No Safeword: Matte - Happily Ever After (Safewords) (23 page)

“Assuming I get the all clear.”

He nodded. “Of course.”

“I’m giving a conditional green light. You should be able to safely push past most kinds of pain at this point, but only when the muscle isn’t fatigued. Also, if you feel a tear, or any sharp pains, immediately stop, ice it, and get into the office so I can have a look.”

“But I can push past the pain?”

He nodded. “Just be conscious of the type of pain, and if it doesn’t feel right, back off and ice it.” He gave her a stern look. “And don’t work on range of motion when it’s fatigued.”

Ethan watched Sam literally
skip
out of the office.

Her physical therapist had recommended indoor rock climbing once she could begin to use her arm, as it would force her to put all of her weight on her left arm at intervals and help her begin to trust it again. It would also push her range of motion with purpose, giving her a reason to stretch her arm in a particular direction.

Ethan insisted she do the kid course first, just to get her bearings, and she glared at him but didn’t argue.

The first half of the course, he wasn’t sure this was such a good idea, but towards the top she seemed to find her rhythm. She unhooked and moved to the second easiest course, and spent fifteen minutes playing on it before she moved to the second hardest.

“You know there are a lot more courses in between, right?”

“Yeah,” she answered, “but I’ve made it to the top of this one before, and I’m going to make it to the top again today.”

He glanced at the hardest course, but didn’t mention she’d made it to the top of it, too. She saw his glance and said, “Yeah, I’ve made it to the top there, but it requires dangling from one hand and pulling yourself up to the next handhold, where you have to dangle and pull again. I’m not up to that.” She eyed the one she was under and added, “This one won’t be easy, but should be possible.”

Ethan hooked up on a course near enough he could keep an eye on her but not so close he’d get on her nerves, and let her go at it. He wasn’t convinced it was attainable, but he wasn’t prepared to rain on her parade, either.

It took her nearly forty-five minutes, but she made it to the top and he was waiting for her at the bottom when she rappelled down.

* * * *

Sam was beyond exhausted when they left the rock gym and headed to a restaurant.

She hadn’t realized how late it was, and asked, “Jerrod’s okay with you taking the evening off?”

“Only because I was rock climbing.”

“Well, since you’re driving, I’m going to get toasted at dinner.”

“You pushed pretty hard, how’s the shoulder?”

“It hurts, which is why I’m going to get toasted.” He didn’t look happy so she added, “It just hurts, Ethan. I didn’t re-injure it. I worked it, and stretched it, and it felt good, but I’d like to get a good bit of alcohol in me before the endorphins and adrenaline wear off.”

“I have some double-zip plastic bags in the back. We’ll carry one in and get the waitress to bring ice. You should be able to wedge it under your sports bra’s strap, and then your tee will hold it close from there.”

Sam didn’t especially want to have ice on her shoulder in the restaurant but knew he was right. She’d just drink enough so she wouldn’t care.

* * * *

The doctor’s release changed everything. Her massage therapist went deeper, her physical therapist pushed for more range of motion, and Ethan reconnected the handlebar mechanism on the elliptical machine and stationary bike.

She’d been doing one-armed pushups with her right arm, and on Thursday evening after class, she managed a two-armed push-up. Sort of.

Tyler let her shoot the higher caliber weapons, and she made plans to meet Viv, Tyler, and Kirsten at the range so they could help her figure out what kind of gun she wanted to buy.

Within two weeks she was alternating one-armed pull-ups and push-ups, managing around a third as many with her left as she could her right.

She finally had the confidence to ride her bike around town.

The biggest, most significant change? She could finally see a day she might be back to her old self.

But, even better, Ethan started using her, demanding sex when he wanted it, and playing a little harder with her. Still not up to where they’d been before, but as he kept saying…baby steps.

He hadn’t punished her since the night they’d played with wax, and she’d noted he structured their scenes so she couldn’t really get into trouble. He manipulated her and worked things so unless she intentionally bratted there was no need to for a punishment. Ever.

She wasn’t sure what to make of it and couldn’t find a way to bring it up, but she
needed
their old dynamic. She didn’t especially want to be punished, but she became fixated with her desire to be sure he was up to it.

Sam wanted to submit, wanted to please him, and castigated herself once again for needing to know he’d enforce the rules. Still, he’d known this about her from the beginning, and said he understood.

* * * *

When Jerrod gave Ethan a ten-minute break, her caveman frequently asked Sam to walk upstairs with him, where he took her to their bedroom, locked the door, leaned her over their bed, and fucked her ass. Sam understood his testosterone levels were higher in the middle of training, and knew he could be rougher with her ass so she didn’t complain. Much.

The first dozen or so times she was mortified Jerrod would know why they’d gone upstairs, but Ethan wouldn’t let her hide out, or swim instead of going back down, but insisted she return with him.

Jerrod never said a word about it, and she eventually stopped being so embarrassed.

Sam played around with the idea of telling Ethan he could go up and she’d just hang out downstairs, but never quite found the nerve. Yes, she wanted him to prove he’d make her, but she also worried he would, and knew his punishments for deliberately going against orders were so much worse than consequences when she inadvertently made a mistake.

His beautiful, temperamental, headstrong wife needed a challenge. He’d seen the signs for at least a week, and knew if he didn’t up the ante soon she’d do something they’d both regret.

So, he’d spent the past hour torturing her in a variety of ways while not allowing an orgasm. He wasn’t depending on her to hold onto it, but watched her closely and either backed off as she neared the edge, or used ice to cool her off at the last possible second.

He’d passed cruel a while back, and when he tired of hearing her beg had taken her words.

She needed to be put through an ordeal, and this was the easiest for him to handle at the moment. After being helpless to save her from the pain she’d lived in almost twenty-four / seven for so long, he could give her pleasurable pain, but still occasionally had trouble pushing her too far past pleasure.

Ethan’s plan worked fine until Samantha had an orgasm while he was teasing her. He knew his wife inside and out, and she hadn’t broadcast she was close. Not in the least. He eyed her suspiciously, trying to decide if it’d hit her out of the blue, or if she’d hid the signs so she could have one without permission.

He had a sinking feeling it was the latter, as he’d expected her to test him at some point, to be sure he would follow through if she misbehaved, but had hoped she’d hold off a few more weeks.

He leaned down to retrieve the rubber flogger from the lower shelf of the metal cart, and considered the best way to handle the situation.

If she was testing him, he had to follow through.

However, he was the Dom, and if she was pushing his hand it meant she was controlling the situation. Forcing him to do something he’d rather not was the definition of topping from the bottom.

Still, the kink portion of their relationship was pretty much built on the foundation of her knowing without a doubt he’d enforce the rules.

If she was trying to top from the bottom, he’d have to make sure the consequences were bad enough she’d never even
consider
trying it again.

He climbed onto the table and kneeled between her legs, so her spread open pussy was framed before him.

“Did that one sneak up on you, or did you hide your arousal so you could come?”

She closed her eyes. “Please don’t make me answer, Sir.”

“So, the latter, then.” He sighed. Unintentional disobedience usually resulted in consequences, while deliberate and planned defiance resulted in severe punishment.

She was screaming her need for their old dynamic.

He was failing her.

Ethan didn’t count the number of times he brought the rubber flogger down on her pussy. He knew she’d need more than strikes of the flogger — she was practically begging him to go to extremes with punishment, and while this gave her severe pain, it wasn’t enough. Not compared to the way he’d have followed through for this kind of behavior before she was shot.

His erection flagged as he thrashed her pussy. Sam screamed and cried, gasped for air and fought her bonds, but he didn’t relent. He
couldn’t
relent, and didn’t stop until her inner thighs, pussy, and especially her clit, were a deep shade of red.

Without speaking, he released her legs from the table and disconnected her wrist cuffs.

He’d brought the wooden horse into the playroom, but hadn’t set it up. He did so now, centering it under the winch. He could almost feel Sam’s eyeballs on him as he lowered the chain, secured a length of rope to it, and raised it once again.

When he returned to her she touched her mouth, asking for permission to speak. He shook his head and said, “Unless you need to tell me your shoulder is hurting, I don’t want to hear any words from you. You wanted to see what would happen if you defied me? Right?”

Sam’s eyes grew huge, as if she didn’t realize he’d know. She nodded, and the fear in her eyes threatened to crush his resolve.

Determined not to fail her, he walked to the wall to retrieve the blindfold. He’d been about to put shorts on so she’d stop looking at his soft cock, and the blindfold solved two problems.

He breathed a quiet sigh of relief when the blindfold was on and he could stop looking stern. She’d seen the sadness in his eyes as well as his displeasure — they had no secrets, and he’d be honest with her later about his feelings around this, but for now she needed him to fulfill his end of the power exchange. As tempted as he was to just say, “Scene’s over, and no orgasm for you for a week,” it wasn’t their dynamic and she
needed
him to step up and be her Master.

He changed out her hardware for the rubber wrist and ankle cuffs, and helped her to her knees on the bondage table. He’d need to stabilize her from above, so he quickly created a rope harness around her chest, careful it wouldn’t put pressure on her shoulder. He wasn’t positive how long to make the rope between her ankles, and ended up with about ten inches of slack, which he hoped would work as he wanted.

She sat still, and worked with him as best she could as he ran rope from her right wrist, around her torso, and tied it off to her left. Both arms were in the position they’d be in if she were wearing two slings, or perhaps a loose straightjacket.

He didn’t say a word, and she remained quiet, pliable, and docile. With the blindfold, he had no idea what was going through her mind but he knew she’d find a way to show him if she were in trouble.

He’d recently installed recessed attachments points in the floor under the winch, and he stepped away from her now to tie rope to them. He draped the ends of both ropes over the rear portion of the horse, and finally went to retrieve Sam.

He carried her across the room and settled her onto the cruel wood so she leaned back a little, with her weight was mostly on her asshole, and he reached to her crotch to spread her labia before rocking her forward onto her pussy. Her moan made his heart hurt, but he resolved to be strong.

Thanks to the rope he’d connected between her ankle cuffs, her feet dangled behind her from the horse, a little below the level of her crotch. He was pleased to see he’d done well with the length.

When she’d ridden the horse at Tyler’s she’d had the option of going to tiptoe to relieve the pressure on her groin. Today, she could push her ankles down and lift some of the weight from her crotch, but her thighs wouldn’t last long and then her only option would be to lean forward and back, so she put more or less pressure on clit, pussy, or ass.

However, the bar was wider, so it would take longer for her to reach the same level of pain.

He didn’t want to hold her up by her torso, but wanted to be sure she couldn’t fall sideways to the floor and hurt herself, so he threaded the rope through the back of her upper body harness before securing it to the horse behind her ass. She’d still have to hold herself up — the rope wouldn’t give her relief, but would keep her on the horse should she lose her balance.

He let go of her slowly and watched her body make adjustments.

Straining to stay balanced, Sam’s leg muscles flexed as she experimented around with how best to remain centered on the cruel wood. Her face already showed pain, even around the blindfold.

The position was designed to both hurt the groin and tire the core muscles as the victim fought to stay upright. He didn’t want to stress her chest muscles so he needed to stabilize her a little more.

Ethan worked fast to tie the ropes coming up from the floor attachments to her thighs. He didn’t pull them tight, as he didn’t want to pull her down and cause even more pain, but they were snug enough to keep her from falling sideways.

He stood before her and watched her facial expressions beneath the blindfold a few moments before caressing her cheek. The extra ropes seemed to have helped, but she was still about to go through hell.

“I have a time frame in mind, but I’ll only tell you it’s greater than an hour and less than six. I may decide to leave you longer than my current plan, or I may decide you’ve had enough and take you down sooner. If you feel a strain on your shoulder you feel may be detrimental, you’re to tell me at once. Otherwise, I don’t want to hear any words from you. No begging, no promising, no apologizing. I know you’re sorry. I also know you were testing me.”

He sighed, and wished he hadn’t, but continued without acknowledging it. “I wasn’t sure you were ready for the pony yet, but you saw me building it and knew it was on hand and available, so I’m assuming your orgasm was your way of telling me you’re up to it.” He kissed her cheek, put his mouth at her ear, and added in his softest, deepest voice, “We’ll discuss it later. You’ll have plenty of time to think it over.”

After only five minutes of watching her rock forward and back on the horse, Ethan’s resolve began to slip. At a loss for what to do, he put earplugs in his ears, unplugged the Bluetooth headphones from the charger, and settled them over his head. He paired them with his cellphone and played the irritating mp3 of radio static he’d downloaded a while back. He experimented around with the volume until he couldn’t hear when he clapped his hands.

Satisfied, he transferred the earplugs and headphones to Sam’s head, and then texted Master James.

I could use some advice, if you have time.

Within a few moments his phone rang, and he laid everything out to his friend and mentor. Master James asked a few questions, but stayed mostly silent until Ethan was finished.

“I know I need to stay strong,” Ethan said after he’d explained the situation, “but it’s killed me to not be able to ease her pain, and now it’s breaking my heart to have to give her more.”

“Can you monitor her okay when she’s blindfolded?”

“Yes. It’s easier with eye contact, but her body reacts in certain ways when the pain reaches critical. I have to pay closer attention, but I’m not taking my eyes off her, so I’ll see it.”

“Okay, with that in mind you have two options. The first is to stay disconnected and let her deal with her suffering inside of herself. You’ve put her in the quiet dark, and you know how much more powerful it will make her torment.”

“And my second option?”

“Remove the blindfold and headphones. Experience her pain with her. Rub her shoulders, massage her thighs. Don’t ease the suffering to her cunt, but do what you can to ease it to the rest of her body. Talk to her and allow her to answer your questions. Based on your dynamic, I wouldn’t give her carte blanche for talking, but would allow her to respond to questions.”

Ethan sighed. “You think I should ask her if I should cut her time short because she hasn’t fully recuperated, don’t you?”

“No. You already know what her answer will be, and you know why asking the question would be cruel.”

Ethan thought it through and realized James was right. “Okay, I understand your point. Forcing her to basically ask for more punishment is harsh, but it’s more than that, isn’t it? Reminding her she isn’t up to one hundred percent when she already feels as if she’s failing me would be heartless.”

“Whatever you choose to do, listen to your heart and watch her body.”

Ethan took a breath as he absorbed the advice. “Thanks, James.”

“Don’t mention it. I’m glad I could help.”

Ethan put loose shorts on before he went to her, so she couldn’t see his cock. She’d know he wasn’t rock hard but wouldn’t know how soft he was.

Sam jerked when Ethan caressed her thigh, and yelped at the pain she caused herself.

He ran his hands up her body, removed the headphones, and then the earplugs. He draped both over the horse and said, “I’m going to remove the blindfold. I’ve dimmed the lights, but keep your eyes closed and be careful when you open them.”

He cupped her cheek and ran his thumb over her eyebrow as she waited a few moments and finally opened her eyes.

“There you are. You have permission to answer my questions, but be careful you don’t keep talking. Understand?”

She nodded, hesitated, and answered, “Yes, Master.”

He could see the pain in her eyes, and in the way she held her face. Still, he asked, “Tell me where you are. What’s going through your head.”

She shook her head. “Please don’t make me, Master.” He didn’t say anything, and after a few seconds of silence she said, “I know we’ll have to talk about it, but not while I’m in the middle of it. I don’t know if I can.”

He caressed her cheek. “You’ll find a way to do whatever I ask of you, won’t you?”

A single tear spilled from one eye. She turned her head away a few seconds, and then thought better of it and looked back to him.

“Thank you. Part of me thought you’d lost your edge, and thought you wouldn’t follow through. I guess I needed to know you would, Sir.” She took a breath. “I’m in more pain than I can ever remember being in, but I’m thankful for it, because it’s from
you
. There’s a reason for it, it’s not just some random bullshit that The Universe or God or
whoever
threw at me. I know why it’s happening, and you’re right — I may as well have just asked for it. I pushed your hand and that probably makes me a terrible submissive, and I’m sorry, but…”