"You must leave it on," I said firmly as I stroked her back, nuzzling her throat so that her hair lifted under my breath. "No matter what."
"So no one will know what happens to me."
"So everyone will know what happens to Cara Mia."
Her chin came up as she took in the words. She tipped her head away from me as if she'd never seen me before. She barely breathed and, while she considered my words, I barely breathed as well.
"Hmmm," she said, and one hand reached under my jacket to rest lightly on my back. "Hmmm," she repeated as other her hand ran lightly down my arm.
In public.
My heart soared as I realized what a jump this was for her, even with the mask on.
Tasha was a woman with a well-ordered life, with clear boundaries, and a concrete set of rules that she lived by. Would the mask be enough to allow her to set them aside? Would she be able to take up the mantle of Cara Mia in order to maintain her relationship with me? Did she want me that much?
She shifted from foot to foot and squared her shoulders as if readying herself for a huge feat.
"Luiz," she said, her eye becoming soft, like a fawn without its mother. "I cannot do what you ask of me."
Chapter 5
My heart fell and my cock threatened to shrivel up. I could feel my ass tighten but I resisted any feeling of shame and disappointment. I didn't want to have to admit that I had gambled and lost the only woman I had ever really wanted.
I nodded, breathing out my disappointment softly, and shrugged a little in understanding, yet intent on remaining the gentleman. After all, I had thrown down the gauntlet and I had to live with the consequences. "Very well. I understand."
"But I believe this Cara Mia can try."
Had I misheard? A bolt of hope shocked my heart. I wanted to ask her to repeat herself, but then she would see how close I thought I'd come to failure.
Her gaze went laser-like as she considered me. I could see her eyebrows quirked under the domino as she weighed me, considered my next action.
I gathered myself to say something, anything that wouldn't sound choked with the emotion that was bubbling in my chest. But she beat me to it.
"Well, Mr. Twist, shall we see what your Cara Mia can do?"
Laughing in relief was out of the question, so I simply nodded once sharply and offered my elbow. She took it, turning into my body as I led the way down the ramp to our mutual destiny, my heart thumping in equal parts anticipation and triumph.
Her high heels and my leather shoes click-clicked on the concrete floor in unison as we walked. We could hear splashing and whooping as we came closer. The parking garage was a maze of ramps and short walls and corners. Every other overhead light had been turned off, creating dim pools where people moved, languid, sharp, frenetically, adorned with occasional pops and whacks and thuds that were followed by shouts of pain and pleasure, and incredibly, laughter.
Tasha jumped at each shriek and moan, but peered surreptitiously around, taking it in. She squeezed my arm and her hip rubbed against me.
A man in a denim kilt wearing a t-shirt that proclaimed him to be a "Dungeon Master" approached us. "Mr. Twist," he said. "Your space is ready."
"Thank you," I paused, reading his nametag in the dim light, "Master Louis. I think we'll stroll around first, take in the sights, and then see it." I wanted to keep her curiosity piqued a bit longer, now that I knew she wasn't going to bolt and run.
Whether that would change once she realized, or thought she realized what I intended, I didn't know. But she'd given me hope and I was going to take it.
He nodded politely. "This is my area," he said, in a gesture that took in the entire corner of the floor. "Just tell me when you're ready and I'll show you to your space."
"Very good. Thank you, sir."
"You've thought this through, Mr. Twist," Cara Mia said.
Her voice told me she was impressed by the effort. I wasn't going to tell her that Master Black had done the bulk of the thinking, not to mention the arranging. But I would take the credit for it.
"I feel strongly about our future, Cara Mia. I've given it a great deal of consideration."
"I find that I care more about our future than I would have thought, Mr. Twist."
She did? "That makes me very pleased, Cara Mia."
She giggled. She was nervous, then. Good. I wanted whatever advantage I could have when it came to smashing her rules apart, pushing her past the boundaries of decorum she clung to so tightly.
We were passing an area marked off with tarps where people rolled in some what smelled like pudding. Shrieks of laughter came from just beyond it where they sprayed people off with a hose. I imagine it had to be cold water.
In another area, a woman squatted over a man and peed on his chest.
"Is that your secret fetish, Mr. Twist?" Cara asked, gesturing to the woman.
"No, nothing so exotic."
We watched two men wrestle and pummel each other on a huge padded mat under the watchful eye of a man wearing a T-shirt that read "Dungeon Monitor".
Cara Mia exhaled heavily.
"What is it?" I asked.
"For all the seeming atrocities I've seen as we have slummed so far, I'm heartened to know that this is not a free for all and there's some supervision as well as confidentiality agreements.
So Tasha was not ready to completely give in to Cara Mia. Not yet. Just then we saw some movement to our left and turned to look in the corner. The sign caught my eye first. "Slut" was spray painted in big, runny red letters on a sheet of butcher paper affixed to the interior wall. On the floor lay a woman wearing a trench coat, her bound hands tied to a piece of fancy metal work that decorated a short wall to our right. Her legs were tied open, attached to either end of a curb stop. Her apparent struggles had opened the coat and I could see she wore nothing underneath it.
She wore a gag and her make up had run, but she didn't seem distressed as her mouth worked the gag. She se
emed more like a horse with a bit. She humped her hips in invitation at us.
Cara Mia groaned and looked away.
"Nothing happens here under duress or without a fully negotiated agreement," I said firmly. Indeed, Master Black had been at some pains to make sure I understood that everything that happened in this world of his was an exchange of power, completely honestly traded.
"What kind of rules does she have that she would require such a severe situation to let go?"
"I don't know," I said, watching her stare at the woman. I wouldn't have thought of it that way, but it was a more intense version of what I was doing to Tasha. I pictured Tasha slung out on her bed, hands, bound to the headboard, her hair mussed, trench coat in disarray as she watched me standing at the foot of the bed contemplating what treats I would find if I untied the knot of the coat belt.
Then I noticed Cara Mia lick her lips as a small moan escaped her lips when a man walked over to the bound woman and knelt down, whispering something. The woman groaned and the man brushed his fingers over her coat, pausing at the knotted belt.
Cara mia swayed a bit, shifting her weight from foot foot as her hips rolled.
Well, now. This was a long step in the direction I wanted her to go. It made me eager to get our own evening in gear.
"Are you ready to move on?" I whispered in her ear. She groaned softly and turned her face toward me. I kissed her and she kissed me back hard.
"Yes, Mr. Twist."
I took her by the waist and began walking away from the spectacle.
Chapter 6
A few steps later, she asked, "And so what have we negotiated?"
"We have negotiated that I love you and that you trust me to do as I see best for our relationship and ourselves."
"And how can that be an exchange of power?"
"You had and continue to have the opportunity to say no."
"And lose you." She frowned.
I turned her to face me and cupped her cheeks. "Then you understand the stakes," I said as I stared intently into her eyes, trying to force her to believe me. "You can say stop at any time and I will."