“Michael!” Kate’s voice squealed out from behind Andrew and after a moment she bounced into view, the same kind of goofy grin on her face, and she shoved her left hand into his face. A large sapphire, surrounded by a cluster of diamonds, adorned her ring finger. “Look! Look! Look!”
Michael let out a loud whoop of congratulations, jumping forward to catch them both in a hug. No wonder Andrew had looked so goofy!
“When did this happen?! You didn’t say you were going to be doing this today!” Michael said. He would have waited and let the happy couple have their afternoon together if Andrew had.
“It was kind of a spur of the moment thing,” Andrew admitted, wrapping his arm around his fiancé and dropping a kiss on the top of her head with a sappy expression. “Come on in, I don’t want Kate to get cold.”
Since the air was decidedly chilly and Kate was just wearing short cloth shorts and a thin t-shirt, that made sense. Although Andrew’s nipples were also getting hard in the cold air, but Michael would let him keep the illusion that he was just doing it for Kate’s sake. He stepped inside so Andrew could close the door behind him, Kate practically bouncing as she took a couple steps back but didn’t go any farther.
“We were at the mall this afternoon and we went into the jewelry store so I could get my mom a birthday present and when I saw this ring… well, I know it’s not the traditional engagement ring, but I just fell in love. So I pointed it out to Andrew and told him that’s exactly what I wanted, and I was just kind of joking, you know, but he dropped to his knee right there!” The adoration on Kate’s face as she beamed up at him warmed Michael from the inside out. He was damned happy for the two of them.
“I told you when we got together, I was going to marry you,” Andrew teased, watching her bounce. He turned his attention back to Michael, grinning. “We’re telling everyone else at the club tonight, but since you aren’t going to be there…”
“Don’t tell Ellie though, I get to!” Kate demanded, pointing a demanding finger at him as her bouncing momentarily stopped. “I’m going to call her first thing tomorrow morning.And don’t let her pick up her phone from anyone else. Hide it from her if you have to.”
Michael held up his hands in surrender. “I promise, I won’t tell her and I will keep her far too busy to even think about her phone.”He grinned as he made the promise.
Twenty minutes later - which was far longer than it should have taken since Kate had insisted on putting on real clothes and accompanying them out to the shed, which had taken about twice the time since Andrew had been in the bedroom with her while she dressed since he needed a shirt and the couple apparently couldn’t go more than thirty seconds without cooing at each other - Michael was back on the road and headed to his apartment with a gorgeously finished, custom-made piece of equipment in his trunk. Well, half in his trunk. He’d had to put down the back seats to make some of the longer pieces fit entirely.
Fortunately, he’d be able to get it up to his apartment by himself since it was in pieces and Andrew had shown him how to put it together. Ellie was going to be in for a surprise tonight.
Chapter 21
Michael had invited Ellie over for dinner before they headed to Stronghold, which wasn’t unusual. What was unusual was the secretive smile on his lips when he opened the door and the fact that all of his furniture had been moved out of the way for what looked like a spanking bench sitting in the middle of his living room. The couch and coffee table (which had all sorts of toys laying out on it) had been pushed back against the walls, almost framing the bench, so there was no way she could miss it.
“What’s that?” she asked, pointing, even though the answer to her question was pretty self-evident. She was just thrown by its sudden appearance, anticipation and apprehension spiking inside of her since Michael hadn’t even hinted that tonight was going to be anything other than going to the club and hanging out with their friends. In other words, nothing different than what they’d been doing for the past few weeks, acting like a vanilla couple.
That bench said something different though, and her body was already fizzing with hopeful excitement.
Strong hands slid over her shoulders, pulling open the front of her coat and tugging it off to reveal the deep red PVC dress she was wearing underneath. Ellie didn’t have to look down to know her nipples were already poking through the fabric, indicating her arousal. All it took was just a hint of possible kinky things to come and she was all revved up.
“What’s that?” Michael made a tutting noise behind her, his deep voice amused. “What do you think it is?”
Wrinkling up her nose, Ellie danced away from him, already knowing she was going to pay for her next sentence. “Well, I’m not sure, see it’s been a long time since I’ve been on one of those things… or really gotten a close look at one… I seem to have forgo-OH!”
The big bad Dom swooped in and Ellie found herself swept up in his arms, giggling madly at the scowling look on his face.
“You know what happens to SAMs, pretty girl?” he asked, using the popular acronym for ‘Smart-Ass Masochist.’
“No, because I don’t think I’ve ever been considered one,” she answered honestly, still giggling as she wrapped her arms around his neck. She really hadn’t been either. It was only with Michael that she’d ever gotten mouthy, even in the beginning - which was a pretty clear indication how much she’d instinctivelytrusted him.
“They get punished,” he said matter-of-factly, and every nerve ending in Ellie’s body cheered in anticipation.
When he dumped her on the bench, on her back, she was surprised. Not just because he’d put her on her back, but because he’d put her down so her head was on the incline and her ass was lower. Michael chuckled as she blinked at him in surprise, pulling her up just enough to yank her dress off over her head. As usual, she wore nothing underneath, and his eyes drank in the sight of her naked body, filled with appreciation.
“Arms above your head,” he ordered her, and Ellie complied, almost more curious than she was turned on by what was happening.
It turned out the bench had cuffs which secured her wrists just above her head, forcing her elbows to splay outwards in order to be at all comfortable and completely opening her breasts to whatever Michael wanted to do to them. Oh sure, she’d be able to bring her elbows up in a protective position if she really wanted to, but it wouldn’t be comfortable and she wouldn’t be able to hold the position for long.
Michael adjusted the incline of the bench so she was tilted back another inch or so, keeping her from sliding right off the bench, and arousal curled through her as she realized exactly how at his mercy she was. Another strap went over her middle, across her ribs, pinning her down to the bench just under her breasts.
“Is this Andrew’s work?” she asked as Michael attached cuffs to her ankles, turning her head to look at the glossy wood. She was pretty sure the comfortable padding she was laying on was leather. Andrew made a lot of custom pieces of bondage equipment and she’d heard they could be very… versatile.
“Why, yes, it is,” Michael replied with an almost cruel twist of his lips, securing two cuffs to her thighs as well. Ellie squeaked as he pushed her ankles up towards her body so he could attach the ankle cuffs to the thigh cuffs on each leg, splaying her legs wide open and completely exposing all her most vulnerable bits. Then he attached the thigh cuffs to the bench on each side, holding her open. “Very pretty, pretty girl.”
Ellie couldn’t help but struggle a little, testing the boundaries of her restraints. They didn’t go very far. She panted for breath as Michael stood back and watched her wriggle, that same little sadistic smile on his face. The strap across her middle would probably keep her from falling, but she didn’t really want to test it by thrashing about too much.
The way he’d restrained her, her pussy, anus, and inner thighs were completely vulnerable and at his mercy. The glint in Michael’s eye said he was thinking about all the terrible things he could do to those sensitive areas while she was tied down like this. She didn’t know if it was the weeks of nothing but vanilla or her increased trust in Michael, but she didn’t think she’d ever been so turned on from so little foreplay.
