DC Power Games Box Set 1

by Ivy Nelson

  He roared with laughter. “At least you got the sir in there. And for the record, I have tried it and I’ll never do it again.” If she hadn’t been wearing a blindfold, he imagined her eyes would have grown wide at that revelation. Yes, he had tried bottoming to a woman once. It had not turned out well. Not at all.

  “I see the questions whirling in your head. I’ll tell you the story later. I’m going to uncuff you now and turn you around.”

  She nodded. “I’m feeling more comfortable now. Can we take the blindfold off too, please?”

  “Of course,” he agreed.

  When her restraints were released, she turned around and pressed herself against the cross again. After putting the cuffs back in place, he moved behind the cross and lifted the blindfold away from her.

  “Thank you, Sir,” she said, blinking her eyes to adjust to the dim lights of the dungeon.

  “Of course. You’re doing well, Angel. How are your nerves?”

  “Better now. I’m having fun.”

  “Then we’re doing something right.” He was in front of the cross again, so he placed a gentle kiss on the back of her head. “Now I want to introduce you to some other sensations and get a sense for what you like and don’t like.”

  It was a solid guess that she would enjoy this part and would look at it as an experiment. Her love for exploration and learning was something he loved about her.

  He picked up a heavy suede multi-tailed whip and flicked it to straighten the falls. “This is a flogger. It can be thuddy or stingy. It depends on how it’s made and how the top uses it. This one should be fairly thuddy. A lot of bottoms say it feels like a massage.”

  Saying nothing else, he brought the flogger down on her back. There was no need to start out too light since she had experienced some impact play at his hand, but he didn’t hit her full force either.

  The flogger was a big thumbs up for Adara and she asked for more. They spent the next twenty minutes testing toys. She had a taste for the floggers and paddles but wasn’t a fan of the cane. The crops were OK but not her favorite. Since it was their first public scene, he decided not to bring out a whip. Maybe some other time. They weren’t his favorite toy anyway. Peter and Gary were the whip experts in the club.

  While he wanted to give her more orgasms just to watch the way she lit up while riding the waves of pleasure, he made the decision to stop their scene now while they were both relaxed. His pants were also more comfortable again, so he laid the last implement aside and released her cuffs.

  Pulling her into his arms, he asked, “How was that?”

  She snuggled into him and murmured, “That was wonderful, Sir.”

  He kissed the top of her head and released her so he could look her in the eye. “It was wonderful for me too. Are you OK to stay and visit with our friends for a while or do you want to go home?”

  “Let’s stay awhile. It might be awkward at first, but I guess if I’m going to be hanging around here, I need to get used to it.”

  “Good girl,” he said, handing her the jeans and blouse he had placed on the table earlier.

  When she was dressed and he had cleaned up their station and repacked his bag, he held her hand as they walked back across the dungeon. On their way Adara stopped him.

  “Woah. Is that girl on fire?” she asked.

  Michael turned in the direction she was looking and sure enough, a top had flames dancing across a submissives back. He smiled and slid his arm around her waist pulling her closer.

  “She is. Want to watch a minute? I do fire play too. It’s very sensual and relaxing actually.”

  Adara eyed him and he could tell she didn’t believe it. “It’s perfectly safe as long as the top knows what they are doing.”

  Adara shook her head. “Maybe someday. I don’t know. It seems scary. Let’s go find our friends.”

  Hand in hand, they walked to the couches where their friends sat cuddled, having come down from their own scene.

  “Looks like you two had fun,” Darci said when they approached.

  “No thanks to you,” Michael tossed back.

  “What? I just told her to have fun,” she said, batting her eyelashes.

  “Uh huh. You’re lucky you’re cute.”

  Michael sat on the couch and pulled Adara into his lap. “Doing OK?” he whispered into her ear.

  She smiled and nodded, snuggling close to him. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her hair, feeling content in this moment with the friends he counted as family surrounding him and the girl he wanted more with curled in his lap.

  Soon, Darci and Carrie wandered off to talk to someone else, and Peter and Bradley went to the bar for drinks. Comfortable, Michael opted to stay cocooned on the couch with Adara.

  “I love being here like this with you, Angel,” he murmured. “I’m so glad we have everything resolved so you can stay here. I don’t know what I would have done if I had lost you.”

  “Me either. I was terrified. But you got me through it. I’m glad you didn’t let me run away when I wanted to.”

  “Never, Angel. I want you by my side always. You’re the first person I’ve ever wanted more with.”

  She pushed away from him and sat up straighter. “What do you mean? More?”

  “Just more. A relationship. I think about collaring you all the time.”

  Then she was shaking her head and the mood shifted in their little corner. “What happened to no strings?”

  Had he just blown it? He needed to salvage tonight and quick. “I kind of thought we just agreed to that because of your situation, Angel. I’ve always wanted more with you. I thought that was obvious. I thought you felt the same way. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said anything.” He tried and failed to keep the disappointment out of his voice.

  “That’s some pretty unfair pressure, Michael. I like things the way they are now. Why ruin a good thing?”

  “So more with me would be ruining a good thing?” This time, he didn’t bother to try and hide the hurt in his voice.

  “No.” A growl left her throat and she ran a hand through her hair. “That’s not what I meant.”

  “What did you mean then, Adara?”

  “I don’t want to have this conversation right now. Can we please go back to having a nice evening?”

  He should have let it go but he was just as stubborn as she was, so of course he didn’t. “I just want to understand what we’re doing here. It’s important, don’t you think?”

  “Of course, it’s important. I just don’t think now is the appropriate time to have this conversation.”

  “Fine.”

  “Fine? You sound like a petulant teenager.”

  She wasn’t wrong, but he didn’t appreciate her pointing it out just then. “I’m sorry for wanting clarification on our relationship.”

  “Maybe we shouldn’t have a relationship if you’re going to be this way.” She stood and looked down at him. “I’m happy, Michael. I’m enjoying spending time with you. Can’t that be enough without putting some sort of label on it?"

  “I just want this to be more to you than a good time.”

  “What is this reaction? This isn’t like you, Michael. I don’t like it. I want to understand, but I think maybe it’s better if I just go home for the night. I’ll get a cab. We can talk later.” And just like that, she turned and walked out of the club. For a moment, he experienced déjà vu when Bradley walked up to him.

  “Where’s Adara going? She looked upset.”

  Michael ran a hand through his hair. “I’m pretty sure I just fucked up.”

  Chapter Sixteen

  When Adara woke the next morning, she felt hung-over. What exactly happened at the club last night? One minute, she was having the best night of her life with Michael, and the next he had turned into a moody teenager upset over something. What, she wasn’t sure. There was no time to find out right now though. Today was her first campaign event. Later, she would find time to call him and find out what his probl
em was.

  She looked at her phone as she sipped a cup of coffee. There were two missed calls from Michael and a text from Bradley. She responded to Bradley’s message, telling him she would meet him at the office and explain things then. Part of her wanted to ignore Michael’s calls altogether, but she wasn’t that much of an asshole, so she sent him a text promising a phone call later.

  Bradley was waiting for her at her new office along with a group of volunteers. Mostly young people, which made her happy.

  “Meet your first group of eager volunteers,” he said. “James from Leslie Hanover’s office sent most of them our way.”

  With a grin, she went down the line and shook hands with each volunteer, thanking them for their time.

  “They’ll be canvassing today to get the word out about your run and try to drum up an audience for your speech later this afternoon.”

  “I’m excited to have all of you on board. I hope I don’t let you down.”

  A half hour later, Peter showed up. “What’s he doing here?” Adara asked as she reviewed a campaign poster design someone had given her.

  “Security, Adara. Please don’t be stubborn about it like my wife was.”

  “No. It makes sense. I just don’t want to be underhanded or shady about hiring him when we don’t have a budget.”

  “He’s a volunteer for now. Leave those details for me. You just worry about getting voters to like you. We don’t know if you’re still in danger or not. Let’s not take chances. If Michael weren’t working, you know he would be here.”

  “I’m not so sure about that,” she muttered. “This poster looks good. Let’s get them printed.”

  “Hey. Talk to me, Adara. What happened with you two last night? He looked like a lost puppy after you left.”

  Glancing around the small office space, she whispered, “Not here, boss. We just had a misunderstanding. I’ll fix it later.”

  “Stop calling me boss. Let me know if you need to talk outside the office.”

  “Old habits. Besides, you are the boss. You’re the one that knows how to run this campaign. I’m following your lead. I appreciate the concern but I’m not sure how I feel talking with you about… that.”

  “We’re family. Nothing to be ashamed of. But I get the hesitation. Talk to Peter and Carrie if you need to. They can probably help you more than I could anyway. Or talk to Darci. She knows Michael better than any of us do.”

  She nodded. “I’ll think about it. Can we get back to work please? How quickly can we get t-shirts?”

  Bradley pointed to a stack of boxes. “I kind of figured you would sign off on the design, so I may or may not have had a batch printed already. I didn’t do a ton, but the printer already has the design and can get us as many as we need in a matter of days.”

  “See. There’s a reason you’re the boss.”

  Peter spent the next hour of the morning going over how he wanted to handle events with crowds and outdoor canvassing. Adara tried not to roll her eyes at the overprotective procedures. Carrie showed up at noon with sandwiches for everyone. Before she knew it, it was time to head to her first campaign event.

  When the nerves threatened to overtake her, she gave herself a pep-talk. She was ready for this, had been ready for this eight years ago. Leslie Hanover had worked fast and pulled together a large crowd of base party supporters. It was going to be an easy crowd to please. Honestly, with this crowd she could promise free cocaine to everyone and they would vote for her as long as she had the right party letter behind her name. She didn’t care for that kind of voter, but knew she had to start there and work her way to the voters who would actually vote for her policies and not just her party affiliation. Since she was running as an independent with a democratic platform, it might be easier to find the voters voting for her policies.

  When they pulled up to the venue, Bradley gave her one last pep talk. Then she squared her shoulders and stepped out of the car.

  Backstage, Leslie was waiting along with a handful of higher profile party members who would be some of her biggest donors. She did the appropriate glad-handing and thanked them for coming. Leslie introduced the first speaker and Adara paced. By the time it was her turn to speak, the nerves were back. But she stepped out, waved to the audience and stepped to the podium. After adjusting the mic, she took one last deep breath and jumped in.

  And just like that, her political campaign was launched.

  She managed to make it through her first speech with no major blunders and even got raucous applause. When it was over, she stepped backstage and took a deep breath. Bradley was waiting with a huge embrace.

  “I’m so proud of you. Thanks for letting me be a part of this.”

  Adara grinned. “Thanks, boss. I can’t think of anyone else I would rather have by my side. I’d like to do a quick meet and greet,” she said.

  “Sure. Peter will want to control the crowd, but it’s a good idea.”

  When the event wrapped up, Adara went into the lobby with her team, where Peter enlisted the help of her volunteers to manage the line. She smiled, posed for selfies, and answered questions from anyone who waited in line for the chance. She had numerous people asking for outrageous favors in exchange for a generous donation. To that, she gave a stock response. One that let them know she appreciated the offer, but she wasn’t interested in looking to exchange favors for donations. Her favorites were the young people who actually seemed interested in what she had to say. She loved it when young people got involved in politics.

  When the last person had come through the line, they went backstage again. Adara wanted to take a minute to talk to the volunteers and thank them again for their hard work. It was always a good idea to keep your volunteers energized. They were the heart of a small campaign like hers.

  After she held a closing circle and sent people on their way, James from Leslie Hanover’s office approached her. “Miss Kent, can I talk with you a moment?” he asked.

  “Of course, James. Thank you so much for your hard work today.”

  “My pleasure, Miss Kent. I just had a quick question.” The young man looked around the room as if he were nervous to speak in front of others. There was a small room that was unoccupied off to the side, so she motioned to it and they went in.

  “It’s OK. Whatever you need to ask, I’m here to answer,” she said when the door was closed.

  “I need your help. My father is dying, and you may be able to save him.”

  Perplexed, she said, “I’m sorry about your father but I’m not sure I understand how I could help him.”

  “He’s your father too.”

  Adara gasped. “Your father is Faisal Hadawi, isn’t he? How are you in this country working for a political campaign?”

  “I have my ways, Adara. I’m not here to hurt you. I’m here to ask for your help.”

  “You nearly ruined my life with your threats. At least I assume that was you.”

  “It was our family, yes. I wanted to approach you first. Appeal to your better angels. Everyone else disagreed.”

  Everyone else? What did they have? Some kind of terrorist family meeting? “I think you should leave.”

  “Hear me out. We just need to do some tests. If you’re a match, you can give him a simple bone marrow transplant. It will save his life.”

  “I can’t. I won’t. He kidnapped and raped my birth mother. Why would I help him?”

  “He was in love with your mother despite the fact that she was American.”

  That made her want to laugh and throw up at the same time. “Bullshit. He was holding her hostage. You need to leave now before I call the police. And please, don’t return to my campaign or Leslie’s office.” She pulled her phone out of her pocket, intent on calling Peter or Bradley.

  “Please. Put that away, Adara. I have a proposition for you. My father’s men have an attack planned here in the U.S. If you can save my father’s life, I will make sure it is stopped. If you do not…” He trailed off and shrugged.
“Then the blood of many Americans will be on your hands.”

  She swallowed. “I’m sorry. But the United States does not negotiate with terrorists.”

  “If that is your answer then I will leave you for now. But we will speak again, and you will regret it if you do not help me.” With that, he opened the door and stepped out. She was frozen in place, her phone still in her hand.

  “Adara, you ready to head back to the office?” Bradley startled her. “Jesus, you’re white as a ghost. What did James want?”

  “Just some volunteer stuff. Sorry. Just tired I think.” Why wasn’t she telling him? She shook her head, this wasn’t right.

  “Fuck. No. I’m not OK. Get Peter. We need to call the cops.”

  Bradley’s eyes went wide, but he didn’t say anything to her. He just hollered for Peter.

  “What the fuck, Adara?” Peter snapped when she outlined what happened. “Why didn’t you scream for help? You just stood there in a room alone with a terrorist and didn’t say a god damned word? What were you thinking?”

  “I wasn’t thinking. Can we just call the police? Not Michael though. Please. I don’t want him knowing about this yet. I’ll tell him myself later.”

  Peter scowled but pulled out his phone and dialed a number. It didn’t sound like 9-1-1 he was talking to. Turns out, it was Homeland Security. He walked away ordering Bradley not to let her out of his site. Bossy fucker, Adara thought.

  Bradley just frowned at her.

  “What?” she asked after a minute of awkward silence.

  “Why were you going to lie to me, Adara?”

  “I don’t know. I honestly don’t. I was scared.”

  “If Darci did that, I would blister her ass,” he said in a tone she hadn’t heard from him before.

  She held up her hand. “Stop. Please. I don’t need that image in my head. I know I’m kind of hanging out in your world now, but it’s still weird for me. I know you’ve always been protective of me, but Michael’s dominance is about all I can handle right now.”

  “Sorry. It’s a habit. You have to keep in mind that Peter, Michael and I are all very protective of the submissives in our lives. Granted, Michael usually only has a submissive for a night, so this is a first for him. But sometimes our protectiveness bleeds over into protecting each other’s girls, and not just our own.”