Chapter 11: Bound to the Family

It might be fine to blow Julian’s mind off the earth in bed, but Sal had told Larissa that it was what she did out of the bed that really mattered, a sustained campaign of blowing his mind. No good being rocket hot in bed and a selfish bitch out of it. Put like that, the magnitude of the challenge D-One and D-Two gave her was becoming clear to her.

Because dealing with life had its challenges. She loved her boss, and he was super-protective of her now, but work was still physically demanding. University assignments still had to be handed in. Lockdowns arrived with no warnings. Periods still sucked. Julian sometimes had something other than her at the top his mind. And her ferocious hunger for validation was a beast inside her that was never far from the surface.

One evening during yet another lockdown, he was in their room at their desk doing his own assignment, and she was in the loungeroom trying to do her own, but just not focusing. She was so super-motivated by her studies now but tonight it just wasn’t hitting her. She had wanted sex, but they had work to do. This was all so hard, and then she found herself in the kitchen, sitting at the bench, looking at a bottle of Fiona’s cider; she really needed some alcohol. But her support network clicked into place. She pushed it away from her and thought about that. If she started, she wouldn’t stop, she knew, and her girlfriends would be very disappointed in her. She really valued their friendship. Maria, who was desperately trying to get control over her drinking, because of her. Fiona. Steph. Sal. Sophie. Her mum, and her girlfriend and boyfriend-husband – Larissa kind of liked both of them. And she’d promised. Julian, particularly, and she was all about him. When he remembered her. Faithful, remember. But ... it was right there, at arms-length. Still, she didn’t open it. Should she text Sal? She was still looking at it when she was hugged from behind. Quietly, Fiona said, “Want to talk about it?”

She held Fiona tight and cried. Then Fiona moved her back to the lounge, and they sat in each other’s arms, and Fiona asked her to list all the good things in her life. She did, and it was a very long list. So good. “So, why? What are the reasons you’d have to open that bottle. What’s getting you down?” It was a short list, actually. Real things, but even she could hear it sounded ridiculous, except for the lockdown. But even that wasn’t it. Fiona gave her a long look. “The truth, Larissa, inside here,” she said, pointing to her heart. “Tell me why you were really sitting there. Alan saw you, and I watched you for at least five minutes before we talked. Why?”

Well, it was Julian. He loved her so much, and he looked after her so well. And he paid attention to her, and they did resilience training for her, and Taekwondo, and his family was great, awesome now. It was all going so good. Fiona smiled at and said, “but...?” Shit, Larissa didn’t know. It was all so good, why didn’t she feel it? “Sounds like you just need some good sex?” Fiona said, but they had good sex. Every night, at least. How could it not be good? “But...?” It just didn’t have the awesome intensity of that night she was tied up. And Julian was in their bedroom ignoring her while she had her melt down. Yeah, she agreed, the one he didn’t know about. And yeah, she agreed, a life with sex that intense more than once every few months would be a life that would destroy her.

What she couldn’t say was that Julian wouldn’t agree to making love with his parents there, or to even ask. And not because he wouldn’t do it, but because of something about her. But, no, she couldn’t mention that one – that was their own real secret, just that they were even talking about it. But that still wasn’t it. She just didn’t know.

“Right”, said Fiona. “So Julian and I talked about this. Sal said it would probably happen sometime, specially if we had a lockdown. So you need to know that the cider bottle is actually just apple juice loaded with salt. You couldn’t drink it if you tried. No alcohol in this house till at least Maria makes it to your three months.” Oh, Fiona knew about that? “Yes, Maria asked me to help. She really wants to succeed this time. And we really want you to be OK too. Now, hop up and kneel down.”

Larissa looked at her in surprise, but she did it – it was something about Fiona’s tone. Then Fiona pulled a collar out of her pocket – more like a pet collar then her own – and Larissa let Fiona gently put it on her neck. “Julian bought you this. It’s your discipline collar. When you wear this, you’ve yielded control to Julian, but it’s not for fun. It’s to remind you that we all love you so much, and that you have to depend on us, and you can. Only Julian or I can put it on you, and I can only do it for alcohol. Now, stand, and strip.” She did as she was told, and Fiona pulled out the silk tie, and tied her hands behind her back. Fiona kissed her gently. “Now, you’re going to go into your bedroom, kneel at Julian’s feet, explain to Julian what happened, and then he’ll look after you.”

Stunned, Larissa walked into their bedroom, and knelt carefully beside Julian’s seat. He immediately stopped what he was doing and looked at her with concern. She went to explain, but he put his finger on her mouth, stopped her. Then her put it in her mouth, let her suck on it for a minute, while he finished his sentence. No, he was thinking, preparing, she could see. Then he stood up, closed the door and squatted down behind her and picked her up. Nice, she really liked it when he did that, her big strong man. He sat on the bed, and arranged her in his lap, sitting sideways to him. He kissed her, giving her no choice. Being forced to kiss like this was wonderful, and he did it till she was breathless. Then he stopped. “OK. Tell me,” he said. She did, and he made sure she told him all of it, what she said to Fiona. No point not telling the whole truth, really. If they talked enough to set this up they’d talk about it. And how cool that her friends cared that much about her. She even told him about the validation thing with his parents. When she finished, she cried a little, as a release.

“OK. Let me tell you about this collar. As Fiona said, it’s your discipline collar. Only Fiona and I can put it on you, and she’s only supposed to do it if I’m not here. I’ll talk to her about it. When you’re wearing it, then that means you’ve slipped on something big – either about drinking or forgetting about your mission.” He turned her head to look at the poster on the wall. “Or a little slip about the rules of our relationship.” Larissa understood. A big slip on either of their sides ... no relationship anymore, or at least, a much bigger deal than could be sorted with a collar. “And it goes both ways, OK? Which reminds me: I want to redo the poster, those rules. I want to make them our rules, not their rules. Pretty much the same rules, but for us. But I won’t let you say yes or no to that while you’re tied up.”

Though Larissa really wanted to. ’YES’ as soon as she was allowed to agree!

“Now, while you’re wearing this collar, you’ll be tied up, and you aren’t allowed to come, or have sex, though you might make me or someone else come, within our rules. So, this collar is not for fun. But you are allowed to be loved. You will be loved.” He stopped, and held her face, and kissed her deeply. Again, she had no choice but to let him do it. He stopped. “Not just by me, either. Your friends, they’ll love you too. All you can do is accept it. It’s to teach you deep in your heart that your friends and I love you, and are committed to you, but you have to play your part. So I’m going to tell you about Fiona, Maria, Steph, and Jaiden.”

“But before that, it’s a really big deal that you didn’t actually try to drink that cider. We don’t know whether you would have, but we know that you didn’t, and you sat and looked at for at least five minutes. You’ve come such a long way since that day in the pub in the country. And it’s a really big difference. I want to celebrate that. And because of that, you won’t be wearing the collar for long, and you’ll still get to come tonight. But I’m prepared to leave it on as long as I need to, understand?.”

Yes, Larissa understood. Whoa. She really didn’t want to find out how long. And the way Julian told her ... he meant it. But she was sure, after this, she’d never be tempted again.

“Also, I want you to be clear: you aren’t being punished, when you wear this collar. It’s for discipline; you know the right thing to do, it’s helping you to be ready to do the right thing.” Larissa thought about that, and the difference between the two ideas. She thought she understood; wearing the collar wouldn’t be easy, and it would challenge her, but she could enjoy it, benefit from it. She promised herself she’d listen.

“Fiona!” he called out. She must have been listening, because she came straight in, with Alan, and Julian got them to sit on the bed. “Babe, here’s your oldest friend, and her man. She and I agreed when I moved in that she’d help watch you, for if or when tonight happened. She even agreed that there’d be no alcohol in this house for at least six months, even though they haven’t stopped drinking. All there is that fake one to grab your attention if necessary. They both agreed to that because they love you. You know how much they love you, right?”

Well, she’d noticed, the ciders didn’t seem to roll over, and that’s all there was, but she’d never asked. But she did know how much they loved her. It sure would be good to say it again, so she did.

Carefully, Julian moved her into Alan’s lap, and he too held her face and she had to accept it when he kissed her deeply. “Larissa, you’re our wonderful best friend, and we’re happy to do this for you. And Julian’s pretty much my best mate too now. So, please, love what you have, because it’s pretty damn good.”

Yeah, it sure as hell was. Take this experience ... prepared in advance for her. Because they loved her so. Julian loved her so. What was she feeling like drinking for?

Then Julian moved her onto Fiona’s lap, and she too held Larissa’s face and kissed her deeply. Then she said, “My dear and closest friend, I remember what it was like, and none of us forget where you were. But you don’t need to feel this way anymore. Love us, and trust in our love, and love Julian. I hear you two every night, you know, and I can tell it’s the real thing. So don’t fall, because we’d be so disappointed. And your dads and Sal and Kat too. And we know that you didn’t fall, but it was close. I don’t want you to ever feel the need again. We love you so much.”

Larissa buried her head in Fiona’s neck. What had she been thinking? How could she do anything like that with all the love around her?

Then Julian said, “Babe, so that you really understand just how much Fiona loves you, you’re going to wear that collar until you need to wee, and Fiona’s going to help you with that. Then she’ll untie you.”

Surprised, Larissa looked up at Fiona. She’d felt Julian’s interest in that, and worried about when it would happen again. But this ... yes ... this made sense. “You’re OK with that?” she asked Fiona.

“Well, it’s not my thing, but I said I’d do it, because I want you to know in your heart how much we’ll do for you, given what you do for us and mean to us, and I’d rather do that than clean up your seat like Maria did at the country pub.”

Larissa fell apart at that. She had no idea. Maria did that for her? There was no way she’d ever even think about drinking again.

Never. Ever.

Fuck.

When she calmed, Julian claimed her back, and Fiona and Alan left after kissing her once again.

“Let me tell you about Maria. When you sat on her lap naked, and she was sooo hot for you, and you said you’d let her do it with us, but only if she sorted out her drinking ... that was a life-changing moment for Maria. No one ever did anything like that before for her. She’s besotted with you. Surely you’ve noticed she can hardly bear to stop holding your hand.” Yes, Larissa had. It was lovely. “To the point that she’s told me that if we think that there’s any chance a threesome would hurt your friendship, I mustn’t let it happen. I’ve been thinking about that, and you and I will talk about it a lot, and what you think we should do with her. So, Maria ... Aaden and she talked about it later that night, and she’s gone cold turkey for three months. She’s taking no chances at all. And he’s agreed to be her sub totally for those three months, but it stops the minute she drinks anything. And if she makes it through that, they’ll introduce each other to their families. That’s a really a big deal for both of them. The only reason you don’t know about it is because they desperately want to tell you when they win, so you can’t let on that you know, OK? But imagine if you’d started drinking tonight?”

Larissa was shocked, looking at him in disbelief.

“And Steph ... I was talking to her this week ... her life has turned around. What you’ve given her, it’s changed her life. Yes, Xander was all over her, but it was too much. You gave her the confidence to move their boundaries, and now he’s supporting her right. And your confidence gave her the confidence to do the bra fitting, and that really helped. Her posture, and her soul. And that gave her the confidence to talk to her boss about still doing her walking job part time. She thinks just so much of you – she still hasn’t got over that first night when you showed her what you really were like.”

“And Jaiden. We’re going to have a party Saturday week, for your bet with him. If lockdown lifts. There’s going to be a group of his friends, girls and boys, there, to see him do your hair, because he’s practised with all of them for a few weeks now. He hasn’t said, because he wants to surprise you, but Mum says he’s totally different, and there’s this group of girls he’s suddenly in with, and she likes them all, and he’s the happiest he’s been for years. And one of them is The One, he thinks, but he’ll invite her to stay afterwards, and she’ll sit and bond with you girls, and if she passes that test, only then will he date her. Four weeks, babe, from you taking him in hand till him dating The One. Wow. And Mum and he have talked about you being maid for him, and he’s going to use that to build the relationship with this girl, if she passes.”

“But I couldn’t let any of that happen if you start drinking again – you need to be at the top of your game for that to work.”

It was too much. What was she feeling like, that she even thought about drinking for a micro-second? She burst into tears, sobbing. Julian moved her round so she was in her safe space while she cried. Finally, she calmed again.

“You know I love you. That you’re surrounded by love, and a tightly bonded support network that you built. I don’t even need to fall back to Plan B and talk about Sal anymore. And all these people need you, need you to be at your best. I need you. Yes, I’m giving you discipline right now, but you give me a reason to love, to care. What is my life without you? I need you. You also know that the amount of love you feel comes and goes as people go about their life, and life must happen, for you and for everyone else, but that love is always there, and you can trust in it. You can trust in us. We’re working on your emotional resilience, and core strength, and how they’re linked, so trust your lessons. Before, you came and tried to have sex, but I had to do my assignment. But, instead, if you had come and told me you needed to be loved because you were fragile, of course I would’ve dropped my assignment. So be open and honest if you have dark feelings, and talk about it, and trust in us. Because you can.”

Yes. She could. When he saw that in her eyes, he held her face and kissed her. He said she couldn’t come with the collar on, but maybe it could happen if he kept doing that, because, wow, that did move her core! No, he stopped, damn, and held her tight. She tried to melt into him. How did he know just what she needed? If only she’d said something.

She smiled at him. “Thanks, sweetie. I don’t know what happened. You’ve given me so many reasons not to be tempted. A towering wall of them, safe around my heart. I do trust you, and I will trust you. And I do feel the love. And I love you. More.”

“Great,” he said. “Now, like I said, that collar is a collar of love. You’ll never get punished or hurt wearing it.” He picked her up, and put her down back beside his seat, and then stripped and sat in the seat in front of her. “But it is a collar of love, so now you get to love me with your mouth while I do my assignment, until you need to wee. But also, you are still being disciplined, and your resilience and core strength matters. So you will lean very far forward while you do it, to exercise your core. Then you get up and go find Fiona and ask for her help.” He arranged her just how he wanted her.

Well, she needed to wee now, but she wasn’t going anywhere until she’d made it very clear just how much she loved him. And yes, it stressed her core. But that just made it better, really. She decided that she would exercise her core till she could hold any position for hours. She’d be a world champion of resilience.

He was groaning with desire by the time she couldn’t wait to pee anymore, but she wasn’t going to let him come. She could see from his smile that he didn’t expect anything else from her. And her core was burning her up, but it would get stronger.

In the bathroom, Fiona held her while she sat on the toilet, and then cleaned her, untied her, and removed the collar. “Do you think that Julian hit you too hard?” Fiona asked her. “It wasn’t over the top?”

Larissa thought about that while she hugged Fiona. Given how damn good she felt right now, how could it be? Even Fiona helping her wee, there was this real intimacy about it. She’d never choose that for herself, but it did absolutely drive home that she needed her friends and could rely on them.

“Thank you, my dearest friend. If someone has to do that, I want it to be you. I think that what Julian did was just right for me. I can’t imagine ever being tempted again. Probably wrong for anyone else, but I really feel great right now. I’m going to go in there and blow his mind off the earth.”

They put a new poster on the wall:

We are our own family, and we are part of other families that we love dearly.

We’re the kind who make the right friendships. We know ourselves, and we look after ourselves, for each other, and our families. And we love the people around us, and cherish them, family and friends. And we love each other, and think very carefully about our welfare and resilience, and we do our best to blow each other’s mind right off the earth all the time.

We are the kind of people who keep their word, who make promises that are meaningful, and our friends know we’ll be there, and faithful. We are strong and stand up for the right thing even when no one else is. We use our skills and our energy to protect each other and other people, and to stand up for the weak and broken.

Because we carry our own flag, for us and for our families, and that’s how people know what we are.

“Yeah,” they said to each other, and made love against the wall to seal the deal. “That’s what we’re about.”

The lockdown finally lifted, and they could do Jaiden’s Saturday night party. When they arrived at Julian’s family home, there was no one inside. They found everyone out on the back lawn, playing soccer, or watching. The game stopped when they walked out the back door, because Steph jumped up and ran straight across the middle of the game to hug them both. “Oh, you’re here at last!”

Steph was only the first, the rest of the family followed. Larissa was kind of amused, actually, but it was lovely. Only after they had both been hugged and kissed by all of them, then Jaiden turned around to the rest of his friends – seven of them – and said, “Everyone, this is Julian, my brother, and Larissa his girl, and, yes, she’s the stupid girlfriend who’s getting her hair done tonight.”

Larissa pretended to be upset. “Stupid girlfriend? Watch who you’re calling ... oh. Hang on. How stupid am I? I’m letting you do my hair.” The tone of her voice made it quite clear how stupid she thought that was, and the whole family burst into laughter. Yes, and some of his friends too, but not all of them. But just to make it clear that it was all in fun, she pulled Jaiden back and hugged him again. She was held back a bit because Steph was still holding her, and in no hurry to let go.

“Hi, Anna, and Pete, and the rest of you I don’t know yet,” said Julian. “It’s lovely to see our family back together again. How are you? I don’t think I’ve seen you since I was in school and we were in band? Jaiden, which side do you want us to go on?”

Larissa turned to Steph. “It’s lovely to see you again, sister. But it looks like I have to play. I’ll give you lots of love later, OK?”

Happy welcomes were normal at Julian’s home now, which was lovely, though this one was more intense than usual, of course. But things settled down pretty quickly once they started kicking the ball around. It was a little keen to call what they were doing ‘soccer’ – there were thirteen of them playing, and really only space for six. But Larissa quickly felt at home – Jaiden’s friends were cool and played to bring everyone into the game without getting too intense. There were two boys, and five girls, and Larissa paid more attention to them than the ball. Not that she was very good at this, just enough to take part.

After a few minutes, which was a good time to get to know some of the girls, it was time for Julian to start on the BBQ with his dad, so she dropped out too, and went back and sat with Steph for a little while, just catching up. Steph was really transformed from that first night. The combination of the regular girls’ nights, the yoga, the better bras, her better posture, and then getting solid support at work, and figuring out her space with Xander and feeling much more comfortable around her family had all come together to make her much happier. And hornier, she admitted to Larissa quietly while everyone else was playing ball. “Good thing Xander’s still working from home most days! He’s hard and waiting when I get home from work. Sex, then shower!” Larissa laughed, and kissed Steph, and went in to help Sophie with the food.

There were fourteen for dinner, all at one combined table that filled up their dining area. Given the bet, they laid the table out with Jaiden and Larissa in the middle on each side, and family and friends scattered around the table. The table conversation sometimes broke up into two or three conversations, but James and Jaiden worked really hard to hold them all together.

It quickly became clear that the purpose of this was for Jaiden and Larissa to trash talk each other. Larissa tried her best, and it was fun, but she just liked Jaiden too much to really do it properly. One of the girls asked her, “So, Jaiden’s going to be your servant. What are you going to make him do?”

Larissa laughed. “Honestly, I haven’t thought much about it, because I figure I’m going to lose. He wouldn’t have invited all his friends here if he wasn’t going to win. But I did include “shopping” in the terms of the bet deliberately. So let’s see. If I win the bet, he’ll go shopping with me for hours, while I try hundreds of shades of makeup, and he helps me choose which lipstick Julian would like the best. Then I’ll make him watch me get a real proper hairdo. When we get home, he’ll get me coffee, and bake me fresh cookies, and give me a lovely foot massage, and paint my toenails ten different colours. And then, I’ll get him to wash and fold all my br ... own t-shirts.”

There was an outburst of laughter at that. Larissa checked, feeling good, and everyone one was laughing. When the laughing stopped, one of the girls said, “You’d let him handle all your br ... own t-shirts?”

Larissa laughed and said “Yeah, he’ll get real good at it, because he’ll have to keep doing it until he gets it right.” She smiled across at Jaiden. “Good for you that I don’t have any brown t-shirts!” Then, for everyone, “The truth is, I’d ask Jaiden to sing to me. He’s got a wonderful voice!”

Naturally, one of the other girls wanted to know what Larissa would have to do if he won the bet, and she had to be his maid. Jaiden get a big smile on his face and pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket, which immediately fell open to a long list. ‘Well, I did think about it a little,” he announced, also to much laughter.

“Let’s see, I thought I’d start with washing and folding all my clothes.”

“She should throw them all out!” one of the girls said.

“And then,” he continued, ignoring that, “she’ll put my clothes out for the day, and get me breakfast in bed.”

“What should I make him wear to church?” Larissa asked the table. “Cricket uniform? No! Boardies and hat!”

That caused more laughter, along with more suggestions for what he should have to wear, not all of them appropriate.

“Right,” Jaiden continued, “I can see you’re all going to help me out here. Thanks a million. Then, she’s going to pour me a bath and when I get in, she’ll ... stand guard at the door so Mum can’t make me clean up while I’m there.”

Jaiden kept this up for quite a while. Larissa’s favourite was when he said that “I’m going to make her get my balls out and give them a lovely spit and polish. My cricket balls, that is.”

Eventually, Larissa said, “I can’t listen to anymore. Suddenly I really want to win this bet. Does anyone have any suggestions for how I can cheat or something so he doesn’t win?”

No one had any suggestions for that. In the silence, Larissa said sadly, “Well, I can see that you’re all ganging up on me here. Can any of you think what I can bribe Jaiden’s mum with?”

“Hang on,” said one of the girls, “Your hair is too nice, it’s too easy for him. Anna, you should mess it up. He needs at least some challenge!”

The girl next to her turned around, and ran her hands through Larissa’s hair, messing it up thoroughly. Larissa’s hair was a little past shoulder length, and she had been letting it get longer for Julian, so it was suddenly quite a mess.

“Thanks!” she said. “Does anyone else want to mess my hair up?” Several of the girls did, and came and stood behind her, making a thorough mess of her hair. Then Julian put something on his hands, and ran it through her hair, pulling it back from her face, so at least she could see.

That caused some embarrassed laughter, and she figured that probably meant it looked like come in her hair. She reached her hand up, and tasted it – just salad dressing. “Yuck!” she cried out. “That’s something horrible! Julian, what did you do?” Now everyone was laughing again.

“Well, thanks everyone, now my hair is a challenge. That worked. But I’m sure there’s nothing I could offer Julian’s mum to bribe her. And I figure she wants Jaiden to win anyway. She’s above bribing, anyway,” she said, sadly.

Sophie smiled at her. “I can think of a few things my son’s girlfriend could do to bribe me, but they won’t work tonight. And I don’t mind who wins, because one of you is going to do housework for me whatever.”

Sophie shook her head sadly. “What was I thinking when I asked you to judge? Steph, can I sack her and ask you to do it?”

Steph smiled at her, but said, “You can’t but I wouldn’t anyway. Pregnancy brain, I’d choose Xander as the winner and you’d both have to serve both of us.”

Larissa gave a loud sigh. “It’s not fair. You’re all ganging up on me. Whose stupid idea was this anyway?”

“That’d be ... you,” Jaiden said, to more laughter.

Yeah, this was good. Larissa stopped driving the conversation for a while, and just watched them making fun of Jaiden. Sophie and Steph were trying to guess which girl’s hair he’d done. If he’d done any of them, he was a lot better than she thought he could be, actually. What had she done to him? And she liked these girls. Yes, they were fit, fun, and friendly. And comfortable with each other, and supportive. She’d had some close friends at school, but it was never this easy. Not that it ever would have been with her family being like they were. Yeah, these were a good group, however Jaiden picked these girls. She could see why Sophie liked them. And she’d bless any one of them for Jaiden, really. As yet, she had no hint which was the one. Anna, sitting next to her? She shrugged to herself.

Conversation got back to the maid/servant thing, and they were joking about doing that to each other. Suddenly, one of the girls casually commented to Larissa that it was cool she trusted Julian’s family that much, and would Julian trust her family like that?

“Nah,” she said, sadly, “That’d be a very bad idea. Not safe at all. Don’t think that just because there’s parents around, it’s OK either. You need to know a family pretty well before it’s safe for to you play games like these.” But she didn’t want to ruin the night, so she said, “But don’t worry, I’m going to wear a Gopro on my head all day, to make sure he looks after me good. Should I livestream it? Do you girls want to watch?”