* * * *        
Nothing Like The Sun        
   If you went by body language alone, you'd have mistaken who was in control
and who was the sub. It didn't help that she was so much shorter than he, or
seemed to be partly cowering behind him. She was attractive in her way, the
same mousy, uninspired way i was I suppose; but he was incredible.        
        
   He was six-two, with a thatch of strawberry red hair that made it look as
though his head were wreathed in flame. He was whipcord thin, but his muscles
were well defined, just not bulky. His skin, though pale, exuded a healthy glow
and his blue eyes were as cold and hard as ice. His penis was thin and long and
hard; curving up along his abs, and his face was the epitome of 80's style
androgyny: alien and beautiful.        
        
   His pitiless eyes went from Mistress to me and then back again. There was a
faint smile at the corners of his mouth; contemptuous and mocking.        
        
   Of course, i'd always hated him - on principle. You couldn't read the
descriptions of him in Mistress' stories, though She'd given him another name
in them, and not feel resentful and jealous. And when She'd told me what he'd
done to Her, how he'd made Her feel so stupid and worthless, my hatred had
ratcheted up a notch into the personal. But to see him in person, to see the
way he regarded She and i like bugs beneath his feet, that was the moment that
i truly began to hate Alex.        
        
   "Hello, Deirdre," Mistress said coolly.        
        
   "Why Catherine!" the small Domme said, sounding catty from the first word.
"We were afraid you weren't going to make it this time! And that would have
been SUCH a shame, considering what a marvelous job you did as Grand Domme last
time..."          
        
   "Deirdre..." Caresse said in a threatening tone.        
        
   She didn't take the hint. "And I see you've found a new slave as well! Well,
how marvelous for us both! Of course," she added, practically wrapping herself
around Alex's torso, "Alex isn't exactly new to you, is he?"        
        
    "He's not very well trained," Alex opined, speaking for the first time,
glaring right into Mistress' eyes, "is he?"        
        
   Mistress reluctantly prodded me forward with Her foot.        
        
   "Greet Mistress Deirdre, michael."        
        
   i crawled over and began to lick the sides of Mistress Deirdre's boots. She
looked down on me with obvious disgust, but let me continue for a bit before
eventually shoving me away with her foot. i scurried back to Mistress.        
        
   "Didn't do a very good job," Alex said, breaking into a grin.        
        
   "Alex, please..." Mistress said, but Deirdre interrupted Her.        
        
  "DON'T TALK TO HIM!" she screamed, "I'M THE DOMME!"        
        
   Mistress calmly switched Her gaze to Mistress Deirdre. "Fine," She said
softly. "I appreciate that you may still be upset about what happened three
years ago..." Mistress Deirdre laughed bitterly. "But it wasn't meant to be
personal..." Somehow, even to my ears Mistress didn't sound entirely convinced
Herself.        
        
   Instead of acknowledging what She had said, Mistress Deirdre began to
inspect her boots.        
        
   "You're right," she said to Alex, "it didn't do a very good job."        
        
   "Almost as if," Alex said 'helpfully' "she wanted to insult you... again."  
     
        
   Deirdre's eyes seemed to catch the malevolent spark that burned in her
sub's. "Yes..." she said thoughtfully. "I DO feel insulted!"        
        
   "Deirdre, please..." Mistress almost sounded like She was begging.        
        
   "I THINK," Deirdre began, ignoring Mistress' plea, "I'll go to the Grand
Domme and inform her that I intend to seek redress for this grievous slight!
Yes..." her voice dripped with malice, "It just wouldn't be the Gala without at
least one round of sport, wouldn't you agree?" she asked Mistress coldly.      
 
        
   "I can't stop you," Mistress said softly.        
        
   "Good! Let's see how YOU like it, bitch!" Deirdre hissed and the stormed
away, her "slave" right by her side.        
        
   There was a lengthy silence after that. i worried terribly about what was
going to happen to Mistress. Then, i became aware of an unsettling sense of
being... watched. i craned my head around and saw that everyone on the sofa was
looking not at Mistress, but staring intently at ME.        
        
   "What?"        
        
* * * *        
        
   We stood in a deep crevasse formed by the split of two mammoth seating
sections in the main auditorium. The pony races had been run and there were a
few stragglers in the stands, as well as several of the losing "ponies" still
on the floor, running lap after lap as punishment for not coming in first.     
  
        
   In the middle of the floor slaves were setting up a pair of eight-by-eight
foot square platforms, standing five feet off the ground. There was roughly
five feet between them as well. Another crew of workers came trudging out
dragging several old, beat up gym mats behind them.        
        
   i watched this activity with a growing queasiness.        
        
   "Those platforms seem... high," i said hesitantly.        
        
   Horror dawned on Mistress face. "Oh God michael! I forgot!"        
        
   "Last time," Goddess Ceresse spoke up behind us, "they were TEN feet up!"   
    
        
   "Stop it!" Mistress snapped at her.        
        
   "Why'd they change?" i asked, suddenly relieved to have missed out on 'last
time.'        
        
   "Caresse!"        
        
   "Well, one poor bastard hit the mats the wrong way when he got knocked off
and ruptured his appendix."        
        
   "CARESSE!" Mistress screamed.        
        
   "michelle asked," Goddess Caresse said innocently.        
        
   Mistress put Her hand on my shoulder and looked deep into my eyes.        
        
   "Please, michael, please believe that I am so sorry for this! This is all my
fault and it's not fair to ask you to pay for it!"        
        
   "But..." i began, but She cut me off.        
        
   "No! I know what you're thinking and the answer is NO! Look, when you get up
there the Grand Domme will give you a chance to use your safeword. I want you
to take that chance. I ORDER you to use your safeword!"        
        
    "I don't get it? If it's that easy to get out of, why were they so jazzed
to start it up?"        
        
   "That's not important," Mistress began.        
        
   "Because it will reflect poorly on Catherine as a Domme if you do," Caresse
explained.        
        
   "GOD DAMN IT CARESSE!"        
        
   "Reflect poorly? But wouldn't it be me..."        
        
    "That doesn't matter!" Mistress cried. Tears were running down Her cheeks
and Her hands were trembling.        
        
   "Please, PLEASE, just do what I say! It doesn't matter if I look bad..."    
   
        
   "Pretty bad considering how fond you were of issuing challenges yourself..."
       
        
   Mistress began to break down and scream at Caresse.        
        
   i'd had enough. i took Her face in my hands and held it still, looking down
into Her fearful dark eyes.        
        
   "Okay," i said. "Okay. Just go and get some seats, okay?"        
        
   She sniffled, but nodded.        
        
   i let Her go. She took my hand and squeezed it, mouthing 'please' one last
time. Then She and the others drifted back down the tunnel, leaving me to gaze
out at the now completed arena and ponder. People began to file in above me and
find seats.        
        
   "Think fast, mon ami!" a voice called out behind me.        
        
   i spun and Goddess Caresse threw a six foot long staff, tipped at the ends
with heavy pads, at my chest. i tried to catch it, but the giant Q-tip bounced
off my torso and dropped through my fumbling hands to clatter on the floor.    
   
        
   Goddess Caresse shook her head sadly.        
        
   "Here to give me another pep talk?" i asked, picking the heavy wooden shaft
off the slick concrete.        
        
   "Here to tell you that he's NOT gonna try to rupture your internal organs or
break your bones," she replied.        
        
   "How do you know that?"         
        
   "You see that box they got set up there in the stands, all fancy?"        
        
   "Yeah?" i assumed - correctly as it would turn out - it was for the Grand
Domme.        
        
   "Look just below it. On the floor."        
        
   "Those stocks?" i asked, really noticing them for the first time.        
        
   "Those the ones, michelle," she said. "See, he ain't gonna try and hurt you
up there. He gonna try and take you down as quickly and cleanly as he can.
'Cause if the loser ain't hurt too bad, he gets drug over and put in those
stocks. And THEN," she said, looking directly at me, "the winner, he gets to...
how you want to say? Claim his prize?"         
        
   i felt my stomach fold itself into origami.        
        
   "oh," i said weakly. "i would have like to have known that."        
        
   "See, Catherine doesn't want to tell you that, 'cause she figures you gonna
do what she says like a good boy and she don't want to upset you any more than
she already has."        
        
   "And you don't think i'm going to do what She says?"        
        
   She laughed. "Mon ami, I seen a lot of things in my life! And the one thing
I know it the way a man look when he is in love. And I found there ain't
nothing so stupid or foolish in the world like a man in love!"        
        
   "Maybe..." i said. "I was GOING to..."        
        
   "Listen here!" she snapped. "I didn't go telling you this to make you afraid
so you'd go and back down! I wanted you to know that when you're up there, he
ain't going to be seeing you in front of him there - he going to be seeing you
locked down and helpless, your little hole just  trembling right before his big
nasty prick! He going to be seeing Catherine in the stands, weeping and
humiliated. I want to you know this so YOU'LL be seeing him that way too!
Beaten, helpless, suffering for every thing he put that girl through. Remember
that, michelle! I want you to beat that smug little smile of his right off his
face for good!"        
        
   "Yeah," i said, awkwardly trying to get a good grip on the pole.        
        
   "You... you ever done ANY fighting like this before?" she asked, her
confidence wavering.        
        
   "Uh... saw 'Amok Time' like twenty times."        
        
   Goddess Caresse stared at me blankly.        
        
   "Ah... you know... the Star Trek where Kirk and Spock battle to the death?" 
      
        
   "No," she said looking at me oddly, "I don't know."        
        
   Whatever i was going to say next was lost as a recorded blare of trumpets
went out over the P.A. system.        
        
   "Good luck, Captain Kirk," Goddess Caresse said solemnly.        
        
   i felt hands take old of my arms and when i turned i saw a pair of the
champion ponies, a male and female, still decked out with their bits and
leather helmets complete with plumes. They began to pull me towards the
platforms.        
        
   "Uh..." i turned around to say one last thing to Goddess Caresse, but she
had already left.        
        
   "Kirk lost."        
        
   With an escort on each arm, i stepped out of the shadows of my concrete
canyon and onto the open floor of the auditorium. At the other end Alex was
being led by a similar pair. He held his staff with the same confidence that
i'd seen Mistress handle Her racquetball racquet.        
        
   The crowd didn't fill the stands, but there were still more people out there
than in the graduating classes of my high school and college combined. i also
got my first look at Mistress Elizabeth B- of Detroit, Michigan, the Grand
Domme of the Gala. She looked to be in her forties, with several streaks of
silver running through hair that was otherwise as black as Goddess Caresse's.
She had on a conservative business suit, and was attended by a bevy of
attractive slaves, men and women. i wondered if they had all been hers to begin
with, or if she'd taken advantage of her privilege and "appropriated" those she
liked.        
        
   Alex and i were led up a small flight of steps at the rear of the platforms,
and turned to face the crowd. Our guides then beat a hasty retreat, leaving us
alone in front of the masses.        
        
   The Grand Domme stood up and moved to the front of her boxed area. She must
have been miked, because her words carried throughout the cavernous auditorium.
       
        
   "Slaves," she began, her voice rich and strong, "you stand before us tonight
as mere pawns in a game of your betters." i almost laughed at that. It was
clear who called the shots in Alex and Deirdre's relationship.        
        
   "As you know, the foundation of The Delta Of Venus Society is based on the
principle that all our actions must first and foremost be conducted in a way
that is safe, in a way that is sane, and most importantly, a way that is
consensual. Yet, what you are about to do clearly reaches the farthest limit of
these beliefs.        
        
   "Though," she added quickly, looking directly at Alex, "I trust not TOO
far!"        
        
   In fact, i slowly became aware that all eyes were on Alex. i was the chump,
the no-name who got slated to wrestle Hulk Hogan or the AFC team in the
Superbowl.        
        
   "I won't, Grand Domme!" he called out cockily.        
        
   i felt intense anger rise up in me.        
        
   "I won't either, Grand Domme!" i yelled, causing a ripple of surprised
chatter to go through the crowd. Alex merely glanced at me out of the corner of
his eye and smirked.        
        
   It took the Grand Domme a minute to recover.        
        
   "So be it. Still, if either of you has reservations concerning the
predicament your Domme has placed him in, let him speak his safeword now, or
accept the consequences."        
        
   Alex turned his head slightly to get a better look at me. An eternity seemed
to pass as a hush blanketed the entire auditorium. Even so, i couldn't hear
Her, but others assured me that Mistress gasped aloud at my silence.        
        
   "Then let it begin," the Grand Domme said.        
        
   i'd expected a salute or something; but suddenly the business end of Alex's
staff came hurtling at my skull. i yelped in fright and got my own weapon up in
the nick of time to block his shot. The impact of the blow traveled through the
wood and directly into the bones of my hands, causing me to cry out in pain,
but i didn't drop the staff.        
        
   He swung again and i countered. The weapon was incredibly heavy and hard to
swing around. i observed how he was holding his and tried to quickly adjust my
own grip, which almost gave him the opportunity to clock me.        
        
   Offense was clearly out of the question. i knew enough to know that with one
poor swing, i'd be off-balance and vulnerable to attack. my only hope was to
rope-a-dope and pray he got tired swinging all that heavy wood around.        
        
   As i finalized my strategy, he feinted and i fell for it. His follow-through
was to heave the pole up between my legs.        
        
   The crowd, as one, groaned. It may sound crazy, but i didn't really feel it.
There was just this sudden blackout as all my circuits switched off for the
blink of an eye. i recovered just in time to hear the whistling of the
approaching blow as he landed one directly against the side of my head.        
        
   i staggered backwards. The crowd held its breath. i felt the back of my
heels as they pressed over the edge of the platform. Somehow, i fought to keep
my balance.        
        
   i was a far away from Alex as i could get, though if he'd really wanted to
over extend himself, he could've finished me. But, being the arrogant prick
that he was, he stood back instead, and waited for me to drop.        
        
   i didn't drop.        
        
   i tried to shake my head to clear my vision, but Alex still seemed to have
six eyes swirling around his head, making him look like some villianous spider.
       
        
   To the complete surprise of everybody, i charged. Alex was caught off guard
and tried to bring his weapon up, but i wasn't aiming for his body. Instead, i
smashed the wooden shaft down over his hands. He bellowed in outrage, but the
staff dropped from his hands, hit the platform, and rolled off with a clatter. 
      
        
   We stood for a moment like statues, facing each other. Like an idiot, i
hadn't drawn my staff back yet and he suddenly lashed out and grabbed the other
end. We engaged in a furious tug-of-war; the bells on my nipple rings jangling
like a sleigh ride through hell.        
        
   The look of triumph in Alex's eye telegraphed his move the nanosecond before
he let go.        
        
   i seemed to hurtle backwards, undone by my own tenacity. Suddenly, my left
leg shot out ramrod straight and my foot hit the wood of the platform with a
report like a rifle.        
        
   i swung with all my might at the blurry form before me and caught him in the
sternum. All the air in his body escaped in one agonized breath. i'd been
aiming for his scrotum.        
        
   He dropped like a stone, but he fell on the platform, not off it; rolling
just to the edge before stopping.        
        
   i looked to the Grand Domme helplessly. This was too much! Was i expected to
have to jump over and finish him off? What if he were counting on that and
lying in wait?        
        
   But even as i tensed myself for what was sure to be the final rally - God,
or the Fates or just dumb luck took over and he began to slide ever-so-slowly
over the side, landing on the mat below with an unspeakably satisfying thud.   
      
        
   The crowd roared with applause. i felt the last reserves of energy drain
from my body, and i collapsed onto the deck, inflicting the most serious wound
of the battle to myself by cracking my coccyx.        
        
   The ponies returned. This time the females climbed the platform together to
fetch me, while the males picked up Alex and began to drag him towards the
stocks.        
        
   my set of escorts lifted me to my feet and turned me to face the crowd
again, so that i might receive their thunderous applause. Then they led me down
the steps, and across the floor. By the time we got there, Alex was locked up
and had regained consciousness.        
        
   He didn't beg or cry or fight the restraints, just hung there, resigned to
his fate.        
        
   The Grand Domme looked down on me approvingly.        
        
   i cast my eyes up at her and said my safeword.        
        
   Since there was only one person in the entire crowd that knew what that was,
a low, curious rumbling rose up from the masses. The Grand Domme frowned at me
in confusion.        
        
   i said my safeword again, this time adding, "My safeword, Grand Domme." Then
repeated it a third time.        
        
   "I do not understand. The day is yours, what need have you of your
safeword?" she asked.        
        
   "i... i don't want... ANYTHING to do with... him," i explained haltingly,
indicating Alex.        
        
   "You don't wish to claim your spoils as the victor?" she asked, incredulous.
       
        
   "No - uh.. No Grand Domme!"        
        
   "But... surely you must know that were your positions reversed, he would
show you no such mercy."        
        
   i smiled weakly, sighed. "That's what makes me better than him."        
        
* * * *        
        
    She met me halfway down the canyon that led to the tunnel that led to the
corridor that led to anywhere that wasn't the auditorium. She exploded onto me
like a shotgun blast, wrapping her body around mine, and planting a slew of
ferocious kisses upon my lips. A smallish crowd of supporters shuffled in
behind Her. Lindsey was among them, grinning from ear to ear.        
        
    "You're an idiot," she said, patting me on the shoulder anyway. "What were
you thinking?"        
        
   i caught Goddess Caresse's eye. "Some wise person once told me there ain't
nothing so stupid or foolish in the world like a man in love!"        
        
   She smiled back at me. "Thought you said Kirk lost, mon ami."        
        
* * * *         
        
    The rest of the Gala was both wonderful and difficult.        
        
   Wonderful, because Mistress sat on my lap and held me fiercely, constantly
kissing me and running Her hands through my hair.        
        
   Difficult, because i didn't want to mention the growing pain at the base of
my spine and ruin the moment for Her.        
        
   i was also fairly nervous about how all the other subs at the Gala would
react to me after that. i harbored childish notions of Old West gunfighters,
looking to make a name for themselves by taking down the new champion. Instead,
the men would come up and shake my hand or high five me, while women would
sneak up when Mistress' head was turned, and steal a quick kiss. Alex was not
well loved by his peers.        
        
    By the time we lumbered into our hotel room, i was exhausted. i tumbled
face first onto the bed.        
        
   Shortly thereafter, i felt Mistress' warm, supple hands begin to massage the
cheeks of my ass. i moaned into the mattress, but spread my legs apart anyway. 
      
        
    When She penetrated me with the strapon, it was much like before: the pain
form my tailbone helping to define the sensation in my rectum as something
pleasurable. She took Her time, moving slow and deliberately. Despite my
exhaustion and aching, i could feel the pleasure build in me as well.        
        
    She quickened Her pace. i groaned with delight. my muscles were incapable
of resistance as She pumped harder and harder into my accepting body.        
        
    Then, without warning, a shudder passed from Her body to mine. i came so
hard and so fast that ejaculation seemed almost an afterthought.        
        
    She pulled out of me, undid the strapon, then collapsed on to top me, Her
hot, sweaty flesh pressing onto mine. We drifted off like that, and slept the
sleep of the just.