For this moment, this moment only, no fear intruded.

* * * * *

He stepped into the BDSM club in downtown Tampa, grimacing as the music of Velvet Acid Christ assaulted his ears. Two sluts, drenched in nauseating perfume, lined up behind him. As the fat one chattered away in a shrill voice, he could almost feel his favorite cane in his hands and how he’d whip it across her insipid face and split the thin tissue of her lips. Blood would splatter the wall and drip down onto the glossy pink latex corset she wore.

“Sir.”

He blinked, shook his head.

“Sir,” the doorman repeated, holding his hand out for the fee and shoving a clipboard forward. “Sign here, please.”

He scrawled his name, Kyler Stanton, taking his time so he could check the list. No Elizabeth Stanton. No Elizabeth at all. But he couldn’t assume she wasn’t inside.

She might be clever enough to use an assumed name. Anger coiled in his stomach, a growing monster biding its time before bursting free. He’d given her his name, one of respect and dignity. If she’d abandoned it as easily as she’d rejected his home—and him—her punishment would be quite severe.

* * * * *

Nolan had sent Beth home an hour before, her nerves obviously overloaded. She’d done better than he’d anticipated. Of course, she still didn’t trust him worth a damn. Taking a sip of beer, he twisted on the bar stool to watch the scene at the St. Andrew’s cross. A Domme was doing sensation play, running a feather up the inside of her sub’s legs. The poor guy was trembling, his shaft pointing straight up. If he got off now, his cum would probably hit the ceiling.

Nolan grinned. Mistress Anne would have locked that cock in some metal cage and added weights. Amazing what a difference there could be between Dommes.

And that brought his thoughts back to Beth and the Doms she’d known. He understood her wariness. After her experiences, she wouldn’t trust anyone easily, especially a Dom. He sighed. The edge of fear was where trust could be engendered, but if he tried to push her there, she’d flee. Catch-22.

That little sub was definitely a piece of work. He scratched his jaw. On a work site, cement trucks tended to empty unused dregs on the ground, sometimes right in the way of something else. So the crew had to shatter the heavy concrete mass and then dig it out. What tools could he use to break up the ugly mass of memories in Beth’s mind? It wasn’t going to be easy or quick.

Holding his beer, Nolan wandered through the room. This late at night, the club was quieter, although most of the stations were still occupied. At the stockade, a burly gay Dom in biker leathers paddled a willow-thin sub who groaned with every slow stroke.

Farther down, at the lacing table, a Domme indulged in wax play with an older blonde whose breasts were covered with white streaks. The sound of the sub’s moans as she approached her peak almost killed Nolan. His cock had been throbbing like a sore tooth since he’d touched Beth’s wet pussy.

Nolan turned and went the other direction, finally taking a chair near the suspension station to watch Cullen play with Sally. The trainee sub was in her mid-twenties. With a golden tan, long, curly hair the same rich brown as her big eyes, and a very soft, full figure, the sub was a pleasure to fuck. A bit mouthy, too smart for her own good, but thoroughly submissive once a Dom got past the attitude.

Totally focused, the bartender worked a flogger up and down the pretty brunette with nice rhythmic strokes, alternating the pressure, sometimes hard, sometimes soft. As Sally’s cries changed, showing she couldn’t differentiate the pain from the pleasure, the flogging moved from her curvy ass and thighs to lighter erratic blows on her ample breasts and pussy. Her eyes glazed, her breasts and hips arching to meet the blows.

Before Sally could come, Cullen stepped back, nodded in satisfaction, and unfastened her, steadying the sub when her legs wobbled. A hip-high bench stood nearby—Cullen was always prepared—and now he laid Sally on her back with her head dangling off the top. Her ass jutted out over the other end. Cullen bent her legs up and strapped them against her waist. Top and bottom open and ready for use.

After glancing around, Cullen walked over to Nolan and tossed a condom in his lap. “Why don’t you come and play? Sally’s never had it from both ends, and she’s been a good little submissive all night…as good as she ever is. And you’ve been a good boy too; everyone in the place heard Beth scream as she got off. Nice job, but you’re probably ready to explode.”

That was the truth. Nolan picked up the condom and eyed Sally. She quivered as she craned her neck, trying to see where Cullen had gone. Her frustration was obviously growing by the second, and Nolan laughed. “Looks like we’d better get over there or she’ll come without us.”

“Be a nice change. I think she’s been faking it with some of the newer Doms.” Cullen frowned. “Maybe I’ll talk Z into giving a workshop on detecting fake orgasms.”

“That’d be interesting.” Nolan grinned, thinking about Z’s sub who really hated doing public scenes. “Jessica will hide under the bed if she hears you suggest that one.”

Cullen’s roar of laughter silenced the whole club for a second. Still chuckling, he motioned to Sally. “Let’s go play. If she fakes it, I get to beat her some more.”

Nolan snorted. “After the flogging you gave her, she’ll explode the minute we get in her.”

Cullen eyed the flushed sub. “Looks that way.” Unfastening his leathers, Cullen walked back to the bench. “Dibs on oral.”

“Works for me.” Moving to the foot of the bench, Nolan opened his leathers, getting a rush as his aching cock sprang free. A good Dom put a sub’s needs first, and Beth hadn’t been ready to be fucked.

This one was.

Her arms were strapped at her waist, her legs folded up and out of the way. Nolan nodded his approval of the restraints. He ran his hand over Sally’s pink-striped ass, making her moan. “Sally. What is your safe word?”

Her gaze settled on him, then his cock, and her eyes widened as she realized he was planning to take her. “Red, Master.”

“Use it if you need to, Sally,” Nolan instructed. “There will be two of us, so you might need it.”

Her eyes widened. Her breathing increased, her dusky nipples pebbling.

Cullen grinned at Nolan. “She likes it on the rough side.”

Nolan grunted a laugh. The way he felt, that wouldn’t be a problem. With a ruthless smile, he massaged her tender butt, tracing every welt the whipping had left while Cullen did the same with her breasts. It wasn’t long until her breathing turned ragged, and her hips tried to lift despite the straps. “Please, Masters, please,” she whimpered.

“Okay, love. Since you ask so nicely…” Cullen said and angled her head. He looked down her body at Nolan and nodded. Both men thrust into her at once, filling her mouth and her pussy. The sub arched upward, her vagina clamping on Nolan’s cock, spasming around it so violently he almost came right then. She screamed, the sound muffled by Cullen’s cock.

She was panting so fast that Cullen pulled out and waited, his hand around his cock. Nolan moved slowly in and out of her, enjoying the pulsing around his cock as her aftershocks slowly died.

With a sigh, she relaxed back on the bench. She looked up at Master Cullen. “Thank—” He filled her mouth with his cock before she could finish and nodded at Nolan.

With long experience, Nolan timed his moves to Cullen’s, waiting until Cullen started to pull back, and then Nolan would thrust into the snug little pussy. One, then the other, just slowly enough that the nerves would barely recover before the next thrust. He could feel her pussy start to tighten.

“I love this bench,” Nolan said. “It’s just the right height.” He slid his fingers through her folds, making her jerk. After tugging on her swollen labia, he circled his fingers around her clit, just teasing until her hips strained to lift. Then he pushed her, rubbing harder, increasing the speed of his thrusts.

He grinned, watching her try to focus on serving Cullen as her arousal grew, and her climax approached. She finally gave up, breathing too hard to suck cock. She was very close to coming. Five, four, three, two… Nolan slammed deep into her, pinched her clit and held.

She climaxed powerfully, her shrill cries throttled by the cock in her mouth.

After jerking back, Cullen glared across the bench. “She bit me. Warn me before you set her off.”

Nolan chuckled. Sally reminded him of those firecrackers that would explode in quick snaps, one after the other. Nolan studied her flushed face. Wasn’t she a pretty sight? Maybe she should have one more since she’d been such a good girl. “You ready, sugar?”

She nodded and tipped her head back. Cullen pushed his cock back into her mouth, and Nolan saw her working it steadily, taking it deep.

Nolan gave her a little time to relax, then leaned forward, reangling his cock and watching her face as each of his thrusts hit a different place in her vagina. Suddenly her eyes dilated, and her pussy quivered. He nodded. Right there. He started hammering her with short, fast strokes, each one slamming into that place inside.

Her legs strained against the straps, the muscles in her thighs quivering. Her pussy clenched, her whole body going rigid. Nolan said to Cullen, “Consider yourself warned.”