Domino (The Domino Trilogy) (43 page)

This is what
Katerina meant when she said I had power. And yes, I fully intended to use it. “Very good, Slave. You can stop panting now.”

He did, though his body was now in an advanced state of arousal. His back glistened with sweat, and heaved up and down with the force of his breathing. His cock had gotten still thicker, its tip peeking out from the foreskin like an overripe plum. His jaw was set in a determined line, as if he were concentrating very hard on something.

Of course, he
was
concentrating. As I circled his prone body once again I noticed the moisture that had begun to drip from the tip of his penis. My client was trying very, very hard not to come.

And he wouldn’t. Not yet. I realized then that he was waiting for me to give him permission.

So much power! So much authority! I could control the bodily functions of another human being with a word, even a gesture. How was this possible? I hadn’t imagined anything like it, and here it was, right before me. I might be a prisoner here, but yet here was a man willing to submit to me, a prisoner---and pay handsomely for the privilege. Behind these walls, the world was upside down.

“Very good.
Slave, raise your hindquarters up higher and you shall have a reward.”

He obeyed, seeming to know exactly what was coming.

Crack
. I slapped the whip hard against his buttocks. Then again, harder.
Crack.

He shuddered and moaned in pleasure.

“Slave, you must control yourself. I did not give you permission to make any noise.”

He stifled his moans, his whole body shaking from the effort. I had him on the brink, but I was not about to let him go over the edge. Not yet.

I went to my cabinet and withdrew a thick leather strap, which I fastened around his waist. There was a metal loop that I’d earlier devised would fasten to a corresponding hook on the ceiling apparatus, which I lowered using the switch Elzbeta had shown me. I fastened the loop to the hook, and pressed the switch again, holding it down until Ludwig was dangling about five inches off the ground. I placed the whip into its slot in the cabinet and retrieved a paddle.

“Now, Slave, you will answer a series of questions for me. You will speak your answers. If I am satisfied with your answers, then you will receive a reward. If I am not satisfied, then you shall be punished. Do you understand?”

He nodded.

“First question. Slave, what is your name?”

“Ludwig von Schlossen.”

“Where are you from?”

“Geneva.”

“How old are you?”

“Sixty-seven.”

“Why do you come here to this place?”

He did not respond. That angered me.

“Slave, I asked you a question. Why do you come here to this place?”

He paused, but finally spoke. “Because it amuses me.”

“Why does it amuse you
, Slave?”

“I don’t know.”

“Surely you know. Tell me. Be specific.”

“Because this is the only way I can be satisfied.”

Now we were getting somewhere. “Are you married, Slave?”

“No.”

“Have you ever been married?”

“Yes.”

“Did your former wife divorce you?”

“Yes.”

“Why did she divorce you, Slave?”
He swallowed hard. “Because I was impotent.”

“And yet you are not impotent at the moment. Is that because of me, Slave?”

His whole body shook on the hook, making him sway back and forth on the strap. “Yes.”

“Do you find me attractive, Slave?”

“Yes.”

“Do you want to fuck me, Slave?” I had to say this sentence carefully, lest I betray how much the idea of fucking him revolted me, even as the fact I held him completely within my power thrilled me. It was a strange dichotomy, not unlike the delicate balance between pleasure and pain that I was giving Ludwig, and which
Rostovich once gave to me. We masochists were a strange breed indeed.

“Yes.”

“Do you want to know what you must do in order to fuck me, Slave?”

“Yes.”

“Good. Then I shall tell you. I am going to assign you a series of tasks. Some of these tasks must be completed outside this room, outside of our time together. If you complete them to my satisfaction, then at our next meeting I will permit you to fuck me. But if you fail me, Slave, you shall be punished. Do you understand? Nod if you do.”

He nodded.

I went to my nightstand and retrieved the pad of paper where I’d written a series of things in shorthand before Ludwig’s arrival. Attached to it with a straight pin I’d found in the wardrobe was Julian’s business card. “Do you see this pad of paper, Slave?”

He nodded.

“Attached to it is a business card. You will call the number on this business card, and ask to speak to someone named Julian. You will then inform Julian that you are going to send him an important fax. You will then fax these papers to his attention. He will know what to do with them. You will return these items to me along with a confirmation that the fax was sent at our next meeting. If you do this, you will be permitted to fuck me in any way that you wish. Do you understand?”

He seemed puzzled. I surmised that no Dominant had ever given him a task quite like this before. I had counted on that, of course---knowing that Ludwig came here because he couldn’t get what he needed anywhere else, I thought it would serve my purpose to do something highly unusual for a Dominant to ask her submissive. I’d asked him to do a thoroughly mundane task---unusual for a Dominant, especially one in steel corset and Victorian regalia---but I was also offering him a potentially exciting reward. Would he bite?

I was taking a calculated risk. On the other hand, so was he. If Bluschencko got wind of it, the consequences could be bad for both of us. I doubted Bluschencko overlooked it when his paying clients helped his sex slaves disobey him. That wouldn’t be his style. Ludwig might even rat me out to Bluschencko without completing the task, and I’d end up like Katerina, or worse. My entire plan rested on my educated guess that Julian could read shorthand and Ludwig couldn’t, and that guess could very well be wrong. Still, it was a chance I’d have to take.

Ludwig finally nodded his understanding. I noticed then he had a strange glint in his eye. Was he excited by my offer, or did he have something else in mind? I couldn’t risk probing him further; I’d just have to make my move and pray that it all worked out. “Do you accept my assignment, Slave? You may speak your answer.”

“Yes.”

“Yes, what?”

“Yes, Mistress Domino.”

“Good, Slave.
” I gave him two hard slaps on the buttocks with the paddle as a reward. “You can come now.”

His whole body relaxed then, and semen poured out of his cock onto the floor. I wiped it up with a towel
Elzbeta had provided for the purpose, and deposited it into the laundry receptacle. Then I pressed the switch to lower Ludwig to the ground, unfastened him from the strap, and released him to the floor. “Slave, whenever you are ready, you may dress and partake of some refreshment. Feel free to speak if you wish.”
He lay there for a long while, drenched in sweat and moaning his deep state of pleasure. Finally he got up, stretched, and spoke a single sentence: “Thank you, Mistress Domino.”
I nodded to him but did not speak. Instead I motioned to the pitcher of cold lemon water and fresh olives I had waiting on the table. He tucked back into his robe and poured himself a glass of water, but did not touch the olives.
I handed him the stack of papers with Julian’s card attached; he glanced at them and blinked twice, his blank look confirming my guess that he did not understand shorthand, that he thought those papers covered with squiggles were just part of our game. He folded the papers over twice and placed them in his bathrobe pocket.  He finished his glass of water, nodded to me twice, and left.

I had satisfied my first client. Now time would tell if he would return the favor.

SIXTEEN

After Ludwig left, I rang for Katerina to help me out of the steel cage. Although I hadn’t exerted myself much physically during the session, I felt as if I’d run a marathon. Playing the role of Domino took a lot of energy. Plus I was waiting on pins and needles to see if the very risky move I’d made with Ludwig would pan out. He seemed to have taken the bait, but I knew that was no guarantee my scheme would work. Ludwig might have just been playing a role himself and had no intention of following my instructions, or even coming back for another session. Julian might not be able to read shorthand, or nobody else at the Ritz would know either. The fax could be lost in transit. Or my plan could go off without a hitch, but then I’d be found out and Bluschencko would have me executed for going behind his back.

Still, it beat waiting around here for the rest of my life, which would probably be short if I didn’t get out of here. Even if I was a prisoner here though, I found that I enjoyed
being Domino. She was a far more confident, mature---even dangerous----version of myself. Domino gave me the courage to face my difficult circumstances head-on. I even toyed with the idea of taking her along with me out into the real world, should I ever get out of here. Being Domino could become quite an asset.

Katerina
arrived to help me disrobe a few minutes after I rang for her. She did her job in silence, not even meeting my eyes. I wondered if I’d offended her somehow. Or perhaps that was just the way she always did things---was she worried she’d overstepped her bounds before? Was she trying to minimize her association with me in case things hit the fan later? I wanted to thank her for planting the seeds of my escape plan in my brain, but I didn’t want to drag her into anything should things go awry. Once my corset, bustle, and other accoutrements were hanging in my wardrobe, I gave her a polite nod and she went on her way.

After
Katerina left I changed into a set of silk pajamas and put myself to bed. I slept a hard, deep, dreamless sleep, not waking until Elzbeta came to rouse me the next morning. I woke with her shaking me hard by the left shoulder, her long lacquered nails digging a chasm into my skin. “Wake up, Domino. Your presence is required in the dining room.”

Her words seemed to come from the end of a long tunnel. I rubbed my eyes
and struggled to return from the dark recesses of sleep.

Elzbeta
slapped me hard across the face. “Domino, wake up!”

That worked. “
Wha?”

“Mr.
Bluscencko is here. He wants to see you.”

I sat bolt upright. “What does he want?”

Elzbeta looked grave. “I don’t know. But Mr. Bluschencko never comes here for his women after dropping them off unless something has gone wrong.”

I felt nauseous. Not even a full day had gone away since my makeshift escape attempt, and already the jig was up;
Bluschencko was on to me. What other reason could there be?

I swung my legs over the side of the bed and slid my feet into my slippers. The look on
Elzbeta’s face told me there was no time to shower or even to change, so I slid on my robe and followed her to the dining room. Bluschencko was seated at the head of table, dining on a breakfast of smoked salmon, capers, buttered crepes and sliced tomatoes with horseradish.

My lip curled in disgust.
The man has strange taste in food, I thought, wondering then if the same applied to his taste in women.

I opened my mouth to speak, but
Elzbeta elbowed me hard as a signal to remain silent.

“Ah, Miss Delaney,”
Bluschencko said through a mouthful of salmon. He paid no heed to either table manners or the custom of using only our persona names within these walls. “It is my understanding that you had a most successful first evening here in my establishment.”

I said nothing, instead waiting for him to explain exactly what he meant by
successful.

“Miss Delaney, this morning I received a cable from Ludwig von
Schlossen requesting that he procure exclusive access to you and your services. He made a substantial financial offer for same. Two, actually. One offer for the privilege of seeing you here, and another to purchase you outright and move you into his flat in Geneva. Though the amount of funds he was willing to transfer for either were tempting, I refused his offer. Do you know why?”

I shook my head.

“Before I tell you, perhaps I should explain what brought me here today. It is unusual, though not unheard of, for me to receive extremely lucrative buyout offers for my girls---more lucrative than your regular earnings, which are themselves quite substantial. I don’t generally receive them the same day I bring a girl to the establishment, however, though it has happened once before. But something happened this morning that has never happened before. Would you like to know what that was, Miss Delaney?”

I gave him a single nod, trying hard not to faint. I knew that whatever he was going to say next had to be related to the handwritten pile of shorthand I’d smuggled out the night before, but I didn’t want him to get any inkling of just how terrified I was at that knowledge.