Send your comments about this to Jane Smith <janedoe007@hotmail.com>.
The Unexpected Journey Chapters 1-2
James and I had worked in the same law office for ten years now. We had both
graduated with the same law degree - though from different universities -
the same year, and from time to time we called each other to discuss a
difficult case or point of law. We had risen through the ranks to both make
partner. Although he was specialising in matrimonial and law, and my
field was commercial, from time to time we joined forces when working for
mutual clients.
Even though we had been out for dinner together a few times, neither of us
had taken things any further. We both had a general idea of whom the other
was dating, but between the two of us it was "business only". Don't get me
wrong - I know the attraction was there (and mutual) but something held us
both back.
All this changed when one of the most complex and lengthy cases arrived on
my desk. One of my clients, an extremely wealthy property developer, had
decided to divorce his of thirty years and then marry his eighteen year
old "assistant". Normally this would only involve me minimally, maybe just
in valuing the assets in order to arrive at the of matrimonial
property. But my client - for professional reasons I'll just call him Mr X -
hadn't spent the last twenty five years building his business without
learning a few tricks along the way. He had to have had the most complex
arrangement of shelf companies, holding companies, joint ventures, offshore
partners and other arrangements all designed to save him tax. Trying to
unravel who owned what, and minimise both his tax exposure and liability to
his former wife, was going to take a lot of thinking about.
As part of the unravelling, James and I travelled to Mr X's offshore base,
in one of the islands in the South Pacific. I had travelled there before -
for business with a few day's holiday at the end - and was looking forward
to a break. Most of the island's organisations operate on "island time",
meaning what would take an hour at home could take a day or more once
someone got around to finding the documents I needed.
James and I set up office on a spare suite of Mr X's hotel/conference
facility. Our hotel rooms were little bures, small thatched huts that were
elevated on stilts above the water. Set further back from the beach, the
inside of the conference facility could be any hotel on earth - as long as
you didn't look at the spectacular view.
Mr X's staff were very helpful in getting us set up. We both had our own
laptops, of course, but two secretaries and their PCs were found for us.
Large desks had been moved in for James and I, together with an attractive
suite of three two seater sofas and a coffee table. Three doors led from the
large main room. One door at one end led to a private office, with another
large desk, executive swivel chair and two guest chairs. At the other end of
the main room were two more doors, one to a small but fully equipped kitchen
and the other to a full bathroom.
One wall we covered with magnetic whiteboards, and the secretaries' first
job was to make magnetic name labels for all the companies with which Mr X
was involved. James and I set to work mapping the interwoven arrangements,
using coloured pens to show the different types of ownership and
relationships between the various companies.
At around 8.30pm we finally quit for the day, after James had pointed out
that the sun was beginning to sink over the horizon. With floor to ceiling
glass, the view of the coming sunset was sure to be spectacular. We called
down to room service to send us up dinner, just a simple pan fried fish and
salad, wine, and fresh fruit to follow.
After pushing one of the sofas and the coffee table over to the window,
James and I sat down to enjoy both dinner and the view. After continuing
shop talk for a while, we gradually became silent as we watched the
unfolding spectacle in front of us. The few clouds in the sky began to be
brushed with strokes of gold, as the sky turned first yellow then gradually
suffused with pink and then deep red. The sun glowed hotly in the centre of
the horizon, then gradually slipped from view, leaving in its wake a myriad
of pastel colours across the sky.
"God, that was amazing", James said. He pushed his plate to the other side
of the coffee table, then stretched his legs out and rested them on the
table top. "Imagine getting a show like that every night for free", he
continued.
I too began to relax, and leaned back into the sofa. "Don't you need to call
home - with the time difference you better call soon", I said.
"There's no one I need to call tonight", James said. "I'll give and my
friends a call over the weekend. How long do you think we'll be here for?"
"Who would know?" I replied. "Going by today's progress, I reckon it might
even be a couple of weeks. I've got to be back home by the 17th for a
friend's wedding, but I have a feeling that I'll be back again after that."
Today was the 2nd, so we had just over two weeks before I had to head
homeward, even if temporarily.
We both silently thought of re-arranging our lives for the next few weeks. I
know my mental list of things to do was lengthening rapidly.
"So why isn't there a Mrs James you need to call?" I finally asked.
James was silent for a moment. "It's a long story. Don't get me wrong -
there's certainly been the opportunity. But I just haven't found that
special someone. And the I get, the harder it seems to be to find
them."
"Hell, you must have some kind of a wish list", I laughed. "What about
Victoria - you went out with her for a while. What was wrong with her?"
To understand what happened next, you need to the scene. We were
sitting in the main room, furnished with office furniture, in the dark. The
light from outside had nearly disappeared, and the moon had not yet risen.
There were no conferences happening at present, so James and I were the only
people in the whole conference wing. The cleaners wouldn't be in until the
morning. Sitting in the dark, staring out to sea, miles away from home,
engendered a feeling of safety and security I doubt we could have arranged
on purpose.
"Victoria's a great girl", James finally replied. "She has most things I'd
want in a woman. Well, you know her - she's intelligent, funny, great
looking, loves the outdoors but is just as happy spending a weekend inside
watching and cooking. And she's certainly a great cook!"
"Well, what's wrong with her then?" I persisted. "It can't be her
personality - Victoria's one of the kindest, most honest people I know."
"You're right. It wasn't that"
"Then what on earth was it? Does she have some secret vice I don't know
about?"
There was a long pause. "No, it wasn't her. It was me. I've got the secret
vice" James dropped the statement like a small bombshell.
"Oh". I paused - wondering whether to say more or not. Then I figured,
nothing venture / nothing win. "So what's your secret vice?"
"If I told you, I'd have to kill you! Just joking, I'm not really a CIA
agent. Let's just say we weren't compatible in bed."
Wow! My mind exploded with possibilities. What could it be? I thought of
Victoria, she's a year or so younger than James and I - say 32 - surely
she's not some prude. What could it be - did I want to know?
Again I persisted. "You can't leave it like that. You'll have to tell me
now!"
The silence grew again. I was thinking, 'well done, now you've blown it.
He's not going to tell you now. It's obviously really private and something
he's sensitive about.'
Finally James spoke. "I didn't ever tell Victoria about this. I just told
her I wasn't ready for commitment yet. If it wasn't for this, I would have
married her. What I really want is a woman who can fill my deepest needs."
James cleared his throat. "What do you know about domination?"
Heck! So that's what he's into. I'm freaking out. My God, he probably ties
girls up in chains and whips them to shreds. Jesus! I've got to get out of
here! My thoughts were spinning erratically. What am I supposed to say?
"Uh, well, I guess I don't know a lot about it. I guess you like hitting and
hurting - stuff like that."
"Well, it can involve hitting and hurting, but it's a lot more than that.
Some people get into the whole scene - dungeons, leather, slaves, whips, the
whole lot. For some it can just be tying your partner down and pleasuring
them until they beg you to stop. I'm somewhere in the middle."
"Can you tell me more?" I said, my voice croaky. I knew things were getting
past my comfort zone, yet I was fascinated and wanted to know more about it.
I must confess I felt a bit wet at the thought of pleasure until I begged
for it to cease.
"Well, I can. But you have to promise that it won't go further than these
four walls. If you really want to know, I'll tell you, but it stays between
us. Promise?" James turned to look me in the eyes. "At this point, I'm just
telling you. I'm not asking you - or even suggesting that I'll ask you. I'm
just giving you the facts."
What little light was left illuminated James' face. I looked into his eyes,
and consulted my inner feelings, my women's intuition. I'd known James for a
long time now, I figured he was pretty honourable. I decided to trust him.
"Yes, I would like to know"
James settled himself comfortably into the sofa, and began to weave his
spell. He began telling me about the psychology of domination. A good dom's
pleasure comes from their sub's pleasure - not their pain. They are like a
coach, pushing their sub to find their limits. It may involve bondage, for
that focuses the mind on the body part in question. It may involve spanking,
or beating or whipping, depending solely on the limits of the sub, because
sometimes pushing the pain barrier can open new areas of pleasure. Some subs
and doms enjoy the sight of props - the leather, the manacles in some dark
dungeon. It could involve toys, or even other people. Of course, it involves
sex - of letting go one's inhibitions and pushing the limits. But again,
it's all within the control of the sub. And that's the dichotomy. Although
the dom is asserting their wishes on the sub, the sub has the final say. By
using the safe word, the scene stops. So although the sub appears to give up
control, they actually are the ones with final control all along. It's a
complex arrangement of trust: the sub trusts the dom to push them to their
limit, the dom trusts the sub to only use the safe word if that limit has
been reached.
By the time James had finished, I felt much reassured. It sounded
intriguing. I know I needed to be careful what I said, in order not to break
his spell.
"So how far did you go with Victoria?" I finally asked. That should be a
good indication.
"With her agreement, I tied her to the bed. Both arms, both legs. God, she
looked ravishing!" James mused to himself. "But she didn't like it. Didn't
like feeling powerless. Even though I promised her that I'd stop pleasuring
her the moment she said - she just couldn't let go enough."
The thought of just being tied to the bed I did find arousing. "So you
didn't hit her or anything?"
"Hell, no. As I said, nothing happens that the sub doesn't consent to. If
she couldn't cope with having her ankles and wrists tied, she sure as heck
wasn't going to agree to anything else."
I thought some more. "I think I understand what you're talking about. Your
goal is to pleasure the sub?"
"Right."
"And you don't do anything that they don't want to do?"
"Right."
"Do you discuss it with them before?"
"Usually just in general terms. We might agree on what won't happen. But you
have to let the dom take things as they come, so to speak. You might find
that something the sub wasn't too keen on - say the thought of spanking, or
nipple clamps - actually turns them on immensely. But with a good level of
trust the sub knows you're just pushing their limits. They just have to use
the safe word - or ring the bell if they're gagged - and we go back to
within their comfort zone."
Gagged! I hadn't thought of that! Gagged! Nipple clamps! What on earth is a
nipple clamp? And then the thought came - unbidden - of myself spreadeagled
on a bed. Tied hands and feet. Legs spread wide apart - revealing my most
secret parts. unveiled for all to see. And gagged, so that I could
scream to my heart's content. I felt light headed and moist at the thought.
James looked at me closely. "Your lips have swollen slightly. Are you turned
on? What are you thinking about?"
I couldn't tell him. I couldn't admit to the desires that seemed to have
been unleashed. I was embarrassed, shamed.
"With a true dom/sub partnership, there's no shame." James must have been
reading my thoughts. "There's only pleasure and pride."
I thought some more. Pleasure and pride. Now that's an unusual way to
describe a sexual relationship. And don't get me wrong - I've had a
reasonable amount of lovers in my day. And I'm not a prude either. But I've
never thought of pleasure AND pride when it comes to making love.
"So how do you get your pleasure? I can see how the sub might have a great
time, someone pushing them to the limits of their pleasure. But what's in it
for you?"
"You have no idea Sam. To take a woman, a beautiful woman, and give her such
pleasure that she is begging for it - you have no idea what that does for a
man. To know that you have fulfilled her every desire - even desires she
didn't know that she had! And don't forget that sex is involved - when the
dom is ready and thinks the sub is ready, then sex will take place. It may
be stroking, it may be oral, it may be straight sex. It could be anal."
James turned to look at me as he said the last.
I thanked God for the darkness. My cheeks were burning scarlet - thank
goodness James couldn't see. How did he know that that was one of my untried
fantasies? I had often wondered about anal sex. Oh Jesus girl, you're
getting into hot water now.
I didn't say anything, just stared fixedly into the darkness outside. The
lights came on around the pool, and I knew the spell had been broken once
the light was shining onto our faces.
James rose from the sofa. He walked into the bathroom, and I could hear him
wash his hands.
He returned to the office, and stood behind me on the sofa. Leaning down to
my ear, he spoke softly.
"I've given you a lot to think about. My feelings tell me you might be
interested. This is how the trust begins. I'll never mention this again to
you. I trust you never to mention this to any living soul - ever! And if,
and when, you're ready, come and tell me. Otherwise we will go on as usual,
as if this evening never happened."
James turned, collected his laptop and room key and left, leaving me alone
with my thoughts.
Chapter 2
After a restless night, I woke early. My nipples throbbed with desire. I
gently stroked my clit - my was dripping with moisture. James had
given me plenty to think about all right! Taking my trusty vibrator from my
suitcase, I roughly thrust it into me. My body tingled as I turned it on.
Vague memories of the dreams the night before flitted before my eyes. Legs
wide apart. being sucked. a penis. Something pressing into
my anus. In what seemed like moments, I was climaxing uncontrollably. That's
one way to start the day!
After a quick shower, I checked my emails. Then I threw on my swimsuit and
robe and headed for the pool. Although it was only 6.30am, the locals had
already swept the beach and done the day's gardening. After thirty lengths
my mind stopped racing and I settled into the routine. One, two, bubble,
breathe. One, two, bubble, breathe. My usual swimming workout was 100
lengths, so I was surprised when I reached the 50th and felt exhausted. The
early morning orgasm must have taken more energy than I thought! I consoled
myself that it was probably the jet lag, time change and my restless sleep.
A shadow fell over me as I rested at the edge of the pool. "Good morning.
Did you sleep well?" James was standing there in his swim shorts and towel.
"Good morning to you too. Yes, thanks, I slept like a log. How about you?"
Liar - but I wasn't going to let on how much he had unsettled me. I needed
more time to think.
"Mind if I join you?" James needlessly asked, as he was already in the pool
beside me. "How many have you done?"
"Only fifty this morning, I felt a bit tired."
"You had a bit of a late night, I guess" James retorted, as he pushed off
with a strong freestyle stroke to the end. I hadn't really realised before
how handsome he was under his business suit. His lightly bronzed body showed
definite muscles in the shoulders. I had deliberately not checked out the
contents of his swim shorts - that would have been too obvious!
I swam to the shallower end of the pool, and just relaxed in the water.
After a time I began doing some simple yoga stretches underwater. I might
not have the energy for an aerobic workout, but I could sure work on keeping
my muscles in shape whilst I was away.
James swam up beside me. "Hello again"
"And hello again to you."
"Sleep well? Oh, I already asked you that. What time are you planning on
starting work again?"
"Well, we've done as much as we can I think. I've emailed Simon the list of
documents and shareholdings we need. We can't do anything more until that
gets here, and it probably won't be until tomorrow." Simon was a legal
assistant we had been loaned by a local law firm.
"Great! This is the type of work I like. So we get paid partner's rates for
lying around the pool all day?"
"Something like that." I grinned. "I've got some files to go over, they were
emailed to me this morning. That should take me to around 10.30. Would you
like to meet for brunch after that and we can plan the next few days?
"Sounds good to me. Why don't we meet at the office at 10.30 then."
"Oh, hang on." I thought for a moment. "If we go to the office the
secretaries will be there. There's a few things I'd rather they didn't hear.
Why don't you meet me in my room at 10.30 instead?" As soon as I said it, I
realised what I had said. "I mean, I mean I don't mean, I mean that we need
to discuss confidential business matters and I'd rather Mr X's staff were
not privy to them." I said it in my best scholarly voice.
"Sure. See you then." I couldn't read anything in James voice as he turned
and swam to the end of the pool. He lifted himself out in one whoosh. I
hadn't noticed before what a cute butt he had.^Å
When James' knock came at the door - 10.30 on the dot - I had almost
forgotten he was expected. I had got stuck into my work once I had showered
(again!) and dressed, and was busy phrasing a careful ending paragraph to
the lawyer of a company that was trying to take over one of my clients.
"Hi James. Come in. I've just about finished up. Maybe you could order for
us?" I turned and walked back to my laptop. "Do you know the Latin for go
and take a running jump? I need a pithy closing sentence to tell an
avaricious speculator to leave my client alone?"
"Have you tried 'go fuck yourself?' Or maybe that's not professional?" James
laughed. "Coffee for you? Eggs? What would madam desire today?"
"Yes thanks. I'll have coffee and fruit. The local produce is so sweet and
juicy, and they fly in strawberries and other delights each day. Actually,
I'll have a Danish as well."
James turned to complete his task, and after some thought I finally came up
with a finishing sentence that suited me perfectly. I had the feeling today
was going to be a good day.
But first I had some outstanding business to attend to.
"James, about yesterday ^Å"
"Yes?"
"There's a couple of things I want to discuss with you."
"Personal or professional?"
"Personal."
"Oh, I see. What?" James was giving no clues away. And of course the room
was flooded with sunlight, so there was no hiding from his gaze. There was
only one thing to do - just come out and say it. Why did I feel so
embarrassed?
"Actually, I didn't have a good night last night. I was thinking about what
you had told me."
"And?"
"You're determined to make this difficult for me, aren't you? And there's a
couple of things I want to know"
"And?"
"OK, I am interested. Or intrigued. Or something. But I'm worried as well."
"What are you worried about?" He wasn't giving anything away.
"Well, first off, it seems to me as if you thought Victoria was great ^Å"
The room service guy arrived with brunch, and we busied ourselves letting
him in and getting everything organised. James chattered on about the smell
of the coffee, the look of his full cooked breakfast - eggs, bacon, sausage,
French toast, waffles ^Å heaven knows where he put it all. He obviously was
sticking to his promise not to mention the domination subject again.
"James, I was trying to ask you something"
"Yes?"
"It seems to me that you thought Victoria was great."
"Yes"
"And you would have liked to marry her?"
"Yes"
"Except for, um, that one thing."
"Yes"
"So what if I said I'd like to try that, um, that er one thing. What if the
one thing worked out OK?"
"What would be the problem?"
"Oh, this is getting difficult. What I mean is that I kind of liked the idea
of some of the one thing. But some of it did scare me a bit. But I liked the
idea of trust that you were talking about. But I am worried that if we got
to the stage of doing the one thing, what if THAT part went OK, but we
didn't have the rest of a relationship? What happens then?"
"You mean I had everything with Victoria, except for the one thing as you
put it. And what if you and I tried the one thing and it worked out OK, but
we didn't have any other part of a relationship?"
"Exactly."
"Well, we have known each other for a long time. We know a lot about what
each other likes doing. We both like reading, for instance. We both like
exercise. We like to look good, to enjoy beautiful things. We enjoy the same
sense of humour, both like travelling. We have a lot in common. So in some
ways we have part of a relationship anyway. And if we did try the one thing,
and it did work out, then the level of trust that that would bring to the
relationship could only enhance things. And if things didn't work out, in or
out of the bedroom, at least we would have tried. We wouldn't have wasted
anything. Time is beginning to slip away for both of us, don't forget."
"OK."
"Any more questions?"
"A couple"
"I thought there might be"
"If you're this dom person, I guess that means I'd be a sub? And I know that
means submissive - which is one word you'd never use to describe me! So how
does it work in a relationship? I couldn't be a submissive little wifey if I
tried!"
"Well, that's part of the range of submissive behaviour. Some doms and subs
get off on the whole master/slave thing - in and out of the bedroom. The
slave may not speak unless the master gives permission etc. But I'm not
comfortable with that, for me it's purely a part of my sexual relationship,
nothing to do with how decisions get made as a couple. Nor do I get into the
"you were a naughty girl, I'll punish you later" scene - unless of course
the sub does something naughty in the bedroom on purpose! Then some
discipline might be required! Sometimes a sub can be shy about asking for
what she really wants, and as a dom it's my job to discover her secret
desires."
"I think I could think about that. So its not about being a male chauvinist
or anything?"
"No."
"What about, you know, er safe sex?"
"What about it?" James was smiling now.
"Well, do you use a condom, or what?"
"You mean if we got together?"
"Are you trying to tease me?"
"Possibly."
"Then yes"
"Yes, what?"
"Jesus James - are you or something? If I asked you to make love with
me, would you wear a condom?" Oh heck, I didn't mean to say that! I've
spilled the beans now.
"Well, we can discuss it."
"Well, let's discuss it then!" Shouted.
"I think you've almost got to the point of no return?" Gently.
"I think so." Small voice. I've played my hand, laid my cards on the table.
The truth is out. And the truth shall set you free.
"I have not had sex with anyone for six months. I was having a break, after
Victoria, to sort out my priorities. I last had an HIV test two months ago.
I'm clear - you can see the test if you like. So I'm fine."
"Why do you have an HIV test? Is there something else you haven't told me?"
"Do you know the joke - 'What's the difficult part about having HIV?
Convincing your you're Haitian'. No, I'm not Haitian. Nor am I an IV
drug user - I don't do drugs. No, it's part of keeping myself healthy. And
also, remember all the firm's partners had one to get reduced rates for our
health insurance?"
I'd forgotten. "Right - and mine was negative too. And I'm OK, I haven't had
sex for ages either. I was so involved with those two internet company
startups that I haven't had time for anything since before Christmas."
"I can see we've both been going without for a while. Is that all your
questions answered then?"
"Yes."
"What about contraception? Aren't you worried about that?"
I mentally kick myself. This guy's stopped me from thinking straight.
"I'm on the pill. Have been for years."
"And I've had a vasectomy."
"You've had a what?"
"A vasectomy. It's a small operation where the doctor cuts the ^Å"
"I know what a vasectomy is. Why did you have one?"
"When I was made partner, I realised that I didn't want children until I was
ready for them. So I banked enough sperm to hundreds of children if I
want them, and now no one can slap me with a paternity suit."
"That's a bit harsh"
"Is it? You think about it. Wealthy man, partner in a big firm, single
- who wouldn't be tempted to try and pin a paternity suit on me? And even if
I turned out to be the - I could end up with a child I wasn't ready
for, to a woman I didn't wish to marry. Why would I leave myself vulnerable
to that?"
"I see"
We stared at each other across the table. James resumed eating his brunch. I
picked half heartedly at my fruit. The one thing hung over our heads. 'It's
now or never' I thought to myself.
"James?"
"Yes?"
"I'm ready."
"Sure?"
"Yes."
"What's your safe word?"
"Strawberries". I said the first word that came into my mind - probably
because I was eating one.
"Now you have to understand the rules. If you say 'no', I will ignore it. If
you say 'please no', I will ignore it. If you say 'please no, I can't take
any more, just stop', I will ignore it. You have to say 'strawberries', and
I will stop. Is that clear?"
"You really are a lawyer, aren't you?"
"Seriously Sam. This is important. If you want to stop, what do you say?'
"Strawberries."
"Good. Now I'm going to my bure to get some things. I always take them
wherever I go. I want you to stay right there and think about this one more
time. When I come back, you'll have one last chance to change your mind."
James rose and left the room. I sat, stunned. I hadn't intended things to
move so fast. I was aroused; I did want to sleep with him. But all the
hitting and hurting? Now I felt fear as well as arousal. Could I trust him?
My thoughts swirled around, and before I knew it he was back.
I let him in with trembling hands. He led me to the sofa, I noticed an
overnight bag in his hand. What on earth was in there?
James sat beside me on the sofa and held my hands. "I know you're scared - I
can feel you trembling. Your heart rate and breathing have gone faster. This
is part of how you can trust me - I know the signs of your arousal. You're
scared, but you're aroused too. Would you like me to show you what's in the
bag? You might not feel so frightened, and might relax some. But fear can be
your friend too - if you trust me enough, your fear can help your arousal.
The 'what is he going to do next' has an element of fear in it. The trick is
to welcome the fear, but feel the trust as well. I'll show you what's in the
bag, and then you can tell me if you want to proceed or not."
James undid his bag.
Send your comments about this to Jane Smith <janedoe007@hotmail.com>.
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