Camellia

by Cari Z.

  "No, not really. I just don't want to embarrass you," Danny whispered. She was shocked to find herself shaking, so worked up that she literally couldn't control the trembling in her own hands. "I don't know, I mean, what if they expect me to be perfect? Everyone here seems to know things that I don't, I'm afraid of …" Of disappointing you …

  Lucy reached out and cupped Danny's face with her hands. "Danielle, no one expects you to be perfect. Indeed, if you were perfect, I think a lot of people would be unsatisfied. All they expect is for you to do what I ask. Trust me, I wouldn't let you be hurt by this," she said solemnly. "I will not let you be hurt by this."

  It had the ring of a vow, too much, too elaborate, and yet, it was just the thing that Danny needed to hear. She nodded her head.

  "Good girl. Now, take a deep breath." Lucy demonstrated and Danny complied. "Lovely. Again." They stood there and looked into each other's eyes and breathed, just breathed, until Danny's hands were steady and her respiration was slow and regular.

  "Perfect. Now. Are you ready for the demonstration, Danielle?"

  "Yes," she said.

  Dalton, as usual, made sure everything was perfect. The performance would take place on a small stage, eight feet by eight feet, and just tall enough that Danny's shoulders would be at everyone else's head height when she kneeled. Which meant that Lucy would stand tall over the entire crowd, as was only right considering it was her demonstration, for all practical purposes. The glamor and glitz belonged to Natasha and Lillian, but the essence of it, the performance itself and the show of what she could do with her submissive, were the real draw here. The tea ceremony was a beautiful template to elaborate upon, and Lucy found herself looking forward to it with a sense of anticipation that she hadn't felt for what seemed like years.

  Everything was laid out perfectly in the center front of the stage: a small table covered with a green silk cloth, her familiar iron pot with its bamboo ladle resting on a sapphire blue napkin beside it, the shining black box of matcha, and the bamboo scoop. The delicate whisk rested next to the drinking bowl, which was the same soft jade green color as the tablecloth. It was all simple and refined, and Lucy could feel when Danny's gaze landed on it. Her whole body tensed for a long moment before she took a deep breath and let it all out, all the tension and stress. Perfect. Danny knew what to do, and more importantly, she trusted Lucy to look after her. She was taking Lucy at her word, and that imparted a heady sense of power and responsibility.

  It took Lucy just a moment to sink into her headspace before the demonstration. People were gathering around the edges of the stage, their voices respectfully low as they wondered about what was going on, and Lucy sighed appreciatively. They'd all know soon enough, and if she did her job right there would be people in this crowd panting to take Danny's place at her feet by the end of it.

  First things first. "Remove your shoes," she instructed Danny, "then climb onto the platform and kneel in front of the table, facing out toward the crowd. Don't look at them. Keep your mind and your eyes on your task, but don't begin until I tell you to. Do you understand?"

  "Yes."

  "And Danielle?" Lucy waited for Danny's eyes to focus fully on her. "Now is when you answer my questions with 'yes, Mistress,'. Do you understand?"

  Danny swallowed, and her pupils expanded right before Lucy's watchful gaze. "Yes, Mistress."

  There it was, the beginning of the rush, the sweet surge that Lucy had forgotten how much she loved. "Very good. Go now."

  Danny stepped gracefully out of her shoes, then walked up onto the stage and out to the little table. The murmurs quieted as the spectators watched her kneel in front of the table, her eyes downcast, entirely focused on the tea service in front of her. She was so lovely, her tattoos an exotic enhancement of her beauty, and Lucy smiled with satisfaction as she took Dalton's hand and let him assist her up the stairs. Her skirts were long, and it wouldn't do for her to trip, after all.

  Lucy slowly walked the short length of the stage, coming to rest at Danny's right side, just close enough that the dusky purple and black damask of her full skirt brushed Danny's shoulder. Danny shivered slightly.

  Lucy brandished her crop, raising it up suddenly, and the crowd seemed to inhale as one. She let it lilt, though, sinking gently from the sharp angle of her wrist to just brush against the generous curve of Danny's breasts as Lucy began to step in a slow, assessing circle around her. The black tip of the crop could have blended with the dark fabrics both of them wore, but instead the soft, buttery leather stood out against Danny's shining corset and golden skin.

  Lucy trailed a thoughtful line across Danny's chest and over her left shoulder, examining her, carefully avoiding any entanglement in the tea table. Once she worked her way around to Danny's back, Lucy stopped, smoothed the tip of the crop in a line between Danny's shoulder blades, then struck her along the same line a moment later.

  Danny hissed and started, straightening out of the round-shouldered position she'd been in before. She didn't turn around, thankfully, but Lucy read anxious question in every line of her body.

  "Posture, Danielle," Lucy said firmly. "Pull your shoulders back."

  Danny immediately pulled her shoulders back. Lovely. Lucy completed her circle and surveyed her submissive with satisfaction. Much better. She briskly tapped the outside of Danny's right calf. "Bring your feet in so that your toes touch."

  Danny's feet came in, forming a beautiful angle beneath the sweet swell of her bottom. Lucy itched to feel that ass beneath the palm of her hand, warming to her stinging touch, but now wasn't the time to let herself be distracted. She brought the crop down swiftly across Danny's forearms, also brushing her corset-covered stomach with it in the process. Danny wouldn't really be able to feel the bite of the crop beneath the boning, but she certainly felt the impact. She was breathing fast but not too shallow, Lucy noted, and her lips glistened wetly from repeated touches of her tongue.

  "Rest your palms on the tops of your thighs when your hands aren't in use, Danielle." Lucy watched her comply with gratifying alacrity. The crowd was absolutely silent, turning their pocket of the ballroom into a magnet for attention. Lucy stepped behind Danny again, pushed the tip of her crop beneath her chin. She tilted her head until Danny was craning her neck backward, her gaze immediately seeking and finding Lucy's. Lucy stroked her free hand down the side of Danny's face, briefly cupping her jaw in a mirror of her earlier calming gesture. Lucy tilted her further, and Danny arched beautifully, keeping her hands on her thighs despite her increasing lack of balance. Someone in the audience sighed.

  "Now," Lucy said. "Prepare the tea."

  She released Danny's face and moved the crop, and Danny swayed forward again, almost too far before she caught herself at the last moment. Danny blushed, but didn't get flustered, and reached for the lacquered box of tea. She uncapped it, then picked up the scoop and carefully measured out a perfect portion of powdered matcha, transporting it slowly to the drinking bowl so that none of the powder fell on the tablecloth. Lucy watched carefully as Danny repeated the process, then set the ladle down and replaced the top on the tea box. She reached for the napkin that matched the blue of her earrings next.

  Ah, good, she remembered. Danny pulled the cloth free without first moving the ladle, though, and Lucy smacked her firmly across the bottom, making her jump slightly. She wasn't hitting her hard enough to hurt, not really, but the sound of the crop against the strips of leather that barely covered Danny's ass was rather noisy. "Be precise," Lucy admonished.

  Danny stopped and took a deep breath so she could begin again, replacing the ladle so it was straight and using the cloth to lift away the iron lid of the pot. She set both aside, then reached for the ladle again. Her hand was beautifully steady and she didn't spill a drop, not while she was filling it or while she poured it into the bowl. Danny set down the ladle, replaced the pot's top, and picked up the whisk.

  She started to stir. "With vigor," Lucy reminded her, tapping the end of th
e crop against the top of the table. Tap tap tap taptaptaptaptaptap … She set the beat and Danny followed it, struggling to maintain her speed while not spilling the tea. Fortunately she hadn't overfilled the bowl, and soon the matcha filled the air with its bright herbal fragrance.

  "Very good." Lucy stopped tapping, and Danny lifted the whisk out, letting the excess tea drip off the spindly ends for a moment before setting it aside. Lucy moved to the edge of the stage furthest from the table.

  "Now bring it to me," she told Danny. She waited for her to begin to get up before adding, "From your knees."

  This was a crucial moment. They hadn't explicitly negotiated the sorts of things that Danny would do during a performance, and while making tea was one thing, abjectly crawling across the stage to present Lucy with a cup of tea was quite another. It was a very deliberate test of Danny's willingness to obey, and while Lucy had no doubt that she would, her attitude while doing so would inform the rest of their time together. Lucy stood straight and proper and waited to see what Danny would do.

  Danny looked over at her, then down at the bowl. She picked the bowl up in her right hand, turned to face Lucy, and …

  Oh, that was not a crawl. Crawling was an awkward method of ambulation, not this slinking, suggestive slide across the floor. Somehow Danny had turned an act of obedience into a declaration of pure sensuality, and the crowd was riveted by her. It was all Lucy could do not to glare at them all and shout, "Keep your distance!" Using a professional model was supposed to protect her from this sort of distraction. Instead she'd gotten Danielle Breaker, novice at BDSM but rapidly becoming an expert at trying Lucy's rigid self-control.

  It took Danny approximately ten seconds to reach Lucy, which was at least five seconds too long in Lucy's opinion. She resituated herself into perfect position, presented the bowl with both hands, and cast her challenging gaze up at Lucy. Your move.

  Indeed it was, and Lucy wasn't about to be outdone by her submissive in this scene, no matter how delightful Danny's actions were. Two could play at this game.

  Lucy bent at the waist, balancing carefully on her rather high heels and leaning until her back was parallel to the stage, putting her cleavage on dramatic display. She placed her hands on top of Danny's, not bothering to set her crop aside, then tilted the bowl to her mouth. Danny let Lucy's hands do the guiding, seemingly unable to take her eyes off of the peach blossom pink of Lucy's lips, and Lucy finished the frothy bowl with satisfaction, careful not to let any of it spill.

  She let go of Danny's hands and straightened up just enough to lay a tender kiss on Danny's forehead. "Very nice, Danielle," she congratulated her softly, then helped her up. "Dalton will tidy things up. Our work is done for now."

  Lucy turned away from the stage and was surprised to see Natasha and Lillian there waiting for them even as the last of the people that had been watching their performance moved on to the next attraction. She had thought Natasha would want to hang back for a moment while Dalton prepared the booth for her again.

  "That was stunning," Natasha exclaimed, coming up to her and placing a quick kiss on each of Lucy's cheeks before moving onto doing the same to Danny, who looked surprised by the gesture.

  Lucy gave her a soft smile. "Thank you. I appreciate that, though the credit goes to Danielle. She has a natural grace about her that is most appealing."

  Meeting Danny's gaze, Lucy was surprised to find her smirking. "My brothers would disagree with you in a heartbeat."

  Somehow Lucy didn't doubt that. She'd barely spent any time with them, but they seemed far more ... rambunctious ... than Danny did. "But have they seen you perform the tea ceremony as you just did?" Lucy added a bit of lightness to her voice, softening the accent she knew she carried. Some had called it beautiful, others off-putting, but this time Lucy wanted Danny to know that she was attempting a bit of humor.

  Danny's cheeks flushed and she looked away. "Um. No, they haven't."

  Natasha made a cooing noise in her throat. "Oh, now that's a shame, honey. Maybe you should invite them to the convention so that they can watch you while you're dressed so beautifully. Or we could film it, if you prefer. Give you something to take home and show them later."

  Lucy hadn't thought that Danny could become even pinker, but she had been wrong. "That's so not going to happen. Not in this lifetime, anyway."

  People started to gather around the front of the booth, and though they hadn't started trying to get Natasha's attention yet, Lucy was sure that would happen soon enough. The recognition Natasha and Lillian got for their costumes was what had driven the demonstration in the first place, and it wouldn't do to keep them from making sales. Lucy put her fingers on the outside of Danny's elbow. "Natasha, Lillian, we'll see you later."

  Natasha gave them both soft smiles. "Sure thing, ladies. Enjoy your time."

  "You really think I did well?" Danny asked as they moved through the throng of people gathered to see the various vendors that had come to show their wares.

  "I wouldn't have said it otherwise," Lucy replied. She lightened her hold on Danny's arm, not wanting to drag her along as she led her through the crowd. Some of the people who had watched the demonstration waved to her and Danny as they passed by. Lucy gave them quick nods, acknowledging their interest before continuing on their way.

  When Danny turned to look at a display, Lucy went with her. "I saw these in a porno once," Danny said, lifting her finger and placing it on the glass in front of a ball gag.

  "And what did you think of its use?" Lucy asked her, genuinely curious in Danny's opinion of the lifestyle, good or bad.

  "Well, there was a guy in it, so ..." Danny made a face and Lucy chuckled, knowing what she meant.

  "Imagine he hadn't been there. What did you think about the way it was used? Were you intrigued or repulsed?"

  Danny gave her a little shrug and turned away from the display. She led the way and Lucy let her, wondering what she would take an interest in next. "It was kind of overdone, to me at least," Danny said after a minute.

  Lucy tilted her head to the side as she looked across to Danny. "How so?"

  "Well ... the woman was tied up—which, not my thing, but whatever—but there was no lead up or anything like that. Just a bunch of whipping and then random sex stuff and some more whipping, and she really didn't look like she enjoyed it," Danny said, her hissed whisper barely loud enough to hear in the crowded room.

  Lucy could understand not liking something, especially something more hardcore, but she didn't like the edge of fear in Danny's voice and wanted to allay it. "While there are many people that take part in the lifestyle, with many different tastes and therefore no definite rules, porn is quite a bit different from your average scene. Porn is usually nothing but entertainment, and not the best place to derive ideas on what actually constitutes domination and submission," Lucy said, hoping to reassure her. Even if Danny never went near the idea of submission again after this conference, Lucy still felt responsible for making sure that her first experiences and impressions of the lifestyle were positive.

  Danny gave her a small, almost hesitant smile. "I get that," she said, and Lucy nodded. "So, uh … how did you get started in all of this?" Danny waved her hand in front of her, indicating everything around them.

  Lucy wanted to answer Danny's question, but didn't care to shout in order to be heard above the crowd. She steered her to a quieter corner of the ballroom where they could talk amongst themselves without prying eyes and eager ears catching their conversation. "When I was in secondary school, I had a maths teacher who, though she said nothing at that time, must have taken an interest in me, because when I later entered university I received a letter from her. It said that I was invited to a play group to be held later that month."

  Danny raised her eyebrows. "Did you go? And wasn't that creepy of her? She was your teacher, after all, when you were really young. Bit skeevy, there."

  Lucy couldn't help the smile that came to her lips as she saw Danny's conc
erned expression. "I didn't go. My curiosity was certainly piqued, but I was far too nervous to seriously consider it. I wrote back to her, thanking her, but letting her know my reservations. We stayed in touch during my four years, and after I got out, I …" Lucy shook her head. "I was at loose ends, with no idea of what to do with my life. I had hoped my years at university would answer that question for me, but I was as rootless as ever, and I thought, well, what could be the harm? I contacted her, and she welcomed me into her group.

  "I had no experience with the lifestyle at that point, but she let me find my footing in a controlled, and most of all safe, environment. I was always a quick study, and learning what the women under my hands wanted and needed came naturally. I won't say that I was perfect at it, certainly not in the beginning, but the women I discovered my nature with were very patient. They taught me almost as much as my teacher did."

  Lucy didn't miss the soft sigh that escaped Danny, or the way she shifted her weight. "So ..." Danny licked her lips.

  There was a sudden disturbance behind Danny, and Lucy saw the galumphing approach of a masked Puppy nosing his way toward them through the crowd. She wasn't surprised to see him, as there were quite a few of them around today, but his lack of manners was a bit unnerving as he stopped behind Danny, who hadn't yet realized he was there.

  A thick, studded collar hugged the Puppy's neck, a chain hanging down from the center of it. Lucy followed the silvery line to its other end and found it wrapped around another man's hand. Unlike the Pup, this one was dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt. Lucy met the trainer's gaze, glad his Pup wasn't off on his own, as she waited for the man to do the right thing and bring his Pup back under control.

  "Danielle, there's someone behind you. Turn around, but don't be alarmed," Lucy said softly.

  "Uh ..." Danny turned and quickly backed up as the Pup moved toward her, making sniffing noises and shaking his hips. A long black tail swayed back and forth behind him.

  Lucy stepped between them, partially blocking Danny when it was clear the Trainer wasn't going to regain control of his Puppy. "While your pup is beautiful and I'm sure quite good, please refrain from letting him come up to people who aren't expecting it while you're here. Not everyone is a dog person, as I'm sure you're aware."