Passion Flower: 1 (3 page)

From the plane he’d had a good view of the mansion, his
pilot’s vision making out details that would probably be too far away for most.
Rhonda had watched almost the whole scene between Kyle and Amber, not even
turning away when Kyle had the blonde suck him off on the porch. Humiliation,
that was what Amber had said she wanted. Every decision made for her. Kyle was
perfect, as long as she didn’t mind a heavy dose of corporal punishment along
with that, and she’d consented to being spanked, flogged and caned in her form.
He didn’t know whether Rhonda wanted what Amber was getting or whether she was
a voyeur, but it had been a hard scene to turn away from, even for him.

Natalie had watched for about three seconds and turned away.
Why? Well, she was Tom’s concern. His job was Rhonda, who seemed like a nice
girl and who had paid good money to get the best D/s experience he could
provide. He wasn’t going to let her go unsatisfied. He shoved the suitcase back
in the overhead storage and hopped back down to the dock. He shut the door of
the plane behind him and headed back to the mansion.

Chapter Two

Natalie walked downstairs quietly, wearing a too-short black
dress with a neckline that dipped way too low in front for her to wear a bra.
That and heels had been all that was in the box. It could be worse, she
supposed.

There was a window in the living room that opened up on the
other side of the island, and she hoped to at least get a good look at the
jungle beyond. Spotting her orchid—she had started thinking of it as hers the
moment she’d applied for the grant—was unlikely, and she wasn’t sure she’d even
recognize it while there was still light out. Of course, she’d had to use some
creative wording to describe how the grant money was going to be spent in the
cause of science. “Trip to kinky resort” just wouldn’t fly as a line item.

Carter was at the foot of the stairs and had obviously been
planning to ascend. He stopped when he saw her, his gaze sweeping her from head
to toe. She wasn’t used to that much male attention and, to her surprise, she
found she kind of liked it. She tugged at the hem of the dress and kept moving,
suspecting he could see her panties from the angle he was at initially.

He stepped aside to let her pass. She wanted to come up with
an excuse to stop and enjoy his gaze but she couldn’t think of anything until
he spoke. “A word, Natalie.”

“Huh? Me?” She knew it was a lame remark. She was acting
like a schoolgirl with a crush, wanting to pose for her would-be beau. And
worse, he was assigned to Rhonda, not her.

“Yes. You’re the only Natalie here, I believe. I rather
doubt striped cotton panties were in the box that was on your bed, so I’m going
to suggest you get them off before Master Thomas decides they need to be
removed very publicly.”

She blushed. So he could see. That only made her want to
keep them on more. “But the dress is too short!”

“It’s just right for you. You have lovely legs.” Carter
shrugged. “Well, suit yourself, I’ve warned you. Perhaps you want that sort of
treatment, but I don’t believe it was on your form.” Carter turned and went up
the stairs, leaving her to look at him and his tight ass. She kept watching
until he disappeared.

The form again. There had been hundreds of questions, which
she had to rank from one to five, with one being “Never” and five being
“Please!” She’d been afraid every “one” she entered would decrease her chances
of getting on the island, but there had been a lot of twos—“Not desired unless
required”. She didn’t remember anything as specific as having her panties taken
off in public, and she probably would have put a two down anyway, but right now
it felt decidedly a one. Dammit.

She could run back upstairs to change, but there wasn’t
anyone in the living room and she didn’t know how long she’d have to look
outside before someone took an interest in what she was doing. She didn’t want
to be too obvious, after all. Although it was green and lush out there. Surely
it was normal to want to see? She hooked her fingers into her waistband before
her nerves failed her, pulled her panties down and put them behind the stereo.
Hopefully she could retrieve them surreptitiously later.

She pulled back the curtain and looked outside. There were
flowers aplenty, in pinks and blues and purples at the edge of the clearing,
and a trail that went into the jungle. It all looked normal enough, as normal
as an isolated ecology on a small tropical island was likely to be. And it was
beautiful. She couldn’t wait to walk down that trail. There was a door leading
to a swimming pool on that side as well, and if she slipped out and walked
around the pool she’d be in among the wild growth. Why they put a pool in with
the whole ocean around them was beyond her, although she supposed it might be
safer for inexperienced swimmers, or ones distracted by sexual tension.

She could smell food—steak and vegetables of some sort.
Carter wasn’t the cook, so that left Kyle or Thomas. She hadn’t realized she
was hungry before. If Kyle was still on the porch with Amber, the men were all
accounted for. So tempting.

The beachside sliding door opened and Kyle and Amber walked
in. Kyle had a fistful of Amber’s hair, which seemed to have rendered the
blonde docile for the moment. The haughty woman of the airplane was gone,
replaced by a considerably more disheveled facsimile.

Natalie decided she’d made the right move to take off her
panties. She definitely wanted to obey the rules and stay out of trouble.

Kyle smacked Amber on the butt. Amber yelped.

“Go upstairs and fix your makeup. Brush your teeth, if you
like,” Kyle directed. “But you can ignore the box on your bed. No clothes for
you until I say so.”

Natalie expected an argument, but “Yes Sir,” was all Amber
said. She ran upstairs. Her ass was bright pink.

She wondered if Kyle was going to give her the once-over
like Carter had but he barely glanced at her. Instead he walked to the
television and flicked it on. On the screen a ball bounced off the ground and
toward a man with giant shin guards swinging a flat wooden bat.

I’m less interesting than cricket. Got it. That’s pretty
low on the totem pole, but let’s keep it that way.
Now she had to make two
other men uninterested in her so that they’d let her explore in peace. Surely
it couldn’t be too hard to be boring?

She looked back out the window at the lush green beyond.
Just because there weren’t likely to be any major predators didn’t mean there
might not be dangerous snakes or spiders. Australia, miles to the south and
west, was full of them, and evolutionary logic didn’t always seem to apply. There
were things in Australia that had fifty times the poison they needed to kill
any prey, and why they’d developed such a high level of toxicity was still a
mystery to biologists. She needed to know more about what was out there,
without seeming too curious, before venturing off on her own. Maybe she could
play the frail femme and pretend to be horribly scared of things that creeped
and crawled. Men bought that every time but she’d never thought fondly of women
who played that up to get attention. No, she’d just ask straight out.

“Kyle?”

Kyle grunted without turning around. “That’s Master Kyle to
you.”

She rolled her eyes and realized she’d have to hold that in
check. It was a good thing Kyle wasn’t looking at her. “Sorry, Master Kyle.
What’s in the woods?”

“Trees.”

Lovely.
“I mean, animals and stuff. Anything
dangerous?”

“Yes! Six!”

“Excuse me?”

Kyle turned to her, looking annoyed. “Nothing big. We’ve got
some spiders that’ll lay you low, but they won’t kill you. I imagine Tom will
take you down the trail, or maybe he’ll have Carter do it, and they can handle
anything. We’ll keep you safe.” He smiled, and it wasn’t a pretty sight. “The
most dangerous thing here is us.”

Yay.
That didn’t sound too comforting, but it was
good there wasn’t anything fatal.

“Of course, if you get bit by more than one spider…” Kyle
shrugged and let his voice trail off, and then turned back to the cricket.

She was willing to bet the man was trying to scare her.
“I’ll go wander then,” she said, and tried the sliding door.

“Door’s locked,” said Kyle, right after she discovered it
for herself.

“What if I want to sit on the porch?”

“Then you might want to ask someone to unlock it.”

“Would you unlock it for me?”

“Nope.”

Okay, it was official. She didn’t like Kyle. Amber could
have him. She thought of going to the kitchen to ask Tom, but he was probably
busy and she didn’t want to seem too eager. There would be other chances.

She heard footsteps on the stairs and turned and saw Carter
and Rhonda. Rhonda wore an emerald-green silk corset with lace edges and
matching panties and stockings. They looked absolutely stunning on her. Natalie
felt a pang of jealousy, and wondered what Rhonda and Carter had been doing
upstairs. They didn’t look as though they’d just had sex—but could one really
tell? Not that it was any business of hers.

“Hi, Natalie,” said Rhonda. “You look lovely.”

“Not as lovely as you. You’re gorgeous!”

“Oh! Thank you!” Rhonda blushed and moved closer, then
glanced back at Carter.

Carter smiled in their direction—at Rhonda surely, but
Natalie could pretend she was included. “You two can chat. Keep your voices
down. Master Kyle has great ears, so save the real secrets for when someone
scores eight or whatever.”

“You can’t score eight in cricket,” Kyle retorted.

“Not even if you go for the two-point conversion?” asked
Carter, plopping himself down on the sofa.

“Barbarian.”

“You got it.”

Rhonda moved closer still and dropped her voice. “What
hunks, huh? Do you think we get to try them all?”

Oh, I hope not. Not doing Kyle. No way.
“You’re tired
of Carter already?”

“Master Carter. And no, we didn’t get to do anything. He
just asked lots of questions. I’d hoped that would be over once we got here. I
mean, we filled out those questionnaires and the essay, that should be enough.
But hopefully it will get full-on soon. Did you see what he did to Amber?”
Rhonda nodded in Kyle’s direction.

“A little of it.”

“I loved watching him make that little hussy suck him off.”

I’d bite.
“Ah. Missed that.”

“I think they wanted us to watch.”

Rhonda was probably right. Natalie had been blasé enough
about the whole trip, but now she was wondering whether she was cut out for it.
The idea of getting spanked was pretty hot. And she wouldn’t mind some sex,
especially if it was with Carter, but Tom would do in a pinch. It had been a
long time. But what was happening to Amber was humiliation. Maybe Amber had
deserved it, in some sense, but Natalie wasn’t sure that made it okay.

“Do you think they were really punishing her for mouthing
off, or was that on her list all along?” Rhonda asked. “Maybe she checked a big
old five for public blowjobs.”

“Was that on the list?” It had been a very long list.
Normally that sort of question would stand out, but there had been a lot on
there that would have seriously pushed her limits, or was beyond them.

“Yep. I put down a three, but you know, now that I’ve seen
these guys, well—whatever they want to do is fine with me. What’d you put
down?”

“A two, I think.” Natalie remembered putting down a lot of
twos.

Did someone who looked like Rhonda ever lack for male
attention? Still, if she and Amber could keep both men occupied, that would
leave her free to explore the jungle. Wasn’t that what she wanted most, what
she came for?

And why did a part of her want to switch partners, even
though that might make it harder to slip away?

“What’d you put down to the question about having two men at
once?” Natalie asked. The question would have seemed out of bounds a few
minutes ago but it seemed like fair game now.

“Oh, that was a five.” Rhonda grinned. “But until the fourth
guy comes, that would leave someone without a partner. Hey, maybe the guys
would go for a foursome. Wanna?”

“Um, no.” Natalie hoped she wasn’t blushing too visibly.
“But feel free to have a go at Tom, if you want.”

“Master Thomas.”

“Yeah. Him.”

“Dinner!” boomed a voice from the dining room.

Kyle flicked the television off. “Looks like someone’s in
for a punishment for being late. I’ll go drag her down.” He glanced over toward
Rhonda appreciatively as he headed for the stairs. Rhonda straightened and
arched her back.

Carter, Natalie noticed, did not look particularly amused,
although whether it was at Rhonda’s preening or something else was hard to be
certain. In any case, Natalie didn’t want to be present for Amber’s entrance so
she headed toward the scent of steak.

Tom nodded at her when she walked in. There was a wooden
table that probably would have seated ten in the middle of the room, with a
big, thick top and dark wood that had been polished to a shine. There were six
place settings and a plate with six big fat juicy steaks, another full of
mashed potatoes that smelled of garlic and a third with a mix of snow peas,
carrots and water chestnuts in some kind of brown sauce. There were extra
chairs up against the wall and six around the table, all very sturdy looking.
“You’ll sit here, Natalie,” he said, indicating a chair near one of the ends
with a tap of his hand.

“Thank you, Master Tom,” she said, remembering Rhonda’s
preciseness. She wasn’t trying to seduce the man but she wanted to blend in.

“Master Thomas or Sir will do,” Thomas said with a frown.

Ah yes. Why did she keep thinking Tom? That was what Carter
had called him. “Yes Sir.”

Everyone else filed in. Tom—Thomas—sat near her, at the head
of the table. Carter pulled out a chair for Rhonda across from Natalie, and
then sat down at Rhonda’s side. Finally Kyle came in. Amber still wasn’t
wearing anything. Somehow naked at the dinner table seemed even ruder than
naked in the living room or the patio. Natalie’s mother had never let her come
to table looking too scruffy or even wearing a halter top.

Kyle sat at the foot of the table, which she supposed meant
that Amber would be sitting next to her. Awkward. With Rhonda in lingerie and
Amber naked, her own too short dress made her feel almost decent, although she
was still very aware that she wasn’t wearing underwear. She kept her legs close
together.

Amber pulled out the final chair.

“No,” said Kyle. “Your lateness has cost you the right to
use the furniture. Bring a cushion from the living room and you can kneel down
here. I’ll move your plate to the floor.”

Natalie frowned. Kyle had waited until the last minute to
tell her, although they’d had to walk right past the cushions to get to the
dining room. Amber turned red, and no wonder. Kyle had maximized the
humiliation when he could have told her in private, or before she’d started to
sit down. She pushed the chair back up against the table and stalked out,
looking for a cushion.