I cannot resist a challenge, it seems, even when I know I will lose. But I had beaten her at three games today already, which to be fair, was a complete fluke as I barely understood the rules to 'Moose Moose Elk Goose' - which made her particularly annoyed as she had invented it. So when she suggested to me that perhaps there was one game she would beat me at, I was already feeling confident about my chances.
"Duckslap," she said, staring me down.
I blinked. Uh oh. That was a name I hadn't heard for a while. The last time we played it did not end well for me. I hadn't forgotten - it had been burned into my mind with such vividity, and thinking about it still made me nervous, even after all this time. But it was a very fun game.
"Well?" she asked.
I must have still felt confident.
"Yeah, ok. Duckslap it is," I said.
"First to six."
"Six?"
"Yes. Six."
"Not three?"
"No. Six."
I knew I was in trouble then, but I didn't want to lose face; backing down wasn't an option. The last time we had only played to three points, and she won only twelve turns in. It occurred to me that perhaps scoring to six might give me an advantage - perhaps the extended duration might allow me to build some tolerance or resistance... She knew though that her pain threshold was higher than mine, and that I had a tendency to hold back. It really could be anyone's game.
"Ok, ok, six. I can do six, no problem."
She fixed me with a long stare. I felt myself fidgeting. Damn it! She knows I wriggle under scrutiny! She's trying to throw me off balance...
"What are the stakes?" I asked.
"Let's make them high. So choose your prize wisely."
"I see," I paused, thinking for a moment. "So... if I win, I want to watch you touch yourself. I want you to look me in the eyes as you stroke your clit. I want your foot on my cock. I want you to feel my gaze on you, my eyes taking in every movement, every detail, as you get wetter with each circle of your fingertips. I want you to bring yourself to the edge, and then... I'm going to spank you rhythmically to the tune of Rasputin by Boney M."
"What, really? Boney M?"
"No, not really. But maybe! I will then tie your hands to the headboard, and I will kiss you untl I can't resist fucking you anymore. That's what I want if I win."
She nodded.
"Hmm, not bad! And that's what you want, is it? That all works for me, yeah, agreed."
"What about you? What's your prize?"
She smiled at me with an evil glint in her eye.
"I want to tickle you."
"Tickle me?" I snorted.
"I know you're very ticklish."
I felt my cheeks bloom red.
"And," she continued, "I want to tickle you not just a little bit, not just a gentle tickling, but to tickle you so much that you are utterly wrecked. I'm going to assess every bit of your skin to find your most vulnerable spots, and then when I've finished, I'm going to absolutely ruin you. By the end you will beg for mercy! And I may, or may not, have some."
I swallowed.
"Wow, ok. You're choosing to torture for me for your prize? Is this because I beat you at 'Moose Moose Elk Goose'?"
"I have my reasons."
That probably meant yes. She knew that this would be intensely torturous for me, she knew I wouldn't be able to handle it. What had I done to deserve this then? I smiled inwardly. She knew that I'd love it as well. This was definitely going to be one of those nights whatever way it goes.
"Agreed. Those are the stakes then," I said.
We set the spanking bench up in the centre of the room, and turned down the lights so that they casted a diffuse glow across the shining leather apparatus. It had cuffs for the arms and legs affixed in place already, and at the top, where the head goes, lay a small wooden object shaped like a duck.
It was a duck call.
Duckslap. The idea is that the spankee is fixed in place with the duck call in their mouth. The spanker then has to make the spankee call like a duck. Each time they do is worth a point. The spanker who gets their six duck calls in the fewest amount of strikes wins. It sounds silly - and it is, and very funny - but it's a lot harder than it seems. For the spankee it can be gruelling - the longer they resist the more strikes they receive - but as they can bring an end to it themselves it can turn into a game of wills quite easily.
We tossed a coin to see who would go first, and I won it.
"I'll spank first," I said. "So... get on the bench."
She climbed onto the bench, laying flat on top of the pedestal. I moved across to her wrists, and fixed them in place, then did the same to her ankles.
She tested her bonds by tugging against them.
"How are they?"
"Pretty secure, I'd say. I'm not going anywhere."
"Then I think it's time for the quacker."
"It's a duck call!"
I moved the bench back to her head, picking up the duck call from beside her neck, brushing her with my fingers as I did.
"Open your mouth... now bite down. Ok, make a noise, let's see if it's still working."
She tried to say something but she just quacked instead, which made her laugh and spit it out. I always forget how stupid this game is, as it is usually overshadowed by the consequences, and how much it made us laugh.
I tried not to laugh as well, but didn't do a very good job of it. I picked it up and put it back in her mouth.
"You mustn't spit it out. If you do then that counts as an extra point for me, do you agree?"
She quacked in response.
"Excellent, that was easy."
She quacked again in protest.
"Oh I think two points would be going too far. You do like to make things hard on yourself. No no, we'll stick to one."
This time she didn't respond. I walked around her towards her rear, running my fingers gently from the nape of her neck to her lower back over her top, feeling muscles tense as I travelled down her spine. I hooked my fingers around her skirt and pulled it up to reveal red underwear. I smoothed my palm over her buttocks in a circular motion for a short while, enjoying the texture of the lace on my skin and the smooth warmth of her cheek blooming through the material. Consciously listening for any change to her breathing, I suddenly grasped and pulled them down. Sure enough there was a quick intake of breath. I wanted to increase the anticipation, especially for the first strike. I stopped moving for a moment, trying not to indicate my movement or position, enjoying the light and shade cast by the candles over her bare skin. I leaned in slowly and, then began to blow a gentle stream of cool air on the exposed flesh. She wriggled slightly as I did, and then, as I stood up, I gave her the first blow. She flinched, and yelped. The duck call sounded, and I laughed.
"Well, that's one point to me. And with the first spank as well."
I struck again, pretty hard, but this time she resisted; making no noise save for a couple of heavy breaths. Again, I struck, and again she resisted. On the fourth time, she made a little noise but not enough to set off the duckcall.
"Oh, that was close. You know, I'm thinking I might switch tactics; it's occurred to me that you might have had this game in mind for a while now, might have been preparing yourself mentally for it - and you know me very well, and you know my usual tricks, so perhaps this -" I spanked her suddenly, cutting myself short, trying to surprise her. It worked, and she yelped. The duckcall sounded again.
"Ah no, that's two points to me now," I said. I leaned in close to her ear, and whispered: "Brace yourself, because I'm really going to let you have it now."
I gave her a slight tap, more to throw her off as she was expecting something much harder - before giving her exactly that. The noise she made was the loudest yet; even the duck sounded surprised.
This was going much better than expected. Using dirty tactics seemed to be the way to win. It wasn't the force of the slap; it was the shock, the anticipation, the surprise. I'd learnt a lot since last we'd played, and I wondered what was going through her mind right now. Three points down, halfway there - and I had taken only seven turns so far.
I kissed her left cheek on the small red-blossomed patch, and she wriggled a little. I noticed her feet, toes scrunched; the tension in her body visible throughout. I spanked her again suddenly, but she was well prepared, and merely grunted. Again, I struck, and again, trying to keep my blows irregular, pausing for different lengths of time to try and catch her off guard, until finally I heard a loud quack from the other end of the bench.
This time I didn't say anything, trying to take advantage of the little window of reaction time to spank again immediately, barely giving her time to register the last one. This one worked, a honking quack rang out, and this time she spat it out too...
"So that was one for the previous one, and two for the final one because you spat it out. I make that six."
"That didn't count!"
"That's what we agreed at the start of the game..."
I undid her ankle cuffs, and moved to the front of the bench and began undoing her wrists.
"I did not! I could have gone for a few more turns after that! How many did you take anyway? I lost count."
"Sixteen, I think."
"Oh I am going to beat you so badly..."
I lay on the bench in the same position. I lifted my torso as she pulled off my top. She tossed aside. A fleeting thought crossed my mind - why my top? - as she moved behind me. I lifted my pelvis as she wriggled my shorts down my legs, leaving me in just my boxer shorts and socks.
"I hope you are prepared for what I'm about to do to you," she said, pulling down my boxers and hooking her fingers into my socks, and removed all of them in one movement..
Suddenly I felt apprehensive. She really seemed to want to get me this evening. I felt myself wriggling a bit, involuntarily, and suddenly became acutely aware of how exposed I was.
She secured me in place on the bench; the cuffs still warm from her own turn. She came back round to my front and glared down at me.
"Are you?"
"Am I what?"
"Prepared," she said, giving me a little tap.
"Oh very. My mind is made of steel, my armour is my willpower," I said with false bravado.