Better

***Author's Note: This is the final chapter of Alex and Audrey's story. I want to thank all of the commenters and readers of the first two chapters. I hope the end I envisioned lives up to your expectations and finally ties up the loose ends from the beginning of the story. As always, your comments and votes are greatly appreciated—Theworldspins***

"It's too mid-century for my taste—you know, Rothkoesque."

"You're just not seeing it, Evelyn. It's representational. It's a landscape."

"Well—in a certain light, yes...I mean—the abstraction..."

"It's just...antiseptic. There's a note of death—unrepresentable, unknowable."

"Like a Malevich? I see it."

"What's it called?"

"'Beyond the Window.' It's actually part of a series."

"I don't recognize you. Do you know the artist?"

"You could say that."

***

Audrey shot a sideways glance at Alex, as he chatted with a few gallery patrons in front of one of her biggest new pieces. She hadn't gotten a solo show yet—only a few paintings in a small but progressive new gallery downtown—but she'd already sold a piece tonight. Now she watched as people milled around her work.

It was strange to show her paintings to other people beside Master. This was the one way she opened up to the outside world about her condition. Each one of her paintings bore the traces of her life: the loss, the pain, but also the joy she had found in Master. Each brushstroke was an act of devotion, of service to him. When he bought her the paint and canvases, he told her it was because he wanted to learn what was hidden within the parts of her mind she could not reach any longer. For Audrey, her paintings often came as surprises, like photographs of dreams she could never remember dreaming. Their vividness shocked her as much as anyone else.

I hope he doesn't hate this. These aren't exactly his kind of people.

Audrey shivered as she felt a hand around her waist.

A voice whispered into her ear: "I'm so proud of you, honey."

"Kendra, you scared me," Audrey said, turning towards the diminutive brunette beside her. "But, thanks. I was so nervous."

"Your stuff is so good," Kendra said. "I wanted to ask you about one piece in particular."

Audrey had a good idea which piece Kendra was interested in.

"That's why I was nervous," she said. "I figured most people wouldn't really pick it up but—"

"But you knew I could spot a picture of you bound and gagged no matter how 'abstract' you made it, right?" Kendra said with a sly smile.

"Shhh!"

Audrey began to blush. With Master, nothing was off-limits, but she was just beginning to get used to talking candidly with other people. She had met Kendra, a sculptress, at the art supply store, and they had become fast friends. Through her art, Audrey had met a decent handful of friends and acquaintances, some of whom knew about her memory issues, some of whom did not. Only Kendra, though, knew the truth about Audrey's relationship with Alex.

"I think it's hot—not, like, tawdry. It makes you, I don't know,

feel

things without just coming out and saying it."

"Thanks," Audrey said. "I guess it's easier for a painter than a sculptor to hide that kind of thing."

Kendra laughed.

"Yeah, I guess I can't make a sculpture of my Master's giant cock without it looking like, you know, a giant cock."

Audrey felt relieved Kendra was there. She always felt butterflies in her stomach whenever someone came up to her to ask her about her paintings: where they came from, what they were supposed to mean. In a way, she hadn't really intended them to

mean

anything. In truth, they were inventories of images that she couldn't connect to specific memories. Alex called them "ghost pictures" for that reason, though Audrey could tell that Master usually couldn't tell how erotically charged her art was for her, given how little her paintings looked like actual human bodies. He was just one of those "both feet on the ground" kind of guys; his favorite painter was Van Gogh, and that was as "out there" as he would get.

Audrey and Kendra stayed glued together for the next hour, surreptitiously laughing over particularly pretentious collectors and gallery patrons, while they sipped glasses of pinot grigio and fended off the subtle come-ons of a variety of bald and bespectacled older men.

While Audrey turned more heads, Kendra wasn't without her charms. Though she was slightly older than Audrey, she looked considerably younger. It didn't help that she barely broke five feet tall, nor that she was fair-skinned and freckled, with a slender, but appealingly feminine body. Tonight, like almost always, she was dressed in mostly black, in this case a maxi dress, with black stilettos designed to counteract her own small stature. Audrey knew she hated being treated like a little girl around people her own age—maybe that was how Kendra had developed such a spark-plug personality.

"When are you going to invite me and Master over?" Kendra pouted. "I promise, promise,

promise

not to let things get out of hand."

"Soon," Audrey said. "He's just...busy all the time."

"Is everything OK?"

Audrey pulled Kendra aside, out of earshot of anyone nearby.

"I think...he's kind of pulling away from me. Like, he's the one who wants me to get out of the house more without him. And he invited

her

tonight."

"No. Fucking. Way. Point her out to me."

Audrey discretely motioned towards the slinky, dark-haired Vietnamese girl eyeing one of the other artists' pieces.

"At least she's not draped all over him," Kendra said. "You don't think he's...you know?"

Audrey shook her head.

"Master wouldn't do that. I mean, why would he? He could just ask, you know? I just know that she wants him, and she's waiting for him to get tired of me. Maybe he is."

"Then he's nuts," Kendra said, before she realizing she wasn't helping. "What's her name—Hang? I'll spy on her tonight, get some intel."

"No!" Audrey said, louder than she'd intended. "You suck at being coy."

"Nope, I'm doing it," Kendra said, affecting a serious tone, "unless you invite us over, that is..."

"Alright, alright. Next Friday. Bring wine," Audrey said.

"I will—and lube."

Kendra smiled a devilish grin before melting into the crowd to mingle. Audrey watched Alex peel off from the klatch of critics that had surrounded him, making his way towards her.

"How's Kendra?" he asked innocently.

"Good—we're having a dinner party next Friday."

Alex looked at Audrey searchingly for a moment.

"I assumed that's code for something," he said dryly.

"You don't mind?"

"It's fine," he said, "but...it'll be weird to actually do it in front of other people."

Audrey thought he looked cute when he was a little shy.

"Not that," he said with gentle sarcasm, goosing her sides a little with this fingers. "I mean 'the voice'—around other people. I don't want it to seem like a magic trick or something."

"You don't have to if you don't want to," Audrey said, buttering him up.

"But you want me to?"

She fluttered her eyes adorably, hoping to disarm any objections he might have.

"Someone is going to get punished tonight," he said with evident glee. "Oh, and I had a surprise for you, but now you're going to have to wait until your little pixie friend can watch you get it."

Audrey was glad to hear his enthusiasm; he'd also, of course, piqued her interest with this mystery gift. Lately, it had seemed that he was trying to put more space between them. He'd even come pretty close to asking her if she ever thought about dating other guys, before she shut the conversation down immediately. Everything had seemed perfect until Dr. Jacoby—Audrey's newest nemesis and former therapist—had spoken with Alex. Now, despite his constant promises to the contrary, Audrey harbored a sneaking suspicion that the distance between them was intentional.

"Master," Audrey whispered, respecting Alex's wishes not to call him that in public, "why...why did you invite her?"

The smile vanished from Alex's face.

"I need friends, too. And I told you, I'm not interested in her like that."

"But she's interested in you. She might be playing hard to get tonight, but I saw her at your office party when she got a few drinks in her and—"

"How big is she?"

Audrey was taken aback—she didn't know where Master was going with this.

"I don't know...small."

"And how big am I?"

"What part of you?" Audrey said, hoping to lighten the mood.

"The answer is big enough that I don't have to worry about some tiny little girl pinning me down and fucking me. And since that's the only way I would ever be with Hang, then you don't have to worry."

That's more like it. Take control.

"I'm sorry, Master," Audrey whimpered. "I'll make it up to you."

"I don't doubt it, slave," Alex said, sliding effortlessly into their play. "Now let's stick together. I want to watch you impress these art snobs."

"Your wish is my command..."

***

Audrey was feeling a little light-headed. She didn't drink wine that often, but when she did, it felt heavenly.

"Alex, I hope I'm not being forward here, but would you mind, you know, doing it? I'd love to how it works."

Audrey couldn't tell how Master felt about Kendra's request. For the moment, they were all seated, two to a side, at the dining table in the home she shared with Master. She turned towards Master, hoping to gauge his reaction; he'd never done it in front of an audience before.

"Obviously you know a lot about us," he said in an even tone, "so there's not much sense in keeping secrets."

Alex pulled his chair out and went into the kitchen. He returned with a bunch of white seedless grapes. They were rarely without a bag full in the refrigerator.

"When I came back here to Audrey, she was in bad shape. I would feed her grapes like this," he said.

Master took hold of her by her sides, right underneath her breasts, and pulled her into his body. She instinctively slumped against him as he held the back of her head firmly in place. Kendra watched intently as Alex cradled her and lowered the first grape into her mouth. Any nerves that the wine hadn't put to rest were dissipated; Audrey was calm and unafraid.

"She still doesn't really like to eat them on her own. She will, of course. She just doesn't like to."

Audrey smiled a little. Kendra was either doing a poor job of hiding the fact that she was stroking the cock of her Master through his pants or, perhaps, no effort at all in Audrey's eyes. Kendra seemed especially turned on watching Audrey's Master feed her, seeing the look of perfect contentment on her face as all her fears and inhibitions melted away.

She had only met Kendra's Master, a tall, brown-haired, fair-skinned Colombian named Eduardo, a few times. He wasn't Kendra's first Master—she had been the first to admit that her needs often led her into the arms of men who didn't deserve her devotion. Eduardo had seemed like a good fit for Kendra to Audrey, though—a firm, though rarely harsh man, whose strength and stoicism might balance Kendra's more adventurous and rash personality.

"And that gets you excited?" Kendra asked. "Eating from his hand?"

Audrey shook her head.

"No, it makes me feel calmer, less...scatter-brained. And, this is going to sound weird, but it...it's like I see things brighter. My senses are better. The food tastes better. The music sounds better. But it's not what gets me excited, though."

Audrey had talked about this stuff plenty of times with Kendra, but she realized how difficult it must have been to really understand it without seeing it. After her fifth grape, she was ready to call it quits. Dinner had been filling; this was a lot more about showing her new best friend something that no one else had ever seen.

"Can the boys talk for a bit? I need a minute with my

lovah

," Kendra requested.

Alex shot a look at Audrey. Their eyes met, and they communicated wordlessly, instantly.

"Go ahead," Alex said. "Eduardo and I could use a little time to complain about you two."

As the men got up to go into one of the living rooms, Kendra pulled Audrey into the kitchen.

"Tell me you guys talked about it beforehand. Tell me!" she said excitedly.

"We did," Audrey replied. "He said it would be OK, but there are...rules."

"Of course," Kendra said.

Audrey could tell Kendra was trying to contain her anticipation, to appear as respectful of any boundaries Audrey might set. Nevertheless, her bubbly enthusiasm was making Audrey herself excited.

"So, no switching, obviously."

"Of course," Kendra said. "I'm not trying to sample your man."

"So there's that. And, ummm, he says to keep things light today. Maybe no fucking at all. Oral's OK—and spanking, but no paddles or floggers or anything. You know, light?"

"I get it—totally. But, what about the rest?"

"The green-lights? It's a go on anything between you and me. And he'll show you how the voice works."

Kendra's eyes lit up. Audrey knew she wanted to hear it more than anything else, to see how it affected Audrey. They'd talked about it before, about how Alex's special voice controlled her. Kendra knew Audrey couldn't resist his commands; she knew as well how much Audrey longed to receive those commands, to feel her will overcome by Master's desires, to submit to him fully and find her pleasure through letting go of the parts of her mind that experienced fear and doubt.

"So...what's underneath that dress?" Kendra asked coyly. "Because I've got something to show you under mine."

Audrey didn't have the heart to tell Kendra that she wasn't much interested in what she was wearing under her dress. Kendra was clearly into girls a lot, almost as much as she was guys. To Audrey, it all made sense: Kendra was just a sexual animal, and her Master probably enjoyed watching her fuck girls but not other men. That meant bringing other women into their bed, something for which Audrey had no personal interest. For her, sex was submission to Master; pleasing him was the horizon of her lust. If he wanted her with others, she would obey, though she didn't have such desires on her own.

"I think we should wait," Audrey said. "If Master wants me out of my clothes, he'll tell me."

Kendra smirked.

"You are a good little slave. I'll have to keep up."

Not for the first time, Audrey wondered if there was a competitive angle to this whole fantasy of Kendra's.

I don't think you're going to be more submissive than me, sweetie. You're just playing at being a slave—I really am one.

"Let's not keep them waiting," Audrey said, arching an eyebrow.

Hand in hand, they sauntered out to the living room to find the boys locked in engaged conversation about the relative merits of something boring and computer-related. With the girls back, Alex and Eduardo broke off their discussion quickly, and a tense silence broke out.

Audrey sat down beside Alex on the sofa, facing across from Eduardo and Kendra, who had elected to sit on the floor at her Master's feet. Eduardo did not look down at Kendra, his eyes instead focused on Alex, as if he was unimpressed by Kendra's display of subordination.

"I think we will have to save this topic for another day, my friend," he said, reaching down to stroke Kendra's shiny brown hair. "It looks like my pet needs a little attention."

Kendra's eyes locked on Audrey, and Audrey suddenly felt like she should be doing something. But Kendra hadn't been told to get down on the carpet.

Maybe they always do that—but we don't. Master will know what to do.

She felt a little tense, but Master's hand stroking her thigh helped to soothe her nerves.

"Just wait," he whispered into her ear. "Let them start and just enjoy watching."

Audrey looked into Eduardo's eyes for a moment, before lowering her gaze; it had felt wrong to look at him like that. He wasn't her Master, but he was

a

Master. She could look at Kendra, breathing deeply on the floor at her Master's feet, but not at Eduardo, whose eyes she could feel drinking her in.

"Show our guests what you look like underneath that cover," Eduardo said, before looking up at Alex. "She dressed up like a lady for dinner, but you'll see she's a dirty little slut deep down."

Kendra started by slowly sliding the straps of her dress to the side. It was only a simple cotton dress, modest, really, by Kendra's standards: a navy, knee-length thing that clung to her body to her hips before flaring out. Now, the entire top half was bunched around her waist, displaying her small, pert breasts in a black lacy demi-cup bra. She slid the dress down further to reveal a scandalously tiny matching g-string. Audrey and Alex shared a knowing look: her pussy must have been completely waxed.

Master doesn't like that. He likes me better with some hair remaining on top.

Audrey felt Master squeeze her thigh with one hand, while the other reached around her to cup her tit. She found herself surprisingly aroused by the display before her, of her best friend stripping out of her dress to reveal some of the sluttiest lingerie she'd ever seen. Her own underwear, though sexy, was a lot less trashy; she was beginning to think "classy" wasn't the right look for what was about to happen.

"Audrey, why don't you help your friend with the rest?" Master asked.

"My kind of guy," Eduardo said laughing. "I want to see our girls play."

"That's why you came, right?" Alex replied. "But, Audrey, don't take your dress off just yet. Wait until I tell you."

Audrey didn't need to be told twice to comply. On her hand and knees, she crawled to the standing Kendra and took holds of the sides of her dress, slowly peeling it off her body. Kendra was still facing her Master, with her back to Audrey, whose face was mere inches from Kendra's virtually bare ass.

"You're wet already, slut," Eduardo said. "How long have you wanted to fuck your best friend?"

Audrey blushed, expecting Kendra to turn around and look at her. She didn't; her eyes were firmly fixed at the floor, or rather, at her Master's feet. It wasn't new information to her, but it was still jarring to hear it out loud.

"Since I met her," Kendra admitted sheepishly.

"You love eating pussy, don't you?"

"Yes."

"Get down on all fours," Eduardo commanded.

Still facing away from Audrey, Kendra obeyed her Master. Now Audrey could unfasten her bra and free her tits from confinement. Eduardo smiled lasciviously as he watched his prone slave be stripped by her still clothed best friend.

"You seem a little too pleased with yourself still, slut. Maybe I should tell our new friends about you more."

Audrey flinched a little, her arms brushing against Kendra's hips. She had gone on to just her knees to remove the bra, and now she was propped up on her knees, wondering what to do with her hands. Kendra's naked body, vulnerable and ripe for the taking in front of her, made her think for a moment about how she must appear to Master.

If Master tells me to fuck her, it's like he's doing it. I'll be like his tool, his toy.

"No, Master please," Kendra said, "don't tell them what a slut I am."

Audrey, however, could sense she was faking it—not completely, but at least in part. Kendra wanted him to tell them things, dirty, degrading things. Audrey had had this discussion with Kendra before, about her desires. For her part, Audrey didn't feel ashamed about things when she was with Master, but was still shy around other people. Kendra wanted an audience

That wasn't to say that her begging was wholly an act, though. Kendra did often feel humiliated by her Master, whether other people were around or not. She just got off on it, the feelings of shame, the humiliation of letting a man order her around in front of other people like she was a piece of property. She'd told Audrey about it plenty of times, and now Audrey saw it with her own two eyes. They were playing a game, and now she was part of it too.