by Brynley Bush
I explain the basic rules of each game to her, and she listens raptly.
“We should have our own bet,” she suggests.
I smile broadly. Logan and I get together every month to play poker, and I’m pretty decent at it, while Ava’s never played a game in her life. I like the odds so weighted in my favor.
“You’re on,” I say. “What’s the bet?”
“I don’t know. Whatever we want it to be.” She thinks for a minute, and then her eyes light up. “I know what I want. If I have more money than you at the end of the evening, I get to be in charge for the rest of the night. What do you want?”
“You’d go running from the room if I told you,” I say throatily.
She clears her throat. “Something reasonable. And within my limits.”
“Okay. I want you to be my pet for the rest of the night. I’m still not over missing out on that. I’d already picked out a nice leather collar and leash, a cute little tail, and a cozy little cage to put you in to keep you out of trouble.”
She glares at me indignantly, but not before I see her eyes widen and her pupils dilate. Oh, yes, I’m going to enjoy indulging in some pet play with her.
Once we’re at the Helix Casino, she’s all business. We play the slot machines for a while before moving on to the more serious games. I coach her on how to play each of the table games we try, letting her sample them all. She’s a quick study, and I enjoy watching her concentration while she plays, and her excitement when she wins. Surprisingly, given her prowess at hiding her emotions, poker is definitely her worst game. I convince her to stay for the sake of our standing in the games, and by the time we fold, I’ve tripled my money.
She has a blast playing craps, and I find I’m content to just watch her, savoring every smile she directs my way and drinking in her laughter. I get the feeling my little Avalon hasn’t had much opportunity to go out and let loose and have fun for the sake of having fun, and I vow to change that. I love this less serious and unguarded side of her.
However, she’s still my submissive, and I make sure she doesn’t forget it. I touch her frequently, sometimes lightly caressing her back or a creamy expanse of thigh revealed by the high slit in her dress, other times gripping her neck or brushing over her breasts with unmistakable ownership. We both lose money at the craps table and move on to blackjack, which we quickly learn Ava has an affinity for. She’s got a head for math, and she’s either the luckiest person I’ve ever met, or she has an innate sense for knowing when to hit or stay, and by the time Logan announces its time to cash out, she has a pile of chips in front of her.
“I’m pretty sure I beat you,” she says smugly as we wait to cash in our chips.
“We’ll see,” I say complacently. I won every hand of poker, and more than a few at the blackjack table. I’m confident I’ll be teaching my little puppy a few tricks later tonight. I might even take her for a walk around the hotel on a leash just to enjoy her humiliation.
“Fifty-one thousand dollars for the lady and fifty thousand for the gentleman,” the dealer says as we cash out.
She flashes me a triumphant smile. “Your ass is mine tonight,” she says gleefully.
I fucking hope she’s joking.
* * * *
Back in our suite, she orders me to strip, and I comply, taking my time as I slide off my tie and then unbutton my shirt methodically before shrugging out of it. Her eyes are glowing with heat and admiration as they rove over my bare chest. I slowly pull off my belt, enjoying her little start of recognition at the sound of it clearing the loops. I ease my pants over my hips, letting them pool on the floor as I step out of my underwear. My cock juts out, hard and erect, and she licks her lips nervously.
If she’s like most submissives, she’ll be uncomfortable being in charge for long, but I’m willing to let her play out her fantasy. I doubt she’ll go too far.
She bites her lip as she studies the ceiling inset with a look of consternation on her face.
“Need some help?” I ask.
“No,” she retorts. She fixes me with what’s meant to be a stern gaze, and I fight back a smile. She’s fucking adorable.
“The only two words I want to hear out of your mouth are yes and ma’am.”
“Yes, ma’am,” I say deliberately, giving her my most imposing stare.
“Or just yes will be fine,” she adds hastily. “And you’ve officially earned a blindfold now.”
She goes to the armoire and comes back with a black blindfold, standing on her tiptoes to tie it over my eyes. I hear her sigh of relief, and then her light footsteps followed by the sound of her rummaging through the armoire. She must have figured out how the carabiners and cables work, because minutes later she’s wrapping Velcro cuffs around my wrists and clipping them to the ceiling overhead so I’m immobilized. I’m wondering why the hell I agreed to this, when I feel her soft lips kissing along my inner thighs, slowly inching their way up to my balls, which she takes into her mouth, sucking gently. Then those sweet lips close over my cock, and holy fuck! I’m a goner. Her tongue circles the head teasingly a few times before flicking the very tip sharply. She traces my shaft erotically and then starts licking at that secret spot where the head connects to the outer skin of my shaft with rapid little thrusts of her tongue. I almost go insane. I yank at the cuffs holding me immobile, desperate to tangle my fingers in her hair as I push myself deeper into her. But for once in my life, I’m powerless to take what I want.
She’s in charge of this show, and it becomes quickly apparent that she has her own agenda, which unfortunately doesn’t include deep throating me. At least not yet; I’m still hopeful. One hand grips me at the root of my shaft, and the other cups my balls, squeezing rhythmically as her tongue continues to slowly torture me.
Just when I’m about to rip the ceiling down, she takes me all the way into her mouth, and I groan at the exquisite pleasure. Her lips and tongue and hands are everywhere, and the fact that I can’t see what she’s doing to me drives me even wilder. I can suddenly appreciate the blindfold like I never have before.
My heart is pounding, and my muscles clench as my body prepares for the most magnificent orgasm of my life. And then she stops, leaving me hard, panting, and uncompleted.
“Dammit, Avalon!” I growl.
Soft lips touch mine, and I want to grab her roughly and throw her onto the bed, my hand on her throat as I pound into her, but all I can do is stand here and submit to her sweet kisses. And they are sweet. But I don’t want sweet. She’s woken the beast, and it demands to be fed with an unrestrained show of domination—her very softness provokes my need to overpower her and possess her. “Don’t make me gag you,” she warns wickedly.
She uncuffs me, and I wrap my arms around her, encountering silken bare skin. Ah. At some point she’d taken off the dress. I’m sorry I missed seeing that. I rove lower as I remember her telling me at dinner that she wasn’t wearing underwear, but she intercepts me before I get to the curve of her ass. With her hand on my chest, she pushes me backward onto the bed. Soft fabric binds my wrists to the bedposts so I’m unable to touch her.
She straddles me, and I can feel her move up the length of me until her knees are positioned on either side of my head.
“Lick me,” she commands, but it comes out too breathlessly to hold much authority.
I’m more than happy to give her what she wants, and I taste her with a quick flick of my tongue. She hovers over my mouth for a minute, teasing me as she moves just out of my reach.
“If you mean to fuck my face, then get on with it,” I growl.
With a little sigh of determination, she finally—thank God!—sinks down onto my face, and I lick and suck her hot, wet cunt like my life depends on it. She’s grinding against me, her thighs clenched around my head like a vise, and I’m sure she’s about to come when she abruptly moves away.
There’s the rustling sound of a condom wrapper being torn, and she efficiently rolls it onto my hard cock. Seconds lat
er, I feel the sweet tightness of her pussy sheath me as she lowers herself onto me. I almost shoot my load right there, but I hold back, determined to let her enjoy this as long as possible. She’s sure as hell never going to get this opportunity again. She starts to ride me, grinding erotically against me. Then she makes her fatal mistake. She lifts herself off me, hovering, so the head of my cock just touches her opening teasingly. My whole body strains toward her, my dick pulsing with the uncontrollable urge to fuck her senseless, and I snap. She’s mine, and I’m going to completely lose my shit if I’m not buried in her pussy in the next ten seconds.
With strength borne of a raging passion that only Ava can incite in me, I yank at the ties that bind me to the bed, and with the loud sound of fabric ripping, I’m free. Within seconds, I rip the blindfold off and have Ava pinned under me, one hand imprisoning her wrists overhead. The fierce hunger in her eyes mirrors mine, and I hold her down as I guide my cock into her soaked pussy. Her back arches, and she groans, taking me deeper into her. I encircle her throat with my hand.
I growl with the primal need to own her as I pull out and drive my cock back into her so hard the mattress moves beneath us. She moans, her legs wrapping around my waist, meeting me thrust for thrust. “You will not deny me what’s mine. If you want a man you can control, you’ll need to find another Dom.”
“I don’t want another Dom,” she says softly. “I want you.”
* * * *
The next evening at dinner, Logan announces the couple that won the most money at the tables last night, and I’m shocked when he calls out Ava’s and my names.
“Congratulations. The two of you together won just over one hundred thousand dollars, which is enough to buy you immunity. You will proceed to the second-to-last round regardless of the audience vote tomorrow night. Unfortunately, the two of you won’t be able to make any other purchases. However, we’ll now open the floor if any of the other contestants would like to make a purchase.” The list of items available for purchase pops up on the screen. “You all have fifteen minutes to make your final decisions. All prizes and punishments must be redeemed tonight or tomorrow before the audience can vote tomorrow night.”
Ava looks at me with undisguised relief on her face. “It’s kind of nice to just sit back and not worry about what’s going to happen for once,” she says. I can’t help but feel the same. I order us two glasses of champagne to celebrate and pull Ava into my lap as we watch the rest of the contestants make their purchases.
Carly and Michael have the most money after us, and Michael uses his portion to buy a punishment for Carly that involves a jalapeno pepper in a particularly sensitive place. Carly immediately buys a “get out of a punishment” card, negating his purchase, which makes the rest of us laugh.
Emmett and Rebecca are next, and Emmett chooses an evening of sensory deprivation for Rebecca. Rebecca studies the list and then says, “I’d like to buy a punishment for a rival. I want Roman to flog Ava.”
Her lips curve up maliciously as she looks over at Ava, who has gone completely still in my lap.
“Sorry, Rebecca, but it’s a hard limit for her.”
“Really? How’s that? She was flogged during Western Night.”
“We renegotiated her limits after I learned she hadn’t fully understood the contract when she first filled it out,” I say tightly.
She pushes. “Well, let’s see her new contract.”
My heart sinks as I realize I never made the change on her contract. Ava had agreed to trust my judgment, and I hadn’t seen the need to make it official, knowing I’d honor her limits. “It’s not in writing. But she was quite clear that flogging is a hard limit. And I agreed to honor that. Just because they aren’t officially in writing doesn’t mean they’re not limits.”
Rebecca turns to Logan angrily. “If that’s the case, then what’s the point of even listing your limits for the show if you can change them whenever someone gives you a punishment you don’t want? That sounds a lot like safe-wording to me, which would mean she and Roman are off the show.”
Logan stalls, fixing Rebecca with his sternest look, but she glares back belligerently. Finally, he turns to me and says, “How and where exactly did you negotiate Ava’s new limits?”
Logan and I have been friends for almost twenty years, and I know a lifeline when he throws it. “We did a scene at Lemongrass at the Aria to discuss her new limits.”
“So it was recorded? And televised?” Logan presses.
“Yes.”
He turns to Rebecca. “Sorry, Rebecca, a verbal agreement on camera is as valid as if it were written. Would you like to purchase something different?”
Her eyes flash. “Fine,” she says with a sneer. “If she doesn’t trust her Dom enough to give him what pleases him the most, I think she should be denied her pleasure.” She makes a show of studying the list of punishments. “I’ll purchase the chastity belt outfitted with both an anal plug and a dildo for Ava to wear for the next twelve hours. Extra large. Maybe that will teach her to deny her Dom.”
It’s on the tip of my tongue to publicly reprimand Rebecca for suggesting that I’m not teaching my submissive appropriately, but Logan shoots me a warning look, and I know he’s already blurred the rules to save Ava from being flogged. The mistake was mine, and I know better. I should have written it down. Rebecca’s watching me closely, and I realize she’s trying to get a rise out of me. I swallow my words, but inside I’m seething.
I barely listen as Luke and Tessa go up to make their purchases. I don’t hear what Luke buys with his winnings, but Tessa’s request grabs my attention. “For being such a bitch to Ava for the past few weeks, I want to buy a punishment for Rebecca.”
Although I can tell Logan’s trying to remain unbiased and not react, I can see the admiration in his eyes.
“Fair enough. What would you like to buy?”
“I want Rebecca figged and spanked. Maybe that will teach her not to be an ass.”
I can barely contain my laughter, and I wink at Tessa as Ava and I head back upstairs. Ava, being my sweet and tenderhearted girl, is more worried about Rebecca.
“Tessa’s right. Rebecca needs to learn a lesson. And although her ass will be on fire, she’ll survive,” I assure her. I cup her cheek with my hand, rubbing my thumb across her lush lower lip. Rebecca’s punishment for Ava, while directed at me as much as at Ava, will be tough on my submissive. She’s not used to wearing either a plug or a dildo for any substantial length of time, and wearing both will no doubt make for an uncomfortable night. “Will you?”
She takes a deep breath. “I can survive anything when I’m with you.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Ava
The next afternoon, Roman and I are lounging by the pool when Tessa appears.
“Can I borrow Ava?” she asks Roman. She’s fairly dancing with anticipation. “It’s an emergency.” She glances down at her crotch. “The, um, female kind.”
Roman’s eyes narrow. “You have more than earned a few minutes with your friend, Tessa. You don’t have to lie.”
Tessa swallows hard. “Okay. Um, thank you, Sir.”
He smiles then, and it transforms his face. “Thank you for what you did for Ava last night.” He turns to me. “Go see what Tessa wants.”
As soon as we’re out of earshot, she says, “I want to show you something.”
“Okay,” I say, puzzled as I follow her into the cool air-conditioned lobby of the hotel.
“Are you okay after last night?” she asks with concern, studying my face.
I wince. “It wasn’t that bad. I was kind of sore this morning, but I was, um, more frustrated than anything.”
She flashes me a knowing look. “Roman better have taken care of you,” she says with her hands on her hips.
I laugh and then immediately blush at the memory of exactly how Roman had taken care of me this morning after he’d removed the plug and the dildo, giving me an orgasm so intense I’d screamed his na
me. Several times.
We’ve stopped at a door that says STAFF ONLY on it, and Tessa pushes it open, dragging me inside. I look around at the stacks of towels and cleaning carts.
“Why are we in the maid’s closet?” I ask suspiciously.
She grabs my arm, pulling me over to a small TV. “I want to show you something.”
She turns the TV on and selects a program from the drop-down menu. Seconds later, the face of a female anchor from a popular entertainment news show fills the screen.
“The Power Games, the wildly popular reality show being filmed at the soon-to-be-opened Club Helix, an opulent BDSM-themed resort in Las Vegas, is taking the world by storm,” she says, flashing her brilliant toothpaste-commercial smile. “We’re down to four couples, all voted on by the now more-than-five-million pay-per-view audience, and America is dying to know who’s going to win.”
Tessa fast-forwards through a montage of images of her and Luke, Emmett and Rebecca, and Michael and Carly, and then hits Play. “However, the completely inexperienced and delicate-looking young college graduate Ava and her partner, the intimidating, gorgeous, and powerful Dominant Roman, are the ones who have stolen the show, and we’ve watched their amazing journey as Roman has turned Ava from an innocent young girl with serious trust issues into a woman who has embraced submission, trusting the man she didn’t even know six weeks ago to completely bind and suspend her from ropes during the challenge earlier this week.”
I watch with a mixture of fascination and dismay as the montage of Roman’s and my most intimate and life-changing moments flashes on the screen—my life over the past five weeks summed up in a video clip. But while it’s bizarre to see the events that have shaped me play out like a perfectly orchestrated movie, it doesn’t change the fact that it’s real, and I actually love seeing Roman’s perspective as he turns me into someone sensual, a woman powerful in her perfect submission to him. That’s it, I realize with clarity. Submitting to him and consciously giving myself over to the pain he demands empowers me.
