Tony leaned in. “Consensual. Remember that.”
Seth nodded.
Kaden stepped back, never turning his back on her. “Where are we, slave?”
She made an okay sign with her right hand.
“Show me your hands and feet.”
She wiggled them all, flexing her fingers and toes.
“Circulation,” Tony said.
“Very good, love.” Kaden took out a nasty-looking device from the bag.
“Soft flogger,” Tony explained in the same low voice. “He’s going to warm her up.” From his tone, he could have been calling a golf game.
The Twilight Zone theme played in Seth’s brain.
Kade stepped up to her and caressed her ass. She wiggled, squirming on the bench as he positioned himself. He rolled his neck and shoulders and the tone of his voice deepened further. “Are you ready to feel the bite, slave?”
She wiggled her ass at him and flicked a signal with her right hand.
“Sign language,” Tony said.
Seth felt he had a front row seat at the weirdest show on Earth.
“Set of twenty, love.”
She flicked another sign.
“That means yes,” Tony said.
“Count.”
With each swat of the flogger she twitched her ass, and with her right hand made a sign, apparently counting in sign language. Kade quickly finished the set and caressed her slightly pink flesh.
“Where are we, love?”
She flashed another okay sign.
“Set of twenty, love.”
She signed yes.
“Count.”
Kaden savaged her, or what Seth imagined was a savaging. Tony leaned in. “It looks a lot worse than it is,” he assured him. “You could smack a kid with that flogger and it wouldn’t hurt them. It’s very soft. He’s putting her in subspace. Building up to the harder implements.”
Great. More vocabulary.
Kaden finished the set and switched to a paddle. After a set of twenty-five with that, Seth noticed Leah’s eyes had closed and she’d been crying. He desperately wanted to go to her, comfort her, and knew he couldn’t.
Next came a set of twenty-five with a harsh-looking riding crop. Seth flinched with each stroke that landed on her flesh. At the end of that set, Kaden leaned in close and said something too low for Seth to hear. She nodded and flashed him a sign. Kaden tenderly stroked her forehead and then returned to the duffel bag.
He pulled out a whip.
Tony grabbed Seth’s arm and pulled him back a couple of feet, then waved a few other people back. When the area was clear, Kaden glanced at Tony, who nodded.
“Do you need to feel the bite, slave?”
She signed yes.
“Are you prepared to serve your Master, slave?”
She signed yes.
He flicked the whip at her, cracking it but not striking her. She flinched and wiggled her ass at him.
Seth thought she might have moaned.
“I don’t think you want it badly enough, slave. I don’t think you need it.” The hard, firm edge to Kaden’s voice twisted Seth’s gut. He’d never heard his friend talk like that. Especially never to Leah.
Tony leaned in again. “He’s trying to draw it out for her tonight. He’s not normally this hard in a public scene with her.”
Hard. Funny choice of words. As sick as his gut felt, Seth was harder than a rock.
She signed something at Kaden and wiggled her ass again. Again he cracked the whip over her, not striking her.
Seth flinched at the sound.
Kaden walked over to her and struck her ass with his bare hand, from the looks of it hitting her squarely between the legs.
Seth winced. Even through the ball gag he heard Leah’s moan.
And it didn’t sound like she was in pain.
Kaden struck her again. It looked like she tried to grind herself against her husband’s hand. He whispered something to her, and she moaned again, louder.
Two more swats and her whole body trembled.
Kaden quickly stepped back and nailed her ten times in quick succession with the whip, each strike hitting her squarely in the center of her now-red ass cheeks.
She screamed around the gag, her hips bucking.
Holy fuck! Seth realized she was coming.
Kaden swatted her bare-handed several more times, followed by another round of ten with the whip. When he finished he said, “Where are we, love?” His tone had softened to the tender voice he’d used with her the night before in the playroom.
She panted but flashed an okay sign.
Kaden quickly coiled the whip and put it away, then knelt beside her, stroked her forehead. He whispered something, and she nodded and closed her eyes. He quickly released her from the cuffs and pulled her into his lap. He removed the ball gag from her mouth, and she cuddled in his arms, recovering.
Seth swallowed hard. He wished it was his arms around her. Couldn’t he skip the beatings and go right to the recovery phase with her? That would sure as hell make his life easier.
He was watching them when he heard loud voices from another part of the dungeon. A middle-aged, overweight man dressed in tight leather pants and a leather vest dragged a young woman around by a leash. The woman had something that looked like a gag in her mouth, and her hands were bound behind her.
He berated her, swatting her on the ass with a crop. “Fuck, didn’t I tell you not to embarrass me tonight? You stupid cunt.”
Tony’s face hardened. Seth wasn’t sure if it was part of their play or something else but the energy he felt from the crowd watching them didn’t set him at ease. Kaden’s scene had felt controlled, disciplined, respectful even. This asshole looked like, well, an asshole.
From the disgusted looks on some of the other people’s faces, Seth got the impression the man wasn’t very popular.
“How the hell did he con someone into playing with him?” Tony muttered.
“Who is he?”
“Baxter. He’s a real asshole. That’s not just play, what he’s doing. I mean, some people are into humiliation, and that’s fine if it’s their kink. This guy really is an asshole. He goes through subs like some people change their socks, sometimes more. He’s a fucking poser.”
“Why do they let him in?”
“He hasn’t violated any rules…yet. I guaran-damn-tee you, the first time he does he’s out on his ass.”
Seth watched as the guy dragged the poor woman around. She fell to the floor, and even from where Seth stood he heard her scream something.
Baxter looked down at her. “You’re shitting me? You’re safe wording me? We haven’t done anything yet!”
She screamed something else. Tony looked like he was about to go over there when one of the dungeon monitors stepped in and whispered something to the guy.
“Aw, fuck. Fine! I was going to let her up.”
As soon as the woman’s arms were free she ripped the gag out of her mouth and spewed a stream of obscenities at the guy. She yanked off the collar and threw it at him. “Fuck you, Baxter!” she screamed, then stormed off.
Tony laughed. “Well, another one bites the dust.”
Seth turned his attention back to Kaden and Leah. He was speaking to her now. She nodded, stood, and started dressing while he unclipped the cuffs from the bench, wiped it down, and put their accessories away. He slipped his shirt on and looked at Seth, tipped his head at him, indicating for him to step over.
Leah finished dressing and knelt before the two of them.
“Thank you, Master,” she said.
He reached out his hand to her and she took it, kissing the back of it. He pulled her to her feet.
Kaden was about to say something to Seth when Baxter walked over.
“Kaden! Do you still have room in that class next weekend?”
“No.” He turned from the guy. Seth noticed that Leah had tensed.