we'd practice on girls."
"You're
not allowed to practice on guests, are you?" Without waiting for a response,
Dominick continued. "So unless any of these lovely Ladies present would
like to volunteer… it's each other or nothing."
Hope
flaring in their eyes, Eric and Reeve glanced at Kaylee, Sara, Chelsea, Hannah,
Sinclair and Selena in turn. As one, the girls shook their heads, to the
delighted amusement of the other Masters sitting around the table.
"Besides,"
Dominick said, reaching out to pour himself a glass of water, "the best
way to learn anything is by experience. You both have necks and lungs, don't you?
We've all tried things out on each other—or ourselves. How could I
possibly claim to be an authority on the bullwhip if I didn't know, first-hand,
what it feels like? He," he pointed at Trevor, "likes to set girls on
fire. You think he's never tried it on himself?"
"Actually,
he tried it on me," Travis said, grinning. "Took all the hair off my
arm. Much easier on freshly waxed skin." He wrinkled his nose.
"Smells better, too."
Ignoring
the bellows of laughter, Dominick nodded. "I think you'll find," he
once again addressed the two newest Masters, "that Marshall here will
never let you loose amongst the guests unless you've experienced what being on
the receiving end of most things we do feels like."
"Correct,"
Marshall said, his pale blue eyes twinkling with amusement.
"So
come see me at four this afternoon, and I'll spend an hour or so watching you
both strangle each other."
"Oh,"
Selena gasped, wiping the mirth from her eyes, "I would love to see that.
May I, please, Sir?" she asked, turning to Bill.
"No!"
Eric and Reeve said in unison.
"Christ,"
Selena went on, still giggling, "It looks like we now have two sets of
twins!"
Eric
and Reeve both glared at her. "We're not related," they said, in
identical offended tones, to more shrieks of laughter.
"All
right, bugger off you lot, we have a Castle to run," Marshall said,
lightly. "You know where I am if you need me."
As
Dominick drained his water and got up from the table, he couldn't repress a
sudden surge of hope that today would be the day where a pretty little painslut
came barging into the dungeon, threw herself at his feet and begged him to make
her suffer in all the ways he enjoyed the most. Alas, he was well aware of how
unlikely that was. Instead he would be doing what he usually did… supervising
guests' scenes, teaching people how to exert control and deliver pain safely,
being held up as the Bogeyman for naughty slaves—and now, watching two
ex-soldiers choke each other. Don't be so
fucking ungrateful , he told himself sternly. You love this place and you love your job. Even if you don't get to
play out your own twisted fantasies all the time, this is a million times
better than any other place you've ever worked . At the memory of his last
desk job, he suppressed a shudder and, squaring his shoulders, set off back to
his room to get changed into his dungeon attire.
Chapter Two
Janice
was toying with the froth on top of her Mocha, only half-listening as Ellen
chattered away opposite her in the staff break room. His eyes are the same colour , she thought, stirring the rich, brown
liquid. Just the memory of that intensely dark gaze settling on her was enough
to send a tendril of wanton longing snaking to her loins. Unable to stop
herself, she shivered.
"All
right, spill it, girlfriend," Ellen reached out and tapped Janice's hand.
"Who is it?"
"Who's
who?"
"Don't
play all coy with me. You've got a crush on someone. You have for weeks."
Janice
took a huge gulp of Mocha to hide her surprise, then winced when it burned her
tongue. "What makes you say that?" she spluttered.
"I'd
be a pretty crappy best friend if I didn't notice something that obvious,"
Ellen countered, tossing her long, glossy hair over one shoulder. "And I
meant what I said earlier. Either you tell me what's going on in that pretty
little head of yours, or
Doug Beason Kevin J Anderson