Submission (4 page)

***

Athena was glad she hadn’t told
Rex everything. If she’d mentioned the way the bitch’s kiss had changed, the
way she had softened, he would have been lost forever.

As it was, he was far too
interested in the little liar for her taste.

But she still had hopes for the
evening ahead. She loved the look of Sonja, her fair hair hanging like silk to
her waist, almost disappearing against the pale perfection of her skin. The
woman was all milk and gossamer, with eyes so blue that a lover could drown in
them. She was slim, her breasts small and pert, and Athena couldn’t wait to see
Rex’s dark hands on her.

As for Rex, he was the dream lover
of just about every member of the Plume. Well over six feet tall, built of
almost pure muscle, Rex could have modeled anything for a living. His skin was
as dark as ebony, flawless and smooth, and his eyes were the color of jade. He
was the most handsome specimen Athena had ever seen – and she saw plenty
of gorgeous people at the Plume.

Beauty was an unstated
pre-requisite for membership. No matter what the members and recruits did, who
they fucked, how they responded, their primary reason for being accepted was
that they improved the view.

The thing with Rex was that he was
also mysterious – and brilliant. If he had just been gorgeous, Athena
could have had her fill of him in a month, tops. But he was clever and he
understood people, and he was the greatest secret-keeper of all time. The truth
about every member of the Plume, what they really desired and what really kept
them coming back for more, was locked between Rex’s ears, not saved in computer
file. He was the heart and soul of discretion, but his attention to detail also
ensured member loyalty.

Athena had spent a great deal of
time trying to figure out whether he had any secrets himself. If he did, they
were so well buried that she suspected no one would ever find them.

That didn’t stop her from trying.

He strode through the bar,
prompting admiring glances from every side. Athena made Sonja lock her hands
together behind her back, then landed one hand on the woman’s nape, driving her
after Rex. Athena saw the glint of chains, the gleam of leather, the luster of
satin and her heart swelled with love for all of these people who were brave
enough to admit to what they really wanted – then sign up at the Plume to
get it.

This place was a slice of heaven,
one protected by herself and Rex forever.

The champagne was delicious, cool
and sweet, the bubbles dancing down her throat.

Rex headed for the kitchen, a
surprising choice, and halted beside one of the stainless steel prep tables. It
was almost painfully bright in the kitchen after the muted light of the bar.
The kitchen staff clustered around, expectant, their aprons crisp and white.
More than one erect cock made a tent in white cotton.

So they knew what Rex was going to
do. Athena finished her champagne and handed off the glass to a slave. She ran
a finger down Sonja’s back, imagining possibilities.

“Special order, just arrived
today,” Rex said with pride. A pair of slaves set a large platter on the prep
table with some effort. It looked like a platter for serving a roast, its
bottom shaped with curves and a furrow for juices all around the perimeter.

But it was enormous, at least five
feet long and nearly as wide. It had handles around the perimeter, six of them,
presumably so it could be carried. It was thick, its surface burnished gold.

They put a silver one just like it
on the table beside it.

Rex pulled a pair of tiny shackles
from his pocket. They had two rings each, each so small that they wouldn’t fit
any wrist, and a third clip. There was red velvet padding the inside of each of
the larger rings. Rex pivoted and scooped up Sonja, seating her on the silver
platter. Her eyes rounded in surprise and her breasts rose quickly as she
caught her breath, but she didn’t dare defy the Master.

Rex locked the cuffs around her
thumbs, securing them together, gave her a kiss, then leaned her back on the
platter. Her head nestled into one of the curves shaped into the platter, as
did her buttocks. There was a loop shaped into the platter just over her head
and Rex locked the thumb cuffs to it. That pose arched her back in a most
beguiling way. She shivered, swallowed, and Rex ran a reassuring hand down her
length. Athena watched how his caress soothed Sonja, but also made her nipples
tight.

Rex moved around the table and
caught Sonja’s ankles in his hands. He placed her soles flat against each
other, pulled another miniature set of cuffs from his pocket, and locked her
big toes together. He clipped them to a second metal loop that was about a foot
below her buttocks.

Athena strolled around the table,
admiring the view. Sonja was displayed beautifully, her legs open and her cunt
gleaming red and wet. She struggled a little, instinctively fighting her bonds,
but couldn’t escape. Her breath came in anxious gasps.

Athena was transfixed.

Aroused.

“Melon and honey,” Rex said.
Athena was astounded, but the kitchen staff stepped forward, ready to do just
that. They drizzled honey all over Sonja, the golden shine of it dripping over
her breasts and belly, slipping between her legs and making her skin shine. She
gasped and wriggled, her mouth opening and closing in her mingled pleasure and
dismay.

They brought honeydew melon,
already peeled and sliced into crescents. Athena’s mouth went dry, imagining
what they would do with them. The kitchen staff arranged melon around Sonja on
the sides of the platter, drizzling it with more honey.

Rex took a slice of melon, dipped
it in honey as Sonja watched him, then wedged it under her breast like the cup
of a corset. He did the same with her other breast, as if creating an exhibit
of her. The third slide he slid over her clitoris, honey dripping from it over
her labia. He moved it back and forth, caressing her and watching her blush as
her desire grew. She gasped as he worked it against her.

“You are the daily special,” he
told her. “A feast for our members.”

Someone translated that into
Swedish and her cheeks burned vivid red.

Rex slipped the end of the melon
slice inside her, leaving its tip protruding, and she quivered from thumbs to
toes. He added another slice, running his hands through the honey that coated
her labia and licking his fingers.

Sonja writhed.

Athena itched to bend down and
remove that slice of melon with her teeth. There’d be a feeding frenzy when
Sonja was carried out into the club like this.

But that desire was nothing
compared to her reaction when Rex turned his green gaze upon her and smiled.
“The other platter is for you,” he murmured.

Shock froze Athena for a moment,
but she met Rex’s gaze and saw the mischief in his expression. She smiled,
indicating her agreement, then pivoted to run. He knew how she liked to be
captured.

The kitchen slaves were on her in
a moment, physically subduing her with their sheer numbers. That didn’t stop
her from fighting and struggling. A dozen hands – Rex’s included –
stripped away Athena’s clothes, and held her down on the golden platter as Rex
himself secured her toes. He came around to do the same to her thumbs.

“Demon,” she charged and he
laughed.

“You love it,” he chided, putting
out one hand. A slave put a peach into it and he placed it into her mouth,
silencing her with its sweet softness. “Be quiet and enjoy yourself,” he
instructed.

Athena fought against the peach,
its warm juice running down her cheek, the fuzz from its skin tickling her lips.
She struggled against the two pairs of cuffs, knowing she’d never break free.
She was securely bound. Helpless.

Dessert.

“Chocolate and peaches,” Rex said
mildly and Athena was shocked again. She felt him slide the peach halves into
her and moaned in pleasure. She rocked her hips when he spread the dark
chocolate over her labia, caressing and teasing her as he did so. She
luxuriated in the warm trickle of chocolate falling on her breasts, her belly,
her thighs, her lungs filling with the sweet decadent scent of it.

Bittersweet.

She almost laughed at how perfect
a choice it was.

And Rex had known that she was
frustrated from her interview with Joanna, brought to a simmer and left without
satisfaction. As the naked slave boys hefted first her tray and then Sonja’s,
carrying them out to the pack of salivating members, Athena knew her evening
couldn’t have had a better ending.

When the first masked man bent and
licked her cunt, sucking chocolate and peach juice out of her, it was all
Athena could do to not come in a frenzy.

But no. She’d hang on, somehow,
and make the sweet torture last.

And love Rex just a little bit
more for giving her precisely what she needed.

Chapter Two

Mike followed Joanna down the
block the next morning, more interested in his companion than her destination.
It was a gusty fall day, the sky filled with golden leaves and slate clouds.
Even though she was shorter than him, Joanna walked so fast that Mike was
always a bit behind her.

He’d never met anyone so ambitious
in his life.

He’d never met anyone so sexy in
his life.

He’d never met anyone less
interested in sex either.

Mike knew that his mellow nature
would never be of interest to a super-achiever like Joanna. Nope, she’d marry
some guy who made kajillions of dollars a year and won triathlons on the side.

Never mind his other secret. A
woman who didn’t have an interest in sex was never going to accept his
enthusiasm for it in any way, shape or form.

“It was right here,” she insisted,
striding ahead of him. “You should have seen it. This woman was crazy. Dressed
like something out of a play. The mask and her nipples showing and the corset.
It was so theatrical. I’ve never seen anything like it.”

Mike had, but he thought it a bad
time to bring up such details. The reason he hadn’t wanted to go after the
story at the Plume was that he was pretty sure he knew some of the people
involved.

And he’d left that life –
and its pleasures – far behind.

He tried not to regret it. He knew
it was a smart choice. But there were times…

Joanna charged to a doorway,
coming to a sudden halt. “This is it,” she said, her gaze dancing over the
façade. “This is the restaurant.”

“Doesn’t look like much of a
restaurant,” Mike said. The windows were boarded over and the awning was torn.
There was no signage and the place smelled of abandonment.

Joanna tried the door but it was
locked.

“I know they’re in there,” she
said with a ferocity that surprised him. She tipped her head back to look up
the facade. Even without make-up, with her hair tightly pulled back, she was
gorgeous. “Maybe we can get in through a window.” She turned an expectant gaze
upon him. “Do you think anyone would lend us a ladder?”

Mike sighed at her innocence.
Giving Joanna what she wanted was too much temptation for him. “Just look
away,” he said gruffly.

“What? What are you going to do?”

Mike met her gaze. “Just look
away.”

She exhaled, never liking anyone
else taking charge, and deliberately turned her face away. Mike knew she
wouldn’t keep her gaze averted for long. He pulled the pick from his pocket,
hid it in his hand, and worked the lock quickly. He turned the knob and opened
the door. “After you,” he said.

Joanna looked from his hand to the
door and back to his eyes. “I thought you were Mr. Clean.”

He smiled and shrugged.

She dropped the subject, too
excited about the story to think about him.

There was a message he should take
to heart.

Joanna lunged into the darkened
space like a hound on the hunt. Of course, she had a flashlight in her purse
– this woman was always ready for everything – and she shone it
around the space with purpose.

It was empty. Mike could see the
bare floorboards underfoot. The walls had been stripped down to plaster,
plaster that was cracked and yellowed. There were a couple of stray chairs, old
metal ones, and a lot of broken wood. It smelled like dust and decay, probably
because of the hole in the floor to the basement, a hole big enough that it
could swallow a pick-up.

Mike was sure he could hear the
scuttling of rats. If this had looked like a restaurant the night before, Rex
must have more money to burn than was once the case. He became curious about
the Plume and its fortunes, more curious than he should be.

He was done with that life. It was
over.

“Nice place,” he said as Joanna stared
around herself in dismay.

“It was here,” she said. “I know
it was here. And there were booths and the walls were lined with velvet and
there were rugs and, and…” She turned to look at him. “Do you believe me?”

Mike did believe her, but only
because he knew Rex. “It doesn’t look like much of a restaurant, Joanna. Could
they really have torn all of that out that fast?”

Yes. He’d helped do similar things
in his days at the Plume.

Her shoulders drooped and he hated
that he was responsible for disappointing her. Then she illuminated the back
wall with her flashlight. “I met her in a room, back there.”

“Joanna, I think we should go.
This is a dead end.”

“Just one look. Please?”

He couldn’t resist her. He could
never resist her. Even if all she wanted was a byline.

He couldn’t even give her that.

She headed for the back corner,
the beam of the flashlight darting this way and that as she sought some sign of
what she was sure she’d witnessed.

Mike worked his way around the
hole in the floor. He could see something glistening down there and it smelled
bad enough that he didn’t want to investigate.