Backfire

#######Author's Note#######

Full Summary:

Things have shifted slightly between Ketna and Xerxes after their last undercover activities, and in a strange way they've grown closer, but also not quite. Xerxes challenges Ketna to dom him again, and what starts off very good, turns very bad.

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Ever since that evening after the meeting, Xerxes' behavior had shifted slightly. More insistent about her being close to him, hands grasping a bit more tightly, desire a bit more hungry. At first, Ketna was concerned it was her own bias that had shifted after Xerxes's uncharacteristic amount of attention that day, but when she looked back through her exchanges with him, it was unmistakable how frequently he was creating reasons for her to be in his presence. She received another such request, but this time, it was a bit different.

'Been thinking how the last time you had your way, you barely had control. Think you can do it again?'

Cryptic as the message was, she knew what he was trying to infer. Not as obtuse as last time, but he still seemed unwilling to explicitly ask her to dom him. She still wasn't sure how to feel about this specific kind of role reversal but if any of the behavior now was a result of the last session, it was a good trade-off.

Having had at least one dubiously successful session gave her an idea of how to proceed, but it also made her nervous about repeating herself. It was a good thing she had been making small notes to herself in the event this were to ever happen again.

----

She arrived in the evening as had been requested, on the balcony as she had many times before. Xerxes was visible from the large windows, fussing with some drinks at the bar. Hopefully it was a choice he made to pass the time, not the sign of a poor mood she'd have to wrangle with. Stray cats lingered on the balcony, Xerxes must have just fed them not long ago. Some of them rose to attention at her arrival, familiar with her presence as the possibility of more food or attention, but she didn't stop to entertain them.

Xerxes' head lifted when he heard the creak of the glass door leading to the balcony.

"Getcha anything?" He quickly downed the glass he had in his hand after making his offer.

"I appreciate the offer, but no thank you." Ketna barely made eye contact with Xerxes, walking briskly past down to the hall. "I need to do something before we start."

"Do what?" Xerxes' head watched Ketna first before he made the choice to abandon his drink and move toward her.

"I have something else to wear, didn't want it getting messed up on the way." Without elaborating further, Ketna made off to the closest room, slipped inside and closed the door behind her.

Xerxes followed quickly behind her, catching up to Ketna just as the door closed.

"Sneakin' off t'get changed, whaddi'yah, modest now?" Xerxes raised his voice at the door, as though Ketna somehow wouldn't have heard him through it, normally.

Ketna fully expected him to force his way in, anyway, she was pleasantly surprised when he didn't.

"Modesty isn't the point, it's about the presentation." Ketna answered from behind the door.

"Would be better if ya' presented that ass t'me." Xerxes chuckled a bit at himself, he sounded very pleased with his own play on words.

"I'm not doing a striptease for you, Xerxes." The exasperation in Ketna's voice revealed the real reason why she chose to change behind a door.

"Then what am I fuckin' yah for?"

"I could leave if you really feel that way."

Before Xerxes could answer, the door opened, revealing Ketna in a far more formal but very risque silvered dress. It was hooded with a plunging neckline, sleeveless straps and the open neck barely covered her breasts. Slits on the side of the dress allowed her thighs to be exposed while keeping the shape of the dress itself rather narrow. Xerxes expression morphed from being pleased at what he saw, to very disappointed once he caught the half-mask covering everything above the mouth.

"Why're y'keepin' the mask on, already seen yer face." Xerxes motioned to her face where the mask remained.

"Because, right now, I don't want you to see it. You want me to control the action, this is part of it." Ketna asserted, at the same time she raised a hand, catching Xerxes by the chin tilting it toward her just to ensure she had his attention. "Now, do you want this or not?"

There was the faintest flash of surprise in Xerxes' face just before he huffed in feigned annoyance. "Yeah, yeah." He turned, his chin leaving Ketna's hold and waved for her to follow him. "Same room as last time."

On their walk to the room Ketna brought up something that had concerned her since their first official femdomme session.

"Have you reconsidered the safe word or are you still insistent that you don't need it." Ketna doubted Xerxes' opinion had changed but she wanted to provide the opportunity just in case.

"Tch' " Xerxes uttered a smug laugh. "Doubt ya'd go hard enough to need it."

Ketna shook her head, not surprised. "Suit yourself."

By now they had passed through the frame of the door into the room that was familiar. Not much had changed since last they had used though Xerxes gained Ketna's attention to point out something new.

"Got some stuff, fig'ered y'might be able t'use it." Xerxes brought up in a tone that sounded like hesitation, or reluctance. Despite the hesitancy, he went ahead and opened a cabinet door built into the wall of the room.

While not new it wasn't an important feature until this moment. In it was a tangled, unorganized mess of straps and tools both hung up and piled on the shelving.

"You had a cabinet of bondage gear sitting around here the whole time?" Ketna stared at it in her own bewilderment, glancingxl between it and Xerxes.

"Ehh." Xerxes gave a shrug and loose wave of his hand. "Not here, 'xactly. Gathered some up from coupla' my warehouses, stuff that got left er whatever. S'not like I went outta my way t'get it, mostly." His voice trailed off and he looked away.

"So this is.." Ketna picked up straps of restraints of assorted size and make. "Whatever you had left over from restraining others."

"More r' less." Xerxes didn't see the need to elaborate.

"Huh... now I know why you claimed to have a harness my size.." Ketna mused, putting down the thinner strap she had been holding in her hand.

Rummaging through the gear, she wasn't even sure what she was looking for. There wasn't much in the way of toys, which would have been her first impulse to seek out. There were tools for impact play but that wasn't really her style. Technically, being a Dom at all wasn't her style but if she had to play one, she didn't like the idea of inflicting pain on him intentionally without him saying explicitly he wanted it, especially not without a safe word. And even then, she didn't want to hurt him, which was a personally revealing consideration to have.

Among the tangle of leather, vinyl, and metal, a far more simple piece caught her attention. At first she thought it was a large strap for a harness, but pulling it up proved it was no such thing and was instead, a simple but well-made collar. She pulled it out of the pile completely.

"Well this is cute." She mused out loud while examining the collar and paying Xerxes a glance, holding the collar up to estimate its size.

"What is?" Xerxes strode over to see what Ketna could have possibly found that would be considered 'cute' and paused when she turned to face him with collar in hand.

"A collar. I think it might even fit." Ketna held it aloft in Xerxes's direction.

Xerxes rested a heavy hand quickly on top of Kenta's holding the collar. "Why, harness I got not good enough?"

"The harness is more than good enough, I just think the collar would look nice on you." Ketna mused coyly. "Isn't that the whole reason you showed me this?" She motioned to the cabinet.

Another glance from her hand to Xerxes' to size him up again caught him staring at the collar, but his resting gaze appeared as though he was glaring at it, not regarding it with any form of anticipation.

"Does.. Wearing a collar bother you?" Kenta queried, wanting to make certain of his mindset.

"Tch, No" Xerxes was quick to retwort. "why th'fuck would a scrap'a leather 'round my neck bother me?"

Ketna was not at all comfortable with the behavior Xerxes exuded, it felt like a clear indication there was something deeply wrong with the use of a collar and she needed to diffuse that.

"Look, if you're not comfortable with the collar that's okay, it's not-"

Ketna's concerns were interrupted by Xerxes' hand yanking the collar from her, wrapping it around his own neck and fastening it in a swift but almost disordered huff.

"There, y'see, it's fine." He announced in a huff, just a little bit too loudly.

Everything about his body language in that single act indicated to Ketna that Xerxes was not at all 'fine' with the collar, but knowing Xerxes' pride she felt it best to not pry into that for now. It was for the best that the mask she wore helped hide the deep look of concern she regarded him with, as he'd likely take that for pity in the state he was currently in.

"Okay, if you insist, but only if you want to." Ketna gave one more gentle attempt to provide him an out, to remind him he had a choice in this.

"Put it on, didn't I?" He announced defensively.

"Just making sure." Ketna confirmed, opting to let the topic go from here-on-out.

In an effort to side-step the issue and get back on track, Ketna stepped in close enough to Xerxes to grab him by the chin again and guide his gaze where she wanted it, and to reinstate her authority.

"I'll allow your hands to be free this time, but you may only touch me when I permit it."

"Heh, whatever you say, princess." Xerxes grinned down at her.

Ketna grimaced at the use of the term and released Xerxes' chin. "Ugh, don't call me that."

"Y'got somethin' better'n mind?"

She had never given consideration to what she wanted to be called in a setting like this. She didn't like Mistress; it felt goofy. Ma'am is a thing strangers called her but at least that sounded better than Mistress. She ran through other titles in her head but none of them felt right.

"Address me by my name."

"Y'gonna tell me what it is, seein' as I saw yer face." Xerxes taunted, recounting the drunken claim Ketna made some months back.

"No, I'm not going to tell you what my real name is." Ketna responded with some exasperation. "I meant you may address me by the name you do know, Ketna"

"Heh, whatever you say, Ketna." Xerxes paused just before saying the name, annunciating it very deliberately when he spoke it.

Even though she just told him to use her name, she was not expecting to hear it when she did. It was the first time he had genuinely addressed her by name and it left an imprint that lingered. And it wasn't even her real name.

"Good, now then-" Ketna regained her composure, putting on the countenance of the domme she was expected to play. "Kneel on the floor for me."

Before Xerxes could interject, Ketna elaborated on the order.

"Back straight, head forward, hands resting on your thighs."

Whatever Xerxes had intended to say, he held for the moment, following the instructions as ordered, watching her with a certain sense of caution.

"Good boy." Ketna rewarded the action with genuine, gentle praise.

His kneeling barely reduced much of his height, especially with his straightened back and propped on his knees, his head was still at her chest.

"Unless y'can float, ain't gonna reach yer pussy like this." Xerxes remarked first at his current placement, staring at Ketna's sternum, glancing down then back up to her.

Ketna chuckled gently at the joke.

"That wasn't the goal." Her hand brushed under his chin, tilting it up just enough. "You are exactly where I want you to be at this moment."

Her hand drifted from his chin to the side of his face, the other following, mirroring the motion on the other side. Both hands now cradled the jaw and cheeks, thumbs traced the synthetic flesh present there. She wasn't pressing or testing, just touching, running her finger across him and watching his reaction, studying the small movement of his face and the subtle details that their chaotic interaction had not permitted her to observe. While she made note of his features, her mind wandered to what she was even going to be doing for this session. She still didn't know what she was doing and Xerxes was not forthcoming about what he wanted, but he seemed to enjoy the last time well enough so approaching it from that angle seemed as good as any. Maybe it was too intimate, too attentive for the type of strained affair they had, but care, affection, and intimacy were the only ways she knew how to navigate settings of control.

Slowly Xerxes' usual look of indignant smugness fell into bewilderment, eyes glancing back and forth between both her hands then up into where he knew Ketna's eyes were behind her mask. It was the quickest Ketna had ever seen him drop his usual act, an observation she made note of for later. It also made her question how often he had encountered affection or intimacy at all.

"You ah- plannin on doin' anything?" Xerxes filled the silence of the room with his voice, attempting to make it sound like he was needling her but his uncertainty lingered in his cadence.

"I'm doing it right now, it's like I said before." Ketna's hand drifted from the side of his face to under his chin, giving emphasis to her next statement. "You need to be patient. Unless," She tilted her head, watching where his eyes darted, knowing he couldn't see hers. "This bothers you, and you want me to stop."

"T'ch, naw-" Xerxes spat out attempting to bring back his usual demeanor. "I ain't bothered." Unlike with the collar, it sounded like he meant it.

Ketna straightened, moving her hand from his chin to the side of his head, again. "Good. Then be patient and do as I say."

Xerxes gave a strange wordless nod of his head, glancing to the hands that still cradled his face.

With the acknowledgement, Ketna returned her focus back to him, studying him. She was aware the only truly organic part of his body that was exposed were his eyes and the flesh around them. It was difficult to tell there was a difference between the flesh around his eyes and his mouth but up close and in quiet study it was very easy to tell what was organic and what was synthetic. She let her hands trace up the sides of his face, thumb following up the cheek, up what she could only consider to be a pronounced cheek bone and up around it's edge.

The closer her thumbs drew to his eyes, the more anxious their gaze seemed to become, but he didn't move or protest to their presence. Carefully, she traced the edge of the plating that lined his flesh and for a moment Xerxes' eyes darted up, looking up to her mask once more. There was a hint of worry in his look when her thumbs made contact with his flesh, but they eventually closed without protest as she made gentle strokes against it. There they remained, quiet while she touched him gently. Gathering from Xerxes' subtle nervousness, it was likely he had never been regarded with genuine affection or adoration, or if he had, it was rare. The prospect of such a possibility did not surprise her, she was sympathetic to it in her own way. She knew how important a connection it was to have, and how very vulnerable it could make a person become. However, with the shift in their relationship as it was, if he was willing to open himself to her, she was amicable with the prospect of doing the same for him.

In the midst of the simple touch, Ketna caught movement in his shoulders, following them to the hands she caught him grasping or tapping anxiously.

"Do you want to touch me?" She questioned softly.

"Yeah." Xerxes' answer was firm but distant.

Ketna placed a step between Xerxes' legs, closing the distance between them before she gave her approval. "You may."

With her approval, Xerxes wasted no time in lifting his hands from their place to take hold of Ketna's legs. Fingers at first were hesitant around the calves of her legs, but gained their confidence quickly enough. Ketna let her body lean into his, moving her hands from his face to the back of his head, Xerxes needed no more guidance than this, leaning his head into the sternum exposed by the low cut dress. Hands desperately felt up Ketna's legs, grasping and kneading over her thighs, up to her rear cupping and squeezing at it to pull her closer to him.

"I've let you touch me, now you're going to put your hands to good use." Ketna's fingers traced the back of Xerxes' neck, following the center crease but avoided drawing any attention to the collar around it.

Xerxes needed no other prompting, fingers that wrapped around her thighs just waiting for permission, quickly found space between her legs. Digits slid between her lips, careful and mindful of his claws. At first it was simply desperate groping, but it time it eased into a methodical attack against her sex. One hand wrapped around from behind, the other resting against the front of her pelvis. Deft fingers went to work spreading lips, using what wetness there was to glide between the folds.

Pads of his fingers teased her entrance as it found it, pressing against it while other digits searched toward the front, carefully pushing aside folds to find the hidden bundle of nerves. As a finger pad grazed over it, Ketna dropped a hand from the back of Xerxes' neck to his shoulder, supporting herself as he carried on.

Slumped over Xerxes' head as she was, Ketna's chest practically rested against his face, an opportunity he took advantage of. It was a test at first, easing his tongue out just enough to brush against her sternum. When Ketna didn't tell him to stop, he took that as permission to continue. Using the full flat of his tongue, he started from the bottom of her plunged neck line, dragging his tongue up her chest to her collar bone. While doing this, his fingers found their way inside her, carefully buried deep, creating firm friction inside. Along with the gentle strokes against her clit, Ketna was put at risk of falling over. In compensation for her weakening legs, Ketna placed more of her weight on her against Xerxes' shoulder, while her free hand wrapped around the back of his head, ensuring her chest remained against his forehead.

Xerxes' tongue returned to Ketna's chest, more than happy to make use of the closeness brought by her grip. His head shifted, using his forehead to push aside the closest strap of her dress, so he could maneuver his tongue over the barely hidden breast. Fingers continued their work, an unrelenting attack on both of her most sensitive points, ushering further shuddering from the woman he serviced.

Ketna did what she could to hold her voice, but in time she was softly whimpering and panting. Warmth grew from the points of contact outward, along with pleasure that threatened her cognition. Her support against Xerxes shoulder and head barely kept her on her feet, as each graze and stroke brought her closer to climax. It was not long before she softly cried out, and that crescendo racked her body, leaving her shaking in place.

Whatever trance Ketna had put Xerxes into, earlier seemed to have faded. His behavior grew more mischievous, intentionally teasing her past the point of required stimulation to throw her composure. Ketna wanted so badly to let him continue, to relinquish control and fall into submission herself, but that's not what she was here for. Mustering what will she had, she pulled herself away from his hands, willing her voice into existence enough to give an order.

"That's enough." Ketna spoke with as much clarity as she could in the moment. She adjusted her slightly off-kilter dress to give herself something else to turn her attention to.