Not all insight makes you feel good. Not all discoveries are positive.

"Tom?"

Her voice was soft. I didn't turn to look at her. I knew I'd be blown away with what I saw, and I didn't want that. Not then.

"Tom?"

"I heard you," I said, as softly.

"I didn't say those things to hurt you," she said, her voice still soft. "I said them because they needed to be said, so we could prepare ourselves for the future."

I chuckled, and picked up the other end of the lariat. I didn't turn to face her, but held it out to her. "Wrap this around your hand," I said, quietly.

I felt her take it. "Done," she said.

"You didn't say those things to hurt me, but you're glad it did," I said, eyes still closed.

"Yes," she said. "I am glad. Because you have to face the enormity of what you've done. But that is not the reason I said those things."

"You're enjoying what we're doing," I said.

"Yes. Very much. More than I could dream."

"You like what we're doing."

"No," she said. "I'm sorry but there's no way I could like this."

So there it was.

"There is a way out of this oath without compromising your friends," I said. "I can die, right?"

She made a gurgling noise -- surprise? I have no idea. "Yes," she said. "But I can't let you do harm to yourself over me!"

"Of course not. The oath stipulates that, right?"

"Yes it does, but I don't want you to die, Thomas! Don't you know that?"

"Of course I do." I couldn't lie, after all. The lasso was still wrapped around my own hand. "You don't want anyone to die. You took down those crooks with surgical precision but didn't cause them enough injury to necessitate a hospital stay."

"True. But I don't think of you in the abstract, Thomas. How could I? You already know how much I've..." she trailed off. I hadn't asked her a question, so she didn't have to finish her answer.

"You don't like what we're doing," I said, softly. "But you like what we've done."

"...yes," she said, as softly.

"You don't just have a bondage fetish," I said. "You have a **** fetish."

"Yes."

"And you're terrified right now because I have been literally **** you and you love it. And have since the first moment I wrapped the lasso around you yesterday."

"...yes," she said, almost whispering.

"You're not supposed to enjoy being ****, even if you have a **** fetish. That's the difference between fantasy and reality. But you came and came and came and you're hungry for more and you can't stand that thought because I have legitimately done you harm."

"...yes," she said, **** slightly.

I paused for a long, long moment.

"You've never been this horny, have you?" I whispered.

The lasso doesn't allow for half-truth. For evasion. For avoidance. "No," she whispered back. "I have never been this horny."

I stood, slowly. "I don't want the blessings of Aphrodite when I turn around," I said. "I want Diana, exactly as she is, feeling all her fear and all her lust and being trapped by her oath. Do you understand?"

"...yes," she whispered.

"And you have to give me that. And the lasso won't let you lie about it."

"Yes."

I slowly turned.

She was standing there, and she was stunning. The black and red lace teddy clung to her perfectly. The stockings accentuated her her legs. Her hair had been brushed out. But all the calculated artifice, all the 'super power' that Aphrodite gave her that she'd been using in the store... all that was gone. Her eyes were wide.

And she was terrified. Not of the actual sex we were about to have, but of the truth I was forcing her to live in.

I walked over to her slowly, coiling the lasso in my hand. It was still wrapped around her wrist, of course -- which meant she was my captive, unable to escape. The oath was absolute.

I walked around her, and I yanked her back and began wrapping the rope around her waist. Not artistically, this time. Then I moved to the front, and wrapped it around one of her gauntlets, still covered in satin.

She shivered, just like she did when I wrapped the gauntlet in satin in the first place. Was there something about the 'Bracers of Submission' that was erogenous? I didn't know. Right then I didn't care.

I wrapped the rope around the other bracer -- noticing the tear in the satin from the hoodlum's knife, then pulled it taut, forcing the two bracers together with a clang.

Diana shrieked, her whole body seeming to convulse for half a second, her eyes growing wider than I had ever seen, even as I wrapped the lasso around both bracers. "I -- oh... Tho-Thomas... Tom... some... something is happening--"

I spun her around and yanked her backward. She stumbled, falling back against me, shivering and crying out even as I slid both hands up and filled my palms with her breasts. Her nipples were incredibly erect as I half-mauled them through the teddy's lace, and Diana gasped and whimpered and her hips shivered as her ass pressed against my erection through my pants.

I pushed her forward -- she was still stumbling, and almost seemed heavier, even as I pushed her into the bathroom, over to the sink. I pushed her down, bending her over, and pulled her hair back -- causing her to shriek almost as if she were in pain. Forcing her to look at her own face in the mirror.

"Look in your own eyes!" I hissed. "Watch this happen!" And I kicked her feet apart, pulling her hips back, sliding the stretch lace out of my way... the sound of my zipper loud in the confined area.

"Oh... Hera help... T-Tom, listen to me--" she whispered, terror in her voice.

I thrust forward, her vulva's lips-- her pussy's lips parting as I impaled her. She was wetter than I'd ever felt her, and I hadn't thought that was possible, even as she shrieked again. And I thrust forward... back... forward... back...

Her eyes began to roll back in her head. "Look in your eyes!" I hissed, pulling her hair harder. Her eyes locked into the mirror's gaze as I thrust again, and again... her pussy convulsing and milking me, her hips pushing back and her body trembling as I took her and made her watch. I felt her body tensing... something big happening, and I moved faster and faster and she kept crying out louder and louder and then with a convulsion so intense I thought she was having a seizure I felt her pussy lock around my cock and she came with a scream!

And I rode that orgasm for a long moment before I began thrusting again -- harder now. Faster now... and her voice sounded ragged as she cried out with every thrust, her body tensing back up -- pushing her into another orgasm, not chained like that first time, but still so powerful... forcing her to come again, making her body sing and forcing her to see how much she loved this--

I have no idea how long we fucked, but when I came it was an explosion, deep inside her. I could almost believe in that second that she was unprotected -- she was so perfectly helpless as I spurted deep inside her, her body reaction and her orgasm coming again -- no idea how many times she'd come before that. I just knew she was shaking almost out of control...

And then we were there. I was lying almost on top of her, pressing against her body. I let go of her hair, letting her head slump forward as she gasped for air.

"That was ****," I hissed, out of breath.

"...yes..." she said, the lasso still forcing truth from her.

"And you fucking loved it."

"...I loved it s-so much," she said, almost sounding like she was crying.

"You're glad I bound you in the oath," I snapped.

"...yes," she whispered.

"And you..." I trailed off. My hand felt like it was covered in spider webs. I looked--

Black hair. A few dozen strands. Clearly pulled out of Diana's scalp.

I froze. That shouldn't have been possible. "Diana," I said, the **** draining out of my voice--

"...yes, Thomas," she said, still breathing hard. Still ragged. "I tried... I tried to tell you." She shivered. "Oh Hera please help me..." She shivered. "I lost... I have no strength. And... you're hurting me." She managed to twist, to look at me, still breathing so raggedly. "Thomas... I've lost my powers!"