This chapter takes place in the immediate aftermath of Chapter 12. This chapter is to "make up" for the previous plot-advancing chapter. This is also "my solution" for Marcos. Cheers!
******************
Marcos knew something was bothering his brother, but he didn't know what exactly. Stuart had been moody many times before, but this was something different, something darker.
Because of the moodiness, Marcos had decided to leave Master and slave together. He figured, rightfully or wrongfully, that his newfound alpha status was responsible for his brother's turbulent behavior.
So, it was with that thought that he decided to stay away for a bit.
That and to force his own emotions under control.
Marc had never felt this way about any woman. He had always, ALWAYS, disdained his father's and brother's treatment of women. He had always vowed to never do that, ever.
And here, now, he was treating Bitsy with just that level of disrespect.
Even more troubling, or miraculous, depending how you looked at it, she was wallowing in it, her submissiveness to both his brother and him.
Remembering those moments of true debasement caused his cock to harden and his eyes to smolder crimson. At ease in the driver's seat of his new sports car, another symbol of his hedonism, he started to stroke his cock through his pants.
Just as he had worked himself to near orgasm, nearly spiraling out of control, his phone buzzed.
"Fuck," he muttered under his breath. Sure enough, it was Stuart.
"What?" he said, out of breath and out of temper.
His brother chuckled, but Marcos could tell that Stuart's humor was half-hearted. "Did I interrupt something?"
"No. I thought you and Bitsy would still be at it."
There was a pause on the other end of the line. "We are." In the background, he could hear water running.
"A bath, then?"
"Yes. My—our—slave is a bit sore," Stuart rushed to clarify. "I decided to call you while she bathed. We need to work this out, this thing with the three of us."
"What is there to work out?" Marcos knew things were awkward, but he worried that any change to how things were would push him out and away from Bitsy. Learning that she and Alyssa Mason were one and the same, once he was over the initial shock, served only to make him desire her more.
Stuart cleared his throat, lowering his voice to slightly more than a whisper. "I only have her for one year," he began, but his older brother quickly interrupted him.
"You could have her longer, you know. She's as obsessed with you as you are with her." Marcos couldn't help his jealousy of his brother's bond with Bitsy.
Stuart's imperious tone could not be mistaken. "I only have her for one year," he stated, as if there were no doubt. His tone softened toward his brother. "You, as alpha, have the possibility of enjoying her for longer, forever, if that is your wish." Though the tone was less sharp, he sounded pained.
"What is it that you are saying, Brother?" Marcos thought he knew, and he knew he wasn't going to like Stuart's response.
"I am asking that you step back for this year, let Bitsy and I BE," he said, emphasis on the last word to where Marcos heard the implied capitalization in his mind.
The request made Marc feel dead inside. "Step aside," he repeated woodenly. "What does that mean?" He knew that he could not deny his brother much, especially if it kept Stuart's wild behavior in check. But, please, not this.
"To allow Bitsy and I to be Bitsy and I, Master and slave." Stuart's explanation, while expected, was still a crushing blow.
"If I agree," Marcos began, mentally lashing his hedonism up tight in a chest, "I will only make two requests. One, allow me one more evening with her, to say goodbye, as it were. And, two, promise me that you will not hurt her, not now, not a year from now, and not ever."
Marc didn't see the despair darken his brother's already black eyes, nor did he see Stuart's grip tighten on the phone almost to the point of breaking it, but he did hear the bleak resignation in his younger brother's voice. "I can promise the first, but I cannot promise the second. And, for that, I'm truly sorry."
When Marcos tried to argue the point, Stuart interrupted. "It's beyond my control. When I do eventually hurt her, if it even hurts her, I'm asking you to pick up the pieces because I won't be able to."
Something in Stuart's words didn't quite ring true, but his tone brooked no discussion. "I agree."
"I will let Bitsy know that you are coming for her this evening, then," Stuart said formally, almost as a secretary to a great lady.
***************************
When Bitsy got out of her bath, she expected to see Stuart awaiting Round 2. Instead, on her pillow, she found the following note:
Slave-
Marcos requests your presence in Paris at his apartments this evening. In the box beneath this note, you will find appropriate clothing to wear. He says that you know the location of his apartment. I will see you tomorrow. DO NOT BE LATE!
-Master
In a black box tied with a wide red statin bow, Bitsy found a lacy black masquerade mask, translucent black thigh high stockings with garters, and a black bra top. A note, in Marcos's hand, indicated that she could wear a trench coat over the ensemble while driving.
She shrugged out of the robe Stuart had provided for her. Plush red velvet caressed her curves until it puddled at her feet. Stepping out of the robe's warmth, she began to dress in her skimpy clothes. Unsure of what to do with the garters, as no garter belt was included, she instead clipped the garters to her pussy lips, spreading them wide to reveal her dark pink clit.
Resisting the urge to rub and tweak her tender cunt flesh, she instead focused on her evening with her "other" Master. Somehow, during her bath, she had compartmentalized her feelings for both Tristan and Marcos. She loved—and lusted after—each differently.
She slid her feet into strappy red fuck-me sandals and then shrugged into her trench coat. Leave it to Marcos to suggest she wear a tie-in to her "other" life as Alyssa Mason. Bitsy almost instantly regretted the trench coat because it served only to enflame the parts of her skin left uncovered.
Sliding into the front seat of her car, she placed the mask on the passenger's seat beside her. A frisson of excitement made her shoulders tingle with anticipation.
As she entered the outskirts of Paris near the IPD Headquarters, she made a sharp left toward the apartments reserved for IPD employees. Bypassing her own apartment, she walked to Marcos's and started to knock on the door.
The door swung open when she put pressure on the hard surface. "Marcos," she said, slightly afraid that the door was left ajar. In the back of her mind she remembered Nadia's abduction.
It took a few moments for even her hybridized senses to become accustomed to the inky darkness. A spotlight in what would be the middle of his living room shone on an unfamiliar apparatus. An X made of wood stood inside a frame.
Bitsy walked closer and realized that a note was attached to the center of the X. It read, "Remove the trench coat. Put on the mask. And face the cross. Do not turn around without permission."
After doing as bid, she stood beneath the spotlight facing the cross. As her eyes continued to adjust, Bitsy could just barely make out implements to discipline and entice to her right. She shivered as she recognized her favorites: the cat o' nine tails, the crop, the belt, the paddle, and, here her heart thudded in her chest in anticipatory dread, the cane.
She felt his presence even before she heard him or smelled him. "My sweet slave," Marcos intoned, "all ready to play with Master."
"Why the mask, Master?" she asked, not really sure she wanted to know the answer. He seemed different tonight, somehow.
His response elicited more questions than answers. "Tonight is a night to forget...and to remember. It's our last night together for a while."