The Erotic Mind-Control Story Archive

Chapter 14

“Susie?”

I blinked in disorientation, focusing my eyes on Richard as he leaned over me solicitously.

“I’m sorry, Master,” I apologized. “I must have dozed off. What did you say?”

It was late at night, a few days after the dinner party with Arlene and Jack. Richard and I had been sitting in the living room, reading; Richard was reading a stimulating volume called “Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Cognitive Modeling,” and I was getting a head start on my fall classes by reading “The Faerie Queene.” I enjoy reading great literature, really. I just tend to fall asleep while doing it, sometimes. Which is a bit odd, when you think about it, since I have trouble falling asleep when I want to. Oh, well.

“I was just suggesting that we go to the gym,” Richard said.

I glanced at the clock. It was eleven thirty. “Isn’t it a bit late, Master?” I ventured. I was also thinking of other forms of exercise we might engage in without leaving home, I admit. But then, I’m always thinking about that.

“The gym is open until two, and it’ll be less crowded at this hour,” Richard said. “And we could both use the exercise.”

This was undeniably true. With most of my regular tennis partners gone for the summer, I wasn’t getting nearly as much playing done as I usually did. And after a steady diet of Richard’s cooking, my ass was threatening to open an additional branch. I’d never realized how much the terrible food in the dining hall had helped me to eat less.

“All right, Master,” I agreed, getting up and putting Spenser aside with a sensation of mild relief. “I’ll get my gym clothes.”

The gym was on campus, only a short walk away from the apartment. It was brightly lit, but practically deserted. The student at the desk waved us by without even looking up from her book. I went to the girls’ locker room to change into my exercise clothes—a pair of shorts and a halter-top, which would hopefully help to keep Richard’s pulse properly elevated. Stowing my street clothes in a locker, I wandered upstairs to the weight room, where Richard was already stretching out.

There were two other guys there, lifting weights, but no girls. I started my own stretching routine: hamstrings; thighs; groin; neck; shoulders; upper back.

Richard leaned closer as I was stretching my hands above my head in a futile attempt to reach the ceiling.

“You’re giving that guy in the corner a show,” he said quietly, with a trace of amusement.

I paused in my stretch, then tried to casually look in that direction. “He’s facing the other way.”

“He’s watching you in the mirror,” Richard said. “Keep your eye out.”

I repeated the stretch experimentally, feeling my breasts rise beneath the halter-top, and saw that, indeed, the guy’s head turned to watch my reflection. He paused in lifting his dumbbells until I relaxed the stretch.

I considered being annoyed, or being flattered, but settled for good-humored acceptance of male foibles. Now that I was aware of him, though, I had some fun making him turn his head in different directions. When one deep bend of mine made him twist his head violently, though, I desisted for fear of injuring him. I straightened up, smiled at him in the mirror, then went and hopped onto the elliptical machine. Got to tame those glutes, before they expand beyond all previous bounds. I picked up the pace, and quickly worked up a mild sweat. Boy, I really was out of shape.

Richard was loading an improbable amount of weight onto the squat machine. To each his own glutes, say I. Certainly I liked the results.

After twenty minutes on the machine I was hot and breathless, but not unpleasantly so. I got down, stretched out a bit more, got a drink of water, then began a quick circuit of the weight machines. Lifting weights is not something that I particularly enjoy, so I try to get through them as efficiently as possible—one or two sets on each machine, alternating upper and lower body. For tennis you need arm strength and flexibility, but much more you need endurance and explosive power in your legs. Even the best hitters can be worn down by long rallies until they’re too tired to get to the ball or too slow to change directions. This was not something that I liked to have happen to me.

Richard finished up a few minutes before I did, and went off to get a shower. One of the other guys had gone while we worked out; only the one who’d been ogling me was still there. I did a five-minute cool-down on the stair-stepper, then did a final stretch before heading off to the locker room myself.

The shower was running when I got there, which I thought was a bit odd, since the only other girl I’d seen in the building was the one on duty at the desk. Still, maybe someone had been in one of the squash courts or something. I stripped quickly out of my exercise clothes, dropping them onto the bench, and hung my towel on the rack before stepping into the shower room myself.

Richard was there, turning his long body under the spray from one of the shower heads. My heart flopped in surprise at seeing him. His muscles stood out like steel from the exercise he’d done. I felt my mouth go dry with the sight of him. He was so beautiful. My desire for him, never far from the front of my mind, sprang immediately up for attention.

“Master!” I said, surprise making my voice come out as a squeak. “What are you doing here? Somebody might come!”

“Other than you, you mean?” Richard said, lifting his eyebrows meaningfully.

I felt myself blushing, which was ridiculous. He was the one in the wrong locker room.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” Richard went on after a moment. “Come on in, the water’s fine.”

I gingerly stepped forward under the spray, the warm water stinging slightly against my flesh. Richard shifted slightly to one side to make room for me. He reached for the soap dispenser and collected a dollop of soap in one palm.

“Turn around,” he said. “I’ll wash your back.”

I obeyed, and he began moving his hands in soapy circles over my skin. I got my own handful of soap and began washing myself as well. The feel of four hands moving over my body was a sensual thrill. I closed my eyes and savored the sensation. Richard’s hands descended to my ass, sliding smoothly on my rounded flesh, then lower, as he stooped down to scrub my thighs and calves. A shiver went through me as his hand moved lightly between my legs, his touch casual, and yet also erotic. I got more soap from the dispenser and turned around.

“Here, Master,” I said, pressing closer to him. I could see the moisture beading on his skin, the slight roughness of stubble around his jaw. “I can help wash your back, too.”

He turned, obligingly, and I ran my hands over the hard muscles of his back and rear. He felt so good; I found myself stroking him far more than simple hygiene required. I was excited by his closeness, the public spot, the continual stimulation of the water cascading down my skin, and it was very clear how aroused he was, as well. He turned to face me again and kissed me, his tongue moving sweetly against my own, my breasts pressed against him.

I leaned back and closed my eyes, letting the water pour over my head as I turned this way and that. Richard picked up a bottle of shampoo from the ground and began lathering my hair. The feel of his fingertips against my scalp was strangely soothing. I leaned back again to rinse the suds away, and Richards hands lowered, moving slickly over my breasts, teasing my already sensitized nipples so that I involuntarily moaned in pleasure.

He kissed me again, and without opening my eyes I kissed him back, feeling the hard tip of his cock touch against my lower belly. His arms went around me, and he pushed me back, still kissing me, until my shoulders came into contact with the cool tile of the wall, feeling almost cold against my heated skin. His hands slid down to caress my ass again, then lower; he hooked them under my thighs and raised me up, locking his fingers beneath my rear. I was lifted from the ground, supported in the cradle of his arms, leaning back against the wall. I felt the feather touch of his penis against my pussy, and I opened my eyes to look into his.

“Are you sure, Master?” I asked him, worried about being caught, but at the same time breathless with the thrill of it.

“Absolutely, Susie,” he said, smiling teasingly, and pushed into me, inch by exquisite inch, as I moaned and buried my face against his shoulder with the pleasure of it all.

This was not a slow and gentle coupling; I doubted his arms would have held out for that. It was hard and fast, and my breath was driven from me in rhythm with his thrusts. All I could do was hang on and try to thrust back in time with him, and hope that he finished before either his grip gave out or my head exploded.

Out in the locker room the door opened and closed. I heard it, and my heart rate jumped up another level.

“Master!” I hissed in his ear. “There’s somebody coming!”

“Damn...right...there is!” he grunted, slamming into me faster than ever. I felt torn between terror of being discovered and intense arousal at the thought of it. I heard movement in the next room, and Richard’s thrusts acquired a sort of frantic quality that told me he was right on the edge. I was on the edge myself, teetering on the brink. Footsteps approaching... suddenly the man who’d been ogling me in the gym rounded to corner and entered the shower, clad only in a towel around his hips. He stopped dead, eyes widening in astonishment at the sight of us. I was looking right into his face.

“Oh, Jeez, sorry!” he said, backing out hastily.

“Oh, Christ!” I said. And then: “Oh Christ, oh Christ, oh Christ!” as one of the biggest orgasms I’d ever had ripped through my body like a tidal wave. Richard gasped something as well, and I felt him coming inside me, and that pushed my own climax further, so that my vision actually grayed out and little sparks danced in front of my eyes for a few seconds.

Richard lowered me to the floor and slipped out of me. My knees nearly buckled for a moment, but I hastily tensed my muscles and kept myself upright. We were both still gasping for breath. We rinsed ourselves off under the shower in silence. Richard shut off the spray and picked up his bathing gear.

“What is it with this place?” I said after a bit, retrieving my towel and wrapping it firmly around me. “Is the men’s locker room broken, that everyone has to use the girls’ showers?”

Richard laughed. “Look around you, Susie,” he suggested.

I looked around, and was suddenly struck by the fact that the bathroom opposite the showers contained a row of urinals. And come to think of it, the layout of the locker room had seemed odd as well. Realization came to me with a sudden shock.

“Oh, my God!” I gasped. “This is the men’s locker room!”

Richard tilted up my chin and kissed me. “Very perceptive, Susie!”

My face was flaming. “How could I make that mistake?” I said.

Richard grinned at me. “With a little help from your friends.”

It took me a few seconds to realize what he meant. “You mean...you gave me a suggestion to do this?”

“Yep!” he admitted cheerfully. “You should have seen your face when you thought I’d sneaked into the girls’ locker room.”

“I’ll bet,” I said ruefully. “My God, what about that guy who walked in? We might have given him a heart attack!”

“He looked fairly fit upstairs,” Richard said unconcernedly. “And I’m sure he had the thrill of a lifetime. The one in danger of a heart attack was me. Not my most brilliant idea, picking you up after pre-exhausting my muscles, and trying to hold you up long enough to fuck your brains out. You’re slippery when wet. I was worried I would drop you and suffer massive injury to one of my favorite parts.”

“One of mine, too,” I said a bit absently. “How can I ever face that guy?”

“You probably won’t have to,” Richard said. “And anyway, my back was to him, and you were blocked from him by my body; it’s not like he could see anything except my ass.”

“And my face,” I said. “Oh, Lord.”

When I ventured back out into the locker room there was no sign of the guy. I picked up my exercise clothes from the bench, gathered the towel more firmly around me, and scuttled the ten feet to the door of the girls’ locker room as quickly as I could. I found my street clothes in the locker where I’d left them. I dressed, then toweled off my hair and quickly combed it. When I at last emerged, Richard was waiting outside for me, fully dressed, chatting with the guy who’d walked in on us. The guy looked up and saw me. I’m not sure which one of us blushed harder, but he muttered something quickly to Richard and vanished into the locker room.

“So, what did he say?” I asked Richard as well headed for the exit. “Is he going to sue us for indecent exposure and emotional trauma?”

“Nah,” Richard said, smiling. “He’s cool with it.”

“That’s a relief,” I said, relaxing a little, but still feeling intensely embarrassed. Richard seemed not in the least affected; if anything he seemed in particularly good spirits.

“He did say that if you and I ever broke up, he’d appreciate my giving him your phone number,” Richard added as we emerged into the cool night air. I shook back my still-damp hair and laughed.

“And what did you say to that...Master?” I asked him.

Richard slipped an arm around me and pulled me closer.

“I said...not in this lifetime!”

I put my own arm around Richard, hugging him against my side. We walked home like that, arms around each other and a warm glow inside me.

Chapter 15

As the season moved on to late summer, two unexpected visitors arrived to make (or mark) dramatic changes in my life. I’ll talk about the second one in due course. The first one came on a Saturday afternoon, while Richard and I were lying lazily in bed. We’d made love a while before, slowly and peacefully (aside from the climax, which was as shattering as ever) and were now just lying together, enjoying the closeness. I was reading—not “The Faerie Queene” this time, but something suitably mindless and post-coital—and Richard was staring at the ceiling, stroking my arm and shoulder and probably thinking about some problem from work. I was starting to think about putting the book down and luring Richard into a double header, when the security buzzer went off in the living room.

We both sat up, but I was quicker in hopping out of bed, and I padded in to punch the button and say “Yes?”

There was a pause, and then an unfamiliar female voice spoke up uncertainly. “Umm...is Richard there?”

Richard had followed me into the living room. At the sound of her voice, his eyes widened, and he leaned forward to speak into the grating: “Caroline?”

“Hi, Richard! I was worried for a second there that you’d moved without telling me. Wouldn’t I have felt silly then?”

“What are you doing here?” Richard asked.

“I’m visiting you! And I wanted it to be a surprise. Is this a bad time?”

Richard glanced at me. I shrugged. He said, “No, come on up,” and buzzed her in.

“Is that your ex-girlfriend, Master?” I asked him, following him back into the bedroom.

“Yeah. Come from California with no warning.” He picked up his shorts and jeans from the floor and stepped into them, then grabbed his shirt as a knock came to the door. “Get dressed, Susie,” he told me, and closed the bedroom door behind him as he went back into the living room.

I hastily pulled my clothes on, listening through the bedroom door to the murmur of voices. A distinctively feminine squeal of “Richard!” and the low rumble of his reply. Indeterminate noises. Had she kissed him? Had he kissed her? Talking, too quiet to make out the words. I glanced at myself in the mirror. My hair was pointing in different directions, like a squirrel’s nest made of thin copper wire. I tried to smooth it down with my fingers. If I took time to brush it, the delay might kill me with suspense. I gave it a last pat and opened the door.

They both looked at me as I entered the room. “Caroline,” Richard said, “this is Susan. Susan, this is Caroline Knokes.”

“Susan!” Caroline trilled—no other word does justice to the sound of her voice. She threw her arms around me in an exuberant hug, startling me into freezing in place. “I’m so glad to meet you! I’m glad somebody’s looking after this guy. He needs it.”

“Um, hi,” I said awkwardly. My mind was whirling. Caroline was gorgeous. Two inches shorter than me with a slim, willowy figure, she wore a flowered sun dress with a casual elegance that I could never have matched, revealing a pair of perfectly-tanned arms and shoulders. Her hair fell in golden waves about her shoulders, with almost white-blonde highlights. Her eyes were wide and crystal blue, and her face was delicate, with a straight nose and wide lips, which were presently quirked in a grin. She wore only the faintest trace of makeup—eyeliner and a bit of lipstick—which brought out her flawless complexion.

OK, I know hair of that color could only have come out of a bottle, but it was done so well; I couldn’t have turned myself out like that if I’d tried with both hands for a month. My God, why had Richard let her go? Why hadn’t he followed her out to California? Why hadn’t he tied her up in the bedroom and made love to her until she agreed to stay?

“So why didn’t you tell me you had a girlfriend?” Caroline asked Richard, looking at me with apparent approval. “And such a pretty one! It’s about time, too. You work much too hard.”

“You and I have hardly spoken in a year,” he said easily. “Why didn’t you tell me you were visiting?”

“That’s just it,” she said brightly. “I’m not visiting! I have a residency in the university hospital here. So I’ll be moving back to town! Isn’t that wonderful? We can see each other all the time. Or at least,” she added, a little more down-to-earth, “those spare minutes when I’m not on duty or asleep.”

I felt a sharp sensation about the midsection. See each other all the time. Lord help me.

Richard refused to be sidetracked from his original point. “Congratulations on your residency. But why didn’t you tell me in advance?”

“Oh, well,” Caroline waved a hand airily. “Details. Besides, you know how I like to make an entrance.” She made a face and grinned at me, a broad, self-deprecating grin that invited me to grin back, and I thought Oh, please, God, don’t let me like her!

It was useless. One would have to have a heart of stone to dislike Caroline. Certainly it was beyond my powers. She charmed me without even trying. Her friendliness, which was not in the least contrived; her enthusiasm; her genuine interest in the people she was talking to. She was smart, she was beautiful, she had a sense of humor and was quick to laugh at herself. Hopeless. Totally hopeless. After half an hour I was ready to join her fan club

Of course, if she’d had a fan club, she herself would have been President and principle member. But she’d also have been the first to admit it.

Caroline and Richard chatted about old times and mutual acquaintances, but she directed many of her comments and explanations to me, so that I didn’t feel left out. She asked me questions about my major and my job and how I’d met Richard. When I mentioned tennis, she marveled at my athletic ability and exclaimed over my prowess until I felt obliged to point point out that, for all she knew, I was absolutely terrible.

“Anyone could see that you must be good,” Caroline said, appealing to Richard. “Doesn’t she move like a born athlete?”

“Well, however she moves, I like it,” Richard said. I flushed.

Caroline glanced at a small gold wristwatch, making even than simple gesture seem graceful. “I came by with the intention of inviting you out for dinner,” she said. “Both of you, of course. My treat. I hope you’re free?”

One part of me was dying to go, while another desperately tried to think of a way to get out of it. While the two parts were fighting it out, Richard accepted for both of us. I excused myself to go brush my hair and change into something less casual (“But you look terrific now!” Caroline assured me), trying to reassure myself that a cozy dinner with Richard and his beautiful ex-girlfriend could be something other than a disaster. I wasn’t buying it.

Caroline had an enormous sedan that screamed “rental car” parked in front of our building. She struck me as more of a sports car type. (Later I discovered that I was right—her own car was a red Miata convertible.) I headed for the back door, as did Richard, so that we nearly collided with each other. So much for my natural athletic grace. I pointed out that his legs were considerably longer than mine and claimed the back seat, where I sat quietly and listened to the two of them talk.

She took us to a little Italian restaurant, not too far from the campus, but far enough not to be an easy walk. I’d never eaten there before, but I gathered that the two of them had. This impression was strongly confirmed when the maitre d’ broke into a smile at our entrance and said “Miss Knokes! How good to see you! It’s been too long.”

“Hi, Carlo!” she said brightly, patting him on the arm. “It has been a long time. But I’m moving back to town!”

“Wonderful!” he said, beaming. He smiled at Richard, then vaguely in my direction as well. “Welcome back. Right this way! Best table in the house.”

We were seated by the window, and I buried my nose in the menu while Caroline and Richard continued to chat, speaking only when Caroline tried to draw me out. I hadn’t been particularly hungry before, but the air was filled with a delicious smell of tomato sauce, garlic, and sausage that made my stomach rumble. After a bit, Caroline leaned towards me to say “The spaghetti alla puttanesca is particularly good here—at least, it used to be.”

I had decided on that dish only a moment before, and resisted a nearly overpowering urge to change my mind. “Thanks!” I said instead. “I was just looking at that. I think I will have it.”

Caroline smiled at me like I was a particularly bright child. I tried to frown, but instead found myself smiling back, and then felt ashamed of my petty resentment. It was hardly her fault that she had known Richard before me; or that she was so good-looking; or that I lacked the kind of poise that she displayed so effortlessly. I should be mature and gracious. More like her.

It was going to be a long meal.

A waiter showed up and took our orders. Caroline ordered a bottle of red wine to go with the meal; the waiter looked at me dubiously, as if wanting to ask for ID, but he wrote down the order and went away without comment. I picked up a breadstick and started nibbling on it.

“Don’t fill up on those,” Caroline advised. “The food here is really good, and they serve a lot of it.”

I wondered what to say, but Richard replied for me.

“Leave her alone, Caro,” he said tolerantly. “Just because you don’t eat enough is no reason to discourage other people.”

“I wasn’t picking on her,” Caroline said. “Was I, Susan?”

“No, of course not,” I said. “But Richard has seen me eat. I mean, I’ve been eating his cooking all summer. I can eat. A lot. Or, a fair bit, anyway. And he knows that.”

Great. Might as well call myself a glutton and be done with it. I kept nibbling.

“So Richard was your tutor,” Caroline said. “That’s great! How was he? I always thought he’d be a good teacher, but I never saw him in action.”

“He was good,” I said. “I didn’t fail, anyway.”

Richard looked slightly exasperated. “What she means, is she got an ‘A.’ But that was her doing, not mine. I just helped her find her feet.”

“I knew where my feet were,” I said. “My brain, on the other hand...”

“I just helped,” he repeated.

“A lot,” I said.

“Some,” he said.

“He saved me from total confusion,” I told Caroline.

Richard grinned. “About computer science, maybe.”

I stuck my tongue out at him, and then was mortified at doing something so childish in front of Caroline.

“Sorry!” I said to Caroline. “I don’t normally do that. With my tongue.”

“She saves it for other things,” Richard said. “One of her most versatile organs, in fact.” I blushed.

“Watching you two is better than a show,” Caroline said with amusement. I blushed harder, and picked up another breadstick.

Caroline and Richard went back to talking about old acquaintances, and I went back to listening, contributing occasional brief remarks when Caroline tried to draw me out. Thankfully, the food arrived quickly. It was every bit as good as Caroline had said, and every bit as plentiful, and I wished I hadn’t eaten the second breadstick. I set to willingly, though, and the conversation lagged for a bit while we all concentrated on our dinners. When the edge was taken off of our hunger, the talk began again, but slower. Caroline seemed to sense that I didn’t particularly want to say anything, and mostly stopped asking me questions, though she continued to address remarks to me as well. She could be very funny—she had a satirical wit, which she exercised at the expense of the medical profession, while Richard and I listened and laughed. I was actually having a very good time, I discovered, somewhat to my surprise. The food and the wine helped to relax my nervousness, and Caroline was really very amusing.

After a while the waiter returned to clear our plates and glasses, and I realized with a start that we’d been sitting there for an hour and a half. Richard pushed his chair back a little with a sigh.

“Dessert, ladies, sir?” the waiter asked.

“I couldn’t eat another bite,” Caroline protested.

I probably could have eaten another bite, but I denied it as well.

“How about coffee?” Caroline suggested.

“Yes, coffee would be good,” I agreed, as though I always drank coffee after dinner.

Richard gave me a slight frown. “It won’t keep you up?” he asked.

“Decaf, then,” I amended, a little embarrassed, and he nodded.

“Two coffees, one decaf,” Richard told the waiter, and the man went away again.

I watched Richard as he turned back to speak to Caroline. In the calm, logical part of my brain, I knew that Richard loved me; and I wasn’t really worried that he would leave me and go back to Caroline. They’d been broken up for a while, and gave no evidence now of being anything other than very close friends. I knew that I had given Richard something he was most unlikely to get from anyone else. I’d given him myself, completely, in a way few women would dare to do.

But by the same token, there were some things I could never be. I doubted I could ever attain Caroline’s level of grace, but that was an outward thing. I could, if it would please him, learn more about clothes and makeup, cultivate a more refined style. But I could never be her. I could never be a powerful, independent woman—not with him. By the act of becoming his perfect plaything, I had essentially ruled out any chance of being his equal. I was dependent; I belonged to him, like a book or a chair. Seeing Caroline would, more than anything else, remind him of that fact. I was what he wanted now. But would he still want it ten or twenty years from now? Or would he long for a woman with a will of her own?

Richard smiled at me, and I kept all trace of my thoughts from my face as I smiled back. God, I loved him so much. I wanted so much to please him. And it cut me to think that wanting that might someday disappoint him.

“I’m going to the ladies’ room,” Caroline announced, rising. “Susan? Care to join me?”

I wasn’t really used to this ritual, but I rose obediently and followed, Richard giving us a bemused look as we walked off. The ladies’ room in that restaurant had a little parlor with a padded couch and a row of mirrors. Caroline stepped up to the mirrors and began checking her makeup, while I hovered uncertainly in the background.

“So, I guess you weren’t super-pleased at my showing up today,” Caroline said without looking around at me.

I was taken aback by her directness, but I replied in kind. “No, I wasn’t. I didn’t realize it was that obvious, though.”

Caroline snorted. “I could have guessed that with no clues at all. You and Richard have only been together a couple of months. Not long enough to feel completely secure in the face of an ex-girlfriend.”

“Especially when the two of your were together for four years,” I said.

“True,” she acknowledged. “But we’ve been apart for three, and we’ve both moved on. I consider Richard my best friend, still. He’s a terrific guy. And I’d like to be your friend, too—I’d want to for Richard’s sake, even if I didn’t like you myself. Which I do.”

“I like you, too,” I said honestly. “Almost too much.”

“Too much?” Caroline looked up in surprise, meeting my eyes in the mirror, and I shrugged.

“I mean, you are so pretty, and nice, and lively, and likeable...” I shrugged again. “I’ve only known you for a couple of hours, and I wish I had half your style. Knowing that you used to be Richard’s girlfriend is...very intimidating.”

Caroline laughed. “I’m deeply flattered. But the truth is, I’d be no threat to you even if I did want Richard back. Which I don’t, by the way, except as a friend. I know him really, really well, and I know he loves you much more than he ever loved me. I see the way he looks at you—like you were something incredibly precious. Richard and I were together for four years, and he never looked at me that way. Not once.”

I didn’t know what to say. I felt a slight lump in my throat. She didn’t sound sad about it; her tone was matter-of-fact. But there was a faint undercurrent of regret in her words.

“In fact,” Caroline went on, dabbing a bit of lipstick between phrases, “I’m a little envious of you. You seem to have...submerged yourself in your relationship, in a way I’ve never managed with anyone. I always keep part of myself separate. I don’t think you do.”

“You’re...very perceptive,” I said.

“Thank you,” Caroline said. She put the lipstick away and turned back to me. “I may not be the greatest doctor ever, but in reading people I bow to none.”

“You should meet my friend Arlene,” I told her. “She always knows what I’m going to do before I do.”

“Sounds like a kindred spirit,” Caroline agreed. She offered me a hand. “So, how about it, Susan? Are you willing to be my friend?”

I blushed, but I shook her hand. “I’d be honored,” I said.

Caroline laughed, and gave me a hug. “The honor, believe me, is all mine. Besides, it’s selfish. If Richard had to choose between us, he’d pick you in a second. So if I want to stay his friend, I’d better be yours as well, right?”

Richard rose when we returned to the table, and bowed ironically before sitting down again. “So, was the conference a success?” he asked.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Caroline said loftily.

Richard looked at me, humor lurking in his eyes. “Susan?”

“Just girl talk...Richard,” I said, my unspoken ‘Master’ passing between us like a caress.

“Well, I hope your coffee isn’t too cold,” he said, giving up.

“They always serve it too hot, anyway,” Caroline said. “Right, Susan?”

“Absolutely, Caro,” I agreed, smiling at her before sipping my decaf. The temperature was exactly right.

Caroline paid the bill and drove us home, promising to let us know when she would be moving, and extracting a promise in return that we would help her celebrate when she moved in. She hugged both of us before leaving; when it was my turn, she whispered in my ear: “Good luck with him...not that you need it.”

“I hope you’re right,” I returned.

The apartment seemed much quieter when she’d gone. Caroline was smaller than either Richard or me, but she had a way of filling a room. Richard sprawled on the futon, and patted the seat next to him. I sat down, and he put his arm around me.

“So, Susie; was it as bad as you feared?” he asked me.

I laughed in surprise. “I must be completely transparent,” I said.

“Only to be expected,” Richard said lazily.

“I had a very good time,” I told him with an attempt at dignity. “Caroline is very charming.”

Richard gave a skeptical grunt and pulled me closer against him; I gave it up and relaxed, savoring his warmth.

“When I first saw her,” I confessed, “I was sure you’d go back to her like a shot. Only for a second or two, of course. But she had me worried.”

“Small chance of that,” Richard said. “We stayed together as long as we did because it was convenient, and we were comfortable with each other. But it really wasn’t more than that.”

“Still, she’s so...” I couldn’t find a word, but Richard knew what I meant.

“Don’t think she doesn’t put a lot of work into it, either,” he said. “For instance...she brushes her hair for five minutes every morning and every evening. I used to watch her. I calculated once that she’d spent almost two months of her life doing nothing but brushing her hair.”

“You can’t fault the results, though,” I was playing devil’s advocate, but I still found his words deeply comforting.

“I suppose not,” Richard said. “But you know what? I bet that you and I have made love in the last two months more than Caroline and I did in the entire four years we were together.”

“Oh, well,” I said. “Not everyone can be an insatiable sex machine like me, of course...”

“And don’t think I don’t appreciate it,” Richard said, kissing me.

“I did think it out, though,” I said playfully. “I mean, what I would do if you did go back to her.”

“I told you—" Richard said, but I waved that aside.

“I know, I know. But it never hurts to be prepared.”

“So, what would you do, Susie?” he asked tolerantly, stroking my hair.

I pretended to give it some thought. “Well, you’d still be my master, Master. Just the fact that you had another girlfriend wouldn’t change that. So I guess I would have to serve both of you.”

Richard clearly hadn’t expected that. “Both of us?” he repeated.

“Of course!” I said. “It would be a bit crowded, but I could sleep on the futon. I’d wear a cute little maid’s outfit...something sexy, with fishnet stockings and a low neckline...”

“This is starting to sound good,” Richard said.

“I’d keep the place up for you,” I went on. “I could lay out her clothes in the morning before she went to the hospital, and help her get dressed, and rub her back and feet when she got home. And when she was too tired to have sex, you could fuck me instead, and she could watch.”

I could tell the effect this description was having on Richard, but I pretended not to notice the way his arms were tightening around me, or the way his breathing was quickening, or the bulge in his jeans.

“Of course, maybe sometimes you would be too tired,” I said. “Then I’d have to take care of Caroline for you, Master.”

“You would, huh?” Richard said, and kissed the side of my neck.

“Oh, absolutely, Master! I would undress her very tenderly, and lay her down on the bed, and then caress her all over...”

“...All over...” he repeated, beginning to suit actions to words.

“Yes, that’s right, Master, all over. Then I’d lick her sweet little pussy until she came her brains out. Or I could get one of those strap-on things, and do her that way...it would all depend on what she was in the mood for...”

“Uh-huh,” Richard said, pulling my shirt and bra cup out of the way and curling his tongue around my nipple. I shivered with pleasure.

“No doubt she’d be very strict with me,” I said, starting to lose the thread of my story. “But...uh...maybe if I were very, very good...she might do the same for me...”

“You mean, lick your sweet little pussy?” Richard asked. His fingers had found their way into my pants, and I was squirming beneath his touch.

“Y-yes, that’s, uh, right, Master...”

“Hmmm. Why don’t we call her and see if she’s interested?” Richard said.

“O-OK,” I agreed, barely coherent.

“Or maybe,” he said, yanking my pants and panties down and pulling them off of me, “I could just fuck you myself, and skip the intermediaries.”

“That would work, too,” I acknowledged. “Oh, God.”

His hardness entered me, then, and I was floating on a cloud of bliss. I was exactly where I wanted to be, and who I wanted to be.

“I love you, Susie,” Richard told me.

“I love you too, Master,” I said.