Chapter 17: Friends and Lovers

In the morning Dani helped me out of bed again and into the shower. She insisted on scrubbing me, doing it as gently as possible, and working in a bit of a massage to try and break up the bruises and ease the pain they were causing. My ribs were still pretty tender and I figured that I’d have to watch out for any sudden movements for a couple of weeks or so.

When our shower was over, she put on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, which was pretty much her standard uniform. She wouldn’t let me dress, though, pointing out that I was still the slave, even though my training had been interrupted. “We may not be able to get too physical, but that doesn’t mean that I can’t keep you in the slave mindset for other things.”

“So, does that mean that I won’t have to worry about being spanked for the next while?”

I got a baleful look for that comment, and she grinned a little crookedly as she said, “Just because I can’t spank you for now doesn’t mean that I won’t add them up and administer them all once you’ve healed. And if you collect enough spankings, I may combine them into another whipping in front of Eve’s crowd at the bar.”

Damn! I had done it again. When was I going to learn that smartass comments to Dani were not a good idea while I was a slave? Quietly, I said, “Yes, Mistress. I understand. And I’m sorry.”

Surprisingly, she came and put her arms tenderly around me and kissed my hair, then rubbed a hand over me. “Not to worry. I really don’t expect to be piling up any punishments. I love you, and as my slave it’s also my responsibility to look after you.” It was a loving, tender moment and I wanted it to go on forever. After a few seconds she patted me on the ass, kissed the side of my neck and said, “Let’s get some breakfast. I’m starving.”

She bustled around in my small kitchen and laid out breakfast for the two of us in short order. I smiled to myself as we sat, since this was the first time we had been at a breakfast table together without me being on my knees beside her. It felt like an image of what the future might be like—the two of us in a domestic arrangement, living together as a couple.

After breakfast Dani decided to do a thorough inspection of my apartment, telling me that she was judging me on my skills as a housekeeper, and letting it be known that if things weren’t up to her standards that there might be some attitude adjustment in my future. Fortunately, she didn’t find any major problems, although she did point out that the bathroom wasn’t quite up to Eve’s standards. I told her I would try to do better once I had full use of both of my hands. She didn’t look like she believed me, so I could see that there might be a spanking in my near future.

When she got into my bedroom she started going through everything in my drawers, removing all of my underwear and putting a lot of it aside. I could see that the discard pile mainly consisted of anything that wasn’t mostly some concoction of transparent lace. All of my comfortable cotton panties got tossed aside, as well as anything that didn’t look like a thong. I didn’t dare ask her what she was doing as it was pretty obvious; she hadn’t let me wear any underwear to my meeting and it looked like there wouldn’t be much in the way of underwear in my future.

After my chest of drawers she attacked my closet and I could hear the occasional grunt as she pulled out a dress or held a suit up on its hanger. A few things got tossed on the bed next to the discarded underwear and I guessed that I wouldn’t be getting to wear those anymore. When she got to the end of the closet she looked at me and said, “I think you and I need to go shopping. You need some casual clothes and you could probably do with a couple of outfits for an evening out.” She grinned a little crookedly. “Something that shows a lot more skin.”

I bit my tongue to keep from pointing out that I couldn’t be showing any more skin unless I took the sling off. I was fairly certain that a sarcastic remark about my nudity would not only earn me a punishment stroke, but likely a tour around the club in only my high heels. I just smiled at her to acknowledge the statement and kept it at that.

For the next two days life carried on pretty much in the same vein. At night we slept together, as close to each other as we could get, Dani always making sure that she was on my uninjured side. During the day Dani made all the meals and cleaned up after us. I tried my best to help, but often got told to go sit somewhere because I was mainly in the way. She usually said it fairly kindly, and once she even kissed me tenderly and said, “The day will come when it will be your responsibility to do all of the work, so enjoy the break while you can.”

The biggest problem I was having, beyond dealing with the sling, was the boredom caused by not being able to do anything. I also realized one afternoon that I had another problem—I was horny. Being naked all the time and being so close to the love of my life was having a real effect on my hormones. I didn’t know why Dani hadn’t touched me sexually since the accident and I didn’t know how to broach the subject. I even tried rubbing against her a little more in the shower, or even while we were together in the kitchen, but she didn’t seem to be catching the hint. I didn’t want to just come out and beg her for an orgasm as I was pretty sure that would not go well for me. The end result would probably be more frustration for me, or maybe even something that would include some amount of pain.

I was sitting on the couch idly leafing through a magazine and thinking about how to get Dani into a sexual entanglement with me when there was a rapid-fire knock on the door. I looked up, expecting Dani to answer the door as she came in from the kitchen carrying a cup of coffee. She grinned at me and said, “It’s your apartment, so you should answer the door.” I bit the end of my tongue before I said something, or stuck the appendage out at her. Either one would get me in trouble, so I resigned myself to the humiliation that would result from opening the door in my unclothed state.

I sighed loudly, letting her know that I knew what she was up to, and stood up. A few steps took me to the door and I grasped the knob, steeling myself for what was about to happen. Before I could open it another series of knocks announced whoever was on the other side. I twisted the knob and pulled the door open, prepared to give some delivery person a really nice tip in the way of my naked form.

To my surprise, Wendy was nearly caught in mid-knock, her hand still in mid-air. She was startled at first, then started to smile. I guessed she was about to say something about how nice it was to be greeted this way once again. Her smile changed to an open-mouthed gasp as she saw the sling and the colour of my various bruises. “Oh my God! It’s true!” Her hand went to her open mouth and she stared up and down at me before sliding past me and through the door.

Once she was inside she turned back to me as I closed the door. “I was talking to Ken yesterday and he told me that you had been hurt. He said something about a horse, but I didn’t believe him because I didn’t think you could ride. But now ... seeing you like this ... my God! How badly are you hurt?”

In Wendy’s typical fashion the words came tumbling out in a huge rush. I knew I wouldn’t get a chance to say anything until she had run down, so I just smiled at her and waited for the flood to stop, or at least slow to a trickle.

She finally took a breath, so I grinned and said, “Yes, it’s true, as you can see. And yes, there was a horse involved but it wasn’t the horse’s fault. It was scared by a snake and I got thrown when it reared. My biggest problem is a couple of cracked ribs; the rest of it was just some bruises.”

“Just some bruises? By the looks of you, you were one giant bruise from your face to your feet. You’re also kind of an interesting pattern since one side is pink and the other side is every other colour of the rainbow.” She paused again, but before I could say anything she started up once more. “For that matter, why are you still naked? Not that I’m complaining, mind you. I’ve told you before that you should always be naked when you answer the door, but I didn’t actually expect it.”

“She’s naked because she’s not permitted to have clothes when she’s indoors.” Wendy hadn’t noticed Dani in the background because all of her attention had been focused on me. When Dani spoke for the first time, Wendy’s head nearly twisted off as it spun to see who it was. Dani just grinned at her reaction, waiting to see what she would say next.

For a moment Wendy actually said nothing, but her eyes kept snapping back and forth between Dani and me. It was like watching someone at a tennis match, and I nearly burst out laughing at the comical display. I looked at Dani out of the corner of my eye, and I could see that she expected an introduction. I jumped into the silence. “Wendy, I’d like you to meet Dani. Mistress, this is my friend Wendy.”

Wendy was automatically extending a hand toward Dani until she heard the word ‘Mistress‘. Her hand froze in mid-air, and her eyes came back to meet mine. “You mean... ?”

“Yes, this my Mistress. The one I told you about.”

“The one who...”

“Yes, the one who whipped her and made her into a slave.” Dani’s words made Wendy’s eyes nearly pop out. I hadn’t told Wendy about the whippings ... any of them ... but obviously Dani wasn’t bothered by such things.

Wendy closed her mouth with a snap, her hand still extended. She took a deep breath and tried to speak, but at first nothing came out; she was still in shock from Dani’s statement about the whippings. She swallowed hard, straightened up a little, and tried again. “You wh-whipped her? More than once?”

Dani smiled a little crookedly at her; she seemed to be enjoying Wendy’s discomfort. I had a quick flash at my own experience when Dani and I first met in Eve’s bar, and I wondered if Dani was about to start removing Wendy’s clothes. “Yes, I whipped her. Several times in fact. It’s what happens to slaves, especially ones who get uppity and forget their place.” She looked toward me and grinned, then turned back to Wendy. “Sometimes it’s for punishment, sometimes it’s just for the sheer enjoyment. Kelli’s had it both ways.”

Dani moved beside me and wrapped an arm around my waist, then moved her hand down to slide over my rear. The possessive and mildly sexual nature of the caress right where my friend could see it both scared me and warmed me. I could feel her love for me in the touch of her hand on my ass, but I was scared by the way she was indicating her ownership of me to my best friend. After a few seconds I realized there was nothing I could do about it, so I may as well revel in it. I moved closer to her so I could increase the contact between us while watching for Wendy’s reaction.

She stared at the two of us for a few more seconds, looking into both sets of eyes. Finally, she seemed to come to some sort of decision. “Can I talk to you ... privately?” Dani moved her hand off my rear and started to step away. I grabbed for her hand with my free one, and held on tightly.

“Anything you want to say to me you can say in front of my Mistress.”

Dani spun to face me. “Are you sure? I will not come between you and your friends.”

I let go of her hand and moved mine to the side of her face. “You and I might one day become one ... I hope. I am your possession right now, so what’s mine is already yours.”

I heard a gasp from Wendy, and turned my head to look at her, my hand still on Dani’s face. Her own hand came up to cover mine so we made an interesting tableau as we both looked at Wendy. “You do love her. I can see it. The last time I was here you weren’t sure. You didn’t know if you were going back to her.”

Realizing that this was the point at which I ‘came out‘, I turned to face Wendy while pulling Dani’s arm around me under my breasts. “Yes, I love Dani. I love her with all my heart. If that makes me gay, then I guess I’m gay. I don’t care about the label. I only care about being with her for the rest of my life. I know that my life changed the day I met her. For now, she is my Mistress and I am her slave, and yes, that means that I get whipped occasionally. One day, we’ll be together as equals. I hope you’ll be at the wedding.”