“Anything we can help with?”
Ben looked from Cliff to Mary Jane. Maybe it was fated they ended up at his table tonight, given the last couple days. He knew Mary Jane had a high-powered job as an oil company executive, so maybe she could shed light on what’d happened with Ainsley. “Would you allow me to speak freely to your sub, Cliff?”
“Mary Jane? You have permission to speak to Bennett.”
“Thank you, Sir.” Mary Jane raised her eyes to Ben’s. “What may I help you with?”
“This might sound like a strange question, but would your job be affected if anyone you worked with discovered you were a sexual submissive?”
“In my job right now? Probably not.”
See? Ainsley was just making up excuses not to be with you.
“But bear in mind I’m five years from retirement. If I was a young woman just starting out? Especially in a male-dominated industry? That would be the kiss of death for my career.”
Ben froze.
“Also remember I’m a sexual submissive to my husband of three decades. I’m not a single woman being passed from Dom to Dom in this sex club. That’s also an entirely different situation.”
Ben’s hopes that the obstacles he and Ainsley faced would somehow magically work out, given time and distance, began to fade.
Mary Jane tapped her fingernails on the table. “The reason Cliff and I insist on almost total privacy here is because of my professional position. I wouldn’t be keen on anyone finding out I liked to be whipped by a stranger. And I’m sure your outside friends don’t know that you get…something from whipping the crap out of women you have no sexual interest in.”
Ben frowned.
“No offense, Bennett, but I don’t want to get to know you. Emotional ties change things. I’m fine with Cliff spanking or flogging me. But there’s something sadistic about telling the man I love to whip me until I almost pass out.”
“But it’s different when I wield the whip?”
“Yes. Because when you’re landing strikes on my body I bear them for him. To show him I can take it. I share the joy and pain with Cliff, not with you. To put it in the simplest terms, you’re the bad guy beating me and Cliff is the good guy who will take care of me when it’s all done.”
Holy shit. Was that really how she saw him? As the bad guy?
“Mary Jane. Apologize to Bennett for insulting him,” Cliff demanded.
He said, “It’s all right, Cliff,” even when it wasn’t. Fuck. He felt he’d just been kicked in the teeth and kneed in the nads.
“I’ll be honest, Bennett. Your blows sting like hell. I’ve been tempted to run, especially in the beginning. Me getting whipped does nothing for Cliff, but he understands it does something for me.”
“Would you miss it if you didn’t have it?” Ben asked.
“Maybe. Would you miss it if you didn’t do it?”
I don’t know.
But he hadn’t missed it in the month he’d been involved with Ainsley.
Cliff said, “We hoped to utilize your whip skills tonight. But given what you’re wrestling with, we’d understand if you opt not to.”
In his frame of mind, he’d take validation where he could get it. “Which room?”
“Seven. In about thirty minutes?”
“I’ll be there.”
Sending out bad vibes kept subs at bay as Ben attempted to get his head in the game. Holding his whip, he bypassed a public scene where the woman getting flogged looked totally bored.
Ah hell. Was that…Zoe?
He ducked from view and hustled down the hallway. He peeked in the window to see if they were ready for him and stepped inside.
Mary Jane was blindfolded, naked and secured facedown to the bed.
Cliff gave Ben the instructions in low tones. The scene went better for Mary Jane if she didn’t know where the blows would strike or how many.
Ben walked the perimeter of the bed. That too, heightened her senses. The fall of his boots on the carpet. The jostling of the bed as he bumped into it. And then that first whip crack. Rarely did he land the first blow. He loved the sound it made, the leather whistling through the air before the end connected with solid mass and a sharp crack.
That’s when he found his headspace. The intense focus needed to keep his aim true and please both Cliff and Mary Jane.
But what had he gotten from the scene?
Ben’s shirt was sweat-soaked and he floated on the buzz of adrenaline when Cliff said, “Red. She’s done in, Bennett. Thank you.”
He nodded and slipped from the room, the edgy feeling still riding him hard. As he skirted the crowd, he couldn’t believe Zoe’s scene was still playing out. Their eyes met.
Hers held a look of frustration. She said, “Please. Bennett. Show him. Help me.”
The weight of onlookers’ stares didn’t faze him. He crossed his arms over his chest and let the whip dangle. “Say your safe word.”
“No. Just help me.” She didn’t even flinch when her Dom landed two hard swats on the backs of her legs.
“Rules are rules. Say your safe word and I’ll step in.”
Zoe screamed, “Red! Red! Goddammit!”
The guy halted mid-swat. The same frustration burned in his eyes as in Zoe’s when Ben stepped from the edge of the crowd. “You’re in charge of this scene?”
“Yes. Who the hell are you?”
“Bennett. And you?”
“Brian.”
“Well, Brian, I hafta ask. Have you played in public with her before?”
“Only once.”
“Is this a pain with sex scene or just pain?”
“Pain with sex.”
“I have history with Zoe, and I might be able to help you both out. I’ll give her the pain if you’ll handle the sex and aftercare.”
Brian actually looked relieved. “Sounds fair.”
Ben kept his gaze on Brian’s as he spoke to the sub. “Zoe, I’ve already warmed up with the single tail. You ready?”
“Yes. Sir. Please, Sir.”
“How many?” he murmured to Brian.
“Twenty-three,” Brian whispered back. “You choose the spots. If she stops counting then you stop.”
“Agreed.” Ben walked forward and slowly ran the whip handle down Zoe’s spine and the crack of her ass. Her whole body jerked, the chains rattled and she strained to look over her shoulder at him.
When he moved, her head tried to follow his movement.