Safeword: Davenport (25 page)

He sighed, obviously frustrated. “Since our discussions weren't productive, and were just getting him into more trouble, I put him on speech restriction until she walked in the door, so the next words out of his mouth were to her and not me. Honestly, I think he was jealous of her, perhaps I made too big of a deal over how relieved I was to have her back? Or maybe he was upset she'd hurt me, and wanted to protect me? I don't know, and he wouldn't tell me. I assume he'll enlighten me now that it's resolved, but he dug his feet in Friday evening."

Zach felt for him, sometimes it was hard to know when to talk first and punish later, or when correction needed to come before the discussion. “What happened to change his mind?"

"Good question. Chemistry, maybe? His initial words to her were overly polite snark, and had me scrounging in my head for the best way to deal with the situation, but then she complimented the curtains and his voice went from passive aggressive jackass to star-struck. He liked her instantly, even though he didn't want to."

He shrugged. “Others have admired the drapes and only managed to annoy him, so I asked why he'd made such a quick about face, and he said she's the first to figure it out, to understand it had just as much to do with the ceiling and floor and sofa, with the scale and balance, as it did the windows. But he said it was more than that, and began gushing about her inner core of humanity, and how he understood why she's so special to me.” He rolled his eyes, “He's lucky I love him as much as I do when he starts talking like that."

"He's an interior designer, too?"

"No, clothing designer and make-up artist. But I suppose that gives them fabrics in common."

"More than just fabrics, but how colors and patterns work together. The whole design thing.” Zach considered the idea Jacob would have more in common with her than he would, searched for feelings of jealousy, but still couldn't find any. “How far will you let him go with her?"

"Our contract allows him to have a relationship with a woman, and to even fall in love, though I'll always be primary Master, and he'll always live with me. He's pretty picky about the women he feels are worthy of his submission.” Brent shook his head. “The pro Domme types are a turn-off for him, he says their commands sound like a bad actress trying to play teacher—but he expects them to have enough command and presence to handle him when he doesn't follow orders, and he needs someone with a sadistic streak. Damn tall order."

"Can Dana fill it?"

"Why do I get the feeling you're making sure she isn't going to get hurt?"

"Because I am. I found myself oddly fascinated by their brief exchange at dinner, and I recognize the signs of attraction in both of them. I don't want her falling for him only to have you say he can't see her anymore, or have him decide she's not enough Domme for him. She's fragile right now, and I don't want her hurt."

"You love her?"

"I think I fell for her long before our first date—I'd be like a damned love-struck teenager the night before our weekly meetings, sleepless with a hard on, thinking about her. And then when I had the cage delivered and her face went slack looking at it when she thought I wasn't watching? I was on cloud nine for days. But she insisted on not mixing business with pleasure, so I waited until I'd paid her final invoice to ask her out."

He shook his head. “But now I've got her, and yeah, I'm head over heels, but can't tell her yet or it'll spook her."

Brent smiled, nodding as he said, “Right now, you're probably correct, but I think she's making good progress. As to your question, I can't speak for Jacob, but I can't imagine my denying them time together unless he's grounded. You saw her at dinner, what was your feeling about her sadistic streak?"

"I wasn't sure if she was getting off on hurting him, or the power she had over him—but she was certainly turned on."

"Yeah,” Brent said, a sadistic glint in his eye, “and I do enjoy watching her torment him. Can I ask how your talk went? Whatever happened, it made her lose the haunted look she's had all day."

Zach shrugged. “She just needed to be shown she's still submissive. Any conversation would've been pointless without a demonstration of her need to yield, a reminder of her inner craving to belong to someone. She enjoyed masochism alone, but needed to be reminded her submission adds another layer onto the pain. I'm glad she experienced it, because I don't think she'll want to separate them again. Letting her come here was hard, but it was the right choice—she no longer seems afraid of her feelings for me."

"I'll ask the same thing you asked me—are you prepared to let them become emotionally involved?"

"As long as you and I can collaborate and build scenes to include all of us, as well as allowing time for the two of them, then yeah, I am. I won't mind giving them occasional alone time but I'd prefer to be around so I can watch, when they're together."

Brent nodded. “We're in agreement there. Let's head up to the dungeon and grab a few items. There's a playroom at the center of the labyrinth, I'd like to be waiting for them when they arrive so we can push straight into a scene, if that works for you."

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Dana waited until they were off the concrete and onto the grass before turning to Jacob and saying, “Kneel."

Caught off guard, he hesitated for only an instant before gracefully dropping to his knees, focusing on her feet.

"Eyes to me, please. I'm going to ask a few questions and I need you to either answer honestly or, if you can't be truthful because of a conflicting order, then tell me you can't answer the question. Do you agree?"

"Yes Ma'am, I do."

"Are you submitting to me because Brent ordered it?"

"No, Ma'am. You heard him make sure I liked you—if I'd answered that you're nice, he wouldn't have offered me to you. I'm glad Brent is allowing us this, and I hope Zach will, too."

"Has he ever required you submit to someone you weren't interested in?"

"Only once. We talked about it later, and he's agreed he won't do it anymore. I can ask permission to offer myself, but he's good at seeing who I'm attracted to, so he usually initiates it—like he did with you.” He smiled. “Just one of the reasons I love him."

His face glowed with adoration, and Dana was very happy for Brent, that he'd found a man with such strong love and devotion to him. “I'm glad the two of you finally found each other. I have a few more questions—what do you want to call me?"

"I'm not sure, Ma'am. I've been trying a few things out, and so far I like Ma'am and M'lady. Do you have a preference?"

"Not yet. I'm happy with both of those, but I don't like Mistress. We aren't likely to be around people you work with, so it's okay to use honorifics, but if you'd like to use my name, I'd be fine with that, too."

He scrunched his eyebrows. “I might use it some, but I'd rather have an honest to goodness one to call you. I understand why I can't, but I miss being able to call Brent my Master, and it'll be nice to verbally remind us both of my position to you. Ma'am."

"All right, if I come up with a preference I'll let you know, but keep experimenting around until something feels right. No rules yet about when you must use them, I want to know you're saying them from your heart, not because it's required. Next question, will it be weird, seeing me submit to Zach? Will it take away from my power over you?"

"No Ma'am, I like the way you look at him, and knowing you understand how I feel, because you submit to someone, too—it makes me feel closer to you. You know exactly what I'm surrendering, as you've given the same. I can see it in your eyes, when I offer myself. You value it more."

Dana's heart swelled and she leaned down, kissed his forehead, ordered him up, and then hugged him close to her for several long minutes, their heartbeats in synch with one another.

"Okay, show me the labyrinth; I'm excited to see the result of Brent's grand plans."

As Jacob walked her towards the towering hedge Dana wasn't terribly impressed—but stepping inside was like falling through Alice's hole, and two minutes later she wasn't sure she'd have been able to find her way out.

The walls were tall thin trees planted close together, so you couldn't orient yourself with distant landmarks. Eventually they came to a section with shorter hedges, and she saw a neighbor's roof on a hill in the distance and could figure out which direction the house and pool lay—but it didn't help her figure out the correct route.

"Have you ever gotten lost in here?"

"Many, many, times. I know it pretty well now, and can easily get to the center if I start at the beginning. Sometimes he blindfolds me and walks me around until I have no idea where I am, with instructions to count to one hundred before taking the blindfold off and meeting him in the middle, or at a certain statue, and it can take forever to find the way. Sometimes he hobbles me with short chains, or puts a giant plug in, or some torment on my cock or balls, with my hands restrained so I can't give myself relief. Once he used a balloon nozzle to hold an enema in, and I had to navigate to the center and beg him to deflate it, so I could finally expel. It was awful when I was going through it, but now it's a good memory."

"Yeah, you can view it now as proof of his power over you, but at the time I imagine it was hell. How does he supervise you? Make sure you're okay?"

"He puts a voice activated microphone on me and straps a two-way radio around my waist. I'm almost certain there's a homing beacon on me, too, because I fell apart once and he made it to me in practically no time, which wouldn't have been possible if he'd had to find me. I'm sure he has shortcuts; I wasn't allowed out here during construction, and he's never let me see the plans."

"Are Brent's punishments as involved as they used to be? I can see how much he loves you, has it made him go soft on discipline?"

"No, thank goodness. My former Master thought he was being nice by letting me out of consequences, but it only made me feel like I wasn't important enough to take the time to correct. It wasn't our only issue, but it certainly contributed to my asking to be released."

Their conversation continued as they walked side-by-side holding hands, with both comfortably sharing intimate details of current and past relationships. Dana was completely turned around, with no idea of direction, or how close they might be to the center. Jacob confidently skipped some paths and chose others, seemingly at random. She looked down, hoping to see the correct path based on wear patterns, but it was tiny brown gravel, hard packed with no footprints.

He stopped, glanced at his cellphone. “It takes most people five to ten minutes to find the center from here. I'll follow you, but won't give you any hints.” Smiling, he added, “Unless you order me to, but that'd be cheating.” He pushed a few icons on his smartphone and said, “Go."

They were between tall evergreens again, with no view of their surroundings. She had no sense of direction, no idea if the house was in front or behind, or where the center might be. She began walking the way they'd been traveling and skipped a left turn, taking the first right. She figured if she took every right, eventually she'd find her way. When she hit a dead end, the first right on the way back had been a skipped left, confirming this would work if she kept to the pattern.

When she finally rounded a bend and saw a beautiful castle, her mind rebelled. The structure was massive, much larger than the house, which wasn't possible. She'd have seen a building this large from outside the maze, but her brain took a moment to comprehend how it'd been scaled down.

With the fifteen-foot spruce trees behind looking like eighty foot evergreens, the miniature creek running beside it, the smaller bricks and stones and roofing material—the optical illusion was impeccable. The entry was tiny; no way could someone enter.

"Is it just for looks? It's a perfect illusion, but the door is so small, how do you get in?"

He grinned. “Good eye. The real entrance is on the other side. It's big enough on the inside for a bed, basic dungeon equipment, and a no-frills bathroom.” He motioned her towards it and kept talking. “Watching people navigate in here tells you a lot about how their mind works. You were very methodical. If you'd taken left turns instead of right, you'd have made it much quicker, though."

Dana paused as they reached the Lilliputian courtyard, following Jacob as he walked around the far side. She didn't see the door until Jacob opened it, and made him close it again so she could figure out how it'd been camouflaged so well, placing her hand beside his and moving it back and forth several times before finally stepping inside, pulling him with her.

"Ah, there they are."

She jumped, startled to see Brent and Zach already there.

"How did you...."

Jacob laughed. “I told you, shortcuts."

Walking to Zach for a hug, she said, “This is magical, if you took a shortcut you should go the long way out when we leave, so you can... I can't explain it.” She turned to Brent. “I'm in awe. I never imagined anything this grand when you were fantasizing about it."

"Thank you, I'm pleased with it.” He looked at Jacob and said, “Strip."

Dana recognized Brent's no-nonsense scene face as Zach said, “You too, Dana. Clothes off."

She took the room in—a large bed dominated the space, a simple St. Andrew's Cross fastened to the wall, a padded sawhorse in a corner, and a winch above her, the motor mounted inside one of the turrets. She swiveled back to Zach, the look in his eyes telling her she'd already dawdled too long, and reached for the waistband of her yoga pants, her insides igniting as she did.

"We'd like to see you fuck Jacob, so we'll give you a little while to play with him before I take too much control. You don't have permission to come. You'll be pussy-whipped if you do, as I think it's about the only spot I can safely punish right now. Understood?"

"Yes, Sir.” Dana's libido jumped to attention. She'd asked Zach to resume control after dinner, and was happy to fall under his spell again.