“Could have asked them for cash,” Hammer said as if it was the most normal thing in the world, but Cora shook her head.
“I know, but unfortunately, none of them is loaded. Most live pay check to pay check, and the one that actually earns more has kids to pay for. Can’t take money away from little girls and their college funds. Not easy to find a guy with cash to spend on you in this economy. All the good ones are either in the big cities or gay. And you know what I think of cities,” she said and opened a door, leading the way into a dark room smelling of musk and leather.
This time, Dex couldn’t bite his tongue. “Yeah, even with gay guys it’s really hard. I was lucky to find Hammer.” He glanced up with a smirk, but the smile died on his lips when Cora turned a few more lights on, revealing a large circular space filled with implements of torture, leather, wooden furniture of unknown use, and padding attached to the black walls to drown out any screams.
But the thing that stopped Dex from marveling at the sheer variety of threatening objects surrounding him like vultures was a massive picture of Cora facing him from the wall with her legs opened to reveal… everything.
Heating up with embarrassment, he lowered his gaze, but once he spotted the first picture, it was impossible not to notice more of them, showing her in elaborate latex and leather getups. Some even featured titles that looked suspiciously like porn movie titles.
Cruel Mistress.
The Lady in Charge.
Dommes in Business.
Bad Stepmoms.
Was that last one… a parody of a Hollywood movie?
One of the photos had Cora sitting on a throne made of naked men in masks.
“This is… nice,” Dex uttered, wondering if Hammer could sense the hairs bristling on his nape.
“I always told Hammer he had the right talents to do movies, but he never budged. We would have made quite the team.” Cora said and winked at Hammer, making Dex wonder whether she had a thing for him.
Though he couldn’t think of a way for someone like Hammer finding common sexual language with a woman who sat on men and turned their asses into rosy cushions, as the posters evidenced.
His mouth dried when he noticed recording equipment on a block of shelves close to the open bathroom. Dex did post a few anonymous videos of himself masturbating on one of the amateur porn sites, but how would it feel to be just… recognizable to strangers who’d seen you get fucked? Was someone like her even into the filming, or did she get off on whatever torture she unleashed using the special furniture?
Dex cleared his throat. “Excuse me, but a team… how?”
Hammer stepped closer to the wall and picked up a spanking paddle covered in studs.
Focus, Dex. Focus.This could be the moment of distraction he needed to sneak his phone out of Hammer’s pocket.
Exhaling, Hammer glanced Cora’s way with a smile tugging at his lips. “A couple of times, we disciplined submissives for an audience together. Judging by the reactions it got, we made a pretty hot team of Dominants.”
“I was the stern one. He was the unpredictable one. Quite the combination. Ticks many people’s boxes at once,” Cora said and picked up a piece of chocolate from a jar resting on a side table where more floggers were laid out.
Unpredictable. Dex could believe that.
“So what—” he started but Cora must have known what he wanted to ask about.
“He wasn’t happy that the subs had limits.”
Fear curled in Dex’s stomach, but Hammer scowled and gave Cora’s ass the gentlest swat with the paddle. The phone slipped further out of his pocket, as if mocking Dex for not taking it already.
“That’s not true. I just didn’t like the structure. It feels too clinical to me. Not to mention that subs often have a specific thing they want, and if you divert from that, it can really put them off. And then there are the ones who—”
“People are allowed to have specific fantasies. They’re letting you do crazy shit to their bodies,” Cora said, and he groaned.
“That’s why I can’t really find a place within the community. I know primal is a thing, and all that, but at the end of the day, most people are just… very normal and they want the same from their Dom. And I’m not. You know I’m not,” Hammer said, meeting Cora’s eyes.
Dex could practically smell his frustration. He stood closer, moving his fingers within an inch from the phone. He’d be able to slide it right into the pocket of his jeans if he was fast enough.
Cora sighed. “You beingdifferentis why I’m letting you stay. I don’t need average right now. And I see you’re doing just fine away from the community…”
She drifted off, cocking her head when her attention turned to Dex. His sweaty fingers slipped off the phone he’d managed to halfway pull out of Hammer’s jacket, and it landed on the floor with a loud thud that could as well be the sound of Dex’s nerves snapping.