Ch 2: The Ground Beneath Her Knees

"Thank you, Rachele, thank you so much," Chloe said. "I have to finish laundry and then I'll head over."

"I'll be here," she said, and they hung up.

--

Chloe sat on the couch and cried and ranted. Rachele had never heard her this angry at Kevin before, and she was surprised too that he'd been this insensitive. But he also took the business very seriously and it was all about the relationships.

"Maybe he was just flustered or upset by the sudden change," Rachele tried to reassure her. "He'll realize what he did, I think."

Chloe didn't respond. After a while she fell asleep, and Rachele covered her with a blanket and got her laptop, and worked for a while in the chair as she slept.

A few hours later she finished up, and Chloe was stirring. She sat down on the couch and stroked her hair, and Chloe put her head in her lap.

"I can stay tonight?" she asked. "I couldn't sleep last night."

"You should have called me then," Rachele said. "And of course you can stay. We can order something in."

--

A few hours later, with half empty Chinese food containers on the coffee table, they were both dozing. Rachele got up, carefully put a pillow under Chloe's head, and cleaned up the leftovers. She bent over Chloe and kissed her, saying, "Let's get you to bed." Chloe mumbled, but eventually sat up and followed Rachele into the bedroom where she pulled off her jeans and curled up in her underwear and flannel shirt.

Rachele washed up, put on a nightgown, got Chloe underneath the blankets, and joined her, holding her from behind as they fell asleep.

Going to bed so early had the inevitable result, and around midnight Rachele was wide awake. She lay still, so as not to wake Chloe, whose breath fluttered against her neck, whose pussy was pressed against Rachele's leg, whose heart beat against Rachele's breast. The warmth of her small body made Rachele hot, and her prohibition didn't feel good anymore. But she did not want to disobey, she would not disobey.

Chloe stirred, turned in Rachele's arms, lifted her head and kissed her.

"Thank you," she said. "I don't know what I would have done tonight without you."

Rachele kissed her back, thinking it was mere happenstance that she'd been free on this particular Saturday night. Chloe's kisses turned urgent and her hands moved under Rachele's nightgown, but she closed her legs. She took Chloe's hand and pulled it to her mouth, kissed it, and said, "Let me just hold you."

"But I want you," Chloe said. "I need you, please."

"Let me," Rachele said, rolling Chloe onto her back and starting to unbutton her shirt, but Chloe sat up.

"Since when don't you want me to touch you?" she asked. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," Rachele said. "But I can't. I didn't know I'd be seeing you."

"You can't what?" Chloe asked, fully awake now. "You can't be with me? Did he revoke your permission already?"

"No, Chloe, no," Rachele said, trying to soothe her. "I'm not allowed to have an orgasm or touch myself this weekend."

"Why? Were you bad?" Chloe spat. "And I get punished?"

"Chloe, stop, no," Rachele said. "I thought you'd be away. He didn't think I'd be seeing you. He wouldn't have done that if we'd had plans."

"But I'm here now," Chloe said. "Are you enjoying telling me no again?"

"Please, Chloe. I can do whatever you want. You're welcome here." The heat of Chloe's anger surprised Rachele, but she could see the hurt in her eyes and was wishing now she hadn't said anything. She could have explained it to Robert later. Maybe Chloe was right, and she was enjoying this.

"What I want is you, Rachele," Chloe said. "And he said he wouldn't get in the way of that."

"You're right," Rachele said, sounding frustrated. "I should have called him earlier and let him know."

"Let him know?" Chloe said skeptically. "Or ask permission?"

"I don't need to ask permission to be with you."

"So be with me, then," Chloe said, leaning in to kiss her again and reaching under her nightgown again. Rachele didn't stop her hand, but didn't open her legs. Chloe persisted, her hand stroking Rachele's belly and gliding over her mons.

Chloe was here and wanted her. She'd been good all day yesterday and all night and all day today and Robert would understand and she couldn't do that to Chloe again and she wanted her very badly. She finally opened her legs for Chloe's hand, and then her tongue. Further thought became impossible, and Rachele squeezed her legs around Chloe's head as she came, pushing her face into her crotch with her hand, bucking and grinding against her face, coming repeatedly.

As her shuddering subsided, she relaxed her legs, and Chloe lay back, Rachele's juices all over her face.

"You needed that," she said. "You needed that bad. Does he make you do that often?"

"This is the first time it's been for a whole weekend."

"And you like that? Why do you let him do that?"

"Chloe," Rachele said, exasperation rising in her voice. "I don't 'let' him."

"I know, I know, it's not up to you," Chloe said. "But I felt how much you needed it."

"I need you," Rachele said, her hand playing with Chloe's soft blonde pubic hair. Chloe's legs opened and the subject was set aside for the night.

--

They made love again in the morning, Rachele waking to Chloe's soft touches all over her body, her lips on her neck and her nipples, neither one of them worrying about unbrushed teeth as they kissed and touched each other. The gentle touches turned urgent as Chloe's fingers tried to make her come, pushing into her and rubbing her clit. Rachele gave in and let a slow wave wash over her, then pulled Chloe close.

"I don't want to be kept away from you," Chloe said. "Especially not last night."

"I know," Rachele said, stroking her hair. "We'll figure it out. He didn't know."

"Are you in trouble?" Chloe asked.

"I don't think so," Rachele said. "But I should text him."

"Now?"

"When you take your shower," Rachele said.

"When I take a hint, you mean," Chloe grumbled, rolling out of bed and grabbing the robe she kept in Rachele's closet.

Robert returned her brief text with a phone call.

"Good morning," he said. "What happened?"

"Chloe's trip fell through and she had a fight with Kevin," she said. "She was very upset and needed to come over and she spent the night. I tried to obey but I was telling her no again and she was upset."

"And you wanted to come," he said.

"Yes, Master, but that wasn't why," she said. "I didn't want to hurt Chloe again."

"You didn't think to tell me this yesterday?"

"I should have, sir, I'm sorry," she said. Chloe came out of the bathroom and stopped when she saw Rachele on the phone, but Rachele patted the bed next to her and Chloe climbed up and put her head on Rachele's shoulder.

"She needed me," she said.

"Sounds like it might have been more about what you needed," he said.

"That's not fair," she said. Chloe looked up at her.

"Probably not," he said. "Let's talk about it when I get back. What are you up to today?"

"I'm not sure," Rachele said. "We'll probably get some breakfast."

"Chloe's still there?" he asked.

"It's eight thirty in the morning here," she said.

"Of course," he said. "I'll see you tonight, then. I should be home mid-afternoon."

"Yes, Master," she said.

"Have a good day," he said. "Give my best to Chloe."

She put the phone down. Chloe looked at her expectantly.

"He said to give you his best," she said.

Chloe snorted. "It sounds like you're in trouble."

"It'll be fine," she said. "I just should have told him yesterday afternoon. I wasn't thinking."

"You were thinking about me," Chloe said. "How dare you."

"Chloe, don't."

"I feel like he was between us the whole day," Chloe said. "I didn't even know it. You didn't say anything until I was kissing you. And then all of a sudden it's 'no' again."

Rachele shook her head and pulled the covers around herself.

"And he's here this morning," Chloe said. "And he sends his best. Is he being sarcastic?"

"Stop it!" Rachele said. "I can't take this. You know he wouldn't do that. He was surprised. I should have told him. I should have told you. I wish you would believe me. I wish you would both just fucking trust me."

"It's not you I'm worried about," Chloe said.

"But it is." Rachele got out of bed and put on her robe. "I'm going to take a shower and then let's get breakfast."

But when she got out of the shower Chloe was dressed and gathering up her things.

"You're leaving?"

"I think I should."

Rachele put her hand on Chloe's shoulder. "I don't want you to go," she said. "Don't leave like this again."

"You want me to stay, but I don't think he does," Chloe said, putting on her jacket. "And that seems more important. I shouldn't have even called you yesterday."

"Of course you should," Rachele said. "Don't go. Please."

"I have to go," Chloe said. "I should talk to Kevin. Maybe he'll have time for me today." She hunched her shoulders and pulled away when Rachele's tried to hug her, and left.

Rachele went back to bed. Yet again lying in Chloe's scent, with the sound of another angry departure ringing in her ears. Chloe was mad at her. Robert was mad at her. She had no idea what she'd do today, what to say when Robert came home. It was too much. She curled up and cried angry tears. She picked up her phone and typed out a text to Robert: "I don't want to see you if you're mad." But she didn't send it. Eventually she got up and made herself breakfast.

6

He called when he landed. Following his instructions, she put on the buttoned denim dress that she'd worn for him the day he'd reviewed her clothing.. She had nothing on underneath, and felt quite exposed, with air moving between the buttons and over her shaved pussy when she walked. When Robert's driver texted that he was downstairs, she put on a light coat, went downstairs and got into the car.

She took off the coat in Robert's private elevator, and unbuttoned the dress all the way down, obeying his orders, glad he'd turned off the elevator camera. He was waiting for her when the elevator opened. He took her coat, opened her dress, and kissed her. She fell to her knees and asked, "Master, may I have you in my mouth?"

His hand pushed her face into his crotch, and she unzipped his fly and drew his cock out from the fly of his boxers. She sank her mouth down on it, clasping her hands behind her back, and used her tongue as she remained down, working to get him in deeper.

He stroked her hair, feeling her working, pushing her back down whenever she started to rise. She opened her mouth around him and took a breath, allowing drool to escape her mouth and drip onto her breasts. He pushed more deeply into her and she opened her throat as best she could, her eyes watering, staying relaxed and leaving room for air.

This was not the way he usually wanted her to serve him. She'd been trained to move slowly, up and down, so he could feel her lips and tongue along the length of him, enjoy the head of his cock at her lips and then in the back of her throat. But now he was deep in her throat, and staying there, making her work very hard. Drool streamed from her mouth as she tried to breathe, her eyes and nose were running, and it was getting harder to remain relaxed and suppress her gag reflex.

She knew he felt her struggling, but he forced her back down as she reflexively tried to free her throat. His hand twisted hard in her hair as he pushed into her, ordering, "tongue." She opened wider and stretched her tongue to his balls. Her chest and breasts were coated in spit and she was sure she was making a puddle on the floor. He twisted her head around his cock and pushed in harder, until finally, she unclasped her hands and tapped his legs in her distress sign. He released her head, and she coughed and gagged, hanging forward, her mouth open, making a further mess. He pushed her face into the puddle she'd made, and with her face on the floor she panted and coughed.

She felt him take her wrists and bring them back behind her, and cuff them there with leather restraints. He lifted her to her feet by the hair and put his other hand between her legs, pushing un-gently into her front and back. He walked her into the living room, knelt her down in front of the couch, and left her there. She could not wipe the drool, snot and tears off her face, so she waited, feeling sticky and used, her ass burning from his handling of her.

He returned with a water bottle and held it to her lips to drink. "Thank you, Master," she said.

"You disobeyed me," he said.

"Yes, sir," she said, resisting the impulse to object. He wasn't being fair, but she didn't have the right to expect fairness, did she.

"I'm going to put you over my lap," he said. "I'm going to spank you hard, and I expect you to work as hard as you can to take it."

She stared at him. She hadn't seen him in three days. She'd been angry and upset all day. He hadn't even kissed her or allowed her to welcome him home.

"Do you understand?" he asked, expectantly.

"Byzantine," she said, seeing the surprise on his face. She had only used her safeword once before, and that time he'd been pushing her and waiting for it.

"I haven't even started yet," he said.

"Sir, I need to talk to you," she said. "Please uncuff me."

He released her hands and she pulled her dress around her. "May I use the bathroom first?" she asked, getting to her feet in the expectation of his permission, which he gave.

She closed the door, and washed her face. She buttoned the dress back up and straightened her hair, walked out into the living room and sat down next to him.

"I did not feel good about that," she said. "I felt like you were acting out your anger on me. You scared me a little the way you used my mouth, and afterward you didn't care for me at all. You just brought me in here and told me I'd be spanked.

"We have things to talk about, and you know it," she said. "I don't think I did anything I should be punished for, or at the very least, we need to figure out how I should handle that kind of situation. I don't want to be punished for making a judgment call in a situation we had not considered."

He sat back. His instinct was to tell her to mind her place, that they would discuss it when he was ready, and when she had been disciplined. But that would clearly turn into a fight.

Maybe she was right he'd been angry. He was not happy with her having disobeyed him for her lover over the weekend, and he had been pushing her hard because of it. But the rapidity with which she went from being on her knees to to sitting next to him speaking sternly was both unsettling and arousing. He wanted her because she was like this but it made him wonder if he could really have her.

"I understand what you're saying," he said slowly. "And you're right that neither of us expected this situation. But you knew this would happen, or could happen, as soon as you knew you were going to see Chloe. Why didn't you contact me then?"

"Maybe because I didn't want to have an argument on the phone when you were away," she said. "Normally I would have done that without a thought, but it feels different when it comes to Chloe and I was afraid I'd hear the same tone of voice that I did when I called you later."

He frowned.

"I was afraid you might tell me the rule still applied," she said. "And I didn't want to hear that. I did try to obey, just to be clear. I tried to say I wasn't allowed but it got Chloe really upset. So now she's hurt, and you're angry, and I don't think there was any right thing for me to do."

"Really?" he said? "You feel you had no option?"

"Honestly, Robert?" she said. "The best option would have been to not mention it to Chloe at all, and not tell you until you were back. Before I called you I was considering not telling you at all. And that feels wrong. It means I don't trust you."

"You would have lied to me?" he said, surprised.

"I would have protected myself!" she said. "And protected Chloe. But if I need to protect either of us from you then this won't work."

"I agree," he said. "But I wasn't attacking you."

"You were angry on the phone and you were angry just now," she said. "I was scared and upset by how you were acting. I should have protected myself more. I should have come over ready to talk, not kneel."

He didn't know what to say. He was afraid she was right about how he'd handled it, but he was also afraid that she was yet again telling him she wouldn't accept ownership.

"Are we back to you needing space?" he asked.

"No!" she said. "I don't want space. I want to be here and I want to feel safe without having to leave."

"Are you really feeling unsafe?"

"I told you how important Chloe is," she said. "I told you that this is hard for her. You promised not to come between us. But you did, again. I know you didn't intend to, but you did, and you are angry at me for protecting Chloe and myself from the exact kind of interference you said wouldn't happen."

"But you could have handled it differently," he said.

"I don't think so," she said. "I think we'd have had this argument on the phone, with Chloe on the way over."

He started to speak but she lifted a hand to stop him.

"I told you there were basics," she said. "I told you I needed a solid ground to build this, a basis of things that were most important to me. She is one of them. Anything that comes into conflict with those ground rules is wrong. I will always fight that. That's the deal. That's what I need."

She was right, he thought. He was treating Chloe differently from her job or her finances. He wouldn't have thought twice if she'd told him she'd disobeyed because of a work emergency.

"I see what you're saying," he said. "But I can't help feeling that it's different."

"You don't get to decide that some of my ground rules matter more than others," she said. "I am giving you ownership of myself. I am trusting you with so much. How I dress, when I come, how I speak, when I can eat. And I love that. But I can't do that if you threaten what it stands on."

"I wasn't threatening--"

"Yes, you were," she said. "And you need to accept that. I don't care if you didn't mean to. It worries me that you don't see that, and that you think I was wrong to protect myself."

He sighed. He didn't know what to say.

"Robert, look at me," she said. "You cannot own me if you don't want to own the real me."

She took his hand. "You know I want to belong to you," she said. "But you need to make sure that I am safe, and you need to take care of me."

"Maybe I'm the one who needs space," he said.

"Are you kidding?" she asked, dropping his hand, her voice rising. "You don't get to send me away! There's a lot of things that I don't get to do, but you goddamned well do not get to abandon me. Not ever. I have been upset all day. Chloe is angry with me. You're angry with me. I will not go home alone. You will sit here and talk to me and listen to me. Because if I leave I'm not coming back."

He sat up, shocked, but closed his mouth and took a deep breath. "Let me make some tea," he said. She sat back on the couch, then paced in front of it, until he came back with the cups.

"You're right that it's my job to protect you and keep you safe in this," he said, after taking a few sips. "But this situation with Chloe cuts both ways. She's part of it, and I think I need you to protect me from her too."

"How does she threaten you?"

"I think she's angry, and jealous, and she resents our relationship," he said. "I worry that she will never be OK with me owning you. I think she will push against it every chance she gets like she did this weekend."

"She didn't know there was anything to push against!" She was pacing again. "She wasn't thinking about you! She was upset, she needed me, and she had no idea about the rule. None at all."