No Safeword: Matte - Happily Ever After (Safewords) (14 page)

Her body was primed for an orgasm, but she gladly soared along the precipice, waiting for him to tell her when she could allow it to drag her under. She wished she could wrap her arms around him, or touch him in some way, but had no desire to change anything about the moment. He was in control, and she could do nothing but take what he gave her. Everything was exactly as it should be.

When his movements finally grew erratic she allowed herself to slip from the precipice a little, expecting he’d tell her to come when he did, but he pulled out before he came. She opened her eyes, saw brilliant green shimmering down at her, and barely held onto her orgasm.

“I want to pussy whip you, Samantha.”

Her head nodded her acquiescence without her brain thinking it through.

He tilted his head in acknowledgement. “I’ll need to get some things from the playroom. Will you be okay until I return?”

“I’m fine, Sir.”

He was gone less than three minutes, and returned with a blindfold, the slapper, the squid whip, and the piece of plastic spoon he’d turned into a clit protector. He settled it over her clit now, tucked between her pussy lips so it’d stay in place, and gingerly pushed a pillow below her bottom.

She wanted to protest the blindfold — it’d been too long since she’d had to submit, too long since she’d given up the right to choose what happened to her, so it was hard to keep quiet and submit now, but she did. He wanted to take her sight, she should be grateful he hadn’t forbidden her use of words as well.

He pressed her knees up and down, so her feet were in the air and stretched to the side.

“Is the position okay? I don’t want to put too much weight on your shoulders.”

She rolled her hips left and right the few inches she could manage, testing the strain on her shoulder. He’d used a low pillow so her hips were only raised an inch or two. She nodded, but he said, “Use your words, please.”

“It’s okay, Master. Any higher would probably be too much, but this is fine, Sir.”

The first strike caught her near the bottom of her right butt-cheek, the leather slapper wrapping until it was millimeters from her pussy. He repeated the same strike ten times on the right side before circling the bed and giving her left the same treatment. He was nowhere near her clit yet, but she knew he’d get there eventually or he wouldn’t have bothered to protect it.

She relaxed and enjoyed the noise and heat of the slapper, moaning with bliss as each strike landed, and almost asked him to hit her harder a few times.

When he stopped, she only had to wait a few seconds before she felt him removing the blindfold.

“Thank you. Sir.”

“You’re very welcome. I find I want to look into your eyes. I want the connection.” He traced a finger across the reddened skin on the back of her thigh. “This works for now, but we’ll figure out how to bend you over for a proper thrashing later.”

He pressed the palm of his hand into his forehead a few seconds before dropping it. “I want to take your safeword from you for this next part.”

She smiled and said, “I didn’t accept it back when you tried to give it to me, earlier.”

He raised his eyebrows in displeasure and she quickly added, “I’d have told you if there was a problem with my injuries, but I didn’t accept my safeword back.”

“Very well, then.” She didn’t see him reach for the squid, so it came as a complete surprise when it flew into the air and slammed against her pussy.

She lost track of how many times he struck her, she only knew she didn’t cry out for each swing of the cruel rubber strands, but gave one long uninhibited scream full of panic and pain, with punctuations of terror for the worst of the strikes. She couldn’t close her legs, couldn’t move her hands, and couldn’t have safeworded through her screams if she’d tried.

When at last he stopped, it was to toss the cruel rubber whip above her head and mount her again. His cock drove into her without ceremony and he pounded her into the mattress, his hands on her waist to hold her in place.

She gasped, “Shoulder,” when his angle changed and jarred her up the bed, but he quickly realized the problem and went back to pounding her into the bed instead of up it. Nothing existed except his cock pounding her, his body hovering over her, and the heat soaring through her body.

He’d driven her sky high with the painful flogging, and now rode it with her, the two of them on a journey only he could take her.

The spoon around her clit massaged some of the muscles surrounding it, but she wasn’t going to be able to come with it on.

“My clit, Sir.
Please
. I want to come, but the spoon won’t let me!”

“I know,” he growled. His lips went to her throat and sucked briefly, releasing before he had a chance to raise a hickey. She knew he wanted to mark her, and hoped he’d stripe her ass good later in the weekend.

He released her long enough to reach down and remove the plastic spoon. He moved one hand to her thigh and grabbed her waist over the ace bandage, with the other firmly holding her in place as he found the leverage to pick up speed and pound even deeper with the new angle.

She gasped a warning a split second before her insides catapulted to life with violent contractions around his hammering cock. He drove into her another twenty or thirty times as her orgasm screamed through her, and finally drove in and held as he growled and snarled his way through his own bliss.

He reached to the right and disconnected the rope from the side strap, lifted up long enough to unfasten the left as well, and rolled to his back to lie beside her. She couldn’t straighten her legs, but could pull them together and take the strain off her abs, which was all she really needed at the moment.

He caught his breath long before she managed, and rolled to his side and freed her arms once he was breathing normally. He pulled the ace bandage from behind her instead of sitting her up to unwrap it, and she was fine with that.

When her breathing finally normalized he said, “Is your shoulder okay?”

“Yeah. Thanks for letting my hands free, though.”

“You’re welcome.” He traced a finger over her abs. “I’d reprimand you for not saying
Sir
when I haven’t ended the scene, but I think we might be done.”

She loved looking up at him when she was flat on her back, and she smiled and said, “I’m sorry, Sir. I’ll wait until you tell me you’re sure. I was wrong to assume.”

He chuckled and tenderly kissed her cheek and then her good shoulder. “I’ll let it pass this time. It’s been a while and I don’t want to overdo things with our first go round. Let’s just rest a moment, like this. When I release your legs the scene will be over.”

“Yes, Sir.”

Sam slept better than she’d slept since she’d been shot, and awoke with a positive attitude. She took a deep breath, happy to feel the uncomfortable stretch in her shoulder as it meant she was alive. She’d
so
missed this feeling — no matter how much she’d faked optimism, nothing compared to the real thing.

“Do you think maybe we can go for a hike today?”

He eyed her skeptically. “It’s supposed to get up to one hundred and two this afternoon.”

“What’s it going to get up to in the mountains?”

They each reached for their tablet, and within moments Ethan reported it would only get up to 94 on Monteagle, and Sam said the high on Le Conte tomorrow would be eighty-three.

“You think you can handle the hike up Le Conte?”

Damn, probably not. If they went up the Rainbow Falls trail and returned via Grotto they’d still have to cover nearly sixteen miles. Even if they could get reservations at the LeConte Lodge so they could do it in two days, it was a lot, and the lodge was usually booked months in advance.

Ethan crossed his arms and quickly uncrossed them. “Let’s see if we can get reservations for our favorite bed and breakfast on Monteagle, and take the hike to Greeter Falls. We can swim and eat while we’re there, before hiking out.”

She narrowed her eyes, hating to admit she couldn’t carry in her own gear. “You’ll have to wear the backpack.”

“I know. We’ll just need our microfiber towels, and a bag for our wet swimsuits. We can wear our bathing suits under our clothes so we’ll only have to strip to nothing after we swim.”

“And we’ll need lunch, and lots of water.”

He raised his eyebrows. “Do you want to go, or not?”

She rolled her eyes and smiled. “You call for reservations and I’ll start packing. If I do okay on a short hike today, maybe we can do the South Cumberland trail through Grundy Forest tomorrow?”

Sam did fine during the first mile of the hike, but had to take it slow during the steep portion towards the end. She reached for a tree with her left hand once and yelped in pain at the pull on her muscles. Ethan stopped and held his hands out to catch her if she fell, but otherwise let her regain her balance without help.

“Thanks.”

“For what?”

“Not grabbing me? Letting me work it out myself? It’s nice to know you’d have caught me before I fell,” she eyed the steep drop off to their right, “but I appreciate how you’ve given me the space to push myself.”

He pulled her in for a hug and kissed the top of her head. “You’re very welcome.”

A group of older teens were swimming when they arrived at the falls, and a few had coupled off and moved to the edges where they appeared to be doing more making out than swimming. Sam knew from experience the water would be ice cold and she couldn’t imagine the guys were getting much from a make-out session.

The teens were pleasant enough in their greetings, though she could tell by the looks on their faces they’d rather not have grown-ups around.

Ethan dropped their backpack and she reached for his belt. His hand stopped hers, their eyes met for a moment, and he dropped his hand and nodded permission.

They both wore lightweight hiking pants to protect their legs from briars, poison ivy, and other assorted trail hazards. She helped him out of his, and he removed hers. Smirking, he unbuttoned her blouse and slid it from her shoulders. He was apparently enjoying undressing her in front of an audience.

“Go on in.” He nodded to the water and stripped his shirt over his head. “I’ll put our clothes away.”

The waterfall wasn’t terribly strong this time of year, and Sam intended to swim to it. She couldn’t freestyle yet but had done fine dogpaddling in her pool. She lowered herself into the water and pushed off from the rock in one motion, and soon realized it was a mistake to not factor in the icy cold water. She yelped in pain as she fought to keep her head above water with her one good arm. One of the teens saw her in trouble and swam just close enough for her to reach his outstretched arm from her good side. She meant to take his hand, but he grasped her forearm from the top so she couldn’t grab him, and he quickly towed her the dozen or so feet back to shallower waters.

“Thanks,” she said as her feet touched the bottom and he carefully released her arm. “I have a shoulder injury, and I guess I forgot it’d hurt to swim.”

He eyed her chest. “That ain't no reg’lar injury. Someone shot you.”

She’d forgotten the scar showed around her bathing suit strap, and she glanced down to see it and then looked helplessly at Ethan as he made his way towards them.

“Yeah.” Ethan sucked air in and grimaced as his waist hit the icy water, but didn’t let the frigid cold slow him as he made his way to her. “She was shot a few months ago and hasn’t recovered her range of motion. I imagine the cold water didn’t help.” He reached her side and cupped her cheek. “You okay?”

“Yes, just embarrassed, and a little ticked off. I was looking forward to getting as close to the falls as I dared, with the water thundering down around me.”

She looked at the teen who’d rescued her. “Thank you, and kudos for knowing how to make a smart save. Someone’s taught you how to rescue a swimmer in trouble without allowing them to drag you under.”

He smiled shyly. “You’re welcome. It weren’t nothin’, though. Alls I had to do was pull you to where you could touch.”

She wasn’t fooled by his mountain accent. He was shy and gangly, but his eyes were intelligent. She wanted to ask him how old he was and where he planned to go to college, but she only thanked him again. Ethan submerged his entire body under and came up with a gasp. “No wonder your shoulder seized.
Damn
!”

He shook his hair. “Climb on my back and I’ll swim you to the falls.”

She started to argue, but knew he was more than capable of giving her a dolphin ride so she wrapped her legs around his waist and held onto his shoulder with her right hand as he swam underwater while staying high enough to keep her head and shoulders in the air. He came above water at the boulders to the right of the falls, latched onto the rocks with one hand, and wrapped his other arm around her to be sure her head stayed above water as he shifted so she sat on his hip instead of his back.

“You didn’t have to bring me here.”

“Of course I didn’t. How close do you want to get?”

She smiled. “Closer than this.”

Sam let Ethan take care of her while they were in the water. Parts of her rebelled and wanted to rebuff his help, but she shut that portion of her personality down. He wasn’t taking care of her out of pity, but because he wanted her near him, and the two were having a marvelous time.

Some of the teens went back to making out, others floated and talked, and they all cut up with each other. Ethan and Sam were included in their loud conversation a few times, but for the most part were left alone to play, cut up, and do a little of their own making out.

Sam was starting to get cold enough her shoulder ached when Ethan said, “I’m hungry. Are you ready to eat?”

She nodded, wrapped her legs around his waist from behind, and he swam them back to the edge near their backpack. She dismounted when she was sure she could touch, but he held her good hand until they were nearly out of the water.

Ethan handed her a towel and she dried off before climbing on a large, flat boulder. She reclined back and let the sun-warmed rock soak heat into her back and shoulders as Ethan gathered their food and sat beside her.

“How’re you doing?”

“I’m okay. It’s funny; icing my shoulder after a workout makes it better, but the cold water made it hurt.”

“You’re holding it still when you ice it, and you have a towel buffering the cold.”

She shrugged and winced, and accepted the peanut butter and peach preserve sandwich he handed her. He reached into one of the backpack’s outer pouches and produced a small bottle of aspirin. “Don’t argue; just hold your hand out, please.”

She glared at him as she held her hand out, popped the pills in her mouth, and accepted the water bottle he handed her.

He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. “Thank you for letting me take care of you. I know how difficult it is for you and it hasn’t gone unnoticed.”

She shook her head. “I believe it’s normally the person being taken care of who does the thanking. We’re fucked up.”

He laughed. “I wouldn’t have it any other way. Eat your sandwich; I have a surprise.”

His surprise was a small cooler in the bottom of the backpack, wrapped in a towel, with several blue freezer things lining the inside, and two bowls of ice cream – one rocky road and the other mint chocolate chip.

The warm rock, the sun beating down around them, and the cold minty ice cream made her heart soar. The blue skies and the thundering sounds of the waterfall came into focus, and she wished she could freeze this moment in time.

“I love you so much. I wouldn’t want to share this with anyone else. Thanks for being here with me.”

He smiled and leaned towards her. Their lips brushed together once, twice, and he sat up. “I was thinking pretty much the same thing.” He looked around, taking in the sky, the waterfall, and the trees. “We need to do this more often.”

“We only stopped because I wasn’t up to it.”

“And now you are.”

They ate their ice cream and lay on the rocks until their bathing suits were dry. With no need to strip to redress, they put their clothes back on and made the short loop to Boardtree Falls before hiking back to the car.

Ethan had managed to get their favorite room at their favorite bed and breakfast, which included a four poster king sized bed, a claw footed tub, a fireplace, and French doors leading to their own private balcony, where he arranged for their dinner to be served.

Sam had moved some extra money from her account into their joint account before they left, but when she checked the balance from her cellphone after dinner, the charges weren’t showing up.

“That’s odd, it doesn’t look like the room charges have hit our account, yet.”

He kept his back turned as fiddled with the faucets on the claw-footed tub. “No, I charged it to my account.”

She started to ask why, but instead took a calming breath and said, “I’ve let you take care of me a lot more than I’m comfortable with. It’s time for you to drop some of your caveman stuff and put this kind of thing on our joint account.”

He continued with the tub, his back to her without responding, so she added, “I appreciate you wanting to do things for me, but I don’t want money to turn into a pissing contest between us. Can we agree I’ll pay if I’m treating you for your birthday, and you’ll pay if you’re treating me for mine, and the rest of the time, anything we do together will come out of our joint account? Please?”

“You’ve had so many medical bills, and time you weren’t working...” He finally turned to look at her, and must have rethought the rest of his sentence when he saw the look on her face.

He took a breath and changed course. “Okay. You’re right. I know how hard it is for you to let me do things for you, and you didn’t complain once about my ferrying you around the swimming hole. I’ll pull funds from the joint account to reimburse myself for half the charges.”

“Thank you. I’ve been thinking about tomorrow. Do you want to do the Grundy Forest Trail to Sycamore Falls and back, or would you rather head towards Sewanee and hike down to Bridal Veil Falls, maybe stop by Natural Bridge, and then hike into Franklin Forest?”

Ethan scrunched his forehead. “I don’t think I’ve been to a Bridal Veil Falls on Monteagle. I’ve been to the one outside of Highlands, NC, and the one in Colorado, and the one in Tallullah Gorge.”

Sam laughed. “It’s a good name for a waterfall, I guess. This one’s way cool; it ends in a sinkhole, so the water disappears underground at the base of the falls.”

He raised his eyebrows. “What kind of a hike to get there?”

“I don’t remember off the top of my head. Seems like it’s around three miles round trip, and I don’t recall it being terribly difficult. It’s on the Sewanee College grounds, and the trailhead isn’t too far from the cross, if you want to stop by there, too.”

“I’ve only seen the cross from a distance.”

“Sounds like we know where we’re headed.” She smiled. “I think it’s only about a four mile loop trail to see Tom Pack Falls in Franklin Forest on the way home, if we want.”

“Let’s do the first and then decide whether to do the second. But, it sounds like a plan.”

* * * *

Sam had no problems with the hike to Bridal Veil Falls, though she was breathing heavy toward the end while Ethan was not.

He didn’t mention it, but it bothered her a great deal.

They ate at a little deli filled with college kids, and had the most wonderful salads while debating whether to hike to Tom Pack Falls or head home. Ethan was in favor of going home, but Sam didn’t want to call it quits yet.

“Look, you’ve done more this weekend than you have since...”