Her thick, dark claws tangled deeper into the ashen brown tendrils of his hair, the sensation of just the tugging drawing along his flesh even as his scalp sent jolts of protesting pain down his spine. The grimace on his features was not feigned, but the wave of pain throughout his body was accompanied by a deeper ache in the lower regions of his body that was welcomed with open arms no matter how much tension was apparent in the corded muscles of his arms and in the way his chest strained at the bindings keeping his limbs firmly together. He felt the decorative, spaded tip of her tail lashing over his leather-covered buttocks, swiping and swatting in a manner that was at once both languid in speed yet sharp when she flicked the end.
"Now, let us try again."
Her accented voice held a brassy tone to it, an unnatural quality that was as tantalising yet unnervingly terrifying as the woman herself. But at her statement, a muscle jumped in his jaw before he managed a smirk, his dark eyes narrowed towards her even if she was just out of the range of his vision. Her hand was also still gripping his hair, limiting how much he could move.
"Oh I'm sorry, you wanted me to kiss your boot?" He eyed the foot that was held aloft and placed atop one of the wooden chests beside him. He could kiss it. It was within his range of movement. But obeying her was not why he was there.
"...I wouldn't kiss your lower lips if they were presented right in front of me, sweetheart. Not for all the gold in the world would I touch the flesh of a demonic hell-wretch of a whore like you." No sooner had the words come out of his mouth, did he realise that he had made a mistake. There was a line that he was not supposed to cross, as per the rules laid down before they had met, and he had not just stepped over it but thrown himself over. Her response was fast. His legs were kicked back, and he soon found his chest slammed against the edge of the crate with a force that forced the better part of the air out of his chest. The hand in his hair jerked him forwards, then wrenched his hair back even as he felt her straddle his back, one of her clawed hands resting on then digging sharply into his shoulder. Claws digging in, blood welling up... the coppery tang mingled with the hint of sweat in the air, hedonistically complimenting the heady scent of incense that was burning in the corners.
"I suggest you retract that." The other hand, even as the words came from her mouth, inched towards his throat. The session that the Baron had paid for was now taking a turn that was ever teetering towards dangerous. His reputation on the line he could just about bear to cope with, which was the risk, he accepted visiting the Mistress. But his life, all for a phrase said in the heat of the moment? That was too precious.
"I'm sorry..." He felt the hand at his throat tighten, starting to cut off the vital air that he so needed. Unlike the times before, there was a frisson of true fear running through his mind. If he used the word that had agreed would be spoken at such a time as he wanted the session to cease, would she listen?
"...I'm sorry, what?" Her voice was hard, but he was at least mollified by the fact that his throat was not torn out and his life-blood was not spurting out in time to the rhythm of his hammering heart. He was alive. More the pity. Her long, dark hair brushed over his skin, the strands as fine as the touch of cobwebs as sweat beaded over the breadth of his shoulders in a combination of tantalising sensations that made him shiver.
"I am sorry, Mistress Verite." It was not often that he ever used the name that she had given to him, but now, it felt appropriate. Her nostrils flared slightly, sending twin plumes of slightly heated air against his neck as she considered him.
He was an arrogant bastard, like so many of the other noblemen of the larger cities. Or in general, if she contemplated that idea further. While he was by her standards handsome, his personality was redolent and disgusting. But his gold was as good as that of any other, and he paid well for the mistreatment that he received at her hands. How close he had come then to finding out what her older expertise was.