by Hannah Ford
“I’m not bringing any drama to her life. I’m just doing my job.”
“Good.” Danielle sighed. “Look, I’m not trying to be a mean girl. I like you, Kallie. But I know there was some kind of mess with Brad Danvers. And how you’re caught up in something with Hunter Reardon. And as much as I might like Hunter, he’s really bad news. There’s things about him you don’t know.”
Kallie couldn’t help but ask. “Like what kind of things?”
“It’s not my place to say. But trust me—you should really stay away from him.”
“Well…thanks for the tip, I guess.”
“I should go,” Danielle said, shouldering her purse. She gave Kallie a quick, obligatory hug, and walked off.
Kallie stood there a long time after Danielle had gone, just thinking. She was partly angry at Danielle for giving her a lecture and talking down to her, but she was also sickened by the things Danielle had hinted about with Hunter.
Even with Danielle’s veiled warnings about him, Kallie couldn’t help but feel that she wanted to find out more about him. He was so mysterious and yet also, she sensed a trustworthiness and kindness about him. Kallie felt that his intentions with her really might be good at the core—but was it worth finding out that she’d been duped and he was just a jerky guy with a kinky sex life?
Kallie went back into the hospital room, where Nicole was still sitting up, having a cup of water and staring at the TV mounted on the wall.
When she saw Kallie, she smiled supportively. “Did Danielle give you a hard time just now?”
Kallie grinned sheepishly. “She’s a good friend to you.”
Nicole shook her head. “I don’t need her trying to run interference for me.”
“Is that what that was?”
“Come,” Nicole told her, pointing at the chair Red usually sat in—right next to her bed. “Sit. Tell me everything.”
Kallie was relieved to have someone finally just being nice to her, someone who didn’t have their own crazy agenda that she had to try and figure out. She flopped down in the chair and put her face in her hands. “I think I might be losing it.”
Nicole patted her shoulder. “You’re fine, honey. Believe me, you’re not losing it. You’ve just had a crazy few weeks, is all.”
Kallie looked up at her. “Can I talk to you about something personal?” she said.
Nicole grew serious. “Sure. Anything.”
Taking a deep breath, Kallie decided it was time to ask Nicole about what she’d seen in her dresser that morning. “I hope I’m not crossing the line. If I am, just tell me and I’ll never mention it again.”
“Okay. Now you’re making me nervous.”
“The other day, Red had me go and get you some clothes and things from the house.”
“I remember.”
“Well, when I was gathering some clothes for you, I happened to notice that you had like…a few toys in your drawer. You know?”
Nicole’s face grew pale. “Oh…that. That’s embarrassing.”
“No, it’s—“
“I’m so sorry, Kallie. I hope you weren’t offended. We should have been more careful—“
“Nicole, it’s totally fine, I wasn’t bothered.” Kallie put a hand out and touched Nicole’s wrist. “I swear, I didn’t care at all, other than I thought maybe you could help me.”
Nicole got a confused look on her face. “Help you?”
“With this guy problem I’m having.”
“Now I’m really confused,” Nicole said, putting her cup of water back on the tray and pushing the tray aside.
“There’s a man in my life who’s expressed an interest in me.”
“That’s a good thing, right?” Nicole laughed.
She nodded. “Yeah, and I really like him, too.”
“Is it Hunter?”
Kallie hesitated, and Nicole waved her hands. “Forget I asked that. Just, don’t even answer. Go on, go on.”
Kallie laughed. “Anyway, this guy that I like—he wants to be in a—well I guess it’s called a BDSM relationship.” She felt her cheeks flame from the admission.
Nicole’s eyes widened for a second, but then she gained control of her expression, and was more neutral. “How do you feel about it?”
“I don’t know much about it, that’s the problem. I’m a sheltered girl from Ohio, and I’ve never met someone who wanted to…that.”
Nicole nodded. “I know how you feel. And I guess you’re coming to me in part because of what you found in my drawer.”
Kallie sighed. “I hate to put you on the spot, Nicole. It’s just that I don’t have anyone else I can talk to about this.”
“It’s okay. I’m not mad. I’m glad you’re telling me.” She smiled. “And you came to the right person, because I know what it’s like to be where you are right now. Confused, torn, skeptical, interested but afraid. All of those feelings—I was feeling those same things when I first started seeing Red.”
“But the two of you are so happy now,” Kallie said. “And you’re living an alternative lifestyle.”
At this, Nicole burst out laughing. “I’m sorry. Alternative lifestyle? Hardly. We play around a little bit, but I think we’re pretty humdrum at this point. If anything, I wish we’d spice things up a bit in that area.”
“So, you don’t have a very formal situation?”
Nicole’s brow furrowed. “I don’t know what you mean. Explain to me what you’re talking about.”
Kallie picked up a loose hair tie from the tray and began fiddling with it as she talked. She couldn’t even meet Nicole’s gaze. “This guy who likes me. He gave me a contract to sign.”
“A contract? What kind of contract?”
“I guess I assumed all the guys who are into this sort of thing gave the woman a contract to sign.” She looked up to see Nicole shaking her head no.
“Sorry, I never signed any contract.”
“It says all kinds of stuff. It says that I have to do everything he commands, that I have to wear exactly what he wants me to wear and I have to call him Master. It basically gives him total control of my life.”
“Wow. I don’t know, Kallie. That sounds extreme. Red never asked me to do anything quite like that.”
“I should tell him no, then.”
“I can’t tell you what to do, but I can tell you that you should be careful of getting involved with anything extreme. Also, I need to know that I can trust you to be putting your job and your duties with me and my family ahead of some guy who’s giving you orders on how to live your life. What if he orders you to do something that conflicts with something you’re doing for me? Who will you listen to?”
Kallie felt awful. She never should have brought this up to Nicole—her boss. It was putting both of them in a terribly awkward situation. “You’re so right. I need to forget about this guy and just focus on doing my job.”
“I didn’t say that. Listen, you can always come and talk to me if you have concerns or questions. About anything. You know that, right?”
“Yeah.” Kallie nodded her head, but couldn’t meet Nicole’s gaze.
“I’m not telling you what to do about this person in your life. I’m just suggesting that you tread very, very carefully. Things happened to work out between Red and me, but that doesn’t mean that it does for everyone who tries that kind of arrangement. Red also changed a lot for me. It wasn’t a one-way street.”
Kallie looked up at her. She was shocked at how wise Nicole was, for being only a year older than her. It was as if she’d already had a lifetime of romantic experience in just a little while.
And Kallie also realized that Nicole had hit the nail on the head. A real relationship meant that both people changed, both people made sacrifices. It couldn’t be only Kallie who was making all the changes in her life.
***
“Hunter, would you mind driving Kallie home?” Red asked, as they were preparing to leave the hospital for the night. “I’ve booked a hotel room nearb
y because I’ve got a bunch of work stuff going on tomorrow, and I also want to be back and forth to the hospital.”
“Sure, no problem,” Hunter said, glancing at Kallie.
Nicole was watching him closely, Kallie noticed. Nicole looked back at Kallie now. “Maybe you should drive her anyway, Red. Hunter’s probably tired.”
“Not at all,” Hunter said. “I’m happy to do it.”
“I don’t mind either,” Kallie smiled. She knew that Nicole was just trying to protect her, but the truth was, she wanted a little more time with Hunter.
Red gave them a relieved look. “Thanks, guys. I’m wiped out, myself. I really appreciate it, Hunter.”
They said their goodbyes then, and soon Kallie and Hunter were on their way to his car.
Neither of them said much for a while. Finally, when they got in Hunter’s car and he began driving, Kallie spoke. “Maybe we can go to your place?” she said, casually.
He gave her a sidelong glance, a slow smile creeping up the corners of his mouth. “Sure, we can do that.”
“Good.” She laid her head back and fingered the envelope that had been lying on the seat when she’d gotten back in the car.
Hunter noticed it too. “Does this mean you’re ready to sign?”
“No,” Kallie said firmly.
“What do you mean, no?”
“I take it you don’t hear that word very often.”
“I don’t hear it often, and I don’t like hearing it—especially not right now.”
“I’m sorry, but I don’t want to sign that contract, Hunter.”
He grit his teeth and didn’t speak for a time. “Tell me what the problem is, Kallie.”
“The problem is, I want more than what that contract is offering me.”
“So why are we going to my house, then?”
She smiled at him. It was kind of funny to see him struggling to figure out what was going on, and she liked that. “We’re going to your house because I enjoy spending time with you. And I want you to show me more of your special room in the basement.”
“So you want to have your cake and eat it, too.”
“Don’t we all?”
“The point is, that room is special for a reason. I don’t just take anyone down there. It’s reserved for intimate encounters, and I need to trust the woman I bring in there.”
“You don’t trust me?” she said. “Because I won’t sign that silly contract?”
“It’s not silly. And no, I’m not sure I trust you, Kallie.”
“Give me some time, Hunter.”
“You already did the test drive.”
She looked at him. “Sometimes you need more than one.”
He glanced back at her and their eyes met, sending shivers down her spine. And then he smiled. “Okay, you want another test drive? You’ll get one.”
***
“Lie down on the bench,” Hunter commanded.
They were in the basement, of course, and Hunter had immediately become a different person down here. He was firm, somewhat cold, and his eyes had a hard intensity that Kallie found simultaneously intimidating and exciting.
Kallie walked to a bench that appeared to be a significantly modified piece of gym equipment. She laid down on her stomach, with her head at one end of the bench, and her legs hanging off the other end and her feet on some stirrups that had been jury rigged to the back of the bench, causing her butt to sticking up in the air.
“That’s perfect,” he said. “Put your hands in the manacles,” he told her.
She stuck her hands through a pair of manacles that had been attached to the sides of the bench. Hunter came over and quickly adjusted the clamps so that her hands were firmly in place. She couldn’t have gotten out now if her life depended on it.
Next, he cinched the restrains tight around the stirrups upon which her feet rested.
“That’s fucking beautiful,” he said, his voice husky, as he admired her. “I could take a picture of that and frame it.”
“Don’t even joke about that,” she said.
“You see, that’s the kind of backtalk that I wouldn’t tolerate if you were my true submissive partner.”
“Exactly why I won’t sign that contract,” she retorted.
“Keep it up, Kallie. Keep it up. It’s going to make the punishment that much more enjoyable for me.”
That got her to quiet down. She was nervous now. What did he mean by punishment? Was it really going to hurt?
She licked her lips, closed her eyes, told herself to calm down. Hunter wouldn’t truly hurt her. And if she told him to stop, he would.
A moment later, he was pulling her pants down. She wasn’t wearing panties because they’d been soiled by their earlier activities, so now he’d exposed her bare bottom.
“You need to be taught. You’re wild, unbroken,” he said. “You need to be broken in and domesticated.” His hand slowly caressed her rear, and she was instantly wet from his handling.
Suddenly, he smacked her buttocks with the palm of his hand. The sound was like a gunshot in the quiet basement. It didn’t hurt—maybe it stung ever so slightly though.
“That’s for being a pest,” he told her. Again, he raised his hand and slapped her ass. “And that’s for talking back.”
He slapped her butt again. “And that’s for thinking you know anything about BDSM.”
She cried out, mostly in pleasure, and then his hand was firmly massaging her bare ass. He rubbed one cheek and then the other. Soon, both his hands were massaging her. “I think I need to oil you up a little,” he said.
He retreated to a corner of the room and she heard the sound of drawers opening and closing. A moment later, he returned. Kallie kept her eyes closed. Her butt was pleasantly tingling from the spanking he’d given her.
She wanted him to fuck her already. He had no idea, probably. No idea how hot this was getting her.
Part of her wished she could spend all of her time down here with him. She wanted to learn all of these machines intimately. She wanted Hunter’s attention, all of his attention focused on her.
Was it possible he was right about that stupid contract? She wondered.
But no, there were too many strings attached. It was one thing to like the sexual interplay, the spanking, being tied up—it was another to let Hunter control her life down to the smallest detail.
She came back to the present as he dribbled some kind of lubricant all across her behind. “That’s it,” he said. She heard the sound of a bottle being squeezed again, and more oil dripped onto her butt cheeks. It felt good and warm and sexy.
Hunter started massaging it in firmly with both hands. “Your ass is red and glistening now,” he said, his voice husky with desire. He slapped her buttocks playfully. Slap, slap, slap, paddling it.
“That feels good,” she moaned.
The paddling stopped. “Does it? Unfortunately for you, this is punishment. You’ve been bad and you need correcting. Now is not the time for rewards. But still, you should know how good a reward feels, Kallie. Believe me, I’m as good at rewarding correct behavior as I am at punishing bad behavior.”
He moved away from her again, and she heard him shuffling around in another corner of the room. When he came back, his tone was serious. “This might sting a little,” he told her, “but it’s for your own good.”
She didn’t know what to expect next, when a second later she felt something smack her buttocks. “What is that?” she asked, as the tingling, stinging sensation reached its peak and then began to fade.
“It’s the next step up from a spanking,” he told her. “I’m using a slightly modified ping pong paddle instead of my hand.”
She craned her head around and he showed it to her. It was just an ordinary ping pong paddle, only there was a furry black cloth covering the paddle head.
He moved behind her again and whacked her buttocks with the paddle. Now that she knew what it was, the pain was really negligible. There was a sharp, slight stingi
ng sensation, followed by a warm tingle that ran all the way through her groin area.
Her mound was wet against the bench beneath her as Hunter rhythmically paddled her ass. Soon she was gasping and moaning, crying out—mostly in pleasure. The line between pleasure and pain, she realized, was growing vague. Part of her was in a tiny bit of pain, but most of her was greatly enjoying Hunter’s attentions to her bare rear end.
After a time, he applied more lubricant, taking great care to rub it all over her skin. A few times his hand strayed lower and started to stimulate her wet entrance. When he did so, she would moan and lift her pelvis, arching as much as she could.
Slowly, his fingers crept down the crack of her behind and past her anus, and then slid into her pussy.
He began gently fingering her entrance, and then with his other hand, he once again started to spank her ass. This time he was just using his hand and not the ping pong paddle.
Hunter’s fingers were magnificent, expertly working her clitoris as his free hand spanked her oiled buttocks.
Soon, she was coming, her body bucking against the restraints.
“I think you rather enjoyed that, didn’t you?” he asked, when she’d finished climaxing.
“Yes,” she admitted. Her breathing was only just beginning to slow now and she felt a sudden overwhelming sense of gratitude to Hunter for showing her this kind of sexual exchange.
“So maybe I do know a thing or two about what you want,” he pointed out.
“I know you do. I’m just afraid.”
“But you’re also horny, aren’t you?”
She craned her head over her shoulder and saw that he was unzipping and taking out his erect cock.
“Yes, I’m so horny.”
“And you want to be fucked on the bench, don’t you, slut?”
The word slut shocked her, but then she noticed that her pussy was even wetter suddenly. “I do. I want you to fuck my pussy.”
“That’s right, slut. You’re going to take my cock all the way inside, and I’m going to fuck you until you come for me.” With that, he moved behind her and she felt the head of his cock pressing into her opening.