Battle of Wills 1 - Retraining the sub Page 2

  “Oh, she’s been a sub here for years, but you used to come on a different night. This is her usual night—always has been.”

  That told him lots. That she was a regular, and not just a visitor, and that she had been into BDSM for a long time. That was almost unbelievable. At least for the Ann he had known. Coming back to a previous query, it also explained why he had never seen her before. He used to come on Saturdays, but had changed to Fridays when Tracey had new shifts at the hospital.

  He asked the question he really wanted to know while trying to sound dispassionate, “So does she have a Dom? I don’t see a collar on her.”

  Sean gasped and stared at him. “For God’s sake, don’t even think it. She’s not for you.”

  Luke felt fury at that, at being denied her yet again. “Why not?”

  “Oh, not just you. No-one wants her. She is the most difficult sub we have.” Sean emphasized the word “difficult”.

  Raising his eyebrows, Luke was somewhat stunned. He laughed disdainfully. “Why, what’s she done?” He knew exactly what she had done to him, but he wanted to know why others found her challenging. And she used to be such a sweet, biddable girl! This was getting more and more interesting by the minute. Suddenly all his weariness was gone, and he had a new vigor rushing through his body that he hadn’t felt in a long, long time. Not to mention his cock was hardening as it hadn’t in months.

  “She keeps misusing her safe word. She has so many limits neither she, nor any Dom, gets any fun out of their scenes. As soon as it gets a tad too hot for her she cries wolf.”

  Sean sounded so irritated Luke couldn’t help but chuckle.

  Shaking his head in wry amusement, Sean said, “She’d run a mile from you.”

  Luke started and swiveled around to stare at him, narrowing his eyes as he did, but then he realized that Sean didn’t know of his past history with Ann. He was just referring to Luke’s reputation with subs.

  But he was now very intrigued, wanting to know everything there was about Ann, and what sort of person she had become since she had left him, so he asked, “So why does she come here then? Why be a sub?” Now that was something he’d give anything to know.

  “I have no idea.” Sean’s response was so dramatic that Luke had to laugh out loud. But when Sean went on again he stopped instantly. “She is one of those we’re thinking of putting through the retraining program.”

  Luke looked at Sean intently, a buzz of excitement quickening in him, and then he turned his head to stare over at Ann. He grinned. He so hoped that Sean would put her into the program. It sounded like he would be the only person prepared to take her on. And he would certainly be delighted to retrain her. Oh, indeed he would.

  Chapter Two

  Ann felt a tingling at the back of her neck that was startling. She turned her head swiftly to see if there was something happening behind her, and frowned when all appeared normal. It was like a feeling of familiarity, and bizarrely it reminded her of Luke.

  She shook her head in disbelief. No way! Luke wouldn’t be in a place like this. She chuckled. Sweet Luke wouldn’t know what to do with the women here, and, anyway, he’d run a mile from a Dominatrix. At least the Luke she had known would have. She sighed. Even after all these years she felt incredibly guilty for what she had done, but she knew in her heart that she had made the right decision for herself, to give her the chance to be the one to make choices as to how she lived her life. Her mother had condescended to keep in contact with her, purely to tell her what she was missing, naturally. Luke, apparently, had been agonizingly upset, and had left town about a year after she had. As he had no family in town, no-one knew what had happened to him. She hoped he was happily married; she really did.

  As she glanced around the room once more her gaze was caught by one of the club’s Doms, Master Warren. Shit! He was someone she really didn’t like, so she looked away quickly, hoping that he would think she wasn’t interested, which she wasn’t. She had done one scene with him in the past, and hated how his eyes never ventured above her breasts.

  “Annabel.”

  Damn. She had caught his interest. “Master Warren.” Her response was somewhat reluctant.

  “It’s been a while since our last scene.”

  “Yes, it has.” How could she get out of this? Her mind rapidly tried to think of a solution.

  “I think it is time for another one.”

  Ann put on her best apologetic face. “I am sorry, Master, but I have promised a scene to … to … Master Grant.”

  “Tut, tut. You’re lying to me. Grant is away at the moment. And I know full well few people will do scenes with you as you are so problematic.”

  She swallowed nervously. Okay. She could do this with him and get it out of the way, then go back to enjoying watching. She wasn’t sure why she didn’t get any fun out of doing scenes anymore. Actually, she could count on the fingers of one hand the few times she had actually climaxed during a scene, let alone gotten aroused, and most of those had been in the early days. Her old roommate, Pearl, had gotten her interested in the lifestyle, although it had been months before Ann had plucked up enough courage to go to a club with the girl, and it had been exhilarating. A buzz went through Ann’s body as she recalled how exciting those early days had been. How it was different from the life she had been raised in.

  Okay, so it meant submitting herself to another person all over again, but this wasn’t the same. Outside the club she had worked her way through the managerial program at the department store she had joined after quitting waitressing, becoming Assistant Director in her area. In the club she knew she wasn’t Domme material, but by not committing to a particular Dom, she continued to be in charge. And after everything she had done leaving Luke to take control of her life she wasn’t about to give it up that easily, despite a fascination with BDSM.

  A few Doms had expressed interest in collaring her over the years since, but she had played the field, not wanting to be tied down to any one person. And that was exactly how it had been ever since. No-one had commanded her interest—and definitely not her love. There was only one person she had ever loved, and even he had not been enough.

  “I apologize, Sir. I shouldn’t lie.”

  “No indeed. I am afraid some punishment is in order.”

  Fuck! There were things she liked about the BDSM life, but tons of things she hated, and that included punishments, or impact play. It felt too much like she was being told off by her parents all over again—except they did it with sharp words instead of hard instruments. Ann never quite understood those subs who enjoyed it. She could take an occasional spanking or paddling, but anything more and she generally used her safe word to stop it.

  That wasn’t the problem. Every Dom in the club knew to stop immediately when a person called a halt to the scene. The problem was she used it so often she now had a reputation.

  Well, there was no way of getting out of it. She had lied to him, and so it was warranted. She sighed to herself in resignation. “Yes, Master. Where do you want me?”

  Warren looked around. “I see booth number three is free at the moment. Come.”

  The booths had various equipment and furniture in them for restraining subs and playing scenes. This one had special cuffs attached to a chain hanging from the ceiling. Ann knew from experience that these were specially-padded cuffs to avoid damaging the sub’s wrists that had a bar on the inside allowing the wearer to hold on it. She was absolutely fine with that. She rarely had problems being restrained. It was one of the few parts of the lifestyle she actually looked forward to, particularly restraints that had a quick release bolt.

  When she had started to gain more confidence she had considered becoming a Domme, but found she wasn’t interested in dominating another person. She just wanted to have control in the things that happened to her, and so had ended up constructing all the limits as to what she was prepared to do. She wondered whether she should give up the lifestyle, but there was still something abo
ut it that called to her, that demanded her attention, excited her.

  “Hold your hands out, Annabel.” She nearly smirked when he called her that. She hadn’t a clue why she had chosen Annabel as her BDSM name, as it had been Luke’s special name for her—probably because he had only ever called her that in bed after having had sex. Outside it had always been Annie, and it was what popped into her head when she stepped over the threshold of this club and was asked what her BDSM name would be.

  Warren attached the cuffs and raised the chain so that her heels were very slightly off the ground. She frowned. She’d prefer to be flat to the ground, but she couldn’t very well demand this. Her frown turned into a grimace when he nudged her legs apart forcing her to grip the bar in the cuffs with her fingers as she went onto the balls of her feet. Warren undid her denim mini skirt and tugged it off, along with her thong, before attaching a spreader bar to her ankles.

  The first time she had been suspended thus she had found it quite exhilarating—and very arousing—her cream practically dripping onto the floor. Certainly she remembered feeling a trail down the inside of her thigh. Now, there was nothing, as Warren realized the minute he fingered her dry pussy.

  “Hm. That’s another reason for punishing you. I expect my subs to be ready for me.”

  He might do, but she required something more than being told they were playing a scene, strung up, and half-undressed. Some foreplay would be nice, some fondling, or caressing, at the very least.

  A quick spank to her naked buttocks elicited an “Ow.” Ann never kept silent. If it hurt, she was quite vocal, which was often.

  “Well?”

  Ah, he wanted a response from her, so she paraded out a well-used, “Sorry, Master. I’ll do better next time.” She pondered how many of the subs actually meant what they said, or was it just her being cynical? In earlier days she had been mortified if she hadn’t done what the Dom expected. And that brought her back to why she was in this club, why she bothered coming back. It was a question that she couldn’t answer, other than it being so different from everything she had done with Luke.

  Several swift spanks to different parts of her buttocks followed. She gritted her teeth with every one, tightening her butt each time. She had often wondered how other subs coped, and had asked the question to different people. Each one seemed to experience it differently, but she could never understand those that found pleasure in the pain. One Dom tried to tell her to let herself go, and she had no idea how to do that.

  Warren stopped, so Ann took a moment to take some deeper breaths, and shifted on her feet trying to balance herself again. He had wrapped an arm around her waist to stop her from flying off her feet with each hit, but she was still uncomfortable with her position. On the other hand, if you were spanked on a bench, or up against something, the hit pushed you into that furniture, which was okay if it was really well-padded, but less so if it wasn’t.

  “Yeeoww.” Warren had now brought out a paddle, and it hurt a lot. At least it felt like a paddle. Ann couldn’t twist her head around enough to see. And it felt like the leather one, not the wooden one. There was, at least, some give in it. She took in several quick breaths in readiness for the next strike which hit her at the top of the leg. Hell. It was one thing to take the strikes on her well-rounded bottom, but it really stung on the legs. She automatically swung to put distance between her and the paddle, pulling away from Warren, and unbalancing herself in the process. She clutched onto the cuffs, and felt her arms straining, before he clamped an arm around her to steady her.

  “Does that hurt, my sweet?”

  “Yes.”

  “Good. It’s supposed to. Remind me why you are being punished.”

  Shit, if you don’t know, why the hell am I doing this? “Because I lied, because I am not aroused.” And never will be with you.

  “Also because you try to avoid me.” This was followed up by another hit. “And because you haven’t called me ‘Sir’ once.” And another hit. Her safe word was on the tip of her lips. “And because you are a difficult sub.”

  Thankfully he stopped. Her chest was heaving and her body shaking.

  “And because of all this I am compelled to use something else.”

  Oh God, now what?

  She soon found out when the end of the single-tailed short whip snapped across her with a bite that was worthy of a bee-sting. She hated the single tail the most. “Snakes!”

  “What was that?”

  “Snakes—I’ve given you my safe word.”

  “Oh deary me.” She could hear the condescension in Master Warren’s voice as he released her.

  “Annabel! My office. Twenty minutes,” came a yell across the room.

  Shit! That was the club owner. She closed her eyes. She was in serious trouble now.

  ****

  “You want me to what?”

  Master Sean, the owner of the club, sat behind his desk and gave her a look of utter exasperation.

  Ann hurried to clarify. “Er, Master Sean.” She constantly forgot the courtesy of a Dom’s title. It reminded her too much of having to say, “Yes, mother” or “Yes, father”. She frowned. “I didn’t quite hear you properly.”

  “Oh, you heard me perfectly well the first time. You have two options. You can leave the club now, and I will refund the remainder of your subscription, or you can take part in the retraining program.”

  Yup. That was what I thought he had said. “Can I ask what exactly a ‘retraining program’ means?”

  “We instituted this program for subs and Doms already in the lifestyle, in conjunction with the training program for newbies that is run by Masters like Ken and Jonas. The idea is to make sure everyone is reminded of the tenets of this life: ‘to be safe, sane and consensual’.”

  “But I have always consented.”

  “Yes, initially. And then you cry your safe word when things begin to get uncomfortable.”

  She frowned. “But surely that is the point of having it? The ‘safe’ part of the rules.”

  “To a certain extent, but another reason for retraining a person is to reiterate that the reason for getting involved in this lifestyle is that they want to challenge their sexual boundaries. And you slam down a barrier each time.”

  Ann swallowed nervously and ducked her head. She knew he was right, but it hurt to admit it. “Okay, I understand why you think I should do this. What exactly will it entail?”

  “One of the Masters will take you in hand. You will only be with him and no-one else. He will decide on your tuition.”

  She frowned. “Like what?”

  Sean sighed loudly. Ann flushed, knowing she had annoyed him again, and probably proved why she needed this additional training. “Like your avoidance of punishment!”

  Feeling herself go redder at the knowledge that he had witnessed the scene earlier with Warren, she asked the question she was concerned about. “So will Master Ken train me?” She said this hopefully. She knew him a little, and, more importantly, trusted him.

  Shaking his head, Sean replied, “Uh-uh. And neither will Master Jonas, in case you are thinking that way.”

  Damn. These brothers-in-law were two of the more experienced Masters, and ones she could cope with, but they never did scenes with anyone other than their wives these days.

  “So who…”

  “Listen carefully, Annabel. You don’t get a choice. That would only give you a degree of control, and it is in that area that you need retraining. The only choice you have is take the refund, or accept the one Master I have left who is willing to take you on. Thankfully it is someone who hasn’t been in the club that long, and he used to come on a different night from you, so he doesn’t know how challenging a sub you can be, although I have tried to warn him.”

  That brought her up short. She knew she had a reputation for being difficult and tried to think of excuses to get out of the training. “But what happens if I can’t go through with it when I meet him?”

  “In that
case you leave. It is very simple. We can’t force you to stay.”

  “But what happens if he doesn’t want to train me?” She was clutching at straws now, and wasn’t quite sure why she was trying so hard to stay in this club, this life that had been her savior all those years ago when it had given her confidence in herself.

  Sean chuckled loudly. “Oh, believe me. This Master wants to train you, all right.”

  “You’ve spoken to him about me?”

  His intense gaze got her worried about what he had told this Master. She took in some ragged breaths. It was make-or-break time. “Okay,” she said in a small, resigned voice. “I’ll go on the retraining program.”

  “Very good. I’ll introduce you to your trainer.” Sean rose to his feet and went into the other room.

  When he returned he had someone else with him she never thought she would see ever again. Her mouth dropped on the ground as she sat stunned, staring at the man standing before her. He wore black leather trousers, waistcoat, and boots. She glanced upward, her heart beating rapidly at his well-muscled torso—a physique she didn’t quite remember him having in the past—and up to his face. His expression was one of arrogance.

  “Hello, Annie. My love.”

  Chapter Three

  The look on Ann’s face was a picture. Luke couldn’t help feeling a surge of elation that he had gotten his own back on her finally, even if only in a small way, and stood grinning sardonically at her, his arms crossed over his chest.

  “Luuuuke? I—I thought I saw you out there earlier, but I decided I must have been dreaming. But what are you doing here?”

  “Annie, Annie—or is it Annabel now? I’m a little bemused. Why on earth would you choose the pet name that I had for you? I didn’t think you held me in any kind of regard, did you?”

  He ratcheted up another score in his tally when she flushed, not only at his words, but at his harsh, and deliberately sarcastic, tone of voice. He could see from her shocked expression that she was astonished by him turning up, here of all places.