Mistress of the Damned

The dark corner wasn’t the only place that was rigged with ropes and toys. Large metal loops were everywhere. On the bed, on the walls, in the shower and even above the door frames.

I stood steps away from the elevator as it dinged closed behind me.

The boulder in my stomach had gone, turning into something a little more warm. A little more wet.

“Oh god,” I gasped, pressing my thighs together.

“Like it?” Calvin said with a grin, running his hands over the wall of ropes and straps. “If you don’t, I’m sure you will eventually.”

I think I already did.

“Panic buttons are at the foot of the bed, head of the table, under every strappable surface. If you can’t reach them, we can always see you. Wave, or yell your safe word--”

“Safe word?” I interrupted.

“Yeah, a word that should trigger a sudden stop. For you, it’s ‘Percy’,” he shrugged his shoulders, clearly not understanding the reference. I did, and it might as well have been a stab right to my soul.

Percy.

The dog Logan that had saved for me two years ago. He had wandered in through a service door and somehow made it all the way in before someone had found him. He was a scrawny thing that we had pulled away from the Matrons and kept locked in his dorm for over a year. I would visit the saggy eared pup every day while I sat and played games with Logan, laughing while I listened to him read me books while I cuddled up with him and that mongrel dog.

The year we had with that dog was full of magic. Everything seemed happy and joyful. It was also the first time I started seeing Logan in a different way. A way that I was well aware I was not supposed to.

That no one was supposed to.

When they found out, when they found out about the dog, they killed him in front of me. A reminder of what happens when you fall in love. A reminder that love, especially with your handler, is not allowed.

I wasn’t sure if the safe word they had chosen for me was Logan’s way of giving me a gift or torturing me.

Or himself.

I had a sinking sensation that it was all three.

“Enjoy yourself, Elney,” Calvin said as he pressed his finger to the pad, calling the elevator back up with his fingerprint. “That’s the whole point of this after all. Enjoyment. Perhaps not for you… but still, try.”

The elevator slid open and Calvin left, nodding to the tall dark-skinned man who walked in with the biggest grin on his face. He was easily two feet taller than me, everything about him bulging and toned. His skin was dark and smooth, like smoke pulled over tar, and in contrast to the brilliant yellow of his eyes, both of them in slits. The inky black of his skin pulled over a head with hair just as dark, two twisted horns spiraling up and out in menacing coils. He smiled, a pink forked tongue peeking between grey teeth as he prowled closer. He wore no shirt, only pants that barely seemed to fit. I had never seen a man so big before. So ominous.

“Mr. Greer. Here is your new toy, Elney. Elney, enjoy your Denon.”

A Denon. I wasn’t sure what he was, but now that I saw one I couldn’t look away.

And I wasn’t scared.