by Simone Leigh
After a little while he says, “Do you want to make love?”
“I’d like that, but….”
“But….?”
“Um, you’ll need to….” I’m not sure how to put this. I have never had to ask it before.
He takes me by the shoulders, looking into my face. “Charlotte, what is it? Talk to me.”
My face heating, “You’ll need to use a condom, Master. I’ve not been able to take my pill for the last few days….”
“Ah…. Yes, of course…. I’d become used to the luxury of not having to worry about that with you.” He kisses me on the top of my head. “Wait there. I’ll be right back.”
He returns five minutes later. “There are vending machines in the public bathrooms downstairs.” He sits beside me again on the bed, pulls a small foil packet from his pocket, placing it on the side table. His fingers running down the side of my face, “You are alright?”
“Yes, Master. I’m alright, just very tired. You don’t have to keep asking.”
He pulls the sheets from me, eyeing my bruised body. “Actually, I do. You might try to brush off what’s happened to you, but no-one gets into that condition without paying a price for it.”
Abashed I look away, not wanting to meet his gaze, but he pulls me into his embrace. “Shhh…”
As I sit up into his arms, he kisses my mouth, softly, stroking my hair, then traces his lips down to my shoulders, and around to the hollow of my neck. The scent of him drifts over me and I sigh, not exactly aroused, more enraptured, by my Master’s lovemaking. I want nothing more than to lie with him, close, my skin on his.
He cups my breast, his eyes drifting over a bruise which, starting on my chest, draws livid colour over the skin of the breast. As he stoops to suckle at a nipple, I see his eyes close. He does not want to look at me like this.
Standing, he unbuttons his shirt, stripping off his clothes. Unusually, he is not yet erect, his cock lying quiescent. But he slips between the sheets with me, pulling me down to lie with him, his arms encircling me again.
He begins to kiss me in earnest, almost with desperation. His fingers clinging into me, nails biting in, he pulls me in close at the hip, squeezing against me. And now his erection rises, hard against my thigh. His hand pressed, palm hard against my stomach, I part my legs, allowing him in. He strokes my belly, the soft skin of my thighs, his breath juddering and shaking.
For a moment he pauses, his forehead resting against mine.
“Master? Are you alright?”
His voice is thick. “When your signal vanished Charlotte, we thought we’d lost you. That was a hard moment. You must never, ever, do anything like that to me, to us, again.”
“I won’t, Master. You have my promise. I’ve done what I had to.”
He raises himself on an elbow, looking down at me. “Had to?”
“I had to get Beth back, Master. No-one else could have done it. and….” I hesitate, knowing how this is going to sound…
“And…”
“I couldn’t leave Richard like that. He loves her. And I owed him so much…”
“Richard? You did all that for Richard? Not Beth?”
“Well, it was sort of for Beth, but mainly for Richard…. I owed him.” I repeat.
He rolls his eyes skyward. “Charlotte, what the hell am I supposed to think when you say something like that? Do you have any other perceived ‘debts’ you feel you need to repay?”
“No, Master. I’ve said. You have my promise. I’ll not do anything else like that. Truly.”
He says nothing, simply nodding, then stoops to kiss me again. “Lie back.” he whispers.
Lying beside him, I tremble at his touch. He kisses me again, softly, sensually on the lips, then, “I understand that you did what you did for good reason. Sometimes life gives us only bad choices, and you had to choose.”
“Are you still angry with me?”
“I was, but not now. I’m proud of you.”
“Proud?”
“Yes, very proud.” He slants his mouth to mine, our lips meeting as his hand moves over me.
“And Michael?”
“I’ll talk with him. He’s as pleased as I am that we have you back, more or less safe and sound, but he is still badly upset.”
“He’s very angry with me?”
“I’m not sure, but I think you can expect some hard talking from him.”
He nuzzles at a breast again, taking a nipple between his lips. I find my breath holding, only releasing as he mouths at the nipple, chuckling softly as I react to him; a small gasp as pleasure takes me, his touch slight, but exquisite.
Fingers splayed, he teases open my folds, sliding over and around my clit. My breath hitches as he works my nub, and his dark eyes crinkle at the corners. Thumbing back the hood, he fingers my exposed clit, rolling circles around it, looking pleased as I begin to whimper. I want to stroke him, to fondle his cock which presses against me, but as I move, “No. Just lie back. I’m going to get inside you now.”
He reaches for the foil packet, rolling his eyes again as he tears it open. “Always detested these things.” he mutters.
“Sorry, Master.”
He kisses me again. “Nothing to apologise for. Glad you thought to mention it though.”
Rolling above me, his lean, sinewy body, keenly muscled, atop mine, his body heat seeps into me. He pushes down, his knees between my thighs, spreading me wide, then teasing at my entrance, rubbing against me, not entering.
His face beside mine, his breathing is warm and heavy. Twining my fingers into his hair, my face reaching for his, our lips meet in a soft, drawn-out touch, our mouths caressing.
“Please, Master. I want you inside me.”
He lifts himself a little, looking down at my face, his eyes locking with mine as, with his odd non-smile, he repositions himself, then penetrates me, slowly easing inside me, his cock hard against my softness. His hand cupping the side of my face, he glides smoothly inside me, barely thrusting, simply working me within. His gentle love-making calms me, and I think, calms him.
“Are you going to come?” he murmurs.
“I don’t think so, Master. But that’s alright, I just wanted to be with you.”
Our gazes locked, neither of us looking away, we move together.
“Master?”
“Mmm?”
“Have I ever said that.… I love you?”
He pauses, holding himself inside me, then he smiles. “No, but you don’t need to.” And he stoops to take my mouth in his.
I wrap my arms around his shoulders, holding him close to me, breathing him in, the taste of him on my lips. After only a moment or so, he shudders, letting out a gasp and a sigh. “Charlotte…”
“Master….”
_____________________________
Richard sits with Beth, across the table from me, his eyes glancing across by Michael and my Master. My Master looks relaxed, almost happy. Michael is distant, cool, and has barely spoken to me.
Richard’s gaze on me is warm. “Charlotte, um, I know you have issues with James and Michael here, over what you did. And I can understand that entirely. But for myself, I am grateful beyond words for what you did. I’ll not forget it.”
I nod as Richard pauses, letting his words sink in, then, “If you’re feeling up to it now, can you tell us more about what happened?”
My Master speaks. “Charlotte, you said there were some things you need to tell us? And we all need to know why you didn’t want us to speak to the police. Richard here wasn’t very happy when I told him that he couldn’t discuss with Will Stanton what was happening…”
“I’m sorry about that, but Klempner knew too many things that he shouldn’t have…”
Richard interrupts. “Klempner? Who’s Klempner?”
“Lawrence Klempner. There were others there, but he was in charge, when Beth and I were captured. I recognised him from Blessingmoors. He would visit sometimes, looking over the older kids, pointing o
ut the ones he thought were interesting….” My throat seizes up as I struggle with my next words.
Michael passes me a glass of water. “Take your time, Charlotte.”
I gulp down the water. “He said he wouldn’t have known me from the home, but….” Again, my voice dries up and I gulp more water. “He said he recognised me because I look like my mother.”
My Master and Michael look shocked. Richard keeps his face neutral. “Anything else?”
Do I tell them this?
Yes, I must....
“He said.... he said that he… he ran her with the other whores, and that it must run in the family because I’d sold myself, and now I live with two men…. He holds some grudge against me. He said it was because of Jenkins, the man that died when he chased me, but it felt like there was more to it than that…”
Richard keeps his face bland. “That must have been… upsetting… for you.”
“Yes, but how did he know about the auction? And James and Michael? The only people who know things like that are either us or the police. They have my records…. And then later, he got a phone call…”
I finish off my water. “I’m sorry, but could I have a glass of wine, please. This…. isn’t very easy…”
Michael vanishes into the kitchen, returning with a bottle and five glasses. He fills all five, but I notice that I am the only one drinking. I knock back a couple of mouthfuls, then continue. “I persuaded him to leave Beth alone.…” I look at Beth and she nods confirmation.
“Yes, Elizabeth told me about that.” says Richard. “You convinced them she was worth more for ransom if they didn’t touch her….”
I blush, embarrassed. “Sorry about that. It seemed the best thing to say…”
“No apology needed, Charlotte. But they then put her in a separate room and she thought that….” He vacillates, losing his words.
What did Beth tell him?
“I thought I was in trouble then, that they were going to gang-rape me.” I say. “They started knocking me about a bit.… that’s where I got some of the bruises.… but Klempner said he had a buyer for me. For Beth too, though I’m not sure he wanted to sell her after what I’d told him about who she is. At any rate, I don’t think they wanted to leave too many visible marks on me, if the buyer was going to be seeing me….” I gulp more wine.
“Anyway, Klempner’s phone rang. It was weird. He listened for a minute to whoever was on the other end, then he looked like he’d seen a ghost. He hit me across the face, knocked me down, and told me he knew about the tracers. He told the others to find some different clothes for me ‘cause the ones I was wearing had to go. He took the locket that had one of the tracers…. and my rings…. Then he…. he told me to…. um, empty my body cavities... or he would do it for me….”
“You had a tracer…. inside you?” Richard’s face is twitching. Michael looks at me askance. My Master stares at the ceiling, struggling not to smile.
“Mmm. Yes, inside a condom to keep it dry… Um…. it’s a bit embarrassing, now I tell someone else…. Actually, the whole changing clothes thing solved my biggest problem…”
“Which was?”
“Beth’s shoes. She was kidnapped while she was out shopping, and she was wearing high heels. I knew we’d have to run to escape, and there was no way she could run in those, but when they gave me fresh clothes, it meant there was an extra pair of shoes.”
“And by then you’d already planted one of the trackers on Beth?” interrupts my Master.
“That’s right. Anyway, when Klempner knew about the trackers, they decided to move out immediately. I’d already warned Beth that we needed to run when they took us out of the building. If we could get out into the open, so the tracer on her could operate properly, you’d be able to find us again. I told her to behave very meek and mild, so that they’d let their guard down and we’d have the best chance to escape.”
Richard interrupts. “So, this phone call to Klempner…”
“It could only have been from someone in the police, or someone getting the information from the police. Who else would know?
“Who indeed?” Richard rubs his nose, looking thoughtful.
“And I heard him giving orders to have this building watched. That’s why I didn’t want any of you coming out for me, and why I came in the way I did.”
“What happened after you and Beth split?” asks my Master. “We picked up Beth almost immediately, but there was no sign of you.”
“At first I just ran, from them, trying to loop back to you, but you were being chased too, and I couldn’t catch up. Then, I heard the gunshots. And there were all those police around, and I didn’t know who to trust, so I just made my way in the dark back to the main highways, and to the nearest town. I wanted to contact you. That’s when I went into that electrical store. I needed the phone so that I could download all those plans I’d scanned, to try to find a way back into the City, and here, without being seen. After that, I just took all the back roads and trails to get to the edge of the City, then went underground as soon as I could.”
“How did you do that? What route did you take?” asks Richard.
“I went down through the sewers first to get onto the old Marlepits train line.…”
They all look blank.
“It’s an old railway track, from when the City was first built and they needed construction materials. It doesn’t operate now, or for any time in the last fifty years, but the tunnels are still there. I just followed the line into the heart of the old City and then used the sewers again to get under this building…. achhe… that was just disgusting…”
After I finish speaking, all three men and Beth sit quietly, watching me. Michael in particular, watches me constantly, but, unsmiling, there is no welcome in his eyes. And when I think of it, he has barely spoken through the entire discussion.
_________________________
Michael
Richard talks for some time to Charlotte. And how can I blame him? By any measure, she saved Beth. And Beth is his. But Charlotte’s success is bitter-sweet for me. Now that we have her back, I find myself dwelling on the sheer abandon of her actions. She left James and I behind, apparently without a thought.
I need to talk with her, and I wait for my moment, for some privacy with her.
Richard leaves with Beth, James joining them to discuss what Charlotte has said, and what to do next.
“Charlotte, while it’s just you and me, there’s something I need to say to you.”
She looks at me, pale faced, her green eyes vivid. She knows I’m not happy.
“I understand that you did what you did for good reason. Beth’s your friend, and you felt you had to help her, but she’s not the only person in your life. James and I both made it completely clear that we didn’t want you to do anything rash, and you simply ignored our wishes. What you did was horribly unfair to both me and James.”
She says nothing, her gaze downcast.
“You and I may not be formally married yet, but you’re my wife already in every way that counts…. I’m not going to build my life around a woman who endangers herself so recklessly. And much though I love you, I want you to understand that if you ever do such a thing again, for me, that would be the end of this. Do you understand me?”
She stares at me, all big eyes, tears welling, then looks at the floor again.
“I know that love isn’t something you’ve had much of in your life, but you have it now, and you must understand.… it works two ways.…”
She finally speaks. “I didn’t think…. Please don’t leave me. I couldn’t bear it.”
“I feel the same way, but that didn’t stop you leaving me, did it? When I’d specifically asked you not to…”
“I didn’t leave you. I just…”
“Your plan worked out, but if it had gone wrong, you’d probably be dead now, or shipped out to god-knows-where to spend the rest of a short life in sexual slavery - real slavery, not the kinds of games you
play with James…. I would never have seen you again. How do you think I felt, sick to the stomach with fear for you? My guts knotting that I might lose you? And then when I saw you in the shower, covered in bruises, thinking you had been raped. You can’t treat people who love you like that.”
She remains silent once more.
“Do we understand each other?”
She nods.
“I asked you for your promise before, and you wouldn’t give it. Now I’m not asking. I am requiring your promise; that you won’t do anything like that again, no matter how good your reasons seem.”
She nods, still silent.
“Do I have that promise?”
She nods again.
“I didn’t hear you.”
She whispers, “Yes, I promise. I won’t do it again.”
“Now…” I point to the bedroom. “Strip, and lean over the bed.”
She hesitates, brows furrowed.
You don’t believe I’m going to do it, do you Babe?
“Do I have to repeat myself? Strip and bend over. I’ll force you if I have to.”
Her eyes widen, her face turning even whiter. Without a word, she goes through to the bedroom, undresses and then, trembling, bends over the end of the bed.
“Ass up.”
She shifts position, presenting her pale derriere. Normally, in this position her pussy would be glistening with her arousal, but not this time.
She’s shaking….
“I didn’t want you thinking this is about James and his sex games. That’s why I refused to let him do this. I’m the one that is punishing you, and this is the real thing. I hate doing this stuff. You know that. But I’m doing it now, because punishment is something you understand.”
I strip off my jeans, pulling out the belt as I do so, feeling sick. “I need some relief, so I’m going to fuck you; then I’m going to punish you, and you’re going to accept it. Yes?”
Her face side on to the sheets, she nods, her eyes streaming.
“Michael, you need to…”
“I didn’t ask you to speak. Just to do as you’re told for a fucking change…. Open your legs further.”