Light Switch (26 page)

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“Mm-hmm.” Her eyes were closed and her head lolled to one side. Had it not been for the restraints, I thought she’d melt to the floor in a puddle.

I stepped back and raised the flogger once more.

The door opened. I glanced up to see Scott stepping into the dungeon, but Amy didn’t even seem to notice that he’d joined us again.

I lowered the flogger as he went to her. He checked her hands, then put a finger under her chin and raised her head to face him.

“You doing okay?”

She simply moaned, but the way the corners of his lips curled told me he recognized the sound as one that was anything but distress.

He looked at me. “That, my dear, is the voice of subspace. Nicely done.” He lowered his hand to let her head bow again. When he came to me, he said, “How are you doing?”

“My arm is getting a little tired.”

He laughed. “Yeah, that’ll happen. It’s—” He paused. “Wait, the way you’re holding it is going to tire your hands and wrists out way faster.” He adjusted my grip. “Try it now.”

As always, Scott was right. The way I held it now was much less strenuous.

By the time we were done, Amy and I were drenched with sweat. My arm and shoulder ached. Her back was bright pink and her body was as limp as the flogger’s tails. More than once, her cries and moans made me wonder if she was going to come just from being flogged, and she moaned in protest when Scott said we were done.

“That’s enough for one day.” He kissed her cheek. “I don’t want to overdo it.”

She murmured something I didn’t understand.

He laughed softly and knelt to unfasten her ankle restraints. Then he stood right behind her and put his arm around her waist. With his free hand, he reached up to unfasten the cuffs. Once her hands were free, her knees buckled and she melted into him. He draped her arm around his shoulders and let her head rest against him.

“Good girl,” he whispered, stroking her hair. “You were perfect, baby.” He looked at me and gestured at a blanket folded on the table. I handed it to him, and he wrapped it around her. Nodding toward the door, he said to me, “Could you go see if Ryan’s back yet?”

I went out to the living room. Ryan was there, kicked back with a magazine. I didn’t even have to speak; as soon as he saw me, he was on his feet.

“Have a good time?” he asked on the way down the hall.

“Definitely. It was certainly…educational.”

He laughed. “Yeah, I’m sure.”

As we stepped into the dungeon, Amy didn’t look up. She rested her head on Scott’s shoulder, and he still stroked her hair and spoke softly to her.

“So how much damage did she do?” Ryan asked.

Scott lowered the blanket a little, showing him some of the welts and pink I’d left. Ryan whistled.

“Impressive. Guess I don’t have to ask if she enjoyed herself, then.” He looked over his shoulder and winked at me. To Scott, he said, “You’re done with her?”

Scott nodded. “I left some water in the other room. You know where to look if you need more.”

“Got it,” Ryan said.

“Oh, and this.” Scott reached into his back pocket and pulled out Amy’s wedding ring. Ryan took it, tucking it into his own pocket. Then they carefully moved Amy from Scott’s arms to Ryan’s. Whispering softly to her, Ryan led her out of the dungeon.

“They’ll be in the spare bedroom.” Scott chuckled. “They’ll probably be there for a while. Do you want something to drink?”

“Yes, please.”

I followed him into the kitchen, rubbing the fatigue out of my right arm as I walked.

“Just ice—” he paused, raising an eyebrow at my arm. “You okay?”

“Yeah, yeah. Arm’s just a little tired.”

He smiled and turned to pull a glass down from the cabinet. “It happens. The more you do it, the less it’ll happen, as long as you mind your grip and your swing.”

“Duly noted.” I glanced back down the hall. “So is this how you and Amy usually play? You flog her, then give her back to Ryan?”

He shook his head. “Normally, I do the aftercare with my subs. It’s a chance to make sure we’re still on the same page, things like that. But…” He gestured back down the hall. “Once in a while, and especially if I’m doing something like this, Ryan likes to do it.”

“He doesn’t mind?”

“Does he mind?” Scott laughed as he handed me a glass of ice water. “Hardly. I flog his woman into subspace, then give her back to him primed and ready for an orgasm or twelve.”

“Sounds like quite the arrangement.”

“It suits everyone involved.” He reached for something beside the kitchen island. “And now he’s got her taken care of, which leaves me no other option…” He set a wine bottle on the counter. “…than to have a glass of wine and take care of
you
.”

After a couple of sessions with Amy, a handful with Charlotte, and more than a few involving some unfortunate pillows, I had a pretty good grasp on flogging. I wasn’t quite ready to wield a flogger without Scott’s close and constant supervision, but as long as he stayed in the room, I wanted to try it on someone else.

As much as I loved submitting to Scott, I also loved the power I had when I picked up a flogger. The more I learned the technique, the more I enjoyed that power. With every passing session, my inner Domme woke up a little more.

The search for a “worthy victim”—as Scott so eloquently called it—drew us back to the BDSM club.

Scott walked out of the locker room in his usual leather pants, boots, and nothing else. How the hell I was supposed to find someone
else
to play with when I couldn’t take my eyes off him, God only knew.

“Ready for this?” he asked.

“Absolutely.”

He put his arm around my waist and kissed my cheek. “Let’s go find you a sub, then.”

We’d barely crossed the threshold into the ballroom when a guy I’d never met approached.

“Hey, Scott,” he said.

“Oh, hey, John, how’s it going?” Scott shook his hand, then gestured at me. “This is Kristen. Kristen, John.”

We shook hands and exchanged pleasantries. With introductions out of the way, John turned to Scott. “Listen, you know the rack in the big dungeon?”

I blinked and glanced at Scott.

He made a dismissive gesture. “I’ll tell you about it later.” To John, he said, “What about it?”

“Something’s wrong with the cranks. Would you mind having a look at it?”

Scott groaned. “Right now?”

“You know I normally wouldn’t pull you aside like this,” John said. “But we’ve got a couple of guests who came specifically to use it, and you’re the only engineer in the building right now who isn’t currently occupied by a ball gag and a butt plug.”

I snorted with laughter, as did Scott. John eyed both of us.

“She’s new to the lifestyle,” Scott said with a laugh. “This is all a bit new to her. Anyway, the rack. What exactly is it doing?”

“That’s just it,” John said. “It’s not. Won’t move.”

Scott sighed. “Sure, I’ll have a look.” He turned to me. “Are you okay by yourself for a few minutes?”

“I’ll be fine.”

“Shouldn’t be too long.” He kissed my cheek. “Behave yourself.”

“Do I have to?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Yes, you do.”

I folded my arms across my chest. “Oh, do I,
Sir
?”

He tried to glare at me, but a grin tugged at his lips. John’s eyes flicked back and forth between us.

Scott laughed. To John, he said, “She’s trying out her Domme side tonight.”

John chuckled. “Looks like it fits quite well.”

“Yeah, a little too well, I think,” Scott muttered. To me, he said, “You’re sure you’re okay by yourself?”

“I won’t get into trouble, I promise.”

“We’ll see about that.” He kissed my cheek. “I’ll be back in a few.”

He and John disappeared, and I was left alone in this world that was slowly becoming familiar. We’d been here a handful of times, and I didn’t see the bizarre clothing as much anymore. My attention was drawn now to the way the Doms and subs interacted. There was a time in my life when I thought there was a degree of cruelty to dominance and submission. What kind of person willingly surrendered to someone who hit them, punished them, even humiliated them?

But I saw this world through different eyes now. There was gentleness among the whips and collars. Tender caresses and fond looks, protective Doms and protected subs. More trust, communication, and affection existed between these people than there ever was in my socially accepted vanilla relationship with Alec.

I continued strolling through the sea of skin and black leather. This world wasn’t just becoming familiar, I realized. It was becoming home.

Someone grabbed my upper arm, jarring me out of my thoughts, and I knew before I turned it was neither Scott nor Byron. On some visceral, instinctive level, I knew exactly who it was.

“Glad to see Scott brought you back to us.” Victor’s voice and grin raised the hairs on the back of my neck. He always managed to cross paths with me when we came here, and just my luck, he’d caught me alone tonight. Persistent fucker.

I jerked my arm free. “I came back, yes.”

He gave a sarcastic laugh before his lips pulled into a sneer. “He hasn’t taught you to show respect, has he?” He raised his chin, emphasizing the fact that he was looking down at me. I had no doubt he expected me to drop my gaze like a good little submissive.

“He has, actually.” I raised an eyebrow. “He’s taught me to respect those who’ve earned it.”

Victor’s eyes widened, then immediately narrowed. He stepped closer to me. “You’re just the kind of sub who needs a good, experienced Dom to put her in her place.”

“Fortunately, I have such a Dom, and I
know
my place.”

He laughed coldly. “Which is why you’re disrespecting a Dom?”

“You haven’t given me a reason to respect you.” I defiantly held his gaze. This wasn’t the Domme talking. Though I’d come tonight to play the Domme, my default setting was sub, and the sub in me was ready to kick this son of a bitch in the teeth.

“I’m a Dom, you—”

“You’re not
my
Dom.”

“Obviously not. Or you’d show some respect.” Before I could speak, he snatched my arm again, gripping it hard enough to smart. “I could probably teach you a thing or two about submission if I could be bothered to put up with your attitude.” A few nearby conversations fell silent. Leather creaked, and out of corner of my eye, I saw two very large Doms start toward us.

I wrenched my arm free again and took a step toward Victor. The two Doms—and several more conversations—halted when Victor took a step back.

“I don’t respect every douche bag who struts in and calls himself a Dom,” I snarled. “I submit to Scott because he’s earned the right to command me to. You, on the other hand, can go fuck yourself.” With that, I turned on my heel and walked away.

He sputtered something after me, but it was quickly lost in several sharp, angry voices.

A hand on my shoulder made me jump. I turned to see a tall, leather-clad woman with bright blue hair and several piercings. A Domme, if her unflinching eye contact was anything to go by.

“You okay, hon?” She nodded in the direction I’d just come. “Looked like he was giving you some trouble.”

I shrugged. “I’m fine. He just needed a sub to put him in his place, I think.”

She laughed. “He’s needed that for some time.”

Another voice, male this time, said, “What did he say to you? Do you two know each other?”

“Was he fucking with you?” Byron appeared beside me, his arm around Charlotte’s waist.

“I’m fine.” I smoothed the air with upraised hands. “It’s taken care of.”

His lip curled into that mouthwatering smirk. “What exactly did you say to him, anyway?”

“I let him know he could go fuck himself.”

Byron laughed and clapped my shoulder gently. Charlotte and I made eye contact. She winked and silently mouthed, “Nice one.”

The blue-haired Domme gave a sniff of laughter. “I don’t think he’ll be a problem anymore.”

I turned around to see Victor being led toward the door by several people.

The small crowd around me dispersed, but a moment later, someone touched me from behind for the hundredth time tonight, but I didn’t flinch. I knew from the way he put his arm around my waist that it was Scott. He kissed my cheek. “I see you made some friends while I was gone.”

“Yeah, after I got rid of one in particular,” I muttered.

His eyes widened with alarm. “Meaning?”

I looked over my shoulder. Victor was in the midst of a very animated conversation with the two burly Doms and a Domme. He made sharp, defensive gestures as he spoke, and the Domme stabbed a finger in his direction as she backed him out the door.

When I turned back to Scott, he’d set his jaw and narrowed his eyes, glaring at Victor from across the room.

“What did he do?” he growled.

I put my hand on his chest. “It’s taken care of.”

“
What’s
taken care of?” He looked at me, his expression shifting from angry to concerned as his eyebrows knitted together. He pulled me closer. “What happened?”

I gave a dismissive shrug. “He apparently thought you haven’t taught me to show respect.”

“What?”

I shrugged again, grinning this time. “I told him you have. I just don’t respect every douche bag who comes along and calls himself a Dom.”

A startled laugh burst out of him. “You said that to him?”

“Right before I told him to go fuck himself.”

Scott beamed. “
That’s
my girl.” He kissed me, and his expression turned serious again. “You’re okay, though, right?”

“I’m fine, Scott.” I glanced in Victor’s direction just in time to see him disappear through the double doors. To Scott, I said, “So, did you get the rack fixed?”

He feigned offense, putting a hand to his bare chest. “Did I get it fixed? Please. Every piece of machinery in this building works because I’m here.”

“Guess it’s a good thing you weren’t occupied by a ball gag and a butt plug, then.”

“Not in this lifetime, darling,” he said. “Now, what do you say we go find you a sub before someone comes along and asks me to fix something again?”

“Or before I have to put another dipshit in his place?”

He chuckled and kissed my cheek. “I would
pay
to see that.”

~ * ~

Scott and I stepped out of the dungeon.

I let out my breath and brushed a strand of sweaty hair out of my face. Damien, the sub, was in the hands of Grace, his Domme, and I’d quietly bowed out while she took over rubbing lotion onto his back.

Scott put his arm around my shoulders. “I had a feeling you’d be a natural Domme.” He kissed me gently.

I smiled through the fatigue. “I didn’t realize how much work it was.”

He chuckled. “Not for the faint of heart, is it?”

“No, definitely not.”

“Why don’t I go grab us some water?” He kissed me again and released my shoulders.

“That sounds really good,” I said. “Actually, I could use some air, too.”

He gestured down the hall. “The veranda out by the pool is out that way. It’s usually pretty quiet.”

Quiet and deserted sounded almost as good as that water he’d promised. Though the scene with Damien was fun, my senses were overloaded. I needed to wind down.

Scott kissed my cheek. Gesturing over his shoulder at the room we’d just exited, he said, “I need to get some water for Damien, too, so I’ll meet you out there.”

We went separate directions, and just as he’d predicted, the veranda was empty. I rested my elbows on the railing. Rubbing the fatigue out of my right arm, I replayed my scene with Damien.

I got it now, the thrill of the power exchange. Though I’d practiced flogging on Amy and Charlotte, they’d never been
my
submissives. Volunteers for human target practice, but they were at the command of Scott and Byron.

Tonight, Grace had given Damien over to me and let me take command. He’d knelt before me. He’d taken whatever pain I’d inflicted. He’d kept his orgasm at bay until I’d given him the word. If only for an hour or so, he’d been mine.

And now it was over. My pulse was back to normal, and though I was horny as hell, the excitement and adrenaline of the scene had worn off.

But still, I couldn’t find my footing.

Playing the Domme had been thrilling, that much I couldn’t deny. Scott had pegged me for a switch, and he was absolutely right. In spite of the thrill, though, something had been missing. It was fun, it just wasn’t the same.

Just like every time we’d played with Charlotte and Byron, I’d enjoyed myself, but I still gravitated toward Scott. With Byron, I figured my preference for Scott was simply habit. Scott was my Dom, my Master.

Tonight, I was no one’s submissive, but still I’d had to struggle not to focus on my Dom as he watched from the sidelines. Damien had deserved my full attention, both for his pleasure and his safety, and I’d fought to give him that. I’d managed to keep myself from getting distracted, but I was always aware of Scott. Whenever he was around, the air was electrically charged, his presence thrumming just above my skin, never escaping my senses.

I’d come here tonight to try my hand at being a top, and while I could play the Domme, my scene with Damien had only made me realize what I truly was:

I was Scott’s.

Blowing out a breath, I closed my eyes and rubbed my neck. This wasn’t supposed to be anything but sex. I wasn’t supposed to feel anything for him. What the hell
did
I feel for him? What was he doing to me? With a look, he could raise the hairs on the back of my neck. With a nod of approval, he could send a rush of warm relief through me. And simply by being in the room, half-naked and half in leather, he could make my clit tingle and my heart flutter like no one else.