Bound to the Commander

by Libby Campbell

  “I don’t remember it being like this,” Pepper said tentatively as they stopped at a red light.

  “How old were you when you visited the lighthouse?”

  “Fourteen. And we took backstreets straight to the harbor.”

  “Even the backstreets to the harbor would be unrecognizable. I’ve pretty much given the city over to Ezmar since I took over the Tribunal. She’s running a social experiment with it, trying to see if the populace, when allowed more freedom in small ways, will remain peaceful and law-abiding.”

  Pepper fell into silence, thinking about the endless video loops on the viewing screens that showed Rosewyld as something quite different, something aligned with the official way most of the nation lived. In those videos, the women all wore proper midi-dresses with their hair concealed by modesty caps or scarves. The men wore Handbook-compliant loose, drab clothing.

  So everything she had seen about Rosewyld, on the official government feed, was one giant lie. She began to wish she could forget the things she’d learned already, about the double standard of life. Knowledge was power: that was one thing she’d learned from her mother. She’d also been taught that too much knowledge, if discovered, could be dangerous. A person should never appear to be too well informed.

  When the downtown buildings gave way to leafy suburban streets, Pepper knew they were almost at their destination. Her transfer, as Quinn so politely phrased it, was about to begin.

  Until that moment, she’d put off thinking about what it would be like here. As long as she was traveling, the change wasn’t really happening.

  For all that she’d longed for adventure while she lived in Rosemoor, now that it was at hand, it seemed much less appealing.

  At home she’d had so much autonomy. All she had to do was appear compliant with the rules in the Handbook; no one challenged her much. Small decisions were all hers. She could eat when she wanted and what she wanted. She could sleep late on her days off, which she often did, lying around in bed, reading until the middle of the night. On fine days, she hiked the local forests and gathered the petals of wild roses for tea. In summer she cooled off in the swimming hole.

  That was over now, she had no doubt.

  She hadn’t been in Quinn’s company long, but she didn’t think for a second he would accommodate her desire to do what she wanted. Quinn was used to setting rules and being obeyed. He would expect no less from her.

  Her father’s advice from years ago rang in her memory. Intelligence is the ability to adapt to change. “You’re a clever girl,” he used to say to her. “And life is full of changes, no matter how hard our government tries to suppress them. If you can adapt quickly, you’ll be all the stronger for it. And strong people have better lives because they don’t let the inevitable changes exhaust them.”

  Quinn stopped the ride at the entrance to a gated community, opened the window, and looked into a retina scanner. The heavy gates in front of them creaked open and they drove through, followed by the guards’ rides. Inside the gate was a wide green common where the maple trees rattled their autumn colors in the swirling wind. Bright leaves scattered like snowflakes in front of the ride as Quinn drove past the large park.

  Pepper tried not to gawk. Enormous houses lined both sides of the greenbelt that divided the wide road. Each mansion was five or six times bigger than the communal hall in Rosemoor. Each one stood behind its own stone wall and gates. Pepper couldn’t see the cameras, but she knew they were being watched. At the end of the crescent was the largest house of all. Quinn placed his thumb on the bio-reader on the dash and the gates swung open. The guards stayed outside, parked in front of the house.

  “No one is home,” Quinn said in answer to Pepper’s unspoken question. “My housekeeper, Mrs. Reynolds, or Renee to all of us, has left us dinner. Then she has a couple of days off, so we’ll be on our own for a while.”

  The tone of his words chilled Pepper. It reminded her of his promise to spank her every day until she fell into step with his expectations.

  As the garage door closed behind them, he took both their bags and led her through a door into the house. He didn’t give her time to peek behind the many closed doors on the ground floor. She looked around at the cavernous space of the entrance. “How many people live here?” she asked in a half-whisper, thinking someone must be in one of the many rooms.

  Quinn looked back at her. “Just me. Sometimes Renee chooses to say overnight.”

  Pepper hated the sound of stay overnight. It sounded like what a lover would do. But so much space for one man? That was crazy.

  She trotted to keep up as he climbed the sweeping staircase to the second level. He entered the first bedroom on the right. It was a spacious room with a four-poster bed, a settee in front of two doors that opened onto a balcony.

  Pepper stopped to look out the west-facing window. She could just make out the stone wall that defined the far perimeter of Quinn’s gated community. Beyond that, the sprawling lands of a park or another green belt surrounded a small lake. In the distance more houses stretched as far as she could see.

  Pepper dragged her feet, expecting to find herself roomed in a prison cell. To her surprise, it was a bedroom, almost as large as her entire tiny house in Rosemoor. A single bed sat in the middle of the wall, facing the window, flanked by mirrored doors on both sides. At the far end of the room, a second door opened to a small bathroom. There was no bathtub, but she didn’t expect to be that lucky twice.

  A large vase of fragrant roses sat on a table under the window. Their perfume infused the warm space like a welcoming hug.

  “It’s lovely,” Pepper said, ignoring the fact that she would be locked in.

  “Yes, Renee keeps this home livable. She’s excited that there is going to be another female under my roof for a while.” Quinn opened one of the mirrored doors. “The previous owner used this as a dressing room but ever since the People’s Uprising no one has been allowed to accumulate enough clothing to fill such an absurd space. This house is the official residence of whoever is our country’s commander. But even I don’t have enough clothing to fill one of these closets.”

  He indicated the almost-empty wardrobe. There were two dresses hanging in it. One was electric blue. The other was emerald green.

  “What a coincidence,” Quinn said. “They look like they might fit.” He held the emerald green dress against Pepper. “I believe Ezmar may have asked Renee to do some shopping for you. The color suits you, complements your dark eyes.”

  Pepper fingered the fine knit fabric. She’d never owned anything so beautiful. “Thank you,” she murmured.

  “Save your thanks for Ezmar and Renee who conspired to get you this clothing, so you’ll be more comfortable when I take you to Tribunal Hall tomorrow.”

  Pepper beamed at him, stroking the fine fabric of the dress. He handed it to her.

  “Hang it up.” He sat on the bed. “For now, you and I have unfinished business, specifically there is the matter of your daily spanking to take care of.” He patted his lap. “Lift your skirt as you did yesterday and assume the position.”

  “May I please use the bathroom first?” Pepper almost stuttered the question. She hadn’t been able to resist putting on her knickers that morning.

  “No, you may not. Now you either present yourself or I will lay you across my knee by force. Your choice.”

  Suddenly terrified, Pepper couldn’t hold back the tear that leaked down her cheek.

  “Pepper, I’m waiting.” His voice was soft, but his eyes were stern.

  She shuffled over to him, rolling up her skirt slowly. Hesitating as her hem reached the top of her thighs, she started to shiver. He indicated with his hand that he expected her to lift it all the way. When she raised it the final few inches, he shook his head.

  “I suspected as much.”

  She was in front of him now and he took her hands in his, still shaking his head.

  “What did you suspect?”

  “That you weren
’t able to obey me just yet. Thank you for demonstrating the fact that you need these daily reminders.”

  When she was over his knee, she braced herself as he undid the side ties.

  “You are going to learn to obey me, aren’t you, little sparrow?”

  “Yes, sir,” she whimpered.

  “Good, then all you need tonight is a refresher.”

  The first swat fell hard where the double switch-strokes had left a pale bruise. Pepper howled, not even trying to be brave. All her energy had been sapped by the storm, by the angry sea, the distressing memories of her parents, and, most of all, by being abducted and taken from her home.

  * * *

  She started to sob and Quinn steeled himself not to give in too easily.

  After that first smack, he hesitated, figuring he’d been fierce enough the day before. Her ready tears told him she’d didn’t need a thrashing, just a firm reminder. Still he was annoyed that she’d worn underwear against his specific rules, so he gave her a few punishing wallops to reinforce the lesson.

  He paused between smacks, lecturing her on the importance of obedience and truthfulness. He quoted from the Handbook, reminding her that being obedient to authority made a person a good citizen.

  When he sensed she’d had enough, which was almost as soon as he started spanking, he delivered a few more smacks. She mustn’t, under any circumstances, believe it was right or acceptable to deceive him. But he didn’t want her too frightened.

  Then he lifted her trembling body onto his lap and, once again, let her weep until she was spent. Just as it had in the forest, the spanking provided her with a catharsis. He felt the change in her energy as he rocked her in his arms and kissed the top of her head.

  Her crying quickly slowed to soft sobbing and then to an acquiescent murmuring. At last she sat up and shook herself, clear-eyed.

  Her youthful resilience, the way the light returned to her eyes, was powerfully attractive to him. His rod started to swell into life.

  Damn it, he said to himself. Keep control.

  Abruptly he set her on her feet, mostly to get her gentle scent of vildehair flowers away from him. “Open your suitcase,” he said.

  She looked at him with a feigned lack of understanding.

  “You heard me. Open your suitcase.”

  Wordlessly, she complied. Quinn upended it on the bed and picked through the contents, collecting all the underwear that had been so carefully packed. He showed her what he’d found.

  “Do you have any more knickers or bras hidden in your shoulder bag?”

  “No, sir.”

  “Fine. I’ll keep these for now.” He folded her undergarments into a pile that he tucked under his arm. “Dinner is warming in the oven until we’re ready to eat. You may take your time unpacking. I will be in my study at the bottom of the stairs when you’re ready.”

  “Yes, sir.” Pepper gave him a tentative smile, wishing she had Lily’s beguiling dimples.

  Quinn arched an eyebrow at her. “Be careful, little sparrow. I may decide to do an underwear—or should I say no underwear—inspection at any time. If I catch you disobeying me a second time, you will find yourself spanked and the only thing you’ll be allowed to wear under your skirt for a week will be a harness, a harness holding a butt plug in place.”

  Chapter Twelve: Life in the Capital

  Pepper unpacked quickly before trying on first one new dress then the other. Ezmar and Renee had guessed her size perfectly. Both dresses skimmed the curves of her figure, emphasizing the swell of the breasts and tidy tuck of her waist. They dropped from her hips in loose folds and shifted like petals when she moved. They were also the shortest dresses she’d worn since childhood, reaching only mid-calf.

  She wanted to wear one to dinner but decided that would look too eager. She hung them in the closet, touched them one last time as if to reassure herself they were there and they were hers, and went downstairs to find Quinn.

  As she descended the staircase, she craned her neck to try to see into the rooms off the large entryway. She saw one large drawing room with a grand piano in front of the window but the doors to the other rooms, all but one, were closed.

  The door to Quinn’s study was partly ajar. Pepper knocked timidly. In the silence of the house, the quiet rap sounded deafening.

  “Come in.” Quinn was studying papers that sat next to an open red box. Every wall in the room was lined with floor-to-ceiling bookshelves. An orange and blue devcat snoozed on a rug in front of the crackling fire. “This is Mr. Sajak,” Quinn said, indicating the devcat. “He usually hides when we have visitors, but he seems to approve of you.”

  Pepper crouched and rubbed the cat’s ears. He rewarded her with a loud purr.

  “Sit,” Quinn said, motioning to a chair in the corner.

  The chair faced into the corner where two of the walls met. It was straight-backed with a wide seat, designed with absolutely no consideration for human comfort. The seat was elaborately carved with a bouquet of tulips. The ridges between the lines of the flowers were deep, half an inch in some places and even deeper in others. Pepper turned the chair to face into the room.

  “Put it back the way it was and raise your skirt so your naked cheeks are in direct contact with the seat.”

  Pepper gulped, not meeting Quinn’s eyes.

  “You will reflect on your disobedience and its consequences a little longer while I finish reading today’s summaries from the Tribunal.” His tone was amused, a cat playing with a mouse.

  That annoyed Pepper even more than having to sit in the corner.

  In case she thought he wasn’t serious, he added, “Hands in your lap and straighten your back. If I catch you slumping, I will balance a book on your head to help you.”

  Help me? Thanks a lot. Silencing her mutinous reply, she lifted her skirt and lowered herself onto the unyielding, cold wood.

  Drawing back her shoulders and lifting her chin, she decided to enjoy the one freedom she had left, the freedom of thought. She contemplated how she’d come to be in a house with the most powerful man in the country, sitting in the corner of his study with a rosy bottom because she’d broken his rules.

  But she had been spanked for breaking his rules, so this part of the punishment seemed excessive. This wasn’t about punishment. Sitting in the corner was about making her submit to his will. It was about making her yield to his command, doing whatever he asked.

  It was a war of wills.

  The ridges of the tulips in the carving began to pinch her buttocks. She breathed in long, slow patterns. The discomfort grew quickly until soon all she could think about was her smarting bottom and how he’d made it so tender.

  Behind her, Quinn shuffled papers a few times. Drawers opened. A document was stamped. The sound of the fire gradually dimmed, and the room became cooler. The devcat yawned. She imagined it stretching, its front legs extended, its back arched before it dipped low.

  Pepper waited. The tulip pattern continued to dig deep into her cheeks.

  Finally Quinn’s chair pushed away from the desk. Metal tools scraped the grate. Still he didn’t speak.

  She felt rather than heard him come up behind her. He was right. The less she did, the more she noticed. A day ago, she wouldn’t have been able to sense him like that.

  He walked closer and stood, leaning again the wall, just on the edge of her vision. He held something in one hand, but she couldn’t see it.

  “Dinner time, sparrow,” he said. “Stand and lift your skirt. I want to ensure that the chair was doing its job.”

  Blushing, she did as she was told. He rubbed his hand over the pattern. “Very nice,” he said. “I like the look of this.”

  His warm touch was comforting, appreciative. His hand could be so protective and so threatening. She wanted it all over her body.

  He whispered in her ear, his breath lifting a lock of her hair. “Now close your eyes and hold out your hands.”

  Pepper steeled herself dreading whatever he
had in store next. Surely, he didn’t intend to spank her hands. To her surprise, soft fabric was laid across her palms.

  “You may open your eyes.”

  Five pairs of panties lay across her hands. Hipster briefs, in a selection of bright colors. Pepper had heard of this type of underwear, but it wasn’t permitted under the Handbook rules. But if Quinn gave it to her, who could object?

  “Lingerie from the finest shop in Rosewyld,” Quinn explained. “Another gift left by Ezmar and Renee. My sister said that while you’re in Rosewyld, you must live like a Rosewyldian, from the skin out.”

  “They are beautiful.” Pepper said. “Thank you.”

  “Try them on.” Quinn smiled at her.

  Pepper didn’t need a second invitation. She stepped into a deep green pair, pulling them around her hips and almost crying out loud with the joy at the comfort of them. They didn’t flap around like drawers did and would be much more suitable under the close-fitting gowns she would wear in Rosewyld.

  “Now you know how comfortable they are, I’m certain you won’t risk losing the privilege of wearing them.”

  “I won’t, I promise.”

  “You may remove them now.”

  Pepper looked like she was about to cry.

  “I don’t believe you’re genuinely obedient yet.” Quinn touched her lips with a finger. “But I’ll lift part of your punishment whenever you’re working or visiting in the city. Tomorrow you will start work in the clinic at Tribunal Hall. Whenever you leave this house you may wear underwear but when you’re home, you will not. Is that clear?”

  Relief and defiance stirred together in Pepper. She stroked the pretty panties. “Yes, sir, that is abundantly clear.”

  * * *

  The next morning Quinn knocked on Pepper’s door early. “Time to go to work,” he said. “Wear one of your new dresses. Don’t bother with a modesty cap. They aren’t in style here.”

  An hour later she was sitting beside him as he cleared security and sailed the Box into the underground parking at Tribunal Hall, followed by two white guard cars. They took an elevator to the top floor of the hall, which was ten stories high. There were three offices on that level, two of which had personal assistants stationed at desks out front. The third office door was closed, and the assistant’s desk was empty.