He left her alone so she could go without his watching, and when she returned to the playroom a few couples had stopped playing and were facing a corner shielded by a huge piece of fabric.
Ethan motioned to Sam, and stood her next to Kirsten in front of the fabric. Their respective Doms began fitting them both with complicated rope harnesses. Sam’s harness was snug without being uncomfortable, and she suspected Ethan was preparing her for suspension.
Whatever was about to happen was well planned, because as soon as both harnesses were complete, the submissives were positioned with a good view of whatever was in the corner as Master James stepped forward to pull the cloth away with a flourish.
Sam’s breath caught as the huge spiderweb came into view. The outermost supports were chain, with the inner portions made of what looked like silk rope. The chain was secured to the walls with enough room for people to walk around the huge work of art, and the Sam immediately recognized the endless possibilities.
Two stepstools were already behind the ropes, and Master James brought two more out and settled them before the two submissives.
Kirsten was ordered to do a handstand on hers, and as her feet rose into the air, Sam realized her friend wore suspension cuffs on her ankles.
Ethan spotted Kirsten as Master James quickly made his way to the other side and secured her ankle cuffs to the rope with Kirsten’s legs spread wide.
Ethan buckled Sam’s wrist-suspension-cuffs on without attaching them to the web, while Master James secured Kirsten’s harness to the spiderweb. Sam wondered at why they would leave Kirsten’s arms and hands free.
“Your pussy’s already been well flogged, so you go on right side up,” Ethan said as he motioned Sam to step onto the stool.
Master James wrapped Sam’s right hand around Kirsten’s leg, just below her ankle cuff, and secured Sam’s wrist-cuff to the roping. Ethan raised her left arm slightly higher before fastening it out to her other side.
Sam’s harness was secured in dozens of places before the stool was removed, and after a moment of panic where she and the web moved together, she relaxed and let the silky rope support her.
Her legs were spread wide, and she felt Kirsten’s hand wrap around her right calf, just above her ankle cuff.
Sam felt as if she were part of the web, not merely attached to it. Her harness was constructed of the same silk rope, and she couldn’t tell where one began and the other ended.
Ethan appeared before her and fondled her nipples a few seconds before saying, “Let me hear your safeword with the bit gag.”
Sam did her best to say, “Matte” around the gag.
“Your turn, Kirsten,” said Master James.
Kirsten wasn’t gagged, and said something sounding like, “Hong Suh.”
The leather flogger kissed Sam’s upper back and she relaxed farther into the web. Her arms and legs were supported enough she could allow her body to go to jello, and she moaned in ecstasy as the flogger traversed her body from shoulders to thighs, only skipping over the kidney area.
Ethan gradually put more and more muscle into each strike, but Sam was ready for the intensity as it grew.
Sam moaned in protest when the flogging stopped, and opened her eyes in surprise a few seconds later when Ethan’s voice spoke in front of her.
“You’re floating, aren’t you?”
“Yes Sir. Thank you.” She nodded and hoped he could understand her around the bit gag.
“Don’t thank me yet,” he said as he raised the rubber flogger he’d made from bicycle inner tubes. Sam’s eyes grew wide and her head shook from side to side as Ethan and Master James both raised their arms and struck at the same time. Master James’ arms were lower, as Kirsten’s breasts were at the level of Sam’s knees, and Kirsten’s screams were in chorus with Sam’s.
The two women writhed on the web, pulling each other as they shifted the silky rope with their movements. Sam felt Kirsten’s hand squeezing her leg and realized she was doing the same to her friend.
Ethan didn’t slow or lessen his intensity, but kept up a rapid figure eight, going from Sam’s right breast to left and back again with no mercy.
Both men stopped, but Sam was only given a few seconds of relief as Ethan walked out of sight and Master James stepped in front of her. Seconds later she saw the flogger raise and lower, and felt the impact on her breast and ass at the same time. Dear God, she was being flogged by two men at once.
The rubber flogger bit into her ass and back with an intensity she wasn’t prepared for. Both men were using the same basic type of flogger, but Ethan was putting a lot more strength into it. Sam hopelessly fought her restraints and screamed nonstop, only to realize she was still screaming and fighting even though the blows had stopped several seconds ago.
Both men stepped to the side and gave Kirsten the same treatment for several minutes before switching back to Sam.
Sam needed a good minute to recover when they left her alone, and then she caressed her friend’s leg as best she could. The web was never still, as one of the women was always writhing, and Sam found herself turned on by Kirsten’s hand squeezing her leg, and the movement of the web as the woman frantically tried to evade and escape the lashes.
The men alternated back and forth until Sam was in a fog — either surviving the lashes personally, or catching her breath while Kirsten endured them.
Other screams, moans, and whimpers filled the room, and everything merged into a surreal haze where pain and pleasure melted into a single sensation and she couldn’t tell which was which.
Kirsten was let down first, and Ethan carried her into the other room before returning to release Sam from the web. They’d put the stool back under her feet so she could support herself, but Ethan managed to hold her and release her bonds, remove the bit gag and the plug, and finally carry her into the other room as well. She was placed beside Kirsten, and the two women were allowed to hold each other as Ethan settled on the mat and soothed them both.
Master James returned to the playroom and Sam understood she and Ethan were taking care of Kirsten since her Dom was taking care of their guests.
Other people were in the workout room, too, though in the subdued lighting she couldn’t make out who. The overhead lights were off, as she and Ethan had brought in some floor lamps with low wattage bulbs.
Sam snuggled the sheet around herself, felt to make sure the sheet around Kirsten was up around her shoulders as well, and allowed her brain to drift off and float. Ethan would make sure they were okay.
Chapter Twelve
The next couple of weeks went quickly and before long Ethan decreed Sam stretched enough, so she only had to maintain for the final few weeks. She was allowed to back off to using the plugs and rings two times a day, with the minimum raised to ten minutes, and the total time per day reduced to thirty minutes. The depth training schedule didn’t change, though he no longer increased the length on the weekends.
Sam was still running crazy, trying to wrap as many cases up as she could, postpone the ones best suited to delay, and bring the other attorneys up to speed on the ones they’d handle in her absence. Her assistant would be able to fill in the blanks in most cases, but she wanted to be sure her clients were taken care of and not left hanging.
On top of all of this, was family.
Sam’s mom thrived on planning and decorating, and Sam had given her nearly free reign over what Sam considered trivial. Sam had chosen the venue, the cake, the invitations, her bridesmaid’s dresses, and her own dress. Beyond that, she’d asked to approve her mom’s choice of menu, flowers, and anything else big, but would rather not be bothered with the other details. She considered the legal parts of the ceremony to be of the utmost importance, not the silverware and table linens.
Ethan had asked if he could hire the band for the reception, and Ethan’s grandmother had asked if she could make the groom’s cake. Sam had gladly told them both to have at it, and let her mom know those things were being hand
led.
Sam spent more time at her parent’s house in the months and weeks before the wedding than she had in years, as her mom insisted on showing her the latest decisions and choices.
“Mom, I keep telling you I’ve made the big decisions, and I’m not going to sweat the small stuff. Whatever you think is best for all of the minutiae is fine.”
“Dishes aren’t minutiae, miss hotty-totty-with-the-big-words. Dishes are important. I finally got pictures of the all three choices. They wanted to just show me the dishes and have me decide!” She sounded scandalized. “But this needs to be your decision so I made them get me pictures of the choices.”
Sam didn’t try to hide the rolling of her eyes as she accepted a piece of paper with three different place settings pictured. It hadn’t occurred to her mom to snap a photo of each choice with her phone and text them, but it would only make her mom angry to have it pointed out now.
“I’m really thinking it would’ve been easier to run off to Vegas to get married, and just come home to a reception at a local restaurant.”
“I would’ve never forgiven you.”
“I know.” Sam sighed, and looked at the images. Well, what do you know, her mom was right; she did have a preference. She pointed to the picture with the clear dishes and said, “If I hadn’t seen the choices I’d have been fine with whatever you picked, but I like these best.”
Her dad laughed and said, “You’re more like your mom than you want to admit. Those were her choice, too.”
Sam rolled her eyes, again, but ignored his jibe. She was nothing like her helpless mother.
She started to bring up the subject of Ethan’s family, but chickened out and asked, “Have you picked up my dress yet?”
“Oh, yes. You should try it on.”
“Mom, she only needed to take up the waist a little on the last alteration go-round. I’m sure it’s fine.”
“You don’t want to find out it isn’t on the morning of your wedding. Try it on.”
It was hopeless to argue, so Sam followed her mother down the hall.
* * * *
Sam put off talking to her parents about Ethan’s family until two days before his grandmother was to arrive in town. She didn’t invite Ethan because she feared her mom’s reaction would hurt his feelings.
“Mom, you know Ethan’s grandmother wants to come up a few days before the rest of the family, to help out with what she can, and I know you’re looking forward to showing his family what you’ve planned…but there’s something you should know.”
Her mom didn’t answer, just tilted her head sideways in curiosity.
“Ethan’s grandmother is from Jamaica. She has the coolest accent, and I adore her from head to toe. I don’t want you hurting her feelings or treating her different because she’s black. She’s sharp as a tack and I have the utmost respect for her.”
Her mom’s brow furrowed. “Was he adopted? He doesn’t look black.”
“He’s multi-racial, mom.”
Her forehead creased and her face scrunched in disgust. “He’s mixed?”
“We don’t say mixed, only dogs are mixed. People are bi-racial or multi-racial.” Sam worked hard to stay patient with her mom, she didn’t want this to escalate.
“Wait, so he’s…” Her mom did the math in her head, “A quarter black? So my grandkids will be part black?” She looked horrified.
Sam tried hard not to be pissed, but her voice was still sharp when she said, “He’s a quarter black, a quarter Latino, and an eighth Chinese; which makes him about thirty-five percent European descent, but you know what? He’s the love of my life and I wouldn’t care if he was one hundred percent black. I don’t care if our kids come out looking black, Hispanic, Chinese, Irish, Italian, or Martian. I’ll love them no matter what, if we ever get around to having them.”
Sam’s dad put his arm around her mom, his way of trying to quiet her, but it had no effect. “You lied to me! By omission! How you could let me like that man, when you knew he wasn’t white?”
“I’m unclear as to why his race makes a damned difference in whether or not you’d like him.”
Sam’s voice was calm this time, and her dad’s eyes took in the coolness as he squeezed his wife and said, “Hun, take a breath before you say anything else. You like Ethan. Sam didn’t lie to you. If you think about it, you can see the different ethnicities in him, they just don’t show up unless you think about it. He’s a wonderful man, and we’ll be lucky to have him as part of the family.”
Her mother’s eyes flashed and she opened her mouth again, but Sam said, “Think very carefully before you say whatever is in your head, mother. I’m marrying him with or without your blessing, and if you ever say a word to him or his family to hint you think less of them because of their race, you’ll never see me again, and will never meet any of our children.”
Her mother’s eyes sparked with temper, she opened her mouth, closed it, and turned to storm out of the room.
“Give her a minute,” said her dad. “She’ll come to her senses, she just needs to calm down and get used to the idea.”
“If she’d known before she liked him, she’d have never liked him.”
“Possibly, but she’ll remember how much she likes him and will come to her senses.” Sam wasn’t sure if he was trying to convince her, or himself.
“Even though he’s a lowly mover instead of a doctor or lawyer?”
“Even though.” Her dad chuckled. “You know, I’m happy you found a manly man, instead of some of the girly boys your mom used to try to set you up with.”
“Oh god, I didn’t know whether to kill her or the clothes designer when she invited me to dinner and sprung him on me as the ‘perfect guy’. What was she thinking?”
“She wanted grandkids, and you didn’t seem to be dating.”
“I was training for a national martial arts competition. I had no time to date.” Especially not submissive clothes designers, she thought, but didn’t say. Her mom hadn’t known Sam already knew the man, and had seen him dangling from the ceiling while three woman flogged him a few weekends prior in Nashville.
“She’s friends with his mom and the two cooked it up. You know she likes Ethan; she’ll be fine once she thinks it through.”
“Dad, his grandmother isn’t biracial. She’s dark, dark, black. I adore her, and I’m not sure I can ever forgive mom if she hurts her feelings.”
“Your mom’s prejudices are against the people who…” He shook his head. “I don’t think there’s a PC way to say it, but she doesn’t like the people who act black. If his grandmother is from Jamaica then her accent might be enough to let your mom see her different.”
Her dad had a point. Sam’s mom had spent a great deal of time with the city’s gang task force in an effort to try to figure out how to put the best media spin on the work they were doing. Her time in the inner city seemed to have taken her from slightly prejudiced to extremely prejudiced, as she took in the stereotype of so many of the people who live in the projects, don’t have a job, and expect society to support them. Sam had argued with her mom about it being about socio-economics and not race, but her mom just couldn’t see it.
“Well, his grandmother’s hair is cut really short, and she’s completely grey but it looks great on her. She dresses a lot like mom, actually. I’ve never seen her in jeans, and you never know if she’ll be in a casual pantsuit or dressed to the nines. She doesn’t wear much makeup, and she’s beautiful. Her personality just makes her glow.”
“I can see how fond you are of her. Tell me about the rest of his family.” His eyes flicked up and back down, and Sam assumed her mom was nearby and listening.
“His grandfather is this huge bear of a man. He’s from Ireland, and every once in a while you can hear the brogue, but mostly he sounds like everyone else in Atlanta. He’s a mechanical engineer, and though he retired a few years ago he still works a lot as a consultant.” Her dad smiled in encouragement and she continued. “His oth
er grandmother is from Puerto Rico, and Ethan says his grandfather was half German and half Chinese. He died a few years ago; Ethan still misses him.”
“You’ve been around the whole family; what are they like? As a group?”
“Crazy.” Sam chuckled. “It’s this huge loving family, and at first I thought it was mass chaos, but eventually figured out they’ve merged cultures and traditions, and everyone loves each other and knows each other’s quirks and idiosyncrasies. They all accept each other. It’s great.”
“His other grandfather,” her mom said from behind. “What did he do?”
“He was a fireman. He worked his way up through the ranks and was Chief of DeKalb County Fire and Rescue when he retired.”
“What do his parents do?”
Sam knew her mom would always judge people by society’s standards, so she answered the question instead of going off on a rant about how it’s who a person is on the inside that’s important. “His dad is a captain in the Atlanta Fire Department. He’s a firefighter, but also holds a paramedic license, and he volunteers with one of their local search and rescue teams.”
“And his mom?”
“His mom is an RN. They’re perfect for each other.”
“Do you have pictures of them?”
“Give me a minute and I can get some.”
She grabbed her cellphone and called Ethan. “Hey, can you email me some of the pictures from your grandparents’ anniversary party a few months ago?”
“Sure, why?”
Shit, how to answer without lying? She couldn’t. Maybe just omit the truth? “I want to show my mom. You have a big family, and I don’t know if she’ll adjust to their chaos as fast as I did. This way she’ll already have faces and names in her head.”
“Sure thing; give me a few minutes.”
“Thanks. Love you.”
“Love you, too. Don’t forget,” Sam’s insides heated as his voice shifted into the deeper timbre she’d come to associate with his Dom side, “you have your second date with the plug still this evening, and it doesn’t look like you’ve come yet today. I’d like you to get off at least twice while you have it in this evening.”
Safeword: Matte - In Training Page 16