The Stories of Bound Friends 12: Sophia and the Giving of Thanks

(story continues from The Stories of Bound Friends 11: Lea and the Consequences of Actions)

Part 12: Sophia and the Giving of Thanks

Sophia sat kneeling in the bedroom of a villa suite. She wore her slave collar, her wrists were in shackles behind her and attached by an extra chain to the back of her collar. Her legs were in another set of shackles that were held by a retracted hook to the floor. The switch for the hook was on the wall, no way for her to reach it and free her legs. She wore no clothes, shiny metal studs adorned her nipples and clit, and she was blindfolded. She knew the mixed prospects of being lent out to a guest full time, given there were almost no restrictions to what a guest could do to her. They did not tell her how long it would be, but had hinted it would be multiple days.

And she was getting so tired of fighting. She was always under lock and key somewhere. She was worked from when they woke her to when she was permitted to sleep with only brief breaks for food. She slept usually in slave’s quarters and had some time ago lost track of the day. She hadn’t thought at first that it was important, but it was simply another thing that was being used to wear her down. She knew it must still be November, but that was the best she could offer.

She had also never been allowed to take off her slave collar, it was becoming as much a part of her body as her fingers or toes. And that large iron disk that hung from it had at first been a nuisance, but now it taunted her. It reminded her with every step, every jerk, every movement that shook it that she was just as the disk said, a slave. She didn’t want that to define the ways she saw herself, but she was also so tiring of fighting against it.

She heard the front door unlock and at least two people walk in. “Will there be anything else?” came the voice of a young man from out in the main room. She didn’t hear a response, only the sound of the front door closing. She now only had to wait before the guest, or more likely guests considering there were two beds, walked back to the bedroom. She heard the double doors open and knew it was her cue, the cameras were always on and the system was always watching.

“Hello, this slave’s name is Savina. Please feel free to use me however you wish,” she said with a meek but eager tone that she had been mercilessly trained to give. She had barely finished before she felt someone down on their knees hugging her. She was very confused but tried not to show it.

“It’s ok,” she heard from the cracking female voice of of the person hugging her. When she pulled back from the hug, Sophia felt her blindfold lifted, showing her the smiling, shivering face of Andrea. She blinked a few times, worrying that it was perhaps finally happening, that her mind was losing its battle against this insanity that surrounded her. Worrying that her friend was simply the first of many hallucinations. But it all seemed real no matter how unexpected. “Oh my God! Andrea! I… It’s so.. wow you’re really here! It’s so good to see you!” she said as she helplessly knelt there unable to reciprocate the hug in any way but lean her head on Andrea’s shoulder.

Zainab found the switch that raised the hook from the floor before walking around the two of them to unfasten Sophia’s chain from her collar. After freeing Sophia’s ankle chain from the floor, Zainab began to help Sophia up and onto one of the beds where she could more easily move her hands to her front. “So, you’re the ones that I’m rented out to for the next few days?” Sophia finally asked once she had finished with her hands.

“Yes, Sophia I’d..” Andrea began before being interrupted.

“Please.. no.. sorry. There’s cameras,” Sophia said quietly. “My name is Savina, I know its wierd but please breaking character gets me in trouble.. and.. well, hurt.. and I.. I don’t”

“It’s ok.. Savina,” Andrea said with some hesitation. “We know there are some limits we have to live around and this is just one of them I guess. Megan will be by later tonight, she’s just going to be taking a later train cause of her classes.”

“So, um who’s the friend?” Savina asked.

“That’s Zainab, she’s the one that was able to pull this all together," Andrea explained.

"Right, Lea said something about you had a girlfriend now. Good to meet you and I just.. seriously I can’t even begin to tell you how happy I am to see you all here and not someone else. I.. they never tell me much so I was bracing for just about anything, but this is SO much better than anything I could have imagined! Thank you," Savina said visibly working to hold back tears and beginning to fail in that task. Andrea returned to hugging her friend who was at least this time able to hug back as she draped her shackled hands over Andrea’s head.

"Now," Zainab cautiously interrupted. "There is a catch. They told me you can only be hired out if I use you daily in some kind of a sexual capacity, they said what kind was up to me but.. if I don't do that they say they'll have to take you back. Something about not wanting to chance violating your contract. So.. well.. I don’t have an answer to that actually..."

Savina broke off the hug and went to kneel at Zainab s feet. Her eyes were downcast as she repeated one of the many replies she was expected to say in such a situation. "This slave will be happy to do whatever her owner wishes."

Zainab was caught off guard, she didn’t know what to say next and looked across at Andrea for suggestions and found none. "I... I'll just have to think of something then."

"You know what really pleases her?" Andrea said sarcastically, doing everything short of a wink to let her true intention be known. "She loves letting slaves.. enjoy themselves. Yeah, that's it. She umm, she finds the slaves are more fun when they really like what they are doing. Isn't that right Zainab?"

“Oh, ooooh, right. Yes, slave.. so tell me what would you most want? Tell us what would really turn you on Soph.. I mean Savina. Because I would enjoy watching you enjoy yourself.." Zainab said as she clued in to Andrea’s idea.

“Well..” Savina said as she started to cover herself, curling into a ball. “I wouldn't mind something to cover up with..”

“Oh yes..” Andrea said as she got up and darted for the bathroom. “Nothing sexier than a woman in a bathrobe right Zee?” She came back quickly and helped her friend to get it around her, despite her cuffed hands.

Savina sat at the edge of one of the beds, gripping the edges of the robe and looked across from where the other two sat. She tried to steady herself, but the two smiling sympathetic faces were too much. She began to cry tears of pure frustration, or possibly relief, whatever it was it was overwhelming her and causing her to cry quite heavily.

Andrea moved over to the other bed , allowing her to be a lap to fall on as the tears continued to flow. Andrea tried her best to be reassuring, but it seemed this was simply a long, frustrating time coming. There was nothing her words could add or detract. The best she could do is pat her friend on the back and make no mention of anything else.

Zainab was perhaps the most lost. She had never actually met Sophia, or Savina that is. This was her doing, but she didn’t want to presume to get in the way. They had nearly a lifetime of friendship, Zainab had only met Andrea two months ago. She would do whatever Andrea felt would be best, but right now Andrea wasn’t sending any signals of what that might be. So for now she sat there and waited.

****

“Are you alright?” Zainab asked Andrea once she could hear the distant sounds of the tub’s waterjets turning on in the other room so they couldn’t be overheard by Sophia. “You just look really distraught. I can understand if this is different in person and all that. So are you..”

“No. I’m.. It’s.. I’m fine. You know.. this could have been me.”

“How’s that?” Zainab asked with a growing tone of concern.

“I mean.. if.. oh God I haven’t even told you this story have I?” Andrea said realizing part way through she was going to have to give a bit of background. “Well.. this last summer.. well,” Andrea began to explain, she was just not finding the mental wherewithal to be very clear. “Well the important part is that.. Sophia was the first one down the stairs, so that’s why she’s in here and I’m not. Just bad luck. If it were some other order, different flip of a coin or the wrong butterfly flapped its wings, I might be right where she is.”

Zainab sat in uncharacteristic shock and silence. “How? I mean.. what? When was all.. Why wouldn’t you tell me?”

“You want to add in the ‘where’ while you’re at it?” Andrea replied in a defensive quip.

“Where what? I don’t..”

“Sorry.. my attempt to deflect seriousness with humor, never mind. It’s just.. not something I can talk about easily, it’s sensitive. Hope you don’t take that personally,” Andrea said as she began to look around everywhere but at Zainab.

“Hey..” Zainab said as she sat over next to Andrea to put her arm around her. “Everyone’s got stuff that gnaws at them that they don’t tell anyone about. If you don’t feel comfortable sharing that’s fine. Just know that I’m here if you do want to talk. Just know that..” Zainab said before being interrupted by the hotel phone. “Damn that timing. Hello?” she said as she reached for the phone

“Hello Mrs. Taherini, I’m just calling to make sure everything is working out with your room and with your companion,” the cheery female voice on the phone asked.

“Yes, fine, now goodbye,” Zainab said curtly as she began to hang up.

“Hold one moment!” she said quickly enough to prevent the call from ending. “Now I just need to remind you once again that by insisting on this very particular person for a multi-day engagement, you have certain responsibilities that would not come with most of our other choices.”

“Yes I know and the point is?”

“Well the point is that our system passively monitors and has not yet detected any sexual use. I hate to be blunt Mrs. Taherini, but if that doesn’t change in the next several hours we’ll have to exchange her for someone else to prevent the casino from possibly violating her very unusual terms of employment. It can be anyone..”

“No, it’s got to be her. And is there a key to those shackles anywhere?” Zainab interjected, causing Andrea to smile and give a thumbs up.

“Of course. The key is in the same unit as everything else, top drawer. I apologize for any inconvenience and on behalf of the..” was as far as the woman got before Zainab hung up the phone. She looked around and found a small white metal drawer on wheels and opened the top. Aside from more chains, shackles, collars locks and other manner of restraint, in the far back corner was an red colored allen key with a serial code on it. She held it up which made Andrea jump up and join her.

“Oh can I do it?” Andrea asked with an eagerness of a child asking to open the first present at Christmas. Zainab didn’t say a word, she simply smiled and handed Andrea the key.

“Soph.. Savina? Can I come in?” Andrea asked as she knocked on the bathroom door.

“Come in,” Savina said as she sunk down a little lower, shielding her nakedness below the cover of the jets.

“How’d you like to get those things off you?” Andrea said holding out the red metal allen key.

“It’s been.. oh.. it’s been so long since I’ve had these off! Oh can I please do it?” Savina said as she slid over to the edge of the oversized tub and extended her hands to grab them.

“If you want it might be easier..” Andrea started as she pointed to Sophia’s collar.

“No.. I’m sick of having other people doing everything to me. I’m.. I want to do this myself. I want to be in control of something again, even if it’s small,” Savina with a sense of desperate exhaustion in her voice.

Andrea smiled and placed the key beside the tub. “The hotel just gave us a call.. saying we hadn’t..”

“Hadn’t done anything sexual? Yeah. This place has computers that passively monitor, never a real person to maintain guest privacy. They look for patterns or other key things. It helps spot cheats and thieves, but it can be used for other stuff too. In my case.. it’ll know that I’ve cried, talked, bathed and not much else. Well.. just give me another fifteen, twenty minutes and I’ll.. I’ll be out and we can get to it I guess,” Savina said as she leaned against the side of the tub.

Andrea nodded her head and walked out. Zainab was standing just outside and gave a sympathetic eye as Andrea shut the door behind her. “I heard.. and I think I have an idea. Something I can do to help. Why don’t you go, Megan should be arriving soon-ish anyway. I’ll do.. something.. with her. That way you don’t have to be a part of it and we can get to a more normal night afterwards.”

Andrea moved in and kissed her. “Thank you,” she said in a whisper. “Just.. don’t be your usual bossy self.. let her drive it all. Promise me you’ll find a way for it to be as good for her as you can make it. Do it for me?”

Zainab nodded “Anything. I’ll text you when it’s all done and you can come up, sound good?”

“More than good. I’ll meet Megan and we’ll have plenty to look around. So don’t feel a rush. I’ll be by my phone,” Andrea said as she gathered her stuff up and headed for the door.

****

Zainab felt slightly nervous. It wasn’t something she felt often, but she was sure that’s what it was. She wasn’t sure how she should be, she liked calling the shots but promised that she wouldn’t this time. And she had no idea what this woman she hardly knew might want. She had heard in passing that she switched like Lea, but presuming anything from Lea had been a disaster. And she had no idea what toll her living condition might have taken. But she would try to be flexible. It was important to Andrea. The jets had stopped and the tub could be heard draining. Zainab sat up after the hairdryer had been used and turned off, knowing the door should open any minute.

“OOooohh, yeah..” Savina grunted in a sigh of relief as she opened the door in a bathrobe. She threw her shackles and her collar onto the bed and collapsed down beside them, stroking her bare neck. “Oh, this feels so good, seriously thank you.. I’m sorry it was…”

“Zainab, and you’re welcome,” she said meekly.

“Is Andrea just in the other room?” Savina asked after a moment’s pause.

“No.. she’s out. I thought that we might.. well get the sexual stuff out of the way without needing to involve them,” Zainab said causing Savina to get up and walk quickly over to kneel in front of Zainab.

“I am here to serve you however..” Savina began in rote earnestness.

“No.. you don’t need to.. do all that,” Zainab interrupted  “They really drive that in deep huh?” she asked, not getting any real response. She moved over to the other bed to examine what had been thrown down. The metal was rough and discolored on the outside, but smooth and polished on the inside so that it would be smooth against the skin. “How long have you been wearing these?”

“Well.. the shackles come on and off depending on what they have me do. The collar.. that thing hasn’t come off from when they moved me back here until just now. I think that was October.. 19th? somewhere around there. About a week and a bit before I saw Lea. And now its.. well I actually don’t know what day it is.” Savina recounted as she sit on the bed.

“It’s the 19th.. um.. again. The Monday before Thanksgiving.”

“A month? It’s been a month?”Savina said as she slid down to the floor and collapsed with her back against the bed. “I.. I don’t..”

“Hey.. it’s ok. Your friend Lea seemed pretty determined…”

“Well have you heard from her?” she asked looking up at Zainab.  Zainab couldn’t respond. “Exactly.. I’m trapped! Oh god how is this any way to live? What kind of life is this?” Savina said as she put her hands against her head. “I can’t do this, I.. I..” she muttered as started breathing faster and faster as she began to picture months more tick by.

Zainab could tell she was spiraling but didn’t know what to do about it. It was a touchy subject, one she really did not enjoy entertaining. She grabbed the collar and knelt down in front of Savina. “Hey, hey, this.. this doesn’t have to define you ok? Look, it’s just a hunk of metal ok? Hey!” she continued until she finally was able to pull focus. “Try to just think about today, alright? Andrea and Megan will be back soon, and then we can all just have a nice relaxing time. Sound good?”

Savina nodded her head. “When do they get here?”

“As soon as I call them, which I’ll do right after we do something sexual enough for the Casino to let you stay. So what do you.. want to do?” Zainab asked, knowing she was still quite likely dealing with live ammo.

“I.. Whatever you want, just tell me what to do. I’ll just..”

“No.. please,” Zainab said as she tried to recapture Savina’s drifting focus. “I know you’re supposed to be a slave or whatever to the casino, but I’m renting you from them so you’re kind of my slave. Let’s play a little game then. I want you to pretend for me can you do that?”

Savina closed her eyes and nodded her head.

“Ok, while you’re with me, I want you to be in charge ok. I’m..” Zainab said, making up a plan as she went along. “I’ll be you I guess and you be me.” With a deep breath, she placed the collar around her own neck. It was a little too large, and shut with a surprisingly loud click. A click that made Savina open her eyes.

“So.. you’re going to be me then.. what does that even mean?” she asked looking at Zainab

“It means, you get a vacation from being who you’ve been the last month. Do what you would normally want to do and not what you think would be expected of you.” Zainab said, feeling around the collar she just put on.

Savina closed her eyes again, and after a few deep breaths stood up.

“So what would you be doing right now if you had to do something sexual?” Zainab asked looking up at the very tall woman.

“Well, for one.. not just jump into bed with you. No offense, you’re very attractive but I’m just not into women like that. God why do men think we can just flip a switch? I don’t find it repulsive, and you know I’ll respond to stimuli like anyone, but a woman, even a beautiful one like you does about as much for me as buttering some toast!” she said with the first hints of assurance.

“But I thought you.. well Andrea said you all used to,” Zainab said, now finding she was the meek one in the conversation, not a position she was used to being.

“Sure yes, but it was all about the game! Domination, that’s what I found attractive about those times. I thought it was good being dominated but oh, it’s even sweeter doing the dominating! To bend someone, punish them, make them submit!” Sophia said.

Zainab cracked a smile. Sophia seemed to finally be alive, beginning to even pace and use her hands as she talked. Zainab didn’t want to interrupt but felt she finally found how to help. She seemed to share an outlook with Sophia, she would vastly prefer to dominate than be dominated. She didn’t like submitting all that much, but she also knew what her submitting would mean to the obviously stressed woman, and what helping her would mean to Andrea. She quietly removed her shirt, under which she had no bra, and clicked the shackles shut around her wrists before Sophia had turned back around to notice.

“And that face they make when you.. what.. are you doing?” Sophia asked as she finally took notice of Zainab’s activities.

“Vol..un..teer..ing..?” Zainab said hesitatingly.

****

“Well took you long enough,” Andrea jabbed sarcastically. “Little miss ‘I’m too good to skip my afternoon class to go to Atlantic City.’”

“As always, that impression, spot on,” she said with a chuckle as she wheeled a small suitcase behind her. “Just you?”

“Yeah, Zainab’s back at the room with Sophia.. who we’re supposed to call Savina by the way.”

“That’s going to take some getting used to, how’s she doing?”

“Not great,” Andrea said, now in total seriousness. “But I think that’s maybe the best that can be expected. It’s sounded like she doesn't get much time off so hopefully this’ll help with that.”

“Well, no time to lose, can’t wait to get up there,” Megan said starting to lead the way before remembering she didn’t know which way to go.

“Yeah.. well I think there is actually some time to lose. You know about some of those restrictions?” Andrea said in an increasingly hushed tone.

“Yeah? So what does that.. oh,” Megan said before getting it halfway through.

“Right, Zainab’s up there right now.. ironing that stuff out for the night. She said she’ll text when she’s through.”

“So.. we’re not joining her?” Megan asked, matching Andrea’s soft tone.

“No, this way we don’t have to go through all that! Zainab was going to.. Oh. Did you.. want to be involved?” Andrea asked as she decided they might as well take a seat while they talked this out. Megan nodded with several small but fast and eager movements. “What has been up with you? Are you missing this stuff that much? It seems like every week you’re trying harder and harder to join in. And I mean there was that time last week..”

“I thought you said not to bring it up again,” Megan said moving in close.“Well I’m sorry, but what you did was a little weird. Not to mention super reckless!”

“That doesn’t stop you from mentioning it,” Megan quipped.

“While it bears mentioning again. I mean what if Zainab changed her mind and we went out that night without stopping off at the room? You’d have been trapped in that leather hogtie of your own making for hours! And you chained yourself like that to the bed, what if there was a fire or something?” Andrea said in what could best be described as a whisper-yell.

“That’s why I sent that text, to see if you were coming back before I did any of that.”

“Look, do you like Zainab? I feel like I deserve to know.”

“No, no, nothing like that. Look, I’ve just.. I don’t know. It’s stressful alright! I got all this work and all this pressure.. and so maybe that’s.. well that’s maybe.. maybe it’s like an outlet you know? I can’t consciously explain the urge. I don’t know why, I’ve just really been having this urge and it’s been getting stronger ok? So just..” Megan prattled on, looking around nervously like she was whispering away state secrets.

“Shh shh, it’s ok” Andrea eventually said as Megan’s rant began to trail into a stream of unintelligible word soup. She leaned in and hugged her, patting her on the back as she did. “Look, we’ll maybe figure something out, ok?”

“Of course, of course.” Megan said as she returned the hug. “So what do you think Zainab’s got Sophia in by now?”

“Actually, I told Zainab not to take the lead.” Andrea said.

“Well, that should be interesting for Sophia.. oh right I mean Savina.”

****

“So are you really sure you’ve thought this through?” Sophia asked, still wearing her bathrobe as she started walking over to the now topless and cuffed Zainab.

“Nnnooooo…?” Zainab said with more than a generous helping of doubt.

“Then why would..”

Zainab closed her eyes and sighed loudly, interrupting Sophia mid sentence. “Look, when you started talking about dominating, you were more alive than I’ve seen you since we walked through that door. I get it. I get what doing this would mean to you and in turn what that would mean to Andrea,” Zainab said, in a quiet voice but one finally backed some certainty. She bent down to her knees and sat on her legs, looking up at Sophia. “Do with me as you will.”

“You’re like me and you’re still willing to do this?” Sophia said as she bent down to grab the chain of the wrist shackles. “You really love her don’t you?”

Zainab got a little uncomfortable and found it difficult to give an answer. Sophia gave up waiting for one quickly, bringing one foot up to step on the chain she held, forcing Zainab quickly down to a deep kneeling bow. The collar she wore clanged slightly as it hit the carpeted floor. “See, the problem is, you probably have no idea how to actually be a good sub do you?”

“Not really,” Zainab replied with more than a little snark.

Sophia bent down to grab the chain and led Zainab to just in front of the two beds where she had been earlier. She lowered the discreetly small carabiner from the ceiling with a switch on the wall. It fell at an awkwardly slow rate that caused Zainab to chuckle. “Oh this is funny to you now is it?” Sophia said once the chain was secured.

“A little,” Zainab said, knowing that probably wasn’t a very smart move now that she was secured to the ceiling.

“Well aren’t you the little smart ass,” Sophia said as she went to the drawers to look for a nice fat flogger. She grinned as she pulled it out and watched the expression on Zainab’s face change instantly. “What’s wrong? Have you been making offers you aren’t actually willing to follow through on?”

Zainab took a second but decided to shake her head. “Good,” Sophia said as she walked around behind Zainab. She set the flogger gently over Zainab’s shoulders telling her “Don’t drop this.”

“And before you get any thoughts, this isn’t sexual I just want a better target.”  Sophia continued as she began to undo the buttons on Zainab’s jeans, pulling them off and leaving only her pair of yellow and white thong panties. “I find jeans,” she said as she grabbed the flogger back and gave Zainab’s ass a firm hit. “Jeans just dull the blows too much” she said, hitting Zainab two more times before Zainab dodged out of the way of a third.

Sophia forced Zainab to step out of her jeans completely before going to get her leg shackles. Zainab watched as Sophia put them on her and then connect them to the hook in the floor that had held Sophia when they first arrived. Sophia walked back to the wall, retracting the hook, trapping Zainab. “There, now you can’t squirm so much,” she said as she resumed the flogging, eventually eliciting a yelp of pain.

“Oh shit, sorry.. I should have run this by.. I just got..” Sophia said as she suddenly walked backwards and sat on the bed, realizing the moment might be getting the better of her judgement.

“No, no you got excited. It’s alright. I’ve been there.” Zainab said, turning her head just enough to make eye contact. “Like I said I think we’re a lot alike, and I knew basically what I was volunteering for. If you wanna keep going.. I’ll try to suck it up and just tell you when it is too much.”

“No.. no.. I’m.. You know what? Here, you text the others to come up to the room.” Sophia said lowering Zainab’s hands before retrieving her phone from her pants pocket.

“Ok, and done. So shouldn’t that mean you’ll let me down now?” Zainab asked after handing the phone back and watching her hands get pulled back up.

“Oh.. oh no I’m not going to be doing that just yet,” Sophia said as she went to retrieve a gag. “Now, as long as I leave you chained up and naked, given the context of earlier, the system’s going to count that as sexual, so unless I’m wrong that will be good enough for the night.”

“But I’m not..” Zainab said before Sophia pulled down her last remaining article of clothing. “Never mind.”

“So, you’re going to wait here, I’m going to see Megan and Andrea for a while, then I’ll send Andrea back to get you in a bit. And one more word out of you and you’re getting Mr. Gag,” Sophia said with a smirk, bopping Zainab on the nose with the red latex ball.

“You’re enjoying this aren’t you?” Zainab asked, knowingly tempting fate.

“That’s more than a word,” Sophia said as she tried to force the gag into Zainab’s mouth. When she resisted, Sophia grabbed Zainab’s nose and twisted it slightly, causing Zainab to reluctantly open her mouth to scream. Sophia pushed the ball into her mouth and buckled the strap tight behind her head before getting to the strap running under her chin. “I warned you,” Sophia said as she headed for the doors to the living room. “And yes I am enjoying this, thanks for asking!”

****

It had been nearly a week since Leota had been sentenced to a two week stint of “restitution work” at the Orion dungeon. Everything seemed cold and metal, like it was supposed to be some forgotten lower deck of a ship.  The first day was the hardest, it took her time to accept what had happened, and how fast it had happened. There were many reflective surfaces in the dank steel dungeon she was in, and for a while the bald, tattooed girl look back seemed like a stranger. The pain the guests inflicted hurt, she had been electrically shocked almost everywhere. The fucking was so much more vigorous than it had been suspended in a pod. And it now included the use of her ass, something she was very much not used to.

But there were lulls, giving the woman chances to rest against a far wall, eat or change contraptions. It also gave Leota time to think. To let her mind wander. And the further it wandered, the faster the time went, and the easier it was to endure what the guests might put her through.

It was in one of these lost trains of thoughts a day ago that an idea came to her that wouldn’t leave her head. She pleaded to the first staff member she saw that it was vital she talk to Marian. He said he’d pass it on but then she was put to rest, tethered to the wall by her collar and fed like normal before being retrieved to be used again. She was persistent though, asking each time a staff member came to attend to her. Never demanding, but never forgetting either.

“This had better be good,” came the voice of Marian from the doorway. Leota lay attached to the wall and too far away to see her clearly, but she was sure it was her. She sat up as best as she could with her arms still trapped behind her back. “And this really better not be about asking to be let out early. I need bodies down here and the threat of being sent down here keeps everyone else really cooperative and working hard. If I show leniency it’ll have ripple effects and so as sorry as I am, I’m not going to do it,” Marian continued as she walked into view.

“No, no, I’m not asking for leniency. I promise, this will be better than that,” Leota said. “I want to make a proposal, it will really help you and Mr. Olsen. But I need a favor first.”

“Ok, you have my attention, now prove to me why you should keep it.” Marian said.

“Because, if I’m wrong and Mr. Olsen isn’t at minimum interested.. you can keep me down here another month if you want.”

Marian raised her left eyebrow, skeptical but intrigued. “You know, I can keep you down here the length of your contract if I so wanted. There’s nothing stopping me from doing that, you gave us incredible flexibility that way.”

“I know that, but it’s all I can offer to prove how sure I am that you and your boss will like this,” Leota said. “I just need 2 hours with a phone, a computer and permission to make contact with some business associates.. assuming it’s a workday at least.”

Marian looked Leota up and down. She was covered in small marks, but her eyes were sincere. This didn’t seem to be a deception but a real offer. “Well today’s a Monday, it’s still business hours.. just. If I give you this time now, would that work?”

Leota swallowed and nodded her head.

“Alright, there’s a bit of a slowdown for this kind of work anyway as we approach thanksgiving. But make sure I’m clear, this is not an excuse to just have two hours of personal time. I only give you permission to contact those business associates and no one else. Who you call and what you do on the computer had better be entirely relevant. Mr. Olsen believes in total emersion and I do too. If you make any contact besides what I’m giving you permission for, you’ll be breaking your contract and you certainly don’t want that. So what’s step two after the phone calls?” Marian asked as she signaled for an assistant to begin unfastening Leota from the wall.

“Well, the next step is I pitch you my idea once I have the details lined up. I’d prefer if Mr. Olsen could be there.”

“Ok, but if I call a meeting with him and this turns out to be a waste of time, you’re going to be down here until the end of your contract. Is that understood?”

Leota stood up with help and nodded her head. “Understood, I promise this is not a waste of your time.”

****

“Oh, wow..” Andrea said as she finally opened one of the bedroom’s double doors after talking with Sophia a while in the living room. “I didn’t think she was lying but it’s still something I had to see to believe.” She said as she waved her hands over Zainab’s naked body to accentuate her point.

“Rhet rhe gorh,” Zainab tried to say with a pleading look in her eye.

“Wow, If I knew you’d take to it so well I might have insisted we try some of this earlier,” Andrea said as she walked up and embraced Zainab, looking down into her eyes.

Zainab lost the pleading and jumped right to fury. “Rhandrhea! Rhet Rhe Gof! Norf!”

“Oh.. did you want out?” Andrea taunted in a friendly manner.

“I Crhmarnd yu!” Zainab replied in a huff.

“Command? Is that what my Mistress said? I’m sorry I must not be hearing you with that gag in, because you don’t look to be in a position to be making demands.” Andrea replied, nearly giggling. Zainab began to huff through her nose and stare like a bull preparing to charge. “How about I just take this out and we’ll have a clearer conversation,” Andrea said before reaching back to loosen Zainab’s gag and pull it out to rest around her neck.

“I said,” was as far as Zainab got before Andrea replaced the gag with her tongue. By the time the kiss had ended Zainab had cooled her head enough to not immediately begin talking again. “Thank you,” Andrea said, resting her forehead against Zainab’s. “I know this probably wasn’t easy for you, but it means the world to me that you would do it.”

“Shit..” Zainab grunted. “Why do you make it so hard to be mad at you?”

“I do what I can,” Andrea tersely joked before she moved in for a second kiss. Andrea began to rub her hands up and down Zainab’s smooth by slightly cold skin. “You know, you look pretty good like this, all stretched out, everything’s so tight” Andrea said as she leaned back to better take in the view. Andrea grabbed Zainab’s left breast and began to rub her thumb around the nipple. Zainab bit her lip as the sensations coursing through her, amplified from being stuck naked like she had been.

“Oh, yeah.. really hard to get mad now..” she muttered as Andrea bent down and began to suck and play with it. “Ok.. that’s it, take me down now. I wanna show you how not mad I am.”

“Mmm, and what if I don’t?” Andrea asked, moving back up to look at Zainab’s eyes.

“Oh.. then you’ll really get me mad. You won’t like what happens to you next if you.. Heyyrr!” Zainab began to threaten before Andrea put the gag back into place and once again tightened it. “Rhet rhe gooh! Yhr groono pray fohhr fisch!”

“Not a very good threat when I tend to enjoy the results of making you mad.. Mistress..” Andrea said before kissing Zainab tenderly on the neck. Zainab did not stop her protestations until Andrea began to slowly work her way down. She kissed and encircled Zainab’s pert nipples, even giving one a light nibble. She got down on her knees to continue kissing lower, and lower. By the time Andrea had reached Zainab’s pussy there were once again sounds of pleasure and not threats coming from behind her gag.

Zainab could not spread her legs very far, but she tried bending her knees to give her girlfriend more room to work. She was moaning, she thought about trying to fight it on principle, but she never was very good at self denial. Andrea began to slip her fingers in as well, gently rocking to accentuate the actions of her tongue. Andrea could hear Zainab getting close, getting very close. She had every intention of finishing her off but a wicked grin came as she had a passing thought. She stopped, right as she was, pulled out and stood back up.

Andrea couldn’t find a word to describe what Zainab’s eyes were communicating. Anger still for not being let out, frustration from being denied, desperation for wanting Andrea to continue, and another dose of anger for stopping at all. “Now I bet you’re really going to make me pay aren’t you?”

“Yohhf beht hyour shueet assh!” Zainab grumbled from behind her gag.

Andrea flipped the switches on the wall to lower cable and raise the hook that had been holding Zainab captive. As Zainab rushed to remove her gag, Andrea burst out “Oh, forgot to mention, we’re about to have some dinner brought up soon, so this will have to wait.”

“Ha, that’s what you really think is it?” Zainab said as she threw the gag to the bed behind her.

****

“Megan could you get that? It’s probably the food.” Sophia said as a knock at the door rudely interrupted their conversation. Megan got up to let the young red headed attendant wheel his cart in. “I’ll just need a Mrs. Tahrini to sign for this”, he said as he got out a small digital pad and pen.

“Can’t I just do that?” Megan asked

“Sorry, large orders need the room holder to sign off. Is she out?”

“No! She’s coming! Any... second now!” came a murmured yell from the other room. The door burst open moments later with Zainab back to wearing only her yellow and white thong panties. Behind her Andrea followed reluctantly, dressed normally but with the addition of a collar, a leash and hand restraints. Her hands were in flat featureless mitts that attached to each other behind her neck, making it look like she was holding her own shoulders. Andrea licked her lips and it was very clear that her entire lower face was damp.

The young man tried to keep his composure. It might not have been the strangest thing he had walked in on, but at the moment he couldn’t think of one stranger. “I’m.. sorry I interrupted.” he said apologetically. After Zainab signed he unloaded the food onto the small table and began to back the cart out of of the room. “Was I.. was I interrupting an orgy?” he nervously joked. It got him blank stares from Megan, Andrea and Zainab but Sophia couldn’t help but chuckle at the earnest awkwardness of it. “Sorry, enjoy your night,” he finally said as he scooted the cart out of the room and closed the door behind him.

“So.. why?” Sophia said as she waved a hand at Andrea’s general direction before moving to wave it around Zainab’s.

“Oh, well I didn’t want to keep the man with the hot food waiting, so I hadn’t gotten dressed yet, apologies. And Andrea.. well you can tell them why... all of this, right?” she said as she walked behind Andrea to use her body as a visual shield. “Why did I tell you you’d spend the night like this?”

“You said I overplayed my hand, so now you’ve taken my hands for the night,” Andrea said in tired deadpan acceptance, causing Megan and Sophia to both hold in a laugh at how terrible the joke was.

“That’s right! Now, why don’t you start setting up, I’ll get a top on and we can all start to dig in!”

Megan and Sophia moved the table into better place so all four of them could sit at it, two on the couch and two in chairs. Sophia sat down to wait while Megan went with a towel to wipe down Andreas face and examine her bindings. They laced tight with a buckle closing it off and hiding the knot. “Kinda want one?” Andrea playfully teased, causing Megan to slightly blush and nod her head. “Well there’s plenty of stuff in there, after dinner you could…” Andrea began but quit half way as Megan simply left to go to the back room.

Andrea went to go sit next to Sophia where Sophia put her arm around her in solidarity. She leaned her head on Sophia’s shoulder. “You may need to help me with some of this,” Andrea whispered as she looked at the spread of food.

“This might be Zainab paying, but I’m pretty sure this idea was yours wasn’t it?” Sophia asked as she rubbed her arm up and down Andrea’s side. Andrea nodded. “I know I’ve said it a lot already, but thank you.”

When Zainab emerged, once again dressed in jeans and a shirt, Megan was following behind having been laced into an armbinder. Zainab helped Megan to the couch before sitting herself across from Andrea. “Well let’s get this merry bunch of freaks some food eh?”

****

Once the four had had their fill, Sophia was the first to break the silence. “So could we.. I don’t know go out? I can’t leave the casino but that still leaves a lot of options.”

“Sure.. though most of us aren’t exactly ready to go out as we are,” Zainab said as she looked at the two bound friends and then at Sophia who was still wearing her bathrobe.

“Don’t worry, I brought some of my larger clothes for you to borrow,” Andrea pipped in. “And someone could always simply unlock me early..” she continued looking at Zainab.

“But then how would you learn your lesson?” Zainab said quietly to Andrea, but just loud enough for everyone to hear.

“Can’t you just.. teach it some other time? I really want a normal night out with no one in chains or collars or any of that,” Sophia pleaded.

Zainab didn’t say anything she simply started releasing Andrea. Once she was free, Andrea took Sophia to the back where her suitcase was and Zainab moved on to releasing Megan. By the time Zainab had finished, Sophia had returned wearing a thin green sweater, a long black skirt and sandals. “Is that the same sweater? From when I made you..” Zainab asked as she thought she recognized it from their first date.

“Uh.. I don’t need to hear what you made her do in this,” Sophia interrupted before Andrea covertly nodded her head. “Ok, getting me something new to wear just moved up a few notches. Of course,” she said, ending with a pause of hesitation. “Of course it’ll have to be one of you paying you realize.”

“Which means I’m paying I guess,” Zainab said. “So don’t worry too much about that, let’s just enjoy ourselves.”

****

“Now that is more what I had in mind!” Sophia said as she came out of the dressing room flamboyantly. She gave a spin in a tight low rise jeans encircled by a gold collared chain around her waist. Her top was a flowy open back purple halter top. “And please Zainab, whatever you do don’t tell me what this costs but I really want it,” She said as she walked over to the couch the three friends were occupying at the mouth of the dressing rooms.

“Well then you can have it, and I promise not to tell,” Zainab said

“Got to say, it’s a good thing your girlfriend’s so loaded Andrea,” Sophia snapped as she returned to checking herself out in the mirror.

“It’s why I put up with her,” Andrea joked before Zainab jabbed her with her elbow.

“Careful now,” Zainab said as she pointed a finger right at Andrea’s face.

“How did everything fit?” The saleswoman asked Sophia

“Oh just add it to the list, I’m sure it’s a mile long by now,” Andrea replied to Zainab.

“It’s all great, I think I’d like to wear it out if that’s alright” Sophia replied

“But it can always get longer..” Zainab said fading from threatening to inviting about half way through the sentence.

“Zainab, would you stop making flirt-threats and pay her?” Sophia said as she turned to look back at where her friends were sitting.

“I can do two things!” Zainab replied as she started to dig for a card to hand the woman. “Actually hang on, I got to do this one thing first and then I’ll be back,” she said as she corrected herself and followed the saleswoman up to the cash register.

“So where to now?” Megan asked.

“Well, there was a nightclub I used to go to back when… I mean back when I still had my own room. A lot of the dancers would go there after rehearsals because they’d do cheaper drinks for staff. It’d be nice to be able to go there again,” Sophia explained.

“Since you wouldn’t be paying, would that even count?” Andrea asked.

“Only one way to find out,” Sophia said as she helped her friends up off the couch.

****

The club wasn’t very busy yet, and the girls found a small table all to themselves. The four each put in their orders as they looked around at the surprisingly ordinary club tucked away at the far end of the complex. It was not nearly as glamorous as some of the other clubs in the casino, but Sophia had fond memories of many a late night. The drinks came quickly enough as the four sat away chatting and looking about.

“Excuse me?” came a somewhat muted voice. “Hi, I’m sorry to.. I mean.. I hope I’m not interrupting,” said the red headed server who had earlier brought them dinner. He had changed out of his uniform, and was rather lanky. Something made worse by the fact that his shirt was at least a size too big. “I just saw you come in and.. wow. After I realized who you were a few seconds after closing the door I felt really bad about that joke I made. I hope I didn’t..”

“No, no it’s fine. I know you didn’t mean anything by it,” Sophia said, interrupting him before he had a chance to ramble too far.

“Good. Good. I just know I really want to make sure I didn’t hit a sore spot. I wouldn’t want to.. It’s just that I know you’ve had a hard time here. I mean I heard how you used to be.. and now you’re put through all this..  and I just hoped I didn’t make it worse. I’m sorry, I must sound like a stalker!” he mumbled nervously, looking down at his hands most of the time as she tried to pantomime out what he was saying.

“No trust me, you sound fine,” Sophia said with a smile. “What’s your name?”

“Rob.. bert.. I mean Rob. You can call me Rob,” he said as she extended his hand.

“Well Rob, thank you for caring. It seems like more than most of these people do,” Sophia said as she rolled her eyes around at all the hypothetical people that might be in the club. She shook his hand which she felt was jittering nervously.

“Why don’t we go dance?” Zainab asked as she got up out of the booth with Andrea close behind.

“Well, I don’t want to get in your way. I just come here sometimes for a few drinks.. I’ll just go.” he nervously said as he started to back away.

“No wait,” Sophia said to Rob. “You go on ahead I’ll meet you in a bit,” she said to Zainab before turning back to Rob. “So, you said you ‘heard’ about me? I’m curious as to what people are saying about me. Come, sit.”

“Really? Well.. ok,” he said as he waited for Megan to exit before sitting across from Sophia.

“So what kind of people?” Sophia repeated, curious to know how much had spread about her.

“Well, like.. I mean not that many. I only really talk to some of the other people at the desk. We know you’re under contract to Felix personally, not the casino like almost everyone else. We know you’ve got kind of a different contract than most of the other girls. And one of the guys heard from someone else that Aaron, the guy in charge of handing out assignments, well I heard he was even told by Felix himself to try to keep you busy and to give you the tough stuff.”

“I fucking knew it!” Sophia said as she banged on the table. “I thought he must be behind this, that petty little shit.”

“Felix?” Rob asked, almost rhetorically.

“Bet your fucking ass Felix! Oh.. oh, so..” Sophia said, pausing for a moment as her second drink arrived. As she downed the shot in a single gulp she shook. “Oh, it’s been a while. Casino normally wants me sober at all times so they can always put me to work with someone new. I was never huge on alcohol, but I got to say, banning something makes it go down so good! Oh, this is fun, so what else do you know about me?”

“Well, what do I know? Or what do they know?”

“Is there a difference?” Sophia asked, tilting her head.

“Well they don’t know much more than that.. I. I can’t it’s embarrassing.” he said as he put his hands on his lap and sat back.

“Here, Megan didn’t even touch it, nice and fruity too. Have some and get over the embarrassment, do you not realize what I normally do all day?” Sophia said as she slid over a martini glass with a red concoction of some kind.

Rob looked at it and took a sip, continuing until he had finished it completely. “Sorry. I just.. it’s kind of intimidating to talk to you.”

“Intimidating?” Sophia asked, now really not sure what he was getting on about.

“It’s just.. you’re so.. I mean I could never have a.. looking like that and..”

“Will you get over it already? You work with a lot of beautiful women, a lot of them are a lot more beautiful than I’ll ever be. You saying you don’t talk to any of them?” Sophia interrupted.

“No.. but.. I mean I saw you on that website,” Rob replied sheepishly.

“Oh, that. How much did you watch?” Sophia asked, sitting back in her chair and crossing her arms.

“A lot. That’s.. why this is so weird. I must have watched that day you when you took over so many times. It was all I thought about for a while after I first saw it. Then, I saw you in here a few months ago, and thought.. no it must just be a coincidence. Then I find out later that you started working here, and I couldn’t believe it! I mean how did you get from there to here?”

“It’s.. a long story. Those recordings that went live, they end right before a lot of bad stuff went down. I still don’t know what made Hannah decide not to release those last few days of video, but it would be a very different picture if you saw them all.”

“I mean, it must have been a trick right? I mean you just so.. you just always seemed so strong, so confident. You’d never agree to this kind of treatment, it doesn’t make sense!”

“You don’t even know me,” Sophia said, in a knee-jerk contrarian response.

“I just kind of feel it. It’s only powerful, domineering women that make me feel like I did watching you on those videos.”

“So you only like woman who can dominate you?” Sophia asked.

Rob blushed and looked away. “That’s.. not what I.. yes.. but..”

“Hey, my drink!” Megan said as she walked up, favoring one foot in a slight limp.

“I’m sorry, I.. she..” Rob said like a deer frozen in headlights.

“Uh, whatever, just scoot in. I need to sit down,” Megan said, scooting Rob further in so she could sit down. “Some gorilla over there stepped right on my damn toes, didn’t even apologize or nothing.”

“I’m sorry,” Rob said.

“Why you didn’t do anything?” Megan said as she turned to face him. “Sorry, did I interrupt?”

“My new friend here,” Sophia said, scooting around to sit closer, reveling in the awkward discomfort it created. “Was just telling me he likes dominant women and thinks I’m one of them.”

“Well you kinda are,” Megan said. “At least, most of the time you are.”

“What is she?” Andrea asked as she walked back up with Zainab.

“Dominant,” Megan replied.

“Rob here likes dominant women, don’t you Rob?” Sophia said, shaking Rob slightly.

Rob looked around nervously. He suddenly felt very trapped, very overwhelmed. Not frightened, just acutely alert. And more than a little turned on.

Zainab banged her hand on the table, capturing his focus. “The woman asked you a question, now give us an answer!” she barked, almost like a drill sergeant.

Rob just nodded his head. His heart was racing as he looked around. He felt his cock getting hard from all the attention. “Can I go now?”

Sophia broke into laughter. Not mocking laughter, the kind of laughter made by someone who couldn’t keep a joke going any longer and cracked. “Oh, I’m sorry, oh.. just let us buy you a drink to make up for all that.” Sophia said as she backed off to give him space.

“Well, sure. I guess so.” Rob said as he tried his best to sit back and look relaxed.

****

“Hangover gone yet?” Andrea asked.

“Yeah, that red cactus juice stuff of yours worked nicely,” Sophia said as she sat up a little straighter in the bed.

“Well then,” Zainab said as she too sat up in bed beside Andrea. “I didn’t want to bring it up too early, but we need to plan out today. I think we should try and get that whole ‘sexual use’ nonsense out of the way before dinner if we can. So, what would be the least painful way you think?”

“If you want, you can use me,” Megan said, as she leaned against the bed where Andrea and Zainab had slept. “You could tie me up and whatever you want. Or just leave me tied up for a while that counts too right?” she said as she pulled her hands behind her back.

“That could work. You’d probably have to be naked,” Sophia replied.

“Not a problem at all!” Megan said as she reached down to remove her shirt.

“Right, ok,” Sophia said, a little surprised at how eagerly her friend seemed to be stripping. “No.. stop.. this is weird. I don’t know why, but it feels weird if it’s just me and you and I had to do things to you naked.”

“Well, ok, but then Zainab would you maybe mind?” Megan asked as she sat up topless with studs in each nipple to look behind her at Zainab. “Why not,” Zainab replied as she shrugged her shoulders.

“Hey, what about that Rob guy from last night?” Andrea said. “Before he left he gave me his number, and he said it’s his day off today..”

“I don’t know, I’m not sure I want to be getting involved with people that work here, what if word gets around? It could make my life even worse if every bellboy and dishwasher thinks they got a shot with me.” Sophia explained.

“Are you kidding me?” Zainab interjected. “That boy was both terrified and infatuated. If you made it clear to keep quiet that guy’s bringing it to his grave.”

“You think?” Sophia said, with just a bit of a smile across her face.

“Oh yeah. You would be calling the shots and he’d be just so happy to be along for the ride he’d never object,” Zainab replied assuredly.

“Alright, sure. Andrea, make the call,” Sophia said as she got up to sit beside Andrea to listen in on the call.

“Megan, since you’re the only one who hasn’t showered already, why don’t you go do that while they’re calling. Then we all go get some food and maybe get Sophia another outfit or two and then we’ll all just get ready for when this guy comes over.” Zainab said as she got up to head towards the bathroom.

“All of us?” Sophia asked.

“Why not?”

****

Rob lay in bed looking up at his ceiling with a big stupid grin. It took him minutes to talk himself into going over to their table last night but it had so been worth it. He had been so nervous because, as his mind was keen to remind him, such attempts usually end badly. But this time it hadn’t. It had been great. One of the girls had written down his number, that never happens!

The tranquil mood was broken by the all too familiar squeals of delight coming from his roommate’s girlfriend through their paper thin walls. He would say something, but every time he had in the past it was always the same excuse, “we forgot it was your day off.” He reached for his big headphones but before he could his phone rang.

“Hello?” he said as he walked to the far side of the room, away as much as he could from the sounds of the bedroom beside his.

“Hi, this is Andrea, one of the girls from last night. How are you?” came the voice at the other end of the phone.

“Hello, I mean good. So what’s up?” he said, trying  but failing to shield the call from the increasingly loud sounds of fucking.

“Um.. did I catch you at a weird time?” Andrea asked, hearing the muffled but unmistakable sound of a woman screaming in ecstasy.

Rob ran to the wall and knocked loudly several times until the noises stopped. “Sorry, roommates, kinda loud.”

“Anyway, we were wondering if you’re free today?” Andrea asked after a slight pause.

“Sure, of course! What, I’m free all day,” he said, working hard to keep an attempt at a blasé attitude going.

“Ok, but just one request. Whatever happens it stays quiet you got that?”

“Yes, I can do that, whatever you want!” He said, trying to simply be accommodating and not ask why.

“Alright, room 411, same section as before. Meet us up there in two hours. Sound good?” Andrea asked.

“Yes, sounds great, I’ll see you there,” Rob said as he hung up the phone.

A knock came at his door. “Hey, sorry about that. I didn’t know it was your day off. You should put a schedule up or something.” Rob’s roommate said.

“There is a schedule, up on the fridge,” Rob said as he sighed to himself.

“Oh. You’re right, my bad. So who was that, finally meet a girl?”

“It.. never mind. It was no one.” Rob said as he smirked safely out of sight from behind his door. “I’ll be going out soon, so you’ll have the place to yourself again in a moment.”

“Off to go sketch and people watch by the shore again? Getting kind of cold for that isn’t it?”

“It’s.. something like that,” he said as he opened the door, towel in hand to go claim his turn in the bathroom.

****

Rob was pacing. He knew he probably would so he knew to come early. He checked the time again, an hour and 59 minutes since the call. He breathed in deep and walked up to the door, gingerly knocking and then instinctively backing up so he could be seen through the peephole. The door cracked open with only a simple “come in” uttered. He walked inside just in time to see the door to the bedroom close. He sat down on the couch to wait.

“Well are you coming in?” came a voice from behind the door.

“Oh, uh Sorry, I thought you might have been changing or..” Rob said as he quickly went to open the door and just as quickly lost his ability to speak. Standing in front of him was Sophia who wore a purple strapless bikini top with matching side tie bikini bottoms. Zainab stood beside her in a revealing, patterned blue one piece. But beside her Andrea and Megan knelt in matching black side tie string bikinis, each with their hands held behind their back and each wearing collars with a chain leash running up to Sophia’s hand.

“How’s this for interrupting an orgy?” Sophia taunted.

“Wha.. wha..” Rob muttered, flabbergasted and intimidated by what he saw.

“It’s from your joke? From the other.. Never mind.” Sophia said, temporarily losing her hard edge. “So, Rob, how would you like to play a game? A little game called, you and your cock belong to me. Would you be interested in anything like that?” she said as she slowly walked toward him.

Rob nervously nodded his head. “This.. this is for real? It isn’t a trick?”

“No, the offer’s quite real. I only ask that you keep this to yourself, and that you let me know if I ever cross a line. Understood?”

“Yes, understood,” he said nodding his head.

“Good. Now strip! Strip and kneel,” Sophia commanded as she walked back to stand once again beside Zainab. Rob quickly complied, taking off everything and folding it all into a pile just past the door frame. He started shaking as he got down to just his underwear, but he quickly removed that too and knelt on the floor. His cock was already mostly hard and stood out proudly beyond his thin patch of light colored pubic hair. He tried looking up at Sophia but became nervous and averted his gaze down to her feet.

Sophia reached back to the bed to retrieve her slave collar and walk forward to the skinny naked man before her. “Let’s see if this fits,” she said as she worked the collar around his neck. His hair was short and not in the way at all. It shut snugly, perhaps tighter than it was on her but she could still squeeze a finger inside. “How does that feel?” she asked.

Rob brought his fingers up to his neck and felt the rough metal than now encircled it. “It feels good,” he said as his hands continued to feel around the collar and metal disk that hung from it.

Sophia smiled and went back to retrieve her shackles to fit them around his wrists in front of him. They were, like the collar, a little tight but manageably so. She attached a short chain from his shackles to his collar, keeping his hands just above his stomach. He knelt frozen, heart racing and unable to react.

“Lookie here,” Sophia said as she forced his knees apart with her foot. She began to rub her foot softly against his hard cock, brushing it lightly and batting it around. “Looks like you’re all excited.”

Sophia knelt down, resting her legs on top of his and moving herself close to him. “Now,” she whispered into his ear. “If you could order me to do anything, what would you want to order me to do?” she asked seductively. “Would you like me to slide forward and ride your cock? Or would you rather I get down and suck you off? Maybe have some of my friends join in? Come on, give me an order!”

Rob thought, the offers were all so tempting. But something felt off. He wasn’t sure what, but he didn’t want to answer her. He would be happy with any of those but they all felt, like a trick. He found Sophia immensely beautiful, but felt that beauty was about her personality and demeanor as much as her appearance, and this somehow didn’t seem to fit with the personality he thought he saw in her before. “I.. I don’t want to give you an order. I’d rather you to give them to me,” he quietly replied.

Sophia leaned in and smiled. “Good, I was hoping you’d say that.”

****

Lea never liked giving presentations. But when she had in the past, the stakes had only been a bad grade. The stakes were considerably higher as she sat in the waiting room, dressed in the very basic skirt and shirt she was allowed to borrow for the presentation. She clutched an envelope tight, like she was trying to squeeze good luck out of it. If things went badly she had talked her way into months more of terrible service.

“Leota, they’re ready for you,” the receptionist said. She felt queezy, as she stood up and walked through the doors as another man was leaving.

“Well, you again, I remember you now. So you got yet another meeting so what do you got now?” Felix said from behind his desk. on the couch beside him was Marian and another woman.

“I.. um..” Leota said as she cleared her throat. “So.. I have been speaking with the company Synsermo and I’ve got a proposal on their behalf.” Lea said, causing both Felix and Marian to sit forward slightly. It added to the stress, causing her to freeze for a moment. But only a moment, she realized with relief that this meant he was interested, and she was safe from having an extended sentence. “So, from what I heard from Marian, the problem with NESICs..” she continued.

“Other than the fact that there’s a waitlist that they won’t allow people to buy their way to the front?” Felix interrupted.

“Well, yes, other than that she was saying that since we don’t have phones on us and all the controls look ugly and identical, you don’t have a good way to utilize them. Well, what if I told you I could fix that?” Lea asked rhetorically.

“With a little work, the remotes could be rewired. They were actually working on something similar to roll out before Christmas. And with a little extra work on the hardware shape, and maybe a few little tweaks to the programming they could be controlled that way. You could set and forget as it were. The phone wouldn’t need to stay with them.”

“Rewired into what, I don’t get it,” Marian said.

“Well, into anything. The company is working on some bracelets and necklaces, but I was thinking for your purpose they could be put in collars. There could be buttons to turn them up and down or it will just remember the last command it was given and stick to that until given a new command or the batteries run out. Which should be a long time, these don’t take almost anything to run.”

“So? How does that help me if not everyone has those installed?” Felix replied.

“This is where you might be most interested. I’ve gotten them to agree to a one year exclusive contract with an option to extend beyond that. It also means that your employees will get priority, so they move to the front of the waitlist. And no other adult entertainment venue beyond a certain size will be allowed wearable remotes. For a healthy fee of course.”

“They’re willing to be exclusive?” Felix asked stunned.

“They are open to that, yes. You wanted to have a way to make your resorts stand out? You’ll be the only venue where every girl will have a NESIC controlled from a collar or piece of jewelry. I’ll need some time to work with them again..” Lea said as she got to the hard sell.

“You? You’ve worked for Synsermo? And you still agreed to a contract?” Felix said as he started to chuckle. “I will say, I don’t understand you, but you bring in one hell of an idea. Is there a formal offer?” He asked.

“Yes,” she said as she handed him the envelope she held. “And I made sure nothing in there should be a conflict for the contract I already signed. I can’t end that early or anything, but it does give a lot of flexibility of how I spend my day, so I can help them roll these out.”

“Well,” Felix said with Marian and the other woman both over his shoulder reading the offer. “Obviously lawyer, lawyer, accountant, accountant, blah blah blah, but.. this is very interesting. If it all checks out you might have a deal.” He said. “And how early can this happen?”

“Well.. if I could help them get the program up and..”

“Sure. Marian, you got a winner there. Get her back and get her a room to work in for now. We’ll see how this works out, but I’d rather push the time advantage if we can take it.”

“Of course, I’ll make sure she gets what she needs,” Marian said as she continued to read over his shoulder.

****

“You know? This sounded a lot better in theory than in practice,” Zainab said as she once agains submerged herself down to her neck to escape the breeze. “It’s way too cold for all this.”

“Oh quit your whining,” Sophia said, as she took another sip from her glass. “We’re in a hot tub, the sun is shining, and what makes the warm water feel better than a cool breeze? You want a turn with Rob massaging your feet? He’s really not bad.”

“How can it be so cold when the sun is so bright? That’s it, I’m going inside. You all can stay if you want,” Zainab said as she got up and grabbed for a towel.

“If you wanna go..” Sophia said to the other two who were still in their metal collars with their hands behind their back. Andrea just kind of shook her head and laid back before Megan did about the same.

“Mistress, may I ask you something?” Rob asked once silence had returned.

“Knock yourself out,” Sophia said leaning back to find a more comfortable spot for the jets.

“I didn’t want to have this taken the wrong way, but why did you invite me over? Why me?”

Sophia pulled her foot back from him and sat up. “Well, and now I don’t want you to take this the wrong way, but because you’d be helping me out. See, a part of my contract with Felix, well how the casino’s interpreting it at least, says I need to be used sexually daily. It’s helped to make the last few weeks rather terrible. These friends of mine here, well this is their idea of a rescue from that. They’re renting me from the casino, but I still got that pesky clause. I got to be used sexually or I go back to be used sexually some other way.”

“Why would you ever agree to a contract like that?” He asked dumbfoundedly.

“Well, that goes back to those last few days in the cabin. Hannah tricked us, she impersonated us and invited some people over. We thought they were going to kidnap us for real. They thought we were just playing and wanting to sign up for long term slave contracts. When they gave me the contract to sign I read through it like I was supposed to, whole thing on video, lawyers present, sent off for registration, the whole thing. I signed and cooperated because I was just so glad at the time I was going to Carl and not someone else. I didn’t even think that objecting was an option. We tried appealing the contract, but it was already registered and so it was too late. Only way we could have voided it was if we charged Lea with a whole bunch of crimes in order to prove I signed under duress. Because from the video it sure didn’t seem like duress. When everything about us got big on the news, we debated releasing those last few days ourselves, but since it wouldn’t change my contract we didn’t want to add fuel to the media fire. Not to mention that it might open us up to damage lawsuits from the other people on those days of the tapes. And then Carl died and I got stuck with Felix, that’s when everything really got bad.” Sophia explained in a somber, subdued tone.

“I.. wow. I always thought there must be more to it than the tapes I had no idea why someone like you would want to submit yourself to a place like this,” he said.

“Tell me about it. So that’s the long and the short of it. I need to do something sexual and.. well Andrea suggested why not invite this guy who hung out with us last night?” Sophia replied in a much lighter tone. “So let me return the question, why’d you come?”

“I.. well I had a good time and.. you’re so.. beautiful and.. well..” He replied nervously.

“Oh, you think I’m beautiful?” Sophia said as she moved her leg over to make contact with his uncovered penis. He closed his eyes and moaned at the touch. “Oh, look at that, he’s reacting,” Sophia said as she could feel his cock hardening. Rob opened his eyes again and began to squirm under the intimidating gaze. “And what about my friends, are they beautiful as well?” Sophia asked tauntingly as she moved over to where Zainab had been sitting between Megan and Andrea.

Rob nodded his head nervously, causing a grin to creep across Sophia’s face. “I have to say, there’s something adorable about you when you look overwhelmed.” Sophia moved to untie Megan’s top, and throw the garment in Rob’s general direction. Megan sat up, a bit, putting just a peek of her breasts above the water Sophia decided to untie her bottoms as well, a move that made Megan quiver and caused Rob to blush as soon as he saw the loose material in Sophia’s hand.

With a gentle nudge, Megan moved over to sit on Rob’s legs facing him. Her raised position brought her full breasts above the water and into intimate view. Rob couldn’t help but stare at them or the fact that her pierced nipples were quickly reacting to the cool breeze. Sophia moved beside the two and slowly began to stroke his cock. “Of course, I hope you didn’t just come here because you find me or my friends hot.”

“No, no Mistress. That’s not it at all,” Rob grunted as Sophia picked up the pace of the strokes.

“Hey,” Zainab said as she slid the soundproofed glass door open enough to fit her head out. “If you’re getting going, come on in. Trust me, you don’t want to be doing that in a hotel hot tub!” she said as she waved for them all to come in.

“That’s actually a very good point,” Sophia conceided. “Well slave, fetch us our towels then.”

“Yes Mistress,” Rob said as he got out to grab a stack of towels. He handed one to Sophia, but as Megan and Andrea followed he wasn’t sure how to proceed, given their restrained hands.

“Oh, Zainab, come out here and deal with this would you?” Sophia said as she began to dry herself off.

“Fine,” Zainab said as she walked out and grabbed the two towels Rob held.

“And you, you’re coming with me,” Sophia said as she pulled Rob by his restraints. Rob followed dutifully behind, his hard cock bouncing with each step. Sophia detached the chain connecting his shackles to his collar and pushed him head first onto the far bed. She climbed up to find the small hook she knew would be there and attached the chain to it, holding his arms up to the top centre of the bed. She then quickly grabbed two metal ankle cuffs and chain to pin Rob’s legs spread to the bottom corners of the bed.

“Tell me slave, is this also something you thought about when we called you over?” Sophia said, running a finger up his leg and over his ass.

“I hoped for it, very much Mistress,” he said as he quivered at her touch.

“Good answer.”

****

Rob lay there, pulling at his chains and loving the feeling of restriction. He looked to his side and saw Zainab bring the other two inside and help them up onto the other bed. He watched her begin to chain one of them into a hogtie before Sophia walked into view. She had a wicked smile as she knelt on the bed and began to fasten a blindfold, blinding Rob completely.

He felt a delicate hand grab at his penis. It was soft and gentle as it tugged up and down on his uncircumcised cock. He couldn’t help but moan in pleasure. He raised his ass to give the hand more room to work, only to feel the sharp sting of a hard slap. The slaps continued, both cheeks at a time with his cock now neglected.

“Did I ask you to raise your ass to me?” Sophia asked tantalizingly.

“I’m sorry Mistress,” he said as he lowered back down to the bed, bending his cock down awkwardly between his leg

Sophia climbed up onto the bed between his legs and removed her bathing suit. She laid down, pressing her naked body against Robs backside. She contentedly lay there, putting her entire weight down on him. She felt his chest rise and fall as he continued to breath heavily. She felt his heart race as she began to trace one of her hands up his arm. “You realized you’re trapped right slave? You’re not going to be able to move unless I let you. When is your next shift?”

“Not until tomorrow evening Mistress,” he replied.

“Well, then there’s probably nothing to stop me from just leaving you here until then is there?” Sophia said softly into his ear.

Rob quivered, something he was sure Sophia had felt which only made him blush. He pulled at his arms to confirm once again that he was well and truly stuck. He tried to calm himself, his mind was racing and it was difficult to stay in the moment as a result. He felt a hand running through his short hair and an accompanying and reassuring shush. “Now now, there’s no need to panic,” Sophia cooed.

Rob closed his eyes and tried to concentrate. He wasn’t sure why, he had a blindfold on, but it did help. He began to take deep, slow and deliberate breaths; slowly raising and lowering the woman laying naked on top of him.

“Good,” Sophia said as she lay her head against his arm. She ran one of her hands under his chest, rubbing around in search of his nipple. She grinned as she found it, pinching it lightly between her two fingers. “You seem to be in a very vulnerable position here,” she whispered as she put her mouth right up to his ear. “Go ahead, struggle. Try to stop me from twisting your nipple.”

A jolt of pain ran through Rob as Sophia pinched down hard and began to twist. Rob tried to shake her loose. She started to slide off until Sophia spread her legs wide, bracing herself against Rob’s legs. The most he could do after that was shake her up and down vertically, sliding Sophia’s hips over the red marks on his ass. His breathing started quickening again as his mind began to race.

Sophia released her hand and watched as Rob continued to shake up and down. She could see his lips mumbling something but no sound was coming out. His rate of breathing and struggling only increased as Sophia began to get genuinely worried. “Is something wrong?” she asked as she kindly ran a hand through his red hair. The struggling subsided but the heavy breathing continued. Sophia got off of him and rolled over to his side. It still vaguely looked like his lips were trying to form words, like he was talking to himself. “Are you ok?” she asked again.

“Mistress..” he said as he visibly swallowed nervousness. “Mistress I was just think..” he said before he paused again. “Never mind, I’m yours to do with as you please.”

“That may be true,” Sophia replied as she returned a hand to his back. “But this is obviously on your mind, now spit it out,” she said with a tone of calm reassurance.

“I just.. I..” he stammered, unable to get to the meat of the matter.

“Spit it out, that’s an order!” Sophia said in a much more direct manner.

“Mistress,” he said as he raised his ass slightly into the air. “Mistress, please fuck your slave in his ass.”

****

Rob waited nervously for what would come next. He was surprised with himself for asking, but it had been something he wanted badly to try with someone else. It had only ever been a fantasy, but all of today seemed like a fantasy and so he found it impossible not to think of it. The way he had been shaking, the way it felt like Sophia was thrusting into him, it was all screaming at him to ask. He felt Sophia get up silently off the bed. In the distance he could hear whispers, but not make out a word of what was being discussed. He heard the door to the living room open and stay open for some time before he heard it close again. There were certainly footsteps, but the carpet dulled the sound to make it impossible for him to make guesses.

Without warning, he felt some kind of whip strike his ass causing him to cry out. “Not so loud slave,” Sophia said before another blow landed. This time, he knew it was coming and was able to stifle any response. The hits sped up, barely allowing for a rest between until the pain became too much. He began to pull at his chains but they gave him very little room to move. Eventually he could no longer hold back and let out cries after each new hit. After perhaps a dozen cries he felt the assault cease altogether. His ass felt like it was giving off flames and  must have been marked red all over.

“Are you sure you know you want what you’re asking for?” Sophia asked as Rob felt someone get up onto the bed beside him.

“I’m sorry Mistress, you don’t have to..” he said meekly.

“That isn’t what I asked,” Sophia said before another two blows landed on his ass. “I asked if you’re sure that’s something you want!”

“I.. this is embarrassing..”

“I’m not going to ask again slave,” Sophia said, giving his ass one more good hit when he still delayed.

“Yes, ok? Yes I know what I’m asking for. I.. there’s just nothing.. I really love dominant women, women who take charge and be in control. I want to be dominated. There’s just nothing that I can think of that’s more like I’m being dominated than being fucked from behind. I know it’s not.. I mean not everyone would like that and so I don’t want to try telling you what to do it’s just.. yes I have thought this through.” Rob said before immediately burying his head in the covers.

He was both ecstatic and terrified, he had no way of reading any reactions. He felt the person on the bed get up silently before eventually hearing whispering. There was a small amount of rustling, but he couldn’t tell what was happening.

The bed rocked as someone began to climb back up and over his legs. He gasped as he felt a cool liquid being dribbled onto his ass. He moaned and his cock throbbed as he felt two fingers penetrate him, spreading lubricant inside before quickly leaving again.Two dainty hands grabbed his hips as he felt the tip of a dildo pressing against his hole. The pressure built up slowly as it worked its way into his ass. It slid in smoothly but was incredibly filling.

After it backed up, the dildo slid much faster back in, this time reaching all the way in. Rob felt smooth skin pressed against his ass as he let out a moan. A moan he repeated after another thrust, one that went even quicker. The pace continued to increase as he felt his ass slapped with each deep thrust, mixing a sensitive pain in with the pleasure. The hands moved from his hips to the small of his back, pushing him back to flat against the bed. The thrusting continued as he felt more submissive than he had ever felt in his life. He gripped the sheets with his hands and simply enjoyed the ride.

He felt someone else climb up onto the bed. She placed a pillow over his arms and sat down on them. She slid forward, bringing herself closer and closer to Rob’s head. He began to smell the unmistakable smell of pussy, and soon felt legs on either side of him. The woman ran her hand through his hair, forcing him to lift his head as his ass continued to be penetrated.

The hand in his hair, pushed on the back of his head, forcing him forward and into the woman’s waiting pussy. He did his best to lick, to play. Enthusiastic more than skilled, but it seemed to be having an effect. He heard the woman begin to moan as she returned to running her hand through his hair.

Rob redoubled his efforts as he felt himself begin to approach an orgasm. The woman on his ass was almost mechanical it seemed, she had been relentless and quick, his ass cheeks had become very sensitive from the constant slapping her pelvis was causing. “Oh.. so you like it?” The woman he was licking asked. He tried nodding his head but found it difficult with her hand positioned as it was.

Rob felt a hand drift to the back of his head and unfasten the blindfold. The light came flooding back, forcing his eyes to take the time to properly adjust. As his sight became clearer he looked up and saw the grinning face of Sophia looking down at him. He tried his best to look around behind him, but with Sophia’s legs where they were he couldn’t turn enough.

“Did I say you could stop?” Sophia said as she forced his head back down and began to groan again in low bursts. “How does it feel slave? You feel nice and submissive now? Feel nice and submissive as you lick my cunt as she pounds away at your precious ass?” Sophia said in louder and louder tones. “You’re fucking nothing but a fuck toy to us slave! That’s right pound this slave’s ass good and hard!” she said as she began to dig her, albeit short, nails into his back and scratch.

The sensations were overwhelming. Rob began to shake and grunt as he started to cum, shooting a large load from the base of his cock. The thrusting stopped and Sophia pulled his head up to look him square in the eye. “Was that as good as you were hoping?” she asked with a sound of genuine curiosity.

“And then some..” Rob said between gasps. “Thank you.”

“Wait, do you hear that?” the other woman asked.

****

“What the hell do I do?” Sophia first whispered to her other three friends shortly after Rob first asked to be fucked in the ass. She had not yet done anything and didn’t know what if anything she should do with a request like that.

“Well, do you wanna try it?” Zainab asked.

“I mean.. kind of.. but I’m kind of.. what if I hurt him?” Sophia asked.

“It’s not that bad,” Zainab said.

“Well, maybe.. you two ok if I move you out to the other room to get some privacy for this?” Sophia asked looking back at her two hogtied friends. They both nodded their heads. First Megan, then Andrea were carried still tied into the other room. “Alright, I’m just going to do this you two good out here for a while?” Sophia said before receiving another pair of head nods. She grabbed Zainab by the arm and pulled her back into the bedroom before closing the door.

“So,” Sophia said in an even softer whisper than she had been using. “Would you mind actually.. showing me? I just.. I’ve had some not great experiences with anal and I don’t want to subject this guy to something like that. You seem confident enough..”

Zainab nodded her head. She took off her one piece bathing suit and went to retrieve a strapon, climbing up onto the bed with some lube and beginning to work.

On the other side of the door, not a lot of sound made it’s way to Andrea and Megan. Megan contentedly lay her head down, occasionally jingling her chains and smiling. Andrea flipped over to her side and continued to watch the door. As if watching it long enough would give her the power to see through it and find out what was keeping Zainab.

After a while she started to hear voices. Progressively, they got louder until they were finally intelligible. Sophia was taunting Rob. Talking about how it felt to lick her while someone else fucked her from behind.

It seemed to Andrea that suddenly she could see through the door. She was picturing it vividly now. Sophia was sitting up with Rob’s head buried between her legs, all while Zainab fucked him from behind. Andrea felt like she was receiving a sudden blast of hot air from one of the vents. She  suddenly felt very warm, so she tried moving to her other side. The hot stuffy feeling followed her. She pulled at her chains and fell to her stomach, looking over at Megan who was now paying attention to Andrea’s jostling.

“You alright?” Megan asked as she could see her friend becoming flushed.

“Hey, Zee didn’t leave a key around here did she?” Andrea asked as she looked around.

“No.. something a little tight?” Megan asked.

“Yeah.. no.. I’m sure.. yes actually.. I just..” Andrea replied. “Zee.. Hey.. could you come here please? Zee? Zainab, seriously.. Could you come here please?” Andrea cried out before looking back at Megan for reassurance.

After only a short pause the door opened and both Sophia and Zainab came out, Zainab still wearing the strap-on. “You alright?” Sophia asked.

“Sorry.. Zee could you just get me out of these now?” Andrea said as she jingled her chains around. Zainab immediately disappeared to fetch the key. “Sorry.. Sophia I didn’t mean to.. you can go back, I’ll be better in a second once I’m out.” Sophia looked sympathetically at Andrea. “Really, I’ll be fine in a second here,” Andrea continued as Zainab returned with keys.

“Fine, I’ll be in soon,” Sophia said before closing the door behind her.

“You sure you’re ok? I don’t remember you ever really having a little freak out like this before.” Zainab said as she unlocked the cuffs from Andrea’s wrists.

“I do..” Andrea said once she could again stretch her arms and straighten her legs. “I.. this weird thing happened to me before. I was tied up.. and when I started picturing.. well with someone else I suddenly felt.. I don’t know just wanting to get out. It must mean.. I guess I just get jealous of my Mistress having all the fun, or something.” Andrea explained, starting to feel a little silly. “I think it only really happens to someone I love.. being.. whatever it is I am to you Mistress.” Andrea said as she sat up and kissed Zainab.

“And I love being your Mistress,” Zainab said as she hugged Andrea. “I’m sorry, your friend just asked me to do it for her, she just seemed really worried about doing something wrong and hurting that poor kid. I thought I could help her out.. I didn’t stop to think about you. I’m sorry.” she explained.

“Well, your heart’s in the right place. I think I’m probably fine again.. but no more tying me up and having sex in the other room!” Andrea said, already able to joke about it.

“Oh but darling, what if I just tie you up in the corner of the room I’m in? Then can I have anyone I want right?” Zainab chuckled.

“Oh, yes of course, that’s totally allowed, I wouldn’t want to put a cramp in your style after all. You’ve got to be free to be you!” Andrea sarcastically replied. Zainab just quietly looked into her eyes and smiled. “You know I was joking right?”

“You’re an idiot,” Zainab said as she leaned in and deeply, passionately kissed Andrea.

****

“Is your friend alright?” Rob asked as Sophia shut the door.

“Oh, she’ll be fine..” Sophia said as she began releasing Rob from the bed. “So, here’s what’s gonna happen. I’m feeling kind of done here, you’re obviously spent. Why don’t you get dressed and if you want to stay and hang you’re welcome to it. They said they got a big dinner planned to be delivered I’ll check with them but it’s probably no big deal to get you squeezed in,” Sophia said as she went to go find clothes to put on.

“I’ll do whatever you want my Mistress,” Rob said as he went to go retrieve his own clothes.

“Oh, you’re sweet, but we’re done with the games for now.” She said as she slipped on a new pair of black lace panties and reached for the matching bra.

“I.. I’m sorry I didn’t mean it as a game,” he said.

“Look, you seem nice, you don’t want to tie yourself to me. It’s not gonna go well for you, trust me,” Sophia said as she pulled up the jeans she got the other day. She put on a dull red t-shirt before turning to look over at Rob. “So you wanna stay for the dinner at least?”

“Sure, sounds like fun,” he said as he finished getting dressed. The two walked out to the living room to see Megan still hogtied naked while Zainab and Andrea sat up on the couch.

“So, when are we aiming for dinner? Hour? Two?” Sophia asked. “Either way I think Rob’ll be joining us.”

“Yep, looking at around two. Got a whole spread coming. We got a Turkey, potatoes, the whole deal, nice Thanksgiving,” Andrea said.

“Oh.. but.. shouldn’t that be later? I mean it is Tuesday today right?” Sophia asked.

“Well..” Andrea started before looking over at Zainab.

“See, we are doing it today cause we can’t do it later. The casino would only let us rent you when they had you to spare, we.. Tomorrow you’ll be going back to working out there.” Zainab explained carefully. “I.. I thought I mentioned that before, but maybe I.. maybe I forgot.”

“Maybe you said it and I just didn’t want to hear it.” Sophia said as she looked down at the floor. “I think I’m going to.. maybe wash the chlorine.. before dinner,” she said despondently as she headed back to the bathroom.

****

“Are you ok? It’s been over an hour,” Zainab said as she knocked on the bathroom door. “Can I come in?” she asked after waiting a bit for a response. She waited for another long pause before he tested to see that the door wasn’t actually locked. “I’m coming in,” she warned as he slowly opened the door.

Sophia looked over at her. She sat in the tub with her legs pulled up to her chest and her arms around her knees just above the water line. Her eyes were red and her lips pouted. Her collar and shackles sat at the opposite side of the tub, directly across from where her body was facing. “Sorry, I guess I lost track of time.. or something,” she said as she reached over and turned on the hot water to warm up the tub a bit more.

“No need to be sorry, we were just starting to wonder how things were going. Do you.. do you need more time?” she asked as she squatted down beside the tub. Sophia reached over to stop the hot water but still just looked straight ahead. “I’ll just give you some more time,” Zainab said as she got up to leave.

“Wait..” Sophia cried out, moving to the edge of the tub. “Help me.. something.. I, wait I can’t..”

“It’s ok, you’re going to be ok,” she said as she sat down beside the tub.

“You don’t know that, you.. you can’t know that..”

“No, I think that you can. I may not have known you long but I think I know people. And I know you’re strong, when you let yourself. I know you’ve been put through more than most people and that you’re still standing tall. I know you have friends who love you, who would do anything to help you. And after these few days I’d like to consider myself one of them.”

“You hardly know me, why should I believe you care about anything that happens to me?” Sophia scoffed.

“Well, aside from this whole thing?” she said as she threw her arms in the air. “Is this not enough evidence for you?”

“So what? It’s not like you can just live up here. When you leave things will go back to normal, and I don’t know if I can keep doing normal.”

“It’s not going back to normal, we’ve got our inside man now,” Zainab pointed out. “I don’t know what it will mean but I’m pretty sure that it wouldn't just going back to how it was. That kid seems absolutely mad about you. And I’ma do what I can to help as well.”

“All for ‘lil old me?” Sophia cracked in a moment of humor. “I think I know the real reason though..”

“Oh and what’s that?” Zainab replied.

“It’s cause you Looove her isn’t it?” Sophia teased like she was suddenly back in grade school. “Just ad-mit you looove her, you want to kiiiiss her, kiss her all ooooover,” Sophia teased before descending into a series of sarcastic kissing sounds.

“I do have the power to order you to put a gag back on you know,” Zainab said as she squinted her eyes.

“Zainab and Andrea sittin’ in a tree..”

“Start spelling and I swear to all that is holy in this world that the collar is going back on right now,” Zainab said as she reached over to grab the collar from the edge of the tub.

“Oh you wouldn’t dare. You might have the power to make me put it on, but then you’d have to answer to Andrea when she asks why I’m back in the collar,” Sophia said as she moved in close and began to stare back seriously.

“Touché,” Zainab said as she sat back and let the collar go.

Sophia sat back in the tub and smiled. “Seriously though.. kidding aside, I.. this really means a lot to me. Freakout included even, I still feel like.. a thousand times better than I was a few days ago. Thank you.”

 

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06.04.15

story continues in The Stories of Bound Friends 13: Lea and the Unexpected Companion

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