Page 207 of Masters of Control

The Outlands was wildly different from either Stronghold or Marquis, yet familiar in a way that meant Asad relaxed the moment he walked in. The smell of leather, the cries of pain and pleasure, all felt like his comfort zone. After an evening of avoiding his parents at the rehearsal dinner as much as possible, he needed this.

A place away from all the family stuff, a place where he felt comfortable, and a place where he could get fun toys to torment Morgan with. There was an entire array available at the front desk for anyone who needed something.

“Do you want to get some toys or look around first?” he asked as they looked around the main floor, which boasted a bar and a dance floor, but most of the space was taken up by a huge opening that allowed people to look down onto the kinky scenes happening below. That’s where the real Dungeon was. There were some doors along the back wall he assumed were the private rooms or at least some of them.

“Look around?” Morgan answered, though her voice lilted up to make it a question, and she looked at him anxiously as if she wasn’t sure she’d made the right choice.

Asad smiled easily, moving his hand from her lower back up to the back of her neck to give it a reassuring squeeze, and she relaxed.

“Let’s look around. That’s smart, then we can see what’s available, and that will help me choose what we’re going to do.”

The place was busy for a Wednesday night. It also wasn’t as large as Stronghold, which might explain why the private rooms were all full. That or maybe there were just more exhibitionists at Stronghold. Who knew?

The dance floor was pretty sparse, but there were plenty of people hanging out around the bar, mingling and talking, which reminded him the most of Stronghold. The local kink hangout, where people could just come and be themselves while wearing fetwear. No wonder he felt at home.

Walking along the circular edge of the balcony, they looked down on the scenes below. This was something cool neither Stronghold nor Marquis had, and Asad appreciated the view from the top. It was a completely different angle and made for a fun voyeur experience as they could see a spanking, a whipping, wax play, a threesome…

“Master…” Morgan leaned against him, alarm in her voice. Asad turned his head to see what she was looking at and saw… himself.

No.

Shit.

That was Mason. Down on the lower floor of the Outlands, flogging a woman bound to a St. Andrew’s cross.

Well, fuck.

It looked like he had a lot more in common with his cousin than he’d known.

“Sorry, Red, I don’t think we’re going to be able to play here tonight.” He stroked his thumb down the side of her neck in apology and felt her sigh through the tips of her fingers.

“Do you think he’d really tell someone if we asked him not to?” Morgan pouted. “He’s here too.”

“And he works with Drew, and who knows what his other connections to Stronghold are. But if you want to stay, we will. This would definitely convince him that we’re a real couple if he saw us here.” They looked over the balcony again. His cousin had a good form with the flogger. Pausing, Mason stepped forward to check in with his sub, rubbing his hand over her back and ass before moving away again and changing out the light flogger he was using for a heavier one.

Even though there was nothing wrong with watching, Asad felt strange about it. He’d had no idea his cousin was kinky. He was pretty sure Mason had no idea Asad was kinky. It would be fun to fuck with him, but Asad wasn’t sure how much he wanted to watch, especially when Mason didn’t know he was there.

So, they either needed to go downstairs and let Mason see them so he could feel comfortable again, or they needed to go.

Morgan cast a longing glance down at the lower floor again, then shook her head.

“No, Master Asad, I think we should go. I don’t want to get you in trouble, and I think it would cause me more stress to worry that Mason might let something slip that would get back home than it would pleasure to be here.”

She had a point. Otherwise, Asad might have decided to override her decision because protecting him shouldn’t be their only reason for leaving. However, he didn’t want to cause her anxiety.

“We’ll get some toys on our way out,” he murmured. “Trust me. We’re still going to have a fun night.”

“Yes, Sir.” She grinned at him, apparently eager, regardless of whether they were at the club or the hotel.

Asad felt a little reluctant to be leaving the club so quickly, but he did enjoy picking out a few things for him and Morgan to play with back at the hotel. A gag, of course, to help her stay quiet and not disturb the other guests, which meant he felt no qualms about also picking up a rattan cane and a Delran cane. Lube and plug were a must—he chose a heavy glass one covered in ridges from the tip to the thick bulb. Morgan’s eyes widened with interest when she saw it. He also grabbed a knotted leather flogger and a tiny rubber pussy whip that would be nice and stingy on all her most sensitive parts. The last toys were a finger vibrator and a pair of clover clamps for some extra fun. And, of course, some toy cleaner and arnica cream to help with any possible bruising.

Was it more than he needed? Probably. But he liked the options for flexibility.

Picking them out and buying them also turned out to be more fun than expected because he kept looking over his shoulder to make sure Mason hadn’t come upstairs. He felt reasonably safe, yet the idea that they might get caught purchasing naughty toys added a little level of excitement that wouldn’t have been there otherwise. Morgan seemed to feel it, too, glancing around nervously, then giggling.

The woman manning the register watched them with amusement. She probably thought they were tourists, which didn’t bother Asad. Likely, he was never going to see her again. Though she did raise her eyebrows when they brought everything to the front.

“Um… have you used one of these before?”