Camellia (13 page)

She managed to get the tea into the drinking bowl smoothly enough the next time, capped the box and set down the scoop next to the bright blue silk cloth she'd grabbed it off of. Danny used the cloth to uncover the iron pot without incident, then picked up the ladle. She dipped it into the hot water and lifted it out with no problem, but getting the water into the bowl was harder than it should have been. Danny tilted the ladle carefully, but when she poured too slowly, the water dripped down the side, and when she sped up she almost overshot the bowl. By the time she got it right, there was more than enough water for tea, so Danny pulled back and replaced the lid and the ladle. She reached for the whisk.

The tip of the crop slammed down on the table an inch away from Danny's hand. She froze. "How do I want this tea blended, Danielle?"

Danny's throat clicked uncomfortably. She sat, still and quiet, as the leather tab trailed up her bare arm—it felt so naked, more naked than when Danny had been wearing a damn corset. There was something vulnerable about leaving bits and pieces of herself undone when other parts were covered up. The leather brushed her shoulder, then the side of her neck before it tapped her gently beneath the chin. Danny looked up at Lucy, tall and stern and heartbreakingly lovely. "Answer me," Lucy said. "How have I told you I want my tea blended?"

Danny swallowed. "With … with vigor …" Lucy didn't move the crop, just waited. "Mistress," Danny added.

"Very good," Lucy purred. "And not another drop spilled, Danielle." She removed the crop and stepped back.

Not a … hah, right. Danny picked up the whisk in her left hand, holding back her grimace with pure willpower, before lowering it into the bowl and beginning to stir.
Vigor, vigor
. It felt so awkward, her wrist bending and moving in a way it wasn't used to, her right hand twitching uselessly on top of her thighs. Still, Danny managed to get the tea looking fairly frothy after thirty seconds of focused work. She kept going until Lucy called a stop, and even then, she didn't spill a drop.
Fuck yeah!
Danny lifted the whisk out of the tea and set it aside, but forgot to let the liquid drain before tilting it over the tablecloth. Three dark green drops stained the amethyst silk, and Lucy tsked loudly. "Look at that, Danielle," she said. "Three drops spilled. Hold out your left arm."

She was really going to … like this, in front of all these people? Oh, boy. Lucy had tapped Danny with the crop when she messed up in the first tea ceremony, but with the memory of their lunch experiment still stark and shining in her head, Danny felt especially sensitized to Lucy's touch now. Was this a punishment or a gift?

Danny extended her left arm straight out from her body over the table, palm down. Lucy nodded. "Very good. Count each stroke." She lifted the crop above her head, then brought it down hard on Danny's forearm, and Danny shut her eyes and shivered with the sting and swift, hot pleasure that followed it. Oh God, that felt so good. This had to be a reward. "One, Mistress," she managed.

The next landed just below the first. "Two, Mistress." The third was another inch down, well away from the delicate skin of her wrist. "Three, Mistress." Danny opened her eyes and looked at her arm. Three bright red lines marked her, vivid and perfect. She wanted to lick the skin, to taste the evidence of Lucy's crop.

"Hand me the tea, Danielle," Lucy said, and Danny was glad she wasn't making Danny crawl this time, because she wasn't sure she'd be able to cross the stage the way her legs were trembling. She picked up the tea with her left hand and lifted it up to Lucy, who moved in close enough to brush against Danny from shoulder to calf with her skirts. She tugged Danny closer with a lock of hair, until her head rested against Lucy's thigh, before taking the tea and drinking. Danny let her eyes close as Lucy played with her hair, still shaky and full of emotions she couldn't figure out.

She was ready for the kiss this time, and leaned into it gratefully as Lucy touched her lips to Danny's forehead, soft and sweet. "Very good, Danielle," she said, and Danny smiled up at her.

She'd gotten what she wanted after all.

Lucy heard the
click-click
of approaching high heels, not unusual in a convention like this, but she would have known those confident strides anywhere. She looked up to see Natasha approaching with Lillian in tow, and Natasha's features gave off a clear look of annoyance. Lucy assisted Danny to her feet as the onlookers slowly moved away from the stage. She knew that Natasha wouldn't say anything to her in front of them, but whatever she was waiting to unload on them looked to be serious.

"I thought Danny wasn't part of the scene! Where do you get off punishing her?" Natasha hissed as soon as the last of them were gone.

Well, this was an interesting intrusion. Partly, Lucy was warmed by her concern for Danny, which meant she liked her enough to get involved. Still, Lucy felt the need to correct Natasha's assumption. "I said that Danny was outside our circle, and she said that she was new to this, not that she wasn't interested. This was hardly a punishment, Natasha. Though Lillian is perfect in nearly every way, I'd still think you'd be able to recognize the reality of the situation. You know me. I would never punish someone under my control in such a public and humiliating way."

Natasha's anger seemed to dissipate more with each word that Lucy whispered in her ear. "It wasn't a punishment to strike her?"

Lucy gave her a tight smile and trailed her hand up Danny's bare arm as she walked away from Natasha. Her fingertips lingered on the smooth curve of Danny's neck and she held Danny there, enjoying the feel of her pulse under her fingertips as Danny leaned into her touch. The slight motion wouldn't have been noticeable to anyone else, but Lucy was warmed by the trust Danny obviously placed in her.

"Danielle, did you feel punished when I put my crop to your arm?" Lucy asked her, knowing the answer but wanting both Danny and Natasha to hear it as well. Lucy wasn't a strict domme, but she was a correct one. She'd never expected the kind of obedience in a sub that Natasha required from Lillian, and perhaps that was the difference between their definitions. Lucy expected that
any
reprimand would look like punishment to a mistress as tightly controlled as Natasha was.

Danny shrugged and Lucy lightly tapped the tip of her crop against Danny's upper thigh.

"Words are required to answer," Lucy told her as she held the soft leather against Danny's skin.

Danny cleared her throat and stood a little straighter. "No. I didn't feel anything like that."

Lucy glanced over her shoulder at Natasha and gave her a sharp nod, closing the discussion. Though Danny was naturally submissive, she wasn't formally Lucy's sub, and that drew a distinct line between what Lucy could and couldn't do with her. Lucy would reward Danny how she wanted, would bring her almost any pleasure she desired, but didn’t want to put a hand or any physical extension of herself on Danny as anything more than a simple correction.

"Well, all right, then. Are you two done for the day?" Natasha asked them.

Lucy answered for them both. "Yes. I have a massage booked. Enjoy your evening, ladies. We'll see you both tomorrow."

Pleasantries over, Lucy took Danny's hand in hers and led her from the stage. "Do you wish to see anything before we retire to the room?" she asked Danny without looking at her. She was far too busy trying not to trip over someone's whips that had spilled out of a plastic tub to be distracted by the face that had held her fascination all day.

Danny shook her head. "No, thanks. I think I saw most of it during lunch. You mentioned getting a massage?"

"I did. Would you like to join me in the spa here?" Lucy was glad Danny nodded. A massage would probably do them both some good. Adding a treatment for Danny was a simple matter of stopping by the front desk of the spa center, a set of rooms off the main lobby decorated with tall bamboo stalks to give those waiting to be seen a bit of privacy.

They were greeted quickly and taken back to separate rooms to change into lightweight green robes. "If you need assistance with your clothes, don't hesitate to ask," Lucy called to Danny before she was whisked away into the room across from her. Lucy saw Danny nod before the door closed between them.

Lucy had her own assistant, a young woman with small hands and sure fingers that worked carefully to get her out of the corset, shirt, and skirt until finally Lucy stood in front of her in just her underthings. "I believe I can handle it from here," she told the woman, who had yet to leave the room despite Lucy's state of near undress.

Blushing, the girl excused herself, and Lucy removed the thin shell she'd been wearing under her lace shirt, along with her pale silk stockings. Lucy was left in a simple lace bra and matching pair of panties. They were expensive, as she appreciated nice things, and Lucy stared down at herself and sighed. No one else had appreciated them since she first purchased the set four months ago, which seemed a terrible shame.

Lucy took her lingerie off and hung it on the back of the door next to Natasha's clothes, then wrapped the robe around herself before stepping into the hallway. Danny's own changing room lay abandoned, so Lucy followed the sounds of voices down the hall through an open door, where she was greeted with soft candlelight and the smell of sandalwood oil, along with a half-dozen more potted bamboo plants. There were two tables in the center of the room, and one was occupied with Danny, already stretched out face down on the sheets.

"Miss Culpepper?" the masseuse in front of an empty table asked as she entered.

Lucy nodded. "I am."

Danny rolled her head to the side to look at her, and though Lucy was aware that she now had an audience, she didn't mind so much that it was Danny whom she heard quickly draw in a breath as Lucy disrobed before climbing onto the massage table. The room was dimly lit, but Lucy was satisfied that Danny had gotten a good look at Lucy's assets, so to speak. It was only fair, considering that Danny had been on display for Lucy—and everyone else—all day.

"I didn't know you'd booked a couple's massage," Danny said once she found her voice again.

Lucy made sure she was facing Danny as the massage began, pleased with how convenient the setup was for conversation. "Given our shared experiences today, I didn't see it as being an issue. Do you disagree?"

"Not at all. I'm just glad to be getting a massage. This isn't something I do all that often. Or, well, ever, really."

"You should. It's exceptionally relaxing. After a long day, there are few things I find better than a good massage," Lucy said. Her own masseuse quickly earned Lucy's respect as she found a particularly troubling knot on her shoulder and worked into it as much as possible before moving on.

She heard Danny's low moans and smiled, glad that Danny was enjoying this treatment but wishing those sounds were brought on by something else entirely.

Their hour on the massage table passed far too quickly, and soon Lucy and Danny headed back to their hotel room, their clothes in bags hanging over their arms and Lucy's boots dangling from her fingers. They'd opted to keep the robes on instead of re-dressing, since Natasha's clothes were too nice to risk spoiling with oil. Even Lucy could only take a corset for so many hours a day.

"I'm going to rinse off and change into something," Danny said as they entered the room, looking incredibly relaxed if the sway in her step and the droop of her eyelids were anything to judge by.

"All right. Have you decided on whether you're staying here tonight or if you'd rather I drive you home?" Lucy asked her as she watched her go.

Danny's voice was muffled by the bathroom door and the sudden spray of water, but Lucy still heard her reply well enough. "I think I'll stay. It makes more sense, right? That way neither of us has to drive until tomorrow afternoon once the convention is over."

Lucy had her sudden smile under control by the time Danny shut off the shower and emerged from the bathroom in tiny shorts and a tank top that did nothing to hide the fact that she wasn't wearing a bra. Her breasts were full and heavy, and Lucy tightened her hands into fists to remind herself that she wasn't free to touch.

"Bathroom's free if you want it," Danny said as she flopped down onto one of the beds. She spread out with a sigh and curled her fingers into the sheets. "Wow, that massage felt amazing." With sure, quick movements she reached into her bag and pulled out her phone. Lucy was curious to know what she was doing as her fingertips flew over the keyboard, but seconds later, her phone beeped and it was put away again. "Sent a text to my dad letting him know I was staying," Danny explained.

"We wouldn't want him to worry," Lucy said as she got to her feet and went to her suitcase. She'd brought something to sleep in, and it wouldn't do to be nude under a robe for the rest of the evening. She stole away into the bathroom, rinsed the oil off quickly, then slipped on a pair of silk pants and a fitted shirt. She considered putting on her dressing gown, but really, it was warm in the room, and Lucy liked the thought of Danny getting a closer look at her. She headed back into the room, sat in the chair next to Danny's bed, and pulled the room service menu over.