by Brynley Bush
“Because it is a big deal, Ava!” he says vehemently. “In the BDSM lifestyle, a collar like that is a symbol of a commitment between a Dom and sub or Master and slave. You barely know him! You aren’t just wearing it during scenes or official game events, so he clearly doesn’t intend for it to be just for play. And I know enough about Roman Castile to know he didn’t give you that simply for appearances’ sake for the games. It’s the real deal.” He shuts off my treadmill and fingers the padlock. “Christ, is this thing locked on?”
I nod.
“You’re getting in way over your head, Ava. I’m worried about you.”
“I’m fine!” I give him a pointed look and start the treadmill again. He stops it.
“Ava, I’m serious.”
I cross my arms over my chest. “I don’t understand why you’re getting so upset over this. You’re a Dom too. Why are you judging Roman for what you do yourself?”
“Because I don’t put collars on girls I’ve only known a couple of weeks. And because you’re completely inexperienced, and Roman has no idea! He thinks you’re like the rest of the submissive contestants, for Christ’s sake. It’s why he was such an asshole at Western Night. He told me what he said to you about it making no difference who made you come. And how he mentioned Anthony,” he adds derisively. “He thinks Anthony’s an ex-boyfriend or something.”
That stops me cold. “He told you about that? When?”
Emmett sighs. “He came to talk to me after Western Night when you were upset and wouldn’t talk to him. He wanted to know what he did and how to get you to forgive him.”
I feel a rush of warmth that Roman cared enough about me to put aside his pride and ask for Emmett’s help.
“You didn’t tell him who Anthony is, did you?”
“Of course not. I did punch him, though,” he admits sheepishly.
“Oh, Emmett,” I say, relinquishing and giving him a hug. I can’t stay mad at him. “I love you for that, but you don’t have to protect me from Roman. He knows the truth now.”
Emmett’s eyebrows shoot up in surprise.
“Well, not about everything,” I add hastily. “He doesn’t know about Anthony or my past or why I’m really here, other than the fact that I have no money and no place to live, which is part of the truth, just not all of it. But I told him everything else after the paintball games. You know, about my experience or lack of.”
“So he knows you’re not submissive?”
I nod.
“And he knows you’re a virgin?”
“Was,” I clarify.
“Motherfucker!” Emmett looks like he wants to punch something again, and I’m glad Roman’s not around. “Fuck! I never should have talked you into doing this.”
“I’m glad you did,” I say softly, putting my hand on his arm. “It’s been good for me. Roman hasn’t made me do anything I didn’t want to do. In fact, I had to beg him to do some of it.”
Emmett holds up a hand. “Spare me the details. Listen, if you like exploring this dynamic, you should do it with someone who will gently lead you, not a tough, demanding, ruthlessly sadistic Dominant like Roman who doesn’t have a merciful bone in his body.”
“He’s not that bad,” I say, smiling.
Emmett shoots me an incredulous look. “Don’t you dare fall for him, Ava! He’s not the man for you.”
“Of course he’s not! And I’m not falling for him,” I say indignantly. “You know me. I have no intention of getting involved with anyone, and certainly not someone like Roman. And I’m sure he feels exactly the same. But you’re wrong about him. He can be hard and completely authoritarian and even cruel sometimes, but he has a good heart.”
“I’m not sure he has a heart at all,” Emmett says darkly.
“Roman makes me feel again. Do you know what that means to me?” I look at him pleadingly, begging him to understand.
He nods. “Of course I do,” he says quietly, rubbing his hand across his face. “I just don’t trust him.”
“But I do,” I say simply.
“Well, fuck!” he says finally.
Chapter Nineteen
Roman
“What are you worried about?” Ava asks as we get ready for our evening in the Helix Room.
I look up at her in surprise. “Why do you think I’m worried?”
“Because you get all frowny,” she says.
“I don’t get frowny,” I retort.
“Yes, you do. Now you know how it feels not to be in control of everything,” she says with a smug little smile.
“I do like to be in control,” I say unapologetically. “When I can control my surroundings, I can protect the people I need to protect, which in this case is you.”
Now it’s her turn to frown. “What do you need to protect me from?”
“I don’t know. I just don’t like not knowing what’s going to be expected of you tonight. You’re still so new to this, I’m not sure how you’ll react to some of the situations that might be required, such as another man touching you.”
Her eyes look slightly frantic. “I don’t want another man touching me!”
“I don’t want another man touching you,” I say grimly. “But we may not have a choice.”
“Can you blindfold me?”
“Blindfold you? Why?”
“So then I couldn’t see who it was, and I could just pretend it’s you.”
She never fails to surprise the shit out of me. I nod. “If that’s what you want.”
“It is,” she says definitively. “Being blindfolded somehow makes things easier for me.”
I lightly circle her areola beneath the sheer blouse she’s wearing. “Are they still sensitive?”
The clothespins on the zip line I’d bought at the Helix’s shop didn’t have as much tension or bite as regular clothespins, but they still would have been intense where I’d placed them, yet she hadn’t said yellow. That had been my original intent—to push her just far enough so she’d say yellow and realize that was okay—but I’d been forced to change tactics when it became apparent she wasn’t going to. Instead, she’d actually squirted when I’d pulled the string that snapped all the clothespins off her breasts at once. My girl is definitely a masochist, and the best possible kind.
I wonder again what it will take to break her. The demon inside me demands that I push her and find her breaking point, but the man in me is terrified of pushing her too far and destroying my chance to have her on a permanent basis. And I do want that. I want Ava as my full-time submissive more than I’ve wanted anything in a long time.
She shakes her head shyly. “No. I’m fine.”
“Good to know.” I’m smiling as I guide her out of our suite with my hand on the small of her back. I feel her tremble, and I’m glad I went with my instincts and didn’t touch her last night. We’ll both be better tonight for it, although my balls are aching as a result.
The Helix Room is crowded when we arrive, and we’re directed into a private room where all the contestants have been gathered. Logan is already there, and he wastes no time telling us the rules for the games this evening.
“As I told you all yesterday, each Dom will draw to determine which equipment he’ll be using with his submissive tonight. Gentlemen?”
One by one, the Doms each draw a folded piece of paper from a large glass bowl. I smile as I read mine; the station I drew will be perfect for what I have in mind for Ava tonight.
“What is it?” she asks breathlessly.
“That’s for me to know and you to find out,” I tease.
She pouts, and I kiss her, nipping at her full lower lip. “Be careful, sweetheart,” I murmur. “Or that attitude of yours is going to get you into trouble.”
She looks up at me from beneath her lashes and says a little too eagerly, “Really?”
“You can count on it now, princess.”
Once everyone has drawn, Logan sends the submissives into the dressing room to remove their clothing—all of it—
and outlines the remaining rules of the evening for the Doms. Each submissive must be publicly restrained using the equipment of her Dom’s choice, with their hard limits posted next to them and left for thirty minutes while the guests are allowed to play with them as long as they stay within the sub’s posted limits.
I’m seething inside. There’s no public play that’s within Avalon’s limits, but we don’t have a choice if we’re going to continue to compete. The games demand she participate.
We reenter the club, and I survey my options, wondering what will cause my submissive—and me—the least distress. A cage? I make a mental note to ask her how she feels about them, but some girls get completely freaked out by being locked in one. Tonight’s definitely not the time to try it. Rachel had told me Ava had been terrified of the pillory at Western Night, and the St. Andrew’s cross will leave her too defenseless for my liking. I decide on the pedestal. There’s no way I’m letting her lips touch another man’s dick, and since the pedestal is raised, she’ll be too high to be used that way. And at least she’ll have a chance to keep her legs closed. I make a mental note to thoroughly kick Logan’s ass after this is all over.
Ava walks in with the rest of the submissives, and my cock throbs at the sight of her, her flawless, milky skin completely exposed, naked except for the collar. My collar.
She’s vibrating with nerves when she reaches my side, and I wrap my arm around her, lifting her chin with my finger so I can see her eyes.
“The first part is going to be hard,” I say honestly.
“What is it?” she asks tremulously.
“You have to be bound and available to the Helix Room’s patrons for thirty minutes with your hard limits posted next to you.”
I watch her face as the ramifications of what that thirty minutes will entail sink in. “Oh,” she breathes. Her body is quivering with tension, and the dread in her eyes is killing me.
“You can always safe-word if it’s too much. Or we can quit now; it’s up to you. But if you want to go through with it, I promise I’ll make the second part worth it.”
She takes a deep, steadying breath, and the Ava I first met—the one who’s calm and cool and disassociated—takes over. “I can do it. Where?”
We’ve been walking as we talk, and I stop at one of the pedestal tables surrounded by the leather banquet. “Here.”
“Okay,” she says, pressing her lips together tightly. “I’m ready.”
I lift her onto the pedestal, and she voluntarily raises her arms for me to fasten into the cuffs that hang from the ceiling. When she’s secure, I pull the chain that yanks her up onto her toes.
Her gaze flies to mine. “Why did you do that?”
“It’ll be harder for someone to keep your legs open this way.”
Comprehension flares in her eyes. “Thank you, Sir,” she whispers.
I cup her cheek and kiss her hard. “This is going to be as hard for me as it is for you,” I say grimly.
“I somehow doubt that,” she mutters darkly, and I can’t help but smile. I love her spirit even when she’s afraid, or maybe especially then.
“You still want the blindfold?”
She nods. “Yes, please.”
I take the blindfold from my toy bag and tie it over her eyes. She shudders.
“I won’t leave you, Avalon. I’ll be standing right here the entire time.”
“Really?”
Her relief slays me. “I promise.”
She nods again.
I look at her naked body, so beautiful in submission with her hands bound above her, her small, perfectly formed breasts jutting out slightly as her back arches to keep her on her tiptoes, the blindfold somehow diminishing her identity. But I know exactly who she is. She’s mine.
I grab a passing waiter and instruct him to bring me a permanent marker. When he returns with it, I walk over to the pedestal and wordlessly write ROMAN’S across her pelvis with an arrow pointing to her mound. Then I take up residence in front of the banquet, carefully watching each man and a few women who stop to caress, tease, and occasionally spank her, making sure no one crosses her boundaries. But each touch kills me. It’s all I can do not to deck the Dom who stops to toy with her nipples, and when the man who has been earmarked to manage the Helix tries to pry her legs apart, I take a menacing step toward him, and one look at my face has him hurrying off. I will fucking tear apart the man who tries to claim what’s mine.
Before long, she has another guard. Emmett plants himself on the other side of her, and between the two of us, all but the most persistent guests move on to easier conquests.
Rebecca is in one of the giant hanging cages, and although Emmett is keeping his eye on her, she’s clearly enjoying herself—vigorously sucking the cocks that are thrust through the bars of the cage and arching sensuously into the hands that reach in to stroke her. Sometimes she seems more Domme than submissive; at the very least she has a propensity to top from the bottom. She’s damn lucky she’s not my partner.
Ava has asked me to trust her where Emmett is concerned, and I realize I’m going to have to. I nod at him, glad for his presence on the other side of her. He nods back in acknowledgment and remains there for the entire thirty minutes. But by the time I’ve removed Ava’s blindfold, he’s gone.
Her knees buckle as I uncuff her, and she sags into my arms, her face buried in my chest. I tighten my grip on her and inhale her scent.
“How was that?” I ask. I have to know. “Did you enjoy the feel of other men’s hands on your body, bringing you pleasure when you’re helpless to stop them?”
My question has no censure despite my personal feelings about it. Some subs find it erotic to be used by others, and I need to know if Avalon’s one of them.
She lifts tortured eyes to look into mine. “I don’t ever want to do that again,” she says vehemently. “There is no pleasure when it isn’t you,” she adds in a whisper.
Thank God! My fingers tangle in her hair, and I kiss her, branding her as mine. I press my tongue against the seam of her lips, and she opens to me like a flower, welcoming the claim I stake on her mouth.
“You did well. I’m proud of you.”
She smiles tremulously. Then she glances down at her stomach and back at me incredulously. “You did this?”
“Just making sure it’s clear who you belong to,” I mutter.
“I don’t know whether to be grateful or pissed.”
“You don’t get the option for either,” I say matter-of-factly. “I’ll mark my property as I see fit.”
We have a while before our equipment demonstration, so we mill around with the crowd, stopping to watch Jake and Rose’s scene on the St. Andrew’s cross.
Ava’s looking a little shell-shocked, and I want her more relaxed for the next part of the games. “Do you want a drink? I think you’ve earned one after that.”
“Yes, please.”
I think about taking her with me, but the bar is crowded and the guests are getting rowdy. I imagine she’s still feeling fragile and exposed, and the last thing she needs right now is someone trying to cop a feel. She’ll be safer if I leave her here. Emmett and Rebecca are standing nearby, and I nod to Emmett. “I’m going to the bar. Can I get you guys something?”
Emmett and I exchange a look of understanding as he nods back. He’ll watch Ava while I’m gone. He sends Rebecca with me, and while we’re waiting for our drinks, she says casually, “You know, I know who you are. I’ve heard of you.”
“What have you heard?” I ask, looking at her sharply.
She smiles seductively. “You have a reputation as one of the toughest but sexiest Masters at the Dominion Club. Your skill with a flogger is notorious. Your skill with a whip is legendary.” She lowers her voice as she looks up at me from beneath her lashes. “You also have a reputation for never getting attached to the subs you play with. I guess that’s why you don’t mind that Ava has a thing with Emmett.”
The woman is clearly a troublemaker. I�
��m tempted to teach her some manners even if she isn’t my sub.
“Ava doesn’t have a thing with Emmett,” I say curtly.
Her big blue eyes widen. “You don’t think so? They’re so close. Surely you’ve noticed. And since they keep sneaking off to see each other, I just assumed…” She trails off. “But I’m sure you’re right.”
“Ava hasn’t had time to sneak out to see Emmett,” I say with assurance.
She casts a sidelong look at me. “Are you sure? They definitely met up early this morning at the gym. He slipped her a note, asking her to meet him. I found it in his pocket last night before dinner.”
I look up abruptly. Damn the woman for planting seeds of doubt in my mind. Ava and Emmett had been together at the elevator when I’d come downstairs to get her after my call last night, and Ava had jumped guiltily before rushing into the elevator. Ava did mention she’d gone to the gym this morning while I was asleep, but she hadn’t said anything about Emmett.
My hands ball into fists. She’s asked for my trust, and I’m going to give her the benefit of the doubt, but she’s got some explaining to do. I won’t be played for a fool.
“I suggest you worry more about pleasing your Dom and less about my submissive,” I suggest to Rebecca sternly as the bartenders return with our drinks.
“Fine. But let me know if you want my help in giving them a taste of their own medicine when you realize I’m right. I love a man who can wield a whip,” she adds suggestively, trailing a finger up my forearm.
“The next time you proposition a Dom who is not your own, I will make sure your punishment is both public and severe enough that you think twice before disrespecting your Dom. Consider yourself warned,” I say coldly.
It doesn’t help my mood when I return to find Ava and Emmett standing close, their heads together. I’m slightly mollified by the brilliant smile Ava flashes me when she turns to see me standing behind her with her drink. I hand it to her and pull her aside as Emmett excuses himself.
“Rebecca says you snuck out to see Emmett this morning,” I say evenly.
She looks down. “I didn’t sneak out. You were asleep.”
