Author's note: This is a part of an ongoing story. It is best read after reading the earlier chapters to put everything in context. This chapter, too, is part of the buildup to the rest of the novel.
*****
Suzie and I talked over dinner about Julie's and her lunch date. Suzie and her best friend Julie had met for lunch as they did every Wednesday. Recently, their conversations centered mainly on Julie's revelation that she and her husband, Bob, were into BDSM.
This week Suzie had brought up the subject right away and recounted their conversation to me almost word for word.
Suzie started, "I asked Julie, 'Have you recovered from Saturday night at our house?'"
Suzie went on, "She said, 'Oh, sure. By Monday, except for some soreness on my ass, I was back to normal. Actually, I've had much worse...or better, depending on how you look at it. Bob went easy on me. He didn't want to scare you guys off.'
"Then I told her that I have a hard time digesting all this stuff. It's so foreign to me. And I asked her why she told me that she wished it had been me instead of you that was pummeling her butt with that wooden spoon?
"She said, 'It's hard to explain, Suzie. You have to remember that what we do is for each other's pleasure, not for punishment. And who would you rather have giving you pleasure more than someone you love? Not that I don't love Tom, mind you, but you and I have a special relationship. Look, you didn't want to inflict pain on me, but Tom did. Not because of his great love for me, but to see how it would be to inflict pain on someone...anyone. You showed how much you loved me at that moment.'
"I told her that maybe I have to love her even more before I want to beat her up! That made her laugh.
"I mentioned to Julie that you and I were both surprised again when Bob made her face us, naked like that. She said that she's used to it, given all the times she and Bob have been with other people. I asked her if they do the BDSM thing with the others and she said 'Of course. Bob and I have kind of an open relationship as far as that goes. We rarely go as far as penetrative sex with others, though.' "
Suzie went on, "I mentioned to her what a beautiful body she had and she said that her breasts, being bigger than mine were showing the effects of gravity, she being older and having a couple of kids. Then she said that Bob likes them bigger...a bigger target. I asked her what she meant by target and she said that he hits them with a riding crop which hurts a lot, especially when he strikes the nipples. But that also really turns her on and, in her words, makes her pussy wet."
Almost in shock, I said only, "Unbelievable!"
"Then I asked her about the Gala and The Mill."
"Oh, yeh," I said. "I'd forgotten all about that."
"I asked her, besides the fancy meal, what's so special about it that people are willing to pay $500 a person to go, even though I know it's a fundraiser for charity? She didn't have time to go into all the details about the club, but she just
had
to tell me one event they had as part of the entertainment last year. Wait 'til you hear this, Tom. I thought it was horrible and disgusting. But Julie said everyone there, including the two who it was being done to, thought it was fun, exciting, sexually arousing. See what you think.