"Don't look at me that way, puss. It's the same crap you ate last night. Wishing won't make it fresh liver."

She glanced at the oven timer; twenty-two minutes. "You want my lasagna? Only cartoon cats eat lasagna."

Ah, well. The cat will eat or the cat won't. Or else he'll grow opposable thumbs and open a can of tuna himself. She hoped she was there to see it. If he did, I may as well leave him the car keys and move to the country.

Leaving the cat to its indignation, Cass padded into the living room and curled up on the sofa with a magazine, paging through it distractedly.

The phone chirped. She stared at it, trying to decide how social she felt. It chirped again. It's dinner time, so it's probably a telemarketer. I wonder why they bother, she mused. I guess it doesn't cost much to set a machine to make a thousand calls, and if just one of 'em actually returns the call, it'll pay for the rest. Third ring. She was learning not to care about the phone. Replacing the old-fashioned ring with an electronic chirp had helped: It didn't sound quite so insistent. She decided to let the machine get it.

The fourth ring was interrupted. Her own voice echoed from the hall. "Hi, it's me. If you don't know who this is, it's your own fault, you called me. Convince me to call you back." That was a lot funnier two months ago...

The beep was followed by a familiar female voice, tinged into strangeness by desperation. "Cassie Wilson, you pick up that phone... right... now!" This strained whisper was followed almost immediately by a half-sob, "Oh, God. Please be there, Cass."

She lunged for the phone. "Anne! Annie, I'm here. What's wrong?"

"Cass!" Relief washed over Anne's voice. "Thank God you're there..."

"What's happened? Are you all right? Where's Jason?"

"...Yes, I'm... Jason is..." Words failed her.

"Jason's hurt!"

"No! No, he's fine, he's... God, I can't tell you..."

A nasty suspicion entered Cass'  head. "What did he do to you?"

Anne laughed, a little unsteadily. "No, no, he hasn't done anything to me." She laughed again, a nervous, disbelieving laugh. "He can't."

"He ...can't?" Cass had never heard her friend like this. "Is he hurt?"

"Oh, no, no, he's fine. I guess he's fine."

"You guess? Annie, what's going on? Tell me!"

"Well, I... Promise you won't tell him I told you?"

"That depends on what you're telling me. Did he hurt you?"

"No, I swear, it's not that. Not Jason. He would never... But then I didn't think he would... could do this, either..."

"Annie, I'm gonna crawl through this phone if you don't tell me!"

"Okay, okay." Anne took some deep breaths to calm herself, while Cass stood by in quiet frustration. Anne continued. "I came home from work this afternoon, and found him... in bed."

"...Okay."

"Naked."

Cass smirked, then straightened her face. "Okay. Sounds...interesting... so far." Another suspicious thought. "Alone?"

"Cassie!" Anne was shocked at the suggestion. "Of course he was alone!"

"Well, it happens, you know. You sounded pretty upset, I just thought... Well, okay. Sorry. He's in bed naked." A mental picture appeared unbidden. Cass again fought not to smile. "Go on."

"Handcuffed."

Cass' jaw dropped open. "Handcuffed?"

Anne took a couple of big breaths, then let it all out in a rush. "His hands are behind his back, his ankles are cuffed together, and there'd a chain going up from there to his wrists."

Cass' suspected what the answer to this next question had to be, or else Anne would have called the police, not her. "And who did this to him?"  She hoped Anne couldn't hear the grin she couldn't stop.

"He...he says he did it himself. As a surprise for me."

"Hang on a second, I'll be right back." Cass thumbed the MUTE button quickly before Anne could hear her laugh, long and loud. The cat looked startled, and left for a quieter spot. The more Cass thought about this tableau, the harder she laughed. Anne was the last person to try this approach with, how could Jason not know that?

Why do guys think that girls want surprises, anyway?

On the other hand, she was enjoying this one.

Finally she regained her composure and hit the MUTE button again. "I'm sorry, Anne, are you still with me?"

"Of course." She sounded calmer, but still fightened.

"So, where is he now?" Anne didn't answer immediately. Cass fought not to laugh again. "Oh. Oh! This just happened, didn't it? He's still there!"

"Yes," Anne replied in a small voice.

"That hunk is chained up naked in bed, and you're on the phone to me?"

"Well, I don't know what to do with him!"

That was it. Cass couldn't hold it any longer. She burst out laughing again, this time forgetting the MUTE button.

"Thank you too much. I'm glad somebody is amused."

She wiped the tears from her eyes, still laughing softly. "I'm sorry, Anne, it's just that, compared to what I was thinking, well, I'm just glad it wasn't what I was thinking. Forgive me?"

"I'm not sure."

"C'mon, Boots, this is me." Years before, at summer camp, thanks to an improbable series of events (arranged by Cass), Anne found herself having to cross the open quad between the assembly building and the cabin they shared wearing hiking boots. And nothing else. Cass used the forbidden nickname deliberately.

Anne laughed despite herself. "Right. Okay."

"Right. Now. What do you want from me? Suggestions?"

A pause, while Anne deliberated. Cass could almost feel the heat of Anne's blush through the telephone line. Finally, she answered. "Well... yeah. I guess that is what I want."

"Okay. I think I can help." An old boyfriend had been into ropes. "What he wants is to be teased. He wants you to make him want you so badly he can't see straight. And eventually, of course, he'll want you to put him out of his misery. First thing you need to decide is, do you want to do this?"

"I, er..."

"Because if you don't, find the keys and let him out before his muscles cramp." Cass continued. "He'll be disappointed, but he'll get over it. Nobody should be forced into a bondage scene."

Anne gasped. "Bondage?"

"That's what it's called, m'love. It's okay, bondage is harmless if done right. And there's not much you can do wrong with those cheap bondage kits, and this sounds like one of those. He could probably break loose if he really tried. But this was the wrong way to ask you. If you'd rather wait, discuss it, set limits, find out more before you commit yourself, you're well within your rights to do that. I don't think he'll disagree with that."

"Well..." Anne sounded thoughtful. "He's gone to so much trouble. I suppose..." She paused. "I suppose a, what, a, er, hand job? Would that be...appropriate?"

Cass knew what this conversation was costing her straight-laced friend. The fact that Anne was considering indulging Jason on this was actually very sweet. "Yeah, that would be appropriate," she replied, using Anne's word. "It's the bare minimum he would be expecting. But make it a long, slow, tantalizing hand job, if you can."

"God. I won't deny it, this scares me."

"Then don't do it. Explain that to him."

"But..." she began, stammered to an embarrassed halt, then finished the thought. "but at the same time, if he wants it so much, I want to give it to him."

Stop that, you're going to make me cry, Cass thought.

"Will you walk me through it?"

With a bemused grin, Cass replied, "I'm happy to help you however I can, but I'm beginning to worry about him. He really shouldn't be left alone for very long. He's helpless, you know. It can be intense."

"I got across that quad. I know I can do this if you'll help me."

That's it. My eyes are running over. Damn waterworks. The camp prank had ended with a calmly confident Anne simply walking across the quad, proudly naked in the summer sun. And then collapsing in hysterics when she reached the cabin, and being comforted and brought down by Cass. "That may be the nicest thing anybody's ever said to me. But I really don't see any way I can help you make love to Jason..." And then a thought hit her. Hard. The mental picture of Jason, adorned only by silver chains and handcuffs, made her nipples tingle. "Unless..." Suddenly her eyes weren't the only thing leaking. A warm glow started between her legs and radiated upwards. Did she dare suggest what she was thinking?

"Unless what?"

"I don't believe I'm going to say this. I'll understand if you just hang up on me." 

"I would never do that. Especially not now."

"Don't promise anything until you hear what I'm about to suggest. You know that wireless headset phone you got so you could chat while doing housework?"

"...Yeah?..." She was puzzled.

"Go get it and put it on. No, wait. Better. First go back to Jason and apologize to him for running out. Ask him what he expects you to do. If he says words to the effect of 'anything you want', blindfold him. Then put on the headset. With him blindfolded, you'll have an excuse to describe what you're doing, and what he's doing. He doesn't need to know you'll be talking to me too. I'll listen in and direct you when you need it." Anne will never go for this, she thought.

"Cass!" Anne gasped. "What a wicked idea! It'll be like both of us are making love to him, won't it?"

You said it, hon, I didn't, but yeah, it'll be a lot like that.

A buzzer sounded from the kitchen: It was loud enough to carry over the phone. "What was that?" Anne asked.

Cass rose and hurried to turn off the oven. "Nothing. Just my oven timer. Lagagna's ready. It'll wait."

"But it'll get cold."

"Fuck the lasagna. I can always nuke it. This is much more important."

For a moment the shy Anne came back. "I wouldn't want to impose..."

"Impose?" Cass debated whether to tell her the main reason dinner would wait. She decided. "Look, I'm not sure how you'll take this, but you're my friend, so I have to tell you. First, I'm flattered you would come to me with a problem like this. But second... this is really turning me on.  My panties are sopping. If you don't let me do this with you, I'm just going to go finger myself raw, and then the lasagna will still be cold. Okay?"

Silence. "Okay?" Cass repeated. "Anne?"

Anne sounded... Cass wasn't sure how she sounded. Aroused? Awed? Shocked? "Now I'm a little scared of both of you. But it's a good kind of scared, if you know what I mean. And, while we're being open here..." she heard Anne take a shaky breath, "I'm a little damp too. Okay. Tell me what to do."

Oh, Jesus, Cass thought in a flash of realization, she's a sub. I should have known. It's right there in her voice. Two subs in search of a dom. Calling Dr. Cassiopeia. "Take another breath and relax, m'love, this is going to be fun. Here's what you do..."

Fifteen minutes later, Jason was squirming madly on the bed, and Anne had barely touched him.

Cass had walked Anne through a slow strip tease, letting Jason hear every garment fall to the floor. The last garment, her panties, landed on his face, scented with juices that were now flowing quite freely.

He was growling, he was straining, he was begging to be fucked. Anne had never seen him this way before. And she hadn't even done anything to him yet. She decided she liked it.

And Cass, of course, heard every moment of it, and decided she liked it too. By this time, she'd switched phones: She had a wireless headset, too, and she was wearing it as she kneeled naked on her own bed, clothes scattered all over the apartment, cat fled to who knows where. Probably thinks I've gone mad. He's probably right.

"That's it, Anne, that's exactly what he wants. It's what you want, too, isn't it?"

"Oh, yes..." followed by a gasp as she realized she'd spoken aloud.

"S'okay, hon. You could do anything short of calling me by name and he wouldn't notice. I want you sitting at his feet, just out of reach. Is that where you are?"

"Yes..." she sighed again.

"Great. Now comes the part that makes him explode. You're going to masturbate to orgasm."

"I... what?" Anne whispered.

"Feel your pussy. If it's wet, tell him." Cass matched her actions to her suggestion.

The line went silent for so long she wasn't sure Anne was going to do it. Then, finally, she gasped, "I'm very wet."

"Don't say it like you got caught in the rain. Put a little heat into it."

"God, I'm ready... my... my..."

"Oh, God, please, Annie!" Jason pleaded.

"Look, Anne, I know this doesn't come naturally for you, but trust me, now is the time. Repeat after me. 'My cunt is dripping.'"

"My...my cunt is dripping..."

"Fuck me, Annie!" gasped Jason. "Now! Please!"

"Put your hand on your clit and say, 'I don't think I can stand it any more.'"

"I don't think I can sta-a-and..." Anne gasped sharply; Cass deduced her finger must have grazed her hungry clitoris. "I yi yi... my button is throbbing..."

"That's good, too," breathed Cass, whose clit was also throbbing. Her fingers found it.

"Annie!" gasped Jason. "What are you doing?"

Anne's reply carried an edge. "I think you know what I'm doing."

"Circle your...God!... circle your clit with your finger. It might help to put your hand on your breast..."

"I... know how... to do this..." she whispered.

"Then let him hear how turned on you are! Tell him what you're doing! Let him hear that you're sitting right in front of him, taking care of yourself, and he can't see it or do anything about it."

Cass heard Anne's groans of pleasure and matched her sigh for sigh.

"Annie, fuck me!" panted Jason.

"Make me," growled Anne. And Jason screamed.

"Girl, you just graduated," Cass gasped. "You don't need my help any... any... my... my...God..."

"Cass?... Jason!...Jesus!"

Then followed three simultaneous screams, two in one bed, one in a different bed seven miles away.

Finally, Cass heard Anne's voice. It wasn't the same desperate, panicked voice that had called her... how long ago had it been? A half hour? An hour? She whispered, "Cass, did you just..."

"Oh, yeah. Sorry, I couldn't... couldn't stop myself..."

She heard Anne grin. "Me neither. Oops."

"Oops what?"

"Him too." She sounded astonished. "I didn't even touch him!"

"The power of suggestion."

"Maybe next time I'll let him have a phone too."

"Anne!" My God, I've created a monster.

"Actually," Anne continued, "I'm thinking next time... you should be here." Cass was flabbergasted. "I mean, if you want to be."

Jason, you are one lucky guy. Cass was crying openly now, overwhelmed. "Oh, Annie..."

She heard Jason's voice from the other end of Anne's room. "Who are you talking to?"

Anne spoke louder. "My other half, Jason." Cass glowed. "Never mind. I'm not through with you."

"Annie...?"

"Jason..." She asked as sweetly as she could. "Where... are... the fucking... keys?"

My work here is done, thought Cass, and she collapsed.

(FM bd Fsolo voy ff[implied] ds[mild])