“It’s not you, Brie.”
She nodded with tears in her eyes. “I needed to hear that, Sir. Thank you.”
“Tonight we concentrate our efforts on Nosaka, since that is the main reason we came to Japan.” When Sir took his hand away, the comforting connection it created disappeared. He left her in the hotel room with things feeling just as distant as before.
It worried her.
With shaking hands, Brie dressed herself and went to join her Master in the lobby.
Tono’s Secret
Tono entered the hotel looking stylish in his simple black kimono. Brie noticed a group of young women stare at him and then whisper amongst themselves excitedly.
“I see you brought the requested items,” Tono commented, glancing at the backpack Sir had slung over his shoulder.
“Just a few essentials.”
“Perfect.” Tono glanced at Brie for a moment, then back at Sir. “Is anything wrong?”
Leave it to Tono to pick up on the tension between them.
“No,” Sir assured him, “but I believe Brie is suffering from jetlag.”
Tono asked Brie, “Would you rather skip tonight?”
“Absolutely not,” Sir answered for her. “My sub is in need of a little adventure this evening.”
Brie smiled, nodding her agreement.
With a glint in his eye, Tono said, “Good.”
His countenance completely changed once they left the hotel. He became guarded, speaking in hushed tones. “What we do must remain a secret. You can tell no one where we’ve been tonight.”
Brie’s eyes widened, charmed by his mysterious behavior. Was there a Japanese BDSM underground? The way Tono was acting, she figured the club must be extremely taboo.
She remembered how stunned she’d been to learn that Rytsar was a sadist. Was she about to find out something equally shocking about Tono?
Brie shivered.
She took a long, hard look at Tono once they were in his car. She quickly came to the conclusion that he wasn’t the type to indulge in extreme play. His spirit was far too gentle—other than his feisty bouts of spanking.
She was stumped by what secret Tono and his father could be hiding, but it pleased her heart that the elder Nosaka wanted her to know it.
If Sir was burning with the same curiosity, he sure didn’t show it. He looked calm and collected, as if he knew exactly where they were headed, so Brie leaned over and asked, “Where are we going, Sir?”
“I haven’t a clue,” he answered, giving her a slight smile before staring out the window. She looked down at the backpack on his lap and decided that their destination was unimportant.
Sir was right in his assertion that the only thing that mattered tonight was helping Tono.
The Asian Dom’s behavior remained aloof after he parked the car, leading them through a labyrinth of narrow alleyways deep within an older section of the city. The location seemed to hint at something illicit or even dangerous. Sir put his arm protectively around Brie as if he felt the same way.
The building Tono eventually led them to had a brightly lit sign and crowds of young people milling about. To Brie it looked like a dance club from the outside, but she was in for a surprise when they walked through the entrance and were greeted by a steep set of stairs leading to a dark basement below.
A young man met them at the bottom of the stairs and bowed to Tono before asking him a series of questions in Japanese. There was a quick exchange of funds, then Tono told them to follow as he walked down a dimly lit corridor with vividly painted red doors on either side.
He led them to the farthest room and opened it with a shy grin, motioning them to enter.
Brie had no idea what to expect as she walked in, but she was surprised to see connected couches lining three of the walls of the room, with a low-lying wooden table in the center, and a large white screen covering the farthest wall.
“Please take a seat,” Tono told them.
Sir placed his pack on the table and sat on the couch, patting the area next to him. Brie sat by his side, although she would have preferred kneeling at his feet.
As she glanced around, Brie concluded it must be a private screening room for bondage videos. Tono picked up a remote lying on the table and the speakers popped into life as a list of titles in Japanese appeared on the screen. Her curiosity increased when he went to a shelf in the corner and took something from a box there.
He returned with an item that looked suspiciously like a smaller version of a Hitachi Magic Wand. Brie giggled as it dawned on her that he was holding a mic, which meant they must be in a private karaoke room.
“No way…” she giggled.
Sir looked at him with amusement, chuckling to himself.
Tono tilted his head charmingly and asked, “Do you sing?”
Brie shook her head violently. “No! I’m sorry, Tono. I can’t sing, not even a note.”
He answered her protest with an engaging smile. “Come on, Brie—come sing with me.”
“I’m serious, Tono. I would only make your eardrums bleed if I did.”
“Please…”
His earnest plea pulled at her heartstrings, but Brie couldn’t hide her horror at the idea of singing in front of either Dom and stated firmly, “I can’t.”
Tono looked to Sir for assistance.
Sir shook his head as he lay back on the couch. “I must admit, Nosaka, you’ve surprised me with this one. I never suspected this would be where we ended up. However, if you are serious about wanting to proceed further, I suggest sake may be in order. We will need to loosen Brie up and heighten our own tolerance for pain.”
She blushed. Sir had once heard her sing in the shower and requested afterwards that she refrain from doing so again.
“I’m sure she’s not as bad as you claim,” Tono insisted, but he heeded Sir’s warning and put down his mic, picking up a phone on the wall instead. He ordered the sake, but after noticing Sir holding up two fingers, he amended the order.
Tono sat next to Brie while they waited. She couldn’t help grinning when she asked, “So this is really what you and your father do in secret?”
Tono smirked. “Hai. Wasn’t what were you expecting?”
“Well, when you suggested bringing our favorite toys, I naturally imagined something a little…um…kinkier.”
Tono’s smile spread across his face, lighting up his brown eyes. “I wanted to try something a little different tonight. Clients are only bothered if they choose to order drinks, so we will remain undisturbed for hours.”
“Ah…” She glanced around the room again, noting the expansive couches as well as the sturdy wooden table in front of her. Sure, she agreed there was a world of possibilities for the creatively gifted, but still…karaoke?
“Did you and your father come here often?” Sir asked.
“As often as our schedules allowed when I lived in Japan. It was our…secret pleasure.”
There was a knock on the door and a striking young Japanese woman entered the room. She gracefully placed two warmed sake containers and three cups on the table, and bowed to Tono before leaving.
Sir sat up and grabbed a flask. “Mind if I pour? Since I’ve had the dubious pleasure of hearing Brie sing before, I need to fortify myself.”
Brie felt the need to confess to Tono before things went any further. “My singing is even worse than my cooking.”
“I won’t believe it until I hear it,” Tono replied, taking the cup Sir offered him.
She giggled nervously as Sir handed over her sake, trying to quell the butterflies when she lifted the cup in reverence, then swallowed the warm liquid.
Brie noted with amusement how Sir reminded her of Rytsar in the way he quickly refilled the cups each time they drank. By the time her Master stopped pouring, both Doms had become unusually open and chatty.
“What an odd activity to share with your father, Ren,” Sir stated. “I never pictured you as a singer.”
He shru
gged. “To me it’s no different than going fishing or hunting like you Americans do with your fathers. It’s simply a bonding experience between generations—one that only he and I shared.” He smiled sadly, looking around the room. “Here my father was not my otosama and I was not his protégé. We were equals, sharing a mutual passion.”
“I find it oddly fascinating…” Sir mused. “Do you consider yourself a good singer, Nosaka?”
“I’m fair. Not quite at the level of my father, but I’ve heard no complaints.”
Sir snorted. “Is that because you normally tie and gag your audience?”
Tono burst out laughing. “Well, there’s only one way to find out if I speak the truth.” He retrieved another mic from the shelf and tried to hand it to Brie. “Your time has come, little one. Let me hear this infamous voice of yours.”
She cringed and refused to take it, hesitant to ruin Tono’s good impression of her.
He seemed surprised by her reaction, but took it in stride. “Very well. If I go first, you will join me for the next song.”
Brie glanced at Sir, hoping for an out. “Only if it pleases my Master.”
Sir raised his eyebrow, but said nothing.
“I will take that as a yes.”
Tono started flipping through the sea of titles, explaining, “You may find it surprising that my father is a huge Elvis Presley fan. I’m singing this first one in honor of him.”
Brie grinned when she recognized the song Jailhouse Rock. The foolish grin remained on her face, until she heard Tono’s voice…
It was smooth, deep and warmly romantic.
She couldn’t help staring at him, her jaw slack in admiration. Her whole perception of Tono changed and expanded as she listened to the rich tenor of his voice. He delighted her even more when he added a few thrusting Elvis moves at the end of his performance.
Brie clapped her hands enthusiastically, begging for more.
“I would definitely say you can sing, Nosaka,” Sir complimented him.
Tono turned to Brie, twirling the mic. “Now to see if you are as poor a singer as you believe.”
She groaned in protest. “Tono, I will only murder that beautiful sound of yours if I try to sing with you. Trust me.”
He handed her the microphone. “Don’t think, just follow my lead and sing.”
Tono switched the subtitles to English while she waited. Brie stood beside him, dreading the moment her humiliation would be made complete. However, she found herself laughing when an old song from the movie Dirty Dancing began to play. The ballad, I’ve Had the Time of My Life, had been a favorite of hers when she was growing up.
Tono started, his voice low and alluring as he sang the male part of the popular love song. Having him sing such a silly, romantic tune took away some of her anxiety; enough that Brie smiled at Sir when her part came up on the screen. She opened her mouth, and… Brie chickened out at the last second, only whispering the words.
Tono shook his head and leaned in close, singing the female part with her. With the sake in her veins, bolstering her courage, Brie stared into his chocolate-brown eyes. It reminded her of the time they’d danced together the night of graduation, when she had trusted him to lead her on the dance floor. What came from her lips was a tragic sound, but Tono cheered her on with a smile.
Soon Brie was relaxed enough to let all her inhibitions down, and she fell into natural rhythm with Tono, her voice following his. Although she noticed that he cringed every time she sang off pitch, he never lost his smile—not once.
Sir clapped afterwards, and poured them another round of drinks. “I’m almost there,” he teased, handing them each the sake. “Just a little more alcohol will deaden the last of these nerves.” He wrapped his arm around Brie, kissing the top of her head. “Wow, babygirl, you really can’t sing.”
She looked up and giggled, taking no offense at his critique because it was true. She shot back playfully, “Now it’s your turn, Sir.”
“I don’t sing, Brie, you know that,” he admonished. Sir turned to Tono. “However, I think we would both like to hear you sing again—solo.”
Brie nodded eagerly.
“I won’t perform alone,” Tono said, riffling through the box on the shelf and producing a tambourine for Brie. She jumped at the chance to accompany him without her voice.
Brie faced Sir as she practiced tapping the instrument against her hip, trying to entice him with her lusty moves. Sir sat back to admire her, but he stared at her with distant eyes, as if his mind kept wandering elsewhere.
Tono explained to Brie, “Although my father is a die-hard Elvis fan, I prefer something more current and a little more country.”
Country? Brie couldn’t believe Tono was a closet country fan.
Although she personally disliked country music, the moment Tono began to sing The Dance by Garth Brooks, all doubts about his choice of music were silenced.
Tono drew Brie in with his voice and broke her heart with the lyrics of the song. She forgot about the tambourine in her hand as she struggled to keep her emotions in check when he sang the words, “Our lives are better left to chance; I could have missed the pain, but I’d have had to miss the dance.”
“That…that was beautiful, Tono,” she muttered afterwards, not trusting herself to say more.
He looked at her tenderly and nodded, before holding out the microphone to Sir. “Your turn, Sir Davis.”
“I already said that I don’t sing.”
Tono answered him in no uncertain terms, “No one leaves the room without singing.”
“Not going to happen, Ren,” Sir growled.
Brie was disappointed that he was refusing. She’d never heard her Master’s singing voice and knew this might be her only chance. Wracking her brain, she searched for a valid reason why he must. When it finally came to her, Brie smiled to herself.
“Sir, didn’t you once tell me that you would never ask me to do something you weren’t willing to do yourself?”
He shook his head slowly, rubbing the area over his heart. “I can’t believe you’re using your Master’s words against him, téa.”
She noted that he’d used her sub name and knelt down at his feet like a proper submissive. With head bowed, she held up the microphone beseechingly. “Please, Master.”
He was slow to take it. “Understand, my willful sub, my song will come at a steep price.”
She kept her eyes down, trying to hide her glee. “Since I’ve never heard you sing, Master, it will be worth any price I must pay.”
Sir stood up, looking at the microphone as if it were a foreign instrument of BDSM he had yet to master. He announced to Tono, “This will be the only song I sing tonight.”
The Asian Dom bowed slightly. “Understood, Sir Davis.”
Sir stared at Brie for several moments before instructing Tono to find Demons by the band Imagine Dragons. While he waited for Tono to locate the song, Sir slowly rolled up his sleeves, one at a time.
Brie felt butterflies, knowing this opportunity wasn’t likely to be repeated.
Once Tono had highlighted the song, he handed Sir the remote and sat next to Brie.
“Would you like me to play the tambourine, Master?” she asked playfully.
“No, téa. I want you to listen.”
Brie nodded, waiting with bated breath to hear Sir’s voice. It was low and gravely, which perfectly matched the song he’d chosen. The lyrics to Demons were haunting and sad, unbearably sad…
Brie could not hold back the tears when she realized halfway through that his choice of song was meant as an apology to her. Sir refused to look in her direction as he sang of love and the darkness of inner demons that still haunted his soul. When it ended, the room was silent.
Sir put down the mic and turned to face her. She stood up and walked into his open arms.
“I don’t mean to hurt you, Brie,” he whispered, kissing her forehead. She let out a deep sigh of emotional release, grateful that their connection had
been reestablished.
Tono watched their private scene play out before him, and said nothing as he collected the mics and tambourine, depositing them back in the box.
“Shall we go, then?”
Sir shook his head. “No, Ren. My sub has a debt that must be paid.”
Paying her Debt
Brie trembled in Sir’s arms, knowing that playtime was about to begin, but having no idea what he had planned. Sir let go of her and picked up the backpack. “Did you bring anything, Nosaka?”
Tono nodded, producing a length of jute from inside his kimono.
“That will do nicely.” Sir surprised Brie when he abruptly pulled off his T-shirt, exposing his manly chest. Then her Master sat down on the couch, and with an ominous grin, he slowly unbuttoned his pants.
Brie ached just watching Sir undress in front of her. When he commanded, “On your knees, téa. Right where you stand,” she instantly dropped to a kneeling position.
“Take off your top.”
Brie gracefully removed her blouse and folded it, laying it on the floor beside her. When she looked up, he nodded at her bra. “All of it.”
She unfastened her bra next and laid it on top of the blouse, waiting anxiously for his next order.
“Hands behind your back.”
She thrust her breasts forward proudly, her nipples hardening under the appreciative gaze of her Master. The fact that Tono was also in the room only added to her excitement.
“Nosaka, bind téa’s chest so that her breasts present nicely and secure her hands behind her back.”
Brie’s heart rate increased as she felt Tono approach and heard the swish of silk as he separated his kimono to kneel behind her. In a voice both commanding and calm, he ordered, “Wrists together.”
Brie looked at her Master while Tono began the slow and sensual process of binding her. Sir’s eyes remained trained on her as she was lulled and seduced by the jute.
Tono knew just how to caress and tease her as he placed the rope under her breasts, adjusting it carefully with gentle hands. The jute slid over her skin flirtatiously, tugging against her with each pull and tie of the rope, constricting her movement further with each new pass…