by Marlee Wray
She grabbed the hanging bag of new clothes and marched up the stairs. When she finished putting them away, she stood in the closet, chewing on her lip. Why did he need her to come into the guest room for this punishment? And why—
“That’s enough time. Come in here,” Eric called.
She pursed her lips and scowled. He was so ridiculously heavy-handed. She’d never actually officially agreed that he was her master in all things. He was just supposed to keep her in line when it came to her health, not her—
“Laci! Right now!”
She jumped and then rushed out of the room. She did not want to be caned on the night of a dinner party. Or ever. The cane hurt too much.
She entered the guest room. Eric stood next to a box on the dresser. Curious, she started toward him, but he held out a hand.
“Take off your clothes and lie on the bed.”
She sucked in a breath. Was he going to make sex part of her punishment? If so, would she use her safeword? Yes, of course, she would. Only maybe not right away, because she wanted to know what he had planned.
She stripped out of her shirt and skirt. She was used to taking her punishments with her panties pulled down or off, but she wasn’t usually completely topless. She left her bra and panties on.
“I’ll take the panties off right when the punishment starts.”
“You’ll take them off now because I said so.”
She felt like she’d stuck her face in a fireplace and flames were licking her cheeks. She gave him a rebellious look, but pushed her panties down over her hips and let them drop all the way to the floor. She interlaced her fingers and lowered her clasped hands to block his view of her pussy. She wasn’t sure why she felt the need. Maybe it was because usually he was behind her and saw her bare bottom, but not the rest of her. Normally Eric didn’t inspect her.
“Shy?” he asked.
“No,” she said.
“Then take off your bra and put your hands on the back of your neck.”
She swallowed against her dry throat. “Tell me why.”
“Because you need to remember what you are, and this will help remind you.”
She shivered, but unclasped her bra and then when she was topless put her hands behind her head. Colin had inspected her often. He’d studied every inch of her, but the way he’d been while doing it was totally different. His voice had been sweet and cajoling, like he was sweet- talking her into it. Of course, if he’d found something that wasn’t to his liking she’d end up punished for it, but there was never harshness to anything.
Eric had a way of making her feel like theirs was a battle of wills. One that she had no chance of winning. Her heart thumped in her chest and her shivering worsened. She was cold, which made her nipples tight points.
Eric looked her over.
“I let the hair grow out,” she said. It was silly to say that since he could plainly see that she had hair between her legs.
Eric nodded.
“Do you let your girlfriends keep some hair down there? Or do you make them shave?”
“What girlfriends?” Eric said, crooking a finger.
“You must have girlfriends.”
“These days, I have play partners and pets. I haven’t had girlfriends since right after college.”
“How about your pets? Bare?”
“Usually.”
“I’ll make an appointment to be waxed,” she said, not sure why it suddenly felt important to do that.
“No.”
“How come?”
“Because I like the way that looks. Dark hair against fair skin. Also, you’re not a doll anymore. Your pussy doesn’t have to be bare.”
She shrugged, not sure what to say to that. She couldn’t object to him saying that, since she’d been the one to stop grooming herself the way Colin had liked.
“Lie down and put these inside you,” he said, holding out a pair of smoky gray glass balls on a string.
“Where?” she asked, taking a step back. She’d never put things inside herself. That had been strictly Colin’s domain.
“They’re Ben Wa,” he said.
“Ben what?”
He smiled. “They go in front. You’re going to hold them inside while I punish you.”
“Why?”
“A million questions always,” he said, amused. “You might make a good kitten someday. You’re certainly curious enough.”
She sighed and took the balls from him. They were slightly slippery with lube and felt heavy in her hand. Would they just fall out?
As if he could read her mind, he said, “If you let them slip out, the paddle gets swapped for the cane.”
“I don’t see the point of this,” she said, frowning at him. Suddenly impatient to get it over with, she sat on the bed and scooted back. She laid back on the bed, aware of his dark blue gaze on her. If they’d been having sex, would he have put them inside her? She’d never know.
She pushed the balls in one at a time, leaving the end of the string with its small weight outside. The balls inside were a little heavy, but not too large. She could feel them, which was kind of sexy and nice. She never bothered with toys normally, so it was a special level of sexual stimulation.
“Good girl. Now come over here.”
She got up and stood very carefully. She had to tighten her muscles and that made the sensation inside her stronger. Her heart beat more quickly. This would make it hard to concentrate on keeping it together during the punishment.
“Hands on top of the dresser and arch your back. That’s it, push that pretty ass out, offering it for punishment.”
She swallowed. She wasn’t exactly offering. He was making her do this.
“Legs a little farther apart.”
“I can’t!” she said.
“Yes, you can,” he said, tapping her cheek with the edge of the paddle.
She inched her feet apart very carefully, tightening all her inner muscles to hold the balls in place.
“Just like that. See what a good, obedient girl you can be when you put your mind to it?”
She wanted to contradict him, but she couldn’t afford to get distracted.
“Brace yourself, Lace. It’s time to start.”
She took a breath, glad he’d warned her.
The paddle landed with its usually hard thump. The balls inside her shifted and vibrated, sending a shockwave of pleasure through her with the pain. The combined sensations were so startling her knees almost buckled.
“Oh, my God,” she said with a gasp. “Eric—I—”
The blows kept coming, and the heat engulfed her from buttocks to clit. She clenched and wiggled, her breasts swaying and wobbling like she was having sex.
She panted and moaned, her arms shaking from the effort of keeping herself steady. She lowered her head to rest it against the dresser, just trying to hold on.
Eric paused.
“Let me lie down for the rest,” she pleaded, sucking in air.
“Why?” he asked.
“Please?”
“The next time we’re out and I tell you to do something, are you going to defy me?”
“No, I promise!”
“Good, get on the bed. Lie on your back.”
“My back?” she mumbled, confused. She didn’t care though. Her vaginal walls were cramping from being contracted so hard, and she was turned on and aching with pain at the same time.
She lay on her back, and he pulled her down so her buttocks were right at the edge of the bed.
“Legs up,” he said, snapping his fingers.
She lifted her legs, feeling the balls shift. It felt really good now, and she writhed a little.
He grabbed her ankles in one hand and swung the paddle with the other.
She cried out, the heat building and the steady rhythmic thumping rocking the balls inside her. It was punishment sex, hot and painful and intense.
With her scalding bottom undoubtedly bright red, she was edging toward orgasm and toward n
eeding to scream her safeword. She thrashed, shaking her head back and forth. He shouldn’t do this to her, but it was going to be so intense and great when she did come.
He paused and when he spoke, his voice was low and husky with lust. “Want to be done with the paddle?”
“Yes!” she begged.
“Slide up on the bed, spread your legs, and make yourself come.”
Her eyes flew open, and she stared at him.
“You know you want to. Close your eyes and pretend I’m not here.”
“Let me go to my own room.”
“No. Seems like your ass needs more convincing that it’s had enough.” He swung the paddle and everything intensified.
She could only take a few more swats before she gasped out the words, “Okay. Please stop! I’ll do it.”
She kept her eyes tightly shut and scooted up several inches so she could rest her feet on the bed before her legs shook so badly she fell off.
She reached down and rubbed herself, feeling hard pleasure rip through her. She didn’t care anymore if he watched. She just wanted all the sensations to combine into one giant orgasm.
She moaned and arched her back, letting her knees fall completely open, feeling the weight of the balls at the back of her vault, pressing against her rectum and close to the inflamed tissues just inches away in her buttocks. She wanted something in her backside too. A plug. Or Eric.
“Please,” she whispered. “I want more. Please. Your fingers.”
He didn’t touch her though.
She came anyway, with a world-rocking orgasm.
She panted and whimpered, stroking herself until the last spasms faded. When she opened her eyes, she found she was alone in the cool, dark room.
When had he gone? She bet it was before she’d invited him to touch her. That moment of weakness had almost undone her. He was way too good at manipulating her.
She pulled the string, dislodging the balls from inside her. She rolled away from them and climbed off the bed.
“Everything’s okay,” she whispered, but she didn’t feel like it was okay. He’d walked out in the middle of the show he’d forced her to put on. The ultimate puppet master. In the hall, she heard the water running in the guest bathroom. He was undoubtedly masturbating in the shower. She couldn’t help but think that he could’ve done that in the bedroom, so they’d have been together.
We’re not together though.
This was just a weird arranged oversight of her by the council. She had to remember that the strange relationship between her and Eric wasn’t going anywhere. She didn’t want it to and neither did he. It was easy to get confused, but he’d said it himself. He was trying to teach her a series of lessons so one day she could take care of herself and some other man. It would be someone she found when she was finally over Colin. Probably someone a lot like Colin, she hoped. Someone warm and witty who treated her like she was the sunshine in the world.
In the master bathroom, she ran a hot bath and added a couple of bath beads. She would relax and soak in the tub, keeping to herself until it was time to go. A little distance. That’s what she needed.
* * *
Laci felt much more clear-headed after the bath. She’d decided the scene in Eric’s room had been no big deal. Lots of people in the community were punished and had sex in front of other community members. It was only because she wasn’t used to it that it had been so intense and upsetting for her to find herself alone when she’d thought he was there.
And he had probably left because he’d needed to deal with how turned on he was feeling. It hadn’t been cold-blooded manipulation followed by rejection. He could be intimidating when he dominated her, but she didn’t think he would’ve abandoned her if he’d thought it would make her feel bad. Maybe he’d thought better of staying to watch for both their sakes.
She’d calmed down during her soak and now she was fine. She and Eric would go to the dinner party as friends.
She wore a dress of deep purple and blue that fit like second skin and matched the faint bruises on her ass from the punishments. She took a deep breath, trying to push that last scene from her mind. He was really good at heating up more than her upturned bottom.
She slid on her pink diamond engagement ring and matching rose gold wedding band. She didn’t wear the rings every day, but she always wore them to community events.
Tonight they were going to a dinner party at Melody and John’s. She hadn’t been there since the day of her disagreement with Mel, but she didn’t want to snub them, especially when they’d invited people she liked over and when Eric had already accepted the invitation.
She knew he suspected that she and Melody had had a falling out because whenever Melody came by, she never left her studio to come into the house to talk to her. Instead when Eric texted that Melody had dropped by and was in the house, she’d respond by asking him to let Melody know she was really sorry but she was working and couldn’t afford to lose the light.
Laci pinned her hair up. It wasn’t as smooth as if she’d had it done, but she thought it looked pretty nice nonetheless. It showed off her pale neck, shoulders, and chest, which were a sharp contrast to the dark fabric.
“Well?” she asked when she met Eric in the hall.
“You look beautiful.”
See, she told herself. Everything’s fine.
“Like a vampire victim,” she said with a wink, trailing a finger over her neck and recalling the joke he’d made when she’d tried the dress on.
He smiled, but then the smile disappeared when his gaze focused on her hand. “You have to wear the rings, huh?”
She tucked her hand behind her back reflexively. “I like taking a little piece of him with me.”
“Even when he wouldn’t enjoy it?”
“He’d enjoy it. He liked me to dress up.”
“Not exactly. He liked to dress you up and to keep you locked in this house so you never got a taste of anything you might actually enjoy yourself.”
She frowned. “What are you talking about? He never stopped me from going anywhere.”
“Of course he did. Everyone invited him to everything. They invited you both. Did he ever ask you if you wanted to go?”
“Look, he was private about our life. He was a little self-conscious because he was kinkier than other people.”
Eric laughed. “He was not kinkier than other people, and he wasn’t self-conscious or private. Do you know how many pictures he showed me of you? You sitting on the swing with the ruffled dress pulled up and legs spread. You lying on the bed face down in those pink and cream thigh-high socks. Your spanked ass plugged with a pink jeweled plug, a stuffed rabbit curled against your breast? Alice in Wonderlust, he called it. I wasn’t the only one he showed them to. He showed them off to all his close friends. Pepper Collins offered to pay him for copies.”
She couldn’t move. Couldn’t even breathe.
“I’m sorry to destroy your illusions, Lace. There’s no doubt that Colin loved you or that he worshipped the ground you walked on in those ridiculous plastic sequin jelly shoes he made you wear. But he wasn’t some sainted martyr to his kinks. There is one reason alone that he didn’t bring you out to functions. He knew you might want to explore other kinks that he wasn’t into.”
“Is that what he said?”
“No, but it was obvious and implied.”
“You don’t know that! You’re just reading what you want into things.”
“No, I’m not. I knew him before he met you. There were other little girls before you who wouldn’t stay in character for as long as he wanted. No matter how much money and attention he gave them, he couldn’t completely control them forever. They wanted to spend time with their vanilla families and friends. They snuck around with their ex-boyfriends and experimented with other kinks. You were different. He didn’t have to compete for your time. There was no family or gaggle of childhood friends to contend with. He installed you in this house and guarded against anyone gettin
g too close to you.”
“I married him. It’s not like I had a right to get close to other guys. That part of our marriage was normal!”
“I’m not saying there was anything wrong with your marriage. It obviously worked for both of you.”
“It did!” she said, feeling inexplicably close to tears.
“I’m just pointing out that he kept his little bird in a gilded cage while he was alive and he’s still keeping her there long after he’s dead.”
“You prick,” she whispered, tears spilling over her lashes. “You’re just like the rest of the two-faced people in this place. I can’t stand any of you.” She rushed back into the bedroom, slamming the door behind her.
She sat crying for several moments, her head a tumble of frustrated thoughts. She wouldn’t let Eric rewrite her history with Colin. It was so obvious that he was jealous and frustrated that she wouldn’t let him take Colin’s place. What a cold, calculating asshole he was to stab his friend in the back to bag his wife. And look how close she’d come to letting him do it. She should be ashamed of herself for being so disloyal.
She yanked the pins out of her hair and stripped out of the dress. By the time Eric opened the door, she was dressed in one of Colin’s favorite pink lacy baby doll nighties and was staring at the ceiling, thinking about the record number of orgasms he’d given her in a single day.
“I take it dinner’s off?”
“You can call them and tell them we can’t come. Say I have a migraine or something and have to go to bed.”
“I’m not calling to make excuses. I said I was going, so I’m going. You should, too. It’s not John and Melody’s fault you’re pissed at me. If it’ll make you feel better, dress the way he would’ve dressed you. You look cute and sexy. Everyone else will enjoy seeing you in that.”
“I can’t wear this. It’s lingerie,” she said, but of course she could have worn it. Plenty of women wore lingerie or fetish wear to community parties. That was part of the fun in the Hills. The freedom.
“I’m heading over there. If you’re not coming, then good night.”
“Wait,” she said, sitting up. “What will you tell them?”
“The truth. I said some things that upset you right before we left the house, and you didn’t feel like going to party after that.”