‘Oh, such a good little slut,’ Mark murmured against my cheek before turning my face and capturing my mouth in a demanding kiss. I melted into him, loving the way he called me such dirty names and kissed me until I was breathless. He plundered my mouth, his tongue darting deep inside and swiping mine. I awkwardly clutched at him, those ridiculous paw mittens preventing me from grasping and holding onto him.
When Mark broke our kiss, he swept my bangs from my eyes and smiled at me. ‘I know this isn’t easy for you, and it’s probably going to touch on your fear of humiliation. Actually, I know it is. If you can’t handle it, you may use your safe word.’ He tipped up my chin and gazed into my eyes. ‘I want you to try, all right?’
I nodded and gave him my best imitation of a happy puppy yipping.
He chuckled and pecked my cheek. ‘See? You’re a natural.’
I didn’t respond to that joking remark because I knew I was anything but. I’d embraced the old fake-it-’til-you-make-it mantra on this one. While I enjoyed a variety of kinks and drew very few lines in the sand, humiliation and embarrassment play were on that list of games I didn’t want to try. How Mark had talked me into this one was beyond me. He’d been straightforward about tonight’s party and had simply requested my attendance as a birthday gift. He swore up and down there was only the touch of a sadist in him but, right now, I was convinced he was the Marquis de Sade incarnate. Asking me to dress up like a puppy and pretend I was a dog as a birthday present? I mean, really!
I hesitantly stepped out of the SUV when he came round to my side and opened the door. My gaze fell to the leather leash and collar clasped in his hand. My cheeks burned with embarrassment as he slipped the collar around my neck, the dog tags jingling against my chest, and clipped the leash onto it. Mark snapped his fingers and pointed to the paved driveway. ‘Sit.’
My eyes widened as I realised he wanted me to start playing puppy now, out here in front of our host’s house. I nervously glanced around the neighbourhood. It was a gated community and the houses were separated by huge lawns and pine trees. No one else on the street could see me but that didn’t lessen my mortification. Swallowing hard, I remembered Mark’s request that I give it a try and slowly lowered myself to the pavement. I carefully bent forward until I was on all fours. I kept my back straight and head high. If I had to do this, I was going to be the best damn puppy anyone had ever seen!
I crawled along at Mark’s side. I was grateful for the kneepads and mittens. I could just imagine how truly uncomfortable it would have been to crawl from our parked SUV to the door. I kept my eyes down as our host welcomed us into his house. A petite older blonde knelt next to his legs. She wore a diamante collar and seemed suspiciously perky.
When I tried to pass by her, she reached out and nipped my shoulder hard enough to leave a bruise and then growled. Unable to help myself, I yelped and skittered back behind Mark’s legs. My arm smarted something fierce. Now this was going a bit too far!
‘Mitzi! Bad dog!’ The man reached down and swatted her backside a couple of times. He pointed to a large puppy bed in the corner of the hallway. ‘Ten-minute time-out!’
‘Sorry about that,’ Jake, a man who was known to Mark but not to me, apologised. ‘She’s having some aggression issues. I think it must be all the lovely young puppies invading her space.’
As Mitzi hung her head and crawled to the corner, I glanced up at Mark and tried to silently communicate what I was thinking: These people are demented! Mark crouched down as an owner might and gently soothed his hand over the bite mark. He pressed a loving kiss to the bruise and stroked my back. ‘Would you like to go home?’
I started to answer in the affirmative but then remembered how excited he’d been about this party. I knew how much he loved to push my boundaries, how much pleasure he found in helping me conquer my fears, and shook my head. He grinned broadly, his eyes shining brightly with love for me. He rose and patted my head. ‘Come on, girl.’
I crawled next to him, the leash between us loose, and bravely entered the large living room where the rest of the attendees were milling around and talking. I noticed a mix of male and female dominants and puppies. I hoped Mark would keep me at his side like a couple of the others Doms and Dommes did their puppies, but he tugged on my leash and walked me over to a fenced-off puppy play area.
After my run-in with that nut Mitzi, I wasn’t so sure about getting close to the other puppies. I crawled into the enclosure and waited for Mark to remove the leash. Before he’d even left, a male puppy nudged a ball my way with his nose. I stared at it for a second, trying to decide if I was really going to degrade myself by pushing a ball around with my nose, and then finally decided that, yes, I was and threw myself fully into the role of puppy.
And it wasn’t all that bad. Oh, it was weird all right. It was the most fucking outrageous and bizarre thing I’d ever done in my twenty-eight years. In a strange way, it was oddly freeing and ridiculously fun. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d been this silly. Freshman year of college maybe? It had been a long time since I’d indulged the childish playful side of me. Earning a bachelor’s degree in three years and a doctorate in four more had pretty much cut out any fun time. It had been nose to the grindstone for so long. I’d never have imagined it would take a fetish puppy party to help me remember what it was like to be silly again.
After twenty minutes or so, our owners collected us from the enclosure and led us into another room. Mark snapped his fingers again and pointed to a spot near his feet. I sat in exactly the way he’d shown me back at the house. We’d practised a bit before leaving. Luckily for Mark, I possessed a nearly eidetic memory so recalling simple commands like ‘sit’ and ‘roll over’ was easy for me.
A group of judges walked around and issued commands to each puppy. We rolled over and sat and knelt on all fours so we could be measured and touched and graded like purebred dogs at a kennel show. I wasn’t particularly happy with the dog-show portion of the evening but did my very best to show what a good puppy I was for my master. I glanced up at Mark after the judge left me and was happy to see a smile on his face. It was a simple, silly thing, really, but I found so much pride in knowing I’d put that smile there.
When the judging was finished, we puppies were paraded outside into the spacious backyard. My stomach dropped at the sight of the agility course. Mark must have sensed my reluctance because he reached down and lightly scratched behind my ears before stroking my cheek. I thought about dropping my safe word but managed to gather up enough courage to stay in the game.
As I watched other puppies go through the course, most of them awkwardly and slowly and without any agility, I was suddenly very glad of all those Zumba and yoga classes and the off-road races Mark and I ran every year. I might not be the most trained or experienced puppy in the bunch but I could damn sure trot my happy ass around and over that course!
When it was my turn, I crawled at a quick but smooth pace. The tail lodged in my backside felt so strange. It was one thing to wear one during sex or around the house while doing chores but quite another to have it in while I weaved in and out of poles, climbed an A-frame and balanced on a teeter-totter board. I mounted a pause box and performed the commands that Mark gave me with as much finesse as possible. My last obstacle, a long tunnel, gave me flashbacks to a childhood of building forts out of sheets and chairs in the living room with my brothers. Somehow I managed to not make a complete fool of myself and crossed the finish line without being too out of breath.
‘Good girl!’ Mark crouched down and lightly scratched my neck and rubbed my arms. He pulled something out of his pocket and presented it to me. I almost laughed but then remembered I was still a puppy and opened my mouth instead. Mark placed one of my favourite cherry gummy candies on my tongue. He stroked my head as I enjoyed my treat and watched the last of the puppies go through the course.
Back inside the house, I enjoyed a drink of water from a bowl labelled with my name. I was thirsty enough that I didn’t even mind the rather unattractive way I had to bend down and slurp. Mark dabbed at my chin with a paper towel and then led me by the leash back to the living room. I couldn’t believe