With a soft grinding of gravel, the car pulled off the highway and onto the private road where it stopped.
The engine shut off, and not another sound could be heard except for the birds and insects flying around in the warm summer air, and the occasional ping of the cooling engine.
After a few minutes, the driver got out and stood alone, looking forward along the gravel road, as if looking for something. Inside the car, Joseph Booth watched Maria as she stood quietly surveying the landscape. He wanted to get out and hold her, and make her feel safe, but there was no way he could do that. He cursed his paralyzed legs.
After a time, Maria climbed back in.
"Alright?" Joseph asked her.
She gave him a brief smile, and started the car. Soon they were rolling along the tight, winding road.
Maria drove slowly, hands gripping the wheel tightly. She tried to ignore the surrounding hills, but her mind kept shoving memories into her head. The sound of hoof beats, the smell of mud and dry grass, the feel of the earth under her bare feet, and most strongly, the feel of tight leather pulling at her wrists.
Maria began to wonder if she had made a mistake coming here, then they rounded a hill and she stopped the car once more.
From this position on the driveway, for that was what they were driving on, she had probably the best view there was of where they were going.
Below them was the valley, it's bottom green with a thick growth of trees, the stream at it's center completely hidden. The towering hills surrounding it, relatively bare and quite brown, covered in natural grasses because the slopes were too steep to farm.
Not much of the valley could be seen from any one point because of the hills and the way it twisted, but what Maria could see was enough. It began to feel right, being here. Although she hadn't really spent that long living in the valley, it seemed to her that her life hadn't really begun until she first met Alan here. Since then she felt she had lived a lifetime.
She was home.
Putting the car in gear again, they continued on until they entered the large grove of trees that surrounded the house and yard. Maria pulled the car up next to another that was parked in front of the house, and got out.
She had opened the trunk and was pulling out Joseph's wheel chair, when she heard a voice calling from the barn.
"Hi. Excuse me! Can I help you?"
Hiding her smile, for she knew who it was, Maria winked at Joseph, who watched her from his seat, and kept her face hidden.
"Excuse me! Can I help you with something?" the voice insisted, coming closer.
Maria stood up and faced the newcomer. "Well, I guess you could put us up for a few days." she said smiling.
The newcomer stopped, a confused expression. Then recognition flooded her face, and with a scream and a big smile she ran the last few yards and practically jumped into Maria's arms. "OHMYGOD, OHMYGOD, OHMYGOD!" was all she could say.
"Hi Melissa!" Maria cried as the two of them hugged. It had been a long time. Too long. The women hadn't seen each other since Maria had left a week after Alan's funeral, and they had spoken on the phone only a couple of times after that.
Joseph watched with a smile of his own as the two women hugged and kissed. He knew from what Maria had told him in the past, that Melissa held a very special place in her heart. He hoped that their being together again would help Maria finally heal the wounds she had been carrying around since he had met her.
"Why didn't you tell me you were coming!" Melissa cried, finally calming down a little.
"I don't know. I guess I didn't want to make a big deal out of it." replied Maria.
"A big deal! It is a big deal, Sweety!" laughed Melissa, hugging her friend once again. "And what did you do to your hair? I didn't recognize you!"
Maria wasn't ready to answer that one yet, so the women held each other silently for a moment, before Melissa finally noticed Joseph waiting patiently in the car.
She stepped back and arched an eyebrow at Maria.
"Oh. This is Joseph. He's..." Maria paused. She had been wondering how she would introduce Joseph to Melissa for quite a while. She had never told Melissa that she had jumped straight out of one BD relationship into another. She knew that Melissa would never have allowed it to happen.
A further complication was that now she wasn't sure just WHAT kind of relationship she and Joseph had now. They hadn't done anything BD related since he had gotten out of hospital. Instead her role had changed into something else.
"He's...my friend." was all she could manage.
Melissa nodded slightly, catching on to more than Maria realized, and stepped forward to shake hands.
"It's good to meet you." she said.
"For me too." Joseph replied, "I feel as though I know you already." Melissa glanced over at Maria, eyebrows raised. "Then you have me at a disadvantage."
"Not for long I hope." Joseph smiled.
Maria decided to jump in before Melissa started asking too many questions. "I could use a hand here."
"Sure." Melissa replied, letting go of Joseph's hand. She vowed silently to find out more about this man.
She found out the first thing about him when she saw what it was that Maria needed a hand with. A wheel chair.
The two women lifted the chair out of the trunk with ease and unfolded it for Joseph, who pulled himself out of the car and into the chair. Maria ignored the urge to help him. He had told her long ago that he wanted to do as much by himself as he felt able. Instead she looked around the yard and up at the house.
"You've done a good job here. The place looks better than it ever has." Maria said to Melissa.
"I had help. But I enjoyed the opportunity. It has been good living out here this past year. I hope you aren't planning on evicting me." she said with a laugh.
Maria smiled. "No. This is your home for as long as you like. Who helped you, Lisa?"
"Yep, and...OHMYGOD. I forgot!" A devilish grin crossed her face. "Lisa's here, in the barn. I'm sure she'll be glad to see you."
"That would be great!"
"Only...Well, we were in the middle of something." Melissa gave her a look, one designed to convey a lot that couldn't be said.
Maria smiled, knowingly. She felt the familiar stirring returning, and decided to go with it. "Oh. If she's busy then we can get Joseph inside and settled before I go say hello. She'll be okay on her own for a little while won't she?"
The devilish grin broadened. "She'll be fine. Come on. I'll help you with your stuff."
The two women helped pull Joseph and his chair up onto the porch and then Maria hauled their luggage while Melissa went inside with the man and got him a drink.
Joseph let himself be wheeled and watered, just enjoying how Maria shined now that she was with her friend. He was afraid that her time under Atamo's lash had broken her, and caring for an invalid certainly wasn't the best therapy for what she had been through. She was looking better than she had been in weeks.
The women talked about rearranging the furniture to accommodate Joseph, who really wasn't able to handle stairs.
"There's Alan's office." Melissa suggested. "It hasn't been used at all. We could easily turn it into a bedroom." She had grasped that Joseph wasn't just a casual visitor. His relationship with Maria obviously meant that he would be staying a while.
A cloud passed over Maria's face at the mention of Alan's name. She tried to hide it, but the two people in the room with her were the worst people she could have tried to hide something from. In their own way, they knew more about her than she did.
"That would be fine." Maria said evenly. "Is it okay with you, Joseph?"
"Yes, yes. I'll be perfectly comfortable, as long as there is a decent bed." replied the older man.
Melissa frowned. "Actually, the room is empty now. But there is a fold up cot somewhere I can get out, and we can see about getting a proper bed and furniture out her tomorrow."
"That will do wonderfully." said Joseph.
Maria moved closer to Joseph and knelt by his side. "Are you sure?" she said quietly. "Maybe it would be better for your back if we got you into a hotel for the night."
Melissa watched with interest as the couple continued a whispered conversation. Just seeing Maria's body language told her that there was a deep bond between her and Joseph, and Melissa didn't know whether to be happy or not about it.
Trust in Joseph, she realized, would only come after she had gotten to know him.
"Melissa. We'll stay in a hotel tonight, and get a proper bed tomorrow. Joseph's back just wont take a cot right now."
"Alright. Then I'll call and get you guys a room. Why don't you head out to the barn and say hi to Lisa while I'm calling."
Maria smiled. "Are you sure she wont mind?"
"She wont send you away!" Melissa said with a twinkle in her eye.
Maria turned to Joseph, who nodded his approval, and Maria left the house and made the trek over to the barn. As she walked, she was reminded of the many times she had had to make this very walk, her steps a lot shorter. She was almost tempted to shuffle instead of stride.
She stepped inside the barn and waited for her eyes to adjust to the darkness. At first she didn't see Lisa anywhere, but then she picked out her form in one of the stalls.
It had been some time since Maria had seen anyone in strict bondage, so she was a little taken aback by Lisa's position, but after a moment she began to see the beauty of a woman bound.
Lisa was standing naked in one of the empty horse stalls. Her arms were strapped tightly to her sides, her hands covered in leather mittens. The straps dug deeply into Lisa's flesh and Maria could see that she had put on a few pounds since she had last seen her. Her breasts were squeezed between two thick straps that made them balloon out. Her head was covered in a leather hood, except for her mouth which was held partially open by a gag of some sort. The gag didn't block her airway though, for Maria could hear Lisa moan softly to herself.
Lisa was held in the middle of the stall by two chains, one attached to each ankle, that held them apart. She was bent forward slightly and thin cords attached to her nipple rings kept her in that position. The other ends of the cords were tied to bungee cords attached to the wall that kept a constant pull on her breasts, not too much, just enough so she knew it was there.
A rope attached to the straps around her chest kept her from leaning forward too much.
Sitting on the ground between her legs was a metronome, with a long feather attached to it. The feather was being propelled back and forth across Lisa's most sensitive area. A light touch, but increasingly frustrating as time goes on.
Maria could see that Lisa had evidently been there for a while already. Her body was covered in sweat which wasn't all from the heat of the barn. Her labia was engorged and dripping, the tip of the feather matted and wet. Every time it stroked her Lisa would shudder. To Maria it looked both horrifying and seductive. All at once she wanted to jump in and release Lisa from her torment, yet at the same time she wanted to take her place.
Filled with indecision, she just stood and watched.
"Have you said hi yet?" Melissa said, startling her.
Maria shook her head, not willing to speak in case it destroyed the moment inside Lisa's head.
"It's okay. You can talk quietly. Her ears are packed, so as long as we're not too loud we'll be okay."
"How long...?" Maria asked.
Melissa looked at her watch. "About forty five minutes. I promised her an hour. I had better change the feather again, it's a lot more potent when it's stiff and fresh."
Melissa stepped into the stall and carefully turned off the metronome. Maria was surprised to hear Lisa's moans increase, but then she realized that if she was in such a position, the last thing she would want would be for the stimulus to stop.
It took Melissa only a moment to replace the sodden feather with another, and soon the ticking of the machine could be heard again. Melissa then picked up a water bottle and sprayed some water into Lisa's mouth.
"Come here." Melissa said to Maria.
Maria did so, walking forward until she was standing next to the bound woman. Maria could smell Lisa's sweat and the more obvious smell of her arousal, it sent little shudders through her own body.
Melissa took a pair of scissors from a pocket, and snipped the cords pulling on Lisa's breasts. Lisa moaned louder and stood up straighter, her feet pulling slightly at the chains that held them.
Melissa bent over and pushed the metronome so that it would still strike her in her new position, then she leaned forward and began to suck on one of Lisa's nipples.
Lisa's moans grew louder, and more intense. Maria figured that if she hadn't cum by now she was just about to.
Without pulling away, Melissa gestured toward Lisa's other nipple, and it dawned on Maria what it was Melissa wanted.
A little nervous, Maria placed her own mouth around Lisa's engorged bud and let her tongue circle it slowly.
Immediately Lisa began pulling away, but there was no where for her to go. Her moans grew more serious, but in moments changed to something more powerful. Maria held on with just her lips as Lisa shuddered and bucked through her orgasm, only letting go when Melissa did.
They stood back to see a woman breathing heavily, still being brushed by the feather from down below.
"Still about ten minutes. I'll let her finish it out." Melissa said.
Lisa was angling her head, as if listening for whoever was in the barn. Maria got the impression that she really hadn't been expecting two mouths on her body.
The two free women watched silently as the feather brought Lisa back to her preorgasmic pitch, before being shut off and pulled away. A frustrated moan came out of the bound woman.
Melissa motioned Maria to one side as she first undid the rope to Lisa's back and then her legs.
She worked quickly to release the hood, pulling it and the gag off at the same time.
Lisa's sweaty face appeared under a mass of hair, her eyes wide as she searched for whoever was in the barn with her.
When she spotted Maria they grew even wider.
"Maria?" Lisa croaked, her throat still dry.
Maria nodded and moved forward to embrace her.
Unable to reciprocate, her arms still strapped to her sides, Lisa just stood a cried while Maria, and then Melissa hugged her tightly. The three of them stood for a long time, together once more.
That evening, Joseph and the three woman had dinner together. Joseph listened quietly while Maria avoided telling her friends what had happened to her since she had left. Melissa and Lisa were a little more forthcoming about what had happened in their lives over the past year, but Joseph knew there was something they were avoiding too. He found all this evasiveness distasteful, but didn't do anything to change it. He had been told by Maria's therapist that she needed to deal with things in her own time and to force her to talk about things she rather not would do more harm than good.
So instead he watched Lisa and Melissa. That they were a couple was fairly evident. They traded looks that were full of warmth and affection the entire time he saw them. He also noticed that Melissa seemed to be the one who wore the pants, so to speak. Lisa would defer often whenever the two came in conflict over some detail they were discussing. Also it was Lisa who did most of the work during the meal. If what he suspected was happening in the barn when they arrived was true, than either this was a Dom/Sub couple or close to it. He couldn't find out directly however, because Maria never made any mention of their BD relationship.
Once the meal was done, Joseph figured that he was only getting in the way of the reunion these three women desperately wanted. So, feigning a tiredness that wasn't entirely fake. He asked Maria to take him to their hotel.
"If you like," he said, "you can come back and catch up some more."
"Are you sure?" she asked.
Joseph could see in the faces of all three women, that he was doing the right thing.
"I'm sure."
It was quite dark when Maria's car pulled back in front of the house. Melissa and Lisa were sitting on the porch, waiting for her.
"Hi guys." Maria said.
Melissa said nothing. Instead she stood up and took Maria by the shoulders, looking her straight in the eye.
"Tell me." she ordered. "Who is Joseph Booth, and where have you been all year?"