Chapter 2

“SHE WANTS ME!” Becca screamed as she gasped for breath.

Everything froze for a moment. “Say that again.”

“I said she wants me.” she panted.

Things had returned to something like normal. Bobby had pulled up his shorts and had untied Becca’s hands. She had slipped on her robe and wiped her face. They had retired to the table and had both gotten what they called “thinking food”, cold cans of diet soda, from the refrigerator.

Bobby spoke first, “Ok ... in all the excitement, I lost the thread of the story ... It’s just a story ... right?”

“No, no ... it’s real. But it does need some additional elements to put it in context.”

“Ok, I am all ears.”

“I am going to give you the distilled version, not the long-winded way she told me. It started, believe it or not, when we were eleven or twelve years old. I told you we went camping together, my mom and Dad, me and Zoe. We shared a tent next to my parent’s tent. We spent a week hiking, swimming, all that stuff. Zoe and I would go wandering around different places, hiding in the rocks or behind trees and watch people do stuff or listen when they would talk. We were playing a game of spies or escaped prisoners, or sometimes ... Vikings. Or, at least, I was the Viking and she was the captured slave girl.

“Well, in this game, we were one or two campgrounds further into the park. I had captured her and tied her to a tree using some tent rope. About the time I was going to untie her and we would move on to play another game, two people, a man and a woman, came down the trail and stopped about ten feet from us. They had not seen us, there was a bush in between us and them, but we could see through it. I was afraid that if we made any noise, they would see us, so I had to leave Zoe tied up and whispered for her to be very still, while I slowly slipped behind the tree. Well, the couple threw down right there ... blowjob, fucking, doggie, the whole deal. It must have gone on for thirty minutes. Before that we knew almost nothing about sex, especially that it could be so noisy. Zoe did not move and I kept touching her arm so she would know I was still there. Finally, they zipped up and buttoned up and left. I untied Zoe and we walked back our tent holding hands because we both were shaking.

“Zoe told me this story in such detail it was like she had lived it yesterday. We played tie-up games a few times afterwards, but from that day, Zoe began getting turned on by being tied up. She told me she engaged in self-bondage and later pain play for years afterwards. All of this was going on but I did not know it.

“Her Dad had been renovating a house in Portola Valley for about three years. She was about fifteen when it was finished, they moved away from Los Altos and into the renovated house. Zoe says it was being separated from me that pushed her further into self-bondage. About three weeks after moving, her mother found her in the woods behind her house, naked, tied to a tree with a bike chain that she could not get to unlock. She had clothes pins on her nipples and pussy. Her mom told her dad and he freaked out, called doctors and shrinks to fix his daughter and they put her in a private hospital, and locked her up there for two years. That was what was going on when my mother called to get us together and they said she was ‘ill.’

“Her Dad died of a heart attack while she was in there. Her mother blamed Zoe for her dad’s death. They release Zoe from the hospital when she turned eighteen, but her mom refused to allow her to come home. There had been a trust fund set up to help her survive on her own, so she was not homeless. She had met an artist in the hospital that gave her lessons, so she began using that to pay her own way and broke ties with her mom completely.

“Zoe continued her interest in bondage, expanding into humiliation, pain, confinement, exhibitionism, service play, the works. She dove deep into the kink culture in San Francisco, and during that time, that was where she met Stu. He had found a willing participant for almost any activity he could think of. She was ... ok with the situation until she found out Stu was going to charge money for his friends to use her. She confronted him, he smashed her laptop and forced her to take the pills. She managed to slip away and was trying to take a bus out of town ... somewhere ... when I saw her.”

Bobby looked at his soda can and did not move.

“Say something ... I might have ruined my best friend’s life.”

Bobby looked up, “Did she say that?”

Becca though for a moment, “No, not in so many words, but...”

“Last year, you were helping that football player, the one that was in the news, rehab from the broken shoulder, right? Lost his scholarship?”

“Yea...”

“Was the hit, the one that injured him, was it a legal, clean ‘football’ hit?”

“Yes, we reviewed the video, he fell awkwardly after the hit and broke...”

“Should the player that hit him in the game feel guilty?”

“No...”

“Zoe has made many choices since being tied to a tree. Some have been awkward, but they are hers. You had no malice or bad intent towards her, you were just kids.”

Becca was the one staring at the soda can now.

“By the way, what did she say about you? Does she blame you?”

“Well, in her view, I have come to the rescue. She told me she feels safer now than she has in years. She said she would trust me with her life and has proposed just such a bargain.”

Bobby was startled, “Come again?”

“If we let her stay in the guestroom, she would pay rent, but would also take care of the house. She would clean, do laundry, shop, cook the whole thing. We could come home, kick back and be served.”

“What do you mean ‘served?’”

Becca took another drink from the soda can, “This is complicated. I could tell you that she would consider the cleaning and everything to be a part of the rent, but that would not really be the whole truth.”

“We would be paying her for...

“No! She and I have talked about some of this. She likes to serve people. But there is more to it than that. She gets turned on by doing things...”

“She gets off on ... doing laundry?”

“No. It’s not about laundry. It’s about ... having a place, or status. I am still trying to wrap my head around some of this, but ... it’s a little like you tying my hands earlier. It’s the image, and the feeling of being with you like that that gets me hot. I know you do not wish me harm, so I can ride the moment with you. She knows by serving she is ... safe.”

“Safe you say? Not ... sexy like...?”

Becca sighed, “Bobby, it’s all a part of who she is. Yes, I understand it’s a part of what she finds, as you say, sexy like.”

“She wants to keep our house because it turns her on?”

Becca looked Bobby in the eye, “That is not the only thing she considers ... sexy. The main one is that I would be her Mistress.”

Bobby’s head was spinning from the latest element to Zoe’s story, “Mistress?”

Becca looked down at the table top, “Yes, Mistress. I would command her, punish her, bind her, confine her, anything and everything. That would include sex.”

Bobby was trying to digest that when Becca added the final touch. “By the way, that would include you. You would be her Master and her full and extensive talents would be at your whim.”

Three years before, Bobby had been hiking and had stumbled across a bear. Both Bobby and the bear were startled and both froze in place. Bobby knew the bear could run him down and kill him easily. He was looking death in the face. After was seemed like an eternity, the bear decided Bobby did not look like much of a threat and ambled off.

That feeling of ‘staring death in the face’ was back.

He knew his reaction at this moment was critical. His whole future with Becca could be on the line. He decided the only way to face the bear was head up and straight forward. “Wow, that is unexpected to say the least. Becca, I will not, cannot do anything or decide anything that would harm our relationship. What happens from this moment needs to be carefully thought out and discussed between us.”

Becca looked intently at Bobby, then smiled, “Very good answer. Very smooth.”

Bobby decided to go on the offensive, “So, what do you think about sex with Zoe? Have you had thoughts ... along those lines before?”

“Well, no ... not before viewing the porn from Zoe’s laptop. But now ... I am, it’s such a cliché ... curious.”

“About the bondage or the sex?”

“I think ... yes to both. How are you with that?”

“The guy thing to say is ‘Can I watch?’”

“Yes.”

“What...?”

“The answer is yes, you can watch. I will not hide anything I do from you, and I hope you feel the same with me.”

Bobby decided a serious point needed to be made, “Becca, we both know of couples that have been torn apart by outside affairs. I don’t want to lose you to Zoe.”

Becca sighed, “We clearly need some ground rules laid out for this...”

“Hold on. Do I have to ... fuck her? I might not be attracted to her. You know her so there is a familiarity ... What are you doing?”

Becca was bent over laughing. When she could catch her breath, she said, “Oh that is funny. One of the first talks she and I had at twelve years old was about the coming of boobs. Hers were starting and I remained jealous of them for years. Bobby, Zoe is very beautiful. Attraction ... for any and all parties, will not be a problem. By the way, she thinks you’re very cute.”

Becca and Bobby were waiting in the living room when, precisely at eight pm on Sunday, the lock turned and the front door swung open. “I am here, just wanted to let you know...” Zoe called out in a loud voice.

“We are just fine, thank you.” Becca said from the couch.

“Oh. Hi. I didn’t see you there.”

Bobby got up from the chair and approached the redhead, “Hi, I am not sure we were ever introduced, I’m Robert, but most people call me Bobby.”

The smile that he had seen earlier was back, “Nice to meet you too. Becca has told me about you. I am glad she has found such a great guy.”

“Thank you. We have been discussing your proposal all weekend. Do you want to talk about it tonight or are you too tired?”

“I am ok ... we can talk.” Bobby gestured towards the couch, but Zoe remained standing. He sat down next to Becca on the couch, “Zoe, I am not really sure where to start this discussion, but...”

“So, since I made the proposal, let me give you the elevator pitch.”

“Oh ... ok.”

“We could dance around the delicate parts of this all night, but to put it in simple terms, I am trying to fill a void in my life. Like everyone, I need love. I need safety. I need security. I need trust. I have harbored a love deep in my heart for years, and when I needed it the most, that love came through for me. Becca saved my life. As I learned about your lives together, I learned that it’s hard with you traveling and her shift work that many things are left undone or half done. I can fill that void in your lives.”

Becca looked at Bobby, “There are a few key ... ideas that seem to be missing in your proposal.”

“I don’t think so...”

“The sex.” Both people on the couch said.

“No, I mentioned that. I said that I needed love, safety and trust. We expose ourselves during sex, not just the naked bits, but our needs and wants and tastes are revealed. Those could be used to help us achieve great joy or used to crush our spirit. I am not proposing trading sex for room and board. I could be a hooker and earn enough to live somewhere. I want to be wanted and need to be needed.”

Bobby had to think about that for a moment, but Becca was charging forward, “Zee, you want me to be your Mistress. Describe that for us.”

“I need a leader because I’m a follower. I’m smart enough and have the skills to survive in the big bad city out that door, but I don’t want to. I have more of what is good about me when I am serving, following, giving, supporting, caring. I want someone that is trustworthy, strong, loyal, and smart to follow to help make them more of what is good about them. Becca, you’re all of those things and more. Robert, if you have Becca’s trust and loyalty, I know you’re those things and more.”

Bobby jumped in, “So, that brings us to the first thing we really need to agree upon. Zoe, you want to be with Becca. Becca is my wife. This is our house. Will you challenge Becca for her place or challenge me for mine?”