The Stories of Bound Friends 14: Zainab and the White Christmas

(story continues from The Stories of Bound Friends 13: Lea and the Unexpected Companion)

Part 14: Zainab and the White Christmas

“Come on, I bet one phone call and we could all be in the Bahamas by dinner,” Andrea said as she sat and watched Zainab pack.

“And as tempting as that is, you made me promise that I wouldn’t let you talk us out of going up to Megan’s place for Christmas,” she said without even breaking her stride.

“Come on, I bet we’d have so much more fun on a sandy beach, warm sun, bikinis..” Andrea replied.

“I’m sure it could be more fun, but you were really clear. I’m not going to let you get cold feet and talk us out of it. This is why I suggested we record you being firm, so I can just play you back to you. I had offered we all go to Surda, there are plenty of warm beaches there. But no, you said you’d rather go back to your hometown with Megan, and I’m coming with you and that’s that. Besides, now I’ve bought all this cold weather clothing..”

“You don’t need to bring all of it,” Andrea sneered, interrupting Zainab who gave her a brief but dirty look. “What? I’m just saying that you’re bringing a suitcase bigger than you! We’re going to Pennsylvania, not the North Pole.”

“Well.. I don’t know! DC is the coldest place I’ve ever lived and you say it’s even colder up there. I mean I was away that week last winter when we got snow.”

“Yeah, I still kind of can’t believe you’ve never seen snow. I mean there’s not any snow up there now, but I still find it amazing you’ve just never seen it,” Andrea teased.

“Well.. you’ve never seen.. shut up. Are you used to people strutting around in shorts in January?”

“Actually you’d be surprised how many still wear shorts when there’s snow on the ground.”

“Well those people are stupid and weird and.. stupid,” she said as she attempted to close her oversized suitcase, finally getting it on the third try. “All right, there, all packed. We’ve got about half an hour till Megan’s back from her.. whatever it is. The car I rented should be here soon. What should we do now?”

“We could get a taxi and be on the next flight to some sunny beach,” Andrea said energetically. “Or we could.. not,” she said as she sulked back down onto a chair. “I know, you’re right, I’m sorry. I’m just getting some last minute nervousness. I haven’t been back since.. well since summer, and I haven’t talked to Megan’s parents since back then either. But Megan wants me to be there, so.. I guess.. thanks for coming with me.. and for making me go.. even though you’re totally being no fun right now..” Andrea continued, trailing off by the end.

“Don’t worry, I’ve already rented a room at a motel. You and I can be there while Megan can be at her parent’s house. And if she wants to join us it does have two beds. And also, if you think it’s only coats and sweaters in there, then you don’t know me very well..” Zainab said as she tapped her giant suitcase.

“Does that mean everything fun is already packed away?” Andrea asked with a grin.

“Of course not, I’m only bringing one suitcase,” Zainab replied as she walked over to the chair Andrea was sitting on. She sat down on Andrea’s thighs and moved in for a kiss. “You know, we might just have time if we’re quick..” Zainab whispered before being interrupted by the buzz of Andrea’s phone.

“Oh look at that, a text from Megan. ‘Done early, be there soon.’ You set the mood just so she’d ruin it didn’t you?” Andrea asked rhetorically. Seconds later Zainab’s phone buzzed from inside her pocket. She grabbed to take it out and see that the car she ordered had just arrived in the parking lot. “You’re some kind of witch aren’t you?” Andrea joked.

“Yes, but I’m clearly not a very good one,” Zainab said before kissing Andrea a second time.

****

“You alright Megan? You look nervous.. I mean even for you, you look tense,” Andrea finally asked as they started descending down the last mountain path before they reached the town.

“Yeah.. it’s maybe a little possible there’s something I didn’t tell you two,” she nervously said as she looked over at her friends.

“How possible?” Zainab asked with a raised eyebrow.

“There’s definitely something I didn’t tell you two..” Megan said before looking down. “Um.. well.. I never actually confirmed that we’re invited to Christmas.. I mean I kind of assume but that.. but exams were crazy and then I just never got around to asking so.. that might be a thing,” she said, nervously twitching her fingers.

“You what?” Andrea exclaimed as she sat up at attention. “I came because you said you wanted me there, but they don’t even know that we’re coming? I mean.. what do I even say about Zainab?”

“Well, look I can just be ‘the roommate’ if that will help,” Zainab offered.

“No, that’s.. that’s not what the problem would be,” Megan explained.

“Oh.. is it maybe better I don’t know what you’re talking about right now? Because judging from the street we just turned onto I’m guessing we’re almost to your house.”

“Yeah, just follow our lead and we’ll let you know how much you need to dial things back,” Andrea said as she held Zainab’s hand reassuringly.

“Well, here it goes,” Megan said as the three of them got out of the car and walked up to the house. It was crisp and chilly but the ground was free of snow. Megan walked up and after a little bit of psyching herself up, rang the bell.

“You are so going to pay for this later,” Zainab whispered to Andrea who did her best to ignore it.

“Megan? Oh it’s so good to see you,” Megan’s mom Heather said as she opened the door. “Oh I’m so glad, but I thought you were going to be going off somewhere with your roommate? And this must be her, Megan’s told me so much about you,” she said as she stepped outside to hug Zainab. “And of course Andrea, always welcome. But please it’s getting cold, come in!”

“Yeah I kind of got busy and realize I didn’t really call ahead. I guess I didn’t.. I mean It’s not a problem that I’m here right?” Megan asked as they all came in and began to take their shoes off.

“Well.. not right now anyway. We didn’t think you were coming so we don’t have anywhere for you or your friends to sleep,” Heather said as she walked back toward the living room.

“We’ve got ourselves a place to stay already,” Andrea replied cheerfully.

“Oh, it’s so great to hear you’ve made up with your parents!” Heather sighed.

Zainab looked at Andrea confused. “No, actually we just got a room at a motel.. two beds,” Zainab replied.

“Oh.. my mistake. Well that might be small but I think a lot more room than you’d get around here,” Heather said as they all turned the corner into the very full living room. The room got very quiet, it was more than a little unnerving even with the friendly mood that hung in the air.

“So, I know none of us were expecting her, but it looks like we’ll have a few more come to join us. Of course most of you all should know Megan’s friend Andrea, and this person with them is her college roommate. Her name’s Zainab, she’s originally from Surda but I guess she decided to come and join us here,” Heather said to the crowd of relatives and their spouses.

“What’s a matter they don’t have phones anymore?” Megan’s father Thomas joked as he went in for a hug.

“Hi Dad.. Sorry just with finals it just slipped my mind,” Megan replied as she returned the hug.

“Oh, are those grades up yet,” he asked with a smile.

“Uh.. I don’t think all of them,” Megan replied sheepishly.

“None of us expect perfect dear, you don’t have to look so dower,” Heather said as she chimed into the conversation.

“Sorry, about that. It’s just Alison got hers in a few hours ago, 3.8 so it’s just a bit on my mind,” Thomas said.

“You’ve had a very difficult transition and we’re proud of you no matter what,” Heather said in a motherly voice. “But where are my manners, can I get anyone anything to drink? Dinner will still be another half hour”

****

“Ugh.. finally some peace,” Zainab said as she closed the door behind her. It had been a few hours of casual socializing after a long drawn out meal and she was thankful for having found an opportunity to slip away with Andrea. “Talk about stiffs.. I think Megan may actually be the laid back one..”

“Sorry.. I knew it would be.. well.. thanks for lasting as long as you did. I owe you,” Andrea said before kissing Zainab on the top of the head.

“So.. about this whole ‘you owe me’ thing..” Zainab snickered. “How much more of this is there?”

“Tomorrow’s Christmas Eve, then there’s the day of, then.. well I could maybe be talked into leaving after that

“Can I hold you to that?” Zainab said as she pressed herself against Andrea.

“Mmm you can hold me however you’d like Mistress,” Andrea said as she draped her arms over Zainab’s shoulders.

“I don’t know if you noticed, I was able to slip away for a bit earlier,” Zainab said cryptically. “We’re checked in to the motel already, you think you can call it a night yet?”

“I’ll just say a quick goodbye and then I think I can.”

Zainab stretched up to give Andrea a light kiss. She spun Andrea around and leaned her head on Andrea’s back shoulder. “Just a quick goodbye you said?” Zainab whispered in her ear. Andrea nodded and then felt her arms being pulled behind her. Before she realized what was happening, Zainab had encased her wrists in a pair of ziptie cuffs. Andrea pulled and struggled as she started breathing heavily. “So is it still going to be possible for you to say goodbye like this?” Zainab asked as she spun Andrea back around.

“Oh, yes Mistress,” she said eagerly as she looked into Zainab’s eyes. She began walking out only once Zainab started guiding her. They both walked down the hallway and poked out around the entrance to the living room. “So, we were thinking of going to check in soon. Maybe call it an early night.”

“Oh, ok. Well we will still see you tomorrow right?” Heather asked as she turned to face them.

“Of course, we’ll see you then. Thanks for the lovely meal,” Zainab said cordially. After it seemed clear that everyone had returned to what they were doing Andrea and Zainab backed up and headed for the door. Zainab slipped into her shoes but simply grabbed Andrea’s, shuffling her outside in just her socks.

As the two rounded the garage, putting them cautiously out of sight of any window, Zainab pushed Andrea up against trunk of their car. Andrea set her hands down on the cold metal, bracing herself as Zainab began to slowly work her way down with her hands. As they reached her hips, Zainab pulled herself close and whispered in Andrea’s ear “I’ve been thinking all day about what to do with you.”

Andrea shivered and bit her lower lip. She watched helplessly as Zainab reached her hands around and began to unfasten the buttons of her pants. She felt the cold metal against her ass cheeks as Zainab pulled down her slacks without protest. Zainab’s finger quickly found her clit through her black cotton panties and began to rub it, eliciting a groan from Andrea. But after very little attention, Zainab remove her finger and pulled Andrea’s panties down as well, helping her step out of both articles of clothing.

“I know it’s dark, but what if someone sees?” Andrea asked trepidatiously.

“Then we’re just going to have to act quickly,” she said as she opened up the trunk. She threw Andrea’s clothes before turning her around. Zainab held her from behind, under her shirt and sweater. The touch calmed Andrea, allowing her to nod her head “yes Mistress.”

With that, Zainab smiled. She unhooked Andrea’s bra as her hands slid down. She grabbing hold of Andrea’s top before quickly pulling it and her bra up and over her head, leaving it attached only at the arms. The cold air bit down on Andrea’s exposed flesh, making her nipples hard as the metal studs helped to bring in the cold.

Andrea felt another zip tie pulled around her arm just above her elbow, well above her clothes. She heard a click as her lower cuff was cut and her clothes removed from her arm before Zainab quickly replaced it with another zip tie. Andrea now stood in only socks, facing out towards the neighborhood. She suddenly felt very self-conscious. She turned around and looked at Zainab to try to communicate her anxiety.

“Don’t worry, I’m putting all your clothes right in here nice and safe,” Zainab said as she stuffed the last of Andrea’s clothing in a small backpack. She then produced a lock to seal it shut. “That’s the good news. The bad news is, the key to that lock is already at the hotel room.”

“Wha.. how.. how am I getting into the room?” Andrea said, crouching down to shield herself as a sudden cold gust of wind hit her back.

“Don’t worry, I’ve got a solution,” Zainab said as she turned around and opened up her suitcase. It was empty, suddenly making it clear to Andrea why she had checked in early.

“So should I just… oh.. wow, I walked in at the really wrong time,” Megan said as she rounded the corner and saw in full view Andrea bound and naked. “Ok.. well that makes sense. ‘Early night,’ I get it now,” she said despondently.

“I’m sorry,” Andrea said as she hid herself behind Zainab. “Do you want us to come back in? After we get to the hotel and I can change and come back.”

“No, no you do your thing. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Megan said as she backed up and walked away.

“So.. where were we?” Zainab asked as she turned back to face Andrea.

“I believe I was to get into the bag?” Andrea said.

“Almost,” Zainab said as she sat Andrea down at the edge of the trunk. She bent down to remove Andrea’s socks and attached a zip tie at Andrea’s ankles and above her knees. Zainab then helped position the bag so that Andrea could simply “fall” back into it, with a controlled fall of course. Andrea scooted up to get her ass over the edge and into the suitcase. She then bent her legs up into a ball, just barely fitting in. She swallowed nervously, watching Zainab’s wicked grin as she slowly closed the lid on the suitcase, closing Andrea off from the world. She felt a jostle as the trunk closed and soon felt the car pull away, all in total helpless darkness.

****

The car puttered along as Andrea struggled in her confined surroundings. The zip tie at her knees was a little too tight for her liking, but with her hands so securely behind her there was nothing she could do about it. She simply did her best to keep from banging her head along the soft lining every time there was a turn.

When the car stopped she waited anxiously. She could hear the trunk open and heard Zainab struggle to move the large suitcase. “Uh.. I didn’t think this part through,” came Zainab’s muffled voice. “Ugh.. you are much heavier than my clothes,” she said as she began inching the suitcase up over the lip of the trunk. Andrea spread out, bracing herself as best she could as she began to tip to make it over. She closed her eyes and tried to breathe deeply not thinking about the fall that would have to be made to get her on the ground. Instead she felt the suitcase slide back into the trunk with a bit of a thump.

Andrea tried to listen but couldn’t hear anything, she had not even heard the trunk close, and cool air was beginning to seep in through the zipper. At least that answered how airtight things were.

“An it’s jus the one?” Andrea heard from a male voice that seemed to be approaching.

“Yeah.. just if you wouldn’t mind helping me with this one that’s all I need,” Zainab could be heard faintly saying.

Andrea felt sudden tugs on the suitcase, bringing her back up to an angle over the trunk lip.

“If ya can’t lift it, maybe it’s best we open’er up ‘cause you’re gonna just keep having the problem aren't ya? Divide the thing up in ta two loads and ye’ll be set,” he said as he began to unzip the suitcase. Andrea froze as she saw the cracks of light peering in.

“No, no.. it’s just.. Just bring it into the room. I’ll deal with splitting it wide open when I’m in there.” Zainab said as someone began to push down at the top of the suitcase to prevent it from being opened.

“Suit yourself,” the man said.

Andrea watched in relief as the zipper shut again. A relief that was short lived however as she once again felt the suitcase moving, this time being lifted up and set onto the ground with more than a bit of a thud. Andrea was now right side up and no longer on her side, but she felt now that any movement might tip the bag over.

“Thanks, I think I can take it from here,” Zainab said before the suitcase started to get wheeled away. It went up a slight ramp and then over a bump before Andrea heard the sound of a door closing. Andrea was tipped back down to her side before she saw the zipper open up again. As the other half swung open, Andrea looked up and saw Zainab grinning a stupid grin as she towered over her.

“Certainly not how I expected to make it to the room,” Andrea joked as she tried to stretch her legs out.

“Ahh, shit..” Zainab said as she noticed the very deep indentations left in Andrea’s legs and the general discoloration below the knee. “Another thing I didn’t count on,” she said as she ran to get a pair of scissors to cut the zip ties around her knee and ankle.

“Oh damn.. oww oww oww..” Andrea began to moan as the blood rushed back to her legs and causing pins and needles everywhere below where the tie had been.

“Here, here let me help,” Zainab said as she grabbed Andrea and helped her up. She leaned heavily on Zainab as the two made it over to the bed. Andrea flopped down on her side as Zainab began to feel up and down Andrea’s arms. “Everything good?” Zainab asked, causing Andrea to nod her head.

Zainab crawled into bed behind Andrea before pulling Andrea up between her own legs. Andrea’s head rested on Zainab’s shoulder as Zainab’s arms rested around Andrea. “I’m sorry about that, I should have thought it through..”

“But I still loved it Mistress.. certainly more exciting than just walking in,” Andrea said, moving her head a bit to look Zainab in face.

“Yeah, but I messed up and hurt you,” Zainab lamented.

“You hurt me all the time though, and we both know we both enjoy it.” Andrea said leaning back down and beginning to feel around with her bound hands. She bent herself a little to find Zainab’s crotch and began to lightly rub it as best she could.

“Yes.. when I mean to do it,” Zainab said as her hands began to feel around Andrea’s body. “Mmm.. If I want to hurt you,” she said before slapping Andrea hard on the stomach while another hand twisted her nipple. “That’s pain I intend,”

“Zee.. seriously I’m fine, just a little banged up,” Andrea said in a more serious tone. “This was still such a thrill, I felt so utterly powerless in there,” she said returning to her more playful tone and leaning her head against Zainab’s shoulder again. “I was just my Mistress’s possession.”

“And what a possession,” Zainab said as one of her hands slid down to Andrea’s clit. She began to slowly rub, causing Andrea to shutter and jostle at the sensation. “And now, I’ve got all night to play with my possession. She isn’t going anywhere,” Zainab whispered tantalizingly.

“Mmm, does your possession get to cum at all tonight?” Andrea asked.

“Oh I think so, but not for a while still,” Zainab said with a devious grin. “Possessions only cum when they make themselves useful.”

****

The next morning, as Andrea and Zainab drove back to Megan’s house they saw their friend leaning up against the garage door with her eyes closed. The electric car they rode in was practically silent and so it came as a sudden surprise to Megan when she heard car doors opening.

“Hey, you alright?” Andrea asked as she got out.

“I just needed a break.. I’m fine, I just needed some air,” Megan said waving her hand. “I...” she began before losing her train of thought.

“So should we..” Andrea said as she motioned towards the door.

“Aunt Martha’s here,” Megan said. “She didn’t think I’d be here so she decided to come out and.. it’s made things kind of uncomfortable. She is not pulling any punches about anything..”

“I would imagine..” Andrea said before deciding to rest herself against the garage door too.

“Well you two look like you’ve gone from indifferent to outright distressed,” Zainab said as she sat on the hood of the car. “And here I thought time went slow yesterday.”

“Look, if you want to go somewhere else,” Andrea knee-jerkingly responded.

“Well do you?” Zainab asked.

“Do I what?” Andrea replied.

“Do you two want to go somewhere else?” Zainab said as she stood back up. “I mean if it’s so bad in there you need to come out into the freezing cold to feel comfortable,”

“This isn’t that cold,” Andrea replied teasingly.

“Into the freezing cold..” Zainab repeated as she squinted her eyes. “Well then maybe wouldn’t it be better if you just had the holiday somewhere else entirely?”

“But.. what about.. church tomorrow?” Megan said. “No.. no we’d just get stared at there too. It’s a small town, people talk. Only thing worse than judgy extended family is judgy strangers..”

“That doesn’t mean we can just leave, I mean with your family and all aren’t we kind of expected to be here?” Andrea asked Megan “I mean.. that what you’re supposed to do right? Be with your families for the holidays?”

“What’ya mean ‘expected?’ They didn’t even know we were coming!” Zainab exclaimed “And Andrea, I’m sure I could say the same about you being with your family,”

“Watch it,” Andrea said as she put up a finger to Zainab.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to hit a soft spot, but if we weren’t expected to be here, and you don’t feel very welcome, than I say screw it! Make your own tradition. Lets go somewhere you wanna go.”

Megan looked over at Andrea as the two seemed to silently talk it out. “Ok fine. Give me some time to say goodbye and to pack, you two go get whatever of yours is left at the motel.”

“Alright, sounds like a plan.” Andrea said as she joined Zainab in racing towards the car. “Bet you feel kinda silly unpacking that giant suitcase now that we were only here for the one night.”

“Oh not to worry, that’s why I never go anywhere without my little slave to do all the tedious crap I just don’t wanna be bothered to do.” Zainab said with a wicked grin as the car backed out of the driveway.

“Come on, I got my stuff and now your stuff too?” Andrea huffed.

“Well that’s five lashings already for complaining, you want any more or are you going to cooperate?”

“Oh but Mistress.. that might make us late for Megan.” Andrea suggestively whispered.

“Keep up that attitude and we just might.. This will take as much time as your Mistress decides it will take. And now it’s 10 lashings” She whispered softly as she leaned in causing Andrea to quiver.

“Yes Mistress…”

****

“Are you sure you have to go? It’s really no trouble that you came home unexpectedly,” Heather said as she stood in the doorway watching her daughter pack.

“No, I’m sure mom,” Megan said as she continued to look through her old room. “Say, where were those boxes I used to have in here? The ones with my old notebooks?”

“Oh those, I put them down in the basement when you moved out,” Heather said before leading the way to the stairs. The two walked down the creaky stairway to the unfinished basement. Megan almost forgot how cold it got down there in the winter and immediately started feeling it. She looked around and found a box that looked familiar, smiling as she saw a pile of her old notebooks and journals.

“Do you need anything else?” Heather asked while Megan began to skim through one book in particular.

“No.. no mom I’m good.”

“Oh.. I know you are sweetie.” She said as she moved in for a motherly hug. “I know you’re more than good, you’re all grown up and you can do anything you want cause whatever you do I know you’ll be amazing at it,” she said continuing the long hug.

“Thanks mom” Megan said pensively.

“Oh I know you’re getting too old for me to dote on you like this, I’m sure it’s embarrassing but it’s not getting any easier on me you know watching my children grow up into such successful, wonderful adults who just don’t need their mother any more. And now you’ve got the whole world out there is just yours for the taking.”

Megan blushed and waited for the hug to end before returning to her notebook. Heather did eventually get the message and walked back upstairs. Megan smiled as she took a picture of the page she needed with her phone before returning everything to the box and rushing back upstairs.

“Hey you almost ready to go?” Andrea asked, startling Megan as she came back up the stairs.

“Sorry, didn’t even know you were here.”

“Oh, just got here, I haven't been waiting or anything,” Andrea said as she kicked off her shoes.

“I’ll just be another sec, you say goodbye and I’ll meet you in the car.” Megan said as she grabbed the final few things she needed and rolled her suitcase out to the car. Zainab sat patiently in the back as Megan put her bag in the trunk. Andrea came out soon after and got into the back with Zainab, giving Megan the front.

“So, now that we’re here, now what?” Andrea asked as she saw Megan typing something into the GPS while reading her phone.

“I figure we go and try to find some answers. Lea hasn’t been answering any one of us and if she’s held up in her cabin again I say we try to knock a little Christmas cheer her way. I wrote down the cabin’s address a while back and I say it’s maybe time to go back there. That ok with you?” Megan said as she turned to look at Andrea.

Andrea was pensive but seemed interested. “And how do we know if this is just a wild goose chase?”

“Well.. no we don’t have any real way to know that now,” Megan admitted. “But I say we stop at a store on the way up, get some food for a holiday feast and hope for the best. I mean, where else would she be?”

****

“We finally there yet?” Zainab asked as she impatiently watched the dusk covered forest go by. “This is so boring!”

“Actually, I think so,” Andrea said as she recognized the last turn onto the driveway. She sat up waiting for the last turn up and over the hill at the end of the long driveway that finally brought the cabin into view.

“Well that’s not promising,” Megan said as the car came to a stop. “No car.”

The three silently got out and walked up the creaky stairs to the front door. The lights were out, the door was locked. Megan spun and leaned herself against the door in sullen defeat.

Andrea silently started walking away and around the house to get towards the laundry room door. She still saw no signs of life, but hoped the keypad would let them in regardless. She typed in Lea’s master code 6478. When the green light went off she smiled and opened the door. “Hey, I got it open over here,” she called out, waiting for the other two to come join her.

They walked in and turned on the lights. They knocked and then entered the master bedroom. It was in the same pristine shape it was in all those months ago when they left it. It was clear without doubt to the girls that Lea and her messy standards had probably not been back.

“Lea?” Megan called out. “I’ll just double check upstairs,” she said before dashing for the nearest hidden stairway and typing in Lea’s code.

“Well.. what do we do now?” Zainab asked once she was alone with Andrea. “This was a long ride, it’s already dark and I don’t know where else you might want to go.”

“Yeah, you’re right. We got food and beds and.. stuff” Andrea said as she slowly walked over to the master bed.

“Man this is a nice bedframe.. almost like it was..”

“Like it was made for bondage?” Andrea interrupted, flicking one of the metal hinges built into the frame.

“Huh, that’s impressive. I know you said Lea was the one who introduced you but this is some serious hardware to invest in..” Zainab said as she ran her finger along the solid wood frame.

“Zee.. if this impresses you then boy do I have some surprises in store!”

****

Megan sat back, resting on her hands and looking around the attic. Before everyone had left all those months ago, they had at least put everything back to where it had been. All the bondage furniture once again sat opposite the cells just as it had been for most of the summer she had spent here. Even some of the animal crates that had been on the porch were put up here instead of the shed. She turned her head as she heard someone coming up the stairs.

“Hey.. I take it no luck up here?” Andrea asked as she slowly ascended the stairs.

“No, it was a long shot anyways but I don’t see anything to suggest Lea’s been here,” Megan said as she turned back to take in the panorama. “You know, almost a small part of me misses it, kind of strange to say because of how everything went down. No, but things were..”

“Hellish? Painful? Dehumanizing?” Andrea asked as she knelt down beside her friend.

“Yeah.. I was going to say simple but you’re just as right, I guess I’m just making myself forget those parts some.” Megan said as she looked over at Andrea.

“Well, I started giving Zainab a tour and when she heard sauna she kind of didn’t want to hear anything else just yet. She’s down there waiting for it to heat up, I just came to see if you wanted to join us?”

“Yeah.. that’d be nice.” Megan said as she decided to get up. The two began walking down the stairs as Andrea began removing her shirt. The two stripped and walked out to the hallway. The inside of the sauna was warmer but clearly still warming up. Zainab sat naked in the far corner with only a towel under her. Megan sat at the opposite corner from Zainab while Andrea sat beside Zainab.

Zainab bent down and grabbed Andrea’s ankles, scooting her closer and draping her legs up and over Zainab’s lap. She slowly ran her fingers up and down Andrea’s legs as she settled back into a comfortable position. Megan blushed and curled herself up, hugging her legs and resting her head on her knees.

Zainab slid her other arm around Andrea’s shoulders pulling her body in close for a kiss. As she allowed Andrea to straighten back up, she bent in, moving her other hand and her mouth up to Andrea’s pierced nipple. She began to moan as Zainab began to lightly nipple.

“I’m.. I’m gonna go unpack the car,” Megan said, awkwardly getting up to go to the door.

“I’m sorry,” Zainab cried back as she let Andrea go entirely. “I got carried away, I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable or chase you off.”

“No.. it’s.. I mean the food should really be put in the fridge anyway,” Megan said as she turned back to look at them. “Really, I’m the one that convinced you two to come out this way, I might as well take the bags in, maybe start preparing it since it’ll just be the three of us,” she said before walking through the door and leaving the two alone.

“Now, where were we?” Zainab asked as her hand returned to Andrea’s leg.

****

“Hmm, that was good,” Zainab sighed as she set her fork down and leaned back.

“Thanks, glad you liked it,” Megan said.

“And I gotta say, it’s not nearly as weird to be back as I thought it’d be.” Andrea said as she leaned back a bit as well.

“I got to say as an outsider, I don’t know why you’d stop coming here. Sure it’s a bit of a drive but there’s something kind of peaceful about being this far away from everything. I don’t know if I personally could stand it for too many days but in small doses it seems like it would be nice,” Zainab mused as she looked around the large open living room.

“Well.. there’s just this whole history,” Andrea quietly admitted.

“Yeah, it is too bad your friend wasn’t here. I do feel bad now for getting off on such a bad foot with her. I’m sure this must have been where you all played around? Certainly private enough.”

“Well you haven’t even seen most of it. You went right to the sauna, then right to the tub and then here,” Andrea said. “Megan, you want to come show Zainab the upstairs?”

“That’s a reaction that could be worth seeing,” Megan said as she shrugged her shoulders.

The three got up from the table and walked over to the door near the kitchen. Andrea typed in the code and then led the way upstairs. As Zainab walked up her face went wide. It was perhaps the most dumbfounded Andrea had ever seen her. “You..” Zainab stammered. “You had all this and you only found out you liked this stuff this year? I mean those are metal cells built into the wall, it looks.. is that hooked into the plumbing?”

“You know how I said Lea was good with computers? Well she bought this place with the money she got from selling a program she made. It came like this cause the guy who built it was.. well he must have really been into all this,” Andrea said as she walked backwards into the center of the room.

Zainab felt along the padded leather bench as she walked toward Andrea. She opened up one of the cell doors that was a little bit ajar and walked inside. “So, what are these dildos on the wall?” she asked as she flicked the phallus.

“Well, it’s got sensors,” Andrea said as she walked inside. “You suck it and then it squirts out some water and nutrients. Like that powdered meal replacement kind of stuff.”

“And the door opens with a code I assume,” Zainab said as she walked up to the door and began to swing it along its hinges.

“Yeah.. you just hit the code and it opens back up.”

Zainab reached over to the cell beside hers and typed in the master code, causing a green light to flash and the door to unlock. She smiled, closed the door to her own cell and then typed in the numbers. Their own green light came on and the door swung open without resistance before she closed it again. “So did you spend much time in these?” Zainab asked as she stood back up.

“Yep, spent nights and sometimes most of the day up here, all four of us did,” Megan said as she leaned up against the door of the cell.

“Then how did you.. I assume you didn’t know the combination or it’s not much of a jail cell. How did all four of you not have a way to get out?” Zainab asked.

“Well Lea programmed something to integrate all the house functions. Lea would just speak a command and it would happen. Like she’d say ‘Hannah, don’t let the jail doors open for 12 hours,’ it would just happen..” Andrea explained.

“Locking doors,” came a cold disembodied voice over the speakers.

“Halt! Halt!” Andrea and Megan both instantly started screaming.

“I am already in safemode,” Hannah emotionlessly explained.

“Then, can you open the door?” Andrea asked as Megan leaned against the door.

“I can, but due to a specific command coded into my programming, opening the door now would contact the police and you would be responsible for making a false call.” Hannah explained.

“Would someone please explain what the hell is happening?” Zaina asked as she looked around confused.

“It’s.. just the program Lea made.. I don’t know why..” Andrea began to explain before the adrenaline began to wear off. Her hands began to shake and she had to sit down to stop the world from spinning all around her.

“Andrea! Stay with me here,” Zainab said as she knelt down in front of Andrea, trying and failing to regain her attention.

“I.. I got..” Megan began to say before simply stumbling down the stairs and out to the kitchen.

“Andrea, what is this? Who is Hannah?” Zainab asked.

“I.. no I can’t.”

“Well how about we just type in the code, I’ll pay the fine or whatever..” Zainab said as she tried reaching through the bars.

“NO! No!.. you can’t do that.. that would make it public record and.. no.. never.. just please don’t,” Andrea desperately pleaded.

“Look, I’m right here. We apparently aren’t going anywhere, take whatever time you need but I want to know what’s going on here,” Zainab said as she slid back and leaned against the bars at the opposite side of Andrea.

Andrea slowly, caught her breath. Tears were beginning to fill her eyes. She looked up and saw Zainab silently and patiently waiting. She lunged forward, collapsing into Zainab’s lap and allowing herself to lose all composure to become a fitful crying mess. “Promise..” Andrea said into Zainab’s thigh. “Promise this won’t change how you see me,” she stammered between the tears and the sniffling.

“I can’t say that, everything new changes how we see things. But I can say that whatever you tell me, whatever has been haunting you,  I’ll listen, I won’t judge you and I’ll help you get through it,” Zainab said as she stroked Andrea’s hair.

After a long pause, Andrea turned her head to look up at Zainab. “It started last spring I guess, when Lea went into hiding up here..”

****

Megan was breathing heavy, leaning up against the bedroom wall. She closed her eyes, focusing on her breathing. Her mind was racing too fast for anything rational it to keep up with. But breathing in.. and breathing out.. she could focus on that. She pictured an arrow, red and inflated, rising with the breath in. She pictured it turning blue and shrivelling to half its size, falling down as she breathed out. Eventually she calmed. She returned to the moment.

“Hannah, have you been running this whole time?” she asked up into the ceiling.

“Yes, I was never shut down only put into safemode. I can only do what I am directly instructed and nothing more,” Hannah replied.

“But you can’t open the cell doors?” Megan asked.

“I am sorry, but a part of my program requires that once locked, any attempt to unlock them should result in calling the police. I can not contradict that,” Hannah explained.

“Great,” Megan mumbled to herself. “Those two are stuck there till tomorrow or we’re stuck with a several hundred dollar fine, and a public record. Add more damn fuel to the fire.. people would love to hear what those little degenerates did on Christmas Eve…Fuck.”

Megan got up and limped slowly towards the master bedroom to go lay down. She stared up at the ceiling, letting her mind once again begin to race. She frowned and got up, lumbering towards the door to go check on how the two captives were holding up.

She heard murmuring as she opened the door and decided to call out rather than risk disturbing something private. “Hey.. you ok up there?”

“Fine,” Zainab shouted back.

“I can’t get the door open without it calling the cops, do you two…”

“No we’re fine we just need some time alone,” Zainab said much more insistently this time.

“Ok.. I’ll maybe go to bed early then.. leave you two for the night..” Megan called back before leaving and closing the door. She walked over and leaned against the footboard of the bed, gripping it tightly. She looked up and out of the corner of her eye caught Zainab’s oversized suitcase. She looked back at the door before deciding to go over and open it. She smiled as she opened it up, seeing Zainab’s leather bondage straps. Megan grabbed the lot of them and put them up on the bed, seeing wrist cuffs, ankle cuffs, a collar and at least six other straps of various sizes.

As she ran her fingers along the leather she knew what she was going to do with her night. She looked back at the suitcase and found the ziplock with lots of keyed alike locks before closing the suitcase back up. She took the straps and the locks back to the nearest guest room and began to strip.

She unlocked each of the locks before taking the key and throwing it outside. It landed in the grass between the balcony and the paved area. It was already night, there is no way she could easily find it before morning. She however closed the door quickly as the cold air rushed in. The small breeze was enough to make her pierced nipples stand proudly up

She closed the door to the hallway and then approached the bed with glee. She sat down and strapped each leather cuff around her ankle, before slipping a small lock into each prong’s eyelet, insuring she couldn’t back out. She ran her hands back up her legs and began to massage her clit.

She decided to look for something more. Opening the closet she caught almost instantly a long leather hood. It had an opening around her mouth, and holes at the nostrils, but nothing else. It wasn’t a perfect match for Zainab’s leather but with it on she wouldn’t see the difference. She also grabbed a short chain to serve as a hobble before she threw them both on the bed.

Megan walked back to the bed, slowly feeling the leather of each wrist cuff before putting on and locking them on. Next she took a skinny leather belt and wrapped it around her waist, locking it closed. She took the small chain and locked it on to each ankle cuff, giving her only about six inches of a hobble. She slid herself up onto the bed and began to writhe around, the feeling of cuffs locked on, the restriction of her legs, it all felt so wonderful.

“Hannah, with you in safemode, that means you must obey every command you’re given correct?” Megan asked looking up at the ceiling.

“That is correct. I can not make any decision on my own,” Hannah’s voice replied.

“So if I told you to do something, and then changed my mind later, you would have to obey?” she asked.

“That is correct. I can not make any decision on my own.”

“Well that won’t do..” Megan mumbled to herself. She slowly shuffled back to the closet to look for a solution that would leave her helpless till morning. “Hannah, do you know where the shock collars are?”

“They are all in the storage room in the shed.”

“Shit..” Megan said as she looked down at her cuffed legs. She slowly moved out to the living room to minimize her time outside. She braced herself as she neared the glass door. The moment she opened it she moved into high gear. The air was biting and cold, the wind gusting from side to side. She ended up hopping down the steps before deciding that hopping was simply the fastest way period. She made it too the barn but was thoroughly covered in goosebumps. She opened the door and turned on the light, everything had been left very orderly. She saw a series of shock collars and decided simply to grab them all and hop back toward the house. By the time she had reached the balcony her teeth were chattering and was relieved when she could finally get inside.

She returned to shuffling, without the biting air she did not feel nearly as rushed. She looked over the collars and many had different letters on them D, C, P, and one that simply had the infinity sign. “Hannah, can you tell me anything about what the letters mean?”

“The letters on those collars represent what they restrict you to. D for dog, C for cat, P for pony and the infinity sign will punish speech but does not have specific animal exceptions.”

“So if I put any of these on I couldn’t speak without being shocked right?” Megan asked as she finally reached the bedroom again.

“That is correct.”

Megan sat down at the edge of the bed, making sure she knew where everything was. She knew that once the hood she held in her hand was on she wouldn’t be able to see anything. It fit loosely over her head, her hair tucked behind her and poked out behind the hood by a few inches. The hood itself extended down to just the start of her neck with laces in the back to tighten it up. Once it was in place with the nostril holes lined up, she began to tighten. The leather gripped the sides of her cheeks and at the tip of her chin The laces tucked behind a flap that buckled closed with a place for a lock, which she quickly utilized.

A mad rush washed over Megan as she realized that even if she stopped here, she would have to either find the keys blind or wait until her friends were free in the morning to help. She was deliciously trapped, and so she saw no reason to stop yet. She reached for the shock collar and placed it around her neck. She tried to speak and immediately felt the zaps preventing her from finishing. She caught her breath before taking it off. “Hannah, in ten minutes I want you to start to turn up the power of my NESIC can you still do that?”

“I can do that, what should I turn it up to and how quickly?” Hannah replied

“I want you to turn it up to a random number at a random speed taking between one and twenty seconds to get to the final setting. Leave it on for a period between five seconds and ten minutes, then I want you to decide randomly if you make me cum or turn it off. If you make me cum, give me a rest for somewhere between five minutes and two hours. If you do not let me cum, wait for between one second and five minutes before turning it on again. Can you execute these parameters continuously while still in safemode and it shouldn’t affect the cells right? I don’t want your usual personality turning on at any point or affecting when Andrea or Zainab can be released,” Megan logically explained.

“This will not affect the countdown to release the cell door. The ten minute countdown timer for your specifications has started. I can and will execute the orders as instructed until told to do otherwise.”

“Well, let’s not let that be a possibility,” Megan snickered as she put the shock collar back around her throat. Apprehensively she fumbled around with the lock until she found where it should go. She smiled, clicked it shut, and knew there was now no way to stop Hannah. She grabbed the final two locks before lying down in the middle of the bed on her stomach. She fed one lock through an eyelet near the center of the belt around her waist. She maneuvered the d-ring of one cuff through the lock. She tested to make sure it had caught properly before locking it completely. With a little bit of difficulty, she slid the other lock to the eyelet just beside the other. After a bit more difficulty and a few failed attempts, she managed to close the lock.

She lay there, pulling at her restraints. Her arms stopped just short of being able to straighten out, and they barely moved a few inches away from her body. She was well and truly trapped, and knew how hard it was going to be to find that key later but there was nothing she could do to change that now.

She started to wonder if she had in fact gone too far, but her thoughts were interrupted as her NESIC sprang to life. It was at a low setting rising slowly and levelling off at just above slight annoyance. It teased and tormented her for minutes as she flopped around. She soon collapsed back into motionlessness when the chip simply turned off. It was frustrating, but it was all so beautifully out of her control.

****

“Please.. Zee say something,” Andrea whimpered. She had taken the last hour and change slowly filling Zainab in about everything. About Hannah, about the “visitors,” about the videos, and through it all Zainab had sat quietly, listening but not responding.

“That’s.. That’s a lot to process,” Zainab said.

“Well say something..” Andrea pleaded.

“What do you want me to say?” Zainab asked.

“I don’t know,” Andrea said as she spun around to look up at the ceiling. She wiped away the few stray tears that still lingered on her face. “I don’t know what to do next, it’s one of the reasons I never sat you down and told you all this. What are you supposed to do with that?”

“I don’t know either..” Zainab said. “But I have an idea,” Zainab said as she gently lifted Andrea’s head so she could move her legs. She turned herself around and slid up beside Andrea with one arm wrapped around her while the other served as a pillow. “You don’t have to say anything more if you don’t want to, we can just lay here.”

Andrea turned to allow Zainab to hold her from behind before interlocking her hand with Zainab’s. She pulled the hands up to her face and kissed Zainab on the back of the hand. “Thank you,” she whispered as she better positioned herself to be in her girlfriend’s embrace.

****

Andrea awoke slowly, feeling rested but not remembering actually falling asleep. However long it had been, it had really wiped away a lot of the worry of the night before. She felt refreshed. She wasn’t sure what time it was but she was sure it must be early. There was some light but very little seemed to be coming down from the skylight. Zainab’s arm was still around her, though she herself appeared to be asleep.

“Hannah, what time is it, can I open the door yet?” Andrea whispered.

“The time is 10:18. You may open the door without my programing being required to call the police,” Hannah said at her regular volume, clearly not picking up that Andrea had wanted things to be quiet. Zainab was awoken by the announcement and began to stretch.

“Huh, it should be brighter,” Andrea said as she walked over to the door to type in the combination. As soon as the door was open she looked up at the skylight and saw exactly why it was so dark.

“Ugh.. my arms asleep,” Zainab said as she sat up and massaged the arm she had been sleeping on.

“Looks like it snowed last night,” Andrea said quietly as she stared up at the snow covering the skylight.

“What?!” Zainab screeched suddenly sounding very awake. “Like right now there’s snow on the ground? What are we waiting for?”

“I don’t know.. a shower.. a breakfast, something like that,” Andrea said as she stood up.

“Bah.. there’ll be time enough to shower when you’re dead, there’s snow outside!” Zainab said as she rushed over to the stairs leading down to the master bedroom.

“What are you eight?” Andrea asked. Zainab responded by simply poked her head back into view and sticking out her tongue in a display of just how adult and mature she was. Andrea walked down more slowly, opening the door just in time to watch Zainab ungracefully try to put a pair of snow pants over her regular jeans. She threw on a turtleneck sweater, a beanie and a jacket that matched the off white of her snow pants exactly. She stuffed a pair of gloves in her pockets before excitingly pulling out her new pair of boots.

“God damn,” Andrea said.

“Why thank you, it’s not my usual type but I do think I pull it off nicely,” Zainab said reflexively.

“Not you Ms. Humble, I’m looking outside. It was clear last night and now I’m seeing at least a good two, two and a half feet and it’s still coming down hard.” Andrea said as she opened the blinds on the sliding glass door.

“Oh my God, look at how big those flakes are and how slow they’re moving!” Zainab said as she rushed over to the window with one boot still untied.

“Yeah well, I’m thinking more about the car..”

“Oh my God, that would look so cool! I wonder if we could even see it or if it’s just gone,” Zainab said before she rushed to the front door.

“.. and how we drive that car out of here.. on those country roads.. no great, go right ahead.. no after you..” Andrea said to herself. as she went to go look for her own boots. Once she had them on she grabbed her jacket and a pair of gloves and headed for the front door.

She opened the door and stepped out to see Zainab standing nearly waist deep in snow bobbing around trying to catch flakes on her tongue. Once she had seemingly caught the one she was tracking she looked over at Andrea and threw a snowball, hitting Andrea in the shoulder.

“Wee.. this is so cool!”

“I thought you hated the cold?” Andrea asked

“I do, generally. I mean snow would be so much more awesome if it wasn’t so cold. But if I’m going to put up with cold then I say there should at least be something fun as compensation for it not being warmer,” Zainab explained.

“You’re also dressed like you’re about to climb Everest,” Andrea snipped.

“Oh come here missy..” Zainab said as she gestured through her mittens for Andrea. “Come on, I wanna do a snow angel,” she said as she grabbed Andrea’s hand. After a few steps, Zainab turned Andrea around and began to trip her over into the snow. Andrea squealed as she began to fall but Zainab held her hand, gently lowering her down into the snow before crawling on top of her.

Zainab leaned in and began to kiss Andrea. She grabbed Andrea’s two hands and flung them down to either side. She tried to get Andrea to move her hands but the snow was simply too deep to push it all neatly away. But she still held Andrea’s hands to her side all the same.

“You know, making fun of my outfit, making fun of my maturity, that’s an awful quick way to get a slave in trouble,” Zainab whispered in Andrea’s ear. Andrea gasped and squirmed for a moment as the words resonated through her body. “You ready to take that punishment yet?”

“Mmm yes Mistress,” Andrea said in a hushed tone.

“Alright then,” Zainab said as she got up, helping Andrea to her feet once she had. “I want you to go inside, and just beside the front door, strip naked and kneel as you wait for your Mistress.”

“Yes Mistress,” Andrea said as she followed Zainab back inside.

****

Andrea knelt nervously, she had stripped quickly and even folded her clothes while waiting for Zainab to come back. She looked back down when she heard the footsteps of Zainab in her boots returning from the bedroom.

“Well slave, did you pack my leather belts in your suitcase instead of mine?” Zainab asked as she stopped right in front of Andrea.

“No Mistress, I packed all your things in your bag.”

“Well they aren’t there, maybe they got left back at the dorm. And I swear, if you left them back at that motel..” Zainab threatened without actually giving a threat.

“No, I checked the room twice Mistress. I’m sorry I know how much you like them,” Andrea said in sincerity but unintentionally sounding sarcastic.

“Well I don’t want to use metal out there so it’ll be zip ties for you then,” Zainab said as she pulled Andrea up by the chin.

“Out there?” Andrea asked in vain, sure she already knew the answer.

“Yes.. you felt like mocking me for wearing all this snow stuff. let’s see how you fare out there,” Zainab said as she opened the door and pushed Andrea out onto the porch. The cold air rushed past her as it raced for the open doorway. She stepped slowly, needing a prodding with almost every other step. Zainab led her to one of the support posts beside the stairs. She pulled Andrea’s hands away from her chest and behind the post before adding a zip tie to keep them together.

“Well.. what do you think of the cold now?” Zainab asked rhetorically before taking one of the larger zip ties and locking it around Andrea’s neck. Andrea felt a little twinge of fear as she heard the clicks, but she trusted Zainab and knew she would never let anything happen to her. Still, it was more than enough to get her pulse racing as she felt pressure to keep her head flat against the post.

Zainab bent down and ran a tie around the bottom of the post. She then ran one around Andrea’s left ankle, closing it around the cable already there before repeating the process with the right ankle. The feet could still move around, but they could only do so by circling the post in one direction or the other.

Zainab stood up and ran her hands along Andrea as she did. The skin was already covered in goosebumps and beginning to shiver in places. Though from her history, she knew there was usually a little bit of shaking as she ran her hands along a bound Andrea on a regular day.

“See now.. there’s nothing to worry about, no need to get all sourpuss about the snow,” Zainab said as she leaned up and nibbled on Andrea’s left nipple.

“Mmm.. but you do have a plan right, I can’t be out here for too long,” Andrea muttered as she tested her bindings again.

“Already? Already reminding me it’s.. ” Zainab huffed in a strangely serious tone that put Andrea off balance. “Be right back,” she said as she ducked inside the house.

Andrea looked around, it was eerily quiet as the snow continued to fall just beyond her. A gust of wind blew some of the flakes her way, accelerating the cold around her wet pussy and around the nipple Zainab had just been toying with.

“Here, something to warm you up..” Zainab said as she began to flog Andrea across the tits. Andrea jostled but never evaded the dozen or so blows Zainab rained down before setting the flogger on the floor.

Zainab walked over and leaned herself against the post opposite Andrea. She stared silently, clearly deep in thought. “Fuuuuuuuck…” Zainab quietly exhaled. She stumbled down the stairs to grab a fist full of snow “Oh-god-fuck so much colder than anticipated,” she grunted as she lobbed a half formed snowball in Andrea’s general direction, which all but disintegrated before reaching her.

“Mistress, is there something wrong?” Andrea asked.

“Of course not..” Zainab said with a tone that could equally be fake sarcasm, or the real thing masquerading as a fake. “Nothing.. is wrong..” she said as she tapped her finger on Andrea’s chest. “I just wanted a few more hours before things.. ugh was that so hard to hope for?” she began to mumble to herself as she walked out of sight. “Just.. and then it’s got to all.. shit..”

“I can’t help but feel like there’s something wrong..” Andrea said.

“Fucken gold star again.” Zainab said as she began cutting the zip ties loose. Once Andrea was free of the post she went to sit down on the steps. Andrea crouched down beside her, putting her body around her in both a hug and a shield from the cold. “I turned the sauna on before we left, it should be nice and warm by now.” Zainab said.

“Come in with me,” Andrea said.

“I’ll.. be in soon.” Zainab said as she contained to watch the snow fall. “Beautiful isn’t it. They all fall down elegantly, slowly, each a unique flake. Then they hit the ground, they join all the other flakes and become one big unidentifiable pile of snow. It all just.. sort of blends together.”

“Um.. Zee you’re freaking me out. Come inside and we can talk.”

“Nah, you go ahead alone.. you should try getting more used to that anyhow..” Zainab mumbled despondently.

“Are.. are you breaking up with me?” Andrea asked, breaking off her embrace.

“If that’s how you see it going down,” Zainab replied

“What the hell?” Andrea began to yell. “What the fuck is that even supposed to mean? This is cause of last night isn’t it?”

“Andrea..” Zainab  said.

“Right.. all that ‘you can’t help but change how you look at things..’ I see how it is. Suddenly you can’t stand me.”

“That’s not true.” Zainab protested.

“Not true.. well you would know wouldn’t you. All your.. fuck how can you hate me enough to do this?”

“I don’t hate you. I’m just not..” Zainab said before trailing off

“Then what? I don’t get it!” Andrea said stumped and collapsing back against the post. “What.. what the hell..”

“I don’t fucking hate you ok?” Zainab screamed as she finally broke her calm facade. She began to cry and wipe the tears away with her sleeves. “I just.. This is just how it ends. And.. I mean whatever that’s fine. I find someone else I find.. But it’s..

“So you’ve just used me up huh, I was fun and now you’re just what moving on?” Andrea said now herself at the verge of tears. “This is about last night isn’t it? That’s why you’re doing this now and not a few days ago. Do you know how fucking hard it was for me to tell you that? The last time I was in that cell, I thought I was about to get shipped off to Japan and spend the rest of my life as a fucking ponygirl. You think I’d share that with just anyone? Why would you take a trip out to nowhere with someone you were so close to ending things with, something must have changed! You can’t stand to look at me now can you, just admit it I’m damaged fucking goods or whatever your fucking problem is. Go on say it! Say you don’t want to fucking see me anymore.”

“I’m not going to say that,” Zainab said before burying her head in her knees.

“Why cause I’m not important enough? I’m not cool enough? Why can’t you..”

“Because I think I fucking love you.” Zainab screamed into her legs. She had never said those words before and saying them had clearly taken their emotional toll as she began to shake. “That’s what makes it hard. I don’t want to let go.. this isn’t how.. I never..”

“Then don’t let go, I’m right here. You and me? We’re not broken.” Andrea said suddenly having a more conciliatory tone as she began crawling over to Zainab.

“Yet.. not broken yet. I.. I’m all surface. I don’t go deeper than this.. and so I.. and after last night? I.. I don’t know how much longer I can hang in there before you realize that. I’m.. I’m no.. I can’t.. I don’t know how to be there like.. ” Zainab said stone faced looking straight ahead.

“Zainab. That might be the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard you say.” Andrea said bluntly as she wrapped her arms around Zainab. “Guess what, everyone has those insecurities. It’s called fucking life. You know how you get past it? You try. You stumble, learn from the stumbles and you keep going bruises and all. And if you love the person, it’s worth getting it wrong a few times for the chance to get it right. Zainab,” Andrea said before pulling Zainab’s face toward hers and capturing her gaze. “Zainab, I love you. I’ve known that for a while I’ve just never had the stomach or the.. the whatever to actually say it. Just as I’m sure you’ve got a list of excuses why you’ve never said that before now either. But we just got into a fight, and out of that fight we both admitted for the first time that we’re both truly deeply in love with each other. That’s fucking life right there, it’s not all sonnets and roses, it’s not a three act play where we just wait a little longer and things will work themselves out naturally. It’s two stupid people trying to overcome their stupid people shit and do the best they can to be with each other. Now stop being an idiot and come join me in the sauna.”

****

Zainab was reluctant to get up at first. She simply sat on the steps watching the snow slowly fall as Andrea knelt behind her pressing her naked and now shivering body tight.  But after wiping away a few more tears she nodded her head and stood up holding Andrea’s hand. Zainab tried to hide it but she was shaking, almost as much as Andrea was. Andrea helped Zainab with her zipper after her hands wouldn’t stop shaking. She continued to undress Zainab who cooperated but otherwise stood still.

“I.. I didn’t mean..” Zainab stammered as she looked down at the floor. Andrea just continued undressing her until all that she had left were her black thong panties.

“It’s ok,” Andrea said as she led Zainab by the hand back toward the sauna. “Just come lay down with me.” She opened the door and pulled Zainab in quickly to keep the heat from escaping. She lay down along the wood panel bench and gestured for Zainab to lie in front of her. Her skin was still cold to the touch as she pulled herself close around Zainab.

“I don’t know if I can be there for you,” Zainab finally said, interrupting only the sound of them silently breathing. “I’m.. normally.. this is getting into the part I don’t like where everything gets heavy and dull. I’m sure I’d be no good at it and I don’t know if either of us would enjoy me trying.. then eventually you’d get tired and leave, or I’d get frustrated and leave. But.. I don’t.. this isn’t like those other times. I don’t want this to be like other times. I don’t want.. I’m sorry, I’m supposed to be the strong one here..”

“You still are.. there’s nothing stronger than being able to admit your own flaws. We’re both diving into the unknown together.” Andrea whispered as she held Zainab tightly.

“Do you know what a shabdahl is?” Zainab asked. Andrea shook her head. “It’s a kind of bird native to Surda, it’s small, blue, looks and flies kind of like a hummingbird. What makes them different though is they don’t settle down like other birds. They don’t have a regular territory, they don’t build nests, they barely need any rest and they don’t so much ‘pair up’ as they just have sex with one bird after another over and over. You know how you can call someone a pig if they’re messy? Well people who live like that, live kind of.. flighty, free spirit and rambunctious but irresponsible and not really tied to anyone.. they get called a shabdahl.”

Zainab reached over and grabbed Andrea’s hand in hers. “It’s funny, a lot of people see it as somewhat of an insult, like you’re calling someone immature when you call them a shabdahl. I’d always seen it more as a badge of honor,” Zainab said as she guided Andrea’s hand up to her thigh. “That’s what the tattoo I have says.. it says shabdahl because I always saw that as a good thing, it always sounded like such a great thing to be, who wouldn’t want to be that? But now..”

“Now what?”

“I used to think it sounded lonely to tie yourself down, make it harder to meet new people or go where you wanted. Now though.. I mean I still want to be free, do all those things.. but.. I don’t know, I can’t answer it all.”

“You don’t have to answer it all just yet,” Andrea said as she moved their two hands back around Zainab’s stomach. “Just answer one thing, did you mean it when you said you’re in love me?”

Zainab smiled. “Yes.. yes that’s one thing I’m sure of. I love you. But what if I..”

“Shh.. it’s ok,” Andrea softly interrupted. “Worries are ok. I love you too, and history doesn’t have to be prologue. We’ll find a way to make it work.. just don’t try anything stupid like try to end things because of what your tattoo means. We both love each other, and that’s how I know things will work out.”

****

“We got a problem here,” Andrea said as she walked back toward the kitchen where Zainab stared into an almost empty fridge some time later.

“Tell me about it, everything we brought needs someone to cook it and that certainly isn’t going to be me,” Zainab said as she shut the fridge door.

“Well I’m sure I’m no better, but I meant a different problem. There’s only two small snow shovels, no salt and nothing big and nothing motorized.” Andrea said as she leaned down over the kitchen counter.

“How often do snow plows come by? Wouldn’t they just take care of it all?” Zainab asked.

“Around here? I don’t know for sure they ever come by. And even if they do, it would only be for the public road and not our private and very long driveway.” Andrea explained perplexingly. “Did you just kind of assume a snow plow would come save us?”

“That’s what they do isn’t it? They clear the roads?” Zainab replied, slowly realizing her own ignorant assumption.

“Yeah.. in cities they do, but even there they don’t generally do private driveways. And if this much snow happened overnight then that’s a matter of life and death to keep the main roads open, they may not have time to come out to middle of nowhere places like here. We’re probably on our own. Sorry..” Andrea explained causing Zainab to pout.

“Well, why don’t we go wake Megan and then deal with this,” Zainab said as she walked around to Andrea.

“You just don’t want to shovel,” Andrea teased as they both started walking down the hallway. Zainab didn’t respond she simply poked Andrea playfully with her elbow.

****

Megan awoke again as she felt her chip turn on. She did not know if it was night or day, she did not know how long she had been like this but she felt utterly amazing. She had been made to cum half a dozen times at least, and no matter how hard she protested there was nothing she could do to stop it.

After it hummed away for a while she began to make fists, breathing heavy anticipating the chance that it might make her cum again at any moment. Instead it merely turned off. She wasn’t sure how long it would stay off, but she finally decided that perhaps it was time to go look for the key. She had after all been very bold to throw it into the grass with a blindfolding hood, but it’s simply the cost of planning such things out when particularly horny.

She got up and began shuffling towards the direction she thought should be the sliding glass door, when she heard the hallway door open.

“Megan? What’s going on?” Andrea asked rhetorically. The answer was rather self-evident but she still felt blindsided by it.

“Oh that’s where my leather belts went,” Zainab said as the two of them walked over to the now stationary Megan.

“See, told you I didn’t lose them.” Andrea said to Zainab. “But Megan are you alright?”

Megan darted her head around embarrassed but turned on. She didn’t intend on being discovered, though knew with the hood it might have become a necessity. Even still she felt a surge of helplessness now that she was discovered in such a state. It was also at that moment that the NESIC sprang back to life, causing Megan to lose her balance and fall forward to be caught by Zainab.

“Oh hell you’ve got one of those shock collars on you, here let me.. and it’s locked on just great.” Andrea said as she looked at the collar. She helped Zainab guide Megan back to the bed where Megan began to writhe around enjoying the sensations amplified by her helplessness, humiliation and restriction. Once she was safely back on the bed she began to pull at her bindings, kicking her feet apart and pulling her wrists, not getting very far in either case. Then it happened, her chip sent out a signal to cum and she moaned and grunted softly as she jostled around like a fish out of water before finally collapsing down and laying still in exhaustion.

Andrea and Zainab weren't sure what to make of it all. Andrea got up on the bed and flipped Megan onto her side. She was still breathing heavy but put up no resistance. Andrea grabbed the square box of the shock collar that was sitting at Megan’s throat and tried to twist it. The collar became a little tighter, but the two metal prongs were now safely facing away from her throat.

“Are you alright?” Andrea asked.

“I’m fine, I was just about to go get the key. It’s just out in the grass,” Megan said.

Andrea and Zainab looked at each other worryingly. “Um, I don’t know how to tell.. wait how long have you been tied up?”

“Since last night. With Hannah coming back on I.. it got me in the mood I guess is all.”

“You mean you’ve been like this the whole time we were up in that cell? With a collar around your neck are you crazy?” Zainab interjected as she joined Andrea up on the bed.

“I.. no it’s not that restrictive, and the key’s just outside and..”

“Megan, this is that hogtie thing all over again, this isn’t safe!” Andrea interrupted.

“Well excuse me for not having anyone to do this for me ok? You two told me not to come up last night and I just.. I mean.. I can go get the key whenever I want.” Meagan said defensively.

“No you can’t idiot, there’s a good two and a half feet of snow outside!” Andrea said.

“Oh.. um..”

“Can you tell us exactly where the keys are? Maybe we could dig and find them,” Zainab asked.

“Not exactly.. I kind of just threw them out in the dark. they’re about halfway between the balcony and the cement but with the snow I’m not sure you can see that line anyway,” Megan replied.

“And I’m presuming cutting them is out of the question?” Andrea asked Zainab.

“That would be correct, these are my Italian leather stuffs.. I love them so much and they’re not really replaceable. Well I just say fuck it, you wanted to be tied up, looks like you’re getting your wish. We’ll cut the collar off since that’s not mine and I want you to not lose your voice again. Then, when we get to a town I think you’re just going to give a lucky locksmith very interesting story,” Zainab replied.

“Or we get some bolt cutters and cut the locks..” Andrea said in a deadpan delivery.

“Oh you’re no fun.” Zainab said as she crossed her arms. “I’ll go get something for the collar,” she said as she got up and walked out towards the hallway

“And then grab your snow clothes cause it looks like it’s just you and me with the shovels.” Andrea added, causing Zainab to grumble as she left.

“And Hannah, turn off my program.” Megan said, realizing this probably wasn’t a good time to let the NESIC turn back on in the near future.

****

“And you said I overpacked..” Zainab said as she and Andrea both came back into the cabin winded after several hours clearing snow.

“Well I wasn’t expecting to be spending hours out in what’s nearly a damn blizzard,” Andrea said as she began removing her shoes.

“Uh.. I could use a rest though, my arms feel like putty.” Zainab said as she simply dropped her outer coverings to the floor. “And my legs aren’t far behind..”

“You don’t really ‘do’ chores do you?” Andrea mocked.

“Carry me, body failing..” Zainab mumbled as she collapsed onto Andrea’s shoulder.

“I’m tired too, we can go lay down and check on Megan,” Andrea said as she led on towards the bedrooms with Zainab still leaning on her side. “Megan?”

“I’m in the master bedroom,” she called out. She had taken the hours alone to move herself slowly over to the larger and more comfortable bed. She lay on her stomach, still as helplessly bound and blind as before.

“Well, it’s dark out and we’ve cleared most of a path down the driveway to the main road. Now if any plow does clear the road we’ll be able to reach it with.. just a bit more shoveling. It’s even letting up I think,” Andrea informed Megan as she collapsed onto the bed with Zainab doing the same on the other side of the bed. “But I say we don’t try leaving till morning even if a plow does come by tonight. I don’t want to get caught out there at night. If it doesn’t snow to much more tonight I think I can drive us out of here if we’ve got chains.”

“Chains you say?” Zainab joked.

“No.. I mean for the..”

“I know what you meant. I’m not completely clueless,” Zainab said sticking out her tongue.

“And how are you doing?” Andrea asked as she slapped Megan’s bare ass.

“Mmm still good. I haven’t been bound this long since summer. And being blind too it’s like.. like I’m just a helpless.. thing.” Megan cooed as she fidgeted around in her bindings.

“Alright, well, we should go try to get some food.. or.. something,” Zainab said without moving.

“Yes.. food..” Andrea said with equal enthusiasm.

****

“We don’t have marshmallows do we?” Zainab asked as she sat back and watched Andrea tend to the newly started fire in the stone fireplace.

“No, don’t think so,” Andrea said as she poked the pieces of kindling to get into better position to light the main logs. “And after I burnt the dinner so bad I wasn’t sure you’d trust me to cook anything more anyway.”

“It was rice! How do you mess up rice?”

“I didn’t see you volunteering,” Andrea replied.

“I told you, my arms had stopped working..” Zainab said in a fake pout.

“So what do we do now?” Megan asked while seated in the couch opposite Zainab.

“Hey.. I’ve got an idea.. presents. It’s Christmas eve right?” Zainab said as she sat up. “Why don’t we do our gifts now? We did say gift each but I think it’d be a fun way to pass the time.”

“Is this.. I mean with Megan like this it doesn’t seem like a great time to do this..” Andrea said.

“Well, I can’t speak for your gifts but I have some confidence this can still be enjoyable.”

“I’m open for it, Andrea why don’t you open mine for me and tell me what they are.” Megan cheerily said.

“I also get the gut feeling that whatever you got’s going to outshine us so why don’t we do yours separately from ours,” Andrea asked.

“Sounds fair, ok we do mine now and yours later,” Zainab said as she dashed back to the bedroom for her large suitcase to fetch the giftwrapped boxes.

“That’s not exactly what.. oh forget it. Sure let’s do yours now since there’s probably not a chance of talking you out of it now is there?”

“Not a good chance no,” Zainab replied as she returned with a large wrapped box she set in front of Andrea.

“Alright, Megan you got a..” Andrea said as she opened Megan’s present. “A virtual cinema headset.. Ok Zee how is this in any way something she can use right now?”

“Look at the headphones that come with..” Zainab corrected.

“Total noise isolation headphones.. oh.. I get it now,” Andrea said as she looked closer at the box.

“Like I couldn’t hear anything at all?” Megan asked.

“Exactly, I was thinking, let’s make the most of the time here. I’ll get you in one of those animal cages I saw upstairs, plop these on and keep you in there till morning,” Zainab explained Megan simply smiled and sighed. “I’ll take that as a yes, let’s get those things on her.”

Andrea rushed to open the box and get out the headset. It wrapped around Megan’s head like a kind of head harness. There was another band wrapping around the head to hold the large earphones in place and running under the chin. It was clearly designed so that it wouldn’t be easily shaken off. Andrea reached up and turned on the headphones with a switch, illuminating a small blue light over each ear.

“Hello Megan can you still hear me?” Zainab asked in a rather loud voice. Megan gave no response. “Respond or I’ll slap you,” Zainab said even louder and right into her ear but still got no response. “Alright, go grab one of those cages I saw upstairs,” Zainab said as she looked over to Andrea. Andrea scurried off to grab one of the ones left upstairs.

Megan darted her head around, she could feel the pressure around her eyes and around her ears but couldn’t hear anything. She followed obediently as she felt Zainab push her along on her knees. She was restricted to very small steps across the smooth wood floor. She felt a second pair of hands on her other side. Andrea had returned to help guide Megan into the cage whose door stood open. It was tricky to get over the lip of the metal crate, but with everyone helping they eventually got Megan inside. Her head rested against the far side of the cage as she tucked her legs inside. When she tried stretching back out again she felt the door had been closed. She moaned and jostled pulling at her wrists before settling more or less into a ball tie. The pressure from lying on her earphone was uncomfortable, but by simply taking her weight off her head she could give herself a rest. She felt the bars press against her knees, and felt the other side with her fingers, she knew she was going nowhere and so she simply attempted to enjoy the restriction.

****

“Wait there,” Zainab said before quickly dashing back to her room. She returned carrying a small bag in one hand and a small wrapped gift in the other. She had stripped out of the top and pants she had worn for dinner, strutting coyly down towards Andrea in only a delicate pair of red lace panties. She set both the bag and present down at one edge of the couch before sitting down in the middle. She tapped lightly on the other end of the couch, encouraging Andrea to climb up and join her.

“When I got you this gift,” Zainab started as she grabbed the wrapped box and scooted closer to Andrea. “Well I was just thinking it could be a fun.. trinket I guess. I.. well I thought about how it could look and I just.. I told myself that it didn’t mean anything more than that. But.. I.. that wasn’t really true. I.. you bring this.. And now with all the.. whatever you want to call this last day.. well I guess I’m just trying to say that I didn’t mean to get you a gift that was.. like a symbol of something, but since I kind of did that anyway.. I’m glad I did.”

“This is really new to you isn’t it? This whole being a flawed human thing..” Andrea joked as she took the gift, causing Zainab to blush. “No, it’s good, I’m glad. I’m sorry, I’m not trying to be a smarmy asshole, it’s just a reflex.”

“Shut up before I take it back,” Zainab said as she pawed half-heartedly for the box.

“Alright.. ok I’m opening it.” Andrea said as she began to tear away the wrapping. The wrapping covered a plain white box, about an inch and a half tall and about six inches square. She slid the top off and found a necklace arranged atop a soft padding. It was silver, made of a smooth decorative rope chain about 3 mm thick, thicker than some but not oversized. It had a kind of pendent in the middle, not dangling from it but attached directly to it. It was about an inch and a half long and barely taller than the chain, housing a small black stone in the middle. “It’s beautiful..” Andrea remarked as she ran her fingers around it.

She picked it up and examined the two ends that were currently not attached to each other. It seemed to have a sort of pin on one side that fed inside a casing at the other side. It was much larger than most clips she’d seen and it too seemed to have a black decorative stone similar to the one in the front. “So.. why might I read too much into a piece of jewelry?” Andrea asked after setting it back in its box.

“Well… because you see it’s not just a piece of jewelry.” Zainab said as she gingerly picked the necklace up. She clicked the ends of the necklace together before pinching one side of the pendent. Andrea instantly felt her NESIC turn on, startling her enough to let out a nervous giggle. “Yeah.. this is paired with your chip, and when it’s closed it can control it by pinching.”

“That.. that certainly makes it sexual..” Andrea said as she took the necklace back. She pinched the other side of the black stone, guessing correctly that it did the opposite and turned the chip back down. She looked around at the back casing, trying to figure out how to open it and failing to. “How.. how do you open this thing up?”

“That.. that is why this isn’t just a sex toy any more. Well, there’s actually no way you can open it. Only I can,” Zainab said as she pressed her thumb against the black gem, which read her print and opened up. “Combine that with the fact that it’s the length of a choker and.. well it starts looking a lot like a collar to me.”

“Oh..” Andrea said as it finally clicked. She set it back down in its case and placed the case on the coffee table.

“Well one of the main guys behind that company, he’s apparently quite big into the lifestyle himself. Part of why the company seems to always keep the kinkishly persuaided in mind when they set their things up,” Zainab began to ramble as she leaned forward, looking at the ground.

“I actually met him you know.. back at that fair remember? I didn’t piece it together at the time but the woman he was with did wear a black ribbon around her neck.”

“Right.. I’m sorry I.. those stories are all new to me I haven’t really.. taken it all in properly. Well what I was meaning to say is, this..” Zainab said as she picked up the box. “This is.. something I bought without being very honest with myself about what it meant. It’s a collar, it.. it essentially is close to one at the very least. I’ve had different people I’d call slaves but.. and they would certainly wear collars, but this is.. well this is different. I.. I love you. And so this isn’t some usual trinket I give to one of my usual playthings or usual passing relationships. This is.. This is not my usual anything. God listen to me! I’m prattling on like this..”

“It’s ok,” Andrea said as she placed her arm on Zainab’s leg. “You’re allowed to prattle. Please, look who you’re talking to! And I’d rather hear you prattling out your problems than keeping them all to yourself. So are you.. asking me if I would.. like if I’d still want it knowing all of what it would mean?”

Zainab nodded her head with an uncharacteristic loss for words. Andrea leaned forward, running her hand along Zainab’s cheek before moving in to kiss. She pulled back after the one long kiss and slid down to the floor, positioning herself kneeling between Zainab’s legs. “I’d like it very much if you put it on yourself Mistress,” Andrea said as she lifted her hair from her neck.

Zainab slid forward off the couch, resting her ass on Andrea’s knees with her legs on either side of Andrea. She reached back for the necklace, placing it gently around Andrea’s neck. It sat just at the base of the neck, not tight but also without much extra length. Zainab reached behind and pressed the pin into the small housing in the back, securing it around Andrea’s neck.

“Now, you’re all mine,” Zainab said seductively.

“I already was.”

****

Andrea lay still and contented watching the fire dance in front of her. Her naked body was warmed by the fireplace in front of her and by Zainab’s naked body pressed behind her. Her arms were immobilized in rope behind her in a box tie. Zainab’s attention was on the necklace Andrea now wore, running her hands along it and the neck it encircled.

“Are you just going to play with that necklace all night?” Andrea asked as she turned her head to try to look behind her.

“And what if I am?” Zainab asked as she allowed Andrea to turn over onto her back.

“Come on, I know there’s more than rope in that bag.” Andrea pleaded with a smile.

“How are you not tired when you were shoveling so much more than me?” Zainab grunted.

“I don’t want to tell my Mistress what to do..”

“Since when?” Zainab interrupted.

“But please, use me one more time before we go to bed,” Andrea said ignoring Zainab’s snide comment. “I just think after all the turbulence today we’d both sleep better after.”

Zainab rolled over Andrea, standing up beside the couch with a grin. “I think my pet is saying she’s horney is that right?”

Andrea quivered and shook, nodding her head. “It can be both,” she whispered. Zainab responded by reaching down and grabbing Andrea by the chest harness and ass. She scooted Andrea up the couch, flipping her over onto her stomach. Zainab lifted Andrea up and over the edge of the couch until her breasts were just barely hanging over the edge of the couch.

Andrea could no longer see Zainab who had gone back to her bag to retrieve things, but instead saw Megan directly in front of her. Megan seemed unable to know anything was going on around her, she merely fidgeted what little she could. She moved her head around most of all.

Andrea was so distracted watching Megan that she was nearly startled when she felt Zainab climb back onto the couch behind her. Zainab grabbed Andrea’s chest harness and pulled her up to her knees. She reached her arm around Andrea holding her tight and cupping one breast. Her other hand worked its way around to Andrea’s necklace, pinching the front to turn Andrea’s NESIC on and up to a medium setting.

Zainab gently guided Andrea back down onto the edge of the couch with her chest laying against the armrest. Her knees were pushed forward, making her present her ass proudly up to Zainab. Andrea felt the head of a slick strapon sliding along the edge of her wet slit, teasing her but refusing to go in.

The teasing was maddening, with her chip turned up and tied as she was she badly wished Zainab would just get going. But she was helpless to do anything but wait, which only made the desire stronger. If she pleaded she knew it would only make Zainab go slower. If she tried to glide her hips back she knew she’d quite possibly be punished even worse. So she stuck to waiting, grunting and staring straight ahead at Megan who was even more helpless than her.

Moving slowly, Zainab began to inch her way in, feeling the pressure build on her end as she did. Her hands gripped Andrea’s hips on either side. After slowly retreating, she used that leverage to make a sudden, fast thrust, causing a moan to escape her own lips as well as Andrea’s. She slowly began building speed, always thrusting back in much faster than she pulled back. The dual sided strap on made each thrust feel filling to her as well as Andrea, and the nubs strategically placed over her clit were teasing her wonderfully as well.

“Mistress.. Mistress may I cum?” Andrea asked, her breath now panting and ragged.

“Hold on slave, not so fast,” Zainab replied as she picked up the pace, feeling herself coming close to an orgasm as well.

“Oh but.. but Mistress I don’t know how long..” Andrea tried to explain before being interrupted by a sudden pull on her chest harness. Zainab pulled her up while continuing to thrust, now hitting her at a very different angle.

“If you can’t hold it slave you’ll be very sorry..” Zainab said as she turned down Andrea’s NESIC to help. Even still Andrea felt it was an uphill battle. She tried to calm herself and hold back, but she could slowly feel herself losing her battle for self-control.

“Almost..” Zainab said as she quickened her pace again while holding Andrea close in front of her. “All…. mo…  Ah.. Ok cummmmm... “ Zainab stammered out as she gripped Andrea tightly and stopped thrusting. Andrea stopped fighting and crashed into orgasm to match. Zainab collapsed back, bringing Andrea down with her. Sweat formed between them as they both lay panting, one on top of the other. Zainab repositioned herself so that the dildo could slide out of Andrea and she could straighten her legs. But she otherwise felt content to lay there, with Andrea on top of her and her hands wrapped neatly around Andrea’s waist.

****

Andrea awoke slowly as the early morning light flooded the living room. The white that blanketed everything made even the small sliver of light of a winter sunrise shine brightly. She lay on her stomach, her arms still comfortably tied behind her, with Zainab huddled close beside her on the couch. She looked over and saw the fire had gone out in the night and slowly began to sit up. Her sitting up forced Zainab’s hand off of her, causing her to stir as well.

“Mmm.. morning,” Andrea said quietly.

“Christmas morning if I’m not mistaken,” Zainab replied as she stretched out her arms and legs.

“Yeah could you…” Andrea said before shaking her arms around. Zainab sat up and immediately began untying Andrea’s arms, testing along to see if there was numbness.

“I’m just realizing.. it probably wasn't the smartest thing to leave you tied up like that. We still got more driveway to shovel and this could have done some damage,” Zainab said as she untied Andrea.

“Why Zainab are you actually advising caution and prudence?” Andrea teased back.

“Pru-dence? I’m sorry I don’t think I know that English word..” Zainab said as she finished with the last knot.

“Oh you liar,” Andrea said loudly as she turned around to look Zainab in the eye.

“Maybe a little bit of a liar..” Zainab admitted before moving in to kiss Andrea.

“Hello? Are you there?” Megan asked, suddenly capturing the other’s attention. Andrea and Zainab slipped over to the edge of the couch to look at Megan. She was shaking and her earphones no longer had its light on.

“Megan? Are you alright?” Andrea asked in a loud voice.

“Oh.. I hope I didn’t wake.. I mean I don’t want to be..” Megan stammered as she began pulling at all her bindings.

“What’s wrong?” Andrea asked after another pause.

“Just.. out.. please.. I need I mean.. I, just get me out,” she said as she started thrashing around and rattling the thin bars of the animal crate she was in. Andrea and Zainab quickly darted over to open the door and help her out of the cage.

“Please.. help.. I don’t wann.. I don’t..” Megan said as she did her best to back out of the cage. Once she was finally out Andrea embraced her friend, but it didn’t seem to calm her.

“It’s ok.. I’m here. Zainab! Help me here,” Andrea said as she began to hold Megan close.

“Mistake.. I .. just get.. I need.. Halt! Just.. help I need..” Megan continued to babble as Andrea held her. Andrea tried to hush her, tried petting her head, but was finding it as unsuccessful as if she wasn’t there at all and was becoming visibly concerned. She looked around for Zainab but Zainab had disappeared.

“It’s ok.. it’s ok.. here, I’ll take this headgear off..” Andrea said as she started to unbuckle the visor and earphones. “Does that feel better?” Andrea asked.

“Better.. but.. please.. I need to get out.. I.. I need,” Megan said as she once again began to struggle in her bindings,

Zainab returned and gently pushed Andrea away as she knelt behind Megan. She had shears in her hand and without hesitation slid them in to cut the leather cuffs away. Once Megan had her hands free she seemed to calm down some but it wasn’t until Zainab cut the leather strap keeping her hood on that she truly began to regain her sense.

Megan turned around and lunged out into a hug, holding Andrea and Zainab tight with each hand. “I’m sorry.. I’m.. I kind of.. I sorry you had to.. I mean you cut..” Megan began to stumble through apologies.

“It’s ok, they’re just things.” Zainab reassured her.

****

“Hey.. can I come in?” Andrea asked as she knocked on Megan’s door.

“Yeah.. yeah come in,” Megan said as she turned her head to look over at the door. She had gotten dressed, putting on a warm pair of sweatpants and a soft long sleeve shirt. She was laying down, under the covers, gripping the guest bed’s second pillow tight against her chest.

“I know you said you wanted some time alone.. I can go back out there with Zainab if you’d rather still..” Andrea said hesitantly as she approached the bed.

“No.. I.. I thought being alone would be better. I don’t think I was right about that either..” Megan interrupted as she started sitting up and scooting over to make room for Andrea.

Andrea sat down at the edge of the bed, sliding her back against the wall but trying to not crowd her friend. “So.. do you want to try to tell me what’s going on with you?”

“Oh that? Yeah.. my neck was.. my neck was really starting to hurt from trying to hold my head up so much cause when I’d rest on the headphones too long my ear would start to hurt.. and not being able to move was making it even worse and I think having all night alone my head just started getting the better of me and..” Megan slowly mumbled.

“No.. I mean bigger than that. You’ve been acting strange now for a while. What’s wrong? You can tell me,” Andrea interrupted, being gentle but direct to the point.

Megan looked over at Andrea before burying her head in the pillow she held at her chest. She snorted and grunted, clutching the pillow tight obscuring her face. She eventually sat up and set the pillow on her lap before finally responding. “I.. I’m not doing well.. I.. well it’s just all the.. the pressure. It’s been making.. I.. I just try and dodge, avoid, whatever. I try to keep.. I try to be moderate but I’ve always been like that. If it’s worth doing it’s worth overdoing.. And it’s not.. it only makes for procrastination which only makes things worse which.. makes me feel I need more outlet which.. well leads to overdoing.”

“Well.. how bad has it gotten?”

“My stomach feels like it hasn’t had a rest since September, I’m.. I’m missing things and locking up and.. It’s like I hit this brick wall and the more I try to punch through the worse I feel until I’m so out of my mind I just have to stop. I.. and well sometimes walking away for a bit lets me find a way around the wall. So I just kept saying.. It’ll be fine it’ll go away. But it’s not.. it’s.. it’s just getting worse.. I almost.. I nearly lost some of my scholarships.”

“So you know then what you got?” Andrea asked after a considerable pause.

“Of course I do, I knew a week ago. 2.54. And that.. I completely failed one of my finals. Just looked at the page and my mind couldn’t do anything. It’s like the words meant nothing. I lucked out and found the professor and pleaded for a pass. I think he just felt sorry seeing a freshman in tears in his office.. but I don’t know.. I don’t want to think about how I’m going to get through next semester. Or how the.. how the hell I’m supposed to explain that.. and..” Megan said in burst of alternating speed and slow contemplation.

“Well, and this is just as your friend.. but maybe you need to talk to someone.”

“I did. I had a second meeting right before we left. I.. that’s not  going to work out. I told her.. well I mean you know that rush you get from the right kind of pain?” Megan asked causing Andrea to nod her head. “Well.. she.. she said I need to give it all up that it’s not healthy.”

“No offense, but you’re being kind of unsafe about it, and you just said you can overdo things,” Andrea softly interrupted.

“Yeah but.. maybe it was the way she.. she compared it to.. to like cutting yourself. I mean I tried explaining but I.. she didn’t.. I don’t know. I’m not.. and like she said that my wanting to be dominated was just like.. a self-image thing or something.. I’m not, I’m not that far gone am I?”

“Of course not. No. No, it just sounds like she doesn’t want to understand any of this. Find someone new, and in the meantime.. you know I’ll always be there right?” Andrea said as she moved in to hug her friend.

“I know it’s just.. that little judgy voice is.. it’s hard to turn it off sometimes. And I hardly ever see you any more without Zainab and.. I just don’t.. I’d feel bad about bringing.. I mean you generally look so happy when you’re around her. I don’t want to bring you down and burden you with all of my problems,” Megan said as she began to tear up. “And before you say.. I mean I know you would actually be there like if I had a problem or something, but.. I.. it’s just really hard.. It’s.. I’m sorry,” Megan continued as she began to sob  on Andrea’s shoulder.

“It’s ok.. whatever it takes.. we’ll make it work ok?” Andrea softly cooed. “Now what would make things better right now?”

“I don’t know.. I.. somewhere else.. there’s.. there’s too many ghosts here. Know what I mean?”

“Well it looked like it hadn’t snowed any more overnight, and we got most of the way to the road yesterday. If anyone cleared the road we can leave soon,” Andrea said before a knock on the door interrupted her.

“Come in,” Megan said as she wiped some of the tears away and sat back.

“Christmas miracle ladies!” Zainab said as she excitedly entered the room. “I was just out there shoveling some more and saw a truck drive by with a plow in the front. It’s not all the way clear, it looked like just a pickup with a scooper thingy on the front, but you said that’s all we needed right?”

“Great, then I say we get our asses out of here before the weather changes its mind. Who’s up for a trip to the nearest airport?”

“Airport, why airport?” Zainab asked. “Do you think we need to fly back in order to make it to DC?”

“I was thinking we go somewhere a little warmer, you two in?” Andrea asked before quickly looking over to Megan.

“Warmer could be nice.” Megan said with a smile.

“Now you’re talking my language!” Zainab exclaimed. “We had a white snow Christmas, now how about a white sand New Years?”

 

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13.01.16

story continues in The Stories of Bound Friends 15: Sophia and the Barbarian Horde

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