Rhonda Finds Dating Isn't a Game

Avery was in front of them, looking very concerned. "Betty, I think it's time. We need to go ahead and take our chances."

Rhonda suddenly froze, then looked around. Pet called her Betty, and she had called him Avery. What was going on here? "Betty, you two are talking like, like normal people. What's going on? I'm scared."

Avery was the one who spoke up. "You should be scared after this. I think he's come unhinged. There will be a mess, but I think it's time. We need to do something before he wants to come here and we find her, or somebody else, dead because he's such an ass. That isn't what we do."

Betty looked at him and nodded.

Rhonda looked at one, then the other, then said, "Wait a second. You went from Mistress and Pet to first names and I have no idea what happened."

Betty held her tightly. "Avery, be a darling and start dinner, will you?"

He got up, kissed Betty as he went past, and left the two women alone.

"You really don't understand, do you? We love each other, we love our roles as Mistress and Pet, and he loves to show his devotion to me by cleaning up behind other men. That part is just acting. I love my man there, and he loves me. It seems we all had you wrong, except Martin and he exploited our misunderstanding. You were supposed to be used, and the crop was part of that we agreed on in advance. But the hoisting, the whip, the physical damage, that was all off script and we need to do something about that. He does have some dirt on us, or, me. Avery is clear of that and is only guilty of knowing it happened. But what he did, my goodness, he could have seriously hurt you. Before you do that to a person, you need to understand the body, something he apparently never took time to learn outside of a few areas."

Betty had Rhonda lay down and ran her hands carefully up and down her back. She applied some lotion to the welts and began gently rubbing Rhonda's neck and shoulders. "Who else has been in touch with you? I gather from Martin that Carmen did something yesterday, trying to protect you. Who else?"

Rhonda's head hurt, a lot, but she was still in control of her thoughts. "I'm sorry, but I have to assume you're on Martin's side. You said you didn't react to tears."

Betty was silent for a while, then she softly said, "Ok, you have a point." She kept rubbing, then asked, "Tell me how you got to this point." That was easy enough, and while Betty massaged her, Rhonda poured out her story from sharing with Martin her love for dance to her husband's refusal to dance to the steps of the downward spiral that led to this point. Betty nodded now and then, with an occasional, "Uh huh" added. When Rhonda was done, she said again, "Who can I call? Carmen is in the hospital. Is it safe for me to call Mary?"

Maybe it was the word safe, but Rhonda nodded. "Ok, shit, I never would have thought a month ago that we'd be building a coalition against Martin. You are quite the catalyst, girl." And at that point, Avery shouted that dinner was ready. Betty gave her guest a light robe to wear and they walked out of the dungeon.

During the meal Betty asked a lot of questions about Rhonda's marriage, her husband, what she was looking for and why she didn't stop things sooner. The most difficult for Rhonda was when Avery asked what she was expecting when she arrived at their house. She really had had no idea, certainly not expecting to find a naked and caged husband who did the bidding of his wife. At that, for the first time, Betty smiled.

She explained that their marriage had been quite normal for several years, two children were born, and then one night after putting the kids to bed Avery had admitted that he felt burned out by the position of power and authority he had during the day and he wanted her to be his Mistress at night. She had agreed to a trial period and found she enjoyed carrying her own daytime authority into the bedroom. The chastity control had started about ten years ago and her having sex with other men had been going on for most of that time. They had real cuddle times and she said their intimacy had gotten much deeper. The other men were just toys, like living dildos, and Avery had become submissive enough that he really did enjoy serving his wife after her trysts.

As they finished their meal, Betty asked again, "How is your headache?"

Rhonda admitted it was better, but still one of the worst she had ever experienced. Betty told her to follow Avery while she took care of something and they left dishes on the table while Rhonda was led to a small, warm room with a massage table and told to remove the robe and lay face down. She hesitated, fearful after her recent interactions, but he assured her his intent was to help and soon she was on her belly with his skilled hands working on her neck. She thought how strange it was to be laying naked while another woman's husband, also naked except for a small metal cage, massaged her.

Betty came in and sat in a chair, watching the massage as the only sound was Avery's measured breathing. Finally she spoke up. "Martin is really angry right now, and he's going to try to make us all pay somehow. You are the main focus at the moment, so I can almost guarantee you are going to have a difficult week. I guess I missed the part during club talk where he explained that you worked for the same company. Now you, my dear, need to make some very diffucult choices."

Avery left the room and Rhonda sat up. She looked at her hostess with a resigned look and said, "I don't know if I can take much more of this. I was spinning in the air, screaming in pain, and he just kept giving more. I thought he was going to kill me. After watching Carmen getting beaten by her husband yesterday, and Melody's expression, and ... " Her sentence ended in sobs and tears. Suddenly Betty's arms were around her.

"Hey, girl," she said softly, "your headache will never go away if you keep shaking like that."

When she stopped crying, Rhonda looked up. "How did you get involved with Martin?" Betty's expression briefly changed, but she recovered quickly.

"Sometimes you play to get something you always wanted, sometimes you play to forget. Even if it's only temporary, forgetting can help."

Betty now stood up. "Avery has brought your dress and shoes, and he's included a pair of my panties. I'm afraid my bras would be too large for you, so you'll need to just get home unless you intend to flash people. The panties will be large, but at least you won't feel so exposed. You need to start standing up to Martin this week. There will be a price to pay for that, but you need to draw a line, and make it a firm line so when he crosses it he will be acting against your will. Be at the club on Friday, usual time. And stay home at night with the doors locked."

The last part had Rhonda afraid. Betty saw it and added, "If he comes to your house, don't open the door. Tell him to leave. If he refuses, call for the police. No questions, no excuses. You need to do it if things go that direction. Just let him know you'll be at the club Friday, and stay in public areas at work."

Again Rhonda looked at Avery and he was nodding. In all their time together today, Betty had smiled once, Avery only when he was tormenting her at the very beginning. Rhonda wondered how they had any intimacy like that, but that was for them to figure out. She wanted to figure out how to get from here back to her own intimacy.

When she got home, Rhonda took off her clothes and took a shower. She had noticed a small blood stain on the dress and realized one of the whip marks had bled a little. Cleaned up she put on sweat pants and a heavy t-shirt after applying some ointment to the worst spots. Her wrists were marked from when she had pulled so hard at the cuffs, bruises still showed farther up her arms from where Martin had held her on Saturday. She realized that Betty was making a hard assessment, one she herself had been reluctant to reach because she felt it threatened her dancing. Martin was dangerous, and she needed to get her resolve to deal with that.

Monday morning she was in too much pain and called out from work. Her head was pounding and she doubled the pain killer in an effort to be able to function. Mid-morning she considered calling an ambulance, knowing she was unable to drive herself in her condition. She had no appetite for lunch and laid on the couch. Her phone sounded and she answered without looking at the number.

"Rhonda? How are you doing? It's Carmen."

"Hey Carmen, I'm ok. Are you still in the hospital?"

There was a short pause. "I'm out of the hospital and you're full of shit. You sound awful."

Rhonda moved a little. "My head hurts. It's just a headache. I'll be fine."

A little more silence, then, "Rhonda, it's Betty. I want your address. We're coming over and Carmen is staying with you for a few days. She needs to avoid her husband, who an idiot judge released today, and you need somebody to keep an eye on you."

"No, please. I mean, I get that Carmen needs to be away, but I don't need anybody right now." She dropped her phone as a sudden jolt of pain shot down her back.

"Rhonda? Are you ok?" Back to Carmen's voice. Why were they together? Sure, Carmen had no car with her, but why Betty?

"That sounded like a phone dropping to the floor. You give me your address or I start jumping through the considerable hoops of finding it on my own. Then when we arrive you open the door or I call an ambulance and a police officer."

"Betty, you can't do that," Rhonda said. "It would open you up to liability. I won't do that to you."

"Address. Now."

The insistence in Betty's voice overcame her reluctance. Also, she needed to get off the phone and rest her neck. She gave her address and ended the call.

A short time later the phone sounded again. Rhonda guessed it was Betty saying they were arriving and she again answered without looking at the number.

It was Martin's voice. "Are you trying to avoid me, slut? It won't work. You need to come back to work sometime and when you do you'll find some very interested men wanting to spend time with you."

"I'm trying to avoid going to the hospital for this splitting headache and reporting how I got it, you bastard. What do you mean about interested men?"

"There's a rumor in the shipping department and it's spreading through the company." She heard the smile in his voice. "Something about how Rhonda's husband left because she got caught giving somebody a fifty dollar blowjob."

Her head started pounding more. "This rumor started in shipping?" It took effort, but she needed to focus. "Do you know who started that?"

"No idea who said it first. It's amazing how fast it traveled though. And then I heard a new one recently that you don't wear panties at work. Tomorrow will be an interesting day for you."

Rhonda staggered to her feet and looked through the sheer curtains of her front window. Seeing motion she said, "I'm sure I'll be totally annoyed by it," and she hit the mute button just before the doorbell sounded.

Martin was rambling on about how the guys realized she needed some loving to replace what was lost now and how many said they would gladly pay fifty or a hundred to get 20 minutes with her in a storage room or the back seat of their vehicles. He was still going on after Rhonda had opened the door to admit her visitors and put her phone on speaker. Betty nodded and Carmen looked shocked.

He was wrapping up now. "I just heard a rumor that somebody slipped a box of condoms into your desk drawer so you can have sex and clean up quickly. Guys knew you were sexy, but now that they know what a slut you are, work is going to get interesting for you. And I want you to indulge at least three of them every day. I'll pick them and send them to you. If they don't tell me how good it was, things go up a level. Be here tomorrow, and I don't care what you feel like. I have your first three customers lined up already and they want you pretty bad."

The call ended and Rhonda looked at Betty, surprised to see the dominatrix dressed in a navy blue business suit. Carmen wore some large clothes that Betty had apparently brought for her from her own closet. She had bruises on her face and arms, and Rhonda was pretty sure there were bruises in other places as well.

"You look awful," Rhonda told her. "I'm so sorry I caused that."

Carmen smiled a little. "Speaking of awful, have you looked at a mirror recently? And as for causing that, it was going to happen sooner or later. Melody told me she told we had used that back door check in before? He beats me about every other week. Just, normally I don't need an ambulance."

Betty cut in and led both women to the couch. "Yes, and that all starts to end now. Two of my dance friends nearly get killed in the same weekend because of the actions of one person. Thank you, Rhonda, for having the presence of mind to put that call on speaker. I knew Martin was an ass, but I didn't realize he was doing things like this. Carmen and I discussed it and agreed we thought he was just putting on a bit of pressure to persuade a woman who was reluctant to accept what she really wanted. It turns out, it was more than reluctance and he was willing to do whatever he felt necessary to get you under his control."

Rhonda slumped against Carmen, sitting next to her, and looked up at Betty. "I'm confused. Which one is really you?"

Once again Betty smiled. She was rather attractive when she did that, Rhonda thought. She should do it more often. "Because we were fooled by Martin, and that blind trust has directly caused a lot of pain to one person in particular and indirectly to another, the law offices of Dunning and Dunning are taking on the domesitic abuse case of Carmen and the assault case of Rhonda at no charge to the clients."

"You're a lawyer?" Betty nodded. "That's a shame. I liked you." Betty and Carmen laughed as they realized it was a joke, but Rhonda's laugh had her head pounding again.

"I need to get back to the office, so here's the game plan. Carmen will stay here at least until Friday, partly to protect you, partly to protect her, and partly to be your caretaker. I'll have Avery come over after dinner. He went to school and is a PA, to help us understand medical issues better. You need a more thorough assessment. If he says you need a hospital or doctor office visit, you will go, understand?" She waited for Rhonda to nod. "This is your head and neck we're talking about. I took you to a reasonable extreme, he took you way past it. He could have broken your neck with what he was doing when we walked in."

Was it relief, or pain, or just being together? Betty was still backing out of the driveway when Carmen and Rhonda embraced each other and both started crying. The pounding in her head increased for a while, increasing the flow of tears, but then eased again. Carmen had her lay on the couch and gave her a massage. It wasn't as good as what Avery had given, but Carmen hadn't been trained and it still felt pretty good.

Carmen's chest was smaller than Rhonda's so she accepted the offer to wear a sport bra. The rest of Rhonda's clothes fit well enough. She called Melody on Monday evening to say she was out of the hospital but not home, and Mary called Rhonda saying she had heard there was a problem over the weekend. Rhonda gave just the basics of what happened to her on Sunday, then asked what Mary had been up to since Saturday night.

There was a brief hesitation, then Mary said, "You asked, so I'm going to be honest and tell you I've been spending a lot of time with your husband. More than that I'm not going to say, but don't hate me yet because I think you're going to like it when I'm finished with him."

The pounding in her head suddenly returned and Rhonda moaned softly. Mary heard the moan and suddenly changed her tone. "Hey, none of that, you need to trust me, just like you did when we had such a wonderful evening. Come on, Rhonda, I'm your friend, remember."

Rhonda took a few deep breaths to recover a little, an act noticed by Carmen, and said, "Mary, it's the headache from getting hung up by my hair and then you tell me you're spending a lot of time with Danny and," she was beginning to tear up, which did nothing to reduce her headache, "and I can't take this any more." Carmen had hurried over and took the phone as Rhonda held her head in both hands, rolling in pain on the couch.

"You'd better talk fast, Mary," Carmen told her, "because you just undid everything I've tried to do since I got here. She's on the couch and crying in pain." Carmen was moving away, heading to a bathroom to get a waste can, bringing it back to Rhonda, then walking into the kitchen. "I'm really scared about her and you tell her you're fucking her husband?"

"Hey, whoa, stop. I said I was spending time with him, not that I was fucking him. I was trying to drop a happy hint. Shit, I didn't know she was in such bad shape."

Carmen looked into the living room when she heard a familar sound and saw Rhonda with her head in the waste can. "She just threw up from the pain, so you need to tell me what's going on before I have to hang up and call an ambulance."

Twenty minutes later, Carmen was rubbing Rhonda's shoulders again after wiping her face with a warm cloth. "The good news is that you jumped to a conclusion that was wrong. Mary isn't messing with your husband. She did say she's come on to him a few times, and he always tells her to back down. The man still wants you, but he wants you away from Martin."

Rhonda half spoke, half sobbed, "Then what is she doing that she's with him so much?"

Carmen rubbed up the neck and felt and heard a *POP*, making her stop, horrified, looking down at her hostess. To her relief, Rhonda lifted her head and turned it from side to side. "I think you did something really good there. Thank you."

"Pure luck, sweetie, but to answer your other question, that's the bad news. I can't tell you. All I can say is you'll know within two weeks." Rhonda had a look of pain on her face and Carmen assumed it was from the news now. "Mary wants to be honest with you, but she's holding back on purpose in this case. I'm not allowed to tell you what she's doing with your husband other than to say she will explain everything within two weeks."

"Great," Rhonda groaned. "Saturday I get punched and raped, Sunday I get hung up by my hairraped, and whipped, and now on Monday I find out a woman I thought was a new friend, and is a horny sex lover, is spending time with my husband but it isn't fucking and I'll know soon what it was. Blow jobs? Just coming all over her? OHHhh, my head hurts again."

Carmen fixed a dinner from a box and they ate in silence. Rhonda ate slowly, hoping to keep it down. The guest had the hostess lay on the couch while she cleaned up and then the doorbell announced a visitor. Before opening the door, a glance showed that Avery had come to make his check on the patient. He asked questions and both women answered, Rhonda pointing out about the loud pop. Avery ran his hands over the injured neck and gave a short massage before declaring she would spend the night at home. Then he warned her to call for an ambulance if she threw up again. The door closed behind him and the women were alone again.

Carmen kept working on the neck, rewarded in a minute with another loud popping sound. They cuddled a bit, then it was bedtime and they went upstairs together. Rhonda invited Carmen to share her bed and Carmen smiled.

"It's a shame about that headache," she said. "I know I could relax you for bedtime."

"Isn't that supposed to help with headaches?" Rhonda asked, trying to force a smile she didn't feel.

Carmen rolled against her and began kissing and caressing, quickly finding and teasing breasts and nipples before gradually working down. The blankets were pushed aside and Carmen pulled down the sweatpants Rhonda was wearing before she settled between the girl's legs and beginning to caress the sensitive, recently abused swell of Rhonda's pussy.