Dalliance in Darkness ( Dalliance #1)

Dalliance in Darkness

(Volume 1 of the Dalliance in Darkness Series)

Kayla Kissler (c) 2012 This is a work of fiction. All characters and events portrayed in this book are fictional, are 19 years of age or older, and any similarity to actual events or real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Ring

Trish was on hands and knees with her head bowed in submission, crawling over to her master. The marbled onyx floor bit cold against her skin. She had blonde tresses now devoid of shimmer that dragged against the black tiles with every motion to her Master. He was a fair and kind man. Truly. She placed her soft lips gently on the tips of her Master’s fingers and kissed him appreciatively.

She noticed a dark red dot just beneath the signet of the man’s ring. Her mind turned in attempt to remember something.

Trish’s master brought a foot up to her chest, the corner of his lips twisting to a vicious smirk; he pushed her back several feet on to her ass. The man walked over to her looking down at his property. With an impatient precision he kicked the tip of his boot into her ribs, the bangs of his short cut hair moving with the rest of his body.

Pain bloomed in her chest as she whined out. Blood rushed to her face and the tight pulse between her legs ached with the desire to be filled – to be used. She had been trained well to give in to her addiction to pain. Her attraction to thorns.

The man turned Trish with his boot to lie on the flat of her stomach, bending down and grabbing her hips to bring them up leaving her ass presented. The love and not-so-love marks had healed fully, leaving her backside begging to be used. Trish’s twisted from the outside depravity and fantasies played out before her; the deep waters she had once feared to tread all seemed normal now on the inside.

Trish’s Master brought his hand to the air. Crack. It lashed against her hind end fiercely. It reverberated loudly throughout the room that had been dubbed the ‘Room of Paradise’ by the girls before her. Jarring dichotomy was presented in its serene setting but torturous agenda.

Trish drifted into the first shallows of her subspace, petting the three scars on the side of her ring finger with her thumb. She had felt this internal division before.

Crack. Again. The pain freshly assaulted her. The lashings of her master’s cane used to make her scream stop, but now a different story was singing in her soul. Trish lifted her ass higher for her master, inviting his touch however he pleased to give it. Warmth flooded her entire body, a pleasant pulsing between her legs and a throbbing from her clit. Wetness pooling against the base of her panties. Not a pain tipped pleasure, but a pleasure tipped pain.

Irresistible.
 
But a gripping tightness consumed her chest – on the inside her heart was still falling to pieces even if she couldn’t notice it so much anymore.

Trish’s dalliance with devils dashing and masquerading had only just begun.

Eyes of the Snake

The days lesson was horribly monotonous, the one and only saving grace being the boyish charmer to my right – never seen him before but he was certainly a looker. Simple, fair blonde hair with grey-green eyes. There was the slightest tinge of anxiety and excitement running through me as I noticed his casual glances in my direction. He was definitely checking me out, not that I minded the attention I just didn’t want to give him the satisfaction that I approved.
 

I found difficulty in shaking the images that had been engraved on my mind from the late hours I’d spent investing in my latest project. Couldn’t close my eyes without seeing those damn questions. The Test: a gauntlet of trials – more of a question simulator 2013 – designed to gauge intellect, personality and collect information from the greater Edmonds area though people have said users can participate from Orlando, Los Angeles and D.C. Particularly the questions were composed of indirect grilling of one’s kinks and other psychobabble.

Of course, you could only apply once. But different days, different people.

The flow of the class came to a sudden halt with the abrupt opening of our class door, a women unknown to me – and I assure you I know everyone in this quiet nowhere of a college – walking up to Professor Langley. The two briefly discussed something I couldn’t understand given the distance and their whispering, but she did briefly wave around a badge of some sort and argue a moment. She ended up showing him a paper.

Professor Langley turned his head. “Ms. Biel, Ms. Young and… who else?” He glanced back to the woman, the next words out of his lips sent hot pinpricks across my flesh. What some people don’t seem to realize is that dread doesn’t always come cold. “Miss Arthur?” he said. “This woman would like a word with you,”

And just what the hell did she want with me? The other two quickly got up from their seats and made their way down to the woman, like hell I was going to be the first at beck and call. Still, I was intrigued enough to follow suit. As I walked down the incline, I glanced over to look for the charming stranger. Nothing.

I kept my eyes on the curiously dressed woman, only occasionally flicking my gaze towards Langley. “What’s going on?” I questioned, the other two girls too skittish to ask first.

Langley adjusted his glasses, he was a meek old man but I couldn’t help but smile on the inside on seeing his quirks. “I’m not entirely sure myself,” he managed to crack an old and polite smile.

I looked at the woman. “Let me see your badge,” I asked. She complied and whipped out her badge, a simple thing with the initials O.D.Y.N marked down, some very official looking symbols and her name reading ‘Carina B’.

The woman had a smirk all incisors as she put her badge back and extended a hand to me. “Satisfied? You know that you scored highest don’t you miss Arthur?” her lips spat out my name like it was some kind of blasphemy. She raised a brow and swiveled on her heel moving towards the door after realizing that I wasn’t going to shake her hand. This curiously judgmental creature wore a fine navy blue suit and a small, simple fedora – the crimson of her medium cut hair spilling against the lusciousness of her necklines.

The four of us left the class and made our way down a slew of halls, all the while her black fingernails texted away on a smart phone. Looks like the rumors were true about a private company recruiting all around the state campuses for new employment. It had been so long since I wrote down those answers and trolled the great Google in the sky that I had nearly forgotten the whole ordeal. Even still money was money, two hundred upfront was enough to keep me fed – and the promise of more didn’t always mean it had to be something bad, though now I find myself uncertain.

“You three were the only ones to pass the preliminary that could be found,” she said. “If you want out then leave now, wasting my time is wasting my bosses and I’ll tell you now that’s something you do not want to do,” the woman assured. Jessica and Amanda whispered to one another about the whole ordeal, a great deal of trepidation in the way they carried themselves. I wasn’t going to let myself be persuaded to quit at the worry of wasting someone’s time – time was made to be burned, and I intended to get my money’s worth at the least.

We caught the occasional eye from the curious onlookers before we approached a black SUV in the campus parking lot where the suited driver got out and handed Carina a pen and clipboard. Carina handed it to me first, a long agreement and lawyer speak printed down – there’s no way that she actually expected us to read that nonsense. To her annoyance I still skimmed over it with the consideration to read the important bits. Nothing about being paid was written in ink.

“So it’s two hundred upfront right?” I asked.

“Fifteen hundred in your hands right now take it or leave it,” she explained. I must have looked like a deer in the headlights to her, that was more than a month’s worth of paychecks for me. The other two noticeably perked up at this, but I had a feeling burning in my gut that there was something more to this than just the money – a much bigger prize. I shrugged trying to act non-chalant and put the pen to the paper, signing the contract. Amanda Young and Jessica Biel followed suit, quickly accepting the money that Carina gave them. Though tempting, I wondered what impression I could leave by refusing it. Dumbfounded looks found their gaze on me.

With a certain almost feline alacrity Carina opened the car door and reached into the glove box, grabbing a parchment of paper and unfolding it for us. She held it with the tips of her middle and thumb fingers horizontally. “I’m giving you one minute kiddies so don’t pile up all at once now.”

It was a map of Edmonds with a red marker indicating our location. Don’t think about what they’re doing. Focus. Are there any other marked locations? No. Nothing.

From the corner of my eye I could see Carina proudly sporting her pearly white Cheshire smile. “Fifty six …fifty five…” She counted down in a sardonically amused voice. Do I really want to be stuck in that SUV with her? I stepped forward to more closely examine the map.

As did the others. So much so they tried to push me away. Like that was ever going to happen.

So what was this then? Fifty seconds left. Clearly if there is no other indication of where we are going then the point of where we are starting must be crucial to what’s going on. Forty now. If they wanted us to navigate then why the timer? Why limit us to just one good look?

Carina’s eyes were on me – I swear I could feel the heat of them burning a hole in the crown of my skull – no doubt getting plenty of kicks.

They’re testing our memories. That must be it. I’m sure. If we can only go north, east and west – only really able to be going south if we cross Firelight Bridge – then I would have to look for land marks . . . but I don’t know where or how far we’re going exactly so.

My heart started beating a little faster now and I couldn’t shake the tingly nervousness in my stomach. This wasn’t something I could have a proper think over. I’ll just risk ignoring us going south and focus on the nearest most streets.

Every movement I pictured in my head. The motion of the vehicle, the landmarks of stores – Wal-Mart’s, Starbucks and brightly colored buildings – that would be enough. If we cross train tracks, we’ll be going north on X. Actually that’s not effective. No that definitely won’t do. Maybe if I just t—

Carina clapped the map into a messy bunch in her hands. “Since I like you girls so much I stopped counting for a bit there hope you didn’t notice,” she joked. The woman promptly reached into her pocket and procured a lavish Zippo lighter with a striking blue rose emblazoned and the initials A.G. She flicked it open and lit the map.

With a smirk on her face, the demented bitch casually tossed it at me.

Reflexively I darted back and to the right behind Amanda, who flinched and moved a step back along with Jessica.

Jessica put a hand to her mouth.

Amanda looked at me and put her hand on my side before turning back to the psycho bitch. “What’s your problem bitch?” Complete fucking psychosis.

Carina placed a cigarette between her glossy pink lips and casually lit up. “Settle down,” her cigarette bobbed along before she spun and opened her car door. “Now get in unless you want us to get that money back from you three the fun way.” Fun. Right. The three of us walked to the back seats of the car, but as we were about to enter Carina stopped us.

“Actually since you three are such willing participants,” she said. “We’ll be tying and blindfolding you up for your own good,” she pulled out said rope and folds from under the passenger’s seat. My heart dropped at that. Guess looking for landmarks wasn’t going to exactly do me any good now.