He pulled back rather more quickly than I’d have thought he would, sending me a partly amused, partly chastising look that had my brows drawing together in a question.

Estella was facing mostly away from me, and he turned her very gently with the hand still buried in her wavy hair. His other hand came up and his index finger wiped her cheek. He held it up, as though to show me something, pushing Estella’s other cheek softly against his chest.

I stepped forward to look. It took me a moment to realize he’d wiped a tear from her cheek.

“I don’t know what kind of things you think I’m into nowadays, Frankie,” he told me, sounding exasperated, even while his hand stroked over Estella’s hair comfortingly. “But traumatizing your date is not one of them. I think you hurt her feelings. This one likes you.”

My mind reeled. Almost reluctantly, I reached out a hand, grabbed her arm, and tugged her out of his arms and to me. I pulled her into my side, closing my eyes as her soft, full breasts pressed into mine.

Without asking, she buried her face in my neck, kissing the pulse there, her wet face touching against my skin, as though to illustrate her tears, and inadvertently reprimanding me.

James sighed, shaking his head, the faintest smile still touching his mouth. “This looks like a private moment to me. We’ll leave you to it.”

“You don’t have to,” I protested.

“It’s all right. I need to prepare for our demonstration. We’ll talk later.” He walked away, Jolene following in his wake.

Estella’s arms latched around my waist, her breath gasping out of her. Not sobs exactly, more the thing you would do to keep from sobbing.

She was in a state.

“Estella,” I said quietly. Besides my arm thrown over her shoulder, I didn’t touch her. I wasn’t sure what to do with her. “You don’t need to be scared. I won’t tell you to kiss anyone else. You don’t have to touch anyone you don’t want to, okay? I just thought you wanted this whole experience, so I was providing it for you. Most subs take a kiss from Mr. Cavendish as a real honor, and you certainly seemed to be interested in him.” I tried not to make the last bit an accusation, and didn’t know if I succeeded.

She sniffled a bit, pulling back to look at me, her big dark eyes wet and shiny. “I didn’t just want the experience, Frankie. I wanted the experience with you. I’m fascinated by this lifestyle, but more than that, I wanted to see what you were looking for, what you needed me to be for you. I have no desire to be passed around.”

That had me feeling like a real piece of shit, because she wasn’t that far off.

We’d been seeing each other, in a friendly kind of way, for just a few weeks. We’d kissed, and touched, and I’d gotten her off countless times, but I hadn’t thought it meant anything.

In fact, I was half convinced she was a bored little bi girl looking for a walk on the wild side. She wouldn’t be the first.

I’d just kind of assumed, as much as I hated the thought, that she’d want to be passed around at this thing, especially if I was passing her to someone like James, who could questionably make anyone’s sexuality flexible.

“I’m sorry,” I told her quietly, something I’d likely never said to a sub, though she wasn’t quite that. Not yet. Perhaps not ever. I wasn’t going to let myself invest in the idea either way. “We can just observe, and later, you can tell me what you liked, what fascinated you.”

“I want to know what you like. I need to learn how to please you.”

I kissed her, a deep kiss, a distracting kiss, where I tried not to notice that I could taste another woman’s lipstick on her mouth.

We’d basically stuck to vanilla so far. It was not my preference, but I liked her company, and I wasn’t ready to give it up just yet. Breaking her in ran the risk of losing her.

I pulled back, breathing hard, feeling way too much for this woman I barely knew. The look in her eyes had me wanting to kiss her again, but I restrained myself, instead pulling her back into my side, and pointing at a small platform that had been erected in the corner of the room. Our entertainment was about to begin.

“If you want to know what I like, you should watch this. No one can put on a show like James. This is a real treat right here.”

He strode onto the well-lit makeshift stage, shirtless now, his deeply tanned skin, his sleek muscles, set off to perfection under a spotlight.

“Wow,” Estella breathed.

I didn’t blame her. At least, not too much. James was a sight, hard even for me to look away from when he was putting on a show like this.

His dark gold hair was tied back, setting off his perfect face. He was a combination of utter masculinity and enough stark beauty to make anyone stare. And those eyes of his burned through a person, even at a distance.

Jolene followed him up onto the platform, wearing nothing but a corset that cinched her waist in but left her, aside from some piercings, completely bare above and below.

They were striking together, but I always thought to myself that he could do so much better. He wasn’t only a beautiful shell, like her. With James, there was just as much to admire on the inside.

He used a firm hand on her neck to lead her to the St. Andrew’s cross that had been erected at the back of the stage. It said a lot about his presence that Estella only seemed to notice it then.

“What is that thing?”

“A St. Andrew’s cross.”

“What is it for?”

“You’ll see.”

It was shaped like an X, and slightly tilted back, so when he pushed Jolene against it, face first, she was leaning far forward, showing us everything we needed to see of her privates. She was pierced there, too.

“She’s very beautiful,” Estella told me quietly. I didn’t particularly want to hear that from her, but I kept that to myself.

“Yes, very.”

“Do you like her piercing? Is that something you’re into?” she whispered. I was going too easy on her. She should have been addressing me as Mistress Abelli and staying quiet, but I found that I wanted to indulge her curiosity, wanted to know the reason for it.

“I like piercings,” I allowed.

“I don’t have any.”

I smiled. I’d seen enough of her that she had to know I’d have noticed that. “No, you don’t.”

“Would you like me to get some?”

I tugged lightly on her hair, making her look back at the stage, since I knew she’d been staring at my profile. “If you want to get some, I’ll do them for you, but only if it’s what you want. Don’t do it for my sake.”

She went so still that I tilted my head to study her. Her expression was stiff, as though I’d said something to wound her. I couldn’t imagine what.

I brought my attention back to the stage. This was no time for a chat about her feelings.

James tied his sub’s ankles and wrists to the posts, spreading her wide for our viewing pleasure.

“Have you…been…with her?” Estella whispered, and I could feel her staring at me again.

I pursed my lips, wondering if I should chastise her for talking during a presentation. In the end, I didn’t. It seemed counterproductive to, since she’d come here because of all of her questions.

“No. She’s his. We don’t share like that. And I don’t like her.”

“You shared me.” It was an accusation.

My mouth hardened, with guilt as much as annoyance, I knew. “That was just a kiss, and I wasn’t talking about kisses. And I got your point. I won’t pass you around again unless you ask me to.”

I felt her stiffen, and then, unbelievably, impertinently, she was kissing me, rubbing her tits against mine, and moaning into my mouth.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

FRANKIE

I pulled her back, turning her until I was hugging her from behind, essentially forcing her to look at the stage. “What was that?” I asked her through my teeth.

“I want you. I want to get you off. You never get off with me, and I want you to.”

“Well, then, my sweet, watch the show. There is only one way to get me off, and if you’re interested in seeing what it is, it’s about to go down on that stage right now.”

“Touch me,” she whispered, bringing my hands to her breasts. She was being completely impudent again, but I fondled her. She was getting a pass tonight. If anyone had a problem with it, they could talk to me. And of course, I loved her tits.

“Don’t you ever wear a bra?” I said into her ear, pinching her nipples hard. Her little black dress was not the sort of thing you were supposed to go braless in, with a chest her size.

She moaned and rubbed against me. “Not for you. I know you love to see them bouncing around. I’ve seen how it distracts you. I’m not wearing panties either. I wanted to give you easy access. I love it when you touch me.”

I shushed her, because she was driving me wild, and because James had just pulled out a large flogger, showing the crowd. It was a heavy-duty cat o’nine, with braided tails that ended in small silver balls. Some hardcore shit.

He said something to Jolene, his voice sharp, as I nuzzled into Estella’s neck, and Jolene responded in the affirmative, her voice pleading.

“I love it when you call me your sweet,” Estella whispered, distracting me again. “It makes me feel pretty.”

“You are pretty, you silly girl. So pretty it hurts.”

“You really think so?” she asked, sounding downright ecstatic about it.

She was distracted, we both were, by the loud sound of the flogger making contact with flesh.

Estella gasped, and I brought one of my hands up to her neck, gripping, the other still kneading at a soft breast. “Watch,” I breathed into her ear.

He struck again, and again, the sound startling and arousing. I glanced up at him briefly, watched his stark muscles playing across his back as he worked his sub over harshly. I’d seen it before. I wasn’t looking for me, but more wondering what Estella thought of him, how he moved her, how this moved her.

James worked Jolene over with textbook accuracy, reddening her perfect little ass and thighs, using less force on her back and shoulders. He knew exactly where to strike and in what order. He was a pro.

When he finally let up on Jolene, she was quivering and moaning loudly enough that he barked at her to be quiet.

He acknowledged the crowd with the slightest lift of his brows as he undid his dark trousers, pulling out an impressive erection. The man certainly didn’t have stage fright.

“Holy shit,” exclaimed Estella.

“Yes, I know,” I said wryly. “He even has a perfect cock.”

“He’s big…and very nicely shaped.”

“He’s basically the most perfect man on the planet if you don’t mind a bit of pain,” I told her tonelessly. “He’s even a billionaire. Basically God’s gift to women.”

He pulled a condom from his pocket, opening the packet and rolling it on with swift, economical movements. He didn’t bother to take off his pants as he moved back behind Jolene, gripping her neck and driving into her, flogger in hand, whipping hard at her hip as he fucked her.