Hands began to wander lower.
I paused beside Jamie, watching as she leaned in and sniffed her assigned Master. She was very thorough, and I noticed, rather than using her hands, she used her cheek to touch her Dominant’s face. My eyes met Master Chaos’s and I nodded even though there was a churning in my gut.
Yeah, let’s see how long this lasts. I give it a day, tops.
After my discussion with Cav on Friday, I had decided he was right. Attempting to manipulate her time here would be a disservice to her. If she was going to embrace this, she would do so fully. And that meant she would be assigned to all eight training Masters through the course of the class. It had killed me to make the decision, but I wasn’t the sort to lead with my heart, so I ignored the pain, pushed through.
And while I’d made that difficult decision, I hadn’t been able to do the same with Cav. So I had assigned Cav to the panel because I wasn’t comfortable with him being intimate with one of the submissives.
Yeah. Perhaps that made me selfish. I didn’t give a shit.
Selfish isn’t necessarily a bad thing.
“Time’s up,” I commanded. “Do not move.”
While the submissives remained where they were, the Masters came to the front of the room and lined up, along with Cav and Master Harris, both on the panel. I motioned for Jane to move over to the submissives. She gently shifted them so that they were facing the Masters in a line. When she returned to the first submissive, a young woman by the name of Jenny, I nodded.
“Miss Ward,” I began as Jane removed the woman’s blindfold. “Please show me which of these Masters belongs to you this week.”
When she stepped forward, I held up my hand. “Did you ask permission, Miss Ward?”
Her eyes widened and terror flashed briefly. I shot a glance at Jane and gave an indiscernible nod of my head. There was something there I didn’t like.
“May I identify my Master, please?”
Since she didn’t use my name, I shook my head. “No, you may not.”
Jane replaced the blindfold and moved to the next submissive.
“Miss Jordan, take your turn,” I instructed as Jane removed the blindfold.
“Master Edge, may I please have permission to identify my Master?”
“You may.”
Kelly Jordan, a petite young woman with short dark hair and soulful eyes, had attempted my submissive training class once before. She had left halfway through the course, unable to complete due to personal reasons. I’d informed her she was welcome back at any time. I was glad to see she’d decided to return.
Kelly wandered up to Cav first, her hands sliding over his cheeks. She quickly dropped them, then moved to the next in line. She skipped past the two Mistresses who were next. She stopped in front of Liam Murphy. It took her only a few seconds to determine the big man was in fact her Master. Without a word, she lowered herself to her knees before him and bowed her head. Silently, Liam placed his hand firmly atop it, accepting her as his submissive for the week.
“Thank you, Miss Jordan, you may come stand over here,” I called out.
When Kelly was standing behind the line of submissives, Jane moved to the next.
“Mr. Baker, your turn.”
“Master Edge, may I identify my Master?”
“You may.”
Drew Baker, twenty-two and eager, stepped forward, making a beeline for Mistress D. The handsome young man leaned in, inhaled her briefly, then stepped back. He did the same with Mistress X before walking down the line to Mistress Cameron. When he lowered himself before Mistress Cameron, she didn’t move.
I addressed him. “I’m sorry, Mr. Baker. That’s incorrect. Your punishment will be determined and applied after everyone’s completed their turn.”
Appearing rather disappointed in himself, Drew marched over to the opposite side of the room. Cambria placed his blindfold over his eyes, then had him kneel on the floor.
I ran through the line, allowing Raine and Yazmin to go next. They identified Master Kaylen and Mistress D, respectively. I had them move to stand with Kelly since they’d identified them correctly.
Next in line was Jamie. When Jane removed her blindfold, I watched as she squinted to adjust to the light.
“Miss Lautner, it’s your turn.”
Without looking my way, Jamie gave a nod. “Master Edge, may I please have permission to identify my Master?”
There were two things in that statement that turned my stomach. First was her calling me Master Edge. I much preferred her calling me Professor. It was far more intimate. Second was her asking to identify her Master, who I knew was not myself.
“You may,” I managed.
“Thank you, Master Edge.” She strolled over to the line, starting with Cav, who was at the beginning of the line. She moved past him quickly, skipping over the two Mistresses with a polite smile. She paused at the next trainer but didn’t stop. She offered him an impish grin, then stopped in front of Timothy Triton, a.k.a. Master Chaos.
