Master Caelan had shifted his focus from one-on-one submissive training to holding group sessions to teach specific skills with impact toys and the art of rope bondage. His classes were very popular, and Skylar enjoyed serving as his model for some of the demonstrations.
Despite the huge upheaval, everything had gone smoothly and naturally, as if it was truly meant to be. It was as if her life up until now had been heading along the wrong path, her rising sense of discontent a symptom of that wrongness. Once she made the decision to move to the island, everything had fallen into place.
The call to her boss had been easy, if a little uncomfortable. When she’d offered to give the company two weeks’ notice as a courtesy, Mr. Connor had said not to bother. “The boys will absorb your accounts, little lady. They’re serious go-getters. You just go off and have your babies or whatever it is you’re planning to do.”
The comment would have infuriated her a month before, but she’d only laughed, thanked him sweetly and ended the call.
Caelan had gone with her back to the mainland to empty her cubicle and pack up her apartment. They’d sold her car on Craigslist the same day she’d listed it. The lease on her apartment was up at the end of the month, another sign from the universe that she was doing the right thing. She planned to donate the furniture, which she’d bought used and no longer had a need for. She still owed on her student debts, but the staff slave salary she’d been offered was surprisingly generous, especially considering the free room and board.
They’d spent some time with Rhi and Master James, both of whom were thrilled for her, and assured her she was making the right decision. “You’re different,” Rhianna had mused at the end of the evening. “You’ve changed, in a good way. You’re calmer. You’ve got that submissive glow about you. I’m so happy for you, Skylar.”
For the first time in her life, Skylar felt entirely comfortable in her own skin. She was exactly where she needed to be. And even better—she was in love.
Tonight’s auction party was the first in which she’d signed up to actually participate. Nervous anticipation shivered along her spine as she knelt in the line of slaves waiting to go up on the block. Caelan had teased her that he might end up buying a different slave girl for the night.
She had demurely said that was his prerogative as a Desire Island Master. She’d managed to keep a straight face for at least five seconds before adding, “Of course, I’ll have to kill you in a jealous rage afterward. I never was good at sharing.”
The dungeon had filled with party-goers, some of them already pairing off to play at the various scene stations, others slowly making their way to the folding chairs set up in front of the auction stage, play money clutched in their hands for the bidding.
Master Ryan climbed onto the stage and tapped the microphone. “Good evening, fellow perverts and kindred spirits. Those of you who wish to participate, please take your seats, as the auction is about to begin. Just to review the rules, bidding starts at fifty dollars. You should have received your play money at the door. We have twelve candidates tonight”—he waved his hand toward the row of kneeling slaves by the side of the stage—“each one more submissive than the last.”
Amidst whoops and scattered applause, he continued, “You can find out their details in the auction brochure you received with your play money. The purchase of a slave gives you rights over that person for the rest of the evening. The play is fully consensual, with limits to be negotiated beforehand. We ask that all Doms respect those limits, and keep things fun and friendly.”
He glanced toward Abbie, who stood at the edge of the stage, dressed again in her sexy green satin bustier and matching thong, her long, smooth legs bare, four-inch green satin mules on her feet. “Slave Abbie, please bring up the first slave for auction.”
First up was a plump woman of around forty named Susie. She wore a black leather mini dress and high stiletto heels, her blazing red hair teased up into a bouffant. Master Ryan directed her to stand in various poses, turning and bending this way and that as members of the audience called out their bids.
A short, stocky man with silver hair brushed back from a high forehead won the bidding at five hundred dollars. He climbed the short set of stairs on the side of the stage to hand Master Ryan his play money and retrieve his prize. Abbie attached a leash to Susie’s collar and the man led her away.
Several more subs went up on stage. The bidding was fast and furious, the atmosphere sizzling with underlying sexual tension, along with good humor and plain old fun.