It was a pleasant evening. I spoke with all of the other guests, at one time or another. It turned out that Loomis and Miranda wrote children's books: he did the stories, and she illustrated. I'd even seen a couple of them. They were very good, light and whimsical. Desi owned a gay bar, and Tara was her featured dancer. "Kurt's real popular on BAG night."
"Bag?"
"Bring A Guy. We have a Most Likely to Make You Wish You Were Bi contest, and Kurt usually wins." She cocked an eye at Langely. "Though your cutie could give him a run for his money."
Hanson came over, and said, "Say, Miss Emily, would you mind if I teased your submissive, just a little? He looks like he'd be fun."
"Sure, go ahead." I was curious as to just what teasing would entail. I watched as Hanson stalked Langely, who backed away in mock apprehension. Soon the bigger man had my submissive pushed into a corner, and was rubbing against him, a mischievous grin on his face. Langely was giggling helplessly, being tickled all over by the big man's blonde pelt.
At dinner, Langely hovered behind me, ready to tend to my every need. My glass and bread plate were never empty. Every now and then he would rest his chin on my shoulder, and I'd feed him something, with my fingers. He was always careful to lick them clean after every bite. Loomis fed Miranda, and William had to kneel beside Addie through out the meal. He must have wicked callouses on his knees, I thought. And she didn't seem to feed him very much.
He was just on my other side. Addie was getting pretty drunk. Her wine glass never got more than half empty. I noticed that the other Doms and Dommes were giving her sideways looks. There were frowns, and occasional whispers to each other, but no one said anything to her. I thought I knew what they were thinking. It didn't seem to me to be very responsible to get drunk when you were planning on playing a scene. The way Kurt explained it to me was that it was up to the Dominant to remain completely in control of the situation, and that was difficult if you were impaired.
William kept pushing his head up under her hand whenever he could reach it, but she ignored him. She hadn't fed him a single scrap so far, and I was beginning to worry about him. He wasn't exactly stout to begin with.
I whistled softly, and William looked over at me. I held a roll down below the edge of the table. He glanced up at his Mistress. Addie was talking, too loudly, of course, about her trip to Mardi Gras in New Orleans the year before. He looked back at me, and shook his head.
I didn't understand that. He was obviously hungry. I mean, I saw him have to swallow saliva when he looked at the roll. Why wouldn't he take it? Again I offered it, giving him a stern look and shaking it. He dropped his eyes humbly, but shook his head again.
I felt a touch on my arm, and turned to see Kurt with a gently disapproving look on his face. He whispered. "Emmie, no. You don't feed another Domme's submissive without her permission."
I whispered back. "But he's hungry."
"I can see that. But it's just not done. You don't fiddle with another person's property. How would you feel if someone just hopped in your car for a test drive?"
"It's not the same thing."
"Yes, it is. You're new to this, Emmie. I know it's ignorance and not deliberate rudeness on your part, but it really is horrible etiquette. You noticed that everyone asked you before they had any contact with Thomas."
I thought about it. He was right. Even Addie, who didn't strike me as too concerned about the niceties. Kurt continued. "You don't know why she isn't feeding him. Yes, it's most likely because she's just gotten drunk and is forgetful. But it might be part of his discipline. She may have him on a diet to get him down to a more desirable weight."
"A diet?" I examined William's slender frame. "That hardly seems likely."
"Nevertheless, you can't do it, Emily. It would be unforgivably rude, now that you know it isn't allowed."
"Okay." I turned, and lifted my voice. "Addie?" She looked at me muzzily. I made my voice sweet, curious, and non judgmental. "Addie, when was the last time that William ate?"
She frowned, and looked down at her submissive. "Uh... breakfast?" William nodded. "Damn, I haven't fed you, have I?" He shook his head, relief plain of his face. "Crap, sorry about that, kiddo." She hadn't been paying much attention to her food, and had half her steak left. She picked it up and handed it to William. "Knock yourself out." She looked at me, and her eyebrows arched. "Doing something with that roll?"
"Only the usual." I took a bite out of it.
The bad thing about this was that Thomas got jealous. He still wasn't very secure in our relationship, I guess. I suppose that was what made him do what he did later.
What does one do in the evenings at a bondage and discipline retreat? Well, in our case, we played parlor games.
That's right, parlor games. Charades. Gossip. Twenty Questions. Go ahead, laugh. But you've never seen anything till you’ve see a naked man who thinks he's a dog trying to act out 'Pretty Woman'. Things went pretty well. Thomas and I kicked butt at Pictionary. Then they had to go and play Truth or Dare.
Well, I had some idea of what sorts of dares might be given out, so I determined that I was going to choose truth, when it came my turn. It started off mildly enough. We drew straws for who would go first. It was Desi, and she chose Boy. He picked dare, and seemed very indignant when she insisted that he had to act like a cat. He didn't do badly. He arched against legs, and purred, and mewed. But he also put on the most idiotic, cross eyed expression I've ever seen, and Keagan informed us that he was a Siamese.
On his turn, Boy chose Kira. Kira picked truth, and Boy whispered to Keagan, who asked her what was the most intense sexual experience she'd ever had. She took her husband's hand, smiled shyly, and said it had been the first time they made love. Lots of ohs and ahs for that, except for Addie, who muttered about warm fuzzies.
Kira chose Langely, who chose dare. He was dared to pick one of the men and give them a big, wet kiss. After a moment's hesitation, Thomas walked over to Kurt, slid his hands up into that luxuriant black hair, and laid a soft, open mouthed kiss on his lips. There were wolf whistles all around, and Kurt playfully pinched his butt before he walked away.
Then Thomas surveyed the circle of people thoughtfully, and his eyes came to rest on me. "Miss Emily."
Hm. You're up to something, Thomas. I can tell by that look on your face. "Truth."
He smiled, and nodded, as if to say I thought so. "Tell us about how you lost your virginity."
I froze. Then I felt hot. I knew that the blood was rushing to my face. I glared at him. "Dare."
He shook his head. "Oh, no. You've already chosen. Rules say you can't change your mind."
Kurt was looking between us, his expression worried. "Thomas, let her take the dare."
"Fuck no." Addie's voice was slurred. "She's gotta play by the rules, like everyone else. Answer the question."
"It's all right, Emily," Nanny Elizabeth assured me. "There's nothing to be embarrassed about. We've all had our first time, and we know that it can be funny, or awkward, or even downright unpleasant. And you don't have to go into details."
"Go on, Emily. Tell them." Thomas's eyes were mocking.
"Yeah, tell us." urged Desi.
"I can't."
"Sure you can," Kira encouraged. "It won't leave this room."
"No. I can't. I can't, because it hasn't happened yet." There was complete and utter silence. "Yeah, that's right. I'm factory direct. I'm volcano fodder. I'm a fucking, excuse me, non fucking unicorn trap." I got up and stalked over to Thomas, seething. His eyes got bigger. I think he suddenly realized just how angry I was. And he was beginning to realize how hurt I was. I felt betrayed.
I grabbed his hair, hard. He winced, but didn't try to pull away. My hand started to come up, palm rigid, but then I stopped. My arm actually quivered with the effort not to slap him. But I had promised, both Thomas and myself. I would never hit him in anger. Instead I gave his head a slow, deliberate shake, and hissed, "Happy?"
I let him go with a shove and started out of the room. Behind me I heard his plaintive voice, "Miss Emmie..."
I stopped. I didn't look at him, but I pointed an accusing finger back at him. "Don't talk to me. Don't follow me. Not now. I can't be around you right now, Thomas. Someone else take my turn." And I left.
