Page 12 of Conflicted
He took the next bottle, this one smelled like toothpaste, and placed a line beside the first. They repeated this pattern with the other bottles, and Nathan neatly returned all objects to the case.
Ruby stared at her arm. It smells... pleasant, mostly like peppermint and the skin tingled a bit, but how is this BDSM play? “What do we do now?”
“Now, we sit and talk a bit. Get to know each other.”
“But nothing is happening.” She held out her arm.
“Excellent.” The skin beside his eyes crinkled.
She narrowed her eyes. “Are you making fun of me?”
Nathan sighed. “No, brat, I’m not making fun of you. If nothing happens when I put the oils on your arm, I know I can use them on the rest of your body. So, I’m really hoping nothing happens tonight.”
“Oh.” Relieved by his answer, Ruby released her arm. “Getting to know each other. Uh,” She bit her lip as her mind came up with and discarded possible questions.
Nathan grinned, "I think the tongue-tied look is a good one on you. Would you tell me something about your tats? The one on your forearm is intriguing."
The next night, Ruby returned to Club Indigo with eager anticipation. There had been a time there was a lack of play partners at the club, but for the last year and a half she had plenty of scenes. However, it was fabulous to know someone would want to play before getting there. She also brought a white leather minidress, she couldn’t wait to show off.
She greeted Paula at the desk. It seemed like either Will, Jim, or Paula volunteered for the job, and it might have to do with them all being police detectives. Like the sociable members, Bob and Chris mostly tended the bar and the stern masters like Connor, Jim and James often took monitoring duties.
As she entered the club, the power metal of Manowar’s Pleasure Slave made her grin. Great lyrics! Her smile widened as she heard the crack of a whip from the central scening area in time with the drums.
Although street clothes weren’t the norm, her curiosity drove her deeper into the club. Captain Connor, the club’s sadist and enforcer, was using a short single tail on a chained Suzie. The masochist’s back glowed a fiery red and was covered in welts. Although Ruby didn’t want that much pain, she knew Suzie liked and needed what Connor gave her.
The music changed to Depeche Mode, and Connor switched from the single tail to a light flogger with knotted strands. Ruby watched in awe how he kept time with the fast beat of the song and drove Suzie farther and farther into subspace.
A heavy hand on her shoulder made Ruby jump.
With a hand over her bosom, like she could contain her wildly beating heart, she turned and came face to chest with Nathan. Sadly, the way she had to look up at him diminished the power of her fierce scowl.
“Scare a girl to death, will you?” she snapped.
Nathan crossed his arms over his chest. “Strip.”
“What?” Her mouth dropped open, and she let out a whined, “No.”
“That’s five.”
“Five what?”
“Five swats for disobeying my order the first time. Care to add more?” One eyebrow rose, but his stance didn’t change.
“B ... but I have brought a new dress.”
His face remained impassive. “Ten.”
Half of her was angry because he was putting her on the spot and the other half was equally thrilled because he was dominating her, she couldn’t suppress her, “Why?” as she toed off her boots and pulled her hoodie over her head.
“Good girl, continue” Nathan tipped his head to her skinny black jeans, and she undid the button and zipper. “One, you’re at the club in your street clothes. Two, you glared at your Dom. Three, you didn’t obey my order. Four, you questioned my decision. Five, you are more concerned with how you look than pleasing your Dom.”
“You’re not my Dom.” Her hands stilled on the waistband of her jeans.
He invaded her personal space, forcing her head even further back. “Did we negotiate a scene tonight?”
“Ah.” He did mention chemical play last night. “Yes.”
“So, as far as I’m concerned, unless you use your safeword, I am your Dom, and I expect respect and obedience from you.”
