by Eva Gill
By the time the date of the dinner arrived, everything was perfect.
Chapter 8
Jonah sat in the living room, completely relaxed and at-ease with a glass of scotch in his hand. He could hear the muted sound of women talking in the kitchen, along with the clinking of china in the dining room.
Every serving submissive had been instructed to arrive three hours prior to their Master, and in one case, Mistress. They were now cooking and setting the table, placing a tray of welcome drinks in the foyer, and making sure all would be in order.
Jonah looked forward to meeting the people Alex had advised him to invite: eight couples, out of whom he was acquainted with only six individuals. The others were a high ranking Mistress within The Realm, her submissive, and three of the initiates from his group, the ones who had settled with submissives of their own after joining. He had been briefly introduced to them on the night, but hadn’t seen them since.
He looked at his watch, stood and went to find Alice; he wanted her dressed and ready to hand out welcome drinks when the guests arrived. She stood at the kitchen counter scooping chocolate mousse into dessert glasses to place in the refrigerator, but turned to face him the moment he appeared in the door.
“I want you to go and get dressed, Alice. As I told you, you will be welcoming our guests. I want you to look perfect.”
Jonah patted her rump as she walked past, inducing a playful giggle. He caught the wistful glance from Anya. She was checking on the individual beef wellingtons from the oven.
She smiled. “You two seem happy.”
There was so much he wanted to say to her that he rather turned away. He checked on the dining room, and saw Dimitri, the one slave accompanying Bartholomew, folding napkins and sliding them carefully into the silver rings. Every piece of wood in the room gleamed in the soft light. The table stood immaculate, and Jonah looked appreciatively at the man. He was handsome, with his dark hair and olive skin, and was dressed in a casual pair of jeans and a T-shirt.
Dimitri noticed him in the doorway. “I am all done Master Jonah, do you mind if I go to prepare myself?” He had an exotic, strange accent.
Jonah stepped aside, gesturing to the stairs. “Of course you may. You know which bathroom has been designated for the slaves to change, and shower or bath?”
He nodded at Jonah, and with his eyes down he left the dining room. Jonah was growing more comfortable with the manner in which the submissives of The Realm handled themselves toward all Dominants and Masters. He loved that there was so much respect involved. He had so far only seen love and returned respect given by the Masters. Regardless of the activities, care and emotion were always present, be it during or after play.
***
At seven p.m., the other guests started arriving. Alice stood beside the tray of champagne flutes, curtsying deeply to each arriving guest before she handed them a glass and led them through to Jonah in the living room.
Jonah stood to greet them, and then kept up the polite chatter until the next one joined. Each new person complimented him on Alice’s appearance, behaviour and dress. It had been agreed that the slaves and submissives would wear the diaphanous garments similar to those they wore at the club. Each had been gifted with a sheer black set Anya had brought to Jonah’s house when she’d initially brought the slaves. These garments were cuffed only at the wrists, so that individual collars of ownership could be worn. Jonah made a note to thank Anya for the attention to detail; it worked really well and added to the atmosphere.
Alice wore no collar, as Jonah did not own her, and they had not entered into the formal bond of Master and slave. Dimitri, instead of being dressed in the feminine item of clothing, wore black pants made of a stretchable fabric suited to kneeling, and was shirtless. His neck bore a heavy, black leather collar with a ring at the base of his throat. Below the ring, his muscles rippled smoothly from his pecs to the deep V of his abdominals, which disappeared into the black fabric.
The slaves knelt in perfect poses in a row beside the fireplace in the living room, moving to greet and join their owners as they arrived, and then sit at their feet. They did not speak to other Masters or to each other. At the start of the evening, as instructed, they would only speak to their owner if and when spoken to. Their place was to silently observe the needs of their owners, fill empty glasses, serve dinner, and clean up afterwards.
At Alex’s suggestion, Anya was in charge of the rest of them, and would make sure everything ran smoothly. She would serve Alex and monitor the other slaves, using hand signals if something were being neglected. Jonah chatted briefly to Bryce, Michael and Damian, the three men whom he had met on his initiation night, and watched as they fondly stroked the heads of their respective girls.
Bartholomew seemed pleased with himself and looked like a monarch of old sitting in a luxurious armchair with his two slaves at his feet. Laila looked ethereal as always, all pale skin, pale hair and pale eyes. She was the perfect polar opposite of Dimitri, who knelt beside her.
At a signal from Anya, all the slaves stood to follow her from the room. It was time for dinner. Jonah’s gaze followed Anya, her walk mesmerizing, her skin beckoning to his hands. She had barely spoken to him all afternoon, she was so occupied with preparation, but her looks said more than words ever could and Jonah sensed she was in turmoil about something.
He stood. “Would everybody please make their way to the dining room, dinner is ready,” he said.
His eyes fell on Samantha, the only Mistress in the room. The woman intimidated him. She was roughly his height in a pair of black stiletto boots, ending just above her knees and leaving a thin stretch of pale skin exposed below where her tight, black leather miniskirt started. Her corset cinched everything tightly together, her breasts peeking over the top. Samantha’s hair was slicked into a smooth, deep red, bobbed cut, and her makeup, deep red lips and dark eyeliner, completed the all-around terrifying guise. You did not have to look into her eyes twice to know she was Dominant; it showed in every imperious gesture and every posh accented word she spoke. Jonah cleared his throat as he sat and allowed Alice to slide his chair in for him.
“Samantha, you have a lovely accent, where are you from?” he asked politely.
She focused her dark eyes on him intently. “Thank you, Jonah, I was born in England, my parents lived just outside London. We relocated to the United States when I finished college, and have been here since. They are in New York, though, and I am here, to be closer to my Olga.”
Jonah dipped his head as he picked up his glass, which was filled to the perfect level with rich red wine. He briefly glanced at the girl beside Samantha, a lovely little thing. Just like Laila she had pale hair and eyes, again, the opposite to her Mistress. They are yin and yang, he thought to himself, so different and yet so similar.
As soon as everybody was settled in their seats with appropriate drinks, the slaves appeared holding bowls of sundried tomato, basil and pecorino soup, and small rounds of toast. The starter was set down with great care before the slaves returned to the kitchen to fetch their own, settling upon their return diagonally behind their respective owners. Usually the slaves would only eat after their owners had finished their meal, but tonight Jonah wanted everyone finished more or less simultaneously, so play would not go on too late for those driving home.
The meal passed smoothly until Olga’s heel caught on the carpet and she tripped, spilling a single potato off Samantha’s plate onto her placemat. The Mistress leapt from her seat the moment the plate was securely set down and swung to face Olga, who had turned pale and was staring fixedly at Samantha’s feet.
“I am so sorry Mistress, my shoe caught on the carpet. I didn’t mean to…” Her pitiful cries were cut off by a resounding slap to her cheek, and Samantha dragging her from the room by her hair.
The others completely ignored the spectacle, and as Jonah’s eyes widened, Alex patted his shoulder. “Each Dominant deals differently with mishaps, mistakes and disobedience. D
on’t gawk. This type of dinner calls for perfect behaviour, and that slave just embarrassed her owner.”
Jonah nodded and picked at his food while Alice refilled his wine glass with trembling hands. He didn’t understand how Olga tripping should embarrass Samantha…
When Olga returned she was barefoot and had tears on her cheeks.
Samantha ignored the girl as she slid smoothly into her seat. “I refuse to abide clumsiness,” she muttered before resuming her meal as though nothing had happened.
The slaves cleared the table after the main course, served dessert and brought coffee, while Jonah sat thinking about his talk on rules of play for the evening. He felt completely unprepared for this, being so inexperienced amongst these people. He finished his chocolate mousse and stood, watching as Alice swept the glass smoothly from view.
Jonah cleared his throat and folded his hands in front of his body. “Well, now that we have all eaten, I would like to just run through a few basic rules and guidelines for the evening. First off, those who are sleeping over, you know where your rooms are and your respective slaves have placed your overnight luggage there. Those who are driving home, please be safe and don’t drink excessively. As for play, there are areas which provide some privacy, and public space too, the whole house is at your disposal. The dungeon is open, and I simply ask that you respect my equipment, not use my own toys, and leave things as you find them. Have a lovely evening!”
With nods of agreement from everybody, he moved away from the table and pulled Alice aside. “I want you to keep an eye on people, and call me if you see unsafe conduct or damage being done to my property, okay?”
The girl’s smile fell from her face. “So we are not going to do anything sir?”
He shook his head. “No, not until they are all in their private rooms or have left. We, as hosts, are the responsible entities.”
Alice nodded and slunk off to help with the cleaning while people still mingled around the table.
***
Over the next hour Jonah wandered through the house checking in on various scenes as they unfolded, most mesmerized by Damian and Mimi in the dungeon. The Dominant had laid out a bag and towel on the medical table, having pulled it close to the chains that hung from the ceiling. Mimi was tied and gagged, her arms tightly folded behind her back in a box-tie. Her breasts stood out, exaggerated by the pressure of the rope, and Damian stood handling them tenderly.
Jonah watched as he smiled at Mimi, and fear bloomed in her eyes. She shook her head wildly from side to side, and left Jonah wondering how she could use a safe word in such a situation. It was then he noticed the bell clutched tightly in her one hand behind her back and made the connection. If she wished to safe out all she had to do was ring it.
Damian took a breast in each hand and squeezed, eliciting semi-silenced moans from the strung-up girl. She screwed her eyes shut and her brow furrowed with concentration. Damian released her and reached for more rope. He wound it in tight binds around each breast, flicking the nipples when he completed the tie. Her breasts started changing colour, taking on a reddish-purple hue, and tears flowed freely down her cheeks. Jonah felt gooseflesh move down his spine as Damian retrieved sterile needles from his bag and unwrapped them, removed the caps and placed them on the towelled surface he had readied.
Damian snapped black, nitrile gloves onto his hands and sprayed them with disinfectant, Mimi’s eyes following his every movement. Stepping up to her again, he held one breast firmly, tweaked the swollen nipple, and so slowly that Jonah barely saw it all, slid the needle through it. Jonah looked from Damian’s hands to Mimi’s face, and saw her eyes close, her head falling back. She was breathing, but seemed lost in some other world. He left, giving them privacy, and headed to his office, where he had heard the sounds of a cane earlier on.
All he heard now was a hysterical sobbing that awakened all his protective instincts. When he peered around the door he saw Anya spread out on his desk, and Alex leaning over her with his hand tangled in her hair. Jonah stopped to watch, his gaze travelling over Anya’s back to her arse, where red and livid stripes lay perfectly spaced all the way to the backs of her knees. As he closed his eyes and took a deep breath Jonah heard a mobile phone ring and saw Alex stiffen. He released Anya’s hair, and while still keeping a hand on her back he fished his phone from his pocket. He listened briefly and then let loose a string of expletives fit to make a sailor blush. When he saw Jonah he beckoned him over.
“Jonah, I need to go, there’s been an accident at the club. Please can you take over and look after Anya, she can’t be alone after the beating she just took for me, and I wasn’t done with her yet.” He grabbed his jacket and gave Anya a kiss on her forehead.
“Will Alice let me out?” he asked as he pulled himself to a stop in the doorway.
Jonah nodded, too distracted by Anya’s state to pay much attention. “Yes, she is around, just find her.”
Jonah heard the door open and shut and breathed deeply. “Anya,” He placed a hand between her shoulder blades, “Come here.”
Jonah reached down and lifted her off the desk, picking her up and sitting down in the large armchair with her on his lap. He pulled a soft blanket, from the foot stool, over her, covering her nudity while he softly stroked her hair.
She calmed eventually and sat up in Jonah’s lap, rubbed her eyes and looked deeply into his. “He left me? He left because of that club. I am so tired of this, it’s always ‘the club this, we need to go to the club, I have work’. Never ending.” She unexpectedly put her arms around his neck and nuzzled close to him. Sobs wracked her small frame, and all Jonah could do was hold her.
“He left me like this, in this state. He knows how I get after heavy pain play and he still left me to go to his precious club…” Her voice trailed off as she began kissing the sides of his neck.
Jonah closed his eyes. “Anya, do you think it’s a good idea for you to be doing that?”
He cleared his throat and held her away from his body. Her eyes were mildly glazed over when he held her face in his hands, and something he had read came back to him, about the idea of subspace…
Her voice was husky when she spoke. “Jonah, I don’t care about should or shouldn’t or right or wrong, for once I want to do exactly what I want to do, no permission, no orders.”
Jonah completely lost his train of thought as she lowered her face to his.
***
The world disappeared when Anya’s lips met Jonah’s. She had never experienced the sensation before, and all her heartache over Alex leaving vanished. The pain from the stripes on her arse became unimportant. All that mattered was them, that the contact not be broken, that she have him. She adjusted her position and sat straddling Jonah’s lap.
They were so drowned in each other, neither of them saw Alice’s face as she stuck her head around the door to check if everything was okay, nor did Alice stick around to see what happened a few short minutes later.
Jonah focused and pushed Anya back, shaking his head. “This is not how I want this to happen, Anya. Not with you raw because Alex left you, or with his marks all over your body.” Jonah rubbed his eyes.
Anya stared at him, shock on her beautiful tear streaked face. “How you want what to happen?” she asked, her voice scared and confused.
He allowed his vulnerability to show. “You and me, this, kissing you, feeling you naked in my arms. My feelings where you are concerned are too strong to allow having you to be merely the consequence of someone else’s actions.”
Anya stood on shaky legs. “You have feelings for me? Since when, Jonah? You and Alice are together.” She walked small circles around the room. “This was just going to be a…” She threw up her arms in frustration. “I don’t know. I am so confused, all I wanted was some physical release.”
Jonah stood and pulled her into an embrace. “I have had feelings for you I can’t explain since I brushed past you in that club the first night we met. I have been scared of being aro
und you since I found out you belong to Alex, because I never want to cause trouble, quite frankly, nor do I want to get hurt. You are my Kryptonite in this whole kink world I have been pulled into, head over heels. I can do everything without emotion, except you. I know Alex keeps talking about your open relationship, but that’s not me, I just can’t.” He rubbed her back as he held her and felt her shake gently as she cried.
“Jonah, please can you walk me to my room? I think I need to go to bed.”
Anya never told him how she felt about him as he took her to the bedroom she was supposed to share with Alex for the night. She kissed his cheek when she closed the door before collapsing into the fluffy down duvet in a fresh fit of sobs. She never felt the cane cuts on her arse burst and did not notice the blood sticking to the sheets as she pulled them over herself in the dark.
It felt like hours had passed when Jonah finally went looking for Alice. He found her in the living room curled up on the couch, dressed in a soft tracksuit, not asleep but quiet. She looked up at him and he saw the fresh hurt there.
“Why are you here all alone Alice?” Jonah sat down beside her.
She shrugged. “They have gone, or gone to bed. Everyone. I went to find you so that we could maybe play, but I saw you with Anya…”
He let out a heavy sigh. “Yes, Alex had to leave, there was an emergency at the club and he asked me to look after her. She had been caned heavily.”
Alice sat up, pulling a throw around her shoulders. “I know.” She gazed intently into his eyes. “Jonah, sir, I remember you warning me not to fall in love with you the first time I spent the night with you. Why is that? Don’t people just do this and see what happens? Why don’t you think you can love me? I have tried so hard to please you.”
Jonah tried to fathom what she wanted to know, exactly, and answered with care. “I have recently come out of a long relationship, and I am not ready to be in another. I don’t want to hurt anyone, Alice, that’s why I warned you. I think my own ‘happy ever after’ is a while away.”
