Bondage Ranch 6: Taming the Mistress (4 page)

“Safe. Sane. Consensual,” said Sue with a frown.

“I believe in all of that. But in passion too. It’s not all about control. There’s a balance. Do you like the fire?”

Sue glanced up at it. It towered above them, twenty-five feet high. “I do. It’s strange out here. Not much like the dungeon at all.”

“And yet.” Dane gestured over at the bamboo cross where a woman was being flogged to the beat of the drums. “Not all that different, either.” The woman’s dom was as naked as she was, and his body was painted in swaths of dark color.

“I think I should be going now,” said Sue. “This is not what I came here to do.”

“To the bonfire?”

“To Bondage Ranch.”

“Sometimes surprises are good. But as you wish.” Dane stood, and Sue did too. She took a tentative step, but her heels dug too deeply into the sand.

Dane scooped her up, cradling her.

“Just get me to the path and I’ll be okay except for a couple of dips where it’s wet,” Sue directed.

Dane ignored her, taking the shortest route, which involved weaving through the now somewhat thinner procession of dancers around the bonfire. He didn’t set her down when they got to the path, either. He thought she was going to protest, but instead, she snuggled in and murmured, “You’ll get tired.”

He would. His arms were going to ache. It wasn’t any worse than the scratches on his back, though. A good workout and sensation to let him know he was alive. The moon shed enough light to help him find his way back to the house. Dylan and Alex Allison owned the place. A simple residence at one end, the ballroom serving as the dungeon at the other, and in between two floors of guest rooms to make it the perfect bondage getaway. The lights were on in several of the rooms. He preferred staying outside, in his tent under the stars, and there were acres upon acres of woods in the back for those who chose that.

Her hand was cool on his shoulder, and despite the fact that she was heavy in his arms by the end of the walk, he set her down with reluctance. He enjoyed the warm curve of her body against his, and this softer Sue was an interesting counterpoint to her ferocity before, and to the domme he’d first seen.
You have layers. I want to discover them.

“Thank you,” she said formally.

He remembered his earlier curiosity. “What do you do, Sue, when you’re not being a domme?”
Or letting yourself go, half naked by the bonfire.

“I’m an executive assistant at a law firm.”

“Where?”

“In DC.”

Nearby, then
. He worked in DC as a lobbyist, but he didn’t usually hang around the local fetish scene, finding it too contrived, too dark, too indoors.

He regretted not offering to let her stay in his tent. She probably would have turned him down. He doubted he would discover more of her here, but he would have liked to try. Already he could see her close in and the softness die in her face. He had nothing against the traditional roles of BDSM: Dominant, submissive, Master, slave. But they could all too easily become masks to hide behind, and Sue had hers back up.

He opened the door for her, out of habit. Chivalry wasn’t dead as far as he was concerned. Sue smiled at him, but it was the polite, detached smile of a domme accepting service.

He leaned over. “I know you beyond the pose, Sue,” he whispered as she walked inside.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. But thank you for the sex. That was nice.”

She walked away before he could reply.

He looked in long enough to see her stride across the room. She radiated calm and cool, but Dane was sure it was more act than reality. A male sub, dressed in tight leather pants and nothing else, approached her, but she shook him off and made a beeline for the exit on the other side.

He smiled. He’d gotten under her skin.

Chapter Three

Sue sat down on her bed. She hadn’t done anything like that in, well, ever. Submitting to Bruce had always been a formal ritual. He had always bound her with rope so she couldn’t do anything about whatever he had in mind, although of course he would honor a safe word. This was different. Free-flowing. Dane had used his strength against her. It had all been consensual, but it felt right on the edge. There was an excitement she didn’t always feel after the hottest carefully negotiated scene, even though that was the sort of BDSM she had always stood for. It was intoxicating.

Dane was dangerous.
I should stay away
. But he had sparked her curiosity.

Normally, the lodging at Bondage Ranch was two to a room. That was great for couples, who pushed the beds together. It had always been problematic for Sue. She usually wanted to keep her subs close but not too close. Sharing a room gave them the idea they were going to bond in a way Sue didn’t want, and it made her feel vulnerable. They were normally stronger than her, after all, and usually more emotionally involved as well. It could be a volatile combination. Sharing a room with someone else wasn’t always great either. This time, she had decided she trusted Keith enough to book a room with him, and while she cursed herself for trusting, it had its benefits now. With Keith absent, she had a room for herself and could try to figure out what she had just done.

What got into me?
That was the number one question. It wasn’t about Dane. It was about her.

She knew he was right about one thing. She was not the domme she always pretended to be.

For a long time after she started calling herself a dominatrix, she knew if Bruce had ever phoned, she would come running. But Bruce never called. He’d thought he was above “attachments,” as he called them, and played with a long series of women, never giving any of them his heart. Then he found Laera. Laera, like Sue, lived in the DC area, and Sue had ended up mentoring her for a while when Bruce was still trying not to fall in love. She’d helped them get together.

It had hurt.

That was when I started hardening my own heart. Because I didn’t want it to hurt so much.

But at least it had helped her fall out of love with a man she could never have. She was happy Bruce and Laera had found each other, now. They were both good friends. She had a lot of good friends.

It was time to talk to one.

She got up and started going through the list of people she could talk to. She’d been doing a lot of things at Bondage Ranch with Valerie the last few years, and Valerie was a fun time but not someone to confide in. Frank was out. She came back to square one: Bruce and Laera. Bruce at least knew her well enough, and maybe he’d have an insight as to the side of her that would let Dane take control. He was wise. And Laera could provide a submissive’s angle that might be useful. It was worth a try.

She walked back to the dungeon, hoping Dane wouldn’t be there. Or hoping he would. She didn’t know which. She wanted to sort herself out before meeting him again. But God, he was sexy. She felt herself getting wet again thinking about him. His raw animal magnetism made her melt. And his cock. He was huge. She never cared much about size, because she didn’t usually let her subs fuck her anyway. But when she felt Dane pressing up against her thigh, she’d wanted him inside her. She’d also wanted to see it. If she saw him in that kilt again, she’d be thinking about him wearing nothing under it. Thinking how it felt when he’d used his strength against her. She’d almost yelled red, but it felt too good to make him stop.

And people had seen.

That thought had been lurking in the back of her mind. She’d tried to push it away, telling herself the dungeon crowd and the bonfire crowd were two different groups. She probably hadn’t been recognized in the strange light of the fire. Maybe no one cared anyway. But someone could have seen and even now be telling everyone “Mistress Sue” had let herself submit to some kilted barbarian around the fire. For a moment, that felt like it would be freeing. She wouldn’t have to keep up the show.

Not that she had been submitting.
Of course not
. But it might have looked like it. Heat crept into her cheeks, and she almost turned around at the dungeon door.

Fuck it.

She moved forward. She could use the strength her persona gave her to get through this. If anyone thought less of her, that was their problem.

She took a look around and found Bruce and Laera almost immediately because they were in the center of the room, attracting all the attention. Laera was suspended in air, and Bruce was talking to a small audience about how he had tied her. Laera’s smiling face made clear she didn’t mind, and Bruce was a brilliant teacher. Whether it was the caress of the rope, immobility and helplessness, or Bruce’s talk making Laera happy, Sue didn’t know. Possibly all three. No one could see the look she gave Bruce, however, and think it was anything but love.

She’d seen that look on some of her subs. Not many but a few. And she’d never been able to return it, although she cared for them. She sighed. In any case, Bruce and Laera were busy, and were likely to remain so for a while. Damn. Valerie was busy too. Playing with Frank. The busty brunette with hennaed hair was giving Frank a workout with a flogger and looking bored. Valerie was a dedicated switch. She would loudly tell anyone who would listen she wouldn’t settle for any one person because she wanted to be able to do both, and hell, she wanted both men and women in her life as well. Nothing wrong with that, but sometimes Valerie seemed to protest almost too loudly.

Maybe the same applies to me. I wouldn’t mind having a special someone
. She brushed the thought back.
Dammit, this is my element. There must be someone I can talk to. Or have I been too busy polishing my image to make any real connections?

Alex Allison was one of the people watching Bruce’s demo, although she was also glancing around at the dungeon. Bondage Ranch was her home and her project, and she wanted to make sure it was working well. Alex was looking lovely as usual, in a shimmery red dress that hugged her generous figure and complemented her long blonde hair. Sue wasn’t sure she wanted to talk to Alex about everything, but one thing Alex would know about was Dane. If she couldn’t have a heart-to-heart, at least she could gather more information. She’d known Alex for long enough that Alex knew about her history with Bruce, so she wouldn’t have to worry about Alex thinking any less of her. Probably.

“Have a moment?” asked Sue softly so as not to interrupt Bruce’s ode to the French bowline. Bruce was passionate about his rope, and he always made his audience feel it whenever he taught.

“Sure, Mistress Sue,” said Alex, moving away from the crowd so they could talk. “What’s up?”

Now there is a woman who knows how to deal with a title
. Alex could call her “Mistress” without a hint of submission to it. Although Alex was a submissive, a loving if bratty slave to her husband, Dylan, she simply used the title as part of Sue’s name. Why couldn’t Dane do that?

She shook off the thought of Dane poking fun. “I wanted to talk to you about a new guy.”

“Kyle?” Alex asked.

“No, who is Kyle?”

“Oh, a new male sub. Seems to have quite the appetite for pain.”

Sue frowned. That should sound good to her. Right up her alley. And yet it wasn’t. She’d always been willing to give pain or to seem cruel if a sub wanted it, but in the end, it was the Dominant-submissive dynamic she wanted to achieve. “Into pain” could be fine, but it as likely meant he wanted sensation more than dominance.

Besides, she wasn’t feeling all that dominant anyway.

“Mistress Sue?” Alex prompted.

“No, I’m talking about Dane, I think his name was.” She remembered his name perfectly, but she didn’t want to seem too keen.

“Dane? Big tall guy?” Alex put her hand up to indicate how tall Dane was.

“Yeah.”

“Oh, he’s not your type I don’t think, honey.”

“I know. Still. What’s his thing?”

Alex shook her head. “Well, he’s not new, for one thing. He’s been coming here for years, but he generally stays outside. Helps organize the bonfire. Owns half the equipment out there. We let him take care of it at this point, because he’s very responsible. He—well, I’m not allowed to tell what he does in real life. We try to be discreet, as you know.”

That piqued Sue’s curiosity. Whatever it was, though, it was connected to being responsible, which hadn’t been an adjective she’d expected. Dane struck her as barely civilized. Apparently there was more to him. Sue wasn’t sure she liked that. A moment of raw animal passion with a dumb lug would upset her world less. Someone who might actually be worth talking to? She frowned.

“How do you know Master Dane?”

“Master Dane, is it?”

“Sometimes. I think he has half a dozen women at his beck and call out there.”

Sue felt the color leave her face, and her stomach tied itself in knots. She hadn’t been under any illusion a man like Dane was waiting around for her to happen. But half a dozen? He was probably back at the bonfire right now with someone, working out the frustration she’d left him with because she’d been too proud to pleasure him. She could have used her hand, even. She hadn’t wanted to. She’d wanted to go down on him or to have him fuck her, but she’d been too embarrassed.

“Mistress Sue?” asked Alex, concern in her voice.

“Half a dozen,” Sue repeated.

“That’s quite an orgy. A guy would have to have incredible endurance,” said a male voice. Dylan stood there, resplendent as usual in garb from another century. In this case, it was a red shirt and cravat, with a black velvet tailcoat, white breeches, and high black leather boots. Both women turned to glare at him. “What?” he asked. “And what are we talking about? I was just joking.”

“We were talking about Master Dane,” Alex said.

“Oh, great guy,” said Dylan. He looked at Sue for a second and then said, “You and he are like polar opposites. And he almost never comes in here. How do you know Dane?”

“He was in here today. We chatted. I was just curious.” Sharing with Alex was one thing. Still, her explanation sounded lame to her, so she added for verisimilitude, “He suggested I call him Lord and Master Dane the Magnificent.”