CHAPTER 14
EDGE
Walking into the training room on Thursday night was more difficult than I anticipated.
I’d had a shit day, and it only had a little to do with the fact that Justin was pushing me to make a decision on whether or not I would come on board as a partner.
Add to that the client who was convinced I’d been carousing—his word—with one of his competitors, and I was about ready to put my fist through a wall.
A long, defeated sigh escaped me.
You might want to calm down. It won’t benefit any of the submissives to see you in this state.
No, it wouldn’t.
I hated to say it, but I didn’t have fucking time to deal with Chatter right now because I was too busy trying to figure out how to fix the shit I’d put in play here at the club.
Namely, having Jamie in the submissive training class.
I didn’t know what I was thinking when I agreed to it.
This was the worst idea I’d had in … ever.
Never had I come up with something worse than this.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, I had no fucking clue how to fix it. Not without fucking up a whole lot of other shit in the process.
Boot her from the roster. That’s pretty simple.
No, I couldn’t kick her out. She hadn’t done anything to warrant it, and my actions would only cause a lot of confusion for the trainers.
Fine. Ride it out.
That was a stupid idea, but the best I had at the moment. My only option was to wait and see how it played out over time.
Even if it killed me.
Which it very well might.
“Good evening, class,” I greeted as I stepped into the training room, taking a deep breath and forcing that stupid voice out of my head.
All of the submissives and their respective Masters were in place, waiting patiently for me to get things underway. My gaze swung to Jamie, who was sitting in her seat, head down, hands clasped in front of her. Master Chaos had yet to join her, but I knew he was on his way.
“Tonight, we’re going to talk about hard and soft limits.” I picked up the folders on the small table, waved them. “Masters, if you haven’t picked up your sub’s folder, do so now.”
Triton strolled in. My eyes shot to the clock. “You’re late,” I snapped.
He paused briefly, his eyebrows darting down in confusion.
Damn it. What the fuck was I doing? I couldn’t reprimand a Dom in this class.
“Ignore me,” I muttered when he came to retrieve Jamie’s folder.
Triton didn’t say a word, but he didn’t have to. I could read his concern in his eyes. It wasn’t like me to target a Dom, much less a friend, like that. Rather than comment, he walked over to Jamie, placed a gentle hand on her head as he took a seat in the chair beside her.
When everyone was seated, I began my discussion on limits, walking them through the details of the form they’d completed.
It was one of the most necessary classes, in my opinion.
It was critical for a submissive and their Dominant to discuss limits, to outline and discuss potential issues, triggers, and so forth that could cause a problem during a scene.
“It’s in your best interest to be as honest as possible and err on the side of caution if there are things you aren’t sure of.
Talk to your Dom if you have questions, and if you don’t know what something is, do research.
” I stopped at the front of the room. “We’re going to relocate to a themed room,” I informed them.
“Tonight we’ll be addressing some of your soft limits, items from your list that you’ve marked as maybe or curious. ”
I stopped the lesson long enough for us to relocate to the theme room I’d had set up for tonight’s activity. Large enough to accommodate several pieces of bondage apparatus, it still had enough space for the twenty of us to pile in, including Cambria, who would act as my assistant throughout.
“We’ll be utilizing the stoplight system, as do most Dominants at Dichotomy. Miss Frazier, please explain to the class what the stoplight system is.”
After softly asking Kaylen for permission to speak, Raine went through the colors, red, yellow, green, and when they were appropriate to use.
“Thank you, Miss Frazier.” I scanned the group. “Any questions?”
Several submissives shook their heads, but a few answered appropriately with, “No, Master Edge.”
“Miss Phelps, Mr. Baker, Miss Jordan, and Miss Wheeler, because you’ve inappropriately responded to a direct question from a Dominant, you’ll be our guinea pigs tonight.”
I motioned for their four Masters to determine who would be going first. We’d already been briefed regarding the agenda, so the trainers knew what was coming and, if I had to guess, already knew exactly which limit they intended to test with their submissives.
“Who’s first?” I asked when they separated.
“We are,” Mistress X stated, motioning toward Mr. Baker.
I motioned toward the room. “Proceed.”
I got a thrill out of watching the young man’s eyes widen slightly.
I’d known from the day Drew Baker requested to join this class that he would be a good fit.
He was both eager and curious, and it showed in every expression.
On the flip side, he was overly cautious, having marked most of his limit list with maybes, the closest thing to limit without actually crossing the item off the list.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Mistress X said with a glimmer in her brown eyes. “Follow me, sub.”
Drew got to his feet slowly, keeping his eyes cast down as he followed the curvy Mistress to the St. Andrew’s cross. He was wearing leather shorts that looked a size too small, but that wasn’t surprising. Mistress X wasn’t known for being gentle on her submissives.
“Master Cav, would you mind assisting me?” Mistress X requested as she motioned toward the restraints on the cross.
Cav moved from his position on the wall and assisted the petite Mistress by hooking Drew’s wrists to the cuffs up high.
While Cav worked to get the submissive restrained, Mistress X went to the cabinet on the far wall and retrieved a ball gag, a pair of nipple clamps, a ball stretcher, and a long length of chain.
I watched with curiosity as she made her way back to her submissive.
“Do you know what this is, sub?” she asked.
“Yes, Mistress X. It’s a ball gag.”
“How did you mark this on your limit list?”
“As a maybe,” he admitted, his eyes darting from her face to the gag.
“Since you’ll be unable to speak, I’m going to require nonverbal signals from you.
” She tapped the fingers on his right hand.
“If you’re green, I expect your hand to be relaxed.
Yellow, I want you to hold up two fingers.
For red, hold out all five fingers, then make a fist. Do this multiple times.
” She stepped in close, her voice softening.
“I will be monitoring, as will the other Masters, so at no time will you have to worry. Understand?”
“Yes, Mistress X.”
“Very well.” Within seconds, she had the ball gag inserted and secured.
Mr. Baker’s distress was immediate, but he managed to breathe through it as Mistress X remained in front of him, talking him through his panic. When he settled, she gave him a warm smile and patted his cheek. There was no denying the pleasure he derived from her praise.
“Do you know what this is, sub?” she asked, holding up the ball stretcher.
Drew nodded, unable to verbally respond.
Mistress X glanced over at his right hand, which was currently relaxed.
“Mr. Baker marked this as an absolutely, yes on his list,” she explained. “And since he’s willingly accepting the gag, I’ll be offering him this reward.”
While the group observed, Mistress X removed the leather shorts, then proceeded to place the ball stretcher on. She added two weights, effectively pulling his balls toward the floor. When she stood, her attention once again shifted to his right hand, still relaxed.
“These are nipple clamps,” she said, holding them up for Drew to see. “You’ve marked them as curious on your list, hence the reason I’m going to torture you with them now.” Her smile was devious.
Once Mistress X had the clamps secured to his nipples, she took a step back, admiring her work. Drew moaned softly.
“One more thing,” she said, holding up the chain.
It wouldn’t look like much, I knew, but once she connected it to those clamps, it would add enough weight that the clamps would consistently pull on his nipples.
Mistress X secured the chain to both clamps, then connected it to the ball stretcher before adding another weight. Her eyes shifted frequently to his hand, still relaxed where it dangled from the clamp.
“Thank you, Mistress X,” I said as I took control of the room once again. “Mistress Cameron, Master Bishop, would you like to go next?”
The two Sadists smirked at one another.
“Because the class is one submissive smaller,” I told them, “with Mr. Holloway’s dramatic exit on Tuesday, I’ve decided to double up the Masters on certain days. This will give you the opportunity to experience what it’s like to have two Masters at one time.”
Unable to resist, my gaze shifted to Jamie.
She was kneeling at Chaos’s feet, her attention on me.
When our eyes met, she quickly looked away.
I could see something there, something that had my stomach churning.
It looked a hell of a lot like pain, and the mere thought of hurting her damn near took me out at the knees.
Not familiar with that? It’s called love, you big dumb ass.
Love? What the fuck? I wasn’t in love with Jamie. No way.
“Proceed,” I instructed the Sadists, needing to keep my head in the game.
“Based on what I’ve observed on Miss Wheeler’s list,” Mistress Cameron explained, “I’m inclined to believe she has some strong masochistic tendencies.” Her grin turned sly. “Which means she’s in for a treat tonight because that’s my specialty.”
My attention bounced between the Sadists and Jamie. While I never diverted my attention for long, I couldn’t stop myself from watching her.