Sean knew better than to let me get away with that.
'What do you think, Katie?' He settled one hand over my burning flesh. 'Do you want me to stop?'
I whimpered, hardly believing that sound was coming from my throat.
'Do you?' he whispered.
'No,’1 whispered back.
'No!' He roared with laughter. 'Then we definitely should stop.'
If I'd been free he wouldn't have wrestled out from under me then. As it was, I yanked at my bonds, writhing in anger.
'You know the word,’ he mocked. 'Say "Uncle" and I'll let you go.'
'Damn you,' I said. 'If you think you can master me with a two-minute spanking, you're crazy.'
'Wants more, does she? Well, I'll give you more. On one condition.'
I bit my lip, not daring to ask.
'What condition?' Amy whispered, almost melting into the floor at the signs of my suffering.
Sean walked around the frame and kissed her. That infuriated me, too, though I couldn't keep my eyes off their working cheeks and tongues. Wasn't I supposed to be the centre of attention? And why did she have to be so pretty, with her shiny blonde waves and her pert little breasts heaving on her rib cage like a pair of tinned peaches? Sean covered one with his palm, squeezing it through her kitten-soft sweater. Joe watched the byplay as avidly as I did, his breathing quick and shallow'. While one hand clutched my shoulder, the other rubbed his cock and balls. Too horny to resist, I guessed.
I despised them all; yet I wanted to screw them all.
'What condition?' I demanded, making Sean's head snap around.
He wiped Amy's lipstick off with the back of his hand. 'On the condition that Joe takes the whip.'
Joe ceased rubbing his goods. He wagged his head from side to side. 'No way, man. Not me. You know I can't stand to hurt anyone.'
Sean laughed, and not very nicely. 'Does she look like she's hurting? Or does she look like she'll cream the floor with a little more discipline?'
My heart sank at Joe's tortured expression. He wasn't going to do it and, damn it, I wanted him to.
‘I can't,' he said, his eyes pleading me to forgive him.
His skin glowed like old ivory in the candlelight. I stared at his graceful, restless hands, at his rising and falling chest, at the pulse beating hard and quick in his throat. He wanted to beat me so badly that he could taste it.
'I can hardly bear to watch,’ he said, but his body denied the lie. I think he knew it, too, because his expression grew even more miserable.
I looked away.
'C'mon, you do it, Sean,’ Lou coaxed. He gave Joe a sympathetic wink. 'You know you want to.'
Sean glared, but I could see him waver.
I wanted to shake him. A true master would have used this chance to break Joe. And why should Lou have a say? Wasn't he a slave here, too? Even as my body tightened with frustration, my brain toyed with a plan. Sean's indecision opened a window of opportunity. All I had to do was figure out how to crawl through.
Tine,’ said Sean, oblivious to the whir of my mental gears. 'I'll do it.'
He extended his hand to Lou, obviously the keeper of the toys. Grinning, Lou pranced over to the hold-all he'd stowed on my camel-back sofa. Without wig, make-up, or heels, Lulu appeared, as he tossed paraphernalia from the bag - a jockstrap, a padded bra, an assortment of black velvet ties and, finally, a mahogany-handled, velvet-tongued whip.
He slapped it neatly into Sean's waiting hand. 'Whip away, my master.'
Despite my amusement, a trickle of cream ran down my thigh.
'Oh, man,’ said Joe. Still kneeling in front of me, he caught the trickle on his finger and carried it to his mouth.
Sean made us all jump by cracking the whip through the air.
The first lash stung like hell, as did the second. I knew at once I didn't like this as well as the spanking. The whip wasn't as intimate, and the glow it raised was less sensual. By the fourth lash, I was debating whether to cry 'Uncle'. It didn't hurt too badly, but it wasn't much fun.
To my surprise, Joe stood before the whip could fall again.
'Sean.' He held out his hand. 'Your aim sucks. Hand it over.'
'What?' Sean and I said at the same time. What happened to my protector, the man so soft-hearted he couldn't bear to watch? Sean wound the tail of the whip around his palm. 'What makes you think you can do any better?'
'I used to play flick the can with my Dad's bull whip.'
'Your Dad's bull whip?'
Joe shrugged. 'We weren't allowed to use the deer rifles. I always beat my brother, and he was two years older than me.'
Joe had a brother? How could I not know that? Why hadn't he mentioned it?
The first crack of the whip startled the questions from my head. This time, I knew an expert held it. The velvet licked my hip and tickled my belly. Again it descended, and again, never settling in the same place twice. It fell without hesitation, but in a pattern too subtle to predict. My body danced to its stinging syncopation. I swayed in my bonds and dreamt of a smoky jazz club - me on the stage in a long, slinky gown, tugging off a glove, easing a satin strap down one shoulder. They watched me, all of them. Their lust beat at me through the dark.
Dimly, I heard Joe sobbing for air, but the whip seemed separate from his distress, as if it whipped me by itself.
My sense of yielding increased, of being able to sink deeper and deeper into arousal. Through
slitted
lids, I saw Lou stagger back into an armchair. He unzipped his khaki trousers and drew out a long erection. He punched one fist down it, then the other. I cried out under the whip - for him and for the love of that long, rigid stalk.
My cry pushed Amy over the edge. She yanked the black angora turtleneck over her head, baring breasts every bit as soft and delicate as I'd imagined. Her upper body glowed in the glimmering light, and she pulled and twisted her nipples just as she'd pulled and twisted mine. Lost in a private dream, her hips churned on nothing. Her expression was so concentrated she might have been solving the mysteries of the universe. In my current state, nothing seemed more natural than a crowd masturbating to the music of a whip whistling towards my back - watching me and being watched. The lash curled between my legs and hugged my pubis for one brief instant. I shuddered with pleasure. Joe was so good at this. He had no idea.
Overwhelmed with sensation, I sagged in my chains.
Immediately, Joe dropped the whip and ran around the frame. 'Are you all right, Kate? Did I hurt you?'
His concern pulsed through me like living fire, but I couldn't answer. I could only moan with longing. A
Trappist
monk wouldn't have mistaken the sound for distress, but Joe crawled on to the platform and hugged me.
'I'm sorry, Kate. I'm sorry. Please, please don't hate me.'
'Kiss me,' I said, slurring like a drunkard.
With a cry, he captured my mouth. We kissed desperately, as if the world were ending, as if we'd never make love again. My body ached for him to fill it. I wanted to ram myself over him as brutally as I could, and at the same time, I wanted to soothe every salty tear - to be kind, to be sweet, to wrench his heart with the pain of falling in love.
To devastate us both.
'Enough,' Sean said, a cold, cutting order.
Joe ignored him. If anything, he clung tighter. The whip sang down, striking Joe's back. Everything stopped at once - our kiss, Lou and Amy's masturbation. Even the fire seemed to hush. Joe stared at his friend as though he'd lost his mind, but Sean stood firm.
'Back,’ he said, pointing with the doubled whip. 'Now.'
Joe moved back, slowly, but he moved.
Sean replaced him before me, his belt at eye level. He unfastened the buckle, then pulled it from the loops so fast the leather hissed. For a heart-stopping moment, he swung the belt from side to side, then tossed it to Lou. The whip followed. Such arrogance, I thought. But it was merited. He didn't need those tools to master me, only the one between his ears.
Knowing it would tease me, he dragged his hands up the bulge of his balls and dick. A wet spot at the midpoint of his zip proved how ready he was. I licked my lips.
At my telling gesture, Sean whipped open his trousers and released his swollen cock. It sprang out hard and full, bouncing once before rebounding towards his belly. His foreskin clung to the base of his
glans
, as though the head was too swollen to allow full retreat. My sex contracted, wanting to test just how swollen he was.
'Eat me.' He pushed his rod in my face. 'Nice and slow.'
At that moment, getting someone else off was not my first priority, but a woman like me is always game to take a taste, especially when the cock
du
jour is such a fine, vigorous specimen.
My hair fell forward as I circled his
glans
with my tongue. Sean's knees locked.
'Easy,' he said. I hadn't licked him hard but he was primed to blow.
I licked again, even more softly, directly across the eye of his cock. His thighs flexed and released. The prospect of a good long suck had weakened his guard. If I played my cards right, that guard might fall altogether. 'Make it last?' I asked.
'Oh, yeah,' he growled. 'Make it last.'
I leant closer to get at him. The chains rattled. Sean shuddered once at the sound, and again as I licked my way slowly up his under-ridge. I knew he'd lose it if I sucked him, so that's all I did: licked him up and down
and all around. I kept my tongue soft and wet - a comfort lick.
Sean liked it so much he clasped his hands on either side of my head. His guidance was firm but gentle. Perhaps he feared a tighter grip would lead me to intensify my efforts, which would bring him off sooner than he wished.
Perhaps, too, he did feel some affection towards me.
As I lapped him with all the delicacy I could muster, his thumbs traced the arc of my brows, smoothing them along the bone. Soon his fingers explored me as well, curving over my cheekbones and nose and jaw, as though he loved the structure of my face.
Could I really plot revenge against a man who touched me so tenderly?
That's when it hit me. Tenderness and domination were not inimical. They fed off each other and strengthened each other. If Sean had succumbed to doubt, the way Joe had, he would have robbed me of a rare pleasure. His carefully restrained violence opened a side of my nature I'd never suspected.
If I cared for Sean, could I do any less?
No, I thought. No.
Confidence
fountained
up through my sex and belly. My brain hummed with clarifying energy. I could do this. I was chained but he was putty in my hands. His hips rolled forward. I gave him the increase in pressure he craved, but slowed until he sighed with every lick and his ribs swelled with all the air he could draw. The skin of his prick tautened, strained to its limit. He was fast reaching the point where he'd think he'd die if he didn't come, where he had to, fucking had to have it.
I ventured on to the crown again, teasing the rim of his crinkled foreskin, giving it the tiniest nibble with the edge of my teeth. His pelvis jerked; he groaned. I backed off and closed my mouth. He took himself in hand and pushed the head towards my suddenly inhospitable lips.
'Suck it,’ he said in a voice like sandpaper. 'Open your mouth and suck it.'
I opened my mouth all right - just wide enough to say 'Uncle'.
Sean gripped my jaw. 'Don't fucking "Uncle" me now Suck it!'
Teeth clenched tight, I shook my head.
Lou burst out laughing. 'Oh,
darlin
', she's got you, now. She doesn't have to do
nothin
' once she cries "Uncle".'
'Shit, Kate, don't do this to me.' It was much more plea than order.
I cocked my head and contemplated his poor bobbing
willy
. 'I might suck you off, on one condition.'
Sean crossed his arms. He knew he wouldn't like it.
But Joe thought he would. 'What condition?'
'On the condition that Sean lets me tie him up.'
'Forget it.' Sean's hands slashed the air. 'I don't care how blue my balls are. The slave does not bind the master.'
But he didn't reckon on his fractious cohorts.
'Cluck, cluck,' Lou mocked. 'What's the matter, Sean, not man enough to take it?'
'Yeah, Sean,’ Amy said, giving her breasts an impudent shimmy. 'Afraid to take what a woman dishes out?'
Then all three of Sean's handmaidens joined the fowl chorus. His curse was too blue to repeat, but as sure as chickens lay eggs, it held surrender.
Yo
-ho-ho, I thought, my arousal surging back in full measure. My turn.
The rack held no terror for Sean, so I couldn't tie him to that.
I tapped my lips in thought. He stood rigid before the fire, his erection jutting through his gaping flies. Joe and Lou held his arms. He could have broken free, but that would have meant bruises all around, which was not the point of this game - at least, not the way Sean played it.