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Richard gave a nasty chuckle. "Lady Kaela, if you should decide to make your arrangement with this one...permanent, I think we'll be in for some interesting social events."
The Region Master pointed to a frame positioned to the left of the spanking bench. "I want you there. Seanna, come bind his arms on either side of him. Ankles, too. Stretch him out."
As Seanna moved forward to comply, Richard went back to the panel and switched out the six-footer for two four-footer single tails. He preferred a Florentine method, Kaela recalled, and he could cut into flesh or barely brush it, flicking a fly from the air.
Close your mind if you need to do so, my lady. I'm fine. There's nothing he can do to me that should cause you distress. It certainly won't cause me any, unless it upsets you.
Her mind started to narrow down to a thin crack of light, but for different reasons. Things were getting far more still inside of her, everything focused on what would happen next.
The first time Richard drew blood, he would die where he stood, no matter what she had to do to accomplish it.
Garron had heard that. His gaze flicked to her, startled, but then Richard began. He hadn't warmed up like Kaela had, but maybe he was just that familiar with whip play. Or maybe he'd intended to make his first strike exceptionally memorable.
He threw hard and fast. The two whips snaked out and sliced into Garron's back, both direct strikes on his scars. Garron arched up against his bonds, all his muscles bunching into rock hard tension to absorb the pain, his mouth stretched back in a snarl. The crowd let out a startled gasp as the skin split, crimson gashes that would draw blood.
Fucking bastard. Stand down, my lady. Stand. Down.
Only two things saved Richard from her wrath. Her initial moment of shock that he truly had dared something that brazen in a human environment, and the instant response of the two staff members who'd been standing inside the cordoned area to ensure people didn't lean over the velvet ropes too far. They'd shifted forward as immediately as if they'd been police trained, and perhaps Vardalos ensured that very thing, given what contingencies they might face in a BDSM club with a wide variety of guests.
Regardless, they'd cut into her path. She still might have mowed them down without impunity if one of them hadn't spoken up sharply. And if Garron hadn't repeated his explosive command in her head.
Tara reached out, caught her hand and tugged her back. "It's okay, you won't get into trouble," she whispered. "Richard knows what he's doing. It's not the first time he's played in a human club."
She could care less about being in trouble with the club, but she managed not to jerk her hand from Tara's grasp, instead extricating it with a stiff nod. She remained on her feet, though.
The staff member who had spoken up was Louis, the fire play Dom. His blue eyes sparked, his dark-stubbled jaw set. "Sir, blood play has to be sanctioned by a staff member, prior to execution."
"My bad, Lou." Garron cleared his throat. "I'm one of those who can sanction it, and I told him he could."
Louis's gaze slid over his fellow Dom, noting how Garron straightened stiffly. He didn't have to have Kaela's inside view to register the agony pin-balling through her Master. Louis's lips twisted, but Garron held his gaze in a lock, giving him a slight head shake. The Dom sighed, nodded grudgingly. "My apologies, sir," he said to Richard, though there was no apology in his hard tone. "But keep in mind we monitor this kind of play closely. Regardless of Master Garron's sanction, we will stop the session if it becomes excessive."
Tara bit back a sigh. "Human clubs," she muttered to Kaela.
Thank God for them. Kaela shifted her attention to Richard. He'd paused during the interruption, his expression neutral, almost bored. He acknowledged the warning and set his stance again.
I won't stand here and allow him to cut you up, Garron.
He was just proving a point, my lady. Watch.
Kaela remained tense, standing, but as Richard resumed, she saw Garron was correct. Richard used the blood running down Garron's back as his pallet. As he flicked the two popper ends along Garron's back, he started to spread those drops in a brush-like pattern, around Garron's original tattoo and then lower, an artistic display that impressed the crowd and had them leaning out against the velvet ropes for a better look.
In other circumstances, the artistry might have impressed her as well, but Kaela knew that flicking motion came with a repetitive sting, a pain that mounted as the whipping continued. The way Garron started jerking against the manacles was expected, though she hated it. But she also noticed something else. With his legs bound shoulder length apart, it made his genitals far more vulnerable. Yet though Richard occasionally licked those poppers against his testicles, Garron remained as hard and aroused as if Richard wasn't threatening his genitals at all.
She had to know where his headspace was, so she broke the rules and delved into his mind. Immediately she was surrounded by an array of erotic images, none of which included Richard or registered the pain of the flogger. Garron was imagining her straddling him as he made her ride him hard in their bed. Naked, her body oiled and slick as she rose and fell upon him. She was so aroused she was out of control, bending to bite him like a wild animal. Her ankles were chained to the bed, her wrists manacled behind her back. She was his prisoner...
Some pain finally penetrated, the grimace on his face becoming a snarl as Richard flicked the lash with extra enthusiasm over Garron's torso, his thighs, snapped at his balls with too much zeal. Kaela almost moved forward again, Louis tensing to her left to do the same, but in that brief second, Richard stopped. He surveyed his handiwork, stepping over to the table to pick up his wine glass, take a sip. As he circled to the front to consider Garron, her Master's gaze locked with the Region Master's once more.
Tara slid her hand into the crook of Kaela's elbow, squeezing. "Look at that hard cock, the way he's looking at Richard. You should keep him, my lady. After all these years, you know we have a sense for the humans that are meant to be a part of our world. Every time he looks at you, it's as obvious as a thunderstorm."
She raised her voice. "I think this one is a draw, my lord. I don't think it matters whether he's being whipped by a Master or Mistress. He only belongs to one person here, and I think we know who it is."
"Yeah. Himself." Richard took another sip of wine. "A true Dom."
He tossed the whips to Louis. "I assume you have to have those cleaned," he said dismissively, and then nodded toward Liam and Seanna. "Let him loose."
Kaela took no small satisfaction at the look Louis aimed at Richard, an expression the vampire missed only because he turned away from him. Though she'd enjoyed watching the fire play, she'd kept her distance. Most vampires didn't like close proximity to flame, and Louis looked like he'd happily find a couple blow torches to teach Richard some manners.
Then Richard's focus was on Kaela, drawing her attention. "He's a stubborn one, my lady. All cock and attitude. Tara tends to be a bit more romantic about these things. The weakness of women."
"Chauvinist," Tara said without malice. A faint smile crossed Richard's face, but Kaela wasn't fooled. His eyes stayed cool.
"Stubbornness in a servant can be a challenge at best, a curse at worst. There's a high percentage of servants who have to be killed by their vampire within the first five years of their lives because they don't work out."
"Lord Brian has that serum that separates a vampire and servant now," Tara reminded him, speaking low enough only the three of them and the servants could follow the conversation. "And the memory serum that erases the servant's memory of our world."
"Which has only partially effective results, if the data coming back is any indication. Most of the Council still thinks execution is the safest course of action." Richard shook his head. "I wasn't making light of him, Lady Kaela. That one is a true Master. He won't be able to bend enough to be part of our world."
"It doesn't matter," Kaela said. Her voice was hollow in her head, even as it came out the way she intended. Casual, indifferent. "I'm enjoying him only on the island."
"Well, if you're leaving tonight, maybe we'll enjoy him for the rest of the week," Tara said with a wink.
She needed to leave. She couldn't bear to be here any longer. "You'll have to take that up with Garron, my lady. My understanding is he's engaged with other clients throughout the rest of the week."
She squared off with both vampires, gave them a courteous bow. "My apologies, but this is where we part ways. It's well past midnight and I need to prepare for my early evening departure. It's been a pleasure seeing you."
She said a few more things along those lines. Though she knew she seemed abrupt, her words a little forced, it didn't really matter, did it? If she wasn't taking him with her, he was in no danger from her erratic behavior. And she wasn't lying. She had something vital to do before dawn came, something that was boiling up in her breast and would no longer be denied.
Richard had said the obvious, yet the shock of hearing him say it aloud told her she'd almost let herself believe otherwise. Which brought back the anger that this situation had occurred at all, that what had started out as a fantasy had had to be ruined by her reality.
