The man is bulky, I can feel it as he pulls me out of the car and against him. I hear the jangle of my bag as he takes it from the back seat.
I wonder if it’s the same man from last time…
He leads me along, and I rely on him for balance, Glad I opted for simple pumps, rather than precarious stilettos. I hold back nervous whimpers as he instructs me of astep, step, stepcoming up, and I manage the ascent, in sync with his directions. After clearing the steps he guides me through a doorway. I hear the door close behind us. Heavy.
“We’ll keep your bag safe,” the man says, and lets me go as I nod for him. “I’m going to strip you now,” he tells me, and I nod again.
He takes off my coat, and there is someone else alongside him now, I can hear them shuffling around. He must hand them my coat before he lifts the dress up and over my head, being careful not to disturb my hood. Jesus, I feel so cold and exposed without it. It’s instinctive to want to wrap my arms around my chest to cover myself, but I remember the instructions from last time. They boom through my head.
No hiding!
There will never be any hiding in this place.
“Shoes off,” the voice says, and I rely on his arm for balance as I kick my pumps off.
I remember the jangle of heavy chains from last time, but it doesn’t stop me jumping when I hear them fresh.
“Arms out in front of you.”
I do as I’m told, shivering as the cuffs are fastened securely around my wrists. Thick leather, with buckles. Buckles andheavy chains. My nipples must be as hard as bullets, but whoever is preparing me has no intention of playing or warming me up. He lowers himself to fasten my ankles into the same kind of bonds, and there we have it. I’m trussed up like hooded, bound convict.
I feel like a criminal awaiting sentence as he takes my arm and directs me along.
We must have made it a fair way through a corridor when the man leading me drops so his face is in mine.
“Holly, I’d like to reinforce that you can use your safe word at any time, and the session will cease immediately. Should you do so, I will collect you and return you to the main hallway. I will then uncuff you, and get you dressed again. The car will be waiting to take you back. Do you understand?”
I nod, remembering the same instructions as last time.
“Yes,” I say.
“Under no circumstances will you remove your hood, even after using your safe word. You must trust in us that the session is over, and you are safe. Do you accept?”
“Yes.”
“Excellent. Then, in that case, your proposal starts now. Let stage one begin.”
I hear the creak of a door opening – clearly thick, heavy and wooden – and then he leads me inside and there’s carpet under my bare feet.
I figure this is going to be the same kind of hall as I was in last time around. I prepare for my chains to be hoisted up high over my head, leaving me vulnerable on tiptoes, awaiting my fate. But I’m wrong. The carpet continues under my feet, and I’m led along until I feel a bulk of leather at my side.
An armchair from the feel of it.
“Sit,” the man says, and lowers me into the seat.
Of course. The interrogation is coming first… that’s what the proposal told me. This is stage one.
I sense the figure leaving me, and hear a door opening and closing. My skin prickles, and I clasp my hands on my lap to resist the primal instinct to lift my hood and take a look around.
I daren’t do it. Not for anything.
I’m not waiting very long before I hear the same door opening. At least three people enter the room, I can tell by their footsteps. They don’t speak, but I hear them positioning themselves opposite me, sitting down on leather themselves. A Chesterfield, maybe? Something grand. I picture three suited, powerful men watching me.
“Are you feeling comfortable, Holly?” a different man asks me, with a much warmer tone than the last.
“Yes, thank you,” I reply, then remember my previous experience here. “Thank you,master.”
“Master isn’t needed here yet,” the new man says. “Your master will direct you when it’s time for your scene. If you are prepared to make it that far.”
