Tempest (8 page)

“Well, let's correct that.” Her smile widened as she continued to look at Dominic and me. Her facial expressions betrayed her, and her body language telegraphed exactly what was on her mind.
“My name is Domina Korina, but My friends call me DK, and yes, I do know who You and Dominic are.”

“That's better, now that the pleasantries are out of the way, we have other business to attend to, Ramesses.” Dominic's temper began to flare up. It was a matter of time before he cut loose and let his mouth tell what's going through his mind. “We have that fire play demo to prepare for You and sajira later tonight.”

“I would love to learn fire play,” DK chimed in, interrupting Dom's attempts at cutting the conversation short. “Watching Master Osiris last night was amazing. Do You think You could teach Me?”

Before I could answer, Dominic interjected, “I'm sorry, DK, but Master Ramesses's schedule is hectic over the next few days. It would be near impossible with the operations of the island during this critical grand opening to take the time needed to teach the basics.”

“I'm sure I can find some time to instruct over the next day or so.” I was contradicting myself, but I wasn't about to give up the opportunity to do some damage with my fire play skills. Dominic's jaw almost dropped as he watched the smile creep across DK's face and she subconsciously licked her lips. “You're more than welcome to watch the demo later on tonight, just to get an idea of how I do My thing.”

“I think I would love to see You do Your thing.” She moved closer to me for a brief second, an obvious attempt to trip my carnal senses. The mix of the ocean water on her skin and the scent of the suntan lotion should have been enough to make me want to take her right there on the beach, whether Dom was there or not.

Too bad for her. I did have business to attend to, and I wasn't about to deviate from my appointed rounds. Besides, there's no telling what may have happened later on after the demo.

“Well, I'll look forward to seeing You and the rest of the guests tonight in the main dungeon area, DK.” I maneuvered around her, taking care not to touch her in any sensual manner. The last thing I wanted to convey was that I was interested in more than instruction for a demo. I wasn't that desperate for pussy. “Enjoy the rest of Your sun tanning. From the looks of it, You're doing a very good job of avoiding tan lines.”

Dom and I walked away from her, and Dom couldn't resist looking back to get a last look. I didn't bother because if I played my cards right, she hadn't moved a muscle.

Dom cursed under his breath, prompting me to take a peek for myself. She not only hadn't moved from her spot, but she was grinning like a teenager admiring her first crush. Her eyes gave her away, letting me know I could get it when I felt like it.

Now, why did she want to go and do that for?

“Did You really have to go and get Her hopes up like that, Sir?” Dominic asked. “You know Your schedule is ridiculous right now; there's no way You will be able to give Her the attention needed.”

“Dom, You'd be amazed at the time You can make when the occasion calls for it.” I smirked as I thought about the exhibition I planned to put on with sajira later. “Besides, who's to say I won't be instructing tonight during the demo, playa?”

Dominic shrugged and shook his head. “We still have the rest of the island to sweep, Sir. It would be unfair for Me to tell You if you're playing with fire or not; I'm just Your protégé, remember?”

I cracked up at his attempts at passive-aggression, realizing he might be a little irritated because another woman chose to bypass him in my favor. I couldn't be mad at him about that, but I wasn't about to acquiesce to keep him happy, either. In a target-rich environment, it's dog-eat-dog, and the biggest dogs are the ones who eat the most sometimes.

Still, I felt the need to keep him satisfied and make the trip worth the time away from his girls, so I made a mental note to set things in balance later tonight. After all, he's my protégé, and I took care of my boys.

Even if they should be able to take care of themselves…

EIGHT
shamise

“i don't know what to do, sis. i'm so confused.”

I finally caught up with sajira near the outdoor play area. She sat in a spot where she could watch the impact play, observing the submissives being punched, kicked, paddled, and everything in between.

I knew her well enough to know when she got like this, she had something to get off her chest.

“What happened with lynx?”

“What makes you think—”

“Have you forgotten who you're talking to?” I cut her off, moving in front of her field of vision. “i know how you get when you're in a mess, so don't try me.”

Sajira lowered her eyes for a moment before meeting my gaze again. “lynx wants out, and he wants me to get out with him, leave my D/s family.”

I exhaled.

Talk about déjà vu?

Memories of the phone call I dreaded making years ago because I
thought
I was in love with my ex-husband came rushing to the surface. Faced with the same prospect with my submissive sister, I became acutely aware of the emotions my Daddy and Goddess felt when they let me go my own path.

All of a sudden, I didn't want her to leave us.

“What?!?!”

“Relax, sis, i'm not going anywhere,” sajira said, placing her hand on my arm. “I don't think i can go back to what i once was. i'm a spoiled, happy girl now.”

“Yeah, i can understand what you mean by that.” I smiled at the things we had done as a family in the past year, in and away from the BDSM world. The family trips with the kids, growing the businesses by leaps and bounds, and putting kinksters on notice that the House of Kemet-Ka was back to being the gold standard. She didn't want to leave all of that when we were really hitting our stride; I had to believe that. “i'm not gonna lie to you, sis. i was going to try to talk you out of leaving us if you really were thinking about it.”

“That's the thing; i was tempted for a moment.” sajira's eyes softened, and I caressed her cheek, tempted to kiss her in that moment. “The thing that changed my mind was the way he's treated me…the way he's treated you…the last few months. There's no way i could think he could flip the switch and be the man I married. We have both changed so much since we got into this.”

This was where the comparisons stopped. She'd been married a lot longer than me, and there was no easy way to throw things away in the blink of an eye. I understood her temptation to stay with her husband, and no amount of convincing or cajoling would be able to sway her if that was where her heart lied. At the end of the day, it was still her decision, whether Daddy or Goddess were involved in the decision or not.

I secretly wished she wasn't thinking about it as much as I was. “Whatever you decide you want to do, i'm with you.”

“Thanks, sis, that means a lot, considering you had to make the
decision you made.” sajira reached up to kiss my cheek. “For the longest, i'd hoped you would come back to us, but i knew you had to get some things out of your system, too. In my heart, i knew you would be back, regardless of the circumstances, because this is who we are. It's hard to go back to the vanilla world and think we can function like nothing ever happened.”

I hated it when she was right. Hate it or love it, there are things in the kink community that trump the larger mainstream in ways that only those who have been around long enough could possibly understand. There's something about being surrounded by people who really “get” you, and that's something hard to find, even with all the kinky books that have come to light lately.

I was about to say something else to continue our conversation now that sajira was beginning to feel more like herself, when she looked over my shoulder and raised her eyebrow. “Someone's staring at us.”

I quickly turned around and tried to quickly hide my facial expression. I was not in the mood to deal with this man, and my defenses were up immediately.

Sir Lyrical walked in our direction once he recognized my face.

I blew air as I found myself struggling to keep the Alpha in me behaved. sajira was confused at my rising anger as he drew closer to our personal space. “shamise, what's wrong? Do you know this guy walking toward us?”

“Yes, unfortunately, i do, sajira, but you're gonna have to trust me, there's something about this guy I'm not too happy with.” I moved closer to her ear to whisper the rest of the information. “He pushed up on Goddess, trying to get some private time with Her.”

sajira's eyes widened for a moment before she changed her expression, trying not to tip Lyrical that we might have been talking
about him. Funny thing was, I had a suspicion he would think we were anyway, even if we weren't.

The smug look on his face and the smile that spread across his lips sent a wave of discomfort through me. “Good afternoon, shamise. I hope your day has been going well. And who might this lovely woman be sitting with you?”

sajira felt my fingers tighten their grip around her wrist, and almost as though she were taking a silent cue from me, she moved into protocol before she spoke. “Sir, my name is sajira, sister of sajira and amani, and princess of the House of Kemet-Ka. May i inquire as to whom You are, Sir?”

Lyrical's eyes roamed and lingered all over sajira's body, further angering me. After a few seconds of enjoying the view, he finally responded, “My name is Sir Lyrical, sajira. If you don't mind Me saying so, that is a beautiful slave name you have. your Master and Mistress must be very proud of you, too.”

“Forgive me for correcting You, Sir, but the proper reference to Master Ramesses and Lady Neferterri in our presence would be our Daddy and Goddess.” sajira's face remained expressionless as she spoke. I wanted to jump up and down and yell out, “Get him, sis!” “If our brother, amani, were involved in this conversation, then the reference You would use in front of us would be our Master and Goddess. i am appreciative of You liking my slave name, Sir; it was lovingly chosen for me, and i try to provide another source of pride to my family.”

Lyrical's smile faded and his eyes darted in my direction, searching for anything that would give him a clue of whether or not I'd poisoned her against him. I gave him no satisfaction whatsoever. He turned to sajira to continue his conversation, such as it was. “Well, in that case, sajira, I should look forward to having dinner
with you and the rest of your family later this evening. I am looking forward to it.”

He walked away before either of us could answer to the dinner invitation he spoke of, and the looks we gave each other would probably have been a source of humor for anyone on the outside looking in, but we didn't know whether to be confused or pissed that we had to share space with this egotistical jerk.

“i know Daddy can be a bit over the top at times, but at least He's earned His arrogance.” sajira was the first to break the uneasy silence between us. “What a jackass.”

I laughed so hard I had to sit down next to her to catch my breath. “See, that's why i love you, sis.”

“Where in the hell did He come from, and what did Goddess see in Him to invite Him to dinner?” sajira continued with the questions she hoped to ask Goddess when we all got together to prepare for dinner. “Daddy's gonna take one look at ‘Sir Lyrical' and dismiss Him in a second.”

“i don't know, sis, but She must have seen something because He got a rise out of Her; i felt it in Her body language,” I explained from the interaction earlier in the day. “you and i both know how She can get when She has Her mind made up. Not even Daddy can change Her mind.”

“So, what do we do if ol' boy tries to flirt on the sly?” sajira asked. “Daddy's got a temper, even if He doesn't show it, and it might get ugly. Do we take our concerns to them, or do we let the chips fall and watch for the fallout?”

We got up from the area we were sitting and walked toward the shoreline, and I pondered her question the entire way. The last time we'd collectively decided to hold something back from Daddy and Goddess, we nearly got caught up in a situation we couldn't
control, and the consequences could have been more disastrous than the way it turned out. House protocol demanded that we request permission to speak freely so we could voice our concerns, but at the same time, this was our Masters' relationship, their marriage, and that was already tricky territory. One false step and things could fall apart in a hurry.

I didn't want to chance it unless we had proof that Sir Lyrical had ulterior motives for getting with Goddess. If it was just a fuck, then we could leave it alone because Daddy's never been opposed to it, with all of us still having roots in the swingers' community. But if this man had plans to split them up, they needed to be aware of it.

“For now, sis, we'll keep things under wraps, especially when amani isn't involved in the conversation,” I advised. “We need to get Him in the loop, so He can keep an eye on Lyrical, too.”