by M. P. Lodi
Charlotte took her hand off of Emily's leg but squeezed it a little first. That seemed a bit odd but not totally out of the ordinary when it came to two women bonding. Charlotte grabbed her Coke with that hand and took a long sip.
“Hey, you've been on the run from the law for years now, right?” Emily asked.
Charlotte put the can of soda down and confirmed, “That I have. There are a few warrants for my arrest floating around in various states.”
“You'd never guess from how you look. You're beautiful.” Emily looked at Charlotte's scarred arm.
“I notice how you say that and still look at the one part of me that is grotesque and not beautiful,” Charlotte said.
“It makes you look to see the details. I'm sorry if it makes you feel uncomfortable,” Emily said.
“I can't be made to feel uncomfortable. Sweetie, for six months in Manhattan I worked with VeVe Lane and her crew. You ever hear about her?”
“No idea who that is. Is she a gangster or something?”
Charlotte almost laughed. “Not at all. She's an astute businesswoman in the fetish field. I was just thinking how nothing can make me feel uncomfortable given what I've done in my short years. When I worked in that field... well, let's just say that you're looking at one of the very few women who can forcefully tie up almost any average-sized male.”
“What?” Emily looked confused. “Are you like a dominatrix?” she asked. That was totally unexpected.
“Almost, VeVe Lane started a wrestling group and a field within wrestling called Bondage Wrestling. She's the pioneer. If you googled her name, you'd see videos of how she teaches you to tie someone up easily, even against their will. We basically had wrestling matches with rope, and the winner of the match was the one who managed to tie up their opponent. You'd be surprised at how easy it is. Strength doesn't matter nearly as much as technique.”
“I don't get it then. What's the uncomfortable part you were alluding to?”
“Let's just say that private customers who love that sort of thing, well they always want what's called a Happy Ending on the low end. That's after you had them all tied up.”
“OK, I get it. I know what that is. Some seedy massage parlors do them, too. Why else would a man pay $100 or $200 to get a massage unless some woman was stroking him off for the 'happy ending'?” Emily asked.
“Well now you know what I did for a living, and after a while I ended up disgusted with the private sessions. I was under the illusion when I started working that I could just wrestle and tie men up and be happy and get paid, all with a mask on since they videotape it. Not true. Anyway, I quit and here I am.”
“That's really interesting. I’ve only had a couple jobs: I cleaned rooms for a while, and I was a hairdresser for years. You've led a much more interesting life than I have. Do you think anyone can learn to tie someone up forcefully? Even a man the size of Noah?”
Charlotte stood up, and held her hand out to Emily. She said “Come with me, I'll show you some interesting things. But no... not a man the size of Noah. He would have to go along with you. He's way too muscular to forcefully tie up.”
Emily took her hand, grabbed her Sprite and followed Charlotte to her bedroom. This was getting interesting and Emily didn't know where it would go. She knew she had to tell Charlotte soon that she wasn't into women or this might go there and get real weird. That was how it was looking to Emily. She had that feeling. Women can always tell when another woman was into them. Or a man, for that matter.
Charlotte let go of Emily's hand as they walked into the second bedroom. Emily said, “I just want to say, just in case this...”
Charlotte cleared her throat, interrupting Emily's train of thought. “There aren't any men here; they won’t be back for at least five hours at the soonest. I don't bite. I swear.” Emily decided not to finish her thought.
Charlotte sat on her bed, gesturing for Emily to sit down on the bed next to her. She reached over to her side table and opened up the top drawer, taking out a handful of rope. She threw it on the bed. Looking at Emily, she saw her eyes widen. Surprised was more like it.
Emily wasn't scared of Charlotte. She just wasn't into lesbianism in any way, even though Charlotte was a beautiful woman. She knew where this was going. No doubt about it. The only question was: how far would she let it go?
“Before we do anything or say anything else, do you know what a safe word is?” Charlotte asked.
Emily looked at her with a face that screamed 'of course' without saying the words.
Emily said, “I use 'dragon' as a safe word. That would never come up in a normal conversation or in play unless... needed.”
“OK... Good.” Charlotte grabbed Emily around the waist and moved her closer to the middle of the bed. Emily was surprised at her strength.
In the center of the bed, Charlotte maneuvered Emily onto her stomach and twisted Emily's right arm behind her. Emily tried to move away, but this woman had surreal strength.
“Get off of me!” Emily ordered. Now it was Emily's turn to see where the two of them stood.
She couldn't see Charlotte's face from the position she was in, but she just knew Charlotte was smiling while holding Emily down on the bed. Emily twisted to her left and turned as best as she could to see Charlotte's face. She was right. Charlotte was smiling and looked incredibly turned on. Thoughts of how to end this little play scenario – or whether she should end it – fought for control in Emily's head.
“Make me” Charlotte commanded as she held her firmly by the wrist, pinning it high up on Emily's back. Emily struggled to get free but wasn't going anywhere. By not saying 'dragon', she all but gave Charlotte permission to do anything she wanted. Emily struggled some more to move, but couldn't.
Emily knew that but also knew she would stop this play session short of getting naked. She still had no intention of any actual sexual playing around with Charlotte. She just wasn't into women like she was men.
“Let me go... please,” Emily murmured. In Emily's head, she was thinking of Noah doing all of this with her. The thought turned her on, and she felt her nipples harden.
Charlotte wrapped rope around Emily's right arm, then grabbed her left arm and pinned it at the small of Emily's back, wrapping the rope around and around and cinching it off where Emily couldn't get at the knot.
“Now you know why Joshua really calls me Spiderwoman. Said the spider to the fly. You've heard him say that little line too, right?” Charlotte asked.
“Yeah... before we even met I heard him say that in the car ride here. You really did a great job with the rope. I can't move my arms much at all. I'll never be able to get to the knot.”
Charlotte then grabbed the back of Emily's hair and held a bunch in her closed fist.
“Ouch, that hurts, Charlotte. Fucking let go.”
“Make me,” Charlotte said again. She seemed to be taking Emily level by level into a full-blown lesbian encounter. Emily fought with herself and just as she was about to say ‘dragon’, Charlotte said, “Come with me.” She slid Emily easily to the side of the bed and helped her stand up.
“Come with me downstairs. I want to show you the sub-basement,” Charlotte said.
Charlotte grabbed Emily's left arm and walked with her to the stairs. She opened a hatch, revealing a hidden staircase leading down.
Emily looked down the stairs. It looked like a scene from some old horror movie where bodies were kept. A vampire's lair or some other creatures of the night living down there. “That's... scary looking.”
Charlotte firmly took hold of her arm. “I'll walk down with you.”
Emily pulled away. “No, forget this. I don't want to go down there.” She knew she had a worried look on her face.
Charlotte pushed her back to the wall. Emily's arms were still secured. Charlotte put her hand over Emily's mouth, muffling her while she held her against the wall. Emily tried to say something, but Charlotte could only hear an ‘mmff’ sound.
Charlotte
then went full-blown role-playing with her. She said, “Now you can't say anything. You can't scream. No one can hear you no matter what I do to you.”
Emily thought to herself: maybe now was the time to end this scene. But she couldn't even if she wanted. Charlotte's hand over her mouth had her both silenced and firmly pinned to the wall. Emily struggled a little, and strangely enough, the struggling turned her on even further. She closed her eyes and again thought of Noah. She knew Charlotte wouldn't hurt her. They didn't discuss what to do if she couldn't speak. What's the use of a safe word if you're gagged? Noah, who wasn't into any kind of fantasy play before he met Emily, had forgotten the rules of such play until Emily reminded him. Emily was the one guiding him into playing more and more.
No matter what, she didn't want to have sex with Charlotte. Emily reasoned with herself, thinking as she struggled to get free. The sensation of not being in control and tied as she was did turn her on, but she thought more of her man doing it all to her. She kept closing her eyes and imagining him there with her now. It almost reminded her of when she played with herself in private. She always closed her eyes and imagined a sexy muscled man having his way with her. Men in uniform were always a favorite fantasy.
Charlotte put her face right up to Emily's and asked, “You ever hum the star Spangled Banner? It's a great song, don't you think?”
Emily understood. Charlotte was safe to play with, and knew all the right things to say. She knew safety was kind of forceful too. Emily knew she had to end it soon or she would be having some sort of sex with the woman. She knew she didn't want to. Of that she was sure.
Charlotte kept her hand firmly over Emily's mouth. There was something about Charlotte that did turn her on. Her forceful nature and intelligence intrigued Emily. Knowing that Charlotte was well-versed in the rules of playing such kinky games gave Emily a sense of calm. She knew she only needed to hum a song and Charlotte would let her go. Emily tried to push Charlotte away, twisting her head to the right, but Charlotte used her right hand to grab the back of her neck, increasing the gag.
Holding Emily against the wall with her body, Charlotte kept Emily's head looking to the right, and then she kissed Emily on her cheek. There was something about it that grossed Emily out. She stopped thinking of Noah completely right there, ready to hum the tune to stop this from going any further. Just then, Charlotte released the gag with her left hand, then grabbed Emily under her right arm and started walking her down the stairs.
All Emily could think about was how she was amazed at the fact that she let this go this far. She thought she never wanted to play in any way with another woman again, having experimented in college. It just wasn't for her. Yet here she was tied up by one sexy woman, still walking into Charlotte's sub-basement, into Charlotte's web, in effect, and completely at her mercy.
The woman had done a great job on her arms. Emily kept trying to move them but realized she wouldn't be able to get free without Charlotte's help. What the hell was wrong with her? Why did she keep playing? Was it she that was leading Charlotte on since she didn't say ‘dragon’? She could, but chose to go down this road to see where it led.
As they reached the bottom landing, Charlotte turned on the light. The room was probably 12 x 16 or so. It looked very old and had a huge X-Frame that was made of wood, a small table and two of those metal folding chairs. Emily looked at the items on the table and saw knives and drills. Her heart started beating fast.
“What the hell is all of that for?” She backed up a little, making Charlotte release her arm.
Charlotte looked embarrassed as she looked at the table and then looked at the floor by the huge X-Frame. Charlotte tried to block Emily's view by walking in front of her, but Emily saw the floor with red everywhere... it was blood! Emily froze. There was real blood on the floor. It looked like someone died in this room. Why did she bring Emily down there? Too many crazy thoughts were screaming in her head.
“Let's go back upstairs. This place has to be cleaned up,” Charlotte said.
“Cleaned up? Dragon. Did you hear me? Dragon!” Emily said, scared half out of her mind. Something horrible took place right there, she knew it. There was just way too much blood to think there was only some kinky sexual game played in this room. This had to be where they killed someone, probably that mafia guy. It must be.
“Calm down, sweetie. I thought this was cleaned up.”
Emily said it louder. “I said dragon. Please, Charlotte. Dragon.” Emily's eyes were all teary now and she began to sniffle.
She pulled away until Charlotte said, “OK, stay still so I can untie you.”
Emily looked at the wall, but as Charlotte undid the knots, she looked to her left at the blood on the floor. Thank God she was untying her. There was a moment or two where she thought Charlotte was some crazed homicidal killer, and she was going to make Emily her next victim. That moment passed and her tension level went down one small notch.
She just knew that now she was the frog in the damned pot. Not just sexually with Charlotte, but with Noah and his whole group of merry warriors just itching to be part of some supposed future revolution. What the hell did she get herself into?
The water was almost at the boiling point, she told herself as her arms were finally free.
“Sweetie, are you OK? I'm so sorry.” Charlotte sounded sincerely apologetic. Emily didn't answer and started walking up the stairs.
She had this strange feeling that she would be suddenly grabbed from behind. That same feeling she once had when she left the basement of another house with the lights off behind her. She had imagined some creature in the dark ready to grab her. Her own fears had made the hairs on the back of her neck stand up as her spine tingled from her neck to her ass.
As she walked up the stairs, Charlotte shut the light off, and there was just darkness behind her. Again, the hairs stood up on the back of Emily's neck. Behind her was only the Spiderwoman.
Noah
The weather was beautiful outside. Not a cloud in the sky. The air was crisp, and it was nice and cool. You'd expect it to be much colder this time of year. It was just days until Christmas, and Josh was driving again. Inside the 2013 Kia Sedona it smelled like onions. Before the four of them hit the highways, they had stopped at a Quick Trip convenience store and loaded up on sandwiches and hot dogs. Frank and Jacob were in the vehicle behind them. Caesar had loaded his hot dogs with onions, and they reeked.
“We're almost at the LIE. This Van Wyck Expressway has to be one of the worst roads to drive on by far,” Joshua complained.
On the radio, the traffic report announced, “...And all of the Van Wyck down to Cross Bay Boulevard is bumper-to-bumper.” Joshua shut the radio off.
He asked, “You hear what they call this road on the radio? They say it pronounced with a long ‘I’ – Van Wike instead of like wick. It's Van Wyck as it should be.”
In the back seat behind Josh, Noah said, “I'm sure none of us knew you were so passionate about the pronunciation of a damned highway. Just call it the I-678 to make it easy on us all and avoid any drama.”
Caesar, sitting to Noah's right, said, “I'm sorry to butt in and say it, Sarge, but your Em is a little... uncertain. I have a bad feeling that had we done that Westbranch Funeral, she'd flip on us and leave. Or worse yet... go to the FBI and turn us all in.”
Mike was nodding up and down from the passenger seat next to Joshua. Then Mike turned around in his seat to look at Caesar. “Man, you love those onions. This whole car smells of them. Like Damn.”
Caesar replied, “Best thing in the world for you. My Father could eat raw onions like nothing. He's 76 now and even at his age, he can whip your ass.”
Joshua laughed, and Noah said “I can see you at that age, Caesar. Sitting out on your front porch. Shooting at people who try to say hi.”
Joshua laughed a little more as Mike held his nose and rolled down his window. He rolled it back up after the car aired out a little.
Mike turned back
and looked at Noah. “Seriously Sarge, I'm worried about Emily too. I know you love her and trust her, but she's not tested in any important way. It's only her love for you that holds her with us. I saw how she was freaking out when you had that meeting. I can only imagine how bad it was for you in private.”
Noah didn't say anything. He looked out of his window to see car after car. Backwards and forwards, he looked around. “What a clusterfuck this road is. I'm glad we left nice and early.”
Caesar blew his nose hard into a tissue. He had one of those nose blows that just had to make a scene if it were done in public.
Noah looked right at him. “Do you think by now Emily is getting suspicious that there's always someone babysitting her? I had told her that we have some important equipment at that location and a radio that would need to be operated if there were an emergency. She didn't know what to do in an emergency.”
Mike turned around again. “She fell for it?”
Noah nodded yes. “Why wouldn't she? She does love and trust me. I have to tell you guys, I love her to death. We'll work things out with her. Maybe think of some way to guarantee her loyalty even above and beyond her loving me.”
Mike said, “We can make her kill someone. That would guarantee she doesn't become a turncoat.”
Noah snickered. “Let's be real, she's not like we are.”
Joshua said, “Sarge, I have a great idea. We can pull a V for Vendetta on her, like in the movie.”
Mike started laughing. He covered his eyes with his right hand and shook his head.
Caesar asked, “What's that mean? Pull a V Vigilante?”
“No, pull a V for Vendetta. It was a movie about England after it became a dictatorship. Pretty good one too. The chick from Star Wars, the young Queen of that planet was in it. What's her name? Padme?” Joshua asked.
Noah said, “Natalie Portman was the female lead. She was tortured by the male lead and made to think she was captured, all to see if she would rat him out if faced with execution. She didn't rat him out in the movie.”