Murder in the Forest, Chapter 52
As the agents walked carefully through the woods, trying to be as silent as possible, Mason ate a late breakfast, feeding Melissa by having her kneel beside him, hands cuffed behind her. She took bites from his hand delicately, a task that she had learned well during her captivity. Mason liked the way she looked then, and it impressed on the young blonde that her ability to eat was dependent on pleasing her master.
He was generous with her, even offering Mandarin orange slices from a can. He shared Spam slices and eggs that he'd heated on a camp stove and they finished the last of the bread. When they had finished, he watered her, noting that the supply of bottled water was shrinking. They needed to draw more water from the river, purify it, and put some in the used plastic bottles and in his two large Coleman jugs.
He made coffee and also shared that with her, having learned that unlike many girls of her age, Melissa really liked coffee. It was a treat that she got when he was especially pleased with her. And Melissa had seemed to try really hard to satisfy him an hour before, obviously seeking to please him, having learned his favorite things to do with a girl. She had even suggested a couple of things that she knew he'd like, instead of just submitting when he brought up such issues. She shyly admitted that she, too, was aroused by those deeds and he congratulated her and told her that if she continued this way, he would soon seek outer clothes for her. Her own had been burned in the house that he'd rigged with the gasoline and the bombs. Only her original lingerie had survived, being thrown in with the more sophisticated, expensive sets of bras and panties that he'd wanted her to wear as they fled and hid out in the coming months. And he'd kept her sandals, which she normally wore unless in bed. She'd have been unable to leave the cave without those, the forest having many small stones, sharp pine cones and other debris that would make travelling painful for a barefoot person.
In fact, if he left the cave alone, he took Melissa's sandals as well as securing her to the rings in the stone walls. Those were nearly the only times that he gagged her now. He had risked taking her out ungagged several times, with her promise not to speak above a low level of conversation and to be silent if he said to. She had sworn, and he found himself amazed that he took her word for it. So, he brought the heavy leather gag or one of the rubber ball gags with a strap in case of need, but had only once gagged her on the trail, when he'd heard someone or something in the near distance. He still didn't know if it had been people or maybe a group of cow elk. Certainly, something more than one man or a single deer or elk…
When they'd heard the rustling ahead, Melissa had turned to him and looked at the gag he took from his fanny pack. She blushed and opened her mouth, submitting as he gagged her. She cast her eyes down before looking up pleadingly at him, signaling that she meant to be obedient. He caressed her bottom, liking the way her flesh felt as his hand roved over it, that being easy because she wore a thong panty that left most of her backside bare. She surprised him by moving closer and leaning her head on his shoulder after glancing at him as if asking approval. He nodded and she leaned into him. They stood like that, Mason caressing her in the usual places as the noise moved off until the forest was again silent. They had gone ahead to get water, Melissa carrying a pail in her cuffed hands and Mason carrying two more pails. He tied her leash to his belt to let him use both hands.
Melissa had behaved perfectly and when he'd removed the gag back in the cave, she took a drink from the water bottle he offered and then asked if her behavior had been what he wanted. Told that she'd done well, she smiled slightly and then gave him a cautious look and asked if that meant that he wouldn't whip her because of the disturbance.
"No," a surprised Mason said. "Why would I blame you for sounds in the woods? You were quiet and you got your mouth open as soon as you saw the gag and you felt pretty good in my hands while we waited. I'm usually only going to punish you if you do something defiant or disobedient or otherwise wrong."
"Thanks," she answered. "I've dated a couple of guys who blamed me if anything upset them. You're strict with me but usually fair, considering that I'm your slave now. Master? There's something else. I got kind of turned on by being scared out there. Are you in the mood to 'do' me? You could leave the cuffs on and just have me kneel on the bed and, well, you know…. I know you like taking me that way. I must be a slut to even think of this, but I feel so aroused and I know you are. I could tell you got an erection while you fooled around with me while we waited. Anyway, if you want me now, I'm pretty hot to trot. Just so you know…"
He slipped off the black thong, led her by the hair to the bed and did as she'd asked. She must have read his mind, for he was about to do that very thing on his own. And he wasn't sure when they'd finished which of them had enjoyed the experience more. Melissa had even thanked him for taking her and she had hummed to herself and even sang a little later as she cleaned up after dinner. She had looked at him as he stood watching her and said, "Please keep me. Don't sell me. I'm going to be such a delight to you that you'd really miss me if I got sold."
Mason smiled and had her kneel in front of him and played with her hair and ears. "Keep doing like you have been and I probably will keep you. Now, lets' get washed off and get to bed. Tomorrow is our last day here. The supplies are getting low, and we need to move to another hideout. I have several places similar to this where I stashed things in case I had to leave town in a hurry. Bamka was getting harder to get along with and I didn't know what might happen. One thing that I thought might cause a problem between us was that I'd decided to keep you for my own use even if he objected. I like you, Melissa. Be a good slave and you'll be well looked after."
"You'd risk Mr. Bamka getting mad at you, just for my sake?" She was surprised and wondered just how much he'd come to care for her.
"Yeah," he said, a little gruffly. "But don't think that it gives you any control over me. I'm keeping you for my pleasure, not so you can twist me around your little finger. Most of you hot broads think you can manipulate men. Don't try that on me, or I will punish you. Got that?"
She flushed and said," Yes, master. I know my place. But I'm pleased that you find me satisfactory, pun maybe intended. " She gave him a sly, teasing look.
He pulled her to him, standing, and kissed her firmly on the mouth before his hands began to rove and he nibbled at her neck and ears as her breathing grew heavy and she sighed.
He turned her to face him squarely and slid his hands down to fondle her buttocks and said a little more tenderly, "Hell, girl, maybe I do care for you some. Just don't try to take that and run with it."
He thought about that now, the next morning, and gave Melissa a raspberry-filled chocolate square as they cleaned up the breakfast things.
"I need to go out to the truck and start the engine and let it run a little," he announced. He had done that several times during their stay, when he felt it was safe, to avoid letting the battery die.
"Can I come?" Melissa wanted to know. "I bet it's really nice out."
Mason thought. "Yeah, you've been good lately. And I could use the company, I guess. You're kind of fun to have along."
He found a length of cord like that found on Venetian blinds and told her to turn and hold her wrists behind her, the backs of the wrists together. He often tied her that way, which restricted her more than if he'd just had her cross her wrists before binding. He started to tie her, but thought of something and grinned.
Instead of binding her as he'd begun, he had her raise her folded arms behind her, the palms of her hands up, and tied her wrists that way, keeping the arms a little above her waist.
"Let me guess," said Melissa. You've decided to have me walk ahead of you and you want my hands out of the way so you have an unobstructed view of my butt as I walk?"
"You understand perfectly, my little minx," he replied and checked to be sure that he'd gotten the knots tight, the ropes snug on her wrists, although not so tight as to restrict circulation.
He took her panties and told her that he'd let her wear them later, but he wanted a nude view of her now.
Melissa blushed, but was flattered that he liked looking at her in the altogether. "I'm becoming so vain and so slutty," she thought and decided that this actually felt pretty good. She knew that she was blushing even more as she stood for him to attach her leash to the ring on her metal collar.
"Do you want me to swing my tail a little more than usual? I can wiggle as much as you like as long as I don't stumble or lose my balance. But I don't want to overdo it and become a parody of what you want." She looked into his eyes to see his attitude before dropping her gaze and blushing even more.
Mason ran an appreciative look down her body, followed by a hand that left her breaking out into goose bumps as she reacted to his attentions.
He kissed her and told her to decide how much effect she should put into her walk.
"You normally have about the right motion, anyway," he told her. "Just don't ham it up too much. Subtle and graceful beats overdoing it. I trust you to know what's just right. You move well, baby. It's going to be a real treat to watch you. I may have you dance later, a last time before we have to leave. You're so damned good at that! You should never have been slaving in that ice cream shop for hardly more than minimum wage if you can move like that. You should have joined Courtney in that Boobalicious club."
"Thanks," she acknowledged. "it's good to know that I impress you. But if my parents found me working there, I'd probably have gotten spanked harder than you've done it. Not that they've really spanked me for years, but you get the idea of what they'd think of me if I did that."
Mason laughed. "Well, if you don't dance for me, you'll get spanked for that. A girl can't win, huh?"
And he led her out, with some eight feet of chain for her leash, so that she could walk just far enough ahead of him for him to enjoy watching her move. She guessed just what he wanted to see and swayed a little as she went. Mason decided that this was going to be a really good day. He had no idea that the cops were closing in on him. And he was approaching another menace, one that he would not have believed had anyone warned him of it. But it would have a profound effect on his life, indeed a fatal one.