Kaela pulled her attention from Garron to meet Richard's eyes. Things inside her froze anew at the look in his cool eyes. He wasn't irritated, which would be a definite warning sign, but he was intrigued by the challenge Garron presented, a human who presumed to remain in control of a situation where he wasn't supposed to have control. Vampires loved nothing better than to prove their superiority. If they outranked another vampire, they would take steps to make it clear they held the upper hand. A human who didn't perceive himself as inferior to a vampire might as well have a target on him. Vampires would dedicate extra time to changing that perspective decisively, brutally. Richard would be limited in what he could do here, but even so, her gut twinged unpleasantly at what he might do.
Richard motioned to a panel between two pillars that displayed a cornucopia of floggers, paddles and single tails. "Do you mind if I enjoy the pleasure? It seems he needs a stronger hand than our servants possess to help him get out of a Dom's mindset."
He began to rise, because of course her assent was merely a formality.
Kaela...
"No."
She'd spoken more forcefully than intended. Richard stopped, looking back at her, a brow raised. But she had a unique knack for recovery, didn't she? On almost the same breath, she continued, "No, I haven't whipped or flogged him yet, my lord. If you don't mind, I'd like to be the first one to do it."
"A bit possessive already." Tara smiled. "She may be thinking about that extra large suitcase after all."
Richard offered a polite bow. "In that case, gentlemanly instincts trump rank, my lady. I wouldn't deprive you of first blood. It will allow me time to negotiate a wager with Lady Tara as to whether a man's hand or a woman's will help him mind better. I'll take my turn when you're done."
Kaela managed an acknowledgment she didn't want to give before she rose, moved with purpose toward that panel of choices. She felt Garron's attention following her, even as his eyes remained on the ground. It gave her a view through his eyes of his bare feet. Like all of him, they were oversized. He probably wore a shoe size well into the teens.
Frankenstein's monster was what the porters had called him. Yet Garron wasn't the monster. Richard and Tara, beautiful as freshly formed ice on tree branches, were the true monsters. Same as those who made tigers perform in the circus, showing the crowd how they could make the powerful predators jump through hoops, do despicably cutesy things. The trainer might even think it was okay if she or he had a bond with the creatures, or if they were born in captivity, deprived of any knowledge of the life they were meant to live. The last circus she'd attended she'd wished the creatures had sprung from the ring and eviscerated every goddamned member of the audience.
Easy, my lady. Tune into my mind. She heard his sternness. He was concerned about her, she could feel that, and he was probably smart to worry. The way he'd aroused her, taking her along for the ride with Seanna and Liam, had helped, but the rage was still on a healthy simmer. She stopped before the panel, stared at her choices. She wasn't seeing them, though. She was trying to figure out how to go with this. All the different challenges she'd faced throughout the years, and this was one where she was groping for a direction.
I thought I'd already taught you better than that. Where does a sub look for direction?
Her Master.
There you go. Now look at the choices and tell me what you know how to use, if any of them.
She knew how to use all of them. Yet there were certain things that she rejected out of hand. A paddle? No. Just no. Floggers were versatile, but she found her gaze drawn to the single tails. Most subs didn't know how to use one, but most of them hadn't had to be a Dominant for as long as she had. She was very good with a six foot single tail, and the threat and strength of it, the skill and control required, would honor those same qualities in her Master.
Well thought, my lady. Come show me.
She grasped her choice, turned around. He stood in front of the bench, to all appearances waiting for her verbal direction Through his mind, she could tell his ass was sore, since the last time he'd experienced anal sex had been quite some time ago. She was surprised he'd experienced it at all.
At Eden, Masters and Mistresses role play as subs occasionally to understand more about the submissive mindset, my lady. As well as to make sure we know how different punishments and sensations feel. I've had my ass taken by some quite formidable Mistresses with strap-ons that I'm pretty sure were borrowed from Lucifer's toy box.
How about another Master?
Tara's suggestion about pitting him against another alpha servant came to mind. While watching Liam fuck her Master had done little for her--his attentions to Seanna were far more stimulating to Kaela---now she couldn't deny a guilty twinge imagining him fighting for the upper hand with one of the alpha servants.
Garron snorted in his head. Women, even submissive ones, are as intrigued by two strong males going at it as men are about watching two curvy females pleasuring one another.
So have you ever had a Master...do that?
One or two, because we're expected to learn about the pleasures of same sex domination and submission as well. It's about sensation my lady, not preferences. Haven't you done the same, watching Fran submit and experiencing pleasure through her? You've learned to arouse yourself regardless of the circumstances, to make it work for you.
At the peak of an evening of vampire socializing, when it seemed everyone around her was copulating or absorbed in some type of pleasurable power exchange, she could close down her awareness of everything but the grunts and cries of pleasure and lose herself. She'd learned how to blend. Touched bodies, demanded surrender, inflicted pain...and to make that work, she couldn't stay detached. She'd learned to channel the pleasure in ways where she did in fact experience it as well, even if it rarely went below the physical.
The body is entirely neutral, my lady. It just likes sex. It's the mind that fucks up our compass. So do you know how to use that single tail you're holding?
Yes. Quite well.
Good. You mess up and you'll pay for it. A mental pause. Perhaps that wasn't the best incentive to make you do your best.
His wry humor loosened up some of the tension inside her and reminded her again that here it was just play. He could end it if he wished by indicating it was a hard limit, because this was the human world. So he was right. Stop whining, just enjoy it in whatever way she could. That's what he was demanding, and if she couldn't be anything for him after she left the island, she would be his in all ways while she was here. That was one gift she could give him.
Closing her hand on the handle of the single tail, she let the thong and fall uncurl. His hands were loose, eyes trained on her face, everything about his body language saying she was the only one who existed for him, no matter the crowd,
the watching staff members or vampires. "Move to the pillar," she said shortly. "Put your hands on it."
As he complied, he moved with that unconscious grace powerful animals had, strong and confident. It was as if he were fully dressed, not naked and just ass fucked. He knew who and what he was, and he wouldn't let anything shake that.
You should pay yourself that same compliment, my lady. Almost two hundred years couldn't change your determination to honor who you truly are, which is why you're here on Eden with me.
"You don't expect him to be so beautiful with all those scars, but he is," Tara remarked. "If he were mine, Kaela, I'd tie him down and feast on him for days. What an intriguing tattoo..."
Kaela tilted her head in acknowledgment while she suppressed the urge to turn around and gouge her eyes out. A very female reaction, she knew.
An appreciated one, my lady. Like all men, I love a good cat fight. Particularly if bikinis and a vat of mud are involved.
She was not going to laugh. Though the urge took her by surprise, since humor wasn't the type of emotion she was used to quelling during this kind of thing. She took a stance a few paces behind him, watched him rest both palms on either side of the wide pillar. As he did, he tilted his head so she saw him capture her in the corner of his eye. Being in his mind, it was an unusual effect, like seeing her image in a mirror looking back at her true self. Because he saw her true self. Through his vision, by wrapping his feelings about it around her, she could see it as well.
Nothing that she had to do would change that vision. She could be who Tara and Richard expected her to be and yet be what she truly was. That wasn't new. But for the first time in her life, the contrast didn't feel so isolating to her. It actually was...arousing, because Garron was still in control. He was with her, in her mind, supporting her, helping her, not making her feel so alone.
This could work. It could work.
The realization was so startling, so earthshattering, her mind shut like a trap to everything, even him. She had to blink, orient herself. Remind herself of the flip side.