House Rules

by G. C. Scott

  Richard asked her about her family and background. It was one way to keep her from noticing that he wasn’t keeping up with the drinking. It turned out that she was the daughter of an East German woman and a Russian army major who had insisted on naming her after his mother. He was posted back to Moscow and wasn’t allowed to take them back with him. The Red Army, Ludmilla said, could be as prudish as any other bureaucracy when it chose to be. So she and her mother had been left alone in Leipzig. Her father had sent money and helped to educate her and support her mother, but that had stopped when he was posted to Afghanistan and was subsequently listed as missing in action. His last letter had contained a large sum of money, almost, Ludmilla said, as if he knew he would not come back. In the same letter he had given them the name of someone in West Germany who could help them escape if they wished.

  Her mother had elected to stay, but had contacted the person named in the letter about getting her daughter out. The contact had been Margaret Wagner, and she had got the young Ludmilla across the Berlin Wall and had taken her into her own service. But, she added, it was a bit ironic that it was only a few years later that the Berlin Wall had been converted into rubble.

  ‘If I had waited,’ Ludmilla said, ‘I could have simply walked over to the West.’ Nevertheless, she was grateful to Margaret for the risks she had taken, and loyal to her.

  Richard watched as Ludmilla drank the doctored brandy, sipping carefully but nevertheless feeling the first effects himself. Ludmilla’s eyes became heavier by the minute, and presently she said she would have to go to bed. She didn’t know what had got into her, she said: she was not usually this sleepy at this time of the evening. When she got up, she almost fell. Richard caught her and helped her to stand, and then to walk along the corridor to her room, finding the going difficult in the high-heeled shoes and with the effects of what he had drunk.

  Ludmilla became more and more of a weight, until in the end Richard was nearly carrying her. He got her to her room and on to her bed, removing her shoes and loosening her clothes as she passed out. The key he sought was, he remembered, on a chain around her neck. He carefully slipped it off and left the room, the gentle snores of the sleeping woman a reassurance that she was hors de combat.

  Richard walked openly to the dining room, knowing that he stood a better chance that way than if he was seen behaving suspiciously. At the same time, he wished his high-heeled shoes didn’t make such a clatter on the stone floor. But he was not seen. He closed the door before turning on any lights. He felt naked and exposed with the lights on, but he needed to see what he was doing. The whipping frame reminded him of the penalty for being caught.

  He went straight to the fireplace and located the loose stone he had noticed before. But he couldn’t get it out of its place. Obviously some sort of tool was needed. The only thing to hand was a knife from the sideboard. It was made of silver, quite soft, and it bent as he levered the stone out. He laid the stone on the hearth and stopped to straighten out the knife as best he could before replacing it in the sideboard, hoping no one would notice the damage. Then he peered into the hole left by the stone. The safe was there. It required only a moment to fit the key into the lock. The lock was stiff and heavy, but it turned.

  Inside the safe was a bundle of papers and several small boxes. Richard took the papers first. Spreading them on the table, he saw that they were mainly records of cash transfers and deliveries, made on behalf of several dozen clients. The amounts were staggering. He wondered what commission Margaret took. These records easily explained her affluence and her commanding manner.

  Among the papers was a smaller envelope with the marks of the German State Prosecutor’s office on it. This turned out to be the evidence against Helena. He had found what he wanted, but how to get it out of the house and into her hands was not so obvious. A sound outside the house startled him. It sounded as if someone were knocking on the French windows that led to the patio. He froze, listening. The sound came again, now softer, now louder. Branches knocking against the glass, he thought, still not believing it.

  But when no challenge came, he breathed again and began to think. The papers would have to stay here until he could get them out of the house. He had no idea when that might be. But at least he knew where to look when the chance came. The key would have to go back to the cook, but he used the beeswax from the kitchen to make a clear impression of it.

  The making of the impression reminded him of his promise to find the keys to Heidi’s chastity belt. The odds were that they were also in the safe. He removed the boxes one by one, opening them in turn to reveal bundles of currency: Swiss francs, Austrian schillings, Deutschmarks, US dollars, British pounds, and others he could not identify. There was a lot of cash lying there. He itched to take some of it, but that would be a mistake. The last box contained several keys, which must be the ones he sought. Hurriedly he made wax impressions of them before replacing everything as he had found it. With a sigh of relief, he closed the door and locked it. The stone went back into place, and he dusted away the traces of his burglary as best he could.

  Heidi was standing just outside the door as he opened it to make his escape. Richard was so startled he almost dropped the wax impression he was carrying. He had not seen her since they were caught in the act several days ago. She took his arm and led him back towards the kitchen, where the bottle of brandy and the glasses still stood on the table.

  Indicating them, Heidi asked, ‘Did you find the safe and take the keys?’

  Richard wanted to caution her to speak softly, but there seemed to be no one else about this evening. The big house was quiet. He replied, ‘Not exactly. I got a wax impression of them.’ He held it up for her to see. ‘Do you know anyone who could make keys from this?’

  Heidi said, ‘No, but why don’t you ask Ingrid? She knows nearly everyone in the village, and she will do almost anything for you.’

  Was there a touch of jealousy there? It was hardly warranted, Richard thought. He would have liked to release Heidi there and then, but there was no way to explain the absence of the keys. He explained that their lovemaking would have to wait until he could get his own set of keys. Heidi was not pleased, but she nodded as she saw the sense in this course of action.

  To change the subject, Richard asked her what had happened to her after Margaret had caught them.

  ‘Come to my room, and we can talk,’ she told him.

  ‘First let me get the key back to the cook. She may wake up at any time.’

  They walked to the cook’s room, and Heidi waited in the hall while he replaced the key where he had found it. Ludmilla stirred but didn’t waken, and he left the room quietly.

  Heidi’s room was much like Richard’s, no more than a bedsitting room with an en suite toilet. The door could be locked as his could, but for some reason Heidi was not locked in this evening. Or at any rate not yet. Perhaps she was considered secure enough so long as she was wearing her chastity belt.

  Richard sat on the sofa, and Heidi took the armchair opposite. She sat carefully, as if there were parts of her that hurt.

  ‘Of course, Margaret was not pleased,’ she began. ‘She ordered me to bring the rope and two gags, so I could guess pretty well what she was going to do to both of us. She took me into the dining room. Raymond came past, and she made him tie me to the whipping frame and gag me. Then she beat me. She seemed very angry, angrier than I have ever seen her. It hurt.’ Heidi grimaced in remembrance, but then she smiled. ‘But it was worth it. I can hardly wait until you can get the key to unlock me. Then we can have some more fun.’

  Richard was glad that she seemed undaunted by what had happened. He felt less guilty for having been partly the cause.

  Heidi continued, ‘When she had beaten me, she had Raymond untie me. I thought she was finished with me, but I was wrong. She made him tie my hands again, this time behind my back. I know he was excited by what he was doing. I managed to brush his cock with my hands as he was tying them. I felt his
erection. But there was nothing we could do about it. Margaret marched me to my room and had him tie my feet together. They left me on my bed and locked the door. I must have lain there for hours. I had to go to the toilet, but no one came. In the end I had to piss myself. And then lie in that for another eternity. When Raymond finally came to let me go, I was a smelly mess.’

  She wrinkled her nose in disgust, but once again didn’t seem to mind so much what they had done to her.

  Richard took a long shot. ‘And did Raymond and you have fun when he came for you?’

  Heidi reddened slightly, but nodded, smiling again. Richard knew she had come to no serious harm.

  ‘What did Margaret do to you?’ Heidi asked. Richard gave her an edited version of what had happened, leaving out Margaret’s sexual activities with him. He was sparing both Margaret’s and Heidi’s feelings, he told himself, not altogether convincingly.

  He stood up. ‘Do you know if Margaret is coming back soon?’ he asked.

  ‘Tomorrow,’ she said.

  ‘Then I suppose we had all better get some rest,’ he said.

  They kissed goodnight, and Richard went to his room.

  Seven

  The sound of his door opening woke Richard in the morning. At first he thought it might be Margaret coming to him, but it was only Marie. ‘Madame wishes to see you as soon as you are dressed,’ she told him. ‘She is in the drawing room.’ When he nodded, she turned and left the room, the chain of her leg-irons clinking softly.

  Richard showered and dressed quickly. Margaret would not like to be kept waiting. He heard two women’s voices from the drawing room as he approached. He recognised Margaret’s at once. The other voice belonged to Helena. Pushing down feelings of awkwardness and embarrassment, Richard entered the room.

  Helena looked bewildered and embarrassed, and she made an abortive move towards him, but quickly stopped when Margaret glared at her.

  He could see that she wanted to speak to him, perhaps to apologise for getting him into this bizarre situation, but she bowed to Margaret’s wishes once again. At the same time, he saw that she was in the grip of what could only be sexual excitement. All the signs were there: the flushed face, the short, rapid breathing, the abstraction. Her gaze strayed from him to the mantel shelf where the black cloth bag containing her whip lay. He understood her agitation.

  Margaret broke the silence, smiling crookedly. ‘Richard, we are going to entertain Helena in a few moments. I hope you’ll enjoy it as well. I always try to make everyone happy. It’s the secret of my success.’ To Helena she said, ‘Bring the whip and come with me.’ She moved towards the door.

  Helena moved unsteadily towards the fireplace, where she picked up the black bag with a hand that trembled slightly. She turned back to face Margaret and Richard, the excitement plain on her face. If he had had any intention of protesting, it died as he saw her eagerness. If she was that avid for pain, there was no point in trying to dissuade her. And he felt a stirring of excitement in himself, his cock stiffening inside the tight corselet. Margaret caught his eye and smiled when she saw his excitement. She had counted on it, he saw.

  They followed as she led the way down the hall and into the dining room, with Helena carrying The Discipline. Richard glanced at the hearth. There was no sign of the previous night’s reconnaissance. But there was no time to feel relief. He saw a coil of rope and a pair of handcuffs on the long, polished table. He felt his cock stir as he saw the instruments of their bondage. And something else: a shiny stainless-steel ring, too small to fit a wrist, too large to fit a finger. There was a length of machine chain and a padlock as well. Margaret smiled as she saw his surprised glance.

  Helena laid the whip on the table and went to stand beside the frame. She was breathing in short, rapid gulps, as if she had run a race. She made no move to escape. Margaret seemed to dominate everything in the room. Richard knew he would not make any attempt to escape either. Even if he had been wearing his own clothes, the magnetism of the situation would have held him.

  Margaret picked up the ring and beckoned him to her side. He came, mesmerised, while Margaret stared challengingly into his eyes.

  ‘Take off your clothes,’ she ordered.

  Richard undid the long back zipper of the maid’s outfit. He was getting quite good at it, he reflected. He stepped out of the dress, laying it on one of the chairs at the table. Standing before the two women in his underwear, he felt a flush of embarrassment, but he never considered disobeying Margaret. The slip followed. He undid the straps of his high-heeled shoes and stepped out of them. The carpet felt soft and smooth under his feet.

  Once again he hesitated, standing in the corselet and tights. This time he looked at Helena. She was flushed with her own excitement, but she saw his hesitation. She gave him a small, tight smile of encouragement, and a small nod.

  Richard stripped off the tight garment and dark tights. The wig he placed carefully on the table. Then he looked at Margaret. She returned his gaze steadily, appraisingly, amused at his discomfiture. His cock was stiff and his stomach muscles tight.

  ‘I brought you a present,’ she told him, holding the small steel ring in her hand.

  Richard could now see that the ring was hinged, opening into two halves. On the side opposite the hinge, two flanges had been welded. A hole had been drilled into each of them.

  Margaret knelt before him and grasped his balls, briefly squeezing him before she fitted the ring around the base of his scrotum. It fitted snugly. Margaret closed it, taking the chain and the padlock from the table. Richard couldn’t see exactly what she was doing, but he could guess the intent. He remembered the nylon cable tie she had fitted to his scrotum at their first encounter in Hamburg. This seemed to be a more permanent version of the same thing. And indeed it was. He heard the padlock click as it was closed, and felt the sudden weight on his balls as Margaret released the chain to hang between his legs.

  She turned to Helena, who was watching intently as she awaited what she had come for. ‘Now it’s your turn,’ Margaret said. ‘Take off your clothes. It is impolite to be clothed while Richard is naked.’

  Helena began to undress. Her excitement was betrayed by the slight tremor of her hands as she took off her dress and laid it aside. Unlike Richard, she wore no slip, only a bra and pants. She unsnapped the bra, allowing her full breasts to swing free. The nipples were taut and crinkly, and she was slightly flushed, whether with desire or embarrassment it was impossible to say. Still silently, she hooked her thumbs under the waistband of her pants and slid them down and off her long legs. Then she too stood naked before her aunt.

  Helena straightened her back, her breasts standing proud. She looked at Margaret almost with defiance. Richard thought she looked magnificent. Even after his bizarre erotic encounter with the aunt, he preferred the niece.

  Margaret glanced at the two of them, not unaware of the electricity between them. A frown, almost a spasm of anger, crossed her own beautiful face. She concealed it quickly, but not quickly enough. Richard knew she was displeased by his attraction to Helena. So it might go hard with her, and with him.

  Margaret picked up the handcuffs. As before, he stood unresisting while she handcuffed his wrists behind his back. He felt a momentary disappointment at not having been asked to tie Helena to the whipping frame, or to wield the whip. This time he was not surprised by his reaction. He could feel his excitement growing as the drama unfolded.

  Margaret stood before him and ran her hand over his cock. He gasped and almost fell. When she felt his excitement, Margaret smiled at him as she continued the caress he was helpless to resist. She was going to take him to the brink of orgasm and stop, as she had done several days ago. But this time, with Helena present, she would probably not mount him as she had done then. Or maybe she would, to let Helena know that she could master him and drive him wild. Richard clenched his jaws as she rubbed and fondled him. When he glanced at Helena, he saw a mingling of concern for him and a suppressed excit
ement as she waited for the whipping which would drive her to the brink – and over.

  Margaret’s hand on his cock, soft, warm, insistent, claimed his attention once more. He couldn’t help his reaction. What man could, he asked himself. He looked down at Margaret as she continued to kneel before him, and flexed his wrists inside the steel bands, wanting to run his hands over her body, make her react to his touch on her flesh. She seemed more desirable clothed as she was, while he was naked and helpless. Her skirt had ridden up her thighs, revealing her full legs beneath the smooth, shiny blue tights she wore. Her dress fitted her tightly, moulding her full figure and sweeping low in front to reveal the tops of her breasts as he looked down.

  Margaret looked up and saw him staring. She smiled secretly at him and squeezed his cock, fully conscious of her power and desirability, and of the effect both were having on him.

  Richard felt his knees go weak at her touch. He swayed slightly and regained his balance. Helena watched, excited and eager. Richard didn’t know if she was aroused by what was to come to her, or if she wanted to exercise her own power over him in Margaret’s place.

  Margaret let go of his cock and grasped the chain hanging between his legs. With a sharp tug, she led him over to the whipping frame. There was a ring on the back of the frame, Richard saw. It had not been there before. She fastened his chain to the ring with a second padlock, leaving him tethered as she had in Helena’s apartment.

  Helena watched as he was secured, flushed and excited still. Margaret turned to Helena and ordered her to bring the rope from the table. She walked unsteadily across the carpet, her breasts swaying slightly as she moved. She came back with the rope and stood waiting for Margaret to make the next move.