She was conflicted, but then she internally shook her head. What the hell. This is a singles cruise, and we are all here to hopefully find someone for a little fun or maybe something more. She smiled at him and said, “I’d like that, Sy. I think you might be right about the pheromones.”
* * * *
Beau looked around at the four subs kneeling patiently in the slave position. He really did love to have a bevy of beautiful, eager women kneeling at his feet. Well, three eager women and one who looked like she was being forced to swallow broken glass. He would have to see what he could do about that. This might be fun and a way to get just a little of his own back for her snotty attitude at breakfast this morning. This junior subbie is going to learn a little bit about submission and obedience, and I’m going to be the Dom to teach her.
“Master Alex asked me to remind y’all to review the ‘Hard Limits’ section of the Pleasure Club Rules to determine your personal hard limits and to be sure to wear your rubber bracelets tomorrow. As you already know or will discover when you read the Rules tonight, the half-inch rubber bracelets signify the following: red for non-participation, green for subs who wish to play, and black for Doms or Dommes. The thinner colored bracelets signify different hard limits. The narrow rubber bracelets signify the following: red bands mean no extreme whipping, purple bands mean no extreme bondage, green bands mean no anal play, et cetera. You may switch out any bracelets at any time as your status changes. Review the list in the pamphlet and choose accordingly. Please do not wear all of the colored bracelets at once. If you have that many hard limits, just wear the wide red band. The whole point of this exercise is to expand your sexual horizons not to close them off entirely.”
Beau gave the four subs his stern Dom look. All but one looked enthralled. “Next, I’m going to show you how some of the dungeon equipment is used.” He went through the use of spreader bars, the spanking bench, the hanging chains, handcuffs, nipple clamps, and various other pieces of equipment found in the dungeon, using each of the subs in turn to demonstrate. He was saving Sandy for last.
“We will cover the St. Andrews Cross and wrist and ankle cuffs next. Ms. Sandy Sinclair is going to help me out here. Sandy, if you will put on your cuffs and stand on the step facing the cross, I’ll demonstrate the bindings and the elevation mechanism.” He looked her straight in the eye, daring her to refuse. He could see the words forming on the tip of her tongue, but she had the control and good sense to hold them there. He could see it took a monumental effort on her part. She was dying to tell him off at that moment.
“Yes, Master.” Oh, he could see that cost her. When she had put the cuffs on her wrists and ankles and was positioned on the step, he adjusted it until her very fine butt was even with his cock. The thong she wore did nothing to hide her smooth, round sweetheart ass, and he was anxious to get his hands on her.
He turned to the other subs and said, “Your Master will adjust the step with these hydraulic controls until it is at a comfortable level. He will then check your cuffs to be sure that they are not too tight and that they do not chafe your skin.” He suited actions to words and carefully ran his finger under the cuffs on both her wrists before he skimmed his hand up her arm, over her back and butt, and down her legs where he did the same with the cuffs on her ankles. He could feel the tension in her muscles as he touched her. When he straightened he gave her ass a friendly but none too gentle smack. The cracking sound was loud in the quiet room, and she gasped. He knew it had to sting, and her hands were now bound to the cross. When she looked over her shoulder at him with a look of fury on her face, he grinned. She was mad enough to spit nails. Well good. He’d been mad enough to spit nails at breakfast this morning. “Have something to say, sub?”
“No, Master. Thank you, Master.”
“Very good, sub.” He leaned in close to her ear and whispered, “That was for this morning.” He stood back and raised his voice to a normal level again. “Any questions, ladies?”
“Are you going to let me down from here any time soon?”
Beau was grinning like a fool on the inside, but he did not allow it to show in his rather stern expression. He had been hoping for just such an outburst from the lovely little Sandy—well, she was far from little, but compared to him, she was only a tempting armful. “Were you addressing the Master in that disrespectful tone, sub? I think you have earned a punishment.” He turned to the other subs. “Y’all will get to see exactly how the St. Andrews Cross works in practice and not just theory.” Her gasp was music to his ears. “Have anything else disrespectful to say, sub? Like your safe word?” He knew the tone of his voice would keep her from using the safe word. He might just as well have slapped her face with a glove and issued a challenge for pistols at dawn. She would not back down now. “I think you’ve earned three for being disrespectful to the Master.”
He quickly administered three hard slaps to her butt with the big hand that had been itching to make contact with her ass since that morning. Together with the one he had given her earlier that made four. Her ass was turning a nice shade of pink. The spanking was over before she could form a protest—which had been his intention. He hadn’t wanted to give her the opportunity to safe word out. When he was done, he ran his hands over her now-stinging butt and gave her a friendly pat. He could feel the fury vibrating in her body. He unfastened first her ankles and then her wrists. “Thank your Master for the correction you so richly deserved, and then you may resume your slave position.”
Sandy dismounted the step and assumed the slave position with the other subs. “Thank you, Master.” He could see from her hot pink cheeks, both top and bottom, that she was extremely embarrassed and positively fuming. He thought steam would whistle out of her ears at any moment.
“I think that’s it for today, subs. Master Alex will take over again tomorrow. I enjoyed our time together and hope you found it informative.”
* * * *
Baylee Baxter still had tears running down her cheeks when she returned to the blue and gold suite she was sharing with her twin, Barbee. It was the same very luxurious suite Violette O’Reilly and Nik Rossiter had used and which she had serviced as steward on the cruise to Rio de Janeiro in February for Carnaval.
The twin sisters had come aboard the Golden Dolphin as one unit unbeknownst to the crew and passengers. Baylee performed her steward duties while Barbee had hidden in Baylee’s crew cabin waiting for the opportunity to steal jewelry from her three suites including the ultra-luxurious master suite occupied by the ship owner, Jamie Devereau, and his wife, Anne Sutton. Unfortunately, they had been caught before they could make their getaway.
“Oh, Barbee, he hates, loathes, and despises me. I’ll never be able to win him back. It was just awful.”
“Bay, I really didn’t think it was a good idea to blindside Alex like that. It would have been better to run into him on deck or something.”
“I thought if he saw my willingness to submit to him, accept him as my Master again, he would soften his attitude. Not. He was furious. I don’t think this is going to work out. I should probably just leave the ship at the first port of call. I can’t stand to see the anger and fury in his eyes. He hates me.” She was heartbroken.
“No way. Keep out of his way if you want to, but we are going to enjoy this cruise as passengers this time and not the hired help. After all we went through on the last trip, I think we deserve it, and it is our thirtieth birthday after all.” Barbee twisted the diamond eternity band pinkie ring that Baylee had bought each of them for their big 3-0 birthday. “We’ll go to the mixer tonight and have a fun time. Now that we are retired from our nefarious second careers as jewel thieves, we can mingle and maybe meet someone nice. I wouldn’t mind trying the BDSM thing again with someone else.”
“Oh, Barbee. I don’t think I could do it with anyone but Alex.”
“Honey, you are the one that fell in love with him when we were on board the last time, not me. I knew I had to keep my emotional dist
ance, but you never were able to do that. I don’t think it was all about the amazing sex. We both enjoyed that part tremendously, but you are the one that couldn’t keep your distance. I knew it was a mistake to get emotionally involved.”
“You were the smart one there. I wish I hadn’t fallen in love with him. The sharing thing was a bad idea from the get-go. I doubt he will ever be able to forgive me for that. He felt like a fool when he realized there were two of us, and he didn’t know it.”
“I agree. That is a lot for a proud man like Alex to swallow, never mind a Master Dom. But, I do think he had feelings for us…you…whatever. It was confusing for both of us as well.”
* * * *
“I’m going to kill him. I’m going to rip his entire body limb from limb, and then I’m going to throw it overboard as chum for the sharks.”
Devon had been waiting anxiously for Cassie to return for over an hour. She had hoped to grab a nap on her deck so she would be fresh for the mixer that night, but she couldn’t settle down. Once she knew that Beau had taken over the sub training class, she’d had a feeling things weren’t going to go smoothly. She cautiously stuck her head into the living room of Cassie’s cabin.
It was already four thirty when Cassie stormed in and slammed the door. Devon watched apprehensively as Cassie threw her pool cover-up off, grabbed a bikini from the closet, and stomped into the bathroom. She looked like a wild woman. Her mass of blonde ringlets was in disarray—well, they were always in disarray unless she had them tamed into a French braid. “Are you okay, Cas? Honey, what happened?”
Cassie thrust her head out of the bathroom as she was pulling up the bottom of her bikini and said. “That bastard spanked me! He had the nerve to actually put his hands on my ass and spank me.”
“Why?”
“What do you mean why? He had no right to touch me. Are you crazy?” She popped back into the bathroom and her voice was muffled. “He said I ‘disrespected’ the Master. Of all the stupid…”
“Cassie, what did you do? This is a BDSM cruise, honey. If you smarted off to him in class or in a scene, especially in front of the other subs, he had to punish you. And you were really rude to him at breakfast. He was probably still pissed at you for that.”
“If anyone deserves to be ‘disrespected,’ it’s Beau Bainbridge.”
“I thoroughly agree, but he doesn’t know that. Maybe you should just tell him who you are—clear the air. You might feel better.”
“Not yet.”
“What little plot are you cooking up in that devious mind of yours? I don’t think this is going to have a good outcome, missy. Maybe—”
“He is going to pay.” As Cassie rubbed her still-red butt, Devon had a hard time keeping a straight face. Cassie had been a much-adored only child and had been just a little spoiled by her parents…well, maybe a lot spoiled…not that she didn’t deserve it because she was a wonderful daughter. But, nonetheless, Devon was pretty sure this was her first experience getting her butt spanked.
“I’m going to lie down on my deck and rest. Dev, would you mind calling our steward for a pot of coffee and some cookies? Dinner isn’t for a while and I need a cookie fix.”
“Of course not, hon. Go out on the deck and try to relax. I’ll be right out.” Devon shook her head as she picked up the telephone and buzzed their steward, placed the order, and then she went out on Cassie’s deck. She plopped down on the other chaise and put her feet up to relax. She knew Cassie wasn’t done venting and that she had at least another half hour or so of venom to spew before she would begin to wind down. They knew each other so well and were often on the same emotional frequency—two sides of the same coin so to speak.
After the coffee and cookies were delivered and Cassie had calmed down somewhat, Devon told her about her afternoon with Sy Blackthorn. “I really like him, Cassie. I think we might just hit it off. He’s very low key, has a wicked sense of humor without being nasty, and there is definitely some chemistry between us. And, he’s not hard to look at by any means.”
“Dev, that’s great. I’ll try not to hold the fact that he is Beau’s friend against him. You deserve to enjoy this cruise. Tonight should be interesting in more ways than one.”
Chapter Six
When Beau got back to the suite he was sharing with Sy on Deck Four, he was beginning to think he’d made a mistake. Not that Sandy Sinclair didn’t deserve to get her butt smacked, but it might not have been the best way to win friends and influence people.
Yes, he was a Dom, and yes, she had been monumentally disrespectful and deserved a punishment in the D/s scheme of things. But he was trying to get into her panties—or lack of them given the ship’s rules about underwear—on this cruise. Wasn’t he? She was probably one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen, and that included models and actresses. She was pleasant and friendly, laughing and joking with everyone—except him.
He really didn’t understand why she had disliked him from the moment she laid eyes on him, especially when he was trying his best to be charming, and he really didn’t understand his unrelenting attraction to her—besides the obvious. There was something niggling at the back of his mind. He just couldn’t put his finger on it. Well, he would see if he couldn’t repair the damage at the mixer on deck tonight. Moonlight, champagne…
* * * *
When Beau and Sy stepped out onto the top deck as the sun was setting, he had to admit that this ship was amazing. It was top of the line all the way. The colors of the sunset were magnificent as they cruised south along the coast of Florida and the Florida Keys toward Key West. The passengers and crew mingled in the lounge and out on deck. He saw Alex Dragados, who still looked twisted. Beau didn’t know what had the chief mate so bent, but it was obviously serious.
Although very casual, everyone was dressed to impress. When he turned and saw Sandy leaning back against the rail with a margarita in her hand, he caught his breath. The sun was behind her lighting a halo around her mass of curly hair. It was like a lion’s mane. The gold tresses with streaks of platinum blonde caught the light which also gleamed off her bare, tanned shoulders and the tops of her temptingly displayed breasts. She wore a leopard printed strapless maxi dress that swept down around her sandaled feet and reinforced the wildcat look. He hadn’t noticed her brightly painted toenails that afternoon, but now they peeked out from under the hem of the dress. He had to admit he had a thing for pretty toes. He found himself wanting to suck each and every one of her toes into his mouth…
Unless he got busy mending fences, that wasn’t going to happen. He walked over to her, smiled a greeting to Devon, who only had eyes for Sy, and said “Are you still mad at me? As the Master, I really had no choice but to correct your bad behavior. Can we start over?”
She turned her head and looked out to sea. The lowering rays of the sun did amazing things for her clear turquoise eyes, which were the same color as the stunning chunky turquoise and amber necklace she wore. She was a jewelry designer if he remembered correctly. He had only ever seen eyes that color once before. He shut those eyes out of his mind. He usually tried not to revisit that memory. It was a long time ago, and he’d been a stupid kid thinking with his dick. It was way too late to fix that particular youthful mistake, but what he had done still bothered him.
When she turned back to him she said in an exaggerated Southern drawl, “Why, bless your heart, sugar. It’s no problem, no problem at all.” Beau had to laugh. As a Southern boy born and bred, he knew that was the Southern belle’s equivalent of “eat shit and die, asshole.”
* * * *
Cassie smiled her phony belle’s smile up at him. She had to admit he looked fabulous. He wore a black silk shirt and well-tailored black dress slacks, and the rays of the setting sun lit his tan, handsome face. He had a fan of small crinkles around his eyes. They didn’t detract from his looks, especially when he smiled that devastating smile she remembered so well, and the creases beside his mouth deepened. She felt the sizzle of that o
ld attraction she had known as a young girl, only now it had matured into the attraction of a woman. It was purely chemical, she assured herself. She tamped it down. Those feelings had no place in her plans for Beaumont Bainbridge.
She finished the last of her margarita, and he took the glass and put it on the tray of a passing steward. He took her hand before she could protest and pulled her out to the center of the deck where several couples were dancing to a slow tune. He pulled her up against his chest as they began to move to the music, and the breath rushed out of her lungs.
He ran his hands down her back and continued lower until he cupped her buttocks in his big hands. He pulled her up against the hard-on that was getting painfully obvious behind the zipper of his trousers. It was clear that he wasn’t going to let her escape his tight hold. “Do you want to tell me why I rub you the wrong way every time we see each other? Are you going to waste this feeling of attraction between us by being mad? Don’t look at me like that. You earned that hot butt, and you know it. Can’t we start over and see where this goes?”
“Maybe.”
“You are a hard woman. Why did you take an immediate dislike to me—before I ever had a chance to say a word?” He entwined the fingers of both her hands with his and pulled her close to his chest where she snuggled contentedly for a moment with her head under his chin before the memory of prom night rushed back into her head. What was she thinking? She should have had this dance fifteen years ago. It was far too late now. What she wanted now was her revenge for what he had put her through back then. Maybe then she would be able to forget about it, let it go, and finally restore the pride and self-confidence he had stolen from a vulnerable seventeen-year-old that night. She knew he was waiting for an answer but too bad. He would get his answer before she was done with him.
Cassandra's Revenge [Golden Dolphin 4] (Siren Publishing Classic) Page 4
