“It’s so pretty here,” she said. “The air’s so fresh.”
“It’s paradise all right,” Master Caelan agreed.
They pulled up into a circular driveway in front of a large, modern stone building. Master Caelan stepped out of the cart and retrieved Skylar’s bag. “We’ll get you checked in and then you’ll be shown to your room.”
They entered what looked like a typical hotel lobby, complete with a coffee counter, arrangements of chairs and sofas and a reservation counter. Large windows and skylights gave the space a bright, airy feel. Unlike a typical hotel lobby, however, various whips, floggers and coils of rope and chain had been hung decoratively on some of the walls. A large, wooden St. Andrew’s cross was set up in one corner, cuffs dangling at the ready.
An attractive, petite woman in her early thirties stood behind the counter typing something into a computer. She was dressed in a low-cut, figure-hugging black dress, her breasts obviously bare beneath it. Very short, white-blond hair framed a sweet, pixie-like face. She wore a thick, black slave collar around her neck, a pink ceramic heart hanging from an O-ring at its center.
She looked up as they entered and smiled. “Hello, Master Caelan.”
“Hello, Maya. This is Skylar Moran, our newest slave-in-training. She should be all set up in the system, her waiver already signed. If you can just check her in, then you’ll need to get her situated.” He glanced at the watch on his wrist. “You can bring her for presentation in thirty minutes.”
Presentation? That sounded daunting. A sudden anxiety seized Skylar. Was she really ready for this?
Maya clicked a few keys on the keyboard and then stepped from behind the counter. “It’s lovely to meet you, Skylar. We have your room all ready for you.” She took the handle of Skylar’s rolling suitcase. “If you’ll just follow me, please?”
With a last glance at Master Caelan, Skylar followed Maya past a bank of elevators and down a hallway. “The slave trainees stay on this floor, along with some of the staff slaves,” Maya explained as they walked past several closed doors.
She stopped at one of the rooms and tapped in four numbers, causing the lock to release. “The code to this room is 3733. When you leave the room, the door locks automatically.” She opened the door and they entered the room.
The first thing Skylar noticed were the sliding glass doors that led directly out onto the beach. The view was spectacular. The room held a queen-sized bed flanked by nightstands, a bureau and small refrigerator across from it.
“Whoa,” she said, taking in the manacles bolted into the wall above the bed, and the St. Andrew’s cross set up in a corner. “I bet you don’t see that in too many Outer Banks resorts.”
“It’s pretty great, right? We live in a BDSM paradise. I hope you’ll have a wonderful experience.” Maya opened the top drawer of the bureau and removed a large plastic packet. She unzipped it and dumped onto the bed what looked like strips of leather sewn together to form an extremely revealing bodysuit. “This is your presentation attire.”
“I’m supposed to wear that?” Skylar queried dubiously. “It doesn’t look like much.”
“Think of it as a leather bikini, a really risqué one,” Maya said, still smiling. “I’ll help you put it on, after we get you groomed.”
“Groomed?” Skylar wasn’t sure she liked the sound of that, especially the we part.
“Yes,” Maya replied matter-of-factly. “Get naked and meet me in the bathroom. We need to move fast so we’re ready for presentation.”
As Maya disappeared into the bathroom, Skylar gave herself a mental shaking. Stop being a wuss. You signed up for this. It’s the chance of a lifetime. Thus fortified, she stepped out of her sandals, slipped her dress over her head and removed her bra and panties.
When she entered the bathroom, Maya already had the tub filling. There was a pleasant scent of lavender oil in the air. As the tub filled, Maya pulled various items out of the drawers beneath the sink counter. She turned to Skylar. “I can groom you, if you like, or you can do it yourself.”
“I just shaved this morning,” Skylar said. “My underarms and legs are smooth as a baby’s.”
“That’s fine,” Maya replied, setting a razor, shaving cream and baby oil on the counter, along with a pair of barber’s scissors. “But no pubic hair is allowed.” Her eyes swept over Skylar’s body. “Not even blond pubes,” she added with a grin. “Not for the full-immersion program. Here on Desire Island, all slaves are expected to keep our bodies perfectly smooth for the pleasure of our owners. That extends to the trainees as well, even if you’re just here for a week. It’s a symbolic thing, really. The first surrender of self will.”
Skylar glanced down at her sparse pubic curls, which she kept neatly trimmed. She’d shaved before. Her last boyfriend, a porn-oholic, had insisted, since all the girls on the porn sites were invariably bare. She hadn’t especially minded, but hadn’t seen a reason to keep up the practice once they’d broken up.