Zed
Abby didn't wake till mid-afternoon. Zed had spent the time since his epiphany in her office deliberating about what needed to be done to give her what she needed.
“Still here?” she said, her voice thick and sluggish with the effect of the drugs. Her fear wasn't as prevalent as earlier, but he figured the lingering after-effects of the drugs had something to do with that.
“Of course,” Zed replied gruffly. “Think I was just going to leave? I figured you'd have begun to realize what kind of man I am, by now.”
She eyed him up and down, still putting on as defiant a face as she could muster while naked and tied to her own bed. “No,” she said, after a while, “I guess you're right.”
“I'm going to untie you now,” he said. “And, when I'm finished, I'm going to lay out the rules. All right?”
She gave a little shrug of her shoulders and even nodded a little.
He bent down and went to untying her bonds. They were simple knots by any standards, but difficult for someone in her position to untie on her own.
Soon, she was sitting upright in bed, idly rubbing her reddened and puffy wrists and ankles. She sat there, still somehow daring to defy him. “So, what kind of . . . what kind of rules do you have, now?”
He looked at her levelly, then began to pace as he listed them off. “First,” he began, “you will address me as 'sir.' Do you understand?”
She nodded, but didn't say anything.
Defiance, already? This wouldn't stand. Far from it. He needed to assert his authority as early as possible. It was what she needed, after all. Zed stopped in his tracks and looked at her. “I asked if you understood,” he said, in a cold voice.
“Yes, sir?”
Close enough. It was a start. He went back to pacing. “Second, you will not speak unless spoken to and only when you are given permission. Do you understand?”
“Yes, sir,” she said again, her eyes and the turned-up corner of her mouth saying exactly the opposite.
“Third,” Zed began, forgetting the pacing, “You will do the chores, including cooking and tending to my needs.” He watched her face to gauge her reaction as he prepared to lay out her punishment for any infractions.
She raised an eyebrow, clearly waiting for him to continue.
“The first time you disobey me on anything, you'll be put in timeout. I think you've already experienced that, haven't you? It means more sleepless nights, like last night.”
She didn't say anything. Instead, her eyes just narrowed as he plowed onto the next.
“The second time, you will receive a spanking.”
Her eyes widened a little at that, and he watched as her jaw worked a little, her throat bobbing as she swallowed.
“Third time,” he said, as he swept his eyes over her petite frame, soft skin, and flawless body, “you'll be punished . . . more severely.” He turned back to pacing.
He switched his voice back to normal, dropping the sternness from it. “If you obey me, of course, we'll get along just fine. I'll be nice to you, and you won't have any problems as we work our way through this.” He stopped and turned to her, his face near hers. “Do you understand?” he asked.
She turned her head slightly away, a look of concern on her face.
He knew she'd be hard to change. But the way you changed anyone was through persistence. Besides, he was just awakening her to what she needed. Still, though, it was frustrating. He leaned in closer, repeating himself. “Do you understand?”
Abby turned her face to his and moved forward, the spitting sound so unmistakable that Zed knew what was coming before it even his face. The wad landed right on his nose, cheek, and upper lip, and it began to ran down his firm, square jaw.
He had to suppress his grin at her blatant disregard for their agreement. She was feisty, that was for sure. Feistier than any woman he'd ever met, and twice as resilient. Most women her size would have cowered in fear from what Zed might do, especially after what he'd already done. They definitely wouldn't be provoking him to keep his promises. He wiped his hand down his face and looked down at the spittle collected in the palm of his hand. When he looked back up at her, Abby was grinning back at him, a smug, defiant look on her face.
This was how it always was. When given new restrictions and rules, people would test them to see what they could get away with. A good enforcer of the rules would make every single one count, and would never be arbitrary. He would keep his word about punishment, especially if he wanted to maintain order. After a little storming, things would settle down. That was all Abby needed. A good enforcer.
She smiled again, waggled her eyebrows, and nearly laughed. There was fear in her eyes, though. She was afraid and uncertain that she had made the right choice.
He had to show her that she hadn't. He shot out his hand and grabbed hold of her wrist. He yanked her up from the bed before she even had time to protest. “Warning number one,” he said, his voice full and clear, like he was barely exerting himself. He grabbed the roll of duct tape and dragged her to the chair as she kicked and screamed, forcing her down into it.
She tried to fight him, but he stopped her. “No,” he said, sternly. “I told you what was coming, and you chose to try and fucking piss me off. Now, don't make this into a spanking, or worse.”
Putting the fear of God into her quieted her down, at least for the time being.
“I told you, Abby,” he said, as he wrapped the tape around her arm and secured it. “I don't know why you didn't believe me,” he continued, as he moved onto the other arm. “Now I have to give you time out again.” Finished with her arms, he moved on to her legs, putting her back in the stress position she'd been in the night before.
It broke his heart to have to do this to her a second time. He didn't particularly enjoy doing this to her. But, he'd come to realize it was for her own good, as well as his and Kai's. It was a necessary evil, he reasoned, as he taped her ankles down to the chair legs.
“You don't have to—”
“Rule two,” Zed barked, cutting her off. “No speaking unless spoken to.”
He blindfolded her again with his tie and grabbed the headphones and mp3 player from the nightstand, where he'd left it before.
She shook her head, suddenly worried about the coming punishment. “Please, Zed—I mean, sir— please not the headphones. Anything you want, just not the headphones.”
He went behind her, sighing loud enough for her to clearly him over the music already pumping out. “You did this to yourself, Abby. Just remember that.”
She continued to shake her head and began screaming as he grabbed the chair's backrest and tipped her backwards. He pulled her to the door of the large walk-in closet he'd found earlier, while snooping around. He dragged her into it and left her there. He didn't have the heart to watch her suffer the way he had the last time. He wouldn't have been able to bear it this second time.
Her protests followed him out of the closet and down the hall. They even followed him as went into the kitchen and took stock of her groceries. He could still hear them as he shook his head at the sad state of affairs in her pantry and refrigerator. Clearly, she didn't eat at home a lot, despite the number of cookbooks she owned.
Zed reminded himself that he was the one who had to take control of the situation. This was his responsibility now. If there was no food in the house, he was going to have to remedy that. Still keenly aware of the torment he was putting her through, he grabbed the car keys and went to the grocery story.
There, he shopped for the next weeks’ worth of groceries, loading the cart up with plenty of fresh fruits, vegetables, and meats for the two of them. They both needed to keep their strength up for the trying times ahead. No one at the store gave him a second glance as he shopped, and the cashier didn't even comment on how many rolls of duct tape he was buying.
He made it back to Abby's house a couple of hours later. After putting up the groceries where he thought they should go, he munched on a granola bar and settled in for the long wait. She'd disobeyed him and disrespected him. Her discipline would have to be a long, drawn out one, if he wanted to impress on her the importance of order and following the rules.
For dinner, he got up and pulled down the blender he'd seen in his earlier rummaging. It was dusty and seldom used, so he washed it and went to work fixing her something nutritious and filling. The whirring of the electric motor, as it liquified the ingredients within, reminded Zed of the jet engine turbines that had propelled him through the air over the Middle East.
Things had been simpler back then, he realized. You only had the decisions right in front of you to make. There was us, and there was them. And there were the mission objectives. Everything else in between didn't matter.
Here, back in civilian life, the way forward was unclear—foggy at best. If you wanted to find happiness, it sometimes seemed you had to do things that didn't make sense even to yourself.
He poured the fruit smoothie, with added protein, into two glasses and drank one down in big, starving gulps, not realizing how hungry he'd been up until then. He grabbed a bendy straw from the packet he'd bought and stuck it in the other glass. With another granola bar stuffed in his back pocket, he went back into Abby's master bedroom and closet.
Abby sat in the closet, her face almost serene. When he got closer to her, though, she seemed to sense his presence and nervously tried to back her body away.
Zed reached out, stroked her hair soothingly until she began to relax again. He didn't remove the headphones or the blindfold, but just brought the smoothie's straw to her mouth, brushing it across her lips.
She latched onto it and greedily began to suck it down. She stopped momentarily and made a face, pulling back with her brow scrunched down as she shook her head. “Brain freeze!” she yelled.
Zed smiled a little, gave her a moment, then returned the smoothie when she nodded for more.
When she was finished with that, he pressed the granola bar to her lips. She bit off tiny bites. When she was done with each bite, she'd open her mouth a little, silently asking for more.
After finishing the food, she shouted that she needed to use the restroom. Zed cut her free, but left on the headphones and makeshift blindfold. He scooped her up, carried her into the bathroom, and set her on the toilet. She went to take off her headphones and blindfold herself, but Zed grabbed her hands and firmly pulled them away.
“Please,” she begged, as he carried her back, “Zed. Stop this.”
He just taped her back up in the timeout chair and closed the door on Abby. When it started to get late, he made a sleeping pad on the floor next to the closet and stretched out for the night. As he lay there, he returned to his memories of Kai and what his brother had gone through—what Pharma-Vitae had been responsible for.
He kept himself on edge that way, reminding himself of why he was here and why he was having to do this. Zed and Kai were both supposed to have had normal lives, not these mockeries that had been thrust on them by uncaring corporations. This was the company’s fault, not his. He needed to remember that.
The feedings and bathroom breaks continued throughout the next day. That night, he decided she'd had enough and finally released her.
He cut her loose and gently removed the headphones and the blindfold. She blinked as she looked around, the light clearly hurting her eyes.
“Do you have an apology for me?” he asked, as he helped her up from the chair.
She didn't respond as he led her out the closet.
“I asked,” he began again, as he turned back to her, his voice becoming sterner and more emphatic, “for an apology.”
She still remained quiet, her lips pressed into a hard, unyielding line.
Clearly, she hadn't learned her lesson about the rules. “Fine,” he said, pulling off his belt as he dragged her to the bed and threw her on it. He loomed over her, the belt looped in his hand, as she recoiled across the bed.
“Fuck you, Zed,” she said, her eyes on the belt in his hand. “Fuck you.”
Blood boiled in his veins as he reached out and grabbed hold of her, pulling her back across the bed. “This is the second time you've broken the rules I laid down. Now it's time for the punishment I promised. Maybe then, you'll understand how serious I am.”
# # #
Abby
Abby struggled against Zed’s grip, trying to get away from the leather belt, but he was too strong. His hands were like vices, and it was impossible for her to break free. She tried to pull away, crying out, but he just yanked her harder across his lap, belt still in hand.
Alarm bells flashed in her mind, even louder than before. He was about to whip her with the belt! She struggled to get off his knees, but he held her in place with one strong arm across her lower back, pinning her down. She kicked her legs, but couldn't be effective from her position.
“This is going to hurt me worse than it hurts you,” Zed chided, as he pinned her down with his elbow. “You're making me do this, Abby.”
Abby thrashed, trying to get away, but he had her securely in place. She lifted her head up, arching her back, and trying to get out from under his control.
Zed looped the belt around her exposed neck, pulling her further backwards.
She cried out as the leather tightened across her neck, arching her even further and making her muscles scream in protest. Then she cried out as felt the first of many slaps.
He slapped her bare ass with the flat of his hand, quickly striking her firm bottom.
Each strike did little to hurt her, physically. Instead, it was her pride that suffered as she was forced to submit to this demeaning act. He was treating her like a child, and she knew it. That's what all his rules had been about.
The spanking continued to rain down on her, though, in a torrential downpour she couldn't avoid. But, that wasn't the worst part of it all.
She was, she realized, as her moans of protests became moans of pleasure, beginning to enjoy her punishment. There was something just so dark and kinky about it all, even after the time in the closet. She was held in place by this strong, domineering man, the smell of him on the leather belt across her throat, his callused hand swatting her ass and thighs as she struggled in his grasp. “Fuck you, Zed,” she moaned, her words more about the way he was making her crave what was happening than about any pain he was causing.
“Fuck me?” he growled, as he leaned over, pulling her along with him with the belt. The bed shifted beneath them both. “We need to work on that foul language of yours, Abby. It won't do at all.” His hand returned to her backside.
“Fuck you,” she gasped again, as she felt her excitement leaking down the inside of her thighs. She hoped she was ruining his slacks by being across his lap. Then she heard the unmistakable buzzing from her vibrator. She tried to wiggle away from it, but didn't say anything as she struggled against the belt at her throat. “Fuck you,” she groaned again.
He roughly forced her legs apart, spreading her quickly slickening thighs. “Seems someone's appreciating the need for their punishment,” he growled again, as he rubbed the vibrating silicon tip against her clit.
Fireworks exploded inside her, and she squeezed her eyes to try and shut out the pleasure. But, behind her eyelids, it was just like the Fourth of July. She moaned, a low, throaty, and slutty sound as her little friend buzzed away at her. “Please, Zed, please, oh, God,” she groaned, the wonderful pleasure invading her body and pushing all thoughts of propriety out of her mind.
He tightened the belt around her neck and slipped the vibrator deep between her lips.
She spread her legs wider, panting in unexpected ecstasy as her eyes flew open. She pushed back onto the vibrating toy, sliding it further inside her as she felt her orgasm, the one he'd denied her so many times, building quickly inside her. She gasped for breath, her vision going dark as she arched back across his lap. She didn't even struggle anymore, her body just letting it all happen and urging her to accept it. She moaned again, wanted to beg him to let her finish, but her breath wouldn't come. The belt was pulled too tightly for her to breathe.
He fucked her with the toy, easily finding her g-spot. The vibrations of the toy reverberated through her whole body.
There it was! That was it! That was what her whole body had been screaming for her whole life!
Her whole body went stiff as a board, all her muscles contracting so tightly that her toes and fingers curled into claws as she spasmed on his lap. She shook, her muscles going wild and pressing her throat into the leather of Zed's belt. Her bottom thrust back into the air, shoving the vibrator deeper inside her. She screamed out a shattering orgasm, her body alight with a thousand stars burning out in supernovas as she came under this man's heavy-handed dominance of her body and mind.
Then, it was over, her body forgetting its will to fight. She slumped in Zed's arms, her head going slack and letting the belt hold her up. Where there had been a stern, fiery resistance, now there was a glowing light of pleasure mixed with pain.
Zed dropped the belt from her neck and carefully picked her up.
She gasped for breath as she hung in his arms, cradled against his chest like a wayward child. But, fuck, the feelings in her were nothing like a child could ever experience or comprehend. That was the most intense thing her tiny, fragile body had ever felt. She hadn't even realized anything that pleasurable could exist, outside stories on the internet. She lay her head against his broad chest, breathing deeply through her now deliciously sore throat, the ache a constant reminder of what Zed had done to her—done for her.
He placed her on the bed and lay her head back on the pillow. He stroked her sweat-dampened hair away from her forehead. “Now,” he said, his thumb idly rubbing over her forehead, “say thank you, sir.”
She knew she should say, “fuck you,” instead of, “thank you,” just then. But, as a little aftershock of her orgasm passed through her, reminding Abby of the pleasure she could have under Zed's hands, she just licked her lips.
“Thank you, sir,” she whispered back.
“Get some rest,” he said softly. “It's late, and you deserve it for finally being such a good girl.”
She smiled up at him before she even realized what she was doing. Then he turned off the lights and went around to the other side of the bed. He took off his shirt and shoes and crawled into bed with her, wearing just his pants, socks, and undershirt.
“One last thing,” he said, as she slowly began to drift. “I'm a very light sleeper.”