Page 18 of Road Runner's Ride
“If you’ll excuse me, my kitten and I have a previous commitment.” Chin down, he looked at Aurelie, seeing her eyes were trained on the floor, but he knew she was listening. “Up, love. Let’s go.” As elegantly as she had gone to her knees, she rose. Kevin nodded to the Domme and her group of friends, then walked through them, forcing the smaller men and women to step aside, hearing the soft padding of Aurelie’s footsteps behind him.
Kris looked up from where he knelt beside one of the women and barked, “Close the goddamned door.” Aurelie flinched, having already gone to her knees off to one side. Kevin glanced at her and then leaned back out, gesturing to a curious Sidney before he closed the door. She needed his attention, but the stream of profanity and questions continued from Kris. “Who the fuck was that bitch? She just left them here. Fucking left them without removing the restraints. Didn’t make the smallest effort to make sure they were okay.” Kris had unfastened the wrist and ankle straps from one submissive and was turning to the other one, trying to assess her condition. “Not sure what the fuck she was thinking, or who sponsored her, but we need to find out, fast. These two are okay, will be okay. They’re just seriously wiped out. You can’t leave submissives like this.”
The door opened and closed. Sid stood still for only a moment before he stalked over to close the window blinds, slats slapping together in a noisy jangle of wood and metal. Sid joined Kris, kneeling on the floor. “Kevin, blankets and sugared juice for our guests, if you would. Something sweet, and not too cold, please. Thank you.” Without blinking an eye, the mature Dom issued the request without it seeming like an order, and Kevin nodded.
On his return trip, Kevin heard Aurelie’s voice as he pushed open the door with the requested items in his hands. She was speaking, her words quivering as she tried to force them out, apparently in response to a question, “They need…Madame doesn’t know what…” Chin tucked to her neck, Aurelie trailed off.
“Aurelie, help me with the blankets,” Kevin called, and she stood, head bowed, accepting the bundles from his arms.
“Your kitten is right, that Domme doesn’t know a fucking thing.” Unmitigated anger was clear in Kris’ voice. “Look,” he clipped, carefully rolling one woman to her side. Kevin’s stomach dipped when he saw the oozing wounds on her back. Only hours old, the unsettling splits in her skin looked like the scars on Aurelie’s. Glancing around the room, he saw a short whip coiled on a chair in front of the windows.
In a split second he pieced it all together. Aurelie’s unaccounted fear of the woman, the Domme’s familiar way and then her anger at the rejection. As Kris pushed to his feet with the submissive cradled against his chest, Kevin’s gut rolled with rage as he began, “Sid, this is not—”
With a gesture as well as his words, Sid cut him off. “I know. Iwillhandle this. First, let’s make these two comfortable. They’ve given a lot tonight and deserve our care, having been denied comfort from the Domme who scened with them.”
Kevin stooped, gently gathering the other woman from the floor and into his arms. He shifted her slightly and turned to follow Kris from the room. “Aurelie, come with us, honey.” She followed wordlessly, the soft padding of her feet against the floor once again the only sound.
***
Aurelie
She shivered, caught up in the memories provoked by the encounter tonight. Aurelie’s skin had quivered, crawling when the Domme had touched her, the lingering stroke of a single finger enough to make the room spin. Obedience was so ingrained in everything she was, Aurelie hadn’t found her voice to object. Even knowing it wasn’t a sub’s lot to simply take whatever was offered, fear had paralyzed her, stripping her of will as effectively as any bonds.
Aurelie sat to one side in Master Sidney’s office, chin angled down, listening as the three men discussed what they’d seen tonight.You do not know the capacity inside her, she thought, as they exclaimed in disbelief at how anyone could treat submissives in such a fashion. Phantom pain twitched a muscle in her back, and Aurelie ignored the seizing cramp. She breathed slowly, seeking the calm center she’d only found in Kevin’s presence.He’s ever been my Gibraltar. Large and heavily muscled, he bore tattoos now that she hadn’t expected. The first night in his apartment had been a revelation in so many ways.
For years she’d tried to tell herself that he could never have been as perfect as her recall painted him. An idyllic moment in time frozen at the peak of perfection, she attempted to convince her heart rekindling things with him would break the image irreparably. Close by, but separate, she’d avoided any encounters that could shatter her memories.
He’d put the lie to that within moments, not bothering to hide his shock and staring at her with visible delight as he’d breathed her name. A prayer and a vow in one, and in the handful of days since Kevin had more than lived up to every larger-than-life version carried for so long in her head.
Tonight had been more of the same. His fierce defense of her as his property had given her the warm sense of belonging she’d prayed for. Then the tender care he’d exhibited for the exhausted subs cemented his status. He wanted to claim her and had made no attempt to hide his pleasure in everything she did with him. Wryly, she thought,He also hasn’t tried to hide his displeasure when I sidestep his desires.
That very openness spoke to his strength. Kevin wasn’t afraid to show her any side of his personality, trusting she would accept all he was. Now she just had to find the same strength.
