Claudia's Surrender: The Case of the Reluctant Submissive

by S. J. Lewis

  “Then one day, me and a couple of my buds came across three of them hassling a woman. She worked as a waitress at the roadhouse we liked to hang out in. Older woman, but she looked good enough for us to try to flirt with her sometimes. She always brushed us off, but always with a smile. It was like with the cops. No hard feelings. Anyway, these three had found the trailer where she lived and it was pretty clear they had more than flirting in mind. When we got there, she was really scared. They’d caught her outside, had her surrounded. She kept trying to get back into her trailer, and they’d block her way every time, laughing. When she saw us…Red, I never saw such a great big question, such a fuckin’ desperate plea on anybody’s face ever, before or since. She knew us. We knew her. She needed help, and we were the only ones there.”

  Claudia reached out to put her hand on his arm, lightly. He reached over to touch her hand briefly with his own.

  “Bobby and Teech, well, I could see they weren’t sure. They wanted to help, but those guys had been known to cut people who crossed them. It was a funny thing. I could feel like everything was slowed down, just kinda teeterin’, balanced on a point, waiting for somethin’ to tip it one way or the other. I guess we could’a gone to call the cops…but Ann kept lookin’ over towards us. Next thing I knew, I was out of the car, walkin’ over to those thugs, tellin’ ‘em to leave the lady alone.”

  “What happened then?”

  Sam grunted. “They just laughed and told us to mind our own business. They didn’t say it quite like that, but that was the gist of it. Then one of ‘em grabbed Ann by her arm and told us we could have ‘er when they were done. I dunno what happened right after that, Red. There had to be ten, twenty feet between me and him, but the next thing I knew I was right in his face, tryin’ to punch my fist right through his head. I busted most of his front teeth and one of my knuckles, but he let go of Ann and fell over like a sack of dirt. He didn’t move after he hit.”

  “You killed him with a punch?”

  “Naw, Red,” Sam grinned faintly. “He wasn’t dead, just out cold. Then I heard Teech yell for me to look out.” He shook his head. “I don’t know what made me move the way I did or in the direction I did, because there was no way for me to see the guy coming up behind me tryin’ to stick a knife into me. Anyway, I did what I did and he missed. He was off-balance, and I saw the knife. It was a big sheath knife, Red, and I didn’t want him to stick it into any part of me, so I aimed a punch at his jaw. I was a little off-balance myself, though and instead of his jaw, I caught him right in the throat. Hard. His eyes got all big, he dropped the knife and started to turn blue. He made some terrible noises before he died, tryin’ to suck in air. The third guy saw that and ran. The local sheriff showed up a little bit after that, ‘cause the chickenshit called ‘em.”

  “They arrested you?”

  “Oh, yeah, but the way the deputy explained it to me it was more like takin’ me into protective custody. Chickenshit had friends, and he’d prob’ly called them too. As it turned out, he did. They showed up later in the day, lookin’ for blood. They didn’t get any. The sheriff’d ordered all the bars in town closed ahead of time, and they all had the sense to go along with it. So the gang got no blood and no booze and after a while they got bored and went away. They promised to be back, though.”

  “Sanchez said the sheriff wanted you tried for murder.”

  “Yeah, the sheriff in the next county did. The thug I’d accidentally killed was a nephew of his or something. He got real loud and belligerent about it, but there was never a chance of makin’ a charge like that stick and he knew it.”

  “Sanchez also said that the charges were dropped.”

  “They weren’t ever really made, Red. I had Bobby and Teech to back up my story, but what really decided it was Ann’s testimony. I never did get a chance to thank that lady. She moved away real soon afterwards. Anyway, I spent a couple nights in the jail. Still protective custody, mind you, but I wasn’t fightin’ real hard to get released. I needed time to think.”

  “To think about what, Sam?” Claudia gave his arm a little squeeze.

  “Everything, Red. I’d got a good long look into Ann’s eyes when she was scared and prayin’ we’d help her, and another into that guy’s eyes. I knew the exact moment when he realized he was gonna die. I gotta remind myself some times that just a little bit before that he was tryin’ to kill me. I did a lot of thinkin’ about a lot of things. I wasn’t even worried about goin’ to trial. I was ready for it if it happened, but somehow it just didn’t seem all that important. I had other things to worry about, like what was I gonna do with my life? I started to see that if I kept on livin’ it the way I had been, I had a pretty good chance of endin’ up like that guy, dyin’ in the dust in a trailer park or maybe in a car wreck out in the desert. I didn’t want to end up that way.”

  “So…what did you do, Sam?”

  “Well, after it all got sorted out…the judge had a long talk with me and suggested that it might be a good idea if I went and lived somewhere else for a while. Sounded like a plan to me. I said my good-byes to my old man, paid a last visit to my mom’s grave and left those parts. I found myself a job where I could put that college degree to use.” He chuckled. “I found out I was pretty good at it. Damned good, after a while.”

  “Did you ever…go back?”

  “Oh, hell yeah!” Sam replied. He seemed less grim now. “I kept writin’ to my old man, sent him some money when I could spare it. I went back after…oh, four years, I think, because I’d got word he wasn’t doing too well. He wasn’t. Too much hard livin’ had finally caught up with him. I got him into a pretty good nursing home, ‘cause he needed more care than I could give him. While I was in the neighborhood, I got a job offer for some major construction goin’ on. I took it. The pay was good, but it was the bonuses I kept earnin’ that let me start my own company. Consulting, mostly. I turned out to be good at that too.”

  “But…what about the rest of that gang? They hadn’t forgotten you, had they?”

  “I don’t know, Red.” He patted her hand where it rested on his arm again. “Two of ‘em got shot tryin’ to break into a rancher’s house while the rancher was still at home. I heard one of ‘em killed himself tryin’ to outrun a patrol car. Couldn’t quite make that last turn. The others…well, they must’ve drifted off. Nobody knew where they went and nobody cared.”

  Now she knew why Sam hadn’t wanted to talk about parts of his life. Claudia leaned over, hampered by the shoulder safety belt, and laid her head on his shoulder for a moment. She believed him. His story didn’t explain why anyone would quash Sanchez’s investigation, but that could wait until later or maybe even forever. “I’m so sorry, Sam,” she said quietly. She sat back up. She kept her hand on his arm.

  He gave her a quick look, a crooked grin. “Sorry for what, Red? None of it was your doin’.”

  She smiled back at him. There didn’t seem to be anything more to say just now. All of her earlier anxiety was gone.

  The zoo was a delight. She’d forgotten how much fun it was to watch the antics of the monkeys, how fascinating it was to look into the unblinking eye of a snake. It wasn’t a large zoo, but it was well laid-out. It also had an impressive array of animals, including some of her favorites, the birds of prey. There was even a show put on by some falconers, with big, hook-beaked hawks flying from one handler to another and back again. One of them had made a point of flying very low as it passed from behind the audience to the falconer standing in front. It flew so low that it smacked Sam lightly on the back of his head with the trailing leather strips of its jesses. It seemed to be a deliberate act, because once it had landed on the falconer’s outstretched arm it turned around and glared directly at Sam as if daring him to do something about it. Sam started to laugh, and she had to join in.

  The zoo was a delight, but it was because she was there with Sam. They walked all over the zoo, holding hands for most of the time, pointing out interesting things to each o
ther. Once he’d stopped her right after a peahen had scuttled across the walkway. She turned her head to ask him why he’d done that, but he’d just smiled and pointed towards the bushes the bird had emerged from. One by one, six little chicks scampered across the asphalt after the peahen. Sam waited for a moment after the last one had disappeared into the bushes on the other side before continuing. Then she stopped him and pulled him close for a kiss.

  The day was sliding slowly into evening when they left the zoo. Off to the west the clouds were painted in lurid reds and purples by the setting sun. To the east, the sky was a dark, dark blue shading into black, faintly pinpointed here and there by a few early stars.

  “Where are we going now?” Claudia asked him as he once again held the car door open for her. She slid into the passenger seat.

  “Are you hungry?” he asked.

  “Well, yes,” she smiled. She was indeed hungry, but not just for food. She was also hungry to feel him between her legs or in her mouth, but the longer that was delayed the more eager and excited she would be for it. She was certain that he had something in mind. He always did.

  “You like hot dogs? Burgers?” he asked just before he shut the door.

  Why did he ask her that? She waited until he got into the car and shut the door.

  “Why hot dogs and hamburgers?” she asked.

  “’Cause that’s what they sell at the carnival.” He grinned and started up the rental car.

  “There’s a carnival in town?”

  “Well there’s one in the area. Rides and games and junk food aplenty. I’m gonna try to win a stuffed animal for you, even if the games are rigged.”

  “How do you find these things?” Claudia shook her head. He leaned across the seat to plant a quick peck on her lips.

  “Got a powerful incentive to, Red,” he replied, his face still close to hers.

  “Oh? What’s that?”

  “You.”

  “Me? What do you mean?”

  “I mean I love to see your face light up when you see something you really like. I love to hear your laugh when you see or hear something funny. And I love to be the one responsible for that.”

  She reached out to pull him close for a longer kiss. A much longer kiss. She had to break it before it got too steamy, but she kept it going long enough for him to look forward to their return to her apartment later. She wanted him to be eager and excited too.

  She hadn’t been to a carnival since she was twelve or thirteen. Somehow, once puberty had kicked in, carnivals had stopped being cool. But as she walked hand-in-hand with Sam along the midway, the flashing lights, the babble of voices and the calliope music in the background made it seem like the best place in the world to be that night. They ate foot-long hotdogs smothered in sauerkraut, followed by fresh hot popcorn and orange sodas. The sodas were indeed orange-colored, but they were syrupy-sweet and didn’t taste much like oranges.

  There weren’t a lot of rides suitable for adults, but they did have bumper cars. She’d loved bumper cars when she was a girl and found that she could still get a thrill out of ramming into one of the other cars…well, ramming into the one Sam was driving, anyway. He tried to reciprocate, but she managed to evade most of his efforts, laughing like a kid the whole time. There was also a small ferris wheel. They rode it several times. She sat close to Sam, resting her head on his shoulder as they went up and down, the colorful view below changing with every revolution. And finally, he took her to one of the many “games of skill” to try to win a stuffed animal for her. He picked one where the object was to knock over three wooden bottles with a baseball. His first attempt only brought down two, but on the second try he not only knocked them all down but sent them spinning away off of the table. The barker running the game, a skinny young man in a sweat-stained striped shirt, congratulated Sam, but didn’t suggest that he try again. When he asked Sam which of the stuffed animals hanging overhead he wanted, Sam had turned to her with a smile and asked her which one she’d like.

  It was difficult for her to choose, and the barker grew visibly more impatient as she kept looking the selection over. She finally settled on a rust-colored stuffed cat.

  “Where did you learn to throw like that?” she asked Sam later as they walked towards the exit.

  “What do you mean?” he had his arm around her, and it felt good.

  “I mean, those games are rigged. It’s almost impossible to knock all those bottles over.”

  “Yeah,” Sam shrugged. “I know.”

  “So how did you do it?”

  “Red,” he gave her a one-armed hug. “When I was a kid, I used to hunt rabbits for the pot that way. It kinda stuck with me.”

  “And that’s why you were able to bean Shepperton with a rock before he could shoot me.”

  “Pretty much. He was a much bigger target than any rabbit I ever saw. But hey, I’ve got a question for you now.”

  “What?”

  “Why did you pick that particular stuffed animal?” he asked. “You’ve already got one.”

  “What? I don’t have any stuffed animals at home, let alone one like this.”

  “That ain’t what I meant, Red,” he chuckled. They were out into the parking lot now. It was late, and there were only a few cars still there.

  “Well, what do you mean?”

  He put his mouth close to her ear and murmured, “I mean, you already got a red pussy.”

  She was laughing all the way back to his car.

  Chapter Five

  Claudia blinked and yawned. She ran a hand through her hair and frowned. Why hadn’t she heard the alarm clock? Had she forgotten to set it? She had a brief moment of panic before she remembered that today was Saturday. She could hear the shower running. Sam must have woken up earlier. Smiling to herself, she stretched and was surprised to hear the clink of chains. What the hell? She craned her neck, half-rolling on to her side to see what had made the noise and was surprised to realize there was something around her neck. She reached up with her free hand and touched soft leather…with a metal ring set in it…and a chain attached to the ring by a padlock.

  Oh, yes. Now she remembered. That was one of Sam’s little surprises last night, one of his many surprises. He’d chained her to the bedframe by her neck last night before they’d made love…again. The collar he’d used was of wonderfully soft black leather with one massive D-ring. She reached up with one hand to touch the stout padlock that dangled from the ring, the heavy links of the chain that ran from the padlock to some place under her bed. She loved it when Sam tied or chained her up for sex, but last night all he had done was put this collar on her and then hold her down while he went about screwing her brains out. She’d been very loud, as she recalled. It was a good thing that these apartments were so well-built that it was almost impossible to hear anything going on next door. She smothered a giggle.

  She curled up to wait for Sam, knowing that she would be willing and eager for anything he might want to do to her. It was only Saturday morning. They would have the whole weekend together.

  She wondered if he could possibly top yesterday’s performance. She hadn’t been on anything resembling a real date…well, for a long, long time. Who but Sam would have taken her to the zoo and then to a carnival? And afterwards…he had driven a little ways out of town to what had to be some sort of lovers’ lane. Did anyone still call it that?

  The spot he parked in had a view of the river. They could see the lights of boats and ships plying the waterway, upstream and downstream. On the far bank twinkled more lights from buildings. It was too dark to make out what kind of buildings they were, but after only a few minutes of making out (Did anyone still use that phrase too?) with Sam, those buildings could have caught fire and burned to the ground and she wouldn’t have noticed.

  She hadn’t dated at all in high school and barely dated while she was in college. She’d heard other girls talking about passionate encounters in parked cars and until last night she’d always wondered what it wo
uld be like. Well, now she knew. The front seat was okay for a while, but then it got kind of cramped. The back seat was a lot roomier, but they’d had to get there by clambering over the front seats, laughing the whole time. Sam had been very skillful in getting her out of her clothes. She hadn’t realized he’d unhooked her bra until she felt his hands on her breasts. She still couldn’t recall just how or when he’d shucked her jeans off of her. She did remember tearing at his clothes so she could kiss him all over. And always at the back of her mind was the worry that someone…possibly some killjoy police officer…would come along to interrupt them. That fear hadn’t stopped her, but it had added a tiny, thrilling dollop of danger to it all.

  Sam had wanted her to suck him. She had wanted to, but she’d kept acting like an unwilling coed. It was a game, one that Sam had seemed to enjoy too. He’d tried to coax and cajole her, grinning, until he just couldn’t wait any more and then he’d forced her head down, in spite of her insincere protests and counterfeit struggles.

  And finally…just as she was totally, achingly ready for him, he had made a little production of retrieving his wallet from his discarded slacks and pulling out a condom.

  She’d still been laughing as he pushed her down onto the back seat and had his way with her.

  The sound of the shower stopped. She debated pretending to still be asleep when he came in for her, considered kneeling on the floor next to the bed, gave a few moment’s thought to displaying herself spread-eagled for him (face up or face down?) and was still considering all of her options, when Sam came strolling in, wearing only a towel wrapped around his waist and a big, toothy grin.

  She knew he liked to look at her. She wondered if he liked it as much as she liked to look at him. He was lean, but not at all skinny. There was strength in the very shape of his chest, arms and shoulders, power in his legs and hips. She couldn’t help shivering a little as her eyes drank him in.