Bondage Ranch 6: Taming the Mistress (8 page)

“Do you like rope, Sue?” asked Dane suddenly.

Sue knew how to do some bondage and used her skills occasionally with subs. But she found they usually didn’t have the patience for anything intricate.
He means being tied up, not tying
. She remembered the handful of times Bruce had tied her up. The soft caress of the rope as it slid across her body. Watching his fingers move as they twisted the rope into the right knots. The peace that came as she waited patiently, and the high from being restrained. “Um, rope is fine.”

Dane chuckled, and Sue got the feeling she hadn’t fooled him at all. He caressed the back of her head, pulling it slightly back so she looked up at him. “As it happens, I brought some.” He opened one of the large pockets on the side of his kilt and tugged out a looped coil of naturally colored hemp rope.

“Not here,” she whispered.

“This is where you told me to come for you.”

“But I can’t play in public. Not as, you know…”

“A submissive?”

“Yes!”
Maybe I should have objected to the term.

“Well, then, there’s your room. If you’re sure you want that, Sue.”

Sue hesitated. There was a reason a lot of people played in public. It was safer. People would come to your rescue if a dom got out of control. But Dane had honored her safe word in the tent, and he’d let her go even when she’d provoked him.

“Sue?” interjected Laera. “Remember what you told me about playing safe with strangers.”

Sue nodded. “I think Dane’s okay, Laera. He had, well, chances with me already.”

“Take whatever precautions you think necessary, Sue,” said Dane. “I’m perfectly happy playing in public. But I think I understand your reasons.” He ran his hand over her back, and she felt him first directly on her skin, and then through the latex as he went farther down. Latex transmitted the warmth remarkably well.

“I have an idea,” said Sue. She walked back to where her gear was. She wasn’t entirely sure why she’d carried it around, as she hadn’t wanted to play with anyone that evening, but she supposed she didn’t want to admit she was going to wait around for Dane. Attached to the loop on the handle of her favorite riding crop was a key on a ring, and she detached it.

Laera and Dane had followed, so they were right there when she turned back. “Would you mind checking on us in an hour? With or without Master Bruce?”

“Ah, those are Master Bruce’s ropes, then,” said Dane. “I should have known.”

Laera smiled. Sue handed her the key, and Laera took it with some hesitation. “But how will you get in?”

“Oh, because of the last time, when I locked myself out of my room, Alex insisted on giving me two sets of keys,” Sue said. “Since my roommate isn’t here, that was easy, but I get the impression she had a duplicate made anyway. Anyway, I have the other one right here.” She tapped her cleavage and pressed the latex down around the outline of a key.

“What happened to your roommate?” asked Dane.

Ugh
. If she explained, it would sound like she was rebounding. Which maybe she was. “She—” she started, intending to lie. But she stopped as she met his gaze. She had an inkling how he’d feel about lying, if he ever found out. And besides, the thing she’d liked about her encounters with him was they felt honest. Perhaps because they were unscripted? “Originally I was supposed to be coming here with a man I’d been dominating—dating—for several months. But he bailed.” She didn’t need or want to go into the whole story.

“So you’re attached after all.” The disappointment was clear in Dane’s voice.

“Oh, no, trust me, we’re very broken up. And there’s no way in hell we’re getting back together.”

“Sounds like it was serious.”

How to explain without making it seem like she was heartless? She loved her subs. But she never considered any of them permanent. Frank, not Keith, had come the closest. But part of the allure of the relationship for them was the emotional distance created between subject and ruling queen. Her relationship with Bruce had been similar, because Bruce was keeping his heart locked away to avoid getting hurt. The emotions had been all on one side. “It was, and it wasn’t.”

“Serious enough to hurt.”

Maybe the emotions hadn’t been all on one side in her relationship with Keith, after all. “Yes.”
Dammit.

“Are you emotionally safe to be doing what we’re doing, Sue?”

She looked at him quizzically. He was being sensitive. She was surprised he had it in him. He hadn’t seemed at all sensitive when she’d first met him, but apparently he wasn’t that simple. “I’m fine. Let’s go,” she said, because she didn’t want to discuss it any further. She started walking and took five steps before she realized no one was following. Dane stood there with his massive arms crossed in front of his chest, looking sexy, strong, and immovable. Sue walked back.

“I am,” she said, softly. “Really, I am. This is very different for me. It doesn’t invoke the same ghosts. And I wasn’t as deeply attached as, well, I thought he was. Maybe he wasn’t either.”

He studied her for a moment and then said, “I believe you. Lead on. Laera, we’ll see you in an hour?”

“Probably Master Bruce.”

“I don’t promise we’ll be clothed,” Dane said.

Sue blushed.
Yeah, it seems kind of unlikely
. Her heart beat faster. He was taking more and more control.
Maybe it’s just the variety that’s turning me on, but I don’t care. For right now, this is what I need.

“He’s seen— Um, yep. Okay. I’ll keep that under advisement,” said Laera.

Thank you for not making it seem like I’ve slept with everyone here, at least
. And she hadn’t. Bruce and Frank were the only people at Bondage Ranch who’d seen her naked. Well, besides Dane. She saw no need to tell Dane about Frank. Sue led the way out of the room, wondering what people were thinking when they saw her with Dane. At least she looked like she was leading.
Maybe he cares about what people think about him too
. But when she glanced back, he looked perfectly content.

She got to the door and fished the key out.

He followed her into the room and shut the door. “Strip, please,” he said.

“Just like that.” Despite her response, something inside called her to obey and see what he had in mind.
Okay, not just curiosity. He makes me want to yield
. “Don’t you like this outfit? I’ve had several compliments today.”

He smiled, leaning back against the door. “Latex isn’t my thing.”

“Why?”

“I suppose partly because it’s artificial. But it hugs your body without revealing it. A beautiful shape but turned into plastic rather than delectable flesh.”

He thinks I have a beautiful shape
. Still, she hesitated.

“Strip, please,” he repeated. “What do you want to say, Sue? Do you want to tell me to fuck off? Or do you want to say ‘yes, Dane’?”

She bit her lip. But she knew the answer. “Yes, Dane.” She set the key down on the nightstand and then peeled off her top carefully. She remembered the way he’d pulled open her blouse, and she loved his eagerness. Now he was standing, arms crossed, watching her. It was a different kind of vulnerability than yielding to his physical strength, where all she had to do was not safeword.

On the other hand, the latex is expensive and should be handled with care
. The thought distracted her while she lifted it above her breasts. She’d had some notion of turning away coyly.
So much for that.

She rolled the skirt off. Panty lines were way too obvious with a latex skirt, but she wore a tiny G-string because she hated the idea of going without. Now she almost wished she had. She’d never thought about being seen in it, and the flimsy garment felt silly. It didn’t conceal much anyway.

“Sit back on the bed, please,” Dane directed.

“You like the boots, hmm?” She was disappointed at his inconsistency, but a lot of guys had boot fetishes.

“No, I just think it will be easier to get them off if you sit on the bed.”

Oh
. She sat down and started pulling off her right boot. He crossed the room and sat cross-legged in front of her, helping her with the other one. Did he know he was sitting in the same place a sub would be in, helping her remove her boots after a long day? Keith would sneak peeks up her skirt, exactly as expected, and she would punish him for it, also exactly as expected. It was a dance with rules. This didn’t feel like it had rules. Maybe that was why her pulse was racing and her pussy was wet. “You know, I’ve had subs do the same thing for me,” she said, curious as to how he’d react.

“So? I don’t think you’re in any danger of getting confused about my role, and neither am I. No one else is watching, and if they were, well, I’d do it the same way, because what’s going on between you and me is way more important than what people who won’t take the time to get to know us think. Playing with you isn’t going to make me a sub. And submitting to me doesn’t make you less of a domme either. It means there’s more to you.”

She hadn’t thought of it that way. “Oh.” She’d long thought she had something to prove because of her brief relationship with Bruce. No, that wasn’t right. Because she’d wanted him back for so long after he’d released her, she had always wondered if she was true domme, even though she enjoyed what she did. Being a domme had put her in control when she had felt rejected. She hadn’t been ready to submit to anyone else. Hadn’t been ready to trust. Being a domme had been perfect.

He grabbed her G-string and pulled it off while she was distracted by her thoughts. “Hey!” she yelled, and after a moment of surprise, she pressed her legs together tightly. He’d gotten an eyeful, either way.

He stood, pulled the rope out of his pocket, and tossed it on the bed. Two smaller coils of rope followed.

“I don’t know why I thought you’d like this. I guessed.” He grinned. “Glad I guessed right, though.”

“Do you need me to stand?”

“Not yet.” He let out the large coil of rope, keeping the middle between his fingers and letting the rest run through his hands. She watched his fingers. He seemed to have a sensuous connection with the rope, and she was jealous until she remembered the way his touch had felt on her skin.

He put the middle of the rope at her back and brought the rope around her arm, under her breasts, and then around the other arm. He must have looped it through in the back, because he brought it forward again the other way. She didn’t have to do anything but watch him work. It wasn’t much different from sitting on her chair, letting someone polish her boots, in that way. In every other way it felt completely the opposite.

He made another pass, this time over her breasts, and as he did, he tied a knot to cinch the rope between her arm and her torso. Then another, bringing the ropes below and above her breasts together, so the rope compressed her breasts and made them stick out. They made the skin there look shiny. It wasn’t tight enough to hurt, but it made her breasts feel sensitive. He cinched between her other arm and her body, and then brought the rope around. Without looking, strictly by feel, he tied the rope off.

She tried to pull her arms away but couldn’t. He knew what he was doing, obviously. That didn’t come from animal instinct, but from study and practice, and she could tell he was more skillful with rope than most doms she knew.

“
Now
you can stand.” He pulled on the middle of the front of the rope harness and pulled her to her feet as if she were weightless.

He waited for her to catch her balance and then tugged her forward, away from the bed. He brushed his knuckles across her breasts, catching the hard peaks. She had to steel herself not to move away, because they were so sensitive, but the moment his hands left her, she found herself aching for more. He walked around her, his fingers trailing over her arm, then her shoulder and the nape of her neck. His touch was featherlight, and her skin, especially her bound breasts, felt electric under it.

He’d left her hands free, which meant she could untie herself if she wanted. It would be a stretch to reach the knot in the center of her back with her upper arms bound, but she thought she could do it with a little struggling. Which was comforting. It meant he’d stay close. Only a novice would leave her side for long enough for her to make the attempt, and he definitely wasn’t a novice.

He circled to face her and pulled her forward again. She stumbled, falling against him as he released the rope, but he caught her. Her breasts pressed against his hard chest. His hand slipped down to caress her ass, and she felt a rush of moisture in her pussy.

He tugged her hair to tilt her head up, then kissed her. Her lips yielded to his tongue, and then she swished her tongue with his. She didn’t remember ever being kissed like that, by a man so clearly in control. He held the back of her head firmly. The kiss would last as long as he wanted it to. She didn’t want him to ever let go.

When he did, she was breathless. For all the intensity of BDSM play, a simple kiss had taken her breath away and left her feeling weak in the knees.

He tugged on the rope from her back, pulling her away from him, but he followed each backward step she took until she was at the edge of the bed again, and he was right up against her, only his firm hand on the rope stopping her from falling.

“What are you going to do to me?”

“I’m going to tie you some more.” He grinned and nudged her forward while grabbing the front of the harness. Then he pushed her back.

“Eek!” She fell backward, but he was able to control her fall and turn her so she ended up lengthwise on the bed.

He grinned. “Like that. Stay.”

She wasn’t sure where she’d move to if she didn’t. He reached down and grabbed the bottom of the bed frame and lifted it. Friction stopped her from sliding down. He jerked it around, turning the bed so the long side wasn’t against the wall anymore.

“Whee!” she cried, laughing. It stirred some vague childhood memory, but she certainly hadn’t been tied up at the time. Or feeling incredibly horny.

He moved to the end of the bed and grabbed her ankles, pulling her toward him until her butt was barely still on the bed.