THE NEIGHBOUR'S RULE

About this story

Ayanda Mthembu, twenty, UKZN netball star, has been with Lwazi for exactly one month — and tonight he's different. He stops her hands. He tells her to close her eyes. He tells her that tonight she belongs to him, and she is going to obey. What follows is the best night of her life: the blindfold, the cherry-almond oil, the rope over the lounge beam, amapiano flooding the room, the riding crop and the leather strap and the safe word she never thought she'd need — and uses. She has fantasies she's never said out loud: being watched, private clubs, beautiful people behind masks. She has a birthday plan forming that would make her teammates blush. And through it all, one question keeps tugging at her: where did her sweet, easygoing boyfriend learn to command a room like that? He's told her a story about a dominatrix and a twenty-first birthday surprise. It's a good story. It's almost believable. Across the lawn, in a house with a gold bangle and a wooden spoon, the truth is keeping very quiet.