In the Middle (16 page)

“Yes, Master.” She didn’t want to safe word when he wasn’t even doing anything wrong, but he set the rules and she trusted him. It felt good to have someone so concerned about her safety. A strong protector. He would take care of her.

“What is your safe word, sub?”

“Colorado.”

“Good girl. Some floggings are for the back, and that’s really what the St. Andrew’s cross is best for, but the spanking bench is occupied. This time it’s going to be all about your ass. I’m going to be beating it. Is that what you want?”

She took a breath. “Yes, Master.”

“Good, because that’s what you’re going to get. And since this isn’t punishment, I’m not going to start with the crop.” There was a brief pause, and then he laid something that felt soft and soothing over her shoulder. It smelled of leather. She looked and saw one-inch strips of buttery black leather dangling down.

“Thank you, Master.” She wanted to feel what it felt like to take a crop, but this was interesting too. He was so careful with her, even when he had to know she was in a mental state that meant he could get away with anything.
It’s probably written all over my face.

He took the flogger away from her shoulder. “Now then, we begin. Don’t count strokes or anything. Just feel.”

She nodded and clenched her butt in anticipation of a sting. When she heard the slap of the thing against her cheeks, she jerked away before she managed to process that it felt like a tickle. Not really painful at all. She’d hurt worse from scrubbing herself with a loofah.

She thrust her butt back out, to show him she wanted more. She even wiggled it, giving him a target, although there was only so much she could do with her thighs strapped tight to the frame.

“Mmm, well done.” His praise made her glow inside. He slapped the flogger against her ass again, harder, and she didn’t flinch. It was nothing, really. She gyrated her ass again. Her pussy felt like it was dripping, and she wondered how on display it was. She wanted him to touch it and feel how wet she was for him.

The next few strokes seemed to come one on top of each other, weaving a pattern on her ass she couldn’t figure out. She heard his boots pound the floor as he moved back and forth, changing the angle, keeping up the pace. The smell of candle wax filled her nostrils, but she could barely take in the waxing scene a few yards in front of her. She closed her eyes again, wanting to focus on the sensations. Her ass felt warm, and every once in a while one of the swings would move the plug inside her. It was almost like he was fucking her there, with the thrusts happening far apart. Her mind drifted. In spite of the repeated impact of the flogger, she was feeling calm. Comfortable.

He rubbed her ass with his cool hand and then pushed it forward to slide his fingers into her pussy. She jerked against her ropes, wanting more. With his other hand, he touched first one of her hands and then the other. All the while his fingers moved inside her, but after he’d checked her hands, he took his fingers out of her pussy to rub her clit, his fingers slipping around it easily because of her wetness. He brought her to the brink of orgasm and then slid his fingers inside again, one stroke, two; then he was gone, leaving her to whimper in frustration.
So close
. But to be with a man who knew exactly when to stop, even if she badly wanted him to continue, was its own pleasure. She was in his hands. She relaxed and surrendered to him.

“These you should count. There will be six. They will be spaced, so you have a chance to absorb each one before moving on to the next. Because you have been warmed up and because you’re so turned on, they won’t hurt as much as they would if it were punishment. But it will give you a taste. I’ll be striking with the length of the crop rather than flicking you with the tip. There’s more thud that way, and the sting is spread out over a longer area. Ready?” She heard the crop whistle through the air, but it didn’t hit her. He was letting her know it was there.

She didn’t think she’d ever be entirely ready. She wished he’d hit her six times hard and fast, like he’d done with the three from the belt, so he could get on with fucking her silly. But she was still feeling in a bit of a haze, and it was hard to care much. “Ready, Master.”

The first stroke felt like a line of liquid fire across the fleshiest part of her backside and brought her back to reality. She made a noise that sounded to her like a wounded seal; she didn’t even know she could make a noise like that. Her butt jerked away, and the action shook the whole frame. The sting faded some, but it still hurt like hell. Belatedly she remembered she was supposed to count. “Uh, one?” No way were there going to be six like that.

Then her breasts started to buzz. It distracted her from the pain in her ass. She’d almost gotten used to the feeling of having her nipples clamped. She took a breath.

“This is your first time, so I won’t make you recount. But try again, because ‘uh, one’ is not sufficient.”

“One, Master. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Unclench your bum. It won’t hurt as much.”

She nodded and tried to obey. The butt plug at least gave her some feedback when she relaxed; when she clenched, she drew it deeper in, and it felt more invasive. She knew she didn’t have to worry about it falling out.

The buzzing in her tits stopped. A second later, another row of fire, below the other. She squeezed the plug hard and grabbed at the frame. “Two, Master!” He checked her fingers and then turned the vibrating nipple clamps on again.

“I rather liked you thanking me earlier.” He paused, and when she didn’t say anything immediately, feeling dazed by the sensations, he added, “In fact, I insist on it.”

She gulped. “Thank you, Master.” With an effort, she relaxed again.

He walked around to the other side. Another stroke, another buzz in her tits. “Three, Master. Thank you!”

“Halfway there.”

She nodded, biting her lip.
I can do this. I can.

“You turn me on, Lulu, with your red-striped bum and your shaved pussy and your filled ass. I’m so hard I think I’m in danger of busting a seam.”

She grinned. For that she could definitely do this. She loved turning him on.

He walked back. Turned off the vibrations. She tried to relax as best she could.

This one jolted her, making her shake the frame again. “Argggggghhh!” Tears streamed down her face, but her butt felt like it was burning in a way that wouldn’t ever stop. There was no way she was taking two more. None. She opened her mouth again to say her safe word—what was it again?

She didn’t expect him to move around to her front and pull on the chain that connected the two nipple clamps, but he did, and the jolt of pain at the tips of her breasts startled her. The clamps tightened, as he’d told her they would. She felt disoriented and forgot what she was going to say. And yet somehow, one pain eased the other. She decided she could take one more stroke, maybe. Two? Ugh. Too much. She wanted him inside her so badly. Her tits felt on fire, her ass felt on fire, but being filled with a cock would make it feel all better.

“How many was that?”

“Four, Master.”
Damn you
. “Thank you, Master.”

“Good girl. And I know what you’re thinking.”

Uh-oh.

He moved back behind her. The next blow was hot and heavy, but she didn’t have time to even clench from it before he landed another.
Asshole
. And then she realized that she was done, that was both of them. “Five! Six, Master. Thank you thank you thank you.”

Fingers thrust inside her pussy; the rough leather of the crop sawed against her clit. She came like a rocket. Her muscles clenched his fingers and the plug hard. His body pressed against hers, and she could feel his hardness against her sore behind.
Was I supposed to ask for permission? There wasn’t time
. “Thank you, Master,” she said fervently.

“You’re very welcome, beautiful.” Deft hands unwrapped the ropes from her wrists, then her thighs, then her ankles. He held her in his strong arms. She wanted more. Spreading her legs around his left thigh, she started to wiggle against it, getting perfect friction against her clit.

He took control, pushing her against the frame again, spreading her farther by lifting his leg. He moved it back and forth, his torso pressing against the nipple clamps, his cock stiff against her belly.

“Wanna fuck me, Master?” She didn’t care who was watching anymore.

He paused for a fraction of a second.
I actually threw him off balance
. She’d been wondering if it was even possible. But he nodded, took a condom out of his pocket, unzipped his pants, and rolled the condom over his cock. And thank God he didn’t wait any longer than that but lifted her by her aching butt and thrust into her, filling her with one quick stroke. He leaned her against the X frame again, and she wrapped her legs around his ass. She could feel the butt plug and his cock almost sliding against each other, separated by a thin wall, and it confused her senses.

He didn’t fool around. Each thrust filled her completely, stretching her and pounding her hard against the frame. She grabbed his shoulders and hung on tight. And then she was on the edge again, ready to come, trying to hold back.

He reached up to her tits. “Come, girl.” He pinched one of the clamps open, and white-hot pain flooded her as the blood rushed back into her nipple. It hurt worse coming off than it did when it was put on, but it pushed her over the edge. She moaned low as she squeezed his shoulders, his ass, his cock, and the butt plug. He jerked up inside her and grunted, and the look in his eyes let her know he was coming too. Then he pulled off the other clamp, and her orgasm started all over again, forcing a scream from her that was pain and ecstasy. They rocked against each other, riding it out for every last moment of bliss. The fire from her tits mixed with the fullness of her ass and pussy to fill her with exquisite pleasure.

“Oh wow,” was the first thing she said.

“Yeah, I think that about covers it.” He grinned at her. “Want to cuddle?”

“I’d like nothing better.”

“Catch your breath. We need to clean up first, and then we will.”

He held her until she nodded, and then slid out of her. He took care of the condom, then handed her a squirt bottle and a rag that were sitting next to the St. Andrew’s cross. While he put the toys and rope away, she cleaned the frame thoroughly.

“One more thing, love.”

“Hmm?” She didn’t see anything more to do.

“Bend over, hands on the crotch of the frame,” he directed.

She blinked but bent over as directed. She was starting to become more aware of the other people in the room, but their attention was mostly on their partners or on the couple doing an intense paddling scene twenty feet away. Perhaps she and Rob had been the center of attention while they were playing and her focus had been more inward; she didn’t know.

He slipped the plug out of her. The sensation of it coming out was somehow even more intimate than that of it going in. Her pussy shuddered, an echo of the orgasms she’d had a few minutes before, pleasant and short.

“You okay there, love?” His voice oozed pleasure. “You can get up now. And let’s find a nice rug with two pillows to cuddle on.”

He’s pleased with me
. She straightened and smiled at him, gazing adoringly.
It’s a shame he has to go back home. He makes me feel so good, so valued, so right.

He led her to a rug with two cushions, placed them next to each other, and then lay down next to her. She cuddled up to him, preferring his chest to lay her head on, and he didn’t object.

He reached over, opened his briefcase, and pulled something out.
Whatever it is, I hope it goes in my pussy
. She couldn’t believe she still felt horny. But what he brought forth instead was a leather collar, exquisitely made, the three rings that adorned it polished to a mirror shine. He didn’t put it on her but set it on his chest, right where she could see it instead.

“I want you, Louise. I want all of you. I want you for my very own, and I don’t want to share. I want your friendship, your love, and your submission.”

But you’re going back to Chicago.

“I’m going to be here for each of the next few weekends, learning the details of a business I bought. And after that, I’ll be staying here for at least several months. I’ll be buying a house here. And I’d like for you to live with me in it.”

Me. He wants me. To live with him
. The words were hard to make sense out of at first.
And wear his collar
. He’d told her once online that he thought of a collar as a kind of commitment, the sign of a pact that both Master and slave were expected to follow. A promise of protection, as well as a promise of service.

She pulled away, wanting to think, and he let her go. She sat at first, half kneeling, her legs angled off to the side, her hand on the rug, supporting her. He sat up too, cross-legged, moving the collar to the space between them. At least he had the good grace not to babble on or try to argue her into it. Or order her.

What of Daniel? But no, he knew about Daniel, and he’d chosen his words carefully. “
I don’t want to share
.”

One or the other. Top or bottom, mistress or slave, Daniel or Rob. How can I choose?
They both fulfilled her in such different ways. It wasn’t fair to keep them both waiting for her to make up her mind, and what if she never did? It wasn’t fair to dump one of them, either, to flip a coin and choose who she wanted to be with and what she wanted to be.

On the cross, Rob had shown her sensations she loved but didn’t understand. She’d never felt anything quite like that before, so intense, so consuming. She wanted to feel that way again. She started to reach out for the collar and stopped. To take it was not just to make a choice; it was to deny who she was when she was a domme. To keep just half of herself and leave the other half behind.

“No.”

Their gazes met. She wanted to say more, but he took the collar and put it back in the case he’d brought. She couldn’t read anything from his face, and she knew he wanted it that way.