Flashback Mountain

by Candace Smith

  Davis smiled and looked at the jury, while Cain laughed under his breath. Mike Ross's mouth was flopping open and closed like a fish. Joanne finally asked, "Are there any other questions, Mr. Ross? Perhaps you would like my analysis as to why you seem to have a propensity to presume that women belong as restrained, drugged patients in these facilities?"

  "No further questions." Mike returned to the prosecution table and shuffled through papers. "Dammit, Bruce," he whispered to his assistant. "How the hell did we miss that?" In truth, the only thing that the drunk at the bar had told his investigators, was that she had met Joanne at the mental facility and that they had been there together for years. Eileen had not told them that Joanne had been her doctor since she had the nervous breakdown after her husband had been murdered.

  Davis asked Joanne questions about Nichole, and she answered that she found her to be obviously distracted and upset from her separation from Cain, the horrendous treatment at the institution, and the reports from the media. While she tried to travel and get her bearings, she was constantly challenged by the Prosecutions' hounds on her trail. She knew that their intentions were to send her back to the asylum, even though there had never been a legal motion filed to institutionalize her.

  As far as suicide, Nichole had plenty of opportunity when she escaped the hospital. Her only anxiety, stemmed from her separation from Cain. In Joanne's professional capacity, and as she had much more time to analyze Nichole under normal conditions, her advice was for Cain and Nichole to be permitted to reestablish their relationship together.

  Joanne had managed short visits with the other women. They were all drugged and unresponsive, unless she asked about the men. Their eyes would fill with a spark of consciousness, and they smiled when Joanne assured them that the men were all right.

  In only an hour, Joanne had destroyed Doctor Tom's testimony. It was obvious that the jury appreciated her methods of getting to know her patient, versus keeping her drugged and restrained in a mental hospital. The thought that the women were being subjected to this treatment, and that poor Nichole Flynn was forced to hide and run for her life to escape being brought back to the horrible place, made the jurors angry. Mike Ross could feel their unfriendly stares. Shit, Joanne was supposed to be my ace in the hole. Instead, she's launched a torpedo through my entire case. He did not even look at her when she stepped down and left the room.

  Reluctantly, Mike Ross was forced to state that the Prosecution rested with Joanne's damaging testimony being the last words the jury had heard. He managed to pass the stipulation that he could call witnesses in the future, as rebuttal to the Defense. It was an empty threat, because Mike had no one else he could subpoena other than his investigators, and they had never gotten close enough to see Nichole.

  Benny had worried about Nicki's reaction, when she discovered that Joanne was a shrink. That was another reason Gerard let him in on Nicki's secret of watching the trial. She was currently dancing around the room with the dog. "I take it that you're not upset with Joanne's former profession?"

  "This is great, Benny. Don't you see? Joanne doesn't think I'm crazy. She told them that it's normal that I should be a little confused." Nicki was smiling… really smiling. "I'm not crazy, Benny. It's not crazy for me to want to be with Cain."

  Nicki was so relieved. A depressing cloud was lifted off of her, and now both Nichole and Autumn were floating away. She was Nicki… and that was absolutely okay.

  When Joanne got home, Nicki ran up to her and hugged her. It was not the reaction she had expected. She was afraid that Nicki might distrust her, and be angry that she had been misled. Instead, Nicki smiled and asked, "So, do you want me to call you Doc?"

  Joanne reached out a hand and curled some stray hair behind Nicki's ear. "Call me Jo. That's what my friends call me."

  "You creamed them," Nicki squealed. "You should have seen Ross's face."

  Joanne's eyes narrowed on her. "Nicki… how did you see Mr. Ross's face?"

  "Um… Benny?"

  "Our star witness has been eavesdropping on the trial," Benny replied. "And I still have no idea what the hell she has Gerard working on," Benny admitted.

  Joanne and Benny thought that working with Gerard, was all that Nichole was up to. They thought she had been spending her days working on some silly plan with him, that was keeping her distracted from the trial. No one had ever bothered to research what Nichole had excelled in at high school, and what she was going to college to learn to teach.

  Nicki was tired after the exciting day, and after her bath, she stopped on her way to Cain's closet to sleep. She stared at the bed. His bed. She slowly climbed under the sheets. The bed was huge, and it added to the emptiness. The sheets had been washed and held no hint of Cain. Nicki clutched the sweater, and she ran her fingers over the vacant pillow beside her.

  They were alone in the lodge, which was not unusual. Over the past years, the couples had formed an informal schedule. They shared the room one night, and then each couple had time with the erotic furnishings alone. Tonight was Cain and Nicki's turn.

  Nicki stood, naked except for her collar and cuffs. Cain pulled the scarf out of his pocket, and she trembled when she realized that he was going to blindfold her again. He knew how anxious this made her, and how it heightened her responses to his tortures. Cain took her arm and he guided her across the room. With his hands on her shoulders he moved her back, until she recognized the feel of the wooden arch behind her legs.

  She felt him kneeling in front of her, gripping her ankles and chaining them to either side of the wheel. Nicki licked her lips. She was already beginning to pant a little, and she forced herself from reaching up to remove the blindfold.

  "Lean back," Cain ordered, and he guided her gently down onto the smooth curved piece of wood. He walked to the top and took her wrists, latching them together and pulling them over her head. He chained them to the wheel so that she lay lengthened and arched with her legs spread.

  Cain pulled her braid off her chest, and let it float down the wheel and brush the floor. Nicki was becoming a little scared, and she bit her lip to keep from asking him to remove the scarf. Cain could see her trembling, and he leaned down and kissed one of her nipples. He stroked her belly and the top of her thighs while he nipped at one peak and smiled at the immediate tightened response.

  "Master Cain, I…"

  "Quiet, Nicki."

  She heard him walk across the room. He came back a minute later, and she heard a heavy metal object placed on the floor beside her. Cain's hand caressed down her breasts, and Nicki gasped when his hands were slowly replaced by his lips. He kissed between her breasts and worked his way up to one nipple.

  A strong hand stroked down her belly, and it rested for a moment on her hip bone while he lapped and sucked on her breast. His hand slowly slipped down to her spread labia. Cain found her wet and already answering with pulsing arousal. His hand never left her pussy while his mouth attached firmly to one nipple, keeping it tightly distended while his other hand stretched to the floor.

  When he rose, his mouth left her erect, sensitive peak. Cain's other hand continued to stroke her pussy. A few seconds later, Nicki felt a liquid splat on her nipple. There was a searing pain, and the nerves in her aroused nipple felt electrocuted. Nicki whimpered and inhaled a deep hiss.

  The hand working her pussy became more attentive, distracting her from the stinging ache of her swollen tip and leaving her a brief memory of the pain and overwhelming arousal. Nicki bit her lip and tried to stifle the moan.

  "Shh." Cain's cock throbbed, and he craved her confusion and anticipation at the next bite of dripping wax. He studied her body, and tipping his hand, he let the candle drip an inch above her naval until it pooled in the recess. He felt her pussy spasm against his fingers and she gasped.

  Nicki remained silent except for her panting breaths, while she worked her way through the fear and the pain. Her anxious thoughts wandered to the next torture, and when his finger stroked her slit
, she wondered how she would be able to contain her silence when the wax dripped onto her pussy.

  Nicki felt his hard, quivering cock, resting against her pussy when he leaned forward. His hands lightly captured the sides of her head, and she smelled the musk of her juices on his fingers when his lips settled on hers. Nicki's lips parted freely, allowing him to enter, and she sucked his tongue into her mouth. If only she could bring him to the same pinnacle of desire, he would thrust himself into her, culminating her passion in molten release.

  Cain's mouth abandoned hers and she lay there, once again reassured and calmed with her lips slightly parted and her panting slowing. When his hand caressed her jaw, she turned towards the comforting strokes, and when his fingers squeezed slightly, her mouth instinctively opened wider. She felt the spongy gag pass her lips before her mind could register and respond. "Shh," he whispered in her ear, and he stroked her cheek one more time before resuming his torture.

  Cain waited, watching her hips try to rub her pussy into his erection. He smiled, knowing that her mind was anxiously trying to anticipate which part of her would experience the agony of the dripping wax next. Her jaw worked the gag, and Cain was sure that she must be close to tears. He stroked himself and his eyes flashed with hungry desire.

  Nicki felt his fingers spreading her pussy lips open, and she moaned behind the gag, realizing his intent. The warm wetness of his tongue worked her folds and flicked lightly on her clit, forcing it to swell and expose itself.

  Nicki shook her head, trying to will the impending agony away, but Cain's thighs pressed between hers and held her motionless. The wax dripped and covered the engorged bead, and Nicki screamed behind the gag while Cain plunged into her. Her channel gripped and pulsed in erotic confusion, while her pussy tightened and convulsed around him. He stood still, pressed deep inside her, and he grabbed her hips while her muscles brought them to an explosive orgasm.

  His own gasping groan of release drowned out her muffled screams, and after he regained his composure, he gently peeled the wax off her body, watching the quivering of her breasts and ribs. He knew that she was crying, and his thumb stroked her temple. "Shh, you're okay, Nicki." His hand stroked the length of her arched body, and her shudders began to subside.

  Eventually he removed the gag and unbound her from the wheel. Nicki remained quiet, with only small mewling sobs escaping her lips. Her hands were freed and he guided her up.

  Cain led her over to his chair and pulled her onto his lap. He finally removed the blindfold and pulled her head onto his chest. After she had calmed, she still did not speak. She followed him silently to their cabin and curled up on his chest to fall asleep.

  Nicki woke with tears in her eyes. She had this dream many times. It was one of her favorite memories, because when Cain brought her back to the cabin, he held her so close and calmed her… and it was the first time that he told her that he loved her. Nicki ran her fingers across the empty pillow beside her. She missed hearing Cain's heartbeat in her ear while she slept, the steady rise and fall of his chest while his arm held her, protecting her and occasionally stroking her even in his sleep.

  No one, except her friends, could possibly understand the tearing yearning in her soul. Had the men seduced and manipulated them? Probably, at first. Nicki did not believe that she would still hurt so badly, if the time had been nothing but a cruel distraction for some wealthy men.

  When Benny helped her escape from the hospital, Cain had not insisted that she be confined to some space that he controlled. She knew how difficult that must have been for him. Not only because Cain had always held himself up as her Master, but he knew that he risked losing her to the world outside. Instead, he had let her make her own decision, providing the financing so that she could explore wherever she needed to.

  No matter where she traveled, she had only wanted to come home to Cain. She had never seen any couple that shared a glimpse of the passion and desire she shared with Cain. Nicki never would have experienced the erotic and sometimes outrageous sexual acts they devised, if she had not learned to anxiously anticipate her Master reaching to bind her for some arousing torturous foreplay. He never was cruel to her, always helping her blend the pain they both now needed to culminate their passion. Nicki hoped that he would not be angry with her plan, but she was determined to be with him again.

  Davis Merrill called a few witnesses, giving Nicki time to ground and go shopping with Joanne for an outfit to wear for the trial. She spent a nervous, dreamless night, eventually creeping from the bed and back to the closet and Cain's invisible comfort.

  The next morning she began to dress, and tried to control her trembling hands. This was the nerve wracking part for her, and she braided her hair and slipped on the low heels. When she walked downstairs Benny studied her. It was hard to believe that this stunning, sophisticated looking woman, was the same creature who ran through the grass at the institution. "Nicki, are you sure it's a good idea to wear the collar?"

  The dress had a scooped neckline. "Absolutely." She turned at the door and smiled back at him. "It will be all right, Benny."

  Nicki waited in the hall outside the courtroom, while anxious reporters watched for the feral woman held captive on a mountain for ten years. One of them came up and asked her if she was a witness for the defense, and Nicki nodded.

  The reporter sneered at her. "How can you defend men who would do that to a woman?"

  Nicki shrugged, and the woman walked back to the other reporters, hoping to scoop them at a chance at the captive. Nicki looked up at the clock. Gerard would be arriving in ten minutes, and she hoped he had everything done. She smiled when she saw him enter the building, and his stride quickened as he sidestepped the reporters to get to her.

  Nicki stood when she heard the door to the courtroom opening, and she turned to see the reporters checking watches and straining to see the captive arrive. The bailiff opened the door and said, "Nichole, they're ready for you."

  The reports' heads whipped around. "That's Nichole Flynn?"

  "Fuck, she's been sitting there for hours."

  "She told me that she was a Defense witness."

  Nichole walked up the aisle with her smile widening when she saw Cain. He winked at her, and she could already feel herself getting wet. Gerard was confused as to where he should go, and she whispered, "Just stand near Davis."

  Nicki smiled at Cain, the ache in her heart squeezing her while she was being sworn in. "Could you state your name for the court, please."

  "Yes sir." Nicki looked directly into Cain's eyes. "My name is Nichole Gray."

  The man looked up at the Judge. Shit. She is fucked up, Judge Harmon thought. "Not the name you go by. Your real name."

  "My name is Nichole Gray," Nicki insisted.

  Judge Harmon looked at Ross, who was unsuccessfully hiding his smirk. Davis looked like he paled a little. "Does the Defense have a problem with her testifying?" The Judge figured that they would pull her, because the Prosecution would tear her apart.

  Gerard whispered to Davis, and he said, "Although Mrs. Gray is under no obligation to testify, her lawyer has informed me that her wish is to take the stand."

  "Her lawyer?"

  "Um, yes your honor," Gerard answered. He looked terrified.

  "Nichole Flynn is not on trial," the Judge reminded him.

  "No… um, Nichole Gray, your honor. Cain and Nichole celebrated the ceremony for their common law marriage involving rings nine years ago. Oh, shoot, that's wrong." Gerard scrambled through his papers. "Excuse me, ten years ago, your honor. Mrs. Gray has been in hiding or institutionalized for the past year. Now, according to South Carolina law, they cohabitated consistently together for ten years, and everyone in their community accepted them as a couple, so the marriage is valid."

  Gerard shuffled more papers, and he held up a yellow folder that Nicki barely recognized. "Mrs. Gray's interests in school, consisted of civic studies. She had done a report supporting common law marriage in her senior year of
high school, so she was well aware of the practice when she participated." Gerard dug under his collar. He could feel the perspiration clinging to his shirt, and every eye in the room was darting between him and his client. He hoped to god they did not press him to explain the rings.

  "And the other young women?"

  "We're working on that, your honor. Apparently, after they were torn from their homes, they've been kept drugged and institutionalized. Every request to see their husbands, or even get word about them, has been ignored or chastised. This cruel treatment has been going on for a year, so naturally, they are a little disoriented. I did meet with them yesterday, and they have all expressed wishes to be rejoined with their spouses."

  Mike stood and slammed his fist on the table. "This is bullshit."

  "Mr. Ross, please sit down until I can get to the bottom of this," the Judge ordered.

  He pointed and screamed, "She's got a damn collar around her neck." He had carefully laid out for days how the women were kept chained like dogs.

  Nicki stroked the collar. "My husband sent it to me, when he was informed that your investigators were chasing me to send me back to the asylum. Cain knew how badly I needed his reassurance." Nicki smiled at the jury. "It doesn't have the little rings like the collar the sheriff stole, but the sapphires and diamonds are pretty."

  "I love you, Nicki," Cain called up to her.

  "I love you too, Cain." Her heart quit hammering so hard, when he did not object to her plan.

  "What the hell is going on?" the Judge muttered.

  "Excuse me, your honor." Gerard's voice actually squeaked. "I think the court should be aware, that Mrs. Gray has contracted me to file a class action suit on behalf of the defendants and their spouses, against the institution and the State… as well as, um…" he shuffled through some papers. "Here it is, Andy Timmons, Jimmy Slaughter, Harry Slaughter, Frank Muldoon, George Larson, and Paul Thompson. Those were the hunters trespassing on their property.

  "On behalf of her husband, Mrs. Gray is also holding the State responsible for willful destruction and seizure of their property." Gerard looked over to the jury. "Apparently, they ripped up walls when they took chains and things," he finished quietly. His face was beet red with embarrassment.