Sugar Dust (17 page)

“Then why did you come?” Edging around her, Dan crossed to the bed and snatched up the bag. “I can’t see it.”

“Near the bottom.”

He dug his hand right in and pawed through the contents. “No, it isn’t.”

“You’re still useless.” She rounded the bed. “Give it. I’ll look.” Her enraged searching proved too much for her bound hands. The bag fell and hit the floor near her feet. Dan bent to retrieve it.

Beth lashed out with her foot, catching him in the chin with such force that he cried out.

The blow cracked his teeth together and sent him reeling, sprawling against the floor on his back. Stars of gold and purple danced across his vision. Pain spiraled out from his jaw. Before he could move or cry out, Beth dived on to his chest and sat down, pinning his arms with her knees.

“We’re not done.” She hissed.

Dan tasted the metallic tang of blood in his mouth. He probed his lips with the end of his tongue and found the small cut from his front teeth. “Fuck.” Speaking brought on a wave of dizziness. He swallowed and tried again. “Get off me!”

Instead of standing, she crawled up his body. Dan realized her intent seconds before her musky wetness struck his chin. He tossed his head to one side. Dizziness intensified and made the room spin, while the scent of her body, so wet and ready, made his cock leap to attention. Her nearness, mingled with the savage ache in his mouth took him back to a place so familiar that he groaned. His hips bucked.

Grinning, Beth sat on his mouth. The taste of her brought memories of dungeons and whips, floggers and vibrators, chains and blood. He moaned and wrenched his hands free, gripping her hips as pulsing need fired through his cock.

“Yes,” she whispered, “just like before. Lick me, Dan. Eat me.”

“No.” More pain. Blood on his lips. Stiffness in his injured jaw. “I’m not doing this.”

She hissed and ground her pussy harder against his face. “Keep talking. It feels good, Dan. So good. Just like it used to be.”

“Fuck’s sake, Beth!”

Dan heard the click of the door and twisted his head to one side. His entire body froze, hands still locked on Beth’s hips when he spotted Karen standing in the doorway.

Chapter Fifteen

Karen froze outside the room, her pulse thudding in the back of her throat. Her mouth grew dry, though a lingering taste of something hard and bitter lined her tongue. She heard sounds behind her, low voices, but they were white noise, faint buzzing that filled her ears, while mist seemed to crawl across her vision. Then a soft chuckle pulled her back to the present.

Beth leered at her from beneath a curtain of long, green hair. “Oops.”

Karen looked past her to Dan, searching for his face beneath Beth’s long, pale legs. “Dan?” Her voice came out smaller than she wanted.

“Karen. Let me explain. I know what this looks like, but that’s not what it is.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Let me—will you get off me, woman!”

Beth laughed, but she did as she was told. “Of course. I’m only here to do as you ask, Master.”

Hearing another woman call Dan Master sickened Karen to the very core. Hearing Beth use the title veiled her vision in deep, pulsing crimson. Adrenaline flushed her limbs and set each one tingling while a rhythmic pounding threatened to drown out all other sounds. She saw the familiar way Dan’s hands lingered on those pale, round hips. His lips and chin glistened to match Beth’s inner thighs. Then Beth rolled free, sliding along Dan’s chin and chest. In her wake a shining trail of juice stained Dan’s shirt. Karen took a step forward and saw the gleam of handcuffs around those tiny wrists.

Denise touched her shoulder. She jumped, having forgotten, he was there. “Do you want to come with us, again, sweetheart? This looks like a bad time.”

Karen watched Dan struggle to his feet. He flexed his jaw and wiped a slick of Beth’s sex-juice from his stubble. She gritted her teeth but her hands shook. “Yes, please.”

She didn’t look at Denise, but kept her gaze on the man she loved.

“Kaz, no. Wait.”

“No!” she roared.

His voice was almost Dan “The Dom”, almost commanding. As always, it filled her body with lust and longing, but those feelings couldn’t compete with white-hot fury. The quickening of desire melted away, replaced by a yearning to scratch at his eyes.

Karen tore the slave band from her wrist and hurled it to the floor. It hit the carpet with a thump far louder than the delicate piece of jewelry warranted. It was the sound of all her hopes and dreams of a future with this man hitting the dust.

“Don’t you dare tell me ‘no’ like you have any right. You’ve lost that right—no, that
privilege
.”

“Please listen—”

“So you can tell me more half-truths and bald face lies?”

Dan stopped dead. “What lies?”

“You told me you’ve never subbed. Explicitly. But she says you did with her. First I thought she was lying but this...” Her throat tightened so much that words stopped flowing.

He whirled away from her to face Beth. “What did you tell her?”

The smile vanished from the smaller woman’s lips. She backed toward the bed. “The truth.” Beth’s face contorted, an ugly expression of fury, and she pointed with her chained hands. “I told her what we meant to each other and how you threw it away. Like you’re probably planning to do with her.”

Karen folded her arms. More than pain, she heard the acidic edge of jealousy in Beth’s voice. It pleased her, a wicked spike of vindictive glee.

A short silence followed, filled only with the sound of tense breathing. Then Dan bent and scooped a pile of condoms into a small green bag.

“I’m not going to tell you again, Beth. Get out. You’ve done enough damage to last forever.”

“But my cuffs—”

“Out!” Dan threw the bag. “Out!” It hit her in the face. “Get out before you leave on your ass.”

Beth turned to flee but Karen stepped in to block the way out. She stared into that mean, ugly face and felt her hands bunch into fists. It would feel so good to hit her, to feel her knuckles grind into that sharp, square jaw. Hear bone crack. A shriek of pain. In that moment Karen understood why Cindy always aimed for the nads; dealing pain seemed such a quick way to ease her own.

A gentle hand dropped on to her shoulder. Karen turned to see Denise shaking his head. “Don’t.” His voice soothed, pitched low and steady, serene, like a yoga instructor.

Her hands itched.

“She’s not worth it, sweetheart. Please don’t. You’ll get thrown out. They might even call the police.”

The rage dropped to a gentle simmer.

“They could even ban you,” Denise continued. “You’ll never be able to come back. Is that what you want?”

Who the hell would I come here with if not Dan?
Karen gnawed her bottom lip.
But she’s not worth a criminal record.
Karen stepped to one side. Head high, unconcerned by her nudity, Beth walked past her. On reaching the hallway she stopped and turned. “He doesn’t know what a collar really is, Karen. He’ll hurt you.”

A hysterical laugh burbled from her lips. “As if you give a shit, you two-faced, banshee-haired bitch.” The stunned stare she received in return more than made up for the satisfaction lost from staying her fists. It also reminded her of why Cindy was the one to lash out, and she wasn’t.

“Get out of here,” she muttered.

“He doesn’t understand what it means to girls like us—”

“Don’t you dare couple yourself with me. There’s no ‘us,’ just you, bringing cretins like Bones into what was once a safe environment, and me forced to deal with the fallout of your neurotic, egocentric, anti-commitment bullshit. Now, fuck off.”

Silence. From the corner of her eye Karen thought she saw Dan smile. With effort she tamped down the pride swelling her chest and focused on the other woman. Beth shook her head. Flicked her hair. Walked away.

Denise held out his hand. “Come with us, sweetheart. We’ll look after you.”

“Get your hairy paws off my girlfriend.” Dan stepped forward. “She’s not going with you.”

A look of horror crossed Denise’s face. Karen forced herself between them and gave Dan the full weight of her gaze. “Asshole. I knew you had a problem with them from the second we sat down. At least they don’t pretend to be anything other than what they are.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

She rolled her eyes, no longer surprised at his willingness to remain blind to his prejudices. “It doesn’t matter. Come on guys, let’s go.” She turned. Denise put his arm around her shoulders. Henrietta grabbed her hand and squeezed it. They led her back along the corridor.

“Karen, please.”

She didn’t turn. Not even when Dan’s pounding footsteps chased after her. His hand touched her arm as if to pull her back and she jerked away from all three men. “What?” she cried, horrified to hear the threat of tears in her voice. She sniffed to keep them at bay.

With Beth gone, her anger lost all focus. It transformed into cold, creeping anguish that sapped her strength and left her knees weak.

“Aren’t you going to let me explain?”

“I don’t see the point.”

“The point?” He clutched great fistfuls of hair with both hands. “The point is that I love you. Doesn’t that deserve a chance?”

The words, so incredible mere hours ago, bounced off her like drops of rain. They didn’t—couldn’t penetrate. She felt hollow.

She looked at Denise.

“Well if you ask me—” he began.

“I didn’t ask you,
Dennis
. Get your greasy, pointed nose out of my face and let me talk to my girlfriend.”

Karen sighed. “Dan—”

Again he interrupted. “No! Look, Karen, there’s things I’ve not told you about my past relationships because I was scared or ashamed. Maybe both. I’m not proud of some of the things I’ve done and I wasn’t ready to share that with you. I couldn’t stand the thought of you thinking less of me.”

Karen rolled her eyes. She looked at Dan’s flushed face and the traces of a dying boner at the front of his pants. “Well that went well, didn’t it?”

He flinched. “Okay, I deserved that, but it’s true. And now I’ve got nothing left to lose.”

She tried to think of something sensible to say, or at least something meaningful, but the threat of tears clogged the back of her throat and made speaking all but impossible. She shook her head.

“I know this is bad. I know I’ve fucked up—again—but please hear me out. That’s all I’m asking. Let me tell you everything.”

Once more Karen looked to Denise, but this time to gently pat his arm. “It’s okay. I’m sorry he’s being such a prick. He’s always been uncomfortable around transvestites.”

“Lots of men are, sweetheart.”

“It’s no excuse to be rude. He’s going to apologize when we’re done.”

“There’s no need for that.” A look of mild embarrassment crossed Denise’s face.

“Yes, there is,” she said. “I’ll come to your room later.”

Denise nodded. With a last look at Dan, he tucked his arm around Henrietta’s shoulder and steered them both away.

Karen tilted her chin and stared Dan straight in the eye. She saw him lower his shoulders. “Ten minutes,” she told him.

***

“I was new. I didn’t really get it.” Dan sat on the end of the bed with his head in his hands. He talked to the floor. “I knew I wanted to control women. I knew I liked the power trip and that it was important to me sexually. There were no words for it, but I understood that much about why other relationships I’d had didn’t work. Finding the BDSM scene introduced me to ideas I’d never considered before and suddenly there were websites full of women who wanted what I did. When Beth came along she was so fiery and pretty and sexy and obedient. She’d do anything I told her.”

Karen glared, thinking back to Beth’s bright green hair and nails. “Is this supposed to help? I want to know how she ended up sitting on your face.”

“You need to understand. I don’t know how else to explain other than to start at the beginning.”

“You’ve got eight minutes.” She glanced at the wall clock to emphasize the point.

He dragged his fingers through his hair. “I wanted to learn more, and munches were a waste of time, so I went to clubs. I met different people and explored different styles. We even tried it the other way.”

Karen winced. “Then she didn’t lie.”

“What?”

“She told me you switched. I didn’t believe her. I’m such an idiot.”

Dan sighed. “You’re not an idiot. Why
would
you believe her?”

“Why, indeed?” She gave a soft, disparaging chuckle.

“I liked switching at first. She used clamps. Light impact. Candle wax. Food. Ropes. Then she talked about water sports. Needles. Cock plugs.”

Karen flinched. “You hate that stuff.”

“I know.”

She looked at Dan’s lowered head and felt a sudden need to touch him. Her hands fluttered as if to reach out, but she jerked them back at the last moment. “I didn’t know. You never told me you’d tried it.”

“How would I know what I liked if it didn’t try? Anyway, what was the point? You already
knew
you didn’t like that stuff. But Beth ignored my safe words and I ended up with an infection that laid me out for two weeks.”

“How did you end up with someone like that? Why did you stay?”

“She got carried away.”

“You believe that?” Karen gazed at him, seeing and hearing through him the voices of hundreds if not thousands of domestic violence victims.

“Sometimes. Then I think about it some more and...” He scratched the back of his neck. “It takes a lot of control to control someone and keep a grip on that power trip. It’s a big rush. She needed practice. But after that night I only switched in clubs with other people around.”

“You were scared.”

“I suppose.”

“You were scared and still you stayed. You’re a fucking idiot.” Irritation tiptoed back into her tone.

Dan nodded in miserable resignation. “There was one guy who called himself The Big D. He liked to really hurt women. Beth idolized him. She told me that if I wanted to be a ‘proper Dom’, I should take some tips from him about how to treat subs and slaves.”