Second Base (11 page)

Karen paced the bedroom until its contents became a dizzy blur. Her toes scraped the rug she and Dan had picked together, the pattern of interlocked blue lines around the edge so reminiscent of chains. A pair of Dan’s socks lay on the floor, balled up beside the wash basket. Her own dirty underwear draped the edge.

When she threw herself on to the duvet, she caught a whiff of Dan’s aftershave, hot and sexy against the cotton. Shrieking, she shoved the duvet on to the floor, wincing when her laptop hit the floor with a dull thud.

Damn it! I’m fucked if that’s broken.

She pulled it free and turned it on. The laptop booted with a soft beep to demonstrate its anger, returning to the last page she visited.

Kink4Life.

A small red square with a ‘one’ inside appeared in her notifications window.

CONVERSATION STARTED WITH BLACK_ANGELUS

She frowned, then opened the private messaging window.

Black_Angelus:
Karen? Is that you? I hope it’s you.

A tingle raced through her limbs. Just on the edges of her hearing she heard Dan thumping through the bottom of the house. He opened the front door, and she then heard the grind of warped plastic as he wrestled with the external bin. The thunderous clatter of dozens of empty beer and wine bottles broke the air.

She put her fingers to the keys and typed.

Kaz_Kitten:
Hi Sith. Yes it’s me.

Black_Angelus:
Great! Sent six different messages to other ‘kittens’ B4U. Why R cats so popular?

Kaz_Kitten:
Ha, dunno. How are you?

Black_Angelus:
Confused. Why did U leave? Something I said? Didn’t mean 2 upset U.

Only then did Karen remember the way their conversation ended. Or the way it stopped dead. A twist of shame tightened her lungs and Dan’s reaction to it all only made her feel worse.

Kaz_Kitten:
No, it was me. Really sorry. Couldn’t explain. Not your fault.

Black_Angelus:
Explain now?

Kaz_Kitten:
Long story.

Black_Angelus:
I have time.

Kaz_Kitten:
Dan’s dad showed up at the Munch.

Black_Angelus:
. . .

Black_Angelus:
Not that long a story.

Karen laughed aloud.

She heard Dan again, muttering under his breath, something about smelly beer cans and half-eaten cake. The bin opened and closed again.

She kept typing.

Kaz_Kitten:
You’re right, sorry. Felt longer. But we had to go. Couldn’t let him see us.

Black_Angelus:
I understand. Dan OK?

She hesitated.

Kaz_Kitten:
Freaked, but fine.

Black_Angelus:
Good.

The laptop stopped pinging. The natural lull in conversation allowed Karen to consider what she was doing. Something inside her knew this was different to talking to Denise or Henrietta. Chatting with them always led to three way conversations which included Dan, often talking about where they would meet for lunch or the next play party on the Kink4Life
calendar.

This had a more covert feel, as though she were talking in the middle of the night, forced to used hushed voices so her parents wouldn’t hear.

In that moment, as she heard the front door close, Karen decided she didn’t care.

Black_Angelus:
Good 2 talk 2U 2day. You seem nice.

Kaz_Kitten:
Thanx.

Black_Angelus:
Talked to others when U left. Some people interested in playing soon.

Karen glared at the screen, stunned at how much the idea angered her. She drummed her fingers against the keys, trying to decide what to say. She was still struggling when Sith sent the next message.

Black_Angelus:
Didn’t like them. Pushy. Arrogant. Bet they use dick-pics.

A burst of sound came from downstairs. Karen recognised football chanting and realised Dan had decided to watch TV rather than speak to her.

Her fingers prickled. She bit her lip.

Fuck him, then. I’m not fixing it this time. He’s the one who needs to apologise.

Karen looked back at the screen to find another line of text.

Black_Angelus:
Also spoke 2 the guy who arrived when U left. Dan’s dad? Seems nice. Friendly. Is Dan like him?

Kaz_Kitten:
Usually.

Black_Angelus:
???

Kaz_Kitten:
Had a fight. Don’t want to talk about it.

Black_Angelus:
Sorry. Won’t pry. Still wanna meet him. Think he will?

Kaz_Kitten:
Don’t know.

Black_Angelus:
Ask him. Please? I like U. And him. Playing would be amazing.

She gnawed her thumbnail, listening to the sound of thousands of football fans churning through the sound system downstairs.

Kaz_Kitten:
Give me your number.

When his response came through, Karen grabbed her mobile and dialled. She heard the line ring and immediately disconnected. As she did, she realised the noise from the TV had lowered and that Dan’s footsteps were slowly approaching on the stairs.

Kaz_Kitten:
That was me. You have my number now. I’ll call you.

Black_Angelus:
Great. I’d love 2 hear UR voice.

Kaz_Kitten:
I’ll call later.

Black_Angelus:
Looking 4ward 2 it.

The footsteps approached the room.

Kaz_Kitten:
Gotta go. TTFN.

She slammed the laptop shut.

Dan opened the door and peered in. ‘I’m going to order Chinese. What do you want?’

Dan dropped his fork on to his plate and glared across the table. Still not looking at him, still tense from her shoulders to her toes, Karen pulled a string of noodles into her mouth with a skillful twist of her chopsticks.

He watched her eat, drinking in the delicate motions of her jaw. The way her lips occasionally pursed to catch a fleck of oil. The way her tongue flicked out to catch juice at the corners.

It was sexy. Every second of it.

He loved watching her eat. He loved watching her do anything, from showering, to parting her hair to add liberal dabs of the minty oil she used to keep it soft.

He thought about apologising but the words wouldn’t come.

Instead he snagged a pork rib from the stack liberally slathered with BBQ sauce and attacked one edge with his teeth. As the sauce slid down his chin, her gaze flicked up, touching briefly on the mess before darting away again.

Her lips twisted with distaste.

‘What?’ he snapped. Dan didn’t remember deciding to speak, but now that he had, he couldn’t back down. Slamming the gnawed rib onto his plate he wiped his greasy hands down his shirt.

The venomous look Karen shot him in return gave him an absurd rush of pleasure.

Yes, greasy BBQ sauce. Let’s see you get that out of my clothes, huh?

Even as he thought it, the absurdity nearly left him reeling.

When did I get so petty?

Karen put down her chopsticks and folded her hands in her lap. ‘I didn’t say anything. Sir.’

Uh oh.

‘Karen?’

‘Yes, Sir?’

‘You don’t have to do that.’

Her eyes flashed. ‘No? Because you sure as hell hinted at it earlier, Sir. Seemed to think that I’m your submissive all the time. That I’ll do
what
ever you want,
when
ever you want, no matter the issue. That my thoughts and feelings don’t matter.’

‘I didn’t say that.’

‘I won’t call you a liar, Sir.’

But you’ll think it.

He pushed back from the table. ‘I’m sorry. Come here.’

Karen immediately slid from her seat and on to the floor. Instead of walking, she crawled, cat-like, on her hands and knees and stopped beside his chair. There she knelt with her head down and her knees spread, hands resting on her thighs, palms turned up.

A true submissive pose.

Dan might have unfastened his trousers immediately if not for the glint in her eye. A submissive pose, yes, but not a submissive woman.

He hesitated. ‘Don’t do this. Please, let me see your face.’

She looked up, but refused to meet his eyes. Instead she set her gaze on the air beyond his right shoulder. Her lips formed a thin, grim line beneath her furrowed brow.

‘Karen—’

‘A submissive must never look her Master in the face, nor question is orders. Master’s word is law.’

He rolled his eyes. ‘Okay, enough. You’ve made your point.’

Her gaze snapped to his. The sharpness of it made him draw back. ‘Have I,
Master
? Because you sure as hell don’t seem to. You want everything your way, all the time, but that’s not how it works. You certainly don’t get to pull the ‘Master’ card every time you’re pissed off. I’m not an actual cotton-picking, sugar-harvesting slave.’

He froze. ‘I’ve never thought that. Who do you think I am?’

She huffed impatiently and drummed her fingertips on the floor. ‘I know.’ She bit her lip. ‘But when we talk about ‘slaves’ your definition depends on mood.’

This time, Dan was the one to look away. He looked instead at her hand. It seemed naked without the slave band.

The doorbell rang.

Karen bounded to her feet. ‘Let me get that, Sir.’

‘Kaz, wait.’

But she darted from the kitchen without answering, straight to the front door. He heard it click open. A gasp. A curse. Then the door slammed shut, so hard cutlery rattled against the plates.

When Karen stormed back into the room even the sarcastic show of submission was gone. ‘What have you done?’

He gaped. ‘What now?’

‘Why is Pete here?’

Too late he remembered. His hand fluttered impotently on the table top.

Oh, god.

Her eyes narrowed. ‘Why is Pete here
with this
?’

Until that moment he hadn’t seen the bag in her hand. She flung it at his face and he ducked, watching the contents sail out to litter the kitchen floor.

A box of condoms. Two lengths of pink, nylon rope. A black leather mask with a zip across the mouth.

What the fuck? Idiot.

He swallowed. ‘I can explain that.’

‘Can you? Because if you can explain it, it sounds to me like you planned it.’

‘You’re the one who wanted a male sub.’

‘There aren’t enough hours in the day to explain all the reasons this is wrong. Don’t you dare pin this on me. You can’t expect Pete to join us. Especially after last night.’ She clapped a hand over her mouth.

‘What? What happened last night? With Robert? You said it was fine.’

She growled something under her breath. ‘I’m not talking about Robert.’

‘Then what? Aside from him saving me from a boot to the head?’

‘No, forget that. Back up.’ Her voice quivered. ‘You thought
Pete
could be my sub?’ Another curse, this time as she stared at the trail of sexual paraphernalia across the floor.

‘I don’t get why you’re upset. You’re friends already. He’s safe. We don’t need to vet him first. He’s willing to give it a try.’

‘
Give it a try
? Dan, this isn’t a new flavour of ice cream. Don’t you think I should be involved in any plans involving me? When were you planning to let me know?’

‘I forgot. We argued—and I was upset, and—’

‘When did you arrange it? Was it his idea? I swear, I’ll rip him a new—’

Dan rushed forward and caught her arm as she marched to the door. ‘It was
my
idea. I thought after last night, and the news about your mum, you could do with a treat.’

‘I’m not six years old!’ She wrenched her arm away. ‘Pete kissed me last night. In the garden.
That’s
when Robert found us and
that’s
when Pete blurted out that you hit me.’

Dan heard the words but they didn’t make sense. They slid through his left ear and poured out his right without processing in between. It felt like a punch to the face. Dan tensed, fumbling for the counter while the world tipped and pitched around him. ‘He what?’

Karen seemed to lose some of her fire. She focused on the sink and the pool of grimy water within it. ‘That’s why Robert was so riled up. He caught Pete trying to force me.’

Still no sense. Pete wouldn’t—couldn’t—do that.

‘He’s my best friend,’ he said, finally. ‘He wouldn’t.’

Karen scoffed, glancing into the hallway before returning her gaze to him. ‘You don’t know your
friend
very well.’

He shook his head. ‘I don’t get it.’

‘He likes me, Dan. Like pining, stalker-style crush. He’s been weird since
you
called him to rescue me from that cage without giving me any clothes. I wasn’t sure, I doubted myself, but even Sam saw it last night.’

Another shake of the head, as if to do so would stop the words coming. ‘No.’

‘Yes! Fucking, yes! He kissed me, I tried to get away and he practically tore my clothes.’

‘You make him sound like a monster.’

‘Not a monster, but he isn’t thinking clearly any more. He was pissed off with
you,
Dan. Saying that he’s as good as you. That he can control me too if that’s what I want.’

Dan wiped the sides of his mouth. ‘No. No, this can’t be right. A misunderstanding—’

Again she cut across him. ‘He spied on us! While we were in here, he watched me give you that hand job. Does that sound like a misunderstanding to you?’

Each word hammered Dan’s senses until he felt raw. His body ached, far worse than the bruise on his face, every word almost a physical blow. ‘I . . .’ He ran his hands through his hair. ‘I didn’t know. You have to believe me, I had no idea.’

Tears ran down Karen’s face. They glistened on her cheeks and fell of the end of her chin to leave tiny damp spots on her top. She stared. ‘I didn’t want to tell you. I knew it would hurt you, but you’re so blind . . . and now this? I had to. You have to know.’

‘I’m sorry.’

‘That doesn’t help me.’ She darted out of sight, back into the hallway. Then her footsteps thundered up the stairs.

Dan stared at the goods on the floor, then kicked the box of condoms. He reached the doorway as Karen raced back down, pulling a cardigan over her blouse. ‘What are you doing?’

‘Going out.’

‘Where? It’s late.’

‘I don’t know. Cindy’s, maybe. Just away from here.’

‘Kaz, please.’ He reached for her, but she twisted free like an eel and grabbed her coat from a hook on the wall.

‘Don’t touch me. I can’t think when you touch me. All I want to do is kiss you when you touch me. But I can’t right now.’ More tears glistened on her cheeks.  She wiped them away with the back of her hand, then performed the same motion across her nose.

She looked adorable.

He sucked in a deep breath and grabbed her arm. ‘Kaz.’ She squirmed in his grip. ‘Please listen. I won’t touch you or make you do anything, I want to talk to you.’

‘No. Let go.’ She twisted again.

He tightened his grip.

‘Dan, get off me. Please, let me get out of here.’ The begging note in her voice did it. Her panic sliced Dan’s resolve like a knife. He flexed his fingers. She slid free. Grabbed her keys from another hook. Her mobile.

‘Don’t call me.’ She marched for the door. ‘Don’t text me. Just leave me alone for a bit.’

Drawn by Karen’s movements, Dan looked towards the door for the first time. It hung open, slightly dipped on its hinges. On the other side, Pete loitered on the path, his head lowered.

As she passed him Karen paused long enough to look him up and down.

Pete held out his hand. ‘I’m sorry, Karen, I thought—’

She cut him off with a powerful slap to the face. Then, without looking back, Karen stalked onto the street, turned left and vanished from view.

Dan loitered in the hallway, gazing at the wall without seeing. His skin felt hot, too tight for his body. The back of his neck tingled.

‘Shit.’ He pounded one fist against the wall. Pain lanced through his fingers. He did it again. And again. ‘Holy fucking, shit, bollocks!’ He hit the wall again and saw a smear of red against the paintwork. He roared wordlessly at the wall.

A gentle hand touched his shoulder.

He spun around. ‘You!’

Pete backed off immediately, both hands raised. ‘Mate—’

‘Don’t ‘mate’ me.’

‘I thought you knew. You told me it was okay.’

‘Excuse me?’

‘On the phone.’

‘I was talking about booting Karen’s father from the house, not mauling her in our back garden. How could you?’

Pete gripped the back of his neck with both hands. ‘I was drunk. I would never normally—probably stoned too.’

The shock and distress faded. It left a deep, yawning void rapidly filled by anger. ‘Is it true? Did you spy on us?’ He ignored the look of discomfort. ‘Did you?’

‘I wanted a beer. It was just for a second. I didn’t watch the whole time.’

Dan thrust out his hand. He couldn’t hear any more. ‘What were you thinking?’

Silence. Then Pete narrowed his eyes. ‘I was thinking Karen deserves someone good enough to give her everything she needs.’

‘How dare you—’

‘Oh, bite me,’ he snarled. ‘Don’t get high and mighty because
you
fucked up as much as me.’

‘I haven’t done anything.’

‘Exactly! I look at her and something is missing. This isn’t about knowing what she likes, because that stuff isn’t important. I can know all her favourite artists, books and music, but she’s never going to look at me the way she looks at you. I can accept that. But only if you’re looking after her.’

Dan could scarcely breathe. He gazed at his friend through a veil of red and felt his fingers burn with the need to punch something else. Maybe split the knuckles on his other hand. ‘You don’t know anything about her.’

‘I know that when she’s smiled lately, it’s not how she used to smile. I know that when we all go to the flicks, she’s sizing people up in a way I’ve only ever seen
you
do. Would she do that if she was getting everything she wanted from you? What is it you’re not giving her? Is it men? Is that why you invited me tonight? Thought you could get away with another half measure?’ He stepped close enough that the hot rush of his breath struck Dan’s jaw and neck.