Chilled to the Bone (5 page)

Charles chuckled. “He’s the dungeon monitor, love. And a friend of mine, so he’s probably a little curious. He, Kent, and I take turns monitoring. He’s on duty to make sure the scenes people do don’t get out of hand, and no one gets hurt. If someone were to call out the club safe word, he’d be there to enforce it.”

“Safe word? You mentioned that phrase before.”

Charles shook his head and chuckled at himself. It was so hard to think of a vampire as an innocent. And a safe word would usually be the first thing he’d discuss with a sub, but he had been thrown off stride by the way the rational world he imagined had suddenly given way one with a place for the supernatural. But an appetite for blood and an aversion to sunlight didn’t automatically make one an expert on BDSM. “It’s a special word people set up when they do BDSM play, usually a word that would be unlikely to come up spontaneously. When either partner, but usually the submissive, says the safe word, play stops. It means the sub is suffering emotional or physical distress from what’s going on. Maybe her hands are going numb from bondage, or maybe some very unpleasant memories are surging forward because of what’s going on. Either way, ropes and chains come off until everything is okay again. The club safe word is albatross. If anyone yells that out, the monitor on duty comes running to intervene. That’s part of what brings a lot of people here, actually. Some people are exhibitionists, and they love playing in front of an audience, but the monitors make this a safe—or at least safer—place to play with someone you don’t know well enough to trust completely.”

“Is that why we’re playing here?”

He smiled. “Not really. Although maybe it’s a good idea. You might need the extra security.” He didn’t move his hand from where it was. He’d found a nice curve to press it against, and Doreen needed to talk some of this through without him turning up the distraction levels.

“Or you might.”

“Maybe. But I wouldn’t risk someone else intervening for me against you. Kent says you’re pretty strong, and I’ve seen how fast you are. I can take risks with you if I like, but I won’t get other people involved if I can help it. We’re here because Pemberton is sworn not to interfere with people in the club, and Kent seems to trust him on that. Also, moving you during the day seemed like a bad idea.”

Doreen nodded. “Those two are watching, too.”

She nodded over towards the far corner. There was a couple he hadn’t seen before. The man was big, dressed in leather from neck to toe; the woman was quite small, with straight platinum hair, her style more goth than BDSM, with a ripped fishnet shirt over a black bra, and spiked collar and wrist bands. They both looked away when he turned his head towards them
.

Odd. There weren’t a lot of new people; the club drew quite well, and Kent was very careful about adding people the membership list. “Vampires?” he asked.

“No. They are breathing.”

He was surprised she could tell with such certainty from all the way across the room. But he remembered she had sensed Kent and Angela coming in the night before way before he had noticed, too. He turned back towards Brennan, and waited for his gaze to come back to him and Doreen. Then he nodded over towards the corner. Brennan nodded to let him know he understood. Charles smiled. Brennan would keep an eye on the new people, although if they weren’t vampires
,
he was probably being paranoid.

“Some people,” he said at last, “are here because they like to watch, too. It’s a good way to learn, too.”

Doreen smirked. “And what are you teaching?”

Charles laughed. Her face was adorable when she did that. On some people a smirk would be an expression of superiority, or a way to brush off any real connection, but he got the feeling this one indicated she was becoming comfortable enough with him that she wasn’t trying to make an impression. “Class is not in session right now. I’m feeling you up because I like the way you feel.”

He wished he knew how she felt in another sense; he felt like he was only guessing. He’d learn to read a lot into the way someone breathed, and Doreen didn’t breathe at all. At least her cheeks turned a rosy red when she was embarrassed.
Is it the challenge that attracts me? Maybe.
But he didn’t think that was quite it. She was easy on the eyes, but he’d been with a lot of good
-
looking women, and this one was decidedly special.

She was watching him as though waiting for him to make the next move. There was a bondage frame available not too far away; later in the night there would be people queuing for it. As a Dom
,
he always wanted his partner to have a good time, but when that good time involved ropes and chains
,
he enjoyed it more. He could usually tell from watching a submissive take in the scenes in the club what turned her on, but Doreen’s body gave so few clues. She was turned on. He could see that from the way her nipples made bumps in the tight dress. But was it his hand that turned her on? Or was it the dress, the people watching, the spanking in front of them, or one of the couples playing on the St. Andrew’s Crosses?
The
o
nly way to find out what she wants is to ask. But the one thing no submissive wants is to think they are calling the shots.

“Have you ever been tied up before, Doreen?”

“Yes.” She frowned.

“Kinky boyfriend?”

“Evil vampire.” She paused. “Well, actually, I mean, yes to the evil, but Mario was doing what was necessary. And it wasn’t ropes, it was chains. When he first made me—well, what I am—I was so hungry it was kind of like being crazy. I don’t really remember everything that happened, just the taste of blood, and wanting to attack anyone to get it.” She looked down, not able to meet his eyes, and she even squirmed away from his hand. He let her, taking hold of her hand instead.

“It doesn’t sound like it was your fault, exactly.”

Doreen shook her head. “I didn’t ask to be made a vampire. He picked me up out of nowhere and made me… He sucked me dry and forced his blood down my throat, and well, I don’t remember all of that either. But it doesn’t matter if it was my fault. It was still me. I may have killed someone, maybe several people. I’m sure I would have, if he brought them to me too feed on. It’s probably only my cowardice stopping me from remembering the details.” As she talked
,
she squeezed his hand, harder and harder.

“Doreen, you need to let go of my hand now.”
Before you break it.

“Oh. Sorry.” She let go of it and shook her hand. “See what I mean. I’ve no self
-
control.”

Self
-
control enough to stop from taking my mind over when you were dying.
He knew whatever happened when she was tied up by Mario, there was no way she would choose to kill to drink now, no matter what the consequences were. She’d demonstrated that. Maybe she’d become a better person, or maybe she hadn’t killed at all. It would probably have given Mario more control over her if she thought she had, and from what Kent had told him
,
Mario was a sadistic son of a bitch. Obviously Mario had done a job on her self-image as well as on her life. He made up his mind.

“Come,” he said, and walked towards the bondage frame. He caught the startled look on her face, the way her eyes widened and her lips made an O, but he kept going, confident she’d follow. And follow she did, her bare feet making only a faint noise on the hardwood floor. He thought back to the night before and the way her feet had sounded before she stopped him from his second attempt to call 911.
How fast could she move, anyway?

The frame was made of sturdy oak two
-
by
-
fours, painted black. The beams made a square seven feet on a side, with U bolts set in the beams every foot or so for holding a submissive in almost any position on the inside of the square. A sub who wasn’t extra tall could even be suspended a few feet off the ground; he knew the frame, supported by metal poles set at angles to the square, could support her weight and then some. On the outside edges
,
there were hooks from which hung manacles, cuffs, chains, and various lengths of rope.

Out of habit, he rubbed his hands over the wood, peering at it from every angle. There wouldn’t be anything wrong with it; it had been built a month ago, and he’d tested it then with his own weight to make sure it would hold a sub.

“No,” said Doreen, her voice low but full of terror.

“No chains.” It wasn’t a question. It was a statement.

“I don’t even know if I could stand to be tied up. You don’t know what it was like.”

“You’re right. I don’t. But I know what you’re like, and I’m willing to stake my life on that tonight like I was last night. I trust you, Doreen. Trust me.”

She nodded slowly and without any apparent conviction.

He took a few six foot lengths of rope and tied them to the top beam, four feet apart. He made loops with the extra, hoping he wasn’t being watched too closely by a novice. There was a right way to make rope cuffs so they wouldn’t cut off circulation, and this wasn’t it. Did he even have to worry about things like that with a vampire? He’d assume so unless he found out otherwise. In any case, cuffs weren’t what he was trying to make. “Come here, and grab onto the loops, Doreen.”

She moved into position in the middle of the frame, but hesitated. “How do you know I won’t go crazy and start killing people? Even if you’re willing to take the risk—“

“I can’t take it for others,” he said, finishing the thought. “I’m not. Do as directed.”

“Yes, Master.” She started to slip her small hands through the loops, all the while shaking her head. To get to both of them at once
,
she had to spread her arms wide, and she could barely reach them.

“I didn’t tell you to put your hands through the loops,” he said sharply. “Just grab them.”

She blinked. “Sorry.” Her jaw visibly relaxed as she adjusted her hands to hold on to the rope.

He smiled. “That should be ‘Sorry, Master,’ but I’ll let you off the hook this time.”

She grinned at him. That gesture, at least, he could read fine.

“We’re going to try something I call mental bondage,” he told her.

The grin was replaced with a frown. “I agreed to let you control my body, but there’s no way in hell you can control my mind.”

“No,” he agreed. “Well, maybe nudge it a little. Getting to a different mental state is part of what BDSM is all about after all. Or sex in general. The brain is the key to the fun. But that’s not what I mean, anyway. I’m not going to try to control your mind; rather, your mind is going to control your body.”

She chuckled. “Isn’t that what it usually does?”

“Yes. Exactly. And yet not quite. Stay still, love.”

“That’s easy.”

He grinned. “Then you should be very good at it. Now imagine for a moment your hands can’t move from those ropes. I know you’re strong, but hold onto them and pretend you can’t let go.”

She nodded, her eyes narrowing.

“I’ll move your legs to where I want them. Make sure your hands stay put.”

He squatted down between her legs and moved her right ankle a foot and a half to the right. “It can’t move now,” he told her.

“I’m pretty sure it— Oh! Yes, Master.”

“Is your mind strong enough to hold it in place, love?”

She hesitated a moment. “Yes.”

“Now the other one.” He moved it to the left, spreading her legs more, her body lowering in response. If she held her feet there, there’d be a tension in the ropes as she tried to hold onto them. Looking up, he was at the right angle to see her sex glistening beneath her dress. He grinned. Good to know she was enjoying herself, and that he could read her physical reactions. He stood up so he could see her eyes again.

“If they weren’t held so firmly, I’m sure you could lift yourself up off the ground. In fact
,
you could probably break free of those ropes if you weren’t being held by something even stronger.” He was talking in a low voice, but he dropped it even further. “Just like you could push against my mind if you wanted to, right now. If you weren’t holding yourself back. You’re so strong.”

She shook her head. “I don’t know how you can say that.”

“Some people love being held in place, but they can’t help but struggle against it. They’re brave enough to say yes to getting tied up, but not strong enough to resist struggling against the ropes.” He slid a finger along the inside of her right thigh, taking advantage of the way he’d positioned her legs a few feet apart. “Now you’re not going to move, are you, love?”

“No
,
sir.”

“No matter what?”

“No matter what.”

“I believe that. And I intend to prove it to you.” He lazily stroked up her thigh again, slowing down this time as his hand rose, and moving higher than before.

Her eyes widened. He knew what she thought he was about to do, and he could see the hunger in her eyes. He wondered if she was aware of how sexy it was when she licked her lips, but it looked like she was doing it innocently enough. He took his hand away. “Oh!” she said, giving him a look of reproach.