I just sat up on the bed and gazed at the new girl. Her eyes were lowered and she just knelt quietly and suffered my scrutiny.

Finally, she spoke softly, "Sir, you aren't going to hurt me are you?" She sounded so forlorn. So resigned to her fate.

"Sheila, honey. I'm not going to hurt you. I promise."

"Wh-what should I call you?"

"I'm not sure. Sir? Master? Hey you?"

I actually saw a smile play along her lips. I could still see a faint red hand print embedded on her right cheek where she'd been slapped earlier. It distorted a bit when she struggled to control the smile.

"You don't have a name?"

"Nope. I'm nameless."

"A shadow in the dark? I think I'll stick with Sir or Master. I get the feeling 'Hey you' will probably get me in trouble."

She was finally looking up at me. Her defenses were beginning to crumble. I was being careful to be kind to her. She was actually on the verge of a smile. In her position I doubted if I'd ever smile. I nodded to her.

"Sheila? I have to admit that you are a sight to see kneeling there,but why don't you come up here? It's more comfortable."

Her eyes betrayed her fear. "If you don't mind, I'd rather stay here." Still afraid of rape, I'd wager. She simply didn't want to come up on the bed with me there. Even if it was infinitely more comfortable than being on her knees on the floor.

"Sheila. Sweetheart. I'm not going to hurt you. I promise. I won't even touch you." I slid down to the foot of the bed and leaned back against the foot board. Giving up my spot for the naked female.

The girl warily got to her bare feet and hesitantly walked to the bed and sat down. Sighing as her bare body sank into the bed.

"Comfortable. Isn't it?"

She nodded. She hitched herself up onto the bed, pulling her bare legs up onto the coverlet and relaxing back into the pillows. Her bare legs and feet lying alongside mine, legs together modestly.

"You know. I wasn't even allowed in this room. Gertrude cleaned it herself. Very private woman. This is the first time I've ever even seen it."

I thought of Gertrude on display tied to an oak tree in the backyard in her nightgown and smiled. Private, huh? Sheila didn't miss my quick smile.

"Something funny?" she asked.

"Just thinking of someone. Relax. You hungry?"

Her eyes darted to the food on the night stand. Her eyes rested briefly on the handcuffs, but she finally tore them away to gaze at me. She shook her head. I wasn't too surprised that she wasn't hungry.

"I want you to eat something eventually." I paused. "Sheila. Honey. I have to handcuff you."

"I know. I'm used to it." Resigned.

"I won't tighten them. They won't hurt."

The girl fought back tears but raised her right wrist. I got off the bed and wrapped the steel around her slender wrist. This was the most I'd touched the girl since I'd met her. Her wrist had faint marks on it. Perhaps the remnants of bruises from a particularly cruel or tight binding. I closed the cuff carefully and locked it, tested it to make sure she couldn't slip her hand out from the loose steel and clipped the other end around the bedpost. She let out an involuntary whimper but suffered the indignity mostly in silence. Her mind was probably rushing around to other horrors that had happened to her while she was helpless and nude; things that weren't going to happen to her this time.

I pulled one of the decorative desk chairs over to the bedside and sat down facing her. She just looked at me waiting.

"Sheila, I know this is hard for you. I hope Jane and Christi helped you understand what is going on."

She bit her lip and nodded. "They were wonderful. I feel so muchbetter. I really do. And that shower they gave me. I feel. Cleaner. I think I would have gone nuts if it wasn't for them."

I was actually surprised that she hadn't felt a little uncomfortable around the other girls. I mean, they had taken a shower together. A little much for a first date, I would have thought. But the girl was a bit of an enigma. Who knows what she'd been forced to do. Showering with a couple of people of her own sex was probably tame compared to some of the stuff she'd had to do. Maybe this girl just wasn't shy around other women. Maybe she didn't mind being touched and washed by another woman. I'd heard that women weren't as paranoid of same gender touching as men. Perhaps, she'd been traumatized into rejecting males. I couldn't blame her. Or maybe she was bisexual or lesbian even before being taken by Mayer. I supposed that I would have to probe more into this later. It might help me understand her. Like I had a hope of understand a female
anyway, much less a lesbian. But I was curious, there really wasn't any real evidence that she was homosexual at all, just my overactive imagination.

"Honey. You have to eat. Okay?"

She nodded. She used her free left hand to pick up the glass of milk. She downed it in one quick swallow, her throat muscles working at the fluid. She put the glass back down and took a deep breath. Her breasts rose up as she filled her lungs with air.

"Thirsty?" I asked, surprised at how fast she drank it.

"Like a desert. Abuse makes you thirsty, don't you know?" She flashed me a brief smile.

I smiled back at her and watched her pick up the sandwich and nibble at it.

"I'm going to let you sleep after you eat. You must be tired."

"And achy," she replied around small bites. "Please. Sir. Master. I. I'm not really hungry."

"Eat half then. You'll be hungry when you wake. You can eat the rest then."

She continued to eat the half sandwich in her left hand as she was told. Shortly she finished, but it looked like she almost had to force herself to eat. She licked at her finger tips and then lowered her hand to rest easily on her bare belly. I watched as she experimentally probed the discoloured area of her side with her fingers. She winced and let her hand fall back to her stomach. That was going to be one hell of a bruise she was going to be sporting for the next few days.

"Why are you doing this?"

"What?" I was confused by her question. Could have meant any number of things.

"Why are you keeping me? What are you planning to do with me?"

"Sweetheart. Even I don't know the answer to that."

"You are going to hurt me as well, aren't you?"

"Not like that animal that was keeping you before. And I will let you go."

"When?"

"I don't know. You won't remember any of this when you return."

"So they tell me. Then what's the point?"

"*I* will remember. Problem with you is that I'm going to be returning you back to something worse than this reality. I feel bad about returning you. The others are going back to a better place."

"Please. Don't send me back. You can do whatever you please to me, but I can't go back." She'd made a similar deal with Mayer. But I doubt if that occurred to her. She seemed genuinely afraid of Mayer. Understandably.

"Honey, I have to. Eventually. But, I swear, I'll find some way to get you out of this when I get back to the main timeline. I'll make sure that bastard pays for what he's done to you."

Sheila swallowed heavily. Fighting back tears. "O-okay. You aren't going to hurt me as much as he did are you?"

"No honey. I'm not. Right now, I'm just trying to take care of you. Not hurt you. You've been through quite enough for the last couple of months by the sound of it."

"Jane told me. She told me that you could be kind."

"Jane is a good woman. Strong. Like you. Smart."

"You actually respect them in some ways. Don't you?"

"Yeah." I nodded. "Honey, you have to get some sleep."

She hitched herself back down the bed. Extending her right arm to accommodate the handcuff, lying her blonde head down on her extended arm. She had turned on her side and drawn up one leg. She looked almost comfortable despite the restraint on her right hand. She closed her eyes.

"You don't have to handcuff me, you know. At first I was horrified that I was moving from one monster to another. God, how I cried. But if the girls are telling the truth, at least you aren't as bad as that other asshole. And I'm not going to run. Jane told me that you actually kept your word. If I obeyed I wouldn't be punished. Mayer, that fucking bastard, would force me to obey. Usually with promises that I wouldn't be punished. And then kick the hell out of me anyway. Please. You don't have to keep me bound. I'm not going anywhere. I can't."

"I know, sweetheart. I know. It's just a safety and decorative thing.At least for now. It shouldn't hurt too much."

"It doesn't. It's better than what Mayer made me sleep in."

"Get some sleep. Try to rest."

"I will. And thank-you." I turned to look at her naked, reclining figure. Puzzled. "For getting me away from him. And being nice to me," she continued. "Even if you couldn't let me go."

I bent down and kissed her forehead. She didn't flinch at all, but merely closed her eyes again. I walked to the door and touched the light switch. The room fell into a semi-darkened state. I could see her body moving rhythmically with her breathing and I softly shut the door behind me. Allowing her to sleep off the horror and abuse of the morning.

I walked swiftly back downstairs. I checked in on the girls again. Amy was still quietly listening to her music. Elizabeth was still reading Dickens. Christi had picked back up the Stephen King/Peter Straub novel. I found Jane lying back in the sun, delicately eating the last of her sandwich. She looked up as I approached.

"The sandwich was good."

"You should tell Elizabeth."

"I will."

I sat there watching the bare girl for a moment. "What are you thinking?" I asked her.

"I was just thinking about Sheila. And what she had to go through. What she still has to go through when you return her."

"I know. Scary ain't it?"

"You aren't ever going to treat us like that are you?"

"No. Why?"

Tears formed in her eyes. She willed them away. "I couldn't handle that. She shouldn't be sane. That went beyond cruel, what that asshole did to her. At least when you are hurting me, I can rationalize. Some day it will be over and I will forget about it completely and continue to live my life as though none of it ever happened. She doesn't have that option."

"Maybe she's not sane."

"She is. Tired. Battered. Frightened. Terrorized. But she somehow retained her sanity. That guy was going to kill her you know. Still is, I guess."

"The thought had crossed my mind. Janey, I'll take care of it. When I restart the world. That bastard is going to be 'discovered'. Don't you worry your pretty little head. Sheila will be okay. Here and there."

Jane blushed. "Why'd you come down here?"

"Couple of reasons."

"Torment time for the rest of us?"

"Not yet. I came down here because I wanted to talk."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. And you talked to me. The others are engrossed in books. And music."

"You could have forced them to talk."

"Not the same."

"Why else? You want sex?"

I was surprised. "You offering?"

"If you want. You know I will. Don't have much choice."

I shook my head. "'fraid not now. Not in the mood."

"I thought guys were always in the mood."

I just looked at her.

"Might help you take the edge off this," she remarked. She idly arched her back, thrusting her bare breasts out towards me. This woman was full of surprises. I felt myself react to her offer, but this wasn't the time. Later perhaps.

I shook my head. "We've got to deal with our elderly cook out in the kitchen. And then I have to have a little chat with our judge."

Jane nodded. "I don't believe that you are choosing Polly over me." She smiled mischievously. "I'll help with our cook. You realize that you are going to give her a heart attack if you unfreeze her. I'm assuming that you want her out in the backyard as well."

I smiled. "How the hell am I going to unfreeze her without giving her heart failure?" I touched Jane's arm. She picked up her plate and glass in her bound hands and carried them back to the kitchen.

We entered the kitchen and Jane dropped the plate and glass into the sink. We both regarded Polly. Still oblivious to the people around her. The nude girls moving in and out. The sex. That was going to change for her unfortunately.

I reached down and released Jane's hands from her restraints. I sent her off to get some rope to deal with our cook. Poor old woman. I felt sorry for her, but I had to move her out of the way. And to do that I had to slip her into a different timeline. Ours. I'd try and make it as painless as possible for her.

I guess it had to be done. Soon she'd be obliviously in a slower time frame and out of all this. I sat on one of the kitchen chairs. I pulled the gun out of the waistband of my jeans and lay it on the table. Iconcentrated, freeing the elderly lady from the time freeze. She began to pour the tea which she'd been doing when I froze the world. Her back was still to me.

I let her finish pouring the tea, not wanting to startle her while she was holding the hot liquid. When she put the teapot down, I spoke to her, "Polly?"

She whirled around. Far faster than I'd expected. Her accent was distinctly English, "And who the 'ell might ye be?" Her eyes found the gun lying on the table immediately. "Aye. Come in to rob the place,eh?" She laughed. "The Judge will love 'at. 'fraid that I don't 'ave naught but tea for the likes of you."

No fear. Her calm demeanor surprised me into laughing.

"Polly. My dear. I'm not here to rob you."

"Aye lad. What else you need one of them popguns for? Silly man."

Just then Jane waltzed through the kitchen door. Obviously not aware that I was going to unfreeze the old woman without her here.

"I got them, Master!" she announced jovially. "Oh shit," she continued as she saw the old cook standing there. Polly's jaw had just about dropped to the floor as this naked teenager just walked in like there was nothing unusual about being unclothed in her kitchen.

In amusement, I watched as Polly's eyes rolled back. Her hand flew to her breast and she exclaimed a quick, "My word." She promptly began to sway. Jane dropped the rope and scampered to the tottering old woman.As she fainted, Jane just reached her and had real trouble lowering the bigger woman to the floor. I just sat and watched, unable to react quickly enough to help.

"Ooof." Jane grunted as the woman was laid out on the floor. "Couldn't wait could you? She weighs a ton. A ton and a half. Way to avoid heart failure."

"Your fault."

"My fault????" Jane looked at me. Completely incredulous.

"Yeah, I was having a nice conversation with the nice old woman and you barge in like you own the place. All naked and all. Make her faint."

Jane gave me a dirty look but checked the woman. Loosened the collar on her uniform. Jane breathed a sigh of relief. Just a faint. Not heart failure.

"Like I had a choice," Jane remarked as she worked.

"Come on, what's done is done." I got up and wandered over to where Jane was. "You take her feet. I'll get her arms." Jane moved around to whereshe was told gripping the woman's ankles.

Together we struggled with the woman, dragging her out the door and to the nearest tree outside. I sat her up with her back against the tree. Irelaxed in the grass as Jane carefully bound the helpless woman to the tree.

"Not too tight. Doesn't have to be," I instructed Jane.

"I know."

"God she was heavy."

"I told you that," Jane said smirking.

The woman stirred just as Jane was forming the last knot.

"Wh-what?" she began.

I concentrated and she slipped into a different time phase with Gertrude. They could interact there. At least they had company. Though it wouldn't be for long. Even if I kept them here a week, they'd onlyhave time for maybe few sentences. They were moving that slow. I hardly had to take the precaution of binding them at all.

Jane just looked at me. "That is just so amazing. I'd be really impressed if you used it for the common good, instead of for enslaving me."

I smiled at her as we walked back into the house, Jane's bare feet making a slight trail through the grass in front of me.

I hesitated before putting them on her.

"Janey? If I don't lock your hands, will you behave?"

"Of course. I've only been telling you that for days."

"No. I mean I think I need your hands free for a while."

Her perception kicked in. "You want me to be there when you deal with the asshole." A statement.

"You tie better knots than me. You think you can make him uncomfortable?"

Jane actually smiled. "If you let me tie that jerk up, Christ, I'm yours forever. He'll be uncomfortable."

I nodded. "That's my girl. Come on."

We practically ran upstairs.

Jane shuddered as we entered the business room. Mayer was still standing in the same position that I had refrozen him. Technically he could have moved a couple of millimeters, but I doubted if he even moved that far. I saw Jane glance at the red puddle on the ground. I guess I could have returned that piece of carpet back to the prime timeline. It should clean itself. But I wanted a reminder of this man's behaviour. I still held Jane's handcuffs in my hands.

I carefully walked to the leather chair, motioning Jane to close the door and follow me. I vaguely wondered if I should have brought Christi up as well. She'd want a shot at this guy. I considered it, but I'd let her have her fun after I had this guy under a semblance of control. He was going to be a challenge. I figured that he would be a coward underneath the tough exterior. Far more concerned for his own skin than anyone else's. I should be able to use that to my advantage.

I pulled the gun out of its impromptu holster and aimed it at Mr.Mayer. Jane just stood quietly behind the chair. I glanced up and regarded her face. She was doing her best to control her emotions. But I could see it in her eyes. Almost rage at this animal in front of us. She'd talked to Sheila far more than I. She was probably far more aware of the horrors that had happened here than I was.

"You ready?"

"Let's get him." Jane was ready.

I concentrated and released our judge from his time block. Without really noticing anything wrong, Mayer continued his turn towards the closet. Fuming about his now non-existent slave who was peacefully sleeping in his bed.

"Oh Judge?" I called out softly.

He turned at the sound of my voice. He stopped dead as he saw me sitting in his chair. I saw his eyes travel to Jane. Eyeing her. Lingering on her exposed chest. Then the eyes fixed on the gun. This distraction only held for a second or so.

He exploded. "What the fuck?!?!?!?"

"Sir. I think we should get something straight here. This is a gun." I let a shot off into the ceiling above his head. Chips of wallboard shattered across the room. Mayer screamed. "It's loaded. And I won't hesitate to shoot your balls off if you don't cooperate."

He stood still and glanced around the suddenly small room.

"What do you want? Money? It's in the safe. I'll get it for you." He'd noticed that Sheila was not in the room but he hadn't mentioned it yet.

"Sir. I have no interest in your money. At all."

"Then what do you want? How did you get in here? Who's the bitch?" I  felt Jane's fingers tighten on my shoulder.

"You are Judge Evan Mayer. Aren't you?"

"Yeah. Who the fuck are you?" Still not moving.

"Evan. Can I call you Evan? Yes. I suppose I can. I'm the one with a gun. Evan. I'm getting tired of all this profanity. I don't let my girls use it idly. And I won't let you."

"In case you hadn't noticed. I ain't one of 'your girls'. Fuck you."

"Evan. I'm going to give you this last warning. You can quit the swearing, and apologize to Jane, or, and I think I'm being reasonable here, I can happily shoot you in the elbow. Or perhaps you'd prefer a bullet in the balls? At this range I doubt if I could possibly miss. What do you think?"

His face paled and he stammered. "Wh-what. What. What do you w-want? Please."

"At the moment I want you to apologize to Jane here. The only person that calls her a 'bitch' is me. And I would only do that if she was being particularly disobedient. Or I had her acting like a dog. She has never deserved it. Now apologize to the lady."

He took another look at the gun. "Lady. I apologize."

"That okay Janey?"

"For now." Her voice was like ice. She hadn't met this guy before now. But she knew him. She was holding herself in check pretty good. She was good at self-control. Perhaps it was better that I hadn't involved Christi in this, after all. I'm not sure that she would have the self control necessary for this situation.

"Now. Evan. You remember that girl you had a moment ago? Sheila was her name?"

"What have you done with her? Where is that cunt? Is she behind this?"

"Uh-uh." I raised the gun. Let him be very aware of it. "Language judge. Language. You remember what you liked to do to her? Tie her up? Had a good time with her, didn't you mister judge?"

"I swear. I'm going to kill her for this."

"You are going to do nothing of the sort. You will do exactly as I say or you are going to meet some agony that makes what you put her through seem like a cake walk."

"I never touched that stupid cunt."

"I'm getting really tired of your mouth, Evan."

I glanced up. In the ceiling above his head were two eyebolts. Similar to the ones I'd used to torment Amy yesterday. Looked like they were sunk right into the overhead beams. Solid as all hell. Probably Sheila had discovered the hard way what they were good for. I felt a pang of empathy for the sleeping girl.

"Evan. I'm going to have Jane here do something to you that you probably did to Sheila. That's fair isn't it? Turnabout and all that? You won't like it, but if you don't resist you can keep your joints. Sound fair?"

Fear began to enter into his eyes. I think he was beginning to sense the depth of the anger that was present just below my calm. And he was frightened.

"You can't be serious. Who sent you?"

"You are going to let Jane tie you to those eyebolts above you. Aren't you Mr. Judge?"

"The hell I am."

"Do you like your elbows and knees, Mr. Mayer? I hear that a bullet in each is an extremely slow and painful way to die. I hear that you might even deserve it."

Evan paled again. "Can't we talk about this? Man-to-man. Get rid of the bitch ... I mean, lady, and we can sort something out. It's pretty obvious that we are alike."

"We can talk. But I want you immobilized. For my safety and that of Jane. The 'bitch' is staying right here. One more slip and I swear to god I will make you so regret it. She's a lady. Got it?"

"Okay. Okay," he mumbled.

"Jane?"

"Gladly," she muttered. "Can I gag him too?"

"Tie him. But don't gag him. Not yet."

Jane walked up to the man, her bare feet whisking along the carpet, a vision of cool efficiency. As she reached for his right wrist, he moved like a cat, grabbed her wrist and twisted her against him, using her as a shield. Jane screamed. He grabbed her hair in his other hand. Her head bent to the side, trying to ease the pressure on her scalp. Involuntary tears formed in her eyes from the pain.

"Now. You ain't going to shoot me through your bitch. Are you big man? Now drop the fucking gun. Or I swear, I'll break her fucking neck."

I was expecting this. Jane wasn't. She had gone completely white. Her body shaking. I could still see the anger burning in her eyes just behind the fear. I idly wondered how many times this guy had tried to rip the hair from Sheila's scalp.

"Evan," I remarked casually. Still speaking calmly. "I'm not afraid of killing her to get to you. She simply doesn't matter to me that much," I lied smoothly. "But if I have to kill that innocent little woman to get at you, I swear I'll make a bullet in your joints seem like heaven.It's not that I particular care if she lives or dies, it's just that she's been good today and I really don't want to mark her beautiful body. She doesn't deserve it. Not something you would care about, I know. You fucking animal."

I easily narrowed the time bubble around his body. Isolating it from the time continuum, slowing just his body space back to a rate where he couldn't hurt Jane any further. Jane felt a slight tingling at the proximity of the slower phase but she was still free of the time freeze. Despite the time shift, she couldn't get out of his frozen grip, and she began to cry. Shaking. Really not wanting to be in his embrace. Not wanting to be the hostage. I couldn't blame the frightened woman.

"Relax, sweetheart. You're doing fine. I was expecting this out of the fucker." I was really angry. I actually debated just putting a bullet into his knee for the hell of it. I just couldn't bring myself to do it despite my threats. Perhaps later. After I'd calmed down. I had to get control of this. Losing control with this guy could be dangerous.

"E-easy for you to say. You're not the one being used as a bullet shield." She closed her eyes. Still crying and shaking softly. "You wouldn't have shot me, would you? I've been good."

"I won't let anything happen to you, sweetheart. I swear it. Watch this. I'm going to enjoy this." I sneered at the coward using the woman to shield himself. So ineffectively.

I walked up behind the jerk and pressed the barrel into the base of his skull. I wound my arm around his throat holding his head and my gun firmly together and choking him for good measure. I released him from the time freeze.

"Now. Release the girl. Slowly. And I mean, now. I swear you've strained my patience about to the breaking point. You wouldn't want me to SNAP would you?"

He jumped, almost making me pull the trigger. From his perspective, I'd just disappeared from the chair and suddenly appeared behind him. Like magic. Must have shocked the hell out of him. I watched as he slowly released Jane. First the hair, then the arm. Jane shuddered and pulled away from the grasp of the former judge. He raised his hands, like in the movies. Letting me see them.

"Oh God. Oh God. I don't want to die."

"You will want to die when I'm done with you. You have no idea what that little stunt cost you."

"H-how did you do that?"

"Doesn't matter. Jane. You still have a task to do."

She shuddered. Not even wanting to touch the guy after her ordeal. I'd let her get even soon enough. She silently obeyed. Evan pleaded with me as Jane began to wrap the ropes around his wrists. She wasn't gentle with the knots. This was definitely one rope job I wasn't going to have to check. I felt him wince as she tightened the ropes.

She retrieved the desk chair and stood up on it, feeding the ropes through the eyebolts. He didn't resist as she snaked them to each side of the room and tied them off to other rings set in the walls. I felt him test the bonds as she tied them off. He was going nowhere fast. She played cowgirls and Indians with her brother. I felt sorry for the kids she played with.

I released Evan's throat and allowed Jane to back off from him. I walked back to the chair and sat down, idly turning the weapon over in my hands.

When I glanced up, I could see Evan, still standing in the middle of the room, his arms extended above him, stretched apart by the ropes running through the eyebolts. His gaze was fixed on Jane who was standing a little uncomfortably beside my chair. His eyes held undisguised desire. Imagining what he'd do to Jane, if only she were his. I shuddered along with the naked woman beside me.

I looked at Evan again. "Give me one good reason that I shouldn't shoot you right now."

"Oh Christ. Oh God. I don't want to die." His eyes had torn away from Jane's nudity and returned to the threat at hand. Me.

"That isn't a very good reason."

"Oh shit. You can't just kill me."

"Sure I can. Easy." I raised the gun, aiming at his forehead.

"I have a family. Please. Why are you doing this?"

"Who was the girl?" I changed direction. Kept him mentally off balance.

"What have you done with her?"

"I'll ask the questions. Who was she?"

"Just some worthless cunt." He actually saw her this way.

I motioned for Jane to come closer. I gathered her into my lap and she gratefully sat down for the interrogation.

"Sir. I believe her name is Sheila."

"Fuck you. She's mine."

"Actually, she's mine now. And I'm treating her a lot better than you ever did."

"I never touched a hair on her head."

"What's that stain?" I asked him.

"It's her blood," he sneered. God I was going to enjoy watching the girls go at him.

"I thought you never touched her," I was calm.

"What are you? A fucking cop? Did that goddamn whore bitch call thefucking cops?"

"I, sir, am your worst fucking nightmare. By the end of this, you are going to wish I was only a cop."

"You can't do this to me. I have fucking rights. Arrest me."

"Evan. Evan. Evan. If I were a cop, would I be arresting people with this along for a good time?" I pointed to Jane.

His eyes registered the truth of that. "That bitch brought you in. I'm going to kill her." Meaning his former slave, Sheila.

I just looked at him. A strange calm on my face. "I'd be surprised if she doesn't torture *you* to death first."

His face paled at the implication. He began to plead.

"Please. I have money. I can get it for you if you just let me out of these damn ropes. I'll pay you triple whatever she's giving you. I'll do anything."

"Anything?"

He began to shake. Nodded. I just sat there. Waiting. Jane patiently sat in my lap. Fascinated.

"Whose the girl? Jane you called her?" Mayer was interested in Jane. He was ready to try reasoning with me again. He'd calmed down.

"She's mine as well," I answered his query.

"Yours. So she's your slave? You and I. Maybe we have something in common."

I humoured him.

"Maybe."

"You keep cunts as well. Right?"

I nodded. "Ladies," I patiently corrected his vernacular.

"We're not so different. Sheila is ... was ... mine. Maybe we can make a deal or something. We could ... have fun ... together. You and I."

"Evan. Let me explain something to you. I keep women. I even torment them. I enjoy it. But never. Ever. Think that you and I are alike."

"You can keep Sheila. I swear it. You can do anything you want to her if you let me go."

"Can I kick the hell out of her?"

"Of course."

"Can I punch her in the head?"

"Sure. I've blackened her eyes a couple of times. It's a bit harder because she has to wear dark glasses for a while, but it's so satisfying. I indulge in it once in a while."

"Can I whip her until she passes out?"

"Of course."

"I can make her fuck me?"

"Cunt and ass. Until she bleeds. No problem. Best blowjobs in the world. Nothing like a crying woman giving you head. And even if she bleeds you don't have to stop. Better lubrication." He smiled and laughed. At some memory of his terror. He pulled against the ropes holding him. "Please. Just let me down. We can have fun together with her." His eyes narrowed shrewdly. "Maybe we could trade for a while?" Eyeing the young beauty perched in my lap. I felt Jane shudder just a little, but she managed to fix him with a stare of pure hatred hiding the disgust. She knew that Mayer would never touch her.

"Can I kill her?" I asked. Ignoring his 'trade' offer for now.

"Slowly if you want. I've had to get rid of girls before. It isn't a problem. Have you ever killed a helpless woman before? It's quite a rush." Add murder to the list.

"See Evan. We aren't alike at all. You see. I wouldn't do that to Sheila. I might punish her for disobedience. And I will play with her. But that amount of pain isn't necessary. Further. If our positions were reversed. I would be smart enough to realize that I didn't have anything to bargain with. You see. I already have Sheila. She's mine now. I can do everything I mentioned and more. Without letting you down. You know that. Right now she's sleeping peacefully. But if I wanted to, I could  wandering into *your* bedroom and screw her silly in your own bed. I could kill her if I wanted to. I don't, but that's beside the point.Not
a thing you could do about it. I could do the same to Jane here. And I certainly don't need your permission. I don't need you. Period. And I would never, ever, let you get your filthy paws on any of my girls. Especially Jane here. She deserves better than you. She deserves better than *me*."

Evan swallowed heavily at the tirade.

"What are you going to do to me?" Realizing he'd lost. Bigtime.

"Well. I haven't quite decided yet. But I'm sure that Jane and Sheila could think of tons of stuff. Especially Sheila. But she's sleeping right now. When she wakes, we'll see what's going to happen to the great judge Mayer. Doesn't everyone love a mystery?"

I gently pressed my fingers into Jane's bare side. She obediently slipped off my lap and knelt quietly on the floor. Still glancing at the bound man with hate in her eyes. I could see that he was in for some real trouble with Jane. She was going to be taking out more than her anger at him. If I wasn't completely mistaken, she was going to be transferring all the pain, all the guilt, all the horror that I'd inflicted on her into this as well. Evan was going to suffer not only for his crimes, but mine. That didn't particularly bother me. It's not like I was fond of the asshole.

I got up out of the chair and walked over to Evan, my face just centimeters from his. His eyes were wide and scared. I pressed the gun against his left elbow. He closed his eyes, pleading with me. Babbling.

"You are such a fucking animal, it disgusts me," I hissed at him. "This is my shot. For Sheila, and any other women you've had over your lifetime." Instead of shooting him, I drove my left fist hard into his stomach. He sagged in the ropes. Struggling for breath. Hanging from his bound wrists.

When he finally recovered and got his feet under himself, I moved back to his face. Tears were flowing down his cheeks, and his mouth was set in a determined line.

I continued. "That was the last time I'm going to touch you. But I'd get ready for the girls. I have a bad feeling that they aren't going to be as kind to you. Think about it. And while your stomach recovers consider how many times Sheila felt exactly like this."

I turned away from the gasping pathetic excuse for a man and helped Jane to her bare feet. Without another glance at him, I guided her back to the door and we slipped out. She spat at him as we passed. I wasn't watching so I have no idea if it hit him or not. I didn't care.

I heard his voice just as we slipped out. "We are alike, you know."

We'd see about that.

I softly closed the door to the business room. Jane stood up on her tiptoes and kissed my cheek.

"You were wonderful in there. So calm. You scared the hell out of *me* and I wasn't the one in ropes. For a change. God. I hope to god I never piss you off that badly. He doesn't know what hit him."

"You'll get your chance at him. I promise."

"I can do anything?"

"Yeah. I'm going to let you, Christi and Sheila convince him that it isn't nice to do what he does in real life. I'm going to let him think about it for a while first though."

"Oh God. This is one time I'm not going to fight you when you want me to hit someone." 

I poked my head into the master bedroom as we passed. Sheila was still fast asleep in the bed. She'd pulled the covers over her as best she could with her one free hand. She'd tucked the cover up under her chin. Her slow, steady breathing visible even through the covers. The covers hadn't quite covered her legs and feet. And with her right wrist bound to the bedpost, she probably couldn't fix it herself. I slipped in and arranged the cover to cover her bare legs and feet. She mumbled something in her sleep, but didn't wake. I returned to the hallway.

I silently closed the door, letting her sleep. Jane and I walked back to the main floor in silence. We stopped at the base of the stairs.

"Wrists."

"Please. You don't need to ..." she began and then realizing the futility of that decided to simply raise her arms for me. I slipped the steel bands closed around her wrists. In resignation, she simply let them fall in front of her.

"Just feeling antsy."

"Uh-oh."

"Don't worry. Your skin isn't in danger. Need you fresh for our friend Evan. You feel like relaxing for a while?"

"What did you have in mind?" She smiled mischievously.

"Not that. Go on. Go back to your patch of sun."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"I'm offering myself to you, and you are sending me to my patch of sun? Goddamn. I'll never figure out the male of the species. What are you going to do?"

"I think I'm going to go off and play with Amy and Elizabeth."

"Oh. God help them."

I aimed an easy slap at her bare ass but she twisted and got it on her thigh instead. She yelped. She stuck out her tongue and scampered back to the dining room and her bay window.

I walked back into the living room. Amy was still listening to music. I walked over to her and gently lifted the headphones from her head. She looked up and smiled at me.

"At least you didn't deafen me this time."

"You ready?"

"For what?"

I slipped the headphones over my ears. Thunderstruck pounded into my head. You've been ... THUNDERSTRUCK. I slipped the headphones off my head and looked at her quizzically.

"What?" she asked. Completely confused.

"Thunderstruck?"

"Yeah." She smiled at me.

"Never would have figured you for that kind of music."

"I wouldn't have guessed you'd recognize it either."

"You ready?"

"I guess. Where are we going?" I guided the naked girl to her feet. "Oh
no. Playing?"

I nodded.

"Wrists."

She obediently gave me her wrists. I unlocked the left wrist and pulled her arms behind her. I relocked them.

"You don't have to ..." but she trailed off when she noticed that her hands were going to be bound behind her no matter what she thought of the situation.

I guided the pouting girl to the library. Elizabeth and Christi looked up from their respective books and noticed Amy with her hands bound behind her.

Christi spoke up. "Break over?"

"Not for you. You are going to need your strength for later."

"I am? How's Sheila?"

Noting the way the conversation was going, Elizabeth put on a resigned face and gently closed her book. Carefully marking her spot. I continued to speak to Christi while I recuffed Elizabeth's proffered wrists behind her.

"Sheila is sleeping pretty soundly. She'll be alright. If she wakes up, you or Jane should go and make sure she's alright. Try to get her to rest. She needs it. By the way, you have an appointment with the Judge later."

"Oh God." She gasped. Misunderstanding. Thinking that I was going to let the judge have her for a while.

"No. No. Perhaps I should rephrase that. The Judge has an appointment with you. And Jane. And Sheila. I'm guessing that he ain't going to like it much. For now, keep out of that room. Okay?"

"Other than that and these," she rattled her handcuffs, "I'm free?"

"Yup."

"Thank-you," she whispered.

By this point, Elizabeth's wrists were securely fastened behind her.Her face registered disappointment, but she knew better than to complain.

I took Elizabeth and Amy by the arms and gently walked them to the front hall. I opened the front door and walked the two of them out into the bright sunshine. Amy was bouncing her hands behind her, purposely making the chain between her wrists jingle. I sort of liked the effect.

We walked through the gardens with the girls silent in front of me, their bare feet walking free on the path to the front gate.

When we reached the front gate, Elizabeth's curiousity got the better of her.

"Master? May a girl speak?"

I smiled. I was wondering how long her curiousity would be held in check. "Sure." I answered the bare girl. She'd stopped walking and she was facing me.

"Whose Sheila?"

I almost laughed. I guess I was so used to the fact that Sheila was around, that I hadn't considered that Amy and Elizabeth both didn't even know of her existence.

"A new girl."

"Five of us now?"

"Sort of. I doubt if I'll keep her."

"Lucky her."

They didn't know the circumstances here. I sobered. "Not really." I refused to say any more. Noticing my change of mood, Elizabeth wisely changed the direction of the conversation.

"Can a girl ask where are we going?" Elizabeth spoke again as we passed through the gate.

"You'll know when we get there."

Elizabeth sighed as I guided the women to the left. Amy followed in silence.

Actually I hadn't planned on taking them too far. Just to the neighbour's. However, with the size of the lots in this area of the
city, it took us about ten minutes to make our way to the next house. But we weren't walking very fast. The girls enjoying the sun on their bare skin.

I stopped the girls in front of a much more modest house than the home we had just left. It was a two story house, painted yellow, but without the grounds or obvious wealth associated with the last house.

As we approached the front door, Amy spoke up. "Why are we here?"

I answered her. "Just exploring."

"You aren't going to hurt us?"

"Not yet, darling. Not yet."

Elizabeth shivered.

The mailbox read, 'The Johnsons'. I tried the front knob. Locked. I idly wondered if anyone was home or not. I left the two bound girls on the front porch and wandered around the back of the house. The gate was unlocked. The house had a large backyard bordered on one side with a stone wall, facing the Mayer residence. The Johnsons had a small swimming pool and a back deck. Modest. I tried the back doors. They were standard glass patio doors. Locked as well.

I wandered back into the yard and found a large rock. Not elegant, but I couldn't see any way for my time abilities to help me get into a locked house directly. I threw the rock through the back door. Glass all over the place; on the deck, on the kitchen floor. I carefully picked my way through the jagged glass and into the house. I concentrated and removed the time bubble from around the door. The glass magically reattached itself and mended the door. End of glass problem. I would normally have just left the destruction, but the girls would have been in some serious danger in their bare feet. And I had no intention of punishing them by making them walk over broken glass nor was I about to allow them shoes.

I glanced around the kitchen. It was a nice size. There was a pretty woman working at preparing some meal on the counter. Twenty something. Perhaps very early thirties. I walked through the house and opened the front door from the inside.

Elizabeth and Amy were still waiting quietly on the front porch, sitting on the rail.

"I heard a crash." Elizabeth spoke to me.

"Back door."

She looked down at her bare feet as she stepped across the threshold.

"Glass?"

"I cleaned it up. Your pretty toes will be fine."

"And here I was thinking you were finally going to let me wear shoes."

I laughed. Amy smiled at me as she stepped inside.

"Anyone home?"

"There's someone in the kitchen."

I took the pack from Elizabeth's bound fingers and rummaged. Finally I selected a short length of chain and connected Elizabeth's and Amy's wrists with it and a pair of padlocks. The girls stood quietly back to back. I ran the chain into the front closet locking it to the hanging bar. The girls watched all this in silence. When I was done, Elizabeth spoke up. "Proud of yourself?"

"Yeah. Actually."

"You realize that we'd have stayed where ever you put us without the need for any of this."

"Yup."

"Why then?"

"I wanted to."

"I see." But she still didn't understand. I guess I couldn't blame her.

I turned away from the girls and walked up the stairs. I could hear Amy and Elizabeth softly talking as I moved away. Not much else to do when you are chained up.

I wandered through the house. No surprises like at the Mayers. No locked rooms. No hidden abused sex slaves. Nobody else home. The last door on the right held a small child. Asleep. Less than a year old certainly. There was a huge poster on the wall above the child's crib with a picture. Like what you could get at the photo development places. Blown up to poster size with a likeness of the kid. The word across the bottom, in fancy script, was 'Autumn'. Didn't quite know what that was all about.

I closed the door and wandered back to the women.

"Anything interesting?" Amy spoke. "Please. Can't you let us out of this?" She rattled her wrists against the chains. "We'll be good. I promise."

"How good?"

"I'll do anything you want. You know I will."

"Would you threaten an infant?"

"Huh?"

"If I gave you a knife. Would you threaten an infant?"

"You have to be joking."

"Not really hurt it. Just pretend like you would."

"Whatever for?"

"Would you?"

"I guess. As long as you didn't ask me to really hurt it. That I couldn't do." She was serious. She'd take whipping until she died, but she wouldn't hurt a child. That was fine. I didn't want or expect her to.

"Hmmm. Wait here." I was actually surprised that she agreed to do it this easily. Perhaps her lesson from yesterday had sunk in.

"Where am I going to go?"

The girls went back to whispering. Probably trying to figure out what the hell I was up to.

I wandered back to the kitchen where the woman was working at preparing that food. I laid the gun out on the kitchen table and sat in a chair. I concentrated and released the woman from the time freeze.

"Ms. Johnson, I presume?"

She whirled at the sound of my voice. A large knife held out in front of her.

"Wh-who the hell are you? How did you get in here?"

"Who I am is unimportant. I broke in." I smiled, thinking about how I had quite literally broken in. I was still somewhat amazed that the doors were back to an intact position. Or more correctly, a more intact time. This time stuff really took some getting used to.

The woman began to shake from the adrenaline rush I'd given to her.

"Wh-what do you want?"

"I just want to talk."

"We don't have anything in the house. I swear it. Please just go."

"What's your name?"

"Why?" Her eyes followed as I idly picked up the gun. "Karen. I'm Karen Johnson. Please," she quickly blurted out at the sight of the gun.

"Why aren't you at work, Karen?"

"I'm on maternity leave. Please what do you want?"

"Your son or daughter upstairs?"

"Oh God. Please," she began to scream. "AUTUMN. Oh God. What have you
done to her?"

I tried to calm the frantic woman. "Calm down. I haven't touched her. That's her name. Autumn? That's very nice."

"Oh God. Oh God. Please don't. Please. Why?"

"Karen. You'll wake her up." I lied.

"What the hell do you want? You bastard." Karen began to advance on me with her knife. "I swear. If you hurt her. I swear to God. I'll kill you."

"I'm not going to hurt her. But you might want to reconsider coming any closer with that knife. You wouldn't want Autumn to be motherless, would you?" Her eyes widened. "Come on, Karen. Bringing a knife to a gunfight?"

"Oh God. Please what do you want? I'm so frightened."

"I know you are. Karen. You have to listen to me. Put the knife down."

She closed her eyes. Realizing the futility of the situation. She carefully put the knife down on the counter.

"You are going to rape me. Aren't you?"

"Is that what you think?"

"Why else would you be here? We don't have anything." Her eyes lit up as she lied to me. "Listen. You know my husband is coming home. Right? Soon. It's only fair to warn you."

Even if I hadn't stopped time, I would know she was lying. I idly wondered if there even was a husband. I'd find out.

I just sat there quietly thinking. The woman stood in her kitchen, her eyes darting around trying to determine if she could escape or not safely. Get to her child.

"Karen?"

"Yes," she answered a bit dully from the other side of the kitchen.

"You can't escape. At least not without getting really hurt. You don't want to piss me off. Do you? Will you do what you are told?"

"I don't know. Depends on what you want me to do."

"Will you take off your clothes for me?"

"I. I guess. Please. I don't want to be raped."

"I know. Nobody in their right mind does. I'm not going to rape you. I promise."

"Then why do you want me to take off my clothes."

"I'd just like to see your body."

"Oh God."

"Will you?"

"You won't hurt me? Rape me?"

"Not if you do as you are told."

"Okay. I'll take them off. Oh God. I'm not wearing anything underneath."

"Don't worry. I don't mind. And if it's any consolation, I was going to strip your underwear anyway."

"Oh my God. I can't do this."

"We could go get Autumn, if you prefer."

Her hands stole to the base of her sweatshirt. She closed her eyes, tears beginning to form there. In one fluid motion, she pulled her top over her head. True to her word, her bare breasts sprang into view. She had small breasts. Small nipples which stood erect probably due to her fear.

She pleaded with me. "Please. I can't. Please just let me get dressed and go. I swear. I won't tell anyone."

Yeah. And as soon as I left, she'd be calling 911. She had no idea that it would do her no good. Nobody moving about to answer 911 calls. I motioned for her to continue. Tears now falling like rain from her eyes.

She closed her eyes again and hooked her fingers into the waistband of her track pants. She slowly lowered them to her feet and stepped out of them. No panties either.

"Socks too."

She bent at her waist and peeled the woolen socks she was wearing from her feet. She had a nice body. Not unpleasant on the eyes at all. Especially for a recent mother.

"Turn around."

Her face flushed, but she did as she was told.

After a complete revolution I ordered her, "Kneel."

She fell to her knees on the tile.

"Please. What do you want?"

"I have what I want. You."

"Oh God. Please. I'm a recent mother. Have some mercy."

At her last words, I narrowed her time bubble and she lapsed into silence kneeling immobile on the floor. I wandered back to Amy and Elizabeth. They were both pulling on the chain holding them to the closet.

"She's a mother for Christ sakes." Elizabeth exploded. "Don't you have any compassion."

"I haven't hurt her yet."

"Making her worried sick about her kid and stripping her naked isn't hurting her?"

"Perhaps you'd like to join her?"

Elizabeth went white, but bravely continued. "I'm not a mother, but I am naked. I know what it feels like. Humiliation to the nth degree."

I began to free the girls from the connecting chain between them and the closet. Soon they were only held by the handcuffs behind their backs.

"Come on." I grabbed Elizabeth by the upper arm and propelled the struggling girl to the kitchen. Elizabeth stumbled along. Her eyes widened as she saw Karen kneeling on the kitchen tile. I sat her in a chair and began to tie her into it. Spreading her legs and tying them securely with the soft cord. Elizabeth squirmed but by now was used to being tied up in revealing positions. She cried out a bit as I tightened the rope on her right ankle. She squirmed in her ropes, but didn't complain. I knew that I had her a bit tighter than I normally would have tied her.

I wandered back to the front hallway. Amy was still standing there. Nude. Hands cuffed behind her. Waiting. I released the cuffs.

"Can I ask what you did to Elizabeth?"

I nodded. "She's just tied to a chair. Nothing bad."

"Are you going to hurt us? Her?"

"The ropes are probably uncomfortable."

"I see. What do you want me to do?" She was rubbing her wrists.

"Go upstairs. Get the baby. Be careful with her. I don't want her hurt. Her name is Autumn and I just want to scare the mother. That's all. Try not to wake her. You know how to carry a baby don't you?"

Amy nodded. "You are a bastard. You know that? Threatening a child."

"I just want the mother's cooperation for a few minutes. That's all."

"What are you going to do to her?"

"Make her scream."

"Oh God. That will wake the child you know?"

"Not if she's in slow time, it won't."

"You bastard." Amy turned on her bare heel and headed upstairs. I followed. When we reached the baby's room, Amy walked in giving the typical female "Awwww. She's so cute."

"Go on. Get her. Try not to wake her up."

I released the sleeping child from the time block. She resumed breathing quietly.

Amy gathered the child, blankets and all, into her arms. Actually smiling. Probably forgotten the purpose of all this.

We returned to the kitchen.

Elizabeth's eyes widened as Amy and I walked into the kitchen. Amy was holding Autumn, still sleeping in her arms. I considered how best to proceed.

"Amy?" I addressed the nude girl softly. "Why don't you wait out by the stairs with Autumn. I'll call you when I need you. Try not to wake her."

Amy nodded and padded back out to the foyer, her bare feet whispering on the tile.

Elizabeth was looking up at me from her chair. "Please. You don't have to do any of this. Please let me out."

"Elizabeth, darling. This is just pure play time. I'm going to have some fun with you and Karen here. If you behave and obey, then you don't have to experience any punishment. After that, we go back to the house and you can do whatever you like. Honest."

"But the kid. How can you possibly justify that? It will kill her." Meaning Karen.

"It will frighten her. I have no intention of hurting the child. I'm not a complete monster."

"I can't make you change your mind? Can I?"

"You have no idea what an appealing picture you present. Naked and tied to that chair."

She squirmed. "Please. I'm uncomfortable. I'll do whatever you want without the ropes. I swear it."

"You'd torture this new mother?"

Elizabeth swallowed. "How?"

"You'd whip her breasts? Threaten her child?"

"Oh God. Leave me in the ropes. Please."

"Alright. I'm going to unfreeze Karen. It would be a really bad thing to wake up the baby. Let's see if we can keep her quiet. Okay?"

I concentrated and released the bare kneeling woman from her time prison. She snapped to life. Her eyes immediately taking in Elizabeth. Her eyes widened. Fear and confusion. Whatever she was planning on saying died on her lips.

She finally spoke from her knees. "Wh-what happened?" To her it would have looked like Elizabeth just appeared, nude and bound to the chair. Quite disconcerting I would imagine. "Are you some sort of magician? David Copperfield or something?"

Elizabeth spoke up from her chair. "Karen? That's your name, isn't it? Karen?" The naked woman on the tile just mutely nodded. She looked like she was fascinated that Elizabeth could even talk. That she wasn't some kind of pretty doll. "You have to listen to me, Karen. This guy. He's dangerous. He is sort of a magician. Christ, he sometimes can even tell what you are thinking. You have to listen to him. Do what he says. Karen. Honey. You are going to think you've gone to hell. Believe me.
He's going to ask you to do things that no sane woman would do. Please. No matter how insane it sounds. You have to do it. You couldn't imagine what he's capable of. He'll hurt you. Badly. But please. You have to just do it. Trust me. It will end. He'll let you go. Your daughter too. Just try and remember that. Whatever he makes you do. Can you do that Karen?"

Karen spoke softly from the floor to Elizabeth. "Please. My daughter."

Elizabeth spoke from her bonds. "Karen. Honey. You have to do what he says. He's a monster. Please. He will hurt you and your daughter if you don't do what he says."

Karen mutely nodded. "I'll do whatever he wants. I swear. Please. Can I see my daughter? Please?"

I finally spoke up. "Karen. Dear. I am going to let you see your daughter. But I don't want any funny business. She'll be fine if you behave."

"Oh God. Please. I'll do whatever you want. You can hurt me. You can even rape me. I don't care. Just don't hurt Autumn. Oh God." The tears began to run down her face again. Pitifully sobbing. I watched as Elizabeth cringed, afraid of what I was going to make this woman do for me. I really believed that Karen would do anything to protect her daughter.

"Amy? Come here a moment." I raised my voice slightly so the girl out by the stairs could hear me.

I watched as Karen's face registered confusion through her tears. Not realizing that there was yet another woman in the house with us.

I turned to the entrance of the kitchen as Amy walked gingerly through. She was cradling the infant against her bare breast. Trying her best not to wake the child.

Karen closed her eyes as though she was in pain. Perhaps the sight of Amy, a stranger, nude, cradling her child caused her distress. Not having the control of the situation to protect her daughter.

Without permission, the nude woman rose to her bare feet and practically ran across the kitchen. Whispering her daughter's name. She reached for the sleeping child which was so unaware of the drama taking place around it.

Amy looked at me, seeking permission to let Karen hold her child. I nodded and Amy carefully passed the sleeping girl to her nude mother. Karen was openly weeping now. Her tears tracking down her cheeks.Nearly sobbing at the unfairness of it all. Having to seek someone's permission to hold her own child. Whispering that it would be all right. Convincing herself. Not understanding.

I walked over to the women. I carefully stroked Karen's long hair and she shuddered at the touch.

"Karen? You have to let her go. It's best for her. Okay?"

"Please don't do this?" she implored me. "You don't have to do this.You can just go. Leave me and Autumn. I swear. You can take whatever we have. I won't report it. I swear to God. I won't."

I actually believed her. If I left her and her daughter alone and took everything from her. She'd be happy. She actually wouldn't call it in. She wouldn't try and report it. Not that it would do her any good. But her intention was there. Her entire world was pressed against her chest. Quietly sleeping.

"Karen. I swear. If you do what you are told, I won't let any harm come to Autumn. She'll be fine. And if you behave yourself, you'll be fine as well."

"What do you want?" she asked me with trepidation in her voice.

"Right now? I need you to give Autumn back to Amy. That's all. We can't have our fun if you are holding her. And I really don't want to have to take her away from you. Might hurt the baby."

Karen gave her daughter one last soft hug and kissed the top of her head. She closed her eyes, tears still leaking from the corners. She carefully handed her child back to Amy who held the still sleeping child to her breast.

"Please. Take care of her? While I can't? Please?" Karen pleaded with Amy.

Amy replied as kindly as she could. "I'll take care of her as though she was my own. I swear it. She won't know any of this." Amy shot me a withering look. Hating me for doing this to this woman who didn't deserve this worry and pain.

"Karen? Go kneel over there. Okay?"

Through her tears, Karen managed to understand and walked slowly back to the other side of the kitchen, slowly sinking to her bare knees on the tile. Her eyes never leaving the child.

I whispered in Amy's ear. "Put her back in the crib and come back here."

"What if she wakes up?" Amy hissed.

"She won't."

Amy nodded. Understanding that I would slow Autumn's time bubble to prevent her from knowing anything about this horror that her mother was about to go through. Amy turned carefully and headed back upstairs, still holding the infant to her.

I turned back to the mother who was quietly weeping on her knees on the tile, her eyes lowered.

"Karen?"

She just continued to cry. I let her for a few minutes. The woman was going to need to cry more than once.

Elizabeth spoke up from the chair after a few minutes. "M-Master? Can a girl speak?"

I turned to Elizabeth. "What is it?"

She paled a bit but continued. "Please. I know that it probably won't do any good. But can I offer myself? I'll do whatever it is you want Karen to do. Let her go to her daughter. Please? I can't stand to watch this."

I walked over to the bound redhead and looked down at her. I bent and kissed her forehead. She let me. Hope shining in her eyes. Hope that I'd finally let her take someone else's pain. That she could feel good about herself; even if the agony that I inflicted on her was unbearable. Sometimes doing something, even something unpleasant, was preferable to seeing an innocent suffer.

"Elizabeth. Sweetheart. You know I can't let you do that."

I heard a soft voice from behind me. "Thank-you. God bless you for trying." It was Karen. Thanking Elizabeth for her chivalry. I pursed my lips and turned back to the woman on her knees. Her eyes had taken on a note of defiance. Elizabeth's brave offer seemingly bringing back Karen's spirit. Coaxing her to just endure this and get it over with.

She spoke to me from her knees. "Just do whatever it is you are going to do to me. Let's get this over with."

As she spoke. Amy walked back into the kitchen. Karen's eyes watched her enter. Hoping for some indication from the girl that her daughter was all right. Amy spoke to me softly. Karen could hear her from her position on the floor.

"Autumn is back in her crib. She was beginning to fuss a little in her sleep. She's going to be awake soon. But for now she's sleeping."

Karen spoke from the floor, entreating me. "Please. Have some compassion. Let me feed her, if she wakes. Please."

She wouldn't wake. But I turned slowly and looked at the woman on her knees. Tears forming in her eyes. Probably humiliated that she had had to beg to feed her daughter.

"I'll think about it. Depends on how cooperative you are."

She paled. But nodded. Anything to see her daughter again.

I concentrated fiercely. Locating Autumn's small bubble of time. I removed the bubble and she slipped back to the prime time line. She hadn't even been here. I staggered a bit. Manipulating time at any physical distance was far more difficult than close, line of sight, manipulation. It could be done, but it took a lot out of you.

Amy's eyes widened as she saw me stumble and she unconsciously reached out to catch me if I fell. But I regained my balance and forced the world to stop spinning. I recovered quickly and Amy took a step back as she realized that I was alright. I saw the look in her eyes. Just a very fleeting flash of bravery. Wondering if she could somehow take advantage of the brief moment of weakness. But any chance she had, was far gone. And she knew that.

The woman on the floor had no idea what had just happened. But I could see that Amy had a pretty good idea. I'd have to watch that.

"Wrists."

Amy, resigned, padded over and held her hands behind her back. Karen watched in fascination as I slipped the steel handcuffs around Amy's wrists. Karen watched as the bare girl just let me bind her. No complaints. No struggling. Just mute acceptance of her situation; that I would bind her, no matter what she wanted.

I guided Amy to a chair on the other side of the table. Allowing her to sit for now. Her bound wrists lying easily around the back of the chair. She was probably just thankful that I hadn't tied her into it, like I had Elizabeth.

I turned to Karen.

"Why are they bound like that?"

I was about to answer but Elizabeth spoke first. "Karen. You may as well ask why we are nude. Why you are nude. Why he's going to hurt us. Why he's tormenting you and your daughter. He likes it. It gets him off humiliating, tormenting and embarrassing women. You get used to it after a while. Being nude. You never get used to the pain, the bondage, the humiliation. But you learn to accept it."

"Oh God. Are you ever going to let me go? Please. You don't have to hurt me." the frightened woman asked me. "I'll do whatever it is you want. I swear I will."

I looked at her again. Her small shaking naked body. "Karen. If you do exactly what I want, I'll let you go. I promise you." I fully intended to let her go. I had enough problems. Five women in my direct power. Granted most of them were a bit more accepting by now, but Sheila was an unknown. And any of them would still do nearly anything if a chance to escape or incapacitate me presented itself. Last thing I needed was an unstable mother worried about her daughter. I didn't know for sure, but I suspected that this would be a very dangerous situation if I let down my guard. Or tried to keep her for any length of time. She'd value her daughter's safety far above her own, and I didn't have the strength or resources to bring along her daughter to keep my control over her. No. I  couldn't keep her. Luscious as she was.

"Please. What do you want? Me? Would giving you sex make you let me go? You want to rape me?"

I heard Elizabeth mutter behind me. "Never that easy, lady. Good try though."

"I told you I didn't want to rape you."

"It wouldn't be rape if I consented."

"You'd willingly give me sex?"

"If it would make you go away and get me my daughter back unharmed. I swear. I'd be good. The best you ever had."

I seriously doubted that. But I had to give her credit for trying. I answered her. "So. Let me get this straight. If I let you go. With your daughter. You'd be willing to have sex with me? Not because you particularly want to. But to save yourself and your daughter?" She nodded. Tears forming in her eyes. "Doesn't sound much like consent to me."

"But I'd let you have me."

"How?"

"Any way you want."

"You'd let me tie you up?"

"If you must."

"And you'd let me have anal sex with you while you're trussed up?"

She swallowed. Tears forming again. "Oh God. Please. I've never. I couldn't. It would hurt."

"Yes. It would hurt. A lot. Would you still consent?"

She gulped again. Tears actually running down her face now. She slowly nodded her head. Her bare body shaking in fear. Still on her knees.

"Please. W-wouldn't my vagi ... I mean cunt," she swallowed at her use of the word, "feel better?" She probably thought I wanted her to talk dirty to me. Degrade herself.

"I'm not going to rape you. I told you that already. I have two women right here that I could have sex with, anal or otherwise, if I wanted." Both Elizabeth and Amy paled at the suggestion of anal sex. But they kept quiet.

Karen began to protest, probably about the consent thing. "But ..."

I cut her off. "However, I do want you to crawl for me."

"Crawl?"

"You know. Hands and knees."

"Why?"

Elizabeth spoke again. "Karen. Honey. It's better than being raped. He just wants to see you humiliated. Please. Just do what he wants."

Karen flushed but obediently fell to her hands and knees.

"Where do you want me to crawl?"

"Just around the kitchen. I'll tell you when to stop."

She concentrated on controlling her breathing, and began to move on her hands and knees. Slowly moving her bare body in a small circle in the middle of her kitchen. I watched her. Her muscles straining at the unfamiliar motion. Her small bare breasts hanging beneath her, swaying slightly as she moved. Her thigh muscles moving her bare legs across
the tile. Quick flashes of her sparse pubic hair and the lips it concealed. After a few tight revolutions, I stopped her.

"Okay. Enough. Stay on your hands and knees. Look at me."

She raised her head, her hair falling around her tear streaked face.Her eyes betraying fear, humiliation and hatred. I left her on her hand and knees for a few minutes and just gazed at her. She was breathing a little hard from the exertion of the unfamiliar motion. She tossed her head, tossing her hair like a mane as she patiently waited for me to tell her what else to do.

"You ever been tied up before?"

"Please. You don't need to tie me up. I'll do whatever you want without ropes. I swear it."

I wasn't sure of that. "I know. But I like to see a woman restrained."

"Oh God."

"So. Have you ever been tied up?"

She thought about it, and she didn't lie. Good thing. I suspect in her state I could have told a lie pretty quick.

"When I was a kid."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Just the standard cowboys and Indians type stuff. I was a squaw or something. My neighbour was a cowgirl and I was tied up to a picnic bench for a while. Not tight. I could have gotten out if I wanted to.We were kids."

"Anything else?"

"Oh God. In college. I tried it once."

"Tried what?"

"An old boyfriend wanted to tie me up. I let him."

"What happened."

"Must I?" I nodded and she hesitantly continued. "This guy just wanted to try it. He'd read about tying someone up being fun in bed. So I agreed to try it. He tied me down to the bed, spread-eagled with some scarves. He fucked me. And then untied me. It didn't do anything for me. It was kind of boring actually. I broke up with him shortly after that."

"Nothing else?"

She shook her head; her hair tossed around with her movement.

"I'm going to tie you up."

"I know." She sounded resigned. "Are you going to rape me when I'm tied up. You can you know."

"I'm not going to rape you. Why do you keep offering? You want to be raped?"

"Oh God. Please no. Don't think that. Oh God. I. I just thought that you'd want that. And I just want to stop this. I just want you to leave. Please." I understood. She was frightened. "How do you want me?"

I was confused. "Huh?"

"How do you want me tied up? Hand behind me? In front? Hands to feet?" She'd risen back to her knees. She used her hands to demonstrate where I could tie them.

"I'm going to tie you to the ceiling."

"How?"

I pointed to a hanging plant which was hanging high off to the side of the kitchen. Her mind registered comprehension. She began to rise to her bare feet. Just wanting to get this over with.

She held out her wrists. Palms together in front of her and waited. Surprised at her compliance, I wrapped the rope around her offered wrists and lashed them tightly together. She cringed a bit at the tightness of the rope, but didn't complain. I'd have to release her hands reasonably soon. That rope would cut off her circulation. Her hands were already a bit redder than her arms from the restricted circulation. But for now, she'd be fine.

I took down the plant and began to feed a rope through the hook. It didn't look particularly sturdy, but I suspected that it would hold most of her weight before pulling out of the ceiling. She wasn't a particularly big girl.

As I turned around, I noticed something not quite right.

I caught a flash of her calf as she moved swiftly out of the kitchen. Running. Amy was struggling to get up out of her chair to go after the woman. Elizabeth was pulling at the ropes holding her to the chair.Frustrated.

I calmly turned to the women. Elizabeth shrugged and began speaking rapidly.

"She just ran. I wasn't paying attention. Oh God. She's just frightened. Don't hurt her. She doesn't understand. Please."

I motioned for Amy to stay put and she sank back into her chair allowing her bound wrists to relax behind it. She sighed but didn't say anything.

I sensed Karen's time bubble. She hadn't gone far. That was certain. I was willing to bet that she was heading for the stairs. To her daughter.

I walked swiftly to the front hallway and took the stairs two at a time. I poked my head into Autumn's room. Karen wasn't there as I'd expected. I suddenly became disturbed. Her hands were bound, but she could still be dangerous. No need for me to get killed here. She knew the house better than I.

"Karen?"

No answer. Not surprising. She couldn't have gotten out of the house. Outside the doors was a no time zone. She'd just return to the kitchen if she stepped out the door. Where was she? How many places could a mostly bound, naked woman hide?

I walked back down the hallway. Slowly. Readying the time defenses if she tried to attack me. Though I suspected that if her intent was to attack me, she would have tried it in the kitchen where there were weapons. Knives. Perhaps, she had a gun stashed in the house. I walked back down the stairs cautiously. I could still sense the time bubble. Close.

As I reached the bottom of the stairs, I noticed that the front closet was closed. I had opened it to chain Amy and Elizabeth to the clothes rack earlier. I'd never closed it.

"Karen?" I stood by the closet. No answer. Perhaps Amy had closed it earlier. I had left her unbound here for a while.

I heard a small whimper. My ears located it. In the closet. The frightened woman hadn't had time to get upstairs. So she had simply ducked into the open closet and was sitting in the dark. Frightened. Bound. Nude.

"Karen. I know you are in the closet."

A very small voice from the bottom of the closet. Near the floor. "Oh God. Please. I'm so scared."

"Come on out."

The door cracked open. Just a touch. I watched as she used her toes to open the closet door from the inside. Her face was tear streaked. And her whole small body was shaking. She was seated on the closet floor. Hugging her knees with her bound arms. Underneath the hanging jackets. Pulling weakly at the rope around her wrists.

Her voice was shaking. "I. I'm sorry. I just couldn't. I had to try."

"I thought we had an agreement. You did what you were told, and I wouldn't hurt Autumn."

Her face went pale. Frightened. "Please. I didn't mean to run. I.Please don't hurt my daughter. It was me that ran. Punish me." Sobbing.

"Karen. I'm going to give you one more chance. You will be punished for this. That I can promise you. But I won't hurt your daughter this time."

I reached down to the sobbing woman. I'm not even sure if she heard anything I had said to her. Didn't matter. I helped her to her bare feet and walked her back to her kitchen. Elizabeth and Amy both wouldn't meet my eyes. They both knew that they were in trouble for not warning me that Karen had run. To be fair, they probably didn't know until it was too late either. But, no matter. It was an excuse to punish them. I had to take care of Karen first.

As I led Karen back into the kitchen, Elizabeth moaned. "Please. Don't hurt her. She was just scared."

I ignored the bound girl and led Karen back under the plant hook. She was docile as she watched through teary eyes as I looped the rope through her bound wrists and pulled on the other end. She willingly raised her arms above her head and gasped as I increased the pressure. Soon she was stretched to her limit, her arms lifted above her. She was positioned about four feet from the corner where her counters met. I had increased the pressure on her arms such that it was actually easier for
her to stand on tiptoe to relieve the pressure of her own weight on her wrists. There was enough give in the overhead rope to allow her to stand flat on her feet, but that caused her pain in the wrists. She stared back at me defiantly. She had managed to stop crying and was realizing her precarious position.

I stepped back. Her breasts rode high on her chest as her arms pulled them upwards. They were going to be a fun target. Her eyes, a strange mixture of hate and fear. Her long brown hair cascaded down her back and over her shoulders. I just gazed at the picture of her standing there. Helpless.

Finally she spoke. "Please. I'm sorry. Please. It will never happen again. I'll do anything you want. Even a-anal sex. My arms hurt.Please. Can't we loosen the ropes? Just a bit? I have to stand on my toes."

"Karen. Didn't I tell you that you'd be punished if you didn't obey?"

"Oh God. Yes."

"Part of your punishment is that tight rope holding you. You got a problem with that?"

I heard Elizabeth moan.

"Please. It just hurts. I just wanted it loosened. Just a bit. Please? What did I ever do to you? You don't need to hurt me."

I shook my head. Tears began to form in her eyes. It was actually pretty. She was realizing that she didn't have a lot of control over what happened to her.

"Please. What are you going to do to me? Please. I'll do anything for you. You don't have to hurt me. I let you put me here. Didn't I?" Her bare body was shaking and straining at the ropes holding her. She squirmed a bit under my steady gaze.

"Do you deserve to be punished?"

"No. No. Please God. No."

"Karen. Do you know what the punishment for lying is?"

"Oh God. What?"

"Worse than for running. Now. Do you deserve punishment?"

"What do you want to hear?"

"The truth. I laid out the rules. Did you break them? Did you disobey?"

"Oh God. I did. But ..."

"Then do you deserve punishment?"

"Please don't make me do this."

"Do you?"

"I suppose."

"You suppose?"

"Yes. I deserve punishment."

"Good. That's what I thought as well."

"Oh shit. Please."

"Karen. Do you have a cucumber in the refrigerator?"

"What?"

"A cucumber."

"I think so."

I turned to the refrigerator and opened it. I checked out the vegetable drawer and found a medium sized English cucumber. I picked it up and closed the fridge door. Karen watched all this with real fear in her eyes.

"Karen. Have you ever masturbated with a vegetable? I hear that some women do."

"Please."

Elizabeth piped up from her chair. "Oh God. You can't do that to her.It will kill her."

I turned to the bound woman in the chair. "Would you rather have it?"

"Yes. I'll take it for her. She's a recent mother for Christ sakes. You have no idea how much that thing will hurt her."

"I'm counting on it."

"God. You are a bastard."

"It won't kill her." I turned back to Karen. "Have you ever used a cucumber before?"

"No. Yes."

"No? Yes?"

Her face flushed. "Oh God. Yes. A couple of times. I was just experimenting. Please. You said you wouldn't rape me."

"And I won't. At least not in any standard way."

"I won't let you."

"Karen. Look at yourself. You are hanging from your wrists. You are completely naked. All I have to do is to use a bit more rope and tie your ankles to a broomstick. You'll be hanging from your wrists. Off the floor. And you can't stop me from doing anything to you. You really want to go through that?"

I watched her face as the mental image burning into her mind. Knowing the pain that would be caused if I did what I threatened. A tear overfilled her left eye and traced down her face.

"Please. Use some lubrication? Please?"

That I could do. I walked up to her. I placed the vegetable on the counter behind her bound body. I slowly traced my hands down her body, starting at her bound wrists, down her bare arms. Down her sides. Brushing the sides of her breasts. Down over her hips, ending at her straining ankles. Traced her instep while she was still trying to stay on her toes. To her credit she shuddered at the touches, but didn't try to move away. She couldn't have gone far anyway, but she could have moved her feet away from my touches quite easily. I carefully took her nipples between my fingers and thumbs. Pressed gently. Her nipples
unconsciously came erect. She shuddered again.

She mumbled one word. "Please."

I retrieved the cucumber. I judged that she shouldn't have any trouble with it, if I wasn't too rough. I held it up to her mouth. She looked at the vegetable in fear. Knowing that soon it was going to be violating her. Whether she wanted it, or not.

"Open."

She closed her eyes and opened her mouth. I slowly placed the end of the cucumber into her mouth. She automatically began to mimic oral sex on it. Probably thinking that this is what I wanted. Tears falling down her face.

"Just hold it."

She struggled to hold the thing in her mouth. Her teeth gently sinking into the flesh of the vegetable. She lowered her head, as the weight of the thing tried to pull it out of her mouth. She tried to mumble something around the gagging cucumber and then gave up.

Leaving her like that, I wandered over to the equipment pack which was placed by Elizabeth's bound feet. She spoke to me as I crouched down, searching. "You fucked up bastard. She's a new mother for Christ sakes. You can't do this to her. This is going to kill her."

"Elizabeth. Haven't you earned yourself enough punishment?"

She paled. "Please. Have some compassion."

I looked up at the bound girl. "Elizabeth. Whatever I do to her, she won't remember. Whatever I have to do to you, you will remember. For a while anyway."

"Yeah. She'll forget in like a few weeks when you let her go."

"Elizabeth. I don't know why I'm even telling you this. But I'm not keeping her."

"Why not? She's gorgeous. Your type."

"I'm not keeping her. She's going to be tormented. And then I'll let her go. I swear it."

"That doesn't make it any better what you are doing." But she wasn't convinced. I honestly think Elizabeth felt better knowing that the girl was going to be released. I could see it in her body. The way she relaxed. Her body language accentuated by her ropes and her nudity.

I had found what I was looking for. Lubricant. And the nipple clamps.

I walked back over to the bound mother. Still frightened. But effectively gagged. I could see her drool beginning to coat the end of the cucumber in her mouth. She tried to look up, but the weight of the cucumber prevented her head from rising too far. Her eyes flashed at me and she tried to mumble something around her gag.

I put the nipple clamps on the counter behind her and used my hand to raise the other end of the cucumber. Keeping it in her mouth, but raising her head. She was forced to watch as I carefully spread lubricant over the end of the vegetable. Pleading in her eyes. I gently pulled the cucumber from her mouth and held it up. I carefully used her hair to wipe the slight remaining lubricant from my fingers. She cringed at this use of her hair, but didn't complain. She began to beg.

"Please. You can't do this. I don't want this. Please. Please don't put that thing in me. I'll have sex with you. I'll crawl. I swear I'll never run again. Oh God. Please. You can leave me tied up. Forever."

I traced the drool moistened end of the cucumber down her body leaving a very light wet trail. Between her taut breasts and down her belly. I paused at her belly button and she tried to dance away. Didn't get very far. I traced it through her sparse pubic hair. She had closed her eyes. Trying to somehow will away what was happening to her.

I reversed the vegetable. Presenting the lubricated end towards her body. As I touched her thighs she took a deep breath and parted them for me. I guess she didn't want them bound apart. With her legs apart she really did have to stand on her toes to take any pressure off her bound wrists.

I slowly ran the unwelcome probe along her outer lips and she shuddered. Standing bound. Unable to stop this invasion. Softly crying.

I gently began to part her lips and press the vegetable into her. She cried out, but with the amount of lubrication on the phallus, she couldn't prevent it from slipping into her, no matter how much she resisted with her vaginal muscles. I touched her between her folds. Completely dry. Understandable.

She cried out a number of times as the cucumber slowly slipped into her. Tears were flowing down her face as she cried. Cried from the invasion. From the humiliation. From her absolute powerlessness. Finally, I felt it bottom against her cervix. She cried out again as she felt it from the other end.

"That's it, I guess."

"Oh God. Please. Take it out. Please."

"Karen. Honey. I'd get used to it being there."

"You're leaving it in? You bastard. I can't take it."

"You can. You already have."

There was a good portion of the cucumber protruding from her shaking body. My fingers preventing the slippery intrusion from falling out under the influence of gravity. I began to wrap some cord around her waist. She cried out and opened her eyes. She spoke. "What are you doing?"

"Making sure you don't push it out." I could feel her vaginal muscles pulsating. The pulses running along the cucumber from deep inside her. She probably wasn't consciously doing it. Her body was just trying its best to get rid of the overlarge object invading it. I actually kind of hoped that she wouldn't cramp because of it. But if she did, I guess that was life.

I finished the rope belt around her waist, tying it off. I dropped a length of the cord down between her legs. I carefully wrapped the end of the cucumber with the cord making sure that it was secured. I then ran the cord up behind her, between her buttocks and tied it off. The belt and the ropes securely holding her invader in her body. Her body was wracked with sobs. Realizing that this thing was going to be in her until I chose to remove it. With her hands bound, she had absolutely no way to remove the cucumber from herself.

I wandered back to the kitchen table and sat backward on one of Karen's chairs. I sat beside Elizabeth who was watching Karen with a kind of morbid fascination. I watched the bound woman as well. She struggled with her wrists. Alternately pulling against them and bucking her hips. Moving her legs. Dancing on her toes. Trying to loosen any of the knots. Trying to find the least painful position. Given her restraints, I don't imagine any position was particularly comfortable. Anything to bring about some comfort for her aching body. After letting her struggle for about five minutes she looked over at me. Forlorn expression on her face.

She just begged. "Please. Please let me go."

"Karen? You have to be punished yet."

"Oh God. This isn't the punishment?"

"Part of it."

"What are you going to do to me? God. Please just let me go."

I finally got up and rummaged through the pack again. I found the blindfold I was looking for. I don't think I'd ever blindfolded any of  the girls I tormented. Always a first time. I didn't want Karen to know what was going to happen to her.

I approached her and picked up the large knife from the counter where she'd placed it much earlier. Her eyes widened, her face went ashen and her whole body began to tremble.

"Please. Don't cut me. I'll do whatever you want. You can stick the cucumber up my ass if you want. Please. Not a knife. Oh God. You can't be serious. I'll do anything. Anything."

"Karen. I'm not going to cut you. If you stay still."

"Oh God. Oh God. Oh God."

I brought the sharp blade up in front of her face. Her eyes followed it. She just kept repeating her mantra. "Oh God. Oh God."

I took the tip of the knife and circled her right nipple about a millimeter from her flesh. Any slip and she was getting a nasty cut.
Her nipple had hardened involuntarily in fear. She was trembling, and having trouble keeping still especially being up on her toes the way she was. But I could tell that all her concentration was on that knife and keeping her bound, bare body still. She was doing a good job. I suppose desperation will let you do some amazing things.

I softly touched the hardened nub with the blade. Scratching carefully down it. She gasped as she felt the cold dangerous steel dragged across her sensitive flesh, but she kept still. Any move would have meant immediate blood and pain. And a completely ruined breast. She knew that. I knew that. Together, we were very careful.

Finally, I released her. She let her breath out and began to shake more violently. Tears falling silently. Unseen by her, I had flipped the knife over. I brought it to her left nipple. The dull side of the knife. But she didn't know that. I rested the knife just above her erect nipple against the flesh. She was crying and pleading. She drew in her breath and concentrated on staying still again. Again, she did an amazing job. Reverse the positions and have some woman threaten my private parts with a knife, I doubt if I could have kept as still as she was. Holding her breath.

"Ooops." I said softly. At the same time I dragged the knife down and across her nipple. Like I was slicing chicken. She screamed in terror and fear. Making the other two girls cry out and jump in surprise. The dull side of the knife slid harmlessly across her erect nipple. Her face paled and she looked like she was about to pass out.

She managed to keep conscious and she finally looked down at her breast expecting blood and injury. Probably psychologically even feeling the burning pain of the knife; the imagined slice to her nipple. She had nearly passed out from fear. Seeing her breast still intact. Her nipple still where it ought to be. No blood. The look of pure relief and disbelief was actually quite pretty on her face. She looked at me and mouthed "Thank you." She must have been really frightened to thank me. She let her breath out in a whoosh.

"Karen. Next time you disobey. I won't be so careful."

"Oh God. I'll be good. I'll be so good. Please. Just give me another chance. I'll prove I can be good. I'll do whatever you want. Oh God."

I nodded. "I'm going to put this on you."

"A blindfold? Why?"

"A surprise."

"Oh God." But she stood still while I fitted the dark cloth over her eyes. She cried out a bit but didn't complain beyond that.

I waved my hand in front of her face. She didn't react. I pretended to slap her. Stopping just short of contact. She didn't flinch. She was blind.

I traced my finger down over her right nipple. She jumped at the touch, but controlled her impulse to move. Probably sudden movements made themselves known through the inertia of the foreign body deep in her vaginal canal.

I rummaged through her drawers finally coming up with a pair of wooden spoons. Lightweight. They would serve.

to be continued.......