One Gold Knot

by Sadie Haller

  “Busted. I gave Finn help when it came to Mac, so it was only fair to give Wil a little guidance on navigating the maze that is Hildy Klein.”

  “You are nothing but a hopeless romantic. How about you stop trying to make matches for your friends and work a little harder on one for yourself. It’s time you stop being a man-slut and settle down with a nice little switch.”

  “You didn’t say anything to Wilson about my occasional side-trips to the ouchy end of the hitty-stick, did you?”

  “Of course not. Nobody’s business but yours. I’m sorry I let that bit about the ball-gag slip out last night.”

  “Ah, the truth comes out. You’re drowning in guilt for almost outing me. I thought your forgiveness was a little too easily won. A word of warning, sweetie, you’ll need to be on your guard with Wil over your little slip. He brought it up with me today, so he’s not going to let it go.”

  “You know, Sully, if you’d just come clean with the group, neither of us would have to watch our mouths. What’s the big deal?”

  “Dominant Cord. That doesn’t exactly scream four Doms and a switch, does it?”

  Hildy let out a long, exasperated breath. “You are such an idiot. You said it yourself, occasional trips. That doesn’t make you less of a Dom. What’s with the identity crisis?”

  “I don’t know. Maybe it’s because I haven’t played in weeks, and these broken ribs make me feel less-than.”

  “Whiner. Hurry up and get healed so you can pick up a hitty-stick and strike terror in the backsides of subbies everywhere.”

  “Are you sure you’re not kinky?”

  “Nope, not a bit. What time’s supper?”

  “I’ll order for about six, but how about you be here for five so we can go through the paperwork first, then relax.”

  “There really is paperwork? I thought you were making up a reason for me to come over.”

  “While I did want you to come over, I was not going to fuck up by giving you a bullshit story. You’re Erich’s sole beneficiary, and there is a whole bunch of paperwork I need to go through with you. I’ll see you later.”

  “See ya.” Hildy disconnected the call and set her phone down on the sofa. She thought back to Sully’s question about being kinky. Her answer was automatic, but no longer fully honest. Great, she’d flat-out lied to Sully. Another thing to feel guilty over. Sully’d been regularly asking her that same question for so many years, the answer was out before she’d taken last night’s conversation with Wilson into account.

  Consequences. Before Wil had brought the subject up, she hadn’t felt more than mild curiosity about the sorts of activities Sully and his friends engaged in. But as soon as Wil had said mine, and consequences, she was done for.

  As much as she wanted to pretend she hadn’t developed an interest in the kinky side of life, she knew she’d have to come clean with Sully. He’d been telling her for years she’d change her tune one day. It was just her luck one day happened to be at her uncle’s funeral. She glanced at the clock, plenty of time to have a long, hot soak in the tub. Her week had gone to shit in a handbag when Sully told her of her uncle’s death, and that handbag had to have the interior proportions of a TARDIS, because the shit just kept on coming.

  Hildy twisted the taps on the tub, and after a couple of minutes checked the temperature with her hand. Cold. She turned off the cold, and on discovering there was no hot water, she was ready to give up and go to bed. She was tempted to call Sully and cancel, but if she gave her inability to bathe as an excuse, he’d just tell her to come early and bathe there. Aw hell, she wanted a nice hot bath, and considering the big gift of ‘I told you so’ she was about to bestow upon him, the least Sully could do was supply her with a tub full of hot water for a couple of hours. She shut off the faucet and went in search of her phone.

  “Are you ever coming out? You take the most epic baths of anyone I’ve ever known.”

  Hildy groaned, marked her place, and set her book on the closed lid of the toilet. “I’ll be down in fifteen minutes, now leave me be.”

  “Hurry up, I’m tired of having a naked woman in my house and not being able to play with her.”

  Maybe she was right to wait until after her bath to give him his ‘I told you so’ moment. While she trusted him completely, she was sure her handbag had room for more shit, and she was not about to hold it open.

  She pulled the plug and stood, letting the water slide off her body and into the tub before grabbing one of Sully’s thick, fluffy towels. She loved these towels. In most things, Sully was the classic, manly bachelor, but he did have the odd redeeming domestic quirk, and a closet full of plush towels was one of them. She threw on her clothes and headed down to ‘fess up to Sully.”

  “Hey gorgeous. Feel better?”

  “A little.”

  “Aw, sweetie, come sit down. What’s wrong?”

  There was no holding back; her confession gushed from her lips. “I lied to you. When I said I had no interest in kink, I lied. There’s really no excuse for it, but it had been the truth for so long, when you asked the usual question, I gave you my usual answer and once it was out, I didn’t know what to do...”

  Sully finished for her. “But the guilt was eating you alive, and you just had to own up. Sweetie, thanks for your honesty. Truth is, I ask that question more because I liked to fluster you than out of self-interest. If I were a proper gentleman, I’d leave it there, but I’m a nosy busy-body. When did it change?”

  “Believe it or not, last night.”

  Sully’s eyes twinkled. “Wilson did get to you, then?”

  “He did, but what I said about not wanting to see him again was true.”

  “A one-eighty like that is bound to scare the beejeezus out of you, and the last thing I can imagine you’d want to do is spend time with someone who has such a profound effect on your sexuality.”

  “Fuck, Sully, sometimes I swear you’re psychic, or something.”

  “Not even close. I’d say it has more to do with knowing you since we were kids. So, what happened last night that changed your mind about kink?”

  “Something Wilson said.”

  “And...” Sully prompted.

  “Damn you, Sully. Are you really going to make me tell you everything?”

  “Of course I am. So, spill.”

  Hildy huffed. “Okay, fine. He said something to the effect of ‘if you were really mine, there’d be consequences.’ Can we drop it now?”

  “Hell, no. What on earth did you do that had the potential to earn you a visit from Wil’s rather inventive side?”

  “I was a bit cheeky and stuck my tongue out.”

  Sully nodded sagely. “A word of caution. Unless your tongue is doing delicious things to drive Wilson wild, you may want to keep it safely in your mouth. I am not kidding when I say, he has some pretty effective ways of dealing with cheeky subs who stick their tongues out inappropriately.”

  “Oh, please. It’s safe to say it will never be a problem because I’ll never be his.”

  “Sweetie, I don’t know what I want more, for you to be right, or to eat your words. Both options have merit.”

  “Contrary to your self-important belief, it’s not about you. Shouldn’t our supper be here by now?”

  Three

  Hildy gathered the mess of envelopes from the floor below the letter-slot and sifted through them. Mostly junk and bills, but one caught her eye. She checked the return address and briefly considered returning it to the sender. Curiosity won out. She set her morning coffee on the table and slipped her finger beneath the flap, sliding it in one smooth motion from one side to the other. She reached in with her thumb and forefinger and extracted the contents, a folded slip of paper and an old photo of her uncle playing his clarinet.

  She smiled. His stance and expression were familiar, the photo was not. She spent a few minutes studying the image, making a mental note to get it framed. Finally, she unfolded the paper and read:

  Dear Hildy,<
br />
  I thought you’d like to have this one.

  Wilson

  She reread the words and smiled. It screamed Sully and his inability to keep his meddling nose out of anyone’s business. She had a call to make.

  “You meddlesome old fart.”

  “Ah the dulcet tones of my favourite piano teacher,” Sully replied.

  “You coached him. You gave him that photograph to send, didn’t you?”

  “Calm down. What are you talking about? What photograph?”

  “The one of Uncle Erich.”

  “Sorry sweetie, I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Damn.”

  “What’s the matter?”

  “I was hoping it was another one of your sneaky ploys so I could use it to justify not forgiving him.”

  “Why would you need to justify it? Either you do, or you don’t. It’s not a judgement thing.”

  “Damn you Sully. I hate that you know me so fucking well.”

  “Yes, I do, and how many times has it been to your advantage?”

  “Way more than I care to admit.”

  “He’s really got your emotions tied in knots, hasn’t he?”

  “Unfortunately, yes.”

  “I suspect that’s not all he’ll have tied in knots before too long.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” She asked, already knowing the answer.

  “One step at a time. You’re interested in the kinky side of life, these days. How about you join me at Finn’s next play party. I won’t be up for playing, so it would give you a good, safe opportunity to see what it’s about. You’ll be able to watch and ask all the questions you like.”

  Seriously? He was expecting her to jump in with both feet and go to a fucking kink-fest? “I don’t know, Sully. I don’t know if I’m ready for that kind of thing.”

  “The next party isn’t for another week, so no need to decide right away. How about I email you links to some websites with good, accurate information so you can do a little research, okay? If left to your own devices, I shudder to think what kind of freakiness you could stumble upon and scare you away before you even get started.”

  “I’d appreciate that, Sully. I’ll admit to giving in to my curiosity a time or two. I’ve even gone so far as to do a search, but I’ve never actually had the nerve to click on any links. The little thumbnails that showed up sent me scurrying for the back-button every single time.” Boy had they ever. But they stopped her from wondering.

  “Wow, I never thought you had even enough curiosity to type in a search. I guess I don’t know you quite as well as I like to think I do.”

  “Score one for me. I never thought I would see the day where you weren’t at least one step ahead of me. Look, I’m going to go. I have some thinking to do.”

  “I imagine you do. Give me an hour and there’ll be an email bursting with kinky-linky goodness in your inbox.”

  “Thanks, Sully. I’ll catch you later.”

  “So long, Sweets.”

  It had been days since he’d gone to Sully for help, and Wil’s patience was wearing thin. He hadn’t heard anything from Hildy either, but he hadn’t expected to. He’d have sent that photo regardless of whether they were in a committed relationship or sworn enemies. No strings attached. The ringing phone caught his attention. He took a quick look at the incoming number and smiled. Finally. “Sully, you have uncanny timing. I was just thinking of calling you.”

  “You’re an idiot. I told you to stay the hell away from her. It’s only dumb fucking luck your stunt didn’t backfire.”

  Wil walked into the kitchen and poured himself a cup of coffee. “It wasn’t a stunt, Sully. I was going through some stuff, reminiscing, and as soon as I saw it, I knew she had to have it.”

  “Luck was with you, that’s for sure. That’s not why I called.”

  “Oh, really?”

  “I had a very interesting conversation with Hildy and I’m only sharing it with you because you are relevant to it as both subject, and potential ally.”

  “Sully, I know you look upon yourself as a kind of fixer, but sometimes, you need to let things work out in their own way.”

  “Not this time.” Sully paused. “That conversation you and she had about ownership and consequences piqued her curiosity, and she’s interested in exploring life on the kinky side.”

  “I’m not surprised. Her reaction was pretty obvious, even though she tried hard to hide it.”

  Sully cleared his throat. “Given you seem to be the one who woke her desire to explore, I think it makes sense for you to be her guide.”

  “I don’t know. I’m not one for taking on neophytes, even under the most clinical of circumstances.” Wil took a sip of coffee and set it on the table. “Yes, she intrigues me. So much so, I made a rookie mistake that not only could have been the absolute end for anything between Hildy and me, it could have caused irreparable damage to your relationship with her.”

  “Give me a little credit, Wil. I wouldn’t be asking this of you if I thought there was any chance you could put my relationship with Hildy at risk. I’ve already laid some ground-work for you and got her started on the theory portion of her education. Once I’m satisfied she’s ready, you’ll take care of the practical side.”

  “I don’t know about this, Sully.”

  “What’s to know? You are attracted to each other, and I trust you. Either it works out, or it doesn’t.”

  “Damn it, Sully. She could get hurt emotionally.”

  “Yeah, she could, but I doubt it. She was destroyed emotionally by her own parents and just lost one of only two people in her life to give her unconditional love. My opinion of you would have to be seriously fucked up for you to be capable of hurting her worse than that.”

  Wil sighed. “I concede to your superior stubbornness. I will give it a try, but I also need to be satisfied she’s ready before we venture into any physical activities.”

  “I can work with that.”

  “You said you’ve got her started on the theoretical. Care to enlighten me on what you mean by that?”

  “I sent her links to a bunch of really good websites to get her started. I’ve ordered her a bunch of books for her e-reader as well. Both fiction and non-fiction. The one thing I didn’t do, was send her a check-list. I thought that should be entirely between the two of you.”

  “Sounds like a good start. Have you spoken with her about having me be her physical guide to all things kinky?”

  “Not yet. I wanted to give her time with all the written material first. I expect that will whet her appetite enough to be open to the suggestion.”

  “You are a sneaky bugger, you know that?”

  “I’m all about the big picture. Even if things don’t work out between the two of you, I know your treatment of her will put her on the road to a functional, loving, lasting relationship. She deserves that.”

  “Everyone deserves that. Should I not be in contact with her until you think she’s ready to move forward?”

  “Actually, no. I’m hoping she’ll be up for accompanying me to Finn and Mac’s party.”

  Wil exploded. “What? Are you fucking nuts?”

  “Quite probably. I have two ideas from which to choose. The first option is for you to attend with a sub and play as normal so Hildy can see you in action, which will hopefully allay any concerns. The second option is for you to go stag so you can pay close attention to her reactions to the activities around her.”

  “You wouldn’t be injecting an element of jealousy in the first scenario would you?”

  “Well, I don’t suppose a few twinges of jealousy on her part could hurt too much.”

  “You are a manipulative son of a bitch, Dave Sullivan.”

  “True, but I have good reasons.”

  “I think they’re better reasons when they don’t involve me.”

  “So, option one, or option two for the play party?”

  “None of the above. “ Wil tried not to
laugh as he proceeded to ruin his friend’s plans. “I’ll be doing some rope work on Mac, so that’s the only place my attention will be. Besides, until you know Hildy is going to attend, I expect there are more pressing matters to handle.”

  “Good point. Check-list comes to mind. I think that will be the best way to introduce your role in this. Once she’s finished with all the reading, I’ll bring up the need for her to do a check-list and suggest she exchange with you because it would be completely squicky for her to exchange with me. This whole business is bordering on squicky for me as it is.”

  Hildy tapped the table with her nail as the phone on the other end continued to ring. Please don’t go to voice mail.

  “Hello?”

  “Oh Mac, thank fuck.”

  “Um, who is this?”

  “Shit, I’m sorry. It’s Hildy Klein, Sully’s friend? We met at Erich Klein’s wake, and you said I could call you if I ever needed to talk.”

  “Oh yeah, hi Hildy. What’s the matter?”

  “I’m sorry to bother you, but I need someone to talk to, and Sully isn’t an option.” And wasn’t that an understatement.

  “Do you want to talk now, over the phone, or in person?”

  “I think over the phone might be easier. At least you won’t be able to see me blush.”

  “Phone it is. What’s up?”

  Hildy dragged her fingers through her hair. “Fuck, I don’t even know where or how to start.”

  “Does this have anything to do with Wilson?”

  “Sully and his big mouth are dead.”

  “Calm down, Sully never said a word. I was at your uncle’s wake, remember.” Mac chuckled a little. “I saw the sizzle between the two of you. Are you coming to the play party?”

  “Aw bugger. I’m all new at this kinky thing. I mean really new, as in I had only vague ideas until Sully sent me all those links.”

  “So, you’re new. We’ve all been new at some point.”

  “But, I don’t know how to do any of this stuff, and what if I hate it?”