She nodded. She also wasn’t allowed to call either of them Sir or Master, again because Landry didn’t want to condition her to them. She could only call Tilly Ma’am, not Mistress, for the same reason. She was allowed to nod or shake her head, or to say their name in lieu of a title.
On the baby monitor, Landry said Cris’ name, followed by a phrase in something she suspected was French, before the connection went dead and they heard nothing but static.
Bob walked over and turned off the unit.
* * * *
Landry turned from where he’d just switched off a baby monitor Axel had not noticed sitting on his desk before that moment.
Horrified, Axel scrolled through his memory of what they’d discussed, praying nothing he’d said would totally nuke his relationship with Skye.
“Do not worry,” Landry said. “I wanted her to hear your fears, so she understands better your end.” He studied Axel for a moment. “There will be a point tonight where I turn her completely over to you, and Cris and I back away. Bob will remain in the room the entire time, until aftercare ends, in case you must leave. I don’t wish her to be alone. Either myself or Cris will stay in the room until the scene has reached a natural conclusion and aftercare has started. I think part of the problem is you are too focused on the impact play instead of looking at what she enjoys and seeing how you can make it your own.”
He had a hard time swallowing, his throat felt so dry. “How?” he croaked.
Landry smiled. “Sex. Pure and simple. Conditioning is not a one-way street. I scene with Skye, or for example with Bob, and either Cris or Tilly then get the fucking of their life as soon as I can arrange it, or a nice hard face fucking, at the very least. When I scene with Tilly or Cris, at least here or at a private party, sex is an integral part of what we do. Even just ‘vanilla’ sex for us is still kinky because I am a sexual sadist and there is always some element of control or pain involved, for me.
“At the club, I can engage in more intimate contact with Tilly and Cris, and do orgasm play on them even if I have to wait until we get home for my own release. Sex is absolutely mixed in. Skye told me she enjoys biting. Well, that’s something I did not even ask you about because it falls within a decidedly grey area for us. We do feral play with Bob, but we also engage in orgasm play with him. We do not have that kind of dynamic with Skye, nor do I feel we should, under these circumstances.
“Yes, she’s a masochist, and a damned admirable one if she can play with me and ask for more, to be honest. But what she needs isn’t just the play. It’s the control. I play harder with her because I cannot give her a sexual aspect to the play, or more than the most basic of control. You can play more to your comfort zone, but you must pick up the slack in other areas, such as control and sex.”
“I…I don’t know if I can…do that in front of people.”
“We’re not people, we’re us. I’m not asking you to parade in the nude down Jacaranda Boulevard. If you’re doing it ‘right,’ you’ll forget that the two or three of us are even in the room with you. Your focus will become her. That is as it should be. Tonight, I want you to watch but truly see, listen but truly hear, and when prompted, I want you to do. You’re a smart man, and this is not nearly as complicated as you’re trying to make it. It’s far less complicated than that game you two play with Rusty and the others. It’s instinctive.”
“What if I freak out again?”
“If you feel you’re going to be sick, please leave the pool house and wait in the house for one of us to come get you. If you can watch but can’t participate, quietly sit off to the side until we finish and give you the cue to come in and cuddle with her for aftercare. Perhaps Skye should have started with you doing her aftercare from the very beginning and worked your way back from there, but that’s in the past. She is an experienced bottom who needs a firm hand. Once we’re in the room with her, I do not want you to speak until aftercare begins, unless I signal otherwise. Do you need to use the restroom, or a drink of water or anything?”
Axel shook his head.
Landry stood. “Come. Let’s take care of your girl.”
* * * *
Skye was allowed to use the bathroom and get a drink of water before Bob and Cris blindfolded her, swapped the wrist cuffs out for suspension cuffs, and buckled her ball gag into place.
Then the men held her hands as she knelt again on the yoga mat, which had been repositioned next to the St. Andrew’s cross. They had set out the implements earlier in the day, because they were neatly lined up and waiting when they brought her out there.
She sensed Cris squat on her right side, confirmed when his hand gripped her ponytail.
This time, tightly.
He yanked her head back and whispered near her ear. “Your Sir is coming to play with you, girl. Are you ready for him?”
She nodded as much as she could.
“Maybe someone’s going to get their ass fucked tonight.”
She whimpered, hopeful. It’d been a long time since that had happened, and never with Axel.
“Are you going to be a good girl and make your Sir proud tonight?”
She nodded, hoping she wasn’t crying by the time they got her up on the cross. Poor Axel had sounded wigged out enough.
Cris scratched the top of her head and released her ponytail. She sensed him stand just before the pool house door opened and what sounded like two people walked in.
Behind the leather blindfold, her world was reduced to sounds and scents, the brush of air against her flesh and the feel of a cloud of warmth from a body if they stood close enough.
She only heard one pair of shoes enter the pool house, which likely meant Axel. She tracked his progress across the tile floor to the kitchen area, a silent discussion of some sort going on near where she’d seen the iPod and Bluetooth speaker set up on the counter.
After a moment, the soft sound of shoes coming off, followed by the opening bars of Hozier’s “Take Me to Church” filling the small room.
Pulse racing, she tried to breathe and focus on the here and now and not get her hopes up or try to place unrealistic expectations on Axel.
And she prayed.
Chapter Nineteen
Axel froze in the doorway when he saw Skye kneeling there.
Desperately fighting against the urge to “rescue” her, he finally walked in and silently closed the door behind him.
Landry touched a finger to his lips and motioned Axel over to the kitchenette area. There, they had an iPod and a Bluetooth speaker. Axel started to thumb through it when a stupid thought hit him.
Duh.
He pulled his phone from his back pocket, set it to Do Not Disturb, and thumbed his music icon. He guessed how long this might take and quickly dropped three of his favorite albums into a new playlist, then connected the phone to the speaker.
Before he could hit play, Landry tapped his shoulder and pointed down, at Axel’s shoes. Then he leaned in to whisper in Axel’s ear. “We are barefoot. Take them off so she’s guessing.”
He quickly removed his sneakers and socks and took a deep breath before he hit play.
As Landry recognized the music, he turned, smiled, and gave Axel a thumbs-up. So did Cris.
Bob simply watched, looking like he was trying not to glare at him.
Landry waved Axel over to stand by the cross, then pointed at Cris and Bob to get Skye standing. They brought her up a few feet from the cross and stopped her before Landry.
Landry reached out, grabbed Axel’s arm, and hauled him over so Axel was standing directly in front of her, inches away.
Landry smiled and spoke close to her ear, loud enough for Axel to hear. Already, Skye was starting to slowly sway in time to the music.
His music.
“Girl, are you prepared to be used hard tonight by your Sir? He’s here, so you may address him. I speak for him right now, answer me as if answering him directly.”
“Yes, Sir,” she mumbled around the ball gag.
/>
“Color.”
“Green, Sir.”
“Are you going to make your Sir proud tonight and show him what a good and well-trained girl you are for him?”
“Yes, Sir.”
Landry tapped Axel’s shoulder, held up his right hand palm-up, and wiggled his first and second fingers.
He didn’t get it until Landry pointed down between her legs.
Oh. Oh!
To the man’s credit, Landry didn’t roll his eyes.
Bob did.
Cris and Bob both wore amused smirks where they stood on either side of her, holding her arms to keep her steady.
Axel felt her breath against his skin, he stood so close. He reached between her legs and was shocked when he felt how wet she was. She flinched, but then let out a soft moan and arched her back, hips thrusting toward him.
“That’s right,” Landry said. “You want to be a good girl for your Sir and show him what you can do for him, don’t you?”
This time when she answered, it was more moan than speech around the gag. “Yes, Sir.”
Landry tapped Axel’s left hand and pointed at her right nipple.
He took the hint and started playing with it, then the left, back and forth as he slowly slid his fingers in and out of her pussy.
“Yes, good girls get rewards.” Landry tapped Axel’s shoulder and indicated for him to stop. “Later.”
She whined, but finally answered. “Yes, Sir.”
Axel’s cock wasn’t sure what it was supposed to be doing right now, but it was reasonably sure it wanted to be free of his jeans and buried inside her.
* * * *
Skye knew it was Axel in front of her, even before he started playing with her clit and nipples. From the way sounds bounced off the men, she could tell he was taller than Cris or Bob, plus process of elimination. She smelled his fabric softener and deodorant, and his warm, natural scent.
Him.
Her Sir.
If he’d just take what she wanted to give him.
She was moved to the cross, her hands clipped to the uprights and her ankles clipped in place, too. She felt a towel had been tucked into the V, both to pad it as well as for her to rub her nose against when or if she started crying and snotting. Someone stood immediately to her left, inches away, and turning her face told her it was Axel after taking a couple of quick sniffs.
She sensed Landry stood directly behind her, confirmed when he spoke into her right ear. “Ready, girl?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Good, because this is really going to hurt tonight. A lot.”
Shit.
She clenched her fists and sucked in a deep breath, her teeth clamped down on the ball gag. Her warm-up tonight was bare-handed slaps and punches, depending on the location, that quickly grew stronger in intensity until he was smacking both ass cheeks with both hands and turning her butt into a nice, hot stingy mass.
She jumped when Axel’s hand reappeared between her legs, lightly teasing her clit. She whined, loudly, wanting more.
“Behave, girl,” Landry said. “Good girls beg their Sirs for what they want.”
“I want to come, Sir,” she mumbled around the gag. “Please.”
“We just started and you already want to come? My goodness, you’ll have to earn it, won’t you?”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Tell me, are you prepared for your Sir to fuck that pretty ass of yours tonight with his marks all striped across it?”
* * * *
Axel froze, not quite sure he’d heard Landry right. He started shaking his head, but Landry stared him in the eyes, narrowed his gaze, and kept right on talking.
“Yes, Sir!”
Axel froze, staring at Skye’s face, her lips wrapped around the ball gag, her nostrils flaring.
“Tell Sir what you want to happen to your ass tonight.”
She slurped a little around her gag before she spoke. “I want Sir to spank and cane my ass, and then fuck it nice and hard while he uses a vibrator on me to make me come, please, Sir. Sir hasn’t fucked my ass yet, and I want him to. He owns my ass and I want him to claim it.”
Axel’s eyes widened. He’d honestly thought she’d been kidding when she’d talked about that before.
Landry’s eyebrow arched, amusement painted across his expression. “Then you need to make sure you’re a good girl for your Sir and perhaps he’ll check that off your wish list for you tonight.”
“Yes, Sir! Please!”
Axel’s cock had decided it definitely wanted in on the action and he had to reach down and adjust himself.
Landry picked up a pair of floggers and started working up and down her back and ass with them. These didn’t bother Axel, now that he knew what they felt like. After a few minutes of that, Landry paused.
“Color, girl.”
“Green, Sir.” Her voice definitely held a fuzzy, soft tone.
“Good girl.” He picked up a strap and again, Axel knew this one was more bark than bite, loud because of the way it was doubled over into the handle, but soft, supple leather that barely stung, even with a hard stroke.
Landry switched from that to a lightweight acrylic paddle. This got a little whining out of her, and as he rubbed the spot where he’d just delivered one particularly hard stroke, he leaned in.
“Color, girl.”
“Green, Sir.”
Landry stepped to the right, grabbed Axel, and pulled him to stand behind her.
When he wasn’t sure what Landry wanted him to do, Landry stepped behind him, planted a hand between his shoulders, and shoved, hard.
Axel was pressed against her back and she immediately started grinding her ass against his jeans.
Ooooh, yeah. His cock was fully on board with the plan now.
Axel reached around her and started playing with her clit again. Meanwhile, Landry swapped out implements and just as Skye was really starting to get into what he was doing to her, Landry made a slicing motion across his throat.
Axel had a hard time stepping to the side, because he’d been grinding back.
Landry immediately started going after her with a riding crop, leaving welts up and down her ass and thighs, and her moans turned into squeals of pain.
His stomach rolled, but he forced himself to stay there. He even reached under her and played with her left nipple, the closest one.
Landry gave him a thumbs-up and increased the strength and speed of his impacts, stopping suddenly, leaving her gasping and panting.
He rubbed the hits in while indicating for Axel to change position so he could play with her other nipple. That got her moaning again.
Landry turned to once again swap implements. When he faced Axel, Axel blanched.
He held a whip.
“Color, girl!” Landry barked.
“Green, Sir!”
Landry made a hand motion Axel didn’t understand. Cris stepped in and showed Axel how to step inside the cross’ framework, then gestured for him to finger her pussy.
Landry took a couple of easy test throws just to gauge his distance, not making contact with her. “You’ll take these if you want your ass fucked, girl. Ready?”
“Ready, Sir.” She shifted position, dropping her head and sticking her ass out.
Landry didn’t crack the whip, but it was almost worse. She went from moaning to squealing with pain, back to moaning with each strike.
Cris stepped into Axel’s field of vision and with both hands mimed finger-fucking her.
So that’s what he started doing.
* * * *
There was something incredibly hot about this scene in a way she couldn’t begin to understand or even define. She’d had countless “hot” scenes before.
This was…different.
Everything Axel did to her felt amplified in good ways by the pain Landry dished out. Landry was definitely going after her harder than usual, which was damned hard to start with.
She’d already suspected the whip was next fr
om the way Axel climbed in front of her and started finger-fucking her. Confirmed when she felt the wind from the test strokes and the tell-tale zhhwhhip sound of a whip skillfully being thrown but not cracked.
Then Axel buried two fingers deep in her cunt and she tensed without meaning to, knowing what was coming.
The first strike burned like fire across her left shoulder blade. She gasped, struggling to process the mix of sensations and not tense up so much to reduce the pain. The second landed across her right shoulder. He started a crisscross pattern up and down her back and ass. Maybe a couple of blood welts in the batch, but despite the way they stung she didn’t think he’d broken the skin.
“Color, girl.”
“Green, Sir.” She was actively humping Axel’s hand now that the whipping had stopped.
His fingers disappeared from her pussy and reappeared at her nipples, both of them at the same time.
The strike took her breath away, the impact burning a long stripe over a foot long down the outside of her right thigh, from just below her hip, a narrow, stingy paddle.
Fuck!
She howled in pain, devolving to a moan as the pleasure in her nipples struggled for dominant sensation as the pain faded.
A matching stroke on her left thigh, and more howls from her.
He swapped out for another paddle, this one wider and heavier. A scarier sound, but not nearly as stingy as the previous one because the impact was spread out over a wider area.
She stuck her ass out a little to give him a better target.
“Good girl.” Smack!
At least she knew Axel hadn’t bailed yet, and that gave her hope.
Chapter Twenty
Axel didn’t understand why Cris and Bob had donned nitrile gloves. Landry delivered steady, carefully timed strokes with the paddle, increasing in force with each one. Then Cris passed Axel a battery-operated Hitachi with a condom wrapped around the round head.