Submission (6 page)

A waft of the Countess’s perfume
wafted out of the car and Joanna nearly tripped at her reaction to the scent.
The driver caught her elbow. His fingers wrapped around her arm, tighter than
they needed to be, sending a surge through her. She glanced up and saw the
glint of his eyes through his sunglasses, noticed that his smile had widened.
His teeth were white and straight, startling against his tan.

“Thank you,” she said and her
voice was more breathless than usual.

“The pleasure was all mine,” he
said, his voice deep and sure.

Joanna was sure his thumb slid
across her elbow, sure she felt a caress even through her coat. She climbed
hastily into the car, surprised that the interior light hadn’t come on when the
door was opened. It was as black as midnight inside, with leather seats and
darkly tinted windows.

But she could feel the presence of
the Countess, sitting in the far back corner. As Joanna’s eyes adjusted, she
could see her. The Countess still wore her mask, and her smile was as coy as
ever. Mounds of taffeta surrounded her, shining with the luster of silk,
falling to her ankles like a ball gown. The front of the skirt was slit open,
giving a view of her legs and thighs.

The dress was tightly fitted
through the bodice, the front opening wide and low to leave her breasts
exposed, the corset below rising to cup those pale orbs as if displaying them.
The dress had no sleeves, her fair skin glowing like moonlight in the darkness,
but she wore gloves that rose past her elbows.

Velvet again.

And boots. High leather boots with
stiletto heels and pointed toes, peeking from beneath the front of that
remarkable dress. As before, she wore the peacock pendant.

“Thank you, Rafael,” she said and
he firmly closed the door beside Joanna.

Rafael.

The Countess patted the seat
beside her, watching with a smile as Joanna took her place. The silence
stretched between them as driver strode around the car, got in, and started to
drive. Joanna heard the doors lock and she pleated her coat nervously. What
exactly would happen tonight?

Joanna felt that she couldn’t
quite catch her breath, well aware that the Countess was watching.

The silence between them pressed
against her ears, made her mouth go dry.

Was Rafael watching her in the
rear view mirror?

The car slid through the night,
the ride smooth and the engine quiet. They drove along familiar and busy
downtown streets, streets where Joanna might have been if she hadn’t been
surrendering to a night of erotic passion. Joanna felt apart from the view outside
the windows, the people lining up for restaurants, even those who tried to peer
through the tinted windows for a glimpse of a celebrity.

They turned a corner onto a darker
street and she feared they had arrived.

The Countess straightened. “The
mask now, please.”

Joanna pulled the black velvet
domino out of her pocket. It had a thick elastic on it, and she had tried it on
several more times, feeling that same dark thrill every time. She put it on
now, and was certain her nipples tightened. The view through the small holes
was constrained, but she felt disguised.

Maybe she’d become another person.

A more uninhibited one.

The glass between the driver and
his passengers slid down. Even with his sunglasses, it was unmistakable that
Rafael was observing them both in the rear view mirror.

“And now reveal yourself,” the
Countess said softly.

Joanna was very aware of Rafael’s
interest.

Play along.

She unfastened her coat and took
it off in a graceless rush, hesitating for a moment before she sat back down on
the leather seat. It felt cold against her bare skin, exciting and forbidden.
The Countess folded Joanna’s coat and set it on the opposite seat.

Then she leaned over and
unfastened the silk scarf around Joanna’s neck. She seemed to touch Joanna more
than was necessary, her velvet-clad fingertips slipping over Joanna’s breasts
and shoulder. Joanna found herself wanting another kiss, just to prove to
herself that the Countess didn’t really have any sensual power over her.

She’d just been surprised.

The Countess smiled, twisting the
silk scarf in her hands.

“Hands behind your back,” she
instructed, an edge in her voice.

“But…”

She caught Joanna’s chin suddenly
in her hand, compelling her to meet that steely gaze. “I knew you were a
naughty one,” she said. “Lucky for you, we like naughty. Right, Rafael?”

“Absolutely, Countess.”

“Hands behind your back,” the
Countess repeated, her tone more harsh.

Joanna did what she was told. Her
wrists were quickly bound together with the satin scarf and she felt the knots
tighten. She caught her breath, uncertain about the reality of her first bonds.
She struggled instinctively, but couldn’t work her hands free. She stomped down
on her panic, reminding herself that it was part of the agreement that no one
could be physically injured at the Plume, even in the pursuit of pleasure.

Everything was consensual.

She had selected
bondage
, as well as insisted that she wanted to be captive.

She had to play along.

The Countess, meanwhile, had
fastened the seatbelt around Joanna’s hips. She tightened the belt with a sure
tug, letting the metal clasp fall against Joanna’s hip. Joanna wriggled, but
she was securely trapped.

She saw the flash of dark silk in
her peripheral vision, just before the Countess blindfolded her with another
scarf. Joanna had noticed the loops on either side of the mask, just over the
temples, but only now learned what they were for. Before she could move away,
she was blindfolded, lost in a realm of black silk, and the Countess was
knotting that scarf firmly behind her head.

“That’s for naughty,” the other
woman whispered, laughter underlying her tone.

Joanna opened her mouth to
protest, but that velvet clad finger landed against her lips. “Not a sound,”
the Countess whispered, her lips close to Joanna’s ears. “Not a sound or I’ll
have to give you to Rafael.”

She ran a fingertip down Joanna’s
throat as before, but this time, all of Joanna’s nerves seemed to leap at the
touch. Her entire body was singing, her other senses more alert now that she
couldn’t see. She was sure she would drown in the Countess’s perfume.

The Countess’s finger slid over
the garter belt, pausing to stroke Joanna’s belly, then eased between her
thighs. The Countess made a sound of approval to find her shaved there. Joanna
trembled and locked her knees together.

“Naughty,” the Countess said,
pushing her knees apart. She threw her leg over Joanna wedging her knee between
Joanna’s and Joanna felt the smooth leather of her high boots against her own
skin.

“Never impede access,” the
Countess instructed. “You have submitted.”

Joanna fought against her
instinctive desire to fight.

“Do you want me to give you to
Rafael, after all?”

Impossible. Unthinkable. Joanna
couldn’t be given to a stranger as a sex toy. But she was bound and she had
signed all of the waivers and contracts. Joanna shuddered as the Countess
caressed her again, seeming to enjoy her agitation.

Joanna was sure the other woman
was watching her closely and that the driver was, too. She felt herself blush,
but there was nothing she could do to stop the woman’s touch.

She jumped when the Countess
caressed the hard bud of her clitoris. “I have to warn you that Rafael likes
his women trussed so helpless that they can’t even shiver.”

“Gagged so tightly that they can’t
even moan,” he added.

The Countess chuckled.

Joanna didn’t make another sound.

She didn’t dare.

Her heart thundered as the car
accelerated.

***

Joanna was even more luscious than
Rex recalled.

He was waiting in the foyer of the
Plume, impatient as he seldom was. It wasn’t the first time that some
journalist had tried to sneak in to reveal the Plume’s secrets to the world at
large. He and Athena had a standardized procedure, taking turns to ditch the
curious. It didn’t usually take much.

But this time was different.

Joanna
. She wouldn’t remember him, of course, or even
recognize him now as the skinny kid at high school who had gazed after her in
adoration. He’d recognized her instantly, probably because she’d filled his
dreams and starred in his fantasies for twenty years, and had been haunted by
the promise of her arrival ever since.

And she was coming to him.

To submit.

It was a lie, of course, and he
had to do his job to protect the Plume.

But still. He hadn’t been able to
think about anything else all week.

Rex’s heart stopped cold when
Athena drove Joanna over the threshold from the private garage, blindfolded
with her hands bound behind her back. The black made her skin look more ivory,
more flawless. The stockings and heels made her look taller. The garter belt
emphasized the narrow span of her waist and made her breasts look more ripe.
Her hair shone as it swung behind her shoulders, so thick and luxuriant that he
wanted to gather it by the fistful.

She was even more gorgeous than in
the video. He loved the red lipstick. No one could have chosen a morsel more
tempting to him. Her breasts bounced slightly as she walked, enough to fill his
hands without an ounce to spare.

He had the impression that she was
aroused.

That was unexpected.

Impossible.

But Rex could almost see the red
glisten of her puss, could almost smell its welcoming heat from across the
foyer. The blindfold would have heightened her other senses as well as taking
the edge off her fear.

Her lips were soft, tempting. So
red.

Was it just an act? Joanna’s lips
were parted and she kept licking them nervously, giving many glimpses of a
delightful little tongue. Her breath came quickly and she was flushed.

On fire.

Which meant that his own erection
instantly became enormous. He loved the innocent slaves, the ones who were
discovering the fullness of pleasure. Most of the applicants at the Plume had
already been enslaved in private homes – they were looking for the next
experience, not an entirely new one.

But Joanna was a novice.

An excited novice.

His favorite kind. Although Rex
had explored all of the erotic possibilities himself, he found it incredibly
exciting to watch another person experience the Plume’s delights for the first
time.

That it would be Joanna tonight
put him within a whisper of coming in his pants.

Athena halted Joanna in the middle
of the foyer, grasping both of her shoulders and giving a quiet command. Joanna
stood as bidden and quivered. Deliciously. She was vulnerable, delicate,
aroused. An irresistible combination. That mouth opened and closed, and he
remembered her confession. Rex could imagine her lips locked around him,
sucking him dry. He wanted her to like it as much as he knew he would.

Members came out of the bar to
have a look and there was an appreciative murmur from the crowd. Some brought
their own slaves, shackled or leashed, others were in fetish gear looking for a
connection, either permanent or fleeting. Although most members signed up as
masters, some members chose to be slaves themselves. They were masked and
gorgeous, each and every one of them, their eyes sparkling.

Rex tugged on his gloves,
remembering Joanna’s supposed taste for leather.

He hadn’t believed it, not any
more than he believed any more of her supposed confessions, but now he
wondered.

Could his fantasy truly come true?
His heart pounded.

“First dibs, Rex?” one of the
long-standing members called.

Rex smiled. “I like them fresh,”
he said and winked.

“You like the training,” that
member teased.

“Because he’s the best,” Tony the
bartender added. More than one member looked hopeful.

Joanna shivered when he halted in
front of her, sensing his presence.

Rex was ready to split his pants.

Athena smiled at him, missing
nothing. They’d known each other too long and played too many games together to
have secrets any more. “Our new recruit is naughty,” she said in the dark voice
that made all the sex slaves shiver. Athena ran a fingertip down Joanna’s
spine, a proprietary gesture that made her nipples tighten and her back arch.
Her mouth opened again, as if she’d gasp, then closed.

“You know how I like the bad
girls,” Athena murmured. “I’m tempted to keep her myself tonight. Maybe have
her for dessert.” She arched a brow.

“But we’ve agreed that she’s all
mine,” Rex said and beckoned to the feather bearer.

Joanna caught her breath.

Rex lifted a trio of peacock
feathers and brushed their tips across her breast. Joanna shivered in surprise,
but he kept tickling and teasing, flicking their silken plumes across her skin.
Her mouth opened and closed, opened and closed, her color rising, her agitation
becoming more clear with every stroke.

He didn’t know what she’d
expected, but she hadn’t expected this.

She was loving it, and neither of
them had expected that.

Although his own reaction to his
first assault by feathers had been explosive. The tickling awakened every
nerve, teasing but never delivering, making the body yearn for more and more.
The awareness that others were gathered around, watching, assisting in the
torment, had been what had driven him over the edge.

At his gesture, Athena took
several feathers from the feather bearer, tickling Joanna on her buttocks and
between her thighs. Joanna twitched and trembled, blushing as her pulse rate
increased.