Safe Harbor (23 page)

* * * *

209

The next evening, they loaded into the Jag. Mac drove, and an hour later, they pulled into a gated driveway. The area was rural, the property heavily wooded, neighbors scarce. Mac spoke to someone through the intercom. A moment later, the gate rolled open and they drove through.

Clarisse felt another bout of nerves threatening. Could she do this?

Really? Despite Sully’s assurances that he would respect a safeword, she felt renewed doubts creep in.

This was a chance to make her fantasies come true, and one she wouldn’t willingly give up until she’d had a chance to see them through. Sully and Mac looked darkly handsome. Both wore jeans and black button-up shirts. Mac wore his leather collar, padlocked shut.

The driveway wound through the woods until they reached a large cleared area. From what she could see of the woods, she suspected it was a tree farm. Several cars were already parked outside a large building that looked like a barn. Windows in a nearby house appeared dark.

Clarisse waited for Mac to open the back door for her and help her out. She nervously eyed the expanse of grass she’d have to navigate in her heels between the car and the barn. Sully walked around the car and, without fanfare, scooped her into his arms and carried her.

She looked into his eyes, felt her heart thumping at his amused expression.

“You ready for tonight, baby?” he murmured.

She nodded, her mouth suddenly dry.

Mac followed them after getting a few things from the trunk.

They’d brought a covered dish, as had everyone else, and two duffel bags full of items Sully deemed necessary for the night’s play, including the outfit Sully wanted her to change into.

Sully set her on her feet when they reached a concrete pathway leading to a small door at the end of the barn. He kept his arm around

210

her waist as she tottered toward the entrance. Mac had spent time helping her practice walking in the heels, but she felt far from steady.

A man holding a clipboard greeted them outside, checked their names off a list, and welcomed them.

A woman sat at a desk in the small entryway and checked them in.

Sully took Clarisse’s arm and led her through a curtained doorway into a large dressing room.

Lockers lined the walls and several people were changing clothes.

A few of them greeted Sully and Mac by name. Clarisse tried not to stare and failed miserably. People were in various stages of dress and undress—bustiers, corsets, fishnets—and that was just a couple of the men.

Mac stowed their gear in a locker while Sully led her through to another room. Mac followed, carrying the casserole he’d made. A few people already stood around a buffet table set up in one far corner.

The huge play space boggled her mind. The enormous building had been turned into a dungeon. There were a few curtained-off areas, but much of the space lay open where anyone could watch.

What have I gotten myself into?

Sully guided her over to a chair in a quiet corner, made her sit, and knelt in front of her. Mac stood behind him, watching. “I’m going to collar you for the evening, sweetheart. Just a formality.”

Fear gripped her. “Why?”

He smiled. “Nothing will stop a jerk from hitting on you if he’s determined, but most of the people here, if you’re wearing a collar, it’ll send them a message that you’re taken. It’s not a locking collar.

It’s one of Mac’s old play collars.”

It belonged to Mac? Somehow, that made the notion more comfortable. She nodded.

Mac handed Sully the collar, and he fitted it around her neck. It was way too loose, even on the smallest hole. He removed it, pulled out a pocket knife, poked a new hole in it, then tried again. Not too tight, not too loose.

211

The pleased grin on Mac’s face wiped away all fears in her heart.

“Is that okay? Is it comfortable?” Sully asked.

She nodded and, feeling it with her hand, noticed a small tag attached to the collar. She couldn’t read it, but she fingered it. “What does that say?”

Sully smiled, his grey gaze holding her captive. “Mine.”

She gasped. The possessive way he’d said it took her breath away.

“Another thing,” he said. “For tonight, you’ll address me as ‘Sir’

when talking to me. I will call you ‘girl.’ That’s the only formality I’ll insist on. Do you understand?”

“Yes, Sir. Why don’t you want me to call you Master like Mac does?”

If she didn’t know any better, she’d swear he looked…sad. He reached out and gently stroked her cheek. “Because I’m not your Master, sweetheart. You’re not my slave. Tonight is just to see how you’ll like it. I take the relationship and responsibilities I have with slave as his Master more seriously than a marriage. It’s not just a role-playing game to us. Understand?”

Emotions spun through her. She nodded.

He smiled, erasing the sad look from his face. “Good girl.” He offered his hand and helped her stand. “Let’s go introduce you around.”

Doreen and Alex arrived. When she spotted Clarisse, Doreen squealed with joy and enveloped Clarisse in a hug that nearly knocked her off her feet. Fortunately, Sully stood there with his hands on her waist, keeping her upright.

“I’m so glad you made it! You’re going to have a blast tonight!”

Clarisse wasn’t sure if she’d remember anyone Sully introduced her to. Maybe if reminded what they wore, because that’s what stuck in her mind. If so, they could jostle her memory with descriptors such as “painful looking metal cage on his cock man” or “the woman with the pierced nipples and bells strung on them.” Everyone was friendly and welcomed Clarisse. As the arrival window closed and the party’s

212

official start time drew near, more people changed from street clothes into a wide variety of fetish wear from relatively tame to totally naked with accessories.

Frequently hung from pierced body parts.

She wondered if Sully would make Mac change, but he didn’t.

Yvette and Mike showed up, as did Bob and Jenna. Yvette had Mike naked and hunched over. Yvette grinned at Clarisse’s puzzled expression. “Bet you’ve never seen one of these before, have you?

Turn around, boy. Show her your pretty ass.”

Mike shuffled around so his backside was visible. Across the backs of his thighs lay a long wooden clamp, with a hole in the center, through which were clamped his…

Clarisse felt a sympathetic pain in her own nether regions. The device tightly squeezed his balls and cock. Yvette had clipped his cuffed wrists to each end of the thing.

“It’s a humbler,” Yvette gleefully exclaimed. Then she spun him around, caught his head with her arm, and pulled him up. He winced as his cock and balls were stretched by the device. “He’s my good boy, aren’t you?”

“Yes, Ma’am!” he gasped.

She let him return to his hunched over position. “He talked back to me on the way here. Normally I don’t make him wear it this soon in the evening, but I gave him a choice of this, or I was going to let Ray and Oot have their way with him and spit roast him. He chose this.”

“Ray and Oot?”

“You haven’t met them yet, girl,” Sully said. He spotted someone at the other end of the building. “In fact, there they are. Let’s go introduce you before they start playing.”

Yvette stopped Sully. “Hey, can I play with Mac later?” She grinned. “I brought an extra humbler.”

“Sorry. I have plans of my own for him tonight.”

“Damn. Oh well.” She slapped Mac on the shoulder. “Lucky

213

you.”

As they made their way to the other end of the building, Mac muttered, “Yeah, lucky me is fucking right. Thank you, Master.”

“You honestly think I’d let her play with you again after the last time?”

“I hope not.”

“What happened?” Clarisse asked.

Mac stepped to her other side. Keeping his voice low he said, “I had to pee sitting down for a week. That psycho bitch makes Sully look like Santa Claus. She’s one of the few times I’ve ever safeworded for pain. She makes the Marquis de Sade look like a sweetheart.”

“She knows Mac’s a pain slut,” Sully quietly added, “and she was eager to see how far she could go. Mike can’t take heavy impact play, and she wanted to try it.” He looked at Mac. “You’re the one who agreed to play with her. I told you it was your choice. I also gave you the option of letting me red light the scene, if you’ll recall, but you said you wanted control of it.”

“Yeah, and next time I insist on that, feel free to smack me in the balls and remind me of Yvette.”

Clarisse shivered. “You won’t let her do anything to me, will you?”

Sully stopped and turned her to face him, his face dark, his voice serious. “No one
ever
touches you but Mac and me. That’s a promise.”

As they walked, another man stopped Sully to ask him a question.

Clarisse leaned in to Mac. “What’s a spit roast?”

He laughed as he nuzzled her ear and whispered, “One of my favorite fantasies starring you as the center, watching Master fuck you while you suck my cock.”

She gasped, her knees nearly melting out from under her at that mental image.

Mac chuckled. “You okay, sweetie?”

214

“Yes,” she squeaked.

Question answered.

“You okay? You wanted an honest answer, right?” His evil, playful grin told her he knew exactly what effect his words had on her.

“I’m okay.”
Just hornier than hell.

Sully finished talking to the other man and they continued their walk to the end of the building.

The men, Ray and Oot, rummaged through two duffel bags. A nearly-naked woman, wearing only a leather harness, knelt nearby waiting on them. Sully introduced Clarisse to the men. Ray had gorgeous hazel eyes and apparently natural blond hair from the looks of it. Oot’s coal black hair was spiked, and his light blue eyes sparkled with good cheer. From the collar around Oot’s neck, Clarisse suspected Ray called the shots.

“Are you sure you packed it?” Ray testily asked.

Oot rummaged through another bag. “I know I did, Master. It’s got to be here.” He started emptying the bag, pulling out riding crops, canes, floggers, and other assorted items.

“Oh, here it is,” Ray said, pulling a small device out of his bag.

“Sorry about that, buddy. It got caught inside a towel.”

Oot sat back on his heels. “I thought I’d lost my mind for a minute there.”

Ray grinned. “You mean you haven’t?”

The men laughed. Ray stood while Oot repacked the duffel bag.

Ray motioned for the woman to stand.

“Come here, kitten.” He fitted the device into what looked like a ready-made place on her harness…right between her legs. When it started humming, Clarisse realized it was a vibrator.

“Don’t you come until I tell you to, or I’ll redden your ass. Daddy Saul gave me carte blanche with you this weekend, girlie.”

The woman moaned and shifted from one foot to the other as she struggled to comply.

215

Ray turned back to Sully and Mac and shook hands with them and Clarisse. He stood a little shorter than Sully.

When his eyes landed on Clarisse, they skirted up and down her body, the obvious questions in his gaze remaining unasked. Instead he said, “Any plans for the evening, or just here to socialize tonight?”

“Going to play it by ear for a while. My girl’s never been to a play party like this before.”

A ball of heat rolled through Clarisse at Sully’s words, the possessive tone in his voice.

His
girl.

Sully and Ray chatted for a few minutes before Sully led her and Mac away. He handed her over to Mac. “Go get her changed.” Then he walked off to talk with someone else.

Put-up or shut-up time.
She looked up at Mac, although with her heels, their height difference wasn’t as pronounced.

He smiled and slipped his arm around her waist. “Let’s get you changed.”

The changing room was mostly empty. Clarisse felt heat redden her skin again as he led her to their locker and pulled out one of their bags.

“Keep the shoes on and slip your skirt off,” Mac said.

Easier said than done. She tried not to wobble as she worked to wiggle the snug garment off. He knelt in front of her and tugged on the hem, then let her use his shoulders to brace herself as she stepped out of it.

He laughed. “What’s this?” He hooked a finger under her plain cotton panties and tugged a little.

Her face had to be a dark shade of magenta by that point.

“Underwear,” she shot back. “What do you call them?”

He waggled his eyebrows at her. “Off.”

“You can’t be serious!”

His face softened. “I won’t force you. It’s your choice.”

Her heart raced as he stared at her. If she wanted a chance to do

216

things their way, she’d have to do things their way. She still wore more clothes than over half the other attendees anyway.

He stood and leaned in, his mouth near her ear. “Master and I promise no one will touch you but us. I swear it.”