“What did you guys do? I mean, how did you start things — at the beginning?”
Tom looked down at his hands. “A lot like you guys, actually. Sharon was the one who brought it up. I can tell you all about it, but it’ll get a little… graphic.”
“Why stop now,” Keihl muttered, waving his hand.
“I don’t think I have time.” Tom looked up at the clock. “I’ve got a few more patients the rest of today. You want to meet for dinner? I won’t be able to until late, but if you’ve got nothing going on, I’ll buy.”
“Sure, Kirsten flew out this morning anyway. She won’t be home for a couple days.”
“All right then.” Tom’s dark eyes glinted. “I’ll call you later on.”
* * *
T
he restaurant was so loud Keihl wasn’t sure he’d be able to hear a word Tom said. It was a Mongolian grill place that was an institution in town. The food was unbelievable, cheap, and plentiful. Kirsten had expensive tastes in restaurants, and Keihl was fine with indulging them, but he missed a cold beer, good uncomplicated food, and time with his friend — despite the fact that his friend was apparently an industrial strength perv.
Pot calling the kettle black, don’t you think?
Keihl asked the server for a booth, and they were fortunate to get one tucked toward the back, furthest from the kitchen and the round, sizzling prep table that was the centerpiece of the place. The noise was at least tolerable.
“It’s been years since I’ve been to this place. Great call,” Tom said, digging into a steaming pile of noodles and vegetables.
“I keep trying to drag Kirsten here, but this is way too low-brow for her.”
“Classy lady.”
“Completely. Makes me wonder why she married me.”
Tom nodded, wiping his mouth with a napkin.
“All right, let’s get this over with.” Keihl took a drag from his bottle.
“Hey, I can just sit here and stuff my face if you don’t want to hear it.”
Keihl tapped the neck of his bottle against Tom’s beer. “Nope. Let’s hear it.”
“What exactly do you want to know?”
“How the fuck should I know? Tell me what you think I need to know.”
“What do you plan to do with Kirsten?”
Keihl looked at his friend a moment. “I have no idea. They don’t have manuals for this shit, do they?”
“So you do plan to try it?”
“Yes, but I have no clue what to do.”
“Be yourself.”
“Wow, sage advice that. How would I ever have gone on without that nugget of wisdom?”
“Prick.”
“Seriously, Tom. Be myself?”
“Yes. Do what comes to mind, regardless of whether or not you think it’s right or proper.”
“That’s it?” Keihl leaned his arm on the chair next to him. “Simple as that?”
“Essentially, yes. Dominance is doing what’s instinctive. You direct, she obeys.”
Keihl gulped, and took another drink.
The server came by the table, and Tom ordered another beer for each of them.
“So what? Order her around? Tell her to do the dishes?”
Tom lay his napkin on the table. “You’re a highly educated man, Keihl. Try again.”
He had to try something else. This was just too… weird.
“Maybe this isn’t going to work for me.”
“The first time it happened with us, Sharon asked me if I wanted to spank her.”
Keihl’s mouth gaped. “Uh, wow.”
“That was what I thought too. Had no idea. None.”
Keihl knew what he meant too. Reading through those books on Kirsten’s e-reader was like getting a glimpse into her mysterious mind. She tended to be a little bit aloof to most people, even with her own husband. And he really was surprised at the hidden little white-hot furnace that seemed to power her fantasies. A furnace drenched in dominance, submission, spanking and even slavery. He still wasn’t sure what to think about it.
Tom continued. “I just decided to do it one night. It was easier than I thought it would be, actually. And when I saw her ass covered in pink hand prints? Let’s just say a light bulb went off for me.”
“So, it just progressed from there? To… slavery?”
“Yes, but it took time — and a couple of false starts.”
Keihl raised an eyebrow.
“Sometimes I went a little too far,” Tom said, holding up his hands. “And she had to take a step back to decide what she wanted to do.”
“What happened?”
“The first was when I wanted to collar her.”
“Collar her?” He remembered seeing something about that in one of Kirsten’s books, but wasn’t entirely sure what it meant.
“Yes, it’s a very serious commitment between a Dominant and their submissive.”
“You guys were already married, so what was the point?”
“That’s the exact argument she made. It
is
like marriage, in a way, but deeper than that. She thought it was creepy at first, like I was reducing her to a dog.”
“Uh, I can kind of see her point.”
Tom grinned. “She came around eventually — and then some.”
“I don’t want to know,” Keihl said, waving his hand over the table.
“Yes, you do.” Tom dove into a plate of rice. “Damn, this is good.”
They ate in silence, yet immersed in the general din of the restaurant all around them. Their server cleared away the dishes, and left the check along with two fresh beers.
“I don’t know how we’re getting home,” Keihl said. “We’re both gonna be ripped if we keep this shit up.”
“You can just call Nathan for us then.”
“Speaking of that,” Keihl said, putting his beer down on the table. “You’re gonna have to tell me more about the Dominion Trust.”
Tom’s expression sobered, and he leveled a gaze at him from under dark brows. “Not here. We’ll talk at my place.”
“We’re going back to your place? I’m not that easy.”
“You wish, pal.”
Keihl laughed, rubbing the bridge of his nose between thumb and finger. “I guess I probably can. Nobody at home.”
He missed her every time she was gone, though he’d never tell her that her absence affected him so, the stab of longing he felt every time she left for another trip. It was worse recently as they’d grown closer, even more so once they knew they were expecting. He didn’t think she should be traveling in her condition, but he was reticent to start dictating what she could do for her job.
Tom leaned back in his chair. “There’s a lot I haven’t told you yet, and I want to be sure I don’t overwhelm you with it all. Just be patient and you’ll learn all you need to know.”
“Cryptic.”
“For good reason.” Tom pushed his chair out, and stood. “Let’s get out of here. Give Nathan a call. You’ve still got his card, don’t you?”
Keihl frowned, trying to think through the haze of his buzz. “How did you know he gave me his card?”
“Because I told him to.”
“Tom, what the fuck is going on here?”
“Call Nathan, and I’ll tell you.”
Chapter Nine
“Y
ou’ve gotta be kidding me.”
Tom leaned into the open door, looking toward the driver’s seat. “Nathan, do you want to explain this?”
The hulking driver turned and leaned over the front seat. “Was in the middle of transporting her to Conall’s. Then you called.”
Tom turned back to Keihl, smiling. “See? Perfectly normal explanation.”
“Tom, this is insane.”
“No, it’s not. Just get in.” He pushed Keihl into the truck, closing the door and walking around to the other side.
“Mr. Warren, nice to see you again.”
“Hello, Nathan,” Keihl muttered, averting his gaze to look out of the deeply tinted windows. He felt the absurdity of the situation keenly. Just when he thought he’d seen it all, Tom and his cohorts upped the ante.
Tom slipped in to the other side of the back seat, slamming the door with a rush of cool air. He slapped a palm down on the bare thigh of their companion. A young woman, almost completely naked, sat in the middle of the back seat. Her wrists, bound together in thick leather manacles, lay neatly in her lap. She stared straight ahead, a stout collar of black leather around her neck forcing her to keep her chin raised. A snug mesh of netting encased the girl’s heavy breasts, the stricture of the netting huddling the globes together high on her chest. A cruel gag of dark leather stoppered her mouth, the corners of her lips compressed by straps that wrapped around the back of her head. Her blonde hair, cut into a short bob, would have accentuated a pretty face, were it not distorted by the strictures of the gag.
“What’s this one’s name, Nathan?” Tom stroked her thigh, her hands twitching in her lap.
“Katrin.”
Tom leaned forward in order to look at Keihl. “Conall goes through a new girl every couple of months it seems. I don’t know how he does it.”
“Every couple months? Wait, what about his wi—”
“Just have patience. I’ll explain more when we get home.”
The four rode in silence for the remainder of the trip, Keihl trying — unsuccessfully — not to notice the slight bounce to the woman’s buoyant breasts as the truck rolled over a bump in the road. They traveled to the opposite side of the city, weaving their way through bland, faceless subdivisions, every house looking like the other.
They pulled up to an unremarkable two-story home, no different from the rest of the vast, homogenous suburban tract. A tanned, gray-haired man was sitting on a bench on the small front porch, mirror lens sunglasses hiding his eyes.
“Is that him?
Nathan nodded, his eyes meeting Keihl’s in the rear-view mirror.
“Why don’t we go say hello to Conall? You game, Keihl?”
“Why not?” Keihl really was more interested in seeing how they were going to walk this tightly bound woman into the house without the neighbors calling the cops.
Then the garage door opened. Conall had disappeared from the porch.
So much for the problem of transferring their cargo.
The truck pulled into a surprisingly roomy garage, the door creeping back down as soon as the truck came to a halt. Katrin’s breasts heaved in time with her quickening breathing. Tom hooked a finger in one of the gleaming steel rings affixed to her broad collar. “Come on, girl. Time to greet your new master.”
“Tom, what the fuck.”
“Just go with it, Keihl. We’ll be on our way in a few minutes.” Tom drew the now trembling woman out by her collar. Smiling, he peeked his head in through the open door. “Come on out.”
He really didn’t want to, but he would feel like a complete tool just sitting in the truck as if nothing untoward was going on. As if something like this were routine.
Nathan exited the truck too, his huge frame dwarfing Tom and Katrin. Nathan stood at Katrin’s side opposite Tom, a proprietary hand quite low on her naked back. The air in the garage was surprisingly cool considering the considerable heat outside. Katrin’s trim buttocks shuddered slightly as she shifted her weight. The door into the house opened, fresh air rushing in to lessen the residual smell of the truck’s exhaust. Conall’s tall frame filled the doorway.
The first thing Keihl noticed was his height. The man was at least as tall as Nathan, but he was nowhere near as broad.
“Tom, great to see you, lad!” Conall extended a hand, his bright grin contrasting against his tan face. He still wore his glasses despite the low light of the enclosed garage. The man clapped a hand on Nathan’s massive shoulder. “Glad you could bring her by so quickly, Nathan. How’s your girl?”
“Tied up.”
All three of them laughed, and Keihl forced a smile. He wanted to leave. He felt... confined in the dark garage somehow.
“Who’s this?” Conall’s lips tightened, his voice lower.
“My friend, Keihl Warren.”
Keihl stepped forward, offering a hand. “Nice to meet you.”
Conall shook it with a quick, harsh jerk of his hand. Keihl tried not to think of the girl who was standing motionless at the center of the group of men. A lamb among wolves.
Conall looked to Tom, his brow crooked over the rim of the dark lenses. “Has he been inducted?”
Tom shook his head, not quite suppressing a small quirk of his lips.
“Well, though you know I don’t approve of involving those who’ve not yet been inducted, this should be... enlightening for him.” He ran a hand up the bare arm of Katrin. “Let’s get you situated then, my dear.”
She lowered her eyes, a faint movement vibrating through her body.
“Nathan, would you care to escort her in for me? The usual, please.”
“Certainly, sir.” Nathan took a firm grip on Katrin’s upper arm. She stumbled on her high heels as he dragged her in his wake, guiding her none too gently into the house.
Tom followed, then paused in the doorway, looking back at Tom and Keihl. “What are you doing?”