With This Collar (7 page)

“Thank you.” Aware of Marcus’ gaze on her, she resisted the temptation to cover up.

“Master Marcus tells me you’re going to use one of the private rooms?”

She looked at Marcus again.

“You’re free to call him Sir, if that’s more comfortable,” Marcus told her. He gripped her shoulder, lightly, reassuringly. “And please do answer all of his questions.”

She exhaled a shaky breath. “I didn’t know we were going to use a private room.” She tipped her head back, striving for the confidence she exuded during a departmental meeting. “But Marcus…” She stopped herself, then continued, “But I did know that I…” Bravado failed.

“Our alluring sub is trying to say that her behaviour has earned her a punishment,” Marcus supplied.

She was very aware of both men looking at her, eyebrows raised. Was there a Dom school or something?

“Indeed?” Master Damien asked. “For what?”

“I… I didn’t keep my…” She dropped her head, grateful that her hair fell forward to hide her embarrassment.

“Julia,” Marcus said, the word sharp, commanding.

Every part of her wanted—ridiculously—to please this man.

She tipped back her head and met Master Damien’s gaze as if they were business equals. “Master Marcus told me to keep my hands behind my back while he…” She faltered, but recovered. “Brought me to orgasm. I didn’t.”

Damien’s eyes seemed to twinkle. He was obviously enjoying this as much as Marcus was.

“Did he offer to bind your arms?”

“Yes, Sir,” he did.

“Ah. Do you have a safe word?”

“Red and yellow, Sir. Green means everything is okay.”

“And you know you can use those safe words to get out of your punishment?”

Part of her couldn’t believe they were having this conversation. And yet, since both men were at ease, the discussion was natural.

“Julia?” Marcus prompted.

“Yes, Sir.”

“And yet you’re choosing to go through with this?” Damien asked.

She looked at Marcus.
Master
Marcus. His hands were big, and they were capable of giving her much, much pleasure. He radiated vitality and it affected her on a deeply feminine level. She didn’t question her attraction or desire, or their rightness, or what they meant to her thoughts on equality between the sexes. She only knew she wanted to experience everything possible this evening. She might never be this brave—or foolish—again. “Yes,” she said.

“The house also has a safe word,” Damien told her. “
Halt.
Gregorio or I will immediately put a stop to any scene if you use that word. No questions asked. No repercussions from any Dom.”

“Thank you,” she said.

“Enjoy your experience.” He bowed rather formally before moving off.

“Shall we?” Marcus asked.

She nodded. When he silently regarded her, she said, “Yes.”

“You’re doing well, Julia.”

He turned then started down the hallway, and she followed.

“Wait here,” he said, stopping to look behind a room divider.

She heard moans and whimpers. Despite her sudden trepidation, she was oddly fascinated.

A few moments later, he shook his head.

He continued on wordlessly and checked out another space. “We may watch. But I’m debating whether I should let you or not.”

“Why?”

“This couple has been together several years. There’s a lot of trust, but the sub is a bit of an extreme player. It may be a bit much for you.”

Her heart jammed its next two beats together. “I’m willing to try.”

He hesitated a moment before giving a quick nod. “Please remain quiet and do not disturb the scene. If it’s too much, I want you to let me know by shrugging.”

She followed him behind the partition. He indicated she should stand in front of him, and, when she did, he placed his hands on her shoulders. His touch was reassuring, and she was glad they’d arranged for a way to communicate silently.

She exhaled.
This
was more what she’d expected from a dungeon.

The back wall was exposed brick. The floor was wooden. A woman was strapped to a structure that looked like an X, her wrists parted above her head, her legs spread unnaturally wide. A spotlight shone down on the sub. Like Julia, the woman secured to the wooden beams was naked.

For a moment, Julia pictured herself hanging from the structure, waiting for Marcus. The image was so shatteringly real that she instantly shoved it aside.

She was not into this kind of thing.

Even though the submissive faced Julia and Marcus, it appeared she didn’t notice their presence.

A man stood with his back to them. He wore black leather pants, and, as far as she could tell, nothing else.

“Damn you,” the woman said, “fucking whip me!”

“Pain slut,” the Dom responded.

“Yes.” The sub looked up at him.

Even Julia saw the raw need in her eyes.

“Be a man and whip my breasts,” she demanded.

The man flicked his wrist, and some sort of lash jumped in response. The sub seemed transfixed by the sight, but the Dom didn’t move closer.

“Bastard. Don’t tease. Give me the whip. Do it.”

Then the Dom moved towards the woman, quickly but with apparent deliberation. He grabbed her jaw. To Julia the grip looked unnecessarily harsh. Then again, the woman’s words had been provocative.

“Do you want this, Lindsey?” He flicked the whip again.

“God damn it, yes!”

“Then fucking use your manners, slut.”

She could barely speak with her mouth so brutally clamped, but she managed a whimpered plea.

“Better,” he said, letting her go. “Now keep your mouth shut, unless you’re screaming. Otherwise, I will take you home and you can spend the night in solitary. You will earn this release. Understand?”

Julia squirmed at the Dom’s rigidity.

“Do you need to leave?” Marcus asked, his voice a whisper in her ear.

She shook her head. The scene was horrifying, and yet she was morbidly curious. She couldn’t believe the woman was taunting her Dom, couldn’t believe he was threatening to withhold a beating in order to gain her compliance.

The Dom grabbed Lindsey’s cunt and squeezed.

Julia saw a combination of pain and ecstasy on the sub’s features. Julia wondered if she had looked like that when Marcus had been torturing her nipples.

Lindsey continued to look at the man’s face as if to say, ‘Is that the best you’ve got?’

He continued the pressure, and eventually Lindsey screamed.

“You drenched my hand, bitch.”

Lindsey’s whole body sagged but she was smiling.

“I ought to take you home right now.”

“Whip me,” Lindsey said. “I want it.” She pulled her head back up and looked at the Dom. “Fuck me or whip me. But do it now. Please.”

“Didn’t I tell you to keep your mouth shut unless you were screaming? Don’t you ever learn?”

Marcus had been right. This was an intense scene. But she’d seen Lindsey’s expression. The woman had wanted everything she’d got. As Marcus had said, things were consensual.

“Let’s go,” Marcus said softly.

She nodded with some reluctance.

He freed her shoulders and walked from the small area. Julia followed but, hearing a sob from behind her, she glanced over her shoulder.

She wasn’t sure what had happened in the last few seconds, but Lindsey was smiling.

Marcus indicated she should proceed into a private alcove.

Julia could hardly breathe. She definitely couldn’t string two cohesive thoughts together.

“Was that too much? I probably should have found a different couple for us to watch.”

“Actually, it was fine,” she admitted, reluctant to tell herself, let alone him, the truth.

“Really?”

She tried to look at it from a scholarly angle. “I get what you mean about certain things working for different people. The way you made me…” She trailed off, then reminded herself she never had to see him again after tonight. “The way you made me come in the sunroom… What we did… It wasn’t like the scene we just watched. You did what I wanted.”

“You’re a quick study,” he said with a smile. It lit his eyes and melted her resolve.

This man got to her on so many levels, physical and emotional.

“And you’re right. I watched every one of your reactions. As I was telling you earlier, Lindsey and Nate have been together for years. She’s a masochist, and Nate makes sure she gets what she needs without things getting out of hand. Sometimes she provokes him, trying to goad him into giving her more. She’s a woman who truly enjoys pain. She gets off on it.”

Julia tried to take it all in.

“When she loses control, he gives her a time out.”

“Like you do with a child?”

“Do you think a spanking would work with Lindsey?”

“I suppose not.” She shook her head. You don’t give more pain to someone who likes it.

“You need to know what to expect from your punishment.”

She finished her juice in a single drink.

“Since it’s your first time, we’ll start with a simple over-the-knee spanking. I think a hand is the most intimate way of punishing a sub. I can feel how you respond. The heat of your skin keeps us connected. I can get a sense of how much pressure you need.”

Julia said nothing. Her mouth felt as if it had been stuffed with cotton wool.

“But I also want to introduce you to my tawse. We’ll do that over a simple punishment horse.”

A server passed. Marcus took her empty glass from her nerveless fingers and placed it on the tray.

“I have no idea what a tawse is.”

“It’s one of the most perfect things for beating a sub.” He brushed back his blazer. A long leather implement was attached to his belt loop.

She went still. She’d grown up in the cultured east, and so being in the Wild West still shocked her at times. That a man went out in public with that thing hanging from his side, like a cowboy might have had a six-shooter strapped to his thigh a hundred years ago, made her shiver.

Marcus unclipped the leather strand and offered it to her.

In horrid fascination, she stared for a moment. The thing was about a foot long. The handle was also leather, and the outside was stitched with a lighter shade of thread. Just below the handle she saw a design, a brand of sorts. About a third of the way down, the leather forked into two wicked-looking strands.

“It won’t bite.”

She looked at him, trying to decide whether or not he was serious.

“Until later,” he added.

“You’re not reassuring me.”

“Get acquainted with it.

She finally accepted it. The tawse weighed more than she’d expected and the brown leather felt supple.

“Smack it on your palm, on the outside of your leg. Get a feel for it.”

She flicked her wrist, and he shook his head.

“With a tawse, you keep your wrist straight. It’s a whole different action than wielding a flogger or whip. Flicking your wrist allows the leather to wrap, perhaps catching flesh where it’s not intended, and I don’t want to catch you with the flat part of the blade.”

“Does that matter?”

“I believe pain should always be deliberately inflicted. I want my stroke to land with precision. Try it again.”

She kept her wrist locked and smacked her calf. It stung, but in a different way. “I see the difference.”

“We’re going to the end of the hall,” he told her, holding out his hand for the tawse.

Knowing that the leather would eventually connect with her ass was sobering.

“It’s the last door on the right. Whenever you’re ready.”

He held out his hand, indicating that she should go first.

She thought of the man she’d seen earlier, the one being leashed. At this point, she almost thought that would be easier. Having someone guide you surely had to be easier than this.

She was overly aware of him walking behind her. His footfalls sounded firm and menacing, and a bit thrilling.

Once inside the room, he shut the door. Courage deserted her and she froze in place.

Like the place where Lindsey had been tied up, this room was plain. God help her, there were shackles on the brick wall.

Paddles, some with holes drilled in them, and all sorts of implements she didn’t recognise hung from hooks on another wall. A couple of items resembled wooden spoons like she used in cooking. Surely that couldn’t be possible?

One corner had a small pedestal sink next to a shelf. A few small towels were artistically arranged on top

“This is the spanking room,” he told her. “It’s set up slightly different from some of the other spaces.”

A plain chair dominated the centre of the floor. As he’d mentioned, there was also a type of horse. It looked similar to ones she’d seen in gymnasiums. Only this one had all sorts of threatening-looking ties affixed to it. Ties he wanted to use to keep her in place while he reddened her ass cheeks.

Even though she’d welcomed privacy, having the door closed startled her.

“Please face me,” he told her. “And remember, I told you to breathe. We can leave the door open if you are more comfortable with that. Or we can play in public.”

The idea of someone witnessing her humiliation didn’t sound that appealing, either.

“There is a window in the door, and I guarantee you either Master Damien or Gregorio will look in on you. As Master Damien said, he takes the safety of the house’s subs seriously.”

He took another step deeper into the room. “
I
take your safety seriously. You may have some red spots on your buttocks tomorrow, perhaps even my handprint. A small bruise or two is unlikely, though certainly possible.”

She shivered but, just in time, remembered not to cover her nudity.

“Nothing will happen between us that you don’t agree to.”

“That seems odd. You’re talking about punishing me, and you’re saying I have to agree to it.”

“I will walk you to your car any time you ask. You have your safe words, and the house safe word. On the other hand, this will hurt. It’s meant to. There are several different kinds of spankings. One is punitive. Another is erotic. Another can be for reinforcement.”

“Erotic?”

“It can be enjoyable, a way to warm up a sub for a night of hot sex.”