B is for… (3 page)

*****

Oh shit.

Mae’s breath hitched in her throat when the Dom came out of the shadows.

Master Xavier.

There were a handful of truly terrifying Doms at Las Palmas, and this was one of them. Though he was an infrequent player, Mae recognized him. Even if she’d never seen him, she would recognize him from his description.

Master Xavier always wore a black leather hood-mask, and rumor had it no one at Las Palmas had ever seen his face.

The mask covered his whole head and neck except for his mouth, lower cheeks, and chin. A sub Mae knew named Sarah, who had submitted to him several times, said it was like Batman’s mask. They’d giggled about that, but quietly, as if Master Xavier might hear them otherwise.

He was muscular, but not bulky, wearing a tight sleeveless top that hugged the muscles of his chest and firm belly. He folded his arms, which were thick with muscle. The unrelenting black of his clothing and mask drew attention to the skin that was bare. Mae focused on his lips, which were fuller than she’d remembered from the few times she’d seen him.

“Mae.”

A shiver ran down her back when he said her name.

“Master Xavier.” She bowed her head submissively, but looked at him through her lashes.

“You know me.”

It wasn’t really a question, but she answered anyway. “Yes, Sir. I recognize your mask.”

He let out one hard laugh. “Fine. Do you know why you’re here?”

“No, Sir.”

“We’re partners in the game. The checklist game.”

Mae wasn’t really surprised—there was no other reason for him to have called for her, but hearing him say it made her stomach knot.

She popped her hip to the side, propped her hand on it, and said, “I almost left, it took you so long to contact me.”

She hadn’t planned to say that, hadn’t planned to act like that, but it was an automatic response, a defense mechanism. Mae teased and pouted, sassed and misbehaved. That’s who she was. When Doms came looking for her, that’s what they wanted.

And it was the wrong thing to do with a Master like Xavier.

Master Xavier started walking toward her. He didn’t say anything, didn’t run or yell. He just walked.

When he was five feet away Mae took a small step back. Then another. Her shoulders hit the door behind her. In the next breath Master Xavier was there, looming over her.

“Are you criticizing me?” That deliciously rich voice of his had deepened further. Each syllable seemed to glide over her skin.

“I was only teasing, Sir.” Mae kept her gaze focused on the neck of his shirt and reminded herself that he wouldn’t, couldn’t hurt her. They were just talking—they weren’t in a scene, hadn’t negotiated to play.

But as he loomed over her, she felt that strange stirring again, this time accompanied by the urge to sink to her knees, to spread her legs and bow her head in that simplest of submissive postures.

“You’re teasing me?”

The dismissive tone irked her and the urge to kneel disappeared. “Yes. I am. Though it
was
a little rude to make me wait so long.” Mae pouted a bit as she said it.

Bad idea.

Maybe if she hadn’t had so many glasses of champagne, or been mentally out the door when Gabriela’s arrival yanked her back, Mae would have been able to bite her tongue and play the kind of sub Master Xavier was used to. But she wasn’t feeling submissive. She felt ready to poke and prod this man until she figured out why she felt this inexplicable attraction to him.

Behind the mask she saw his eyes widen at her response. His eyes were green. Not hazel, but a pretty true green.

He leaned closer. “Little girl, you don’t want to play with me. Tell the overseers that you won’t sub for me.”

Mae’s hands curled into fists. “I’m not your little girl.” There’d been a time when she’d reveled in being called that by a Dom, but her tastes had changed.

He reached for her hair, fingers stopping just short of contact. “No, you’re not.” He stepped back.

Mae’s mouth opened in surprise. Was that regret in his voice?

“Tell the overseers you can’t be partnered with me.” He turned his back, apparently done with her.

“Why?”

Master Xavier faced her, clearly surprised she was still in the room. “Is this what you like?” He motioned to the dungeon-like playroom. “This is what I like, and unless you want to be spread open on the floor so I can whip your pussy, I suggest you leave.”

Mae dropped her gaze, biting the inside of her cheek as a shiver took her. She didn’t want that. She wanted to be kissed and cuddled and spanked. Yet her body was thrumming with arousal, and her pussy was so wet she was afraid to move.

“I meant why don’t
you
tell them, Sir?” The words were breathy, but she got them out.

Xavier crossed his arms. “I did. I spent the last few hours arguing to have our pairing reassigned, but Mistress Faith refused. I was given the option of meeting with you or resigning from Las Palmas. Since I do not want to lose my membership, it’s up to you to walk away. You will not be punished for doing so; I saw to that.”

An unfamiliar feeling settled over Mae. She’d been blessed in life by being smart, pretty, and having the kind of personality that drew people to her. There were very few times she’d ever been rejected, romantically, sexually, or as a friend. It took her a minute, but she realized what this feeling was.

Embarrassment. Embarrassment and shame. He was rejecting her, without even getting to know her. She should get the hell out of here and back to the safety of the Sub Rosa Court and Doms who enjoyed the kind of submission she was willing to offer.

She should, but she wasn’t going to.

Mae raised her chin and folded her arms. “No.”

*****

Xavier narrowed his eyes. “What do you mean, ‘No’?”

“I mean that I’m not going to tell the overseers that I can’t be partnered with you. Everyone has to play the checklist game, and I’m not going to get in trouble just because you would rather have a different sub.”

Rather have another sub? Xavier shook his head—if only she knew how hard he was fighting his attraction to her. He needed her to get out of here before he lost his internal battle and gave in to his desire to dominate her.

“I told you, you won’t be in trouble. You’re making a mistake, little girl.”

“Don’t call me that.”

“If you sub for me, I’ll call you whatever I want.” Her attitude was both irritating and rather engaging.

“Well I’m not subbing for you right now.”

“If you’re still standing here in five minutes you will be.”

“Fine, then I’ll stand here for five minutes.” Mae stepped out of her shoes and kicked them to the side. He saw her bare toes curl against the cold tile.

Those cold little toes disturbed him. He didn’t like seeing her uncomfortable. And damn if that wasn’t the dumbest thought considering what he wanted to do to her.

Xavier grabbed a mat from the stack and tossed it on the floor in the center of the room. He pointed, silently commanding her to stand there. Mae’s chin notched up in an even more defiant expression. Xavier had to admit he was impressed. She was ballsier than he’d expected.

Their gazes met. Her eyes were the color of storm clouds. Xavier held her gaze, unafraid of the intimacy of such an action.

A little shudder went through her. She lowered her eyelids, her defiant stance softening. She padded over to the mat.

Xavier took a deep breath as the air in the room thickened. He’d felt it when he looked into her eyes—the first hints of the power transfer that was so critical to BDSM play.

“Kneel.” The order was a test, as much for him as it was for her.

Mae hesitated and looked at him. He could see the war inside her—the battle between the desire to submit and the urge to fight back, to remain in control. She pressed her lips together, looked at the floor and then back to him.

Now he read something else in her expression.

Help me. Help me submit.

He’d been with subs who needed that first push, but they hadn’t said “help me.” They’d said “make me,” their defiance carefully orchestrated to give him the opening to grab them by the hair and force them to their knees, giving both of them what they wanted.

Letting instinct guide him, Xavier reached for Mae, giving her the physical contact that would help her submit. Instead of grabbing her by the hair, neck, or arms, Xavier ran his hand along her bare shoulder down to her breast. He caressed the tip with his palm, and when her nipple beaded, he pinched it between his curled index finger and thumb. Still holding her nipple, he repeated the order.

“Kneel, Mae.”

She dropped gracefully to her knees, whimpering slightly when the movement pulled the tip of her breast from between his fingers.

She was sitting with her legs pressed together, her hands curled into little fists. Her hair spilled over her bare shoulder, almost long enough to cover her nipple.

Xavier returned to the chair, bracing his elbows on his knees. Nothing was going the way he thought it would. Instead of running away, the lovely woman was far stronger than he’d imagined, and most surprisingly, was now submitting, despite an initial show of defiance.

“I’m going to give you one more chance to leave. But only one. If you stay, you’re agreeing to submit to me, to be mine, until we’ve completed the checklist items. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Sir.”

Xavier picked the envelope up from the floor under the chair. “Once you hear the list, you’ll realize you’re not ready for me.”

That brought her chin up, her gaze defiant even as she remained submissively kneeling. “What letter are we?”

“B, as in bondage.”

*****

Mae’s whole body was throbbing with arousal. She hadn’t been this turned on this quickly, or with such little physical contact, since she first discovered the delightful worlds of kink. Despite that, one thought was running though her mind on a loop.

What are you doing?

When the big bad wolf tells you you’re free to go, a smart person leaves. Apparently Mae was not as smart as she thought she was, because not only hadn’t she left, but she’d taunted him. She was setting herself up for a corrective punishment, and coming from this Dom that would probably be far more than she was equipped to handle.

And yet…when he’d looked at her she felt something, something she wanted to feel again.

Master Xavier pulled some papers out of an envelope. “Do you remember what you put on your checklist?”

Mae barely remembered filling out the checklist. “No, Sir.”

“Once we begin—if we begin—you will call me Master Xavier.”

“Yes, Master Xavier.” She liked the way that felt, liked saying it.

“I’ll start by reading off the list of items under B.” He flipped the page, scanned the text, then looked at her. “Ball gag. Beating, soft. Beating, hard.”

Mae was acutely aware that he was studying her reaction to each thing he said. She winced at “beating, hard.” The idea should have dampened her arousal, but didn’t. If anything it increased it.

“Blindfolding. Being serviced. Biting. Breast bondage. Breast whipping.”

Mae’s breathing was fast, her fingers clenching rhythmically. She shouldn’t want these things. This wasn’t who she was.

“Branding.”

Mae’s gaze jerked to his, that one word enough to knock her out of the arousal-fueled daze. “We only do the things that both of us said yes to on our lists.”

Master Xavier nodded and Mae relaxed. There was no way she’d marked branding as an interest.

“There’s more. Boot worship. Bondage, light. Bondage, heavy.” His voice got deeper, and she realized he was aroused too. “B is a good letter. Bondage, multi-day. And finally, one more bondage, but this one is public under clothing.”

Now that he’d listed them off, Mae remembered the checklist. She remembered the desperate arousal she’d felt while reading it.

“If you choose to stay, you will remain with me from now until Monday morning. This is a purely BDSM scene, meaning there will be no sex, except as it relates to ‘being serviced.’ I have a copy of your hard limits, and know your safe word, but that doesn’t mean that you wouldn’t find submitting to me very difficult. I would not be easy on you, just because you’re…” he motioned vaguely.

He thought she couldn’t handle him. Well she could. Maybe. She was stronger than anyone ever gave her credit for, and she wanted Xavier to know it. “I wouldn’t want you to be.” The words were mostly bravado, and she had a bad feeling that it would take only a matter of minutes for Master Xavier to push her deeper than she’d gone before.

Master Xavier searched her face. “You’re not what I expected.”

I’m not what I expected right now either.

Mae didn’t know how to respond, so she tucked her chin down and stared at her knees. It wasn’t exactly a compliment, but it made her feel strong, as if defying his expectations freed her to be complicated.

“Push down your robe, Mae. Show me your other breast.”

With a shrug of her shoulder the robe slid off, the fabric now held in place by the sash at her waist. The first hints of arousal curled in her belly and her blood heated in anticipation.

Xavier stood and circled around behind her. He cupped her neck, thumb and middle finger pressing lightly on the soft spots just behind her jawbone. It forced her head up and back, so she was looking at him.

“You understand what I’ll do to you?”

“Yes, Master Xavier.”

“I want to hear it.”

“You’ll do everything on the checklist that both of us said yes to.”

“That may be only one thing.” His thumb moved in a small circular caress over the sensitive skin below her ear. “It may be all of them.”

“Yes, Master Xavier.”

“I won’t fuck you, but that doesn’t mean I won’t touch you, use you.”

“I know.”

He held her gaze for another moment and then released her. He made a noise of either anger or disgust. Mae had a moment to wonder what she’d done wrong while he stalked away, but then he turned.

“Last chance, little girl.”

“I’m not your little girl.”