Licorice Whips (37 page)

She put her hands together in prayer form. “I figured this would be the only costume I could wear where me calling you Master wouldn’t be a big deal.”

“I should have guessed from the shoes. I imagined a getup like that underneath your coat.” Sweet smiled, but she had expected him to laugh or be extremely turned on or something. All night and now, he seemed deflated for some reason.

“I met someone earlier today.” He strolled into the living room area.

With a line like that, no way could Nikla let that go. “Who? Another woman?”

“Lawrence Dearwood.”

Shit
, she said in her head. She’d hoped he meant the younger Lawrence, but she knew better than that.

“How? When?”

“I did a search online and, to my surprise, I saw he owned Healthy Bites.” He stood in his kitchen. He braced his fists on the counter. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I was going to. Today, actually.”

“You told me your whole picketing act was to promote health. That was a lie.”

She shook her head. “No, it wasn’t. And it wasn’t an act. I was promoting health, but I was also trying to support my father.”

“By taking down my business.”

“You don’t understand.” How could Sweet know how Nikla had to compete with the memory of what her mother did? How could he even guess that no matter what she did, it would never be enough for her father?

Sweet shook his head. “I do.” He finally dropped the barrier between them by coming around the kitchen counter. “After talking to him, I get it. Your father asks so much of you.” He pointed at her, placing his fingertip on her chest below her clavicle. “When are you going to do something for yourself?”

Nikla took a deep breath. “I should have told you about my dad. I feel like I’ve been jumping up and down in front of him to get him to see me and notice that I’m here for him. He thinks I’m going to leave him like my mother did. I shouldn’t have tried to make a point with him by using your business.”

“Nikla.” Sweet grabbed her shoulders and made her look at him. “You’re going to have to find what makes you happy before you can please anyone else.”

She started to say something when she heard a knock at his door. “Master Wasabi again?”

Sweet shook his head. “I didn’t invite anyone over.” He went to the door and opened it.

Masaun stood on the other side. He took one step into Sweet’s apartment. “You and Nikla still coming to our Halloween party?”

Sweet regarded Nikla for a moment. “We’re going to have to skip it this time.”

Nikla held his arm. “No. I’d like to go if you’re in the mood. This is my first full-on Halloween celebration.” She smiled. “I want to celebrate.”

Sweet covered her hand with his. “We’ll see you at your house.”

Masaun nodded and closed the door.

“Are you sure you want to go?” He faced her. “This might be our last night together. After we find out about the spaces, we may not want to be together anymore.”

Nikla said nothing. She strolled over to where she dropped her coat to the floor and picked it up. After slipping it back on, she said, “Or maybe we will.”

This time Sweet remained silent as he buttoned up her coat and secured the belt around her waist, pulling it tighter and tighter and eliciting a strange response from her.

Nikla liked feeling the pressure around her body. It reminded her of the times Sweet strapped her down. When he pulled her close to him, wetness oozed into the panty of her costume. Good thing she purchased the garment instead of renting it. She had a feeling that by the end of the night she or Sweet would be ripping it off her body.

“We had better go or we’ll never leave.” Sweet pulled her to the door.

Nikla welcomed the cool October air as soon as he opened the door. She knew tonight would be a hot night.

****

Sweet took his time getting to Masaun’s. As he had mentioned to Nikla back at his place, he didn’t know how long they would have together. If he got the spaces and she didn’t, would she want to stay with him? Then again, if she got one of the spaces, he didn’t know if he could handle losing.

Walking Nikla up to the front door, he placed his hand at the small of her back. “Don’t be afraid.”

Nikla turned to him. “Why would I be? I’m with you.”

Her honest response pumped his cock. He would have to corral those feelings until the end of the night.

Party noises of music and laughter permeated through the house even with the doors and windows closed. When Sweet opened the door, a burst of colors met his gaze first. People in various costumes wandered in his view.

Sweet recognized many partygoers from The Dollhouse. The ones who knew him greeted him and Nikla. She smiled cordially at them but only after she glanced at him first as though waiting for approval.

Until Sweet reached the kitchen did he finally find his brother and Kindle. He had to blink when he saw what they wore, or rather what they didn’t have on their bodies. Nearly naked Masaun simply wore a fig leaf over his genitals. Sweet didn’t want to look behind him to see if had on a pair of flesh-colored Speedos or if he had his bare ass on display.

Kindle had a string of fig leaves around her hips to cover her private parts. She had a fake stuffed snake around her neck that she used to cover her naked breasts. As soon as Masaun spotted Sweet, his eyes widened.

“Glad to see you two made it.” Masaun lifted his hand in the air to give Sweet a high five.

“What in the world are you in?” Sweet laughed. After he gave Kindle a kiss on her cheek, he asked, “Did you come up with this Adam and Eve idea?”

She shook her head. “All Dom Hawk’s idea.” Kindle peered up at her man. “I just hope no one has a camera.”

“Who would have thought that I would be the one in a full suit and you would be the one nearly naked?” Sweet patted his brother’s shoulder.

“You’re a bad influence on me.” Masaun winked. He looked over at Nikla. “You look lovely tonight.” He leaned down and kissed Nikla on her cheek. “Enjoy yourself at the party.” He brought his attention back to Sweet. “The dungeon is open.”

Sweet nodded. He helped Nikla out of her coat. “Put this in the back bedroom and come right back here.”

“Yes, Master Sweet.”

When she called him that, it didn’t sound like she did it because she wore the costume.

“Nice subby.” Tough, a Dominant from the club, nudged Sweet in his side. “You had her long?”

Sweet shook his head. “Not long.” Although he felt like he’d known her forever.

“You two playing tonight?” The African-American man pulled the leash on his submissive who apparently had made the mistake of not paying enough attention to Tough. The blonde rolled her eyes before lowering them.

“I hadn’t planned on it.” Sweet looked through the crowd to see his beauty sauntering through it to get back to him. “But I might.”

Tough leaned close to him. “Mind if I played with her?”

A pang of anger zipped through his body. “Yes, I would. Don’t let that Superman costume get to your head.”

Tough raised his hands. “Got it. She’s yours.” He walked away with his submissive. As he passed Nikla, he stepped in front of her, leaned down, and whispered something in her ear.

Before Sweet could get to him, Tough walked away without a second look. Nikla made her way to Sweet without any more interruptions.

“What did he say to you?” Sweet asked as he put his arm around her tiny waist.

“He said how lucky I was to have you as my master.” She put her arm around him.

Sweet nodded.

“But said that if things didn’t work out between us that I should look him up.”

Sweet gritted his teeth. Tough had broken the code between Dominants. Although he wanted to admonish the man for his brazen behavior, how could he when he’d defied the number one rule at The Dollhouse: he had sex.

Because of that, he would have to limit his play to his home, at another Dom or Domme’s house, or drive to D.C. or North Carolina for some club action.

“Would my master like something to drink?” Nikla asked.

Sweet nodded. “Iced tea if you can find any, or anything diet.”

She bowed her head and it made Sweet wonder how in the world he’d gotten so lucky to find her. Find her? She practically delivered herself to his doorstep.

When Nikla returned with his drink he directed her to follow him. In the corner of the dining room sat a large dog cage with a naked man inside lying on a fleece-lined dog bed. Sweet sat on top of the cage and brought Nikla onto his lap. The slave continued sleeping, a feat considering the noise level in the house.

“Am I doing okay?” Nikla asked and adjusted herself on his lap.

Sweet placed his hand on her ass to steady her and to feel her firm cheek. “I’ll tell you if you do something wrong.” He took a sip of his drink.

Iced tea. Good submissive.

He placed the cup to her lips to give her a sip. Nikla drank whatever he gave her.

Sweet sat the cup on top of the cage, then pulled Nikla close to him. “Let me introduce you to some people.”

She nodded and smiled.

Sweet stood and held Nikla’s hand. He introduced her to a few Dominants and a couple of club submissives. He found that Nikla would only nod to acknowledge them until he gave her a couple taps on her side.

Damn, she was good.

After a pleasant conversation with Madame Le Freak, a prim Englishwoman with a penchant for cock-and-ball torture, Sweet pulled Nikla aside. “Let’s go to the dungeon.”

Sweet pulled her toward Masaun and Kindle’s playroom. The room already overflowed with party guests. As Sweet pulled her through the room to the back corner, Nikla noticed another door, one that had a man wearing a police costume standing next to it.

“Raspberries are delicious,” Sweet said, knowing the code phrase to get into the dungeon.

The man nodded and opened the door for him. The additional room remained illuminated only by a purple-tinted light bulb. Although a large area rug covered the cherry hardwood floor, plastic sat on top of it.

Sweet found Razor with Lolli strung up on a cross and whipping her. Sweet assumed he worked on Lolli. The woman wore a full hood. With her back to him, he couldn’t tell if zippers covered her eyes and mouth. From her audible cries, if a zipper existed over her mouth then Razor must have had it opened.

Red welts marked up her pale back and ass cheeks. A small crowd of admirers gathered around the duo.

In one corner of the large room, a Domme had a naked male submissive on the floor under a mechanic’s light that she used as a spotlight. She had pads from a TENS unit attached to the underside of his penis. When she engaged the electric current, the man twitched, winced, and eventually moaned. Pre-cum dripped from the tip of his penis.

Between panting breaths, he uttered, “Thank you, ma’am.”

Nikla squeezed Sweet’s hand. “Whatever you want to do to me, I’ll do it.” She smiled. “I want this. I want you.”

Sweet longed to hear those words, not just from anyone, from Nikla. He led her to another area of the expansive dungeon, which housed a bed and it looked like an attached bathroom.

A Domme sat in a chair in the center of the room. In her ornate Marie Antoinette-like costume, Sweet nearly missed the man underneath her chair. Only his feet appeared from under her large ball gown of a dress.

“What is he doing?” Nikla asked without taking her stare off the woman whose eyes rolled to the back of her head several times.

“Queening.” Sweet pointed. “The seat of the chair is gone.” He leaned down and whispered. “So are her panties.”

Nikla split her attention between him and the queen on her throne. “Oh.” She stared at the woman longer until an audible slurp sounded in the open room. “Oh!”

“Good boy.” The woman snapped her white lace fan open to cool down her face. When she opened her eyes and spotted Sweet, she smiled. “We’ll be done soon.”

“Take your time.” Sweet put his hand to the small of Nikla’s back. “We’ll use the bed.”

Nikla followed Sweet over to the bed. From the excited look in her eyes, he believed that if he had told her that they would be having sex that she would have done it.

“Take off your top.”

Nikla didn’t hesitate. She started to undo the buttons on her crop top as Sweet went to a dresser. Considering he helped Masaun stock this room, he knew where he kept some of his toys. Sweet found six glass therapeutic cups. He picked them up and headed back to the bed.

Sweet found Nikla without her top standing for his next order. As she stood frozen to her spot, he leaned down and whispered, “Your tits are amazing.” He bent his head down and licked one nipple, which made Nikla giggle.

“Only you could make Donald Trump sexy.” She covered her mouth with her hand.

After placing the six curved cups on a side table he put his index finger over her lips. “Don’t speak unless I give you permission.”

Nikla nodded.

“Good. Lie on the bed on your stomach.”

She obeyed his directive, turning her head to watch him. Sweet ducked into the bathroom to retrieve a bottle of rubbing alcohol, cotton balls, and a cup of water. He sat on the bed next to Nikla’s body.

“Ever heard of cupping?” Sweet asked as he smoothed his hand over her skin.

Not only did he want to touch her, but he also had to check for any blemishes, scratches, or scars.

Nikla shook her head.

“Good. I like introducing you to new things.” He removed his jacket and rolled up his sleeves. How Masaun could wear a suit day in and day out baffled Sweet. Then again, the man showed up to his own Halloween party naked except for a strategically placed leaf.

“Cupping may have come from an ancient Chinese practice to draw toxins from the skin.” Sweet dipped a cotton ball into a capful of alcohol. “I also heard it may be used as a cancer treatment.” He lit the white puff ball until he saw a slight light blue flame. He dropped it into one of the glass cups for a couple of seconds before turning over the cup and dropping the cotton ball into the cup of water. “I don’t believe any of that.” He placed the open mouth of the cup onto Nikla’s bare back. “I just love the way it alters a person’s body.”