yet,” she said honestly. “But I’d love to.”
A long slow smile crossed his lips. “That’s good to hear. The rest need some experienced subs to help them along and the new crew we’ll have coming in will need someone who already knows the ropes. So to speak,” he added with a wink. “Now I suggest you go back to your cabin and rest. Your body’s still getting over yesterday’s trauma.”
“But… don’t I need to meet with them?” Becca asked, waving toward Kendrick’s friends.
“No. I’ve already okayed you. You’re in.” His bright blue eyes looked her over from head to toe and he nodded. “You’re most definitely in.” And without another word, he turned and walked away.
“Whoa,” Cassidy said and Becca managed to tear her eyes away from Kendrick’s departing figure to look at her. Her friend looked utterly delighted about something.
“What?”
“He’s into you.”
“No, he’s not,” Becca said, ignoring the hope that rose in her chest. “He’s gay.”
“No fucking way,” Cassidy said as she shook her head. “His eyes were on you and the boner he was sporting was definitely for you. Why do you think he’s gay?”
Becca blinked and tried to remember. “He said something about CBT toys.”
Cassidy snorted. “Honey, Masters Dennis and Rob have them too. Doesn’t mean they’re gay. They work with male subs, plus some Doms are toy magnets, always wanting to get the newest one. There’s the possibility he’s bi or pan, but I’m telling you right now, t
hat Dom wants to do wonderfully nasty things to you.”
It was virtually impossible for her to stomp on the hope that exploded in her chest. Was Kendrick attracted?
Chapter Five
“So what have we got?” Kendrick asked as the last of Cowen’s former employees departed to pack.
Alice snorted. “In many ways, it's worse than I originally thought. They aren’t just ignorant about BDSM, many of them look down upon it. One of them told me that if any guy ever tried that ‘stuff’ with her, she’d break his nose.” She shook her head. “She wouldn’t even hear my comments about consensuality and how the way the Faire was set up was not BDSM.”
“Of the fifteen I talked to,” Neil said, “ten are willing to learn. They seemed relieved that the way things were was wrong and are open minded and want to know more. The other five?” He shook his head. “They each offered me a blow job to keep them on. As if I couldn’t get a better one in any kink event around the world.”
Craig barked a laugh. “What did you say?”
“I told them that once they’d been trained up enough, then to come back and offer.” He shot Alice a grin. “I told the one who was a girl that she needed to practice sucking pussy first.”
“Don’t tell me. She was grossed out,” Alice said in amusement.
“More than grossed out. She stood up and went straight to her cabin. I don’t know if anyone else even spoke to her.”
“Well, I’m not surprised,” Kendrick said with a sigh. “Except for Becca, I’ve not been impressed. Well, there’s the doc too.”
“Dallas Myles seems like a conscientious Dom,” Joseph agreed. “He showed me the rec letters he had from three clubs he’s been a member of as well as his medical degree from Harvard. He was pleased that our plans are more in line with what he expected from the place. When I told him we’re set on bringing more medical help on, he was relieved. I think they’ve been running him ragged. I also mentioned the co-op and he said to get him more information once we had it in place. That it sounded right up his alley as long as we’re gay friendly.”
“No need to worry about that,” Kendrick said. “We’re definitely LGBT friendly.” His brother was gay and Kendrick would oust anyone who was homophobic. “So I’m going to read off the names. Each one of you can give me a yes or no and we’ll see where we end up.”
In the end, they kept very few.
“We’re basically starting from scratch,” Neil commented. “But that’s not a bad thing. I’m going online to start getting interest from fellow lifestylers who want to live in a beautiful island all summer and work at a kink faire. What’s in the ‘next’ box?”
“Chandler will be here on Monday,” Kendrick said, “and he’s cautiously excited. Can’t blame him. He didn’t bash Cowen, but from what I gathered, they were equal partners in the deal but Chandler insisted on making it right while Cowen wanted to cut corners. He finally pushed Chandler too far and he left and sued to have his name removed from the overall venture. The guy’s got some great ideas and when he gets here, we’ll feel him out. Since the cabins were his design as was some of the current faire, I hope he works out. He knows the land and what it will take to finish it the way we want.”
“I’ll call Sandra and Jake and get them officially on board,” Alice said. “Start getting the shops set up.”
“Talk to Jilly about ours,” Craig said. “I’m going to work with Slate and a couple other bites I’ve had since I put some feelers online last night. The first matter of business for me is to check out the professional kitchen and make sure it meets safety guidelines and works. The next is to see what kind of eateries we can put in this year that won’t require setting up kitchens.”
“I’ll start talking to some of the circuit trainers,” Neil said. “See if we can’t get them to come do demos daily for the exchange of a cabin to stay in for their time here.”
“Good.” Kendrick nodded as he made some notes. “If we can get the stages booked with top-rated kinksters, that’s a major hurdle right there. Rhys gets in tomorrow. I’ll put him to work getting the legal papers together for the co-op.”
They solidified their plans and then split up, each one with a portion of duties to fulfill. And Kendrick knew they would do a good job. They were like him in that respect—if you’re going to do something, do it well. Besides, all of them wanted the end result.
He was so busy with calls that it was after two before he had a chance to remember he wanted to check on Becca. She’d looked like hell that morning but her willingness and desire to stay on had just increased his interest in her. She was cute, sexy, and smelled divine. All night long, when he wasn’t working on the venture, she had invaded his mind in wonderful ways. Suspended, wrapped in deep red hemp rope, all three of her holes open for his use. Over his spanking bench, her ass a bright fiery red—and with her olive skin tone, that would be a beautiful sight. The one that made him wonderfully uncomfortable in his jeans was imagining her kneeling at his feet, those luscious lips wrapped around his dick.
After slipping a phone into his pocket, he left his cabin and went in search of hers. For as far away as the island was from large cities like Vancouver, BC or Seattle, it had exceptional cell and internet service. He assumed Chandler had a hand in that. All their shop and eatery owners could use their cell phones or laptops and a payment service to take charge cards. At least Kendrick and his friends didn’t have to carry the cost of that.
The walk to Becca’s cabin didn’t take long and it allowed him to see a little more of the island. Once things were well in hand, he looked forward to hiking the entire thing. The pod of cabins she was in sat near the water and he noted that, just like with his pod, the service sub was no longer in evidence. That was fine. They didn’t plan on offering cleaning services. For free housing, their shopkeepers could clean after themselves. And they had no intention of housing guests—just those that worked at the Faire. Any visitors could stay on the peninsula and take the boat over.
When he got close, he spotted Becca standing over by a tree, looking out at the water. “Hello,” he said in a quiet voice so as not to scare her.
She turned her head and her eyes widened. That beautiful skin tone took on a delightful pink hue. Her ass would look amazing freshly spanked. “Oh. I didn’t hear you coming.”
“I wanted to check in on you and see how you’re faring.”
Becca laughed softly. “You and Dr. Myles. Can’t keep a Dom from a hurt sub I guess.”
Amused, he nodded. “Pretty much. Is your back any better?”
“Sort of. It still aches but that’s actually better than what will start in a couple days.”
“The itch?” he guessed, thinking of the common side effect of having welts on one’s skin, and she nodded. A sub with real world experience. Nice. “Feel up to a walk?” It looked like she was bored and as long as she wasn’t in pain, a walk would give her something to concentrate on.
“That sounds good. Let me change my shoes, though. These sandals are comfortable, but not really hike worthy.”
They walked north through the trees and the further they went, the ground became covered with moss. A low fog drifted along their feet and it felt like they were on their own little island in the middle of nowhere.
“Oh look,” she said in delight. “A stream.” She walked toward it and he followed. It was a small stream and she sat down cautiously next to it on a boulder and pulled off her shoes and socks. When she put her feet in, she squeaked and pulled them out. Then she laughed. “It’s ice cold.”
He laughed too, delighted at her simple enjoyment, and sat down a few feet away on the moss. While she watched the stream and kept dipping her toes in and out, he leaned against a tree trunk and watched her. “How long have you been in the life?” he asked.
She glanced over and grinned before looking back at the water. “I went to my first club when I was nineteen at the end of my freshman year. But I’ve been dreaming about this stuff since I can remembe
r.”
That made him smile. “Yeah. Most of us have. I used to dream of tying women up and spanking them and when I found out people actually did it, I was relieved.”
“Think you were a pervert did you?” she teased.
“Oh, I’m definitely a pervert,” he said with a wink making her laugh again. “But yeah. I thought I was different. Turns out my elder brother is as different as I am. He’s a Dom too.”
“Two of you in the same family? What do your parents think?” She pushed both of her feet into the current of the stream and left them there.
“They died when I was eighteen.”
“Oh. I’m sorry.” She glanced at him and bit her lip. A sweet sub who did not want to offend. Everything he learned about her just made him want her more.
“No need. It was thirteen years ago. We miss them, but life moves on.” He and Rhys both missed their parents, but they couldn’t control everything. “And they lived full lives so I doubt there was any regret when they died, except maybe leaving us behind.”
She paddled her feet back and forth for a moment. “My folks live in Idaho. They’re good people, but they’re farmers and conservative as sin. My dad found condoms in my bathroom one day when they visited me at college. He didn’t say anything, but he threw them away as if that would stop me from sinning.”
“They’d go crazy if they knew what you were really into,” he mused.
“Apeshit,” she agreed making him chuckle.
“So what are you into, Becca?” he said, putting emphasis on her name. “Is Becca short for Rebecca?” He hoped it was. The thought of calling her Rebecca in a scene made his already semi-stiff cock harden further.