Total pages in book: 95
Estimated words: 88350 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 442(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88350 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 442(@200wpm)___ 353(@250wpm)___ 295(@300wpm)
To his surprise, her gaze flitted away from his, color washing over her cheeks. Clearly, he’d touched a nerve.
“What is it, Lia? What’s going on with you right now?”
Slowly, she turned her head and met his gaze, her cheeks still pink. “Um. It’s just…” She trailed off, then resumed, “Do you know about the nanny cams set up all over this place? And the phone app that allows the Doms to track them?”
Beau was further confused by the apparent non sequitur and mildly annoyed by her apparent inability to answer a direct question. “What’s going on? Just tell me straight.”
She drew in a deep breath and blew it out. “I did something wrong while I was downstairs.”
Ah. Now he was getting it. It wasn’t that his words about trust had hit home. Whatever she’d done might have been witnessed by a nanny cam, so she’d decided she better confess just to be on the safe side.
Wait. He shouldn’t be so hard on her. She was trying to tell him something now. She could have taken her chances and waited to be caught, or not. Instead, she’d brought whatever it was up of her own accord.
When she didn’t immediately continue, he prodded gently, “Tell me what you have to say, Lia.”
She mumbled something unintelligible.
“Look at me,” he commanded. “And speak up so I can hear you.”
Finally, she met his gaze, color again splashing over her cheeks and throat as she blurted, “I played with myself in the shower, Sir. I touched myself without your express permission. I’m so sorry, Sir.”
He almost laughed at the irony, as he’d done the same thing himself. But this was clearly a teachable moment, and he needed to take it seriously.
“I appreciate your honesty. Though I can’t help but wonder,” he added with the ghost of a smile, “would you have confessed if there hadn’t been a camera in the vicinity?”
“I’m not exactly sure,” she admitted, her candor surprising him. “But what you said just now really made me think about what I’d done, whether or not you saw it. Maybe that old saying that what they don’t know won’t hurt them isn’t really true. Especially, as you say, in a D/s situation.”
Beau nodded, curious to see where she was going with this.
“I don’t want to just repeat my past mistakes,” she continued. “I thought I could power my way through The Enclave training, and we both know how well that worked out. If I’m going to do this thing, I need to give it my all. So, yeah. I fucked up, Sir. I disobeyed you, and just because you didn’t know about it, that doesn’t make it right.”
“No. It doesn’t,” he agreed. “You will be punished for your infraction.”
Her face fell. “Yes, Sir.”
“However,” he added. “I do appreciate your honesty in admitting what you did. That definitely counts for something.”
She looked up with an impish smile. “Something involving one of the new whips, Sir?” she asked eagerly.
“We’ll see,” he said with a chuckle. “Meanwhile, finish your pie.”
≈
Beau had decided he’d like to check out the auction. While Lia was also curious to see how it worked, she would rather have gone upstairs to get her reward for being honest. Though that also came with a punishment, she reminded herself.
The auction was to take place on a raised dais at the back of the main dungeon. The scene stations that usually occupied the space had been dismantled for the event, four rows each containing six chairs set up instead.
Most of the chairs were already occupied by event attendees, most of them male. Each had been given a bidding paddle with a number on it. Lia recognized several people from The Garden.
The auction was just getting started as Beau and Lia slipped into two seats in the back row. Master Brandon was apparently the auctioneer. Lia had always thought he looked like some kind of ancient Scottish Lord, with his tall, sturdy build, auburn hair and rugged features. The four trainees stood in a row toward the back of the stage, naked save for their collars and some body jewelry.
“Let’s get started,” Master Brandon said in his loud, jovial voice. “Just to reiterate the rules: bidding is silent via your paddle. Before bidding begins, each slave will present him or herself to you in a series of positions designed to show you their wares and demonstrate their grace. All money raised will go to local charities. You will have one full hour to use your slave as it pleases you, with the caveat of no exchange of bodily fluids and no sexual penetration. In other words, they can suck you but they can’t fuck you, and vice versa.” The expected chuckles followed.
“Our first offering is slave Kinsley,” Brandon boomed. “Come forward and display yourself for our bidders.”
Kinsley looked sweet and shy, her eyes downcast as she stepped forward. Her breasts were small and high, her red-rouged nipples encircled with delicate rings connected by a long gold chain that hung between them. She wore matching bangles on her wrists and ankles.