Turning away, Dylan saw Caelan nearby and waved him over. As Caelan approached, he regarded Kendra with an approving gaze. “What a pretty picture,” he commented, smiling at her.
“She’ll be even prettier when I turn her skin rosy red with the flogger.” Dylan glanced around, looking for Caelan’s sub girl. “Where’s Skylar tonight?”
Caelan’s face fell a little. “She’s feeling a bit under the weather. Just a cold, I think. She took some cold medicine that knocked her out. I figure I have about an hour, but then I’ll want to get back to her.”
“Can you stay long enough to help me flog this gorgeous sub girl?” Dylan asked, turning again to admire Kendra, spread eagle and suspended in the webbing.
“It would be my pleasure,” Caelan said, rubbing his hands together.
Dylan went over to his scene station and selected two large, heavy floggers. He noted as he walked back to the web that Master Chuck had cuffed Lauralee into the St. Andrew’s cross. He stood behind Lauralee with a single tail whip. His sub girl was on her knees in front of Lauralee, her face already buried between Lauralee’s legs.
Dylan handed Caelan a flogger. Caelan moved behind the web while Dylan took up a position in front of Kendra. They brushed her skin from both sides with the deceptively soft leather tresses, working in tandem as they slowly ratcheted up the intensity of their strokes. It wasn’t long before they were wielding their floggers in earnest, whipping her with hard, steady strokes, the tresses slapping noisily against her flesh.
Kendra closed her eyes, her lips parting, her chest rising and falling as they flogged every inch of her luscious body. Dylan’s heart surged with love, even as his mind told him it was too soon. He’d never been one of those eager romantics who fell head over heels into infatuation. But something in his gut already told him this was more than mere infatuation. There was a connection between them that he intended to explore more fully.
“She’s there,” he said softly to Caelan. “She’s in that beautiful, sacred place.”
“I can tell,” Caelan agreed. “Her whole body just went limp. She’s flying, all right. I always envy their ability to do that. All we can do is hang on for the ride and keep them safe.”
They both continued the flogging, though now the strokes were softer, more of a caress designed to keep her floating without taking things any further. Just as Dylan was about to end the scene, a choking, gagging sound nearby seized his attention.
Turning, he saw the odious Master Chuck with his hand on Lauralee’s throat. Her face was red, her eyes bulging, her mouth opening and closing like a fish tossed onto a deck. Chuck’s sub girl was still lapping away, and neither she nor Chuck seemed aware of Lauralee’s distress.
Alarmed, Dylan dropped his flogger. Did he need to intervene? They must have negotiated this scene beforehand. Did he have the right to intervene?
Then Lauralee opened and closed her hands in the universal distress signal that stood in for a safeword. Dylan stood poised to act, waiting for the idiot Dom to respond to her cue. But he didn’t stop. If anything, he tightened his grip.
“Caelan,” Dylan said urgently. “Get someone to help you get Kendra out of the web. I need to see what’s happening over there. I don’t like what’s going on in that scene.”
Caelan lowered his flogger, frowning. “Go.”
Dylan strode toward them, waving away the dungeon monitor who had also appeared on the scene. “I got this,” he said brusquely. No way was he going to stand by while something clearly dangerous was taking place.
Not this time…
Placing a firm hand on Chuck’s shoulder, Dylan yanked him hard, pulling him away from Lauralee.
Stumbling a little, Chuck whipped his head toward Dylan with a snarl. “What the fuck?” he demanded.
“Didn’t you see her hands?” Dylan barked angrily. “You were choking her out, you fucking idiot! What the fuck’s the matter with you? You have no place in a BDSM dungeon.”
“How dare you?” the man sputtered indignantly. “Who the fuck do you think you are? She wanted this. She asked for it.”
“You son of a bitch,” Dylan snarled, out of control. “You could have killed her, you goddamn asshole!”
Chuck’s sub girl was staring up at them, her hands at her mouth, a terrified expression on her face. As Dylan struggled to regain control, Chuck grabbed the end of her leash and yanked her away, nearly causing her to sprawl on the ground. “I’m going to talk to the owners about this,” he growled, his face red. “You had no right to interrupt our scene. I’ll make sure you’re fired.” He stormed off, his sub girl crawling as fast as she could behind him, clearly struggling to keep up.
Dylan wanted to go after him. At that moment, he didn’t give a shit if he got fired. He wanted to punch that asshole’s lights out, but Lauralee’s condition was his first concern.