Netherworld II: Blood Potion No. 9 (18 page)

“Was what you did worth your masters’
unhappiness, sub?”

Murmurs of approval from the group
crowded around me. Watching me punished not for fun, but for an
infraction. A big infraction. Shame, more than the cane putting me
in my place, turned the waterworks on full. I was a terrible sub.
And an even worse girlfriend.

Master Miguel stepped back. “Next,” he
invited.

As a crop-wielding Domme stepped up I
heard Dan say, “I’m not comfortable with this.”

I saw Tristan put his arm around Dan’s
shoulders. “She can safeword or transport out of here at any point.
It’s completely in her hands as to whether or not she accepts
discipline.”

“Look at the pain you’ve given them,”
the Domme chastised me. I did as I was told and cried harder as she
plied her crop on my defenseless bottom.

Suddenly it wasn’t about the pain or
even the embarrassment of my situation. It was Dan burying his face
in his hands, refusing to watch me take discipline. It was the way
Tristan pressed his lips together to keep them from
trembling.

The next five minutes spread out over
an eternity as I was flogged, paddled, caned, and spanked. The
accompanying remonstrations from the Doms and Dommes dealing my
punishment made me shriveled and small. Still, I refused to
safeword out, even when Dan completely turned away. Especially
then. I had to make this right. And I had to be freed of my
continued infatuation with Bane. If it took everyone in the club
beating me all night and telling me what an awful sub I was, I’d
accept it.

A millennia after it had begun, Master
Miguel called, “Time. Thank you for your assistance,
everyone.”

I saw those who had been waiting their
turn to punish me sag with relief. Truly punishing a wayward sub is
not fun for any Dom worth his salt. I think I even heard the stoic
Master Miguel sigh as he unlocked first the spreader bar then the
stocks.

“Go to your masters, sub,” he said
gently.

I tried to straighten, but the
blistering throb from my hind parts was too much. My knees wobbled,
and Dan was there before Miguel could catch me. I sagged against my
rugged Marlboro Man’s chest, weeping with mingled pain,
humiliation, and contrition.

Tristan came to us and removed the gag
quickly. Before it was fully out of my mouth, I blubbered, “I am so
sorry I hurt you, I really, really am.”

Both men pressed kisses to my hot face.
Tristan soothed, “We know, sweetheart. It’s going to be okay now.
Take her over here, Dan.”

He led as Dan carried me to a corner
table. Dan sat down and tried to settle me in his lap. I hissed, my
sore parts coming into painful contact with his thigh.

“Wish it away, Brandilynn,” Tristan
said. “It’s not real, and you can’t be harmed this way. Wish the
pain away.”

Our spirits experience things through
memory of what life was in our physical form. It takes witchcraft
or being trapped in a living body for a ghost to be subject to
actual injury. I didn’t deserve to let go of the agony, but
Tristan’s firm voice told me this was a command. So I let it go,
made myself whole again. Reluctantly.

Dan snuggled me, his big, calloused
fingers stroking through my hair. “Never again, Brandilynn. No
matter what you do, I can’t ever watch you go through something
like that again.”

“I just want us to be okay,” I said,
whimpering anew as fresh tears threatened. I burrowed into the warm
safety of his chest and cried some more.

I heard Master Miguel’s voice as I wept
softly. “You’re really new to this, aren’t you?”

Dan’s thick voice rumbled through the
chest I pressed my face to. “Pretty obvious, isn’t it? I’m starting
to wonder if this is for me.”

“Well, the lifestyle isn’t just about
sex, even if you keep the play to the bedroom. You’ve got to be
ready to invest emotionally. And the fact seeing her punished hurt
you so badly means you’ll be a good master. Only assholes get off
on seeing a sub suffer like that, no matter what her
trespass.”

Dan’s arms tightened around me. “I have
a lot to think about, I guess.”

“Give this time to settle before you
make any decisions. And listen to Tristan. You could do a lot worse
for a mentor.”

Tristan’s smooth voice joined the
conversation. “Coming from you, that’s quite a compliment. Thank
you, Miguel.”

The Dom turned his attention to the
vampire. “Switching to the opposite of smart, capable people, word
is that the state representative from your neck of the woods is
eyeing a run at the governor’s office.”

Tristan’s tone went thoughtful.
“Really? Is he giving up his seat for the election?”

“Could be. You know how Diaz is; he
can’t walk and chew gum at the same time.”

“He does like to channel all his energy
in one direction. Thanks for the tip.”

“Georgia could do a lot worse than
having you in Atlanta. Gentlemen, I hope the rest of your time here
is much more enjoyable.”

With that, Master Miguel took his
leave. My tears had dried up during the conversation, and Dan bowed
his head towards mine. “How are you, baby girl?”

I was still a long ways from being all
right, but I feared Dan couldn’t take anymore drama, especially
from me. “I’m okay, I guess.”

“Truth time,” Tristan said, his voice
weary. “Sit between us, Brandilynn.”

Dan helped me move from his lap to the
booth seat they sat on. Sandwiched between the two men, I felt
very, very small. I kept my eyes on my knees, feeling naked and
vulnerable because that was exactly what I was. I worried our
conversation might be as excruciating as my punishment had
been.

My hands were lying palms up on my
thighs. Tristan took one in his long, elegant hands. Dan enfolded
the other in his blockier, more calloused paw.

“Are the two of us not enough for you?”
Tristan asked. “I get the feeling your fear of commitment could be
driving you to others.”

I started and jerked my gaze up to meet
his. I wasn’t the only one who suspected my issues might part of my
attraction to Bane. Hearing Tristan suggest it got me thinking
harder than ever about the possibility. It wasn’t the kind of thing
I could answer right away. I’d have to sit with this revelation,
get to know it to see if it applied to the problems I was
having.

To the men I responded, “You might have
something there. I’m going to have to think about it. But I
promise, I absolutely swear it won’t happen again. Hurting you
two—” I teared up again and brayed a big, ugly sob. I was
embarrassed all over again.

Tristan’s expression was tender, and he
brushed the new wetness from my face. “I’m willing to trust this
promise, Brandilynn. The fact you didn’t use your safeword and
accepted punishment gives me hope for the future. But you really
need to get over being hurt by your family and ex-fiancée.
Otherwise, you’re going to have a very lonely eternity.”

He was warning me. Dan wasn’t the only
one who would end the relationship if I didn’t get a handle on my
infidelity issues. Tristan had said he was willing to give up live
blood for me. I’d have to reciprocate.

Dan’s voice turned my focus to him. “I
love you. But he’s right, baby girl. Another lapse with Bane or any
other man, and I’m going to have to walk away. You’ll have to
accept the risk of trusting us in the short term … and only one of
us in the end.”

Panic gave me the sensation of my heart
skipping a beat. To face losing either man was terrible to
contemplate. Allowing myself to trust one or both of them had
frightening implications of its own. My thoughts gibbered too
wildly to give them speech, so I simply nodded.

I knew I had to face the inevitable at
some point. If I wanted to keep Tristan and Dan, I had to put my
faith in them. And then I would have to choose one. One man to
believe in, to have faith that he wouldn’t yank my heart out and
stomp it to bits. To hope he’d keep my love safe. To not turn on
me, to not suddenly decide I wasn’t good enough.

I didn’t know that I could hand myself
over to either of them like that. I know, it’s stupid to toss aside
the love of two wonderful men, men I probably didn’t deserve. But I
was so scared to be hurt again.

Thank goodness Tristan was willing to
let it go for the moment. He kissed my hand and smiled at Dan.
“Well. It would be a shame to let this place go to waste. What do
you say about finishing the reclaiming of our sub?”

Dan looked towards the play area, and
one corner of his mouth lifted. “I would certainly like to get some
joy out of this day. Lead on, Master Tristan.”

Tristan stood. “Let’s go,
sub.”

Dan and I rose, and I followed the men,
my head lowered meekly. I made sure I didn’t look at the other
patrons of the club who had witnessed my shame.

They led me to the padded sawhorse. At
Tristan’s order I got up on it, crouching on the arm and leg rests
to be strapped down for their pleasure. Feeling the bindings close
over my ankles and wrists, I began to feel safe again. Relieved in
fact, as if I’d just avoided catastrophe.

Of course, tough decisions still lay in
my future. One of the joys of BDSM is that when you’re engaged in
it, only the present matters. You completely wallow in the here and
now, the worries of tomorrow an eternity away.

Tristan’s long fingers stroked through
my hair, his touch so gentle and loving I got a fresh delivery of
tears in my eyes. I lifted my face, and he opened his fly. I moaned
as he filled my mouth with velvet-covered steel. He held my head,
stroking in and out, hot and pulsing against my tongue.

Dan’s welcome bulk moved up between my
legs. He too was tender with me, as if trying to make up for the
punishment I had received. He slipped into my folds, slow and
careful. Mingled arousal and regret for my impetuous actions
swirled within me at his caring use. Dan is very much a man who
enjoys hard, physical sex. This cautious lovemaking spoke volumes
about his feelings for me.

I crouched between them, a repentant
sub and grateful receptacle for their desires. I would have endured
any discipline for this moment of complete immersion in being
theirs. I opened my throat to take all of Tristan, glad that as a
ghost I didn’t have to worry about gagging and interrupting his
pleasure. Honey flowed thick and rich to ease Dan’s passage. Both
men groaned to be held in my tight, wet warmth.

I rolled my eyes up to gaze at Tristan.
He stared down, his eyes so dark they were almost vampire black.
His lips were parted, allowing the tip of his tongue to wet his
lips as he watched his cock slide back and forth between mine. I
rubbed my tongue along the pounding vein on the underside of his
member, just the way he liked it. His mouth dropped open a little
more. In the throes of sensual bliss, his chest heaved in the
memory of breath.

Dan’s strokes were long and smooth, his
thickness filling my channel as if it had been molded inside me.
The perfection of our fit seemed divine, as if the gods had
ordained us for one another. The constant pressure on that interior
sweet spot, the one that raised the hairs on my arms, only bore out
this notion. I trembled all around him, and he moaned from time to
time, caught up in the sweetness of our union.

They were moving quicker now, their
rhythm matching by accident or design, I didn’t know. I gripped the
armrests I was strapped to as molten heat built in my belly, fed by
the sliding perfection of Dan finding that nest of nerves over and
over again. Their growing excitement fed mine, along with the joy
of belonging to them.

My service was not that of the Beasts’
property, whose pleasures were unimportant, whose bodies only
existed for the use of the shifter gang. My submission was that of
a woman beloved by the men who gave as much ecstasy as they took. A
woman who was adored despite her many shortcomings.

I whimpered as sparkling heat licked
through me, whispering of impending elation. Tristan and Dan worked
me faster and harder. Tristan’s face tensed, his teeth clenching as
the oncoming release inched closer. I sucked and swallowed against
him, inviting his sweetness to fill my mouth. I clenched internal
muscles to massage Dan, to gather his seed as well. Both men
groaned.

Dan’s rough fingers slid beneath me to
rub my clit, sending white-hot bolts through my belly. I cried out
around my mouthful of Tristan, and he answered with a shout of his
own. Hot juices spurted into my mouth, filling me with the
deliciousness that was my vampire lover. My nether parts clenched
hard, and I was off, riding waves of nirvana as Dan’s drawn out
moan joined the symphony and he jerked within me.

They heaved against me, saturating me
with their passion as my sex flexed and I swallowed every precious
drop. We became one entity, forging our broken bond into wholeness
once more. As their cocks pulsed streams of ardor into my body, I
thought of how much I loved these men, how I’d do anything to never
hurt them again. Oversized libido and fear of commitment or not, I
would remain true to Tristan and Dan.

I could do this. I had to do
this.