Chapter 6
Chapter Six
“Anne, you made it!” Sally swung the door wide.
“I did. How are you doing? Are your Doms due back soon?” Anne smiled at the short brunette, pleased to see her looking so content.
Sally had searched for the right Dom for years and despaired of finding one as smart as she was, one who could keep up with her mischievous nature, one who she could trust with everything she was.
Watching Vance and Galen take her under command—and fall in love with her—had been incredibly heartwarming.
“They’re not gone for long,” Sally said. “Come on in. I found some good stuff to watch.”
Anne followed her through the beautiful foyer, past the game room with every toy known to man, and to the great room in the back, which was dark. “Weren’t Beth and Gabi able to come?”
“Oh…they were,” Sally said and flipped the light switch.
“Happy Birthday!”
Anne dropped into a fighting stance at the roar of sound. Women…everywhere. On the long sectional, on chairs, sitting on the floor. All members of the Shadowlands. All grinning at her.
“Wh-what?” Anne actually stammered.
Gabi and Uzuri exchanged high-fives.
“Girl, is this your first surprise party?” Sally slung an arm around her and pulled her forward. “Happy birthday!”
A birthday party. The feeling was like stepping off an unnoticed curb, feeling the ground drop away, being disorientated, stumbling.
Aside from family gatherings, she hadn’t had a birthday party since she was ten.
“I… This is lovely.” She looked around. Gabi, Kim, Uzuri, Linda, Beth, and Jessica were lounging on the U-shaped sectional. Andrea and Rainie had chairs. Cat, Olivia, and Kari were seated on the floor. Shadowkittens and Dommes. Quite the mixture.
“It’s about time you arrived,” Olivia said from the floor. “We’re critiquing porn techniques.”
Anne glanced at the wide-screen television where a fairly studly male was bending over a naked female. She frowned. “He’s going to kill the woman tying her like that.”
“See?” Andrea waved her hand at Kim. “That’s what I said. Scarves get too thin and dig in too much and are impossible to unknot.”
“True enough,” Kim answered, “And he’s doing it wrong. But I still think scarves are hot.”
“The bondage is bad enough.” Gabi tugged at her blue-streaked strand of hair. “But the dialogue? That’s seriously lame.”
“Birthday cake soon,” Sally announced to the room. “What are you drinking, Anne? I have margaritas, beer, wine, and sodas.”
Margaritas? Anne’s mouth almost watered.
Dammit. “I’d love a margarita, but I can’t.
An informant called, so I scheduled my bail bond recovery team to get together at four a.m. We’re almost out of time before forfeiture of the bond, so we have to get the skip now—which means no alcohol for me. ” She couldn’t afford to be impaired.
“Aww, that’s too bad.” Sally gave her a sympathetic hug. “Diet Coke then?”
“’Fraid so.” Mistresses don’t pout. She totally wanted to sulk.
“Sit over here, Anne.” Olivia patted the floor beside her.
Anne navigated her way across the room, getting hugs and hand squeezes from everyone. By the time she sat down between Olivia and Kari, a warm candle of happiness glowed in her chest. Friends. A birthday party. Who knew?
“Oh, baby. Take me.” On the television, the actor pushed the actress’s legs apart with little finesse, accompanied by groaning—from the Shadowkittens.
Jessica joined the actor in another groan of “Oh, baby,” before throwing a potato chip at the television. “Gag me. They need better script writers.”
“It must be difficult to write sex dialogue, don’t you think?” Linda was around forty and often served as the voice of reason, even when well hammered. “I mean, how many of your men talk during the…act? I’d have to admit, Sam isn’t exactly chatty.”
Anne sputtered a laugh. Linda’s silver-haired rancher had terse down to a science—and he’d totally whip his submissive’s ass if he knew she’d shared. Not that anyone was about to tell him.
Ben wasn’t exactly talkative during sex either, although when he did speak…
“Please. Mistress. I’d like to taste more.
” “Did you know you’re abso-fucking-lutely gorgeous when you come?
” Anne felt her bones begin to melt at just the memory.
Too many memories, actually. She’d heard his rough voice in her dreams, felt his hands, his mouth—
Hooting laughter broke into her thoughts.
“How about if Studly Dumbass says something like this?” Gabi hit MUTE on the remote and turned to Kim, beside her on the sectional. “Cum-bucket, brace yourself.”
Kim blinked and leaned away. “What?”
Gabi pretended to unzip her jeans and withdraw an obviously massive cock. The waggle she gave her pretend-erection was truly obscene. In a deep voice, she announced, “My ginormous slit-eyed demon’s gonna invade your pretty pink fortress. Oh yeah, my cunt thumper’s gonna penetrate that cocksocket.”
Cheers filled the room even as Kim made a barfing noise. “You call that better?”
“Well, yeah. Far more imaginative than ‘Ugh, grunt. Ugh. Oh, baby,’ like a caveman.” Gabi punched Kim in the arm. “So, nay-sayer, you’re the female in the bed. See if you can do better.”
Kim studied the television where the actor was stroking his cock, preparing to do some serious work.
“Right.” She pressed her hands to her cheeks.
“Oh, oh, oh, look at you. My goodness, your Puff, the One-eyed Dragon is so tall and straight. I am overwhelmed with my womanly lust. My meat curtains are soaked. Fuck my love canal, now.”
The moans around the room almost matched those starting on the screen.
“Meat curtains?” Farther down the sectional, Linda stared at Kim in disbelief, turned to Sally. “Wooman, I need a really big drink.” She waved a hand at Gabi. “One that’s bigger than that cock.”
Shoulders shaking, Sally headed for the kitchen. “Coming right up.”
Several hours later, butt still on the floor, Anne leaned her shoulders back against the couch.
The noise level hadn’t abated, although fewer guests were in the room.
Jessica and Kari had gone home to their children.
Andrea had a cleaning job to see to; Cat had to go to work early.
Jake had picked up Rainie and Gabi, leaving only Uzuri, Sally, Kim, Beth, Olivia, and Linda.
Laughter and conversation flowed around her, as cheerful as the bright helium balloons bopping on the high ceiling.
What a wonderful way to survive turning thirty-five. And how cleverly Sally had laid the trap. No wonder Galen and Vance were always half-complaining, half-boasting about how sneaky their fun-loving submissive was.
Anne rubbed her arm against Olivia’s, happiness a glow inside her as she glanced around the room.
At one time, she hadn’t thought she could be friends with submissives.
But, somehow, with these women, the Mistress-submissive dynamic had eroded over the years.
She smiled. The last reserves had disappeared as she taught the Shadowkittens self-defense.
Who could maintain a distance when delivering victory whoops for a subbie who’d finally succeeded in tossing the Mistress on her ass?
Yet—although she’d attended her friends’ birthday parties—she’d never thought they’d throw one for her. But they had.
She wrapped her arms around herself, so filled with the warm ‘n’ fuzzy feelings—as Gabi would say—that she had trouble containing them all.
“Hold’em up, ladies. Who’s empty?” Sally emerged from the kitchen. Holding a pitcher of margaritas, she topped off any needy glass on her way through. “I have another Coke for you, Anne.”
“Thank you, Sally.” She pushed herself up to accept the can, heard an “ooof” from Olivia who sat beside her, and realized her support was the Domme’s stomach. “Oops. Sorry.”
“If you were a subbie, I’d make you regret that. I think you took out my liver—despite the ample padding I have around it,” Olivia said in her crisp voice. Her gaze swept over Anne. “I don’t know how you stay so slender.”
“I still can’t believe she’s thirty-five,” Sally said. “I’ve always wanted a body like yours, Anne. We probably weigh the same and I’m four inches shorter.”
“Try getting a job where you have to keep up with walking, talking testosterone-factories.” Anne held up an arm and flexed her biceps. “But see? I have muscles.”
“Oooo’s” and “aaaaahhhh’s” filled the room.
Her mock-indignant glare had no effect. “I’ll have you know it takes work to maintain all that is me.” She gestured to her lean, mean fighting machine…and earned a barrage of popcorn. “But honestly? It’s only because being slower or weaker would put my teammates at risk.”
“I hate sweating. I think I’d rather have a few extra dimples around my hips. Besides, Galen appreciates them.” Smiling, Sally turned toward the massive U-shaped sectional. “Anyone else?”
On the right end of the sectional, Uzuri pointed at the television screen. “I keep forgetting to drink. Just look at that man.”
After the arrival of “meat curtains,” and the competition for worst penis slang, porn had been supplanted by classic chick flicks. Anne turned to see Patrick Swayze showing Jennifer Grey how to dance. Mmm-mmm-mmm. “Now that is one yummy boy. Makes me want to get out my cuffs and collar.”
Dominating someone with that bottomless self-confidence would probably be similar to doing a scene with Ben…and was incredibly tempting.
Next to Uzuri, Sally heaved a lusty sigh. “I bet Swayze could’ve taught even me to dance.”
“Doubtful,” Kim said judiciously, “although, at least, you’d have enjoyed failing.”
“Oh, rude!” Uzuri threw a kernel of popcorn at her.
“Hey, no throwing the popcorn.” Sally shook her head at the floor, littered with popcorn, chips, and colorful pillows. “Galen’s going to kill me when he sees this mess.”
“You shouldn’t have put on that really bad movie if you didn’t want popcorn thrown at the screen,” Kim said in a righteous tone.