Grabbing a paper napkin, Nick pointed to the pen Mike had forgotten was behind his ear. “Let me have the pen. There are a few sites for you to check out and where you can talk to other subs—men and women, gay and straight.” He jotted down several websites, two of them being the ones Charlotte had told Mike to visit, before handing back the pen along with the napkin. “The one thing I do know is Charlotte has had D/s relationships before that didn’t include the whip—I’m not sure how long they lasted, but I remember Jake mentioning it at some point. It’s not for everyone. Why she got into it is something you’ll have to ask her—I have no idea. But that’s the great thing about the lifestyle. You sit down and negotiate what your contract involves—you list what your hard and soft limits are—what you’re okay with and what turns you off. Then the Dom and sub come to an agreement and it’s solid. Unless, of course, you’re dealing with a wannabe who’s in the lifestyle for the wrong reasons.”
He popped another fry into his mouth, chewed and then swallowed it before continuing. “You know, one of the things I love about our D/s relationship is there’s no guessing what Jake’s thinking. If something is bothering one of us, we sit down and hash it out—that’s something I never did in a relationship before, and I think that’s what makes this one so special. I trust Jake more than any other man I’ve ever dated. I know if I’m having a bad day, I can go home and count on him to help me get past it. There’s something about shutting my mind down and just letting him take over that . . . I don’t know how to say it for you to really understand, but I guess the best way to put it is it sets me free and grounds me at the same time. I can’t really explain it any other way. All I know is that if I had to make a choice right here and now between having a D/s relationship with Jake or having a vanilla world relationship, it would be no contest. Once you go Dom . . .” He shook his head and grinned. “. . . all right, that won’t rhyme, but you get the point.”
Yeah, Mike got the point—the problem was he still wasn’t sure if he was out of his mind for even considering taking Charlotte up on her offer.
* * *
Stripped down to his boxer briefs, straddling Jake’s ass on their bed, Nick kneaded the hard flesh of his lover’s naked back. As soon as Jake had gotten home from his D.C. trip, Nick had asked his Dom to indulge him. It was one of the things he enjoyed doing, giving Jake a massage, mainly because of the scars that marred his skin. Most of the time it led to sex, but sometimes it ended with cuddling. It had been a huge turning point in their relationship when Jake had finally stopped hiding the damage his father’s belt had done all those years ago. It was a confirmation there were no more secrets between them, which was why Nick knew he had to spill his guts. He was just hoping the massage would get Jake relaxed enough not to flip out. “So, everything went okay at the Pentagon?”
“Mmm-hmm,” Jake mumbled into his pillow. “Damn, that feels good, babe. Keep it up, and we’ll never make it to the club later.”
After leaving Donovan’s, Nick knew he had to tell Jake about his conversation with Mike. Thank God his future brother-in-law hadn’t sworn him to secrecy. Nick wasn’t sure if Mike had forgotten to tell him not to inform Jake or if he’d just assumed Nick would keep his mouth shut. Knowing something that concerned Jake’s brother, and not telling him about it, was one sure way for Nick to earn a punishment, and not one that would result in any pleasure afterward. Lying by omission was just as bad as outright lying in Jake’s book. He was protective of his family and friends—his role as a Dom just reinforced that.
“Mmm. So what did you do while I was gone? Mom mentioned you stopped by this morning when I spoke to her on my way home.”
Nick slid his hands downward and found another knot of muscles. He dug his heel of his palm in, trying to loosen it. “I just swung by to see if she needed anything and ended up cleaning out expired food from her refrigerator and cabinets, taking out the trash, changing a dead light bulb in the hallway, and helping her pay some bills.” He paused. “I think it’s time to have that talk with her and Mike about her going into the assisted living facility.” They’d noticed recently that Emma Donovan was slowing down and needed more help doing many things she used to do without a problem. They were worried about her driving, too, and tried to keep track of her shopping needs and appointments so they could take her. “She’s getting worse, Jake. I think you should call her doctor again—tell him it looks like she’s going to need the testing after all.”
Mrs. Donovan’s father had briefly suffered the start of Alzheimer’s when he’d wandered out into traffic and gotten hit by a car twenty-six years ago. While it’d been hard on the family, in a way it’d been a blessing they hadn’t had to watch him go downhill as the unforgiving disease took over his brain for good. For the past few months, her sons and Nick had started to notice signs she might also have developed the disease, but she hadn’t wanted to undergo the testing her doctor had suggested. It was probably due to her fear of the unknown and wishing denial would prevent it from getting worse. Nick hoped like hell it didn’t happen to every generation on Jake’s maternal side of the family.
“Yeah. I think that’s a good idea—hopefully she’ll agree this time. I was going to go talk to Mike about it tomorrow, anyway.”
Nick cleared his throat. Now was as good a time as any. “Yeah, about Mike . . . I . . . um . . . had lunch with him yesterday.”
At the hesitancy, Jake picked up his head and glanced over his shoulder. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing . . . not really . . . I mean . . . it could be a good thing . . . I think . . . but I don’t know if—”
In one swift move, Jake flipped over, sending Nick onto his back on the other side of the bed, cutting of the last of whatever he’d been about to say. Before the younger man could react, his Dom was on top of him, his hands on Nick’s wrists pinning them to the mattress. Annoyance combined with concern flared in Jake’s eyes. “Spit it out, Junior. What’s going on with Mike?”
Shit. Should have waited until after we had sex.
Letting out a heavy sigh, Nick tried to ignore Jake’s semi-hard cock touching his fully-erect one through two layers of thin, cotton briefs. “He called and asked me to stop by for lunch and talk in private. He . . . um . . . had some questions . . . about the lifestyle . . . about being a submissive.”
Jake’s eyes narrowed. “Why would Mike have questions about being a sub? We never hid our D/s relationship around him—not since you were in the hospital.”
Early in their relationship, Nick had gotten shot while trying to save a teenage girl from her perverted father. During his recovery, Mike had come to visit him and Jake, and confessed his role in Sean Donovan finding out his youngest son was gay. “Apparently he and Charlotte had a . . . conversation, I guess . . . actually, it was more like Mike and Mistress China had a conversation . . . when she told him he was submissive and offered—”
Jake’s grip on Nick’s wrists tightened and a fierce scowl spread across his face. “What! Are you telling me Charlotte offered to introduce my brother—my vanilla brother—to the lifestyle?”
“Um . . . yeah. But I don’t—”
His words were cut off again as Jake cursed and released him, before jumping off the bed and reaching for his discarded jeans. “Is she fucking nuts? What the hell was she thinking?”
Nick sat up. “Jake, I don’t think—”
“I’m going to talk to her—she’s at the club, teaching a class right now.” He pulled his T-shirt back on, then shoved his bare feet into a pair of sneakers. “I’ll be back later.”
“Jake—hey, Jake!”
The Dom paused in the doorway and glanced back. When he saw the “what the fuck?” expression on Nick’s face, he strode back into the room. Leaning down and grabbing the back of Nick’s neck, he pulled him close and slammed their lips together. It was a hard and fury-filled kiss as Jake plunged his tongue into Nick’s mouth, exerting his dominance. But it didn’t last long. Releasing his sub, Jake straight
ened. “I’m sorry, babe. I’ll make it up to you tonight, but I have to go talk to Charlotte and find out what the hell is going through her mind.”
Realizing Jake wasn’t going to let this go without confronting the Domme, Nick nodded. “Okay. Do you want me to meet you there in a bit or are you coming back here?” They’d made plans to go out to dinner and the movies, followed by a visit to The Covenant. A full date night was something they didn’t often find time for with their schedules, and Nick had been looking forward to it all day.
“Wait here. I’ll come back and change, then we’ll go grab dinner before the movie.” Pivoting, he headed for the doorway, but paused at the threshold and glanced back. “And, Junior, you earned an extra-long blowjob later for telling me. Thank you.”
Nick grinned as his Dom disappeared into the hallway. Sometimes there were definitely advantages to spilling the beans.
4
“How long does subspace last after intense play?”
With her arms crossed over her chest, Charlotte paced back and forth in front of the class she and Master Stefan Lundquist were giving in the garden on the second floor of The Covenant. Shrubbery, trees, flowers, and artificial grass in between all the play areas combined to make it look like the Garden of Eden. It was part of the new addition to the building and had a retractable roof for when the weather was nice—they’d probably be opening it tonight as the temperatures outside cooled.
The club’s manager, Mitch Sawyer, who co-owned the business with his cousins, Ian and Devon, had gotten together with the managers and owners of other clubs in the area to set up a schedule of classes to educate Doms and submissives in different types of bondage, suspension, and impact play. Rotating through the clubs twice a month, a different topic was taught. This evening, she and the Coast Guard lieutenant—whoops, lieutenant commander, as he’d just been promoted—had gone over the sub-categories of each type of play, the basics, safety, and ultimate goals—what the couples hoped to achieve. The participants were all relatively new to the lifestyle and were still exploring which varieties of play they were interested in. Stefan’s contracted submissive, Cassandra—one of the club’s waitresses—was also present for demonstration purposes.
“Good question,” Charlotte responded, stopping in front of the man who’d asked it. Although he was new to the lifestyle, she could see Master Wayne Gifford had the potential for being a good Dom. He was very attentive to Nancy Walker, the submissive woman sitting on a pillow beside his chair. He took every advantage to touch her and make sure she was comfortable. The looks the sub occasionally gave him said she felt safe with him.
However, his blond-haired buddy, Master Roy Carpenter, was a completely different story. He’d been pretty much ignoring his sub, Susan, and appeared too much into the pain aspects of the play and not the resulting pleasure. In fact, he’d been leering at Charlotte since the class had started. She knew most men found her attractive, but it took a lot more than just their interest in her body for her to return that interest. She was dressed in her usual club wear since tonight was her turn in the Whip Master rotation. The black, sleeveless cat suit clung to her every curve, and her over-the-knee, black, leather boots only added two inches to her height. She found them more comfortable when she was going to be standing for a few hours. Unfortunately, the asshole Dom-wannabe had been eyeing her as if her outfit was an invitation for him to hit on her. Charlotte would have to tell Mitch not to allow him to sign up for another class—he was here for all the wrong reasons. His sub, though, would be better off without him. Charlotte would have to see if she could get the woman alone at some point and find out if she could help her. Susan Kelly was definitely a submissive, but with the wrong Dom, she could be seriously harmed—physically, mentally, or emotionally—and that was the one thing Charlotte refused to stand by and watch. She had no problem interfering with another Dominant and their submissive if it was warranted. The Covenant’s owners, Masters Ian, Mitch, and Devon, had no problem with it either. That was one of the many reasons Charlotte played in this club only and not any of the other clubs throughout the area—submissives were protected at all costs.
“There are several things that factor into how long it lasts. Genetics and body makeup, pain threshold, time of day, activities the sub engaged in before the play, and how intense the play was. Is the sub on any prescription or recreational drugs, and how do they affect her? Is alcohol involved? You all know how much we stress that participants should not drink alcohol before intense play. And it should be limited prior to mild play. Consumption is closely monitored here at The Covenant, but most clubs don’t have the resources, so it’s up to the Dom to make sure that rule is followed.” She referenced her mental checklist, knowing there were a few more things she needed to mention. “The environment also factors in—some subs will be more relaxed at home or in a private playroom than out on the club floor. What’s the sub’s state of mind going into the play—were they having a stressful day? Are you celebrating a birthday, anniversary, or collaring ceremony? Are there things on their mind that are preventing them from totally giving in to the play? Things like that.
“The best answer I can give for how long it will last for an individual sub is I don’t know. There’s no right or wrong answer to that; it’s very subjective to the sub’s response to the stimuli. In most cases, experienced subs can tolerate more pain and, as a result, that can prolong subspace. It’s the Dom’s responsibility to pay attention to the cues displayed by the sub’s speech and body language. You’ll have to become attuned to your sub’s responses and learn from experience. When in doubt, err on the side of caution.”
The Dom smiled and nodded, clearly satisfied with her explanation. Charlotte stepped back and eyed the rest of the class. “Any other questions?”
A Domme in her midfifties, with a younger, male submissive at her feet, spoke up next. “How will I know when it’s safe to leave my sub alone for a few minutes as he comes down from subspace after an intense scene?”
“Ask him a few simple questions—does he know where he is, what the date is, what’s four times eight—stuff like that, and see how quickly and accurately he answers. Ask how he’s feeling—is he dizzy, tired, or sore? Can he keep his eyes open? Can he visually track a finger moving back and forth in front of his face? If he’s still a little foggy and slow, then stay with him and ask some more questions in a few minutes. I’ve seen subs take several hours to completely recover after an intense scene, while others are back to normal within twenty or thirty minutes. Make sure your sub drinks plenty of water as he comes down from subspace; you don’t want him to get dehydrated. As a rule of thumb, keep an eye on him for a full two hours after the scene has ended. Aftercare, as you’ve all been told, is the most important part of a scene.” She paused, then asked again, “Any other questions?”
“Mistress China, may I have a word with you, please . . . alone?”
Charlotte turned around slowly at Jake’s low voice and the barely-controlled anger in it. She hadn’t heard or seen him enter the garden—like the rest of his military-trained teammates, he tended to walk on silent feet. Beside her, Stefan raised a curious eyebrow at the other Dom, but didn’t interfere. Instead, he clapped his hands and gestured toward a play area to his right. “All right, class. Let’s finish up tonight’s lesson with a brief Shibari demonstration—we have about thirty minutes before the staff arrives to get the club ready to open, so I can show you a simple example. Cassandra, please remove your bra and present for me.”
Jake was ignoring everyone else in the garden. His heated glare told Charlotte all she needed to know. He’d found out about her proposition to Mike and was pissed. If she’d been a submissive, she’d be quaking in her boots at his hard expression and tight jawline, but she knew him well enough to know she wasn’t in any danger. Master Jake would never raise a hand to a woman unless it was in self-defense. With him being six feet five and two-hundred-ten pounds of solid, alpha-male muscle, she doubted there were m
any women on Earth who would try to take him on for one reason or another. If there were, they were probably followers of al Qaeda or ISIS and lived on the other side of the world.
Keeping her expression neutral, she nodded once. “Certainly, Master Jake. We can talk in one of the playrooms.” Pivoting on the balls of her feet, she strode toward a staircase that lead to the pit and two dozen play rooms, knowing full well he was on her heels even though his footsteps didn’t make a sound. It didn’t matter which room they went into since they weren’t there for play. At the bottom of the stairs, Charlotte opened the first door to her left and entered the one with a “Major League Baseball Locker Room” theme. As Jake shut the door behind him, she hopped up onto a padded, physical therapy table, crossed her arms and legs, and pasted a well-practiced expression of indifference on her face.
Leaning against one of the metal lockers that stored play equipment, the Dom also crossed his arms and glared at her. “Something you want to tell me, Charlotte?”
She swung her foot back and forth. “Something that’s none of your business? No, there isn’t, Jake.”
He growled. “Enough with the games, damn it. You know what I’m talking about. Mike doesn’t belong in this lifestyle.”
“I beg to differ. Since I’m almost positive he didn’t go to you with any questions he had, that only leaves Nick, who knows better than to keep a secret from his Dom. The fact that Mike spoke to Nick at all tells me my offer to help him explore the lifestyle made an impression on him.”
Entertaining Distraction: Doms of The Covenant Book Two Page 4
