An Invitation: Alayna's Training

by Jennifer Cole

  Her nipples hardened instantly and grew achy at their sudden change in size. A tremor snaked an erotic path along her spine; she shuddered. Replacing the top of the bottle, she returned it to its place on the shelf and pushed the door closed. On her way back into the bedroom, she once again felt herself grinning.

  She tamped the bubbling in her belly with a couple of breaths. She couldn't allow herself the indulgence of excitement just yet. Hell, she hadn't even seen him yet.

  “Baby steps,” she said.

  But despite her efforts to dissuade her emotions, she couldn't contain her excitement. Surely Logan's attentions, the fact he'd given up his room to her and filled it with flowers, said something. Perhaps he had seen the potential in her and taken an interest in her and her training after all. The experience would bring her a greater sense of what Logan looked for in a woman. And she wanted to be that woman—the woman Logan would be proud to have in his life, on his arm, and as his slave.

  After freshening up in the bathroom, she contemplated what she should wear. Alayna wasn't certain what to expect for the first session. Uneasy, she wondered if she would be expected to be completely naked. Dane had indicated that Rick would begin with teaching her self-gratification techniques, and since the session was going to focus on learning her own body, she suspected some form of nudity would be expected. She wasn't so sure she was comfortable getting naked in front of Rick. Aside from their brief introduction and an explanation of her schedule and the expectations, she and Rick hadn't had the opportunity to discuss anything else. He seemed nice enough, but she didn't know him from Adam. After some consideration, she left her bra and panties on and wrapped a lightweight silk robe around her body.

  “You're doing this to learn what sort of stuff turns Logan on,” she reminded herself, looking at her reflection in one of several mirrors around the room. “Surely you can swallow your embarrassment at being naked in front of Rick. He is a Dom in training, after all. You aren't the first naked woman he's seen.”

  She glanced at the antique clock on the mantle. The hour time limit Dane had given her to prepare for Rick had come and gone. The clock showed ten minutes more than the requisite hour had passed.

  “If I were at the café or he were my employee, I'd go find out what was wrong. I'd see where he was and why it had taken him so long,” she muttered, gazing out the window. Then she began to pace.

  Arms crossed over her breasts, she tapped her fingers against her upper arms impatiently. “I'm supposed to be following instructions. I'm supposed to be the one taking directions, not giving them.” Shaking her head, Alayna met her reflection in the full-length standing mirror positioned near the entrance to the bathroom. “Repeat after me: You are not the boss here, Alayna. You are not the boss here, Alayna.” She'd just started her third repetition when someone knocked on the door.

  She moved to the door and opened it, only to take a step back at the expression on Rick's face. Just over an hour earlier he'd been positive, upbeat, smiling. Now the man's pale coloring and the perspiration peppering his upper lip made Alayna wonder if something terrible had happened to his fiancée.

  “Are you okay?” she asked, then bit her tongue. She knew she was out of place asking, but he looked…almost frightened.

  “I'm fine,” he replied, but he wasn't very convincing. “Um, shall we go?”

  “Are you sure? I'm sure Dane—” Alayna hesitated, tugging the knot tighter on her robe.

  Rick nodded, drew a deep breath, and tried to smile. “I'm sure. Let's go.”

  His attempt to reassure her didn't work completely, but Alayna put aside her unease and closed the door to her room. From the brochures and information Dane had given her when she'd first agreed to her training, Alayna knew it was expected of her to follow her master with her eyes lowered when she was moving through the mansion and when on the grounds in the company of her master.

  Alayna tried to keep up with Rick as he took the stairs two at a time. She wondered, as she hurried to catch up with him, if he was trying to keep distance between them or if he was simply eager to get started.

  On the second level of the house, Rick rushed down the wide corridor, passed room six altogether, and hung a sharp right into room seven. After rounding the corner, Alayna entered and found herself in the middle of a playroom like she'd seen on the Web site. It looked nothing like the room Dane had described in his office.

  In the center of room seven stood a giant X she recalled from her research as a St. Andrew's cross. Velcro restraints dangled at the top and bottom, waiting for a sub to bind. A chill raced up her spine as she visualized herself manacled to it for Master Logan's enjoyment.

  But this wasn't how she'd expected them to start out on her “self discovery” lesson. How in the world would being strapped to a cross help her learn to masturbate?

  She knew she shouldn't question him, but she couldn't stop herself. “Um, I think we're in the wrong room,” she said quietly.

  For a split second, Rick's gaze seemed to zero in on a mirror hanging on one wall. It reminded her of what Dane had said the day before about one-way glass. Her heart rate escalated, and goose bumps danced on her flesh at the thought of someone seated on the other side, watching her and Rick.

  Rick didn't appear to have heard what she'd said, which was probably a good thing since she didn't have permission to speak. Deciding it best not to press the issue, Alayna pushed aside her anxieties. She was in Rick's hands now and should exercise faith that he knew what he was doing.

  When he still did not speak after a few more moments, Alayna's natural inclination to manage situations stepped up and decided to get the ball rolling. “So do you want me naked?”

  “Oh hell no!” Rick thrust his hands up, palms out, and shook them frantically at her. His eyes grew wide. “Please don't add to my—”

  “Excuse me?” His outburst stung her pride, and Alayna wasn't quite sure how to respond.

  “I'm sorry. W-what I meant was you don't need to be n-naked. Please don't get naked. Got anything on under that?” he asked, pointing a shaky finger at her robe.

  “Bra and panties.”

  Relief washed over his face. “That should be safe. Okay, uh, take off the robe and, um, move over to the cross,” Rick said. His voice lacked the confidence she'd heard earlier in Dane's office.

  Without a word, she did as he asked. Rick's eyes flitted around the room, not once setting on her. Alayna stood with her back against the cross, her arms above her head, and her feet apart. For a handful of seconds, she held the pose, waiting for Master Rick to fasten the restraints.

  This is for Logan, she reminded herself. This is to get close to him when it's all done. Once my training is complete, I'll be the perfect submissive for him.

  Rick appeared distracted. A sheen of perspiration glistened on his forehead. A creak of the hardwood floor in the hallway made him jump. His gaze shot toward the open door. Alayna wondered what on earth had him so edgy. His behavior was not helping her own nervousness.

  “Master Rick,” she said. He turned his head and met her gaze. “Are you going to bind me?”

  Rick blinked as if just realizing where he was. “Yeah, right,” he muttered and approached her.

  The pads of his fingers barely brushed her skin as he wrapped the thick black straps around her wrists. He turned to walk away.

  “Um, how about my ankles?” she asked, lifting her right leg and rotating her foot in circles.

  Rick's shoulder's tensed, and Alayna could have sworn she heard him mutter under his breath. He knelt and bound her ankles to the posts. Standing, he turned his back to her and took a deep breath. As he exhaled, Alayna caught the string of curses and winced at the frustration she could hear in is voice. If he wasn't interest in doing this, why was he here? Why had he agreed to train her?

  Rick alternated from stuffing his hands in the front pockets of his jeans and rubbing them across the short hair atop his head. Several long minutes passed before Alayna's irritation
got the better of her.

  “Hey,” she finally snapped. “I know I'm inexperienced here, but I do know there's more to it than this.” She bit her tongue. She had been out of line speaking to her master in such a tone. She once again had to wonder if she truly was submissive in nature. Or had her interest in Logan driven her to act against her normal nature?

  “Sorry,” he replied, seeming to squirm. “Give me a minute to think.”

  “Master Rick, are you sure you're okay? You seem off.” The man before her was not the self-assured man she'd seen the day before, mastering his slave. Alayna recalled the confidence and passion in his voice when he'd been mastering his fiancée. “You don't have permission to speak, slave.”

  Right now he wasn't even the same man she'd met a little over an hour ago.

  “I'll be fine as long as I don't…”

  As he spoke, a familiar scent of cologne teased under Alayna's nose, and she failed to hear the rest of Rick's sentence. She inhaled deeply, and her body began to tingle. Logan. Her gaze shot to the side, expecting Logan to be standing in the entry watching them. He wasn't. She gave her head a shake to clear the lustful thoughts the scent triggered. Of course his smell would be around the house—it was his house.

  Several more moments of silence passed between them, and Alayna reached the end of her rope. “Are you even going to touch me?” she asked.

  “Uh, no,” Rick replied, glancing toward the doorway.

  “Well how in the hell am I supposed to learn anything if you don't touch me?”

  “I'm, uh, not allowed to,” he said.

  “What?”

  “Look, Alayna, we'll find a way to do this, I promise. Maybe we should start by getting to know each other. Build trust, you know.”

  “Oh,” she said and gave that some thought. He was right. There was no trust between them, and that was a key component to the lifestyle. “All right.”

  A wave of relief seemed to wash over him, and Alayna felt her brow knit, wondering why he seemed relieved.

  “Have you toured the grounds?” he asked, dropping to his knees to release her ankles from their bindings. Then he rose, reached above her head, and pulled the Velcro straps free from around her wrists.

  “No. Not yet,” she replied, rubbing up and down her arms to stimulate her circulation. “I was sort of anxious to get started.”

  “Great. Then let me show you around.”

  “All right. Let me go back to my room and put on some clothes.”

  “Good idea,” Rick said. “Meet you in the kitchen, okay?”

  “Sure,” she said as she left the playroom.

  Back in her room, Alayna stared at her reflection in the mirror and scowled. In Dane's office, Rick had seemed so geared up. Why had he acted so awkwardly during their session? Day one of her training was shaping up to be a disappointment.

  Things will be better, she tried to reassure herself.

  Dressed in blue jeans, a knit T-shirt, and sneakers, Alayna made her way to the kitchen. Rick was already there.

  “Do you want something to eat first?” he asked, handing her a cold bottle of water. The smile on his face and his tone of voice were now relaxed, free from the nervousness of earlier.

  “No thanks, I'm not really hungry,” she said. After twisting the cap off the bottle, she tipped it back and took a big swallow.

  “Let's start in the back then.”

  Through the sliding door leading off the kitchen, they stepped out onto a slab stone patio. The air was warm without being stifling, and the birds chirped merrily in the trees.

  “The property is fifteen acres,” Rick said, pointing around them. “A fence surrounds the grounds along the property line in the forest. There are half a dozen trails to walk through the forest areas, if that's something that interests you. You may use any of the amenities in your downtime. Dane told you meals are prepared and served for us. Breakfast is around eight thirty, lunch twelve thirty, and dinner five thirty.”

  As they walked along the path, they passed a gazebo with a swing similar to one usually found on a porch. The seat was big enough for two.

  “Are there other people here besides you and me? I haven't seen anyone else.”

  They strolled over a knoll of vibrant green grass. To her right, Alayna spied a large swimming pool that she fully intended to make use of in her free time. Sparkles of sunlight danced across the water.

  “Right now there is only one other couple—I believe today is their last day—and of course the employees.”

  The pathway led them toward a ten-foot opening in the trees. Alayna decided the serenity of the mansion and the grounds would provide a relaxing getaway. She hadn't taken a vacation in so long; she wondered if she even remembered how to enjoy some time to herself. If nothing else, no matter how much she missed it, the time away from the café would do her a world of good.

  The café. She wondered how the Monday breakfast rush had gone without her. But that thought didn't worry her as much as what Ariel's reaction would be when she and Dane finally came face-to-face at the restaurant. Though Alayna was certain Dane could take care of himself, she couldn't help giving in to the worry that he would have his work cut out for him dealing with Ariel's eccentricities and temper.

  “Want to walk through the enchanted forest?” Rick asked in a teasing tone as they neared the mouth of the woods.

  “Enchanted?” She giggled.

  “Named it myself.” He beamed. “When I arrived, it reminded me of something out of a fairy tale.”

  “Like 'Little Red Riding Hood'?” she groused. “Is there a big bad wolf out there waiting to eat me?”

  Rick laughed. “No, he's holed up in the mansion.”

  Alayna's forehead creased in confusion. She didn't recall that part of the fairy tale. She cast him a sideways glance. “What's that?”

  Rick shook his head and smiled at her. “Never mind. Shall we venture into the woods, my pet?”

  Alayna returned his smile. “Yes, I'd like that.”

  Rick's comfort around her seemed to have returned. Recalling how he had frozen up in the playroom, Alayna wondered how Rick had come to be at the mansion at all.

  “So, if you don't mind my asking, what brought you here, Master Rick?”

  “You have my permission to just call me Rick,” he said.

  She nodded. “Thank you.”

  “My fiancée and I wanted to explore the Dominant/submissive lifestyle. Not really hard-core, mind you. There are elements the two of us find intriguing, so we wanted to learn at the hands of experts. She likes to be spanked, which is fine, but she'd like me to use things besides my hands, and I want to be sure I'm doing things right, you know, so I don't hurt her.”

  “If you're here together, how come I haven't seen her since yes—” Alayna cut off her question. Her cheeks heated at the memory of watching Rick and his fiancée.

  “I don't recall seeing you before we met in Dane's office earlier,” he said. “But you saw us?”

  Alayna swallowed, and then made a face. “Yesterday Dane was showing me around the house, and…we… Well, that is…he offered me a glimpse of your session.”

  “Okay, that makes sense,” he replied.

  “Does it embarrass you that you were watched?”

  “Not at all. And don't sweat it. You haven't been the first. We were told once we learned enough and were comfortable being on our own, we would continue to be observed but our masters wouldn't be in the room. It was to allow us the freedom to explore.”

  “Oh.” Alayna mulled that over for a minute or two. “Will we be watched?”

  “Yes,” Rick said, and then for a brief moment, he blanched. “The master of the house will want to ensure your, um, training is moving along according to his direction.”

  Alayna recognized his nervousness coming back, and though she was curious, she decided not to question the issue. For now. She liked the calm and cool Rick and opted to drop the discussion pertaining to her sessions.


  “So, just how at ease is your fiancée with you assisting me?”

  “Well, our main focus for the time being is to work on you learning to pleasure yourself, and we will not be engaging in intercourse, so she's comfortable with us working together. Once you have worked through that issue, we will reevaluate, meet with Dane, and map our next step. To answer your question of her whereabouts, Sheila was here but was needed at work and left before our session was over,” he said.

  “I thought once we were here, that was it,” she said, a tad miffed that she'd been told she could have no contact outside of the mansion.

  “Whether the client lives in residence or not is determined on their training needs and external circumstances. Sheila is a pediatric heart specialist. Before we agreed to commit to the monthlong stay, she'd been working with the family of a very sick baby. Only a transplant would save the little guy's life. During our session yesterday, she got a call a donor heart was available.”

  “Oh God,” Alayna croaked. “Was it successful?”

  “I spoke with her late last night and again this morning. Seems the baby is holding his own. But she wants, and needs, to stay close until she's certain he's past the critical stage.”

  “How very fortunate for one family. And so very sad for another.”

  “Yeah,” Rick agreed. “I can't even begin to imagine what either family is going through.”

  Through the woods they continued along the trail winding deeper among the trees. The air was cool yet comfortable within the dense forest.

  “How about you? What brought you here?”

  “To bring out my inner submissive, of course,” she said with a grin.

  “Of course.”

  “Actually, that sort of prompted me to pick up the phone and make an appointment with Dane. Then I decided I came here for a man. Can you believe it?” She laughed.