Thank God for Friday has been the workingman's mantra since Adam and Eve got kicked out of the Garden. Even those in supervision can relate to the phrase. So why was I thinking it was Friday on a Thursday? Well I'd just locked up my desk and I was headed for Three's house. I was headed for Three's house and a steak big enough to feed a family of five and very cold beer AND Mary Beth's county fair award winning potato salad.
I drove over to my house showered and changed clothes as quick as I could. Three had called the office and told me he'd be home by four thirty and Mary Beth would be home a little before him. After a little discussion on his wife's bankers hours I told him I'd be there around five. A quick check on Jen over at the Kowalski's house and I was headed down the road.
The trip went way too fast. I guess it had something to do with singing to the Beach Boys. Pet Sounds was my favorite album but Good Vibrations was the song I liked the best. I was missing every high note but that was okay. When I sang in the car with Jen, every time I tried to hit those same notes she would howl like dog. That in turn would make me laugh so hard l'd miss more notes. Afterwards Jen would pick up where I left off. There were no howls from me as Jen hit the notes and could even mimic Brian's parts. All too soon Labor Day would be here and, if Alice remembered, we'd be seeing all of the Wilson's and Mike Love up close and personal.
I pulled up to the house and as I was walking up to the door noticed a note taped to it.
Hi Gene,
The door is open. Come on in. Grab a couple of beers and come on back. I'm firing up the grill.
Max3
PS. And don't touch the potato salad in the refrigerator.
Now there was a man with a plan, easy to follow instructions and everything. I grabbed the beers out of the icebox and noticed the potato salad. I resisted temptation, barely.
I followed my nose back to patio where Three had the grill going. "Hi Three want a beer?"
He turned around and grinned. "Damn right I do."
I passed one to him and we watched the grill do it's thing. I never found out where Three got his steaks but they always were the best. The fat and juices dripped onto the pieces of burning hickory and charcoal as we stood there in appreciation. This was the way things should be.
Finally Three broke the silent admiration of some of the finest steaks ever to be consumed. "Have you heard from Agnes this week?"
I didn't even look up. I knew how he thought about Agnes and me. "You really know how to start a conversation."
"The only reason I'm asking is you look worse than you did four days ago. I take it you haven't talked to her?"
"Nah, everyone else has but I haven't been able to apologize. All her friends are protecting her from the big bad ex-boyfriend."
"Don't," Three told me. I looked at him. "Don't apologize," he repeated. "All you did was tell her what you thought. The problem was turning off and not talking to her. It was like kicking her in the teeth. You gotta understand most submissive's hate to be ignored." he stopped for a minute and smiled. "A subbie or not, all women hate to be ignored. They're kind of like cats, that way. Call a cat and it'll look at you and walk away. If you're not a cat person or try to ignore it then it'll crawl into your frigging lap. A submissive just wants to please their Dom. Well, that's not right." Three shook his head a little. "They try to please you by making you and themselves more pleasing to others."
That didn't make a whole lot of sense to me and I told him, just like that. Three smiled while checking the steaks. "Let's try it this way, then. When Alice bought you that tux for that big party at UNC, years ago, who did she buy it for?"
I didn't know where it was going but I played along. "She bought it for me. It was a formal reception and I needed one."
Three just smiled. "She may have bought you the tux but she really bought it for herself. She wanted to show you off and make the other women turn their heads your way. It was an ego boost for her. From what you've told me it almost worked out too well. Most women are like that but submissives have the strongest need to do it right. Guys are different. We'll wear just about anything and not give it a second thought. When you take a subbie out they dress to impress not only you but for everyone in the room. A high-class restaurant or Burger King it doesn't make any difference. They'll let everyone know they're hot shit and totally devoted to the one they're with."
"I don't get it, Three, if they're bound by this M/s, D/s, or whatever the hell you call it, why go through the trouble to impress someone else?"
"Ego, plain and simple, ego. Most people think of submissives as these plain wimpy girls with no life and no desires of their own. So, the theory goes, they attach themselves to the first strong person they find. That's the reason people in the world get submissive's and slaves confused. Most of the submissive's, collared ones especially, are strong willed to the extreme. They will meet someone that has what she needs to give her, structure, sex, support or whatever. Once everything clicks for them only actual force will separate the submissive from Their True Master. They know what they want in life and in a Dom. A collared submissive believe it or not is very possessive. Mary Beth is one of those and I think Agnes is as well. How should I say this?” He hesitated. “She's focused, very focused. Her wanting to fly is proof of that. She knows that's a man's job but she doesn't care. It's like she was born to do that. My wife is the same way. She always wanted to run a bank." Three waved the meat fork in the air. "I don't know anyone who says I want to be a bank president. She does though. She's on the fast track for the corporate offices in Charlotte. The problem is we're going to have to move there in a few years and it will be permanent. It won't be like that move to Wilmington."
I knew flying was important to Agnes but I had hoped I could change her mind. "I suppose that's why she had problems with her other Masters?"
Three gave me a little look and smile, "I don't know about the others but it could be."
"They were in the industry." Suddenly I started to see what her attraction to me was." Her last one, Alex, was a pilot."
Three shook his head as he poked the steaks one more time. "That's a bad combination. Two people with the same goal? Competition doesn't work in a Dominant and submissive relationship. Now a little competition or threat between submissive's can be really interesting."
"How so"?
"I know it sounds strange but their love is so strong that they will literally rip another woman to pieces that she thinks is a threat to their relationship, you'll find out about that too. Most of the time it, will be a signal or sign of their devotion to their Dom or Master. Think of it like drawing a line in the sand and daring the other woman to cross it."
"So what kind of signal or sign is it?"
"Most of the time it's sexual. Once in a while it's even public sex right then and there. For most women that's one line they won't cross. That usually kills the other woman's desire right there." Three smiled as that thought crossed his mind.
Damn I was naive. I was thinking a stare down or some words between them. "You can't be serious, Three. No way a girlfriend of mine would do that." Three gave the steaks one more look and smiled mostly to himself. Right then I knew it had happened to him and Mary Beth. "Okay, there is a story here, spill it."
He started taking off the steaks, both of them. Without even turning he said, "I told you they're not like any woman you've ever known. No we're talking about a special woman here. Remember what I said in your kitchen?"
"What was that?"
"If you ever tell..." He glanced my way.
"Yeah, I remember. You'll drive me into the ground like a tent stake. Trust me I believe you."
"Okay, you know that big department store in Durham?" Before I could reply he went on. "We were shopping one time. Well, Mary Beth was shopping and I was enjoying her modeling for me. So this little bit of a girl was helping Mary Beth with the clothes. While the wife was changing into a different outfit this clerk came onto me. I figured she was a part-timer, probably not even out of high school. She started asking all sorts of questions about us. The kind of things that someone around seventeen or eighteen shouldn't ask a man in his mid thirties." Three handed me the plate as he turned to me. "Anyway Mary Beth's radar started pinging as soon as she walked out of the dressing room. My wife glared at her and the girl didn't flinch. Then her hand went to her collar and she started playing with it. A few women know what something like that means, not all, but some. The young girl knew exactly what it meant. 
She looked at me but told my wife," Do you share him?"
Just from what Three already had said I was starting to get hard. This wasn't someone who I didn't know. This was someone we went to the beach with and went out with. I could feel my cock getting hard inside my briefs. I thanked the randomness of it all that I hadn't put on boxers after my shower. Something told me the discomfort would get worse before it got better tonight.
He didn't seem to notice the strain or my red face so he just went on. "Mary Beth just looked at the girl and smiled. Don't ask me to describe it. I kind'a ... hell I know now, it was her game face. Like when we were in high school. All week we'd prepare for the game Friday night. We'd get psyched all day during class for a couple hours of fame that night. So anyway Mary Beth says, "I do bitch if you can do this." Suddenly she assumes her pose. She hikes up the dress she's trying on and goes to her knees. Her back is straight and thighs spread. Next thing I know without a word she fishes my soft cock out of my pants and swallows it. Doesn't lick or kiss it, she just opens her mouth and presses her nose against my crotch. I can feel her tongue and mouth working on me, as I get hard inside of her. I look at the girl and she was in shock. Her eyes were fixed on the top of my wife's head as Mary Beth started bobbing on my expanding boner. The poor girl is starting to drool as she's rubbing her hands on her hips. Every now and then she looks around as she stands there. It's like she's glued in place." I see Three smiling at the thought. "All I can think of is what Mr. Carter told us in science class years ago, "Watch out when you play with snakes, you might get bit."
Three is still talking to me like we're discussing the Mudcats baseball team. "I can feel my snake getting hard enough to tickle Mary Beth's tonsils. Finally I turn to the girl and I say, "Can you do it, bitch?" Suddenly I feel myself ready to blast off in my wife's mouth. I guess it was where we were and everything because it was going to a big and quick load. Suddenly I moan and press myself into my wife's face as I cum down her throat.
Three handed me the plate. Why are there only two steaks? My mind was really on his story and not the damn food.
"Suddenly the girl looks up," Three is smiling again. "She knows what happened right here in the dress department. She quickly takes another look around but we're the only ones in this section. She's nervous as hell but being a teenager she thinks she can bluff it out. "I guess I could. It looked kind' a small, though."
Mary Beth almost gags as I push into her throat and keep coating her tonsils with the last few spurts. I grab Mary Beth's head and start to slowly pull out. I can feel her moan, as she knows she's not going to be able to play with it anymore. I keep watching the clerk as it slowly comes out. I don't know what she was expecting but as it finally fell out of her mouth Mary Beth asked, "My Master asked you a question, cunt. Can you get him hard in your throat and get him off in public?" Her voice was a little raspy because it was dry when she swallowed me. But it sure sounded sexy. "If you want my Master then you better know how to swallow and not spill a drop."
Three holds the door open for me as he keeps on. "The girl just huba-ah-ohhh'd for a minute looking at what's left of my cum sitting in Mary Beth's mouth before she swallowed it. Finally the girl shook her head. "No-o-o I can't. How the fuck did it... ?" Suddenly Mary Beth puts me back in my pants and stands up. She pulls the dress over her head and hands it to the poor girl who is on the edge of melting into the floor. "I don't want this dress, my wife says as she hands it to her. 'It has a stain on the front of it'. I'm looking at the girl whose fingers are in the small dark spots on the dress. Her fingers are stroking the cum stain that my subbie had put there on purpose."
Three is smiling at the memory as he finishes his story. "So this young girl doesn't say a word as she takes her fingers, wet with my cum, and puts them onto her mouth. I swear that she has a orgasm from just the taste. The best part, believe it or not, is watching my wife strutting back to the changing room in just her bra and panties. You could tell that she was proud as hell about what she did. And I was proud of her too. When a submissive's position is challenged watch out. I saw a glimpse of that in Agnes the other day. You are so-o-o fucking lucky."
Now I'm starting to shake. I'm about as hard as my underwear will let me. "So has that sort of stuff in public happened often?" I hoped it didn't happen to often. If I ever did get back together with Agnes I don't think my heart could take it.
Three pointed to the spot on the table where he wanted the steaks. I almost forgot I was actually here to eat. The table was set for two and still no Mary Beth.
As we sat down he said, "Twice, actually. Once it happened in High School and that one. Here have some potato salad," he offered.
I took the bowl. "In High School? Who was wanna be?"
Three laughed at that. "Wanna be, that's pretty good. The wanna be was Bonnie Smith, she graduated with you."
I knew the name but that was a long time ago. We passed a bunch of stuff around and I finally had to ask, "Is Mary Beth working late or something?"
Three was busy digging in when I said that. Suddenly he dropped the spoon in the beans and stood up. "Shit, I knew there was something I forgot!" Before I could say anything he left the table and moved towards the back of his house. I thought he seemed a little agitated as he strode back there. I wondered what was so important? While he was gone I tried to put a face to the name. I know that my senior year Three and Mary Beth started dating. That made them sophomores. It was right after football season that he gave her that dog collar to wear. So it had to of been in the spring when Bonnie tried to come between them. I vaguely remembered after Christmas break there was a lot of talk in school about the jock and the bookworm holding hands and kissing in the parking lot. There was a lot of teasing and words thrown Mary Beth's way about what they thought she had to do to get a football player in bed. After all why would a college prospect want to go out with someone who wore glasses and actually got good grades, unless she was easy? What they didn't know was the two of them had never gone all the way. Three had told me that they had agreed that they would wait until the Junior Prom.
As I shoved another piece of steak in my mouth I suddenly remembered who Bonnie was. She was co-captain of the cheerleading squad my last year in High School. My smile got so big I could feel steak juice running down my chin. Bonnie the tease we use to call her. If you wanted a hot looking girl on your arm she was it. The thing was she didn't play the game most of the girls on the squad did. I knew because my first girlfriend was a member of the same team for a few years.
I don't know about your high school but mine was exactly what every guy thinks it should be. The entire cheerleader leading team messed around some. They all did the first and second base thing, you know, holding hands and kissing. If you were a jock, even second string, like me, you had a damn good chance to slide into home. I know; been there, done that, got the T-shirt.
Bonnie was the one girl that was very friendly but every guy that came up to bat swung out on strikes. Sure she went to the dances and some guy always walked in with her. The problem was she didn't even hold the poor guys hand as they walked in. More often than not Bonnie wouldn't walk out with him. I wondered what the tease tried to do to break-up Mary Beth and Three. What ever it was it was too little, too late. Good for them I thought.
I heard Three coming back into the dining room as I popped another piece of meat in my mouth. "Sorry about that, Gene, Mary Beth was tied up and I just forgot all about it."
I nodded my head and waved the now empty fork. "I know how it is Three." I replied. "Sometimes I get so busy I forget everything."
The voice behind me made me jump. "You don't understand Sir, I was literally tied up."
I started to turn towards Mary Beth's voice and froze. There she was walking towards us. Right then I knew the Twilight Zone wasn't limited to just Agnes. My mouth fell open and my world shrunk down to a thirty-seven year old, five nine brunette. I took in every inch of her and didn't try to conceal my obvious lust for my friend's wife. I could see now why he talked about Mary Beth with such pride. The high school bookworm was not only a beauty but there was a glow about her as she walked naked towards her husband. Oh yes, she was naked as a jaybird. I could see the pale red of her toenails and the flexing of her calf's as she walked across the hard wood floor. Mary Beth's fleshy buttocks jiggled with every step and as she passed by me I thought I could smell the unmistakable scent of an aroused woman. I looked up into her face looking for some expression that told me she was slightly embarrassed. All I saw was Mary Beth looking at Three and in that look was pure lust.
Now I understood how Three spoke, reacted, and loved his wife. How when he sat in my kitchen he understood what was going on between Agnes and I. They had a Master/submissive relationship. In a couple of years they would be celebrating their twentieth wedding anniversary. I'd known couples in normal relationships breakup after just a few years. I had to stop myself for a second. I'd almost thought the word vanilla.
I had a problem. Well two, but right now I couldn't talk. "Ah, Um-m-m well, what do um-m m you mean tied up, MB?"
She smiled at me and then did a little twirl. It was almost as if she thought she had clothes on. "Sure why not? You know Gene, silk bindings tied to the corners of the bed and me lying there tied up like a Christmas turkey, is a great way to unwind. It's just the way I relax after sitting behind a desk all day."
I looked over at Three and he just shrugged. As Mary Beth stood between us, she looked at me, waiting. I didn't know what for and finally I couldn't take any more. "Okay what's with all this inviting me over and you coming out naked."
Mary Beth kept looking at me but I noticed that she took a deep breath. "It's just the way we do things here, Sir."
Just those few words set off every alarm off in my body. I looked at both of them. They were in a real Master/submissive relationship, just like the one Agnes wanted me to be in. I wondered if my ex-girlfriend had called Three to try and get me back.
As I looked at the two of them I wondered how I could have been so blind. All the times Three had bragged those impossible stories about his wife. The way they were always together. Even after almost twenty years of marriage they still held hands.
As she stood there I noticed the gold choker that she wore. It was a little to heavy for my taste but it was a lot better than that dog collar that she wore all through High School. I never saw her without something around her neck.
The only time I didn't see something around her neck was her freshman year in High School. She was fifteen or sixteen back then. She might have been young but she had the promise of an emerging woman. That had to have been the first time I not only noticed her but sort of lusted after Mary Beth from afar. Then again, being in high school, I looked at and lusted for almost every girl. I didn't understand it at the time but now as she stood with pride and grace at her husband's side I did.
Her husband, I mused. Who would have thought it? They were so different. Three was the typical High School jock. He was a first-string lineman, soon to be an all state college prospect. Plus, he was an all around good guy. The family was well known and loved in the community.
Mary Beth was also well known but not by people like Three or myself. While our circles of friends were other jocks, cheerleaders and such, Mary Beth's circle was, how should I put this, a little higher altitude than us common folk. She was on the yearbook staff as well as a class officer. Her Senior year she was class president and first in her class. Then there were the clubs, oh lord there were the clubs. I heard from Three that MB spent the better part of a week getting her picture taken with all of the clubs she was part of.
Back in High School I looked at the outside of a person and no further. Mary Beth use to be a string bean with glasses. She hid her five nine frame in her slouching when she walked or sat. After her and Three started to go out her posture improved and from her superior height she was starting to be noticed more. When they graduated I was home on leave and saw a different Mary Beth. She graduated first in their class and gave that valedictorian speech you always hear about. Not only was she tall but her bearing was one of pride. The glasses were gone, being replaced by something new called contact lenses. Mary Beth's eyes now focused on you. You could feel her eyes looking directly at you. Three's future wife spoke now with clarity and confidence. Everyone in attendance saw someone who was a success and on her way up in the world. What she saw looking out was different. She spoke to the graduates and parents but her eyes lingered where Three sat. He was staring back at her with that goofy smile of his.
After graduation, Mary Beth was accepted at Duke University with a full business scholarship. Max the Third had his choice of schools. NC State looked like the obvious choice to me, but then again I wasn't in love. He accepted an athletic scholarship from Blue Devils of Duke. At the time I figured four years of High School wasn't just enough for them.
Now as she knelt on the hardwood floor between use and I understood. The first season at Duke he had an injury that ended his football career early. Max Senior paid for the rest of his education at Duke and Dad wasn't disappointed. He changed his major from something only a jock would take to business. He dug into the courses as hard as he use to beat on the guys from the other team. I suppose having a girlfriend who was taking the same program and a honors student at your side helped a lot. After the couple graduated, Three took over the family business and it grew. A second store in Clayton and when Mary Beth became the bank manager in Wilmington a third store opened up there.
I looked over where Mary Beth had placed herself along side of Three's knee. It must have been a familiar spot, because as he talked to me his hand went to the side of her head and stroked her hair. We talked about everything under the sun as he petted his wife like his favorite pet. Slowly her head ended up resting on his leg. Her eyes were closed as Three ran a finger around the inside of her ear. It looked strange at first, a naked grown woman kneeling at the feet of her husband. His hand was stroking the side of her head to their obvious mutual enjoyment.
For years they were the butt of a lot of good-natured kidding. It came mostly from his family. The one that was told the most was about the dolls, Barbie and Ken. The Ken doll was made for Barbie because some toy executive thought Barbie needed a boyfriend. Now as I looked at the two of them I realized why they never got mad. The jokes were true. I couldn't imagine one without the other. “Ken and Barbie” I thought.
Suddenly Mary Beth's smiling face came up off Three's lap. "You get it, that's so sweet." I could have sworn that I only thought it. She turned to her Master and husband; "He's going to be just right for this Agnes of his. You're right, Husband, they are so lucky to be starting out fresh."
I wondered where all of this optimism was coming from. I sure didn't feel it. In fact just looking at the two of them I knew that what I had done to Agnes probably drove her further away. "I don't think so, MB. You should have been there. You didn't see her face at the airport as she tried to explain to us why it was over. I just didn't reject her I saw pain in her face. It was like I kicked her between the legs."
She looked at me but didn't flinch at the comment. "You have no idea how resilient a submissive is. My husband said you tried to call her. Even a simple phone call means something to someone like us."
I didn't like the way Mary Beth said it. "Like us? Do you mean submissive's?"
She looked at her husband then back at me. I was too busy to see if any signals were being passed. I was looking at Mary Beth in a whole new way now. My eyes were wandering all over her body. Her stomach was as tight as ever. Probably even more so because I knew she exercised regularly. MB's small breasts hadn't lost much of they're firmness with age. When I reached her brown eyes she was looking back at me. I was caught ogling someone else's wife and I didn't feel all that bad about it.
"What I meant was as a woman not only a submissive, Sir." There was a slight tilt of her head as she looked at me. "You seem to like what you see, Sir?"
I looked at Three and saw a little smile on his face. I looked back at Mary Beth I didn't want to answer the question. "Why are you calling me Sir?" I really wanted to tell her to get some clothes on but the view was great.
"You are a Dominant, Sir. I can tell if someone is like my Husband. Your Agnes could tell right away that you were one and that my husband was one as well. It's right for me to call you that in situations like this. Don't worry, in public you'll always be my good friend Gene McGuire."
I shook my head, I was anything but a Dom. That kind of thinking was part of the reason for the breakup. That brought a new question, "So why don't you call Max Sir?"
Mary Beth's eyes glowed, "Because he is my Husband and we agreed that's what we'd call each other when we're together or with others." She tilted her head a little and smiled. "It's kind of like a secret only we know. I'm his." I wasn't answering her original question and she knew it. Then again, she wasn't covering up.
There was a glow about her that I'd only seen on Agnes and it came from the inside. "If someone told me twenty years ago that you'd be this beautiful I would have wondered about their sanity."
There was a little frown that crossed her face. Luckily Mary Beth quickly recovered. "It's not just looks, as you say, but the person who you're with. I could have found someone who would have been bad for me. I like to think Three saved me from a series of bad boyfriends and relationships. He's the only real boyfriend I've ever had. The only one I'll ever have. The only Master I want."
I suddenly thought about Agnes and Alex. Agnes had several Masters that failed her. I knew it had to be their fault, because I couldn't imagine Agnes failing anyone. All of that pain and fear she must have felt, the unknown. "What would happen if you guy's broke up or what ever." I didn't dare look at Three.
Something in Mary Beth's eyes told me this was the reason I was invited. It wasn't about them it was about me. She didn't mince words and came right to the heart of the matter. "I'll be okay. We have friends with similar ideas about relationships. They'll watch out for me." Mary Beth looked up at her husband and smiled, "I'm not so sure about him though."
I looked at Three as he laughed at her comment. "The thing is, it's a little late in life for me to look for someone that comes close to my wife. I'm pretty set in my ways and bringing someone new in could be a real pain."
I looked at both of them. "What about me? I'm two years older than you guys."
Mary Beth took over the conversation. "It's not about us. It's about Agnes and right now she's alone. If Agnes doesn't find what she's looking for she might go back to one of her former Dom's. That or she'd go to a club and wait to be picked up by someone."
"What do you mean picked up?"
"She wouldn't have the protection of a Master. Without this..." Her hand went to her neck as she touched the gold choker, " ... collar it would be open season on her. Anyone looking would be able to try to claim her. There are all kinds of D/s relationships. Just like any other kind of vanilla relationship. If it was a hard Master it could be very bad for her."
I hoped this didn't happen; after all she had Donna to watch over her. The crazy Latina would protect her. "I don't think that'll happen MB, her roommate would watch out for her." I know I was serious when I said that. After all I'd talked to Donna Maria a dozen times and I liked her a lot. The problem was both Three and Mary Beth were smiling back at me. "What's so funny? What did I say?"
The amusement went to MB's eyes. "I don't think she's going to be much help, Sir."
"Trust me Mary Beth I've talked to the woman, I know her." I was determined to convince my friends wife of that she's strong enough and a good friend of Agnes. They knew each other before they joined National. She even had the guts to chew me out when she called the other night. I think she can keep Agnes safe from any Dom that might want to hurt her."
I heard Three interrupt as I continued to look at her. "My wife is right. This Donna Maria has problems of her own, She's an uncollared submissive herself."
I finally hit overload. I could feel fuses pop in my head. "What in the hell did you say?"
"My husband said Donna is a submissive as well." They both seemed to ignore my outburst. "Your Agnes told my husband a little about her. It's kind of a messed up situation. And like your Agnes she is uncollared. She's just as vulnerable, maybe more so."
All I could do was stare at the two of them. "I heard him, MB!" I shouted at her. Here I was freaking out and they were still looking at me like a new toy and not running away. I had to get a grip. "What do you mean Donna's more vulnerable?"
Mary Beth turned towards her husband and opened her mouth. It reminded me of those baby birds you see in the nest waiting to be fed. I watched as Three stabbed one of the small pieces of steak on is plate with his fork and placed it in Mary Beth's mouth. What Three was doing went over my head as I tried to understand what they were saying.
As Mary Beth chewed her food Thee said, "Agnes told me that something happened to Donna while she was in Junior High School in Miami. She thinks Donna may have had a bad sexual experience. What ever it was..." Three interrupted his conversation just long enough feed some potato salad to his wife, " ...it freaked her out and she sought comfort with another girl. By the time High School came around she was a full-blown lesbian and a submissive. The difference between her and your Agnes is..." More steak was offered to Mary Beth. " ... Donna's Mistresses were into giving out pain like you or I would give out kisses. So I guess you could say it was Agnes that's been trying to turn Donna away from the beatings and whippings she received."
I sat back in my chair, not really stunned but more in shock. Beatings and whipping? That ugly vision I had came back to me. They just had to be wrong. As Three continued to feed his wife I thought back to the last conversation I had with Donna Maria. It kind of made a weird sense. I remembered when she said better men and women have tried to beat her. Finally, I said to no one in particular "What have I done?"
As Mary Beth swallowed Three said, "You haven't done anything yet. You told me she'd be at the beach in a couple of weeks. You can sort things out then."
Now I knew he was crazy. "What do you mean sort things out? We're not talking about dividing up my record collection here. This is another flesh and blood person. According to some people I've been avoiding responsibility all my life and now you want me to jump into what you and MB have?"
Now they just looked at me. For once there was a look of concern on Three's face. He stroked MB's head and said. "Go ahead wife, tell him."
Mary Beth looked at me and the smile was gone. It was replaced by a calm look. The same I'd seen on Agnes's face. MB knee walked to me as she placed her hands on my thighs. Slowly she pried them apart as I looked at her husband and my friend. "Don't worry Gene, we've talked about this and it's okay, it really is." I don't know if it was the tone or his expression but I knew he was telling me the truth. If I went with the flow I was pretty sure he wouldn't turn me into a tent stake.
I looked down at MB as she slid easily between my legs. Her hands rested on the inside of my thighs close just above my knee's. She wasn't moving her hands or any part of her body. She was waiting for me to do something or say something. Her eyes were on mine as I could see her face begin to flush. I was starting to get an erection again. Not that I'd totally lost it since that story Three told me but it was getting harder. I was seriously tenting the slacks I was wearing, briefs or no briefs. Her nipples were hard sitting on her chest. As I looked at them all I could think of was that first time when Sunny came to the house. Her diamond hard nipples rubbing against my back as she stroked me to orgasm that first time. Now I called her Agnes and she was probably flying somewhere or in Miami doing ... I stopped cold ... what would an uncollared submissive do? She promised to wait to find someone else until Jennifer's birthday. Would she keep that promise?
"MB, what's going on?"
Mary Beth looked at me like I'd just won a prize and she was happy for me. "Why do you call me MB, Sir?"
I found a little humor in the fact that she'd indirectly caught my disease of answering a question with a question. "I've always called you MB from the first time we met."
"Did you know you're the only one that calls me that? Everyone calls me Mary or Mary Beth. I call Three my Husband out of respect and the bond we have. He calls me his Wife for the same reason. It's a word that still brings chills to me. Words mean something. Say the wrong word and you can start a war. Say the right word and you can bond yourself closer than any thing any man or woman can be. We chose to simply use those words in public and private to bind ourselves to each other as man and wife, as well as Master and submissive. When he calls me his wife in public I know that one word binds me body and soul."
I almost stopped breathing. That's what Agnes had said to me, body and soul. She could have been, would have been mine, body and soul. That was before I turned her away.
If Mary Beth noticed my sudden revelation she never said anything. "Before I got to High School I had these strange feeling. I looked around but there wasn't anyone I wanted to be with until I saw this one guy." There was a smile on her lips. You know the kind that makes you nervous.
"He kind of does have that effect on people." I interrupted.
She shook her head. "It wasn't Three. I met this other boy before my Husband. He was older"
"Before Max the Third?" I didn't have the slightest idea who that could have been. The more important question was, why was MB still rubbing the inside of my thighs? "Who was it?" I mumbled.
"It was you Sir."
"Me?" I looked at her husband and he just nodded his head.
MB's soft voice penetrated through the deep fog into my brain. "I noticed you right off during one of those summer football practices. Later I found out that not only were you a jock but a little nerdy. You weren't even really cute back then. I guess it was those ears you had back then, or something. Then I found out everyone talked about how you were born and raised here and talked like some transplanted Yankee. I tried to get your attention but that cheerleader girlfriend you had kept you busy. The way I am, I couldn't be as pushy as she was. She was yours and I couldn't fight that. All I wanted was to get close, hold your hand, and tell you my secrets. When you started to call me MB I accepted that name from you as if I belonged to you. I didn't know about claiming or collars or anything. I didn't even know what was going on inside of me but I wanted someone to hold me and pick me up if I fell down. "
I looked at this incredible woman. "I never knew," I told her. Why didn't I know this before? All through High School we'd been together. Even when I was in the Navy I made it a point to at least visit them when I came home on leave. The four of us went to the area parks and even the State Fair. Jen had been in this very room just last Christmas.
My hand went to the side of her head as I stroked her hair. It was a poor imitation of what my friend had done but it brought me comfort. I watched as she closed her eyes. Her head was pressed lightly into my palm as she knelt in front of me. I was almost disappointed as her hands never moved from they're resting spot.
"High school guys can be pretty clueless," she continued as if it was a given. "The thing is it worked out for me anyways. I talked to this friend of yours about you, and that was a good thing, because it was Three. It's as they say, it's all history from there."
I looked at Three and MB. They seemed to be waiting for me to say something. I didn't have a clue. "So now what?"
I guess that was the right thing to ask because both of them smiled at me. It was Max the Third who picked up on the conversation. "It's time for you to go back to school, buddy. Want some dessert? Mom made a pie for us."
I guess I said yes because the next thing I know MB stood up. I don't know if she even noticed the problem between my legs. My raging hard on forgotten as she led me by the hand. We walked into the living room as she made me comfortable. Three and I talked while Mary Beth went into the back of the house and finally put some clothes on, damn it.
So my education began.
For three hours we talked about everything under the sun, concerning the lifestyle they had. The very same one, they reminded me, that Agnes and Donna were into. The one Agnes had wanted me to embrace. The question that kept on coming up when I'd tell them that this was just to weird for me was, "You've known us most of our lives. Jennifer has spent the night here. Are we any stranger than any of your other friends?"
I didn't have a good answer for that.
Now, it seems strange that after the bizarre supper, that one of the first question out of my mouth was about Mary Beth's nakedness. That brought about a laugh from both of them. That little scene, it seemed, was something they did when they first started to live together in college. They wanted to shock me and expand my mind a little. MB said I had to get rid of some old notions on how relationships should be. Three kept going back to the point that I had to open myself to new possibilities.
As we sat on the plush leather sofa, pie and coffee in hand those possibilities open up to me. The relationship they had was more (or less) like the one our parents or grand parents had. Don't laugh at the image of your Granny with a collar around her neck slaving away in the kitchen. Back in the good old days the phrase master of the house meant more than it does today. Three and MB sat there trying to convince me that their relationship was more mental than physical. All relationships are knowing your responsibilities to each other. On the other hand it's also what is expected from you, emotional, mental as well as physical. Even though to hear them tell it the physical was just great. According to Three and MB there was a certain liberation in knowing where the boundaries between the two of them were. All the wondering, fumbling or just expecting the other person to just know every thought and feeling you had was gone. They knew because you told them.
At the end of the night I had even more questions than answers. Three said that if I wanted we could do lunch next week and he'd try to answer any more questions I might have. Boy did I have questions.
Finally it was time to go home. All three of us had responsibilities. The ride home was a lot quieter than the trip over. I tried to reconcile everything that happened, even how I had played with another man's wife while he sat there, True we didn't have sex but it was much more intimate. I was still flashing back on a certain blond Stewardess with short hair. How all I wanted to do when she was here was touch her. As beautiful, as MB was all I saw was Sunny as she walked out of the Jet way for the first time. I was envious back then of that asshole, Alex, and so glad he was out of her life. Now she was almost out of mine. It wasn't that I beat her or hit her. It was worse than that. I ignored her. It was like MB said, submissive or not we all hate to be ignored.
In just a couple of hours we talked about everything that was important in their life and the do's and don'ts of the life style. The different types of Masters, submissives and relationships. We went into detail about the negotiations and limitations between the two of them. Then the difference between those things that were a definite no and those where boundaries could be tested. Of course we talked about the types of collars and the when and where.
We discussed my hang-ups about discipline and punishment. Three tried to explain that real punishment in a loving D/s relationship was rare. It was almost a given that even a sense of disappointment from either person was enough correct a situation. All through the evening MB had been the most animated of the two. She had taken me through the feelings that Agnes had and would go through if we were to be a couple again. It was only my questions about punishment that I noticed that she let her husband carry the conversation. I didn't think that she was afraid but from the way she looked at Three it was like she was hanging on every word.
I was so wrapped up in my thoughts that I didn't notice the lights on in the house till I pulled into the driveway. I was to emotionally worn out to wonder too much. Maybe there was a burglar in there. Not likely but I could always hope. As I walked in through the garage, I smelled something. The noise from the living room also shot down the burglar theory. I found it hard to believe that someone breaking in would take the time to make popcorn and watch Johnny Carson. "Hello?"
"Hi Gene, we're in here watching the Tonight Show." The unmistakable voice of Lois came from around the corner. "We have some popcorn left over if you want some?"
As I turned the corner everyone was there glued to the TV; well everyone except Jennifer. She was walking towards me. She took my hand and led me to the kitchen. "Their TV is broken, again," she announced. They're going to go down tomorrow and get a new one from Mr. Max."
I looked down at Jen and thought she was the only female I knew who could put up with me. "So how was your day?" When I asked I knew how her day went. It always was the same. Up somewhere between eight and eleven in the morning. Shoot hoops till four or so and hang out with the Gardenia Gang. Then came supper and maybe if Jennifer was lucky I'd get my butt off the couch and shoot some more with her till dark. Anyways that's the way it was suppose to go.
Jen looked back at me and said, "The lady from the airport called."
"Lady? Which la... , oh that lady." Suddenly I was back in my world again. Just great, that's all I needed, was a yelling match with another friend of Agnes, I thought. "The lady's name is Evee, Jen."
"I know, Gene It's just that she kinda made me feel, well sort of yucky."
I looked down at Jen and wondered where yucky came from. I hadn't heard that since she was six and I tried to make her eat green Jello for St. Patrick's Day. I wondered if Evee jumped all over my niece just because I wasn't home. This shit had to stop, I told myself. "So what did Evee do to make you feel yucky?"
Jen gave me one of those looks that told me she didn't want tell me but she would. "It's gonna sound dumb." She waited for a couple of seconds before she said, "She said she was sorry."
I was trying to figure out what the down side of someone apologizing was when Jen figured out I didn't understand. "I told you it was dumb but she REALLY said she was sorry about a thousand times in one call. It was creepy how she started crying and stuff."
I pointed to the kitchen table and we both sat down. Only a half hour ago I was in Three's living room talking about Dominants and submissives, relationships and promises, claiming and collaring, the different types of collars, behavior and even punishment. Now I was sitting at our kitchen table with my seven-year-old niece and she's telling me about something that was yucky and weird? The theme song from the Twilight Zone kept repeating it's self in my head.
"Wait a minute Jen, Why was she crying?"
"I dunno." Now Jennifer was looking worried. "She sounded a little scared. She wants you to call her when you got home." She picked up a piece of paper that had a phone number on it and handed it to me. "Give her a call, you'll see," it sounded like a dare to me.
I looked at the clock over the sink. It was almost midnight. Was it to late to call?
Jen looked at me and yawned. "I'm going to go to bed. Can Mary spend the night?"
"As long as it's okay with her Mom, I replied through a yawn of my own. "Look what you did, it's contagious"
Jen gave me a sleepy smile, "Got'cha, nite."
With that she was off to the living room and then bed. Me? I was wondering if I really wanted to call her at midnight. I knew she had to be at work even before I did. "What the hell," I thought, "she said when ever.'
I guess she was waiting because she picked up on the second ring. "Hello?"
"Evee, it's Gene. Jennifer said you wanted me to call as soon as I got home." I didn't know what she wanted but I was curious enough to see were this would lead. The tiredness in her voice convinced me to keep it short.
"Yeah, well ... I wanted to tell you I'm sorry about blowing up like that, at the airport. I'd never seen Sunny so upset before and she wouldn't talk to me, so I assumed the worst.
"I tried to explain but she is your friend, after all. "
"Well that and the fact I did it in front of your niece. I wouldn't want anyone to do that to Troy."
"Troy?"
"He's my son," I could hear the pride in her voice through her tiredness, "he's six and I thought about what I did to your niece and you later. I shouldn't have said it like I did, I'm sorry.
"Like I said, Evee, that's okay. I understand, hell I might have done the same thing." Something told me that Jen was probably right. I could hear her apologizing until the sun came up. "I appreciate all this, I really do and maybe the four of us could get together this summer, after everything calms down." I thought that was generous of me, considering.
Evee had other ideas though. "Sure that sounds like fun. But I was wondering if you'd like to go out with dinner with me on Saturday? You know, kind of an apology for grownups. I can get a babysitter."
I looked at that damn spot on the wall and wondered what was going on. "I don't think that would be such a good idea, Evee. You're still friends with Sunny and it just doesn't seem right."
I heard her take a deep breath over the phone, "It's okay, Gene. Sunny called today and she suggested it."
Now it was my turn to take a deep breath. "She called you?" That spot on the wall seemed bigger. I wondered why couldn't she just call me, damn it.
"Uh-huh, this afternoon. She was laying over in Houston for a few hours and she called me at work."
Normally I think before I do something, but lately I really hadn't been thinking too clear. "Sure, okay, why not."
I guess she expected me to beg off or something because it took a while for her to come back. "Really? Well-l-l, how about Saturday at eight. Do you know Peitro's in Cary?"
"Sure, it's right off the interstate." It was about halfway between were we lived.
"Yeah, I guess I'll see you then, eight?"
"Eight o'clock then. Oh, one thing, Evee."
"Yes?"
"How is she doing?"
Evee knew who I was talking about and almost seemed to be relieved to talk about her. "Not good Gene. Donna called me the other day and told me she over slept and almost missed her flight. She's not herself. I wish there was someway you guys could get back together. She seemed like she was happier then."
"I don't think that's going to happen, Evee. We're too different."
"That's what she said too. You guys were like from different planets or something, oh well. See you Saturday?"
"Sure."
I hung up and wondered what in the hell I was doing. My ex-girlfriend was floundering and now I was going out to dinner with a friend of hers? What was wrong with this picture?
Well that would be Saturday anyway. It was two days away.