Chapter 4

It would be fair to say that Sharon and Dave didn't get a lot of sleep that night, but they did make up for it, at least a little, by more or less sleeping late, although there wasn't a lot of sleeping going on, and then taking a very long but enjoyable shower together. Again, Dave wound up drying her hair afterwards, but this time she did wind up sitting on the bathroom shelf as they made love. That led to another quick shower, but she made sure she kept her hair dry, since it was getting along in the morning, by now.

Out in the main part of the room, Sharon headed for the suitcase. "God, I hate to do this," she told him.

"What, get dressed?" he said.

"Well, yeah," she said. "But I felt so good about looking good yesterday, I hate the thought of going back to grubbies when I know Hannah is going to be looking like a million bucks, as usual."

"I sure liked the way you looked," he said. "It made me feel so incredibly lucky to be seen with such a babe."

"Even with handcuffs on?" she asked.

"Especially with handcuffs on," he smiled.

"Are you trying to get me in bed again?"

"Ready if you are," he said. "I don't want to say I'm all fucked out, but I think I could pull it together one more time."

"I know I'm ready," she smiled. "And yeah, I'm about as close to all fucked out as I've ever been. But we really should get moving or they're going to have to drag us out of here bare-assed." She let out a sigh. "I wonder if Hannah would mind if I wore this dress again today."

"Probably not," he shrugged. "You can always change when we get to their place."

"All right," she said, pulling on the garter belt. "I think I will."

"You trying to keep me horny?"

"You darn betcha," she smiled.

When they finally emerged from the motel room, it was mid-morning; they discovered Hannah and Andy sitting at a table by the pool, drinking coffee. "Well, look who finally managed to drag themselves out of bed," Hannah grinned.

"We've been up for a while," Sharon said sheepishly. "We, uh, decided to take a shower."

"There's no rush," Andy grinned. "Unless you want to head back over to the amusement park for a while."

"No, not unless you want to," Sharon said thoughtfully. "I think we about did what we want to do there."

"My feelings exactly," Dave agreed.

"We were just talking about it," Andy said. "What do you say we have some coffee, get around leisurely, maybe have some breakfast and head home? We'll get there a little earlier than we planned, but there are some steaks in the freezer. I can fire up the grill, and anyone that wants to use the pool or hot tub could do it."

"You have a pool and a hot tub?" Sharon said, a little surprised.

"They came with the place," Andy smiled. "We weren't about to rip them out."

"If you like," Hannah offered, "We can go in and I can get you made up again."

"Oh, that's not necessary," Sharon said. "I mean, if we're just going to drive back to your place, and all. But thanks. It was kind of fun to look that nice."

"All the more reason to do it today," Hannah grinned. "Come on, let's do it. I've got a dress you can try on that I'm sure will please Dave."

"So long as it doesn't get me arrested," Sharon grinned.

"It shouldn't," Hannah laughed. "But just barely. Come on, let's go."

"All right," Sharon said as she followed her sister to the motel room.

The dress proved to be another halter-top affair, red this time, tight and short and low cut and slinky. "Wow, this looks good," Sharon said. "Hannah, I can't believe how nice you've been to us this weekend. I mean, it's been a little weird, but I've really enjoyed it."

"That's the point," she smiled. "We wanted you to have a good time."

"It's been wonderful," Sharon said as she pulled on the dress. "It's been the best time I've had in years."

"Oh, by the way," Hannah said, "You left your top out by the hot tub last night. Don't let me forget to give it to you."

Despite everything, Sharon had to blush. "I'm sorry," she said. "I guess we were a little, uh, eager, last night."

"Nothing to be sorry about," Hannah grinned. "I mean, why do you think you got that massage? Like I said, we wanted you to have a good time."

Unlike the morning before, the guys joined them early in the makeup process, and the four sat around just talking about nothing in particular. The makeup didn't take as long as the morning before, although Hannah took her time to show Sharon a few tricks and techniques. "You ought to think about getting your hair styled sometime. I don't mean an all out hairdo that would involve a lot of work, but just some styling. If you were to work at it even a little, you could really look good."

"I don't know," Sharon frowned. "Dave, what do you think?"

"I think you look like a serious babe," he smiled. "You look absolutely wonderful."

"Maybe I'll have to tone it up a little," she said thoughtfully. "It is fun to feel like I look pretty. I mean, if it would please you."

"You have no idea of how much it would please me," he grinned.

"Now that we've got that done," Andy said. "I suppose we'd better think about loading up and hitting the road."

"Just one thing," Hannah said, getting up. She picked up the collar she'd worn the day before, went over to Andy, and knelt before him, holding it out to him. Once again, as Sharon and Dave looked on, he took the collar from her and locked it around her neck, then asked her to rise. "Thank you, sir," she said when she was on her feet again.

"We doing that again today?" Dave asked.

"Your call," Andy said. "We can use the leashes again today, or not, as the ladies choose."

Dave and Sharon looked at each other for just a second, and really, there wasn't a lot of communication needed. "Be right back," Sharon said, heading out the door for their motel room. She was back in seconds, carrying the collar and leash she'd worn the day before, and knelt before Dave, like Hannah had done, and she could feel an indescribable excitement rise in her at the feeling of him fastening it around her neck. After he asked her to rise, she said, "Thank you, sir," as contritely as Hannah had done -- but with a gratefulness that reached deep into unknown places within her.

In fact, they did dispense with the leashes, at least while they were getting around and getting the car loaded, but when they stopped for breakfast a ways up the road, both the ladies were leashed, and again they drew stares and gapes and laughed at their own little private joke on the whole world. It was a lot of fun.

It was a long drive back. This time, Sharon and Dave were together in the back seat. They really hadn't had a lot of sleep the night before, and it wasn't long before Sharon had her head on his shoulder and was fading fast. She noticed that Hannah was snuggled up next to Andy, her head on his shoulder as well.

The next thing they knew, they were back at Hannah and Andy's. "Wow, are we here already?" she asked sleepily.

"Afraid so," Andy said. "The three of you were sleeping so soundly, I hated to wake you up."

"Guess we needed the sleep," Dave said sheepishly.

"You ready for me to get going with the steaks?" Andy asked. "Or would you rather I waited a while?"

"I can wait, if Sharon can," Dave replied. "That was an awful big breakfast."

"Let's get the stuff shifted over, then head out back and have something to drink," Andy suggested.

Hannah and Andy's fenced-off patio proved to be cozy. There was a small above-ground pool, a hot tub, some lounge chairs, a table with umbrella and chairs. It was the last one they gathered around, after Hannah brought snacks and Andy a bottle of sparkling Burgundy and wine glasses. "You know," Dave said as Andy opened the bottle, "You keep that up, and you're going to turn us into wine snobs."

"Please, not snobs," Andy grinned. "Connoisseurs, yes, but we really aren't out to impress anyone with our knowledge of wine."

"Be that as it may," Dave said. "It could grow on you, like a lot of stuff you've showed us this weekend."

"You had a good time, I take it?" he asked.

"Wonderful," Dave grinned. "A lot different than I expected, but wonderful."

"Absolutely nothing like I expected," Sharon added. "But I can't tell you when I've had as much fun."

"Good," Andy smiled. "Glad you enjoyed it. I realize we dumped a lot on you in a short time, but we had a reason to."

"You hinted at that before," Dave said. "Now I guess we get to hear the rest of the story."

"If you like," Andy said. "We weren't sure how this was going to work out, but we wanted you to have a look at the way we are."

"I was wondering about that," Sharon admitted. "For a while, we thought you were just putting us on, but I guess I realize that the two of you are really like that."

"Like what?" Hannah asked.

"Er, well, you know," Sharon blushed, not wanting to use the words. "I mean, the handcuffs, the collars, like that. You've left some pretty broad hints at some other stuff, too."

"Let's be specific, and use the right words," Hannah commented. "What Andy and I have is known as a dominant/submissive relationship, D/s for short. That's mostly what it is, although we do throw in some other stuff for spice, like some bondage, even like a little mild S&M. But mostly, it's just the way we relate to each other. It's how we choose to live, and it reflects what we are."

"Dominant/submissive?" Sharon frowned. "You mean, like, master and slave, right?"

"We don't mind the term 'master', but we prefer not to use the term 'slave'," Andy explained. "In fact, we positively hate it, when it refers to us. We know other people in D/s relationships, and yes, we do know people where one party is totally subjugated to the other. That's not for us. While I am proud that I am Hannah's chosen master, she is not my slave. Neither she nor I would want her to be. Actually, we prefer the term 'subject'."

"Subject?" Sharon shook her head.

"I mean that in the sense that someone from England would refer to themselves as a subject of the Queen," Andy explained further. "Except in their case, it's mostly lip service, while we both intensely mean what the concept is supposed to mean. In fact, the term 'vassal' would be more appropriate, at least in the ancient sense, and that's what 'subject' is supposed to mean. It implies duties and responsibilities going both ways. Now, other people in D/s relationships may see things differently. So long as both of them agree, more power to them. This is how we prefer to interpret it."

"You're not pulling our legs, are you?" Dave asked quietly.

"No, sir, we are not," Hannah said. "I'll admit, we've tried to keep things a little light. In fact, you've seen as much of our relationship as we've ever let anyone see. Well, with the exception of our nearest and dearest friends, and we don't go much deeper with them. We know that there are deeper things going on between them, and they know the same thing about us. But, we don't display it or talk about it. Andy and I did not come easily to accepting that this is the kind of relationship we wished to have, since what it implies is not politically correct in this day and age. But still, I'm proud that my master accepts me as his subject each and every day."

"Each and every... that thing with the collar, right?" Sharon said, awareness dawning.

"Absolutely," Andy said. "I have told you before that Hannah is not an easy woman to please. I have to earn her approval every day. That's just a little ritual that we have, every day. I don't ever want the day to come that she doesn't offer me her collar."

"Not with the collar, most days," Hannah expanded. "Usually it's a necklace, at least on work days. But we both know what it means."

"I saw you do that at your wedding," Sharon said. "I didn't have any idea that it meant anything."

"That was how it was meant to appear, to someone that didn't know the rest of the story," Hannah explained. "Counting Andy and me, there were only four of us at the wedding that knew what it meant. It was enough. It signified that I intend to try to continue to be acceptable to him as his subject, and that he will continue to try to be acceptable to me as my master."

Sharon let out a sigh. "Hannah, do our folks know this?"

"Yes, and no," Hannah said seriously. "They know that Andy and I have done the handcuffs and leash thing in public on several occasions, starting with that Halloween party. We presented it to them as our little joke on the world, sort of like we told anyone that asked us this weekend. If you have no objections, we'll tell them about this weekend, but only keep it to the fun stuff, not some of the, uh, pleasant results, nor of the underlying meaning. And, you are free to do the same."

"I have to wonder how they took it," Sharon asked.

"Remarkably well," Hannah laughed. "I think Mom rather envies us. If we were to give her half a chance, and we could talk Dad into it, I think she'd be up for an afternoon of it, just for the laughs. But I don't think Dad would go for it. He's got a lot of natural dominant in him, but he doesn't want to be up front about it."

"God," Sharon laughed, "That would be fun to see. Mom in handcuffs, collar and leash. That'd be a riot."

"I think so, too," Hannah grinned. "Mom would get a kick out of it. If you two are up for it again some time, maybe we could all sort of gang up on dad. I think he'd enjoy it too, if he were willing to admit it." She let out a sigh, and continued, "We have not told them of the deeper meaning of our actions. My guess is that they would understand it if they thought about it, and we were to keep it on the light side. But, the two of you, well, Andy and I talked it over last night and we decided that we want you to understand a little of the deeper meaning."

"Because we enjoyed this weekend so much?" Dave asked.

"Yes," Hannah said. "Look, this is a little complicated. I hope this doesn't sound critical, because it isn't intended to, but Sharon, Mom and Dad are a little concerned about you, and the two of you living together."