Her flush was charming.
He pulled her closer. “What would you like to know?”
“Is everyone here in the lifestyle? Like that party in Kansas?”
It was good she’d grown comfortable enough to mention her past, although she never spoke Serna’s name or shared details of her time with him. That was worrying.
Patience. He must be patient. She’d tell him all eventually. “The party in Kansas was solely for Masters and slaves. Here, you’ll find any kink and any relationship you can think of.”
“You helped set up yesterday?”
“Yes, I assist with scheduling and layouts each year and teach a workshop or two. I have a Shibari demo later today.” He smiled. “I think you’ll enjoy the fun here.”
And he would enjoy his time with her.
As they walked past the areas sectioned off for various activities, a herd of ponies—human ponies—stampeded through a littles playgroup. The pigtailed and stuffie-carrying littles—persons letting loose their inner child—abandoned their coloring books to scream and bounce in excitement.
Piper’s giggles were a balm on his heart.
Last night had been rough for both of them. Helping her with her past experiences was one of his goals, but it appeared he needed to work on his own as well. Getting blindsided by his emotions was bad enough. Having that moment arrive at the same time as Piper’s flashback? DeVries would’ve called it a clusterfuck.
Speaking of deVries, Ethan spotted the ex-mercenary, now one of Simon’s security agents, watching a football game. No it was called soccer here. His submissive, Lindsey, stood beside him, laughing at what was happening on the field. Since the only clothing permitted in the game was footwear, female and male bits were bouncing harder than the soccer ball. One woman ran with her hands clasped over very abundant breasts.
“Ouch.” Piper crossed her arms over her own full breasts. “I’m not playing that game, Sir.”
Ethan laughed. “We can watch instead.” He veered toward deVries.
Lindsey spotted them and squealed, “Piper!”
Before Lindsey could move, deVries gripped a hank of her long hair and held her back. The Dom glanced over, eyebrows lifted, asking silently whether Ethan would permit the submissives to meet.
When Ethan nodded, deVries released his hold. “Go, baby.”
The two women met in a collision of hugging, and Ethan smiled. It was good to see Piper acquiring submissive friends who could talk about things that vanillas wouldn’t understand.
“Want to get coffee? Simon’s already over there.” DeVries pointed toward a huge shade tree in the center of the activity areas.
Piper wasn’t the only one who was tired. Caffeine would be most welcome. Trailed by the women, Ethan and deVries joined Simon at a table under the tree.
A second later, Rona brought over two cups of coffee along with a cheese Danish on a plate. Gaze down, she waited for Simon’s direction.
As Piper joined Ethan, her face lit. “Hi, Ro—”
Ethan’s hand over her mouth smothered the greeting, and he bent down to whisper, “Here is something else I didn’t get a chance to explain. This weekend, the Dark Haven members in D/s relationships will observe club protocol unless told otherwise.” He removed his hand.
Her face turned pink. “Sorry, Sir.”
He gave her a quick hug and kiss before pointing at a serving booth. “I would like a plate of donut holes, a scone, a cup of hot tea, and an iced tea, please.”
“Yes, Sir.” Her face brightened as if the task was a reward. Because, to her, it was.
He loved her joyful need to please him and how her trust in him had grown. He would gently take up the control she was now willing to relinquish. Being submissive was as natural to her as his need to protect and take charge was to him.
They fit.
Ethan took a seat at the table and saw deVries had sent Lindsey off, too.
Seating Rona beside him, Simon fed her bites of the cheese Danish. He looked across the table at Ethan. “I heard you flattened someone outside Dark Haven last night.”
Bloody hell. Gossip moved through the club faster than the Chunnel’s Eurostar train.
“Give us the story,” deVries demanded. “That shit didn’t sound like you at all.”
Ethan hesitated. This was Piper’s past. Yet… His mouth firmed. Jerry’s behavior could pose a risk to more than Ethan. “It happened this way…” He explained who Jerry was, his past history with Piper, what had happened on the sidewalk.
Simon’s eyes turned dangerous. “Do you think Jerry returned to Kansas?”
* * *
Returning, Piper heard the question. Her hand jerked, almost spilling the drinks she held.
Biting her lip, she set the cups, plate, and napkins on the table and waited for her next instruction. Right now, the only thing she needed to worry about was Sir Ethan’s satisfaction. Nothing else.
Only…all three Doms were looking at her. Studying her.
Sir Ethan nodded toward the ground, and she went down on her knees in the soft grass beside him.
After a glance at Sir Ethan, Simon asked her directly, “Do you think your stepbrother returned to Kansas, Piper?”
Sir Ethan would be upset if he knew Jerry was still here. She looked down at her hands and equivocated, “It would be crazy for Jerry to stay.”
DeVries growled. “Subbies who bullshit annoy the fuck out of me.”
Her body tensed at the threat. Run. Run now.
Sir Ethan set a hand on her shoulder and turned toward deVries. “Zander, no intimidation, please. She’s suffered enough abuse in the past.”
The terrifying hardness disappeared from the Enforcer’s face.
“What Sir Ethan said.” Lindsey glared at her Dom.
No, no, don’t. Mouth dry, Piper gave Lindsey a worried shake of her head. Be quiet, please.
Sir Ethan noticed and squeezed her shoulder. “Don’t worry, poppet. DeVries won’t punish her for loyalty.”
“I might.” DeVries pointed to the ground. “I haven’t caned her ass in far too long.”
Lindsey dropped to her knees beside his chair, but a tiny smile graced her lips. She didn’t appear concerned.
The band constricting Piper’s chest loosened.
Until Sir Ethan rephrased the question. “Piper, give us your thoughts about where your stepbrother might be.”
She didn’t think she’d reacted, but his jaw went stern. “Has he contacted you?”
Cheering came from the right, and stalling, she turned. At the next tree over, a man was being hoisted in the air from hooks inserted into his upper chest and back. Although his skin pulled up in horrifying tent-like shapes, his face held a look of unbelievable peace.
She made an unhappy sound, and an arm came around her shoulders. “Easy, pet.”
Sir Ethan was here. She was all right. She breathed out and started to relax.
Then he cleared his throat, and she looked up at him. His expression warned that, although he would render comfort as needed, his patience wasn’t unlimited.
What would he do when he heard about Jerry? She clasped her hands tightly in her lap. “He texted me sometime last night, and I ignored it.” The message would only be nasty words and threats. “I don’t think he’ll try anything. Really. ”
At Sir Ethan’s gimme gesture, she pulled her phone from her shorts pocket. As the owner of Chatelaines, she couldn’t be completely unreachable, but she’d set her phone on vibrate only. She pulled up the message and handed the cell over.
He checked the display, and his mouth tightened before he pushed the phone across the table. Simon and deVries leaned forward. The same hard expressions appeared on their faces. Lindsey and Rona exchanged glances.
“What are you thinking, Ethan?” Simon’s tone was mild, the look in his black eyes almost terrifying.
“Why, I thought your company might dig up the location of my good friend Jerry so I can pay him a visit.” The ice in
Sir Ethan’s quiet voice chilled Piper to the bone.
“No.” She grabbed his hand. “No, Sir Ethan.”
DeVries grinned. “Be a pleasure to locate his ass for you, Worth.”
“We can find him,” Simon agreed. He undoubtedly could. According to Lindsey, Simon owned an international security firm where deVries was one of his badass operators. “However, from what I hear, you thoroughly damaged the man once already.”
“I might have”—Sir Ethan paused—“knocked him down.”
Knocked him down? More like broke his nose, ribs, and reduced him to a bloody heap. Piper snorted.
And her damned Dom winked at her.
Simon grinned. “Your actions might put you in a problematic position in regard to him and the law. I suggest you leave the next visit to someone else.” Simon tilted his head toward deVries. “I daresay Zander would be pleased to inform the man that any further harassment of Ms. Delaney will not have a happy ending.”
“I suppose I could help out this once.” Despite deVries’s grudging words, his icy eyes lit with anticipation. “Can’t let some bastard pick on our subbies.”
Our subbies. Like she was one of them.
Shaking at the relief that Sir Ethan wouldn’t go after Jerry and get himself arrested, Piper pressed her face against his hard thigh. The feeling of his hand on the back of her head gave her such a sense of comfort that tears filled her eyes.
“I’ll accompany Zander”—Simon lifted an eyebrow—“just to ensure our friend Jerry is capable of walking onto his plane.”
“Fuck, you’re fussy,” deVries muttered.
Plans made, the men started talking about the camp and the upcoming activities.
Slowly relaxing, Piper straightened.
“That’s better,” Sir Ethan murmured. After giving her hair a tug, he handed her the glass of iced tea. After she drank some, he held out a donut hole. She lifted her hand to take it, but he shook his head with a slight smile and waited.
Oh. She opened her mouth and carefully took the small glazed pastry from his hand.
The burst of sugar grounded her, dispelling the shakiness inside. She took a sip of iced tea, savoring the hint of peppermint, and let out a tiny sigh.
Watching her, Sir Ethan smiled, the sunlines beside his eyes crinkling.
As she leaned against his leg, he fed her another bite.
As Piper accompanied Lindsey and Dixon on an exploration of the camp, she couldn’t stop smiling. It was only afternoon, and the day had already been full of fun.
First, she’d helped Sir Ethan set up their tent over in the Dark Haven area. Then he’d said they should make sure the air mattress didn’t leak. When she’d given him a puzzled look, he closed the flap, pushed her onto the mattress, and vigorously “tested” it. By the time he finished, she could say with confidence it had no leaks.
Done in after three orgasms, she’d lain in Sir Ethan’s arms, listening to the hum of conversation, people walking past the tent, the faint music accompanied by the shushing sound of wind in the evergreens. She’d drifted into a wonderful nap.
They’d had lunch with Mistress Angela, her submissive, Meggie, and Mitchell, a blunt, tough-looking Aussie Dom. Angela had teased Mitchell about the submissives who were giving him flirtatious glances. Meggie had whispered to Piper that, last summer when Sir Ethan had come alone, he almost smothered under all the hungry looks he’d received.
Piper totally understood how anyone might yearn after him. She felt the same way. Even more disconcerting, she found that kneeling at his feet gave her a melty sensation of contentment.
After lunch, other club members joined them, and Dixon and Lindsey got permission to explore the camp. Piper hadn’t realized she was giving Sir Ethan pleading looks, but he’d said her puppy-dog-eyes were so irresistible that he would have to dress her up someday in floppy ears, paw mittens, and a tail.
She hadn’t quite decided how to feel about that.
Since Sir Ethan had a workshop to prepare for, he’d collared her and let her join Dixon and Lindsey. He’d also murmured something to Stan and deVries about letting trouble loose in the camp.
Piper grinned as she linked arms with Lindsey and Dix. Sir Ethan might have a point.
The camp was full of interesting sights. Forest alternated with open areas. Tents mixed with cabins. Every area swarmed with crazy, kinky people. Sex happened, right out in the full light of day and anywhere. Piper averted her gaze from the Domme who had bent her sub over a stump and was pegging him.
Two people walked by in leather pants and chain halters, then a woman stalked past in a gorgeous cat suit, followed by three lesbians, arm-in-arm. One gave Piper an interested glance before noticing her collar.
There were naked people and half-dressed people. Cosplayers were attired as anything from mountain men to harem girls. One of the organizers wore a top hat, nineteenth-century suit, and kept twirling his long waxed mustache. Another organizer in a schoolmarm’s starched white blouse and long black skirt was enforcing her dictates with a switch.
There was simply too much to look at. Piper’s eyes got wider and wider.
Alongside the path was a boot-blacking chair where a guy in biker clothing was getting his tall boots shined. The submissive at his feet had black smears and mud on her white shirt—and the most contented smile ever.
Service. Understanding completely, Piper stomped on the moment of envy.
A whine of pain came from the stage of a workshop area. A man was strapped down on a GYN table, feet bound in the stirrups. The top standing over him held up a thin rod somewhat longer than straw-length.
“Oh, no way, little dogies.” Lindsey shuddered. “There will be no metal rods shoved up my urethra, thank you very much.”
It was a sounding lesson.
Piper took a step back. At least that kink was something she’d never had to endure. “Me, neither.”
“You’re such wussies,” Dix said. “Just imagine if your short girl urethras were the length of a dick.”
“God, no.” Piper stared at him. “You and Stan do that?”
“I tried it.” Dixon took in their awe-filled expressions and snickered. “It gave new meaning to hard limit. Never again.”
As they walked past another clearing, Piper slowed and stared. “What is that?”
A hollow dug into the ground was filled with pillows and a writhing mass of people. No one was groaning or crying, instead, there were giggles and sighs. No one was kissing or groping… “That’s not an orgy, is it?”
“That’s a cuddle pile.” Dix flung out his arms dramatically. “I totally need a hug. Come with me, little girls.”
Unmoving, Piper watched as he left his flip-flops on the rim and carefully crawled down the slope. A big man pulled him close, gave him a long hug, which Dixon returned, then passed him on to the next person.
Huh. Piper exchanged a glance with Lindsey.
“I’m game,” Lindsey said. “How about you?”
Piper answered by leaving her flip-flops beside Dix’s. Her heart began to hammer as she went on hands and knees down the slope toward a woman sitting on the edge of the crowd. The lady was older than Piper, all soft curves as she pulled Piper close. Her hug was long and sweet—the kind Piper had gotten from her mom before things changed. The lady released Piper into the crowd. Then a man was hugging her, a younger man, then another woman, and eventually she ended up beside Dixon on the other side. After giving him a hug, she realized she was close to the edge.
Flushed with laughter, she crawled up and out, feeling more open and whole than when she’d gone in.
Lindsey and Dixon joined her, all smiles.
“Sometimes it’s not about the kink or the sex,” Dixon said.
“Sometimes it doesn’t need to be.” Although a lot of Doms wouldn’t see it that way. The Defiler would never have let anyone touch his property, worthless or not.
Oh, no. Dismay flashed through her. “I didn’t ask Sir Ethan for permission.”<
br />
Laughing, Dix nudged her shoulder. “Girlfriend, who do you think told me the cuddle pile was over here?”
“He did?”
“Mmmhmm. He said you’re a hugger, and you’d love it.”
Sir Ethan had thought of her. She couldn’t keep from smiling. It was her job—and her joy—to give people what they’d like. She’d never anticipated that a Dom would feel the same and arrange something she’d enjoy.
“You escaped the bullet this time, Pips,” Lindsey said, “but you should probably find out where Sir Ethan draws the line. With Zander, if I’m on my own, he doesn’t consider a hug as infringing on his territory. But if there was anything sexual going on, I’d get in trouble.”
Piper frowned. For this event, she was Sir Ethan’s submissive because he’d brought her. Other times, though… Did they have that kind of a relationship? She was so confused.
Farther down the path, another area had people getting foot rubs and back massages. Piper flushed remembering how Sir Ethan had massaged her at Dark Haven. So wonderful. And then he’d had her turn over. His hands on her breasts.... Mmm.
Maybe she could give him a massage this weekend and perhaps finish with a dick massage? She grinned.
They passed some diapered age players in a fenced-off area made to resemble a playpen. Diapers—uh-uh. But there were some really cute babies.
Next up was a pavilion tent with an orgy going on. All screams and pounding music.
A girl could get whiplash trying to see everything. This place was insane.
Piper realized she was running her fingers over her collar. It was funny. From hating anything around her neck, she’d gone to being grateful for it. A few people had started to approach, seen her collar, and been deterred. Being marked as Sir Ethan’s gave her the ability to relax and enjoy herself.
Even better, the event had a “yes means yes” consent protocol, as in consent was never implied, but had to be spoken. She loved that.
As the sun hovered above the tops of the trees, Lindsey pointed to a raised stage on the right. “Look. Sir Ethan’s giving his demo.”
On the stage, dressed in black, Sir Ethan stood beside a beautiful brunette who wore only a token thong. In his resonant, English-accented voice, he demonstrated knots as he covered the woman’s torso in an intricate pattern of rope.
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