He took the stairs two at a time and then realized he was going to be lucky for once on this shitty day. Kyle stood just outside the dungeon talking with the Domme who now ran Sanctum—a lovely woman named Lea—and a dark-haired man in leathers Hutch didn’t recognize.
“What exactly are you saying, Jeffrey?” Mistress Lea’s voice had gone icy cold, and it stopped Hutch from calling out to Kyle.
Something serious was going on.
“I’m saying I didn’t sign up to coddle some disabled chick,” the man said, pointing back toward the dungeon space.
Kyle looked up and caught sight of Hutch. “Fuck. Lea, we have a problem.”
“Why is she here?” Jeffrey asked, ignoring Kyle. “What can she do? She couldn’t even get up the stairs without help. I’m not spanking some girl who can’t even walk right. No way.”
“Hutch,” Kyle began.
But Hutch wasn’t listening. Hutch saw fucking red and the rest of the world fell away.
* * * *
Noelle couldn’t stop looking around Sanctum. It was crazy that she was here, and she was wearing a purple corset and a miniskirt, and there was a human hamster wheel that supposedly lit up when a sub was running on it.
It was crazy and she was stupidly excited.
Only one thing held her back from one hundred percent bubbling over with enthusiasm.
Hutch.
He’d stood outside the women’s locker room when he’d dropped her off and given her the saddest smile.
I hope you have a wonderful time tonight. Whoever they put you with…he’s so lucky, Noelle. Don’t forget that.
Then he’d turned and walked into the men’s locker room across the hall. She wouldn’t see him again until the class was over and she’d gotten back into her slacks and blouse and she looked like regular old Noelle again. It felt like she was withholding something from him, but that wasn’t what she’d meant to do.
Would he like the way she looked now? Would he stare at the way the corset forced her breasts up and how small it made her waist look?
“Did you find the elevator?” Laurel Daley Bradford was dressed in a crimson corset and tiny shorts. She was her stepmom’s sister, and apparently she’d taken on a teaching role at Sanctum. A long-time sub, she had a son with her husband, Mitch, who practiced law here in Dallas.
“Yes. Erin showed me.” She’d been greeted by Erin Taggart, who’d explained she was acting as a mentor to the new subs along with Laurel. She’d also been cool about whatever Noelle wanted to do with the stairs. When Noelle had chosen the elevator, Erin had sighed in what seemed like pure contentment and gone up with her, cursing her brother-in-law because he’d never had to go up those suckers in a pair of five-inch heels. “I can make it up if I’m on a cane, but these babies make it a little more awkward. I should be back on the cane next week.”
Because Hutch was taking such good care of her. He made sure she rested but somehow managed to not make her feel self-conscious about it. He never demanded. He persuaded, like if she would let him do this thing for her, it would make him happy.
Going to bed without him was getting harder and harder to do.
But she knew what he wanted. He wanted her to give up the class and focus exclusively on him, and then she wouldn’t have this crazy, excited feeling that she was going on an adventure, that she was exploring with people like her, people who didn’t know everything, who were on her level.
“No one’s going to care if you’re on your cane or you need to use your chair,” Laurel explained. “This is a place where we take people as they come. It’s also a place where ex-soldiers come to play. You will see a whole lot of prosthetics here. It’s fun to figure out how to use the equipment. Kinksters can be incredibly inventive.”
She could see Hutch plotting and planning how to make every experience good for her. She would have trouble with some of the apparatuses because it would be hard for her to stay in position for a long period of time. But Hutch wouldn’t let that stop him if he wanted to spank her on it. He would adapt it to her needs.
Some of her excitement faded because she wished he was standing here beside her.
“Hey, sweetie, I’m not joking. This is a good place,” Laurel was saying.
She shook her head. “I wasn’t worried about being accepted. I met several of the other subs in the locker room and they seem great. I was thinking about something else. Someone else.” She shouldn’t have said that. “Please forget I mentioned it. I’m excited to be here. I was telling Erin how much I’ve been looking forward to taking this class.”