Page 66 of Stand Your Ground

Instead, right when I knew he was close, his gaze swung to me.

He kept those warm eyes on mine, his lids heavy, lips parted as he stroked and flexed. He let that gaze trail over the length of me before he caught my eyes once more. And then he shuddered and groaned and came, his release painting the two-way mirror, and his eyes locked on mine.

“Fuck,” he panted when he was done, squeezing the last out of his cock as he trembled and shook his head.

“I love when you listen,” I praised him, and then wordlessly, I used the supplies in the corner of the room to clean up his mess. There were hot, wet towels rolled and waiting in a cabinet warmer, and I wiped him up with one before helping him refasten his pants.

The scene was finishing in the room, and the two men and Cami slid carefully into the aftercare portion of their scene. The men doted on her in an instant, ensuring she was okay, pampering her with cleanup and comfort.

“This is private,” I told Carter. “Come. Let’s explore.”

He looked like he was ready to sleep when I pulled him from the room, but he perked right back up as we continued roving through The Manor.

There was so much to see, and I wanted him to see it all.

We passed a couple in a candlelit corner, the woman restrained in an aerial rig, suspended from the ceiling like art. Her partner circled beneath her, alternating between light swats to her inner thighs and slow, reverent kisses to her calves. Carter stared, mouth slightly parted.

Next, a wax play demonstration, a topless woman writhing in bliss as drops of red and gold wax painted a canvas of sensation down her back. Her Dom stood tall beside her, steady and calm, watching her every movement with the kind of attentiveness most men reserved for sports scores and stocks.

Carter’s hand was warm in mine, his eyes wide and dark and alive.

Each scene we happened upon, I encouraged Carter to stop and watch. I called attention to when he was embarrassed, to when he was hard, to when his heart was pounding. I let him know it was okay. I asked him questions and corrected him when he gave the wrong answers.

And I let him know that was okay, too.

“We’re not looking for perfection. Perfection is a mirage, anyway. We like messy here. We want you hard and aching. We want you to stumble and be unsure. We want you to surrender to what it feels like to know nothing, and then allow us to properly teach you. No one is a master here,” I told him. “Not even me. We are all learning together. We’re exploring and having fun. And you have permission to do the same.”

We circled back to the main playroom to give him a break. I led us to a quiet corner where he could catch his breath. He was buzzing — I could feel it in the way his knee bounced, the way hiseyes flicked around the room like he didn’t want to miss a thing now that he felt comfortable to take it all in.

“You okay?” I asked, brushing my hand along the back of his neck.

He nodded. “Yeah. Just a little… overwhelmed, maybe? Not in a bad way.”

I smiled. “It’s a lot to take in your first time.”

“It’s fucking hot,” he admitted, adjusting his cock in his pants. “Kind of torturous, to be honest. Being turned on all night.”

I laughed at that, but just as he leaned in to say something else — likely a joke, knowing him — a figure approached us.

It was a woman; one I didn’t recognize. That didn’t mean she was new, but rather that we hadn’t crossed paths yet. It was possible she’d played in areas I hadn’t or been here on nights I wasn’t.

She was tall, striking, with honey-blonde hair and long, gloved arms. Her skin was pale as snow, her eyes a frosty blue. She walked up to us like a graceful doe, and then she sat down in the empty chair next to Carter.

“Hello,” she said simply, her voice soft and pure.

Carter looked at me with a concerned brow raised before addressing her. “Um… hello.”

“I don’t think I’ve seen you here before,” she mused, and then she looked up to me. “You have such a beautiful sub, Mistress.”

“Thank you.” I didn’t mean to clip the words. She was being friendly. She was playing by all the respectful rules.

But I didn’t like the way she was looking at Carter.

“May I touch him?” she asked next, and though I knew the words were coming, I still internally fumed at her audacity.

Carter’s eyes widened, and he looked to me as if he wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do.

Slowly, I stood, taking two steps until I could carefully lower myself into Carter’s lap. I draped myself over him possessively, my eyes hard on our new friend’s as my voice dropped an octave.