Page 30 of For Love & Torture
Chapter 15
Grant
Troy, Blyss, and I chat away as the lights go down, and everyone becomes quiet, eager to watch what’s about to happen on stage. Classical music drifts through the room, sounding ghostly, haunting me already.
The month is October, and at the end of this month, we’ll be having our first annual Halloween Ball. Our patrons will all be wearing costumes, and many will be putting on scenes. It’s a thing Isabel and I came up with last month, and everyone seems excited about it.
Taking in a scene with my friend Troy and his sub, Blyss, I try not to think about anything but what’s going on onstage. Blyss is sitting between Troy and I, and she smiles as she says, “This seems so surreal.”
I’m sure it does to the young woman. She was a virgin when she came here. Troy won one of the most sought-after women we’ve ever had here. I haven’t said a word to him, but I can tell they’re headed for more of a romance than just a BDSM relationship.
Troy had told me that Blyss asked him if they could come up with a scene to play out in front of the other club members. He’s against it, still worried about how fragile she is, even though she keeps assuring the man she isn’t as breakable as he thinks she is. Troy doesn’t seem to be taking any chances with the adorable young woman.
The spotlight comes on, focusing on a crystal vase full of lilacs that sit on a table in the center of the stage. Placing my glass of Scotch on the table, I lean back in my seat. Looking at Blyss, I let her and Troy in on something I’ve heard about the woman who will be in the scene. “The sub who’s in this has asked about me, several times. She’s been what I call a hopper, going from Dom to Dom. I’m interested in her, only to try to tame her to stop her endless roving from person to person. I’d love it if you could see if you can get a bead on her, to let me know if that would even be possible, Blyss.”
“I can try.” She smiles and pats my hand. “Maybe she will be the one for you. You’re a sub hopper, yourself. Perhaps you could tame each other.”
Troy is quick to correct his sub. “Blyss, it’s okay for a Dom to take as many subs as he wants to. Don’t refer to Mr. J. as a hopper.”
“I apologize, Mr. J.” Blyss offers a genuine apology, then turns her attention to her Dom. “As for you, your hopping days are through.”
Troy chuckles instead of getting angry with her. “Blyss, we’ll talk later about how you speak to me. Now, get quiet and watch the show.”
With a nod, she bows her head with respect. “Yes, Master.”
With a kiss to the side of her head, Troy whispers, “Good girl.”
I know I seem like a hopper to most people in the club. I know what it looks like. The thing is, I may have practiced certain types of play with the women in this club, but my cock has never gone into anyone—other than Isabel—since the club opened.
Not that I’ve been holding out for her, because I haven’t. Merely because none of the women I’ve played with make my cock ache to be inside of them the way it does whenever I’m around Isabel, that doesn’t mean I’m pining after her.
If I was a whole man, a man without demons, perhaps then I would try to make something with the woman who loves me. I fear I’ll never become the person she deserves. Nothing has changed in me in the last year though, and I doubt anything ever will.
The spotlight pulls out, and now we see someone is on the stage. The sub sits with a book in her lap. A baby blue dress that looks as if it’s from the nineteen fifties covers her body. A white pair of heels and a string of pearls complete the old-time look. She even has a pair of reading glasses on.
Smoke begins to wisp out from the side of the stage. The sub is unaware of the smoke. The sound of a creaking door comes from the speakers. The Dom enters the stage, opposite the side where smoke is still moving in wispy ropes.
His suit is old and worn as he portrays the other half of the old-time couple. His hat is tossed, landing on the table near the vase of flowers. “Is dinner ready, Pet?”
The sub looks up from the book without a care in the word and not a single clue that there’s a fire right on the other side of her. “I have no idea. I got lost in this story.”
The Dom is well aware of the smoke and shouts, “There’s a fire in the kitchen!” He tears across the stage, while the sub just sits there.
Oh, this will not be good for the foolish sub.
Placing the book that was on her lap on the table to join the flowers and the hat, she sighs and waits. I fight the urge to shout at her to get up and help her Dom.
On cue, the Dom comes back to her, red-faced and clearly upset with the poor foolish woman. “That’s the fourth time this week you’ve burned supper and nearly burned down our home, Pet. We’ll be having cold bologna sandwiches yet again, thanks to your errant ways. What am I to do with you to get you to remember what your job is, here at our home?”
“I don’t know.” Finally, she stands up and wraps her arms around him. “We don’t have to eat sandwiches again, Sir. We can go out for a nice meal. Wouldn’t that be nice?”
The angry growl coming from the Dom should be a warning to his sub that things aren’t going to go well for her. “Pet, you have a mess to clean up in the kitchen. Not only do the burnt remains of the meal in the oven need to be cleaned out, but you also haven’t cleaned any of the dishes you used while making the now-charred meal. And I will not be rewarding your behavior. As a matter of fact, I think you need to be punished.”
Now she’s getting it.
“Punished?” she asks, as if she had no clue that outcome was on the cards for her.
Taking her hand, he takes her back to the chair. Pulling back, she tries to get away from him. But he’s not having it. “Pet, do you realize that the food you keep burning is costing us money?”
