Truth or Dare (The Dominator 2)

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?We should head back,” he said and I saw muscles flexing in his jaw.

“Do we have to?” I breathed before thinking. This wasn’t like me. Wasn’t like me to ask and wasn’t at all like me to want to be in the water. But in the water he was close to me, I was touching him. He had me.

His expression softened. He kept treading and I just held on. “Spin around,” he said and shifted me so I was on his back now, “Hold your breath.”

He swam underwater for a little while with me on his back. I opened my eyes and it was breathtakingly beautiful, so beautiful that I forgot to keep holding my breath and then took in a mouthful of water. I gripped him tighter and started to struggle and he swam upwards until we broke water. I was gasping and sputtering. He moved us back to where we could stand and put me on my feet.

“You okay?” His eyes had so much depth, so much concern. Water dripped from his hair, his face, and it struck hard that he was the most attractive man I’d ever seen and had been kinder to me than anyone since I’d been in Thailand. And I was his. I said a silent prayer that he wouldn’t change his mind and leave without me.

I recovered, pushing away the memories of the last time seawater was forced down my throat and nodded, “Yeah. I’m okay.” And strangely, I wasn’t lying.

Dare

We hung out in the water for a bit, me swimming and her sitting down in the shallow water just watching me. Then back in the room I got a shower. Then she took one. We had to get ready for the dinner I’d been asked to attend.

I just had to get through tonight and then tomorrow morning we’d be outta here. They’d have her passport ready and then after the 18 hour flight we’d be back on home soil. I’d get her to my place and then I’d tell her that it’d all been a ruse. And then I’d figure out how to keep her safe, keep us all safe, while giving her back her freedom.

Somehow Tommy and I would work to figure out how to gracefully exit this business. At first I’d thought maybe we could buy everyone out to eliminate the threat and then shut it down so we could deal that way and put all Pop’s ill-gotten money to good use. Stan had revealed that there was more off-shore money aside for us and it meant that me and all my siblings were extremely wealthy, filthy rich. We were already quite wealthy with Pop’s estate back home but the off shore money? There was a lot of it. But when I found out today what the revenue levels for this place were and when I found out some of the names involved I knew that was not an option for us. Not even close. No one would sell this cash cow for any price and even if we’d miraculously been able to pull enough cash together the members would certainly balk at it being dismantled.

But I’d have to find some way to deal, do all this while also finishing the clean-up of the rest of the business so I could sell it all off and move the fuck on with my life. An ugly mess.

When she came out of the bathroom in a short yellow silk robe she asked me if she could speak and then asked what she should wear for the dinner. I hesitantly reached into the box that Gan Chen had given me that morning when he talked about the dinner.

“Did you bring a collar for your Felicia or should I have one provided?” He had asked.

“I’ll need to borrow one for while we’re here.” I’d told him. Every slave I’d seen so far at the resort wore one.

The royal blue velvet box contained a choker necklace that was bejeweled with three strings of square-cut blue sapphires. It was dainty rather than ostentatious and it looked more like a choker necklace than a dog collar but the intention was obviously still there. The three strands of jewels came to a rectangular platinum clasp at the back and at the front they came to a circle. Dangling from the platinum circle was a heart shaped platinum dangling cutout pendant. Beside it was a matching lapel pin and cufflinks for me in blue sapphires.

“No need to borrow. Please accept this as a gift with my sincere best wishes for you and your Felicia,” he’d said.

It was the same shade as her eyes. I opened the box and lifted it out for her.

“It’s formal. Choose something formal that goes with this, if you can.” I said. She looked at the collar for two beats and then shook herself free of what looked like a trance. She lifted her hair and tilted her throat and turned her back on me. I took a deep breath and then I fastened it around her slender and beautiful neck, resisting the odd urge to put my lips to her throat. She let her hair drop and then turned and looked at me, tears shining in her eyes. The dainty collar made her eyes stand out in a way that took my breath away for a second.

Seeing it on her neck stirred up emotions in me that I couldn’t describe even if I wanted to. It was a beautiful piece of jewelry but what it stood for? Not beautiful. There was a sour taste in my mouth. As I backed away from her to head to the balcony for a smoke her expression and posture both dropped.

** ** **

In the banquet room I’d been invited to that night there was a table for 12 that was up on a platform three steps up. I didn’t know what sordid events were to take place but the whole thing set my teeth on edge. Felicia was on my arm in a little black strapless short cocktail dress and blue strapped high heels, toes and fingernails painted metallic blue and her hair pinned up with curly tendrils cascading down. When we arrived I saw that we were the last to arrive and that between each chair was a cushion. Most of the guests had a woman on her knees on the cushion beside them. One had a man as his slave. I fought back the rising rancid disgust in my gut at the entire scene.

Their cushions matched their collar colors. Some had leashes attached to their collars. Every one of them wore a collar of some sort. As I approached it Felicia let go of my arm and let me step ahead and she went right to her knees on the satin royal blue pillow beside my chair, which was at the foot of the table. It was going to take a lot to hold my attitude in check tonight.

Gan Chen rose from the head of the table.

“Welcome guests. Everyone, this is Dario, son of Tom, our dear departed friend and partner. This dinner is in honor of the loss of Tom.”

I clenched my teeth.

Everyone expressed welcomes and I got introductions. A few that sat close by offered their condolences for my loss. I hadn’t known the tone of the evening when invited to this dinner but what Chen said next gave me a sense of relief.

“In light of the occasion this will be a standard meal. We’re serving all of Tom’s favorites. For anyone looking for play, there will be play in the Townsend room after dessert, also in honor of Tom.”

I looked down to Felicia. She was kneeling on the cushion, face pure and sweet like an angel, her expression blank, revealing nothing about what she was thinking.

Thankfully the meal was fairly uneventful. I had no idea if sex would happen in the room, if the servers would be nude. I had no clue at all what to expect but it was a lot like a formal business dinner like dozens I’d sat through at tables with people I didn’t like but with a big exception; slaves at the feet of the businessmen. Two of the men at the table were partners, then there was Gan Chen, Rafe Ruiz, and several other club members. I had to follow suit and feed her from my fingers like the others. She accepted food graciously from my fingers without looking up at me. I made sure she ate more than I did. I noticed the other “masters” were not nearly as generous with their slaves. I was anxious to get back to the room. I got through the meal as best as I could, trying to be cordial but there were conversations that took place in there that had turned my brain upside down. And a few stories were told about my Pop and things that had gone on while he was here that made me feel absolute disgust.