"Gertrude. I don't want to panic you, but I need you out of the way."

"What are you going to do to me? Kill me?"

"No. No. Nothing that drastic. I'm going to introduce you to someone. And she is going to take care of you. Alright?"

"She? Who? What?" Confusion reigning again in her mind.

"Janey!" I called. My voice echoing around the house. I could feel the girl moving throughout the house. The house making every movement known. We were in the room closest to the stairs. I could hear her bare feet moving on the tile until she reached the base of the stair.

"Yes?" Jane called up. Gertrude's face was a mask of fright. Someone else was in her house?

"Jane. Come up here. First door."

I could hear the girl climbing the stairs. I glanced out the window.The backyard was huge. A pool. Tennis courts. Tall oak trees graced the property. I wasn't aware that there were places left like this in the city.

Leaving Gertrude in the room, I met Jane in the hallway. I whispered to her so that Gertrude wouldn't hear.

"I've got a woman in there. Her name is Gertrude. Older lady. She's scared to high heaven."

"No wonder. You're here. She naked yet? Poor woman."

I glared at Jane. "She's in her nightgown. I don't find her particularly attractive."

"Lucky her," Jane mumbled. I glared at her again, and this time Jane paled a bit. Knew she had overstepped her bounds. "Oh God. I'm sorry. What do you need me to do?"

"Take her. Calm her down. Take her into the backyard. Tie her to a tree. She isn't going to like that, but explain to her the alternative. When you're done, let me know. I'll slow time to a crawl for her, so she essentially is out of time again."

"You are letting her go?"

"She's in the way at the moment. And she doesn't understand."

Jane just nodded. Not unwilling to help a woman escape my grasp. I released the handcuffs on her wrists. I didn't want Gertrude deciding to take advantage of Jane because she was handcuffed. Jane was younger and stronger than Gertrude. I just hoped that Gertrude listened. I didn't particularly want her to force me to hurt her.

I walked back into the room. Gertrude was standing on the far side.Away from the door. Trying to get as far away as she could. Badly frightened.

"Gertrude. I'd like you to meet Jane. She's going to help you. If you listen to her, you don't have to get hurt. Okay?"

Gertrude nodded. Her eyes widening as Jane stepped into the room. Her robe still unbelted not really covering her nudity. Jane tried her best to wrap it around herself, but was only partially successful. Any time she had to use her hands for something other than holding the robe closed allowed it to swirl open, revealing her nakedness beneath. Jane was used to it.

"What the hell is going on here?" Gertrude blurted out.

Jane took a deep breath, let the robe just fall as it would, and walked over to the frightened woman.

"Gertrude. You have to listen to me. Please. This man. He..... he's capable of very bad things. He can hurt you, and me, very badly if we don't listen to him. I know you don't understand. You haven't been whipped yet. But if you listen to me, you never have to feel it. You are so lucky. Please listen to me."

At the word "whipped", Gertrude pulled in her breath. Fear really settled in her eyes.

"Wh-what does he want from me?"

"Oh God. Gertrude, I know this won't make any sense. But you have to do what I say. Okay?" She numbly nodded. "I'm going to take you downstairs and outside. Okay? And I'm going to ... to ... tie you to one of those oak trees. It won't hurt. I promise."

"Oh my God. You have to be kidding."

"I'm not Gertrude."

"You won't get away with this. The neighbours. The police."

Jane took a deep breath. "Gertrude. You have to listen to me. Please. You wouldn't believe what he is capable of. The pain he can put you in."

"No. I'm not going to let you tie me to a tree. Are you crazy?"

Jane sighed. "Look." She opened her robe. Exposing her bare chest to the woman. She pointed to herself. Various places on her bare breasts. Gertrude averted her gaze from the bare youthful body displayed in front of her. "Gertrude. Look at me. Please?" Gertrude finally couldn't keep her gaze away any longer. "Look at the marks. See these? This bruise? Here? And here?"

Gertrude nodded. Horror reflecting in her face.

"He whipped me. A couple of days ago. The marks are still there. You don't want to have that happen to you, do you? I made the mistake of not listening to him."

Gertrude just numbly nodded. Really badly frightened.

"He can do this to you too. Please. It's for the best. Trust me. Just do what he wants. You'll do it eventually anyway."

"What makes you think that he won't just whip me when I'm tied to a tree?"

Jane sighed. "I don't know that. But I've known him a lot longer than you have known him. Please. If he wants to whip you, he will. Nothing you can do to stop him."

Remembering how easily I caught her when she tried to escape, she nodded.

"I'll do what you say. Please. Just don't hurt me. Please?"

Jane nodded. "I won't hurt you unless he tells me to. And he hasn't yet. Okay?"

Gertrude nodded. Jane took her hand reassuringly and began to lead the trembling woman out of the room. I heard Gertrude scream just before she was led outside. Not sure what that was about. I watched from the window as the ill-robed girl led Gertrude out into the backyard. Their feet making soft tracks in the grass.

I could see Jane talking to the woman. From my vantage point there was no way to know what was being said, but it looked like Jane was trying to comfort the woman. Gertrude stood still, looking around. Probably not quite understanding why her neighbours weren't helping. Weren't even noticing the sight of her in her nightgown tied to an oak in her own backyard. But she was docile enough as Jane wrapped the rope around her wrists and ankles, loosely holding her to the tree. Jane climbed back
to her bare feet. She checked the ropes and gave Gertrude a reassuring kiss. She fairly ran back into the house, letting Gertrude begin to struggle with the bonds. No doubt calling out for help.

Soon Jane re-entered the room.

"Done." She was out of breath.

"Nicely done, too."

"I didn't want to do that, you know. She was such a nice woman. She deserves better."

"I'm not torturing her, am I?"

"I guess. But she was so frightened."

"I'll deal with that as well."

I looked out the window and concentrated on Gertrude's bubble of time.I narrowed it until it moved at barely a thousandth of normal time. It was enough to keep her in our timeline, but not enough that she'd even be aware of the events around her. The ropes would prevent her from moving around, even at that slow time rate. She effectively became very unaware of any events around her. Jane watched the transformation with me in fascination.

"I really wish I knew how to do that."

"And if you did, that would be the end of my control over you."

"Christ, yeah."

"And that, my dear, is why you don't know."

"Someday maybe you'll teach me."

"Right."

Again without being told, she raised her wrists, offering them to me. I slipped the steel back around her. She twisted her wrists a bit to find the most comfortable position. She was getting used to the ornaments as well as the others.

She looked at me. "You know you don't have to put these on us anymore. We aren't about to disappear or anything."

"I know."

"You just like to see us in them. Don't you?"

"You've got it."

"So we better get used to them for the rest of our stay, huh?"

"They aren't so bad. It could be a lot worse."

"I guess. At least you don't keep us in ankle chains, gags and nipple clamps all the time. Or make us wear things that cut off our circulation."

"Leniency. As long as you are good."

"I learned that lesson. Remember."

I smiled at her and changed the course of the conversation. "So, what did our host scream at down there while you were taking her out?"

"Actually, she screamed twice. I just managed to cover her mouth before the second one erupted into an ear splitter."

"What the heck happened?"

"Well. The first one caught me off guard. Elizabeth has taken the liberty of catching up on her reading. Sprawled out in the library on a leather recliner. Well, she left the door open understandably. You'd freak if she had closed it. And well, Gertrude happened to glance in. Saw our nude beauty in handcuffs quietly reading Dickens or something. Gave both of them quite a start. You didn't tell Gertrude about the rest of them, did you? Anyway, I hurriedly explained about the other two. Hoping that we wouldn't run into them on our way out. We didn't. Problem is, the way out was through the kitchen. Well, you had told us not to go in there and we haven't. So even I didn't know about her cook, Polly or something, standing there. Frozen. Making tea or something silly.Nearly startled me to death. I managed to stifle Gertrude's next screech just as she was opening her mouth. Do you have any idea how hard it was to explain that to her? Poor frazzled woman. Thou art a shit, you know."

I watched a grin play across Jane's fine features. She was pretty proud of herself.

I acknowledged her. "You done good." I kissed her on her offered cheek. I gave her a light slap on her rear end. "Go on back to what you were doing before I interrupted you."

"What if I was making love to Christi?" Her grin widened mischievously. I could tell she was kidding.

I gave her another sharper whack. Couldn't have hurt her very much through the terrycloth. I was going to have to relieve those ladies of the garments soon. I hated not being able to connect with bare skin at a time like this.

"Well then, by all means, get back to it. I'll call when I need your services again," I responded to her.

She pranced away, seductively swinging her hips as she left the room. I listened to her as she descended the stairs. Far happier than I'd seen her in a long time. I didn't have an explanation. Perhaps I wasn't tormenting her enough.

I wandered back around the hallway. Stopping in front of the mysterious door. I guess I was about to find out what her husband did for a living.

I unfroze the door and slipped the key into the lock. I heard a faint click as the bolt withdrew from the door frame. I glanced at the door as I twisted the knob. For an interior door it was solid. I could have smashed through it if necessary, but it would have been an effort. Mr. Evan Mayer was concerned about his security. I stepped into a large room and looked around.

The room was decorated in a very masculine fashion. Greens. Browns. Bookcases filled with binders, notes and books against the far wall. A large desk. Picture windows covered with heavy green draperies. A mirrored wall helped enhance the size of the room. A leather sofa and recliner. What looked like a closet, or an entrance to another room. Dark green carpeting beneath my running shoes. Tasteful art hung on the wall. A few potted plants.

Evan was seated in the recliner, wearing a dark business suit. Gray hair. Relaxed but intently watching a young woman standing in front of him. My gaze traveled to the woman. Her back was to me. She was wearing high heels, a short uniform and nylons. Long blonde hair cascaded down her back. Her posture looked a little strange.

I closed the door behind me and carefully relocked it. I wandered to the bookcase. Law reviews. Case studies. Law references. Some fiction. Mostly court fiction. John Grisham. Some horror. Stephen King. Peter Straub. I raised my eyebrows at a particular paperback by Pauline Reage.

The desk was organized. Neat. A blotter. Stationary and writing instruments. Didn't look like it had been used recently.Curious.

I picked up a letter from the corner of the desk. Addressed to Judge Evan Mayer. That solved that little mystery. A judge.

I wandered over to the judge. Wondered what he would think of his wife bound in the back yard. I suppose that I'd find out when he joined her. I followed his frozen gaze, seeing the young woman from the front for the first time. She was a stunning young lady. Blonde.Twenty-something. Perfect figure. Beautiful face. Except for the gag in her mouth. I did  a double take. Gag?

On closer inspection, the woman was not just wearing a short uniform.It was nearly non-existent. A very skimpy French maid uniform. Barely covering her body. I could easily make out the slightly darker flesh of her aureole but the sheer fabric just covered the tips of her erect nipples. It was cut that low. The uniform looked like it was about three sizes too small for her. She was carrying a tray, with what looked like a drink of some sort. A bloody ceasar or something similar. Her hands were encased in sheer black gloves. A thin pair of leather cuffs with tiny padlocks adorned her wrists over the gloves. Another tiny pair of padlocks held her wrists to the handles of the tray. The tray almost looked like it was built to allow for the small padlocks.

I walked up to the girl. She didn't even look real. Her face looked like a porcelain doll's. Her make up was applied heavily enhancing the effect. The make up was slightly marred around her eyes where tears were frozen on her cheeks.

The gag pressed cruelly into her mouth. I'd never gagged any of my girls this tightly. Except maybe when I had punished Amy. It was a large white ball wedged firmly into her mouth. Her red lipstick marred the white surface. A leather strap wrapped from each side of the ball cutting into the sides of her mouth, forcing her to grin horribly. The strap of the gag snaked around her head, under her hair to be fastened somewhere behind her head. I could just imagine the discomfort that it must be causing her.

Finally, there was a constricting band, probably leather, wrapped just above her nylon encased knees. It was pressing into her skin. This is what I missed when I looked at her from behind. The black band almost melted into the sheer black nylons that she was wearing. I recalled thinking that she was in an unusual posture. Her knees were forced together. It must have been very difficult, if not downright painful to walk like this. And everything in her posture indicated that she was, indeed, trying to walk with the tray.

I shook my head. Not quite sure what to make of this. It was pretty obvious that this judge did his 'business' in this room. The wife had indicated that she wasn't allowed in this room. I guess I now knew why. Was it possible that this character had managed to spirit this woman into this room, while his wife was sleeping? Mid morning? That was brave. And she didn't know? I guess I also knew the reason for the tight gag.

Who the hell was this woman? Was she here willingly? She couldn't even be half his age. I toyed with the idea of freeing them both and finding out what the hell was going on. I was almost dying of curiousity.

I glanced around the room. My mind was telling me that it would be more than interesting to just let them continue. Free them, without knowledge of me and see what happens. Kind of like what I did to Christi when I first found her. That turned into quite a show.

The room was large, but really didn't afford much cover. I glanced behind the drapes. The view of the front yard was spectacular. From above, the manicured grounds were quite picturesque. More so, even, than from the gardens themselves. Hiding behind a curtain, though, seemed like such a Hollywood kind of thing to do and it wasn't likely to work. Damn, it would have been nice to discover invisibility along with time manipulation. But that was pushing things, I suppose.

I stepped over to the closet. Opening it, I discovered a deep walk-in closet. My eyes widened as I discovered kinky clothing by the racks. Corsets. Stockings. Racks of high heels on the floor. Lacy things. Jungle things. Thank God, Judge Wapner in there hadn't chosen to be Tarzan today. I think I would have been ill. I suddenly felt very sorry for the girl tied up in the business room. There was video equipment. Cameras. Along one wall, whips and chains to rival anything I had in my equipment pack. No crop though. Restraints. Handcuffs. Steel and leather. Hoods. This guy was equipped.

Another smaller door led to a small bathroom. The door had been locked, but the key still in my hand had opened it. Washbasin. Toilet. Shower. Nothing spectacular. Another door led into a smaller bedroom. Feminine decor. Flowery. Single bed. Writing desk. Not fancy like the other rooms. Opening the main door to the room from the inside clicked the lock on the door. It had been locked from the inside. Just one of those flimsy privacy locks used on interior bedroom doors. I opened the door and peered out back into the hallway. The last door which I hadn't gotten to before coaxing the key to the business room from Gertrude. Interconnected rooms. Cool.

I wandered back into the walk in closet through the small bathroom. Closing and locking doors as I'd found them. I wondered whose bedroom I'd just been in. Obviously the girl's. But, who was she? A daughter? Despite my tendencies towards abusing women, and forcing incest, I somehow found the idea repulsive. Sure I liked to see it, but after the fact, the women wouldn't have to live with the trauma. They'd forget everything when I returned them. I was a bastard, but I wasn't a total bastard. I wouldn't ever consider forcing a woman on the principle time line. I began to see red. Took some deep breaths. Better to find out what was happening first before jumping to conclusions.

I just shook my head. I was betting that Gertrude, tied up in the backyard, had no idea what her husband was up to in here. Ten years? I just had to get the scoop on this. I stepped back into the closet. Closed the door. I noticed that there were two small holes drilled in the door. Light was streaming through them from the room beyond. Sure enough, one could bend down a bit and place one's eyes against them and see perfectly into the room beyond. Convenient as all hell. I was guessing that the eye holes were just about at Evan's height since I was bigger than he was. This guy had probably watched Porky's. Got off on watching her when she didn't even know he was in here. Curiouser and curiouser.

Shutting the door firmly, I positioned myself. I mentally prepared for the time shifts. I had to be ready in case either one of them decided that they needed something from the closet. Though, if that happened,it might just be better to let them discover me. I was going to have to take them eventually.

I concentrated and formed a large time bubble around the entire room. The girl grunted and stumbled forward. Straining against the strap around her knees. Her eyes betrayed her pain much more than any scream that she was unable to produce. Struggling in the shoes and against the strap, she finally managed to walk to the chair where Mayer sat.

He had been silent, simply watching the girl's progress. I had a perfect view of the two of them. The mirrored wall giving me a good view of both. The girl was pleading with her eyes. Tears still streaming down her face. Mayer smiled up at her. Absolutely no warmth in the smile whatsoever. She shuddered.

She bent daintily at her waist. Struggling to keep the tray level. I could just imagine what would have happened to her if she'd spilled it.

Mayer let her stay bent over for a minute, balancing the tray in her bound hands. Then slowly, an evil smile still playing on his lips, he lifted the drink from the tray. The girl straightened as he took a sip of the drink.

He grimaced. Then with no warning at all, he simply splashed the red drink into the girls face. She tried to turn away, but the drink still covered her upper body. Her face. Her hair. Her upper chest. Red. She stumbled, trying to cry out. Mayer reached out with his foot and let it kick into her unprotected side. She tried to twist away from the blow but her bound knees prevented the quick movement necessary. She looked like she was in good shape. If she hadn't been bound, she probably could have avoided it. The blow landed viciously into her side, just under the ribs, knocking the wind out of her. I could see her struggling to draw a breath through her nose. The gag not allowing her to breathe normally through her mouth. Her body lurched to the right, her feet struggling in the high heels to keep her balance.

But the shock of the drink being thrown at her and the kick finally toppled her. She fell heavily to the carpet unable to break her fall with her hands. I was surprised that she didn't break anything. She just pulled her legs up and sobbed after she regained her breath. Though I couldn't really hear her through her gag, it was easy enough to tell that she was in pain and her body shaking showed that she was crying her heart out. One of her high heels had come off in the fall, her stockinged toes were curling and uncurling with her agony. Her fingers in the gloves spasming, trying to reach her side where he'd kicked her. The tight bands on her wrists impeding her. One breast had peeked out from the bodice of the uniform. I could actually see some faded red marks on the bottom of the bared breast.

Mayer sat in the chair calmly watching the girl writhe and rubbing his crotch. After a few minutes he stood and approached the girl. The girl seeing him approaching tried to shuffle herself away. But with bound knees and wrists she wasn't going anywhere fast. She was begging through the gag.

He sauntered up to the girl and crouched down.

"Sheila. I thought I told you to bring me a bloody MARY!" The girl on the floor just lay there and cried. "You dumb cunt. Not a bloody CAESAR." I had guessed right. Mayer stood and aimed another kick at the defenseless girls stomach. She convulsed as it landed, sending her into more violent sobbing. "Can't you get anything right? Stupid dumb fuck. If you want something done right you gotta do it your-fucking-self."

Mayer pulled a remote control from his pocket aiming it at the wall. A section of the wall rotated and a mini bar came into view. I'd have to remember that feature. There was another red drink sitting on the shelf. Mayer picked it up and sipped at it. Touching the remote control again, the bar rotated back out of sight.

"Ahhh. That's more like it. Fuck. I don't think you've ever picked the right one. Dumb cunt." As the judge walked back to his seat he aimed another kick at the prone girl. She tried to shy away but got it in her side again. She tried to scream through the gag but it just came out as a small wail. Tears coursed down through the clamato juice covering her face. She just lay there as he took his seat and watched her writhe, squirm and sob as he slowly finished his drink.

By the time he had finished the bloody mary, the girl had stopped shaking on the floor. She was trying to breathe quietly and carefully through her nose. He set aside the empty glass on the table beside the chair and spoke to her again.

"Sheila?"

She just looked at him dully.

"Christ you are dumb. I think that you need more punishment. Don't you?"

She just slowly shook her head. Still crying a bit.

"You've made a mess of yourself. You've made a mess of the floor. You wasted a perfectly good drink. And you are a worthless cunt."

She closed her eyes and nodded her head. Crying. At this, Mayer got out of the chair and crouched down by the bound girl. Being careful of the spilt drink caking her upper body he lifted her off the floor and carried her back to the chair. He somehow managed to place her, attached tray and all, over his knees. For an older guy, he was pretty strong. I'd have to be careful of that.

She squirmed and muffled pleading noises came from behind her gag. Ignoring her protests, he casually lifted the back of her skirt and pulled her high cut panties down to her cruelly tied knees. Then, as though it were nothing, he began to spank her. His bare hand rising and falling on her upturned bare bottom without mercy. After about twenty she really began to cry, kick and struggle, but her bondage was far too tight to allow her to escape the blows. His hand at the base of the back easily holding her petite form across his knees. At a regular pace, not particularly in a hurry, he hit her. He talked quietly to her the whole time. I couldn't quite make out his words and I seriously doubt if the girl was paying any sort of attention through her sobbing. I did catch a few words. Just small phrases.

"Teach you a lesson." "Bad slut girl." "Cunt whore."

Finally he just gave the girl a push and she fell heavily to the ground at his feet. Crying uncontrollably. She grunted through the gag as she fell.

Finally he looked at his watch. I glanced at mine. Though it had seemed longer I'd only been watching them here for about forty-five minutes. I idly wondered what was going on in the rest of the house. What the girls were doing with their freedom. I supposed that I really ought to find out.

My eyes returned to the peep holes.

"Well, Sheila. Fun time is over. Gerty is expecting me to take her shopping this afternoon. The old ball and chain." He grimaced.

The girl just looked up with a glazed look in her eyes. The man reached down and used a small key to release her wrists from the tray. He used the same key to release the padlock on her knee strap. Her hands had automatically wound around and tried to ease the pain in her bottom from the spanking. Making a small detour to probe gently at her side where she'd suffered the kicks.

"On your knees, you fucking useless wench."

She struggled to kneel, I could see her body shaking from the abuse. He lifted her soiled hair, he used another key to release her gag, She pushed it out of her mouth with her tongue. It made an audible pop as it came out from behind her teeth. She just hung her head. Refusing to meet his gaze. I didn't blame her.

"Goddamn it. Why do you always make me punish you? Jesus Christ. You'd think you'd be tired of it by now."

The girl spoke very softly into the carpet. "Please. Sir. I'm sorry.I'm just a worthless slave slut cunt." She had almost a musical voice. But there was just a hint of something behind her docile words. A tiny element of rebellion? Perhaps it was just hate? Either way he completely missed it. If it was even there.

He reached forward and slapped her face. Hard. Her head snapped to the side with the force of the blow. She cried out softly and almost fell to the side. She somehow managed to stay on her knees.

"You are such a stupid cunt. Fuck. You can't even do anything right. Goddamn it. Here. Maybe you can do this right."

I watched as Mayer lowered his pants and waved a pathetically small penis in her direction. I watched as the spark left her eyes and she mutely shuffled forward on her knees and took the organ into her mouth. Using only her mouth she moved back and forth on him. No real effort on her part. Very mechanical. He didn't seem to care. He closed his eyes and about a minute after she started, he gripped the back of her head and pumped into her mouth, finally withdrawing and ejaculating over her face and hair. She moaned and closed her eyes, allowing the indignity. I seriously doubted if she had a choice in the matter.

After he was finished he reached forward and gave her another good hard slap. She cried out again and this time fell to the floor and curled her body into a ball. He crouched down beside her and showed her his hand.

"You fucking got my hand dirty." It was covered in cum and bloody caesar from the drink he'd thrown at her. It had clung there after he'd slapped her. "Clean it."

She began to cry, and he hit her again. She cringed and cried harder. "Fucking cunt. Who the hell do you think you are? Fuck. Can't you do anything you're told? Christ. We had an agreement."

She finally got a hold of herself and reached forward with her head. She hesitantly stuck her tongue out and began to lick at his hand like a dog. Cleaning it.

Finally, he stood up and glanced around the room.

"Fuck, this place is a mess." Glancing down at the girl still lying and sobbing at his feet. She lay almost in the middle of a large clamato stain resulting from the thrown drink. I couldn't imagine what it would take to get that out of the carpet. "I want this place spic and span for my meeting this evening. You hear? I want that uniform of your's cleaned. You'll need it for the meeting. I'll need this suit cleaned. And I'll need this carpet cleaned. Jesus Christ. You would have to get fucking bloody caesar on the carpet. And if you miss anything, I'll fucking make sure you regret it. Christ."

He began walking towards the closet. I readied the Time manipulation. About halfway to the closet he turned around and addressed the girl again.

"You understand, cunt?"

She just moaned.

"What?" He took a step back towards her.

"Y-yes s-sir." she quavered from the floor. Her small gloved hands making a warding off gesture.

This girl was going to have bruises from this. Damn good bruises too. Especially where he kicked her. The face slaps would be just high colour for a while, but those kicks were vicious on an unprotected body. I wasn't quite sure what was going on here, but I had a damn good idea. On the other hand it could be really realistic role playing. But I doubted it. The only question was, whether to take them in real time with the gun, or slow Mayer down and find out what was happening with the girl only. She might talk to me if she saw Mayer was out of the way.

I opted to talk to the girl alone first. Mayer turned around and began to walk back towards the closet. Probably intending to change out of the soiled suit and return to "normal" life. We'd see about that routine today. His life was about to become decidedly UNnormal. No matter what the girl said.

As he turned around and began to walk back towards the closet, I isolated his body space from the continuum around it and restricted the time flow to about a pace of a thousandth normal. He'd actually almost be in sync with Gertrude's time phase. Until I released him.

I took a deep breath and exited the closet.

The girl was still lying on the carpet quietly weeping. Her head covered in bloody caesar and cum cradled in her arms. She sobbed, not realizing that the world had changed for her again. I could see her whole body shaking with her distress.

My running shoes were soundless on the carpet. I was right beside her prone figure before she realized that someone was there. She didn't even look up.

"Please no more," she moaned.

I gently touched her shoulder. She raised her head and looked up at me. She screamed and scrabbled away across the carpet sideways like a crab. Fear radiant on her face. She moved away until she backed into a wall. She drew up her nyloned knees, hugged herself and just watched me out of fearful eyes.

"Wh-who are you? H-he didn't give me to someone else again. Did he? Please don't hurt me? I have to clean up the carpet first. Please." Her breathing was really ragged. I wasn't surprised.

"I'm not going to hurt you."

"Wh-Who are you, then?" Her eyes darted to the frozen Mayer. "Wh-What happened? Wh-Why i-isn't he moving? Please."

"Is Sheila your name? Your real name?" It could have been a play name for all I knew. Though I was pretty sure that Gertrude had hollered for Sheila as I took her. At the time, I thought it was the cook.

She nodded.

"Sheila. I want you to calm down. Okay? I promise I won't hurt you." The frightened girl just nodded. "I just want to talk to you for a minute. Okay?" She nodded again. "You'll talk to me? I'll stay over here if you like." Again she nodded.

"Do you mind if I sit over here?" I indicated the chair that Mayer had tortured her from. She shook her head and then looked down at herself and realized that her panties were still around her knees and her right breast was poking out from the flimsy uniform that she had on. She swallowed and used her gloved hands to pull back on her panties, returning them to her hips. Watching me out of the corner of her eye, she carefully and slowly tucked her breast back into the bodice of the uniform. Tears were still coursing down her dirty face. I recalled the beauty that was hiding under all that clamato and tears.

"Wh-who are you?" she finally asked me.

"I really don't know anymore."

She accepted that. "What have you done with him? How'd you get in here? Did he let you in?" She had indicated the semi-frozen Mayer with a quick jerk of her head. She had tucked herself back up into a ball against the wall. She was deeply afraid. I suspect of Mayer, but also of me. She thought that I was a friend of the judge.

"Sheila. I just stumbled in here. I swear it."

"But he keeps it locked when he's 'playing' or 'working'. I don't understand."

"Sheila. I'm not sure you can understand. But *I* froze him. The whole world is frozen except us." I stretched the truth a bit. Sheila would meet the rest of the girls eventually, but not now. Not until she was calmer.

She just shook her head.

"Sheila. Will you come over here? I won't hurt you."

She again shook her head. I could have forced her, but I was suspecting that she was in a very fragile state of mind at the moment. Frightened badly and in pain. I'm not sure I'd be overly cooperative after I'd been beaten senseless and raped either. I decided to find out what the hell was going on before I began to assert myself.

"Okay. That's fine. Will you talk to me?"

"I guess," she mumbled.

"What is going on here? I saw that little display out here from the closet. He was knocking you around a lot."

She glanced at the frozen Mayer and pressed her lips together. Her eyes began to brim with tears again. She hugged her knees and rocked herself.

"Sheila. Listen to me. Are you here willingly? Do you enjoy this treatment?" I had to know whether I was dealing with consentual, albeit really rough, sex or abuse and rape here. I would have put money on abuse and rape.

Sheila slowly looked up at me. Her eyes blazing. "You think that I like being treating this way?" Anger was beginning to creep into her voice. "You think I like being kicked around?"

"Sheila. Please. Calm down. I don't think anything. Honestly. You have to understand I just watched some bizarre stuff, and I know some people like abuse. B&D. S&M. That sort of thing. I just want to know if that was the case here. It matters on how I'm going to treat this guy when I unfreeze him."

"You're going to unfreeze him?"

"Eventually. But he can't hear us now. And I won't be telling him anything that we talk about. I swear it."

"Oh God. Please don't unfreeze him. Are you a cop?" Hopeful.

I shook my head. Her face registered confusion. "He can't hear us?"

"No."

"Oh God. No. I hate him. I'm not here because I like it. I swear it."

"Then what the hell is going on?"

"You'll help me?"

"Sheila. This is a very weird situation. I'm not sure what your definition of help is. But you have to tell me what is going on. Will
you let me show you something?"

"What?" Suspicious.

I got up out of the chair and walked to the window. I opened the curtains and Sheila squinted in the sudden brightness. I walked away from the window and sat back down. A safe distance away.

"Go to the window. Look out."

Sheila glanced at Mayer. Still frozen. Glanced at me. I was doing my best to be non-threatening. She slowly got to her feet. Wincing. Probably at the pain in her side. She kicked off her remaining shoe and padded in her stockings to the window. She looked out.

"What am I supposed to see?"

I could see some of the tree tops from the chair if I twisted around a bit.

"Look at the trees."

"Yeah. So?"

"Are they moving?"

"No. So what? There isn't any wind."

"Actually there is." I concentrated on the trees. Gave them a time bubble. They suddenly jumped to life. The breeze moving branches and leaves. I released the time bubbles and the trees stopped again. "I controlled that. Same way that I control the judge here."

She turned around and looked at me.

"Sheila. This is going to be really hard for you to comprehend. Okay? But we are the only two people up and about on the planet. So in a way, yes, I'm going to free you from this bozo here."

"Oh thank god," she breathed a sigh of relief.

"Sheila. What is the situation here? I swear I won't tell anyone."

She sank back to the floor. Hugging her knees again. Shoeless. I watched a war fight itself inside her head. Not sure what her internal daemons were but I could imagine that they weren't much fun. Finally she licked her lips, making a decision.

"That son-of-a-bitch blackmailed me. Three years ago." It sounded like she'd wanted to tell someone this a long time and it came tumbling out of her mouth like water flowing down a mountain. "He actually was a judge back then. He's retired now. Anyway, my stupid brother got nailed for armed robbery. Guilty as sin. I knew it. Judge knew it. But he was only a kid. I knew the judge's wife. Gertrude. Through the church. I begged her to try and get Evan to go easy on my brother. She agreed to try. She'd known Robby since he was a kid as well. I get a call from the judge the next day telling me that it would cost him his bench if he messed with the court and that he couldn't do it. I begged. I promised him anything. I just didn't know that anything was this." She spread her arms out, indicating the room. "I couldn't see my brother going to jail. He couldn't handle it. Finally the judge relented. And true to his word my brother walked. Kept out of trouble too." Tears were beginning to roll down her face. Tracing through the grime.

"The next week I get a call from the judge politely inviting me into a new position. A maid in his household. Obviously, I tried everything not to do this. It would mean giving up a very good job at IBM. Finally I convinced him that I'd help part-time. And I did. It was a bit degrading to do the housework for them, especially since they didn't pay me. But Gertrude was kind to me and seemed to appreciate the help. Finally he demanded that I quit my other job to become a full time maid. He swore that he was a couple months from retirement anyway, and that he'd squeal on the deal and that my brother would get retried. Not having any  choice I quit and became the full time maid around here. The first couple of weeks it was alright. But then one night I found him standing in my room. Telling me that I still had to work off the debt. At first it was just sex. Then the kinky stuff about three months ago. Christ. Videos. Snapshots. I couldn't get away if I tried. He threatened to send it to my *parents* and friends. I didn't even know what was in this room until three months ago. At first he just got off tying me up. Then the bondage
got tighter. And longer. And then he. He. Began to h-hit me. Nowhere it would show. But it was for nothing. For nothing. I didn't do anything to deserve this. Oh God. It hurts. I hate him."

At this point she just broke down crying. Her gloved hands pressing against her side. Sobbing.

I sat back in the chair, unsure what to do. I hated him too. This was real life. Real time. Sheila was going to have to live with this for the rest of her life. I couldn't do a thing about that. I mentally made a note that when I did restart the world to ensure that this asshole got caught somehow. An anonymous tip or something. For now though I could make things a little righter. At least in this timeline. I didn't fail to see the irony. Here I was fully planning on making her a slave as well. I'd already abused women beyond comprehension. Especially Jane. And I hurt them. Perhaps I really wasn't much better than this prick.Difference was I knew that the girls would never remember. This guy was doing this as a hobby in real time. Sheila would never forget him. I had to tell Sheila the truth about me though. Otherwise things were going to go off track quickly.

"Sheila? Sweetheart?" She looked up at me with bleary eyes. "Will you stay here a moment? Not move? I'll be right back. I swear it."

She nodded. To be safe I narrowed her time bubble and she slipped into a time phase with Mayer. She wouldn't be in the same time phase with him long enough to interact.

I used the key and left the door open. I slowly made my way downstairs glancing through the rooms. Amy was relaxing in the front room. Eyes closed. Cuffed hands lying on her bare stomach. Headphones on. Bare body slowly moving to some unheard music. Listening to something slow on the stereo. Elizabeth looked up from her book as I entered the library. A Tale of Two Cities. I raised my eyebrows and she just smiled. Turning pages two handed, forced by the cuffs. Like a child.

I glanced around and spotted Christi lounging in a leather chair. Holding a Stephen King paperback.

"Christi?" She looked up.

"Break over?"

"Kind of. I've got a really strange situation here and I need your help. And Jane's. Know where she is?"

"Dining room, I think. What's happening?" She could tell that something was unusual by my tone. This wasn't a call to torment her again. Instinctively she just knew. She was serious, not her usual sarcastic self.

"I'll explain it to both of you. Don't want say this twice."

Christi rose from the chair, her robe twirling around her. She placed the book down on the chair to hold her place.

"Whatcha reading?"

"Talisman. Same one that you let me read when you took Jane. Remember?"

"I don't remember. Any good?" I didn't think that I had even asked what she was reading when I left her alone in the bookstore. Not important.

"Amazing. What's up?"

We arrived in the dining room. At first I didn't see Jane. Then Christi pointed with her bound hands. Jane was stretched out like a cat in the bay window. Her robe open. Letting the morning sun beat down on her bare body. Fast asleep. My kitten.

I wandered over to her. Shame to wake her. But I really needed her. I gently shook her. She mumbled something.

"Urg. Not yet, Mom. Too early for school."

I just shook her again. This time her eyes fluttered open and she sighed.

"You've come to torment me again. Haven't you?"

"Nope. But I need your help. Okay?"

"What can I do for you?"

I sat backward on one of the dining room chairs. Jane simply sat up on her perch and Christi stood barefoot on the carpet.

"This is a very weird situation. Even I can't believe this one. I'm going to give you the short version. Our host, at least the male side of it, is a former judge." The girls nodded. "Problem is. He's worse than me. In real time." Jane and Christi both had looks of confusion on their face.

"I found a locked room upstairs. Our host likes to play with women. Rougher even than I do. And he doesn't control time so this woman is going to remember all of it."

Jane piped up. "What does he do? Kill them?" She was being flippant.

I glared at her. She hadn't seen the display I had.

"Shush. The maid here has been abused by this guy for at least three months."

Christi went pale as the implications sunk in. She at least knew that she'd forget about this place as if it never happened. "What did he do to her?" she whispered.

"I just watched him put her through the wringer. Stuff I wouldn't even dream of doing to you unless you really really pissed me off. And even then I'd think twice about it. And even if I did do it to you, you wouldn't be traumatized for life from it. You won't remember it when you go back."

The girls just nodded together.

Jane spoke up. "What are you going to do?"

"When I restart the world, I'll take care of it in real time. For now, there isn't much I can do."

Christi looked up at me. A strange glow graced her eyes. She softly remarked, "You could let me and this girl at him for a while."

I nodded. "Actually, that's exactly what I had in mind. But, my problem now is that I need you two to explain our situation to this girl. I really don't want to frighten or hurt her any more than she already is. On the other hand I want her while we stay here. But I'm afraid that a less subtle approach might end up with her in hysterics and completely unmanageable. She knows that I can freeze things, but she isn't in the frame of mind to understand. She's hurt."

Jane looked at me shrewdly. "So you want us to help you snag yet another victim?"

I nodded.

"What's in it for us?"

"I don't whip your breasts until you pass out. Plus, as a bonus, you don't revoke on your deal to do anything for me."

"That sounds fair." Jane shuddered and paled a little. "This guy did worse than whip her breasts? Glad I'm not *his* captive."

"If you're not careful I might give you to him." I was only joking with her. "Wrists."

The girls obediently raised their wrists. I removed the cuffs from them and they stood rubbing them idly. I held out my hands. "Robes."

The girls gave me a hurt look, but shrugged out of them and handed them to me. Glorious in their nakedness.

Jane braved the question. "Why?"

"I just thought it would be better if you were naked when you talked to her. If you are good, I'll let you have them back later. Okay?"

The girls nodded. I crooked my finger and the bare women followed me up the stairs. Jane yawned.

I took them to the room and their eyes widened as they saw the red stains. Probably thinking it was blood. I didn't doubt that this character was into blood play. However the stains weren't blood and I told the girls so.

"Calm down. It isn't blood. Just a spilled drink. That's her in the corner." Sheila was still huddled in the corner. Semi-frozen. "Do either one of you know first aid?"

Christi piped up. "A little."

"Good. I don't know what went on before I arrived, but while I was watching he kicked her in the side twice, once in the stomach. While she was bound. He slapped her hard enough to make her fall. In the face. I'm surprised she wasn't spitting teeth. Or knocked out. Okay? He orally raped her as well. She's been through a lot. I've talked to her. She's pretty calm, though you may surprise her. I think she needs another woman to talk to. You think you two can do it?"

Christi took a deep breath. "God. I hope so. You're right. This guy is a real animal. I wouldn't put him in the same category with you. Brutal."

"Can you check her ribs? She'll have bruises like you wouldn't believe on her left side. I just want to make sure that she didn't crack a rib or something."

"I'll try. You're serious. He kicked her that hard? And we didn't hear it?"

"I don't know why he kicked her that hard nor why you didn't hear it. Maybe the room is soundproofed or something. She was gagged when he kicked her. She couldn't make a lot of noise anyway. I should have stopped it earlier." I felt guilty as hell that I'd let her suffer through that.

I wandered back and sat back in the chair. Turned it to face the huddling frozen girl. I sent Christi and Jane in the hall out of sight.

I unfroze her. To her it would have just looked like my chair had twisted a bit suddenly.

"Sheila?" I asked softly. I leaned forward on my knees towards her. She turned back to the sound on my voice. "I lied to you a bit. There are other people around. I want you to meet a couple. Okay?"

"Like this?" She looked down at herself. "Please no."

"Believe me. You won't be uncomfortable around them." I raised my voice a bit. "Christi? Jane?"

The two nude beauties walked slowly into the room. Sheila's eyes widened. Frightened again. Christi couldn't help herself any longer. She advanced quickly on her bare feet. Fairly running across the room. Grimacing as she stepped across the wet carpet. Christi dropped to her knees beside the shuddering girl and gathered her into her arms. Sheila just melted against Christi slowly crying and rocking. Really needing the comfort. Christi's eyes brimmed as well. Whether in sympathy with the girl, or just at the situation in general, I don't know. The girls stayed like that for a while. Just comforting each other. Jane had slipped to her bare knees beside them. Just silently lending her female presence and support. It seemed like enough. I watched as Christi
whispered comfort to the girl and softly kissed her hair. Closing her eyes. Not believing what some women had to go through. Christi was getting the clamato and other fluids smeared over her bare body as well. Just from holding the crying girl. Christi didn't appear to even notice or mind.

I walked over to Jane and drew her away from the other two. I whispered in her ear. "Listen. I think you two can do better without me around. That okay?"

Jane turned her head and whispered back. "We'll do what we can. God. She's a mess."

"Let her use the main bathroom. First door after the stairs. You and Christi can use it as well. You might need it." I glanced at Christi's smeared body.

"Give us some time. She's really hurt."

"I know."

"You won't consider letting her go?"

I shook my head.

Resigned Jane nodded. "We'll get her ready. But she's going to need sleep and no abuse until after she sleeps or you won't be able to keep her. I don't believe I'm helping you. You're such a bastard."

I stroked Jane's hair and kissed the top of her head. "I know."

I glanced back at the girls and watched Jane move back to Christi and Sheila. She knelt and whispered something to the other two. She glanced back at me in the doorway and nodded.

I slipped out, walked around the hallway and made my way down the stairs. Amy was still listening to the stereo, quietly humming. I couldn't make out the tune. Elizabeth was still buried in her book. I poked my head into the library and she looked up from Revolution France.

"My break over?" she asked with obvious disappointment in her voice. I think despite the cuffs and their nudity, the women were enjoying this quiet time. No demands. No pain.

I shook my head. I just wasn't in the mood to play with them. The Sheila thing had bothered me a bit. Maybe I needed some relaxation as well.

"You hungry?" I asked her.

"A little." I couldn't imagine that she was anything less than ravenous.

"What would you like for lunch?"

"I have a choice?"

"If you'll make lunch and mine."

"What about the others?"

"I'll find out. Just a sec."

I wandered back to the living room where Amy was still stretched out on the couch, listening to music with her eyes closed. Peaceful. I smiled to myself and walked over to the stereo. I gripped the volume knob and suddenly turned it up and immediately back down. Even I could hear the music suddenly blare through the headphones. Amy just about jumped through the roof. Her eyes flew open, she screamed and her cuffed hands rose frantically to her head, her fingers scrabbling at the source of her panic. The headphones finally fell from her ears and she looked around the room wildly. Her gaze fell on me, laughing hysterically by the stereo. I think I really needed some release. Such a childish thing to do.

Before I knew it, Amy was off the couch and approaching me. I couldn't help myself laughing. She slowly advanced on me. Yelling something. I couldn't make it out over my laughing. My stomach hurt.

She finally got herself to me. This small girl. Naked and cuffed.Trying her best to keep a straight face and affect anger. I managed to stop laughing and tried my best to look at her face without smirking.

Her lips quivering, trying to keep herself from laughing, she managed to get out an admonishment.

"You think that was funny?"

Just before I burst out laughing, she raised her small fists and began to ineffectually pound them against my chest. The cuffs making the job much harder on her. Finally I couldn't take it anymore. I just about collapsed on the floor. I was holding my stomach and crying. This poor girl. I could hear her laughing as she mock hit me.

Finally, she gripped my shoulder with her hands and managed to pull me to the floor. Not like I could resist a lot. I vaguely heard Elizabeth wander into the room and remark.

"What the hell is going on in here? Hmmmmm?"

By this time Amy had managed to straddle my chest. Pinning me down. Her bare body looking luscious as she wrestled with me.

She pretended to choke me. Not really threatening me. Just playing.

"Listen to me, you brat," she hissed at me. "That wasn't funny. I could have had a heart attack."

I just couldn't stop laughing. I felt Elizabeth's weight come down on my legs. I heard her voice distantly.

"What did he do to you?"

I managed to control the laughter for another moment. Enough to hear Amy speaking over her shoulder to Elizabeth.

"There I was. Quietly listening to AC/DC. Minding my own business. Enjoying myself for the first time in like three days. And this turkey sneaks in and turns up the stereo to like eleven. I just about had a freaking heart attack. And this bozo," I felt her fists hit me again, "thinks it's hilarious."

I began to laugh again. Shaking the bare girls sitting on me.

I managed to gasp out. "It was freaking hilarious. You should have seen yourself."

I could feel Elizabeth begin to laugh as well. It was infectious. Finally Amy just gave up and just let herself laugh. Falling across me. Nearly smothering me with her bare breasts.

Finally, the giggles nearly left us.

"All I wanted was to find out what you wanted for lunch."

I could feel Amy begin to giggle again. I felt Elizabeth roll off my legs and just sit cross-legged beside us stupid people. At last the giggles were spent. My stomach hurt. But I felt better. I gently pushed Amy until she gave up and rolled off me. The bare girl just lay back on the floor and tried to stop her laughing. Tears were streaming from her eyes and she brushed at them with her bound hands. There was a shine and a smile on Elizabeth's face.

I sat up.

Elizabeth looked at the two of us with a mocking severe look on her face.

"You two quite finished yet?"

I nodded. But the question managed to get a few more giggles out of Amy.

"If you two idiots are done with your giggling, I'm hungry. What am I making?"

Amy managed to gasp out. "I'm famished. Please. How about a Club sandwich."

I looked at Elizabeth. "You know how to make a Club sandwich?"

She gave me a withering stare. "I was a waitress in a former life. I can make a Club sandwich. Geez."

I had no idea what any of the girls did in real time. Except maybe Jane. She was probably a high school student. Amy was probably a college student. But that didn't preclude employment I suppose.

I smiled at Elizabeth. "Go on. Careful though. Polly, the cook is in there. Don't let her surprise you. Make six sandwiches. Okay?"

Elizabeth gave me an odd look and carefully rose to her bare feet. To her count there was only five of us. I guess she'd find out about the newest addition to our family soon.

I looked down at Amy, still gasping for breath on the floor. Her bare breasts rising and falling erratically. She opened her eyes.

"You are such an idiot." Her belly convulsed a couple more times as she tried to control the impulse to laugh. She finally succeeded. I lay back down beside her on the floor.

"I needed that." I remarked to her. "Sorry that you were the victim."

"You're sorry?" she was completely incredulous.

"Yeah. It was childish."

"You torture me for hours on end and you're not sorry, and you deafen me as a prank and you are. I'll never figure you out." Amy rose up on her elbow and looked at me. She scrambled over to me. Pressed her bare body against my clothes. "I sort of liked it up there. More comfortable than the floor." She struggled a bit but managed to get herself back up on top of me. Her weight didn't bother me. She was light enough.

Her face hung inches above mine. She ducked her head and gave me a quick kiss on the lips. Traced my lips with her tongue. She gave me a quick kiss on the tip of the nose.

"Your slave Amy, thanks you," she whispered to me.

"For what?" I was completely confused.

"She needed the laugh too. It felt good. Though her stomach hurts, now."

I nodded and she smiled. She worked her body down a bit so that she was lying further down me. Her bare crotch pressed at my jeans. I could feel myself reacting to her. My legs were apart, hers were lying easily between mine. She had extended her arms above head. Almost cradling my head between her arms. Having trouble lying on her front with handcuffs. Her head lay on my chest just under my chin. Her hair smelt wonderful. She lay quietly. Not making any other sexual movements. Just lying
there. Breathing hard.

"You're welcome," I murmured to the girl on my chest.

We lay there like that for perhaps fifteen minutes. Amy didn't stir. I was beginning to think that she had fallen asleep, but she raised her head immediately as Elizabeth wandered in.

"Sandwiches are ready."

"Lunch time!" Amy announced from her perch. Elizabeth kind of gave us a weird look, I guess meaning the position. Amy hiked herself up me again, making me stir. She gave me a big kiss right on the lips and rolled off  me. Bouncing to her feet.

I slowly sat up. Realizing that I was breathing easier without her weight on my chest. Not that I minded. I looked up at the standing girls.

"Why don't you bring three sandwiches out here. You can continue what you were doing before I so rudely interrupted you."

The girls looked like they were in shock that I wasn't going to torment them with their lunch, but hurried to obey. Elizabeth returned with two plates and handed one to me.

"You sure?" she asked me.

"What?"

"You're going to let me go back and read and eat alone?"

"Yeah?"

"Not going to make Amy feed me?"

"Elizabeth. Do you want me to?"

Her eyes widened and she straightened up. She shook her head and hurried back to the library while the getting was good. She remarked over her shoulder, "We should make you laugh more often." I guess she attributed my being nice to them to my good humour. Truth was, I simply didn't feel like tormenting them at the moment. Maybe it was the good laugh.

Amy just wandered back to the sofa and stretched out. She placed the plate on her flat stomach and, giving me a dirty look, carefully brushed her hair behind her ears and placed the headphones over them. Soon she had closed her eyes and was gently moving to the music again. Slowly eating her lunch.

I just shook my head. I couldn't believe the resilience of this girl. Yesterday she spent the entire day in horrible punishments. In pain. Her breasts still bore the marks of the crop that I'd used on her. Her thighs, too. And today, she was laughing and voluntarily kissing me. No longer even self conscious of her bondage or nudity. Just enjoying her free time.

I doubted if I'd ever understand the female of the species. I hoped that Sheila would be as resilient after a good sleep and some loving care from Christi and Jane.

I ate my sandwich in silence, watching Amy, and thinking.

Shortly after I'd finished eating, I suddenly heard the faint sound of water flowing. Sounded like the shower running as heard from a basement. Like in an old house I used to live in.

I sighed and rose to my feet. I poked my head in on Elizabeth. She looked up from her book as I entered the library. She had finished her sandwich and there were only crumbs on the plate.

"Lunch good?"

"Mmm-hmmm. Wouldn't mind some more. And a drink."

"Do you deserve it?"

She blushed a little as she remembered who and where she was. "I don't know," she whispered. I ultimately controlled when, what and how much she ate.

I nodded. "Go on. Make Amy another as well. And get us all some milk."

"Milk?"

"Milk."

"But there's some pop in the fridge." She looked at me hopefully.

"Milk."

She nodded. Not wanting to push things. Calcium is good for the girls. And I quite enjoyed a cold glass of milk. Elizabeth rose to her feet and pranced out of the library towards the kitchen.

In a few minutes she returned with a plate and a glass of milk in her bound hands. She placed them in front of me.

"Elizabeth?" She turned around. On her way out for another trip. "I  didn't want another sandwich."

"Oh God. I'm sorry. Please. I just thought that you wanted one too. Please. You don't have to punish me. I'll eat it."

"That's alright, babe. Just leave an extra in the kitchen. Jane and Christi can fight over it."

Her face was a mask of relief that I hadn't punished her for the slip. Normally I probably would have.

"You wanted the milk, right?"

I nodded. Taking a sip. Cold milk. Ahh. I watched as Elizabeth made two more trips. Bringing Amy her second sandwich and then bringing herself a glass of milk to go with her sandwich which I'd just slid across the table to be in front of her. I watched as she tasted it and grimaced.

"You don't drink milk?"

"Not in a long time. Can't stand the taste."

"It's good for you. And I want you to drink it."

"I will."

I rose as she took another sip. I downed the rest of my milk in one long swallow. Elizabeth watched me with undisguised envy. Really wishing that she liked the taste of the liquid as much as I.

"Behave yourselves down here. 'kay?"

"When don't we?"

I raised my eyebrows and she just lowered her eyes quickly and resumed reading.

Leaving Elizabeth in peace, I wandered back out to the main foyer and the staircase leading upstairs. As I walked slowly up the stairs I could hear the shower more clearly. I could smell the clean odor of soap and steam as I approached the huge bathroom. The girls were talking softly in there. The door only half closed. It sounded as if all three were in the shower together.

There were two sets of wet reddish footprints on the white carpet of the hallway. Bare feet. Heavier the closer to the business room they got; very faint by the bathroom at the other end of the hallway. I looked at them. Christi's and Sheila's feet, I was guessing. I was willing to bet that Jane had been careful to avoid stepping in the large red stain in the business room.

I entered the large bathroom without bothering to knock. These women no longer had anything to hide from me. As I suspected all three were in the shower. The doors were opaque but I could easily see the three female forms moving around. Washing each other. Enjoying the cleansing of the hot water.

I sat up on the counter and listened.

"God, he got you good, didn't he?" Christi's voice.

Sheila murmured something back. Something like, "Yeah, the fucking bastard." I heard Jane gasp and Sheila again spoke up. "It will fade in a couple of days."

A few seconds of silence.

"He keeps you naked all the time?" Sheila's musical voice drifted out of the shower. It was hard to tell to which of the girls she was talking.

"Lately he's been letting me and Christi wear robes. But I wouldn't count on him letting you wear anything."

"Nudity is better than corsets and high heels any day. Trust me. You've been with him for days?"

"Yeah."

"Why haven't you attacked him?"

"Why didn't you attack Mayer?"

"I guess. Couldn't you escape?"

"Why didn't you run from Mayer?"

"Because of my brother."

"You can't escape this guy. Please Sheila, you have to listen to me.You can't get away. I've watched it happen so many times. Me. Others. He just stops you in your tracks and holds a gun on you. Or worse your family. You always end up doing what he says. You wouldn't like what happens to you if you try to escape."

"He won't hurt me if I don't try to escape?"

I heard Jane sigh. "Sheila, honey, I can't guarantee that. He likes hurting girls. I don't know why. But he's not malicious about it, like that asshole in the other room. He wants to see something. You don't want to do it. Problem is, he can make you do it.And it is so much easier and less painful if you just do it the first time. Believe me.He can be kind."

"W-will he rape me?"

"Hold still. I'm trying to get this goddamn clamato out of your hair. Hold still," Christi chastised the girl.

"I don't know, sweetheart," Jane answered Sheila's question. "He hasn't raped anyone. Never demanded sex. As far as I know. He hasn't raped me. And Christi has had sex with him, but I'm not sure you could count that as rape. Sometimes I've heard women offer sex to him to avoid something. But he rarely takes them up on it. I've offered myself numerous times but he's never taken me." Jane conveniently left out the forced lesbian sex epidemic that was going around.

Sheila sighed at something.

Christi spoke up. "You okay?"

"Yeah. I'm okay. It's just a bit tender over there. I'm sorry."

Jane spoke to her. "Sheila, honey. You sure you understand? We really don't want to get into trouble if you decide to make life hard on this guy. We've been through it. Time and again."

"I'm okay with it. I've been a sex slave for the last three months already. Another few days aren't going to matter. And he did rescue me from that monster in the other room. If you two aren't completely off your rocker then I won't remember it anyway. And if you are wrong then he's going to get caught soon."

"God, don't we wish," from Jane wistfully.

"I'll behave for now," Sheila promised.

"He's going to tie you up, you know."

"That's okay. You should have seen some of the stuff that I've been through. One night the fucking bastard decided that I had to sleep suspended from the ceiling. Upside down. Yeah. I got a lot of sleep that night. And he didn't even give a crap. Still had to be on duty at five. He took me down at 4:45, slapped me around to wake me up and then went back to bed. I'm used to ropes." I could almost hear the shudder in her voice.

Another long silence. Just the sounds of the girls washing themselves.

"He punished your breasts?" Sheila asked.

Jane answered her. "Yeah. I was dumb though. I disobeyed. He wouldn't have done it if I'd done what I was told." This wasn't entirely true. I would have found some excuse to punish Jane's breasts anyway. She probably knew it as well, but there really wasn't any sense in frightening the new girl.

"What happened?" I wondered which incident she was going to relate. I smiled to myself.

"He was tormenting another girl. Badly. And he'd just told me to sit and watch. I got up and stopped him. He took it out on my breasts. But he was careful. No lasting marks. Just pure agony for a while. He didn't send me into some insanity if that's what you are worried about. It hurt. But it wasn't unbearable. I survived. I'll always survive."

So she picked the Kimberley incident. Or maybe the Amy incident. No, the Amy incident had been when Jane hadn't whipped Amy when ordered. She hadn't stopped me from tormenting her. Different story. Must have been thinking of the Kimberley incident.

"Oh. Will he hit my breasts? God. I remember the first time that fucker hit my tits. Oh my God, I thought I was going to die. I thought I had died and gone to hell. That is what it's like. That fucker drew blood.I couldn't wear a bra for a week. I could barely wear my uniform. I cried every night after that. He won't do that to me, will he?"

"I doubt it," Christine piped up. "He's pretty careful about going overboard. I accidentally drew blood when he made me whip another girl and he urged me to be careful. And though I've seen him leave marks, the pain generally fades after an hour or so. Whatever he's done. No matter what a bastard he is. No matter how cruel he seems. He's never punched or kicked anyone as far as I know. And he doesn't leave any bruises that we don't put on ourselves."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, if your breasts are being whipped and you are tied down, then you tend to ahhhh struggle a bit. Right? And the ropes can leave bruises if you pull too hard. But you can't help it. Right? They're usually small bruises and they tend to fade quickly.At least on me. I don't think that he finds bruises particularly attractive on a girl."

"I see. God. If I had to be a slave, I'd take your master over mine any
day."

"Me too," Christi piped up.

There was some movement in the tub/shower. The door opened letting out a cloud of steam. Jane screeched as she stepped out of the shower, not expecting me just sitting there quietly on the counter.

Christi immediately called out. "What is it, Jane? You okay?"

Jane closed her eyes and tried to slow her breathing. "Fuck, you scared me."

"I'm sorry. I was just waiting for you slowpokes to vacate the shower."

"No. I'm sorry. I guess I'm still not used to having no privacy. God, you gave me a start. I had no idea you were in here." She looked at me shrewdly. "How much did you hear."

"I heard you taking cheap shots at me." Jane paled. "But then you defended me so it all evened out in the end."

Jane began breathing again and reached behind her to shut the shower door. I handed her a huge bath towel. She began to dry her hair. After she was done I motioned her out into the hall. Christi and Sheila had fallen silent after they realized I was in the bathroom with them.

The dripping girl followed me out into the hallway. Soaking the carpet with the water dripping from her naked body. She continued to towel off slowly.

"She okay?"

"Mentally, or physically?"

"Both."

"Mentally, she's strong. If she could survive some of the abuse I heard about, then she should be okay with your brand of abuse. She's getting better now that she's out from under Dickwad's thumb. Physically, she's a little worse off. He's raped her. A lot. And you were right, she bruised badly from those kicks. Christi suspects that she's got a cracked rib. But I think she'll be alright. The shower helped a lot. Since we scrubbed her, she has cheered up a lot. She's quite beautiful underneath all that crap he threw at her. She's got bruises all over. Her ass. Her back. Her boobs. Her face. Her arms. Legs. You name it. He got her there. And not lightly. I couldn't imagine what she went through to get them all. But her body will mend itself. She should be a lot better if you just let her sleep for a good eight hours. You are going to get him back for this, aren't you?"

"I am. You want a shot at him?"

"Normally, you know I'm not a violent person. But if you were to order me to, say, give him a dose of his own medicine, I doubt if I'd risk my hide and say no." She gave me an evil grin. "You want us to give her anything to wear? She's going to want something." I shook my head. "I know. What use are clothes on a woman? I doubt if she's particularly shy anymore anyway after what she's been through."

"Finish her up. Get her dried off and presentable. Don't bother with make up for her. I'm just going to put her to bed anyway. Meet me in the next bedroom. The master bedroom. She'll know which one. Assure her that I'm not planning on raping her."

Jane nodded curtly and turned on her bare heel. I was proud of her. She'd had the huge towel the whole time. She'd dried off and then simply held it at her side. No attempt to wrap it around herself. It would have covered her small body neck to toe. She disappeared into the bathroom and I heard her trying to coax the other two out of the shower before they turned into prunes.

I quickly made my way downstairs to the kitchen. I glanced in on the girls but they were engrossed in their activities. Elizabeth looked up from her classic and waved as I passed. Amy didn't even know I'd checked on her. I assumed that AC/DC had her attention.

In the kitchen, I found four sandwiches sitting on plates sitting on the kitchen table. Polly, the cook, still stood frozen by the counter forever pouring tea. I walked over to the refrigerator. Opening it, I discovered the largest and best stocked fridge I'd ever seen. I grabbed the milk and set it on the table beside the sandwiches. I had to browse through the cupboards to find glasses, and eventually found some. I suppose that I should have gotten Elizabeth to do this for me. After all, she'd already done this once. She wouldn't have had to search for things.

I quickly poured a tall glass of milk and returned the milk container to the fridge. Picking up a sandwich and the milk, I turned and made my way back upstairs. I detoured on my way up the stairs to pick up three pairs of handcuffs from the equipment pack. I walked into the master bedroom and placed the food and the cuffs on the night stand. I lay back in the bed propped up on the pillows. This bed was far more comfortable than the hotel bed. I closed my eyes, faintly hearing sounds from the
adjoining bathroom. Soft female voices. The occasional item hitting the counter.

I may have dozed for a second. I heard a soft throat clear and I opened my eyes and sat up. The girls had entered the room. They were standing just inside the door. Radiant. Christi and Jane were standing easily behind Sheila. They had brushed out their hair until it shone. Their face bore light makeup and their skin fairly shone. Their nails were painted a light peach colour. Fingers and toes. Sheila was standing in front of the other two. The blonde was stunning. Perfect figure. No attempt to cover her nudity. Even without the heavy make up her face was like a china doll's. Except for the bruises. I let my eyes run over her
exposed body. She flushed but made no attempt to cover herself with her hands. Her hands stayed limply at her sides.

I could see the beginnings of a really ugly purple bruise beginning to form on her left side. Just under her ribs. I could see fainter bruises on her upper arms. Her neck. Her thighs. Even her face and breasts. I was sure that she was in worse shape on her backside as well. Despite all the aches and pains that she was undoubtedly suffering, she still managed to stand straight and look stunning.

"Sheila, come here."

A look of fright crossed her features, but she took a deep breath. Jane whispered in her ear and she began to move slowly and daintily towards the bed. When she made it to the bedside, she slowly sank to her bare knees and lowered her head. Very submissive posture.

She spoke, "So you are my new master?"

"Shhh. In a minute. Okay?" I turned to the other two girls. "Jane? Christi? Come here."

They padded over, knowing instinctively that they didn't have to kneel like Sheila had. They were about to be dismissed.

"Wrists."

Jane began a soft protest but I cut her off with a glance. Her mouth snapped shut. As I was carefully placing the restraints back on their wrists, I spoke quietly to them. "You know this isn't a punishment. Seriously. I want to thank you two for helping Sheila. You did a great job. She needed you two. Are you hungry?"

The girls nodded. For some reason Christi and Jane were both fighting back tears. Not sure why. I'd have to ask them later.

"Elizabeth has made Club sandwiches downstairs in the kitchen. They're good. Pour yourselves some milk. There is a sandwich each plus an extra she made accidentally. Share the extra between you. You can go back to what you were doing before I so rudely pulled you away. Enjoy your lunch. I'll be down for you soon."

Christi looked at me, fear in her eyes. She spoke softly, "Sir? Can I speak?"

I nodded reassuringly to the frightened girl.

"Please. The milk."

"What about it. It's good for you."

"Oh God. I know. And I love it. But, please. It doesn't love me."

"Allergic?"

She nodded. Tears almost falling but she fought them back.

"Truly?"

"Yes sir."

"Alright. You can have water instead. That better?"

"Thank-you." I suspect that she was remembering the peanut butter incident where I'd forced her to eat it despite her intense dislike for it. But this was different. She was allergic to the stuff. I needed Christi sick like I needed a sudden flood. "One more thing?" she was feeling a little braver since I'd allowed her to drink water instead.

"What is it?"

"Please sir. Sheila. She. She's hurt enough for today. Please don't hurt her. If you need to hurt someone, I'll take it for her. Okay?"

I nodded. I had no intention of hurting the girl kneeling on the carpet. Christi was right, she'd had more than enough for the day. "Go on. Go eat."

Jane and Christi both turned and I heard them make their way slowly down the hallway. Finally I could just sense the vibrations from their bare feet through the house as they descended to the first floor and to their meals.

I turned back to the girl kneeling nude on the floor. She was shaking like a leaf. Tears brimming in her eyes, but not falling. She was looking up at me. I smiled at her, trying to put some warmth and kindness behind it. Unlike her former master.

to be continued.......