Stockholm Syndrome (15 page)

“Yeah, damn it,” she groaned.

“Oh, little drama queen, we’re going to have to work on your
manners. That’s not a respectful answer. Come stand over here.” He indicated a
spot on the picnic blanket under a soaring branch. “Keep your hands at your
sides, unless I tell you otherwise, and don’t move.”

She stood as he directed while he went to get the big black
bag and placed it on the blanket close to her feet. He unzipped a side
compartment and withdrew a length of rope and some broad cuffs that looked like
truncated mittens.

“Give me your right hand.”

She held out her hand, and he fitted the cuff over her
slender wrist. It also covered the palm and back of her hand, and buckled
snugly tight. It had a large metal ring attached to the palm.

“These are suspension cuffs. They spread your body weight,
and they don’t cut into your skin because they’re very broad and thickly
padded. Don’t look so alarmed, I’m not going to suspend you. It’s just a
precaution in case you lose your balance…or go weak at the knees.” He grinned. “Left
hand.” He worked the buckles with the ease of long practice.

Evelyn looked at her fingers protruding from the strange
cuffs. She wanted to ask him so many things, but he frowned at her and she held
her tongue.

“Good, you’re learning.”

He tossed the rope over the thick branch above her head,
positioning it in front of a leafy offshoot so it couldn’t slide toward the
trunk. Then he secured one end to the metal ring on her right cuff with a few
deft moves. The man knew his knots. An erotic shiver ran down her spine. There
was something incredibly lascivious about these deliberate preparations, and
her arousal was building rapidly.

He threaded the rope through the metal loop on the left
cuff. Before securing it, he pulled on it, raising her hands above her head.
She grew alarmed as he tugged it higher and higher, until her arms were
stretched upward, but to her relief, she was still able to stand with her feet
flat on the ground when he tied it off, an easy task for him, because he was so
tall. He stood back to inspect his work.

“Mmm, there’s something quintessentially dissolute about
tying a woman to a tree and having your wicked way with her.” The rich tones of
his voice set off resonating, stimulating vibrations deep within her. Scattered
rays of sun filtered through the leafy canopy above her, dancing warmly over
her skin, and the feeling of freedom and lightness inexplicably intensified.

He turned back to his black bag of tricks and pulled out a
shiny chrome bar with leather loops on either end.

“This is a spreader bar. I’m going to put it between your
ankles to make sure that you can’t close your legs while I’m busy with you.”

Her cunt spasmed wildly at his words, a shock wave of lust
racking her body. Oh god, she was already so helpless, and now he was going to
render her open and vulnerable, exposed to the world here on top of the hill.
Exposed to him.

He knelt at her feet and strapped the loops to her ankles,
forcing her feet outward until she was standing on tiptoe. When he was done, he
rose and walked slowly ’round her, reaching out to caress her stomach, fondle a
breast, squeeze the cheeks of her ass, and run his fingertips up and down her
spine. She squirmed and panted, helpless under his knowing touch.

“I think you need one more thing, little sub. The icing on
the cake, so to speak.”

He looked in the bag again, and drew out a small velvet
pouch. Upending it over his palm, he shook the contents out. She glimpsed some
sort of chain. Was it jewelry?

“Nipple clamps,” he stated, coming to stand in front of her
again. “There is no way that breasts like these can be left without nipple
clamps.” He touched a nipple with his fingertip as he spoke, and it promptly
hardened into a tight peak.

“Look how responsive it is. Now don’t be frightened, I won’t
hurt you too much—just enough for it to feel good. Look, these are adjustable.”

He showed her the tiny rubber-capped clips. They had little
screws which could be tightened or released to control the tension, and they
were joined together with a delicate, jewel-embellished chain, but they still
looked alarming. She raised anxious eyes to his, and blinked at the taut,
lustful expression on his face.

He positioned the first clamp around her right nipple. He
didn’t clip it from the front, as she’d expected, but attached it sideways with
the little handle angled downward. She cried out as the clamp bit into her
sensitive flesh.

“Shhh, little sub. It’s not set too tight.” He clipped the
second one into place, and excruciating pleasure-pain shot from her breasts
directly to her pussy.

“Let’s see if it’s working,” he said, and glided two fingers
through her curls, into her cleft, testing her wetness, fingering her swollen,
throbbing clit.

“Your clit is huge, Evvy. You’re so aroused.” His questing
fingers caressed the opening of her channel then slowly slid inside, sinking
deep into her slippery passage. He added a third finger.

“Your cunt is hungry and it wants to be filled. Next time I’ll
use an inflatable dildo on you. It’ll stretch you much more than my cock, and
we’ll find out what your limits are. But for today, I have other plans for you.”
He paused, keeping her on tenterhooks of anticipation while he smoothly
finger-fucked her.

“I’m going to flog you.”

Her knees gave out, from fear and approaching orgasm, and
she swung helplessly from her wrists for a moment. He removed his fingers and
steadied her.

“It’s nothing to be afraid of, it doesn’t hurt. Look, I’ll
show you the flogger.”

He retrieved it from the bag and held it out. It had a
short, pommeled handle, with the fall made from suede, many flat, supple strips
of brown leather. She had a jacket with a fringe made of the same stuff. It
wasn’t what she’d expected, but it didn’t look very threatening. She wondered
what the point of it was, since it clearly wouldn’t deliver anything beyond a
light sting.

Mason was speaking to her again. “I want you to look up.
Keep looking into the branches of the tree above your head. Look at the
sunlight shining through it, and the leaves moving in the breeze. Don’t look
down.”

He moved around her, trailing the flogger across her skin in
a soft caress. Then he started lashing it across her back and shoulders with
light strokes. After the first few, he took up a rhythm, working up and down
her back, to the cheeks of her ass, again and again. As she thought, the thongs
prickled and tingled as they made contact with her skin, but didn’t cause real
pain.

She stared up into the tree, absently watching the play of
light through the leaves, all her attention focused on the sting and drag,
sting and drag of the flogger. Her skin began to feel hot and sensitized, as if
a fever was burning just below the surface, and when the lashes curved
unexpectedly under the cheeks of her ass toward her pussy, she groaned,
although she wasn’t sure if she made the noise aloud.

Then he switched to her front, plying the fronds of the
flogger across her chest and stomach, over her exquisitely aroused breasts. The
sensation of heat and fever intensified as he threw the strands over patches of
untouched skin, and the branches above her all seemed to be moving in a unified
pattern, unrelated to the wind.

The flogger licked at the top of her pussy, flicking then
retreating, then returning to make a deeper foray into the space between her
thighs. She was burning hot, trying to anticipate where the next stroke would
fall and simultaneously staring at the tree in wonder as the entire mass of its
branches began to swirl. Or maybe she was the one swirling, twisting, spinning…
She didn’t know. The sunlight formed long streaks interspersed with whirlpools
of green.

She could no longer tell if the lashes between her legs came
from the back or the front, and her ass and pussy felt hot, swollen, and
sensitive. Orgasm shimmered around her, as close as the air that caressed her
naked skin, and as distant as the green and golden vortex that was her universe,
but until he made it happen, she was trapped in a no man’s land of raw
sensation.

When the flogging ceased, she cried out her disappointment.
She was dimly aware of Mason first releasing her ankles and then her hands, and
his strong arms caught her, supported her, and lowered her to the blanket. He’d
shed his clothes at some point, but she couldn’t have said when. She was still
gazing up at the unearthly movement of the leaves when he parted her thighs and
drove his cock into her. He pumped in and out with powerful thrusts, and her
body tightened, quivering on the brink of a massive explosion.

He leaned in close, picked up the chain that connected her
nipple clamps with his teeth, and pulled back on it, stretching the tormented
peaks. At the same time, he put his hand between their bodies, his thumb on her
distended clit, and rubbed.

The force of her orgasm rocked her like an earthquake. As
the first wave slowed, he unclamped her nipples and tossed the chain aside. The
intensity of the blood flow returning to the tortured buds sparked a second,
deeper explosion in her cunt. This time, he couldn’t withstand the spasms that
gripped his cock as she convulsed around him. With a hoarse cry, he released
into her, filling her with his come, riding out the storm with her, and finally
cradling her in his arms as she fainted.

***

She slept for about an hour, which didn’t surprise Mason at
all. Inexperienced subs were usually exhausted after a session, especially if
they achieved the level of out-of-body arousal that he suspected Evelyn had.

He held her close, like a precious treasure. She had
exceeded his every expectation: her submission had been perfect, and her
responsiveness awed him. If he lived to be a hundred, he would never forget how
she looked tied naked to this tree, her skin flushed from the flogger, her body
responding to his every touch like the most finely tuned instrument.

When she woke, he could see that she’d come down from the
high induced by the extreme sensations, but was still very tired. He didn’t
want her to crash into a depression, an extreme reaction he’d witnessed from
time to time, so he prepared food from the Esky and ate with her, asking her
questions and distracting her until she finished a decent-sized meal. They didn’t
talk about what had just happened between them. It was too immediate and
intense. Instead he tried to learn more about her. As he asked probing
questions, he could see her gathering her defenses again, regrouping after
coming undone, and it pleased him, because it meant that she would be fine.

She probably thought that he was merciless and unrelenting,
which he usually was, of course, but this time it was for her own good.

“Evvy, will you tell me about your marriage? You said you
got married too young, and he cheated on you. I’d like to know more.”

***

Evelyn considered his question, weighing his motives. As far
as she could see, she wouldn’t give away any advantage by telling him a little
more. If she were really developing an attachment to him, as she wanted him to
believe, it would be natural for her to share more personal information with
him. Besides, if she did, she could ask him something about himself and he’d be
obliged to reciprocate.

She shuddered. How could she be so calculating when she was
so bone-wearily tired?

“I got married when I was twenty-two.” She sighed. Talking
about it was never easy. “I was young for my age. I’d lived with my parents all
my life, and they were very protective. My father is wealthy—filthy rich, to be
honest—so they could afford to indulge their protective urges. I never had a
job. I went straight from school to university, and they paid for everything. I
even had a driver to cart me around, and all my friends got their licenses long
before I did.”

Mason nodded. “I guess you didn’t have much motivation to
rush out and get one?”

“No. But at the time, I didn’t realize how dependent it made
me, and what a golden cage I was living in. My friends all thought I was
incredibly lucky, and so did I. I never questioned anything.”

“Poor little rich girl?”

“Yeah. I met Joel when I was twenty-one. He was the oldest
son of one of my father’s good friends, and they’re also really rich. He was
good-looking and smooth—slimy actually, but I didn’t realize that at the time—and
he bowled me over. I fell in love with him in record time, and my parents were
thrilled.”

“How convenient,” murmured Mason ironically. “And here I
thought arranged marriages were a thing of the past.”

She grimaced. “I’m sure my father had several other
candidates lined up in case I didn’t fall for Joel, but really, it was too
easy. I’d never had a serious boyfriend, and I was so flattered by all his
attention, I just…” She shook her head.

“It’s okay, I understand.” He reached out and covered her
hand with his big warm one. “So you got a fiancé?”

“Yeah, and once again, all my friends were envious. They
thought Joel was the catch of the year, and I didn’t have a single doubt. I
didn’t even get cold feet before the wedding! I finished my degree that year,
and we got married the moment I was done. We had a huge wedding. It was even in
the newspapers, although they described it more as two business empires joining
forces. I remember being so upset that none of the articles even described my
dress.”

She smiled. It was easier to tell him about it than she’d
expected, and he seemed to be sympathetic without pitying her.

“Anyway, I was ecstatically happy. We had a month-long
honeymoon planned. Although we were so rich, I hadn’t traveled that much, and it
was the first time that I’d gone away without my parents. We toured around
Europe. It was a pretty standard circuit, but I loved it. That’s when the
travel bug bit me. I never wanted it to end.”