Margo blew Bryan a kiss. “You got that right, Sir.”
A mature woman dressed in a blue latex ball gown stopped by their table and whispered something into Bryan’s ear. He nodded and stood, giving Tanwen’s shoulder a brief squeeze. “If you’ll excuse us for a moment, Greg and I need to go deal with a guy who’s doing a fire play presentation for us. Seems the fire marshal won’t let him bring a flamethrower into the hotel, and he’s throwing a fit because they’re stifling his art.”
The men left, and Margo took a long drink of her water before motioning Tanwen closer. “How are things going with you and Master Bryan?”
Tanwen looked away from the other woman and fiddled with her wineglass. “Good. We had fun today in the VR zoo.”
“So you haven’t hung out with him outside of VR yet? Other than dinner?”
She looked up and caught Margo’s sympathetic expression. “No, but we’re going to spend some time together after dinner tonight. We’re just keeping this casual. You know, a vacation fling.” God, she was beginning to hate that phrase.
Margo looked relieved. “Good. I really like you, and I was afraid you were falling for him. Don’t get me wrong, Bryan is a fantastic guy and a great friend, but he’s not boyfriend material.”
“Well, I’m not looking for a boyfriend, but what do you mean by that?”
Margo took a quick peek around to make sure no one was listening and she leaned in. “I’m only telling you this because you’re so different from the other women he usually dates—or should I say girls. Master Bryan isn’t looking for a long-term relationship. In fact, he tends to avoid women that are relationship material like the plague.”
Tanwen’s heart ached, but she tried to keep her tone smooth and even. “How so?”
“He only dates women he has no future with. Usually younger, ditzy women who just want some fun. Nothing serious. As soon as they push for a committed relationship, he breaks up with them.” Margo sighed and shook her head. “Don’t get me wrong. He doesn’t lead them on or anything, but I’ve never seen him with anyone like you before.”
Tanwen’s lips felt numb as she said, “What do you mean by ‘someone like me’?”
“Oh, no, honey, I didn’t mean that in a bad way. I mean, you’re the first woman that I’ve ever seen him with that isn’t a flake. You are totally the type of girl a man brings home to his mama. You know, the marrying kind.” Margo patted her hand. “I’m all for women getting in touch with their sexuality and sowing their wild oats, so if you want a casual, no-strings-attached vacation romance, Master Bryan is the perfect man. I wish I had met someone like him when I first came onto the scene. He’s the perfect guy to teach you all about BDSM without wanting to collar you.”
“That’s a relief.” Margo gave her an odd look, so she forced a smile. “I mean, I’m recently divorced, so the last thing I need is a clingy man. I just managed to scrape the last one off.”
Margo’s laugh turned into purr of delight as the waiters appeared and began removing plates and setting small silver bowls of vanilla bean ice cream over a decadent chocolate brownie covered with raspberry sauce in front of them. Too bad Tanwen’s stomach had clenched into a hard knot. Well, at least she now knew for certain what Bryan was about. She took another gulp of her wine, wanting the burn of alcohol to loosen the lump in her belly.
Digging in to her dessert, Margo made a sound of bliss that was close to orgasmic. “I really admire you, Tanwen. You have your head on straight, and you’re getting everything you can out of this experience. I wish more women were like you.” She caught Tanwen’s questioning look and gestured toward her with her fork. “You know, not afraid to go after their own pleasure. I have so many friends in the straight world that bitch and moan about their boring sex lives but never do anything about it. But look at you. Not only did you come to a BDSM convention by yourself, but you also found a great master while you’re here to play with. I know some women that would kill to be in your position.”
The more Tanwen thought about it, the more she liked the image that Margo painted of her. It was easy to see herself through the other woman’s eyes as a smart, sensual woman taking charge of her sex life. In fact, maybe she was that woman. Why waste this opportunity on feeling disappointed because Bryan had a history as a playboy? It wasn’t like she’d embarrassed herself by telling him her true feelings. She could still pretend she didn’t want anything more from him than mind-blowing sex.
Maybe she could even use the things she learned from him to explore the local BDSM scene back home. She certainly felt more comfortable with the whole idea now, and to be honest, she really enjoyed the D/s dynamic. It added a whole new level to bedroom play that flat out did it for her. While she might never find a man that made her feel like Bryan did, she at least owed it to herself to try.
The lights above dimmed until each table was only illuminated by the white and red candles that formed the centerpiece of the individual settings. The large sliding wall that divided the ballroom slid back, revealing a stage with a variety of BDSM equipment on it. Benches, cages, and contraptions of bars and straps covered the stage. At each end of the stage, a male and female sub knelt in tiny gold bikinis. They were painted with shimmering gold dust that gave them the illusion of looking like living statues. In their arms, they held enormous sprays of red roses and white lilies.
Arched over the stage was a huge trellis that reminded her of a set of oversize monkey bars. Red roses and white wisteria vines had been woven into the trellis, and as the air from the stage area flooded into the dining room, the fragrance of the flowers blanketed the air. She took a deep breath, delighted by the dichotomy of the fragile and beautiful blossoms and the hard and unforgiving BDSM equipment.
She’d totally forgotten that Bryan had mentioned he was going to do a presentation tonight. As she examined the display, she couldn’t help but wonder what in the world he was going to do. The equipment looked sexual in nature, but she really had no idea how it would actually be used. A flicker of heat raced through her blood as she imagined the things he could do to her with all that equipment. Things that would no doubt end with her being utterly satisfied.
She took a quick bite of her brownie, but her attention was riveted to the stage where the human statues adjusted their position every few minutes, taking new poses that displayed their bodies in a rather erotic manner. The male sub was either stuffing his bathing suit, or he had a dick big enough to satisfy an entire cheerleading squad.
Bryan’s deep voice startled her as he whispered in her ear. “I have to do a presentation in twenty minutes. I want you to do it with me.”
She’d been so caught up in what was happening on the stage, she hadn’t even noticed his return. Her mouth dried out, and she took a drink of her iced water, trying to clear the tang of fear off her pallet. “What kind of presentation, Sir?”
He cocked his head, examining her in a way that made her skin hypersensitive to his gaze. “A public one, up there on the stage.”
While the fantasy of doing just that aroused her, the reality of it made her break out in a cold sweat. She always hated giving speeches and presentations at nursing conferences, and this was so far beyond her comfort level. “Sir, I don’t think I’m ready for doing…stuff in front of people.”
His lips twitched, but his expression remained closed. “Would you rather see me up there with another woman? Watching her submit to me?”
Jealousy tightened her stomach into a hard knot. She knew it was irrational, stupid even, but she would never be the kind of woman that could see her man with someone else and be okay with it. Her rational mind might know he wasn’t “her man,” but for the duration of this vacation, he was, and she’d be darned if she had to sit and watch another woman come alive beneath his touch. Still, there were just so many people here. As she gazed around the crowd, the room seemed to triple in size until it looked to her like a mass of people the size of a football stadium were watching the stage.