ministrations like mannequins in a shop window. He bent down onto his haunches and slipped their feet into high-heeled, peep-toe shoes with a buckle at the ankle. Then stood back and admired his handiwork. Satisfied, he clipped each of the women back onto his leash, and turned to depart.
‘See you later,’ he said to me as they trooped out of the door. His tone suggested that he would make sure that he did.
It was my first Ball as one of the staff, and I did not allow myself to relax until it was almost over. I stayed upstairs to watch the ceremony, and then, relieved that all of my plans had passed without a hitch I headed downstairs to the dungeon.
Aurelia was there with her partner, Andrei. She had changed into a canary-yellow lace slip, low-cut at the front and back, just barely reaching down to the tops of her thighs. With her hair flowing loose and her energy palpable after the earlier ritual, she looked like a sunbeam that had been trapped from the sky and brought to earth. Her quilt of tattoos quivered and shimmered over her body, a plethora of fauna and flora that mysteriously came to life in circumstances like this. I saw the peacock etched on the back of her calf fan open its tail feathers and strut.
Andrei took hold of her each time that she turned. Touching his palm to her waist, grasping her hand, or curling a lock of her hair in between his fingers. He could not bear to be apart from her even for a moment. They had an apparently open relationship, since it was part of Aurelia’s traditional duty as the Mistress of the Ball to take the starring role in a sexual ceremony that occurred each year and required her to fuck the men chosen by the Ball for the purpose, inevitably young, fit bucks – sometimes up to a dozen of them at a time. She certainly didn’t seem to mind. In fact, during and after these occasions she lit up like a firework, as though the sex brought her truly into herself. But I never saw Andrei with anyone else. He stuck faithfully to her side, always. They made a striking couple, his tall, lean body, the broad shoulders and ginger hair a good match for her cooler tones and long, lithe form.
‘Summer,’ she called out, when she spotted me lingering at the door. She lifted her arm into the air along with the scanty fabric that covered her arse, coming narrowly close to flashing me the smooth valley of her genitals. A pair of plain gold bracelets decorated her wrists.
I walked over to them, threading my way carefully through couples who were using the various pieces of BDSM equipment, each of them occupying their own private universe, seeking that elusive high I knew of so well.
She drew me into her arms as I approached and kissed me on each cheek, and then on my lips. Andrei kept his hand on the small of her back as she did so.
‘It was magnificent,’ she said. ‘You did a wonderful job. Truly wonderful. Not a jot out of place.’
If I hadn’t known that she avoided all alcohol and drugs at these events, I would have assumed that she was drunk or high. Her pupils were dilated and her eyes appeared enormous, like great wells of blue that didn’t seem able to focus on anything.
‘Thank you,’ I replied.
‘Not at all . . . I wanted to speak with you. There’s someone who wants to meet you.’
She raised her arm again and gesticulated towards the corner of the room. When her skirt lifted as she raised her hand in the air, her thigh brushed against mine. Her skin was soft and cool. I felt my muscles tense in response, and instinctively looked away, catching Andrei’s eye as I did so. There was both sadness and pride in his expression, as though he was aware of the effect that Aurelia had on others. I knew well enough that the ability to provoke desire in others could be a double-edged sword.
Vincent was threading his way towards us in response to Aurelia’s signal, a large grin spread across his face.
He nodded a greeting to Andrei, kissed Aurelia on the cheek and then
‘See you later,’ he said to me as they trooped out of the door. His tone suggested that he would make sure that he did.
It was my first Ball as one of the staff, and I did not allow myself to relax until it was almost over. I stayed upstairs to watch the ceremony, and then, relieved that all of my plans had passed without a hitch I headed downstairs to the dungeon.
Aurelia was there with her partner, Andrei. She had changed into a canary-yellow lace slip, low-cut at the front and back, just barely reaching down to the tops of her thighs. With her hair flowing loose and her energy palpable after the earlier ritual, she looked like a sunbeam that had been trapped from the sky and brought to earth. Her quilt of tattoos quivered and shimmered over her body, a plethora of fauna and flora that mysteriously came to life in circumstances like this. I saw the peacock etched on the back of her calf fan open its tail feathers and strut.
Andrei took hold of her each time that she turned. Touching his palm to her waist, grasping her hand, or curling a lock of her hair in between his fingers. He could not bear to be apart from her even for a moment. They had an apparently open relationship, since it was part of Aurelia’s traditional duty as the Mistress of the Ball to take the starring role in a sexual ceremony that occurred each year and required her to fuck the men chosen by the Ball for the purpose, inevitably young, fit bucks – sometimes up to a dozen of them at a time. She certainly didn’t seem to mind. In fact, during and after these occasions she lit up like a firework, as though the sex brought her truly into herself. But I never saw Andrei with anyone else. He stuck faithfully to her side, always. They made a striking couple, his tall, lean body, the broad shoulders and ginger hair a good match for her cooler tones and long, lithe form.
‘Summer,’ she called out, when she spotted me lingering at the door. She lifted her arm into the air along with the scanty fabric that covered her arse, coming narrowly close to flashing me the smooth valley of her genitals. A pair of plain gold bracelets decorated her wrists.
I walked over to them, threading my way carefully through couples who were using the various pieces of BDSM equipment, each of them occupying their own private universe, seeking that elusive high I knew of so well.
She drew me into her arms as I approached and kissed me on each cheek, and then on my lips. Andrei kept his hand on the small of her back as she did so.
‘It was magnificent,’ she said. ‘You did a wonderful job. Truly wonderful. Not a jot out of place.’
If I hadn’t known that she avoided all alcohol and drugs at these events, I would have assumed that she was drunk or high. Her pupils were dilated and her eyes appeared enormous, like great wells of blue that didn’t seem able to focus on anything.
‘Thank you,’ I replied.
‘Not at all . . . I wanted to speak with you. There’s someone who wants to meet you.’
She raised her arm again and gesticulated towards the corner of the room. When her skirt lifted as she raised her hand in the air, her thigh brushed against mine. Her skin was soft and cool. I felt my muscles tense in response, and instinctively looked away, catching Andrei’s eye as I did so. There was both sadness and pride in his expression, as though he was aware of the effect that Aurelia had on others. I knew well enough that the ability to provoke desire in others could be a double-edged sword.
Vincent was threading his way towards us in response to Aurelia’s signal, a large grin spread across his face.
He nodded a greeting to Andrei, kissed Aurelia on the cheek and then
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