Perception (16 page)

Mercedes
noticed a small amount of disappointment in Sam’s eyes, but she was pretty sure
she saw relief mixed with it. Had she been hoping for another scene with them?

For some
reason, the idea wasn’t as off-putting as she would’ve thought. Although,
tonight, Mercedes wasn’t really looking to have an intimate audience. Especially
not now that she’d riled Xander up with her disobedience.

Mercedes
held her breath, hoping Xander wouldn’t invite the couple to join them. Not
tonight. Please, not tonight. 

“I’ll be
acting out a scene with Mercedes tonight. If you’re interested in watching,
we’ll be one of the main attractions.”

Mercedes
noticed Xander’s discreet head tilt in the direction of the glass enclosed
rooms that acted as the main stage for the club as a whole. Ok, so she wasn’t
going to get a reprieve tonight.

She could
handle being on display. That wasn’t a problem. She didn’t mind being one of
the main attractions either. What she feared most was what Xander had planned
for her.

“In fact,
I think they just got the room ready,” Xander said, drawing Mercedes’s
attention.

Oh, God.

She
looked back at the third room to see at some point a spanking bench had been
delivered. If her heart hadn’t just taken to galloping in her chest, she
might’ve admired it for a moment. Instead, she had the urge to throw up.

“We look
forward to checking it out later,” Logan told them, glancing between the two of
them as he held out his hand to Xander. “I’ll catch up with you both later in
the week.”

Mercedes
forced a smile, swallowing hard. She looked over at Sam, their eyes meeting
briefly, and she saw what looked like admiration peering back at her.

Why in
the world would the woman want to be in her shoes at the moment?

“Definitely.
We’ll have lunch so we can talk. Good to see you, Sam,” Xander said as a
good-bye, smiling tentatively at the pretty blonde while Mercedes clung to his
hand like a lifeline.

Yeah, she
was seriously going to have to conjure up some level of calm or she was not
going to make it through the next few minutes, much less the evening.

Xander
led Mercedes away from Sam and Logan and over to the glass room that he’d
reserved prior to arrival. After opening the door with a code, he stepped back
and allowed her to go in before him.

Once
inside, he closed the door behind them, ensuring that it locked so that they
wouldn’t have any uninvited guests. It was one thing for voyeurs to linger as
they watched through the twenty foot tall glass walls, but Xander had no
interest in any additional participants.

Tonight
it was just him and Mercedes in the room.

“What do
you think?”

“It’s…
interesting,” she said as she glanced around the room. “It’s a little… bright.”

She
didn’t sound quite as cool as she was trying to appear. It made his dick hard
to know her anticipation level was rising. That was what he expected.

If she
pretended this was just another demonstration, she wouldn’t get out of it what
he wanted her to. To know that she’d passed the point of being able to distance
herself from the situation pleased him.

Xander
smiled at her. “I’ll take care of the lighting in a minute. Right now, I want
you to climb onto the bench.”

Mercedes
looked up at him for the first time since they stepped into the room. Her eyes
were wide, her throat working as she swallowed hard. There was a question in
her penetrating gaze, but just as he had expected, she didn’t ask it.

Taking
her hand, he held it as he led her closer to the bench. She paused momentarily,
but he didn’t rush her, merely watching as she mentally worked it out. As much
as he wanted to encourage her, to slide his hands over her thighs and coax her
into place, he wasn’t willing to do it. This was up to Mercedes.

“Remember,
you have a safe word, pet. I expect you to use it if, at any time, you feel the
need to stop.”

Mercedes
glared up at him, and he fought the urge to laugh. She clearly didn’t like the
idea of safe wording out, but she of all people should understand that it
wasn’t an admission of defeat.

“Yes,
Sir,” she said through clenched teeth.

Xander
released her hand when she knelt on the lower padded bench. Sliding his hand
over her ass, he only offered his touch briefly before taking a step back.

What
Mercedes might not realize was that there were separate controls for the room
which would allow as much or as little outside interaction as he wanted. There
was no way to seal off the room entirely, but he had the option of limiting
visibility by pushing a single button. There was also the option of muting the
speakers that allowed anyone to hear them.

The glass
walls were made of a switchable privacy glass. They could go from clear to
frosted, limiting those who were outside of the room to see only shadows,
rather than a full view. For right now, he was going to leave the walls clear.
And the speakers on.

Despite
Mercedes’s hesitancy, Xander knew for a fact that she had no issues with being
watched. He had no preference. He allowed his subs to dictate how much privacy
they had, and it often depended upon their actions, whether they were obeying
him or acting out. Being members of a sex club though, usually meant that one
was intimately acquainted with public exhibitionism. Otherwise, if you weren’t
interested in the audience, all of this could be done from the privacy of your
own home.

Once
Mercedes was in place on the bench, her abdomen resting comfortably over the
narrow, horizontal padded bench, he moved closer. Her breasts were unbidden,
her rib cage resting on the bench while her chest hung slightly over. He
couldn’t wait to free her breasts from the silk that was currently clinging to
them. On this particular bench, there was an armrest where her elbows rested.
And to reduce the strain on her neck, she would be able to lay her forehead on
a narrow padded bar that connected between the ends of the armrest.

Thanks to
the design, he had the option of strapping her down, her thighs and her
forearms. Just the thought of restraining her had his cock lengthening.

He would
get to that. In a minute.

“You look
incredible in that position,” he told her, his tone low and soothing.

She
didn’t move.

He
paused, not moving closer.

“Thank
you, Sir,” she said.

Clearly
an afterthought.

They’d be
working on that shortly.

“You’re
welcome, pet.”

Stepping
up behind her, he placed his hands on her low back, slowly pushing the silk top
upward, exposing her creamy skin. “I’m going to remove this now. We’ve gathered
quite a bit of an audience, and I’d very much like them to see as much of you
as possible.”

“Yes,
Sir,” she whispered, her voice a little rougher than before.

She was
getting turned on. Exactly what he had hoped for.

Keeping
his pace slow, he pushed the nightgown higher until he could easily slip it
over her head, her long, silky hair falling over her left shoulder as he did.
She didn’t move when the silk pooled in the crook of her arms, and he again
praised her for it.

Leaning
over her from behind, because he couldn’t resist, he placed his forearms on the
remaining space on the bench that was exposed at her sides. He tucked his arms
against her, sandwiching her between his chest and the bench, but making sure
not to put his weight on her. Reaching beneath her arms, Xander fingered the
chain that was hanging down, the one connected to the clamps on her nipples.

Mercedes
moaned when he tugged, causing the clamps to pull.

“You look
so fucking pretty right now. Bent over, your ass and pussy at my mercy. You
make my dick hard, pet. So damn hard.”

Mercedes’s
breath hitched and the harder he tugged on the chain, the more she moaned. But
she didn’t respond otherwise which was what bothered him.

He
couldn’t help but wonder whether she was testing him again.

“You’re
going to look even prettier when your ass is red, won’t you?”

“Yes, Mas
– Sir.”

Xander
caught Mercedes’s slip and an emotion he wasn’t familiar with ripped through
him. She’d purposely refused to call him Master. He had no idea why that hurt
him so much, but it was like a knife through his chest.

Rather
than dwell on it, he shoved it away, refusing to let it get to him. It wasn’t a
requirement and what he needed to focus his attention on was getting her off.

That’s
the punishment she would receive from him tonight. He fully intended to make
her soar, bring her to orgasm as many times as he possibly could until she was
pleading for him to stop.

~~*~~*~~

Mercedes
remained as still as possible, her breath slamming in and out of her lungs in
perfect rhythm with the pulsing beat of the music playing overhead. She was
trying not to break down before things had even got started, but her nerves
were getting the better of her.

She
continued to remind herself that this was Xander, a man she trusted with her
life. There was no fear of him hurting her physically, she knew that. It wasn’t
what she was worried about.

The
problem she had was letting go. Handing him the reins, letting him control her
pleasure.

Last
night had been different. It hadn’t been intentional.

The scene
they’d done together had been mutual. She had been playing a part. That was a
far cry from what she was doing now because
playing
the part of his
submissive and
being
his submissive were on opposite ends of the
spectrum.

She
didn’t want to disappoint him. Yet she already had.

Mercedes
didn’t flinch, did her best not to react at all as Xander’s hand trailed over
her skin once again. He worked his way over her butt, caressing her thigh with
his warm hands. She knew what he was doing, but she tried not to think about
it.

While he
worked the buckles that would hook around her thigh, expertly restraining her
to the bench, she remembered the way he’d tensed a moment ago. She had nearly
called him Master, but for some reason, at the very last minute, she opted to
go with the more impersonal Sir.

It had
been a cheap shot; she knew that much. One that she would’ve noticed as a Domme
as well. For his sub to refer to him as Master X, or simply Master, was one of
the highest honors he could receive as a Dom. At least according to Xander.

It meant
acceptance.

She’d
purposely changed her tactic although she had wanted to call him Master, for
reasons she couldn’t even fathom at this point. And he had obviously noticed,
just as she expected.

Xander
worked the buckles on her forearms, and she kept her head down, her eyes on the
concrete floor beneath her. She wouldn’t be able to look at him. Not at this
point.

Shit, she
was doing well just to breathe.

An
overwhelming mix of emotions was stirring inside of her. Defiance, panic,
anger, submission. The least of which was the latter, but she was trying.

The
hardest part was the fact that she wanted Xander to touch her. She wanted to
touch him. Up to that point, she hadn’t had the pleasure of putting her hands
on him, unless stroking him through his slacks earlier that morning counted.
Since she hadn’t had the pleasure of touching him skin to skin, she didn’t
consider it. And just the thought of exploring him inch by inch was driving her
crazy.

Once he
had her properly restrained, Xander’s hands caressed her bottom again and she
fought the urge to groan. God, his touch was exquisite. The way his big hands
formed to her body perfectly, it was as though he was built specifically to
touch her.

“Lovely.”
Xander’s word caressed her skin as smoothly as his hands, causing Mercedes to
suck in a breath.

The more
she thought about it, the more she realized she could handle whatever pain he
dished out, whatever punishment he felt she deserved. But it was his reverent
tone, the way he seemingly admired her that was breaking down her resistance.

The worst
part about it: Mercedes didn’t associate approval with submission.

Which was
a new lesson for her as a Domme. She gave her approval when it was earned,
lavished her subs with kind words when they did what she expected them to do,
but never once had she put herself in their shoes. To hear it, the tone of
Xander’s voice ringing with the honesty of his words, caused her chest to swell
with an emotion she wasn’t sure she was ready to feel.

She’d
always associated submission with the inability to be in control. Her subs
wanted her to take all control from them. Some let her do it easily, others
were resistant. But all in all, they needed that from her.

For her,
losing that control wasn’t an option. It meant someone else could overpower
her, rob her of her strength, shatter her self-confidence.

Even
though she could look at submission from a clinical perspective, through the
eyes of a Domme, she still resisted the idea of letting someone have so much
power over her.

Mercedes
stopped thinking when Xander slid her panties down over her hips, leaving them
to rest around her thighs. She’d already been exposed, the G-string he’d
provided for her to wear had done little to cover her. But this was about
making her feel vulnerable and being on display for him. Her panties provided a
constant reminder of that fact. She was sure that was his intention.

“Are you
wet, pet?” he asked, his fingers slipping down the crack of her ass.

She
didn’t answer him. She couldn’t.

“Shit!”
Mercedes screamed when Xander’s hand landed firmly on her ass, the heat from
the contact blooming instantly.

“Answer
me,” Xander boomed, his voice echoing in the small enclosed space, jerking her
to attention.

He
sounded… angry.

She saw
him move into her field of vision, felt his hands as they fisted into her hair
as he lifted her head. The next thing she knew she was looking at him. There
was no anger in his beautiful green eyes, only dominance.

“Answer
me when I speak to you. Do you understand me?”

“Yes,
Sir,” she whispered, keeping her eyes locked with his.

“If you
want this to end, you know what you have to say. I’ll let you go, and we’ll
move on with our lives. But in the meantime, you will not top from the bottom,
do you understand?”

Top
from the bottom?

Oh, God.
Was that what she was doing?

Crap.

Now that
she thought about it, yes, that’s exactly what she was doing. She was holding
out on them both in her attempt to keep control. Not only was she denying
herself pleasure, she was also denying him his. And that was unacceptable. Even
to her.

“Yes,
Sir. I understand, Sir,” she said in a rush.

“Good.”
He leaned in and pressed his lips to hers in a kiss so gentle, so sweet, she
felt it to her toes.

That’s
exactly when she knew…

If she
wanted to please him, which she did, she was going to have to do what was
necessary.

Mercedes
was going to have to submit.