Stray by Francis Langley

Author:Francis Langley
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: literary psychological drama, dominant female, midlife emotional crisis, erotic literary fiction, introspective male protagonist, BDSM, Barcelona setting, power dynamics in relationships, multilingual European literature, female-led fiction
Publisher: Francis Langley
Published: 2025-08-08T00:00:00+00:00

THE FOUNTAIN IN THE middle of the cloistered courtyard gurgled quietly, its water catching flecks of sun between passing clouds. Dominic sat on a low stone bench beneath an orange tree, jacket collar turned up against the early evening chill. The leaves above him trembled in the breeze, and a smell of damp stone and early blossom tinged the air.

She emerged from the shadowed archway, all noli me tangere, wrapped in a dark belted coat and a pale scarf that fluttered as she walked. Her hands were tucked casually in her pockets, her hair swept back in the manner of a surgeon. She crossed the courtyard toward him, a smile of recognition beautifying her.

“You’re early,” she said, as though they’d agreed to meet in another century.

“Jardins de Rubió i Lluch,” he said sceptically. “Why this place? Who else’s body have you buried here?”

She made a great show of shaking his hand, as if for the benefit of some concealed telephoto lens. “Feeling morbid today?” They sat down.

“You look... shabby.”

She laughed, head thrown back. “I do, don’t I? And you look – “

“Masterful?” He tried to laugh.

“I was going to say dandyish.” She caught his hands, held them for a moment, seemed to examine them.

“What are we doing in a park?”

“I thought you’d like a change of scenery. I can’t cane you here, can I?”

“Like I said, I’m better now.”

“Good.”

He glanced down, then looked at her face in curiosity. “Do you still feel bad about doing that?”

“Should I?”

“No.”

“You could have used the safe word. You said yourself.”

“I know.”

“Why didn’t you?”

He was silent a long time. “I was brought up Catholic.”

“I’m not Father O’Malley.”

“Thank the Lord.” He giggled; she smiled.

“Nor Miss Delaney.”

He thought for a moment. “I never told you about the school trip, did I?”

“Tell me.”

“St Anselm’s was big on the Catholic martyrs,” he said reflectively. “Catholic school in an Anglican country, so there was a sort of siege mentality. Let’s just say I made it to the age of ten still unsure if protestant and prostitute were the same thing, since they were both taboo topics...”

Andrea giggled.

“Anyway we all knew who Blessed Edmund Campion was...”

“As do I. He taught in Prague. Go on.”

“Well, the local Protestant school would take the kids on a trip to the zoo, places like that. Ours took us to the site of the Tyburn Gallows and the Tower of London, to hear how being a good Catholic would get you stretched on the rack until your limbs popped out of their sockets, or shoved into a little room where you can’t stand, sit or lie down, or get the thumbscrews and the Scavenger’s Daughter. Then you might look forward to being hanged, cut down while still breathing, and having... bits cut off. I’m not sure they’d get away with this as childrens’ entertainment today. But that was our Trip to London – a lovely day out. I remember at one point, I think it was in the White Tower, Amanda Linehan started crying and screaming

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