by S. J. Lewis
“Why not?” he asked, gently pushing her onto her back. “We’re all alone here, Red…and we’re in the shade.”
Chapter Six
Claudia stirred in her bed. Her left hand reached out to find that Sam wasn’t there next to her, and she opened her eyes to look. Nope, he definitely wasn’t there. She yawned and stretched and rolled on to her other side to look at her clock radio.
It was just a few minutes shy of ten a.m. She frowned. Why had Sam let her sleep so late? She listened for the sound of the shower. Nothing. Now she was concerned. She sat up, letting the bedclothes fall away from her. It was a little chilly in her bedroom, and she was reaching for her robe before she realized that she didn’t seem to be chained to her bed this morning. Her collar lay on the floor on top of a loose coil of bright chain. She felt her neck with her hand. There was no collar there at all. Now she was sure that something had to be wrong. She wrapped her robe around her and belted it, then padded out of her bedroom. “Sam?” she called. “SAM?”
She saw him sitting at her kitchen table, holding a cell phone up to his left ear. He looked up as she entered the living room, nodded towards her and held up his free hand. He looked terribly serious, which instantly quenched her sense of relief. Okay, he was here after all, but something was still wrong. She walked across the carpeting and onto the cold tiles of the kitchen. Sam was listening intently to whoever was on the other end of the line. She didn’t want to disturb him, so she went over to the coffeemaker. The pot was half full. She quietly poured herself a cup. She took it and sat down at the table near him. He was still listening…or was he waiting? The fingers of his right hand were drumming the table. She reached out to cover his hand with hers. He looked up at her and smiled, but he still seemed terribly preoccupied. She was about to ask him who or what it was when he suddenly straightened up in his chair and his attention immediately shifted away from her.
“Yes, yes, I’m still here,” he said into the phone. He sounded irritated, even a little angry. “I told you I’d wait.”
She guessed that maybe the call had something to do with his business, but she wasn’t sure. She gave his hand a little squeeze, just to let him know she was there for him. That got her a quick smile.
“Right. Right.” His attention was focused entirely on his conversation again. “Since late Thursday, you say? How come nobody called me until now?”
Still holding his hand, she took a sip of the coffee. It tasted a bit old, but was still drinkable, and she wasn’t going to get up now to make a fresh pot.
“Dammit…” Sam muttered under his breath. “Okay, so what’s being done?”
He paused, listening. “Yeah. Okay. Keep on it and call me back as soon as you know, okay?”
“What was that?” Claudia asked. Sam turned off the phone and laid it on the table. He stared at it for a moment, and she couldn’t tell much from his expression.
“Sorry, Red,” he shook his head and looked at her. “Business-related.” He sighed. “I may have to leave a little sooner than I planned.”
“Today?” No, it couldn’t be today! Not today, not on such short notice!
“No, not today, Red.” He reached out with his left hand to cover hers as hers covered his right hand. “And I may not have to leave early at all, but I won’t know for a while.”
“What’s the problem, Sam?”
“It could be serious,” he shrugged. He grinned at her, but it wasn’t entirely convincing. “And it could turn out to be nothing at all. But I’m afraid I’m gonna have to keep my cell with me until they call back and I know for sure.”
“Can’t you tell me what it is?”
“It may not be anything, Red. Don’t worry about it.”
“Sam…” Claudia frowned. “I’m not a little kid. Don’t treat me like one. What’s the problem? Tell me!”
He looked at her for a long moment, then gave her hand a squeeze. “Okay,” he said. “There may be a problem back home. Business related, like I said, but kinda personal too. I don’t wanna say any more about it right now.”
“Why not?”
“Because it might not really be a problem, Red. It might be nothing at all.”
“But you’re worried. Whatever it is, it’s got you worried, Sam.”
“Yeah, it does have me worried,” he nodded. “I’m sorry, Red. I had some plans for us today, but…”
She wanted to press him to tell her just what the problem was…or might be, but she already knew that it wouldn’t work. When he said he didn’t want to talk about something, he just wouldn’t talk about it. He wouldn’t listen to anybody else talk about it either. Anyway, he’d also said it might turn out not to be a problem at all. Either way, he’d have it weighing on his mind until it was resolved.
“Sam…” she smiled and caressed his cheek with her free hand. “It’s okay. Really. We don’t have to go out. We can stay in.”
He smiled at her. “We can save the plans for the next time, I guess.” He shrugged and shook his head once. “I’m gonna be kinda distracted today anyway.”
She could see real concern in his eyes. She wished he would tell her what it was all about, but he wouldn’t do that until and unless he was ready. It pained her to see him like this. It pained her immeasurably more that he might be leaving soon. Up until this moment, she’d tried very hard not to think about him leaving at all. She felt completely unprepared for the possibility now.
“It’s that bad?” she asked.
“It could be.” He shrugged again. “Hell, it probably is.”
“So, why can’t you tell me any more about it?”
He looked at her across the table. “Red,” he sighed, “You told me you don’t wanna talk about your business with me. Okay. I haven’t pushed you on that. Don’t push me on this.”
She felt a sudden flare of anger at him but bit back the words she was about to say. He was right. She had refused to talk about her work with him. She’d also been careful to keep him away from her office. She wasn’t sure why she’d done that. She hadn’t even asked him if that had bothered him. Maybe it had, but did he have to throw it back in her face like that?
No…that wasn’t fair. She couldn’t have it both ways. But…this wasn’t quite the same thing, was it?
“Well, then,” she said. “What are we going to do, Sam?”
“All we can do for now is wait, Red,” he shrugged. “And I hate waiting.”
“How soon do you think they’ll call you back?”
“I don’t know. An hour, maybe. Maybe more. They’re three hours behind us out there.”
Three hours…that put it somewhere way out west. Maybe it was even near that ranch he kept trying to talk her into visiting. So was this problem work-related as he’d said or ranch-related? Could it be something as simple as a missing horse? She could speculate all she wanted, but it was frustrating. Why couldn’t he just tell her what it was?
She almost asked him again, but he wasn’t even looking at her now. He was staring down at the tabletop, but his gaze was so far-away that he probably didn’t even see it. No…whatever the problem was, it wasn’t just a stray horse.
“Sam…Sam…” She reached out and nudged him lightly with her hand.
“What? Oh…sorry, Red. I was just thinking.”
“Thinking of what?”
“Just thinking.” He smiled weakly at her but he didn’t elaborate. She felt that flush of anger flare up and fought it back down again. She’d taken the lead in keeping their personal and professional lives sealed off from each other. She had no call to be angry with him about it now. But she was still angry.
“You don’t want to talk about it.”
He frowned. “I already said that, Red.”
She stood up, feeling angrier. “All right, then,” she said. She shed her robe, letting it drop to the floor. She knelt and retrieved the white cloth belt and handed it to him. “Don’t talk about it.” Her words were clipped. She turned her back to him and crossed her wrists behind her. “Don�
��t talk about anything. Just tie me up and fuck me.”
“Hey now, Red…” he began.
“Do it, Sam,” she ordered. “Just do it. Tie me. Fuck me. Use me.” She kept her back to him, her gaze fixed on the far wall.
There was a silence that seemed to go on and on before she heard him stand up and push his chair back. She had a sudden fear that he would just leave and as furious as she felt with him at the moment, she desperately wanted him to stay. “Do it, Sam,” she repeated. “Please.” She felt as if she was going to cry. If he hadn’t begun binding her wrists with the belt of her robe a moment later, she was sure she would have. But as he wound and cinched and knotted tightly, that urge faded and her anger came back. Maybe it was irrational. Maybe it wasn’t fair to him. But it felt as real as her bindings, and she wanted to wallow in her feelings…all of them…before he went away and left her alone again.
He turned her to face him. Holding her by her upper arms, he leaned closer for a kiss. She leaned back from him, turning her head away. She glared at him sideways, squirming in his grip. She said nothing. Her teeth were clenched, her lips compressed, and she was breathing noisily through her nose.
He looked at her. Her face was flushed. He knew she was angry with him. He could see that much in her eyes. But if she was really all that angry why had she insisted that he tie her up? If she was that angry, why wasn’t she making a real effort to pull free? What the Hell did she want from him? He felt some anger now himself. Couldn’t she just tell him what it was? With that came the realization that she’d managed to distract him from his worries and focus all of his attention on her. Was that what she wanted? He looked into her eyes, beautiful, green and glaring. That might be one of the things she wanted, but he was sure it wasn’t the only thing. All right, then. If she wouldn’t tell him what she wanted, he would give her what she’d asked for. He took a fistful of her hair and began towing her back to the bedroom.
She resisted. She tried to pull away, struggled, snarled and whined. She never said anything, though and if she’d meant ‘no’ she would have that…wouldn’t she? Well, he’d give her a chance until they got to the bedroom. Then he would gag her. He strengthened his grip on her hair and pulled her along, feeling confused and angry and very, very aroused. If she wanted angry sex, he would give her angry sex.
For the first time since Sam had come back to her, Claudia felt a bit of real fear. His grip on her hair really hurt, and he didn’t seem to be paying any attention to that possibility. He was hauling her towards the bedroom, and she knew what he had in mind, but only in a very general way. She could still open her mouth and tell him no. She was sure that if she did he would stop, but that seemed too much to her like chickening out at the last minute after she had deliberately provoked him into this. That was something she just couldn’t do. She gritted her teeth until her jaws ached. All right…let him do his worst. She shuddered, wondering what his worst might be. Her mind might be burning with anger, but she could feel her body smoldering with lust and anticipation.
He forced her to the floor in her bedroom and went to the dresser where she kept her stockings. As he was rummaging through the drawer, she got up and tried to run away. He caught her, dragged her back and forced her to the floor again. She kept fighting him, and he didn’t think a spanking would subdue her this time. For one brief moment he thought wildly of slapping her as hard as he could. It would stun her for a while at least. But he couldn’t do that, as much as he might want to at the moment. Instead, he sat down on her belly…hard enough to make her grunt…and quickly used the lone nylon stocking he’d managed to grab so far to tie her ankle very tightly to one leg of the bed. That would keep her from running away, at least. He went back to the opened drawer and began pulling out more stockings, scarves, anything that could be used to bind or gag her.
It was a fight to get her other ankle tied to the other leg of her bed. It was an even bigger fight to gag her. He used whatever force he needed to without actually hitting her and finally stuffed a wadded-up scarf into her mouth. He tied it in place with another stocking. She could fight all she wanted to now, and it wouldn’t do her any good. He stood up, catching his breath and a bit more self-control and looked down on his prize. She still looked angry. The muscles in her beautiful long legs strained as she tried to free her ankles. Her body twisted from one side to the other as she pulled and fought. She tried to sit up once. He pushed her back down roughly. He stood over her, straddling her, and began to undress.
Claudia kept fighting her bonds. Her legs were spread widely, almost painfully. The stockings he’d used were ruined. It was a small thing, but it fueled her anger. There were so many other things he could have used instead.
He peeled off his shirt, spread it wide and dropped it so that it covered her face. She tossed her head, trying to shake it off. She was unsuccessful. She couldn’t see him now, but she knew that he was still undressing, looking down now on an anonymous, naked female body, staked out by him and for him. How many other women had he done this to…or with? It was more fuel for the fire. She was going to try to sit up again to shake off that damned shirt, but then realized he would only push her back down again. And anyway…not being able to see him somehow made it easier for her to keep her anger burning as fiercely as her desire. He was not Sam any more. He was an anonymous man…or men…who had invaded her home, made her a prisoner and tied her so that he…or they…could use her body. For a moment, lust overcame her anger. Her whole body shuddered. Her back arched and she moaned. Then she felt his hand between her legs, testing her readiness, and the anger flared up again. She jerked, trying to twist away, snarling through her gag.
He was glad he’d covered her face. If he couldn’t see it, especially her eyes, he wouldn’t have to make any guesses about what she was thinking or feeling or wanting. Those things seemed to be changing from moment to moment now anyway. But her body told him she was ready…very, very ready, and it stayed on message in spite of all her struggling and complaining. He knelt between her spread legs, leaned forward on one arm, guiding his cock with his free hand. She was really bucking now, but with her legs tied so wide and tight, the target area couldn’t really move around much. The moment he felt the head of his cock slide between the outer lips of her pussy he rammed himself deeply into her. He let her take all of his weight, felt the warm softness of her breasts compressed against his chest. She grunted once and was still, but he could hear her heavy, labored breathing under his shirt.
Everything seemed to lose focus…or was it that there were so many things demanding her attention now that she couldn’t focus on any one of them? Sam felt impossibly heavy, pinning her down even as he penetrated her. Her bound hands dug into the small of her back, and she couldn’t even move them into a less uncomfortable position. Her legs felt pulled, strained, stretched wide, and the gag, combined with his weight crushing her down, made it very hard for her to get a full breath. She had never felt more utterly helpless, more completely a captive, even in her steamiest fantasies. And then Sam began to fuck her…hard and fast.
She tried to buck him off of her, knowing it would be useless even if she wasn’t bound. Sam shifted, putting his hands on her shoulders and pinning her down. She kept fighting him, bucking and writhing. All Sam did was grunt once and change to a new rhythm, slower and more deliberate but no less powerful. After only a few strokes, she couldn’t fight him any more. She didn’t want to. For the first time, she moaned. Sam kept pumping away…slow, strong, relentless. He said nothing, but she could hear him exhale loudly if not quite grunting, with each thrust. She let herself go, surrendering. Once again, she was Red, required to do nothing but submit, free to let all the sensations wash over and through her. She moaned again, rotating her hips as Sam went on and on…and then he stopped.
Why? Why had he stopped? She whined at him through her gag and then she heard his cell phone ringing in the kitchen. Here in the bedroom, the sound was faint but clear and it stabbed coldly at her ears.
If he got up and left her, there was nothing she could do to try to stop him. He wouldn’t do that, would he? He couldn’t do that! Not now…
She could feel his weight on her, his cock driven deeply up into her, motionless. She could picture him on top of her, his head turned towards the door, listening… It seemed to her that he was still for a very long time, until she was sure that he would leave her here on the floor, abandoning her. Tears began to sting her eyes, and she didn’t know why. Then Sam made a noise…an angry, animal noise somewhere between a growl and a snarl. He leaned harder onto her shoulders and began ramming himself into her, hard and fast and furiously, over and over again. She shrieked. She shut her eyes tight and plunged back into the scalding bath of raw physical sensation. He had not left her! He had not left her! Twisting and squirming, still pinned by his weight, she lifted her hips up for him so he could plumb her even deeper.
***
She was still groggy from her orgasm, so she was only dimly aware of Sam groaning and groaning as he came, pushing into her so deep and so hard that she felt as if her bound legs were going to be pulled from their hip sockets. Then he was done. As he slowly withdrew from her she could hear him panting for breath as if he’d just run a marathon.
He freed her ankles so quickly and abruptly that she was certain he’d cut through the nylons that had bound her. When he tossed aside the shirt that had covered her face she could see him standing over her. Usually, after something like this, he would be grinning. Now he just looked grim…and a little bit sad. He ungagged her and raised her up to a sitting position for a quick, hard kiss before he began to free her hands. It wasn’t until then that she realized her hands had gone numb. When he tried to help her to her feet, she found that her legs also felt a little numb. She couldn’t quite stand on her own, even with Sam helping her. He picked her up in his arms and laid her down gently on the bed. He kissed her again before he left her. She saw him pulling his jeans back on even as he went out the door.
