She simply nodded and he stepped back, his hand coming out to request another instrument. Ian stepped up, handing him what looked like a furry black glove.
“It’s called a vampire glove.” Damon whispered into her ear, dragging her against him. He slid an arm around her waist, cradling her back to his front as he quietly explained. “The material is extremely soft. Simon’s been warming her up with a deerskin flogger. Her skin is getting very sensitive. Watch.”
Simon ran the glove across her back, and Chelsea seemed to sigh and rub against it. Then suddenly she stopped, shuddering and moaning softly.
“There’s a row of metal studs hidden in the glove that Simon will manipulate to keep her off balance. They won’t cut her skin, but she will feel it. If she wasn’t so stubborn, he would run that glove all over her body and there wouldn’t be an inch of her skin that didn’t feel alive.”
Penny turned her head up, speaking softly to Damon so she didn’t disturb anyone. “Why does it help with the pain?”
“Some people get endorphins from enduring, rather like a runner after a marathon or someone working out. I would bet she’s actually quite submissive, but she won’t allow herself to practice in real life. So she finds her subspace in bits of time when the pain becomes too much to handle. If she were my sub, I would put her on a regular yoga routine to keep her flexibility up. I would get her out from in front of the computer and force her to deal with her issues, but she’s quite vocal about not taking a Dom even though I think Weston would accept her in a heartbeat.”
Simon put the vampire glove down and selected another flogger.
“Oh, he’s getting a bit nasty now,” Damon whispered. “That one’s pure leather. It’s softened up a bit, but do you see the small knots on the end of a couple of the falls? Yes, that’s going to sting a bit.”
Chelsea stiffened the first time he struck her with it and then after a long shuddering breath, her head fell forward. He found his rhythm again, moving to the music as he struck her shoulders, arse, and hamstrings. He avoided the spine, focusing on the big muscles. After the first sting, Chelsea seemed to go completely limp, her body moving easily with the strikes, but not fighting them at all. She accepted everything Simon gave her.
Charlotte was watching, her eyes never leaving her sister as she hung from the cross. Ian had an arm around her as if he thought she needed support, or perhaps he was worried she would intervene.
He alternated between flogging her and running the vampire glove over her sensitive skin.
Penny relaxed back against Damon. Every now and then he would point out something Simon was doing and why he was doing it. He seemed very dismissive of the fact that she was wearing heavy leggings.
Chelsea was wrong, she realized as she glanced around the crowd. No one would judge her. There wasn’t a single perfect body in the building. Most of the men had scars. It did nothing to take away from their attractiveness. If anything, Penny found she liked them. It let her know these were men who had fought.
Many of the women would be considered overweight by society standards, but their Doms seemed to like them that way. Chelsea had a few curves, but she wasn’t heavy. She was a pretty woman, especially when she smiled. No one would make fun of her for her scars. Not here.
Yet she clung to those leggings, even when she was willing to take off her shirt to be tied down.
Simon finally placed the flogger on the table and went to untie her.
“Charlie,” Ian barked his warning as his wife stepped away from him.
“It’s only if she needs me.” Charlotte moved forward, clutching Penny’s hand.
As they moved closer, she could hear Simon talking in low tones as his hand found Chelsea’s hair, stroking her. “You did so well, love. So well.”
Chelsea seemed to be shaking herself back to consciousness. “Oh, is it over already?”
Simon chuckled. “Of course not. I need to take a look at your back. I need to make sure I didn’t leave marks. Let me take you to the aftercare room and give you a good rubdown. You’ll sleep so well.”
Chelsea shook her head. “No. I feel fine. Better than fine actually. You’re very good at what you do.”
His hand tightened in her hair. “Do you know how much better this could be if you let it? Do you know how I could make you feel? Give over to me, Chelsea. Let me take over. You won’t regret it. I can make you feel so much.”
Penny wanted to move away, to give them this intimate moment, but Charlotte wouldn’t move.
Chelsea shook her head and started to pull at the bindings that wrapped around her wrists. “No. Let me out. I want out now. I don’t want aftercare. I don’t need it.”
“Chelsea,” Simon started.
“Get me out of these, Weston. I’m done.” Her voice rose, losing the dreamy quality she’d had before and becoming panic tinged. “Charlotte!”
“I’m sorry, Simon.” Charlotte moved in, her hands going up to untie her sister.
Simon stepped back, his face going blank. He began cleaning up, ignoring the woman he’d just lavished so much time on.
And when she likely thought no one was looking, Chelsea turned and stared at Simon’s back, longing plain on her face.
So afraid. She was so afraid. It was plain for Penny to see because she’d been there. She’d been mad about Damon Knight for years and she was sure she’d had that very look on her face a million times when he walked across the room, paying her absolutely no mind.
She had this chance. She wouldn’t get it again.
Where had Damon gone? She looked and he’d moved with Ian into the bar. The two men were sitting together, Ian’s brow furrowed, his agitation obvious.
She walked back to him, dropping to her knees and taking her place at his feet. A week ago, she would likely have been horrified by the idea, but it didn’t make her less of a woman. Kneeling at her lover’s feet didn’t mean she was a doormat. It was play and an offering of sorts. It meant she was willing to be what he needed her to be.
He looked down at her, his eyes widening slightly, and then his hand came out to touch her hair.
The power exchange was just that, she realized. She didn’t have to give up herself. She exchanged one power for another.
Penny wrapped her arms around his leg and felt him relax. He guided her head to his lap and continued to talk.
Penny rested against him, promising herself it wouldn’t be the last time.
Damon petted his sub, allowing the peace he always seemed to feel when she was being sweet and submissive to wash over him.
Ian, on the other hand, was obviously not feeling his calm.
“She shouldn’t interrupt him. I’ve warned her time and time again. I’m going to spank her ass silly. She won’t be able to sit for a week. What’s the worst torture device you have? Come on, man. You’ve got to have something really good. You’re British. You still have actual dungeons.”
He let his hand play in the softness of Penelope’s hair. “Your sister-in-law obviously has problems that she isn’t ready to deal with.”
“Because Charlie won’t let her. I swear sometimes she treats Chelsea like her toddler instead of her twenty-seven-year-old sister.” He sat back. “Simon could do her a world of good.”
The way Penelope was doing him a world of good. But then he and Chelsea had the same problems. “It only works if she lets him.”
He understood Chelsea’s issues. He couldn’t allow that trust and affection to truly grow between them because it would be that much harder to break from her when the time came.
He wasn’t sure how he would handle seeing her at the office. What the hell would he do when she eventually found a smart man and settled down? Would he catch a glimpse of pictures of her husband on her desk? Her children?