Take Me With You

by Sindra van Yssel

  “Just one thing,” he said earnestly. “I’ve been reading up. You may know a lot more about this than I, so sorry if I say obvious stuff, but you know what a safe word is?”

  Alicia nodded. “A word that if you say it, everything stops.” His comment about reading up made her smile. He was taking it very seriously. She shouldn’t be surprised. When they went on a hike, he’d brought maps. He’d looked at online menus for every restaurant they’d been to. But this time it felt much more personal. He was taking an interest in what she was interested in. Which was another way of showing he was interested in her. And particularly given that he wasn’t enthused about BDSM to begin with, it impressed her.

  Craig continued, “Here, it’s just the word red. So be ready to say it if anything gets to be too much. I understand yelling ‘safe word’ works too. But if you use that, I’m going to intervene to make sure you’re okay.”

  “I don’t want you to get thrown out.” Although she loved the idea of him coming to her rescue.

  “It’d be worth it,” Craig said. “Besides, I’m not really looking for a return invite anyway.”

  Yeah, he’s still not into this. And maybe I won’t be either. “Shall we?” Alicia asked.

  “We will.” He walked up to the lady and pulled out his wallet.

  Alicia grabbed his elbow. “No, you don’t. You paid for the movie, remember? My turn.” She reached in her cleavage and pulled out two crisp twenties before he could argue. She knew he might protest, so she had the exact amount ready to go. And, as she’d expected, his gaze followed her hand to her breasts and then lingered. Heh. I can do some planning too, when I’m so inclined. And given the cleavage the receptionist was displaying, Alicia thought it was a very good sign that she could hold Craig’s attention.

  “I’ll need to see some ID,” said the receptionist. “First time?”

  “Yes.” Alicia went to her purse. Since Craig had his wallet ready, he showed his ID first. The receptionist handed him a pin. When she had seen Alicia’s ID, Alicia got one too. Alicia looked at it. It was in the shape of a cherry.

  “Put those on, and people will know that you’re first timers. Busting your cherry, if you will. Anyway, if you have the pin on, you’ll be able to try out all the stations and so forth, and the dungeon monitors will look out for you.”

  Alicia nodded and affixed her pin carefully. “Thank you.” She looked at Craig, who seemed to be hesitating. “Put yours on too?”

  Craig put his pin on.

  The receptionist grinned. “Have fun, you two. That’s a very nice-looking boy you have there.”

  Craig put his arm around Alicia’s shoulder and murmured to her as they moved through the velvet curtain, “Nice boy?”

  “I guess she thinks I’m the Domme.” Being on top might be fun, but it wasn’t what her fantasies were about. And if Craig wanted to be on the bottom, she’d revise her opinion of him, and not favorably. In theory, she was all for equality and everyone pursuing their own sexuality. In practice, the idea of a male sub didn’t do it for her.

  She took in the room as she entered. It was bigger than she’d imagined and better lit. The center of the room was full of tables, chairs, and couches that could have been anywhere, and most of the two dozen or so people there were hanging out and chatting. Near the walls, however, there were St. Andrew’s crosses, spanking horses, leather-covered tables large enough to lie on, and a post with metal rings. Some were being used, but Alicia looked back at Craig instead. It was more comfortable. Safe.

  “If there’s ever a next time at a place like this, I pay,” he said, an edge in his voice.

  She grinned up at him. “Yes, Sir.” She liked that edge.

  He frowned at that too. He’s just here to watch me. I shouldn’t make him do anything he doesn’t want to do.

  A curvy woman in a leather minidress and high heels walked up to them. “Hi. I’m Karen. Welcome to Knotty and Nice.” She offered Alicia her hand.

  “I’m Sunshine Girl. Call me Sunny,” said Alicia.

  “Nice to meet you, Sunny.” Karen turned to Craig.

  “Craig.” He shot Alicia a strange look.

  Oops. Should have told him I was going incognito. Sunshine Girl was in the e-mail address she’d used on the dating site, so he was familiar with it, at least. Susie had told her that a lot of people didn’t use their real names.

  “Good to meet you, Craig,” said Karen. “Have you guys been in the scene? Playing at home? Or just curious?”

  “Curious,” said Alicia. “I’ve never done any of this stuff.”

  “Well, this is the night to be here for that. Let me tell you about the stations.” Karen pointed to an older woman with gray hair. “Over there is Cinder. She’s our caning expert today. The tall, thin man in gray flogging the girl is Alex, and he’s an expert with all kinds of floggers and has a huge collection. He loves showing off, and he’ll be happy to tell you how they are all different. That’s Gerald with the rope, and Fritz with the violet wand. Starcharm does the clothespins, and Victoria is the woman with the hot wax. And finally there’s Parker with the spanking. My suggestion would be to pick something you’d like to try and give it a go.”

  Floggers or rope would have been her first choice, but those people were busy. She wondered how Craig would feel about another man touching her. Maybe she should try a station run by a woman. Yet starting with canes seemed all wrong. Clothespins? Wax? Those didn’t look good to her either.

  Karen seemed to sense her indecision. “Are you looking to be done to or learning how to do?” she asked, looking between Alicia and Craig.

  “Done to,” said Alicia. Craig shrugged.

  “Everyone here is good at what they do, and they’ll respect your limits. Don’t expect a whole scene from them, though.” Karen nodded behind them. “As people come in, they’ll all get pretty busy. There will be lines, and you’ll get only a few minutes at any one place.”

  “In that case, let’s stand in line for the floggers,” said Alicia, looking at Craig.

  Craig nodded. “As you wish.”

  Karen smiled. “Good choice. If either of you have any questions, come find me. I love to help new people.”

  “Thank you so much!” said Alicia.

  Karen beamed.

  Alicia headed across the room to the St. Andrew’s cross, where Alex was demonstrating flogging. There was a table next to him, on which was displayed an impressive array of floggers, some with thick tails, some with thin ones, and one of seemingly every color of the rainbow. The back of the woman he’d been flogging was pink between her bra straps but didn’t seem bruised, and because the cross was in the corner, she hadn’t shown much to the room. By the time they got there, she was already buttoning up her shirt. She shook Alex’s hand. He turned to face Craig and Alicia as she walked away.

  “Fresh meat,” he said with a smile and stuck out his hand toward Craig. “I’m Alex. You want to get flogged?”

  Craig shook his head.

  “That would be me. I’m Al—Sunny,” Alicia said, almost forgetting her scene name. “I’d be happy to. Do I have to take my top off?”

  Alex reached out toward her arm. Stopping an inch shy, he asked, “May I touch your sweater?”

  She nodded, surprised that he would ask if that was all he wanted to do.

  He took hold of her sleeve and rubbed the cloth between his hands. “You don’t have to, but I will tell you that the experience will be diminished. The fabric is pretty thick, and it’s going to spread out the sensations. It kind of depends on your comfort levels, really, but from a flogging point of view, I’d recommend as little clothing as possible. A bra just means I have to work around the straps, but the sweater will be more of an issue.”

  It made sense to her, and she wanted to experience the full effect. She looked at Craig, who obviously wasn’t sure what to make of it. Craig looked at Alex with suspicion. She had an idea.

  “I am kind of shy,” she said to Alex. “But if you don�
�t mind me keeping my back to you, maybe my partner could take my sweater off?” A sidelong glance at Craig told her she had his full attention. She hoped she hadn’t escalated too much with the word partner. But she felt more protected that way than using the word date. She didn’t want to sound too available to Alex.

  “Good idea.” Alex turned to Craig. “If you like, there’s a little space behind the cross there, and you can hold her hands. I’m going to start very easy, but I’m going to work up much more quickly than I normally would so that she can experience the variety of sensations. I’m sure she’ll enjoy it more with you supporting her.” He stepped back from the cross to give them room.

  “That sounds like an excellent idea,” said Craig. He dropped his voice, speaking only to Alicia. “And I will enjoy the view as well.” He moved in front of the cross, and Alicia faced him, holding up her hands.

  Alicia smiled. “Yours to enjoy.”

  He lifted her sweater over her head and folded it neatly before moving behind the cross. She leaned against it, as she’d seen the other woman doing, and reached out for his hands. They were strong and warm. He kissed her, and his lips tasted right.

  “Ready?” asked Alex. “If it gets too intense for you, say stop. Or yell anything, really.”

  “Ready,” said Alicia. What she wanted right then was Craig’s hands on her. Hopefully there would be time for that later. The fear that he would be disgusted with her was fading.

  As promised, Alex started out light. The swishes of the first flogger against her back were so soft they almost tickled, and definitely didn’t hurt. He switched from flogger to flogger quickly, giving her two or three strokes with each, naming them as he went. Deerskin, elk, buffalo hide—the names were barely registering with her. She closed her eyes to feel them better. Each one was more harder than the last, but she also noticed that some felt sharp—she could feel each individual tail. Others thudded against her and spread their force all over, but that wasn’t always less powerful a feeling. One of them knocked her breath away.

  She squeezed Craig’s hands but didn’t say anything. She opened her eyes to see him looking at her intently. Another kiss from him made her shiver. Her nipples tightened, and she wondered how obvious they were through her bra. At least only Craig could see. What Alex was doing felt intense, both good and bad, but it didn’t feel all that sexual. But Craig’s presence made a difference. She was getting wet as she imagined she was taking the flogging for his benefit, even though she knew it was a fantasy. He was there for her benefit, which was good and nice but not nearly as hot. “Touch me,” she requested.

  He smiled and cupped her breasts, rubbing her nipples through the lacy fabric. It distracted her from the flogging and enhanced it all at the same time. He rained light kisses on her sensitive neck, and she moaned. He touch affected her as much as the leather on her back.

  A blow made her shriek. A cat, Alex had called the flogger, and it felt like a bunch of sharp points hitting her back all at once, a mixture of thud and sting. True to his word, Alex stopped. She looked back in time to see him lay the flogger he’d used on the table with the others. It was red and black and had knots in the tails. It had felt like she had imagined a whipping to feel, hot and intense. Part of her wanted more. Part of her wanted to never feel it again. Not just as an experiment. Maybe for the right person.

  Craig’s hands moved from her breast to her shoulders. “Are you okay?”

  She nodded. “Wow.”

  “That’s as far as we’re going to get here today,” said Alex. “Take a deep breath.”

  “It gets worse than that?” She felt like a wimp.

  “Yes. But most people who like being flogged don’t like that one. What’d you think?”

  “I think that one really hurt!”

  “About the whole experience?”

  “Some of them were nice.” She thought back, and she honestly couldn’t remember which one. She turned to the table. “Deer? And elk?”

  “I have a lot of deerskin floggers, but this is the one I used.” Alex pointed out a dark-red one. “I recommend them as a beginner flogger.” Picking up a black one, he added, “And this is the elk.”

  Alicia suddenly realized she was giving the room a pretty good view of her breasts and turned away as Alex picked up the dark-red flogger again. He handed it to Craig, who had come out from behind the cross. Alicia twisted, torn between a desire to protect her modesty and wanting to see what was going on. She turned to see the expression on Craig’s face. He looked dubious.

  “Try it,” Alex said.

  Craig looked at Alicia. “You can if you want to,” she said. That would be great.

  “I don’t think I want to.”

  “Oh.”

  “Do you want me to?”

  That was an easy one. “Yes, please.”

  Craig frowned, clearly uncertain. He turned to Alex. “Do you only flog women’s backs?” Craig asked.

  “Women by preference, but men occasionally, especially at these newcomer events. And no, not just backs. The buttocks and backs of the thighs are good places. You want to avoid the kidneys. Pussies and breasts can take some flogging too, although obviously one has to go a lot more gently. Some people like being flogged one place and not another. With that flogger, you’re not going to do too much damage, which is why it’s a good place to start. Go ahead, try it.”

  “Please,” said Alicia.

  Craig swished the flogger against her back a couple of times. The strokes were firm, and while she didn’t think he was using his full strength, he wasn’t tickling her either, which surprised and pleased her. He handed the flogger back to Alex. “Thank you.”

  She was disappointed he didn’t continue. She wanted to tell him to swing harder. At the same time, she didn’t want to be the one giving directions, and she didn’t want to be pushing his comfort level either. She might want to come to Knotty and Nice again, and she wanted to be able to entice Craig along with her when she did, not scare him away. Clearly, he was done for the moment.

  “I hope that wasn’t too horrible,” she said, looking over her shoulder.

  He shook his head. “It wasn’t horrible,” he agreed.

  “Would you like to hand me my sweater?” It was on the table with the floggers and out of reach. Not that she couldn’t move.

  “Since you asked me for my preference, I think you look better with it off,” said Craig, not moving.

  She gaped at him.

  Alex smiled. “You’re her top?”

  “We haven’t negotiated that,” Craig said. He picked up the sweater and handed it to Alicia.

  She put it on slowly, hoping he’d take control and stop her, but he didn’t. Susie had told her to find an experienced Dom. But she liked Craig. While she didn’t know him well enough to trust him absolutely, her instincts told her he was a safe man. If anything, he might be too safe. The idea of Craig being her top was immensely appealing to her—if he wanted to be. But if he didn’t want to be, what was the point?

  “Well, have fun,” said Alex. “There’s lots to explore.”

  Alicia noticed two college-age boys nearby, waiting their turn. Poor Alex wasn’t going to have his preferred gender of target. She wondered what he got out of it all, but then again, he’d just had two female strangers in a row take their tops off. Even if he didn’t get a great view, maybe that was enough. Or maybe he just liked being the expert at something.

  Sampling had been enough for her to know she wanted more of at least some of it. “Thank you very much, Alex.” She offered a hand, and he shook it. Craig did likewise.

  “My pleasure.”

  They made room for the next group. “So? Did you like that?” Craig asked.

  “I think I would like it more if there had been more of it. And if I felt a connection. Does that make sense? Alex seems like a nice guy, and he knows what he’s doing, but when you flogged me, it was really good. Did you enjoy it?”

  Craig frowned. “I’m not sure. But
I watched him when he was doing it, and it was clear to me that he wasn’t hurting you. With that in mind, I didn’t hate it. But…”

  “But?”

  “I didn’t enjoy it as much as I liked holding your breasts.”

  “Well, we can do that again.”

  “In public was interesting.”

  Alicia turned to face him. That was kind of hot. Would have been hotter if you insisted on continuing. But she wanted to talk about the flogging before she forgot. “The thing is, remember that last one? The braided cat with the knots in it?”

  Craig’s face darkened. “Yeah. I almost clocked him one.”

  “I almost liked it.”

  “You screamed.”

  “Well, that’s true. And maybe that’s part of the almost part. But maybe not.” She pressed herself against him. He likes my breasts, and I can use that to my advantage. “The thing is, I have no connection with him. He’s a handsome guy, and I guess he’s sexy, and he’s got really nice muscles, and…”

  Craig laughed. “Not making me jealous, but nice try.”

  Am I that transparent? “Damn! Anyway, no connection. But if it had been you, and you wanted to do that to me, that would be different. I think I might like it under those circumstances.”

  “There are marks on your back, love. I think they’re going to fade, but I could still see the pink blotches from it.”

  “If you were doing it and left marks, that would be hot. Like you were marking your territory.”

  “And you want to be my territory?”

  Alicia froze. I implied that, didn’t I? That’s awfully forward of me. But he’s the perfect image of a Dom, if only he wanted to be.

  AS CRAIG STUDIED Alicia, a host of thoughts streamed through his head. He had always believed fundamentally in the notion of treating ladies with respect, even though he realized that once clothes were off, a woman might not want to be such a lady. But still, always an equal, never a possession. Alicia was no exception. But when she suggested marking her, something flipped in his brain. Possibly it was because in this environment, with Alex just having flogged her, it was important to her that she be nobody else’s.