by Sadie Haller
“You’re going to have to come out sometime, love. I’ll be here when you do.”
The last thing Hildy expected after she exhibited such abominable behaviour, was to feel Wilson pull her tight to him and stroke his hand up and down her back. She squirmed in discomfort. It was getting hot and stuffy under the blanket. She wanted to come out, but she didn’t want Wilson to stop what he was doing, and worse, she didn’t want to see the people who must be staring at her making such a spectacle of herself.
“Hildy, are you ready to come out?”
“No.”
“Nobody’s paying any attention to you. Jack’s got Sloane bent over the spanking bench and is laying into her ass with the seat strap from his bassoon and Griff is keeping her mouth busy. Sub in a blanket just can’t compete with that.”
Hildy shifted the blanket enough to see from one eye. Sure enough, Wilson was telling the truth, not one person in the room was looking at her. Except him. She moved the blanket to expose more of her head. The air in the room felt chilly on her sweaty head and caused her whole body to shiver. She looked up into Wilson’s face, and his stony expression contradicted his gentle strokes up and down her back.
“Do you have an answer for me?”
“No, Sully would never, ever do that.”
“You’re damn right he wouldn’t. In addition, by accusing me of drugging you, you are accusing everyone in this room of being complicit. You’ve essentially branded every person here as untrustworthy. You owe them all an apology, Hildy, but I don’t think sorry is going to cut it.
“I’m going to have to decide on an appropriate apology, and once I do, you will have two options. Either you apologise exactly as I tell you, or you safeword out and you won’t be welcome to play here.
“Fair warning, I won’t make this easy on you. Trust is what everything balances on here. I thought you understood that. Questioning someone’s integrity, especially in public, without good reason is beyond serious. If you aren’t able to treat those around you, especially Sully, with the same respect they’ve afforded you, then you need to safeword out now.”
Hildy couldn’t hold back the tears any longer. Her parents were right, she was stupid. She should have stayed home.
Wilson was torn. He knew damn well her accusation wasn’t meant. She fell asleep so fast after that chocolate, it was hardly surprising she would think she’d been drugged. However, deep down she knew Sully would never put her at risk like that, and had she controlled her tongue until her brain was fully engaged, she wouldn’t be in this fix. He wished he could tell her it was just a mistake and everything is fine. Unfortunately, he couldn’t. As a Dom, he could never let his sub get away with something like this. If she wanted to continue to explore her kinky side, she absolutely had to make amends. Word would get around. Jackson and Griff rarely had a regular sub although, if he wasn’t mistaken, this one broke the record for most appearances. It was made clear to subs who came to play at Finn’s parties, that they were private and what happened at Finn’s stayed at Finn’s. But everyone also understood it was an unrealistic expectation, and they governed their behaviour accordingly. He had a fairly good idea of what would be a fitting punishment for Hildy, but he needed to ensure the rest of the group understood just how much she would struggle with it.
“Hildy, I need to go have a quick chat with Sully. Will you be okay on your own for a minute?”
He knew she was still crying, so accepted her nod rather than a proper answer. This time. He gently shifted her sideways, off his lap and onto the sofa. “I’ll be back as soon as I can and we’ll get this sorted.” He didn’t expect an answer, so he didn’t wait.
He headed straight for Sully, who was parked in front of Jack’s scene. He positioned himself to Sully’s side and whispered, “I need to talk to you. It’s urgent.”
“Sully’s head swivelled towards Wilson as he glared. “What. Did. You. Do?”
“Hush, just come with me now. We need to hurry.”
Sully got up and followed Wilson to a quiet corner of the room. “I didn’t do anything.” Wilson filled Sully in on what happened and what he planned to do about it. “So, I need you to discretely give the heads-up. You and I both know this is going to be really hard for Hildy to do, and I need to be sure everyone else understands. Particularly Sloane. She’s the one most likely to blow this into a complete clusterfuck.”
“I’ll get Mac to help me. You get back to Hildy. Understand though, for Hildy’s sake, beyond getting the word out, I have to stay completely out of this.”
“I know, and I respect that.”
Sully gave Wilson a quick pat on the shoulder before embarking on his mission. Wilson spun on his heel and returned to the sofa. “Okay, love. Here’s the deal. The best way to apologise and prove you didn’t mean what you implied is to give them a demonstration of your trust.”
“How am I supposed to do that?”
“By doing something you’re going to find really hard. With the exception of Sully and myself, you are going to say you’re sorry to each person here and give them a hug, which has to last at least ten seconds after they’ve wrapped their arms around you.”
Hildy buried her face in her hands. “There is no way I can do that. How could you possibly ask that of me?”
Wilson wanted to take her in his arms and sooth her, but that would have to wait until either she apologised to the others or safeworded out. “If it’s easy for you, it will mean nothing to them. It’s easy to say you’re sorry. It’s a lot harder to prove it. Mending broken trust is harder still. You broke their trust in you, Hildy. You have to earn it back, and the best way to do that is trust them with something you find hard. If this really is too much for you, then safeword out and I’ll take you home.”
“I guess your trust is broken too?”
“Nothing that can’t be fixed if you want it to.”
“I don’t know, Wil. You know how I am about being touched.”
“Exactly. It’s something we were going to work on at some point, but, I sure as hell wasn’t expecting it to be at your first play party.”
“I’m so, so sorry, Wil.”
“Enough. You need to have a hard think about what you’re going to do because you don’t have much time to make your decision. Jack and Griff look to be close to finishing their scene.”
Wilson waited patiently as he watched Hildy struggle with her decision. That she didn’t immediately bail confirmed his initial impression. She didn’t give up easily. Based on what little he knew of her horrendous childhood, she could very easily have stopped fighting.
“I’ll try.”
Wilson smiled and reached for her hand to help her up from the sofa. “Try is good. We’ll go by sub then her Dom, starting with Mac. By the time we’ve gone through everyone, Jack, Griff, and Sloane should be just about ready for you.”
“Wilson?”
“Yes, love?”
“What do I have to do to apologise to you and Sully?”
“We’ll get to that later. As far as Griff, Jack, and Sloane are concerned, your apology to us is a private matter to be witnessed by Mac and Finn.”
“I don’t understand.”
“All they need to know is you’ll be making appropriate apologies to all involved. They will see you making enough of your apologies in public to be assured you will follow through with the private ones.”
“I’m sorry I ruined your night.”
“Enough. It’s time to go find Mac and Finn.”
What have I done? Hildy worked hard to keep her breathing slow and regular. Her heart was pounding and her palms were sweaty as Wilson led her to make her first apology. Mac. This she could do. She knew Mac. She’d been nothing but kind and supportive, and this was the least she could do after fucking up so badly. She looked to Finn as she approached Mac. He gave a nod, and she stepped forward. “I’m so sorry, Mac. I didn’t mean to abuse your trust.”
Mac pulled her into her embrace. “No harm done, You’re
forgiven.” Then she whispered into Hildy’s ear, “Call me later, we’ll talk.”
After what seemed like forever, Wilson spoke. “Alright, break it up you two.”
Once Mac finally let her go, Hildy turned to Finn and repeated her apology. She thought she was going to pass out when he took her into his arms and gave her a firm, but gentle hug. “Brave girl, you make us proud. You’re forgiven, pet.”
With each apology, the hugs became less difficult. She felt her chest get lighter as she realised she was down to Griff, Jack, and their sub. She was almost done and nothing bad happened.
She approached Sloane and made her apologies. Unlike the rest of the group who were gracious and welcoming, she waited for Hildy to make body contact and even then, she didn’t wrap her arms around Hildy until Jack reminded her. She brought her lips close to Hildy’s ear and whispered, “You’ll never be forgiven, loser.” before pulling away with a glib, “Forgiven.”
Hildy was crushed and her face fell. She just wanted to run away, and she was so close to doing just that. Then she caught sight of Sully, nodding his head in silent encouragement. Sully. Two more apologies. Two more hugs. She could do it. Make Sully proud, then she could leave with her head held high and never see these people again.
She lifted her head and turned to apologise to Jack. This time, she couldn’t quite meet his eyes. She tried to make this apology sound as sincere as the rest, but her heart wasn’t in it. She struggled to get the words out, before creeping her way into Jack’s arms for the mandatory hug. It took an eternity and it was all she could do not to tear herself from his arms and flee. Instead, she stiffened her spine and turned to deliver her final apology.
“That’s it, she’s done.” Hildy never thought she would be so glad to hear Wilson’s voice. She forced herself to disentangle from Griff’s embrace with as much dignity as she could muster before seeking out the closest person she could trust in this room of liars.
It was Wilson who gathered her in his arms and carried her back to the sofa. Once she was settled back on his lap, he kissed her temple and asked, “What just happened?”
She shook her head. “Nothing, I’m fine.”
“Don’t ever lie to me, Hildy. What’s wrong?”
Just then, a very angry Sully arrived and parked himself next to the couple. “What the fuck just happened?”
“That’s what I want to know. Start talking, Hildy.”
“I don’t want to talk about it. I just want to go home.”
“Is that a red?” Wilson asked.
Hildy was done.
“Yes, it’s a fucking red, okay. Red. I’m going home.” Wil released her instantly and she scrambled from his lap.
“Okay, give us a few minutes to get organised and we’ll take you home.”
“No, I’ll call a taxi. I don’t want to see any of you again. I’m done.”
Hildy raced across the dungeon and up the stairs, not caring who saw or what they thought.
Wilson started to rise, intending to go after Hildy, when he felt Sully’s hand on his leg “Wil, let her go. She needs her space. She may calm down quickly and let us take her home, but she’s most likely going to follow through on the cab. Regardless, you need to let her be. For now.”
“Did I push her too far? She was doing so well right up until she got to Sloane.”
“No, something happened between Sloane and Hildy. Go get Finn and Mac, and while you’re at it, tell Jack and Griff to hang on for a few minutes.”
Wilson decided to swing by Jack and Griff first before fetching Mac and Finn. He was surprised to see their sub on her knees and tears streaming down her face. He missed what Jack had to say, but he did see Sloane shaking her head emphatically. Griff looked over as Wil approached and cocked an eyebrow. A silent question.
“Can you two wait a few minutes before going? Sully and I want to have a quick word. We just need to speak with Finn and Mac first.”
“Sure, no problem. In the meantime, I’ll get our stuff together.”
“Thanks.” On his way to get Finn and Mac, Wilson briefly wondered if Jack and Griff had picked up on the sudden change in Hildy after her apology to his sub. He hoped so. It would make sorting this out much easier.
“Finn, Mac, Sully and I would like a word.”
Mac shook her head. “I was just going to check on Hildy. She flew out of here like her ass was on fire.”
“Sully said it’s best to give her some space.”
“Sully isn’t always the sharpest cookie in the shed, now, is he?”
“Please, Mac? This concerns Hildy.”
“Fine, but she’d better still be upstairs by the time we’re done or you’re in it deep, bucko.”
And with that, there was no question Mac had switched from sub to protective mama-bear.
Sully started talking the moment the other three took their seats. “I assume we all saw the same thing. Hildy was doing great until she got to that sub Jack and Griff brought?” The group nodded and he carried on. “Mac, what do you think?”
“It’s pretty simple, that bitch had to have said something mean to our Hildy. I was behind her and didn’t actually see or hear her say anything, but I did see Hildy’s face transform from nervous to devastated in the space of a second.”
“Finn?”
I didn’t see or hear anything either, but there was a definite and immediate change in Hildy’s demeanour.” Finn turned to Wilson. “What did she say?”
“Red.”
“Wilson asked Jack and Griff to hang back for a few minutes. I think we should call them over now, but that sub should stay put until we’ve talked this through.”
The group agreed, and Sully caught Jack’s attention and motioned for him to join them. He spoke before anyone else had a chance. “I can only assume this little pow-wow has something to do with what happened between Hildy and Sloane?”
Wilson’s eyes blazed. “What did happen?”
“Damned if I know. I asked Sloane, and she said she had no idea what the problem could be. She’d accepted Hildy’s apology and that was that.”
“Do you believe her?” Finn asked.
“No, I don’t. I was just about to get into that with her. What did Hildy say about it?”
“First she denied there was an issue, then she refused to talk about it and called red.”
“Fuck! We were really hoping things would work out with this one. I’ll deal with her. Then she’s done. Is Hildy still here?”
Mac jumped up from her seat. “I’ll go check. If she is, what should I do?”
Wilson spoke up. “Keep her here. Do whatever you need to keep her from leaving. I know she called red over whatever went on with Sloane, but I want to make sure everything is okay between us and make sure she gets home safely.”
Mac nodded and headed for the stairs.
“What do you have in mind, Jack?”
“I think Sloane needs to learn about telling the truth, and once she’s confessed, I think she’ll be begging Hildy for forgiveness.”
“Absolutely not,” Wilson objected.
“What? Why not?”
“She’s fragile, Jack. Really, really fragile. If I could have found a way to keep her from having to apologise to everyone, I would have done it in a heartbeat. I wanted to say fuck it and brush it all under the rug anyway. I think the best thing we can do for her right now is keep Sloane well away from her. I’m not saying don’t get the truth and mete out punishment. I’m just saying keep Hildy out if it. And Jack?” He shot the other man a pointed look. “I want Hildy kept right out of it.”
“Got it. I’ll get Sloane to admit the truth, then punish her for the lying. That work for you?”
“Good enough.”
“Alright.” Jack turned to Sully. “Could you please come and bear witness?”
“My pleasure.”
Wilson felt a bit torn. Part of him wanted to watch Jack and Griff deal with their sub on Hildy’s behalf, but a larger part of him wanted t
o be with Hildy and get things back on track. His need to be with Hildy won and he quietly made his way out of the dungeon, sparing only a passing glance and a twinge of pity for the sub who’d earned punishment at Jack’s hand. He’d call Sully later for the details.
His heart broke when he walked into the living room to see Hildy sobbing in Mac’s arms. He caught Mac’s eye and put a finger to his lips as he made his way towards the sofa. Once he’d crouched in front of Hildy, he gave Mac a quick nod.
“Hildy, Wilson is here, and he wants to talk to you.”
As Hildy lifted her head, Wilson took her hand in his and gently rubbed his thumb along her fingers.
“Hildy?”
She slowly met his gaze, but didn’t speak.
“Aw, honey, I’m so sorry. Can I please hold you?”
Hildy remained silent, but nodded.
Mac eased away so Wilson could take her place.
“Oh, sweet Hildy, I’m sorry I pushed. I know you don’t want to talk about it, so you don’t have to. I’m just going to tell you what we know and what’s going on. Okay?”
Hildy nodded again, and Wilson continued. “We know Sloane said something to upset you. We all knew it the moment it happened. None of us know what she said, but it was obvious to all, it wasn’t even remotely charitable. Jack noticed too, honey. He asked her. She lied to him, and he knew it. After chatting with us, he decided to get the truth out of her and then he’ll punish her for lying. While I would like her to get all the punishment she deserves for her actions, Jack is making sure you are in no way connected to why she is being punished. She’s not welcome here, and there is no reason why you should ever encounter her again. Okay?”
Hildy shook her head violently and croaked, “No.”
“What’s the problem, love?”
“I don’t want to be the reason for anyone’s punishment.”
“You aren’t. She was asked a question and she lied. We’ve talked about trust. You had a punishment of your own for breaking it. Lying is not tolerated and is always, always severely punished. It’s not your fault.”