I
The train arrived at the station Alice had directed him to in the afternoon. She had never narrowed down where she and Kate lived to more than 'the North Wales coast' before, but here he was, supposedly close to her actual address. Given the length of the journey, Steve hoped that this wasn't her idea of a prank. He would feel pretty stupid coming all this way to meet his online 'friend', only to find out that the whole thing was a joke at his expense.
For years she had kept a strict anonymity to their chats, supplying her first name and many details about her life, but never enough to risk identification. There had been a few nudes, but never anything showing her face.
Then she had sent the mail. An invitation to visit, offering little more than a location to travel to and a promise to meet him at the station. He'd recently ended a long-term relationship and she felt like doing something exciting to start the new year, so she said. In fairness, that did seem entirely in character for her, but it was hard to believe all the same. He'd tried asking for a full photo, "Just so I know who I'm meeting", but she'd laughed it off, saying that she wanted the big reveal to happen in person.
"I want to see you take a risk, Mr. Careful."
He'd almost abandoned the idea right then, until she'd sent him a train ticket and told him to call in sick for a few days.
"No second chances," she'd said. "I've done my part. If you want it, come and get it."
He'd wanted it, so here he was.
The station was tiny, not at all what he was used to in England. A short stretch of concrete in front of a quaint waiting room. Steve supposed that during the holiday season this place might be quite busy, but no one was flocking to a wet, cold Welsh seaside town in January. He stepped down onto the platform, clutching his bag awkwardly and wondering if he'd made a mistake. To think he'd been worried about recognising her in a crowd. There was no one waiting here at all.
Maybe it was time to write this one off as a kind of midlife crisis. It should be easy to find a cheap hotel room this time of year, and a couple of days of relaxation in a nice town might not be so bad. That was the spirit, ignore the crushing disappointment and focus on the positives.
Then he saw the two women walk through the gate. Both were well-dressed in fashionable winter coats, easily ten years his junior, both slim and attractive. The brunette was slightly shorter and slimmer, struggling to hide a cheeky smile. The blonde was more aloof, striding along with her nose up in the air and barely glancing in his direction.
Steve's heart was really racing and his mouth a touch dry. They matched the mental picture he'd built up of them over the years. Could it really be them? He tried to picture the brunette naked for reference, but that wasn't much help.
They stopped in front of him. The blonde continuing to look around at the trees in apparent disinterest, while the brunette looked right at him appraisingly. He realised suddenly that he'd never even thought of offering her a photo for identification purposes.
"I was going to make a sign with 'Steve' written on it," the brunette grinned, "but I thought it'd be more fun to keep you guessing until the last second."
The blonde looked at him directly then, maybe looking for confirmation that they hadn't just ambushed a complete stranger.
He realised he'd better find his tongue before this got awkward. "Alice?"
"Very pleased to meet you," she said with obviously fake formality, extending her hand for a shake. "Car's illegally parked, so we better get a move on."
She turned to indicate the blonde, who was still looking at him with what might have been disapproval, or just resting bitch face. Jesus, she was hot. Alice was just as pretty as he'd hoped, but Kate...Fuck.
"Mongo here will carry your bag if you want," Alice grinned.
"Fuck off," the blonde smiled for the first time. "You can carry it. I'm driving."
II
Steve had found himself pushed into an armchair and supplied with sandwiches before he knew what was happening. Alice had happily chatted with him during the short drive to her place, and was still talking while she and Kate began rearranging furniture. He'd barely been in her presence for 20 minutes and already felt like they'd been hanging out for days. She was exactly like she'd been online all these years, funny, smart and curious about everything. Not a trace of nerves, unless the constant chatter was her way of dealing with the weirdness of the situation.
It was strange, knowing so many of her intimate secrets, her fantasies and fears, but only now seeing them attached to a real person. She seemed so composed and well-adjusted. Normal, in the best possible way. He'd never have guessed from looking at her just how wild her kinks got. Attractive too, which was a relief. It would have been a real shit if he'd come all this way and not felt the same way about her in person. He thought about seeing her do the things they'd only talked about, in person, and his mouth got dry again.
Kate, on the other hand, had barely said a word to him, letting Alice play hostess while she just glanced at him with a smirk. He didn't know her anywhere near as well. The blonde had entered Alice's life as a friend and, about a year ago, had been promoted to girlfriend. It had come as a surprise to both women, neither of whom had dated women before, but it was clear that they'd both finally found the person they were looking for.
Alice had never felt comfortable sharing her real desires with her boyfriends, deeply embarassing as they were, so her relationships were never fulfilling. It was, by her own admission, a self-inflicted injury. She'd always been highly competitive, wanting to appear perfect, afraid of failing or letting her family down. Maybe that was why so many of her kinks were about taking risks, about losing control, of being humiliated and degraded. Kate had seen all of that and shrugged, accepting her as she really was without hesitation.
Alice, in turn, clearly worshipped her.
So Steve was pretty sure what Alice wanted out of this meet-up, but he wasn't entirely sure why Kate had agreed to this. The few times he'd spoken online to Kate had been terse, mostly organising some sexual adventure for Alice. That was probably what Kate was doing now. No doubt she'd tell him herself when she got round to it, she had a reputation for bluntness.
He came out of his thoughts and noticed that his hosts had cleared an open space in the centre of the room, occupied by a single chair. Alice emerged from the bedroom with a cardboard box and plonked it down on the table now occupying the centre of the room. She pulled out two pairs of handcuffs and held them up delicately, letting them jangle.
"Enough fucking around," said Kate, looking over at him with her unnervingly direct stare. "You want to break the ice?"
Steve swallowed hard and nodded. Yep, Kate was all business as expected.
"Good," she stalked over to him, bending down until her lips were pressed against his ear, her golden hair brushing the side of his face. "Here's what we're going to do..."
III
He was naked and bent over the table, his arms spread wide as if he were reaching for the corners. Alice and Kate had worked efficiently, combining cuffs and loops of rope to secure his wrists to the far table legs. They'd done something similar with his ankles on the near side. Knowing Alice, she had planned this all out and practised it long before she'd invited him to visit. She hated looking incompetent.
Steve felt horribly vulnerable in this position, realising that he was entirely dependent on the girls' goodwill if he wanted to be released. He wondered if he'd made a mistake agreeing to this, but he'd wanted it too much to seriously consider refusing. At Kate's command he'd stripped in front of them, trembling with a mixture of lust and dread.
Kate sat on a kitchen chair in front of him, still smirking as she ran a leather belt between her hands. It was hard to keep his head up so he could look at her, but she'd warned him that she expected him to maintain eye contact. He'd settled for resting his chin on the tabletop and trying to ignore the ache in his neck.
"Alice says you enjoy pain. It'll be fun to see how much of that was just talk."
Steve swallowed, trying to keep a brave face on. He already felt stupid enough in this position, he didn't want to look like a coward too. "I can handle quite a lot."
