DoubleBind

by Sindra vin Yssel

  “Yuh-huh. But it’s good you’re strong.” Jannah looked at her watch. “I, however, have a date with a nice-looking man who likes to switch, so I’m in for an interesting time. We have an agreement that if I’m more than ten minutes late, he gets to top, so I need to get of here if I’m going to do the strap-on scene I’ve planned. I’ll see you Friday night?”

  “If at least one of them still wants me there, yes.”

  Jannah shook her head. “Come anyway. We’ll find someone for you and show them what they’re missing.”

  Meg laughed. “Okay. You’re on.” But she hoped it wasn’t going to happen that way. She picked up her purse and walked with her friend to the door, then waved goodbye. It was a cool night and the walk back to her apartment was well lit and pleasant. She composed her email in her head. Short and sweet would work. “Dear Garrett/Karl. I’m looking forward to playing with you tomorrow at Iron Butterfly. I want you to know I will also be playing with Karl/Garrett at some point that evening. Yours, Meg.”

  Her heart felt heavy as she worried about how her email would go over, but she knew Jannah was right. Honesty was the best policy and fear was something she’d learned to conquer long ago.

  The next night she was driving toward Iron Butterfly in her black roadster. She liked driving her little zippy car, although after she’d had an accident when someone plowed into her, she’d had several girlfriends tell her she should get an SUV. You’ll be safer, they told her. True enough, but she fancied there was some safety in speed and handling and besides, what was life without risk?

  “That’s fine,” Garrett had said in reply. Two words. He was normally more expansive, but she’d take him at his word.

  Karl had been even more laconic. “Okay.” Well, that didn’t sound okay to her. But it wasn’t rejection and Meg had never been the sensitive type and she didn’t intend to start now. “Okay” was good enough in business and she’d take it in a relationship as long as Karl was still willing to excite her body with those delicious whips of his.

  It didn’t settle the big question. Which man first? Maybe Garrett would have to tend the bar, which would settle it. On the whole, she thought Garrett could be the perfect aftercare for an intense scene with Karl. On the other hand, the more aroused Karl got her before a flogging, the more she could take and enjoy. And if Garrett warmed her up, that could be awesome. Before and after would be even better.

  By the time she parked her car and walked up to the door, she felt nearly as in control as she did at work. She had an outrageous outfit on—a black leather harness that framed her breasts but left them bare and over that a tight black dress with peepholes along the sides revealing some of the straps of the harness beneath. Dress for success had always been her motto. Two men? I can juggle them fine.

  Hart was at the door and recognized her. “Hey, Meg. Good to see you back.” He gave her a warm smile but not quite like the one Chuck had given her the first night, despite the fact she thought she looked sexier.

  That one is well and truly taken. “Good to see you too. I’ve got my card right here.” She started to fish through her purse.

  “It’s okay, Meg. I’m the one who processes the memberships. I know you’ve got one. Go on in and have fun. I think Garrett and Karl are looking for you.”

  Both, huh. This is going to be complicated. “Thank you.” She thought of asking him where they each were, but she guessed he’d been standing there for a while and there was no reason for them to stay in one place, unless Garrett was committed to the bar. Walking in, she looked around. Neither of them was in the gaggle of people near the entrance to the living room, so she headed to the bar. She didn’t like choosing who to talk to first, but if Garrett was stuck there for a while it would make the evening a lot simpler.

  “Hello, Meg,” said a very familiar voice.

  Meg’s eyes narrowed. “Jannah.” Her friend was mixing up a gin and tonic. She looked incredible in a leather bustier, skintight leather pants and boots with high heels and lots of buckles.

  “Hart asked me to fill in for a bit. Need some liquid courage?”

  Meg leaned forward. “Where are they?”

  Jannah didn’t ask who she meant. “They both got here early to set up, so I know they are around somewhere. Karl might still be in the racquetball court, adjusting the furniture. Garrett floats.” She slid the gin and tonic over to a petite young woman dressed only in a collar, a bra and a thong.

  I guess it’s whichever one I run into first. “Mind mixing me a scotch and soda?”

  “Nope.” Jannah mixed the drink while Meg fished some cash out of her purse. “And relax. It’s all going to work out fine.”

  “Do you have inside information?” asked Meg. If Jannah knew something, Meg wanted to know it too.

  “I have a feeling.”

  Meg grinned with confidence she didn’t entirely feel. “Yep. Me too. Can you keep my purse back there?”

  “Yep.” Jannah slid the drink across the bar, then took the handbag and stashed it in drawer.

  “See you soon.” Taking the drink from her friend, she turned to head into the living room.

  “Good luck,” Jannah called after her.

  She worked her way through the throng at the door. It was impossible to get through without some physical contact, but no one seemed to be trying to take advantage.

  Karl stood in front of the sofa and chairs where she’d first met him, wearing a steel-gray kilt with lots of pockets and a tight black t-shirt that showed off his powerful arm muscles. There were several floggers strapped to his belt. Garrett was there too, in leather pants and a crisp white shirt, a coil of rope at his side, simultaneously kinky and elegant. The two were talking. Crap. She stood there for a second, trying to figure out how to approach them. Well, at least I don’t have to worry about which one I talk to first.

  Garrett noticed her first and crooked his finger at her, signaling her to approach. Normally she would have objected to the gesture, but she walked forward. Not going to show any fear.

  “Meg,” said Karl. “We were just talking about you.”

  Great.

  Garrett reached out and caressed her cheek. “Hello, pet. Feeling submissive tonight?”

  At his touch her skin felt like it had been electrified. She didn’t understand how he could do that to her so easily. She opened her mouth to say yes and only Karl’s presence made her hesitate. What she felt like doing was kneeling in front of the handsome, dominant man.

  Without warning, Karl reached out and pinched her nipple through the tight dress and she squeaked at the unexpectedness of it. “Feel like a little pain, girl?”

  “Here?” she said. He still hadn’t let go. And Garrett was still touching her.

  “Could be,” Karl said.

  “You haven’t answered our questions. Either of them,” Garrett pointed out. “Why should we answer yours?”

  She looked between the two men. How did they expect her to think while they were doing that? Fortunately the answers were obvious enough, even if she was having difficulty giving them. “Yes. And yes. Which of you wants to go first?”

  “We both do,” Garrett said. “Naturally.”

  “So you have a choice to make,” said Karl.

  The choice she’d been putting off all week. And her original notion of Garrett first and last had melted when Karl had pinched her. She didn’t want to choose. She wanted this moment frozen in time, with both of them touching her. And why did both of them look so damn amused? They had to have some idea what confronting her like this would feel like. And yet they were both so goddamn confident she’d pick them. She didn’t want to hurt either of them.

  “I think you should kneel,” said Karl. He let her go and pushed down on her shoulder. At the same time, Garrett withdrew his hand.

  She glanced at Karl. She had never knelt for him. He never seemed to care about things like that, as long as she let him do what he wanted to her.

  “On that, I agree,” said Garrett
.

  Setting her drink down beside her, she went to her knees, not sure what was going to happen next. She felt so far away from them and the submissive posture triggered feelings Garrett had trained in her. They were lovely feelings, but it didn’t make it easier to make decisions. And yet she had to make a choice.

  Both men crouched down. “You did that well,” Karl said. “You deserve a reward.” He kissed her warmly, but when her lips parted he didn’t deepen the kiss.

  As soon as his lips left hers, Garrett kissed her too. Her mind was swimming. He, too, declined to take her mouth with his tongue.

  “I want to see your body better,” said Garrett.

  “I want more access to it,” said Karl.

  The two men grabbed the hem of her skirt and lifted. She let them, raising her hands to let them help it off her.

  “Nice,” said Garrett, as her body was displayed. Her nipples stiffened at the exposure, even though the room was not especially cool.

  “Practical,” said Karl, pulling on some of the straps. The garment was tight enough that when he pulled the leather it bit into the underside of her breasts. “Will look lovely with some clamps, I think.” He pulled out the ones he’d shown her before that tightened if the chain was pulled. He offered one of them to Garrett.

  Together the two men fastened the clamps to her nipples, almost in unison. She thought maybe Karl’s had gone on first, because she had a moment to feel the pain before the other one started. Her pussy flooded at the sensations. Garrett caressed her breast. Karl tugged on the chain, making it even more intense. She gasped. It hurt. It felt good. She was overloaded.

  “She definitely needs to choose,” said Garrett.

  “Between pleasure and pain?” asked Meg. She still didn’t understand why it was a difficult choice, but it was.

  “No, silly,” said Karl. “Between having us top you one at a time…”

  “Or submitting to both of us at once,” finished Garrett.

  She blinked.

  The two men stood up and waited. Moments ticked away and the pain in her nipples slowly faded to a pleasurable ache. They had gathered an audience. They were, after all, close to the middle of the living room. She tried to shut that out.

  “She might have found it easier to think without the clamps,” Garrett pointed out to Karl.

  Karl grinned his familiar evil grin. “I know. That’s the point.”

  “Both,” she said. It might only be putting off the time when she had to choose between them, but she wanted to experience it and she didn’t want to make the other decision anyway. She looked up, expecting one or both to be disappointed. Instead, big grins broke out on both their faces.

  “Good girl,” said Garrett.

  “We’ve got the perfect piece of furniture set up in one of the side rooms,” Karl said. “Come with us.”

  “You may stand,” said Garrett.

  He helped her up and his hand came to rest on the curve of her ass once she had gotten to her feet. The straps provided some coverage, but her cheeks were still bare. She hadn’t intended the dress to come off so easily, or in such a public space. But she wasn’t the only one nearly naked in the living room. There were two women and a man wearing less than she was.

  Leading the way, Karl gave her chain a tug and the clamps bit down hard. The only thing stopping her from shrieking was Garrett walking beside her and his steadying hand. It seemed as if Garrett’s hand drew the pain through her body, diffusing it and rerouting it so it warmed her pussy.

  The only furniture in the room they led her to was a couch and a large wooden rectangular frame, with sturdy vertical posts and a crossbeam well above her head. Karl’s bag of toys was at one end. Garrett’s bag was at the other. A big yellow sign saying “Reserved,” hung from the middle beam. Karl let go of her chain to untie the sign, which he tossed on the couch.

  They’ve been planning this. It was clearly more than the result of happening to be talking about her when she came in, regardless of what they’d pretended. They’d predicted her answer. Hell, they’d seduced it from her. She’d walked in feeling in control and now she knew she wasn’t, at all.

  Which is precisely the way I like it.

  “Where do you want me, Sirs?” she asked.

  “Standing right under the frame, please,” Karl said as he crouched down next to his bag. “If you’d stand right where the sign was, that’d be perfect.”

  She moved to the center of the frame, with Garrett still guiding her. He turned her so she faced away from the door to the room.

  “Lovely heels,” said Garrett. “But kick them off for now.”

  She complied.

  “Hands together and above you, sweetheart,” whispered Garrett.

  She lifted her hands. He wrapped rope around them, checking to make sure he could put two fingers between the rope and her skin, as he always did. Then he tied the rope to a ring at the top of the frame. Her body felt stretched but comfortable. If she wanted to relieve stress on her hands, she could always get on her toes, but she didn’t think she’d need to.

  She expected Garrett to get more rope to secure her with, but instead he moved over to in front of her. The way she was, if she didn’t mind twisting the rope above her she could easily turn and up to a point, even move from side to side.

  Kyle had picked up the bag and moved behind her. She started turning around, curious, only for Garrett to hold her fast. “I’m sure he has something evil planned, love. That’s our Karl. But you needn’t worry about it.” His arms held her better than any rope. Her chest pressed against his, which caused the clamps to tug more, but she’d started to get used to them. They were still intense, but she didn’t feel the need to wince and enjoyed the way they aroused her and made her breasts feel heavy.

  Garrett kissed her deeply. For a moment she hesitated, unsure how Karl would take their intimacy, but then she opened up and let his tongue in. For a moment she forgot about the other man as she melted into the kiss.

  Then she felt the familiar thud of a flogger against her back. The sting jolted her, but Garrett held her fast, his arms around her waist. Karl had started with the one she’d considered medium the first time and he hadn’t warmed her up the way he usually did.

  “You know your body against me is making me hard,” whispered Garrett. He was so close she could feel his cock through leather.

  The next thud was softer and Meg relaxed in Garrett’s arms. She knew flogging her would be arousing Karl, too. Garrett had to trust Karl’s aim to let him flog her with his arms around her, but she knew that trust was merited.

  “I’m going to take you deeper this time, Meg.” Karl’s voice was warm and deep. “You’re expected to take more, with Garrett holding you.”

  She didn’t know what he had in mind, but his threat made her shiver. The soft thuds kept coming rhythmically, a few blows to the back and then a few to her tush and she slowly relaxed. It was easy to do in Garrett’s arms, especially with him whispering to her how good she was and planting soft kisses on her neck. Despite Karl’s words, the intensity wasn’t increasing.

  “Master Garrett, would you mind taking the clamps off in a moment?” asked Karl.

  “Not at all, Master Karl,” came the reply. “Say the word.”

  That got her attention. She knew they’d hurt like the dickens. And it would be Garrett taking them off. Soft, sensual Garrett, who didn’t like to cause pain. She looked up at him and he met her gaze.

  “This will be for you, lovely girl,” he whispered softly, his hands on the clamps.

  Karl draped a flogger across her back slowly. It wasn’t the same one and she could feel the difference. This one was rough. It felt like it had knots in it. Now she understood why he had taken so long with the other flogger. That it was warm up, she’d known. What it was warm up for, she hadn’t.

  He flicked the flogger against her back and it stung in what felt like a hundred little points but must have been fewer. Again and she moaned. Then on her ass
and the stings there made her pussy tingle. I’m too easy. He moved back and forth. The more he struck her back, the more light she felt, each little dot of pain melding and making her feel light, spacey, almost drugged. When he struck her ass, she still floated, but there was a sexual tint to it.

  “Now,” he said. She didn’t have the foggiest idea what he was talking about. Then she felt Garrett squeeze the clamps to open them. There was a moment delay before the pain hit her. It started as white fire in her nipples and slithered through her body from there, intense enough to pierce through her haze.

  Garrett slipped his hand between her legs and she knew he found her wet. That she could get so turned on by pain never seemed embarrassing in front of Karl, but somehow it was with Garrett.

  “Hit her harder, Master Karl,” he said softly. “I think she likes it.”

  Oh, fuck.

  Garrett held her with one arm around the waist as Karl continued, striking both above and below his arm. But his other hand was busy. He pulled a strap aside and slipped two fingers into her wet and waiting pussy and curled them perfectly. He knew exactly how to touch her, even from the start, but he’d gotten even better with practice, learning how she liked it. And now, with the braided flogger sending stings all over her back and ass, he was going to coax an orgasm from her.

  She fought it. She didn’t want to come like that. Pain and pleasure had always been mixed with Karl, but orgasms happened after the worst of it, never during. They’d been strong and powerful partly because of the pain, but also because she’d felt she’d earned them.

  “Take everything he gives you, lovely Meg,” Garrett whispered. Karl lashed her again. She knew it was hard and stinging, but it felt better now. She was floating again, flying. If she floated high enough, she wouldn’t come. Ah, blessed subspace. That would be how she would resist Garrett’s skillful touch. I’ll focus on Karl. Another blow landed. Unh.

  “Come for Master Garrett, Meg,” said Karl.

  Somehow, she couldn’t resist. It started in her core and took over her pussy, making it pulse around Garrett’s hand. If Garrett hadn’t held her tight, she would have thrashed so much even Karl wouldn’t have been able to keep his blows on target. But he did, continuing to add stings and lashes even as wave after wave of pleasure flowed through her. The experience of coming in subspace was euphoric.