Shadow Lane 2014, Part 3 (Sunday)

It's Wednesday, and I can feel the drop settling in. (sigh) Hopefully I can counteract it somewhat by finishing up my chronicle.

I was very groggy Sunday morning, but there is no way I would miss Strict Dave's CP Court, which was at noon. After showering and dressing, I went to get us both coffee, while John went to the suite early to snag the couch for us. It was great fun as always -- I wasn't called up on any charges this time, so I just sat back and enjoyed. The final case was Rad and Sandy, and they were as hilarious as one would expect them to be. You knew it was going to be good when Dave called out, "Our last case is Sandy vs. Rad," and then you heard Rad say, "What the fuck??" (He won, by the way.)

After that, six of us convened at Café Siena for a late lunch and lots of talk, and then John and I wandered to 460. There, I finally got something I've wanted for a while -- a photo with the utterly adorable Prux. I love my Pruxie!

We lingered for a while, hanging out and talking, and I had my third scene with Michael. A nice, long, steady rhythm, not too hard except for at the very end, where he pushed me until I was calling out his name. It's funny how I do that -- it's almost like my own personal version of "yellow." But my tops all learn that when I gasp out their name, I'm pretty close to "I can't take any more." So when I did that, he counted down from 5 to 1 and then stopped. 

Here's how spacey I was: During the scene, I felt my sandals being removed. I just naturally assumed Michael did that. But afterward, he laughed at me. "I had one hand on your waist, and the other hand was spanking your bottom," he said. "Did you think I grew a third hand?" LOL! It's true; all the sensations had blended together and I was completely unaware there was a third hand in there. He wouldn't tell me who it was, either. Probably John.

We took a break, since it was the dinner hour and people were dispersing for a while. I wanted to be fresh for the Sunday night final blow-out, so we napped and then did some of our packing, deciding not to go out for dinner since we'd had such a late lunch. Instead, we snacked on peanuts and crackers and chocolate in our room, then headed out. The open suite parties for the night would be 560 and 460, so we checked out 560 first. A few people were there, including Mercy, Michael and KinkyCoach. What ensued shortly was epic.

I don't even know how to describe this scene, because it was so incredibly silly and funny and off the wall. It was in two parts; starting, I think, with John giving KC a hard time because he'd marked one leg and not the other. "Make it even" is the spanko motto, after all! So KC hauls me in front of him and starts slapping my left thigh. He prompted me, "Thank you, KC!" to which I promptly said, "Fuck you, KC!" He laughed and continued. Then he pulled me down and started spanking me with an oversized spatula he just happened to have nearby. I can't even remember the banter, but I do recall there were various languages used, including Spanish. I know he was mostly using gibberish, however, since I distinctly heard the word "sexo" in there. Sexo?? Not to be left out, I hollered, "Huevos rancheros!"

After he let me up, I figured it was over and I sat in a chair, with John on my right and KC on my left, as we watched Michael and Mercy playing. But then KC took his belt, wrapped it around my wrists, and yanked me back over his lap. Then he and John were both spanking me, singing and doing voices and other shtick. KC was mimicking various Muppets (yes, really) and both of them were chanting in faux-Swedish "hergen flurgen" jibber-jabber. It was loud, raucous and hilarious. I yanked my hands out of the strap, so then John took it and tied my ankles together. I then, of course, kicked my feet out of it, so he retied them and then shackled my feet to the chair leg! And the scene went on and on. I know we completely bombed Michael and Mercy's scene -- I hope they forgive us! Actually, I know she did, because she took some pictures of us with her phone! I am waiting very eagerly for her to send them to me; I hope they came out. That was definitely the funniest scene of the weekend, a true party scene.

Oh, and as you can see, my thighs are still not even. But he tried.

We went to 460 after that, which was hopping, despite the fact that the toilet in one of the bathrooms overflowed and flooded the entryway! The plumber had to be called, but we simply spread towels and carried on. I spoke at length with Spank Chief John Osbourne about his caning scene with the lovely Zoe Montana, here with us from Australia. She had a perfect ladder of stripes from her bottom down her legs, and I was fascinated by the process of it.

JC (Ten and Piper's Daddy/good friend of Joe's) and I have been FetLife friends for a long time, and we met very briefly at the last 50 Freaks party, but we have never played. This time, we were both determined to make it happen. It almost didn't, because the poor man had an asthma attack! But fortunately, there were two doctors in the room who fussed over him, and he recovered quickly after sitting and resting for a while. And then it was play time.

Oh. My. God.

I tease him a lot on Fet, because he is fond of putting women in the corner, grounding, and he has an arsenal of wicked implements. Let me tell you, he does not need a single one of those damn things. That man has one of the hardest hands I've experienced in my 18 years doing this. Right from the get-go, I was shocked (pleasantly, but still shocked) at how powerful his hand was. "And this is just the warm-up," he smirked. Holy crap.

It was a lot of fun; definitely worth waiting for. He's good with the banter and scolding, too. I had to really hunker down and focus to absorb the swats, so I had my eyes tightly closed. I heard him say, "Awwww," and I opened my eyes -- someone had slipped a stuffed panda bear onto the carpet just below my face. Beaming, I snatched it up and held it tight for the rest of the scene. (Turned out it belonged to Pandiemonium, whom I'd met for the first time at this party, along with her partner Michael Valentine. Lovely, both of them!)

He sat me in his lap afterward and we talked a bit; he made me "pinkie swear" promise that from now on, every single time we're at the same party, we will play. No problem!

On my way back from the one bathroom that was functioning, I happened upon Ellee and Tall&Strict playing on the side of the bed. I looked down, and I just couldn't help myself -- I loudly blurted, "Holy Jesus Christ!!" Ellee's right cheek had the most livid, colorful, deep bruising I think I have ever seen up close and personal. Both of them laughed, and T&S exclaimed, "That's not from me!"

I just kept babbling, so mesmerized was I by this. They both thought I was funny, and I guess I kinda was! But then I realized I had just totally bombed their scene. So I began apologizing profusely, saying I'd committed an egregious breach of scene etiquette and begging their forgiveness. T&S ran with it -- "All your years in the scene, Erica; you should know better!" And Ellee said this would be revisited in the next CP Court. Ruh roh! That should be interesting, especially considering that those bruises were from Judge Dave himself! :-D

My next scene was brief and sweet, with Spank Chief's cameraman, "Dodgy" Dave. He's a doll! He was so shy about asking me, he had Sarah come with him when he approached me, for moral support. As if I would say no to him! :-) I know he thinks he was too light, but really, it was exactly what I needed at the moment. I had been playing very hard and it was a nice respite to have a bit of a gentler scene. 

It was getting later, and it was time for a weekend highlight: a scene with Joe. I so love playing with him, but I never expect it, because I know how very busy he is at these things and how in demand he is. Since 460 was so crowded, he took me up to 560, where he put me over the side of the bed and we did a long, wonderful scene with multiple straps. I can't explain how luxurious it is to play with someone of Joe's prowess. I could simply sink into the bed and feel all the sensations, without a single care or worry that there would be a stray shot. He absolutely never goes too high or too low, or wraps. Of course, he gets lots and lots of constant practice, but still, his skill is backed with the utmost in caring and concern, which I love. By the time we were done, I was practically comatose on the bed. He rubbed some lotion on me, and we agreed that this was the most intensely we have played so far.

Since it was now around 2:00 a.m., I figured Joe was my last scene, which was fine. I always like my first and last scenes to be with someone special, and they were. But afterward, I started to feel a bit of a drop. I was so tired, I didn't feel like talking or mingling, so I sat on the couch and just rested, watching everyone around me. However, I ached for touch. All around me, people were snuggling, and I wanted that too. But John was deep in conversation in the bar area and I didn't want to bother him. There are a couple of others whom I would feel comfortable asking to just hold me, but they weren't in the room. And suddenly, I craved Steve. He gives the best aftercare, and I wished he could materialize there so I could curl up into his strong arms and just bask in the "feels," as the kids say. But of course, that wasn't about to happen. 

Lo and behold, the suite door opened and in walked Michael with Stella. He caught my eye from across the room, and next thing I knew, he was approaching and taking my hand. No questions, he just took over, and I was grateful. So this would be my last scene now. My last hurrah until I could be with everyone again.

He took me to the back of the room and turned the ottoman to face the wall. "Forget about everyone else, and just let go. Just enjoy what you're feeling and what I'm giving you right now," he said. I dropped my head onto the carpet and surrendered, only lifting my head when I felt him leaning down to speak to me. Somewhere in my haze, I could feel that he was switching back and forth from his right hand to his left, which he never does, but I didn't question it. 

I lost track of time, but when he sat me up, much to my chagrin, I felt tears fill my eyes. Dammit, I hate the end of these parties. People will be gathering again as soon as next month for the next round (Crimson Moon and the World Spanking Party in Spain), but not us... we have to wait until 50 Freaks in February. It's so long to go without this kind of joy and fulfillment. But that's the way it is, and I have to accept it. Still, I have my moments, and this was one of them.

Fortunately, I was able to keep myself from full-on bawling, but a few people still saw me crying, including Mir, who came over to hug me. When I finally got up, Michael took me aside and had his final word. "I want you to know," he said somberly, "that my hand is trashed." He then held up his right hand and I noticed for the first time the multiple band-aids. "I didn't think I could play anymore, and my hand is in anguish, but there was no way I was going to miss this final scene with you. So, possibly for the very first time, that old phrase is really true: This hurt me more than it hurt you."

And that did it... I laughed so hard, I collapsed against the bar. Exactly what I needed to lighten the moment. Damn, I love that man.

We hung out on the couch for a while with Alex and Paul, Kelley and T&S, but finally, it was time to go. So we got up and I started making my rounds of good-bye hugs. As I made my way to the door, I saw JC sitting off to the side by himself, so I went over to say good-bye to him. Then I looked over and saw that John was talking with Fineous, and it didn't look like it was going to end in the next 60 seconds. JC said I was welcome to sit in his lap while I was waiting for John, so I gratefully dropped into it and snuggled up against him. John kept talking, so I kept sitting, since JC said he was in no hurry and I could stay as long as I liked. But when I felt myself starting to doze, I knew it was time to go. So I reluctantly stood, hugged him, and went to drag John away. "Honey," I slurred sleepily, "you need to stop talking. We need to go to bed." And so we did, once again at 4:00 a.m. As tired as I was, I couldn't fall asleep for a while; my body was exhausted, but my head wouldn't shut off. Needless to say, I was a zombie when John woke me at 7:00. But it was OK. We were going home.

(It turned out that John kept talking to Fineous because he saw that I was with JC and he didn't want to interrupt that! LOL!)

We were on the road by 8:15, and got home around 1:00, with one pitstop. We'd successfully beaten Labor Day traffic once again. It's hard to get going that early, but it's worth it. 

And so goes another party. I am a bit ticked off with FetLife right now; there's usually so much post-party talk, floods of posts and pictures, but this time, there's practically none (so far, anyway). I tried starting a thread about "Shadow Lane 2014 Highlights," in hopes that people would join in and share, but it got just a smattering of replies, and then a comment was made about how mentioning play highlights diminishes the play with others who aren't mentioned. (sigh) That certainly wasn't my intention, but that threw cold water on the thread and I felt bad. I hope things will pick up a bit as people settle back home, because I really do love all the reminiscing. 

I wish I could mention each and every one of you I encountered all weekend, but then this blog would go on forever. Please know that I love you all and I appreciate everyone who talked to me, hugged me, took time to talk with John, wished us a happy anniversary, etc. I hope everyone had as good a time as we did. Until next time...