Ruined

Many thanks to Wanting2BDesired for first editing and improving this story.

Editing is inadequate to describe the amazing talents and enormous energy editor/author ColetteJulie applied to make it more coherent and smooth flowing. Readers interested in more sexual stimulation than found here should check out this writer's stories, which are so hot they'll melt your eyeballs.

Author/editor SueDanym is like a doctor of words who identifies, diagnoses and treats each of my writing infirmities with its best therapy, including surgery when necessary. And if you follow the link to the author page, you'll find no one can make consensual sadism/masochism as sexually arousing and fulfilling as this writer.

*

"I'd like to help," Delilah said.

"I really appreciate you calling, but I don't think there's anything you can do. Don't worry. You and the other investors aren't going to get screwed. It may take a while, but I promise you will get back every cent."

"That's a great goal, Travis. I knew you wouldn't let this get you down. After you lick your wounds and the economy turns around, I know your next venture will be a massive success."

"There isn't going to be a next venture."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm going home. I'll move in with my parents for a while. It won't be long because rent is cheap in the mountains. As soon as I find something, I can move out and take some time to think.

"I'm not coming back here. That's for sure. This town has chewed me up, and I can't wait to see it in the rearview mirror."

"What are you talking about?" Delilah asked. "You told me you were choking to death up there. How can you go back?"

"I found out there were worse places."

"Do I have anything to do with this?"

"Don't blame yourself. You didn't cause my financial problem. You are more like a symbol."

"What does that mean?"

"What happened with you was one of the things that showed me I'm not cut out for this life. Back home, it was like ignorant little people were poking sharp sticks into me. Then I met the sophisticated city people, who use their scalpels to elegantly cut your guts and heart out of your body."

"I'm really sorry about how things ended with us," Delilah said. "But you're not a hillbilly anymore even though you sometimes sound like one. You once told me your friends here are the best people you've ever known, and you would do anything for them. You were sure they would do anything for you? Have you changed your mind?"

"No. My friends are wonderful. They've been trying to keep me from going. It's not them. It's the others, the ones who enjoy grinding people like me into dust. I'm not making excuses. I made the decisions that brought me to where I am. Now I'm deciding to get out."

She took a deep breath.

"Is God telling you to do this?"

"Of course not," he snapped. "You still haven't learned anything about Christianity."

"Is God is punishing you?"

"You haven't changed much in two years."

"Yes I have," she said. "Your ideas don't bother me anymore. I understand now that everyone, including me, has irrational superstitions. Forget what I just said. Whatever you believe, I hope you also believe that I feel terrible about what's happening to you."

"Of course I believe you. You're a good person, Delilah, and you're always in my prayers. I hope some day you'll forgive the unkind things I said to you."

"I knew you were going to say that," she said in an exasperated tone of voice. "You're the one who hasn't changed at all. It doesn't matter now anyway."

"What do you mean it doesn't matter?"

"I mean, it doesn't matter anymore when you say things that drive me up the wall. If it makes you feel better, I forgive you for whatever you think you did to me.

"Now let's get serious. You know you belong here, not in some backwater. You just told me all your friends are telling you the same thing. I hope you'll think about this some more."

"I've thought about it a lot. Please let's not argue any more. Thank you again for your support."

Five minutes after they hung up, she called back.

"I have to see you," she said. "You need to bring your laptop and all your financials. You're not going to ruin your life. I'll find something."

************

"I'm really touched," Travis said the next night as he sat across from her at Denny's. "But I'm afraid even the youngest partner in the biggest private equity firm in town can't prevent this."

She wasn't listening to him. The screens flashed in front of her face as she drilled down and crunched. Her eyes darted around the monitor as she scrolled and clicked. For ten minutes, she didn't say a word. Then she muttered something softly and looked up.

"I'm sorry," she said as she reached into her purse. "I don't see anything yet that gives me hope, but I expected that."

"What are you doing?"

"I'm downloading everything onto this thumb drive. I'll work on it at home and call you."

"You really don't need to do this."

She removed her stick from his laptop and stood up stiffly.

"I need to go," she said.

***********

When she called three days later, her voice was subdued.

"I couldn't find anything wrong," she said. "I would have done exactly the same as you. You just got unlucky with timing and a couple of suppliers. It's only fifteen thousand isn't it?"

"Isn't that funny?" he said. "If I get hold of fifteen thousand dollars in the next couple of days, I can close a deal that will keep me going for at least a year. In a few months, there will be plenty coming in. But if I don't get the money, it all falls apart and I end up losing everything and going bankrupt."

"I'm sure you tried every possible way to get a loan," she said. "I also tried, but no deal. I wish I could loan you the money myself, but I'm broke. It's just temporary. I don't have the collateral to get you any cash. I feel really bad."

"Don't," said Travis. "You did the best you could, and I really appreciate it. I'll always remember you. Goodbye."

He heard her voice on the phone as he hung up. He was worried that if the conversation continued, she might start apologizing to him for how they broke up. He might break down, and that would make her feel even worse. He didn't want the last contact he'd ever have with her to end that way.

***********

The following night, she called him at home. He heard a difference in her voice.

"You hung up on me yesterday."

She sounded like she was biting off every word.

"I'm sorry, Delilah. When you told me you felt really bad, I heard a lot of pain in your voice, like you're still blaming yourself for something that isn't your fault. I thought it would be better to end the conversation."

"That's not why I feel bad," she said. "You didn't give me a chance to tell you why."

"Okay, go ahead."

"I feel bad because I gave you five thousand dollars and I'll never see it again."

Her voice had an edge of anger.

"I told you I'd pay you back."

"Great! By the time you pay me back, the five thousand will be worth half of that."

"I'll be paying everyone interest, too."

"How much interest, Travis? Two per cent, five per cent, twenty per cent? Don't forget I saw your books. I know that if you can get through this crunch, there's a good chance my investment could be worth fifty thousand dollars in three years. That's what you're cheating me out of."

The tone of her voice was as mean as her words, he thought. He was bewildered because he had never heard her talk like this.

"So you're not going to respond," she continued. "You're going to run back to your little shack in the mountains and join the inbred cretins who go to church on Sunday to ask God to forgive their incest."

Her words stung, but he didn't feel angry at her, just helpless.

"What can I do?"

"You can get your fifteen thousand dollars, but you won't do it because you're a holy hypocrite who doesn't mind breaking a promise and cheating people out of fifty thousand dollars."

"I don't know what you're talking about. Maybe you've thought of something illegal I can do. But I'm not going to save my skin by some swindle. You know me."

"Yes, I know you, and yes, I've thought of something. And no, it's not illegal. It won't hurt anyone except you. But you'll never do it because you're so godly and gutless that you'd rather hide in the hollows -- or the 'hollers' as you call them -- and betray the friends who believed in you and gave you their money."

"All right. Tell me how you think I can make that much in three days. That's five thousand a day."

"There are guys doing that in three days, but you could make it all in one day."

"Which guys?"

"The ugly overweight men," she said.

************

After they had been dating for a few weeks, Delilah began introducing him to her girlfriends. They had fun with her about his twang and his beliefs, and they were condescending to him. One day he overheard a couple of them telling her she was crazy because he was from a different planet than she was.

Almost all of them eventually came around. They observed how he treated Delilah and them, no matter how nasty their remarks. He was quiet and self-deprecating, and at first they thought he was a wimp. After watching him in bloody combat with a few men who dared to harass one of them in his presence, they realized he wasn't afraid of anyone and anything.

A couple of them once drank too much at a party, grabbed him and dragged him outside. In tears, they begged him to give them a second chance and told him they had advised Delilah to make sure he didn't get away and that they wished they could find someone like him.

The only one who never warmed up to him was Grace. She was a childhood friend of Delilah's who always reminisced about the old days. Once, after they had been out with Grace and heard another sleepover story, Delilah told him that Grace made it sound like there had been a lot of sleepovers, but that wasn't true. She said that Grace may have been exploring her sexuality before coming out in college, but she couldn't recall doing anything with her.

It didn't take long for Travis to realize Grace hated him because he was a rival. Delilah admitted he was probably right, but she swore she didn't have sexual feelings for Grace. After that, she did her best to keep them apart. She told Travis that Grace was one of her oldest and dearest friends and hoped that eventually she would accept Travis. Travis said that although he didn't like Grace, he respected Delilah for not abandoning her friend.

Delilah wasn't religious, but Travis didn't mind. He told her once that he was sure that she would eventually come to the light because she was already living a holy life.

The proof was that she had remained honest, ethical, moral and compassionate while rising to the top of an industry that didn't reward any of those traits. She treated people as if they were created in God's image, even if she didn't believe in God.

He especially admired her for observing the Fifth Commandment. She was always doing things for her parents. He had only met them once, and they were rude and looked down on him. He told her that he looked forward to changing their minds about him, but she was embarrassed and never mentioned them to him again. He told her once that the fact that she honored them meant a lot more to him than what they thought of him.

One of the tactics Grace used in wooing Delilah was trying to prove all men were pigs. Travis wondered what she told Delilah when he wasn't around, because she had no reticence in his presence. She always had new stories to tell about men they both knew or famous male celebrities who had been caught cheating or having perverted sex.

She also liked to bring up news stories about child molesters, and if they were priests or ministers, that was even better, because then she could mix religion into her poisonous man-hating stew. She would stare at Travis while telling her tales, as if she was pointing out to Delilah that he would be just as disgusting as the men she talked about if he had the chance. Travis was sickened by her talk, but he never responded to her.

Later, he blamed himself for not expressing himself in stronger terms when Delilah also began speaking coarsely and disparagingly about men. A couple of times, after she had said things in company, he told her that people had been looking at her in astonishment.

Delilah told him he was imagining things. When he pointed out that some of her friends were avoiding her, she denied it and made excuses about why she didn't see them. He asked Delilah if she talked about him that way when he wasn't around, and she swore she never had and never would.

They were with Grace at a noisy restaurant one night, and the two women were having a conversation that was obviously amusing both of them on the other side of the table. Some of the things they were telling each other made them crack up in laughter.

He couldn't hear much, and they apparently wanted it that way, but there were occasional quiet moments despite the loud music from the speakers and the talk at nearby tables, and he picked up a few snatches of their conversation. He didn't understand what he heard, but it sounded disgusting.

He was quiet in the car on the way home. When they were getting undressed for bed, he felt he had to speak.

"What were you and Grace talking about tonight?"

"Oh, you wouldn't be interested. Forget it. I'm in a really good mood, and I want to get you in the same mood so let's hurry up and get to bed."

But he wouldn't let her change the subject. He mentioned some of the things he had overheard that disturbed him and kept pressing her. Finally, she got exasperated.

"You just won't let it go, will you? All right, I'll tell you, but you'll be sorry, because tomorrow you'll have to pray extra hard."

Travis looked at her and waited.

"We were talking about Grace's new job. She's still in human resources, but now she's with a company that runs websites. It's really big and successful, and most of its money comes from porn. Grace handles the legal releases for all the actors, who are mainly part time. She meets them in person because she has to witness their signatures.

"Most of them are good looking women and men, but she also noticed a lot of ugly overweight men and asked her boss about them. She found out that those men worked for male humiliation websites. Because of her job, she can look at all the company's websites and download videos, so she sent me some videos. Don't look at me like that."

"I didn't say anything."

"Your expression says it all. But don't feel sorry for the men, because they make lots of money."

"They should! They're being paid to degrade themselves. How disgusting!"

"I thought the same thing, but we're both wrong. Grace says company pays them well -- but only to protect itself against sexual slavery lawsuits. The videos bring in huge profits, and they don't want to take any chances with their revenue stream.

"She said that the men are into being degraded and would do it all for nothing. She went to the studios and watched the men making videos and doing live cams where they perform requests for customers paying to watch them in real time."

"I bet she had a great time."

"You're right," said Delilah. "Grace especially likes the fact that the ugly overweight men are being humiliated by beautiful women dressed in sexy outfits. She said many of them are lesbians, but a lot of them are like me and just doing it for the money. Grace said many of the women enjoy their jobs."

Travis felt like his skin was crawling.

"You're talking about Grace, but it sounds like she's got you interested, too."

"I admit it's fascinating because it's such a different world from anything I know. I don't mean that I would enjoy doing that to you. I would never humiliate you. What intrigues me is that these women are no different from me or any woman walking down the street until they get into the studio. Can you believe these women do things like whipping the men, beating them with sticks until they bleed and kicking them in the balls?"

"I believe it. Some people enjoy hurting others."

"Grace said that sometimes it takes the men weeks to recover after performing, but they always come back for more. All sorts of things are stuck into their asses, including the entire hands of these women. The first time I saw a video of that, I thought it was CGI, but Grace told me that it's done with a lot of lubrication and special techniques.

"She sent me links to some videos with women putting both hands into a guy's ass and one with a second woman sticking her hand in the middle so there were three hands in there. I've even seen videos of women who pushed their entire arm into the man, all the way to the shoulder. Are you okay?"

As she was describing the videos, Travis started feeling nauseous. His stomach was churning, and he thought he might pass out, so he sat down on the bed and put his head between his knees. Delilah walked over to him, and when he looked up, he saw her eyes were gleaming.

She went to the kitchen. She came back with a glass of water and watched him silently as he drank it.

When he felt a little better, she began caressing him. He tried to resist, but she wouldn't be denied. She used all the tricks that she knew would arouse him and finally succeeded. He lay on his back and watched her going wild on top of him as if he were outside of his body. She came twice before he finally came, and when he did, she came again.

The next few days, he was uneasy as he waited for her to bring up Grace and male humiliation again, but she didn't. He wanted to explain to her that it wasn't her descriptions that made him physically ill. It was thinking of her soul and fearing she might lose it. He knew if he told her that, she would either lash out or laugh at him, so he said nothing.

He didn't see Grace for a while, but although he tried to avoid it, he overheard phone conversations between Delilah and Grace.

The conversations were all about Grace's job now. Her boss had noticed how beautiful and voluptuous she was and her interest in male degradation and asked her if she'd like to appear in a video where a veteran woman was teaching a novice how to humiliate men. Grace jumped at the chance, and she did so well that she became a regular on three different sites.

One day it dawned on Travis that he knew an awful lot about what Grace was doing even though he and Delilah never talked about her. The next time Grace called, he walked out of the living room into the kitchen.

He saw Delilah walking with the cordless phone and stopping close enough to the kitchen that he could hear her. He went into the bedroom and noticed she moved to outside the bedroom door. She was trying to make sure he heard the conversation. After she hung up, he accused her of pulling him into Grace's sleazy world against his will.

"This is the first time you've complained," she said with a smile. "I was beginning to think that Grace was right."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"She told me that many of the men remind her of you."

"Is that so?"

"You should see your face. It's priceless."

"I'm glad you're having a good time. You were saying that Grace's victims look like me."

"I told you before they're not victims. I didn't say they look like you, although Grace said some of the gay ones are in good shape. She says they remind her of you.

"She thinks a lot of the ugly overweight men are hypocrites because they disguise themselves with makeup or wear a hood on their head or a mask during the video shoots and live cams, and they wear tight latex or leather outfits that cover their bodies except for their genitals."