Authors Note: This is a chapter in this series primarily based in BDSM practices. If that is not to your tastes please stop reading and find one of the other wonderful stories on this site more suited to your kink. Thank you once again to everyone who leaves comments and feedback on my writing, it is much appreciated. Happy holidays, and my sincere apologies for the delay in this month's chapter, real life is crazy busy. ~ellie
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Bella had been in a helicopter before, but she had not been in the frame of mind to enjoy it for the pure joy of flying. Stephen held her hand in a gesture that was both caring and romantic. She knew now that he could and would take her every bit as completely as Mel had once. It was different though. Where Mel's tender aftercare was born of love and concern for her state of body and mind, Stephens gestures of tenderness and care seemed to be tinged with a sense of romance as well. It was hard, she thought, to put into words the subtle differences between them. Where Mel had claimed her body and soul as his, it seemed that Stephen was trying to win her heart.
Squeezing his hand nervously, Bella looked down on the picturesque lawn and traditional walled garden as they made their descent into a wide space of lush green grass. Helping her from the helicopter Stephen fixed a sturdy chain to her collar attaching the other end to his belt loop.
"Remember your training and all will be well," he murmured as he handed her the small chest that held the few possessions he had given her. He began to walk toward the large sandstone house, with Bella two steps behind him the chain hanging slackly between them.
"Tal, Steelheart. I had heard you were returning, but I did not believe it until this moment," a muscular man greeted Stephen loudly. Then he embraced him in an awkward looking off centre way in which their opposite shoulders bumped, and they clasped hands in a strong grip. "Come we'll put your girl in the kennels and grab a tankard together."
"She stays," Stephen said flatly. "You may greet, Honey," Stephen commanded rather than asked.
"Greetings, Master," she flashed her big green eyes momentarily in the direction of the other master before lowering them again.
"Business or pleasure?" The man ignored Bella's greeting and continued to talk to Stephen, who just inclined his head and gave a half smile.
"Get out of my way, Arek," he said in his deep baritone. "You know Kolton and Mik-Hail are awaiting my arrival. Stop posturing and move or be moved," his voice had a dangerous undertone.
Arek seemed to consider Stephen for a few moments. Both men were tall and broad, but the well-muscled physique of Arek made him look formidable at that moment, and Bella sucked her lip between her teeth. Then suddenly he roared with laughter and slapped Stephen on the back.
"It is good to have you back brother," he said as they entered the walled garden. "I'm pleased the past few years have not made you soft. Bella saw two young women tending the garden as she walked through, both wearing ragged house camisks. A third woman swathed in copious scarfs and drops of material supervised them from a distant chair.
"I see you still pretend to be a free woman, Nalani," Stephen nodded in her direction.
"How unpleasant it is to see you again, Steelheart," Nalani responded with a cool look and a cold voice.
"She still hasn't forgiven you," Arak laughed loudly. "I don't like your girl's chances of surviving the week without feeling the sting of her tongue if not her brother's whip."
"Honey is no stranger to the barbs of jealous women," Stephen said offhandedly, "Nor is she a stranger to the whipping post." Arek raised an eyebrow and turned his head to look at the small slave as they walked into the cool dark foyer.
"I doesn't surprise me considering she is serving an evil bastard like you," Arak chuckled. He guided them through to the main hall where two fire pits were stacked with fresh wood but remained unlit in the centre of each side wall. Mats and roman style stools and chairs were spread out around the room, and a large sand circle with a tall post placed upright in the middle of it sat in the very centre. The room was not overly large, and Bella imagined that any girl brave enough to dance there would be on display to everyone in attendance.
"Kolton is in his office with Mik-Hail," Arek opened the door to a slightly smaller room to the side of the feasting hall and ushered them inside. "Well, he's here at last," Arek announced as they entered the room.
"Tal, Kolton," Stephen greeted the old man at the large desk, then nodded to Mike, "Mik-Hail." He acknowledged his long-time friend.
"You can leave your things over there," Kolton waved at a mat in the corner that sat below large steel rings that dotted the wall. Stephen unhooked the chain from his belt and walked over attaching it to a ring in the wall and dropping the rucksack he carried beside where Bella had dutifully knelt. She had known she would be treated as just part of Stephen's luggage when they arrived but being totally ignored was not an experience she liked. She would have liked to greet Master Mike and thank him for all the time he had allowed Nyx to train her.
She had been told this was the way it was. She tried not to let it bother her. It did though, and she made her face a plain mask and tried not to bite her lips as she knelt in a tower position before the men who would judge her worthiness to stay here without Stephen. She kept her eyes on the floor listening to the men talk about her as they would about a working animal, like a cow or a horse.
"I understand the circumstances, and I had great respect for Marinos, but we don't pander here, Steelheart. She works like everyone else. She lives in the kennels, and she will answer to the Kennel Master and the First Girl," Kolton was saying. None of this was news to Bella except the name Marinos which must have been Mel's name here in this world.
