Chapter 20 #2
He walked out of the shower and toweled off. He would wear a shirt tonight, which some people would undoubtedly notice since he normally never did a scene with a shirt on. Between the lights, the workout, and the vibe of the club, being shirtless made more sense to him than wearing one.
The locker room was empty because the scenes had begun, but Shay was a late arrival.
He walked in just after Rory had zipped his jeans.
He hadn’t put a shirt on yet. He’d wanted to give his back a chance to dry so the shirt wouldn’t stick to his wounds.
Rory shifted to face Shay so his back wouldn’t be on display, but he’d forgotten the row of mirrors behind him.
Shay raised his brows. Of course, he’d noticed. The guy missed nothing.
“You let Kate try her hand with a whip?” he asked.
Rory laughed. “Kate worries about my ears when I play my headphones too loud.”
“She’s a sweet little sub, huh?” Shay said.
“They don’t come sweeter. So no, she’s not up to putting stripes across my back. She’s submissive through and through.” He pulled the shirt on. No need to prolong the display. It looked worse than it was. Though it had hurt pretty damn bad at the time.
“So then?” Shay asked.
“Penance.”
“For?”
“Misjudged a situation.”
“Lost your temper?”
Rory sobered. “No, there’s no sub alive who could push me into letting that beast pop his chains.”
“Quite a metaphor. I didn’t think you were an English major.”
“Wasn’t. That’s fifteen years of Catholic school,” he said with a smirk. “I was a kid with a lot of deviant fantasies, a lot of violent tendencies. Figured it was all demons and beasts under the surface with me,” Rory said with a wink.
“Still Catholic?”
“Why not? It’s a good religion for guys like us. Wives take a vow to obey. You got a culture of shame and guilt, gothic rituals, repressed sexuality that turns twisted. Corporal punishment. C’mon, man. How’re the Methodists or whoever gonna compete with that?”
Shay laughed so hard that Rory joined in.
“You seem in good spirits. Would’ve thought your back meant there was trouble?”
“Took my licks. Gonna be a reminder the next few days to check my ego. It’s all good.”
“Check your ego?”
Telling Shay at least some of the story needed to happen. Rory might travel for business again when she couldn’t come with him. Not that he was likely to let that happen any time soon. But if he eventually did…
“When I was in Austria, something started to go on with Kate. Seems like it was sub drop. I got a vibe I didn’t like.
I thought about calling you or Nikki to go lay eyes on her, but I didn’t want word getting around; I wanted to take care of everything myself.
So I flew home early, but that was ten hours gone by the time I got to her.
She’s all right, but it could’ve easily gone the other way.
Can’t let my pride get in the way again. She’s my responsibility.”
“I’d have kept it under wraps.”
“Even if you didn’t,” Rory said with a shrug. “My pride isn’t worth her life. Nothing is.”
“We talking about your trying to do right by your pet? Or do you care about her as something else?”
“Both.”
“It’s been really fast, the way this all went down and progressed.”
Rory nodded. They were both silent for a few moments.
Shay wouldn’t get it. The guy’s life was all about order.
He didn’t train subs because he’d weighed the costs and benefits and decided the balance wasn’t favorable.
He didn’t have a girlfriend or a pet either, though Rory knew girls trailed after the guy.
Shay just seemed to see attachments as too much trouble.
For his part, Rory understood Shay’s logic, but he just didn’t get how the guy could enjoy life that way.
Rory liked fights and chaos and drama. It felt like the natural order of things.
“How was Austria?” Shay asked.
“Got the contracts negotiated and signed. Visited a private club forty minutes from my hotel. Place called Schon Bohemia.”
“Any good?”
“Not like what we’ve got, but some hot scenes. A lot of fisting. There was a Swedish girl who was trying it for the first time, and she struggled through it. Great scene.” Rory glanced down at his hands, closing his fingers into fists. “Impressive what a girl’s body can take.”
Shay smiled. “Seems Kate’s got some hard times ahead.”
Rory shrugged his brows with a smirk. “If she wanted easy, she let the wrong guy have her.”
Kate confided in Master D about some things, and even though she’d gotten a little tearful, she felt more calm and in control of her emotions by the time they finished talking. He made her feel normal, despite the fact that she knew her reaction had been more extreme than it should’ve been.
He also asked her questions about feelings she’d experienced during punishment and sex with Rory. She felt a little tongue-tied at first, but Master D drew things out of her and helped her see that communication could open up a world of possibilities.
After they talked, she hugged him.
“All right, little one, let’s go find your master. I’m sure he’s more than ready to have you back at his feet by now.”
The subtle guidance wasn’t lost on her. When they reached Master Rory, she lowered herself to sit with her butt on her heels in front of him. He rose to speak to Master D, stroking the top of her head.
“You have quite a lovely kitten,” Master D said fondly.
“I think her intelligence and natural tendencies will make her easy to train. With a lot of play and communication, you’ll soon uncover what she needs to be happy and content.
I think, however, that getting her to communicate with you about how experiences affect her will be a challenge.
Like many submissives, she’s anxious to please and will be more focused on your pleasure and opinion of the journey than on her own. ”
Rory nodded. “We’ve been like this,” Rory said, holding up a pair of crossed fingers. “That kind of intensity… It’s not safe for everyone.”
“Icarus and the sun,” Master D said with a nod.
Kate stiffened. She knew the myth of Icarus escaping Crete with wings fashioned of feathers and wax. His father had warned him not to fly too high or too low, but he’d ignored the warnings. He flew too close to the sun, his wings melted, and he fell to his death.
“Setting clear expectations and boundaries is the safest way to begin a D-s relationship.”
Kate didn’t verbally object, but she shook her head, her face bumping Master Rory’s leg. He glanced down and then Master D did, too. Sir rubbed her lip and pressed his thumb into her mouth. She sucked on it. It was very much the way a person might interact with a real kitten, she thought.
“I understand about it being safer,” Master Rory said. “Driving a car at twenty is safer than driving it at a hundred. Doesn’t mean I never shift my 440i into 5th gear when I think the conditions are right. I’m asking your opinion. Think she’s got wings of wax?”
“To use your analogy, driving a hundred miles per hour requires expert handling and focus. It’s not the speed for cruise control.”
“A Dom can never be on cruise control.”
“Certainly during a scene that’s true. But I thought you were speaking of your entire relationship. Maintaining heightened vigilance all the time wouldn’t be sustainable.”
“But if it were, there’s nothing else that needs to be done?”
Kate stiffened, realizing what this was. D was a former therapist. Rory had sent her to D’s office for an evaluation of her mental health.
D’s brows drew together. “I’m not sure I follow,” Master D said.
Thank God, she thought.
“That answers my question,” Master Rory said with a smile. “Really appreciate you taking the time to talk to her, D. Thank you,” he said and shook Master D’s hand.
Master D glanced down at Kate and then at Rory. “It’s a pleasure to be involved.”
She didn’t relax until long after Master D had walked away.
“What if he’d uncovered something? Would you have sent me away?” she whispered.
“If by sending you away, you mean give you up, no. If you mean would I take steps to protect you from everything, even yourself, then yes.”
She swallowed. “I told you I’m okay.”
“I know.”
“Do you believe me?”
He nodded.
“Because Master D didn’t find anything wrong?”
“Yeah, among other things.”
“I wish you’d trust me again. It hurts me so much that I made you lose faith in me.”
He sat down, catching her chin in his hand and raising her face. “If you want me to trust you, don’t break your promises. Who is the first person you tell when you’re in trouble?”
“You.”
“For what kind of trouble?”
“Any kind.”
“That’s it. Now stop worrying. We’re fine.”
“Promise?”
“Yes.”
“May I please kiss you?”
“You’ll ruin my badass reputation.”
“That’s not even possible. Look at you.”
“You can kiss me, but not above the neck,” he said, releasing her face.
She kissed his knee and then darted forward and licked his zipper like a kitten.
He laughed. “Feel better?”
She smiled and nodded, setting her chin on his knee. “I love you,” she mouthed.
“I know.”
They watched a variety of scenes, and Kate found most of them compelling in some way.
They were part of a large crowd in front of an open area where Master Blade, a lean and muscular six-foot-tall African American man in mustard colored pants and wingtips verbally degraded Tyler while Mistress Marianne whipped him.
The tension was building as Tyler pulled against his restraints. When Master Blade pulled down Ty’s shorts, the red marks across his buttocks were clearly visible, as was his erection. Kate’s nipples tightened.
Master Blade told Tyler he wasn’t worthy of all their attention. Mistress Marianne walked to a table covered with implements, picked up a crop and a flogger and weighed them in her hands, thoughtfully. Then she walked to the edge of the area where Nikki was sitting on her heels, watching.
Mistress Marianne put the tip of the crop under Nikki’s chin and tapped. Nikki lifted her face.