Chapter 44
CHAPTER 44
NORTH CAROLINA
A dria ran her fingers through Seth’s hair. Kaydon and Bryson had far exceeded her expectations during today’s performance, and she couldn’t have been prouder of them.
She saw the reluctance and mistrust in each of their eyes, but they had done what was asked.
Having sent Bryson and Kaydon to bed, Seth sat at her feet, because she suspected he needed a little reassurance, and Adria didn’t feel like his brothers were in any shape to tend to him.
“Adria?”
Loretta stared at her expectantly, indicating she had missed a question. Adria shifted, careful to keep her fingers entwined in Seth’s hair.
“I’m sorry, Loretta, it seems that I am still a little mentally preoccupied.”
Loretta laughed.
“From the looks of it, you had your hands full.”
Adria nodded, but then shook her head. “No, in fact they all performed flawlessly, your stable included. Daliah and Natalia were responsive and pliable. It was a pleasure to work with them. And Regan?— ”
Regan knelt next to his Mistress, all of them still observing protocol. He blushed at the mention of his name.
“Let’s just say you have a unique stallion here. His ability to top while serving is unmatched.”
Loretta gazed at her three submissives, running her finger casually along Regan’s back.
“I got lucky with this one,” she mused.
Giving Regan an approving pat, she said, “Thank you for your kind words. They mean a lot. And you? I trust you had your needs met?”
Adria reached down, lifting Seth’s chin. His lids were heavy, but he gazed back with adoration. It broke her heart. “I could not be happier with the outcome.”
“I can help put him to bed. I’m great with aftercare.”
The voice was Frances—Loretta’s very young, very eager understudy.
She reached for Seth, her manicured hand closing around his shoulder.
“Come on, deary?—”
A sharp cry broke through the room. “Ouch!”
Adria hadn’t thought. Her body had moved on its own.
Her fingers twisted around Frances’ wrist, prying her hand off Seth. And for a moment—a beat too long—she held it there.
When she finally released her grip, she smoothed her expression into something polite. Something fake.
“That’s okay,” Adria said, her voice laced with sweetness. “I have people for that.”
She turned toward the other room. “Eric?”
Eric appeared almost instantly, moving with the kind of quiet efficiency that made him all the more unsettling. Without hesitation, he scooped Seth into his arms.
Frances rubbed her wrist, mouth parted, blinking in surprise .
For once, the girl seemed at a loss for words.
Good .
Loretta, ever perceptive, broke the tension. “Frances, why don’t you bring the girls to the car?”
Frances hesitated, a flicker of something in her eyes—something she wanted to say. But she swallowed it down, pasting her usual peppy smile back in place. “Of course.”
When the door shut behind her, Loretta exhaled, shaking her head. “Frances can be a little brash, but?—”
“It’s nothing,” Adria interrupted.
Loretta studied her.
“No judgment, Dri. We’ve all been there.”
Adria hated the way those words made her stomach twist.
She shook her head. “I’m not anywhere.”
The silence that followed was deafening.
A lie.
Her lie, heavy in the air.
Adria looked down at her lap, then, softly, barely above a whisper?—
“I don’t want to sell them.”
The words felt too raw in the quiet of the room. Too real.
Loretta sipped her tea, unmoved. But then, she lifted an eyebrow. “The right fit?”
Cole .
It had been a lifetime ago. He had been perfect on paper. The kind of submissive any Domme would kill for.
But these three?
They were a mess. Rebellious. Defiant. Trouble.
And yet?—
They fit.
So perfectly that it terrified her.
Loretta leaned forward, watching her carefully. “Are you in a position to keep them? ”
Adria’s throat tightened. The question she didn’t want to answer.
She rubbed her face, sighing, “No.”
The weight of it crashing over her.
The Triune was watching. Waiting. Expecting to see them trained. If she bought them outright, if she tried to move them somewhere safe, they would know.
And then what?
“I have to ask,” Loretta said, her tone gentler now. “Why these three?”
Adria stared at the chandelier, as if it held the answers.
“I’ve asked myself the same thing a thousand times.” She let out a slow breath. “The answer seems like it should be more complicated than it is.”
Loretta waited.
So, Adria told the truth.
“They—we—taught each other.” She exhaled, shaking her head. “No matter what happens, when they leave…I’ll be more whole, more myself, because of them.”
Loretta tilted her head. “We always grow with our subs.”
“Not like this.”
Loretta studied her for a long moment. Then, she set her tea down.
“Do you want my advice?”
“Please.”
Loretta’s lips curled, something knowing in her gaze. “See where it goes. Explore it. You still have time.”
It sounded so simple.
So why did it feel impossible?
Adria chewed her lip, looking away.
Loretta smirked. “Of course, there’s one minor detail you might not have considered.”
Adria met her eyes, wary .
“You’ll actually have to talk to them. Tell them how you feel.”
Adria flushed, smoothing out her skirt. “That shouldn’t be an issue. Talking is my specialty.”
Loretta laughed, the sound warm and knowing. “Maybe it will be easier to sell them.”
Adria rolled her eyes, but before she could retort, Loretta’s voice softened.
“And how are you supposed to sell them, Adria?”
The amusement gone now. The real question lay beneath it.
Adria’s hands curled into fists.
“How are you supposed to prepare them to service someone else?” Loretta’s voice dropped. “When the very idea makes you sick?”
Adria’s breath hitched.
She didn’t have an answer.
Loretta crossed her legs. “You were able to share them with Regan, correct?”
“Regan made the process easy, but I was right there the whole time.”
Regan pulled at Loretta’s pant leg.
“It seems my pet has something to say. Should we hear him out?”
Adria motioned for her to continue.
“All right, pet, let’s hear it,” Loretta said.
Regan’s face was beet red when he joined the conversation. “Mistress Adria led the boys through a rigorous training exercise today. However...” he trailed off, bringing his gaze to the lower half of his Mistress’s face. Adria noticed his eyes didn’t match his sheepish affect.
“Please, speak freely,” Loretta encouraged.
He shifted his gaze, blue eyes finding Adria.
“The boys are not ready to submit to another. They only submit to her.”
“This is precisely the problem we are discussing at present. Regan, if you do not have anything meaningful to add to the conversation, I am going to have to ask you to wait in the car.”
Regan flushed brighter, and Adria had an uneasy feeling.
“What I mean is they need more practice. Perhaps if Mistress Adria were to give the boys to me for a ti?—”
“Give them to you?” Adria said.
She couldn’t hide the laugh that came out of her mouth.
Regan’s voice raised when he said, “How do you expect them to submit to another if you do not give them practice?”
“Watch your tone,” Adria chastised.
Voice still raised, he said, “You are doing them a disservice.”
Loretta was standing, ready to punish her submissive.
“Loretta, please, I can handle this.”
“This is my responsibility,” Loretta replied.
“That may be, but this is my house, and I’ll handle it my way. You can handle it your way when you are in your home.”
Loretta sat down.
Adria had no doubt Loretta would handle it. Regan would be lucky if he was able to sit or lay down for weeks.
“Position two,” Adria said, her voice cutting through the charged silence.
Regan seethed in front of her. Indecision flickering across his face, his pride warring with obedience.
Then—click, click.
The sharp tap of Loretta’s heel against the marble. A reminder. A warning.
Regan’s jaw tightened, but finally, he moved.
Nose to the ground. Ass up.
Waiting.
Submitting .
“Hands behind your back,” Adria said.
Regan complied, fingers clasping tightly together.
Adria crossed her arms, watching. Assessing.
“Crawl over here. Just as you are.”
A muscle in his jaw twitched, but he obeyed.
The sight of it sent a dark thrill whirling through her. He inched forward, moving slow, awkward in the position, but he didn’t dare falter.
When he was close enough, she lifted a foot and placed the sharp stem of her heel into the center of his shoulder blade.
Regan flinched.
His face pressed further into the floor, his back arching in an instinctual attempt to escape the pressure.
Adria pushed harder.
“You will learn something very quickly,” she murmured, her voice smooth. Cold. “Submissives are not machines.”
Regan’s hands flexed behind his back, his entire body tense.
“They are not wind-up toys that you direct and let go.”
She shifted her weight. The heel digging deeper.
Regan sucked in a breath. His muscles shuddered.
“Each person has their own mechanisms that make them tick. For instance, one might thrive under praise but despise pain.”
Her heel jabbed deeper.
He cried out.
“Another might learn with praise. But learn quicker with pain.”
A thin, crimson bead of blood pooled beneath her heel.
Regan groaned, his head bowing lower. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you. ”
The words were right.
But the tone was wrong.
Adria bent at the waist, resting her elbow lightly on her knee, tilting her head.
The movement shifted all her weight onto the heel.
Regan gasped. His entire body trembling beneath her.
She leaned in, her lips a breath away from his ear. Soft. Deadly.
“The next time you think you know better than me in my house…”
She let the words settle.
Let the moment stretch.
Then—she twisted her foot just enough for him to feel it.
“This heel will be on your balls.”
A violent shudder ran through him.
Satisfied, Adria lifted her foot.
Regan slumped. A shaky inhale.
Loretta’s mouth was slightly agape.
“Well, Regan,” Loretta finally said, recovering, “it appears we have a budding sadist on our hands.” Her voice was smooth, but there was a flicker of amusement behind her eyes. Approval.
Regan lifted his head slightly, face burning.
Loretta’s smile sharpened. “I’d remember that next time you want to imply you can do her job better.”
Her tone was casual, but the weight of it was clear.
Regan swallowed hard.
“Make your way to the door,” Loretta added, waving a dismissive hand. “In the position that Mistress Adria put you in.”
Regan hesitated.
Then, with no other option, he crawled.
Silence rolled around them as they watched his slow, humiliating exit .
The moment the door clicked shut, Loretta exhaled, her demeanor shifting back to something warmer.
“More yourself, huh?” Loretta chided, and Adria blushed.
“I am so sorry, Adria,” she said smoothly. “I did not know he was going to say that.”
Adria’s fingers relaxed at her sides. She willed away the flush creeping up her neck.
“Don’t worry about it, Loretta, it seems we both have our hands full.”
Loretta glanced at the shutting door. “He might be more trouble than he’s worth.”
Adria noticed a troubled look in her friend’s eyes.
“What is it?” Adria asked.
“It’s nothing I can’t handle. You have your own wins and losses to deal with.”
Adria shook her head. “It’s all losses. Whatever I do, I can’t win.”
Loretta hit her with a knowing look. “That’s what love is, darling. It’s not a game to be won. It’s a game where if you put it all on the line, you’ll lose some, but if you are really lucky, you’ll gain as well.”
Loretta brought her in for an embrace, wrapping her arms around Adria’s middle and pulling her in close. Adria melted into the safety of it.
“EsperanCa,” Loretta said into her ear, “remember?”
Hope.
“Call me if you need anything,” Adria said.
Loretta framed Adria’s face. “I can see it in your eyes. Talk to them.”
Adria nodded. “I’ll try.”
Loretta kissed each cheek before saying, “I’ll be in touch with the auction’s guest list for approval. There are a lot of interested parties.”
Adria’s gut clenched. “I’m sure.”