Xander led Mercedes away from Sam and Logan and over to the glass room that he’d reserved prior to arrival. After opening the door with a code, he stepped back and allowed her to go in before him.
Once inside, he closed the door behind them, ensuring that it locked so that they wouldn’t have any uninvited guests. It was one thing for voyeurs to linger as they watched through the twenty foot tall glass walls, but Xander had no interest in any additional participants.
Tonight it was just him and Mercedes in the room.
“What do you think?”
“It’s… interesting,” she said as she glanced around the room. “It’s a little… bright.”
She didn’t sound quite as cool as she was trying to appear. It made his dick hard to know her anticipation level was rising. That was what he expected.
If she pretended this was just another demonstration, she wouldn’t get out of it what he wanted her to. To know that she’d passed the point of being able to distance herself from the situation pleased him.
Xander smiled at her. “I’ll take care of the lighting in a minute. Right now, I want you to climb onto the bench.”
Mercedes looked up at him for the first time since they stepped into the room. Her eyes were wide, her throat working as she swallowed hard. There was a question in her penetrating gaze, but just as he had expected, she didn’t ask it.
Taking her hand, he held it as he led her closer to the bench. She paused momentarily, but he didn’t rush her, merely watching as she mentally worked it out. As much as he wanted to encourage her, to slide his hands over her thighs and coax her into place, he wasn’t willing to do it. This was up to Mercedes.
“Remember, you have a safe word, pet. I expect you to use it if, at any time, you feel the need to stop.”
Mercedes glared up at him, and he fought the urge to laugh. She clearly didn’t like the idea of safe wording out, but she of all people should understand that it wasn’t an admission of defeat.
“Yes, Sir,” she said through clenched teeth.
Xander released her hand when she knelt on the lower padded bench. Sliding his hand over her ass, he only offered his touch briefly before taking a step back.
What Mercedes might not realize was that there were separate controls for the room which would allow as much or as little outside interaction as he wanted. There was no way to seal off the room entirely, but he had the option of limiting visibility by pushing a single button. There was also the option of muting the speakers that allowed anyone to hear them.
The glass walls were made of a switchable privacy glass. They could go from clear to frosted, limiting those who were outside of the room to see only shadows, rather than a full view. For right now, he was going to leave the walls clear. And the speakers on.
Despite Mercedes’s hesitancy, Xander knew for a fact that she had no issues with being watched. He had no preference. He allowed his subs to dictate how much privacy they had, and it often depended upon their actions, whether they were obeying him or acting out. Being members of a sex club though, usually meant that one was intimately acquainted with public exhibitionism. Otherwise, if you weren’t interested in the audience, all of this could be done from the privacy of your own home.
Once Mercedes was in place on the bench, her abdomen resting comfortably over the narrow, horizontal padded bench, he moved closer. Her breasts were unbidden, her rib cage resting on the bench while her chest hung slightly over. He couldn’t wait to free her breasts from the silk that was currently clinging to them. On this particular bench, there was an armrest where her elbows rested. And to reduce the strain on her neck, she would be able to lay her forehead on a narrow padded bar that connected between the ends of the armrest.
Thanks to the design, he had the option of strapping her down, her thighs and her forearms. Just the thought of restraining her had his cock lengthening.
He would get to that. In a minute.
“You look incredible in that position,” he told her, his tone low and soothing.
She didn’t move.
He paused, not moving closer.
“Thank you, Sir,” she said.
Clearly an afterthought.
They’d be working on that shortly.
“You’re welcome, pet.”
Stepping up behind her, he placed his hands on her low back, slowly pushing the silk top upward, exposing her creamy skin. “I’m going to remove this now. We’ve gathered quite a bit of an audience, and I’d very much like them to see as much of you as possible.”
“Yes, Sir,” she whispered, her voice a little rougher than before.
She was getting turned on. Exactly what he had hoped for.
Keeping his pace slow, he pushed the nightgown higher until he could easily slip it over her head, her long, silky hair falling over her left shoulder as he did. She didn’t move when the silk pooled in the crook of her arms, and he again praised her for it.
Leaning over her from behind, because he couldn’t resist, he placed his forearms on the remaining space on the bench that was exposed at her sides. He tucked his arms against her, sandwiching her between his chest and the bench, but making sure not to put his weight on her. Reaching beneath her arms, Xander fingered the chain that was hanging down, the one connected to the clamps on her nipples.
Mercedes moaned when he tugged, causing the clamps to pull.
“You look so fucking pretty right now. Bent over, your ass and pussy at my mercy. You make my dick hard, pet. So damn hard.”
Mercedes’s breath hitched and the harder he tugged on the chain, the more she moaned. But she didn’t respond otherwise which was what bothered him.
He couldn’t help but wonder whether she was testing him again.
“You’re going to look even prettier when your ass is red, won’t you?”
“Yes, Mas – Sir.”
Xander caught Mercedes’s slip and an emotion he wasn’t familiar with ripped through him. She’d purposely refused to call him Master. He had no idea why that hurt him so much, but it was like a knife through his chest.
Rather than dwell on it, he shoved it away, refusing to let it get to him. It wasn’t a requirement and what he needed to focus his attention on was getting her off.
That’s the punishment she would receive from him tonight. He fully intended to make her soar, bring her to orgasm as many times as he possibly could until she was pleading for him to stop.
~~*~~*~~
Mercedes remained as still as possible, her breath slamming in and out of her lungs in perfect rhythm with the pulsing beat of the music playing overhead. She was trying not to break down before things had even got started, but her nerves were getting the better of her.
She continued to remind herself that this was Xander, a man she trusted with her life. There was no fear of him hurting her physically, she knew that. It wasn’t what she was worried about.
The problem she had was letting go. Handing him the reins, letting him control her pleasure.
Last night had been different. It hadn’t been intentional.
The scene they’d done together had been mutual. She had been playing a part. That was a far cry from what she was doing now because playing the part of his submissive and being his submissive were on opposite ends of the spectrum.
She didn’t want to disappoint him. Yet she already had.
Mercedes didn’t flinch, did her best not to react at all as Xander’s hand trailed over her skin once again. He worked his way over her butt, caressing her thigh with his warm hands. She knew what he was doing, but she tried not to think about it.
While he worked the buckles that would hook around her thigh, expertly restraining her to the bench, she remembered the way he’d tensed a moment ago. She had nearly called him Master, but for some reason, at the very last minute, she opted to go with the more impersonal Sir.
It had been a cheap shot; she knew that much. One that she would’ve noticed as a Domme as well. For his sub to refer to him as Master X, or simply Master, was one of the highest honors he could receive as a Dom. At least according to Xander.
It meant acceptance.
She’d purposely changed her tactic although she had wanted to call him Master, for reasons she couldn’t even fathom at this point. And he had obviously noticed, just as she expected.
Xander worked the buckles on her forearms, and she kept her head down, her eyes on the concrete floor beneath her. She wouldn’t be able to look at him. Not at this point.
Shit, she was doing well just to breathe.
An overwhelming mix of emotions was stirring inside of her. Defiance, panic, anger, submission. The least of which was the latter, but she was trying.
The hardest part was the fact that she wanted Xander to touch her. She wanted to touch him. Up to that point, she hadn’t had the pleasure of putting her hands on him, unless stroking him through his slacks earlier that morning counted. Since she hadn’t had the pleasure of touching him skin to skin, she didn’t consider it. And just the thought of exploring him inch by inch was driving her crazy.
Once he had her properly restrained, Xander’s hands caressed her bottom again and she fought the urge to groan. God, his touch was exquisite. The way his big hands formed to her body perfectly, it was as though he was built specifically to touch her.
“Lovely.” Xander’s word caressed her skin as smoothly as his hands, causing Mercedes to suck in a breath.
The more she thought about it, the more she realized she could handle whatever pain he dished out, whatever punishment he felt she deserved. But it was his reverent tone, the way he seemingly admired her that was breaking down her resistance.
The worst part about it: Mercedes didn’t associate approval with submission.
Which was a new lesson for her as a Domme. She gave her approval when it was earned, lavished her subs with kind words when they did what she expected them to do, but never once had she put herself in their shoes. To hear it, the tone of Xander’s voice ringing with the honesty of his words, caused her chest to swell with an emotion she wasn’t sure she was ready to feel.
She’d always associated submission with the inability to be in control. Her subs wanted her to take all control from them. Some let her do it easily, others were resistant. But all in all, they needed that from her.
For her, losing that control wasn’t an option. It meant someone else could overpower her, rob her of her strength, shatter her self-confidence.
Even though she could look at submission from a clinical perspective, through the eyes of a Domme, she still resisted the idea of letting someone have so much power over her.
Mercedes stopped thinking when Xander slid her panties down over her hips, leaving them to rest around her thighs. She’d already been exposed, the G-string he’d provided for her to wear had done little to cover her. But this was about making her feel vulnerable and being on display for him. Her panties provided a constant reminder of that fact. She was sure that was his intention.
“Are you wet, pet?” he asked, his fingers slipping down the crack of her ass.
She didn’t answer him. She couldn’t.
“Shit!” Mercedes screamed when Xander’s hand landed firmly on her ass, the heat from the contact blooming instantly.
“Answer me,” Xander boomed, his voice echoing in the small enclosed space, jerking her to attention.
He sounded… angry.
She saw him move into her field of vision, felt his hands as they fisted into her hair as he lifted her head. The next thing she knew she was looking at him. There was no anger in his beautiful green eyes, only dominance.
“Answer me when I speak to you. Do you understand me?”
“Yes, Sir,” she whispered, keeping her eyes locked with his.
“If you want this to end, you know what you have to say. I’ll let you go, and we’ll move on with our lives. But in the meantime, you will not top from the bottom, do you understand?”
Top from the bottom?
Oh, God. Was that what she was doing?
Crap.
Now that she thought about it, yes, that’s exactly what she was doing. She was holding out on them both in her attempt to keep control. Not only was she denying herself pleasure, she was also denying him his. And that was unacceptable. Even to her.
“Yes, Sir. I understand, Sir,” she said in a rush.
“Good.” He leaned in and pressed his lips to hers in a kiss so gentle, so sweet, she felt it to her toes.
That’s exactly when she knew…
If she wanted to please him, which she did, she was going to have to do what was necessary.
Mercedes was going to have to submit.