Submission Under the Mistletoe (12 page)

Stumbling, she landed on the cold concert and
scraping her palms as she skid a few inches.

“
You bastard,” Brad called
out.

“
Ah!” Reel charged and instantly
connected with Brad’s fist.

As she got to her feet, she saw her ex-Doms head
snap to the side and blood coming from a fresh split in his
lip.

Reel must have been operating on pure madness,
because he turned back to Brad and started swinging.

Unfazed by the deranged man’s acts, Brad the more
clear headed fighter, laid into the Asian man. A deep punch to
Reel’s stomach, Brad had his knees buckling and Reel dropping to
the ground.

“
Call the police, Gabriella.” Brad
gaze connected with hers.

Shaken by what was happening, she pulled out her
cell phone and made the call. Not wanting to see any more of the
man she’d once trusted brought so low, she unlocked her door and
went into her apartment.

Less than ten minutes later, two officers were at
her door. After taking her statement, which she just told them that
Reel and her had a passed working relationship and when she ended
it he refused to stay away. She told them about him attacking her
and Brad coming to help her out.

As the officers were leaving with the bruised and
battered Reel, Brad told them she would be to the precinct the next
day to file a restraining order. The officer agreed with him.

“
You going to be all right, miss?”
One officer questioned.

“
I’ll be staying with her
tonight,” Brad announced.

She didn’t think that was necessary but she didn’t
want to debate with Brad around the cops.

“
That’s good.” The officer
followed the path his partner had taken and left.

As Brad locked the door behind the officer, she
removed her coat and then dropped heavy onto her couch. Her body
had started shaking uncontrollably.

He turned and looked at her.

Something in her features must have let him know she
wasn’t doing well, because he crossed the room to her.

“
Hey, baby doll, it’s all right.
It’s over.” He sat down beside her and pulled her into his
arms.

Unable to put on the brave façade any longer, she
curled her body into his and accepted his strength and the support
of his arms. Tears welled up in her eyes as she inhaled his scent.
Not because of fear, but because of gratitude. He cared enough for
her to truly want her to be safe.

“
You didn’t leave,” she pressed
her face into his chest and wrapped her arms around his
sides.

“
Never. I would keep you safe from
all harm if I could.”

She believed him. And she understood his words. No
matter what had just happened with Reel the fact still remained
that this was it for them. She would be going to visit her family
soon and when she returned he would be in Baltimore.

His hand rubbed her back and she winced.

“
You’re hurt. Let me see.” He
leaned away from her and sat there waiting expecting her to do as
he requested.

Normally, she would have told him she was fine and
escorted him to the door and surveyed her injuries after he was
gone. However, she didn’t want to think anymore tonight; she
complied.

Holding her hands out to him, first she allowed him
to see the scrapes along her palms.

He gently rubbed his thumbs over the tender flesh of
both her hands. “Not too bad, but you need them cleaned out.”
Raising his head and gazing into her eyes, he calmly instructed her
as if she were some skittish rabbit, “Get your antiseptic and gauze
if you have it.”

Rising, she wordlessly went into her bathroom. She
didn’t spare a moment to look into the mirror at the desperate
submissive that would be looking back at her. With a heart for a
lifestyle where she wanted a dominant over her this was all she had
right now and she would take it, have this moment and be
appreciative of it. Under the skin she pulled out peroxide and a
small cotton pad and returned to the living room.

“
Sit. I’ll do it.” He took the
items from her and waited for her to follow his command.

Instead of sitting on the couch beside him, as she
was doing before, she took up a spot at his feet and rested her
hands palm up in his lap.

Brad took in a quick breath, a gasp. She could see
both the shock and full awareness enter his intense dark brown
gaze. Staring at her, he searched her face. His features began to
relax and she hoped he recognized her submission and obedience to
him.

He gave a sharp nod of his head then began to work
on her hands. Inside one palm was a small pebble and he gingerly
worked it out of her hands. Soaking the cotton with the cleanser,
he patted her palms with such care.

She could see him now as a physician’s assistant and
working with a patient in his care. He had a kind, competent face
and soothing touch.

Lifting her hands, he blew on her small wounds and
caused heat to crawl along her arms and into her core, making her
sex throb. Her heart beat began a faster tempo.

“
Thank you, Sir.”

“
This is not all of them. Show me
your back, China Doll.”

It was her turned to catch your breath at hearing
her name on his lips at such a moment. Slipping out of her heels,
she performed a smooth execution of rising from her knees to a
standing position. Something she had done hundreds of times before,
but never with such determination to please.

Taking no more than a single step away from him, she
unclasped her belt and let it hit the floor with a thud. Next, she
unbuttoned the shirt he’d permitted her to keep, his shirt she
would always think of it. It soon arrived at the same destination
as the belt.

She maintained eye contact with him as long as she
could as she turned and displayed her back for his inspection. Her
breathing was now heavy, matching the pace of her heart.

She heard him rise and felt the heat of his broad
form behind her. His touch was light, barely gliding along her
back.

Her skin was sensitive and it felt alive every where
he caressed her. One finger slid along her spine and electric
currents followed in his wake. Air rushed in and out of her lungs
on a low moan. She was on fire under his hands.

He unsnapped her red bra and pushed it off her
shoulders until it fell away. She wasn’t shy, he’d seen her naked
before. Had made love to her all night. However, she felt revealed,
open; like he could see more than just her body, but her soul.
Quakes rocked her body with the revelation.

“
You are bruised here.”

Before she could wonder about the spot he found, his
lips met the edge of one of her shoulder blades. The warm pressure
of his mouth calmed the tender area.

“
And here.” He kissed the top of
one shoulder. “Also here.” The same gentle pressure touched her hip
above her pants.

He licked around the bruises on both her forearms.
However, his tongue didn’t stop there it continue to her back.
Brad’s large hands slipped around her waist and cupped her
breasts.

She pressed into his gripped as he palmed the flesh
and squeezed her nipples. While his hands were busy, his tongue
stroked down her spine until it met the edge of her pants. He
dipped lower and fondled the crease of her ass with the tip of his
tongue.

Her eyes slid shut as she arched her back to him,
begging for more of his touch.

Following the earlier path he took, he laved up her
spine. At the base of her neck he pulled her against him. As she
lay flushed to his body, feeling the soft material of his sweater
against her skin and the strong beat of his heart against her back,
he kissed along the side of her face.

He held her like that for long moments, allowing her
to experience his strength and care.

She was shocked when he stepped back and took her
hand, leading them both to the couch. Dragging her down beside him,
he placed one of her throw pillows onto his lap.

“
You’ve had an eventful night,
talk to me.” He patted the round cushion.

She would have preferred that they take all the
sexual tension in the air between them and moved it to the next
stage, but instead she laid her head down and curled her legs up on
the couch.

“
What do you want to talk about,
Sir?” she asked.

His fingers scraped, light and slow along her arm.
“You. Tell me about your family. Where you’re from? I can detect a
light accent…is it Boston?”

“
Maine.” She licked her lips, a
little nervous. She never talked about herself. Doing it now with
her emotions feeling raw and open was almost unbearable. However,
she let the words flow from her.

“
How did you end up in North
Carolina?” he asked.

“
College like most people here. I
went to North Carolina A & T. Going on my seventh alumni year.
I’m also the oldest of nine.”

“
Damn. You don’t say? That’s
something you don’t hear a lot from people in our generation.” He
chuckled.

She laughed with him. “That’s true. I do shock a lot
of people with that knowledge.”

“
Are you and your family
close?”

“
Too close. Being the oldest I was
constantly responsible for my siblings when my parents weren’t
around. My father is a science professor and my mother stayed at
home. She home schooled us, but had us all in community activities
from soccer, dance, basketball, field hockey and choir. Whatever my
siblings and I wanted to do. So, you can imagine she was always
running one child to something or another and one I was old enough,
she’d leave me in charge. I didn’t hate it. There’s no
resentment.

Like I said, we are close and I love my brothers and
sisters. But, when I completed all the requirements to graduate
high school I just wanted to be away. Not care for anyone else for
a while. Freedom.”

“
How did that work out for you?”
He took her bun a loose and began to massage her scalp.

She sighed. “Too well. My senior year of college I
went to a play party with my roommate and fell in love with the
lifestyle.”

“
Did you have to decide whether
you were a submissive or a dominant?”

“
No. Not for a moment. The first
time I saw a woman cuffed to a St. Andrews cross being flogged, I
wanted to be in her place. Twenty minutes later I witness her Dom
providing aftercare to her with such tenderness and difference, I
knew it was where I should be.”

They were both quiet as Brad continued to stroke her
body.

He was the first to speak. “In the vanilla world you
always hear about how people in the lifestyle are in it, especially
those that submit, because they have father issues or were abused
in some form as a child.”

“
That’s rare situation in the
community. My father was not only a great provider, but loving. He
would read to all of us at night; mysteries and fantasy stories.
One chapter at a time and make us all talk about what happened and
what we thought would happen next.”

“
Like an old black and white
sitcom.”

“
Yup. The Mitchem family is just
like that.” She smiled in memory.

“
How’d you get the name, China
Doll?”

“
Shortly after I moved to the
area, I met Genuine. He owns Strong Blends upstairs and down
stairs. He offered me a job and with that access to the dungeon
when normally an unattached sub would have to be sponsored by a
Dom.”

“
Serving coffee.”

“
And it pays very well, with
benefits and everything. I was comfortable so I stopped looking for
something to use my Business degree. I was still dating my
boyfriend form college, a man that didn’t want any parts of the
lifestyle.”

His hand paused for a moment. “He wasn’t even
willing to try for you?”

“
No.” That reminder still caused
her pain. She thought when he saw how much it was a part of her,
how much it meant to her, Stanley would join in; especially since
he had claimed to love her.

She continued, “My ex was really big into collecting
old Pin Up Girl’s cards and memorabilia. There were pictures of
Black women too; pin up girl, performers and feather dancers.
Elizabeth “China Doll” Dickerson and Jean Idelle were his
favorites. Mine, too.”

“
So, you took on the persona of
something that he adored in hopes that he would do the same for
you?”

Shocked that he understood her motives so well, she
looked up at him.

He smiled and kissed her softly.

“
That’s right. However, he
refused. He didn’t care if I participated as long as no sex was
involved. So, I learned to live a dual life, just like others in
the lifestyle. However, I didn’t hide it from my family or other
boyfriends. My family was very supportive as always. As you can
imagine Stanley and I didn’t make it for long after that. But, I
didn’t only keep the name China Doll, I kept my boyfriends vanilla
and to keep a Dom from wanting more I only sought those who were
attached. Over the years it all seemed to go
well…until….”

“
Reel. Do you think maybe
somewhere before him it wasn’t going so well?”

She heard his question. It was the same question
Master Pam had asked her. The identical thing she had been
pondering herself for a while. “Maybe.”

“
What happened between the two of
you? Was it always so…volatile?”

Her fingers followed the seam of
the pillow. “No. We were together only about six months. But, in
the beginning he seemed to be just what I wanted. He held to our
contract and what I wanted firmly. Then his wife’s cancer took a
deadly turn. I asked him if he needed us to break for a while. He
denied that. At first it appeared to help him cope. I will say that
toward the end of her struggle, he’d call me up late. We’d meet at
one dungeon or another. I didn’t mind. But, I noticed our scenes
were becoming more intense. I’d have to start using my safeword
more and more. That’s when I started trying to discuss
releasement
.”