Part 4: Till Death Do Us Part
Alexis woke with a start. She saw immediately that she was in her own bedroom. But that was where the normalcy ended.
A muzzle gag was strapped across her mouth. She could feel the hard ball on the inside of it between her teeth. Out of the corner of her eye she could see the leather straps that ran up either side of her nose and over her head. Alexis tried pushing the ball out with her tongue but it was strapped in tight.
A quick tug of her arms showed her that her wrists were securely tied to the corner bedposts. Her legs were bound the same way, leaving her spread eagle on the bed. Eric must have carried her here after she’d passed out. That meant he was still under the influence of the trunk.
Alexis lifted her head off her pillow. She wanted to see just how she was bound. Perhaps she could manage one of U69’s amazing escapes. A white haze obscured her vision. Turning her head from side to side, she realized she was wearing a white veil. “What the hell?” she thought.
She looked down at herself. With a shock Alexis saw she was in a wedding dress. It was a strapless white gown. The low cut bodice exposed a nearly indecent amount of cleavage. She could tell from her pinched waist that beneath the dress she was laced tightly into yet another corset.
The lacy gown had a slit on the side that ran all the way to her hip. Alexis could just see the top of a white stocking and its garter strap peeking through the gap. Her feet had been pressed into white shoes with a heel that was at least four inches. A wide ankle strap with little silver padlocks assured she wouldn’t be kicking them off.
Alexis heard voices beyond the bedroom door. It was Eric, in his silly English accent. But she was shocked to hear Paige’s voice as well.
“I don’t know about this plan of yours Darcy,” Paige said.
“It can’t fail, M,” Eric replied. “I’ve bribed the preacher to ignore any protest the girl might make. He does the ceremony. Then after a somewhat restrained honeymoon- haw haw, the poor girl meets a tragic accident. I inherit her property as her grieving husband.”
Alexis’ blood ran cold in her veins. Her possessed husband was planning to marry her and then murder her! She tugged frantically at the ropes that held her. It was useless. Whoever had tied her had done their job too well.
Eric said, “Where is that dratted preacher? He’s late.” That gave Alexis a ray of hope. There wasn’t any preacher really coming. It was all part of the haunted trunk’s fantasy. So long as no one else arrived to be pulled into the strange madness she would be safe.
Alexis’ calm assurance didn’t last. There was the rumble of a delivery truck pulling up out front. Had she ordered anything recently? She thought frantically. Shit! She had ordered a book just the day before. She was going to die because of a damn book!
“Ah, that must be him now,” cried Eric. “Let’s go greet him, shall we?”
Paige replied, “Of course.” She paused, “Za Za, stand guard at the door. We wouldn’t want our bride to get cold feet and slip away.”
“Oui Madame,” replied little Betty. Alexis blushed at the thought of what the little French maid had done to her in the basement.
At the sound of the doorbell Alexis panicked. She thrashed on the bed, emitting muffled cries through her gag. She could see in her mind’s eye the perplexed delivery man standing in the doorway. He would stare at the oddly dressed people who answered the door. Then the mysterious trunk would take control of him and he would become the preacher. And Alexis would be doomed.
A noise to her left drew Alexis’ attention. There was someone at the French doors that led out to the pool deck. It was the woman from the antique store! She could free Alexis and help her escape this madhouse.
The woman crouched down, fiddling with the doorknob. There was a click of the lock and the door opened. Alexis stared at her potential rescuer with a sinking heart.
The woman who had been casually dressed in jeans and an old flannel shirt was now transformed. Her hair hung to her shoulders, lustrous and black. A white blouse pulled tight across her chest, accentuating her pert breasts. Her waist was encircled by a black leather waist cincher to give her an hourglass form. White jodhpurs and laced knee high stiletto boots completed the picture. Antique store Paula was now U69.
Alexis’ would-be rescuer stood over her with a bemused smile. “My Gwen, you do get yourself into the darndest situations.”
“Mmmph, mmmph,” was the only response Alexis could muster.
Paula looked at her with annoyance, “Well I can’t understand anything with that gag in your mouth. I’ll have to take it out.”
Alexis shook her head vigorously. She had an idea of how to stop this insanity. But she would need U69’s help to carry out her plan.
With the dripping wet gag out of her mouth Alexis spoke quietly and urgently. “Paula- I mean U69, untie me quick. Za Za checks in every few minutes so we have to be fast.”
Paula began untying the knots that held Alexis to the bed. “I’ll have you out of these in a jiffy,” she said confidently. “Then we’ll slip out the back and Sir Darcy will have no idea where you’ve gone.”
“No,” Alexis insisted. “I have a plan that will take down Darcy and the Countess both. There’s a trunk in the basem-I mean dungeon,” she continued. If I can get to that I can stop them.”
“Hmm,” mused U69 as she freed Alexis from the last of the ropes. “You’re going to need a distraction. As soon as they see you’re free they’ll be on your tail.”
Alexis had a sudden thought, “You could pretend to be me,” she told the agent. “Put on this dress and lay on the bed. With the veil in place they won’t know it’s you.”
U69’s eyes lit up. “That’s a great idea! We’re about the same size. I can just slip the dress on,” she said as she began to strip off her outfit. “But you’ll have to tie me to the bed so they think it’s still you,” she added.
Alexis hurriedly unzipped the wedding dress and stepped out of it. The white satin corset was every bit as tight as she imagined. She paused briefly to admire what it did for her figure. A narrow waist accentuated her hips. And the three quarter cups made her breasts look like they were ready to pop. She thought of taking it off, but realized that there wasn’t time.
Paula, A.K.A. U69 had stripped down to her panties and boots. As she picked up the dress she gestured to her shoes. “I might have to make a run for it,” she smirked. “Here, zip me up.”
Alexis stepped in to zip up the dress. She marveled at the ludicrous situation. Here she was dressed in only a corset, stockings and heels (whoever had dressed her had neglected to include panties) dressing a half naked woman in a wedding dress so she could tie her to the bed.
Once the dress was on U69 lay down on the bed. She spread her legs and reached her arms above her head. “Let’s get me tied up,” she said. “And make it tight. It’s got to look convincing.”
Alexis started with Paula’s ankles, wrapping several turns of rope around her booted feet before tying them off. The knots weren’t pretty, but it was the best she could do. As she bound her rescuer’s ankles Alexis couldn’t but help admire the woman’s shapely legs. Paula should wear something other than jeans, she thought.
Moving up to tie Paula’s wrists Alexis found herself straddling the woman’s waist. She caught herself opening her legs a little wider, sliding her naked sex across the satin gown. Alexis blushed at the sudden rush of feeling before forcing herself to focus on the task at hand.
As Alexis leaned over to complete the wrist ties she could feel U69’s warm breath on her partially exposed breasts. She inadvertently lowered herself a bit more while she finished the last knot. Her hands trembled.
Alexis sat up and reached for the muzzle gag. She licked her lips, her mouth suddenly gone dry as she eyed her captive. Paula’s lips were full, vibrant red. Her mouth was parted slightly in anticipation of the gag.
Before she knew what she was doing Alexis leaned in, dropping her mouth over Paula’s. Far from resisting, the other woman opened her mouth wider. She thrust her head forward to meet Alexis, straining to raise her bound form off the bed.
Alexis buried her hand in the long black hair of the secret agent. She pressed her lips hungrily against U69’s as their tongues intertwined. She felt a rush of fire between her legs that excited and frightened her.
It was U69 that finally broke contact. “You had better use that gag before things get out of hand,” she said with a smoldering look. “We still have a mission to complete.”
Alexis swallowed the lump in her throat. She nodded once, not trusting herself to speak. With trembling hands she pressed the ball into U69’s open mouth.
When Alexis had secured the head straps of the gag she lifted the veil to disguise the impostor’s identity. Only then did she leave her perch atop the captive woman. She blushed furiously to see the wet spot she had left on the wedding dress.
Alexis whispered, “I’ll be back.” She moved quietly to the French doors. She believed that if she could close the trunk it would break the spell that held everyone else in thrall. She simply had to sneak past the others to reach the basement.
“Sneaking” while wearing a tightly laced corset and locked into four inch high heels was going to be a bit of a challenge. But Alexis found that she was actually getting used to moving about in heels. At least they were more manageable than the ballet heels she’d been forced to wear.
Alexis crept up to the next set of French doors that faced the pool deck. She peered inside to see Eric and Paige in earnest discussion with a man dressed as a preacher. She could only assume that this was the poor delivery driver who had been drawn into this outrageous fantasy. They stood between her and the basement door. She would have to wait.
As she waited Alexis pondered her reaction to the woman tied to her bed. She had never acted like that towards another woman before. Well, except perhaps when Za Za had knelt before her. But that wasn’t consensual, despite the reaction it had drawn from her.
Alexis was shocked to find that her hand had wandered down between her legs as she pondered these questions. She quickly drew her hand back. What did it really matter anyhow, she asked herself? None of this was real, right?
She was drawn back to the present when she heard Eric/Darcy say, “I’ll go get the bride.” Alexis tensed as he headed into the bedroom. She waited for the inevitable explosion.
“Gah, the little minx escaped!” Eric bellowed from the bedroom. “Search the manor! Find her,” he screamed.
Alexis smiled as the Countess, Za Za and the parson began the search. She had only to cross the great room and reach the basement door. Waiting only until the others were scattered throughout the house she slipped in through the French doors.
The basement door was almost within reach when she heard that hokey English accent. “Oh ho, there you are, you little vixen!” Alexis spun to see Eric lunge toward her. She had a moment of panic as he grabbed her by the arms. She remembered her ineffectual punch in the old mill.
But that was in the parallel world of Sweet Gwendoline. There was just enough reality here to make her women’s self defense class effective. She muttered, “Sorry Eric” as she planted her knee in his groin.
Eric gasped out, “Bloody hell” as he crumpled to the floor. Alexis spun on her heel and rushed to the basement door. She moved warily down the narrow steps. Now was not the time to stumble in her heels.
Alexis raced across the basement. Behind her the basement door opened. She looked to see her husband, in full Darcy mode standing silhouetted against the light. In his hand was a riding crop.
“You despicable brat,” he wheezed. “I’m going to thrash you to within an inch of your life!”
Alexis raced the final few steps to the open trunk. With one hand she grabbed the lid. “Goodbye Sir Darcy,” she called out as she slammed the trunk closed.
She breathed a sigh of relief as the trunk closed. But then she heard the sound of Sir Darcy’s heavy riding boots as they slowly descended the stairs. She looked down at herself in shock. She was still in the corset and heels. Closing the trunk had done nothing!
Icy fear gripped Alexis as her husband moved slowly towards her. Part of her said he wouldn’t really hurt her. But it was only a short time ago that Sir Darcy was planning her murder. She crouched down behind the haunted trunk hoping to avoid discovery.
As Alexis peered around the edge of the trunk she spied the old brass hasp that would seal the trunk. It had bent backwards in the lid’s fall, wedging itself between the trunk and the lid. The trunk was still open, if only by a quarter inch.
Alexis reached across the trunk, yanking the lid open once again. She pulled the hasp back as the riding crop came speeding out of the gloom, striking the lid with a sharp “thwack”. When Darcy raised his arm for another blow she threw herself on top of the lid, forcing it closed.
There was that odd shimmery feeling as Alexis waited for the next blow of the riding crop. Eric’s voice caused her to look up.
“Uh, your friends are getting ready to leave, dear,” he said. It was Eric dressed in his jeans and old stained tee shirt. He looked at her quizzically. “Honey, why are you naked?”
Epilogue
Alexis had given her husband a vague explanation before slipping on her discarded sun dress. She ushered Paige and her toady out the front door, informing them that they could take their social circle and “shove it up their ass.”
She had taken the package from the befuddled delivery man. Handing it to her husband she said, “This is for you, read it.”
Alexis followed that with a phone call to Paula at the antique store. She would gladly return the trunk to the store, provided they could explore its unique abilities together. Alexis hadn’t forgotten those few stolen moments in her bedroom with U69.
The following day Alexis went shopping. She returned home to find Eric engrossed in his new book, a reprint of “The Adventures of Sweet Gwendoline”.
“Honey, do you know what this book is about?” he asked her before doing a double take. He looked up to see his wife, her hair now dyed blonde. She wore a tight fitting red skirt in mid calf length, black four inch heels and a low cut ruffled white blouse. He could not see the tightly laced corset beneath the outfit. But the results were obvious.
“I know exactly what that book is about,” Alexis replied as she fished in her purse. She extracted several tight coils of rope and dropped them in the lap of her startled husband. As she strutted toward the bedroom she glanced back at the stunned man. With a wink she said, “And you can call me Gwendoline.”
The End