Seth hoped his jaw didn’t hit the floor. At various equipment stations, several people were already scening. Kaden handed Leah off to Seth again and went to talk to someone. She stood quietly by his side, holding his hand.

What do you say in a situation like that?

He said nothing, just watched what was going on around them. That was difficult though, because he was having a hard time taking it all in.

She gently squeezed his hand. When he looked down at her, she smiled. “It’s okay.”

He nodded and continued looking around.

Kaden returned a few minutes later with another man. “Seth, this is Tony.” The guy didn’t look much different than Kaden, dressed like he could be heading to a sports bar instead of a dungeon in black jeans and a black shirt.

They shook hands. Unsure what to say, Seth simply said, “Nice to meet you.”

Tony smiled. “I know. A lot to take in at once.”

“You ain’t kidding, buddy.”

Kaden traded Seth the duffel bag for Leah. “We’ll be right back. Restroom.”

Seth nervously stood there, looking around.

“Kaden said it’s your first time,” Tony said.

Seth nodded.

“You’ll get used to it.”

“That’s what he keeps telling me. I’m not so sure.” Across the room from them, a naked woman was strapped to a large X-shaped frame. She screamed. Seth wasn’t sure if it was pain or pleasure at first until he realized she had a vibrator strapped onto her.

Tony leaned in close and dropped his voice. “Kaden told me what’s going on. I’m sorry you’ve got all this shit dumped on you at once.”

Seth nodded. “Thanks.”

“I’ve known them for years. They’ve always spoken very highly of you.”

That shocked Seth more than the sights before him. Tony spoke again. “Kaden has my number. Don’t hesitate to call me if you need to talk, or information, or anything.”

Seth whispered, “How am I supposed to learn all this?”

Tony shrugged. “You learn what you have to. They’re on the tamer end of the scale, all things considered.” The woman screamed again, her whole body vibrating against her restraints. Another woman, dressed in what Seth imagined a Dominatrix would wear, stood nearby and watched with an impassive look on her face. Now the tethered woman was wearing nipple clamps, with a chain joining them and attached to her…

Fuck.

“Tamer end? He gave me a demonstration last night. That didn’t look fucking tame to me.”

“He’s an artist with rope. Did he show you that yet?”

“Just pictures.”

“Gorgeous what he can do. If you’re ever here and need advice, feel free to hunt me down. I know this has to be scary.”

“Scary isn’t even in the same fucking universe as what I’m feeling right now, dude.” Ball-crawling heebie-jeebies might come close.

Maybe.

Kaden and Leah returned. Kaden reached for the duffel bag. “Let’s go play, love,” he said to her.

Seth drifted behind them, Tony walking beside him, toward a low bench.

Tony leaned in again. “Remember, what they do is carefully scripted and totally consensual. She rarely uses a safe word. He reads her body, knows what she can take. There’s a lot of wannabes and poser assholes out there who claim they’re ‘expert’ Doms. If I had to point to one, your best friend really is. He can pick a goddamned fly off a wall with a singletail. You’ll never hear him brag about it either.”

Seth nodded and waited for someone to tell him what to do.

Kaden turned to Seth. “Important rules. Never leave her alone or out of your sight, except for the bathroom. Never turn your back on her when she’s bound. Most importantly, no one besides you or me—ever—touches her unless it’s an emergency and they’re helping you get her free. Understand?”

Seth nodded.

Kaden turned to Leah and released her hand. He dropped the duffel bag and flashed the hand signal. She dropped to her knees before him.

Seth felt something tighten in his stomach, at war with his restless cock stirring at the sight of her kneeling there. Tony touched Seth’s shoulder. They stepped a few feet back to the edges where a couple of others now stood, watching.

When Kaden spoke, the strength and authority in his normally gentle voice surprised Seth. “Tell me what you want, slave.”

“I want to serve You, Master.”

“And how do you wish to do that, slave?”

“However Master thinks is best.”

“Do you need to feel the bite, slave?”

Her skin flushed. “I need to feel the bite, Master.”

“Prepare for me then, if you need it so badly.”

She jumped to her feet and walked over to the bench. She stripped, neatly folding her clothes and laying them nearby with her shoes. Left only in her collar, she turned to Kaden, who had stripped off his shirt, and knelt again.

He took something from the bag and quickly fitted it around her head. When Kaden straightened, Seth realized it was a ball gag. Part of him felt horrified seeing Leah like that but the look in her eyes…

It was pure devotion as she stared up at her husband.

Kaden pointed. “Take your place, slave. Don’t make me wait.”

She jumped to her feet and practically threw herself on the bench. Kaden already had something in his hands. Within a few breaths he had four heavy leather cuffs attached to her wrists and ankles and secured to the bench, her ass and bare mound open and exposed.

“Holy fuck,” Seth whispered.

Tony leaned in. “Consensual. Remember that.”

Seth nodded.

Kaden stepped back, never turning his back on her. “Where are we, slave?”

She made an okay sign with her right hand.

“Show me your hands and feet.”

She wiggled them all, flexing her fingers and toes.

“Circulation,” Tony said.

“Very good, love.” Kaden took out a nasty-looking device from the bag.

“Soft flogger,” Tony explained in the same low voice. “He’s going to warm her up.” From his tone, he could have been calling a golf game.

The Twilight Zone theme played in Seth’s brain.

Kade stepped up to her and caressed her ass. She wiggled, squirming on the bench as he positioned himself. He rolled his neck and shoulders and the tone of his voice deepened further. “Are you ready to feel the bite, slave?”

She wiggled her ass at him and flicked a signal with her right hand.

“Sign language,” Tony said.

Seth felt he had a front row seat at the weirdest show on Earth.

“Set of twenty, love.”

She flicked another sign.

“That means yes,” Tony said.

“Count.”

With each swat of the flogger she twitched her ass, and with her right hand made a sign, apparently counting in sign language. Kade quickly finished the set and caressed her slightly pink flesh.

“Where are we, love?”

She flashed another okay sign.

“Set of twenty, love.”

She signed yes.

“Count.”

Kaden savaged her, or what Seth imagined was a savaging. Tony leaned in. “It looks a lot worse than it is,” he assured him. “You could smack a kid with that flogger and it wouldn’t hurt them. It’s very soft. He’s putting her in subspace. Building up to the harder implements.”

Great. More vocabulary.

Kaden finished the set and switched to a paddle. After a set of twenty-five with that, Seth noticed Leah’s eyes had closed and she’d been crying. He desperately wanted to go to her, comfort her, and knew he couldn’t.

Next came a set of twenty-five with a harsh-looking riding crop. Seth flinched with each stroke that landed on her flesh. At the end of that set, Kaden leaned in close and said something too low for Seth to hear. She nodded and flashed him a sign. Kaden tenderly stroked her forehead and then returned to the duffel bag.

He pulled out a whip.

Tony grabbed Seth’s arm and pulled him back a couple of feet, then waved a few other people back. When the area was clear, Kaden glanced at Tony, who nodded.

“Do you need to feel the bite, slave?”

She signed yes.

“Are you prepared to serve your Master, slave?”

She signed yes.

He flicked the whip at her, cracking it but not striking her. She flinched and wiggled her ass at him.

Seth thought she might have moaned.

“I don’t think you want it badly enough, slave. I don’t think you need it.” The hard, firm edge to Kaden’s voice twisted Seth’s gut. He’d never heard his friend talk like that. Especially never to Leah.

Tony leaned in again. “He’s trying to draw it out for her tonight. He’s not normally this hard in a public scene with her.”

Hard. Funny choice of words. As sick as his gut felt, Seth was harder than a rock.

She signed something at Kaden and wiggled her ass again. Again he cracked the whip over her, not striking her.

Seth flinched at the sound.

Kaden walked over to her and struck her ass with his bare hand, from the looks of it hitting her squarely between the legs.

Seth winced. Even through the ball gag he heard Leah’s moan.

And it didn’t sound like she was in pain.

Kaden struck her again. It looked like she tried to grind herself against her husband’s hand. He whispered something to her, and she moaned again, louder.

Two more swats and her whole body trembled.

Kaden quickly stepped back and nailed her ten times in quick succession with the whip, each strike hitting her squarely in the center of her now-red ass cheeks.

She screamed around the gag, her hips bucking.

Holy fuck! Seth realized she was coming.