Authors Note: This story contains many of the harsher elements of the BDSM lifestyle. If that disturbs you at all please stop reading now and find something more to your liking, there are many great authors on this site. To regular readers of the Bella series, I hope it lives up to your expectations, I am sorry it is late this month. Enjoy, ~ellie.
"Fruitloops!" Bella screamed, and she heard the metallic sound of the knife dropping to the floor through the panicked fog in her brain. Sire immediately began undoing the tight restraints that held her at his mercy and gathered the sobbing girl in his arms. He picked her up and went to sit in an oversized leather armchair cradling her like a child as she calmed down.
They had spent the last few days together pushing her boundaries and listing her limits both hard and soft. Bella had begun to accept that no other dominant would know her as well as Mel, who had known her almost her entire life. She had also come to realise that despite her love and trust for the two men who acted as her guardians when she accepted a contract even a short term one as with Sire this week she needed to know and be able to express her limits. While Mel had given her the choice to stay with him or not he had pretty much just controlled everything else in her life, and she had never considered disobeying him, especially as he had made it clear that it wasn't really an option.
Sire had been pushing her hard and Bella was exhausted both mentally and physically from her first three days in Sire's care. She found in her exhaustion that even though she felt safe in his arms as they sat, and she had lost the rush of adrenaline that her fear had caused to flow through her veins that she could not stop crying.
Sire had remained silent as he held her realising he had finally broken through the wall of Mel's ownership. He had been harsh and cruel in the last few days in his effort to make her realise that there would never be another Mel, who knew her so well and loved her so much that he did not have to explore her kinks and aversions as others would have to. Once again he silently cursed Mel for not truly explaining this facet of the lifestyle to the beautiful young woman. In truth, many of the things he had made her endure were not his particular flavour of kink either but she had to know just how far some men would go down the darker paths of excess and violation.
Finally when no more tears would come she looked up at Sire with glistening eyes and said quietly, "No one would truly damage me beyond repair would they? I mean," she swallowed, "Why would someone ..."
"For many dominants," Sire said equally gently, "The thrill is all wrapped up in that power-exchange; the more you give, the more they want. If you are not brave enough to set limits and use a safe-word, you could find yourself with permanent damage not only to your body, but your mind as well." He lifted her face to his as he explained yet again why he pushed her so hard to know her own limits of endurance. "There will never be another Mel, who had time and the will to know you so well before you became his. The other dominants you will meet on this journey you have insisted upon taking will not know anything about you except what they are told in brief discussions and their knowledge of what Mel was like." He grinned as he saw her lip become caught between her teeth while she mulled over what he was saying. "Everyone in the club and even the outer circles of our lifestyle knew he was a sadistic controlling bastard and would assume that you would have to be something special to capture his collar, not just the run of the mill masochistic slave girl..."
"I wasn't a very good slave to him," Bella looked up at the hulking man who held her so carefully in his arms with teary eyes. "I made so many mistakes and ran away and..." her voice caught in her throat as guilt once again rose up within her. If she hadn't been so childish, Mel would never have taken her to Italy in the first place. "I just wasn't very good at being what he wanted," she finished sadly as Sire remained silent. "I just needed more time, I could have been better, I wanted to be better, he would have taught me all the things I needed to know, now it's just..." she shrugged, and the tears came again.
Sire continued to hold her quietly, her guilt and the anger that had preceded it when he first met her were within the final stages of grieving before she found acceptance and hope for the future though he could see that hope peeking through from time to time as she talked of her plans after her week in his company. He had been surprised to find that despite knowing Mel most of her life; they had been together as a couple only a month or so. It amazed him that she felt so much love and devotion towards Mel and he had wondered at her eagerness to begin a path back into the lifestyle without him. Having delved deeply into the young woman's motivations in the last three days, however, he now understood the still grieving girl's wish to feel again and try to block out the empty dark void his absence created in her life.
"I can still do the things he wanted," she said quietly once again, "I can learn more and do more like he planned," she took a deep breath and sat up straighter, "I can still be the girl he wanted me to be, with your help and the others," she smiled crookedly, "I still have the chance to make him proud of me."
"Mel's gone Bella, you need to do this because you want it, not because Mel wanted it," Sire had not liked the way she had said that as if he might somehow come back and claim her if she made him proud.
"I know, and I do want to do it for me, truly. I want it so very much, but I would like to think that he is still watching over me somehow and would be happy I am still doing what he wanted me to do. It is Master Rob now," she added, "That will show that pride in me I realise, but he was as close to Mel as I if not closer and it feels somehow right," she said with an odd tone in her voice.
Sire nodded still unsure about her state of mind and deciding a long talk with Rob was in order to ensure the girl's safety. He admitted that for the first time in a very long time he considered that taking a girl such as Bella as his own, would not be a hardship at all, in fact; it could be very enjoyable indeed.
"Go shower and get ready, we are going out," he smacked her ass lightly and grinned. The constant pushing and finding her limits needed to be continued, but he could see the small changes in her and was content with her progress, despite his misgivings about her last words. Sire watched her walk into the bathroom area and went to where her clothes hung on a rack in his photographic studio. There hadn't been any need for clothes in the last few days and as he picked several pieces out for her to wear he glanced at some of the photo's he had taken and printed of Bella in the last few days. She was an adorable masochistic little slut, and he embraced the opportunity to take hre out and show her off as his if only for a little while.
The rest of the week, he decided, would be a busy one as he considered how to incorporate what he wanted her to learn with a few social outings. First though, this afternoon as promised, they would attend a tea party with Sarah and Charles.
*****
Bella had sat quietly on the bed writing in the journal Sire had asked her to keep as he showered and changed into comfortable looking black jeans and a button up shirt. She looked at him curiously thinking that she had never seen him out of his leathers and black T shirts. She had been given a light baby doll dress to wear and once again she wondered at the change of pace and where they were going.
Dressing her once again in the boots and oversized jacket she wore when on his bike they left and rode the short distance to Charles' house. Bella grinned when she saw where they were and was glad that Sire had not forgotten the promise she had made about coming for tea with Sara and Charles.
Sarah ran from the house and flung herself at Bella before her feet had even touched the ground as Sire lifted her from his bike. "I've been waiting and waiting all day! Where have you been, Uncle Billy?" Sara finally let go of Bella and turned a scowl on Sire.
Sire raised an eyebrow at Sara and checked his watch dramatically. Chastened Sara put her hands behind her back and in a quieter voice said, "It's just I am so excited 'cause like, well, I just love her," Sara tried to explain why she had been bratty.
"That, I understand, Bella is easy to love," Sire bent, kissed Sara's forehead and smiled, "Lead on little one, I hope you have those cookies I like!" Sara giggled mischievously and snatching Bella's hand dragged her at a run into the house.
"First you must kiss Daddy and say hello, then I have a surprise for you!" Sara gushed excitedly. Bella looked over her shoulder and grinned having been caught up in the child-like excitement of Sara and followed her through to the study where Charles waited looking relaxed and chatting with Stephen. Bella was not really surprised; Stephen seemed to be a constant figure in her life since the death of Mel, he seemed to be constantly watching over her as he did for the girls at the club, Bella assumed it was just an extension of his duties that he performed for Rob and the stakeholders.
"But Daddy!" Sara whined seeing Charles pat his lap for Bella to come and sit with him.
"Sara, we talked about this," Charles said in a slow, measured tone.
"Yes Daddy, but I have been waiting and waiting," she whined but turned to leave the room pouting.
"Watch out you're going to trip over that bottom lip if it gets any lower," Sire chuckled scooping up Sara and cuddling her. "Come get me a cookie while Bella says hello properly," he walked away from the study with her.
Bella allowed herself to be pulled into Charles lap and cuddled before turning to greet Stephen.
"Hello Sir Stephen this is a nice surprise," she smiled and he returned her smile with a barely discernible tilt of his lips as he inclined his head toward her.
"Hello, little one. There were a few things decided at that meeting of the stakeholders after you left, one of them being that I would come and check on you from time to time and make sure you were happy and healthy with your work and exploration," he explained.
"I am happy," Bella smiled at both the men, "Thank you for supporting me during that meeting, it meant so much."
"You asked for help, it would be ungentlemanly to ignore the request of a damsel in distress, wouldn't you say Stephen?" Charles chuckled.
"Indeed," he readily agreed, "But at the end of the day it's your life and your decision, Rob and Kurt are your guardians and they are there to advise you or step in if you put yourself in danger, but you have the final say in your life, and I am not sure you fully understand that." Stephen's brow creased with worry.
"Oh, good your back," Charles greeted Sire, who had come in munching on a cookie and taken a seat. "This concerns you too."
