Pride Comes Before a Fall

Tessa hugged my arm just a little tighter. "Go on Martin, admit it. Life would be dead boring if we weren't involved in it."

I nodded my head out of habit. Then looked at my arm and the hold my friend had on it. Tessa got the hint and let go.

I pointed to the naked women, although my comment was aimed at Tessa. "Ok, the bookends can stay on the floor, but I want you to tell me what's going on."

The words "Hey, no fair" came from a familiar voice behind me.

Tessa in turn politely shook her head. "I can't do that Martin, it's not my show. I will sit and listen with you while Susan makes her pitch. She's practiced for hours on me over these last few weeks. I swear, if it was aimed at me, I would buy in."

"But I don't need anything Tessa."

That damn smile just grew again. "Take it from me Martin, you both have something the other needs."

The staring competition between us lasted for a few minutes. In the end, even I was willing to finally get to the bottom of all this; and, if it meant sitting through a few speeches, then so be it. However, it was going to be on my terms.

I walked over to the two kneeling slaves and sat in front of Susan. As a guy, I was sure having trouble keeping eye contact. My hand came up and behind her head to release the ball gag, gently pulling it from her mouth.

"I assume your mouth is dry, those things tend to do that. Do you need that bottle of water now?"

Susan shook her head. "You need to get naked."

I shook mine. "No I don't. This is my apartment and; therefore, I make the rules."

She bit her bottom lip. "It's the only way I can tell if your lying; you must be naked."

That was sure one heck of a statement, and the second time she accused me of it.

"Still no, but the lady on the couch knows more about me than anyone else. She is your barometer for me supposedly lying to you."

Susan moved her eyes to look at Tessa behind me. I can only assume that my friend nodded in agreement because I watched Susan give a slight nod in return.

"Please, may I stand. I prefer to walk and talk at the same time, especially when it regards my future."

Confusing as that statement was, I agreed that she could move from her position on the floor. I stood and re-joined my friend on the couch as Susan paced back and forth knotting her fingers together as she did.

"When I was younger I was a difficult child. Strangely enough the only times I was calm was when my cousin came to visit, he had that effect on me. I was OCD with numbers and my parents leapt on that and used it to guide my future. I actually started taking courses in accountancy at fifteen. I tore up the book when I took the tests with the highest score ever given."

As she grew up, her cousin was still a stabilizing factor in her life. He persuaded her folks to send her to be tested only to find out her IQ was only slightly above average. Yet when she was given a math problem she plowed through it. The cousin went into the army and wasn't seen or heard from again for four years. Susan got the odd email from him checking to see if she was ok, but that was all.

Susan told us all that she had counted the days off until school ended while her parents talked about sending her to local community college. That's when the cousin physically came back into her life and handed her folks a check for the first two years of university. The university that agreed to take her was over five hundred miles away. Her folks said no until the cousin agreed to stay in her life through those two years; and, if she liked those years, he would pay for the completion of her course.

Even this far Susan was visibly shaking in her skin. Tessa pointed to Candy and then to Susan. She understood and leapt to her feet and planted herself in front of the walking Susan, held her head in her hands and kissed her. There was no refusal on Susan's part; her hands came around Candy's body and pulled her closer.

When both came up for air, I think, judging by the looks Candy was giving her, that Candy may have met her match.

Susan's cheeks were a cute shade of pink. That also seemed to seep down her neck when she whispered. "Thank you."

Candy then knelt back down again as Susan continued. "I had no social life. I did what I had to do to gain sorority and they looked after me as well. In return, I held group's math classes and tutored a couple of the more senior Sorority girls. By the second year my cousin came back into my life and asked me what I wanted to do."

She smiled as she freely admitted that she burst into tears in front of him and almost begged him to let her stay. He nodded his head, then went off and came back later in the day. So between the university staff, the sorority and Susan they mapped out her life for the coming years. Her cousin was insistent on a couple of courses even though they weren't in the field of mathematics.

Curiosity being what it was, I said. "What were the courses your cousin insisted on?"

"Starting a small business and safe expansion, as well as, monitoring cash flow of small businesses. My cousin even found a guest speaker. The university near on fell over themselves to accept when he offered to guest speak at this particular course."

That pacing thing started again and she continued into her last year at university. Faced with returning home and not hearing from her cousin in many months, one of the sisters sat her down and talked to her about The Auction. Susan looked on it as a way of paying back her cousin and not burdening her parents when she left university. She was interviewed and they agreed to wait until she was finished with exams.

"You will kneel now."

Susan rushed over and knelt next to Candy. My attention was now on the familiar voice behind me.

"She was going to be my last of The Auction. I took one look at her on the podium and knew I had to get her away from that place, she simply didn't belong their Martin. I may have collared her, but she isn't a slave. The collar calms her and that's all I wanted it to do."

I stated the obvious, but I just couldn't help myself. "So Susan was your slave for the last year you were CEO?"

That smirk thing returned with a vengeance. "Susan, tell Martin what we did on any given week."

Susan rolled her eyes, before saying, "We went shopping, to the theater, out to dinner on occasions."

"Now tell Martin what you did when I left you alone."

Her voice was more hesitant this time. She focused on me and said. "I researched you, your business, and the demise of your marriage. It wasn't your fault, by the way, neither you nor your friends could have done anything to stop it. By the time you found out, she was too far gone."

My friend's hand held my arm. "Martin, she's OCD. She can't lie, and she doesn't know that sometimes she offends people with what she sees as the truth."

Tessa then leaned in and whispered in my ear. I looked at her totally confused, but all she did was push me to ask the question she had just given me.

With a resigned shrug I said. "What do you want from me?"

Her reply was immediate, she didn't even think about how to word it. "I want to buy half your business with the money I have left from The Auction, and the ability to allow it to grow; and, I want half of you. Mind, body and soul."

"That's a tall ask. What would I get in return?"

"Me."

This now turned into a staring competition. "Interesting, I'm supposed to give you so much, and yet, I get so little in return."

Her cheeks turned red but her eyes still stayed neutral in all this. "You get more than you think. I'm still a virgin, so you get to teach me. I have aced courses you haven't even heard of. Over my time at university I've made friends and contacts that can prove useful over the years to come. All this is wrapped up in one word, me."

I turned to look directly at Tessa. "Virgin?"

"Mmhhmm, I never touched her other than a peck on the cheek, shared showers and naked hugs while we slept. Once I found out she was still a virgin, I knew she wasn't mine. She found you among my papers in my home office and your it. Not me."

Feeling curious once again I asked. "Why me?"

Tessa pulled hard on my arm and quickly said. "Slave, STOP."

Not a word left Susan's lips.

"Martin, I will remind you yet again, she has OCD. She can't lie and cannot water down the truth as she sees it. Not many people are prepared for that type of brutal honesty."

My friend was right, perhaps another time. "Susan, if I ask that question again at another time, will your answer be the same?"

Her brow creased for a moment. "No, the truth is only the truth until it is not. Three months from now for example, too many events could have changed my original opinion."

Something else occurred to me. "Have you spoken to your cousin about the partnership you want with me?"

"No. You also forget, it's not just a business partnership. For this to work, I must become part of your life, a real part of your life and even travel with you like Candy did. Meet and get each of your clients to accept new contracts."

"What's wrong with the ones I have? My lawyer wrote it up just the way I asked him too."

"Then I will have to get rid of him as well. The contracts you hand out are nothing more than 'good old boy' contracts. Back in the day, a handshake would have had more value than what these companies are signing. We will have another recession in approximately two years. When it hits, every single client you have can walk away from you and you won't see a nickel of what you're owed."

Tessa giggled behind me. When I pulled my eyes off of Susan, Tessa just grinned and said. "I warned you. Twice I warned you, but you just didn't listen. Did you?"

This time Tessa stood and looked directly at Susan. "It's time, my slave and I have to leave. Not once in the time I have been here has he lied to you. Factor that into any other conversation you have with him; and, be gentle with him."

Susan's gaze never left Tessa's. "I'm the virgin, he is not. It is he who needs to be gentle."

Tessa shrugged as she pointed to Candy, who then stood and rushed back into the bedroom to get dressed.

"Remember to email your cousin with your change of address."

Susan nodded her head in acknowledgment. "Thank you Mistress. Although now I live here with Martin, can I now call you Tessa?"

"Yes you can, your contract with me has expired. You and I are now on first name terms; you may continue to speak to my slave as long as you only use the term, 'slave'."

Susan nodded her head before saying. "Agreed, I will also email my cousin as you have suggested."

She then nodded her head towards me; it was nice that she remembered I was still in the room.

"Will I have to wait until bedtime to see him naked?"

"It's a possibility, yes. I know you want to see him naked to continue your advancement into his life, but he's a male of the species and prone to independence. Pause in your rush to see him naked, use your other skills, talk to him as your equal, for example. It's worth the wait if your sister's comments about him are anything to go by."

"But he's not my equal, I have..."

Tessa quickly held up her hand to stop Susan. "If you ever think that thought ever again, this is doomed to fail. He is your equal because what you lack in life, he has; and what you have, he hasn't. That is why you are both a match. Do you understand?"

Susan paused in thought, looked long and hard at me for a moment before she returned her attention to Tessa. "I will apologies to him when you are gone. You are of course, correct."

Candy came out of my bedroom before I could defend myself. I watched as Susan stood and Candy wrapped her arms around her.

They lip-locked for a moment before both pulled away to draw breath. "I've spent a year getting him ready for you. He is a considerate lover, more so now that he knows you're a virgin. The rest of your clothes will be here at ten in the morning. Save him. Save his company, and enjoy your life with him. He doesn't share and you will never see a collar ever again while you live with him."

Susan went white, her bottom lip started to quiver. "But what if I need one to calm down."

In an act of tenderness I had never seen from Candy in the year she had been with me, she held up a finger and touched Susan's lips with it. "He's male, but that doesn't make him stupid. If you need to be collared, he will adapt to protect you. It's not in his body to hurt you. If he sees you need it, you will get it."

When Susan nodded her head in understanding, Candy kissed her goodbye. She then walked over to me, leaned towards me and kissed me as well, "Goodbye and thank you."

*******

For some time, we both seemed to be staring at the closed door. The movement out of the corner of my eye was Susan walking towards me. She knelt on the floor in front of me, then pulled one of my hands into hers and held it. She only spoke when my attention was once again fully on her.

"I'm kneeling in front of you because I wish you to see all of me. I'm no longer a slave, I am your equal. When I found you among mistress's private papers, I knew I found my man."

Susan told me as we sat like this that she had read every correspondence I had sent to Tessa, both mail and internet. Tessa was my friend and pretty much my support network since she knew everything that had gone on, from the very beginning, right up until the divorce, so every conversation I had with her was on a no holds barred level. Susan had read them all and made a connection.

"I have waited this long for a relationship and good sex. I suppose the good sex can wait a little longer while I prove to you that we are a match. Can we have something light to eat and then go to bed? I need to be held and I hope you notice that women's bodies are designed with a groove that will allow you to slide your erection along, without entering me."

Her hand went to one of her breasts and held it, then lifted it slightly. "Of course I insist that at least one of your hands holds one of these all night."

When I looked into her eyes, I knew I was lost. There was so much about this woman I knew nothing about. There was also so much my eyes could see in front of me as well. She may be vulnerable in parts. She may even have a hefty dose of OCD, but there was a steel rod holding her up. She could match anyone. Her eyes told such a story; her unblemished body could hold the gaze of any man and bring out the jealousy of any woman.

Tessa was my friend, and my friend introduced me, in a rather unorthodox way, to Susan. Was I reaching, or was the truth staring right back at me, still holding onto her breast.

Susan smiled, let go of her breast and said. "You can see. I know you can, few can. My cousin was the first. There have been a couple of sorority sisters that could and I was grateful for that. Remember, you are playing catch-up. I know of you because of my association with Tessa. So I am in front of you by almost a year. The more you ask of me, the more you treat me like your equal, and the more sex we have and you will have caught up soon enough."

Suddenly the hand that held mine, squeezed slightly to bring my attention back to her.

"Please, at least let me see you naked." She did that rolling of eyes that I found amusing again. "We can wait for the sex to start, but I've been waiting almost a year to see you naked."

With my free hand I undid a couple of buttons on my shirt. Then with her hand still in mine, I pulled it towards me, parted my shirt and placed the palm of her hand against my chest.

When her palm told her mind what it was feeling, her smile would have lit up half the city, all on its own. "This is because of me?"

"Susan, you're a very attractive woman, both inside and out. But you must factor into almost every conversation we have, that in my eyes we have only just met. You may have known of me longer by default, but my first introduction to you was asking me to get naked. To coin an overused phrase: sometimes we have to take a step back before we can move forward."

It took a moment, but with Susan, providing you looked closely enough, you could see the wheels going round. She nodded her head in agreement. Then she nodded her head towards her hand, still placed to my quickly beating chest. "But I did that, all by myself?"

The laugh made her pause before I agreed that she did indeed, do that. That's when she bolted off the floor and skipped around the room. While I watched, like the guy that I am, all her jiggly bits moved with her. She really didn't realize just how beautiful she was.

I made us both soup and Susan helped. Reluctantly she put an apron on, at my insistence. As soon as it was all on the table the apron seemed to have vanished. As we ate, we talked. Her mind really is an interesting thing. It held my attention because she rarely traveled along one conversation at a time. My own mind stayed active because I had to keep up with her questions and also what topic they related to at times.

It was when the dishes were washed up and put away that I noticed what time it was. Susan may have taken my advice and not rammed a year's worth of knowledge into any conversation, but between us we had talked well into the night and I realized just then, not only was she now a part of my household, but inch by inch, she was sneaking into my thoughts, hopes and dreams.

"Caught on have you?"

When I looked she had that 'I told you so' look about her.

I felt my cheeks get just a little warm and that moved her smirk up to a smile. She moved forward, her arms outstretched, I did the same and we held each other.

"If this is what you're like without the sex, I better buy pads for my panties, because I'm going to wet all day."

I laughed. I wasn't even sure she said that out loud on purpose or her own thoughts just spilled over to her mouth and her voice must have thought 'why not'.

"Susan, I'm still not ready for sex with you."

I heard her groan and bury her face further into the top of my shoulder.

"But since it's getting towards bedtime, I say we have an early night since the rest of your things arrive tomorrow and we're both going to be busy. I really think we should have an early night."

Susan instantly turned, her hand still in mine, as she quickly walked to the bedroom, turned and sat on the edge of the bed. Only then did she let me have my hand back.

Her eyes were level with a certain part of my body. "You are hard. Yet you don't want sex with me?"

This time I sat on the bed next to her, my hand sought hers and held it tight.

"How long did it take you to decide that I was going to be the man to take your virginity?"

I think it took her thoughts just a moment to pinpoint the precise moment, her mind really was like a filing cabinet. It was sure interesting to watch her facial features as her mind processes this stuff.

"I had been Tessa's slave for three months. She had to go into work for some emergency meeting. Rather than have me sitting around getting bored, she told me to clean her home office. I found an email she had printed off from you. To decide what pile it needed to go in, I read it."

My face turned to hers as she explained that she had to sit down to finish reading it.

"You had loved Kathrine a great deal, it was plain to see, even in an email. It was also easy to see that you were still hurting." Her hand held mine just a little tighter right then. "I did something I shouldn't have. I won't apologies for doing it, since the end result meant I'm sitting here in your bedroom."

Since Tessa had a home office, her computer was without any safety password attachments. Susan's mind went to work researching all there was to know about me. The more Tessa's computer yielded, the more she thirsted for. It became so all-consuming that she didn't even see Tessa leaning against the door of her own home office watching her.