Chapter 12
Chapter Twelve
“I know Master Derek said to take you off the schedule, but there’s some kind of stomach bug running through the service submissives and I could really use another set of hands in the Dungeon this afternoon.
Is there any way you can help out? Just for a few hours while I take my Philosophy final exam? ”
It was the third morning of her commitment to Master Fletcher and Mallory was headed out to the zoo when Caren stopped her in the lobby. The woman looked exhausted and on the verge of tears, so Mallory did the only thing she could.
“When do you need me?”
“My class starts at one, so if you could come down about twelve-thirty, that would give me time to change and get to class,” Caren grabbed her and gave her a quick hug. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
Caren raced off and Mallory stood for a moment, wondering if she should tell Master Derek what she was about to do. Her three-day obligation to Master Fletcher was over at noon, and there had been no discussion about continuing their partnership any longer, so she would be okay going back to work.
Taking a deep breath, she headed into the Ranch store, needing to see if they had another sketchbook in stock since she’d nearly filled the one she’d bought just a couple weeks before.
Before she’d left his room, Master Fletcher had told her to behave herself.
He had a number of video meetings scheduled throughout the day, so she figured their agreement was over.
While he was in the shower, she’d packed her suitcase and moved her things back to her room on the second floor before heading to the zoo.
She was going to miss spending time with Master Fletcher and being bound with his colorful ropes and fancy knots, but that was the life of a service submissive.
Maybe it was time to request a position somewhere else on the Ranch where she would not have to see Fletcher in the Dungeon tying up another submissive.
She finished capturing the animals of Reese’s zoo, and at noon returned to her room. She made herself a cup of soup and changed into her uniform before using the elevator to go straight to the Dungeon.
“Working today?” Jaben asked as she signed in for the work shift.
“I’m covering for Caren so she can take a final exam,” she said before slipping into the Dungeon.
Leaving her bag with her drawing equipment in the supply room, she found Caren in the locker room.
“I’m here,” she said. “Get to your exam.”
“Thanks again. I owe you a big one,” Caren said as she finished wiping a wet mess from the floor.
“You’re welcome. Now go,” Mallory said, taking the mop from her hands.
While Caren disappeared out of the locker room, Mallory did a quick inspection and found the rest of the area clean and dry.
After rinsing the bucket, she returned it to the cleaning closet. She checked in with Kelly, the bartender, who asked that she doublecheck all the stations because being short staffed had caused cleaning to be a little laxer than Master Derek preferred.
Since there was only one couple using the equipment, Mallory grabbed a plastic carryall full of cleaning equipment and went to work. She did a quick wipe down of each station and checked the armoires to see what needed to be restocked.
She was carrying freshly laundered blankets to one of the armoires when she stopped to watch the scene being enacted at the spanking bench. The man was using a cane on the naked woman tied to the bench.
The woman’s head was turned so Mallory could see her face.
Her cheeks were red and wet with tears and her eyes were filled with pain.
Mallory swore she heard the woman whispering something she thought was “Red, red, red,” as her lips moved.
Her man was focused so hard on laying even stripes down her thighs with the cane he did not seem to be paying attention to her words.
Dropping the blankets, Mallory rushed forward and snatched the cane from his hand as he pulled back to strike again.
“What the hell?” He whirled around to frown at her. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing, interfering with my scene like that?”
She was crying, unable to answer for a few minutes. By the time she calmed down enough to speak, Kelly and Jaben had joined them.
“Mallory? What happened?” Jaben asked as he moved to stand between her and the irate Dominant.
She opened her mouth to speak, but the man cut her off. “She grabbed that cane out of my hand and messed up my scene.”
“Mallory?” Jaben looked at her while Kelly took the blanket from her and opened it before covering the still bound submissive.
“The woman was chanting red. It was soft, but loud enough I heard it. But he either didn’t hear her, or didn’t care, because he didn’t stop,” Mallory said, her gaze locked on Jaben.
“Miss? Were you calling red?” Jaben asked the woman who remained strapped to the table and panting.
“She wasn’t saying red. She was saying Rand, my name. Her safe word is mallard,” the Dominant once again interrupted.
Jaben frowned at the man before approaching the spanking bench and bending so he was face to face with the woman. “Miss? What’s your safe word?”
“Mallard,” she whispered, her words slurred. “I wasn’t calling for help, I was saying Rand, hoping he would allow me to come.”
Mallory took a step back, dropping the cane to the floor. “I’m so sorry. I thought she was calling red.”
Jaben pulled Master Randell away and spoke quietly to him for a few minutes. He then pulled out his cellphone and made a call. When he finished, he approached Mallory once again.
In the meantime, Master Randell moved to the spanking bench and was unstrapping his woman and then wrapping her in a blanket Kelly had handed him. Lifting his submissive into his arms, he moved to a couch and settled in for some snuggling aftercare.
“Shall I get back to work?” Mallory was ready to disappear back into the supply closet and hide until Caren returned.
“Not yet,” Jaben said, crossing his arms over his chest.
Though she was tempted to ask why, Mallory kept her mouth shut. She had a feeling she was in a lot of trouble, and for a woman who prided herself on avoiding trouble like the plague, that was saying something.
Fifteen minutes later, the main doors to the Dungeon opened and Master Derek entered, closely followed by Master Fletcher.
Neither man looked happy.
“Uh-oh,” Mallory breathed. “I think I screwed up.”
“You can say that again,” Jaben said softly before crossing to talk to them.
Walking into the Dungeon, Fletcher immediately found Mallory and frowned when he saw her wearing the uniform worn by the service submissives assigned to work in the Dungeon.
What was she doing here? She was supposed to be taking time and thinking about whether she wanted to continue as his submissive in preparation for their meeting with Derek this evening.
At least the video meeting he was to attend had been postponed until later in the week by the other man so he’d been able to come with Derek to deal with his naughty submissive.
Instead of going to her immediately, he waited for Jaben and Mallory to join them in the bar area.
“What happened?” Derek asked.
“Kelly said that Mallory grabbed a cane out of Master Randell’s hand in the middle of a scene.
She called me and we stepped between them.
Mallory thought the subbie was saying red, and he wasn’t paying attention, or ignoring her, so she stepped in and took the cane from his hand.
Only the subbie wasn’t calling her safe word, she was chanting Rand, her Master’s name. ”
“But what is Mallory doing down here to begin with? I took her off the rotation a few days ago,” Derek said, sounding nearly as bewildered as Fletcher felt.
“I was filling in for Caren while she took a final. She told me there’s a stomach bug running through the service submissives and everyone else was sick and she couldn’t find anyone else to cover for her.”
“Why didn’t she come to me about this?”
“I don’t know, Sir,” Mallory answered honestly. “She stopped me in the lobby this morning and asked if I could cover for her while she took her final exam, and since my time with Master Fletcher was up, I didn’t think it would be a problem.”
“Why did you think our time was up, bunny?” Fletcher asked, keeping his tone gentle.
Until Derek said otherwise, he still considered her to be under his command, which meant this was his screwup as much as hers.
Mallory twisted her fingers together in front of her middle, a sure sign she was nervous. She tried to look into his eyes but dropped her gaze to his chest after a few seconds.
She cleared her throat and swallowed hard before she finally whispered, “Master Derek said three days, and I figured our time together was up at noon since you didn’t say anything about continuing longer.”
Understanding the mistake, Fletcher looked at Derek. “Can I take it from here?”
Master Derek nodded. “We’ll have drinks at five-thirty and dinner at six at the Big House.”
With that, the resort owner left them and walked over to where Master Randell was dressing his woman. Jaben had already slipped away, returning to his station just outside the Dungeon’s doors.
Pulling in a deep breath to calm himself, Fletcher turned his attention back to Mallory, who was now staring at his shoes. “Look at me, bunny.”
Her gaze slid up his body in an instant, and he was surprised to see tears rolling down her cheeks in a steady stream.
“I’m sorry, Master Fletcher,” she whispered, sounding heartbroken. “I thought I was right in stopping Master Randell’s scene. He didn’t seem to be paying attention to her, and it sounded like she was calling red.”
“I know, bunny. But you interfered with another Dominant’s scene. I’m sure that will require punishment. On top of that, you broke your rules and didn’t ask me whether you could even work here today, isn’t that right?”
“Yes, Sir, but …”
“No trying to explain your way out of it. Let’s go.”
Fletcher held out his hand and waited until Mallory laid hers on top of it. It didn’t take nearly as long as he’d thought it would. Closing his fingers around her hand, he led her over to where the offended Master and his submissive were still talking with Master Derek.
“I understand why she did it,” the other master was saying. “She didn’t know that we didn’t use red as our safe word, but she does need to be punished for interfering with our scene.”
“And she will be punished. Master Fletcher will see to it,” Derek assured the Dominant. You can stay and watch or trust him to take care of it.”
Master Randell looked at his submissive who, even though she was dressed, was visibly trembling in his arms, though Fletcher couldn’t tell if it was from sub drop or horny need. “We’ll stay and watch.”
His submissive whined in need but quieted as soon as he smacked her ass through the blanket.
With that, Master Derek turned to him. “I’ll trust you two to work it out. If you need me, I’ll be in my office.”
Fletcher nodded. “I’ve got this.”
Leading Mallory to a station where a padded sawhorse stood all alone, he released her hand and pointed to the floor. “Kneel while I get everything ready.”