Friendship of Desire (Painful Deliverance Book 3)

by Ann M Pratley

  "Well, Miss Cute Butt, which is it going to be to start with?"

  Samantha looked at the range of items along a wall set up with racks and displays, and picked a crop first.

  "You have used his before," she said and he nodded, remembering. "Will you try this on me?"

  Tom took a deep breath and took the item from her.

  "Okay," he breathed out slowly.

  They found their spot among the growing crowd and Tom watched her, taking her as the lead even though he knew he was supposed to be. Being in the role she wanted him to be in went against who he was with regard to how he preferred to treat women, but she was his friend and she wanted this. That was all he had to keep telling himself. She was his friend and she wanted this.

  Samantha suddenly felt shy. It had been different with Scott as he had introduced her to this world. With Tom it was more a case of Tom being Tom - her friend. But she had suggested it so she would keep moving forward with their plan, even though she knew he would happily walk out with her right now if she wanted that.

  He watched her as she moved over to a steady surface to lean against, and turned to him.

  "Before I pull my skirt up, will you try it here, to see how it feels at this angle?" she asked and he blinked at what she had asked. His focus was naturally on the aspect of her pulling her skirt up, and he had to realign his mind to change focus to her request, for him to try and strike her as she stood before him.

  Finally he seemed to hear the question and nodded at her. After watching her move so she was supported properly, with her body angled so that her rear was to him, she looked sideways at him and nodded at him.

  "I'm ready, Tom."

  He looked at her with such a mixture of feelings, he found it quite overwhelming. But looking into her eyes he saw her desire and roused himself to move forward with her request.

  Getting his stance set up, finally he brought the crop around and struck her buttocks with it, through her clothing. He watched her face to try and read anything but she only looked eager for it to happen again.

  After a handful of tries, and her feeling his confidence growing in it, she spoke to him again.

  "I'm going to pull this up, Tom. Don't worry, I have full cover underwear on and that is staying on!" she said, teasing him but he found himself wanting to groan at images running through his head.

  He watched as she slid her skirt up so that it was bunched around her waist, and she stood before him. She had full briefs on so nothing was visible but it was still enough to instantly arouse him, and she saw it in his jeans but looked away from him to let him have his privacy. Sometimes in their friendship things could be teased about, but she didn't want to tease her good friend about that.

  "Do it," he heard her say and he instantly repeated the action with his hand and crop, hearing the difference as it struck the flimsy cotton. He looked at her face and saw a smile so repeated the action. With every strike that was a little stronger, her smile grew and he could see her lips part as if she were in deep arousal. He thought she probably had chosen the underwear as they were safe, being plain, full and cotton, but with them being light in colour, the more he struck her, the more evident he could see them starting to show some wetness, a discovery that only aroused him even more.

  Inside he felt like he was in heaven, looking at her like that, but at the same time he also felt like he was being some kind of freak for enjoying looking at his best friend in that way. He could feel straining in his jeans and desperately wished for that to go away but could only concentrate on her in the moment, so the option of thinking about anything else just did not seem possible.

  That night they only stayed an hour or so, using only the crop, and only going through the motions a fairly small number of times until Samantha said she did not want any more. At those words, Tom felt relief although he was still highly aroused and hoped that would fade soon enough once they got out of there.

  ~~~~~

  In coming months they kept going and slowly they found their flow in what she liked and how much he could handle delivering to her in his strikes. Always he got aroused watching her, though, as her face revealed so much about what she was feeling. He didn't understand it, but he did truly believe that she was gaining something great from it, and she wasn't being hurt by it.

  One night when there in the club, Samantha felt enough courage to remove her skirt altogether and be there in only a corset, stockings, garter belt and briefs. Slowly but surely she was becoming more confident and building up her comfort in wearing less and less, although the most private parts of her body she kept covered. Those areas weren't for everyone or anyone to see yet. No matter how much she was around all the people in the club who were so comfortable with nudity - no matter how comfortable she was finding she could be around their nudity - she had no desire or intention to put herself on display like they did. And she was glad that Tom seemed to be reluctant to see her like that also. She knew he got aroused when in the club but not once did he ever try to act on it in any way. If anything, he simply seemed to be embarrassed about it, as if he wished he would not react in such a way.

  Tonight, as he watched her strip down to the corset set she had recently bought, Tom felt himself wondering how much more he could take, seeing her like that week after week. She was his friend and he wasn't allowed to have certain feelings about her, but even holding onto the 'she is just a friend' insistence in his mind, when he saw her like she was on this night, he couldn't seem to stop his body acting like it did. He knew he was in a fortunate position to be able to keep his clothing on, since other men in his position in the club eventually wore very little, if not nothing at all.

  When she stripped down he immediately felt like someone had turned the heat up in the room, and found himself sweating. He tried to ignore it as long as he could but eventually knew he had to take a breather, before he could even pick up the whip she wanted him to try tonight.

  "Wait a minute, Samantha," she heard him say, and watched as he turned and stepped away from her for a minute, as if to take a deep breath.

  When he turned back he seemed to have found some resolve in him to move forward but not before he peeled off his t-shirt to let out some of the heat inside of him, and was standing in front of her in only his jeans. It was a sight she had seen periodically throughout all of their lives, but she could not help but acknowledge tonight that he was changing … his body was changing. Without her even having realised, his body had moved from being the scrawny, skinny thing it had always been, and was now extremely muscular and toned.

  Tom didn't notice how she was looking at him at all. All he could focus on was the whip he had picked up and was holding, determined that he couldn't look at her too much in the state she was in or he would be rethinking their friendship status. And he couldn't do that.

  To keep his mind off her for the immediate moment, he put his effort into trying to get the whip to work. She watched him as he tried to flick it this way and that.

  "How do I use this thing?" he finally asked to no-one in particular, slight frustration becoming evident in his voice.

  As if already having been watching him, Angelica came over to him.

  "Let me help you with that, Tom," she said, unintentionally eyeing up his torso as if he were a perfectly cooked steak … a look that was completely missed by Tom, but not by Samantha, who saw exactly how her best friend was being looked at.

  Tom handed Angelica the whip and between the two of them, slowly managed to get it to crack as it needed to for the purpose it was about to be used for.

  "Samantha, are you ready?" Angelica asked her, and Samantha nodded, confused by feelings that she suddenly felt must only be … jealousy.

  Getting her head back into it, she moved down to the ground on all fours, and waited as Angelica showed Tom the angles that she found easiest to use the item, and soon Samantha found herself in that place again, where she felt a sting on her skin that to her was extreme pleasure, and left her wan
ting more.

  Tom thanked Angelica and hardly noticed her move away. Even with her wearing outfits that mostly were designed to so openly reveal her breasts, over time he seemed to have become immune to the power of the image. For all he noticed her body now, she may as well have been fully clothed in jeans and thick jersey, topped off with a ski jacket.

  Finally the evening really began, and Tom focused on giving Samantha what she so desperately seemed to want. Needing to concentrate so much on using the whip and getting it to work well, his focus was less on her and more on the action, which he found to be a very welcome distraction from looking at her body as a whole, quite so much, instead focusing on getting the whip to hit the one small spot that she wanted it to.

  When she called out to him to say she had reached her limit, Tom was relieved and eagerly turned away from her to put on his t-shirt and not look at her as she put her clothes on. He had often been eager to get out of the club due to extreme arousal, but tonight was another degree altogether, and he found himself almost wanting to run from it, and never look back.

  ~~~~~

  Sitting in his car as they left the club that night, Tom and Samantha both found their individual minds working overtime. As such, nothing was actually said as he drove her home.

  Pulling up outside her place, he turned to her, hoping he looked like he usually did in their simple friendship mode.

  Samantha turned also to look at him, aware that something was starting to feel different inside of her, but not wanting to feel it at all. She leaned in toward him and kissed his cheek before saying a simple 'goodnight' and then climbing out.

  ~~~~~

  That night as he lay in bed, Tom tried hard to file away the images in his head. It had been odd enough for him at the start of their club visits, having to see so many other bodies in the room, but over time he had come to accept nudity and seeing the different acts that occasionally would occur seemingly right before his eyes. All of the things he had witnessed had not made him any more eager to become sexual himself - if anything, it had enforced his resolve to wait and make that something special with one person, not be so easy about it.

  But seeing Samantha in certain ways - even without her ever being naked or as revealing as the other women in the club - was another thing altogether.

  7 ~ THE GROWTH OF TWO SOULS

  "Tom," his manager said to him as he called him into his office within the supermarket.

  Tom walked into the office, feeling like he was going to get reprimanded for something, even though he couldn't think what he might have done. He worked pretty steadily on checkout and as far as he knew, he was always polite to customers.

  "Sit down, please," his manager said with a no-nonsense tone that alarmed Tom even more. "I have had some reports from customers," he continued, making Tom gulp now in fear, but then the man before him smiled brilliantly. "And they are all very impressive. You have been here for a long time now, Tom, and I would like to offer you a supervisory position. How would you feel about taking on a role such as that?"

  Tom was stunned, realising in that moment how close he had been to wondering if he was going to be fired.

  "I can see it is a surprise, but you know the checkout processes inside out now, I believe, and I think you would do well as a checkout supervisor, providing guidance and training to new checkout operators as we employ them, whilst generally keeping the checkout area flowing smoothly."

  Tom heard the words and finally felt a warmth grow inside of him.

  "Thank you, Sir. I am surprised, but thankful that you consider me able to do a job like that."

  "You sound like you wish to turn down the opportunity," his manager said and Tom smiled at him.

  "No! No, thank you, Sir. I would be very eager to take on such a role, whenever you feel I am ready."

  "Well I feel you are ready now, Tom. So if you are in agreement to take on this position, with the increased responsibility, I would like you to start tomorrow. Kathy, your current supervisor, is rostered on tomorrow from 10am and she has agreed to train you, so go home now and come back for a 10am shift tomorrow. I will liaise with HR and they will contact you with your new pay rate as well."

  "Thank you!" Tom said, instantly recognising that he was being dismissed, as if that was his time up with his manager.

  He walked out of the office, maintaining his composure, but as soon as he was clear he let a broad smile grace his face and the feeling of excitement finally flow over him.

  With it being later in the afternoon, and knowing Samantha would be finished with her course for the day and soon going home, he went to his apartment just long enough to shower and change, and then went to her home. In his life he hadn't often just turned up at her house, but this was one of the days when he felt like he actually had something that he had to tell her.

  As he approached the driveway he saw her also making her way there.

  "Tom," she said as she ran to him and let him embrace her. "What are you doing here?" she went on to ask as she put her key in the door and let them both in.

  "I wanted to share some news with you - I got a promotion today!" he said and Samantha almost fell over from the level of excitement coming off him. Tom was many things but it was not often that he exuded such energy about anything that happened in his own life.

  He welcomed her arms around him as she jumped at him and hugged him, giving him a big sloppy kiss on his cheek, and making him laugh in the process.

  "Oh my gosh, that is so exciting, Tom! Come with me up to my room so I can get changed and you can tell me all about it," she said and the words suddenly made him shy and stop walking all of a sudden.

  Samantha turned and looked at him, and gave him one of her classic looks of fond frustration.

  "Tom, you aren't afraid to come to my bedroom are you? After all the hours that I have spent in yours?"

  He looked at her face and saw her eyebrows go high, knowing she was teasing him. And logically he knew she was right - if they were both in his bedroom or both in her bedroom, what did it matter?

  She saw him take a deep breath and finally start following her, taking her hand as she held it out for him, as if to help him across a horrific gap that he was fearful of.

  When they walked into her bedroom Tom was reminded of so many memories from their childhood. In recent years he hadn't stepped foot in there, with her most often coming to see him rather than the other way around, but as he entered the room now he felt a fond calm come over him.

  Samantha watched his face as he walked around, first looking at her bookcase, still with so many children's books that they once fought over to read. Next to that was her large wooden toy box that her father had made for her one year as a birthday gift - Tom remembered being so jealous that she had something so big because having such a big toy box must mean that she would have many more toys than he ever would. He could almost see the memories vividly in his head, like watching a movie rolling behind his eyes, and he laughed softly as he felt a sliver of emotion pass deeply over him.

  Samantha left him for a moment and quickly changed as his back was to her. No other man would she trust with such a move, but she knew him and she knew that even if he happened to turn around by accident, he would quickly look away again and give her privacy. It was just the kind of person he was.

  Tom could sense what she was doing and let himself just keep looking at things whilst facing away from her. Her toys, her dolls, her books, her large doll house … everything was so like it had been when they had been kids, he was quite blown away from it. One difference though was that one wall seemed to have been made into a large pin board, and on it were dozens of sketches of clothing. He stood before it and just looked.

  "Samantha…" he seemed to breathe out as he looked at the images before him. "These drawings … your designs … you are amazing."

  She looked at him but instead of moving toward him, she sat down on her bed and waited for him to look back at her.

  When Tom
turned around he saw her on her bed and noticed the large teddy bear beside her. He laughed as he walked to the bed and climbed up on the mattress, sitting beside her and grabbing the bear in his hands before hugging it to him.

  "My fuzzy," he said and she laughed out loud at the sudden memory of him doing that so often when he had come over to her home when they were little.

  After sharing a laugh with her, he continued to hold the bear but became serious once more.

  "You really do have amazing talent. Those sketches are phenomenal. I'm sorry, I thought you were good but I really didn't know you were that good."

  Samantha felt herself blush suddenly, looking from him to the designs and then back to him again.

  "It's nice having you here again, Tom. I love that you are always there for me when I need you … whenever I came to your family home and now when I come to your apartment. But it feels really good to have you here, in this room with me," she said, reaching out and taking his hand in hers.

  Tom let the action happen and revelled in her words, but did not want to let himself take the moment too seriously.

  "Your room is just the same as I remember it. It is amazing that you have been able to keep it like this while you have grown so much as a person. So many people would throw special things like all of this out, but you are just so amazing. I really am in awe of you, Samantha Young."

  "Well, now I am in awe of you! Getting a promotion - wow! What will that entail, exactly?"

  "Well … as of tomorrow, I am going be undergoing some training to become a checkout supervisor, so I shall be supervising all the checkout operators," he said with a shy look on his face. "Not a dream job, I know…"

  "Why do you keep saying that?"

  "What?"

  "Ever since we were leaving high school you have been saying that your job at the supermarket isn't a dream job, but you are happy there, aren't you?"

  "Oh yes! Of course I am. The people - the staff and the customers - are all incredible."