Something made me look up, maybe the way Steph was sitting? Whatever, I had due warning. From the way buttons were pressed and from the timing of the soldiers’ shooting and running on screen, I could tell that Steph was the man at the bottom of the screen. It was multiplayer and they seemed on the same team, scurrying through abandoned and demolished buildings shooting everyone on the other side.
But then I spotted what Steph was aiming at, or who, and from the surroundings, I saw that it was Klaus. I glanced at her and saw delight a second before she made her soldier shoot Klaus’s man in the back.
He put down his controller and looked back at her.
“Oh fuck.” She smirked. “You have friendly fire?”
“You knew that. You play far too well to be a noob.” He stood, unfolded those long legs then stalked toward Steph.
“I didn’t mean it,” she squeaked. “It’s just a game!”
“No, it’s not. That was deliberate. You liked killing me in the game and so you did it. Is that disrespect? Killing your master in a video game?” He angled an eyebrow in a mocking way, held both hands palms forward at his sides. “Spanking time, Jodie?”
“I think so. She definitely deserves a spanking for that.”
“What? No, no, no. You’re joking. Aren’t you?” Steph carefully put down her controller then looked from me to the grinning Klaus and back again to me. “You are joking. Phew. I thought you both meant it.”
He stood over her. “But I did.”
Then he pounced, wrestled her to the couch and sat back down with her face down over his lap. Due to not wanting a kick in my teeth, I’d sprung off the couch, and now waited a few feet away. Her ohmigods and small shrieks said she was alarmed but she didn’t appear game to put up much of a fight.
“Stop wriggling,” Klaus said sternly, applying his hand to her now bared ass. The smack of his broad palm on her was closely followed by another screech from Steph, but she stopped wriggling. “Good girl.” Then he delivered what I would call a sensual spanking. After every few smacks he slid his hand between her legs. Watching part of his hand disappear between the curves of her perfect little ass made me instantly horny.
I’d never seen him go so light, but then she didn’t like pain that much. My man was being kind and playful because that’s what she needed. This was why I loved him.
I crept in and kneeled by her head so I could nuzzle her and kiss her while he played with her other end. From the way her eyelids had lowered she was appreciating his efforts.
“Where’s his hand going?” I asked her, nibbling the lower part of her plump lip.
“Where do you think?” She wriggled a little. “Why does that feel so good?”
Another round of spanks made her huff and moan.
“You’re so cute when you do that. It’s good because it reverberates into your pussy. Yes? I’m an expert on this.”
“Maybe you need one next?” Klaus asked with that mean glint in his eye.
“I’d rather tease my pet. If I can, Sir?”
“Maybe later.” He tapped her butt with one hand. “Listen up. Since I have you both here nice and close, I think I should pass on the news that I’ve decided we should go to a munch this weekend.”
“Oh.” I sat back on my heels. “Does that mean Kat will be there?”
He nodded. “Possibly. I decided this before your little encounter with her. We need to be seen and that’s a good way to do it. Chris has been saying things that make me worry about dropping out so suddenly. The amount of controversy building around these deaths…it’s way bigger than I imagined and will stick in people’s memories. We don’t need any sort of suspicion falling on us.”
“What about Steph? If we go…” I looked at her and saw she was taking this all in though restraining from commenting. “If we go she’ll be here. Yes?”
“Yes. We have the apps linking the room’s camera to our phones, as well as the alarm systems. You know it’s as safe as when you were in there.”
“I guess I do.” What I didn’t say out loud was how terrified I’d been at times. I hadn’t even known he was thinking about safety back then though. At least Steph knew. “You’ll be safe.” I nodded to her. “Okay?”
She nodded back and I patted her shoulder. She didn’t have any choice, same as me, but I could see the point in doing this. “Just the once?” I asked him.
“Yes.”
Then I considered again how strangely comfortable we all were in this little cameo of BDSM and I realized that maybe we were a whisker away from being able to set her free. All it took was Klaus thinking the same.
“Okay,” I murmured. “I wish we could be sure Kat wasn’t going to it though.”
Seeing her again was not on my favorites list.
While Chris helped Jodie hop out of the speedboat into the shallow waves, I checked the sand anchors. Though we’d be able to keep an eye on the boat from the shore, it’d be the height of embarrassment to have the thing drift off. Not least because the sleek red-and-white beast was Jon’s pride and joy. Borrowing it now and then from the vet might’ve been a good swap for doing the man’s taxation once a year, but still, I liked to take care of borrowed things as if they were mine.
The rope on the starboard anchor needed a few more turns. Tiny half-foot high waves slopped against the boat—the Great Barrier Reef out there made real surf an endangered species unless a cyclone hit the area.
Steph was, in a way, one of those borrowed things. I smiled and for a few seconds the crystal-clear vista down through the water to the white sand and darting fish faded out. Despite her bobble-headed way of approaching life’s decisions, she was growing on me. Like Jodie, I was not looking forward to the day I let her go. And it wasn’t just the pasta marinara, though that seemed a damn good reason. It was more the cute way she looked up at me from the floor when I ordered her there—big brown amazing eyes.
If I didn’t know better I’d think she was some naïve innocent, but she wasn’t. I’d fucked her every which way, introduced her to mild S and m, and showed her what Dominance and submission meant. The woman loved it, but that didn’t mean I could keep her if she wanted to leave, and she did.
“You coming?” Jodie shaded her eyes. She and Chris, who carried the basket with our food, had waded halfway to the shore.
I waved to them then jumped into the water. It was cool and reached to the bottom of my board shorts. They waited for me to catch up.
“You coming with us back to the island?” I asked Chris. Wet sand squashed between my toes, turning the water cloudy as a wave washed past.
“Sure, and thanks for the lift. Much faster than catching the ferry to the port and then getting a ride out here.”
“Not a problem. We won’t go without you then. They’re supposed to be having a BBQ around twelve so I’m guessing we’ll leave about three.”
“Okay.” Chris smiled. “If I snag a hot submissive who wants me to take her back to her mansion and whip her I’ll tell you.”
Jodie chuckled. “If. Good luck with that.”
We reached the shoreline and walked up the beach toward the gathering in the park ahead. Color speckled the scene—bright beach umbrellas sprouted above a crowd of people in bikinis, shorts, and t-shirts. Next to a row of council coin-operated BBQs, six or seven big trestle tables were piled with tubs of food and esky coolers.
“Off to a good start!” Chris nodded toward the people. “Food, beer, and women in bikinis, can’t beat that.”
“Don’t rush, man. There’s hours yet. If you’re too keen, you’ll scare off the newcomers.”
Not that there seemed many new faces. This munch was supposedly to introduce those curious about the lifestyle to a few friendly faces and to let them talk about their concerns and interests with people who could help them get into kink safely. But, like the last one out here, it seemed mostly the old hands who’d turned up. Bushland Beach was an idyllic spot but the drive out here seemed to daunt those new to BDSM. The inner city ones attracted more people.
Chris scanned the crowd. “Not much chance of scaring anyone. Can’t see anyone new except the tall guy in the cowboy hat. He’s not my type. Have you two ever thought of finding another sub to scene with?”
Though Jodie looked discomforted for a second, I shook my head. “No. We’re pretty exclusive right now.”
“Only Kat, hey? And that’s not going to be repeated from what you’ve said.”
“No, it’s not.”
“She’s not much of a sub anyway. She needs a Dom with balls of steel. I’m going to join in on the beach cricket.” He slapped my shoulder. “I have to blow all the marching numbers and dollar signs out of my head. Catch you later.”
“Sure.” I watched the man lope back down to the beach.
We found a shady spot off to the edge of the gathering and chatted to those who came past, and to some friends we spotted. A rule of these was that no one was to get drunk, so light beers and non-alcoholic drinks made the rounds. I tried out the beach cricket for ten minutes and Jodie had a go at an impromptu game of Twister where the subs got to compete against the Doms. A lady switch with a sense of humor tried to get on both teams at once only to be wrestled away by her latest Dom. Mostly things were low key and non kinky. Locals used this park too and it was a Saturday.
Lunchtime meant the BBQs were fired up and soon sausages and steaks sizzled as the cooks tortured them. Jodie went off to find a friend. When I noticed Moghul lazing on a picnic blanket near the BBQs, I went and sat next to him on the grass.
Our mingling and making ourselves seen act was going well. I’d checked the apps that monitored the house a few times. Nothing doing back there.
Moghul lay on his back with a folded beach towel for a pillow and his baseball cap pulled low to shield him from the sun. His big feet were bare and he was toeing up the sand while looking utterly at peace.
“How’s it going?” I raised my one and only light beer toward the cook. “Do you know him?”
Moghul tilted the cap and showed one eye. “It’s going well. Twister had at least one sub lose her bikini top and the random game of tag had another mostly lose her shorts for all of two seconds. No locals have been horrified though.”
I snorted.
“Yes, I do know the cook. Meet Randy Dale. Man of the hour and my employee. From Texas. His mouth, dick and balls are all bigger than life, and I just had to convince him not to expose his thirty-eight revolver to the public.”
“You’re joking. He brought a gun here?” From where we sat, I could hear the man’s Texan accent.
“He did. Bought it illegally after he got here. It’s common in Texas to carry, as he calls it. He was horrified we all weren’t packing. I convinced him it’s only the koalas he needs to be scared of here. If I ever see him with it again, I told him I’d hand him over to the cops myself. Hope he chucks it in the river. He’d never get a license for it.”
“Is he a Dom?”
Jodie had wandered over and started talking to Randy. The man certainly seemed to amuse her.
“Yes, he’s a Dom. He’s doing porn for me. D/s and bondage. Brilliant rigger. But hell, what a bragger. The women love him, though.” Moghul adjusted his cap again, shading his eyes with his hand as well. “I hope he can cook as well as he fucks and talks.”
I couldn’t help chuckling. “Okay. You got me though. What the hell is it with you employing a man to film porn. True?” I squinted down at Moghul. “I never knew.”
“It’s true. How do you think I made all my money? It’s a lucrative business. Like all BDSM it’s consensual, only you get paid a shitload.” He searched blindly for his drink, found the bottle and took a swig. “I think I owe you the truth. Kat’s got it in for you and seeing she’s my second cousin twice removed or some such, I had to come clean. You need to watch her.”
“Oh?” More news—I’d not known Kat was related to Moghul, even distantly.
“I’ve told her to be careful. Being in the lifestyle she should know not to talk about people without having facts.”
Fuck.
“What’s she saying?” Now the Texan had tipped back his cowboy hat and was smooth talking Jodie while going on about how Aussie banana prawns were almost as good as the shrimp from back home but the laws about firearms were crap and the beer wasn’t half as good. “Are all Texans like this?”
“Not the others I’ve seen. Randy is a whole special case.”
“I see.”
Moghul waved his drink bottle toward Randy. “You want to go rescue her?”
“No. If he goes too far she’ll just kick his balls in. Chris and I have been teaching her some good martial arts moves.”
“Okay. Well, back to Kat…she’s just going on about you not being the squeaky clean guy everyone thinks you are. Which is so nebulous and basically nasty that I told her to get facts or say nothing. So, now you know. I’m sorry I steered you toward her. I would never have thought she’d get jealous like this.”
“You still think it’s her lusting after Jodie?”
“What else?”
“Don’t know.” I shook my head. “I don’t know.”
“Well, be careful. She’s like a terrier after a rat when she thinks she’s right.”
“Sure. Will do.” What the hell. Not good. “I might go see the guy in action.”
“Don’t get too close. He’s got a ten inch prick and isn’t afraid to use it.”
I grinned. “Thanks. I’ll be careful.”
On the far side, Chris was leaning on the wire fence with Kat next to him, talking. Shit. But the man was loyal, completely. I couldn’t stop her talking to people.
As I walked up to the BBQ, Randy was drawling about all the Aussie words he was learning that meant different things like trucks and thongs and how what we called an egg flip was really a spatula. To demonstrate he waved the mentioned device and turned over a sausage. He didn’t seem dangerous but then a spatula cross egg flip was less lethal than a thirty-eight.
After lunch, even though I had a stomach full of hamburger, someone I barely knew convinced me to join the next round of beach cricket.
“Go!” Jodie gestured from her comfortable position on a towel under an umbrella. “Be brave. I’ll watch the app. Would you like a token of mine to tie round your arm? I saw the knights get those at that medieval festival. I could find a table cloth from the picnic basket?”