by Shay Savage
“I need that one next,” I say as I finish coiling the second rope and place it on top of the one already in my backpack.
Kas glances at me sideways as she stands again to go to the next strand of rope.
“Why am I doing this?” she asks.
“Because I’m telling you to do it,” I reply simply, and Kas narrows her eyes again. “Really, I just like watching you move around, especially when you bend over.”
Kas stops and glares at me, which causes me to laugh.
“Ideally,” I say, “we’d be in a place where I could give you more tasks. I’d love to have you mix me a drink about now, but I’m going to have to work with what I’ve got here.”
“I’m surprised you don’t have a bottle of something in that backpack.”
I reach out and smack her on the ass as she bends over to grab the rope.
“Hey!” Kas stands up straight, rubbing her butt. “What happened to ‘gentle aftercare’?”
“Sassy thing, aren’t you?” I wink at her.
She glares at me, but there’s the hint of a smile on her face. She brings the rope back and kneels in front of me again. We continue the pattern until all the rope has been collected, coiled, and neatly returned to my backpack.
I stand up and crouch in front of her, placing my palm on the side of her face.
“You did that very well,” I say softly as I stroke her cheekbone with my thumb. “I’m proud of you.”
“Proud?” Kas scoffs.
“Yes, proud. This is all new to you, and you did it like a pro. Watching you help me clean up makes me feel like I’m special to you—that you’d do anything for me.”
“I’m not sure about anything,” Kas says and then smiles. “A lot of things though.”
“Good.” I run my hand over her cheek again before kissing her lightly on the lips. “You’re special to me, Kas.”
“I am?”
“Yeah, you are.”
“Why?”
Good question.
I’m not sure how to answer. The words came out without a lot of thought or planning behind them, but now that I’ve said them, I know they’re true. The reason why is a mystery.
“Honestly, I’m not sure. I just know that you are. Maybe because you put so much trust in me so quickly. You also respond very well.”
“You don’t quite trust me though, do you?”
“I’m working on it.” I give her a half smile. “I don’t usually second-guess myself this much. I’m afraid of taking things too far with you, considering how new all of this is. If I’m going to be totally honest, I’m also really afraid I’ll do something that upsets you, and that will put an end to all of this.”
Kas laughs.
“Is that funny?”
“No, it’s not.” She grins at me. “It’s just that I was thinking the same thing.”
“What do you mean?”
“I was afraid I didn’t do well enough and that you might be upset with me.”
“Didn’t do well enough?” I narrow my eyes. “Did you hear me when I said I was proud of you?”
“Yes.” She blushes.
“I meant that, you know.”
“Fine.” She huffs a breath through her nose.
“Fine?” I grasp her chin and lean in close. “Do you like this, Kas? Do you like being submissive to me? Be honest.”
“Yes,” she replies sheepishly.
“Good. I like you this way, too.” I lean in and give her a light peck on the lips. “Do you want to continue this relationship wherever it might lead us?”
“Yes.” Kas grins and blushes again.
“I’m glad to hear that, too. That being the case, let’s try this again.” I back off and straighten my shoulders. “Did you, in fact, hear me say I was proud of you? The correct answer is, ‘Yes. Thank you, sir.’”
“Yes. Thank you, sir.”
“There’s a good girl.” I lean forward again, placing my hand on the back of her head as I pull her to my mouth. I kiss her until we’re both breathing hard.
“I might actually need a break,” Kas says with a chuckle.
“Rebuffing my affections already?” Kas looks horrified for a moment before she sees me smiling. “You’re right. We do need a break. Come here.”
I take her hand and pull her to her feet. I straighten the towels out on the floor again, and we both lie down near the wall. Kas curls up against me, and I wrap one arm around her shoulder and rest the other on her arm. I am exhausted, and my eyes start to close as soon as we’re settled down.
Kas is still in a talkative mood.
“Do a lot of your friends go to that dungeon place you were talking about?” she asks.
“A few.”
“Anyone I know?”
“I don’t hang out with anyone from our high school,” I say, “so I’m not sure if you’d know them or not.”
“Is it all a big secret?” she asks.
“Secret might be too strong a word,” I say, “but most of us are somewhat private about it. You never know who’s going to decide you are something you’re not. Some people don’t care who knows and make it very public. That can backfire.”
“How so?”
“Ivan’s very open about his preferences.”
“Ivan?”
“A close friend of mine.”
“Is he the one you tie up?”
“No. That’s Rocco. Ivan’s one of the DMs at Gym. Before that, he had a job as a bartender at Ozzy’s. He ended up being fired when his boss found out what he did on his off hours.”
“Um, what’s a DM?”
“Dungeon monitor. They keep track of what’s going on and make sure everyone is being safe and consensual. They keep things from ever getting out of hand during dungeon parties, usually just by their presence.”
“Every party needs one of those.”
“Exactly.” I run my finger over her upper arm and then lean in to kiss her cheek. “You’ll find that kink is often much safer than other relationships because we have so many rules.”
“I can see that. So why did Ivan get fired?”
“The manager was afraid he might be dangerous to their customers. He’d never been in any trouble, but she fired him anyway.”
“That’s kinda shitty. They shouldn’t be able to fire him because of that.”
“Well, he’s not part of a protected class, so she got away with it. The money wasn’t a big deal—Ivan comes from a pretty well-off family—but the principle of it pissed him off. I tend to stay pretty quiet about it for that reason. I can’t afford to lose a job because someone else doesn’t take the time to understand.”
“I have to admit,” Kas says, “it is a bit of a shock at first. I wasn’t sure what to think when you first started talking about the rope. I guess I’ve heard of such things before but more as an abstract ‘things people do in big cities’ kind of way.”
“Oh, there are kinksters everywhere. You’d be surprised where you find them.”
“Where?” She turns her head to look at me.
“Retirement communities are big into the lifestyle. Lots of elderly nudists out there.”
“I’m not sure I want to think about that.” Kas laughs.
“Oh, yes!” I grin at her. “The highest occurrence of STDs is in nursing homes.”
“Are you serious?”
“Look it up.”
“No, thank you. I guess I’ll just take your word for it.”
I yawn and shift my position.
“I’m keeping you awake, aren’t I?”
“It’s okay,” I say, yawning again. “We should try to get some sleep though. Now that the rain has stopped, the phones should start working again by morning, and we’ll get out of here.”
“What if they don’t?” The fear in Kas’s voice is accompanied by a shudder through her body.
“They’ll find us,” I say, tightening my grip on her. “If they don’t come in the morning, I’ll jus have to come up with more w
ays to distract you.”
Kas snickers softly and then goes quiet. She places her head on my shoulder before quickly falling asleep. Once her breathing has regulated, I close my eyes and join her in slumber.
I’m awakened by the loud, rhythmic thumping of helicopter blades. I blink a few times, cock my head to the side, and immediately hear distant sirens.
Daylight floods through the window, casting colorful light on the floor near my feet. I yawn and then stretch a little to relieve the ache in my shoulder from sleeping on the floor. I slide myself out from under Kas and head over to the window.
Though it’s overcast, the daylight offers enough of a view through the clear piece of glass at the bottom of the window to get a good view of our situation. Water surrounds the whole building. What used to be a small duck pond is now a large body of water filling the entire valley all the way to the tree line near the road at the top. Across the water, I notice the flashing lights of emergency vehicles just before the helicopter begins circling overhead.
“Kas, wake up.” I move away from the window to shake her gently until she peers up at me. “I think rescue is finally here. You might want to put your clothes on.”
Kas sits up and rubs her eyes. As my words sink in, she jumps up and grabs her clothes before crouching to look out the bottom of the stained glass. Her eyes are wide as she stares at the scene across the water.
“Do they know we’re here?” she asks.
“Can’t say for sure. We need to signal them, and the only way to do that is to break the window. Stand back.”
“Do you have to?” Kas tears up a little as she looks at the beautiful stained glass.
“Yeah, I do.”
She nods and steps back. With a towel wrapped around my hand, I slam into the glass a couple of times with my fist, but it doesn’t break. Eventually, I manage to kick it out. I take my shirt and wave it around outside the window until someone calls to us over a loud speaker.
“Hang on and stay inside! We’re coming for you!”
I gather my things and place them into my backpack as Kas grabs her purse.
“You know,” she says, “I went back for my purse so I could get my anxiety medication. I never even used it.”
“Well, at least it didn’t get ruined in the water downstairs.”
“I didn’t really need it.” She stares into her purse for a minute. “If I hadn’t gone down there, I might not have noticed all that rope in your backpack though.”
“Probably not,” I say. “I don’t usually bring it out on a whim.”
“I think your method works better than the pills, anyway.”
“Happy to oblige, ma’am.” I mimic tipping a hat from my head.
Kas laughs but then goes quiet. She looks both thoughtful and sad.
“Kas, are you okay?” I ask.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, you look a little disappointed.”
“I don’t know. I definitely don’t like being trapped, but the rest of it...well, I guess I was getting used to being here with you.”
“Are you sure you want to be submissive to me after we leave here?” I ask quietly.
Kas nods but doesn’t meet my gaze. I study her expression, trying to anticipate the answer to my next question before I ask it, but I can’t tell—not for sure. I guess I’ll just have to ask.
“Would you like to spend more time with me?” I ask nervously. I clear my throat, hoping I don’t sound like a teenager asking a girl out on a first date. “More time in rope?”
“Yes, I would.” Kas looks up at me, smiling. “I wasn’t sure how to ask, so I’m glad you brought it up.”
“You can ask me anything you want,” I tell her. I lean in and kiss her lightly. “I’m glad you want to keep doing this. If you like, I can take you to a party tomorrow.”
“A party at that dungeon?”
“Yes.”
“Yeah, I think I’d like that.”
“Good. I’d like it, too.”
A small motorboat with a large spotlight on it moves closer to the window.
“I have no idea how I’m going to convince myself to get into that boat.”
I turn toward her and take her face in my hands.
“I won’t let anything happen to you, Kas. If you’re going to be submissive to me, one of my jobs is to provide you with safety and security. That’s my job as your Dom, and I won’t let you down. I’m going to get you safely to dry land.”
“Promise?”
“I promise.”
Kas let’s out a long sigh and grips my fingers tightly as she watches the rescuers approach.
It takes a long while for the emergency crews to reach us. We have to break more of the stained-glass window in order to get out, and Kas cries again. I’m not sure if it’s because of the broken window or what we have to do next.
I speak softly into her ear, telling her everything is going to be all right, but it takes me a while to calm her down enough to convince her to let me lower her into the small motorboat just below the window. I lower myself quickly so she won’t feel alone. Once we’re both in the boat and surrounded by water, she grabs hold of me and won’t let go. I wrap my arms around her, holding her tightly as the wind blows cold drizzle into my face. When we reach the road at the top of the hill, Kas is visibly relieved to be on solid ground again.
The emergency crew wraps us in dry blankets and immediately takes us to a waiting ambulance.
“Hey there, Cree.”
I look up to see Lynn in a blue uniform with an EMT emblem on her chest.
“Hey, Lynn. It’s good to see a friendly face.”
“Looks like you had a rough night,” she says.
“It was something; that’s for sure.” I glance at Kas and wink, and she blushes.
The EMTs insist on putting us both in the ambulance to check us out. Lynn gives Kas a once-over, immediately noticing the rope marks on her upper arms. She raises an eyebrow at me, grinning.
I glare at Lynn. I don’t want her saying anything inappropriate at this point. Kas is still shaken from the boat ride, and she doesn’t need anything else to stress about. Lynn rolls her eyes at me but gets the hint.
Ultimately, I’m grateful it’s Lynn checking Kas over and not someone who wouldn’t understand.
“I guess you are doing pretty well,” Lynn says as she wraps a blanket around Kas’s shoulders. “I’d still like you to go to the hospital and get checked out by a doctor, but it’s your choice.”
“I really just want to go home,” Kas says.
“You’re next,” Lynn says. She starts to take my blood pressure.
A police officer comes by and asks us a few basic questions, jots down some notes, and tells us we’re free to go once the EMT says so. Lynn takes the blood pressure cuff off my arm, and then checks the rest of my vitals. As she’s finishing up, I hear someone yelling my name.
“Cree!”
I look up to see Ivan standing on the other side of a line of caution tape, waving his arms around frantically. Next to him is Paula, the librarian from the night before, wringing her hands and looking around anxiously.
“There’s our ride, Kas,” I say as I nod in Ivan’s direction.
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure he will offer.”
“Paula would take me home, too,” Kas says quietly.
“Do you want her to?” I tilt my head and stare into Kas’s eyes. “I’m trying to get the absolutely most time with you that I can here.”
Kas smiles, and I grin back at her.
“All right,” she says. “I’d like that, too.”
Lynn gives Kas and me the go-ahead to leave, and we walk over to the caution tape and duck under.
“Hey, Ivan.”
“Dude!” Ivan rushes up and gives me an uncharacteristic hug. “We were freaking out, bro. I came back this way when I heard about the flooding, but the cops had already blocked the road. Said even my Jeep wouldn’t make it. All the phone
s were out, so I looked everywhere for you. I came back and told them you had to be here, but shit, dude. They said we couldn’t do anything until the rain stopped.”
Ivan stops his frantic monologue long enough to hug me again. He looks at my face, and I swear there are tears in the corners of his eyes. I’ve never seen him so emotional. Off to my left, Kas is having a similar conversation with Paula.
“I’m okay, Ivan. It was a little scary there in the beginning, but once we got to the second level, everything was okay. Just had to wait it out. Thanks for doing all that, though.”
“Glad you’re okay, bro.” He smacks my shoulder a couple of times. “Really, I am.”
“We’re all good.” I break away from his embrace and glance over at Kas and Paula.
Paula is crying, and Kas is comforting her. Ivan stays uncharacteristically quiet as we both listen to their brief conversation, mostly consisting of Kas telling Paula that none of it was her fault. They hug briefly before one of the police officers comes over and asks Paula to give him more information. When Kas turns back to me, I reach out and take her hand.
“This is Kas,” I say to Ivan.
“Hey, Kas!” He reaches out to shake her hand but ends up giving her a hug, too. “I’m so sorry you got stuck all night with this loser. Hopefully, the next time will be with someone more entertaining.”
“Cree was pretty entertaining, really,” Kas says, blushing.
“Was he, now?” Ivan grins broadly and wiggles his eyebrows at me.
“Can you give her a ride home?” I ask before Ivan can say anything crude. “It was a long night, and I think we could both use some time in our own beds.”
“Of course!” Ivan leads us over to the Jeep parked on the other side of the road. “You two get in back, and I’ll play chauffeur. Do you need me to drive through somewhere for food?”
“I’m okay,” Kas says. “I have food at home.”
“Me, too.”
Kas gives Ivan directions to her place, and I hold her hand the whole way there. She’s quiet, and Ivan has enough sense not to pepper her with questions along the way. By the time we reach her apartment, she’s beginning to nod off.
