Chapter 13
Addison set down her empty coffee cup and leaned back in her chair. The breakfast buffet had looked delicious, but all she could stomach was coffee and toast, no matter how much Devon enticed her to eat. She just wanted to be done and gone.
Every single nerve was raw and exposed, and every laugh or smile from the other guests grated on them. She was holding on by a thread, and the unease roiling in her gut kept her tense and on edge. Not even waking up to a warm and rumpled Devon had been able to ease her tension.
A bell tinkled from the far door, drawing everyone’s attention. One of the many model-gorgeous butlers, or security—whichever they were—held a crystal bell in his gloved hand.
“Tsarevna would like everyone to join her in the salon,” he announced.
Devon leaned close. “Which room is the salon?”
Addison shrugged. Pushing back her chair, she joined the remaining few guests in the breakfast room as they followed the butler. They ended up in the same room they’d been in the night before. This morning, chairs formed a circle in the middle of the room.
They found Connie and Paige and joined them. “Any idea what’s going on?” Addison asked.
“I have an idea,” Connie said in a low voice. “Tsarevna likes public displays. I have a feeling you’re about to be put on the spot.”
That was the only warning they got. Tsarevna entered the room, clapping her hands.
“Take your seats, ladies. Your escorts, if they’re with you, may stand behind your chairs.” She strode to the center of the circle and turned slowly as if examining everyone. Stopping at Paige, she asked, “Your delightful stylist isn’t with you?”
Paige laughed. “Oh, no. He doesn’t wake before noon.”
“Pity. I was very much looking forward to his company. Oh, well, there’s always luncheon.” She turned her assessing gaze to Addison before addressing the room at large. “I’d like to welcome all of you to my humble home. I always like to start the festivities off with a little guest exhibition. Normally I ask for volunteers, but I think today I’ll make a special request.”
She spun and zeroed in on Addison. “You and your toy can go first.”
It wasn’t a request so much as a demand.
“Tsarevna.” Connie stood from her chair next to Addison. “Addison is still a Domme in training and has never conducted a public scene. I don’t think she’s ready.”
“My dear Constance, what better time to learn than here with her mentor and all this experience?” She spread her hands wide, indicating the women in the circle. “You can use it as a teaching moment.”
The two women stared each other down. Finally, Connie said, “I’ll encourage her to do it, but I won’t force her. The Council of Helen is supposed to empower women to their full potential, not take their choices away from them.”
Tsarevna’s gaze turned hard. She did not like being reprimanded. “Of course. No woman’s choice will be taken from her here. Speak with your protégé. You should encourage herstrongly.”
Connie pulled Addison up and led her to the far side of the room with Devon behind them.
“She suspects something, but I’m not sure what. I’ll think of an excuse to give her if you can’t go through with this, but it would be better if you can.”
“What do I need to do? Put him in a corner while I spank him?”
“It needs to be explicit. I know it’s a lot to ask, especially of two people who are virtual strangers, but if you can manage a sexual act, that will shut her up.”
Addison glanced at Devon out of the corner of her eye and caught his small nod. She addressed her question to Connie, knowing she shouldn’t consult with her “toy.”
“I don’t know what to do. I have a feeling missionary sex isn’t going to satisfy her.” Was she seriously considering this? More than a decade in the military had drummed “no public displays of affection” into her brain to the point she got uncomfortable with holding hands in front of people and now she had to come up with a sex act?
“It won’t. The key to a D/s relationship is the exchange of control. At its most basic, a dominant controls the pleasure of the submissive. Tell Devon what to do, but don’t ask. Demand it. Direct him—guide him to your pleasure, even if it’s at the expense of his own.” Connie looked at Devon. “If you’re in any way sexually submissive, now is the time to play it up.”
“I like to be restrained,” he said under his breath. His eyes were downcast, his hands behind his back.
“Tied up?” Addison asked.
He nodded briefly.
A picture began to form in her head. Something she’d read in an erotic romance novel. It wouldn’t be too hard to recreate, but they would both have to expose themselves—and not just physically.
