Valerie Ch. 08

There were good things as well. Several acquaintances called to offer support and reassure her that they thought no less of her. All of the members of Charles' group of submissives stopped by to offer condolences and support at some time. On Saturday, they received word that Francine had reached a turning point and was conscious again. They immediately left for the hospital.

Francine was lying in the bed, tubes and wires coming off of every part of her body, the electronic beeps of the monitoring equipment a constant presence in the background. She looked empty, as if she were a shell without a soul. When she saw Valerie enter, her countenance broke, tears coming to her eyes. "Valerie," she whispered, "I'm so sorry. Are you okay? How badly did I hurt you?"

"Francine. I'm fine. You are in worse shape than I was."

"I…I…I hurt so much, Val. The nightmares just got worse and worse. I just wanted the pain to go away. I still do. You should've let me die."

"No! I told you then, while you were beating me, trying to make me hate you, that I love you and I forgive you. I know it hurts; it hurts more than I hurt when Mike died. Mike didn't betray me, he was taken. You were betrayed. That's a horrible thing. You'll survive the pain, but you must experience it and get through it."

Francine was crying openly. "Val, it's so bad. I feel empty. And I hurt. I can't feel, Val. I can't even feel how much I love you. It's gone and I can't get it back. He stole it from me. It's all gone and it's never coming back."

"It can come back, it will. I thought I lost my heart forever with Mike. You showed me was I still capable of love. And now I have a wonderful woman I want to spend the rest of my life with, one I love just as much as I love you. You need help. We'll find you that help. And we'll be with you though all of it." Valerie took Francine's hand, the most she could touch amongst the tubes and wires. "We'll share every tear, every heartache, every smile, and every laugh. We'll never leave you, ever." Sally nodded her agreement.

"You almost make it seem possible. I see hope in your faces and I wonder if I could dare to hope myself."

"Until you can; let us hope for you."

Sally interjected, "We should tell her the bad news before someone else does."

"My ignoring your safe word and trying to kill myself is not the bad news?"

"The whole city knows that we are players in BDSM. I've lost my job, my apartment, and my professional standing in the society."

"Oh my God. What…"

"I told the police that everything you did was fully consensual, that no safe word was ignored and that I wanted everything you did. It was leaked to the media."

"Valerie! Why? You should've told the truth, protected yourself, I don't deserve… "

"Francine, love isn't about deserving, it's about giving of oneself. You need love, forgiveness, and loyalty, not condemnation and incarceration. If I could've protected you from being exposed at all, I would have. All I could do was keep you free. I'm sorry it couldn't be more."

"No, no apologies. You gave me more than I deserved and that's nothing to apologize for. You can move in with me, both of you. It'll be cramped, but we can make it work. I never told you, but in addition to my work for the company, I freelance. My income is secure enough and I own my home outright. I have enough in savings to cover a down payment on that house, if we get it. In fact, if I sell my house, I can afford to buy it with cash."

Sally took a serious tone. "Francine, there is something important we need to discuss."

"Playing?"

"Yes. You realize that until your mental state is sorted out, it's not safe for you to play as a dominant, maybe not even as a submissive. You didn't intend to hurt Val, but you did because you lost control. You can't afford to lose control again. You've also sought out dominants that hurt you. You can't trust yourself to play safe."

"I know. I may never play again. I don't think I could dominate someone without seeing Valerie broken and bleeding, and me the cause. No, I won't play any time soon."

Valerie looked into her friend's eyes. "You will be able to dominate again, I just know it. When you're ready, I would be honored to be the first to submit to you again."

"But, after what I did, can you ever trust me again?"

"I won't lie. Right now, I can't trust you enough to submit, but you'll get better, heal the wounds of your heart. When you're whole again, I'll trust you again. Because I love you and you love me, even though you can't feel it now."

There was an, "Ahem," behind them. The ICU nurse was standing there. "I'm afraid you need to leave. The patient needs to rest."

"Okay."

Sally and Valerie left their friend in the capable hands of the ICU nurses and headed back to the apartment after Francine made sure they had a key to her place. They picked up some carry-out on the way and reached the apartment. They enjoyed their dinner and sat together on the couch. Valerie reached an arm around Sally, caressing her arm. "It's been over three days. You feeling a little horny?"

"You have no idea. You up to some passion?"

In response, Valerie pulled Sally close and kissed her deeply on the lips, her tongue pressing itself into Sally's mouth, tasting her again. "I want you; I want you in my arms. I want to feel you under my fingers and in my mouth. I want to feel your mouth and hands all over me, driving me crazy."

They embraced, their hands finding each other, tracing symbols of passion across the clothes of one another. Buttons and zippers were released as hands found them, but there was no urgency in the undressing, both women comfortable in the lazy pace of their love. Valerie kissed Sally on the neck, playfully letting her teeth brush against Sally's neck and shoulders, teasing her with promises of lust. Sally was gentler, brushing her tongue across the back of Valerie's neck.

Their clothes finally off, they stopped, admiring each other, drinking in the other's beauty with their eyes. Sally gently turned Val around, running her fingers over the newly formed scars on her back, shedding a tear at the damage done to the back of the loveliest woman she knew. Valerie shuddered under the touch, the pain that inflicted them remembered.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean…"

"No, it's all right. I want you to touch them. I need to know that it's okay. That I'm still attractive, someone you can…"

Sally reached around, putting her finger over Val's lips. "Shhh. Of course you're still attractive. These scars, they make you beautiful. I love that you have them, that you got them from someone you love and still accept. They'll always remind me that you're the most loving person I know." Sally ran her hands across the scars, feeling Val's back twitch as she did, sensitive to the slightest touch. Sally continued, feeling the stripes that her lover could very well carry for all time, making them part of the love they shared.

Sally leaned into Val's back, reaching around and caressing her belly and face while feeling the scars against her own breasts. There were tears on Valerie's face, dripping from her eyes. "Why are you crying? What's wrong?"

"I don't deserve you. I feel ugly and you make me beautiful again. How was I so lucky to find you?"

"We're both lucky. I have the most loving person, the most wonderful submissive in the world as my lover. She loves me with all her heart and I love her. Like you told Francine, love isn't about deserving, it's about giving of one's self. I would give you anything of myself that you wanted and I know that you would give me the same. Relax and let me make love to you."

"Only if it's mutual."

Valerie turned her head around and kissed Sally again. She reached behind her and rubbed her hands along Sally's sides. Sally's hands picked up where they left off, caressing Valerie's belly and face. They leaned back, Val lying on top of Sally. As Sally's hands played with Valerie's breasts, teasing the nipples and cupping her mounds, Valerie reach a hand between her legs, feeling out Sally's pussy lips, just brushing them with her fingers. She also swayed from side to side, caressing Sally's breasts with her back, the scars heightening the sensations.

Both women brought themselves slowly to greater levels of arousal, enjoying the simple pleasure of feeling the other respond. They were both producing lubricant between their legs, Valerie's running down her crack to drip onto Sally and mix with hers. The combined aromas were like a fragrant incense, both relaxing and heightening their senses. Valerie brought her other hand up and gently moved one of Sally's to her own pussy. They found the feeling of their arms side by side, each gently playing with the other's pussy incredibly erotic.

They continued this passionate, yet gentle lovemaking for some time until their breathing had become rapid and both felt a gaping emptiness in their cunts. "God," Sally cried, "I want to be fucked so badly. Will you fuck me?"

"Yes, show me how."

Sally led Val to the bedroom, where she had put the things she'd brought over. Among them was her strap on dildo. She put it on Val, making the very act a form of lovemaking. Valerie looked down at herself and thought, "Nothing marks me as no longer straight more than this. I've put on a fake cock and I'm going to fuck my woman lover with it. This is so hot." Her pussy was leaking even more juice as wild thoughts careened through her. She felt a sense of power, an unfamiliar one. She wanted to take Sally, not just fuck her. She pulled Sally close, holding her tight across the back with one hand and gently holding her head by the hair with the other. Deep in her throat, a growl she had never heard before came out. "I want you. I want to take you and make you mine."

"Oh God yes, I've wanted to hear you say that for so long. How? Tell me and it's yours."

"From behind. Lie down on your face, legs over the side." Valerie spun Sally around and gave a small push. Sally let herself drop to the bed her hips on the edge, legs dangling and spread wide. Valerie rubbed the rubber cock across Sally's lips, teasing her with the possibility of penetration. Sally moaned and tried to thrust back against it, but Valerie's hand pushed against her back, holding her down.

"Valerie, please fuck me, fuck me hard. I need to feel you in me, ravaging me."

"No. Valerie won't fuck you. Only Mistress will. Beg Mistress to rape you, taking you brutally."

Sally's heart leapt in her chest. The words she never dared believe Val would be able to say were there. As tears of joy streaming down her face, she begged, "Mistress, rape me, take me and make me yours. I'm begging you, fuck me hard and deep."

Valerie leaned back and slammed the dildo into Sally's cunt, burying it to the hilt. The power she felt was incredible. She knew that Sally was hers this moment, to do with as she pleased. Sally would cum only when Valerie let her, would get up only when she let her. She understood a little of what Charles and Sally and the others felt when they dominated her. It was heady and erotic. She loved the feeling and gave it room to flow.

"Don't cum. You can't cum until I give you permission!"

"Yes, Mistress. I won't. Please fuck me, I so need to be fucked."

Val began to pump her cock into Sally over and over again, fast, deep and brutal, slamming into her cunt over and over again. Sally was moaning into the mattress, the sheets forming an impromptu gag. Her hands clasped the sheets, gripping them tightly, pulling them off the bed. Sally's clit was being thrust against the bed over and over again, driving her into a frenzy of excitement. She knew she was getting close and she lifted her head, begging, "Please, Mistress, I need to cum, please let me cum."

Valerie, whose own clit was being rammed against the end of the strap on was also getting close. She grunted out, "No. You can't, not until I do. Mistress first, then slave. You hear? Don't cum."

Sally cried out in that glorious frustration, steeling herself to fight against the orgasm at her door. "Yes, Mistress, I'll try. It's so hard, Mistress. Please have mercy, Mistress. It's so close; I don't know how much longer I can resist."

Valerie's cum was on the verge, her growl commanding, "Not yet, slave, not yet. When I cum and wail, then you can, not a moment sooner."

Sally's breath was coming in ragged gasps, holding, then letting go, as she fought to put off for just a few more seconds what was becoming impossible to deny. Then she felt Valerie stop, shudder, then cry out inarticulately as her climax washed over her. Finally released from resisting, Sally let go and screamed as her own orgasm burst out of her, her back arching at the sensations. Both women came for almost a minute, each orgasm reinforcing the other. When they were finally spent, Valerie collapsed onto of Sally, the dildo still embedded in her cunt.

"Thank you, Mistress, for taking me. I've so wanted this for so long."

"I had no idea how much of a rush it was. Does it always feel like this, so powerful and intoxicating, when you make me yours and use me?"

"Sometimes it's even better. Wait till you pull out of me things I didn't know I had to give you."

"I still don't think I can hurt you, you know, punish you. But I'd love to take you like this again, if you'll let me."

"Val, I love you and you can have me as your sex slave any time you want. I'd love to have you deny me sometime, make me go without orgasms over and over again. That rush will make this one feel like a mild breeze. To have that control and make your submissive writhe in the agony of unfulfilled pleasure, that is so immense. Hearing them beg, plead, and cry in frustration is a thrill everyone should experience."

"I'd like that very much. I so love and hate it when you do that to me. It feels like a glorious expression of love to have you deny me, if that makes sense?"

"Absolutely. The love I feel when you accept that denial is just as strong."

Valerie took the dildo off and the two crawled into bed, cuddled into each other's arms, falling to sleep. Had anyone been there to watch, they would have seen two people, obviously meant for each other, smiling contentedly as they slept. In their sleep, they fought to be closer and closer to one another. They woke as they fell asleep, in each other's arms.

They spent Sunday packing boxes, getting ready to move out. Both agreed that the sooner they were out the better. They weren't sure where they'd go. Francine's place was an option, but Sally was reluctant to ask Valerie to live in the house where the crisis had started. Sally's studio apartment was too small, even given that they would share a bed. With both not working the next week, they resolved to find a place that all three could share, if possible.

They had weathered the crisis so far, peace coming on this Sunday. Both were afraid that it was the eye of the storm, not the passing. What would the next week bring? What fresh hurts would come? They knew that their lives would never be the same. The world seemed to be arrayed against them, yet they had each other and their friends, both in and out of the lifestyle. They'd face the storm and either endure or perish, together forever.

Thanks to Dani for the wonderful proofreading that this story was long in need of.