Bondage Ranch 6: Taming the Mistress (2 page)

She looked around. The man in the kilt was still watching her. One couldn’t always tell for certain if people were doms or subs. And many people switched. Still, she wasn’t going to cross the room and ask him if he’d like a flogging. He looked like he might chew her in two.

Fuck. I can’t be scared of the guy.

A familiar face cut in front of her view. His lean visage, athletic form, and graying hair were all too familiar. She’d been in a relationship with Frank for over a year. She’d never been exclusive with him, but for a while, he had promised he was faithful only to her. It hadn’t been fair, but they’d reveled in the asymmetry of it. Or so she had thought.

Frank moved in front of her and came to a stop. “Mistress Sue. You’re looking very well.”

Sue smiled. It was good to feel desirable, and she was still fond of him. “Thank you.”

“May I kneel?”

“That would bring back memories perhaps best left untouched.” She hated to say it, even though it was the truth. She liked being the strong one, the one who was less attached. Plenty of subs out there, but there was only one Mistress Sue. Not that Mistress Sue was entirely real. She primped and dressed to be a male sub’s fantasy, so naturally they came flocking. She didn’t let them see her cry. But Frank had seen her sob—once. She suspected that had been the beginning of the end, when he discovered she was something more human than a leather-clad ideal.

“There were good times.”

“There were excellent times,” Sue agreed.

“Perhaps there could be again.” He knelt, despite not getting permission.

“Carmen let you go?” She had been about to say
left you
, but in the world as Frank saw it, Mistresses did not leave slaves. They released them. Her eyes flickered over to where Carmen, a lovely big, curvy woman with café au lait skin and streaked hair, was chatting with a handsome man with long black hair girls envied. Ben, a submissive she had once played with herself.

When she looked back at Frank, she saw him biting his lip. He was struggling with his emotions. Frank not only couldn’t deal with her crying, he’d never been any good with crying for himself either. “Yes,” he said, his voice hushed.

“When?”

“Two d— Just after we got tickets to this place.”

She knew Frank well enough to know when he was lying, and she’d noticed what he’d started to say. Tickets had been sold out to Bondage Ranch over a month in advance this time.
Just two days. And he’s raw and tender and wants someone so he can feel he doesn’t suck. I know what that’s like, even if I pretend
. She’d always moved on quickly. But there was quickly, and there was two days. Two days wasn’t enough time to recover.

“Maybe,” she said gently, “it would be better to go home and be kind to yourself. Better to lose the cost of a ticket than to be miserable here, watching her.” Frank was a successful lawyer. He certainly didn’t have to worry about the money. “There will be other events. You’ll find someone. You’re an attractive and successful man.”

“I’ve missed you for a long time, Mistress.”

She chuckled. “Well, you certainly found a pleasant enough diversion for it.”
She’s gorgeous
, Sue was about to say. If Frank and Carmen had still been together, it would have been gracious, but now it would simply be cruel.

“There’s no reason for us to both be alone here when we can have each other. We know how we work.”

He was right. And normally a weekend of submissive company would be enough for Sue. Someone to push back the loneliness for a while. Someone to fuck the pain away. Someone to make her feel like a goddess. But this time, she wanted more—and less. She didn’t want a relationship with Frank. She’d never feel she could be herself with him again. And if she had to settle for someone for a weekend, someone to make her feel invincible, then it couldn’t be someone who’d seen her cry and lost respect for her because of it.

“It’s a lovely offer, Frank. Thank you, and I appreciate it. I don’t think it would be good for either of us right now. I think you should go home. And if you approach another Mistress, Frank, she needs to know it’s been just two days. Dommes need information so they can do the right thing and push the right buttons.”

“And yet, it’s the reason you won’t play with me.”

“Not only that, Frank. Not only that. But I still care for you. And I don’t want to hurt you further.” Sue pushed herself out of her chair. “Stand, Frank.” She said it in her best authoritative voice.

He blinked. Maybe she shouldn’t have given him an order, because his eyes showed hope for a moment. She didn’t mean to lead him on. He got to his feet.

She stood and hugged him, fiercely. There had been plenty of good times. She took no joy from seeing him dumped, although she might have the first month or two after he’d been gone. “It gets better, Frank. You’ll get better. Give yourself time. Be nice to yourself. It’s so easy to question yourself after these things. Was I smart enough, strong enough? Was I attentive enough? Don’t. You’re a good person. You deserve better.”

He squeezed her, and then after a good minute, pulled away. “Did you ask yourself those questions?” he asked.

She had, she supposed. But what she’d been thinking about was her breakup with Bruce all those years ago. “Everyone does,” she said. “I’ll hold you for as long as you need to be held.”

He nodded and stepped back. “You’re sure you don’t want me to kneel for you, Mistress?”

If anyone else had called her Mistress without asking, she’d have corrected him. With her name, it was respect, but without it, it implied a relationship. She’d let it slide the first time, and it irked her to let it slide again. But he was in too much pain, and he already didn’t want to hear the message she had to deliver. “I’m certain, Frank.”

He turned. “I’ll look for someone else.”

If he finds someone, I suppose it
might
be good therapy. But he’s as likely to find rejection, and how will he cope?
She sighed and settled back into the chair with a heavy heart. She hadn’t been lying about caring for him. But she wasn’t in love with him. Never had been. It was a shame, in a way. They had started playing for fun, and over time, it had become habit. One thing had led to another, and it had been comfortable for her to continue.

She watched him while he drifted alone, and then closed her eyes as he approached another domme. She didn’t want to watch.

When she opened them again, the man in the kilt stood in front of her. He’d looked big from a distance. A foot away, he was huge. She looked up. He gently nudged the cushion to the side with his foot. It wasn’t a grand gesture, but it communicated a message.
I won’t be kneeling
. And with him that tall, he’d have to be on his knees for her not to have to look up at him.

“That was kind,” he said.

“Hmm?”

“The hug. It was kind. He’s obviously in pain, and you held him as long as he was willing to be held. Honestly, if I was in so much pain, I don’t think I’d have let go of you.”

Sue chuckled. The idea of her holding and comforting this giant was incongruous. “He’s a bit of a tough guy. Likes to be, anyway.” She was impressed that the man had noticed Frank’s emotional state, given that Frank was trying to hide it.

“And you like to be a tough girl, don’t you?”

“Sometimes. I’m Mistress Sue.”

“And I’m Dane Kilmer. Pleased to meet you, Sue.”

“That’s Mistress Sue.” Even as she said it, she felt ridiculous. There’d been a time when she’d been more relaxed about protocol. She wasn’t used to being nervous around a man or second-guessing herself. But she had an image to protect, and she’d discovered her subs thought less of her when she didn’t insist on respect.

“If you earn the title, I’ll call you that. Unless you’d like to call me by my title.”

“Of course.”
He must be a newbie, despite his appearance and confidence. Because using people’s titles is what we do.

His eyes twinkled. “In that case, you may address me as Lord and Master Dane the Magnificent.”

Sue blinked. “That’s absurd.”

“Of course it is. Full title or nothing.”

She stared at him for a long moment. God, it was irritating how tall he was. She had to tilt her head. “If you’re going to stay, pull up a chair and get your eyes closer to my level.”

“I’m not going to stay. I just wanted to say I think there’s more to you than the facade.”

“Really.” She had no intention of admitting it, even if he was right. He’d just met her. He had some nerve to say that.

“And I think some of it is waiting to get out.”

“And you think I’m going to kneel for you? Or let you tie me up and flog me? Because it’s not happening.”

“No. It’s not.” He looked around, gesturing expansively to take in the dungeon and all the play going on there. “You have to maintain the illusion here. And the dominatrix may be a facade, but it’s part of who you are. It’s a facet, not a lie. I’m only saying there’s more under the surface. I’ll stop standing over you. But if you’re curious, meet me by the bonfire. I’ll wait for you for an hour. Roughly. I don’t carry a watch at these events.”

“Why?” Sue always wore a watch to Bondage Ranch. She needed to know how long to keep clamps on someone or when to meet the person she was going to play with next.

“I get plenty of that in real life. Here, I want to feel it all, not put it into time slots. Anyway, hope to see you there.”

“I won’t be coming. It’s not my scene.” The image she presented would have been out of place at the bonfire. The people there mostly called themselves primals and wanted to get in touch with the animal within. No wonder he didn’t respect the rules of protocol. And one couldn’t walk through the woods in high-heeled boots anyway. It would take her fifteen minutes to undo all the buckles on hers, a task she usually had a submissive perform.

“Be true to yourself, Sue. It is good to meet you.” He stuck out his hand.

She shook his hand. It was a welcome gesture. A meeting of equals. She didn’t need to dominate every man, just the ones who wanted it. “It was nice to meet you too.”

They let go, and he turned and walked away. She watched him for a moment, enjoying the view of his muscular back. He left through the door leading outside and disappeared from view.

Chapter Two

The fire raged, its light illuminating the clearing. Around it, men and women danced, some clothed, some naked. At its edges, couples embraced, wrestled, and made love. On a bamboo X-frame, a woman was being flogged. Her screams provided a soprano counterpoint to the steady bass of a trio of drummers. A pile of mostly naked bodies created the greatest possible amount of skin to skin contact for the participants in a giant group cuddle pile.

Dane sat at the edge, cross-legged, waiting. He doubted Sue would show. Approaching her had been impetuous at best, but he liked to follow his gut, especially at fetish events.
Was I following my gut or my cock?
The curvy little domme had been mouthwatering, with her breasts pushed up by the bustier and a sexy glimpse of thigh. She would be even more lovely out of it.

The hug had moved him to action. The tender caring of it touched him. He didn’t know the man she had hugged, but Dane had noticed him as someone whose sadness hung around him like a cloud. Sue could easily have been haughty, dismissive, every inch the domme. She had chosen instead to be human. He’d wanted to catch her before the mask went back up and she’d settled into role on her throne.

He wouldn’t have minded pushing her skirt up and fucking her on it either.

For some, BDSM was all about rules and control. It gave sex a structure and defined who did what to whom and how and who got to decide when it all happened. For him, it was about passion, about getting in touch with something more basic and less artificial than the system of the political world he spent most of his time in.

He watched, his eyes flickering between the flame and the people around him. A naked buxom blonde named Desi dragged a thin man from the dance toward the shadows near Dane. She pulled his pants down, slid a condom over his cock, and stuffed it into her mouth. Dane knew from experience the man was in for a good time. Desi was both skilled and enthusiastic, thoroughly in touch with her inner self.
I could have had that. Instead I’m waiting for a girl who I know won’t show
. It didn’t make sense, but he felt he’d made the right choice. He let himself watch Desi for a few moments, enjoying the pleasure she was getting and receiving. Desi scraped the man’s back with her long fingernails as she swallowed more of his length. There was a fierce beauty to it.

The man arched his back, screaming into the night as he came.

“Watching?” asked a voice above him.

He looked up. Sue stood there, her brown eyes flashing and her long, straight black hair showing reddish highlights in the light of the fire, incongruously still dressed as she had been. He had no idea how she’d gotten to the bonfire in those boots. There was a trace of the sand and ash from around the fire on the patent leather, but no evidence of mud from the trail. He could smell bug spray on her, and something sweeter underneath that reminded him of lilacs.

“Yes, I was.” He saw no reason to deny it. People paid good money to watch less skillful blowjobs on film, and he had a ringside seat, live, for free. Why wouldn’t he watch?

He thought about standing up. He could either look up or look down. He decided to show Sue he didn’t need to tower over her and stayed where he was.

She glanced over at Desi and the man. “I hope he returns the favor.”

“Do all favors need to be returned, all books balanced?”

“Not when you put it that way.”

“So I’m curious. How did you get here in those shoes?”

Sue grinned. “I have a big, strong friend who likes to perform nonsexual service.”

“He carried you?”

“I suppose that debt won’t be paid either. He picked me up and lifted me over the muddy spots. I like to believe he enjoyed it.”

The thought of Sue cradled in his arms flashed through Dane’s mind. “I imagine he did. Want to sit?”

“You want eyes at a level now, do you?”