Secret Submission (27 page)

“Good.” He bent down and kissed her. “Let me fasten your collar.” She obediently lifted her hair and raised her neck, lowering her shoulders as he wrapped it around and fastened it, the snick of the lock sending shivers through her for an entirely different reason than normal. This was no game tonight; this was for real and she was scared.

He attached the heavy chain leash to the D-ring and had just finished putting on her ankle cuffs when there was a knocking at the door. He checked his watch. “Figures. That’ll be
Aleshia
and Anton—she’s always early.” He stood and started for the door. “Finish putting on your cuffs, then sit there till I come for you.”

She suddenly wanted to sit here all night. With trembling fingers, she attached the cuffs, having to make several attempts in her nervousness to close the locks. By the time she was done, she was sure everyone was here. Still, she sat on the edge of the bed, balefully watching the door as if her doom were about to enter.

 
But it was only Phillip. His manner was brusque. “Stand, slave.” She did so, her hands at her side, opening and closing, clenching the air in her fear.

“Sir…you didn’t, I mean, there wasn’t time for training this afternoon. I don’t know what to do—or say to them.”

He nodded. “You do what I tell you to do—and nothing more, slave. Understood?”

Her lip trembling, she nodded.

“And as to what to say, I’ve given that some thought and have come up with a way to calm your anxieties.” He turned her by the shoulders and she felt his hand press something against her mouth. The bit! Automatically, her mouth opened and he seated it quickly, drawing her hair back and letting the straps hold her mane away from her face. She heard the snick of a lock close and realized her mouth was bound. He had indeed taken care of the problem: she could not speak to the guests tonight.

He pulled her arms back and fastened her wrist cuffs to one another. With her shoulders now pulled back a bit, the bra cut into her breasts slightly and pushed her nipples out for all to see. In spite of her fear, or maybe because of it, she felt a gush of fluid between her legs.

Turning her to face him, he gave her one last instruction, “Just do what I tell you to do, slave. I will not let you come to harm.”

She nodded, her butterflies showing in the whites of her eyes. With pride, he pulled on her leash and she followed him out the door.

This whole evening was so out of her purview, she had given up trying to imagine it earlier. There were just too many unknowns. But now reality spread itself before her as she entered the brightly-lit living room.

Three couples sat ranged around the room. Two men sat in the chairs she and Phillip had put against the front wall earlier. She was struck, not so much by their appearance as their bearing. Both sat with the same ease and grace she’d seen in Phillip—a natural grace that emanated power. A woman sat on the floor beside each of them.

On the couch opposite, reclined a beautiful woman, her black hair pulled away from her face in a soft bun that accentuated her rather sharp features. She also had that aura of power. Beside her, a man knelt on the floor. Sarah’s eyes grew wide at that. She was just beginning to understand her own need for submission—why on earth would a man want to submit to a woman?

 
And then her gaze fell on the space that had been empty when Phillip had put her “on the shelf.” It was empty no longer. At the far end of the room, lit with all the spotlights from the track lighting above, was the tall cage. Black iron bars gleamed in the soft light, its open door just waiting for someone to cross its threshold. She almost cried as she realized who that someone would be and what her master had meant when he had told her she would be on display.

“May I present my new slave, Sarah Jackson-Parker,” he announced and a shock went through her being—he told them her name. How could he expose her like that? But then rational thought took hold. What else did she expect him to say? Didn’t she introduce him the night before by his whole name? It was what normal people did. Except she did not feel normal. Not at all.

She trembled and he knew it. Moving his hand up her leash, he pulled her forward. While he stood in the center of the room, he guided her so that she was forced to make a full circle around the room.

“Meet my fellow Masters and Mistress, slave.” He knew this was hard for her, yet she was enduring it beautifully. Her steps were tentative and slow, but he was patient. Once she had made a full circuit, he pulled her into a second one, this time pulling up on her chain and making her stop before the first master.

“This is Master William, slave. Bow to him.” He had not warned her of this, wanting to test her resolve. In future meetings with his friends, he would test her much more severely. But tonight it would be enough just for her to acknowledge their presence.

She didn’t want to meet them. It was hard enough being displayed so wantonly, her nipples standing out straight, her freshly-shaven mound glimmering in its nakedness. She wished he would just put her in the blasted cage and be done with it. Her mind could slink off then, pretend she wasn’t really here, wasn’t really mostly naked before so many strange eyes.

But he had given her a command—and she didn’t want to embarrass him by not obeying. So she turned, keeping her eyes downcast so she wouldn’t have to see Master William looking at her, and bowed from the waist, her legs pressed tightly together.

“Look at me, slave Sarah.” Master William’s voice held the same raw power as Phillip’s. She didn’t want to look, but found her gaze drifting upward until her eyes met his. His eyes looked at her kindly, with no trace of the lewdness she expected to find. He smiled at her and her face softened.

“This is my slave.” He gestured to the woman beside him who knelt in a very familiar position. She was clothed, Sarah noted, in comfortable jeans and a pullover sweater, a pretty leather collar around her neck. Short, wavy hair neatly framed her pert face. “Her name is
Jillean
.” His hand brushed the top of his slave’s head. “Jill, say hello to slave Sarah.”

The woman stood with the practiced ease of one who had been rising from such a low level for years. Sarah watched her face and saw a welcoming calmness in the woman’s deep brown eyes. The slave put her hands on Sarah’s shoulders and leaned forward to kiss her on the cheek.

The tender understanding in the gesture touched her and tears formed in Sarah’s eyes. As Jill pulled away and returned to her former position, Sarah wished she could thank her, except the bit prevented her. But a nod from the now-kneeling slave made her realize the slave understood.

Phillip was also touched by Master William’s gesture with his slave. Will and he had been friends for over a decade—in fact, the other master had been Phillip’s mentor when he first admitted his need to dominate in a relationship. As Phillip pulled on Sarah’s chain to take her to the next master, Will winked at him and he knew he had his mentor’s approval.

“This is Master Dominic, slave. Bow to him.”

Master William and Jill had done a great deal to ease her mind, so this time Sarah was able to turn and bow without hesitation. She looked up into Master Dominic’s eyes, but did not find the same kindness Master William had shown her. His eyes flashed when she looked at him—was it anger? Had she done something wrong?

With a curt gesture, Master Dominic waved his hand in the general direction of the woman at his side. “This is Cora.”

Sarah looked down at the slave-woman kneeling rigidly beside her master. She was dressed more provocatively than the others in the room; a short skirt barely covered her ass, the neckline of the sweater plunged about as deep as it could go and still remain fastened in the front. She also wore a collar, but one of steel. A leash attached to it, the other end held casually in Master Dominic’s hand. As Cora stood, she teetered just a bit, then straightened. She did not look at Sarah—in fact, she looked at no one, just kept her gaze straight down. So Sarah saw what Cora did not—a slight narrowing of Master Dominic’s eyes at her ever-so-slight lack of grace. Now Sarah was glad for the bit, or she would have had a few words for the man who slouched in the chair.

Sarah was not in a position to initiate anything, but if she had been, she would have given Cora a hug for being beside such a lout. First impressions were important, she knew—for her first impression of this man was not a good one. Cora barely came to her shoulder, her shoulder-length black hair hanging loosely about her face. Executing a simple bow to Sarah, Cora returned to her position.

As Phillip tugged on her leash again, she tried to catch his glance to signal a question to him, but he studiously avoided her eye. Master Dominic and he had had several disagreements on both how to train a slave and how to keep one—and that was the reason he had invited him tonight. Part of him was vain enough to want Sarah to see what life could be like if he wasn’t such a nice guy.

“Lady
Aleshia
, this is my new slave.”

Sarah stopped before the woman and bowed as she had to each of the men. Like the Masters, she was simply dressed in jeans and a casual shirt, but Sarah could easily imagine her in latex, thigh high boots and all. Red nail polish gleamed on the tips of her fingers as she idly played with her slave’s hair.

“And this is my slave, Anton.”

Anton stood…and stood…and stood. Sarah’s eyes traveled up and up as the slave towered over her. The man must stand at least six foot six! She had no idea how tall the other masters were, as they had remained seated. Gazing back and forth between Phillip and the slave, she realized he had several inches on her own master. She saw he also wore a simple leather collar that looked quite attractive on him.

The male slave bent down and kissed the opposite cheek that Jill had welcomed. Like the other slaves, he did not speak, but as he pulled away, he grinned and dimples graced his cheeks. In spite of the bit in her mouth, Sarah found herself answering his smile with one of her own.

Some of her tension melted away as Phillip pulled again on her leash, taking her to the cage. Lightly she stepped inside, turning to face the front. Phillip swung the door shut and turned the key.

For a moment, Sarah relaxed. She made it. She had crossed the room and gotten into the cage where she expected she would remain for the rest of the evening. Nothing to do, and with the bit in her mouth, nothing to say. No way to mess things up. Quietly, she sighed.

Her relief was short-lived. Phillip was not quite done with her. He wanted her on display—all of her. Stooping down beside the cage, he reached in and took hold of her ankle, gently tugging it. She shifted her weight in confusion—what was he doing? Her ankle touched the cold iron of the bars and sent a shiver through her as she heard the familiar “snick.” Locked in place, her legs were spread a bit and suddenly she realized his intention.

There was no way to tell him no, to beg him not to show her to all these people. His hands were at her other leg now and she moved it out of a habit of obeisance rather than out of a desire to do so. Her ankles, locked in place, spread her and the scent of her sex drifted up and filled her nose. They would all know!

Desperately she tried to see him to let him know with her eyes, but he had disappeared behind her. She felt his hands around her wrists as he pulled them back to fasten against the bars at the rear of the cage. Ever so slightly, she was pulled off balance, her arms forcing her breasts into the confines of her open bra. In spite of herself, she knew her nipples had hardened even as more juices gathered in the folds between her legs. No! She didn’t want to show herself to all these strangers!

Coming around front now, he reached in and took her leash. “You’re doing well, slave,” he murmured so only she could hear. Draping the leash over one of the crossbars, he let it dangle outside the cage. Stepping to the wall, his hand slid over the light switch, plunging the room into darkness. Except for the lights focused on her cage.

Tears formed in her eyes at her humiliation. How could he do this to her? How did he have the heart to display her so openly, so wantonly? Every part of her wanted to slam her legs shut and she squirmed in her bindings, her eyes pleading for release.

He did not give it to her. In the soft light from above, her beauty was incredible. It was a beauty she did not even realize she had, but he would teach her. He wanted to teach her so much about herself that she had yet to discover. Patiently, he waited, as did all the others. They all knew that, if she were a true submissive, it would be only a matter of time.

She wanted to see him—she wanted to look into his eyes and know he took pity on her. But he stayed in the darkness while the glare of the lights shone down upon her. Her nipples stood out in the light, bright against the darkness of the fabric that surrounded them. Down below, her mound glistened with sweat; the black stockings focused their attention on her sex. No one spoke, but she could not ignore their presence—a shift here, a small noise there. She knew they watched her. A moan escaped her and she writhed in the bindings. Wanting to hide, she strained to get loose so they could not see her. If only he would turn the lights off.

Her struggles grew wilder as her emotions bordered on panic; she tried to convince herself she didn’t really want this, even as evidence mounted that her body did. She couldn’t want this. To want to be naked in front of people said all sorts of things about her. Things she didn’t want to admit. Things that she should be ashamed of. So why did being put on such display make her so excited?