~ Zoie's POV ~
"Stop!" Zoie screeched as her nails dug into the sheets. She was lying face down, naked with her arms and legs stretched out and cuffed to the bedposts.
"You want to stop?" Asher said through labored breaths. He was standing behind her with a flogger in his hand. He hadn't even used it on her yet, but her body was already trembling.
"...N-never mind," she stammered. "Keep going,"
Zoie bit her lip and scrunched her eyes closed. When Asher grabbed the flogger and ran it across her naked skin, she knew that pain was going to come. She got too scared of the pain that she yelled at him to stop even before he began.
"Relax, sweet girl," Asher said as if he knew what she was thinking. "The pain is just in your head,"
He ran the flogger across her back again and Zoie felt chills running down her spine. She took several deep breaths to calm herself, and she felt her body relax. But before she could get too comfortable-
* SMACK! *
The loud stinging sound of the flogger hitting her ass echoed through the room. Zoie flinched and squirmed, holding back her scream.
* SMACK! * SMACK! * SMACK! *
Asher slapped her behind several more times with the flogger. The sounds reverberated through the walls and honestly, they sounded worse than the pain itself. Zoie's screams morphed into moans as she felt her stomach clenching hard.
"Do you feel okay?"
"Mmhm,"
Asher let out a chuckle.
"I think we're gonna need a new safeword," he said.
Zoie let out a giggle too. She said to stop all the time when what she meant was to keep going.
Slowly and seductively, Asher ran the flogger down her back again. Her skin crawled with anticipation. She couldn't see what was happening back there and the anticipation only made her body burn hotter. She started squirming and writhing, shamelessly begging for more.
"Ash..." she pleaded.
Asher didn't respond in words. She felt him stepping away for a moment. Once he came back, he ran something down the small of her back, but it wasn't the flogger. Zoie felt something completely different. It was a small little thing that looked like a pen. Asher ran the device up and down her slits until it collected her wet juices. Then, he slipped the device effortlessly into her core.
"Aahh," another moan escaped her lips.
Zoie realized it was a vibrator. The device started buzzing and it vibrated inside her walls, sending all kinds of sensations all over her body. Hot moans continued escaping her throat as her body burned with a need for release.
"Ash.." she begged again. "Please..."
"I got you, sweet girl," he said as he slowly climbed on top of her.
Asher pulled the vibrator out of her hole and moved it to her back hole. Slowly and gently, he eased the device into her again. Zoie's stomach was clenching like never before. Her eyes rolled to the back of her head. And then, the unthinkable happened. Asher pushed his rock-hard length into her core while the vibrator was inside her other hole.
"Aaahh!!!" Zoie screamed as her órgasm took over. Asher kept thrusting deep and hard, pushing her órgasm even further.
"Stop-!" she screamed into the sheets, but Asher didn't stop. He knew what she meant by that. His hand snaked around her waist until it found her clit. He started rubbing her sensitive bud while continuing his thrusts into her core.
Zoie was a goner. Gone. In a matter of seconds, her entire body exploded again into a billion pieces. Her mind went blank and all she could see were stars and fireworks.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
An entire week had passed and days and nights seemed to morph into one as Zoie and Asher were spending almost every day inside the new playroom. It was Spring Break after all. That designated time when all the college kids get a free pass to party without control.
Spring Break soon became one of Zoie's favorite times of the year. Every day she spent with Asher was new and exciting. Every time she stepped foot into the playroom, she learned new things about her body and her limits. It felt like the adventure of a lifetime, and she didn't even have to leave the apartment.
For the last seven days, Zoie and Ash had been using the playroom nonstop. But today, Zoie decided she needed a little break. Her body was sore and she had bruises all over. Early this morning, she took a long, hot shower while Asher went out to run errands. She then took her time with shaving and putting lotion all over her body. After all of that, Zoie lay on her bed with a facemask on her face. She was slowly dozing into a peaceful sleep when suddenly-
* Knock * Knock *
Zoie raised her head up to see her bedroom door creaking open. She quickly pulled the facemask away from her face and sat up straighter.
"Hey!" Asher beamed with excitement as he stepped inside.
"Hey," she replied, but her voice sounded a little tired.
"Come with me, I wanna show you something!" he said as he lent out a hand.
Zoie looked up at him and sighed.
"Ash," she said warningly. "If this is about another new toy, I can't right now. I'm still sore,"
Asher quickly shook his head.
"No, it's not what you think,"
Zoie looked at him quizzically, but he just smiled at her, not giving away anything. Slowly and cautiously, Zoie took his hand and he led her out of the room. And sure enough, Asher was leading her into his room, the playroom.
"Ash!" she protested.
"Just wait," he replied.
Asher just kept going, pushing the door open and walking to the bed. Zoie rolled her eyes as she followed him. Then, on top of the red satin sheets, Zoie noticed a magazine lying on it. It was The Atlantic magazine.
"Open it," he said.
Zoie was even more confused now. She picked up the magazine and opened it to the first few pages.
"Go to page 70," he instructed.
Zoie flipped the pages until she reached page 70. And once she did that, her eyes widened in disbelief. On the page, there was an essay titled "What I Thought I'd Never Learn from Car Racing... by Zoie Van Zandt."
"Ash! This is...?!" Zoie's mouth fell open, but she couldn't even finish her sentence.
"Your essay," Asher nodded his head. "I thought it was really good, so a few weeks ago, I just kinda googled around and sent it out. Then, there's this publisher called The Atlantic who wants to publish your essay. They're a really good literary magazine publisher, do you know them-"
"Asher!" Zoie's yelp cut him off. "Of course, I know all about The Atlantic! They're huge!"
Zoie's eyes glimmered in awe and disbelief.
"I... I can't believe you did that! And I can't believe they published this...!"
"Ah, it's not that hard, really," he shrugged. "All I had to do was pretend to be your agent, I wrote some emails, and that's it,"
Zoie looked down at the magazine in her hand again. No matter how many times she blinked, the article was still there. It wasn't a mistake. This wasn't a dream. Zoie looked up at Asher and he just smiled at her. This was probably the greatest thing that's ever happened to her. She didn't know what to say or do to thank him.
"Sorry I did it behind your back, but I know you didn't wanna send your writing out anywhere, you kept saying that it's not good enough, but I disagree," Asher continued talking, gauging her expression carefully. "You're not mad at me for doing it, right?"
"Mad...? Ash... I'm... speechless..." she croaked. "I can't believe you believe this much in me. I don't even believe that much in me..."
Zoie's voice was cracking. Her eyes began to glisten. Asher was always full of surprises, but she never thought he'd ever do something like this. Everyone who's seen her writing always says nice things about it, but no one ever went as far as Asher. Not even her dad or anybody.
"Well, you better start believing in yourself a lot more, sweet girl," Asher said as he tilted her chin up with his hand. "Because you are good and now the whole world knows it too,"
Zoie couldn't help but smile. Her heart never felt so full. She looked up to see Asher's fiery eyes and she felt like the luckiest girl in the world.
Because to be loved by someone like Ash... there's just no better feeling than that.
"You know what? I think this calls for a celebration!" Ash said again, pulling Zoie out of the room.
They headed into the kitchen and Ash pulled a bottle of champagne out of the fridge. Then, he pulled two tall glasses out and popped the bottle open. He poured the bubbly drink into both glasses and gave one of them to her.
"Here's to you," he said. "To my girlfriend, the badass writer,"
Zoie bit her lip to suppress her smile.
"And here's to you too," she said, raising her glass up. "To my boyfriend, the guy who inspires it all,"
Asher was smiling from ear to ear now. They clinked their glasses and drank. As she was sipping her drink, Zoie glanced down at the magazine in her hand.
Page 70... I might have to frame it up.
"Oh!" Zoie yelled suddenly, almost blurting out her drink. "Seventy! That's it!"
"What's it?" he asked.
"That's our new safeword, seventy!"
Asher almost blurted his drink out, but he held it in and coughed instead. Meanwhile, Zoie just beamed at him with a big, big smile.
"Seventy?" he asked.
"Seventy," she nodded her head, raising the magazine up.
Asher finally understood what she meant. He laughed and nodded his head.
"Seventy, ok, got it," he said.
"Should we give the new safeword a try, then?" she giggled playfully.
"But I thought you're still sore?"
"If it gets too much... I'll say the word,"
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- - - - - - To Be Continued - - - - - -