Awakened

“What the fuck are you doing, Brad?” Holly exclaimed shrilly.
  She had just trudged into the apartment, barely able to keep her eyes open after her long day at the library.  But now she was wide awake, snapped out of exhaustion by shock and anger.  And a little bit of fear.

Brad was holding her e-reader, his brows raised so high that they were nearly disappearing into his hairline.  He jerked at her outburst; clearly he had been so engrossed that he hadn’t heard her come in.  Had he found…?  Had he read…?

One look at his guilty expression told her that he had.  He had found her stash of kinky erotica.

She advanced on him, snatching the device out of his hand.  “You had no right,” she hissed, angrier with him than she had ever been.  In fact, she couldn’t ever remember being angry at him; they had never had one fight in the six months that they had been dating.  It seemed that that was about to change. 
Right now.

Brad held up his hands, placating.  “I’m sorry,” he said, but there was no contrition in his tone.  Brad always did what Brad wanted to do.  That was just how he was, but it had never really bothered Holly. 
Until now.

“I…”  He began awkwardly.  “I don’t mind, you know.  That you’re into… that stuff.”

Holly froze.  Could that be true?  Could Brad possibly share her dark desires, her kinky proclivities?  Hope welled within her.  “You’re not?”  She breathed.

While Holly was intrigued by the thought of being overpowered by a man, she thought that it was something more appropriate for fantasies than real life.  It was all well and good to imagine a man dominating you, spanking you, but this was the modern world; men weren’t
supposed to be the ones in charge.  No matter how horny the idea made her.  Besides, who even had time for torrid fantasies? 
Certainly not Holly.
  She hardly had time to give Brad normal sex, much less have an awkward conversation about experimenting.  And she was fine with that.  Really she was.

She felt her anger at his invasion of her privacy melting as he gave her that sweet smile that she loved so much.  This was why she was with Brad.  He was the right kind of guy for her to be dating, for her to end up with.  He was a first-year med student, so he understood Holly’s penchant for pulling all-nighters to study, and he understood why she was often too tired to have sex.  Plus he was cute, with auburn hair and dark green eyes.  He had that classic captain-of-the-football-team square jaw and dark-rimmed glasses that gave him an air of vulnerability that appealed to Holly. 
Of course he was perfect for her.

Her anger allayed by her rationalization, Holly took a deep, calming breath.  “You really don’t mind?”

“No,” he said gently. 
“Not at all.”

Well, that was hardly the reaction that Holly had been hoping for, to be perfectly honest.  If he really was okay with it, then shouldn’t he be turned on right now?  Shouldn’t he be shoving her against the wall, ravaging her?

She suppressed a sigh as her exhaustion returned.  This had been plenty of excitement for one night.  Besides, she had a twelve hour shift at the coffee shop tomorrow.  She didn’t have the energy to be ravaged.

“Alright then,” she said finally, unable to stifle a yawn.  “I’m going to bed.”  She bent down to plant a swift kiss on Brad’s cheek, letting him know that she forgave him, before getting ready for bed.

Before she drifted off to sleep, images of being held down, spanked, forced, flitted through her mind.  She felt herself becoming aroused at the thought, but she was so tired that she couldn’t muster up the energy to touch herself.  Maybe she could experiment with Brad tomorrow.  With that resolved, she finally allowed her fatigue to pull her under.

Holly returned home the next night to find Brad poring over his medical books.  She wished that she had the time to look through her own veterinary books today, but she just couldn’t find the energy after her long day at the coffee shop.

He looked up at her as she entered, and he gave her that smile again.  He patted the cushion beside him on the couch, and she sat down gratefully, almost collapsing onto it.  She expected him to flick on the TV, to let her mind rest for a little while before going to bed.  But he surprised her, taking her hand in his and looking at her solemnly, almost nervously.

“Holly,” he began haltingly.  “I…  I was thinking about last night. 
About your books.”

“Oh?”  Holly asked softly, hope filling her chest.  Was he about to act on her dark fantasies, to bring them to life for the first time?

“I want to do something for you. 
With you.”
  He reached into his pocket and pulled out a pair of tickets.  “Here,” he said, proffering them to her.

Puzzled, Holly took one.  Her jaw dropped as she saw the words emblazoned upon it: Dark Grove Plantation.  She knew what Dark Grove was, had come across it in her internet research.  It was an opulent fetish club located just outside of Charleston in a refurbished Carolina plantation house.  She had yearned to go for years, but she had never been able to muster up the courage.

“Really?”
  She asked softly, wonderingly.  “You want to go with me?”

“Sure,” he said, giving her an easy smile.  “I’d like to check it out, if you’re up for it.”

“Yes!”  She said, a bit more quickly than she would have liked.  Her pussy flared to life just at the thought of it.  She wanted sex, wanted Brad to take her now.  She put her hand on his thigh.  “Want to go to the bedroom?”  She asked throatily, realizing that she was more turned on than she had ever been.

But to her dismay, Brad gently lifted her hand and placed it in her own lap.  “Not tonight,” he said, a bit regretfully.  “I have a test tomorrow, and I really need to study.”  She must have looked crestfallen, because he continued quickly.  “But we’ll have fun at the party tomorrow night.  You’ll see.”

Despite her disappointment, Holly gave him a small smile.  She had waited her whole life to fulfill her fantasies.  Surely she could wait one more day.

But as she lay in bed by herself, the same erotic images as the night before were playing through her head.  This time, she did touch herself, slaking her need for the first time in weeks.  She fell into a deep sleep that night.  Not from exhaustion, but from being utterly sated.

Holly’s insides were churning as they drove through the dark woods, the Live Oak trees twisting around the edges of the illuminated dirt road, as though parting to admit them.  She glanced back to reassure herself that the branches were not entwining together behind the car, blocking their escape, trapping them.  She could hardly believe that she was doing
this, that
she had agreed to this.  It was a mistake.  She should tell Brad to turn around, to take her home.

But through her mounting fear, she realized that she hadn’t felt this
alive
in months, not since she had downed seven espressos in one go.  She was always so exhausted, working herself to the bone trying to balance studying and working as a barista to pay her way through vet school.  That was ultimately the reason she had overcome her fears and agreed to come to Dark Grove with Brad; to break free of the relentless grind that she struggled through every day.  She felt like a zombie, going through the motions of life but not really living.  And the same could be said about her sex life with Brad: they were just going through the motions.

And now, here they were, about to arrive at Dark Grove Plantation.  Were her closely-guarded fantasies about to become a reality?

Holly tugged at her silver corset nervously, pulling it up slightly to ensure that her ample breasts weren’t popping out.  She was self-conscious about how wanton she looked in the garment, but she loved the way it cinched in her waist, taking off a few inches.  She didn’t think she was fat, but she had always been self-conscious about her wider hips.  But she did like her hazel eyes, so that was a bit of a confidence booster. 

Still, she couldn’t help drawing the length of her dark brown hair over her shoulders to help cover her exposed chest.  She grimaced slightly at the deep, smoky smell that wafted upward at the movement.  It didn’t matter how many times she washed her hair, she could never fully rid herself of the scent of coffee after a long day at work.  While she enjoyed the aroma, Brad had never cared for it.  Her belly knotted again as her mind turned back to him.

She glanced over at his shadowed profile.  He was a perfectionist, just like she was.  But his perfectionism only made her harder on herself.  She gingerly sniffed at her hair again, and her stomach dropped at the hint of coffee’s definitively dark aroma.  Hopefully he wouldn’t say anything; Holly needed all of her confidence if she was going to follow through with this.

What would be he be like when they arrived?  How would he act?  In her mind’s eye, she saw herself being tied down, held at a man’s mercy.  Her sex swelled at the thought, lust cutting through her nervousness. 
Could Brad give that to her?
  He had never given her any inkling of such interests.  Sure, he was a control freak outside of the bedroom, much like she was, but he had never so much as pinned her hands over her head while he fucked her.  Had he secretly shared her fantasies all along?

Holly wished that he would talk to her, that they could have a conversation about this before just diving in.  But that wasn’t what they did.  Now that she was faced with the idea of having to broach a difficult subject with Brad, Holly found that she had no idea how to begin; they had never really talked about sex before.  Well, if she thought about it, they never talked about much at all, really.

How could she be in a relationship for six months and never have had a serious conversation with her boyfriend?  The thought unsettled her.  It was suddenly as though she didn’t even really know the man in the car beside her.

Stop being an idiot,
she admonished herself.  Her brain was just being crazy because she was so nervous.  Brad was a great guy: smart, cute, sweet.  He was exactly what she wanted.  Again the thought of being held down flitted across her mind.  Only the man restraining her wasn’t Brad.

But is he what you need?
  A small voice within her asked.

Shut up! 
She ordered it angrily.  What was going on with her?  She was too hyped-up, she decided.  She hadn’t felt this awake in ages, and now her brain was making up for it by going into overdrive.

Mercifully, all of her tangled thoughts were driven from her mind as they broke through the trees and the old plantation house came into view.  It was colossal, a three-story red brick edifice illuminated by warm yellow lights. White columns delineated the jutting porches in the center of the house, and a double staircase led up to the front door.  Holly had never realized just how
big
it would be.  How many carnal perversions could possibly fill a house that size?  And she knew from her internet research that it wasn’t just the house that was a part of the club.  There were pools, extensive gardens, and a carriage house.

Brad stopped the car and handed the keys to a valet.  Ever the gentleman, he came around and opened Holly’s door for her, taking her by the hand and helping her out of the car.  She was glad of the support, as her corset impaired her movements in a way she was not accustomed to.  Gripping his arm tightly, she found her footing on her ultra-high heels.  She was dismayed to feel
Brad’s arm trembling slightly under her hand.  She was quite anxious enough for the two of them, and seeing him showing signs of nervousness wasn’t doing wonders for her confidence.

Glancing up at him, she was upset when he didn’t meet her eye.  She needed him to reassure her right now, to be the dominant man that she wanted and to take control of the situation.  If it was ever going to be acceptable for her to lean on a man for support, this was the place, wasn’t it?  But he was wrapped up in his own world, his own concerns, and he didn’t seem to have time to reassure Holly.