Safeword: Mayday by Candace Blevins
Chapter 30
Marcus drove up to the barn and saw Heather in the ring on Phantom. She wasn’t riding him so much as performing with him, like a perfectly choreographed act. Phantom jumped and sidestepped and ran, and even appeared to do a two-step. The two appeared as liquid motion, moving as one unit.
Scout met him at the car, and Marcus took a few minutes to say hello to him before making his way to Heather.
Jonah came out of one of the buildings and fell into step beside him while Scout ran back into the barns, probably to oversee another of the humans on the property.
Both men were silent as they watched Heather on Phantom, and Marcus was enthralled. Phantom was a huge horse, and Heather’s eighty-five pounds on him made her look like more of a kid than ever, except for the way she handled him — horse and rider moving in perfect sync. Together.
Marcus finally broke the silence to say, “I don’t know much about how that’s supposed to look, but it’s beautiful. Is it normal for a horse and rider to be so mesmerizing, so magnificent?”
“Nothing normal about Phantom or Heather. One of a kind, the both of them. Not much I wouldn’t do for Heather. When I saw her wrists, I was ready to find you and kick your ass, but she told me what happened, so I’ve decided to hear your side of the story before I pummel you into the ground.”
Marcus sighed. “I’d almost feel better if someone did whale on me for it.” He shook his head. “She’d handled everything so beautifully, I jumped a step with bondage. She’d been fine with spreader bars, wrists and ankles, bound below an overhead beam without even a blip of an issue, so I put her on the cross and immobilized her, which is essentially the same position, and then started out with hard strokes from an intense flogger.”
He rubbed his face and then dropped his hands. “With Heather’s permission, I had a conversation with her mom yesterday. They did the whole gamut of sensory processing stimulation when she was a child. Attachment stuff, too. She freaked when they attempted the rebirthing and the blanket-burrito type exercises. If I’d known, I’d have gone a different route with the bondage. Going forward, I’ll need her hands out of the way for most kinds of impact play, and I’ll have to figure out how to keep her mostly still for whip work, but I won’t completely immobilize her again.”
Marcus was pretty sure Heather was so focused on her horse, she had no idea Marcus had arrived.
“I asked around about you,” Jonah said, “Heard a story about you walking away from a SAM trying to top from the bottom.”
“I’ve released a SAM mid-scene more than once. Hasn’t happened in a while because the word is out I don’t put up with that shit. Do you have a point?”
“You sure you’re willing to take on a Dominant masochist? From what I hear about you, you’re pretty strict with your slaves — also, that you prefer a slave, rather than a mere submissive. Heather is neither.”
“Trust me, I’m well aware of what Heather is and is not. I appreciate that you care enough about her to drill me, but I’m not sure how much she’s going to want me to talk to you.”
“Tell me your intentions. I don’t need the gritty details.”
“Kyle is my best friend. We’ve shared before, though she was a switch. I’ve grown to care a great deal for Heather, but…” he stopped watching Heather and turned to face the other man. “You’re correct that I’ll need a slave in my life. Heather and Kyle are both fully aware. Everyone in our little poly group understands that we’re a threesome in search of our fourth.”
Jonah moved his right foot from the lower fence rung to the ground, shifted his weight, and placed his left foot on the lower rung. He looked at Heather as he talked, speaking slow, thinking as he talked. “And you’ll choose a slave who’ll be submissive to you and Heather? I can see how that might work, with you and Heather both being dominant.”
“Until I meet her, I can’t answer the specifics of exactly how it’ll work, but anyone I choose will have to be turned on by being the lowest in our power structure. She’ll be a twenty-four-seven slave to me, and Kyle is mostly only submissive where sex is concerned.” And most meals, but Jonah didn’t need to know all their secrets.
Jonah nodded. “I don’t want to see her wrists or ankles abraded and bruised like that again. You and I will have more than words if I see signs of negligence or abuse, ever again. Bruises and welts and such are to be expected to a certain degree. I’m not going to be unreasonable, but I want to make it clear she’s got someone watching out for her.”
“I appreciate that. Did you give this talk to Kyle when he’s been out, working on the wall?”
“Nope. He’s submissive to her, so he isn’t the one who tied her to a cross. Plus, with that shiner he’s got, I didn’t have it in me to threaten him with a matching one.”
Marcus eyed him and then looked back at Heather riding Phantom, “I hope you’re not equating submissive with weak. Kyle might be more likely to kick your ass than me.”
“Not saying he’s weak or you’re strong. Just saying he’s not the one who’ll be pushing her limits. He just wants to please her, not push her.”
Heather rode towards them with a smile, and Marcus took the opportunity to change the subject.
“You and Phantom are magnificent. Are you about done, or do you need to spend more time with him?”
“We’re done. Jonah hasn’t been threatening you, has he?”
“Just a friendly conversation. How did Kyle do this morning on the wall?”
She grimaced. “My panic attack has given me more sympathy for what he’s going through. Do we really have to keep doing this?”
“Kyle is doing it because he wants to push himself. We’re just here as a support system, as long as he wants to try.”
“I think maybe we need you here for his next attempt,” she said with a sigh. “Looks like you came in a bathing suit, so head to the pool and I’ll meet you there in about ten minutes. Jonah’s hired a high school kid who’s grooming the horses and mucking the stalls out in exchange for boarding her horse here and a few riding lessons. Phantom’s pretty happy with her, so I’ll give him some treats and then let her rub him down, clean the tack, and put it away.”
“Don’t rush with Phantom on my account. Take whatever time you need with him.”
Her smile told him she was glad he understood, and she turned Phantom away and headed towards the stables. Marcus watched them a second before stepping away from the fence and heading towards the pathway that led to the pool.
“You didn’t tell her I’d threatened you. Why not?”
Marcus stopped and turned back to the other man. “She’s smart; she has a good idea of what was said. My words were meant to tell her everything’s okay and there’s nothing she needs to worry about. She cares for both of us — no need in causing her worry about us not getting along with each other.”
Jonah nodded. “I have someone coming for dinner this evening. I’ve already invited Heather; if you’re still around you’re more than welcome to stay for dinner as well. Fair warning that he’s more than a friend. Your decision if you want to stay.”
“Thank you for the invitation. Heather and I hadn’t made plans for dinner other than to agree we’ll be eating together while Kyle works late. Unless she has something else in mind, I’d love to stay and have dinner with you and your... date? sub?”
Jonah smiled. “Billy is more of a boy, actually. Not age wise, because he’s twenty-six, but in lifestyle terminology, boy fits him better than submissive or slave.”
“I got the idea you mostly just scene, and don’t do a lot of socializing with your... errr.... boys. Is this serious?”
“That’s mostly true. Billy belongs to a friend of mine who’s out of town. His master has given me permission to use him tonight and tomorrow morning, as long as he makes it to work on time tomorrow with at least a few hours of sleep, and as long as I feed him two nutritious meals.”
Marcus smiled. “My cleaning woman belongs to a friend of mine. I’m allowed to use a flogger and a quarter inch rattan cane for jobs that don’t meet specifications, and her mouth and ass are available to me at any time. It’s a good arrangement.”
“Do you pay her?”
“I pay her what a housecleaning service quoted me, which is substantial. The money goes into her account, not her Master’s account, though I understand she has restrictions involving what he allows her to buy with her money.”
“It seems we have a lot in common.” He gave Marcus a friendly smile. “I’d like to allow Billy formal speech during dinner, and it sounds like you’ll understand why. He misses his master, and the more time I can give him in the right headspace, the better for him. His rules are that he has to use respect for anyone introduced to him as a Dom. I don’t have to introduce you and Heather as Tops, but...”
He paused, so Marcus answered the unasked question. “I’m fine with him using formal language during dinner, and I understand that introducing Heather and I as part of the scene will put him at ease. I’ll talk to Heather about it, explain it to her, so she won’t be blindsided.”
Marcus needed to say more, and this seemed like the time to do it. “Stop worrying that we’re going to take offense at your lifestyle. You’re gay and you’re a Dom. I get it, and I’m not going to come at you with fists flying if you remind me of it at the wrong moment. I’ve played around some, and decided I’m more attracted to women than I am men, but I’m not going to be disgusted at the idea of you with a guy. If something bothers me, I’ll let you know with words.”
Jonah looked at him a moment and held his hand out. Marcus offered his as well, they shook, and Jonah said, “Thanks for that.”
Marcus nodded and headed towards the pool, saying, “I’ll see you later,” as he walked away.