by Jill Shannon
One of the lawyers from my grandmother’s estate called the house one afternoon to set up a meeting to transfer the funds when I graduated high school. Grandma knew we would need the money for college, and to help us build our lives away from our abusive parents. She always regretted not knowing until it was too late.
She didn’t realize I would be the only one collecting. They, however, did. The moron lawyer told my stepmom everything. Right down to the penny how much I would receive. I was on the other extension and heard the whole conversation.
“That night I overheard them plotting and I took off. I never looked back and I never saw them again. They were going to have me committed to an asylum.”
“Not to sound insensitive, but what happened to the inheritance?” Bella asked, placing her napkin on her plate,
“As far as I know, it’s still with the lawyers. I’m the only one who can access it.”
They quieted down again when Jackie came to collect the dishes, and ask about drinks and dessert. When she left, Madison continued.
“I was on the streets at seventeen, a bunch of street women took me in. They kept me alive, and in return, I turned tricks. Madam took very good care of her girls. Her escort business grew, and she branched out. She had locations on both coasts.
“I had always wanted to go to California, so I volunteered to go. I fell in love the minute I walked off the plane. I was there for a few weeks when I saw an ad for help with a local play. I figured what the hell, I liked it in school and I was pretty good.
“I signed up as a volunteer, and learned how to dance and act by watching from the sidelines.” Madison took a sip of water.
“Why didn’t you take some college courses?” Sadie asked, regretting the question as it left her mouth. “I’m such as idiot; without your diploma or a GED, you can’t go to college right?”
“Right.” She paused, looking at Sadie. “Well, getting back to my breakdown. I had met Marco at a club in L.A. and we became instant friends. After talking with Marco, I became very interested in the lifestyle. I read everything I could on the topic. I knew I was a submissive, and wanted to try out my new lifestyle.
“Marco offered for me to go to with him as his guest to the club. Once we were inside, he went his way and I went to the bar. That night changed both of our lives. I still can’t talk about it, but needless to say, I now seem to have these panic attacks that incapacitate me. Marco is good to have around if I have one. He got used to them. After the incident, he felt so guilty for leaving and not checking up on me, he moved in with me.”
Madison lowered her head again, looking at her hands on the table. “I’m afraid I blew things with Master Dimitri, he was gone before I got up, and there was no note telling me what I was supposed to do.” She took a drink of her water. “Any ideas?”
Isabella had some idea of what Madison was experiencing. “If it were me, first thing I’d do is make sure the money is still held with the law firm. Next, I would get my GED.” Madison’s face had gone very pale.
“Then, I’d think about talking to a professional. I’ve heard it can really help.” Isabella didn’t need to tell them, she had first hand knowledge. “And, as far as Master Dimitri, wait on that one til you talk to him. Don’t make any rash decisions. The fact that he held you to keep you safe says a lot.”
A nervous look was on Madison’s face when she looked at Isabella. “I feel like the lowest insect. All my life I was always strong enough to handle what was happening. Now, when I want someone as badly as I want him, my emotions blow apart so I can’t even deal. It just doesn’t make any sense to me.”
“How often do you have panic attacks?” questioned Sadie.
“For awhile they came very frequently after the club incident, but they tapered off….” Madison trailed off like she was going to say something, but stopped.
Sadie let that go and asked instead, “Do you know what triggers them? That might help to get them under control?”
Madison sat a little straighter in the booth. “It’s never been anything specific, but my hard limit list is extensive and specific, because of some of my attacks.” She smiled then at both women. “I think that is enough about me.” Changing the subject, she looked towards Sadie. “How was your night, what was so special?”
Sadie told them about her night, but held back telling them how hard she was falling for him. She just didn’t trust him totally yet.
***
Sadie left the girls and headed up to the Sun Deck, it was on the Executive Deck, but just for tanning. Thinking of the conversation with Madison and Isabella, she realized she had more in common with them than they knew.
She found a deck chair close to the railing. From here she could see the pool. She rubbed some sunscreen on, carefully in some areas that were still a little tender after last night.
She found her book in her bag, as well as a bottle of water, and got comfortable. The sun felt so good, caressing her skin. If she wasn’t careful, she could fall asleep and get really sunburned. She didn’t think Cameron would like that.
At that thought, he appeared in what looked like shorts but were really swim shorts. He had on a white muscle tank, and a towel wrapped around his neck. His hair was pulled back in a rubber band. When he threw the towel on a chair, she saw the goggles around his neck.
He removed the shirt tossing it with his towel. Sadie’s mouth began watering looking at what she assumed was Cameron stretching, how his tattoo moved with his muscles. Pulling his arm across his chest and holding it, then doing the same to the other one. When he reached down touching the floor, legs spread, ass in the air, Sadie found she was holding her breath.
When he stood up, he turned and jumped into the pool, adjusting the goggles before he began doing laps. He sliced through the water with sure, sleek, strokes. Reaching the other side, he flipped over, pushing off the wall. There were not a lot of people in the pool at the time so Cameron would swim without any interruptions. Sadie wondered how many laps he could swim.
She relaxed back in the chair. She had been reading for a while when she noticed Cameron getting out of the pool. The water was running down his body, sliding down all the spots she would like to lick. Her daydream was torn apart when she saw Queenie holding his towel open for him.
He turned and she wrapped the corners around his broad shoulders. Sadie watched again as they conversed, but didn’t know what they were saying. She couldn’t see Cameron’s face, but she could see Queenie’s, her smile was radiant. A pit began to open in Sadie’s stomach, and then she saw Queenie drop to her knees in a perfect submissive position.
Cameron walked around her, as if he was inspecting Queenie, looking for flaws. When he was standing back in front of her, she raised her face to him, and he helped her up to her feet. Sadie was about to get up and go down and confront them. She rose from her chair, bending to pick up her bag. When she looked back at them, they were leaving the area, with Cameron guiding her towards his cabin, with his hand at the small of her back.
Sadie slumped back into the lounge chair. “What had just happened?” she thought. After the night they had spent together, and for all that he had said. How over and over he told her she was his. Maybe that meant something different to Cameron; maybe to him she was his for just last night.
That was it; Sadie was doing it again to herself. She was seeing things in her mind that were just not real. She was bought for his pleasure, and now he was finished. Why couldn’t she remember that—because she really didn’t want to believe he was finished with her? He was everything she had dreamed she’d find in a Dom and then some. He truly seemed interested in her, but that must have been just to fill the time.
She got up from the chair with her bag, and headed to Cameron’s cabin to find out what was going on. She tried not to make up her own scenario and was trying to keep an open mind. She got to the door and put the key in, but it didn’t open the door. She tried three more times and the same thing happened every time.
Giving up, she headed down to guest relations to get a new cabin key. Christy was working behind the desk when Sadie arrived. “Hey, Christy, how’s it going? Could you give me another card for Cameron’s cabin, mine doesn’t seem to want to work any more?”
Christy got a sour look on her face before she looked at Sadie saying, “Sorry, Sadie, Cameron had the cabin keys changed on purpose.” She handed her a different key. “I was told to tell you your old cabin is all ready for you again.”
“Oh, okay, thank you for the information.” Sadie plastered a smile on her face; she was barely holding it together. “He just didn’t mention anything to me, have a good day.” She grabbed the key and made her way to the elevator, holding in the tears that wanted to escape.
She made it to her cabin without running into anyone. Leaning on the door as it closed, the tears flowed from her eyes. She walked into her cabin, and found all her stuff back as well. More tears flowed, she had been right all along. It really sucked to be right. She threw her bag on the couch, stomping into the bathroom for a tissue. She wiped her eyes and blew her nose. She threw the tissue in the trashcan getting madder as she went. She stomped back into her cabin, and by the time she was standing on her balcony, she was enraged.
Her brain took over; she had to be logical now, not emotional. That was very hard to do when what she had seen, put things into perspective. Her belongings being in her cabin only finalized things for her.
It was fun while it lasted, she thought. She took several deep breaths of the sea air. Shaking her entire body as if she had a chill, she thought to herself, “Okay, I can do this. I wasn’t expecting to do anything but sing, so I need to get back in that mindset. I need to avoid Cameron as much as possible.”
She pushed away from the railing, checking the time. Her appointment for her massage was set for 5:00 pm, and the clock on the desk read 4:45. Sadie picked up her new cabin key, gathered some clothes, and was off again.
She took the stairs this time, passing the pool as she made her way to the spa. She was slowly walking past a couple sitting by the pool when her ears perked up to what they were saying when she heard Cameron’s name.
“Your sure Cameron hasn’t realized what you were doing?”
“No, Master, he believes everything I tell him. I have a plan for tonight that should put me right back in his bed for good.”
“Very nice, my pet. Now with Sadie out of the way, he will be attainable again. I have fulfilled my part of the bargain.” Sadie could hear the disdain in his voice for Cameron.
Sadie wanted to stay and hear what they where talking about, but just then they both started to rise from their chairs “We will continue this conversation in my suite. Too many people around now, meet me there in fifteen minutes.”
Sadie ducked behind an open door as they walked past. She rushed around the door and continued onto the spa. “What the hell was that all about? And who were they? The woman looked like Queenie, but Sadie had just seen her, she wouldn’t have had time to be sitting there, and who was ‘The Master’ she was talking to?”
That comment brought up another question “Who was the Master and why did he hate Cameron? There was also something familiar about his voice.” Then Sadie thought, “Should I say anything to Cameron, but then what could I really say? I heard two people talking about him. There’s nothing suspicious about that.”
Sadie made her way into the salon, and left all the questions at the door. It was none of her concern. Cameron had made that perfectly clear. She walked up to the desk, “Hi, I have a five o’clock massage appointment, it should be under Sadie?”
“Have a seat, Lucas will be right with you,” Yasmine said to Sadie, “he’s just finishing with his last appointment.”
“Okay, thank you.” Sadie took a seat in the waiting room. Looking around, it was a calming area, with candles burning, and soothing music playing in the background.
Sadie was just getting comfortable when a huge Norwegian man came through the door. Sadie had never met Lucas, but she could tell just from his stance he was a Dom and from his appearance a very stern one. She cringed a little.
A smile forming on his beautiful face, he walked toward her. “Sadie a pleasure to meet you, why don’t you come on back.” He stood to the side and held the door for her.
Sadie looked at Lucas thinking, “This might be just what I need to take my mind off Cameron.” She looked up at Lucas and smiled as she passed him.
***
The massage had been heavenly, and afterwards she had gone to the salon feeling so relaxed. She had a full makeover done, hair, nails, and makeup. Sadie had never felt so pretty. She felt like a new person. She had found out rather quickly that Lucas was not a possibility. As they had talked, he had mentioned his sub of ten years.
Although Sadie had considered playing head games with Cameron when she had first seen Lucas, after talking with him, she realized games were not the way to go. If he truly had moved on, then nothing she did would get him back. Keeping that in mind as she dressed to go to the casino, she dressed to entice.
She had never been to a casino; they didn’t have very many of them where she came from. She did know if she was going to find someone just for her like Lucas, she needed to put herself out there.
Some of the crew had made comments on her appearance during dinner. The spa had done wonders. That gave her more confidence as she changed into her attire for a night of fun.
She stood at the entrance of the casino, feeling self-conscious again. You would think that on a BDSM cruise, anything that someone wore would not draw the kind of attention Sadie was drawing with her ensemble.
She had chosen to dress gangster, not like the music, but like the 1920s gangster, with a little 21st Century added. Her blonde hair had been swept to the side and she wore a fedora tilted to the other side. She wore a white shirt collar with a red tie around her neck. Her strapless, skintight black dress had a swoop of material that came down behind her knees. Buttons ran along each side down to mid-thigh. Fishnet stockings with red bows started just below the dress hem. Her four-inch heels were red patent leather with ankle straps. To finish the outfit, she wore an Eisenhower jacket closed in the front.
She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, expanding her chest, and said a silent prayer. She released her breath, plastered a smile on her face, opened her eyes, and made her way down the few steps to the casino floor.
The casino was having a Texas Hold’em tournament, so that part of the casino was very crowded. Sadie knew how to play blackjack, but only from watching. The roulette and craps tables looked fun, but again she had never gambled. She wandered through the video slot machines. Sadie wondered how people understood the machines with three lines and drawings connecting different pay-out winnings. They were very confusing.
She rounded the corner and found a machine with one line across. There were jackpot pictures with black and crystal diamonds. The name on the machine said “Black Diamond” if you got three black diamonds in a row, you won. “This seems easy enough,” Sadie thought, as she sat down.
She got comfortable on the chair, crossing her long legs, took twenty dollars, and fed it to the machine. She watched the credits appear; she reached for the lever on the side and pulled. The symbols rolled around stopping in order of left to right.
The first few times Sadie lost, then she pulled the lever and she won what she had lost. Feeling better, she continued to play. The machine teased Sadie for just about an hour, she was almost out of credits as she realized how long she had been playing. She pulled the lever one last time figuring this would just end her twenty bucks. Now she knew how people got addicted to it. The symbols began to stop, one black diamond, two black diamonds, and finally, the third. The machine began to flash as the screen on the very top kept flashing a number over and over.
Sadie had no idea what was happening. Did she break the machine? People were looking at her with surprised expressions. A man in a suit with a nametag wa
s walking towards her with two other men trailing behind him. They stopped at her machine, and smiled at her saying, “Congratulations, you just won the progressive pot. How would you like your payout?”
She looked up at him. “I’m sorry, I don’t understand what just happened.”
“You won the progressive pot.” He pointed to the top of the machine with the flashing number. “That is what you just won.”
Sadie felt faint; in all her life she could never have imaged this happening to her. “You’re serious?” She was trying hard to breathe.
“You bet I am. Now, would you come with me so I can get some information from you?” He held his hand out for Sadie. She rose accepting his help, as she was a little unsteady on her feet. His eyes ran the length of her, taking in her outfit. “I don’t think we’ve met yet. I’m Grayson, the pit boss, Master Grayson, to be more specific.”
“I’m Sadie, nice to meet you.” She shook her head turning towards the machine. “I really won all that money?”
“You really did. Now, if you would follow me, we can get this settled. You can come back and gamble some more, unless I can entice you to come to my cabin, for some celebrating.” His voice was light, but Sadie had a feeling he was also serious about that.
“I’ve never gambled before, so I think I will come back and try something different.” She smiled as she started to follow him.
“Beginners luck. Be careful with that. You start out winning, and then, somehow, you have gambled your life away.”
Sadie heard something in how Grayson made that comment. Did he have first-hand experience with it, and that’s how he knew that, or had he been in the business long enough to see it happen repeatedly?
***
Cameron stood scanning the crowd in the casino looking for Sadie. “Christy had told him how stunned Sadie had looked when she had given her her old cabin key. Ever since then, he had been trying to get to her and explain as much as he could. But other things kept that from happening.
