Cassie stared down at the phone in her hand. She spun it once or twice in her palm before exasperatedly banging her head on the steering wheel of her suv. The horn made a sharp honk, but she knew no one else would be in the parking garage to hear it. The screen read "Message failed to send. Retry?" Perhaps this was a sign. She knew this wasn't the best idea, but frankly she didn't care at this point. She held the message and fired it off again, and this time the phone signaled successful delivery. "No going back now..." she said out loud to herself. With that, she slid her phone into her purse and headed into the office.
Work seemed to crawl by as she waited for the lunch hour to finally arrive. When the clock finally showed 12:30, she pulled out her chicken salad and dove into her purse for her phone. The lock screen indicated one new message. With a sigh she opened her message thread with Ethan.
"Hey Ethan, it's Cass. I hate to do this to you, but would you mind company this weekend?"
"Assie! Sure thing! Business or pleasure?"
"I just need to get out of town for a while. Do you think you could set up the Spare Room?" she added the sheepish grimace emoji to that one.
"Oh, uh, sure! That bad, eh? Basic or Deluxe?"
"Deluxe. I need a break"
"Done! When should I expect you?"
"I'll send you the itinerary after work. And thanks." Then she added "What do I owe you?"
"Nah, I got it. Consider this a Christmas present."
"Ethan, it's May."
"... and a late birthday present then"
Cassie rolled her eyes. Ethan was, well, Ethan. There was nothing really to be done but to shake her head at his foolishness and smile. She turned to her work computer and booked the first flight she could find from Denver to San Diego, pleasantly surprised to find that it would land her at the airport around 6:30 on Friday. She shot the information off to Ethan and booked the tickets. This was gonna happen now either way! "I guess that's the nice part of this whole thing," she thought. "I'm free to do whatever I want and no one can talk me out of it."
Later that day, she picked up Abby from school and dropped her off at her ex-husband's house. James came to the door, having just got back from work himself. "Oh hey James, just to let you know, I'm gonna be out of town this weekend. Last minute trip. But I'll be back late Sunday night. You have my cell if you need anything."
After James hugged Abby hello and ushered her into the house, he stood to face Cassie, his face quizzical. "This a work thing? Kinda last minute for them to send you somewhere like that."
"Not a work thing. Just have some miles that are about to expire, and I'd rather not sit in my apartment for another weekend."
"Well, okay. We should be fine. Have fun I guess." He offered a genuine, but weak smile. Cassie returned the sentiment. She offered a quick "Thanks" before heading back to her car.
Immediately after getting home, she fell over the armrest of the sofa and landed face first in the cushion. She grabbed the closest pillow and let loose a passionate scream before letting her arms fall to her sides. Still face first in the cushion, she slipped her work pants down over her ass, looking like some weird caterpillar shedding an outer layer. Her button-down blouse and bra quickly followed. She briefly contemplated just remaining like this for the rest of the night. "Right" she said into the pillow "Time to pack!"
Cassie poured herself a glass of wine and threw on her favorite lounge sweater. Half the bottle later, her suitcases were already for tomorrow's adventure. She collapsed on to the couch, turning on the next episode of her latest guilty pleasure. When the clock finally read 10:00, she hauled herself back to her bedroom. Comfortably situated in bed, she flipped open the latest YA novel she was reading. The plot wasn't anything special really; a femme fatale bad ass finds hidden powers, meets the tall, emotionally distant bad boy, and eventually saves the day and falls in love. Oh yeah, and the sex scenes were pretty great. "But" she told herself jokingly, "I read it for the plot."
In this latest chapter, the "will they, won't they" that the author had been teasing for 4 chapters finally resolved. The descriptions of sex and pleasure hitched Cassie's breath once or twice, and she reached into her nightstand for her favorite vibrator. With a deep buzzing, the toy spread to life and Cassie spread her thighs. She tossed the book off the bed and began to rub her exposed clit up and down in slow, sweeping motions. Unfortunately, the clock indicated that she'd been reading for half hour already and her 5:30 alarm would come way too fast. She traded her free hand for the hand with the wand, pressing the soft head to her now swollen clit. She arched her hips into the toy, magnifying the pressure and letting the sweet vibrations tease all the sensitive parts of her. She let out the first heavy breath and let herself chase the pleasure of it. Her sex began to wet, making each motion smooth and slick. The wave inside her began to rise with each passing stroke and hip thrust. Usually, she liked to draw this part out for a while, but work hung over head like a rain cloud. Instead, she began to thrust with wild abandon, coaxing the coming pleasure closer and closer. Moans escaped her lips. She desperately raced toward orgasm until finally the wave crested. Her breathing began ragged and deep as she cried out with pleasure. Her toes curled and her thighs trembled as she milked every ounce of satisfaction she could from her climax.
When her breathing returned to normal and her toy was cleaned and tucked safely away, she turned to her side to finally pass out for the night. She took out her phone, ensuring the alarms were all set, and set in on her nightstand. Then, as nostalgia took over, she grabbed her phone again and opened the gallery. She scrolled through photos of her and Abby's latest mommy-daughter adventure to the mall, all giggles and smiles. Her heart felt a twinge of ache as she saw the shining smile of her little girl. She locked the phone once more and finally closed her eyes. Sleep descended at last.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Earlier that day, as Ethan closed the message thread from Cassie, he pulled up the Spare Room app on his phone and began to search for the closest available suite and time. The Spare Room was a passion project of the BDSM community in the San Diego area, providing safe, well equipped and well-furnished places for kinksters to play. The concept was most similar to Air BnB, where couples would offer their home and playrooms for rental. Sometimes the couples would stay in the home as well, providing extra services to whoever was using the rental. Other times they'd take the opportunity to take a trip or play somewhere else themselves. Each property was lavish and lovely, a great place for anyone to retreat and indulge.
Ethan pulled up the property roster in the app and searched for any close to the coast. Luckily, there were a few properties to choose from and all were available this weekend. He quickly made the reservation and closed the app again, setting his phone down at his workstation. He hadn't talked to Cassie in a little while, and for her to reach out, she must've really needed a getaway.
Ethan and Cassie had grown up together, in all the same extra curriculars and friend groups. They'd always been friends, but they were never really in each other's best friend circles. After high school, Ethan had joined the military to learn IT through the Army's Technology trainings. Before he'd left, their friend group had spent the whole summer together, some preparing for college, some headed back to their senior year. Their relationship had changed a bit that summer, with a few nights of staring at the stars and watching the sunrise together. They'd kissed once but had ultimately decided that anything serious right now was a terrible idea.
"Hey! Why don't we make one of those lame pacts!" Ethan had exclaimed one night out of the blue.
"I'm not letting you near me with a knife." Cassie flatly responded.
"I know you know what I mean dumbass." Ethan went on, "If we're still single when I get back from tour, let's give this a shot. Everyone else is already in a relationship and has back up pacts anyway. I'm me, sure, but at least you'd know what you're getting."
Cassie laughed a sweet laugh. She DID know what that meant, and because of that very fact, was tempted to say no. "Fine. If we're both still single at, what, 25?"
"Deal." Ethan said, obviously pleased with himself.
Fast forward to 7 years later, and Ethan was graduating from some IT school on the west coast. He'd served a tour in the Army and completed the degree program they'd offered in the San Diego area. Ethan and Cassie had gotten in touch when he moved to San Diego, and he had learned she was happily married to James with a daughter on the way. They'd gotten married at 23 and had gotten pregnant just a year later. Ethan had never really planned on following through with the pact, but he did feel a touch of disappointment to hear that she wouldn't be fulfilling her end of the deal.
That had been 5 years ago. Abby was almost 6 now. Ethan had been in a few important relationships since then, even proposing once. Ultimately, though, his demanding career in IT had left little time for anything else. Cassie and James had split almost 3 years ago. They both still loved each other but felt like their lives were moving in different directions. Cassie had come to stay with Ethan then too, which was his first indicator that her asking to come out again probably meant she wasn't okay. During that trip, they'd caught up on everything that had happened in their lives since high school, adding details and names to faces of the stories they'd shared over messaging or text.
One night over dinner, Ethan had made a flippant joke about the fact that at least Cassie wasn't tied down in a relationship anymore. Cassie had wryly smiled and mentioned that being tied down was one of the parts that was missing. Ethan had choked on his drink and barely avoided spitting the cocktail all the way across the table. After playing the fool for a few minutes, Ethan had finally confessed that he's always been intrigued by the idea of bondage, but never done much with it.
Fueled by all the chaos in her life and possibly a few martinis, Cassie had immediately searched for BDSM clubs in the San Diego area. Ethan's face had paled. He was more of a check before you jump person. But he couldn't shut off the curiosity and they had agreed to check it out. After filing the extensive background checks and safety forms for the club, they'd visited together a few nights later. Their minds were immediately blown. There were people with collars and leashes, totally nude. There were BDSM demonstrations in another corner. An attendant with a bondage hood addressed them, wearing only a chastity cage on his cock.
