by Cara Adams
“I always knew Autumn was talented, but I’d never seen that sweater before,” said Nicholas.
“She gave it to Zara because she guessed it wouldn’t show up on anything other than a really close-up shot.”
“Even then as long as we don’t have the person wearing its middle and shoulder in the same shot we’d be fine,” said Curtis.
“I can’t imagine anyone other than a professional noticing it anyway,” said Nicholas, shaking his head.
This was just another reminder of the wonderful woman he ached to mate. To bite, to claim, to make his own. Theirs. His and Curtis’s forever. Soon. Soon. As long as this meeting today goes well.
Superstitiously, Nicholas crossed his fingers as he got out of the car then grabbed his briefcase, straightened his back and shoulders, forced his face into a grin, and followed Curtis and Raegan over to the large barn the community used as a meeting place.
Curtis was already heading across the room to a circle of chairs by the long windows as Nicholas entered the barn. There was a group of people sitting there. No women, Nicholas noticed. Well, wolves usually have the men decide so panthers likely do, too. It’s interesting the humans haven’t gotten any women here, though.
“Hey there, Curtis and Nicholas. How about you introduce your friend and I’ll introduce my people?” suggested Larry.
Nicholas was about to sit in the chair beside Curtis when he realized Raegan was standing stock-still and his face was dead white.
Raegan raised a trembling finger and pointed at Tor. “You’re Aramintha’s child. The baby she said died. You have her eyes, and wolves don’t ever have eyes like that.”
Raegan dropped to the floor with a resounding crash, unconscious.
Chapter Five
As always when the men held a meeting, the women gathered together as well. Autumn giggled. The men seemed to have no clue that the women always worked out what their decisions would be long before they announced them. But more recently they’d added a secret weapon to their skills of reading body language and understanding human nature. Leticia, Oliver, and William could communicate telepathically sometimes, since they’d mated.
The men’s meeting hadn’t even started yet, but already Leticia had gone very still.
“What’s happening, Leticia?” asked Jubilee.
“Omar’s upset about something,” Ramona interrupted, fingering her collar, which was made of three strands of white leather braided together.
“Omar has called for William to come to the barn urgently. One of the visitors has had a heart attack or a stroke or something. He said Tor was Aramintha’s child and then fell to the floor. Tor’s looking after him, but Tor’s pretty shaken, so Omar has sent for William as well to help,” explained Leticia.
Autumn nodded. That made sense. Both Tor and William were nurses, but if Tor had just found out who his mother was—or may be—of course he’d be shocked and wanting more information. Still, he was an excellent nurse. The visitor would receive good care.
“Have they called the paramedics?” asked Lucy, pulling out her cell phone, presumably to do it.
“Yes, they’re coming,” said Leticia.
Gaynor started pacing up and down the small room. “This will be a huge adjustment for Tor. He’s never known anything about his parents,” she said.
“Who is the visitor? Is it someone from the movie studio who knew about Tor?” asked Autumn.
“Oliver said Omar is sending most of the people out of the barn. The meeting’s postponed for now. Just Kurt, William, Tor, and Larry are staying.”
“Here come the paramedics,” said Jill, standing by the window of the room.
“I wish I could be with Tor. Cameron’s at work,” said Gaynor softly.
Autumn went over and gave her a hug. “It’s kind of abrupt and unexpected, but overall, Tor will likely be glad to find out about his own family.”
Gaynor gave her a tiny smile. “You’re right.”
Jill stood at the window and gave them all a running commentary of what was happening. “Nicholas and William are going in the ambulance with the man, so you’ll be able to talk to Tor soon,” she told Gaynor.
“The man’s name is Raegan. He’s an artist who paints all the sets at the movie studio,” said Leticia suddenly.
Autumn wondered who told her that, Oliver or William. If it was William, likely Raegan was conscious again. “I like Raegan. He’s so talented. I hope he’s all right.”
“How would he have known about Tor?” asked Gaynor.
“I don’t know, but he’s older. Perhaps about the same age as Kurt,” she replied.
“I ought to get back to work,” said Lucy, jumping up and leaving the room.
Yes, as Larry’s personal assistant, if there were things to be done he’d be needing her help. Plus she’d find out everything there was to know as well, guessed Autumn.
Gaynor was the next to leave, quietly slipping out the door after Lucy. She’d be looking for Tor, ready to help him adjust to the startling bit of information he’d received.
There was no sense in Autumn going anywhere. Nicholas had traveled with the paramedics and Curtis likely would drive their car and follow the ambulance to the hospital. She had a crochet project she should be working on, so she opened her purse and pulled out the most revolting color of yarn she’d ever seen. It was the worst possible combination of blackish-purplish red, so dark a color it was hard to see her stitches at night and ugly at any time of day. Nevertheless, she was paid to crochet not to act as their color consultant, so she started stitching.
* * * *
Nicholas, Curtis, Larry, and Tor were sitting beside Raegan’s bed in the emergency room. William was dealing with the paperwork and the paramedics.
Curtis, as the only human in the room, was feeling rather outnumbered, so he was really glad when Tor asked very gently, “Who was Aramintha, Raegan?”
Raegan smiled at Tor. “Your mother. She was the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. We were both scarcely eighteen, but for three months that summer we were so passionately in love. I couldn’t keep my hands off her and she was always pulling my clothes off me the second we were alone. Looking back, it was inevitable you’d be conceived and just as inevitable that we’d fall out of love as fast as we fell into it.”
Tor cleared his throat, swallowed, and asked, “Why are you so sure this woman was my mother?”
“You’re a wolf and your eyes are not a wolf’s eyes. They are completely human. Your mother was human and her eyes were exactly the same as yours. Big, round, chocolate-brown eyes with her entire heart shining out of them when she looked at me. You were born in the winter thirty-five years ago. Aramintha came to me and said the baby had been born dead. She said it was the best solution and not to contact her again, because she was going to live with friends on the coast. I was heartbroken when she wouldn’t even tell me if you were a son or a daughter so I could mourn you properly, but I agreed it was all for the best. I never mated, you know. I never found that intense burst of passion for another person ever again.”
Tor’s eyes were shining, perhaps with unshed tears, and his body was very still, but his hand was resting on Raegan’s, so Curtis thought the two men were already forming a bond.
Larry tipped his head toward the door, and Curtis stood to leave the room. Nicholas nodded and followed them out, shutting the door so Tor and Raegan could have some privacy.
“Your friend there has thrown a spanner in the works.” Larry sighed.
“How so? Isn’t it good that Tor and his father have found each other again after all this time?” asked Curtis.
“I’m not sure. We’ve already got David on-site working with JB. Then there’s Sam. The moment Sam gets out of jail, David’s life will be in danger and so will Leticia’s.”
“Plus Galen, who disappears again the same day Jim breaks out of jail. Suspicious much?”
Curtis had to force himself not to grin. The panthers were evidently getting to L
arry, who was a wolf, of course.
“Carnal Connections was established as a BDSM community, not a shape-shifter community. Now, okay, to be fair, a couple of the original members happened to be shape-shifters as well as living a BDSM lifestyle.”
Like you, for instance.
“Presumably once he recovers and gets out of the hospital, Raegan will want to join us to be able to spend time with Tor, and once again, most people will see that as fair. But it was always a bit doubtful about having a movie studio next door to our property. At least with open land and a road that went nowhere we had clear line-of-sight security there. If you’re next to us your actors, cast, crew might be cutting our fence and wandering into our property at any time of the day or night. Security is going to be a hell of a job. I think people are going to say it’s time for us to get back to our original purpose. We’re a BDSM community, not a refugee camp.”
Larry nodded to them both, turned on his heel, and left.
“Well, fuck. That’s not what we wanted to hear,” Nicholas said.
“You forget. I’m a Dom. We just need to rethink our plans,” said Curtis with a lot more confidence than he felt.
* * * *
“Lie on the floor, facedown, spread-eagle,” ordered Curtis.
Autumn kneeled down then lay on her chest. The stone paving was uneven, digging into her skin in various places, and it was very cold as well, making it doubly uncomfortable.
“Lie completely still.”
Autumn stopped wiggling. Being still made sense. The stones were not going to miraculously become a warm, soft, woolly rug, but if she stayed in the one place her skin would warm them up. But damn it was icy cold right now. Her nipples were hard little points pressing against the stone. Her entire body was chilled from her forehead right down to her toes.
The sound of Curtis cracking his whip sent shivers through her body, but these were shivers of anticipation as much as of cold. Was it a whip that Curtis was holding? Or a cane, or something else? Autumn didn’t think it was a flogger, because with all the tails she didn’t think it would make a cracking sound, but she didn’t really know. She would only find out when it landed on her skin. The anticipation was all part of the arousal process, she understood that. Just like lying here so still on the freezing-cold floor. She was supposed to notice how rough it was and how uneven, and how her body gradually adjusted to the temperature.
She knew Curtis wouldn’t leave her here to catch a chill. It was all about contrasts and expectations and understanding more about herself and her body. She’d heard people talking about that sort of thing, but now she had a Dom of her own everything was so much clearer and she was coming to realize just how freeing it was to have someone who understood all her fears and feelings. A Dom who planned everything to bring her to full comprehension of her own needs and to fulfill them so perfectly. A Dom she trusted one hundred percent.
“I am in charge. I have control of your lives this evening. I am the one who will make all the decisions. I am your Master and you are my submissives. Is this not so?”
“Yes, Master,” said Autumn, looking forward to what would happen next.
“Yes, Sir,” said Nicholas. Nicholas almost never said “Master.” He usually used the term “Sir.” I wonder why? I consider the two words interchangeable, but likely I’m missing some finer point of BDSM here. I must remember to ask him why he does that.
“While we’re in the dungeon all the problems and concerns of our daily lives are put aside. Here there are just the three of us and I will bring you great pleasure. Is this not so?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Yes, Master.” Curtis was correct. There was so much happening in the community. So many worries, people under so much stress. Tonight was for pleasure.
“Do you trust me to give you pleasure?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Yes, Master.” She did trust him. She trusted both Nicholas and Curtis to care for her and know what she needed. Curtis was a true Dom in the dungeon, always putting other people’s pleasure before his own, always ensuring she had amazing orgasms.
“Very good. We will begin.”
Autumn could hear Curtis moving around. A couple of times he cracked his whip again, but she couldn’t tell what he was doing. She was almost certain he wasn’t whipping Nicholas. The sounds weren’t right for that. She wished she could look up and watch but knew that would spoil the scene Curtis had devised. If he’d wanted her to see he would have told her to put her head on her forearms, instead of having her arms outstretched to the sides where they couldn’t be used to help her. Likely, the added vulnerability of not having her hands near her face was part of Curtis’s plan, too.
Then Curtis’s hands were on her head. What the fuck was he doing? He seemed to be putting something on the top of her head. But a blindfold wouldn’t make sense because she couldn’t see anything anyway. Then he was pushing something into one of her ears, followed by the other ear, and pulling the thing on her head tighter. Ah, earbuds and sound-deadening earmuffs. Okay, so she wasn’t going to get any aural cues and no visual cues. She would have to rely on her other senses. Not that taste was going to be available to her, either. Smell? Maybe, but more likely not. So touch was all she had left. But it was a little broader than that because she could feel the air move against her skin as Curtis walked past her. However, this was going to be a very interesting session.
Autumn relaxed her body down onto the floor, noticing that it no longer seemed cold to her skin. She used every bit of panther skill she had trying to hear or sense what was happening, but Curtis had outmaneuvered her there. She could see and hear nothing. She kept her senses on high alert but waited patiently for what would happen next.
The faintest tiny sensation of something touched her shoulder. At first she wondered if she’d imagined it, but no. It was a touch. A feather. The slightest of touches, a wisp of feeling on her shoulder and it was gone again. Ah, there it was again, and again, running down her spine. It was amazing that she’d noticed such a miniscule thing. That’s why Curtis took my other senses away. So I would appreciate this. Otherwise, I’d likely have completely missed it.
The feather slid up and down her spine a few more times, across her shoulders, and was gone. Patiently, Autumn waited to see what would happen next. This time it was something just a little rougher, across the soles of her feet and up her legs. It took her a long time to work out that it was a brush, like what might be used to wash the dishes. Bristly but still reasonably gentle. As it stopped she wondered if Curtis might use the handle to beat her, but he was gone again.
I was meant to think that. That’s all part of the game. I’m supposed to wait and wonder and use my imagination. Although I’m lying here completely still, I’m also an active partner in this scene because of my mind. My body is my Dom’s canvas to work on, but it’s my imagination that amplifies and plays on his actions and wonders what will happen next.
Something blazing hot landed high up on her back then slid down to rest in the dip above her ass. It was sizzling, burning fiercely. Then something freezing cold followed it down her body. Autumn lay there, determined not to scream but shocked and unable to think. Finally, her brain kicked into gear and she understood. Hot wax, followed by ice. Very common BDSM toys, but not what she’d been expecting after a fucking feather and a brush.
That’s what it was all about. The unexpected. Awakening all her senses.
It was almost an anticlimax when Curtis began to beat her ass. Autumn relaxed her body onto the stones, which seemed warm and familiar now, as he whipped her rhythmically. But when he dropped some more hot wax, onto her ass cheeks this time, she was once again shocked out of her complacency. Fucking hell. That stuff hurts!
Fingers began touching her ass. He’s going to give me a butt plug. I bet they’ll fuck me together later tonight. I love double penetration. It’s such complete and total possession, not to mention awesome orgasms.
But Curtis’s fingers w
eren’t penetrating her ass. They were moving over it, touching and pulling on the ring of muscles, but not going inside. What was he doing? She wanted to wiggle her ass to say “In here.” She wanted to look over her shoulder and see what he was doing. But she stayed still in the position he’d assigned her, wondering, trying to figure out his plan.
Curtis attached something to her ass, gripping the very edge of the ring of muscles both inside and outside her anus. A clothespin? Where was the logic of that? What purpose would it serve to do such a thing?
Curtis left her alone for what seemed like a very long time. Logic told her he was working on Nicholas, likely attaching a clothespin to his ass, too. But why? It really confused her. Would he beat her with it there? But how would that affect her? She couldn’t see that it would make any difference at all. Was he going to make her leave it on for hours tonight? But how would that be arousing? A dildo or butt plug, yes. She could see how walking around with a butt plug inside her could be very sexy. But a clothespin? Not so much.
Autumn knew Curtis had given her this time to work out what he was doing, but her mind was a total blank. Until an electric shock zapped through her ass and made her entire belly clench and cream drip from her cunt. Fucking hell! I’ve been Tasered!
Gradually, her pulse slowed down again to normal and Autumn let her body sag back down onto the warm, sweaty stone floor underneath her. Her ass felt hot, but that may have been from the whipping, although it was quite a while ago now, so perhaps it was from the Taser. Well, I sure as hell didn’t see that coming, Curtis.
She sensed him standing very close to her and then felt prickles rolling over her shoulder and across her back. They rolled down the length of her spine and across first one butt cheek then the other. Sometimes the prickles were gently teasing, other times they dug in and hurt, but it was all different and arousing.