Bondage Celebration (15 page)

“We’re going to use this room tonight?” her voice a breathy whisper.

He watched her closely. Her eyes were dilated and her nipples were standing at attention. She might be nervous, but he was excited as well. He nodded.

“I look forward to it.”

* * * *

Laura was glad James was in the car with them, it allowed her a few minutes to process Nick’s plans for after the event. It was the most frightening room she’d ever seen in her life. Each piece of furniture, if that’s what you called the items in the room, were harsh and unyielding. Obviously, he’d put lot of thought into that area. The single flickering light bulb put the room over the top. She couldn’t wait to get back and play. Though her mind refused to come up with any play scenarios, she was convinced Nick would
not
suffer the same problem. He always knew exactly what to do to have her begging and screaming for one orgasm after another.

Before Laura realized it, they were approaching the club. They pulled up to the door. While they waited for AJ’s men to get into place, Nick went over the club’s expectations for submissives. “No one will be allowed to speak to you without my permission. If I grant it, and you are speaking to a Dom, be sure to address them using the proper protocol. Do not speak unless I give you permission. If you have a question, squeeze my hand. As soon as it’s appropriate, I’ll find a private area and we can speak freely. Any questions?”

“No, we went over it before. I understand what’s expected. I won’t disappoint you, Nick.” She prayed she was telling the truth. She was so excited, she was afraid she would forget herself and speak out of turn.

“You always make me proud, subbie.” Nick leaned in and whispered, “Remember to breathe,” into her ear.

She smiled. He completely understood her.

“Kick off the sandals. There’s a red carpet on the walkway. You should be able to step straight onto it.” Nick helped her position her mask, then slid his in place. James opened the door and Nick got out. He turned and gave Laura his hand.

Laura was suddenly surrounded by men as she walked toward the club entrance. She remembered James telling her entering and exiting a building were dangerous because she was out in the open and there were too many variables. She hoped once they got inside security would loosen up.

The lobby surprised her. It looked like a typical reception area for any professional office. A granite counter area, with a computer station stood in the forefront. Two small doorways, one on each side of the receptionist’s desk were closed off. From what Nick had told her, Laura suspected these led to the locker rooms. Tonight, two, large double doors in the center of the wall, behind the desk, were open.

James handed Nick two wrist bands. “André texted me a while ago. Apparently, he needs to speak with me ASAP. Once you get settled, I’m going to check in with him. Sound all right?”

“We’ll be fine. I’ll text you when we’re ready to go,” Nick assured James.

Laura was relieved to know it would just be the two of them watching the demonstrations. Nick handed her a white wrist band with a blue stripe, while he slid on a black one with a blue stripe.

“At DiscipliNation, black signifies a Master and the blue stripe shows I’m not looking for a play-partner. White with a blue stripe signifies a collared sub. Remember to keep your gaze downcast.”

Laura nodded, appreciating he took the time to explain what each one meant. The great hall, as Nick had called it, was larger than she’d expected with individual stage areas around the outer walls. There were flat screens every so often with a scrolling schedule of events. Even though she’d spent an inordinate amount of time studying the subject, there were still things on the schedule she’d never heard of. She sometimes wondered if she’d ever feel knowledgeable about BDSM.

Nick pulled her under his shoulder and whispered in her ear. “Let’s go watch Master Aiden. He’s demonstrating suspension techniques.”

Laura followed him across the hall and joined the crowd as Master Aiden began explaining the safety precautions needed before attempting suspension. He took care to make sure everyone watching understood exactly how dangerous that type of play was and the injuries that could be incurred. By the time he was through, Laura wanted nothing to do with it.

Master Aiden’s partner was a switch named Mistress Acesis. She was wearing a latex rubber cat suit. Laura envied her perfectly thin, youthful body. Looking around, as best she could, at the others milling about, she noted the people ran the gamut from young to old, thin to plump.

Nick was watching the demonstration very carefully, clueing Laura he was truly interested in learning this technique.

Laura watched Acesis. Since it looked like sometime in the not too far off future she’d be suspended, she wanted to know just how much stress the sub’s body was subjected too. Honestly, the pitfalls Aiden had gone over seemed to outweigh any possible enjoyment factor. Laura took a few steadying breaths, Nick would never allow harm to befall her. She was safe with him.

To Laura’s surprise, Acesis had a serene expression as Aiden used a pulley system to draw her into the air. Master Aiden stopped her at waist height demonstrating several ways suspension could be used in a play session. He also brought out several impact implements and showed how the ropes, if used correctly, would allow the sub to rock or rotate giving the Dom easy access to various parts of the sub’s body. By the end of the demonstration, and having witnessed Acesis come multiple times, Laura was ready to add a pulley system to their play area.

As the crowd moved on to other performances, Nick steered Laura to a quiet corner. “What did you think of suspension?”

“I’d like to try it.” She paused thinking it all the way through. “Someday.”

Nick laughed. “Me too. Someday. I’ll speak with Aiden and arrange to take the classes required for certification.” He looked at one of the flat screens. “Master Ted is giving a presentation on whips. Have any interest in watching him?”

“Whatever you want.” She was feeling a little like she’d fallen down the rabbit hole. Of course, most people were dressed over the top in true Mardi Gras fashion, so she was getting a skewed idea of what it was like to participate in a club event. But some things she just hadn’t expected like the Dom with three subs on leashes crawling behind him or the Domme with her sub kneeling in front of her while she used his back as a foot rest. Intellectually, she accepted it was part of the lifestyle, but actually seeing it in person surprised her.

Nick leaned down and whispered in her ear again. “There isn’t a right or wrong way, subbie. We do what pleases us. Nothing more and nothing less.” He took a moment and wrapped his arms around her. “Our relationship is exactly what we make it.”

“I know.” She was so grateful he always knew what to say to make her feel better.

They headed toward the stage where Master Ted had a sub restrained to a St. Andrew’s cross. Before beginning the demonstration, Master Ted explained the different styles of whips, lengths and what they were used for. Laura observed each time Master Ted looked toward Nick his speech patterns would falter. She remembered André telling her Nick and Ted were very competitive during whipping contests. Laura was beginning to suspect Nick was watching Master Ted’s presentation just to mess with his head.

Laura was a little bored by the repetitious safety warnings. She recognized it was important, especially for a Dom, but Nick was experienced with whips and he was such a safety fanatic, she didn’t have any concerns. During a lull, she turned toward the flat screen and was excited to see a workshop especially for subs. She squeezed Nick’s hand and waited. As soon as Ted finished, Nick guided Laura to another quiet area.

“Thank you for remembering our signal. Do you have a question about whips?” He sounded a little leery as if he didn’t want her to be interested in whipping.

“No, I saw there’s a presentation about submissive etiquette coming up. I was hoping I could listen to it.”

“Sure.”

The workshop was set up on the far stage nearest the privacy rooms. Laura spotted a heavy, velvet rope cordoning off the hallway and remembered they were closed for this event. When they came back later this week to work through the details of the collaring ceremony, she hoped Nick would give her a tour. Laura saw Nick was the only Dom present. To avoid drawing too much attention, she made sure they stood on the outside. Nick leaned against the wall looking way-too-appealing for her comfort. The man had no idea how distracting he was. Laura made a concerted effort to focus on the presentation and ignore her husband’s luscious body.

Soon slave missy had her attention. Who knew there were so many different positions a sub could be asked to assume? She was surprised to learn there were certain positions used for discipline, presenting and others for showing subservience. Laura was so involved in the presentation she jumped slightly when Nick leaned in and whispered in her ear.

“André has a situation he needs to discuss with me.”

Laura looked up to see James standing beside him. “Do you mind if I stay? I’d really like to listen to this.”

Nick looked at his watch, then at the crowd of submissives, then up at the video surveillance camera Laura hadn’t seen before.

“Stay. Right. Here. I should be back before the presentation is over. Don’t go anywhere else.”

“Yes, Master,” she whispered it in his ear with just a hint of sarcasm for good measure.

Nick gave her ass a wallop as he followed James to André’s office.

* * * *

James and Nick walked in silence to the video surveillance room. Nick knocked twice and André opened the door. A woman with mascara stains down her cheeks sat at the counter facing a wall of mostly black video screens.

André shook Nick’s hand. “I’m so glad you came this evening, man. We have a mess on our hands.”

Nick removed his mask and surveyed the video screens until he spotted Laura right where he’d left her. He breathed a sigh of relief and accepted the chair André pulled up to the counter for him.

André put his hands on the woman’s shoulders, “Nick, do you know Amanda Barrett? She’s the granddaughter of my favorite aunt.”

“No, I’ve never had the pleasure.” While Nick shook her hand, he felt her trembling.

“She’s working as our receptionist while she finishes her studies at Arizona State University.”

As soon as Nick sat down, André used the eraser head of a pencil to push a photo in front of him.

“This arrived in the mail today.” André pushed a standard manila envelope toward him as well.

Nick looked at the photo. He could understand why Amanda was in tears. Someone had scrawled in red marker
Roast Bitch
across the top of a picture showing her engaged in fire-play.

“Is this one of Mike’s?” Mike Howard was a nice kid and the resident photographer. Nick had stumbled upon his art gallery a few years back and introduced him to André. They’d had a partnership ever since. The picture wasn’t up to Mike’s normal standards, it was grainy and slightly out of focus. Amanda’s face looked photo-shopped in.

“No, look at the angle of the shot. The camera had to be positioned near the roof of this building.”

“You think it came from the closed circuit system?” Nick was beginning to see why he’d been brought into this. If the video surveillance system had been compromised the club had a huge liability issue.

“No, I
know
it did. This isn’t the only photo she’s received.” André spun the computer screen around so Nick could get a good look at it. “Amanda received this email about two weeks ago. She didn’t show it to me until tonight. Look at the angle of the screen shot, I’ve stared at the video feed in this club enough to know it was taken from one of our fixed cameras.”

Nick noticed the same grainy quality in the picture on the screen as in the printed photo. Amanda’s face didn’t quite line up correctly with the rest of the body. This time the woman was restrained to a horizontal wooden beam. Her back and thighs had pinkish, red welts. Printed along the bottom of the photo in red text were the words,
Let’s Party Bitch!

“Are there others?” Nick’s mind kept going back to Mike. He didn’t want it to. He liked the kid. Maybe he just associated kinky pictures with Mike and that was as far as the connection went. He hoped that was it.

“There’s one more. Tell him, Amanda.” André continued to stand behind her, one hand on her shoulder in moral support.

Nick had been watching Amanda carefully. In his line of business, he’d become fairly adept at reading body language. She seemed genuinely upset. He saw she kept glancing at James and wondered why. Were they in a relationship? James was staying in the background leaning near the door. His arms were crossed over his chest, a position James used often. Except for the scowl on his face, he wasn’t giving anything away.

“Late last week, I found a photo on the driver’s seat of my car. I always lock the door. I mean, it’s possible I forgot, but I don’t think so. I’d rather get locked out than have my car stolen. I can’t afford a new one.” She looked down at her hands then moved them to her lap.

“What was the photo of?” Nick understood why she was rambling, but he needed to keep her focused. As upsetting as all this was, he needed to get back to Laura. He kept glancing at the video screen to make sure Laura was still where he’d left her.

Amanda shivered, “This poor girl was naked on a table. Some asshole was pouring something white onto her body, maybe acid, I don’t know. There were blood splatters all over the place.” Tears started rolling down her face and she reached for a tissue.

“Did it have any writing on it?” Nick asked.

She nodded slowly then looked up at James, “Die slowly, bitch.”

“Do you still have it?” Nick continued to draw the pertinent information out of her.

“Yes. I didn’t know what to do with it. So, I stuffed it in a box and put it in the closet at my apartment.”

“André, I suggest you contact Captain Bradley to work with Amanda. He has experience with stalkers and won’t get side tracked at the mention of the club. You also need to immediately bring in AJ. I saw him mulling about in the great hall. Since it’s his system, he should be able to tell you if it was compromised. Once we know for sure, we can figure out how to limit the club’s liability.” Nick felt an urgent need to return to Laura. He’d been gone significantly longer than he’d intended and the workshop would be over soon.