Chapter 33
It started at breakfast.
Helena was pouring coffee at the kitchen counter in the main house when Juliana appeared next to her, reaching past her for a glass just as she had dozens of times over the years when she’d come on their family weekends away.
Her arm brushed Helena’s chest in a way that nobody else could see and Juliana leaned in, her lips close to Helena’s ear.
“Wear your hair up tonight, Leoa.”
That name made Helena shiver in anticipation.
Nobody else at the breakfast table would know, nobody could know.
Leoa. Lioness. The name that Juliana had given her in the alley that time when she’d claimed what she’d wanted and Helena had given her everything, anything, that moment that Helena had known that she could never be Juliana’s dominant, only her submissive.
She thought back to the last time Juliana had called her that, just before Miami…
Helena’s wrists tied, lying on her front, Juliana’s hand on her rear while her other teased and toyed with her.
Minha Leoa. Even on your front, helpless, mine, you look like you could eat me alive.
Hearing it now, at ten o’clock in the morning, over breakfast, with Mariana three yards away arguing with Thiago about how long to cook the toast for… it was a statement. It was starting now.
“Hair up,” Helena repeated quietly.
“I want to see your neck.” Juliana poured herself some juice and walked away without looking back.
Helena stood at the counter, her heart racing, and thought: she’s not playing at this. She’s not warming up or testing the water. She knows exactly what she’s doing and she’s been thinking about it since our dawn conversation on the beach.
She glanced over to see Caitlin watching her over the rim of her coffee mug with an amused expression, before she looked away when Camila asked her a question. Good, they must have spoken, she’s fully in on this.
It was the first indication of something that would crystallise as the day went on…
Helena had been thinking of this as a performance and a favour to Caitlin and to each other, complete surrender so that Caitlin could see.
But Juliana wasn’t approaching it that way.
She was approaching it as her dominant, the woman who’d earned the right to command Helena and who intended to exercise that right with the full authority that Helena had given her.
It was a subtle distinction but it changed everything, because what Caitlin would see was going to be thrillingly authentic.
If circumstances were different, Helena thought, watching Juliana sit down at the breakfast table and laugh at something Mariana said, her wild curls bouncing, her expression completely normal to anyone who didn’t know what she’d just whispered to Helena, if I didn’t have Caitlin and if she wasn’t Mariana’s best friend, I would submit to her again and again, not as a teaching exercise or as practice, simply because she’s naturally dominant in a way that I could never have expected and could never resist.
She took a deep breath to centre herself and then joined the others, sliding into the seat next to Caitlin and trying to focus on the conversation.
***
The morning at the beach was normal… or what passed for normal when one of the six mildly hungover people on the sand was quietly, deviously and magnificently dismantling Helena’s composure through a campaign of micro-commands delivered by text.
The first arrived fifteen minutes after they’d got there, while Helena was lying on her towel reading something from Caitlin’s book that she wanted to show her.
Go down to the water, and when you go walk past me and let your hand brush my shoulder. Nothing obvious, just a touch.
Helena did it ten minutes later.
“Will you come in the water?” she asked Caitlin.
Caitlin smiled and stood, and when Helena knew that she was looking her way she carefully trailed her fingertips along Juliana’s shoulder, quickly and gently.
Caitlin cocked her head to one side with a quizzical look but said nothing, simply taking her hand as they walked down to the surf together.
When they were out of earshot and up to their shoulders, Caitlin asked, “I assume it’s started?” She looked equal parts amused and excited at the thought.
Helena nodded. “Yes. I wanted you to see.”
“She spoke to me before breakfast. I don’t think she’s going to hold back.”
“Are you ok with that?”
Caitlin grinned. “Very. You?”
“I am.” Helena took a deep breath. “I’m nervous what else she might want me to do.”
“Don’t be. You’re magnificent. Trust me, everything she has in mind will be great.”
“Are you going to tell me any of them?”
“Not a chance.”
The next command was waiting for Helena when they came back up the beach and were laid out in the sun to dry.
Stretch. Arch your back like you do when you climax. I want a taste of what I’ll see later.
Helena took a deep breath. She was wearing a string bikini and almost laughed out loud…
having confidently got Caitlin through her own hang ups about wearing one earlier in the week, she now had the sudden realisation that doing as she’d been commanded there’d be nothing to hide.
She glanced down and realised that her peaked nipples were visible through the fabric.
Just the cold of the water, that’s all, absolutely nothing to do with knowing that Juliana is in complete command and that Caitlin is watching.
She pushed herself up on her elbows, just as she would if Caitlin or Juliana were going down on her and she was getting close, and as she did she put her hand on Caitlin’s.
Caitlin turned her head and opened her eyes, then just about managed to hide her grin as Helena did an exaggerated stretch, back arched, knees bent and legs parted, head thrown back.
She held it for a couple of seconds, then lay back down.
“That feel better?” Caitlin asked, playing along. When Mariana looked over she added, “Helena’s back’s been sore.”
“I do not need to know how she got that…” Mariana retorted, drawing laughter from the rest of the group.
Oh you’re so good, Leoa, so obedient. You make your Rainha very happy.
Helena stifled a groan. Rainha. Queen. It wasn’t even midday yet and already Helena was desperate to know what the night would bring. She felt Caitlin’s hand find hers and give her a squeeze, a very welcome grounding in the craziness that was that Saturday.
Then, at noon, the next message came:
Fetch us drinks from the beach vendor. When you come back, serve me first. Nobody else will notice. But you’ll know.
Helena bought drinks for the group, turning down all offers to help carry, and brought them back.
She handed Juliana an ice-cold coke first. Juliana took it with a smile that somehow managed to convey good girl, holding eye contact for just a moment.
It meant nothing to anyone else, probably not even Caitlin, but the hierarchy hit Helena deep down: the submissive serving her Rainha first, the status emphasised, and it was as intoxicating as anything that Helena could have done.
This is what I taught her, she realised.
Not physical techniques, though I did, not the knots or the toys or how to edge your submissive until she would do literally anything for you.
No… the real lesson she’d learned had been this: that dominance existed in the small moments, the secret commands, the hidden acts of service that nobody else even suspected.
Juliana had mastered it and taken it further, and she was using it with a delicacy and elegance that took Helena’s breath away.
***
After lunch, when the others had gone back down to the beach, Helena noticed that Juliana and Caitlin had hung back and were sitting together on the terrace of the main house.
They were deep in conversation, both of them leaning forward and talking intently. Caitlin’s expression was attentive, while Juliana was animated and earnest. At one point Juliana put her hand on Caitlin’s arm to emphasise a point, and Caitlin’s response made Juliana laugh out loud.
Helena slipped into the pool and watched intently.
Her curiosity was building but she couldn’t hear what they were saying…
they were too far away to be audible over the sound of the breeze in the trees.
She could see the body language though, and she knew it was about her.
Their conversation was intimate, conspiratorial, and in the state that Helena was in already very, very sexy.
When they finally stood and Juliana headed back inside the house, Helena called to Caitlin.
“What were you two talking about?” she asked as Caitlin got close.
“Things.” Caitlin slipped into the water beside her. Her expression gave nothing away.
“What things?”
“Things that Juliana asked me to keep between us.” Caitlin smiled at Helena’s expression. “Don’t worry. Nothing bad. Nothing that should concern you.”
“My girlfriend and the woman I was sleeping with until a couple of weeks ago having a private, involved conversation that they won’t tell me about is exactly the kind of thing that should concern me.”
“Two women who care about you having a private conversation about how to care about you is the kind of thing you should be grateful for.” Caitlin kissed her cheek. “Trust us.”
Helena looked at her with pursed lips. “You’re enjoying this.”
“Very much. I’m enjoying watching you not be in control. It’s very unusual and very entertaining.”
“I’m glad my discomfort amuses you.”
“I’m not sure I’d call it discomfort. You’re cute when you have to follow someone else. But yes, it amuses me. Enormously.” Caitlin swam away, grinning, leaving Helena treading water and wondering just what exactly the two of them were plotting.
***
Helena was getting ready for the evening when Caitlin appeared in the bathroom doorway.
“Juliana told me the pet name,” Caitlin said. “When we were talking earlier.”
Helena looked up from the mirror. “Which one?”
“Both of them.” Caitlin leaned against the doorframe with her arms crossed. “She told me that when she dominates you, she calls you Leoa. Lioness. And that when you dominate her, you call her Rainha. Queen.”
Helena hesitated. Those names… her instinct was that they were private, only between her and Juliana. Hearing them spoken by Caitlin felt like she’d just been stripped naked in public. But, she thought, Caitlin will hear them later, I’m sure, so there’s no harm really. Still…
“She shouldn’t have told you that.”
“She told me because she wanted me to understand your dynamic and what it means to both of you.” Caitlin’s expression had changed, from amusement to something much closer to desire.
“Lioness and Queen. The dominance goes both ways. You’re her lioness when you submit and she’s your queen when she submits.
” She paused. “That’s beautiful, Helena. ”
“It’s just names.”
“It’s not just names and you know it.” Caitlin walked across and stood behind Helena at the mirror, her hands on Helena’s shoulders.
Helena could see both of their reflections: her own, caught in the process of putting her hair up as Juliana had instructed, and Caitlin’s behind her, her gaze focused on Helena’s.
“Tonight she’s going to call you Leoa. Her lioness. And you’re going to kneel for her.”
“Yes.”
“A lioness choosing to kneel.” Caitlin’s hands tightened on Helena’s shoulders. “I find that incredibly arousing. I want you to know that.”
Helena met her eyes in the mirror. “Noted.”
“I mean it. The idea of watching you submit, you, specifically, the woman who commands me, the woman I call Minha Dona being called Leoa and obeying…” Caitlin’s voice was closer to a whisper. “I’ve been thinking about it since she told me and I can’t stop.”
“Good. Then you’ll enjoy tonight.”
“I already am.” Caitlin pressed her lips to Helena’s shoulder.
“I also can’t stop thinking about you on the beach earlier.
When you arched your back.” She kissed Helena’s neck while one of her hands ran down Helena’s side to her hip.
“I love it when you arch your back for me.” Her other hand moved to Helena’s chest and started to tease her.
“Would you like me to make you arch for real? Right here, right now, in this bathroom?”
Helena let out a half-sigh half-groan as she pushed her body back against Caitlin and Caitlin’s lips found her neck again. “Patience, Gatinha. Patience.” In truth she wanted nothing other than that, but tonight with Juliana promised to be intense and she needed to keep everything in reserve.
“How can you control yourself?” Caitlin whispered between kisses.
“That’s why I’m your Dona,” Helena said, turning in Caitlin’s arms and playfully kissing her on the lips, “and you’re my Gatinha. I can control myself and you can’t.”
Caitlin pouted playfully. “What if I keep doing this?” She kissed Helena again. God, I want her right now, but I mustn’t.
Helena grinned… she knew one way to stop this escalating further. “Ajoelhe-se.”
Caitlin’s eyes widened and for a split second she simply stood there before she obeyed, falling to her knees.
Helena looked down at her for a long moment.
“Very good. Very obedient.” She turned back to the mirror and finished putting her hair up, acutely conscious of Caitlin’s eyes on her but forcing herself to pretend she hadn’t noticed.
Her neck was exposed, the way Juliana had commanded that morning.
Eventually she turned back around to look down at Caitlin. “How do I look?”
“Like a woman who’s about to surrender, Minha Dona. And like the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”
Helena held out her hand to pull Caitlin back to her feet and kissed her.
It was like an insane feedback loop: Caitlin was aroused in anticipation of Helena’s submission, Helena was aroused in anticipation of that too but also by Caitlin’s own arousal, and Helena’s arousal was making Caitlin more aroused.
It was building towards something spectacular, even if neither of them could quite articulate what that would be yet.
“Let’s go to dinner,” Helena said. “Before I lose my nerve.”
“You’re not going to lose your nerve, Leoa.” Caitlin tried the word again, and the sound of her American pronunciation made Helena laugh despite everything.
“That’s Juliana’s word. You don’t get to use it.”
“I know. I just wanted to hear how it sounded again.” Caitlin grinned. “It sounded good.”