by Grant, Livia
Her wall was toast. It hadn’t imploded with a scatter of bricks and mortar; no, the big lummox had walked up to it and simply pushed it over. “T-Thank you, Sir?”
One finger stroked beneath her chin as reward as he drew his hand away. “That’s your first and only warning, little dove. Respect at all times, understand?”
“I-I… yes, Sir.”
“Good girl.” Moving like a ginormous panther, he circled behind her and, with only the fingertips of his hand spanning her lower back, nudged her toward a grinning Elixxir and the gleaming white ball in his dark hand. “Spin.”
“Looks like you two have hit things off already.” Elixxir winked and passed Ava the dreaded activity ball. “Now, you both have humiliation down as a hard limit, but let’s see what the wheel has in store for your first scene.” He sent it whirring, around and around until the slots became one vicious blur. “Anytime, Ava.”
She dropped the ball like a hot coal, watched it bounce… and bounce… and bounce. Her heart thundered in her chest as the wheel slowed and the ball rocked to a stop.
“Impact play!”
Chapter 3
Finn
Well now, this one was different.
Finn navigated his prize away to the side as Elixxir moved onto the next Dominant in line. She was rigid beneath his hand, yet there were moments when it felt as though she might relax. A submissive fighting her own submission, what fun.
Pretty little filly, he thought in admiration. Skittish too.
He set them apart from the other couples waiting for the games to begin, turning her to face him. She had the prettiest eyes, he mused as he studied her face. Blue with little gold flecks. Full of apprehension as she let him look his fill.
Her face was lean, almost gaunt, and her hair was so white it gave her skin a nearly unnatural pale cast. Either that or she was scared bloodless. Never mind. By the time their first scene was over, she’d be a healthier shade of pink… all over.
God knew he couldn’t wait to get his hands on the long, lean length of her once that provocative tease of a dress was puddled around her feet. She’d look good with a pair of cuffs around her wrists, those dainty feet spread, and her body stretched from the rigging he had his eye on.
“Are you scared?” he asked bluntly, pushing several stray locks of hair away from her face.
“No. No, Sir,” she corrected quickly before he could amend it for her.
“Good.” He meant it. A scared sub could bolt, could safe word. His size alone was enough to deter a few timid women, but he had a feeling this one wouldn’t. She was here for a reason and she didn’t seem like the type to back down from a challenge.
Slowly, he paced around her, taking stock of her from all angles. Held herself well, although there was some trembling starting to take hold. He pulled the limit cards from his pocket, scanned over hers as he traced a line down her spine from nape to crack.
Humiliation, blood play, needle play, and ABDL.
Not the strangest limits he’d ever encountered.
Elixxir was wrapping up the last few Doms quickly, much to the audience’s pleasure. Finn cast his gaze over them, saw on the waiting faces what was at a boiling point inside him.
“My name is Master Finnegan,” he told her as her feet shifted restlessly on the stage. “You will address me as such, or as Sir. I like a sub who knows her manners. Obedience will give both of us satisfaction; disobedience will make your ass, and your ass only, incredibly unhappy. Are we clear on that?”
“Yes, Sir.”
Finn frowned. She was definitely beginning to shake, even if she denied being afraid. He sighed and tucked the cards back into his pocket, deciding he didn’t need to be quite so much of a hardass at the start of their new dynamic. Safe wording at this point of the evening would gain neither of them anything worthwhile.
“Have you ever taken part in a scene before?” he wanted to know. “Ever been exposed in front of an audience?”
The audible click of her swallow told him everything.
Stepping up behind her, he collared her with his hand, squeezing lightly. Her reactive peep of surprise made his cock stand to attention in the confines of his pants. “When I ask a question, it will be answered. Quickly and honestly. Hesitate, lie to me, and this ass will be mine in more ways than you can imagine.”
Fuck, her whine vibrated against his hand and turned his erection to pure steel. “Could you… would you… expand on that, please… Sir?”
His chuckle was dark, and loud enough several Doms looked at him with smirks. Ignoring them, he let his free hand slide over her side, following the contour of her body, then down and around to cup the curve of one firm cheek. “I wouldn’t be so eager for punishment, little dove. I find making naughty girls’ bottoms ripple under the cane before I fuck their tiny hole is the best form of penance. I’m a big guy,” he added in a sultry murmur as her breath hitched, “in all respects.”
Ava moaned softly, her thighs and buttocks clenching tight. He held her like that for a moment more, fingers caressing her throat, her ass, before she went rigid in his arms. He didn’t relinquish his grip until she relaxed, then simply turned her into him.
Finn was a big believer in eyes being the window to a person’s soul, that looking hard enough through the window showed everything beyond the glossy surface. A submissive’s eyes were extraordinarily easy to read in the right light, and his new sub was no different.
His little dove had secrets, and there was nothing he liked better than ferreting them out. Time ticked past as he used his fingertips to map her face, all the while watching those eyes mirror her every thought.
“Everyone’s paired up, and you know what that means! It’s time to start Valentine Roulette!”
Elixxir’s proclamation broke Finn’s study and he grinned at her with all the devilishness he could muster. “Ready to play with a Master, little dove?”
It fascinated him how she tugged on her protective shield, becoming the woman she’d been in those few seconds on stage before her heel snapped and sent her tumbling. Outwardly strong and independent while the heart of her quivered. She hid her vulnerabilities well, but she was in a room full of wolves now and going head-to-head with the Alpha.
“I am, Sir, if you are.”
“Excellent answer.” He bent and tucked his shoulder into her midriff, lifting her effortlessly. She was too skinny, he decided, and weighed well under what she should. That just made it easier for him to clamp his hand around her tense thighs as he stalked toward the edge of the stage, cutting through the pairings heading for the steps and their stations.
Gauging the drop, he didn’t slow his stride. He heard murmurs as he reached the end of the stage, gasps and long ooooohs switching to awed applause as he simply stepped off the edge of the world.
Ava gripped the waistband of his pants, her cry swift and sweetly fearful.
His boots hit carpet with a heavy thud and his sub never moved from her tenuous position. His hand patted her thigh as a reward as he turned to grab his bag from the stage.
“Showing off, Master Finnegan?” Owen commented, walking toward them. The burly DM lifted an eyebrow when Finn gave him a wolfish grin. “We have health and safety regulations to follow, you know. I’m not sure that stunt complies with the club’s concept of safety.”
Finn nodded, unsure whether the stoic dungeon monitor was yanking his leg or not. “Ava is in perfectly safe hands, I assure you. A little frivolity never fails to set uneasy nerves to rest in my experience, and this little one… well, I’ve dealt with flighty fillies before but Ava here is something different.”
Owen’s dark eyes narrowed for a second as if evaluating, then his expression cleared into wicked appreciation.. “Yes, I can see that. I might have to come and watch you tame her.”
His grin sharpened. “Watch all you want. Taming’s the best part.” He patted Ava’s upturned ass and gave the smirking DM a nod as they went their separate ways through the crowd.
>
Bag in hand, and sub subdued over his shoulder, Finn cut through the dispersing crowd and multitude of tables toward the rigging. Ava was quietly maintaining her dignity for the moment; that wouldn’t last much longer.
Finn swung her to her feet beneath the rig closest to one of the spanking benches, allowing her to slide down the front of him slowly. Letting her cling to him until the blood rushed out of her head back to where it belonged, he pushed his fingers through her hair and tilted her face back. “I’m strict, Ava, but I’m not cruel. If there’s something you don’t understand, ask me. I’ll strive to push your limits, but I won’t fucking break them.”
Those damned eyes of hers were going to be his undoing.
“If I ask what color you are, you’ll give me one of three answers—green for full-steam ahead, yellow for hit the brakes, and red for get me the fuck off this train. Although that will end our fun for the night, so I hope we don’t get there.” He cocked his head in question. “Are you ready to take this step with me?”
Ava nodded slowly, carefully. “Yes, Sir. I’m ready.”
“That’s a good girl.” With one last assessing look over her, Finn squared his shoulders and dropped his tone an octave. “I want you to strip. Fold your dress and set it to one side with anything—everything—else you’re wearing.”
Releasing her as she blanched, he took a firm step back and crossed his arms over his chest, fingers drumming lightly on his biceps as he watched the war battle over her face. New submissives were adorable.
It took ten seconds for her to blow out a heavy breath and bend to grasp the hem of the dress. She gathered fabric in her hands until it bunched at the top of her thighs. She had the most graceful limbs, he noted, itching to run his hands up them from ankles to pussy.
She hesitated at her waist, then simply wrenched the clingy garment up and over her head. For the first time, a dusky shade of pink worked over her skin as she hugged the dress to her chest.
“Clever girl. What else did I ask you to do?”
The blush deepened; Ava shook the material out and folded it, giving Finn his best view of the night so far. She was perfection. Small breasts his hands would have no problem cupping fully, tight and already tipped with budded nipples matching the color of her embarrassment.
She was definitely too lean, he decided. He liked his women with a bit more flesh to squeeze, but her figure was flawless. If she was his, he’d make sure he fed her often to banish the subtle jut of her ribcage and hips. He wondered if the stress of her secrets had anything to do with her trim shape.
As well as foregoing a bra, she’d declined to wear panties. Not even the slim covering of a thong protected her shaven pussy from his hungry gaze. She played a dangerous game; he was incredibly grateful he was the one capable of claiming such a prize.
All he could think when she angled herself away from him and bent over to place the dress on the floor was Jesus fucking wept. His flogger would make that stunning ass sing. And if he didn’t fuck that precious pink pussy peeking at him between slender thighs before the night was over… his cock might just stage a revolt.
Eyes downcast now, she faced him again, worrying her fingers together anxiously.
“Gloves,” he told her calmly.
Her shoulders sagged. Hands shaking, she peeled off the right glove first.
Anger surged through him as the track lights cast their glow over the marks in her flesh. He kept his tongue still as she rolled down the other glove and tossed both toward her dress.
Shame radiated from her as clearly as the scent of her arousal. It touched a sensitive part of him he didn’t usually allow to show when his Dominant came out to play, but the simple act of removing her physical defenses had come close to breaking her.
Reining in his considerable temper, Finn stepped up to her, took her wrists in a firm grip and studied the scars. Most were old, already silvered and fading into her skin, but there were some more recent, still pink and healing. One in particular caught his attention—thicker, longer than the rest, and surrounded by a boundary of small white dots.
Stitches.
“Look at me, little dove,” he commanded, expecting to see tears to go along with the shame. But when she finally met his eyes, there was a painful defiance in them. “This is why you’re here tonight.”
Her head jerked, her hair cascading around her face like a shield.
“No, you don’t hide this. You can’t hide it from yourself or from me.” His thumb ran along her forearm, touching each scar. “Is this what you need tonight? Something to take the pain away? Or someone to give you the pain?”
After a few seconds, she asked simply, “How did you know?”
Chapter 4
Ava
Master Finnegan’s hands inspected her scars, work-roughened callouses scraping lightly over each one and sending her skin into rapture. Wherever he touched, she grew warm beneath his caress, and moisture slicked between her thighs.
He’d been angry.
For the first time in her miserable existence, someone with no knowledge of her circumstances had felt something on her behalf. He was the first man to see her, what she was, without her saying a word. She’d seen hot emotion flash in his eyes when she risked peeking at him and it stained his words, but he hadn’t lifted a hand to her. Instead there was the shadow of concern, an understanding he didn’t state but that she felt vibrate between them.
Master Finnegan knew her at her core level, maybe better than she knew herself.
Releasing her arms, he stalked to his bag and crouched, black denim stretching taut over tree-trunk thighs and one of the most divine asses gifted to mankind. It was kind of a drool-worthy moment.
Even if the evening veered off course, even if she messed up, she would always have the vision of that ass to remind her she had the guts to stand up in front of an audience of experienced kinksters and attempt to expand her horizons with the spin of a ball on a kink wheel.
You think he wants you? Keep dreaming, Ava. He’s here for one thing and one thing only. Beat you, fuck you, and kick your ass to the curb when the night’s over. Men like him need a queen, not the serving maid.
Her hands dug into her thighs, nails scoring flesh. That small flush of pain rushed through her blood like a drug, soothing jagged nerves.
When her Master pushed to his feet in one easy move and turned to her with a pair of leather cuffs dangling from his fingers, his eyes dropped to her hands, darkened with a tempest of emotions she couldn’t easily decipher.
“How do I know you need pain?” he queried, crooking a finger and summoning her to stand before him. “It’s my responsibility to know what you need, Ava. To give it to you in a safe, sane, and consensual manner.” He scowled down at her when she padded hesitantly toward him. “Do you know the difference between hurting someone and harming them?”
Ava blinked slowly. “Um… no, Sir?”
“Intent.” Carefully, he fastened a fur-lined cuff around her wrist, slipping his finger between her skin and the soft fluff. Obviously satisfied, he repeated the motion with her other limb so her hands were linked by a short silver chain. “I intend to hurt you, little dove. By the time I’m done with you, you’ll have cried your heart out, your muscles will feel like water, and this tight little cunt will be begging me to fuck it until you come screaming on my cock.” Lips curved, he reached between her legs and dragged those damned rough fingertips along her slit. “Bad girls take my dick like a champ. How much of a bad girl are you?”
She recoiled slightly. “I-I’m not a bad girl.”
“No?” His wet fingertips tapped against her lips. “Suck.”
Storm-dark eyes bored into hers as she obeyed, leaning forward to close her mouth around two thick digits. His moan betrayed him when her tongue cleaned her juices off his skin along with the salty tang that was all him. “Good girl. Do you know what good girls get, Ava?”
He withdrew his fingers from her lips with a quiet pop of sound as he br
oke the suction formed by her eager service. “Cuddles and a lollipop, Sir?”
Finnegan laughed. “Not quite. They get a promise, little dove. These marks on your body? They were caused by intent. Intent to harm. I won’t tolerate it. So, I’m promising you now, I’ll give you exactly what you’re searching for. I’ll give you the pain, but I will not harm you. Trust me?”
To her horror, her bottom lip quivered. From sexual threats to solemn promises, she wasn’t prepared for the ride his words sent her on. His voice went to battle with her father’s, the two clashing together in a head-on collision. But it was Finnegan’s eyes on hers, his hands gripping her shoulders now, and her father was a thousand miles away. “I…” Fuck it. If this was just for one night, she was taking it. “I trust you, Master Finnegan.”
The smile curving his lips warmed his eyes, lightened them. “Excellent. Now, arms up. You have your safe word,” he continued as he reached up for a length of chain attached to a section of rigging. He dragged it down, attached a silver clip to the end of the chain. “This is a panic hook. Quick release. All I have to do is pull this bit here”—he demonstrated, and the clip snapped apart—“and you’re free. You tell me if you have any issues with numbness or tingling in your hands. I will be checking.”
Ava rocked slightly as the clip hooked onto the chain of her cuffs and she felt the world sway with her. She set her feet apart to keep her balance, growing warm as she suddenly realized just how many people were gathering around the rigging area to watch her submit to one of the tallest men in the room.
“Color?” Finnegan demanded.
“Green, Sir.”
“Good girl. Prompt answer.” The heat of him pressed against her back as his arms came around her. One of his big mitts pressed between her breasts as his erection poked against her spine. “Now breathe with me, little dove. Deep breath in… in… hold.” His chin rested on her shoulder, his own breath stroking the shell of her ear. “Release slowly.”
