Page 91 of Minha Dona

“Juliana told me the pet name,” Caitlin said. “When we were talking earlier.”

Helena looked up from the mirror. “Which one?”

“Both of them.” Caitlin leaned against the doorframe with her arms crossed. “She told me that when she dominates you, she calls you Leoa. Lioness. And that when you dominate her, you call her Rainha. Queen.”

Helena hesitated. Those names… her instinct was that they were private, only between her and Juliana. Hearing them spoken by Caitlin felt like she’d just been stripped naked in public. But, she thought, Caitlin will hear them later, I’m sure, so there’s no harm really. Still…

“She shouldn’t have told you that.”

“She told me because she wanted me to understand your dynamic and what it means to both of you.” Caitlin’s expression had changed, from amusement to something much closer to desire. “Lioness and Queen. The dominance goes both ways. You’re her lioness when you submit and she’s your queen when she submits.” She paused. “That’s beautiful, Helena.”

“It’s just names.”

“It’s not just names and you know it.” Caitlin walked across and stood behind Helena at the mirror, her hands on Helena’s shoulders. Helena could see both of their reflections: her own, caught in the process of putting her hair up as Juliana had instructed, and Caitlin’s behind her, her gaze focused on Helena’s. “Tonight she’s going to call you Leoa. Her lioness. And you’re going to kneel for her.”

“Yes.”

“A lioness choosing to kneel.” Caitlin’s hands tightened on Helena’s shoulders. “I find that incredibly arousing. I want you to know that.”

Helena met her eyes in the mirror. “Noted.”

“I mean it. The idea of watching you submit, you, specifically, the woman who commands me, the woman I call Minha Dona being called Leoa and obeying…” Caitlin’s voice was closer to a whisper. “I’ve been thinking about it since she told me and I can’t stop.”

“Good. Then you’ll enjoy tonight.”

“I already am.” Caitlin pressed her lips to Helena’s shoulder. “I also can’t stop thinking about you on the beach earlier. When you arched your back.” She kissed Helena’s neck while one of her hands ran down Helena’s side to her hip. “I love it when you arch your back for me.” Her other hand moved to Helena’s chest and started to tease her. “Would you like me to make you arch for real? Right here, right now, in this bathroom?”

Helena let out a half-sigh half-groan as she pushed her body back against Caitlin and Caitlin’s lips found her neck again. “Patience, Gatinha. Patience.” In truth she wanted nothing other than that, but tonight with Juliana promised to be intense and she needed to keep everything in reserve.

“How can you control yourself?” Caitlin whispered between kisses.

“That’s why I’m your Dona,” Helena said, turning in Caitlin’s arms and playfully kissing her on the lips, “and you’re my Gatinha. I can control myself and you can’t.”

Caitlin pouted playfully. “What if I keep doing this?” She kissed Helena again. God, I want her right now, but I mustn’t.

Helena grinned… she knew one way to stop this escalating further. “Ajoelhe-se.”

Caitlin’s eyes widened and for a split second she simply stood there before she obeyed, falling to her knees.

Helena looked down at her for a long moment. “Very good. Very obedient.” She turned back to the mirror and finished putting her hair up, acutely conscious of Caitlin’s eyes on her but forcing herself to pretend she hadn’t noticed. Her neck was exposed, the way Juliana had commanded that morning. Eventually she turned back around to look down at Caitlin. “How do I look?”

“Like a woman who’s about to surrender, Minha Dona. And like the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

Helena held out her hand to pull Caitlin back to her feet and kissed her. It was like an insane feedback loop: Caitlin was aroused in anticipation of Helena’s submission, Helena was aroused in anticipation of that too but also by Caitlin’s own arousal, and Helena’s arousal was making Caitlin more aroused. It was building towards something spectacular, even if neither of them could quite articulate what that would be yet.

“Let’s go to dinner,” Helena said. “Before I lose my nerve.”

“You’re not going to lose your nerve, Leoa.” Caitlin tried the word again, and the sound of her American pronunciation made Helena laugh despite everything.

“That’s Juliana’s word. You don’t get to use it.”

“I know. I just wanted to hear how it sounded again.” Caitlin grinned. “It sounded good.”

Chapter 34

The restaurant was Saturday-night busy, crowded and buzzing by the time they got there. Helena sat between Caitlin and Thiago, Juliana across the table opposite Thiago… in Helena’s eyeline but not directly opposite, so that Helena had to turn slightly to see her. Another little trick, but Helena recognised it for what it was and every time she did look over Juliana was there, watching her with a calm that Helena was growing to recognise not as playfulness but genuine authority.

The messages had been silent since lunchtime. No instructions, no demands. I taught her that too, Helena thought, that the absence of a command can be as powerful as its presence, that the dominant’s silence keeps the submissive alert, anticipating, wondering what’s coming next and when.