The Misogynist (Republished)

Eyes Wide Shut

When I wake up, the world is completely black. For a second I think that maybe I'm still unconscious and only dreaming that I've opened my eyes. Then I feel the whisper of cloth against my eyelashes. I'm wearing a blindfold. That realization brings my body instantly out of its state of muddled stupor. My heart begins to hammer and adrenaline pumps into my veins. I try to rip off the blindfold, and I realize that I can't move my arms. I thrash, pulling against whatever is binding me, but I can't move more than a foot in any direction.

I force myself to stop struggling. Panic wants to engulf me, but I won't let it. I hold myself still, taking deep breaths, trying to slow the frenzied beating of my heart. I am naked and lying face-up on a bed, my head supported by pillows, my arms splayed out to either side of me. I shift around, trying to get a feel for exactly how I am restrained. There are cuffs encircling my wrists. The insides are lined with soft fabric so that they don't bite into my flesh, but they feel thick. I try to pull my wrists out of the cuffs, but they're too tight. My legs are also bound, spread far apart, with my ankles secured to points at either side of the bed. I pull against the ankle restraints, testing their strength, straining to close my legs, but it's useless. I am spread eagled, immobile, blind, and totally exposed.

I try to remember how I got here. The last clear memory I have is of pulling a load of warm clothes from the dryer in the basement of my apartment building. I turned around to put the clothes into my basket and then I felt something encircle my throat, choking me, making it impossible to scream, impossible to breathe. I caught a glimpse of a man behind me, tall, thick-set, dressed in dark clothes. Then I woke up here, naked and bound to a strange bed. I begin to shiver all over.

A door opens to my left, and a breathy cry escapes my lips. I clamp my teeth together to prevent any more noises. Footsteps on a hard floor. Then a warm hand stroking the quivering flesh of my thigh. "Glad to see that you're awake," says a voice from above me. It's the voice of a man, deep, and a little rough around the edges. I don't recognize it. The hand trails up from my thigh, stroking my belly, cupping my breast briefly, and then resting on my cheek.

I try to squirm away, but I can't move enough to shake him off of me. A thumb caresses my lower lip, and I whimper, despite my resolve to make no more noise. My body is trembling so hard that my teeth chatter together. I squeeze my eyes tightly shut beneath the blindfold and feel tears leaking out from between my closed lids.

"You look very sexy like this," the man says, his thumb still moving on my mouth, tracing my lips. "Naked and bound. Helpless and shivering with fear." His fingers trace a path up my cheek to wipe at the tears that have seeped out from beneath the blindfold. "Why are you crying?"

I don't answer. I sink my teeth into my lower lip to hold back the sobs that want to force their way out. The fingers are lifted from my face and then I feel them on my nipple. He strokes it lightly, making it stiffen and tingle. I gasp, and when his fingers suddenly clamp down hard, pinching and twisting the sensitive flesh, I cry out. "Answer me when I ask you a question," he says, pinching me even harder. I moan and struggle to get out of his reach, but the cuffs hold me in place. "Tell me why you're crying."

I shake my head back and forth, my tears falling faster. He waits for me to answer him, and when I don't, he gives a sigh. "You're stubborn," he says, releasing his grip on me. My body relaxes slightly. Then I feel hot breath on my nipple. His teeth sink into me. He bites hard, worrying my nipple between his teeth and then letting up so that he can suck at it. I wail, struggling against the restraints, but when his teeth release me it's only so that he can use them against my other nipple. He bites down again, even harder this time, making me scream.

After a few moments, his teeth release me and his tongue begins to slide back and forth over my nipple. His hand strokes my inner thigh. He insinuates a couple of fingers between the lips of my cunt and probes at the wetness that he finds there. He slides his fingers up and down and I thrash, trying to dislodge him. He rests a hand on my chest and pushes me down against the pillows. He holds me there while the tips of his fingers go to my clit and begin to stroke it. I groan.