by Ivy Nelson
“God, I feel so stupid,” Austin whispered. Patrick could hear tears in her voice.
“Hey, don’t be so hard on yourself, baby girl.” He tossed a scowl at Lance, who turned and picked up Austin’s hand.
‘I’m sorry, I’m being an ass. I just get a little intense about information security. You’re not in trouble. I am going to teach you a few things, though.”
Austin smiled. “OK. I’m good with that.”
“Then you two should get out of here. I’ve got what I need for now.”
Patrick stood and held his hand out for Austin. When she rose and took it, he walked her across to Eli’s office.
A knock on the door told him nobody was in there, so he pulled out his key and unlocked it. The office was Eli’s because he was director of the board, but all the board members had a key.
Inside, he walked to the safe on the wall and pulled out a jewelry box like the one that had Austin’s training bracelet in it.
“Can I still wear this one at home?” Austin asked, holding up her wrist.
Patrick smiled. “I think so. I can’t see why it would be a problem, especially if the leak was electronic and not from the club itself. We just have to be careful here at the club until we know for sure.”
“You’re still mine, Austin,” Patrick said as he lifted the colorful bracelet from the box.
He dropped to his knee in front of the chair she’d sat in and lifted her hand, pressing a kiss to the back of her palm.
He reached for the clasp on her bracelet and let it fall into his hand.
“I’ll keep this in my pocket for now. You can keep it by your bed at home.”
Austin smiled at him, though he could see tears shimmering in her eyes.
“I feel like I caused this.”
“How?” he asked as he slid the other bracelet onto her wrist.
“If I were more secure on the internet or whatever.”
Patrick was going to punch Lance. “Stop. Lance means well, but he was being a dick back there. You didn’t cause this. An asshole with no respect for privacy caused this. Not to mention, if it were an electronic leak, we wouldn’t be changing your bracelet, because what you do here wouldn’t matter. We’re making this change just in case someone from the club is giving information to the press.”
Austin blew out a shuddering breath as she wriggled the new jewelry on her wrist. “OK. How long until the party? I don’t even know what time it is.”
Patrick glanced at his smart watch. “Three hours, baby girl.”
“Can I go take a nap?”
Patrick pulled her to her feet and kissed her gently. “I’m glad you asked, because that’s exactly what I was going to tell you to do. I’m going to step out for some supplies. We won’t have to leave the property for the rest of the weekend unless we just want to, OK?”
Austin nodded and trudged off in the direction of the upstairs suites. Patrick sighed and locked the safe again before calling a car to take him into town. Their weekend was not going as planned so far. Hopefully the party tonight would change that.
Chapter Twenty
Austin sat behind the reception desk at Solitaire getting to know Isabelle, a new member currently under Master Garrett’s training.
“How did you discover Solitaire?” she asked as they waited for members to arrive.
“The internet. I used to attend local house parties, but they moved away, and nothing has replaced them, so I went looking for a new place. I live here in Colorado, not far from here. This place sounded like heaven on earth, but when I first saw the dues, I just knew I would never get to participate. Then I saw the scholarship programs and the house submissive role sounded perfect for me. I’m just so happy they accepted me. I ended up having a family emergency, so I’ve technically been a member for four months, but things have just now calmed down enough for me to start my training. I think I got pretty lucky with my trainer too,” she said with a grin.
Austin smiled. Solitaire was definitely a special kind of heaven for those in the BDSM lifestyle.
Isabelle nodded to her new bracelet. “Mine indicates that Master Garrett is training me. What does yours mean?”
“It means she answers to all of us,” a deep voice behind her said. “But it also means we’re considering her for a position on the board.”
Russell stood over them and gave her a wink when she looked up.
“Hi, Master Russell. Can we help you with something?” Austin asked.
“Two things,” he said, turning to Isabelle. “Master Patrick would like a quick check-in with you at the bar since Master Garrett isn’t here.”
Russell waited for Isabelle to jump up and go in search of Patrick before he settled into the vacated chair and picked up Austin’s hand.
“Hey there, little one. The second thing is, I wanted to let you know Eli caught me up on everything that’s going on. I’m so sorry. This isn’t fair to you.”
Austin dropped her head. “Thank you, Master Russell. Master Lance thinks it’s my fault.”
“I do not.” Austin jerked her head up to see Lance leaning on the counter of the reception desk. “I’m sorry for being an ass earlier.”
Austin sucked in a breath, unsure how to respond at first. Then she grinned. These people would always be her friends first. She needed to remember that. “It’s OK. I’m sure you’ll find some way to make it up to me.”
Lance shook his head. “Such sass from a girl I’ve been given permission to spank.”
“Hey, that’s no fair,” Russell teased. “I’ve seen you take a spanking. I would kill to strap you to a bench.”
Austin blushed. “Well come to the masked gala then. I’ll be letting people take a swing at me.”
Russell grinned. “I’ll have to keep that in mind.”
Austin chuckled. “I had no idea my ass was such a hot commodity around here.”
When Isabelle returned, Russell and Lance left them to their job at the desk.
“Master Patrick said to tell you plans have changed for the demo and Master Lance will fill you in later?”
Austin lifted an eyebrow. “We were doing a spanking demo. I wonder what has changed.”
Isabelle shuddered. “You like spanking?”
Austin giggled. “I do. Unless I’m in trouble. Then they kind of suck.”
“Master Garrett spanks hard. But we agreed since it’s not my favorite that it will only happen for specific infractions or repeat offenses.”
Austin just assumed everyone in the kink community liked spanking. Probably a bad assumption on her part.
“So, what kind of fantasies do you want fulfilled as part of the program?”
Isabelle blushed and Austin patted her shoulder. I’m sorry. You don’t have to tell me. It was rude of me to ask anyway.”
Isabelle offered her a pretty smile. “It’s OK. I’m a service oriented submissive. You’ll see me doing a lot of domestic tasks and learning what people like in their coffee, that sort of thing. If making a person’s life better through service is a kink, then that’s mine.”
Austin smiled. “I think that’s really cool.”
“Now, don’t get me wrong, I enjoy being tied up and other kinky things, but my submission revolves more around service than sex.”
Austin couldn’t be sure she fully understood it, but she did get the submissive mindset of wanting to make a Dom happy. She just preferred things that ended in orgasm.
“Master Garrett is going to let me prepare the suites and cabins on the weekends since I’m local. I’m excited. There are some really nice things we could do for the members to give them that extra special touch.”
Austin touched her shoulder. “Now that is a sweet idea, Isabelle. You really care about the community. I think you’re going to fit in well.”
“You’ve been here since the beginning, haven’t you?”
Austin nodded. “Just about, but I got my start in kink while I was in college. A Dom I dated at the time took me to one of
Hunter Novak’s parties in Vegas, and that’s where I met a lot of the people who founded Solitaire. Oops,” she said with a giggle. “I guess I should say, Master Hunter.” She shook her head. “Sometimes this is weird for me because I was friends with them before I became a house submissive.”
Isabelle laughed. “Oh girl, I know exactly what you mean. I was collared to a couple, but before that I was college roommates with the wife. It was so strange having protocols with her.”
“Oh wow,” Austin said with a grin. “I didn’t even know that was a thing.”
Isabelle giggled. “Just about everything is a thing in this lifestyle. I love it. So many diverse things to do and learn. And I learn so much about acceptance and diversity from this community that I wish could be passed on to society as a whole.”
That was certainly true. The kink community had its issues, but they could teach the world a thing or two about tolerance.
The rest of their shift flew by with the girls chatting between checking in guests. When they finished, Lance came for both of them.
“Isabelle, Master Garrett would like for you to spend some time with Simon behind the bar and learn a bit about drink service for the high protocol dinner next month.”
The girl’s eyes lit up. Austin had heard of the high protocol dinners, but they didn’t sound like her thing. Apparently, it was right up Isabelle’s alley.
“And you,” he said, turning to Austin, “should come with me so we can talk about the demo.”
“Yes, Master Lance,” Austin said as Olive came to sit behind the desk.
“Olive, I’ll be back later to check on you,” Lance told her.
Lance offered her his arm and Austin accepted. “Do you want an out on this demo?”
Austin shook her head. “I think I need it. I enjoy dungeon play, and if Patrick can’t lay with me like he normally would, I’ll take a demo for the members.”
Lance pulled his arm from hers and smacked her on the ass, hard. “What do you call him?”
Austin sighed and rubbed the soreness from her butt. ‘Master Patrick.”
Lance chuckled as he tucked her hand in the crook of his elbow again. “Much better.”
“I don’t fully understand the insistence on that protocol,” she said as they walked through the bar.
Lance was quiet for a minute but eventually said, “House submissives are here to be examples of a submissive. Obviously, there is no one way to train a sub, but we picked a few very common protocols to enforce for all of you so members who might be curious about submission or having a submissive could have something to see. That’s also why we tailor the program to the submissive, so members can see the uniqueness each D/s relationship can have. We want to model consent, respect, and ways to build a good foundation.”
Austin smiled. “Thank you for explaining it to me. I just thought you were all a bunch of egomaniacs who enjoyed bending subs to your wills.”
“Trying to goad me into spanking you harder during the demo?”
Austin’s heart thudded into her throat. “Shit, you’re spanking me too?”
Lance grinned as he tugged open the dungeon doors. “Master Patrick and I are going to take turns.”
“Turns?” she squeaked. “As in multiple turns?”
Lance nodded. “Yep. And the more snark you give us, the more turns we might take.”
Austin shuddered. She was in for it. When they reached the stage, Lance pushed the side curtain back and motioned her inside. “I’ll be along shortly,” he said.
When she looked up, she saw Patrick leaned against the wall looking as hot as ever. His gaze warmed when he looked up and saw her. He captured her around the waist and kissed her hard. “I’ve missed you, baby girl,” he murmured.
Austin melted into his arms. “I’ve missed you too, Sir,” she whispered.
“I hear you’re forgetting titles again,” he said as he tugged her toward a nearby chair.
“Jesus, are you guys fucking telepathic? That literally just happened.”
Patrick’s head fell back as he sat in the chair and he laughed loudly. “I was only teasing you since I know it’s your weak spot. Who did you address incorrectly?”
Austin fought the urge to smack him since he was about to be spanking her on stage.
“Technically, I wasn’t addressing anyone. I was talking to Master Lance about you and called you Patrick. He smacked me on the ass for it.”
Patrick chuckled. “Good for him. I’ll let it slide then.” He tugged her into his lap. “I hate this. I want to take you out to a play station and string you up in my rope and make you scream.”
Austin snuggled into his lap. “I want that too, Sir. I’m sorry we can’t do it.”
“We’ll get through this.”
Lance stepped through the curtain. “Everybody decent back here?”
Patrick motioned him further into the room and he stepped in and dropped his bag on the floor. “Demo starts in fifteen, how are you feeling about this, Austin?”
She sat up and perched on Patrick’s knee. “I’m good. This will be fun. Do we have a loose script to follow or are we just winging it?”
“We’re going to roleplay,” Patrick said with a grin.
• • •
Patrick and Lance stood on the small stage looking out over the audience that had gathered to watch the Friday night demo. Lance was giving a basic overview of spanking safety. When he was finished, Patrick took over to lay out the various types of spanking there were.
“This is by no means an exhaustive list, but some of the reasons one might incorporate spanking into a D/s or kinky relationship are discipline and punishment, or maintenance spanking to keep a Dom and sub in the right headspace. The bottom may be a masochist and the top may be a sadist, or some people just get really turned on by spanking and it enhances sexual pleasure.”
He paused as the crowd let out a few whistles.
“A sexual spanking—my personal favorite—usually includes sex or masturbation to orgasm. A punishment or discipline spanking could end in an orgasm, but the focus is not usually on sexual pleasure.” He ticked off the types of spanking on his fingers as he spoke. “A maintenance spanking is a scheduled spanking that the sub gets at regular agreed upon intervals. Perhaps you agree that the first Sunday of every month is maintenance day. If the sub has problems with growing lax in their protocols, it can help them stay on track. On the other side of the slash, if the Dom has been lax in enforcing protocols, the regularly scheduled session can help put them back in their headspace. I don’t think I need to explain why a masochist and sadist might enjoy spanking,” he finished with a grin.
The audience snickered and Patrick turned to Lance, indicating it was his turn to take over.
“We have the opportunity to display two kinds of spanking for you tonight since one of our house subs was terribly naughty. Isn’t that right, Master Patrick?”
Patrick nodded with a stern look on his face. “Let’s get her out here and handle it.”
Patrick turned and puled the curtain aside and called Austin to the stage. “Come here please, sub.” He winked at her since his back was to the audience.
She stepped onto the stage and looked appropriately contrite for her imagined misbehavior.
“Can you tell me what you did wrong?” he asked after having her kneel.
Austin looked up at him. “I told Master Lance to fuck off,” she said, wincing.
It might have been mean for Patrick to suggest that as their roleplay, but he may have had a tiny bit of sadist in him.
Just then, Hunter yelled from the audience, “she seems to have a habit of that.”
The audience gasped appropriately, and Lance looked down at her sternly. “And what happens to naughty disrespectful subs?”
Austin blinked her eyes up at him. “They get spanked, Master Lance.”
“That’s right, so stand up and prepare to be punished.”
Patrick helped her stand while Lance positioned
a chair in the center of the stage.
“You’re going to bend over this chair and grip the sides with your hands. If you let go of the chair, you get extra.”
“Yes, Master Lance,” she said as she obediently took her position.
Patrick felt a twinge of jealousy as Lance took his place behind Austin. Since he wouldn’t be able to spank and hold a mic at the same time, Patrick narrated the scene for the audience as he watched Lance lift her dress.
“No panties,” Lance commented. “I approve.”
The audience chuckled.
“Since this is punishment,” Patrick began, “there will not be any warm-up.”
The audience oohed and ahhed and some shook their heads in pity for poor Austin’s bottom.
“Since you’re new to being a house submissive,” Lance said for Austin’s benefit, “We’re going to limit this to twenty hard smacks with my paddle.”
“Thank you, Master Lance,” Austin said, lifting her head so the crowd could hear. She was playing her role well.
When the first swat landed, Patrick felt his cock grow hard as her cheek went from pale to rosy in a matter of seconds. Austin cried out, and Patrick nearly forgot to finish narrating the scene as he looked on. Near the end, Lance leaned in and spoke in Austin’s ear. She frantically nodded.
It was Patrick’s cue to speak again. “A common technique to make sure a submissive keeps their mind on why they’re being punished is to make them count their swats out loud and give the something to say. That could be requiring them to thank you or repeating a phrase about their infraction and how they will do better in the future.”
When Patrick finished addressing the audience, Lance brought the paddle down on Austin’s red bottom. She cried out but managed to whimper, “One, thank you, Master Lance.”
This continued through the final five swats. When the spanking was done, Lance took the mic from Patrick. “Now, I’m a mean bastard, so I’m not allowing Austin to rub the sting out of her bottom. I want her to feel it for as long as possible, so she’s going to face the back curtain with her hands on her head until the next portion of the demo.”
