A/N: Thanks for coming back for another chapter of Deviant Minds! I'm continuing to write this story little by little.

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Chapter 7:

When I woke up the next morning I felt an overwhelming urge to paint. My feelings regarding Edward were chaotic and my outlet for confusing thoughts like these has always been my canvas. I put on clean panties and swept my hair up into a messy bun so it would be off my face. Then I set to work on the Man in Chair piece. The figure in the painting was looking more like Edward after he allowed me to use him as a model the day before. Until yesterday I'd felt like I knew the precise direction I wanted to take this piece; brooding and vulnerable were adjectives that came to mind, but after witnessing Edward submit during last night's live streamed scene with James I wasn't sure I was depicting him accurately.

I was quite disturbed by what I'd seen Edward participate in and if this were to be a true reflection of how I saw Edward I would have to make Man in Chair much darker. Aside from the caning punishment I'd found the scene mesmerizing and erotic, but my brain kept going back to that beating and couldn't reconcile it with the pleasure I thought the scene otherwise provided. Sure, I enjoyed objectifying Edward when he was submitting to me too, but I'd never think of marring his beautiful body with marks like he had last night. I was still learning about this lifestyle and I had a long way to go to becoming a skilled dominate, yet Edward always encouraged me by saying that he greatly enjoyed our sessions together. Was he content with my style but deep down wishing I'd hit him harder? Did he actually crave that kind of brutality I saw James inflicting on his body? If the answers to those questions were yes I was afraid to ask myself why he felt compelled to subject himself in that manner. It felt like a step or two beyond what I'd ever be comfortable doing.

Soon I lost myself in my art and I spent hours concentrating on making some necessary changes to Man in Chair. Words that now seemed to describe Edward were tortured, abused, or broken. Before I knew it I'd missed lunch and the afternoon was turning to evening. There wasn't much more time to ponder Edward's deep seeded need for pain; he was due to arrive at my apartment in less than an hour. He'd promised the night before to bring dinner which was a good thing since I hadn't eaten all day. My stomach rumbled as I was packing up my paints and I placed my hand over my naked stomach. I'd worked all day in nothing but panties and there were paint splotches all over me because of it. Another odd idiosyncrasy that I possessed; painting sans clothing. I shook my head at myself as I walked into the bathroom to clean up so I could get dressed. It was ironic, I thought, that I had spent all day practically naked and just as my submissive was about to arrive I felt the need to put clothes on. Edward wasn't the only one with issues, I decided, as I hopped into the shower.

"You're in a good mood," I noted as Edward entered my apartment about forty five minutes later. For some reason I'd expected him to be sad and mopey, or at least walking with a bit of a limp, but he strolled into my apartment as confident and energized as ever.

"I've been looking forward to tonight," he replied with a smile and handed me a shopping bag.

At first I assumed Edward meant he was looking forward to tonight because we were going to have a training session, but in seeing his excitement as he handed me the food I realized he was actually talking about having dinner with me.

"What did you bring?"

"Marinated skirt steaks and baked potatoes. You just need to cook them in the oven for a bit. Alice made us a salad with her special dressing. It's really good."

I walked the bag into the kitchen and began pulling out the packages. Edward, or Alice, had wrapped everything meticulously to keep the foods separate and to prevent spills. No man made use of tupperware in this way... his sister had to have helped.

"How is Alice doing?" I wondered aloud.

"She's better, thanks. The guy finally called her today and they set up a date for tonight so I think the crisis is over," Edward chucked and came to stand beside me as I pulled a suitable baking pan out of one of the cupboards. "She was dropping subtle hints all day that she'd be fine in the apartment without me if I wanted to stay out really late tonight."

"You think she's going to invite this guy back to the apartment then?" I asked.

"If the date goes well I'm pretty sure that's her intention. I'm certainly in no position to judge her sexual partners," Edward said lightly. "I just hope this dude doesn't break her heart like the last one. And the one before him... and the one before him."

I placed the steaks on the baking pan and drizzled the remaining marinade over the top. It smelled really good. "You said before that Alice doesn't know what you do for a living, right?"

"She does; the escort part at least. There was no way to keep my social media profile hidden from her. It's just the bonus stuff I do on the side, outside of Maryland's Men Mingle, that I don't share with her," he explained.

"You don't share with her the sex part," I clarified. "None of the sex, the training, the willful submission to pain and pleasure..."

He raised an eyebrow at me in wonderment. "Of course not. For the same reason you don't tell your brother or your friends. They wouldn't understand us, right?"

I pondered that for a moment. Were Edward and I truly that similar to one another? After last night I wasn't so sure, but he was right that we were different from Alice, Jacob, and Jasper; too different for them to know the truth. "So where did she think you were last night?" I asked in a small voice.

"With a regular MMM escort client."

"Alice never sees through that? She didn't notice anything odd when you got home last night?"

"Nope," he answered simply.

Edward was very perceptive of my feelings. I thought he might be starting to suspect something was bothering me so I averted my eyes back to the food. The salad was prepared already and just needed to be tossed with the dressing. And there were baked potatoes to put in the oven with the steaks.

"How long do these go in the oven?"

"Forty five minutes to an hour." Edward stepped closer to me and added, "which gives us enough time for a training session if you're ready."

It felt like we had a lot to talk about; there seemed to be more about Edward Cullen that I ought to know. I wondered if he was really okay with what had transpired with James the night before. It seemed pertinent to my training that I understood the level of pain Edward could tolerate, and how much he would enjoy it. I was afraid that he might tell me that pain was a big part of the arousal for him. My courage began slipping away as my mind went over everything I wanted to ask him. He didn't know I'd watched him last night and I wanted to avoid an awkward conversation about the live streamed performance. I figured perhaps we could talk over dinner about my training and that would give me the opportunity to ask him some personal questions. I couldn't think of a reason to postpone sex until after dinner so I just nodded in agreement.

Edward looked pleased. He lifted his fingers to brush my cheek and softly said, "Good, 'cause I've missed you."

I stepped away, feeling once again like he was talking about more than just my training. Edward read my step backwards as a step toward the bedroom and immediately began shedding his clothes. I felt like I needed to retake control of this situation. Edward was becoming too familiar with me, too relaxed. I was the dominate for crying out loud; I needed to act like one.

"Kneel before me, Edward," I said in a stern voice.

Edward halted his movements abruptly, naked from the waist down and with his arms over his head encased in his t-shirt. He dropped to his knees without a second thought and I aided him in removing the t-shirt. His eyes were downcast to the floor and his cheeks were flushed. It was empowering to know that all it took were a few simple words and a certain tone in my voice to regain complete control of this man.

"I'm going to put our dinner in the oven and set a timer. I want you to go into the bedroom and lie face up on the bed to wait for me. Don't stand; I want you to crawl there."

Edward's face stayed perfectly still as he nodded quietly and placed his hands on the kitchen floor. I felt a flurry of arousal as I watched him start to move across the floor in response to my order. My cheeks were blushing so I turned around to face the kitchen sink in case Edward looked back at me, which or course he wouldn't because he was a seasoned submissive. Even if I held the power at the moment Edward was still here to teach me.

Quickly, I set the oven temperature and placed the food inside. Forty five minutes on the timer would give me plenty of time to conduct the scene I'd planned for tonight. I waited a few more minutes before going into the bedroom. It was important, I'd learned, that the submissive have time to settle into the right frame of mind before a scene and the anticipation of the master's arrival was also a key factor to his or her experience.

Edward was lying in the center of the bed when I entered the room. My mind flashed back to the position James had placed him in the night before and vowed to myself not to put him on his hands and knees tonight. I wanted to make sure that I provided Edward with just as much pleasure as I would get because he was not an object to me. I wasn't like James. Edward and I had different roles in this relationship but the goal was still for both of us to feel satisfied at the end of the scene. Satisfied and physically unharmed, I amended my thought.

I needed Edward to sit up in order to bind his hands the way I'd envisioned so I said, "Sit up at the edge of the bed, Edward, and look forward at the wall." I knelt behind him on the bed and used long black rope to tie his wrists together behind his back. Once they were tightly bound I tossed the loose ends of the rope over his shoulders and told him to stand up. Edward did so with no hesitation.

I'd never done rope play with him but had practiced on myself a number of times so I felt confident in my ability to use the ropes correctly. The ends of the ropes were hanging down the front of his body and nearly touched the floor. Remembering what I'd seen in a YouTube tutorial I carefully spun the ropes around his torso, crisscrossed them in the back, looped around his wrists again, and then fed them between his legs. I hopped off the bed and grabbed the ropes from the front, purposely laying them along his inner thighs and crossing over his hips and up across his shoulder blades to where I then tied the two rope ends in a knot at the base of his neck. The binding was snug but not tight enough to dig into his skin. Edward looked really sexy and I wanted him to see himself the way that I did.

"Walk to the closet and take a look," I said pointing to the full length mirror that hung on the closet door. I stood behind him and together we admired his body, lean and muscular; bound in his mistresses ropes. My hands couldn't keep away from him and his eyes watched as they wandered across his chest and taut stomach. I noticed Edward's cock had begun to harden as we stood in front of the mirror. Now it was practically perpendicular to his body. There was electricity humming between us and all I could think about was fucking him in his current state. My hand closed over his erection and pumped it with agonizing slowness. Edward moaned and briefly closed his eyes.

"Walk back to the bed," I whispered. He practically whimpered as he followed orders.

I went to retrieve my trusty blindfold for his eyes that had been left on top of my dresser. That's when my eyes fell to Edward's back side and I noticed faint pink lines across his skin. The marks from James' cane were still there! I tried to ignore the rage I felt inside so as not to alarm Edward. I hated James for hurting him so badly that evidence of the punishment was still clearly visible close to twenty four hours later.

Edward stood at the foot of the bed and I was careful not to let my displeasure show. The truth was I felt sick to my stomach as I reached up to place the blindfold over his eyes. Once his sight was gone I thought I would relax but the marks on Edward's ass were ruining my fun. It bothered me that I wanted to feel like Edward was mine while we were playing together and these marks on him were signs of James' possession. I didn't like to think of him with other dominants and I really didn't like thinking about how differently they treat him when he is one of theirs.

I instructed Edward to lie down on the bed but I knew I had to address the marks on his ass before we could proceed. He wasn't comfortable since his hands were bound behind his back so I rolled him onto his side. As he lay there patiently I slipped my jeans and tank top off and crawled up onto the bed.

My hand slid over his tender skin and I asked, "do these hurt?"

Edward shook his head and replied, "looks worse than it feels."

"It's hard to believe that," I said running my fingers gently over the darkest mark that looked almost like a rug burn. I jumped off the bed and went into the bathroom to retrieve a bottle of aloe vera.

"I know where these came from," I admitted as I squeezed some of the aloe into my hand. Edward's erection was almost completely deflated and I knew I was ruining our training session. I couldn't help my feelings and decided we needed to talk about how I felt before we could play. The fear of confrontation I felt before subsided and now getting answers from him was more important than the sex.

I pushed his shoulder so he was lying on his stomach and straddled his legs as I removed the blindfold. "You saw me last night?" he asked speaking out of turn. I guess he realized I was putting our scene on hold.

"Yes I did. I was curious."

"And what did you think? Was it enjoyable?"

"There were a few parts. Most of it I hated."

"Really?" he asked sounding surprised. My heart dropped into my stomach thinking that he saw nothing wrong with James' scene.

I spread the cooling gel over his formerly cute butt and sighed. "I didn't like how harshly he beat you. You were badly hurt."

"It feels good now," Edward replied, referring to the aloe vera.

"Did you know beforehand? Did he warn you that he would be so cruel?"

Edward attempted to turn his head to look at me over his shoulder but he was still tied quite tightly in my ropes. "I knew of James' style; a lot of doms are like him. What you saw with the cane was a punishment; it's not always like that."

"But sometimes it is," I countered. "I don't understand why you put yourself through that; it must have hurt terribly."

"Yes, it did," Edward said softly. Then just as quickly as he'd admitted to the pain he shifted his tone to try and laugh it off. "That's why he paid me the big bucks. That scene alone paid my rent for the month."

"How do you get through it?"

"I start the scene with willful submission like any other. A good submissive will clear their head and just let go. When I do this it's about surrendering my fear and opinions; I let my dom make the decisions and take care of me. It's about having trust in the other person."

"And you trusted James? Even as he abused you?"

"I don't think of it in that way. I'm not James' regular submissive so I hadn't done anything to deserve that punishment; I was just participating in a planned scene. But there have been plenty of things I've done in other circumstances to deserve a punishment. When the cane came down I pulled my motivation from my own experiences.

"You felt like you deserved to be canned? You shouldn't subject yourself to that level of pain; it's not healthy."

"Maybe not, but when the pain gets bad enough I check out mentally. Letting go of the control and giving myself to him was... freeing."

I thought about what he said as I applied more aloe to his skin. He turned onto his side after a few minutes and I looked at his face.

He frowned seeing my expression. "Don't look at me like that. Giving up control is like taking a drug. I love losing my mind in the sensations knowing there's no need to think; only to feel."

Edward closed his eyes and arched his back. I could tell he was doing it now... letting himself go... feeling. My hand idly began caressing his thigh and he body convulsed with pleasure. I continued to stroke and tease his legs; watching as his cock reacted in a positive manner.

Edward's chosen lifestyle seemed to make him even more lonely and sad than I thought. He deserved love that doesn't come with a paycheck. I wished he would stop doing the things that made it impossible for him to find love in a real relationship but it certainly wasn't my place to give him advice. I recently made the same decision Edward did when I chose to leave Jasper. I'd be a hypocrite to judge him since I wanted to live in this lifestyle too, albeit more mildly.

"What are you thinking about?" Edward asked after my prolonged silence.

I smiled at him while my hands continued touching him in places that increased his arousal. "I could never hurt you the way James did. I only want to be the kind of mistress that brings you pleasure."

"And you do. Your style is very different than James'. While James pushes my physical limits you prefer to test me mentally."

"What do you mean by that?" I asked worried.

"I believe that you would never beat a submissive. You don't get off from causing pain. Your style is quite different; preferring to use objectification and humiliation of your submissive to feel that rush of power all doms crave."

"Is that bad?" I mumbled.

Edward smiled sheepishly. "Everyone is different, but I love what you do to me. You favor mind games; never letting me see what you're doing, posing me in such provocative ways. I close my eyes, relax my mind, and imagine being a sex slave for you."

"I think Britney wrote a song about that," I replied dryly.

Edward chuckled under his breath. "Kitty kitty," he sang.

I smiled but refrained from singing along. "Do you really like it though? Or do you feel there's something missing?"

"What do you think is missing?" Edward asked, dodging my first question.

"The physical. I worry you want the pain."

"You've hit me before," Edward reminded.

"Not in the same way; never like this," I refuted as I slid my hands under his ass and rubbed his tender skin.

"I don't need you to be like him. You're so new to all this and still you've managed to quickly become my favorite client."

I balked at Edward's choice or words. I hadn't thought of myself as his client in a while; not since he told me to stop paying him for his services. That decision had made me feel like Edward and I had something more than a work relationship. And even though I was being careful not to get too close to him there was nothing I could do to stop caring for him as a person. He teetered along a fine line between friend and sexual partner. Whichever side of the line he leaned more towards was okay with me as long as we could continue training.

Edward moaned loudly and bucked his hips. His desperate movements reminded me that I'd been playing with his bound body for a long time and he was certainly in need of a release in more ways than one.

"Are you ready to play now?" I asked.

"Please mistress. I'm so worked up for you. I want you to make me come so hard the way only you can."

I searched around the sheets for the blindfold and scolded myself for still using it. It was my crutch; the only way I could get through a scene as intense as I knew this one would be. There was no disappointment in Edward's expression before he closed his eyes to receive the blindfold. I slid it over his head without saying a word.

"I want you on your back. Sit up so I can untie your hands," I ordered.

Edward had difficulty pulling himself up without the use of his hands so I tugged on the ropes crossing his chest until he was sitting upright. Carefully, I untied his wrists from where they were positioned behind his back and draped the loose ends of the rope over his shoulders to use as reins. I planned to ride my boy hard tonight.

I removed the rest of my clothes and I knew Edward heard the rustling sound of cloth because he said, "I wish I could see your body, Mistress."

"Someday," I promised. "No more talking."

That night I used a new toy that I'd had for a week or more but hadn't found the courage to try. After watching his live stream scene with James I figured there would be no objection on Edward's part. He was sitting still, licking his lower lip with anticipation as I brushed the plug against his mouth.

"Open up," I said gently.

Edward obediently opened his mouth wide and seemed to know he was supposed to wet the object with his tongue. As he did this I nudged his legs further apart to make sure he knew where I intended to place the object. He closed his lips around it and moaned, and I took that as silent acceptance. It was hot and nerve wracking at the same time as my fingers found his hole and carefully pushed the plug inside him. It fit nicely and I surprised Edward's cock with a few seconds of oral reward for being such a good boy. He moaned appreciatively and bucked his hips.

He was primed and ready for me as I slid into his lap, positioning myself right above his throbbing erection. My hands found the reins and pulled on them hard which tightened the ropes criss-crossing his body.

"Put your hands on my hips. Feel me," I instructed as I filled myself with him. Edward was so warm and firm; his body was a work of art. He groaned as our hips bumped together. My breasts pressed against his face and he eagerly sucked a nipple into his mouth. He was growing braver with me after hardly moving a muscle during our first couple encounters. Of course, I usually had him strapped down so tightly he was lucky he could breathe. Edward seemed to enjoy the limited freedom; sliding his hands up and down my back and even cupping my face once or twice while I fucked him. He tried to kiss me but I pulled away; intending to slap his ass for his boldness. This required linking my elbows underneath his knees and pulling them as close to his chest as possible. The ropes near his groin pulled tighter and dug into his skin. Then I reached behind me and swiftly slapped his ass.

For a moment I felt bad for hurting Edward's already tender backside but his reaction was such visceral lust that I assumed he wanted more.

"You like that, naughty boy?" I gasped between breaths.

"Yes, please," he begged. I slapped him again; harder as I bounced up and down on his cock. "The plug, slap the plug," he whispered as drew his knees up further.

"I'm going to come soon," I said as my hand reached back to slap him harder right where he asked. "Me too," he squeaked.

Focusing my thoughts on how good Edward's body felt underneath me I approached my climax and told him to finger my clit. He obliged. I grabbed the handle on the plug and pumped it deeper with each slam of my hips against his. Edward shrieked and the swirling of his finger got faster. We were panting and thrusting our bodies together with intense urgency, over and over until finally I came hard on his cock. Seconds later Edward's eyes rolled back in his head as he writhed beneath me and rode out his own release.

"Oh my God," was all I could say in the moments after our orgasms subsided.

I could barely think but somehow I maneuvered off his body and fell into the soft mattress beside him. Edward said his bones felt like jell-o and I giggled. When he pulled the blindfold off I didn't even care that I was still naked. He looked me over briefly and blushed, turning his gaze away as I stood up to find a robe.

Once my body was covered I walked back to the bed to help him remove the ropes that were still wrapped around him. "Relax; let me do it," I coaxed as Edward struggled to undo a knot that was behind his neck.

"Thank you. I'm still recovering I think," he sighed happily.

I smiled and began struggling to undo the knot that had pulled quite snug during our scene. I heard a knock on the door and muttered under my breath. "Who could that be?"

"Maybe the landlord? Or a salesman?" Edward offered.

Just then we both heard the banging again followed by the sound of a key in the lock. My body froze in panic and Edward's eyes bulged as he watched my face.

"Bella! Are you in there? I'm using my spare key, okay?"

I looked at Edward, still tied up in ropes, naked on my bed. "It's my friend, Rosalie," I whispered. "You have to hide."

"Hide?" Edward replied. "Where?"

The front door opened and Rose's voice got louder. She was in the apartment. "Bella are you in here? You haven't answered your phone all day. We got worried about you," Rose called from the living room.

"We?" Edward mouthed at me in a panic.

I shrugged my shoulders and then heard a familiar male's voice. "Bella? Bella!"

I knew there wasn't time to untie Edward or stash him in my closet. Rose was quickly walking past the kitchen and down the hall to my bedroom... with my brother following close behind.


A/N: Sorry to leave you all with a cliffy! The more you review, the more motivation I feel to write the next chapter!

If you like what you read here on FF please take a minute to check out my self published works on Amazon under the name Diana Currie. I could really use some reviews there too!