“And who is dealing with the son-of-a-bitch responsible?”
Nan peered around at Connor, twin red splotches staining her face, a bold fierceness glittering in her eyes. “The courts, come August first.”
Connor moved in front of her, cupped her nape and brought her face up to his. “You should have told us, at the very least, told your closest friends.” He brushed the softest of kisses over her lips. “Thank God you’re home, sweetie.”
“Nan.” Tamara reached for her friend, but Connor grabbed her, tugging her against his side.
“We’re headed up to the loft to relieve Devin.”
Dan looked back at Nan and knew she had won this battle. He just hoped she continued to win the war. “We’re headed that way. If the cross is available, hold it for me, would you?”
“Sure thing.”
As Master Dan escorted her across the lower floor toward the stairs with a hand wrapped around her cuffed wrists, Nan vacillated between chagrin over the revelation of her ordeal and the return of the electric buzz she always experienced when naked in front of a slew of onlookers. She’d never been shy; just the opposite. She had embraced public exposure with as much ease and pleasure as she had erotic pain and bondage. But that sweeping thrill didn’t keep her from shying away from the thundercloud of fury swirling in Master Grayson’s gray/green eyes or tuning out Avery’s shocked gasp Master Dan silenced with a snap of his fingers. The truth had to come out, didn’t it? Now that it had, they could move on and put it behind them, if she could just make it up the stairs to the dimly lit loft with her composure intact.
“You’re surprising the hell out of me, Nan,” Dan stated halfway up the stairs, his proud look warming her to her toes.
“Don’t tell anyone, but I’m shocking the hell out of myself, too.”
A deep laugh rumbled from his chest, drawing her eyes to the lift of his wide shoulders, the tightening of his biceps as he assisted her on the final step. “It looks like the St. Andrew Cross is all ours.” Nan’s fear of another lapse returned with a sudden cold chill that racked her body and drew his sharp gaze as they stopped in front of the padded cross. “Nan? Do we continue or spend the evening socializing? Belle is still yours, either way.”
She gazed upon the apparatus and memories assailed her, good memories of scenes between her and her favorite Dom. Squaring her shoulders, she said in a strong voice, “We continue, Sir. Please.”
“Good enough.” Reaching behind her, he removed the cuffs. “We didn’t discuss your safeword downstairs, and I apologize for that lapse. I’m so used to doing scenes with you without the need to go over safety measures, it slipped my mind. Do you want to use red, or do you still like panda?”
“Panda, and I didn’t think anything about it, either.” She relaxed and smiled. “I’m still comfortable with you, even dealing with all my shit.”
“It’s our shit to deal with now. Stand here a minute. I want to get something.”
Nan watched him stride to the toy cabinet on the back wall, wondering what objects he would choose to add to the scene. When he returned carrying a packaged double dildo, her buttocks clenched and her pussy wept. God, it had been so long since she’d been filled with anything except despair, fear and anger.
“I see you don’t object to the dual phalluses. I thought they would help distract you from bad memories. Face the cross, please.”
Master Dan twirled his finger for her to turn around, giving her no time to second guess her decision, or to fret as he bound her wrists and ankles in a wide V in record time. Then her heart stumbled as he began wrapping her arms to the post using soft rope, stopping when he reached her upraised elbow. “Sir?” Nan jerked and her arm didn’t budge. The extra binding rendering that limb immovable both alarmed and excited her, the odd combination of emotions leaving her confused.
Dan ran his hand down her back and over her tight buttocks; the light touch sparking a thread of anticipation. “Deep breath. You’re fine.” He did the same to her other arm, telling her, “I’ve left the ends loose. You can work your way out of the ropes if you want, but they’re still secure enough to hold against minor resistance. One tug, and I can free you, Nan.”
“Thank you, Sir.” His foresight helped spur her arousal and settle her uncertainty.
Putting his face next to hers, he rubbed her trembling lips with one finger. “I’ve always been here for you, hon. You forgot that while you were gone. Now, quiet, unless you need to use your safeword.”
To Nan’s surprised excitement, she found herself relaxing against the cross as he bound her legs from ankles to knees, the snug ropes lending her security she didn’t know s
he needed. A mellowness invaded her body as Master Dan caressed her, squeezing her thighs, ghosting his fingers between her buttocks, tickling her sides, cupping her breasts. He played with her to the point of growing frustration, stirring a hunger for more, building heat and longing everywhere he touched.
“I think you’re ready for the dildos,” he whispered in her ear as he squeezed her buttocks. With a sharp nip on her lobe, he stepped back, and she heard him tearing open the package.
She braced herself for the invasion of the toys, gasping as he slid the rounded ends past her openings, her juices easing the way into her pussy, a copious amount of lube aiding the insertion into her rectum. Pure, unadulterated lust infused her from head to toe as the dildos stretched and filled her one slow inch at a time. She groaned, rocking her hips with the full invasion, the move shifting the embedded phalluses to rub against long-neglected nerve endings starving for attention.
“Please, Master,” she begged without even realizing it until the leather strands of his flogger snapped against her butt.
“Tsk, tsk, girl. I believe I told you to keep quiet. Concentrate on the toys, Nan. I’ll go slow, but don’t hesitate to stop me if you become afraid.”
The warning behind his stern tone wasn’t lost on her, and she focused her gaze on Sue Ellen, who was bound on the fucking swing in the corner, enjoying her master husband’s switch. Soft vibrations erupted inside Nan, tiny pulses teasing her sensitive vaginal tissues and those hidden, taboo nerves in her rectum. Strips of prickling pain spread over her lower back, following without pause across her clenching cheeks from the kiss of leather. She fell into his rhythm as if it were yesterday that they were together instead of almost a year ago.
“So pretty, Nan,” Dan breathed, unleashing the flogger across her butt with more force. “Striped red, your ass squeezing the dildo, your pussy dripping around that toy.”
She shivered on a moan as he upped the ante and struck harder. Prickles turned into a sharper bite the same time the pulsations went up a notch inside her. Heat spread from her back down to her thighs, everywhere he struck the building arousal in her lower body spiraled upward, tightening her nipples and drawing beads of perspiration. Even though she kept her eyes open and pleasure infused her, the blackness started to inch forward as pain and arousal intensified together until she couldn’t differentiate between the two.