“I’ll get onto it, Catriona, you don’t need to do anything. Just carry on as normal,” Eric said.
“Easy for you to say. It’s not your fucking reputation we are talking about. I’ve had this prejudice before and it takes time and a lot of effort to put it right. They think there’s no smoke without fire and I’m guilty as charged. They’re only too happy to get some dirt on me!”
“Eric, we’ll meet here again in a couple of days. Can you have something for us by then?” Prometheus was anxious to get it all sorted.
“I’ll do my best, but I’m not promising anything,” Eric said.
* * * *
Eric spoke to Lulu, who turned out to be Roger’s ex-girlfriend and sub.
“Where did you get this rumour from?”
“It’s not a rumour, Sir. Master Roger told me, and he was the one who gave her the EMT shears.”
“Where and when did this incident take place?”
“He didn’t say, Sir, but he’s a member of Davy Jones’s Locker, so I suppose it was there.”
“When did he tell you?”
“A couple of weeks ago, Sir. I haven’t been to that club since then. I’ve been coming here.”
“Are you as member of that club?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“What are you doing in this one then?”
“I, er, I came to see what it’s like, Sir.”
“Have you spoken to Mistress Catriona?”
“Yes, Sir. I wanted to do a scene with her, but she turned me down.”
“I see, when was that?”
“Last week, Sir. Oh, that has nothing to do with this.”
“No? If you thought she was incompetent and dangerous why did you want to do a scene with her? She’s a rope Top and does Kinbaku scenes, nothing else. It seems odd to me that you’d want to do a scene with someone you think is dangerous and careless, unless of course you’re lying to me?”
“No! Oh no I’m not lying to you, Sir. Master Roger told me this. He has no reason to lie. He said he saw her in this club and she tied his sub up and made a mess of it.”
Eric began to see daylight. Master Roger must be the mean-looking Dom.
“Well, I’m telling you that you will not discuss this again in this club. If I hear you have done, you won’t be welcome here again. You may still find yourself persona non grata here in any case. I’ll investigate further and let you know.”
* * * *
At the next Dom’s meeting the gist of the rumours was put on record. It was being said that Catriona had bound a nameless sub in a takate-kote, and the cinch ropes under her arms were a bit too tight. The sub had been uncomfortable, but had said nothing, assuming her Top knew what she was doing. The harness was attached upward to a suspension rig. When the sub had fainted, Catriona couldn’t get her down because she had forgotten her EMT shears and she couldn’t untie the knots against the pull of her sub’s weight. Luckily, another rope Top, Master Roger, was present, and did have his shears, so he lent them to her, but it had been a close-run thing.
When Eric passed this information on to the meeting, Catriona knew the rumour had been started by another rope Top. No one else would have known how to accuse her in such a telling way. Catriona was incandescent with fury. She would never be without her EMT shears. She’d had that instilled into her by her mentors. She would never let them down in such a way.
Eric told them all he had found out from Lulu.
“It’s my belief that she only half believes what Master Roger told her. She came here in order to cause trouble. He sent her to do just that, but she had an extra incentive when you turned her down for a scene, Catriona. Why she would want a scene with you, if she really believed the rumours she’s spreading, is beyond me.”
“Who the hell is this Master Roger? I don’t know him. Why does he have it in for me?
“Well now, that’s interesting. Master Roger Welland turns out to be the mean Dom who accompanied Angel on his first visit to the club. However, and here’s another strange thing, he’s not a rope Top. I did dig further. I found that Mistress Dark, an older pro Domme, had provided Welland with the information he needed.”
“That bitch. She’s always been jealous of me, so she would be more than happy to provide Welland with the information he needed to harm me.”
“Why is Welland doing it? It seems to be overreacting to that incident with Angel. He wasn’t Angel’s Dom anyhow, just brought him for the evening?” Prometheus asked.
“I’m still working on that," Eric replied.
“You have our full confidence and support, Catriona. If anyone hears any more rumours bring them, and the person repeating them, to me,” Prometheus said.
* * * *
Catriona seemed different. Angel could see something was bothering her, but she wouldn’t talk to him about it. She said he’d enough on his mind without her problems and she would sort it out herself. He also knew that something was going on in Prometheus in Chains and that more than likely it had something to do with her. The subs all went silent when he arrived, then they all started to talk at once about something innocuous. He decided to speak to Master Eric.
He went to the bar and waited until Master Eric was alone.
“Master Eric, may I speak to you?”
“Certainly, Angel, what is it?”
“I don’t want to be disloyal, speaking behind her back, but I’m worried about Mistress.”
“What is it?” Eric asked.
“She’s different. She’s worried about something,” Angel said.
“Have you spoken to her about it?”
“No, Master Eric.”
“Why not?”
“She doesn’t want to talk about it. She says there is nothing and that I can’t do anything about it. I know there is something wrong. I want to help her, and I want her to be happy,” Angel said emphatically.
“Very well. I will tell you, in the strictest confidence. There are rumours about her circulating in the club.” Eric told Angel all about it.
“Roger Welland works for my father in quality control at Parkgate Cutlery. We shall go and see what Welland has to say for himself tomorrow, if you’d care to accompany me?” Angel suggested.
The next day Roger Welland was summoned to the office of the head of human resources. Angel, now very much Adrian Webster, was seated behind his desk. Eric was seated in a chair to one side of the desk. Adrian’s voice was cold and hard.
“Why did you contact Mistress Dark and circulate that rumour about Mistress Catriona?” he asked.
At first Welland denied it. Adrian saw Eric sit back, and he knew Eric was seeing not Angel, the sub, but a different person. Angel, the sub, was transformed in this office in his workplace. Adrian Webster was a totally different person, and in full command of the situation. In the end Welland confessed.
“It was under Mrs Webster’s orders, sir.”
There was a stunned silence as that fact sank in.
“You may go, but you will remain silent. Say nothing at all about what we have discussed, least of all to Mrs Webster! You will contradict those rumours that Lulu started. Make sure she knows that you withdraw everything. I want her and you to tell as many people as you can that they were false. I want you to start right away. If you want to keep your job here, you’d better make sure you do it well!”
Adrian’s voice, cold before, was glacial now.
Welland left, and Adrian turned to Eric. Adrian was calm and dignified.
“I’ll deal with this. I would be obliged if you would mention it to no one at all!”
Chapter Eleven
Catriona was so angry and frustrated. She wanted to lash out at anyone and everyone. She had clients that day and was afraid of what she might do. The first two were Harvey and Lawrence, regular clients of hers. They usually arrived together and watched each other’s sessions, if she permitted it, and she generally did. Then they would leave the club together for a day’s sightseeing in the Peak District.
They did this for a week every year and sometimes a weekend or two in addition. They spent some part of each day in Prometheus in Chains. Both were married to very vanilla wives. The wives were very comfortable with their husbands going away for the odd weekend to attend events. Sometimes they accompanied them on the weekends but always, when they came for the week, the wives came, too. The women had become friends over the years, and if they accompanied their husbands, they would shop or visit galleries and museums together. When the men came alone, they would take Catriona out for a meal on their last evening in the city. Only once had they invited Catriona to join the foursome for dinner. It hadn’t worked, so she’d never agreed to go again. She’d felt that the wives felt threatened by her. She’d no wish to ruin her Domme/client relationship or harm their marriages.
Today was different.
“One at a time!” she had told them. “No sharing!”
They’d looked askance at that but hadn’t argued. When she entered the room, Harvey was naked, on his knees with his head bowed as usual. She stalked into the room and over to him. “I have things going on that are affecting me. Remember your safe word and use it! Don’t trust that I will stop unless you do. Have you got that clear?” she said in a low, intense voice.
She could see he was confused and anxious at this new turn of events. Bugger it! she thought as she fought for control. Harvey was an old friend. He’d been her faithful client for years. He must have heard the rumours, but still he came for his session and didn’t doubt her. He didn’t deserve this shit! He’d never questioned her skill, and she ought not to make him pay. She stilled then and thought. If she continued this way, then the rumour-monger would have won! He or she would have influenced Catriona, made her change because of what they’d said.
“Fuck him or her! Fuck them all!” she said out loud.
She strode out of the room and went to collect Lawrence.
“Get in there and keep quiet,” she said.
This was going to be business as usual. She’d be damned if she’d let them win. She was the best. She’d been taught and mentored by the best. She checked her toy bag in case the cowardly, unknown rumour-monger had done more than gossip and maybe had removed some of her safety equipment. No. Her EMT shears were in place as usual!
“Right,” she said. “Let’s begin!”
At the end of the double session, Harvey and Lawrence hugged Catriona and thanked her. She saw puzzlement in their eyes, but she didn’t feel up to explaining. They would get over it and be back.
Angel was waiting for her, and gave her the usual water with ice and a twist of lime in it. He took her to Prometheus’s office and explained what they had found out, but she felt he had left something out. She jumped up and began to pace, lashing the flogger against her thigh. She was one pissed-off Domme.
“Bugger all this discussion about whether a woman can be suspended by her breasts that’s going the rounds in the clubs at present. If I get my hands on Roger Welland, we shall find out if a man can be suspended by his balls!”
Angel gave a crack of laughter and said, “What makes you think he has any?”
Catriona managed a smile at that sally, then she asked him to tell her the rest. She’d seen in his eyes that he was keeping something from her.
When he told her that it was all his mother’s doing, she didn’t know how to react. She knew it must have been a difficult thing for him to admit. She could see he was angry about it. She didn’t want to come between him and his family. She had to think about this, and could she do it in his flat, in his bed? She didn’t want him to think she was rejecting him, either. She knew he depended upon her now and would be devastated if he thought she was wavering. Was she indeed wavering? No! She wanted him. He was the one, the one she’d been waiting for all her life, and she wanted him not just for today but forever. There was no doubt about that. How were they going to reconcile his parents to the match? Could she stand being the cause of a rift between them? If the choice was losing him or keeping him, she would fight tooth and nail to keep him. That was that then, question answered!
She knew that, even when Welland contradicted what he’d said, the rumours would not die down totally. She’d just have to ignore them, as she’d done in the past. She would just have to demonstrate again that she was the best. She’d always gone for the more difficult skill sets and mastered them. She’d proved she was above them all.
“Fuck ’em,” she said again in a firm voice, and Angel looked relieved.
Chapter Twelve
Angel had been anticipating her birthday for days, and getting ever more excited and impatient for the day to arrive. Catriona wondered what he had planned.
The day of her birthday dawned, and he woke her early, like a child at Christmas, unable to wait any longer. She was grumpy, until he presented her with a cup of her favourite tea, and two chocolate digestive biscuits. Once she had finished them, she felt more human, and he sat on the bed beside her to give her the package. The beautiful gold paper, with the dark-green cord caught her eye, then she noticed the diamond pattern of the hishi and turned to look at him.
“You tied this for me,” she said. It was not a question but he answered.
“Yes, Mistress, I did.”
“That is a beautiful tie, and you’ve executed it so well. You must have practised hard.”
“For you, Mistress, nothing is too much trouble.”
She heard the deep sincerity in his voice. She went for her camera and took a picture of the parcel, as he’d tied it. She untied the cord carefully and, out of ingrained habit, she coiled it neatly. She saw that he noticed what she had done, because he smiled. She was very much moved by his gift, and his thoughtfulness in learning to tie that hishi. Even if simple in execution, it was a powerful statement of love and commitment in her eyes, and she knew it was intentionally so. Then, reverently, she opened the gold paper, and revealed inside was another wrapping. The book had been carefully enclosed in folded white tissue paper, and the whole was sealed with a gold circle with “K” embossed upon it. She was loth to disturb the packaging but, conversely, wanted to tear it off to get to the book. She opted for the patient way, as Master “K” would have expected. She took further pictures first of the seal in place, then she opened the tissue. She picked up the book, The Beauty of Kinbaku, stroked it carefully, and held it to her. She looked at Angel over the top of it and smiled mistily at him.
“Open it, Mistress,” he said.
Inside was a special bookmark which fell on the floor, disregarded, as she read,
For Catriona. Fondest regards, Master “K”
She couldn’t speak for a moment. She looked at the signature then back at Angel.
“I will never ever forget what you have just done for me,” she said. She looked at the contents page and some of the photos of the beautiful ties, then she placed the book carefully on the table. She would find the perfect spot for it later. It was meant to be displayed, but she didn’t want it where the sun, when they were lucky enough to get a sunny day, would damage the beautiful cover.
She wanted to read it from cover to cover, and she intended to take her time doing just that. Now, however, she needed to take care of her sub. The sub who loved her enough to go to such trouble to please and reassure her. She knew exactly why he had bought that particular book just now, and why he had gone to the trouble of learning the tie.
Now she would use just that tie to adorn his beautiful body and then drive him wild with pleasure. She took him by the hand, to lead him to the bedroom. She fetched her toy bag and found herself thinking of checking that her EMT shears were in there.
Damn it, she knew they were there. She always had them there. That bastard had rattled her with his rumours. Calm, she had to calm herself.
She took deep breaths then reached for her rope. When she started to tie Angel, the connection was there. She felt it as her skill in her craft took over, and she laid the rope in the familiar pattern. She had chosen the dark gr
een she loved. Most appropriate, she thought. His gift had been wrapped in green and gold, and she was wrapping her golden Angel in green. When she had completed the tie, she stood back and admired her work. He looked magnificent. He was so tall and blond, and his hair was longer already. His frame was muscular, but not overly so. He looked at her, with adoration in his eyes. She felt as she always felt when tying someone she had a connection with. A quiet calm overtook her, and the world fell away.
“Lie back. You’re good enough to eat, my Angel,” she said and proceeded to do just that. His cock was hard as rock, but the skin covering it was soft as thistledown. She loved to worship at his cock. Cupping his balls in her hand, she rolled them carefully. Just a small bite of pain was all she gave him. Then she rubbed the drop of pre-cum over the head of his cock and licked her thumb.
“Mm, you taste so good I could lick you all day.”
She bent her lead and delicately licked off the pre-cum, and he twitched. She could feel he wouldn’t last long, so she intended to make it a good, hard ride for him. He was too long and thick for her to take all of him in her mouth, so she worked her hand in tandem. One hand rolled his sac, the other pumped at the base of his cock, and her hot mouth took as much of him as she could. Her tongue lashed the head of his cock repeatedly, then she changed rhythm and dipped the tip delicately into his slit.
“Mistress.” He panted. “Please I need release. Please make me come. I love to feel your tongue in my slit and your mouth on my sac.”
She obliged him, sucking his sac into her mouth and tonguing his balls as he moaned and writhed. The she returned to the head of his cock. “I love your taste and your smell. Come for me, Angel.”
She pumped her hand and sucked as hard as she could, and then he stilled and shouted out her name as he exploded into her mouth. Streams of hot, salty cum hit the back of her throat, and she swallowed every drop. When his orgasm was over, he stilled and lay back, limp on the bed. She cleaned his cock and held him close in her arms, snuggling his head into her shoulder and stroking his hair. Eventually, she untied her rope slowly to prolong the pleasure for them both and coiled it neatly, restoring it to her toy bag.
Catriona's Golden Angel [Prometheus in Chains 6] (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 6
