“Breathe, Tanwen,” Bryan said in a low voice and gave her hand a good squeeze.
Bryan pulled her against his chest as the arms of the X were lowered enough so that she wouldn’t be dangling from them. He whispered into her ear, “It is okay to be afraid, but you need to overcome your fear in order to earn the rewards that come from doing what scares you. You know I will do only what you’ve given me permission to do.”
“I’m not scared,” she lied and swallowed as the leather-clad assistants left the stage.
Bryan stood in front of her so she had no choice but to look at him. His gaze had gone chilly, and her stomach clenched. “Be honest with me, little flame, or I will make you regret lying.”
Uncomfortably aware of the hush that had fallen over the audience as they watched him, she said in an angry whisper, “Look, I’m up here. Let’s just get this over with.”
Without another word, Bryan picked her up in his arms and carried her to the X. The world whirled around her, and she yelped as he cuffed first one hand, then the other with ruthless efficiency. The leather bit into her wrists, and when she yanked against the restraints, it actually hurt.
She started to protest, but Bryan clasped his hand over her mouth. “Unless you want to use your safe word, you will be silent. I will not take disrespect from a sub, however new you may be. After this is over, we will discuss your punishment, so I would suggest you act like the lady you are and behave. Now, do you want to use your safe word?”
His words at once inflamed and enraged her, but she found her eyes flooding with tears as she slowly shook her head back and forth. The ice in his eyes thawed a tiny bit, and he brushed her hair back over her shoulders before removing his hand. “Not one word unless I give you permission to speak. You may, however, scream and moan as you wish to express your pleasure.”
She clenched her jaw so hard her teeth ached and glared at the floor in front of her. The sound of his shoes seemed loud as he walked behind her. A moment later, something soft and dark slid across her face, blinding her to the room. Her mouth opened to ask him what he was doing, but she shut it before more than a syllable came out. As her eyes adjusted, she realized the blindfold didn’t completely rob her of her sight. It was sheer enough that she could make out the shadow of his form as he moved in front of the bright lights.
He laughed softly and ran his hands down her sides, pausing to reach around and cup her breasts. “The blindfold is to make this easier for you. To make you concentrate on my touch, on my voice. You are my world at this moment, and I am yours.”
The warmth of his hands moved away, and she strained to find him in the darkness behind the blindfold. She tugged against the posts, starting when his hands gripped her right foot and pulled it until she had to widen her stance or fall. The cool leather of the cuff wrapped around her ankle and bound it to the cold wood. The action was repeated on the other side, and she found herself immobile, blind, and totally at the mercy of a man she barely knew in front of hundreds of people.
Their murmurs washed over her in waves of sound as she strained to control her panic. Bryan said not to talk unless she was spoken to, but her fear was a tiny rodent gnawing away at her self-control. Her body felt numb, tingly, and her breath came out in harsh pants that further robbed her of any feeling of safety. He leaned in, his lips brushing her ear and sending sparks racing through her blood as he whispered, “You’re doing great. I’m very proud of you. Now, deep breath in, hold it, and let it out. Again. You’re doing so well, and I’m right here with you. I will never be more than a step or two away. You are not alone, my beautiful flame.”
Damned if she couldn’t help smiling at his compliment, warmed from the inside out. She’d always been eager to please, doing whatever she could to win the approval of her teachers when she was younger and her bosses as she grew older. Bryan had taken on that authoritarian role now as her master, and she couldn’t help the ball of warmth that expanded in her chest as he stroked her cheek, turning her face into his palm and placing a kiss there. Her heart still raced, but her breathing had returned to a normal pace and her body no longer felt numb.
He moved away but stood close enough that she could still smell his cologne. His deep voice rang out over the quiet of the room, and she realized at some point he’d been given a microphone. “I’d first like to thank you all for making this convention such a success. Your enthusiasm, imagination, and acceptance of each other is an amazing thing, and I’m honored to have the chance to share one of my passions with you today.”
He traced a hand over her throat, playing with the straps holding her halter top up as he continued. “The foundation of any Master/slave relationship is trust. Trust that as a master or mistress, we will take care of our sub. Trust that we will see to their every need, that they can let go of everything and fly, and trust that we are there to catch them when they fall.”
His words seemed to weave a spell, capturing her mind and silencing all rational arguments against trusting him. Yes, she didn’t know him. Yes, he was a playboy, but none of that mattered because right now she trusted him to make her fly. If nothing else, he had proven he could make her feel things no other man could, and she knew deep in her gut that he wouldn’t disappoint her.
A few of the straps holding her top up loosened, and the silk began to slowly slide down her breasts. She tensed and squirmed, but Bryan placed his hand over the center of her chest and pressed gently. “Part of the responsibility, the sacred duty of a dom is to look after their subs emotional and physical welfare. Any master will tell you that while they may enjoy inflicting all kinds of delicious pain on a willing submissive, seeing their slave sick or truly injured kills them.” A murmur of agreement came from the crowd, and Tanwen shivered as her top pooled around her waist, exposing her strapless bra. “When my late wife developed breast cancer, I would have done anything, anything to make her better.”
Tanwen wished with all her heart that she wasn’t bound to the cross, not because of her discomfort, but because she wanted to hold Bryan and comfort him. Though his voice still held steady, she couldn’t miss the deep sorrow it held. “A thousand thoughts went through my mind during the dark days before she succumbed to the illness. What could I have done to prevent it? If we had caught it sooner, would she have been saved? Why her, why me?” He pulled in a deep breath, and her heart ached for him. “I was the one that found the lump during one of our play sessions. Katie, my wife, assured me it was nothing, just a hormonal reaction to her upcoming period.”
He paused for a moment, stroking her shoulders, her chest, and finally cradling her breasts in his hands. “By the time she finally went to the doctor, the cancer had spread. Nineteen months later, she lost her battle to breast cancer.”
With gentle fingers, he unhooked the front clasp of her bra and removed it. To her surprise she felt the warmth of his breath as he bent and kissed the top of each breast. “I think it’s fair to say that we handle our sub’s bodies almost more than they do. We are finely attuned to notice any changes.”
He weighed her breasts in his hands, and a delicious warmth roused through her, battling the flush of embarrassment at being topless before so many people. “Today I’m going to show you how to give a breast exam to your sub, mistress, or master. First you want to apply a light layer of oil or lotion to the breasts. Not so much that your fingertips become too slick to feel any lumps but enough so that you can move easily over their body. Take a moment to appreciate the delicacy of their skin, the subtle weight of their breasts. Become aware of their heart beating beneath your hand. Open yourself to them until they become the center of your world, until you can feel the pound of their heart moving the blood through your veins.”