Scheherazade Nights Ch. 01

"Can't speak?" wondered Mary.

"Sure, it happens. What if my mouth is full?" Debbie asked archly.

"Oh my God, Debbie, that's disgusting!" but Mary looked a bit pink, not disgusted.

"I meant with food," Debbie smirked.

"You did not!" Mary retorted, as everyone laughed.

"Tell us all the rules," said Anne.

"Well, Rule #3: No fantasy can be allowed to cause any problems for relationships with friends, family, neighbors, or work. That one takes some creativity sometimes...not letting the neighbors see!"

Everyone giggled.

"Rule #4: No one can ever be injured and no permanent marking without prior consent."

"Oh, that's a good one. Pain isn't very exciting," Claire said.

Debbie was quiet a moment. "The rule says 'injured', Claire, not 'pain'. A little pain, as long as it doesn't violate any of the other rules, is okay."

The other women looked shocked.

"Well, honestly, it's really limited by the other rules. But still, if John's got a fantasy of spanking me, the rules say it's okay. If I can't take it, I have to safe word. The rule just makes it clear that no damage is ever done no matter where things go."

"But, Debbie..."

"Listen, neither John nor I have any desire to really hurt the other. It's all play, sometimes the tiniest bit rough, but play. Trust me, no one gets hurt. Even if someone misjudged, the safe word rule protects you. Seriously, don't make it more than it is." The other women looked doubtful, but settled back.

"The permanent marking thing is, like, tattoos?" Anne asked finally.

"Yeah. No tattoos without prior consent, which I don't think either of us is ready to do right now. You know, it occurred to me the other day that we should revisit that rule since I'm not sure John and I agree on the word 'permanent'. Since you can let a piercing close up, it is considered permanent? I'd rather agree beforehand that I'm NOT getting my nipples pierced than have to stop him when he asks."

"He's asking you to do that?" Mary wanted to know.

"No, not at all! Just better safe than sorry. The rules aren't cast in stone; we can tweak them if we need to."

"Ask him quite innocently if giving him a scrotum piercing is within the rules. He'll change the rule on his own before you can say another word," Claire suggested lightly.

Anne laughed, "Actually, he'll be too busy turning green and clutching the family jewels to do anything right away!"

...

"Rule #5: The partner need not enjoy the fantasy, there's no guilt.

"Really what this means is it's a license to be selfish and have fun just for yourself; it's your fantasy. If I'm having fun, that's the thing. If it's a problem, it's on him to use his safe word. And vice-versa, of course."

"I guess that makes some sense, given that the point is to have your fantasies made real," mused Claire.

Debbie said, "I put that rule in. John's the type of guy who would have started worrying how I was doing in the middle of one of his fantasies. I wanted him to know that it's okay to just...you know...let go and have fun and trust me to watch out for myself."

"Rule #6: The activities must all be directed toward the fantasy.

"This one's maybe a little subtle. The point is that you have to choose things because they fulfill your fantasy, not for some other motive. For example, you can't try to get someone to safe word just to cause them to lose points."

"Oooh, good thinking!" said Heather.

"Hey, I'm not saying I would ever cheat that way," Debbie giggled, "but if things had gotten close and Aruba had been in jeopardy...well, a girl's got limits and Rule #6 is there to keep me honest.

"Rule #7: The person running the fantasy may not have any sexual contact with a third person. You can involve another person with your partner when you're boss, but you can't do anything yourself."

Claire looked surprised. "I think every straight man on the planet has a fantasy about two women. Did John argue a lot against that one?"

"Actually, he's the one who asked for that rule." Now all the women looked surprised.

"John's a guy, yes, but he's also introspective enough to know that he couldn't handle me telling him to get lost while I spent my day having sex with another guy... HEY, I'm not saying I would have done that! For God's sake!" she yelled quickly as the others opened their mouths for the inevitable question, "You know I'm not like that!

"But, I think John knew he could relax more if he knew it was explicit. Even if it was just a one-time fantasy thing, there's just way too much baggage around that!

"And, frankly, that's just fine with me. I don't think I'd be in great shape if it was the other way. The Game isn't about cheating. John and I love each other, and making sure that the other is always, always, always secure is priority numero uno."

"You said the partner can be with another person, though...does that mean...like...has John ever had you with another guy while he was there?" Mary wanted to know, fascination clear in her voice.

"Trust me, Mary, it's never happened and I'm pretty sure it never will. John has no fantasies of seeing me have sex with another guy, I assure you."

"What about another woman?" Heather asked slyly.

"On to Rule #8..."

"OH MY GOD! DEBBIE!"

"Rule #8," Debbie said firmly, her cheeks pink, "No activity that caused a safe word can be retried without agreement from the partner. I think it's pretty clear. I caused John to safe word once. I can never put him in that situation again unless we talk it through and he says I can try. We added that rule this year."

"What was it that happened?" Mary asked.

"That's between us, I think, Mary. I'm sorry...no offense. I'd just rather not talk about it."

"Anyway, those are the rules except for Rule #1. It's the most important, but it's kind of sappy. So don't laugh, okay?

"It goes like this--Rule #1: Everything must be done in a spirit of play.

"That's the one that makes all the other rules work. We may do things the other doesn't especially like, say things that sound a little harsh in a particular fantasy...but everything is always a game and we can never, ever forget that. Nothing is ever intended to belittle or make the other feel bad. The day either of us cannot follow Rule #1, The Game stops. We both know that.

"Now, I don't know about you, but I need a potty break."

...

"So, what kinds of things have you guys done?" Anne asked when Debbie came back.

"No dice, girls. You fed me enough alcohol to tell you The Game existed. That's it."

"Oh, come on! You can't stop there!" Anne protested.

"Can and have. Well, ladies, I must be going."

"Debbie, wait! You have to give us something."

"No, actually I don't," Debbie smiled.

"So, I'm guessing from those cuffs you have a fantasy date coming up? Whose?" asked Claire, holding Debbie's purse behind her.

Debbie tried to grab it, failed as Claire held it up high.

"Fine, a week from Saturday; one of mine." She snatched her purse as Claire turned and smiled at Anne.

"And what are you going to do?"

"Good night, ladies," Debbie laughed as she swept toward the door.

"You bitch!" Claire yelled through her laughter. "I'm going to tell John you bought a collar for him!"

Debbie looked back for a second. "The manacles? They're for me, not him..." The door closing punctuated that sentence.