Take Me With You

by Sindra van Yssel

  “You mean, like a kinky mentor?”

  “Exactly. I can give you my phone number and e-mail. Would you like to stay in touch?”

  “I’d love that!” Impulsively, Alicia hugged the other woman, and Karen hugged warmly back. It felt good to have a new friend. The two women pulled out cell phones and exchanged contact information, shielding the phones to make it clear they weren’t taking pictures. For a moment, Alicia almost forgot about the problem confronting her outside the washroom. She couldn’t stay in there forever. “How do I face him now?”

  “With your head high,” Karen said. “It’s time to go on the offensive. But let me scout for you a second. I’ll see what he’s up to, and then we’ll plan.”

  Alicia nodded, doubtful about the heads-high part, and worried that Craig had already left. She didn’t think he was the type to run without even talking to her. Karen walked out of the bathroom, and Alicia focused on taking some deep, calming breaths.

  A few moments later, Karen came back. “He’s sitting at a table by himself, looking worried. We’d better move fast. So here’s what I think you should do…”

  * * * *

  Alicia walked out of the restroom. Craig was still there, determinedly studying a soda can. There was a second can on the table, in front of the other chair. His gaze flicked over to Alicia when she’d gotten a few steps.

  She knew his eyes were on her as she got a blanket from a stack near the wall. She didn’t mean to torture him, but he could wait a few seconds longer. She had to dodge a large man and a pair of laughing women and then wait for a short but well-built young man wearing nothing but a leather jockstrap to take a blanket from the pile first. She glanced around while she waited. There were lots of people in various stages of undress, including at least four women who were stark naked. Finally, she got her blanket and walked to Craig with it.

  He pushed the chair back and stood. “I’m sorry, Alicia. I didn’t know what I was doing,” he said, before she was ready to speak.

  She ignored the apology and went with what she and Karen had worked out. She dropped the blanket at her feet. “Thank you, Sir, for spanking me.” And as he watched, she went to her knees. She always had to look up at him, but the angle was sharper. She had to lean her head back. She became aware of how that bared her neck and made her vulnerable.

  His eyes widened. “But I hurt you. You don’t have to kneel like that.”

  She stayed put. “Thank you, Sir, for making me come.” She felt her cheeks get hot. She was sure they must be scarlet. “Karen told me I screamed.”

  Craig stood there frozen for a moment. Maybe he didn’t know I came after all. Anyway, so far, so good. The books Alicia had read talked about the evils of “topping from below,” and Alicia had mentioned that to Karen. She felt like she’d been doing it all night long. Karen had said that sometimes, with an inexperienced Dom, one needed to give them more to go on. A reluctant one even more so.

  She waited until Craig looked like he’d found his voice. Then, before he could talk, she asked, “Would you like me to take my top off?” She put her hands on the bottom of her sweater and raised her eyebrows inquisitively. Even if it came off, she’d be more covered than a lot of people. She hadn’t expected she’d be so relaxed being undressed, but it didn’t seem like that big a deal in the club.

  He stared. She slowly lifted her sweater, giving him a chance to object. She had reached the level of her nipples when he said, “Stop.”

  She froze. He grabbed his chair and turned it to face her before sitting down on it.

  “I would like few things better than for you to take that off, Alicia. But this is all going rather fast. Did you really like the spanking?”

  She nodded enthusiastically and grinned. “Yes.”

  “And the paddle didn’t hurt?”

  “It stung like you wouldn’t believe. But it felt like every jolt went straight—well, it turned me on too. Which felt incredibly good. It was almost like being high.”

  “I could tell you were turned on, which is why I spanked you harder, but then you screamed, and I thought I’d hurt you.”

  “Well, Sir, there was one thing you did wrong.”

  Craig looked concerned. “What was that?”

  Alicia wondered if she should have said anything. He had looked like he was starting to be more confident, and here she was critiquing. But at the same time, as Karen had said, no one was born with all the skills and knowledge to be the perfect play partner for another person. Even dominants. “You stopped. I think I would have come again in short order if you’d kept going. Or if you touched me, although that would have been embarrassing in such a public place.”

  Craig smiled. “I was tempted. But I didn’t want to humiliate you. I— While you were gone, I saw a woman make a guy who was tied up come with her hand. It was almost impersonal.”

  Oh my. Alicia was sorry she had missed that. She looked around, aware she wanted to focus on the conversation yet feeling like she hadn’t seen nearly enough. Her attention was drawn by the guy with the violet wand, who was still showing off his toy to any who would pay attention. She could hear the zapping sound even in the center of the noisy room.

  “Please take your sweater off, Alicia.”

  He had her full attention now. For a moment, she hesitated, not because she was unwilling but out of surprise. His jaw was set, and he fixed her with a look that dared her to disobey. She pulled the sweater over her head, feeling her nipples harden more at the thought of exposure than at the actual change in temperature. She put her hands behind her back and arched to thrust her chest out at him. “Do you like, Sir?”

  “Yes. You’re gorgeous, Alicia.” Even if he hadn’t spoken, his appreciative gaze would have told her plenty. “And I like you a lot. But I don’t know about this pain business. It’s really not me. And I’m not going to do any more of it until we’ve had time to think. So—we can wander around and look, if you wish, and I’ll enjoy having my arm around you and being with a half-naked, beautiful woman in a decadent club. Or, well, if you need to experience more tonight, then you may have to do it without me.”

  She thought about it for a moment because she wanted to be sure of her answer. She’d come to experience, but she’d already had an incredibly intense time. Craig was taking charge in a way she found very attractive. She’d pushed him. Now it was time to follow his lead and see where it took them. He hadn’t ruled out anything, and time to think was reasonable. Heck, maybe that would do her some good too. “Yes, Sir.”

  Craig grinned. “I have to admit, I like the way you call me Sir. And it’s strange, because if I’d heard any other girl talking to her guy like that, I’d assume the guy was a first-class jerk.”

  Alicia shook her head. “If I thought you were a jerk, I’d certainly not be calling you Sir.”

  “Good point. It’s a lot to take in,” said Craig. “And here you are kneeling to me. You want me to be your Master. Is that what they call it?”

  Alicia took a deep breath. She still didn’t want to direct, but she didn’t want everything to go way too fast either. “My Dom, perhaps? Master to me implies something total, something that should only be done between two people who know each other very well, if it should be done at all. And I’m used to being my own person, so I don’t know that I’d ever be a slave, exactly. But I’d like you to lead.”

  “And if I lead somewhere you don’t want to go?”

  “I guess it depends on whether it’s a big thing or a small thing. I’ll try to roll with it, and if not, I’ll speak up.”

  Craig nodded. “That seems sensible. But what if I don’t lead somewhere you do want to go? If you’d asked me to simply pick the next place for our date, never in a hundred times would I have picked this place.”

  “Well, I can ask.”

  “And if I say no?”

  “I imagine you’d have a reason. If it doesn’t work out, it doesn’t work out. But I’d like to give it a try.” She remembered what he’d
said earlier and added, “Sir.”

  “I think I have a lot to learn.” He picked up the unopened soda from the table. Condensation had formed on the outside of the cold can, and for a moment, she thought he was going to press it between her breasts. But he stopped and simply held it out for her. “I bought this. Drink.”

  She took the soda. She was thirsty, although she was certainly wired enough not to need the caffeine. She thought of saying so and stopped. It wouldn’t hurt her, and that would definitely be topping from below. He’d given her an order she could easily follow. She flipped the pop-top and took a sip.

  He watched her. “Parker was giving me signals to tell me whether you were okay or not during the spanking. I might have found it hard to tell otherwise. Sorry for stopping too soon, but when you screamed, I lost faith in him. What did you make of him?”

  “He seemed like a nice guy.” Alicia shrugged. “I was focusing on you and what you were doing to me. After a while, I’m not sure I would have heard a word he said.”

  “He offered to teach me.”

  She thought about Karen’s offer to be a mentor. “Maybe you should take him up on that.”

  Craig nodded thoughtfully. Alicia sipped more of her soda. Her knees were aching, and her thighs felt stretched, as did the tops of her feet. The floor was very hard, and she was grateful for Karen’s suggestion of putting a folded blanket down, because she doubted she would have lasted more than a few minutes without it. However, Craig hadn’t told her to rise; maybe he wasn’t even aware the position was stressful. She could tell him, but she’d already taken the initiative to kneel. She didn’t want to be in charge. That was the whole point, even deeper than the discovery that a spanking, combined with the pressure of the spanking horse on her clit, could get her to come. She wanted to submit. She wanted him to take control.

  So she waited.

  “When you’re done with your soda, let’s get up and walk around. We’ll look at everything we can, and you can tell me what looks sexy to you and what doesn’t.”

  She grinned. “Yes, Sir.” That would both get her off her knees and indulge her curiosity. She guzzled her soda, then stood and bent to pick up the blanket.

  He folded the sweater and put it on the table. “Think it will be safe enough here?”

  She nodded. It wasn’t an expensive sweater, although it might be awkward getting home without it. It seemed unlikely anyone would steal a sweater.

  He put his arm around her waist and led her on a tour of the room. They watched hot wax being poured on a burly guy in his underwear by a Domme dressed in red latex. She had red, green, and blue candles. He shrieked and shivered as the wax hit him, but he didn’t seem to be getting burned. She scraped it off with a knife that looked wicked sharp, giving him a shave in the process. He yelped as wax ripped out bits of hair. “It’s usually best if you shave first,” she said to the people watching. “Unless you’re into this kind of pain.” She shrugged at the man apologetically. “I told you.”

  “Pretty colors,” said Alicia.

  “They were, actually,” Craig agreed. “Looked like it hurt, though.”

  “His dick was hard.”

  Craig chuckled. “I wasn’t looking for that.”

  “Really? It was kind of hard to miss, even with him wearing boxers.”

  “Would you like wax dripped on you?”

  Alicia thought. The wax had been pretty, and if Craig enjoyed turning her into art, she probably would. “I don’t know,” she said honestly. “It’s scary, but I’d be willing to try.”

  “I’d be worried I’d burn you. Even though she wasn’t burning him. I expect there’s a trick to it.” Craig guided her over to the next station. They had to go past a man flogging a naked woman tied to what looked like a wide ladder with a broad base to get there. Even though the night was supposed to be for newcomers, it seemed that there were a number of experienced players who weren’t going to miss out on a chance to play in public.

  The lady with the clothespins was a purple-haired young woman who wore a black tank top and tight blue jeans. A thin band of leather went around her neck, with a silver pentacle at her throat. “Hi,” she said. “I’m Starcharm. Which one of you wants to find out more about clothespins and other pinchy things?” She opened and closed a plastic clothespin as she spoke as if it were a talking puppet.

  “I guess that would be me?” Alicia asked Craig.

  Craig shook his head. “We both do. But we’re not experimenting right now.”

  “Well,” said Starcharm, “you can get lots of clamps and things sold in stores. I’m using plastic clothespins today because they are cheap, and I can use hundreds of them. They aren’t likely to break the skin, but just in case, I’m tossing the used ones in a bag here, and I can wash ’em all later. Safety first!”

  “May I ask a question?” asked Alicia.

  “Sure,” said the purple-haired girl.

  “Is that a collar?”

  Starcharm nodded. “I’m in a long-distance relationship with this awesome Dom. But when he’s not in town, I top. He doesn’t want me submitting to anyone else. And I find I like doing this.” She did the gesture with the clothespins again, a few inches from Alicia’s breasts. “I can see your nipples pushing against your bra. You wouldn’t even have to take it off.” She looked at Craig. “Sure she can’t give it a go?”

  “I think we’ve done enough with pain today,” said Craig.

  Alicia was curious as to what it would feel like, but she was fine with what Craig said. She was still processing what had happened on the spanking bench and, to a lesser degree, with the flogging. She had felt a kind of high, almost like she used to feel when she ran cross-country back in high school and they ran a particularly hard run.

  “They don’t hurt much,” said Starcharm to Craig. “I can show you, if you like? Maybe on your hands?”

  Craig nodded and stretched out his hand. Starcharm pinched the skin between his index and middle fingers and then slowly let a clothespin close on the same skin. “It’ll hurt at first. But relax into it, and it’ll be okay.”

  Alicia studied Craig. A peg on his hand couldn’t be very erotic. He wasn’t getting any pleasure from it or showing any signs of being in pain. He had a serious expression, as if he was cataloging exactly what it felt like for later reference.

  The quiet ones are dangerous. She remembered someone saying that, and now it came back to her and made her shiver. She had been attracted to Craig at first because he seemed very safe. Now, the thought that there might be something darker inside him had her heart beating faster.

  “If you leave them on for a bit, they actually hurt more coming off,” said Starcharm. “And with clothespins, they’ll spring off if you pull them, rather than grabbing harder on to the skin like clover clamps would. That means you can put them on a string and rip ’em off all at once.” She reached into the bag of clean pins and pulled out a dozen or so, already strung up. “You can really make her shriek!”

  Probably not the approach to take with Craig. “That’s nice.” He pulled the pin off his hand and handed it to Starcharm. “Thank you for showing us.”

  Their stop by the caning was even briefer. “I think that’s the advanced course,” Craig said, and Alicia agreed. The older woman who was running the caning demo seemed like a very gentle person, but the thin switches of rattan she held in her hand did not. And while she insisted that they could be used lightly, she had a tone of regret in her voice as she said it.

  There were a lot of people gathered around Fritz, the nearly bald man with the violet wand, in part because the wand lent itself to showmanship and in part because Fritz was a natural showman. When they got there, he unscrewed the bulb from the head of the wand. He stuck a lead from the device into his waistband and turned up a dial on it. When he touched a woman lightly on the arm, she shrieked and jerked back, then laughed. Fritz had electrified himself and was discharging every time he touched someone. A man touched him, and there was more la
ughter. Finally it was their turn.

  “I’ll do it first,” Craig said.

  Alicia frowned at him. “Are you getting anything out of this?” she asked. She wasn’t sure what she wanted the answer to be. She wanted him to be interested and to understand, but she definitely didn’t want him to want her to top.

  “I’m getting the knowledge of what you would be experiencing, so that I know whether I want you to experience it or not,” Craig said.

  “Oh.” She blinked at him. That sounds like he’s really taking control, not just doing this for my benefit. And he’s protecting me.

  So she watched as Fritz zapped Craig, running his hand lightly up his arm. This time, Craig didn’t remain stoic. Instead, he laughed.

  “Pretty cool, huh?” asked Fritz.

  “Weird,” said Craig neutrally, and then gave in to the man’s infectious enthusiasm. “Yes, pretty cool. Here, Alicia.” He addressed Fritz, even as he moved Alicia forward. “Just her arm.”

  Fritz ran his fingers up Alicia’s arm as he had with Craig. Every time he touched, there was a shock bordering on pain but almost tickling at the same time. It wasn’t strong enough to make her hair stand on end, although she did feel the little hairs on her arm straighten. Instinctively, she pulled back. It was like the sudden shock one occasionally got when touching someone, but more intense, and Fritz had continued it past the point where the charges would normally have equalized.

  “Fun, isn’t it?” Fritz gushed. “There’s so many things you do with one of these.”

  Alicia saw Craig smile. She shivered. The smile looked a little evil. “What are you thinking, Sir?”

  “I’m thinking that’s a very interesting toy.” He ran his hand over her arm where Fritz touched.

  “The secret,” Fritz said, “is that if you full-on grab someone, it won’t shock them. It’s the electricity jumping across a narrow gap between you and them that does the shocking. And I’m getting shocked every time I do it, so that part is fun too. When I’m using the bulb, I don’t get the shock.”

  Craig nodded. “It seems quite fair, anyway. I don’t know about fun.”