Camellia (9 page)

Danny shuddered. There were so many ways in which that was not okay to her. "Have you ever been with someone like that?" The question was likely too personal, but Danny found herself unable to stop the words from coming out of her mouth. She was curious, not just because that was natural for her, but also because she wanted to know what Lucy liked, what she wanted. Lucy was one sexy-as-hell enigma, and Danny wanted to know far more about her.

Lucy slowly tilted her head to the side and stopped walking as she answered Danny's question. "No. As I've said previously, I prefer my sexual partners more autonomous than that. I find all submission beautiful and respect those that are able to bring forth such a state within themselves. But I could not enjoy having that person in my bed."

The relief Danny felt at hearing Lucy's words surprised her. "That's awesome."

Lucy raised her perfectly sculpted brows. "It is? How so?"

Well, shit. Now Danny had to figure out a good answer for this as well. "Um ... uh ... 'cause that's good? That you know what you like, I mean." All right, that was lame beyond all belief, but the answer seemed to placate Lucy. Or maybe she was just distracted, because a moment later she seemed to find something that made her smile, and then she raised her arm in a wave.

As they got closer, Danny picked Dalton out of the crowd. He was standing next to a large booth full of clothing similar to what she was wearing as well as a selection of leather-wrapped paddles and cuffs. A few feet to the side of the booth was a stage, about four feet high and covered in white canvas. At the front of the stage was a very familiar setup; a low table covered with everything they'd need for the tea ceremony. Dalton had been a busy boy.

"How long before the demonstration?" Danny asked, feeling a little nervous despite all her practice. She hadn't realized that she'd be performing in the face of so much that she didn't understand. What if she messed it up? What if people started laughing when she did? What if she made Lucy look bad? Just thinking about it made Danny shudder.

"About fifteen minutes," Lucy said after checking her watch. Her pocket watch,
Jesus
, why was a watch on a chain so goddamn sexy? "Plenty of time to prepare. Dalton's done the work of the setup, so we've plenty of time to consider our own tasks."

"Yeah, about that," Danny blurted. "I really wish you'd let me show you a practice run last night."

Lucy tilted her head slightly. The pearls around her neck glistened under the harsh fluorescent lights, elegant despite their milieu. Danny was convinced at this point that Lucy could make almost anything look elegant. "Why is that?"

"Because then you could have mentioned anything you didn't like about the way I did it before I have to go up on stage!"

"Ah. I see." Lucy took one of Danny's hands in her own and led her behind a rack of clothes. The ballroom was busy but not really crowded yet, and so they had a little bit of privacy. Lucy pulled Danny in close and spoke softly. "When we discussed this concern of yours yesterday, what did I tell you?"

"That … that part of your enjoyment came from seeing how much I'd improved. But I don't know that I have!" Danny protested. "I've been practicing, I've practiced every night, but I'm still not sure it's exactly how you're going to want it!"

"And that's fine, because the other, much larger part of my enjoyment in this is going to be from the pleasure of correcting you," Lucy explained. "You did ask for correction." She subtly trailed the end of the crop along the outside of Danny's knee. Danny shut her eyes at the first touch of leather against her skin. "Indeed, you specifically asked for
this
kind of correction, and I brought it for you, Danielle. I'm giving you what you want. All you have to do is continue as you have begun, and be ready to be guided by me. I may tell you to be still, I may instruct you to move, I may even tell you to bring me the tea from on your knees. Would you mind that?”

"No, not really. I just don't want to embarrass you," Danny whispered. She was shocked to find herself shaking, so worked up that she literally couldn't control the trembling in her own hands. "I don't know, I mean, what if they expect me to be perfect? Everyone here seems to know things that I don't, I'm afraid of …"
Of disappointing you …

Lucy reached out and cupped Danny's face with her hands. "Danielle, no one expects you to be perfect. Indeed, if you were perfect, I think a lot of people would be unsatisfied. All they expect is for you to do what I ask. Trust me, I wouldn't let you be hurt by this," she said solemnly. "I
will
not let you be hurt by this."

It had the ring of a vow, too much, too elaborate, and yet, it was just the thing that Danny needed to hear. She nodded her head.

"Good girl. Now, take a deep breath." Lucy demonstrated and Danny complied. "Lovely. Again." They stood there and looked into each other's eyes and breathed, just breathed, until Danny's hands were steady and her respiration was slow and regular.

"Perfect. Now. Are you ready for the demonstration, Danielle?"

"Yes," she said.

Dalton, as usual, made sure everything was perfect. The performance would take place on a small stage, eight feet by eight feet, and just tall enough that Danny's shoulders would be at everyone else's head height when she kneeled. Which meant that Lucy would stand tall over the entire crowd, as was only right considering it was
her
demonstration, for all practical purposes. The glamor and glitz belonged to Natasha and Lillian, but the essence of it, the performance itself and the show of what she could do with her submissive, were the real draw here. The tea ceremony was a beautiful template to elaborate upon, and Lucy found herself looking forward to it with a sense of anticipation that she hadn't felt for what seemed like years.

Everything was laid out perfectly in the center front of the stage:  a small table covered with a green silk cloth, her familiar iron pot with its bamboo ladle resting on a sapphire blue napkin beside it, the shining black box of matcha, and the bamboo scoop. The delicate whisk rested next to the drinking bowl, which was the same soft jade green color as the tablecloth. It was all simple and refined, and Lucy could feel when Danny's gaze landed on it. Her whole body tensed for a long moment before she took a deep breath and let it all out, all the tension and stress. Perfect. Danny knew what to do, and more importantly, she trusted Lucy to look after her. She was taking Lucy at her word, and that imparted a heady sense of power and responsibility.

It took Lucy just a moment to sink into her headspace before the demonstration. People were gathering around the edges of the stage, their voices respectfully low as they wondered about what was going on, and Lucy sighed appreciatively. They'd all know soon enough, and if she did her job right there would be people in this crowd panting to take Danny's place at her feet by the end of it.

First things first. "Remove your shoes," she instructed Danny, "then climb onto the platform and kneel in front of the table, facing out toward the crowd. Don't look at them. Keep your mind and your eyes on your task, but don't begin until I tell you to. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"And Danielle?" Lucy waited for Danny's eyes to focus fully on her. "Now is when you answer my questions with 'yes, Mistress,'. Do you understand?"

Danny swallowed, and her pupils expanded right before Lucy's watchful gaze. "Yes, Mistress."

There it was, the beginning of the rush, the sweet surge that Lucy had forgotten how much she loved. "Very good. Go now."

Danny stepped gracefully out of her shoes, then walked up onto the stage and out to the little table. The murmurs quieted as the spectators watched her kneel in front of the table, her eyes downcast, entirely focused on the tea service in front of her. She was so lovely, her tattoos an exotic enhancement of her beauty, and Lucy smiled with satisfaction as she took Dalton's hand and let him assist her up the stairs. Her skirts were long, and it wouldn't do for her to trip, after all.

Lucy slowly walked the short length of the stage, coming to rest at Danny's right side, just close enough that the dusky purple and black damask of her full skirt brushed Danny's shoulder. Danny shivered slightly.

Lucy brandished her crop, raising it up suddenly, and the crowd seemed to inhale as one. She let it lilt, though, sinking gently from the sharp angle of her wrist to just brush against the generous curve of Danny's breasts as Lucy began to step in a slow, assessing circle around her. The black tip of the crop could have blended with the dark fabrics both of them wore, but instead the soft, buttery leather stood out against Danny's shining corset and golden skin.

Lucy trailed a thoughtful line across Danny's chest and over her left shoulder, examining her, carefully avoiding any entanglement in the tea table. Once she worked her way around to Danny's back, Lucy stopped, smoothed the tip of the crop in a line between Danny's shoulder blades, then struck her along the same line a moment later.

Danny hissed and started, straightening out of the round-shouldered position she'd been in before. She didn't turn around, thankfully, but Lucy read anxious question in every line of her body.

"Posture, Danielle," Lucy said firmly. "Pull your shoulders back."

Danny immediately pulled her shoulders back. Lovely. Lucy completed her circle and surveyed her submissive with satisfaction. Much better. She briskly tapped the outside of Danny's right calf. "Bring your feet in so that your toes touch."

Danny's feet came in, forming a beautiful angle beneath the sweet swell of her bottom. Lucy itched to feel that ass beneath the palm of her hand, warming to her stinging touch, but now wasn't the time to let herself be distracted. She brought the crop down swiftly across Danny's forearms, also brushing her corset-covered stomach with it in the process. Danny wouldn't really be able to feel the bite of the crop beneath the boning, but she certainly felt the impact. She was breathing fast but not too shallow, Lucy noted, and her lips glistened wetly from repeated touches of her tongue.

"Rest your palms on the tops of your thighs when your hands aren't in use, Danielle." Lucy watched her comply with gratifying alacrity. The crowd was absolutely silent, turning their pocket of the ballroom into a magnet for attention. Lucy stepped behind Danny again, pushed the tip of her crop beneath her chin. She tilted her head until Danny was craning her neck backward, her gaze immediately seeking and finding Lucy's. Lucy stroked her free hand down the side of Danny's face, briefly cupping her jaw in a mirror of her earlier calming gesture. Lucy tilted her further, and Danny arched beautifully, keeping her hands on her thighs despite her increasing lack of balance. Someone in the audience sighed.

"Now," Lucy said. "Prepare the tea."

She released Danny's face and moved the crop, and Danny swayed forward again, almost too far before she caught herself at the last moment. Danny blushed, but didn't get flustered, and reached for the lacquered box of tea. She uncapped it, then picked up the scoop and carefully measured out a perfect portion of powdered matcha, transporting it slowly to the drinking bowl so that none of the powder fell on the tablecloth. Lucy watched carefully as Danny repeated the process, then set the ladle down and replaced the top on the tea box. She reached for the napkin that matched the blue of her earrings next.

Ah, good, she remembered
. Danny pulled the cloth free without first moving the ladle, though, and Lucy smacked her firmly across the bottom, making her jump slightly. She wasn't hitting her hard enough to hurt, not really, but the sound of the crop against the strips of leather that barely covered Danny's ass was rather noisy. "Be precise," Lucy admonished.

Danny stopped and took a deep breath so she could begin again, replacing the ladle so it was straight and using the cloth to lift away the iron lid of the pot. She set both aside, then reached for the ladle again. Her hand was beautifully steady and she didn't spill a drop, not while she was filling it or while she poured it into the bowl. Danny set down the ladle, replaced the pot's top, and picked up the whisk.

She started to stir. "With vigor," Lucy reminded her, tapping the end of the crop against the top of the table.
Tap tap tap taptaptaptaptaptap …
She set the beat and Danny followed it, struggling to maintain her speed while not spilling the tea. Fortunately she hadn't overfilled the bowl, and soon the matcha filled the air with its bright herbal fragrance.

"Very good." Lucy stopped tapping, and Danny lifted the whisk out, letting the excess tea drip off the spindly ends for a moment before setting it aside. Lucy moved to the edge of the stage furthest from the table.

"Now bring it to me," she told Danny. She waited for her to begin to get up before adding, "From your knees."

This was a crucial moment. They hadn't explicitly negotiated the sorts of things that Danny would do during a performance, and while making tea was one thing, abjectly crawling across the stage to present Lucy with a cup of tea was quite another. It was a very deliberate test of Danny's willingness to obey, and while Lucy had no doubt that she would, her attitude while doing so would inform the rest of their time together. Lucy stood straight and proper and waited to see what Danny would do.