"Yes, I'll see you after the meeting, Miss Shaw. In my office."
A few at the station had picked up on the possibility that there was something more than just business going on between the Police Captain and the recently demoted clerk, although no one had the nerve to turn their hunches over to the gossip mill. For the most part, the secret was still a secret, and the room could assume that the errant Miss Shaw was going to get another dressing down. In fact, there was speculation that as inept as she was, she'd get the boot.
***
Meredith stood waiting, stock still, shoulders back, her head slightly bowed, her eyes down. An eternity passed in the terrible silence, while she waited for Alain to finish whatever he was doing at his desk.
He finally looked up, still saying nothing but appraising her closely, lips pursed, and – if her intuition was on target – a little anger brewing beneath that cool façade. Her ears were starting to burn, her mouth was parched, and her hands were sweating enough that she had to wipe them on her skirt.
"So what do you want me to say?" she finally blurted out in frustration. "YOU were there too! You lied to me, too!"
"Did I ask you to talk?" Alain's furrowed brow now gave away his fast rising emotions.
"No, sir," she backed off, pouting.
She tried very hard to be mad at him, but even she could see that she hadn't much ammunition to toss in his face.
"I told you I was on a case, which is the truth. It just happened that the Fetish Masquerade was where it took me Saturday night."
"So, what about the woman on your arm?" she came right back. "Janis, isn't it?"
This one startled him, although he was suddenly more amused than he was angry by her jealous outburst.
"She was someone I could trust not to blow my cover."
"You couldn't trust me?" She was hurt.
"Frankly, no. Not when there was as much at stake as finding your roommate."
"What, you found Kat!"
"That's something we'll discuss later, Meredith. I do know she's safe."
"Please, tell me more? Please!"
"Not now. Now, you're going to tell me about your Saturday night."
This was not what she wanted him to say and her brows knit like a frustrated child's. She finally sighed. "So, you don't know what they did to me?"
"Specifics, no. I understand you were punished but I want the details."
This was a terrible idea. She could feel a wave of nausea rise up and her head was already spinning.
"Really, sir, do I have to—?"
His hard look was enough of an answer.
"Oh, dear. It's not something I care to relive."
"Not even for me?"
"Well," she squirmed a bit more, which Alain thoroughly enjoyed, "I got taken, a
rrested
and taken to the dungeon by the dungeon master. It was so embarrassing. He paddled my behind very hard…"
"Anyone looking on?"
"Yes." Her entire face broke out in a beautiful blush. "There was a whole crowd."
"Go on."
"Then he tossed me into one of the cells and I was alone for quite a while. It wasn't comfortable at all. The floor was hard and it was cold, and I was very alone, and waiting for you to arrive."
"And why would you think I'd be coming to your rescue?"
"I can always hope, can't I?"
"A poor damsel in distress," he said.
"You're mocking me."
"Maybe so, but I'm enjoying listening to your sad tale, Meri, please go on."
She didn't like the fact that she felt so naked, so vulnerable. It would be a whole lot better if he'd just spanked her til she was black and blue!
"Meri?"
She sighed. "Well, after I was there a god awful long time, Edmund Thorsby came and took me upstairs to his private quarters. He told me that you sold me to him for fivehundred dollars. Is that true?"
The tears in her eyes did move him to reply with the truth. "No, I didn't sell you. But I did tell Edmund to take charge of you, so he basically had my permission to punish you as the disobedient submissive you are. Does being sold particularly upset you?"
"Yes, yes it does," she indignantly replied.
"Then it should relieve you to know that's not something I ever intend to do. So what else happened?"
"He insisted that I remove my clothes, all but the corset, then he made me bend over. He started playing with me, stuffing his fingers in my ass, then an anal plug, then he caned me, very hard. My bottom was already sore." She bowed her head, feeling particularly chagrinned to go on… "After that…he had me give him a blowjob." She bit her lip.
"That bothers you?"
"I belong to you, sir."
"And I gave you to Edmund, so he could keep you safe while I was busy. You did as you were told. That's all I care about now. So, let me see your ass. Turn around."
Meredith suddenly quivered with a fresh burst of excitement. The humiliation was so rich with possibility. A quick turn and she bent over and flipped her skirt up off her ass revealing the bruises remaining on her caned behind.
"My, he did do quite a job," Alain said, observing his submissive's two very lovely bottom cheeks with some purpling bruises beneath deep welts. His penis began to stiffen. "You can turn back around."
That was all he was going to say?
She'd really hoped for more.
"So was that the end of it?" he went on.
"Yes, pretty much."
"What about the closet?"
"You know about that?"
"Obviously."
"He bound me, stuffed me into this awful closet. It was so small I could barely move. Then a lot of his friends showed up and things in his room got pretty sexual by the sound of it. I wouldn't know for certain because I couldn't see a thing."
"And what about you? Did things get sexual for you?"
She went sheepishly silent, unable to look him in the face.
"Meri, I asked you a question. I want an answer. I want the truth. Did you come?"
"Yes, sir…but just barely. Oh, sir, I was so damn horny I couldn't stop!"
"I see. So, that was it?"
"I think so, at least until someone finally came for me. He carried me to one of the bedrooms in the upper floor and chained me to the bed. I spent the rest of the night there. Mr. Thorsby let me go in the morning. Told me my master wanted me to go home and spend my Sunday thinking about my punishment."
"And did you follow that order?"
"I did. I couldn't think about anything else but that. There's not a place on my body that isn't sore, even now."
"So, tell me your thoughts."
"My thoughts, sir?"
"What you're thinking now about that night."
She took a deep breath, fear replacing any resentment for the indignities she'd suffered. All she could think about from the time she left Edmund Thorsby's mansion to the moment she barged into the meeting room was how her relationship with Alain Danvers must be over. "I'm scared, sir."
"Of what?"
"Of your ending things…I was very wrong to go to the Masquerade and I'm sorry."
"Yes. That was a bad move. I actually wasn't all that surprised, given how disappointed you were when I told you to stay home. Still, that doesn't excuse you. When I give you a direct order, I expect you to obey it. You can be sure that if anything like that happens again, if you ever defy me like that, I will punish you long and hard. What Percy and Edmund did to you will pale in comparison to the suffering you'll receive from me. Is that clear?" "Yes, sir."
"I hope so. I hope that sinks in."
"Oh, it has, sir." She bit her lip, worriedly. "Are you going to…are you going to punish me now…?"
"Punish you again? No. I think Edmund did enough to get the point across. I see no reason to make you suffer more for that one crime. But, there are other matters we need to talk about."
"What is that, sir?"
He sat back, giving himself a moment to collect his thoughts. "I've troubled by a few things."
"Troubled?"
"Yes. While I realize that I initiated the contract between us, I'm not particularly happy with the way things are going."
"No…?" Her face fell.
"No. I'm not."
"But I have been trying. It was just one mistake. I'm sorry. I know that I deserve to be punished and I was. I'll submit to another if you like. You're not going to end it, are you? I mean end us?"
"No, Meri, I'm not going to end anything, not unless that's what you want."
"Oh, no, sir, never!"
"But things will have to change. What we have is not enough for me." He took a deep breath, his hardened expression having softened. "I am in love, Meri. Hopelessly so."
"In love with me?"
"Yes, very much in love with you. I've worried this over for some time, and I'm beginning to believe that being married would be the only way I can continue with our relationship."
"Married? Married? Oh, of course, I'll marry you!" She looked as if she was about to jump out of her skin and into his arms.
But he stopped her cold. "That's not what I want you to tell me now. You have to know for sure, and so do I, that you can suffer the sadistic extremes that are natural to me, that you can take all that my desires require. I'm not sure you can."
"Oh, I know I can. It is all I've ever dreamed of, sir."
"That still remains to be seen," he said coolly. "But we are going to find out together if this will work."
She felt as if she'd just been yanked back from the brink of something wonderful. Joy and despair raged through her in equal measure, and she had no idea what to think.
"I want you to go to my house and wait for me there. I should be home about 6:00.
You can leave now."
"Leave now?"
"Yes."
"But my job. It's just ten o'clock!"
"Well, that brings me to the official business we need to address."
"Official business?" she spoke cautiously.
He suddenly dropped the authoritarian cool demeanor altogether and adopted a much kinder tone. "You don't belong working in this office, Meri. Some people can manage the daily grind, the paperwork, the system that's based on deadlines and punctuality and details. Although coming in late this morning was regrettable, there's a long list of complaints on your record. I can't write you up again. There's really just one option left."
"You're firing me, aren't you?"
"You'll thank me for that very soon."
"But how do I pay my bills?"
He shook his head. "Let's not think about that now. Go home now, Meri, and wait for me there. Think about what I've said. What it could mean to you if we take that next step."
***
Alain threw the contract into the fire and she watched it burn to a crisp, then the ends darken to black and turn to ash. Despite the mention of marriage, she felt bereft, detached. His cool demeanor had left her shaken.
She'd been there for him when he arrived home, but he seemed unusually moody, even grumpy.
"I want you on a shorter leash, Meredith," he said. "Making you my wife does that."
She had been elated, flabbergasted in his office when the word marriage first fell from his lips, but now marriage sounded like a death sentence, not a cause for joy.
"Is something wrong, Alain?" She rarely used his given name when speaking to him; now it came out without thinking.
"You're here. So I can assume you plan to stay."
"Yes, of course sir. You sent me here."
She sat on the couch in the living room, while he stood over her – agitated, questioning, unsure, quite unlike himself. He turned away, obviously deep in thought, then as he turned back, he met her with a cold stare.
"Go to the basement, Meredith, and remove your clothes." "Basement?"
"There's a stairway down the front hall, just before you get to the kitchen." She waited too long to move, and he had to prompt her. "Get going now."
She scampered off, heart beating and mind all in a stew. She wasn't good at things like this, like deciding anything important. She did everything with her heart, and right now, her heart was torn in two, hating the man she loved for the coldness that now chilled her bones and made her veins freeze up. What was his point? If they were in love, why didn't he show it more? Or was this what he meant by the sadistic extremes she must accept?
Alain arrived in his bare basement in time to see his Meri still struggling out of her clothes. He'd purposely not given her enough time. Games like this were all part of his mood.
"Why aren't you undressed?"
"You didn't give me enough time," she snapped.
"Of course I did."
She was finally naked, her skin glowing from perspiration. Her breathing was shallow and fast.
"Put your back to the wall and raise your arms," he ordered.
Frightened, she backed up until her ass hit the cold stone. She raised her arms to the wall, terrified.
"You might as well understand that the sadist in me is as needy as the lover. If you want me, you'll figure out a way for this to give you pleasure. You'll do this for me because you love me, because your needs collide with mine and we both get what we honestly need. I hope I'm not wrong about you, but tonight should tell."
She was already crying from fear. Her mind was a mess, but her crotch was about to explode. She might have been writhingly like a shameless whore if she weren't so very afraid. The tip of his whip began to snap against her skin, in little places starting to burn. That tasseled end cut into her breasts, her belly, her pussy and thighs, one strike after the next, all erratic and unpredictable, the pain a fickle thing, moving from place to place. She was forced to stare her master in the eye – it would have been easier doing it blindfolded, but he had a point in keeping his darkly fixed eyes on her. She could see his soul, in glimpses. The exhilaration, determination, the sadistic pleasure he derived from making her jump. From making her suffer.