Page 24

I continue kneading the tight muscles in Hercules’s shoulders as Meg stalks naked to the door and opens it. The woman who walks through is one of my personal favorites of the submissives on staff. Aurora. She’s sweet and gentle and cries so prettily. She’s beautiful in the way priceless art is beautiful. Her light brown skin all but shines in the low light and her hair—pink this month—falls in waves that are almost curls around her narrow shoulders.

She smiles at Meg, and I give a smile of my own as Hercules’s breath catches. “She’s very beautiful, don’t you think?”

“They both are.”

It amuses me how loyal he is to my Meg, little though she deserves it. He wants to play knight in shining armor to her princess in distress, and he still hasn’t quite realized that she’s as much dragon as I am. More so in certain situations.

Meg takes Aurora’s hand and pulls her farther into the room until they stop in front of the chair directly across from us. It’s just high enough to bend someone over if you want to fuck them, and Hercules and I are low enough that we won’t miss any details.

He won’t miss any details.

Meg looks at me askance. “May I, Sir?”

Anyone else might miss the hint of disrespect that flavors those three little words. I raise my brows, and she has the grace to flush. On another night, I’d make her eat those words while she eats Aurora’s pussy as I flog her until she sobs. That’s not on the agenda right now and she knows it, the little brat. “Yes.” I wait for her to start to turn before I put a little snap in my voice. “But first come give our little Hercules a kiss.”

Her brows slam down, and it takes her visible effort to recover. I’m not playing fair, but then she should expect it from me at this point. A punishment is still a punishment, even if it doesn’t appear to be one on the outside.

This boy got under my Meg’s skin. A mutual feeling if the way he tenses beneath my hands is any indication, but I knew that already. He wouldn’t have effectively sold his soul to me for anything less than blinding lust. Meg kneels gracefully in front of Hercules and, after another arch look in my direction, leans forward and presses a kiss to his lips. Because I’m still touching him, I feel him gravitate toward her to deepen the kiss.

I’m not surprised when she lets him. Meg is drawn to this man in an entirely different way than she’s drawn to me. It’s part of the reason he’s here.

I count slowly to fifteen, allowing them this, if only so I can be the one to take it away. “That’s enough, you two,” I say mildly. “You’re making poor Aurora feel left out.”

Aurora, at least, isn’t disobedient enough to contradict me. She stands exactly where Meg left her, gaze downturned and her hands clasped before her. All of my submissives have a style, and I allow them that freedom within certain boundaries. Aurora wears a short silk slip that might appear virginal if it weren’t short enough to barely brush her thighs and didn’t have thin straps that appeared as if they’d break under a harsh exhale. The Dominants who contract with her eat that sort of thing up, and she’s become one of my biggest moneymakers as a result. She also has a schoolgirl crush on Meg, so this scene serves to reward them both.

Meg rises gracefully to her feet and pads to Aurora. She uses a single finger to lift her chin, and I don’t have to see Meg’s face to know she’s smiling warmly down at the woman. “We’ll keep it simple today, okay?”

“Okay,” Aurora whispers.

“Safe word?”

“Thorn.”

“Good girl.”

As Meg begins, I turn my attention back to Hercules. He’s so tense, he might as well be marble carved on the floor between my legs. That won’t do. That won’t do at all. I knead the tight muscles in his shoulders. The man may be nothing more than a pawn, but he’s no less beautiful than my Meg, albeit in a different way. Hercules has the coloring and bearing of someone used to walking in the sun. Whether he’ll wither living here in the dark remains to be seen.

I lean down until my lips nearly brush his ear. “First, you learn by watching. Then you learn by participating. You belong to me, and I won’t allow anyone else to hurt you.”

“Anyone else?” His voice had an edge of growl.

“I’m going to hurt you, little Hercules. And you’re going to enjoy every moment of it.” I dig my thumb into the trigger point at the top of his spine. Unsurprisingly, there’s a knot there, and I work it ruthlessly until he lets out a little pained sound. I exhale carefully against his ear, enjoying the way it makes him shiver. Does he realize he’s leaning back into my touch, ever so slightly? I doubt it. “Meg is a woman of varied tastes. She’s also one of the best Dominants working in the Underworld. Aurora is one of the best submissives.”