Introductions and Exposures

NOTE: This story is bookended with a sex scene, but otherwise it's mostly talking and vanilla sex. If you aren't interested in how the slave and her Master first met, you can safely skip it.

Bent over forward with her hands on the back of his couch, her skirt up around her waist, she obediently moved her feet further apart when she felt his hand tap the inside of her leg. But he touched her no further, and said nothing until she looked back and saw him admiring her. "Eyes front," he said, and she turned her head back around.

She knew he could see how wet it made her to be exposed like this. She felt the air on her wet cunt, shaved bare for him. She did that every day now, taking the extra time in the shower even when she wouldn't see him, because she loved how it felt, and how it made her more naked for him.

She'd been thinking about him all day, and when she'd finally slipped into the booth next to him, she could exhale and let go of her stressful day, as he ordered cocktails for them both. He motioned her around next to him, where, concealed by the tablecloth, he parted her legs and lifted her skirt, nodding approval when he saw the silky thong he'd bought her. He let the skirt fall back to her lap but did not pull it back down. She didn't adjust it, but instead parted her legs, and they talked about their days with her almost entirely exposed to his view.

He'd teased her and played with her at will, all the way through dinner. His fingers stroked her inner thighs, reached up to brush the thin fabric over her clit, pushed under her at one point so that she raised herself to let him feel her bare ass.

That ass that was raised to him now, her legs open to display her wet and open pussy lips, waiting for him. Other than the thong he'd taken off her soon after she came in the door, she was dressed just as she'd been all evening. When would he touch her? Waiting made her wetter and more desperate, and she felt his eyes admiring the way she was presented to him.

She thought back to the first time she'd seen him, a little more than six months ago.

--

He'd been explaining proper caning technique on the small stage of a sex club. She wasn't really paying attention to him, but instead looking at the young woman beside him, bent over, her ass presented to him, head down as he discussed the right way to make her hurt.

"I didn't think you'd enjoy this so much," her friend Chloe said with a grin. Her best friend, with benefits nowadays, had invited her because, in conversation and in bed, she'd clearly been interested and aroused by submission. Chloe's boyfriend was hosting the evening.

Rachele had been dubious about people who had sex in public, but she trusted her friends and wanted to see it. Chloe had explained that people wouldn't actually be having sex, but Rachele thought that was an academic distinction when they were all looking at a woman's naked ass and spread legs.

Rachele took her eyes away and looked around at the crowd of people in leather and masks. "I don't like it here at all, to be honest," she said. "I'm nervous, even knowing Kevin is in charge." At the moment, he was standing to the side of the little stage, monitoring the scene and watching for unwelcome behavior or distress in the crowd. An aura of calm and safety tended to surround him.

"But you're liking that," Chloe said, nodding to the stage.

Her friend nodded. "I am," she said, softly but not tentatively. "She's just waiting. She can't even see him. She can't move. All she can do is wait to be hit."

Chloe gave her a playful smack on her ass, and her friend laughed. Chloe had tried being dominant, but her heart wasn't in it and Rachele asked her not to pretend. They were both relieved, but Chloe still teased her about her proclivities and Rachele enjoyed her friend's acknowledgment and frankness.

"Who is he, anyway?" she asked. "He looks way too old for her." The man was definitely older than her or Chloe and the girl was younger, maybe in her early twenties.

"Oh, they're not together," Chloe said. "Robert's just using her as a subject for the demo. I think that's her boyfriend over there." She pointed to a young man standing near Kevin.

Sure enough, the older man called the boyfriend up to the stage, handed him the cane, held his arm to show him the right grip, and continued his demonstration. His hands moved over the woman's ass and legs, spreading and lifting her to demonstrate the right and wrong places to hit.

Rachele's attention was drawn back to the stage, her eyes fixed intently on the restrained woman as her body was used as a prop. Chloe looked at her parted lips and her flushed cheeks, and smiled. This had been a good idea after all.

Her friend felt Chloe's gaze and looked away. "He's so clinical," she said. "No, that's the wrong word. It's incredibly sensual, but he's not touching her sexually."

She folded her arms across her chest and hugged herself. "He's talking about her, showing her off, but she's just there, feeling his hands on her and listening to them."

"You'd like to be watched like that?" Chloe asked. Her friend looked around at the crowd. "Oh god no, never, not like this." she said.

The authoritative man and the bound woman were making her aroused, but the crowd around them was making her anxious. "Can we get some air?" she finally asked. Chloe took her hand and led her to the back of the club where there was some open space. "Are you OK?" she asked her friend. "Do you want a drink?"

Her friend shook her head. "Honestly I'd like to get out of here," she said.

"Do you want me to take you home and spank you?" Chloe asked playfully. Her friend raised her eyebrows. "Is that how Kevin asks you before he bends you over?"

Chloe laughed ruefully. "Yeah, I'm not so good at that."

Her friend kissed her. "And I don't want you to be. But I do want you to take me home, very much. Would Kevin mind?"

"He'll be here late," Chloe said. "I'll text him -- my roommate isn't home so we can go to my place if you want to spend the night. Otherwise you'll need to sleep in the guest room unless you want him joining us."

Her friend cringed. "I love him dearly, but god no. He's a bit much."

Chloe sighed happily. "You have no idea." They both laughed.

--

Later, lying in Chloe's arms, her head on her friend's small breasts, she mused, "I didn't like that place, but seeing him handling her like that...."

"You were really turned on," Chloe said. Her friend had been sopping wet and eager when Chloe finally got her hands into her jeans. "I'd been hoping that was all for me," she said in mock disappointment.

Her friend kissed her. "I'm always wet for you," she said. "But seriously. He was so kind and caring, and then he was making her scream and cry. I'm not sure about the pain but that calm control ..."

"You were practically creaming your panties," Chloe said.

"He was talking as if she were an object," her friend said.

"And that turns you on?" Chloe asked.

"A lot," she said. "He wasn't being mean, or making jokes about her. He was just explaining so carefully how the boy should treat his..."

"Property," Chloe said.

Her friend took a sharp breath, but didn't say anything.

"I'm not sure about the caning," she said after a minute. "Daniel used to spank me, and sometimes I did like it, less for the spanking than for being bent over and treated that way. But then it would hurt too much and I'd want it to stop but sometimes he would keep going."

"Kevin and I talked about an intervention, you know," Chloe said. "We were relieved when you dumped him."

"I shouldn't have let it go on so long," her friend said. "But when it was good it was so good."

"Laurence seems nice," Chloe said.

"He would never treat me like that," her friend said. "But then, you know, he would never treat me like that."

"You should be treated like that," Chloe smiled. "And not treated like that. Also isn't he ghosting you again?"

Her friend grimaced. "I think he really just wants a hookup who'll let him sleep over."

"Like me?" Chloe said.

"Chloe, don't say that," her friend said. "I don't feel casual with you. But you're not just here for sex. After I broke up with Daniel you let me stay here for days and just held me every night."

Chloe hugged her. "Kevin was a little put out, but I told him he needed to deal with it."

"He's good for you, isn't he?" her friend said.

"Nobody's perfect," Chloe said. "But he's ... perfect. He's a sweetheart until he's not and then, whoa." They laughed, but soon Rachele got serious again.

"That guy tonight was so careful and kind but he was talking about causing real pain," she said. "He wasn't kidding."

"Robert is merciless and he never raises his voice or even seems to break a sweat," Chloe said.

Her friend was quiet, her eyes closed.

"What are you thinking?" Chloe asked.

"I'm thinking about someone being kind and merciless to me," her friend said. She pushed the covers down below her hips and looked at Chloe. "Please?" she asked. Chloe slid her hands between Rachele's legs and leaned over to kiss her. She stroked gently, exactly the way she knew her friend liked it, and didn't break the kiss until her friend's hips rose off the bed and she moaned into Chloe's mouth.

Chloe lay back and pulled her friend's head onto her chest, stroking her hair.

"That's the second time," she said. "You never come that fast."

Her friend pressed closer.

"What's his deal?" her friend asked, after a few minutes of quiet. "Robert, I mean."

"I don't exactly know what he does for a living but he has a lot of money," Chloe said. "One of Kevin's brothers works for him or works for a company he started or something."

"Is he single?"

"So far as I know," Chloe said. "He's not married."

"Have you ever...?" the friend asked.

"Oh no," Chloe said. "Robert doesn't do casual things. I don't know if Kevin would like me being with a guy, either, but it never came up. Plus I like big and loud. Robert is wonderful to talk to but I can't picture him letting go the way Kevin does."

"He seemed to be getting serious when we were leaving. It looked like it was really hurting."

"Oh, it does, believe me," Chloe said. "Robert knows what he's doing. Those look like light taps but they don't stop and it builds and builds."

"You're still turned on when it hurts like that?"

"I'm turned on because it hurts like that," Chloe said. "I'm a straight-up masochist. Always have been. I told you, I used to be jealous of kids who got spanked. My parents were too progressive."

"I couldn't tell if the girl was liking it or not," her friend said. "She was crying and saying 'no' but Kevin didn't stop it."

"She has a safeword, and she knows how to use it," Chloe said. "I've seen them before. And Kevin and Robert would have stopped it if she were in trouble. But she was fine. She's really into being displayed like that and punished. One time I thought she was going to come just from being spanked."

Her friend laid quietly, her hands stroking Chloe's legs, parting her thighs. "Can I?" she asked. Chloe's hand pushed her friend's head down and raised her hips to her lips. Rachele's hands cupped Chloe's ass and pulled her closer, but Chloe's sharp intake of breath made her remove her hands.

"Sorry," she said, "did that hurt?" Chloe rolled over to show the bruises on her ass. Her friend touched them very gently. "Kevin worked you over, huh?"

"He did," Chloe said with a smile. "That was just his hands." They were really big hands. Rachele didn't respond, just gave her bruises a kiss.

Chloe rolled back over and raised her hips again. Rachele's hands were gentle, staying away from her sensitive ass, and Chloe's hand guided her head in slow and gentle licks. She rocked gently against the motion of her mouth, not coming, just melting.

After a while, she pulled her friend's head up and kissed her, tasting herself. Soon Chloe was asleep and her friend's head was on her shoulder, her eyes open, thinking about the girl bent over, his hands on her, his quiet voice, her silence.

--

Monday evening, her phone pinged as she sat on her kitchen bench waiting for the teapot to boil. It was a text from Chloe. "Time to talk?" it said. She pressed the call button.

"Hey," Chloe said. "I had a question for you that I didn't want to put in text. Kevin said he'd be happy to mention you to Robert, but he wanted to know if it's OK that Robert knows about you."

"About me?" she asked.

"That you're a sub."

"Oh." She paused. "What is Kevin going to say? What does he know? You've talked about me?"

"No, no," Chloe said. "I would never. Kevin knows you enough to get the idea, and if I'm suggesting you're interested in Robert that pretty much confirms it."

"OK?" her friend said, dubiously.

"Sweetie, Robert doesn't do vanilla. If Kevin is setting him up with you or whatever, then that's as much as telling him."

"Oh," she said, sounding less worried. "So just that I, you know, lean that way. Nothing detailed."

"Kevin doesn't know any details," Chloe said.

"OK, then I guess so," her friend said.

"Also -- Robert doesn't just 'lean,'" Chloe said. "But he also takes his time. He won't rush you. And he's discreet. He won't spill your tea."

On cue, the teapot whistled and Chloe said, "I'll let Kevin know."

Rachele hung up and turned off the gas. As the tea steeped, she breathed in the steam and thought. What would it be like to meet someone for the first time with him already knowing what she wanted? With her knowing what he was capable of? With her submissiveness out on the table in full view, rather than hidden beneath hints and tentative requests?

--

Robert had her laughing from the first. Chloe had introduced them soon after he got his coat off. "Robert," she said, "This is Rachele. Rachele, meet Robert."

"R and R," she said, brightly and nervously "Rock and roll!" Then she winced. "Er, no, let's not."

"No," he laughed with her. "Let's not do that again. But this R is very glad to meet your R." She relaxed. At least she'd gotten the nervous-stupid part out of the way up front. And "again"? That was interesting.

He asked about her work, and it turned out that he knew the company she worked for.

"You're a director there?" He asked. "At your age?"

She raised her eyebrows, and it was his turn to wince. "Ouch. I apologize."

"It's OK," she said. "You're not wrong to be surprised that a woman my age, or any age for that matter, is even that high up."

"Ah, so it is that kind of place."

She grimaced and nodded. "But at least the glass ceiling lets in lots of natural light."

--

After dinner she stood together with him, sipping drinks and looking at Kevin's books. Thankfully, the books on the shelves in the living room were mostly history and politics; those in their bedroom were much less benign. "He's got a lot of books on the Inquisition," she said.

Neither of them said anything for a beat. "Thanks for letting that lie," she said. "Too easy," he responded. "In any case, he seems to have all kinds of books about the Catholic Church."

"That's my child abuse section," Kevin roared from across the room, and they both laughed.

"Were you raised religiously?" he asked. She nodded. "Enough to know that Kevin isn't kidding."

He didn't say anything and she added hurriedly, "I mean, I don't have any horrible stories or trauma or anything. Just a lot of time being told to shut up in school."

"And you don't like being told to shut up," he said.

"Not by someone I know is wrong," she said.

He glanced at her, and she kept her eyes on the books, suspecting he'd caught the implication of what she'd said.

--

She'd called Chloe earlier in the afternoon, asking what she should wear. Chloe laughed.

"You've been here, right?" she said. "You've met Kevin?"

"Yeah yeah," her friend responded. "So you're going to be in sweats tonight? While Robert shows up with that leather jacket. You know that was the nicest piece of clothing in the club, right?"

"I'm sure," Chloe said, "But no, we won't, and no, I doubt he will. He's not impressed by clothes. Just dress like you usually do. You know how good your ass looks in those jeans you like."

So she was wearing those jeans -- stretchy and midrise, showing her ass nicely but with a cut and waistline that disguised what she thought of as her "big hips," not that they were. On top she wore a simple cashmere sweater, snug but not tight, over a t-shirt and a bralette. She'd chosen her nicest black thong, not because she thought Robert would see it, but so as not to interrupt the curve of her ass in the jeans. Besides, she liked the feel of it between her legs. On her feet she wore short ankle boots and a comfortable pair of socks.

He was wearing a straight-hemmed Oxford cotton shirt that was probably custom-made to look so perfectly casual. It wasn't pressed, but wasn't wrinkled, and hung outside a pair of jeans that looked basic but probably weren't. His shoes were black, the kind you could wear to work and then on a hike if you didn't mind getting them dirty.

--

She liked the way he looked at her. It made her feel sexy, but not ogled. He had definitely checked out her jeans, but he'd also noticed and complimented her small pearl studs, which had been her grandmother's and were the best jewelry she owned.

"Excuse me a moment?" he said, putting his glass down on a magazine and heading to the bathroom. Chloe and Kevin were in the kitchen and had already shooed her out once, so she just stayed where she was, feeling awkward. But the books were genuinely interesting. She knelt to look at the bottom shelves -- large books of maps, artwork and archaeology.

She stood up too quickly when she heard him return, and was momentarily lightheaded. She felt his hand at her back, offering support. He removed it once she steadied herself.

"I shouldn't drink wine before dinner," she said. "Thanks." He asked her what she'd been looking at and soon they were sitting together on the couch, leafing through a beautifully illustrated historical atlas, with each page showing the change in European borders over time.

They were each impressed with the other's knowledge. He had very strong opinions about the Tudors and Cromwell, and she mentioned the portraits of him and Thomas Moore glaring at each other in the Frick. Of course he'd read the Hilary Mantel books, so they talked until Chloe called them in to dinner.

He held his arm out, and she took it, charmed. He waited for her to sit, then sat down himself, and Chloe caught her eye and winked. She was still feeling his hand on her at the bookshelf, strong but not intrusive, providing just what she needed at just the right time.

--

The conversation continued flowing easily among the group after dinner. She caught Robert looking at her a few times, and it made her feel warm in a good way. What was he thinking? There'd been no mention of sex or the club.

Before 10, Chloe announced that she had an early start, and the evening broke up. Robert walked her to the elevator, but turned to the stairs instead of pushing the button. "I never understand why people buy stepper machines in New York City," he said. She laughed.

Outside the building, he offered to call her a cab but she said she would walk, and appreciated that he didn't offer to accompany her home from her best friend's house, a trip she made several times a week.

He rested his hand on her upper arm, and said, "I would truly like to see you again." She looked up at him, and said "I would like that," and he leaned down and kissed her, gently, but firmly. She opened her mouth to him, and his tongue entered to touch hers, licked the inside of her lips, and withdrew as he broke the kiss.