Chapter 15 — Afternoon Delight

Sam woke up at 1:30 in the afternoon. Dan was still passed out cold, so she decided to work on her To-Do list.

The number one item on her list today, as with all days since leaving the hospital, was to go out for a run and then take a shower. Today she was able to run for thirty minutes before throwing up, so she felt like she was making great progress.

After her shower, she went to the Cincinnati airport long-term parking and swapped the Jeep she was driving with a gray Toyota. The new car would be a lot less fun to drive, but it was also a lot more non-descript than the Jeep. It had been really stupid for her to drive a car that called so much attention to itself.

Then she returned to Milford and stopped at the grocery store to buy some food for dinner. She was in the mood for a home-cooked meal and Dan’s kitchen was almost bare. While she was in the frozen food section, she saw someone she recognized, someone she had been planning to look up when she had a chance.

Judy was Kim’s best friend. She was also having an affair with Kim’s husband, the man who should have been the target of Sam’s interrogation. It would be interesting to find out just how much Judy knew.

“Hi. Do you remember me?” Sam said, flashing her most winning smile. “We met last spring. I wanted to interview you about climate change.”

Judy stared at her for a moment and then returned the smile. “Yes, vaguely. Oh, yeah, that’s right! It’s you! You were the reporter who wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer.”

Sam nodded her head. “Yup. That was me. Sorry I pressed so hard. I just really wanted a chance to talk to you some. I guess I can be a little aggressive sometimes, or so I’ve been told.”

Judy thought back to that day, and how she almost went off to spend the afternoon in bed with the cute flirtatious reporter. Sometimes, alone at night, she still regretted passing up that opportunity.

She wasn’t currently under contract, so there was no reason to play coy now. She was a single, liberated woman and could fuck anyone she wanted. But did she want to? “I wouldn’t have recognized you if you hadn’t spoken to me. Your hair is a lot shorter now. A lot more casual. More butch. It looks really good on you.”

“Thanks," said Sam. “I went down to Tennessee for a while and it was like I just woke up one morning and boom, I had short hair. I’ll tell you that I sure feel a lot more comfortable with it like this. It’s sort of a wash-and-wear hairstyle. Now I know why a lot of men keep their hair short.”

“I don’t think you got my name last year. I’m Judy.”

Judy ran the situation through her mind. She was talking to a cute, aggressive young woman named Sam who was fine with being called butch. Her eyes looked a little dangerous, but that just made it more exciting. This could be a really fun afternoon. She decided to go for it.

Judy leaned towards Sam conspiratorially and spoke in a lowered voice. “Listen, my daughter is off with her father for a couple of days, so I have the house to myself.” She ran her hand down the outside of Sam’s arm. “Maybe now would be a good chance for us to go someplace for that private talk you wanted, Daddy.”

Sam hadn’t realized until now that Judy was attracted to women. Having never dated an American woman, Sam wasn’t sure how to proceed. Since Judy seemed to like “butch” haircuts and had called her “Daddy," she decided to copy the behavior of one of the more dominant boys she dated in High School. “I’m Sam, and I have been wanting to have that private talk since I first saw you”. She took Judy’s hand and pinned it behind her back, then pulled her in hard and planted a passionate kiss right on her lips.

Blushing, Judy whispered, “Boy, you sure move fast, Sir.”

“Is that a bad thing?” asked Sam, sincerely wanting to know. She didn’t want to blow this opportunity. “Maybe I misunderstood.”

“No, Daddy. Not at all," said Judy, smiling broadly. “I want to make you happy. Just not here in public. This town is up-tight middle-class hell and I’m still in the closet. You have a car, right? Come on and follow me back to my house so we can be alone.”

In answer, Sam opened the nearest freezer door and shoved her grocery purchases in. Judy giggled and followed suit. “Yeah, let’s keep our priorities straight.”

Sam was concerned with how fast they were driving; it would be a total FUBAR if a cop pulled her over. But, on the other hand, she wanted to go even faster because she was anxious to get Judy alone. In fact, maybe she was a little more anxious than she should be. She hadn’t had sex with anyone since Iraq, she found Judy very attractive, and she wasn’t sure if it was her hormones or her sense of patriotic duty that was urging her on like this. This could be a really stupid thing to do, but she was going to do it anyway.

When Judy got to her house, she ran inside without waiting but left the front door open. Sam entered the house, closed the door behind her, and heard Judy call out, “Down the hall, Sir. My bedroom is the last door on the right.”

When she entered the bedroom, Sam saw Judy kneeling next to a four-poster bed. On the bed were various dildos, floggers, paddles, and several short sections of velvet rope.

Eyes looking at the floor, Judy held up a leather collar to Sam. “My safe word is ‘Red,’ Daddy. Collar me and I am yours for as long as you need. You can use me any way you like for our pleasure.”

Two hours later the two women lay together on the bed, exhausted, contented. Judy was on her stomach, her ankles and wrists still tied to the bedposts. Sam lay next to her, an arm and a leg draped over the slowly breathing submissive. The sex toys lay scattered on the floor, but the fading pink welts on Judy’s backside and the scent of exhausted pleasure gave evidence of their use.

“Oh, Daddy," giggled Judy, staring at Sam. “I didn’t know it could be like that. I read about flying, but I never experienced it till now. You totally blocked out my mind and let the animal take over. I think you could have done anything to me and I would have enjoyed it.”

Sam rolled off the bed and began to untie Judy. “Hmm. Be careful what you wish for, sweetie. Trust me, ‘anything’ covers an awful lot of stuff that you’ve never even considered. How long have you been playing with submission?”

“It’s been about a year," Judy replied. “I’ve always thought that idea of submission was sexy, but I never actually went there. Then a friend of mine had some bad stuff happen to her. When I heard about it, I was freaked out and felt bad for her, but I also noticed that it was a little bit arousing. I felt like a pervert at first but read up on it and realized that it wasn’t an unusual physical reaction. There are lots of scary things that can make a girl’s pussy wet. The important thing is the safe word. It gives the submissive control and the freedom to enjoy what’s happening.”

“It does if the Top plays by the rules. You didn’t know me. It was very dangerous for you to bring me back to your house like this. I could be the person who attacked your friend.” Sam began to remove the collar.

“Can you leave the collar on a while longer, Daddy? Even when we are just lying here it makes me feel warm to have it on.”

Sam stopped unbuckling the collar and instead leaned down and kissed Judy’s neck. She tasted inviting.

“I know I was reckless," Judy said. “I did upload a photo of your license plate on my cloud storage, but you still could have killed me.”

Judy rolled onto her back and pulled Sam’s head down for a kiss. “You are just so damn cute. I wanted you to throw me down and have your way with me right there in the frozen food aisle.”

“Did you get a picture of me, too? As a keepsake, maybe," Sam asked.

“No, Daddy. I wouldn’t take your picture without your permission," Judy replied.

Sam looked around the room. “This is a terrific house in a terrific neighborhood. Do you work, or is it just a big alimony payment?”

“Well,” said Judy, “it’s kind of both. I do work some, but it is strictly cash-only and under the table. It doesn’t affect my alimony or my taxes. You have to promise not to tell anyone, though.”

Sam perked up at that. Enough playtime, she needed to find some answers. “Oh, that sounds interesting. What kinds of stuff do you do?”

“Oh, I run errands for people. It’s different every time.”

Sam’s hand slowly rubbed large circles on Judy’s belly. “You mean you’re sort of like a personal shopper for someone?”

Judy pushed Sam’s hand lower. “Sort of. Maybe more like a personal assistant for several different people. I do all kinds of different stuff. I never know what they’ll ask for. Oh yes, Daddy. Right there. Ohh. Oh my! Daddy, do you have the energy to go again?”

Sam stood and tied Judy back to the bed, this time face up. “Oh, I have plenty to show you. There are parts of me that you haven’t even caught a glimpse of yet.”

Once Judy was tied, Sam stood there staring at her for a minute. She was helpless and sweaty and had messy hair and smelled of sex and Sam couldn’t get over how beautiful and sensual she was. “You know, Judy, I have really enjoyed being with you. This is the best afternoon I’ve had in a long, long time. Maybe the best afternoon ever.”

“Me too, Daddy. I’m really glad you ran into me at the store.”

Sam was unsure about how to proceed. She bent down and removed Judy’s collar. “I have some questions for you. I was going to ask you earlier but, frankly, I couldn’t keep my hands off of you.”

“What do you mean, Daddy? Why did you take off the collar?”

Sam’s voice grew very serious. “I don’t want to mix play with these questions. I don’t want you to think I’m trying to deceive you in any way. What we had earlier today was strictly personal. This is strictly business.”

“What is it, Sam?” Judy’s voice now echoing Sam’s serious tone.

“Judy, I am the person who captured and tortured Kim. I realize now that I got the wrong person, that it was her husband I should have been after. I also believe that you were helping him, and I need to know exactly what was going on.”

A panicked look swept across Judy’s face. She tugged on the ropes binding her to the bed then quickly accepted that she had no control at all over the situation. “You fucking bitch. So, this was all a set-up. Was fucking me part of the plan, or did you just decide to take advantage of the situation?”

Sam frowned. “Listen, Judy. I already told you. That was personal and this is business. I think you are an interesting person, you’re pretty, you’re wonderful in bed, and I really do like you. I see now that it was a bad decision to get involved with you first, but I haven’t been always making the best decisions lately. And I don’t regret the time we’ve spent together. I just wish we could get this business behind us and climb back in bed together.”

Judy considered what she had just heard. “So, you aren’t required to torture and kill me? I can just tell you what you want to know?”

Sam thought of Kim. Then she thought of Agent Kehm. She wasn’t sure exactly what the agent had said to her, but she remembered that she should avoid torture wherever possible. “Well, Judy. It depends on if I believe you’re being honest with me or not. I like you, and there’s no reason to hurt you if I get my answers.”

Judy realized that Sam was probably the only person she knew who wouldn’t freak out and run away when they discovered what her job was. “I don’t want you to give up hurting me altogether, Daddy," she said with a voice that was only slightly shaking. “But as far as your questions about Frank go, you won’t need to use the Barney CD with me. When you showed up last spring everything went to hell and the client stiffed me on the second half of my payment. I’ve got no particular loyalty to them. Just ask me and I’ll tell you anything you want to know. Then we can have some dinner, smoke some weed, cuddle up, and watch a movie or something.”