House Rules (17 page)

To change the subject, Richard asked her what had happened to her after Margaret had caught them.

‘Come to my room, and we can talk,’ she told him.

‘First let me get the key back to the cook. She may wake up at any time.’

They walked to the cook’s room, and Heidi waited in the hall while he replaced the key where he had found it. Ludmilla stirred but didn’t waken, and he left the room quietly.

Heidi’s room was much like Richard’s, no more than a bedsitting room with an
en suite
toilet. The door could be locked as his could, but for some reason Heidi was not locked in this evening. Or at any rate not yet. Perhaps she was considered secure enough so long as she was wearing her chastity belt.

Richard sat on the sofa, and Heidi took the armchair opposite. She sat carefully, as if there were parts of her that hurt.

‘Of course, Margaret was not pleased,’ she began. ‘She ordered me to bring the rope and two gags, so I could guess pretty well what she was going to do to both of us. She took me into the dining room. Raymond came past, and she made him tie me to the whipping frame and gag me. Then she beat me. She seemed very angry, angrier than I have ever seen her. It hurt.’ Heidi grimaced in remembrance, but then she smiled. ‘But it was worth it. I can hardly wait until you can get the key to unlock me. Then we can have some more fun.’

Richard was glad that she seemed undaunted by what had happened. He felt less guilty for having been partly the cause.

Heidi continued, ‘When she had beaten me, she had Raymond untie me. I thought she was finished with me, but I was wrong. She made him tie my hands again, this time behind my back. I know he was excited by what he was doing. I managed to brush his cock with my hands as he was tying them. I felt his erection. But there was nothing we could do about it. Margaret marched me to my room and had him tie my feet together. They left me on my bed and locked the door. I must have lain there for hours. I had to go to the toilet, but no one came. In the end I had to piss myself. And then lie in that for another eternity. When Raymond finally came to let me go, I was a smelly mess.’

She wrinkled her nose in disgust, but once again didn’t seem to mind so much what they had done to her.

Richard took a long shot. ‘And did Raymond and you have fun when he came for you?’

Heidi reddened slightly, but nodded, smiling again. Richard knew she had come to no serious harm.

‘What did Margaret do to you?’ Heidi asked. Richard gave her an edited version of what had happened, leaving out Margaret’s sexual activities with him. He was sparing both Margaret’s and Heidi’s feelings, he told himself, not altogether convincingly.

He stood up. ‘Do you know if Margaret is coming back soon?’ he asked.

‘Tomorrow,’ she said.

‘Then I suppose we had all better get some rest,’ he said.

They kissed goodnight, and Richard went to his room.

The sound of his door opening woke Richard in the morning. At first he thought it might be Margaret coming to him, but it was only Marie. ‘Madame wishes to see you as soon as you are dressed,’ she told him. ‘She is in the drawing room.’ When he nodded, she turned and left the room, the chain of her leg-irons clinking softly.

Richard showered and dressed quickly. Margaret would not like to be kept waiting. He heard two women’s voices from the drawing room as he approached. He recognised Margaret’s at once. The other voice belonged to Helena. Pushing down feelings of awkwardness and embarrassment, Richard entered the room.

Helena looked bewildered and embarrassed, and she made an abortive move towards him, but quickly stopped when Margaret glared at her.

He could see that she wanted to speak to him, perhaps to apologise for getting him into this bizarre situation, but she bowed to Margaret’s wishes once again. At the same time, he saw that she was in the grip of what could only be sexual excitement. All the signs were there: the flushed face, the short, rapid breathing, the abstraction. Her gaze strayed from him to the mantel shelf where the black cloth bag containing her whip lay. He understood her agitation.

Margaret broke the silence, smiling crookedly. ‘Richard, we are going to entertain Helena in a few moments. I hope you’ll enjoy it as well. I always try to make everyone happy. It’s the secret of my success.’ To Helena she said, ‘Bring the whip and come with me.’ She moved towards the door.

Helena moved unsteadily towards the fireplace, where she picked up the black bag with a hand that trembled slightly. She turned back to face Margaret and Richard, the excitement plain on her face. If he had had any intention of protesting, it died as he saw her eagerness. If she was that avid for pain, there was no point in trying to dissuade her. And he felt a stirring of excitement in himself, his cock stiffening inside the tight corselet. Margaret caught his eye and smiled when she saw his excitement. She had counted on it, he saw.

They followed as she led the way down the hall and into the dining room, with Helena carrying The Discipline. Richard glanced at the hearth. There was no sign of the previous night’s reconnaissance. But there was no time to feel relief. He saw a coil of rope and a pair of handcuffs on the long, polished table. He felt his cock stir as he saw the instruments of their bondage. And something else: a shiny stainless-steel ring, too small to fit a wrist, too large to fit a finger. There was a length of machine chain and a padlock as well. Margaret smiled as she saw his surprised glance.

Helena laid the whip on the table and went to stand beside the frame. She was breathing in short, rapid gulps, as if she had run a race. She made no move to escape. Margaret seemed to dominate everything in the room. Richard knew he would not make any attempt to escape either. Even if he had been wearing his own clothes, the magnetism of the situation would have held him.

Margaret picked up the ring and beckoned him to her side. He came, mesmerised, while Margaret stared challengingly into his eyes.

‘Take off your clothes,’ she ordered.

Richard undid the long back zipper of the maid’s outfit. He was getting quite good at it, he reflected. He stepped out of the dress, laying it on one of the chairs at the table. Standing before the two women in his underwear, he felt a flush of embarrassment, but he never considered disobeying Margaret. The slip followed. He undid the straps of his high-heeled shoes and stepped out of them. The carpet felt soft and smooth under his feet.

Once again he hesitated, standing in the corselet and tights. This time he looked at Helena. She was flushed with her own excitement, but she saw his hesitation. She gave him a small, tight smile of encouragement, and a small nod.

Richard stripped off the tight garment and dark tights. The wig he placed carefully on the table. Then he looked at Margaret. She returned his gaze steadily, appraisingly, amused at his discomfiture. His cock was stiff and his stomach muscles tight.

‘I brought you a present,’ she told him, holding the small steel ring in her hand.

Richard could now see that the ring was hinged, opening into two halves. On the side opposite the hinge, two flanges had been welded. A hole had been drilled into each of them.

Margaret knelt before him and grasped his balls, briefly squeezing him before she fitted the ring around the base of his scrotum. It fitted snugly. Margaret closed it, taking the chain and the padlock from the table. Richard couldn’t see exactly what she was doing, but he could guess the intent. He remembered the nylon cable tie she had fitted to his scrotum at their first encounter in Hamburg. This seemed to be a more permanent version of the same thing. And indeed it was. He heard the padlock click as it was closed, and felt the sudden weight on his balls as Margaret released the chain to hang between his legs.

She turned to Helena, who was watching intently as she awaited what she had come for. ‘Now it’s your turn,’ Margaret said. ‘Take off your clothes. It is impolite to be clothed while Richard is naked.’

Helena began to undress. Her excitement was betrayed by the slight tremor of her hands as she took off her dress and laid it aside. Unlike Richard, she wore no slip, only a bra and pants. She unsnapped the bra, allowing her full breasts to swing free. The nipples were taut and crinkly, and she was slightly flushed, whether with desire or embarrassment it was impossible to say. Still silently, she hooked her thumbs under the waistband of her pants and slid them down and off her long legs. Then she too stood naked before her aunt.

Helena straightened her back, her breasts standing proud. She looked at Margaret almost with defiance. Richard thought she looked magnificent. Even after his bizarre erotic encounter with the aunt, he preferred the niece.

Margaret glanced at the two of them, not unaware of the electricity between them. A frown, almost a spasm of anger, crossed her own beautiful face. She concealed it quickly, but not quickly enough. Richard knew she was displeased by his attraction to Helena. So it might go hard with her, and with him.

Margaret picked up the handcuffs. As before, he stood unresisting while she handcuffed his wrists behind his back. He felt a momentary disappointment at not having been asked to tie Helena to the whipping frame, or to wield the whip. This time he was not surprised by his reaction. He could feel his excitement growing as the drama unfolded.

Margaret stood before him and ran her hand over his cock. He gasped and almost fell. When she felt his excitement, Margaret smiled at him as she continued the caress he was helpless to resist. She was going to take him to the brink of orgasm and stop, as she had done several days ago. But this time, with Helena present, she would probably not mount him as she had done then. Or maybe she would, to let Helena know that she could master him and drive him wild. Richard clenched his jaws as she rubbed and fondled him. When he glanced at Helena, he saw a mingling of concern for him and a suppressed excitement as she waited for the whipping which would drive her to the brink – and over.

Margaret’s hand on his cock, soft, warm, insistent, claimed his attention once more. He couldn’t help his reaction. What man could, he asked himself. He looked down at Margaret as she continued to kneel before him, and flexed his wrists inside the steel bands, wanting to run his hands over her body, make her react to his touch on her flesh. She seemed more desirable clothed as she was, while he was naked and helpless. Her skirt had ridden up her thighs, revealing her full legs beneath the smooth, shiny blue tights she wore. Her dress fitted her tightly, moulding her full figure and sweeping low in front to reveal the tops of her breasts as he looked down.

Margaret looked up and saw him staring. She smiled secretly at him and squeezed his cock, fully conscious of her power and desirability, and of the effect both were having on him.

Richard felt his knees go weak at her touch. He swayed slightly and regained his balance. Helena watched, excited and eager. Richard didn’t know if she was aroused by what was to come to her, or if she wanted to exercise her own power over him in Margaret’s place.

Margaret let go of his cock and grasped the chain hanging between his legs. With a sharp tug, she led him over to the whipping frame. There was a ring on the back of the frame, Richard saw. It had not been there before. She fastened his chain to the ring with a second padlock, leaving him tethered as she had in Helena’s apartment.

Helena watched as he was secured, flushed and excited still. Margaret turned to Helena and ordered her to bring the rope from the table. She walked unsteadily across the carpet, her breasts swaying slightly as she moved. She came back with the rope and stood waiting for Margaret to make the next move.

Margaret took the rope and tied Helena’s wrists together in front of her. She looped the rope over the top of the frame and pulled it taut, dragging Helena’s arms over her head and forcing her to move over until she stood under the frame. Margaret pulled the rope tighter, stretching the younger woman’s arms above her head. She tied the rope off, and Helena was left standing before Richard.

She looked very appealing and vulnerable, strung up and helpless. Richard, of course, could only look at her, which was exactly what Margaret intended. Her favourite ‘look but don’t touch’ rule was in effect. Margaret gave a small nod of satisfaction as she turned away to get the whip from its black cloth bag. The Discipline had a medieval look of suffering to it. There was a wooden handle a little over a foot long with twelve knotted thongs of cord fastened to it. One for each of the twelve apostles, Margaret had said, in the days when the nuns used it to flagellate themselves in penance.

Helena looked over her shoulder to where her aunt held the instrument of her own, somewhat less devout, chastisement. When she looked back at Richard, she mouthed, ‘Don’t worry.’ Then she closed her eyes and bowed her head, waiting for the beating to begin. She was breathing raggedly, and her body was tense with anticipation.

Margaret drew back her arm, but before she struck her niece she, too, looked at Richard. Her own anticipation was clear in her look. She nodded to him, as if to say, ‘Watch, and learn about this girl you are involved with.’ There was also a flash of malevolence in her look, as if she was determined to punish both of them for becoming interested in one another, to the exclusion of herself.

The blow fell: the hiss of the thongs through the air, and the crack as they struck Helena’s back were loud in the silent room. Helena jerked at the impact, the air rushing from her lungs. Her lips were pressed tightly together to prevent any sound from escaping her. Richard was struck by the similarity between her reaction to being beaten by Margaret and his own. They both strove for silence. In his case, the reason was to deny Margaret the knowledge that she could hurt him seriously: a macho response, he knew, but also important for his own self-esteem. Were Helena’s motives the same?

Margaret drew back her arm and struck her niece again. Helena’s body jerked once more, and Richard saw the tips of the thongs as they curled around into her right armpit, nearly touching her taut breast. Margaret had only to change her stance slightly to make the next blow reach that sensitive area. When he had seen Helena’s stripes after her last beating, Richard had noticed that she had been beaten only on her back and bottom. Would Margaret confine herself to the same area this time? She looked angry enough to lash out at anything. Richard felt his stomach muscles tighten as he imagined those thongs landing on Helena’s breasts and belly.