Join the Dots

Expecting her to slam the door on me, I was surprised when she stood back and let me in. Without a word, she called the elevator and when it arrived, we rode in silence to the fourth floor, both pairs of eyes fixed on the door. It was a reverse image of the day she had taken me down to the carpark some fourth months earlier.

At the top, she walked out without a backward glance and I followed her along a winding maze of corridors. When I caught up with her, she was standing in her doorway. She stared down at me. "Which part of 'I never want to see your fucking face again' did you not understand?"

I swallowed hard. "It was 'set eyes on', actually."

She sneered at me. "Was it? Oh sorry, I'd just about forgotten the whole rotten episode anyway."

I sneered back. "Like fuck you had, because you didn't mean it."

She shook her head, her dark hair swirling. "Didn't I? Oh dear, I must have forgotten that bit as well."

I hadn't come this far to be rebuffed. "No, Bree. You fucking well didn't mean it." Before she could react, I pushed past her into her loft apartment, deliberately bumping her hard with my shoulder. The door to the bathroom in which my final humiliation had taken place some four months earlier was just before the main room. I stood defiantly in the doorway and inclined my head inside. "I need a minute."

She turned and walked into the apartment, shrugging her shoulders as she removed her wet coat. "Yeah, whatever."

It took me forever to get into my new clothes. I still wasn't used to vinyl and the boots were a bastard to lace up. After a long struggle, I looked at myself in the mirror.

I saw the red vinyl teddy, barely covering my midriff. I saw the latex knickers that had a zip in them to open up the delights beneath and I saw my long black boots and short red gloves. They looked and felt sensational and I could only pray that Bree thought so too. There were loops and rings on the boots at the ankles, knees and calves and there were black bands around my wrists with similar aids for restraint. The fingers of the left glove were black, each ribbed in a slightly different way. I had used that glove a lot recently and could attest to its devastating effects. I arranged one long pigtail over my left shoulder and the other down my back. My heart was racing and I didn't dare contemplate what would happen if she rejected me.

When I emerged, Bree was standing by the dining table, smoke curling up from a cigarette in her right hand, the fingers of her left drumming impatiently on the tabletop. When she saw me, her eyes went wide and the drumming stopped. Relieved at what I took to be a positive reaction, I walked forward unsteadily on the unfamiliar high heels of my boots. They made a satisfying click on the hardwood floor.

I stood before her, my hands behind my back clutching the gift I had bought her and held her smouldering gaze. "You lied, Bree. I could see it in your eyes. Not at the time, but that look you gave me in the car that day was etched into my consciousness. It took me a long time to realise that look actually said, 'Please don't go.'"

She took a deep breath and I could see she was now shaking like a leaf. "Yes, Chloe -- it was a lie."

My voice sounded tiny. "Why push me away when you didn't mean it?"

Bree sighed. "I suppose I wanted you to think I had already forgotten you like I said. Make you feel like you were nothing -- just like the four of you made me feel all those years ago." She let out a harsh little bark of a laugh. "Besides, I'm addicted to giving and receiving pain. I'm a lifelong expert at it. I could hurt us both with one stupid statement and make us both miserable. I was ashamed and hated myself at what I'd done and I hated you for making me do it."

Her shoulders slumped. "I'd not been miserable for a while and somehow it felt good to have an old friend back. I told you I never wanted to see you again and... oh, fuck it!" She let out a scream and kicked out at the table leg with a booted foot. "In my stupidity and hubris, I damn nearly succeeded."

She looked me in the eye. "I've forgiven you - can you forgive me? Because right now I am back to hating myself again for what I did to you."

I was also shaking now. "Bree, I don't hate you. I deserved what you did to me for what I did to you, no matter how long ago it was. When you then threw me back in the gutter where I belonged, it took me a long time to realise my real feelings. But I got there in the end and it's why I'm back. It's why I found you again."

She pulled on her cigarette and smiled. "Fucking hell, it took you long enough!"

It changed the mood and I laughed and looked around the beautiful apartment in which she had tortured me. "Yeah but I got here."

I thought for a moment. There was no doubt in my mind what I wanted to happen next -- I had planned it in my mind meticulously - but I was very scared about how the next few minutes would play out. "Yes, I can forgive you Bree. Especially if you do something for me - something cathartic to hopefully give us both some closure." Shuddering at what I was going to do, I held my bare left arm out towards her. I pointed to a spot two or three inches above my elbow joint on the inside of my arm, then at her cigarette. "Do it, Bree."

She narrowed her eyes. "You are fucking kidding, aren't you?"

I tried to keep the fear out of my voice. "Do it."

She shook her head. "I can't, Chloe. I give pleasure and cause pain for a living, but not like that."

I grabbed her wrist. "Fucking do it. I don't have the guts to do it. Fuck knows I tried so many times." Now there really was a shake in my voice. "Do it Bree, or I walk away right now and we're done -- I mean it. You were in charge four months ago. Give me control for ten seconds and then it's all back to you."

She saw the determination in my look and heard it in my voice. She closed her eyes and sighed deeply. "Okay, if that's what you want. But it fucking hurts like hell and it smells even worse."

I held my breath as she took a deep pull until the tip glowed red. I held her gaze as she quickly jabbed it against the spot I had indicated and held it there. It was like nothing I had ever felt before and I clenched my teeth until my jaw ached as the pain lanced through me and the stench of burning hair and skin assailed my nostrils. I felt my legs almost give way as tears prickled behind my eyes. Bree's eyes were locked on mine, her hand trembling.

Despite the searing pain, I pointed to another spot, this one a few inches below the elbow. "Again."

Bree groaned. "Oh fucking hell, no!"

There was desperation in my voice. I wanted this over as quickly as possible. "Oh fucking hellyes, Bree." I saw doubt in her eyes but she repeated her actions and this time, I did sink to my knees whimpering as my whole arm felt like it was on fire and the gift that I was still clutching in my free hand fell from my grasp. Without a word, she stubbed out the cigarette and walked past me into the bathroom I had used minutes before.

When she returned, I was standing back upright, leaning unsteadily against the table. I held my arm, examining the livid red burns and it felt as if I was in a dream. She gently took my hand away and swabbed the wounds with antiseptic before rubbing in burn cream from a tube. She smiled ruefully. "Haven't needed it for a while, thank God, but its bloody good stuff." She covered each burn with a gauze dressing and kissed the area between them.

She straightened up and looked at me. "Fuck, it's easier to do it to yourself than someone else. Why, Chloe?"

A single tear ran down the side of my nose. "I just had to, that's all. I can't tell you at the moment, but hopefully someday soon you will see the real reason."

She nodded and blew out her cheeks. "Ok, I can wait. The main thing is you're here. So what now?"

I bent down and picked up the thing I had dropped and held it out to her on my upturned palms, my head lowered. She took it from me and I held up my two long pigtails to help her fit it. My left arm was throbbing and I bit my lip as the pain washed over me once more.

She examined the collar I had given her. It was made from the softest leather and had cost me a small fortune. I only prayed that it would repay me a thousand times over. Attached to it at even intervals were three chrome rings and at the front was a chrome plate. I'd had it engraved and Bree's face split into a wide smile as she read the words.

Join the Dots

I saw her eyes mist over as I knelt before her. "It's beautiful."

She stood tall in front of me, her pale blue eyes shining with tears as she gently buckled the collar around my neck. I shuddered in anticipation as she gripped my right arm and I gripped hers as she pulled me upright. She put a finger to the tip of my nose. "Don't go anywhere." She crossed to one of her equipment cupboards and picked out two objects. She buckled a collar around her own neck then attached a length of chain to a ring on it. She closed the distance between us and with a gleam in her eye, held the other end of the chain to my collar. "May I?"

In answer, I stretched my neck and tilted my head back. "Do with me as you will."

She clipped the chain into place and touched my bandaged arm. "Enough pain for one day, Chloe. What I am going to do to you now is make love to you - tenderly and gently." She lowered her head. "Like I wanted to before, day after bloody day..."

Shivering, I gestured to my new outfit. "Do you want me to take these off?"

Her voice was soft. "Fuck no. Don't you dare!" She took a step backwards until we were about a metre apart, the chain going taught between us. Smiling, I pulled back, resisting for a few seconds before we jousted with each other, tugging and releasing for a minute or so before I let her take control. She shuffled away from me step by step and I kept resisting, teasing her, until we reached her huge brass bed. She threw herself backwards and I was pulled forwards into her open arms.

Her voice was hoarse. "You're not going to take those disgusting slut-clothes off, Chloe." We both groaned in unison as her hands roamed over the sheer red latex. "I am - but I'm going to take a very, very long time to do it."

I forgot all about the pain in my arm. Over an hour later, Bree Longley finally released the chain from her collar and broke the bond between us. She peeled my teddy over my head and diving down, unzipped me and nuzzled her face between my legs. I slid my boots over her shoulders and gazed down into her gorgeous eyes. As her tongue slid deep inside me, I sighed contentedly as the chain hung down between my breasts. I was now in no doubt whatsoever that the collar was going to repay me not a thousand times over, but a million.

The once ugly-duckling turned beautiful-swan grinned up at me and my heart lifted. Something that had started with such evil intent was hopefully going to turn into something truly special.

I grinned back and dug my sharp heels into her back. "God, that feels fucking amazing." I grabbed her thick dark hair in both hands and forced her down hard on me. "Ok Sabrina, we've, joined the dots - now show me just what a fucking dirty little bitch you can be!"

She looked up at me. "I've already done that. This is to show you my other side. We can stop hurting each other now, Chloe."

I stroked her thick black hair. "You can hurt me a bit. Some of it was... well, I think I liked it anyway!"

Her eyes went wide. "So you enjoyed some of it? Ooh yeah, which bits?"

I pulled on her hair gently. "Oh I dunno - best do a full recap to jog my memory, eh?" I then tugged a little harder. "But whatever you do to me, I get to do to you."

Her tongue lapped at me and she purred. "Yeah, I can live with that. Seventy-thirty, me in charge?"

"Sixty-forty?"

Her voice was muffled as I pulled her back down onto me, but from the look in her eyes we had a deal.

Bree Longley and I set about righting the wrongs we had inflicted upon each other and if the last night I had spent in this apartment all those months ago was the worst of my life, this was unoubtedly the best. I was sure there would be times when we both remembered past sins -- they were too deeply ingrained to ignore. But if we could remember how much we had hurt each other it would only make us stronger together going forward.

As I watched the sun come up over London with this beautiful woman lying asleep by my side, I gazed at the two dressings on my arms. What I had planned was going to take a while to come to fruition, but I now knew that when it did, we would be stronger than ever.

Epilogue -- Bree

I had missed Chloe so much, even if it was only for a week. Our life together was wonderful and we had both almost come to terms with our mutual abuse of each other and had just about put it behind us.

I was aching to see her so we could have some time together before my evening client arrived. It was Val Simmons, one of my longest-serving ladies. She was in her early forties and completely submissive. It was a dirty little secret that she had harboured for years, and when her husband began to go away on overseas business trips when she was in her late thirties, she found my website. I was going to give her a special treat tonight and introduce her to my new assistant, the lovely Chloe.

The lovely Chloe was really only my part-time assistant. She loved her day job too much to go full-time, but she also loved her new second job and was proving very popular with ladies who liked something a little more restrained than I usually provided.

During one of our Skype calls in the week, she had confessed to me that she'd had a very nice evening at her advertising conference in Berlin with a guy from their American office. She had confessed on her knees with her hands clasped behind her back in supplication. I had no intention of stopping her sleeping with men when she felt the urge and I had been delighted when Serah had got her wish from that fateful night and they had shared a 'nice hard dick' together. I think Serah was almost as happy as I was when Chloe had come back and she was even more of a regular visitor than she had ever been before. Besides, Chloe's 'other activities' gave me the ideal opportunity to think up a very devious and prolonged form of punishment -- the sort she now craved to receive as much as I craved to give.

But that punishment could wait for now. It was Friday afternoon and when she returned, I wanted it to be soft and gentle before it got hot and nasty with Val later on.

But tomorrow -- Saturday? Well, we had the whole day to ourselves and she was just going to love my new sex swing. Serah and Erika were on the guest list and I had quite a homecoming party planned.

At last I heard her key in the door and my heart leapt. I walked back into the main room from the balcony. We'd had the lock changed and I now felt comfortable being out there once more.

Chloe dropped her bag, leaned on the doorpost and grinned at me, her hand on her chin. Involuntarily, my hand touched my face to the left of my own chin where my worst acne scar was still visible. Sometimes I still couldn't fully shut out the memory.

"Hey babe, how was the Conference?"

She slowly walked towards me, her coat falling to the floor as she stripped off her red leather gloves finger by finger in a way that she knew I loved. She slapped a glove across my cheek. "Never mind that boring shit -- shut the fuck up and get on that fucking bed."

I ripped the glove from her hand. "Oh, it's gonna be like that, is it?" I gave her a resounding crack across her face with it.

She stood scowling at me. "No - it's gonna be like this!"

Laughing, she ran at me and rugby tackled me around the waist. Despite being about a foot shorter than me, she drove me backwards and we tumbled into a heap on the bed, giggling and desperately trying to get each other's clothes off. Not that I was wearing much -- just the black latex mini-dress she loved so much. I was about to pull her long-sleeved shirt over her head when she stopped me, her face serious.

"No Bree -- I need to do this. There's something you need to see."

Intrigued, I somehow managed to put my passion aside for a moment and let her go. "Ok, if you say so babe."

She turned away from me and as she peeled the shirt over her head, I could see something dark on her left upper arm. She put her hand over it to cover it and turned back to me. "Remember the first time I came back and you did that thing to me."

I recalled the look on her face when I had twice held my cigarette to her arm. Somehow, she had managed to suppress the agony she must have felt and barely flinched. "Yeah babe, I remember. You said you'd tell me why when the time was right."

She nodded. "The time is right, Bree. I've been waiting for this moment for months now and being away was the ideal time to have it done and let it settle down." Her hand slid down below her elbow and she held her arm out to me.

Where there had once been a livid burn mark a few inches above her left elbow, there was now a small rose tattooed there. Next to it in tiny writing was a single word.

Chloe

Her hand now slid up to cover it again and at the same time revealed a second rose the same distance below her elbow where the other scar had been. There was another single word.

Bree

I felt myself begin to tremble as I traced my fingernail gently along the stem of the 'Chloe' rose as it wound down and around her arm to meet up with the stem winding up from the 'Bree' rose. Where they met and intertwined, there were three more words and as I read them, I let out a racking sob.

Join the Dots

With tears in my eyes, I kissed both roses, then pulled Chloe Harper down onto me for the longest, softest, most erotic kiss I had ever experienced in my life.

As we gently explored each other as if it was our first time together, I briefly recalled Chloe's beautiful face hurling cruel insults at a scared, lonely girl. Then I recalled how that face had looked as myself and three other women took it turns to brutalise her in this very room.

As she now slid down between my legs and gave me that smile that melted my heart every time, I knew which of Chloe's faces I preferred.

In my mind's eye, I put the image of a blue-eyed blonde girl screaming insults at a crying, frightened dark-haired girl into a small box. Alongside it, I put the image of a tall, dark-haired woman standing over a terrified, wide-eyed blonde with a whip raised, a look of feral hatred on her face. I locked the box with a small key and opening an imaginary window, threw it with all my strength into the mighty Thames far below.

Returning to reality, I reached down and stroked the hair of the beautiful girl lying between my legs. The past was gone and buried. All that mattered was the here and now and the future we had together.

I took hold of her arm and once again kissed the two roses. I ran my tongue along the stems and kissed the words between them.

It had taken us a long time and it had been hell of a road, but finally, Bree Longley and Chloe Harper had found out how to really Join the Dots.