Cirque Du Minuit (Cirque Masters 1)

He put a finger over her lips. “Translated: This girl really excites me and I want to play with her some more. It’s a great privilege, a great opportunity.”

“To have my ass fucked by him every day for a week?”

“I can name about thirty men and women offhand in the company who would die for that chance. To meet with him alone in his office. To be the focus of his attention. It’s an opportunity to get closer to him. And believe me, he’ll make it a pleasure for you.”

“But I won’t be allowed to come. For a whole week!”

“Still,” Theo said, smirking. “You’ll enjoy it all the same.”

Her trembling had subsided, replaced by a kind of sub drop. He needed to get her tucked safely away in bed before she dropped much further. “Come on, let’s get you into your clothes.”

He had to practically dress her, and help her put in her earplugs, because her hands were shaking too much. “Do you want that drink now?” he asked as they made their way back through the club.

“I just want to go home. I want to sleep. And I still want to come...Theo...”

Theo gave her a pitying look. He couldn’t imagine how she would suffer, sexually tormented and teased all week and left unfulfilled. Oh well, that was why she got off on being a submissive. She liked pain and suffering. And Theo knew Michel would give her a just reward if she could survive his challenge.

One week. Poor girl.

At the residence, she pulled away from him in the foyer. “I want to go to my room. I want to be alone.”

“No, you come to my place.”

He led her up the stairs. They ran into Wayne on the landing. He spun to look at Kelsey. “What the hell? You okay, Kels?”

Theo cursed at him in French and told him to mind his own business, and true to his wimp nature, Wayne did, scowling at Theo as he took himself off.

In his room, Theo dragged Kelsey into the shower, then wrapped her in a blanket and held her another little while. He got up at one point to make coffee for himself, and brought her a sugar straw. She held it but didn’t eat it. Theo carried her to the bed, the sugar straw still clutched in her fist, and nestled her under the covers. She was restless, fighting sleep.

“Do you have any questions?” he asked, stroking her arm.

She thought a moment. “Is Michel gay or straight? In real life?”

“Michel is…heteroflexible. But he prefers male slaves. They’re less squeamish when it comes to the things he likes. They can also take more pain.”

“Have you ever had sex with him, Theo?”

“Why do you want to know?”

“I just do.”

“I haven’t. I’m not his type.” He kissed her forehead and then nuzzled her cheek. “Would you be jealous if I had sex with Michel?”

She looked at him with those sleepy blue eyes, and asked a very direct question. “Were you jealous that he had sex with me?”

Theo never lied. He gazed back at her and said, “Yes.”

Chapter Thirteen: Submission

Kelsey woke with a headache, naked and tangled in Theo’s arms. She was holding a bent Licky Stick which she vaguely remembered Theo giving to her. Well, if he’d given it to her, it was fair game. She ripped off the top and tilted it into her mouth. Ugh, sugar straws and morning mouth didn’t mix. Her jaw constricted and she almost choked, spewing powder out of her mouth. She was tempted to lick it back up off his blanket, but resisted. What a waste of a rarely given treat.

God, she was a mess. How had she gotten herself into this? She was cruelly restricted from her favorite candy, and if she recalled the events of the night before accurately, she was also restricted from orgasming for a week. A week.

And you love that, Kelsey. Yep, she could masturbate right now just thinking about it. Oh, but...she couldn’t.

She moaned softly and Theo came awake beside her. “I won’t survive this,” she sighed against his neck.

He took her empty candy wrapper and flicked it across the room. “I have faith in you. You’ll be alive and well a week from today, and I’ll be giving you zillions of orgasms to reward your devotion to your Master’s desires.” The way he said “zillions” with his French accent made her smile through her bleak mood.

“Do you mean my Master Michel, or my Master Theo?”

He shrugged and pinched her nipples. “Does it really matter? You’ll be getting cock from both of us, and nothing in return.”

They headed in to rehearse at the usual hour, and everything seemed reassuringly normal after the strangeness of the night before. It was the circus; there were no secrets. If anyone had gossiped about her foray into the Back Room, everyone would know by lunchtime. Kelsey decided she didn’t care.

She was focused completely on Theo, on their act. The silks felt natural to her now, the strain and stretch in her muscles an enjoyable challenge rather than a trial. In rehearsals, Theo became so much more to her than her lover, her Master. He was an artist. He was patient and expressive. He was strong and agile and effortlessly skilled. She dreamed about his hands sometimes, their strength and the way his fingers felt as they clenched around hers. His hands sometimes felt like her whole world.

They were practicing in the air now, high, at

fifty feet. In a few weeks time they would be flying together over thousands of spectators in the round. Cirque du Minuit would become a regular show, staged and set. It would be performed eight times a week, and she and Theo would be a great part of it, the final showpiece of many breathtaking and dramatic acts.

They worked out and practiced a little more after lunch, and then Kelsey started to get nervous about the meeting to come. I will see you in my office tomorrow at five o’clock. She’d never been to Lemaitre’s Marseille office. She’d have to leave early in case she got lost. She always seemed to find trouble when she got lost. At four o’clock Theo told her to go shower, and that he’d see her at home.

This time, she had to face Le Maître alone.

She was showered, dressed, and ready to go by four-twenty. Great. That left ten minutes to find his office and another half hour to wait, getting more and more nervous.

“Kelsey?”

She spun in the hall to find herself face to face with Jason Beck. Most awkward encounter ever. He looked different to her now. Oh, he had the same clean-cut good looks, the same casual coach demeanor. But she saw other things in his eyes now. A hint of erotic assessment she hadn’t noticed before. She laughed nervously.

“Imagine meeting you here.”

Jason smiled. “I was down for a few days from Paris, checking out some of the acts, working with a few of the tumblers. I was going to look you up and see how you were doing.” His expression grew pained for a moment. “Kelsey...last night... I didn’t know you were going to be there. I’m sorry if my presence created any...additional discomfort for you.”

Kelsey really laughed then. It was so ridiculous, his apology, his formality after last night’s events. “I was...” She practically choked on her laughter. “I was so uncomfortable most of the time, I don’t know that you could have made it any worse.”

Jason laughed too, and then they were hugging each other like old times. After a moment, they collapsed on a nearby bench. Jason gazed over at her with the usual note of recrimination, but some admiration too.