A Fine Line

by Sue Horsford

  “I haven’t finished with you yet,” he said with a wicked smile.

  As he eased himself inside me, I realized my passion for him was still not spent and I gasped in delight. He supported his own weight on his arms, so I was able to gaze into his amber eyes as he began to move, pulling back and thrusting hard and deep inside me.

  “May I respond, Sir?” I asked when I could catch my breath.

  “Yes, my pet,” he answered, “you can let yourself go now.”

  I buried my fingers in his hair, first stroking it, then grabbing handfuls of it. I ran my hands over his body, feeling its strength and hardness. I grabbed his ass and pulled him even deeper inside me. In response to my excitement, Gabriel’s movements became faster, harder, more violent. I couldn’t help crying out and Gabriel murmured in my ear, “Remind me to gag you next time, noisy girl.”

  He grinned at me, then without warning, he pulled out of me and flipped me onto my front to grab my waist and pull me toward him. He thrust his cock back inside me, holding on to my hips, taking me ruthlessly from behind like a wild animal.

  Just as I felt I was about to be torn apart, Gabriel let out a groan, digging his fingers into my still-smarting buttocks. He shuddered and fell onto his side, pulling me with him, still joined, and we lay there for a long moment until our breathing slowed.

  He kissed the back of my neck. “You and I are going to have so much fun together, sweetheart.” He withdrew and went off to the bathroom, leaving me lying on his bed in a state of drowsy contentment.

  A few minutes later, he returned, wearing a white toweling robe and carrying two glasses of ice water.

  “Can I get a shower, Gabriel?” I asked, taking a glass from him gratefully.

  “No,” he answered.

  “Oh, but…” I stopped as Gabriel raised an eyebrow.

  “Were you about to argue with me?” he asked. But there was amusement in his voice and a hint of a smile on his lips and I knew he was teasing me.

  I lowered my head and peeped through my lashes at him, the way Ginny used to look at Dad when she was being naughty but knew he couldn’t resist her charm. “I nearly was, Sir, but then I remembered just in time,” I said innocently.

  I was rewarded by a shout of laughter from Gabriel. “Cheeky minx,” he said. “If you’d let me finish, I was about to say you can’t get a shower because I’m going to give you a bath. The water’s running now.”

  I finished my drink and he held out his hand to me. “Come on.” He led me into a large white bathroom, with black and white floor tiles that chilled my bare feet. A free-standing Victorian claw-footed tub stood waiting for me and, feeling shy, I let Gabriel hand me into it and sat, gasping as the hot water came into contact with my ass. Gabriel picked up a bottle of Dove Body Wash.

  “That’s the same soap I use at home,” I said.

  “I know. That’s why I bought it.”

  He soaped my body, his hands firm yet gentle as he moved them across my skin, being especially careful with the parts on which he’d previously inflicted pain.

  “I can’t believe how gentle you’re being,” I said to him.

  Gabriel laughed softly. “Do you expect me to be some sort of sadistic brute? You belong to me. It’s only right that I should take care of you.”

  I sighed blissfully. “How did you know I wanted to belong to you?”

  “I knew from the first moment I set eyes on you.” He pulled me to my knees so he could soap between my legs.

  “Yes, I know you did, but how?”

  Gabriel shrugged. “Intuition, maybe. There’s just something about you.”

  “Are all your relationships like this?”

  “Hardly. Women like you don’t come along every day.”

  “Women like me?”

  Gabriel sighed. “Do you know, for my submissive, you’re being very inquisitive, my pet.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Stand up,” he ordered. He gave me his hand to steady myself as I stepped out of the bath, then wrapped me in a large, fluffy white towel and began drying me. “The first time you met me, Faye, what was your impression?”

  “That you were a man who liked to be in control. A definite alpha male.”

  “Exactly. And the type of women I tend to attract are either women with low self-esteem who want a strong man to take care of them and make all the decisions, or they’re strong, feisty women looking for a challenge. My last girlfriend was constantly challenging me, and it was very exciting at first, but it soon became exhausting.”

  “So how am I different?” I asked as he helped me into a matching robe.

  “You understand that when I ask you to kneel at my feet it’s not as a slave to her Master, it’s more like a queen to her king. You’re a strong and independent woman and when you submit to me, I feel you’re honoring me, you’re giving me a precious gift. And that’s how it should be between us. So, although I’m the one who’s in charge, the one who makes the rules and disciplines you, if you break them, it isn’t because I think I’m superior to you, but because that’s the way we both like it.” He sat me on the toilet seat so he could dry my feet.

  “So, how often do women like me come along?” I asked him.

  “There was only one before you and that was the girl I told you about, Danielle.”

  “She was the one who ruined it by telling you she loved you?”

  Gabriel frowned. “She didn’t ruin it. She just felt she couldn’t carry on seeing me because I didn’t love her. But if she could have accepted things the way they were, then I wouldn’t have minded that she loved me. Why would I? Just because I don’t want to love anyone doesn’t mean I have an aversion to being loved.”

  That was just as well as I was thoroughly in love with him.

  Chapter Nine

  “Did you want something?” Ginny’s voice on the other end of the phone could have given me frostbite.

  “I just wanted to apologize for what I said. I’m sorry. I had no right to bring Dad into it.”

  “Too right, you didn’t. That was totally out of order!”

  “I know.”

  “I know it must have been hard for you,” she went on, “but it’s not my fault Dad was closer to me. You need to get over it, not take your jealousy out on me.”

  “I’m sorry,” I said again.

  “I’m your sister. You’re supposed to support me in whatever I do, not criticize me.”

  “Okay,” I said, biting my lip.

  “Are you still coming to Fluff’s party?” she asked.

  “Yes. Have you decided on your costume?”

  “I’m thinking Nell Gwynne, then I can show off my cleavage.”

  She didn’t ask me what I was going to wear. Still, at least we were on speaking terms again.

  I decided to put something together for my Boadicea costume from what I could pick up in charity shops. Gabriel had said he wanted to take me shopping and had suggested we go to Chester on Saturday so I could look then.

  “Get the train down and I’ll drive and we’ll ‘accidentally’ meet up. We’ll have an adventure,” he promised me.

  I didn’t know what he meant by an adventure, but thinking about spending the day with him made the week drag even more than usual. There was still no sign of Barbara and no more strange phone calls, but work was getting more and more difficult for me as I’d started to feel like a fraud. How could I advise women that they could be in control of their own lives and that no man had the right to tell them what to do, when only last week I’d been thrashed with a belt then had knelt at the feet of a man I called Sir?

  I knew what I was doing with Gabriel had nothing to do with abuse. I was a willing submissive and I craved Gabriel’s domination of me, but I still felt I shouldn’t be doing the job I was doing. And I knew that if anyone at work knew about my secret life, my competence to do my job would be seriously called into question. No one would understand that my submission empowered me, that I felt stronger kneeling at Gabri
el’s feet than I ever had standing at Paul’s side.

  At home, I tried to behave as if nothing had changed, but every day Steph’s warning haunted me. Every time Paul touched me now, it was as if I was being unfaithful to Gabriel and it took all my willpower not to push Paul away. I found myself making comparisons. ‘Gabriel would never do that’, ‘Gabriel would do it like this’. In bed at night, I fobbed Paul off with the excuse that I was tired then lay awake aching for Gabriel’s touch. It was as if I was living someone else’s life and I couldn’t wait for Saturday so that I could be myself again.

  Gabriel was already there when I arrived, leaning against the station wall to shelter himself from the wind, and, as always, the sight of him stilled my breath for a moment. Even though he was scarcely ever out of my thoughts, the reality of how handsome he was never failed to surprise me.

  He came toward me, smiling. “Faye, fancy seeing you here.”

  “I’m going to have a look around the charity shops for my fancy dress costume,” I said. “What are you here for?”

  “Well, I have to buy a gag for my noisy submissive. You’ve no idea how much noise she makes when I’m fucking her.”

  “Well, you obviously get her incredibly excited,” I said, a thrill of anticipation fluttering in my stomach.

  “Obviously,” he said, regarding me with amusement. “My car’s at the hotel so we’ll walk to the shops from here.”

  “Hotel?” I squeaked.

  “Well, I promised you an adventure. Did you think I’d asked you here to spend all day shopping?”

  As we walked to the shopping center he asked me, “So, what are you wearing to this fancy dress party, then?”

  “I’m going as Boadicea,” I said.

  “Boudicca,” he corrected me. “Boadicea was what the Romans called her.”

  I looked at him admiringly. There was something so hot about him telling me things I didn’t know. “Yes, teacher,” I said cheekily.

  “Now there’s a thought,” said Gabriel. “I can just see you in a school uniform. I bet you’d look amazing with those legs.”

  “I could be teacher’s pet.”

  “Hmm, more likely detention then bent over the desk for six of the best with my cane,” he said.

  A tiny frisson of delicious fear ran up my spine. “Do you have a cane?

  “Of course.”

  “The thought of the cane scares me,” I said. “Seriously.”

  “I want to push your boundaries, Faye,” he told me.

  “I know, but honestly, the cane does scare me.”

  “I’ll make you a promise, then,” he said. “I won’t cane you unless you do something really bad.”

  “Define really bad,” I said, wondering why, despite my fear, the image of Gabriel with a cane in his hand was so darkly exciting.

  “Well, lying to me would be really bad. I expect total honesty from you at all times. Putting yourself in danger, driving recklessly, for instance, would be really bad, so no speeding tickets or you’ll have me to answer to.”

  He was smiling as he spoke, but I knew the threat was genuine and I liked that he considered putting myself in danger to be one of the worst things I could do.

  “Shall we go in here first?” asked Gabriel as we came to an Age Concern shop.

  I couldn’t find anything suitable for my Boudicca costume except for a wide leather belt Gabriel picked out. He also picked up a thin cotton summer dress.

  “Is this your size?”

  “Yes, but it’s not what I’m looking for.”

  “Was that what I asked you, Faye?”

  I knew that stern tone by now and I glanced around to see if anyone was listening. “No, Sir,” I said quietly.

  “Do you want me to take you straight back to the hotel room now and deal with you?” he said in my ear.

  I squirmed. If it was Gabriel’s intention to make me feel like a naughty child, he’d succeeded. “I’m sorry, Sir.”

  He took the dress and the belt to the old lady at the desk and paid for them. I was about to protest that I should be paying for the belt as it was part of my costume but thought better of it. I couldn’t be sure that Gabriel wouldn’t drag me back to the hotel and carry out his threat.

  “Have you decided what you’re wearing yet?” I asked as we left the shop.

  “Yes. I’m going as Dick Turpin. I’m hiring the frock coat and the hat, but I already have the boots and the britches.”

  “How long have you had them?”

  “A few years. Danielle and I used to play dress-up a lot.”

  “That sounds fun,” I said. “I’d like to do that.”

  “And so you shall, sweetheart. I’ll wear my britches and boots, you shall wear petticoats, and if you’re a naughty wench, you’ll feel the sting of my crop across your pretty backside.”

  I bit my lower lip in anticipation.

  “You look adorable when you do that,” Gabriel said. “I know you’re imagining me dominating you and you’re feeling nervous and excited at the same time. It’s such a turn-on.”

  In Oxfam, we found a dress that was suitable for Boudicca. I also bought a rough woolen blanket that I could use to make a cloak and a large brooch to fasten it. I’d ordered some Celtic wristbands from eBay together with a small wooden sword so, together with a pair of gladiator sandals, which I already owned, I was pretty well set.

  “All done?” said Gabriel. “Right. Time to do my shopping.”

  At the door of the adult shop, Gabriel turned to me. “Once we’re inside the shop, you’ll remember that you’re my submissive. You won’t speak unless I give you permission, even if a sales assistant speaks to you, and you won’t offer an opinion. I’ll buy whatever I feel is necessary for your training. Do you understand me?”

  “Yes, Sir.” This was all getting very real now. I swallowed nervously and walked into the shop, one step behind my Master like a good submissive.

  I’d imagined the shop to be poorly lit and seedy but it was bright and cheerful, just like any other shop on the high street, apart from what was on the shelves. One section was devoted to bondage, and it was for this that Gabriel headed first. He picked up what appeared to be a small ball with holes in it attached to a black leather strap.

  “This is a ball gag,” he told me. “I’m going to buy it now, but you might find it a bit extreme so we won’t use it until I think you’re ready.” Without waiting for a reply, he moved on and picked up a packet of something called ‘bondage tape’ and started to read what it said on the back.

  A helpful assistant came forward. “That is very versatile. You can do all sorts of things with it.”

  “Hmm,” said Gabriel, “can it be used as a gag?”

  “Oh, absolutely. It has no taste and it sticks to itself, not the skin.”

  I was overwhelmed by a strange combination of shame and excitement. The sales assistant could obviously tell I was the one to be tied up and gagged and that was incredibly embarrassing but, by the looks she was giving Gabriel, I got the impression she’d be more than happy to change places with me.

  “We’ll take a roll, I think,” Gabriel said. Then he picked up some leather wrist cuffs and turned to me. “Hold out your wrists,” he ordered.

  I did as he said, keeping my gaze on the floor.

  Gabriel placed the cuffs on my wrists. “Yes, I like them. We’ll take two pairs.”

  I followed him to the sex toys section where, much to my trepidation, he bought a butt plug and some lubricant. Then, in the lingerie department, he picked out a pretty camisole.

  At the till, the girl glanced at me and said to Gabriel, “Is this the size you want?”

  “Yes,” he answered, without looking at me.

  I checked the label. “That’s far too small,” I said.

  Gabriel handed over his money to the girl as if I hadn’t spoken.

  Outside the shop, he said, “What did I tell you about not speaking?

  I flushed. “You said not to speak. But I was t
rying to stop you buying something that won’t fit me.”

  “It’s not for you,” he said.

  “Oh.”

  “It’s for Ginny.”

  “I see.” I didn’t see, not really. This was supposed to be our day out, why did he have to bring Ginny into it? Weren’t they supposed to be over? What the hell was he playing at?

  “Has it crossed your mind, Faye, that we’re not a million miles away from home and someone might see us together?”

  “Yes, but we’re not doing anything wrong. We’re only shopping.”

  “That’s right. And what did we buy when we were seen going into a sex shop together?”

  “Oh.”

  “I never do anything without a good reason, Faye. I’ve no intention of giving this to Ginny, but if we were seen just now, then we can say you were helping me pick out a present.”

  “I’m sorry.”

  Gabriel still looked stern.

  “Are we okay?” I asked him.

  “Are you okay?” he replied.

  I bit my lip. “I wasn’t a very good submissive, was I?”

  A small smile tugged at the side of Gabriel’s mouth. “You did very well at first, sweetheart.”

  “Yes, but then I ruined it.”

  The stern expression returned to Gabriel’s face. “And what do you think should happen now?”

  I gazed up into his eyes, intense and uncompromising, and a dark desire began to grow in my belly. “I need to be punished, Sir.”

  Gabriel nodded. “And so you shall be.”

  Without further discussion, he led me back to the very expensive hotel room he’d taken for the afternoon. He slipped off his jacket then went over to where a desk and hard-backed chair stood in the corner, picked up the chair, carried it into the middle of the room and sat down.

  “Take off everything except your panties,” he ordered me, “then come here.”

  I undressed and stood before him, caught up in a strange mixture of emotions—vulnerability, apprehension—butterflies, whether from fear or excitement I wasn’t sure. Yet above all else, welcoming what was about to happen, needing Gabriel to exert his dominance over me, wanting to feel myself helpless and submissive to him, to understand what submission really meant.