The Challenge

The Challenge

sfmaster
sfmaster@worldnet.att.net


WARNING! This story is only for adults over the age of 18 and contains Strong 
  Sexual Content. It is intended as a work of fiction for ADULTS only, and the 
  author does not in any way condone similar behavior. If you are under the age 
  or 18 or reside in a state that prohibits such behavior, stop reading immediately!!!

The Challenge By sfmaster@worldnet.att.net

Archiving permitted, reposting is permitted; but only if you include this statement 
  of limitation of use and notify the author by e-mail. The author forbids you 
  to make, distribute, or sell multiple copies of this story on paper, disk, or 
  other fixed format. However, individual readers may make single copies of the 
  story for their own, non-commercial use.
  
  Copyright (c) 1998 by sfmaster@worldnet.att.net
  
  Attn: Readers please feel free to send an e-mail to the author. I do want to 
  hear from you! 

The Challenge
Chapter One: The Challenge


Part One: A Day in the Life

Thursday June 4, 1998

	When Janet finally awoke, Stephanie was gone from her bed.  Stephanie's
bedroom was nicely furnished with a large bed, dresser, small desk and
chairs, and an attached bathroom.  Stephanie had used Janet the previous
evening, first in the library then the bedroom.   Janet lay beneath the
sheets, which were a mess from their lovemaking.  Feeling her skin, Janet
was sticky from her sweat and juices from herself and Stephanie, and she
desired a hot bath.

	Around her neck was locked a leather collar, with matching bracelets on
her wrists and ankles.  The collar was chained to a ringbolt set in the
wall above the bed, so Janet would not be going anywhere until she was
released.

	Janet fingered the stripes on her naked body, remembering how during the
last week that they had been administered by both Stephanie and Camille. 
She traced the red marks, wincing when she found a tender spot.

	Today was the seventh day of her service to Stephanie, Monday.

	"Good morning, Mistress Janet," greeted Camille as she stood in the
doorway.

	"Good morning, Camille," Janet answered.

	"Your week is up, Mistress," stated Camille, "time to release you.  Your
vacation is over."

	Janet stood up from the bed, and Camille first released the collar chain. 
Then she unlocked the collar, wrist and ankle bracelets.  For the first
time in seven days, Janet was free of the instruments of slavery.  She
rubbed her wrists, and looked at herself in the mirror.

	Naked, her body was clearly marked from her week in slavery to Stephanie. 
She saw the marks that the whip and crop had left behind.  Her breasts,
stomach, thighs, and bottom all bore the marks that she had been used again
as a slave.

	"Your bath is waiting, Mistress," said Camille.

	"Thank you, Camille."

	Janet followed Camille to the bathroom, where she had already drawn a
steaming hot bath, with soapsuds floating in the water.  Gingerly, Janet
stepped into the bath.  She winced at the hot water, but gradually lowered
herself into the steaming bath.  The hot water made her wounds sting and
smart, but it felt good and sensual in the scented water.  She lay back in
the tub, almost ready to go back to sleep.

	"Ahh, that feels good, Camille, thank you," said Janet as she sat back in
the steaming tub.

	"You have a busy day planned, Mistress Janet.  And Mistress Stephanie is
waiting downstairs with breakfast," pointed out Camille.

	"Yes, thank you."

	Janet was bathed and pampered by Camille.  Her sweat was washed away, her
skin treated for the marks of the whip.  Her hair was washed and set, her
nails trimmed and polished.

	Then Janet was dressed for the first time in a week, having worn only the
collar and bracelets.  She put on her panties and bra, and applied perfume
between her breasts then behind her ears.  Janet then put on a blue
business suit, and finished by applying a red lipstick and a light rouge on
her cheeks.

	Janet looked at herself in the mirror.  While she had been a slave just an
hour before, she now looked like any career woman.  Except she wondered
just what most people might think of her career!

	"You look very nice, Mistress Janet," complimented Camille.

	"Thank you, Camille.  It was a pleasure being here for my vacation, and
being used by you and Mistress Stephanie.  Except that next time, you can
use the crop on me more firmly.  I won't break," advised Janet.

	"I'll remember that next time, Mistress.  Breakfast is waiting."

	Janet led Camille downstairs, and they went into the dining room. 
Stephanie had a glass of orange juice in front of her, along with an open
copy of the Times.

	"Welcome back, Mistress Janet," said Stephanie, rising as she kissed Janet
on the cheek.

	"Thank you, Stephanie," replied Janet as she kissed her friend back in
return.

	"Breakfast will be ready in a few minutes, Mistress," stated Camille.

	"Thank you," replied Stephanie.

	"Pour yourself some juice, Janet.  So, did you have a nice time here on
your vacation?" Stephanie asked.

	"Yes," answered Janet as she poured a glass of juice from a tray on the
table and seated herself, "I was just telling Camille that she could have
used the crop on me a little stronger."

	"You certainly have a strange way of taking a vacation, Janet.  I know of
no other Domme who asks to be a slave for a week.  I may ask Blanca to use
me sometimes, just so that I don't forget what the whip feels like.  But to
be a slave again for a whole week!  Sometimes I think that you enjoy being
a slave more than a Mistress!"

	"Really," Janet answered, "I'm sure that my slaves would beg to differ,
the way I use them."

	"Just so long as you enjoyed yourself," said Stephanie.

	Camille, who had prepared a breakfast of omelets, home fries, bacon,
toast, and coffee, interrupted them.  She served the two of them, then
withdrew to the kitchen.

	"Mmmm, I'm hungry," said Janet.

	"Yes, getting used does wonders for the appetite," observed Stephanie.

	"I lost five pounds this week, Stephanie.  You really should run a diet
center," commented Janet.

	"That's an idea, except I wonder if any of the commercial diet centers
would let me use a riding crop," laughed Stephanie.

	"I don't think that the FDA would approve," replied Janet.

	Janet and Stephanie both broke out in laughter together.  For a week,
Janet had served Stephanie as her slave, in all of the often solemn and
serious aspects of slavery.  But now Janet was again free, and they laughed
and chatted like two good friends.

	They made small talk as they ate, consuming breakfast quickly.  Just
yesterday, Janet had been serving Stephanie.   Today, she was restored to
being a Mistress again.  It felt a little strange wearing clothes once
again!

	Janet drank one cup of black coffee after another, enjoying the hot bitter
taste as it went down her throat, warming her.  It was nice, Janet thought,
to be served, and not have to serve.

	"Thank you Camille," said Janet when they finished, "that was very nice."

	"You're welcome, Mistress," answered Camille as she began to clear away
the dishes.

	Both women rose from the dining room, and Janet followed her friend into
the library.  Stephanie seated herself behind the desk, and Janet took a
chair.  How often the two of them were in the library together.

	"How does it feel to be leaving?" asked Stephanie.

	"Great.  Ask me that when I get home," Janet answered.

	"What has Tina been doing for the last week while you were here?"

	"Entertaining her parents.  I paid for them to fly in, gave them a tour of
New York City, a Broadway show, and so on, so Tina has been very busy,"
stated Janet.

	"That's very good of you," said Stephanie.

	"Thank you.  Tina is now my assistant so I think that it's the least I can
do for her, don't you agree?"

	"Yes.  I'm sure that they might have a different view of you if they knew
how you used their daughter," laughed Stephanie.

	"Quite," Janet answered.

	"What else is on the agenda?"

	"Paperwork, interviews, reports.  Plus I have a report due at my job, so I
want to get that done today," stated Janet.

	"Janet, I don't know why you want to work," pointed out Stephanie.

	"I want to keep busy, I don't just want to be one of the idle rich.  No,
my job gets me out of the house, gives me something to do, something to
look forward to."

	"Just so long as you like it," answered Stephanie.

	"Well, I have to be going," said Janet as she looked at her watch, and
rising from her chair, "thanks again for the vacation."

	"Any time," Stephanie answered.

	Janet and Stephanie both rose, and walked to the foyer.  Stephanie handed
Janet her purse and car keys, then opened the front door.  It was June, and
already quite hot, so even a light jacket wasn't necessary.

	"Have a nice day, Janet," said Stephanie.

	"Thank you," said Janet as she kissed her friend.

	Janet's Miata convertible was waiting at the landing, and she got the keys
from her purse.  She opened the door, seated herself, started the car and
drove off.  Revving the engine, Janet enjoyed the sound of the exhaust. 
Stephanie opened the gate for her, and Janet drove out into the street.

	'Why go home?" Janet asked herself, 'I've been in chains all week, I want
to drive!'

	Janet pulled over to a parking lot and removed a scarf from the glove
compartment, and tied it over her hair.  Inside was also a pair of
sunglasses, and then she removed her cell phone from her purse.  She called
Tina to say that she was going for a short drive, and to hold lunch.

	"Okay Mistress," Janet said aloud, "let's drive!"

	Pulling out of Greenwich, Janet found her way onto a country road where
she could open the car up, and she enjoyed the sound of the exhaust and the
wind blowing onto her face.  Never breaking the speed limit (in her
position as a Domme, the last thing she wanted to do was to call attention
to herself) Janet drove fast and hard.

	The car, a red Mazda Convertible, had been a gift from one of her slaves. 
Jessica had recommended a friend of hers, Helen, to Janet two years
earlier.  Janet had trained her, but she was never sure if the woman had
even liked being a slave.  Until one day when the car was delivered to her
house!  Janet had accepted the car, and kept it registered for only six
months during the year.  It had displaced the Toyota in the garage, which
now stayed outside.

	After enjoying a nice drive, Janet aimed the car for home.  It would be
nice just to keep driving, without a care.  But Janet Davis, Dominatrix,
had responsibilities to fulfill.  Just as Stephanie would now be sitting
down to her paperwork, Janet would have to attend to hers. Tina would have
her complete schedule.  Slaves to be trained, reports read, interviews. 
Janet had discovered that the life of a Domme was a busy one!

	Tomorrow, Janet and Jessica would be attending a fundraiser in Greenwich
for a new cultural center.  Janet, being a member of Greenwich society, had
made a contribution, and was now expected to make an appearance.

	To give Janet a cover in Greenwich, Jessica had arranged a part-time job
for her at one of the companies that she owned stock in at their corporate
offices at a nearby office park.  Janet was now a woman of means, who owned
an estate, and had a job also.

	Actually, Janet thought to herself, it was good putting a suit on again,
and going to work a few hours each week.  She had an office, and a
secretary, and put to use the skills and experience that she had gained
from her own work experience.  Janet had remembered the advice that Erica
had given her, and had taken it.

	Janet swung her car into her driveway, and punched the button for the
gate.  She drove inside, and up to her landing.  While Janet may have been
on vacation, she didn't have any bags when she was serving Stephanie as a
slave.

	"Mistress Janet," greeted Tina as she opened the front door.

	"Tina."

	"Did you have a nice time at Stephanie's?" asked Tina.

	"Yes, Tina," Janet answered as she entered the foyer, and Tina closed the
door behind her.

	"Your schedule in on the desk in the library, Mistress."

	"Thank you, Tina," said Janet.

	On top of the printed schedule was a greeting card, Janet opened it, and
found it was a thank you card from Tina's parents.  When Janet looked up,
she saw that Tina had entered the library and was looking at her.

	"Did you and your parents have a nice time?" Janet asked.

	"Yes, Mistress, thank you.  We had a wonderful time.  But how did you get
those tickets to that show?  They've been sold out for months," said Tina.

	"Let's just say that someone in that theatre happens to be my slave,
Tina."

	"Thank you, Mistress," Tina walked over and gave her Mistress a hug and
kiss.

	"You're welcome, Tina."

	"Mistress, can I show you something?" asked Tina.

	"Sure."

	"During your vacation, I was cleaning the paneling here in the library,
and I found something," said Tina.

	"What was that?"

	Tina walked over to the wall, and began to knock at the wood.  She banged
away, until a section sounded different than the others.

	"It's hollow, Mistress.  Like there's something behind the wood,"
suggested Tina.

	"You're right, Tina," said Janet.

	Janet banged away at one section at a time, and established the boundaries
of the open area within.

	"Interesting," mused Janet, "in the movies, there's usually a catch
somewhere."

	Janet pressed away at one spot and another, and finally her efforts were
rewarded when the paneling clicked open.

	"Hmmm," said Janet, "success!"

	"I wonder what's inside?" asked Tina.

	"One way to find out," said Janet as she opened the panel further.

	"A safe!" said Tina.

	Janet tried the handle, and found it was securely locked.  She turned the
combination lock a few times, and the door still stayed closed.

	"Locked. Damn!" exclaimed Janet.

	"Perhaps you should call Mistress Blanca," suggested Tina.

	"Not a bad idea," Janet answered.

	Janet picked up the cordless phone, and punched in Blanca's number.  She
was surprised to find her lawyer on the other end.

	"Janet, what can I do for you?" asked Blanca.

	"I'm glad to get you in the office."

	"Just back from court, what's up?"

	"Found a wall safe in the library, that's locked.  Did you know if Erica
ever had a safe?"

	"No, but it wouldn't surprise me," answered Blanca.

	"Any ideas on how to get it open?" asked Janet.

	"Sure, Sing-Sing is just over the border," laughed Blanca.

	"Remind me to spank you when I see you next."

	"Sorry, couldn't resist.  Anyway, let me go through my rolodex and I'll
find someone in Greenwich to help open it......There we go."

	Blanca gave Janet the name of a company in Greenwich to call.

	"Thank you, Blanca."

	"Glad I could help, have to go.  Clients coming in," said Blanca.

	"Bye," said Janet.

	Janet heard the connection cut on the other end, and she replaced the
phone on its cradle.  She looked at the number she had written down on a
notepad.

	"Are you going to call, Mistress?" asked Tina.

	"I don't know," Janet answered, looking at the safe, "can I be alone
Tina?"

	"Yes, Mistress," replied Tina.

	Janet sat down in the chair, after Tina had closed the doors behind her. 
She stared at the paneling, suddenly full of fear and apprehension.

	"Damn you, Erica," said Janet to herself.

	It had been two years since Andrea had written Janet to say that Erica had
died in a traffic accident.  Janet had learned that the name of her
Mistress had been Sharon Taylor, from the newspaper article that Andrea had
sent her at the time.

	Or was that really Erica's name?  Janet sat back in the leather-covered
chair and realized that the name that Erica had died using might not have
been her real one either.

	Erica Riken.  Alana Peters.  Sharon Taylor.  Janet wondered just how her
Mistress had known just who she was at any one time.

	Now she stared at the safe.  The smart thing to do, Janet thought, would
be to close the panel, and forget that it was even there.  But Janet had
always wondered what other secrets that Erica had kept from her.

	Janet remembered the haunted look that Erica had when she last saw her,
when she was driven away by Mistress Monique years ago.  A look of
impending doom on her face, of fatalistic acceptance of something.

	 "I shall not pass this way again, Janet.  I just have to go, I'm sorry,"
Erica had said.

	Remembering Erica's last words to her brought chills up Janet's spine. 
She had only seen a person look that way when they had been diagnosed with
a serious disease, knowing that they were going to die.  Was that what
Erica had been keeping from her, and why?

	Suddenly, Erica's stated reason for her giving her estate to her two
slaves, that she was getting married and starting a new life, seemed pretty
hollow, which Janet did not question at the time.

	But now, two years after Erica's death, and after having established her
own reputation as a Dom herself, Janet looked at the safe and knew that she
would have to open it.

	Janet picked up the phone and pressed the buttons for the number.

	"Hello, my name is Janet Davis, I live in Back country Greenwich.  I have
a problem, I need a safe opened........."

	After a brief conversation, the locksmith said that he would be over
shortly.  Janet replaced the receiver on the cradle, and stared at the
safe.  She wondered just what Erica had placed within.  Would she find
dust, papers, money, or something else?

	It was the unknown that was what worried Janet the most.  For the first
time in years, of having lived her own life as a Dom, Janet now wondered if
Erica could reach out from beyond the grave to affect her life somehow.

	"Mistress, are you all right?" asked Tina.

	"Sorry, I was lost in thought, Tina.  I'm fine.  Good thing you're wearing
a normal outfit, we're about to have guests.  Someone to open the safe. 
Said they'd be right over."

	"Have you read the interviews yet?" asked Tina.

	"No, I was lost in thought."

	'Worrying about the contents of the damn safe,' Janet thought to herself.

	Janet attended to paperwork for a short time, then the gate buzzer
sounded.  Janet hit the button, and a truck drove up to the landing.  A man
in a uniform got out of the truck, and Janet greeted him at the door.

	"Someone called about a safe?" he asked.

	"Yes, that's me," Janet answered.

	"Where is it?"

	"In the library," said Janet, as she directed him inside the house.

	He looked at the safe, turned the combination lock around a few times, and
turned to Janet.

	"Can you open it?" Janet asked.

	"Sure, just have to get some tools.  Have it open in no time," he smiled.

	Janet watched from her desk, pretending to read her papers as he set up
his tools then managed to open the safe in less than a half-hour.

	He showed Janet how she could reset the combination, told her about the
manufacturer, and she wrote a check for him.  Janet was again left alone in
the library, except the safe's open door both attracted and repelled her at
the same time.

	Taking a deep breath, Janet finally looked inside.  The safe's door gave
no indication just how big the interior really was.  There were two shelves
holding the contents.  On one were some manila folders & envelopes.

	But on the other, in chronological order were a series of date books,
neatly beginning in 1980 and continuing to 1992.  Janet removed the first
volume, and opened it.  There, in Erica's distinctive handwriting, was her
diary.

	The Diary of Alana Peters 1980

	Janet's blood suddenly ran cold.  Here was the answer to the question that
she had posed to Stephanie a few times in the last couple of years.  Would
she ever know Erica's secrets?

	Now Janet knew that the name that Erica had used when she had been in
submission to Janet years ago had been her real one.  A chill went though
Janet as she suddenly wondered what else she would discover about Erica. 
If the first page contained a bombshell like Erica's real name and
identity, what else did the Diaries contain?
 
	Years ago, after Erica had departed, Janet had asked Stephanie if she
would ever know Erica's secrets.  Now she held Erica's diary in her hands,
feeling as if Erica were again in the library with her.

	"Be careful what you wish for in life," Janet said aloud, "you just might
get it."

	Janet closed the diary, her hands shaking.  She felt like she was actually
holding Erica in her hands, and she wanted to cry.  Janet realized that she
still loved Erica, or Alana, and always would.  She clutched the book
tightly in her hands, her skin turning white from the effort.  

	Replacing the book inside the safe, Janet decided that it was not time for
her to read Erica's Diaries.  No, that would have to be done in the quiet
of the evening when she could be alone.

	Even so, she looked at the spine of the book dated 1992, and another chill
washed over her.  For that was the year that she had asked her friend Sally
to enliven her dull sex life, and had been introduced to Mistress Erica.

	Janet resisted the temptation to reach out, and open the book and read
what Erica might have written about her.  How Janet had worshipped Erica! 
Erica had placed Janet into submission, used her body under the lash, and
taken her sexually.  But had never hurt or humiliated her, all the while
teaching her how to be a proper Dominatrix, readying her for the
competition with Tiffany.

	Then Janet removed the Manila Folders, and found them full of Medical
Records!  Janet had expected bonds, or stocks.  But Medical Records?  She
tried to read the doctors handwriting, but couldn't.  

	'Why can't doctors write like normal people?' Janet thought to herself.
 
	Janet was startled by a sudden knock on the library door, and she looked
at her watch.

	"Enter," Janet directed.

	"Lunch, Mistress?" asked Tina.

	"Thank you, Tina, yes."

	"In the kitchen, Mistress?"

	"Yes, we have some reports to discuss.  May as well make it a working
lunch," suggested Janet.

	"Yes, Mistress," answered Tina.

	Janet replaced the records that she had found back in the safe, and locked
the door, spinning the combination and double-checking that the safe was
indeed locked.  Erica's secrets were safe, for now.

	Tina had prepared a lunch of salad, sandwiches, and they ate together at
the kitchen table, making small talk together.  Tina told her of
entertaining her parents in New York, and the fun that they had.  Janet in
turn told her of serving Stephanie, how her body was now again marked.

	"Did you enjoy yourself?" asked Tina.

	"Yes."

	"During my 'lease period' to Stephanie, I found her to be quite an
exciting, sensual Mistress to serve," commented Tina.

	"I'll tell her you said that," answered Janet, "perhaps you might want to
be used by her again."

	"Only after you use me first, Mistress Janet," replied Tina with a smile
on her face.

	"That can easily be arranged," Janet answered, a smile on her face.

	In spite of their eating together, Janet and Tina did not discuss the
reports, which remained unopened.  Instead, Janet was glad to be home
again, in her own house, with Tina.  They discussed Tina's trip to New
York, her caring for the Mansion, and other things.

	"What was in the safe, Mistress?"

	"Just some papers, Tina.  Mistress Erica's papers."

	"Are you going to read them?" asked Tina.

	Janet pursed her lips together, her emotions raging.  She had managed to
contain them when she had locked the safe, but the thought of knowing more
about Erica!

	"Perhaps later.  And for being such an insolent, curious slave I can
guarantee that you'll be used today, Tina."

	"Thank you, Mistress Janet.  I've missed you for a week," said Tina, as
she rose to clear away the dishes.

	"And I've missed you too, Tina."

	The kitchen clock chimed, and Janet saw it was 2PM.  The day was just
wasting away, and she wasn't getting anything done!

	"Tina, I'm going to go into the library and work on that company report
that's due tomorrow.  Hold all my calls, please?" asked Janet.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Janet rose and removed a can of soda from the fridge, then adjourned to
the library.  She opened her briefcase, and removed her papers, then
started working.  She was in charge of sales for a company department, and
it was her job to co-ordinate the various campaigns.  Her part-time status
was made possible because she was really just assisting.  But still, Janet
was determined to prove that she could do her job, and she had asked
everyone's advice both above and below her in the company.  She wanted to
show that she really earned the sizeable paycheck that she was getting, not
that she was there just because of Jessica.

	She had started one year ago, and Janet finally knew her way around. 
Janet learned what her job was, and her suggestions were received and
finally having an effect.  It was gratifying to see the sales figures
improve, how the others now welcomed her ideas.

	Janet smiled when she thought of how strange it really was.  No doubt the
company gossip was that Jessica and Janet were lovers, and that Janet had
merely been brought in because she was bedding the largest stockholder. 
Instead, she wondered what the company's gossips would think if they knew
the truth that Jessica would be naked, and bound, with a ballgag in her
mouth, at Janet's feet in submission to her!

	She worked, writing down ideas, checking one company report after another,
finally making her decision.  Then she turned on the computer, and really
started working, typing out her report.  Janet was completely lost in
thought, and didn't even see how the time passed.

	Finally, the report was done.  She transmitted a copy to work, since the
meeting would be tomorrow, saved a copy both on the hard drive and 2 disks,
then printed out a couple of copies on regular paper.

	Janet realized that she had not even changed out of her business suit that
she had donned at Stephanie's, that she could have worked in a jogging
outfit.  Or nothing at all.

	"Mistress?" asked Tina from the doorway.

	"Yes, Tina."

	"Dinner is served," announced Tina.

	"Thank you, Tina, your timing is excellent," said Janet as she glanced at
her watch, "six o'clock!  Why didn't you tell me earlier?" demanded Janet.

	"Mistress, you were so involved in your work I didn't want to disturb you.
 Besides, you said that the report was due tomorrow, so I waited until you
were finished."

	"Thank you, Tina, you're right.  Are we having a barbecue?" asked Janet.

	"No, Mistress.  Look outside," directed Tina.

	Janet had been so wrapped up her work, so deep in concentration, she had
failed to see that what had been a bright sunny day was now dark with storm
clouds.  A sudden gust of wind came through the open window, rustling some
papers on the desk.  In the distance, Janet saw a flash of light and
seconds later, the sound of thunder.

	"What's for dinner?" asked Janet.

	"Fried Shrimp, Mistress."

	"That will be quite nice," Janet answered as she closed the library
windows and locked them, "and you shall be the dessert."

	"Yes, Mistress," replied Tina.
	*			*		*		*		*

	Janet had dressed herself in one of the other bedrooms in a simple leather
bra, skirt, and a pair of modest heels.  Stephanie's marks would take some
time to fade, and Janet remembered just how she felt when her friend had
administered them.

	Now, Janet was again Mistress.  She admired her trim figure, kept that way
through exercise.  No extra pounds on her!

	Janet entered her own bedroom, and kneeling naked on the carpet was Tina. 
She was outfitted in collar and bracelets, which Janet had locked on her
earlier.

	Seeing her submissive on the carpet made Janet's heart beat faster with
desire.  For the past week, she had been in submission to Stephanie and
Camille.  She had been used again as a slave.  But now Janet was restored
to the position that she had inherited from Mistress Erica.  Janet was
again in control of her own slave, and she wanted it to be a memorable
night.

	"Are you ready, Tina?"  Janet asked.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	On the dresser was a collection of Janet's toys: riding crops, a short
whip, straps, chains, a flogger, ballgags.  She had selected them with
great care from the Dungeon downstairs.

	"Do you submit to me of your own free will, without coercion or duress?"

	"Yes, Mistress Janet."

	"That your body belongs to me?"

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"That you will obey me without question?"

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"What is your safeword, Tina?"

	"Mercy, Mistress."

	"Then we shall proceed," concluded Janet, "place yourself over the desk,
slave," ordered Janet. 

	Tina rose and laid her torso down on the empty desk.  Janet had ropes
ready, and secured her arms and legs, coiling the ropes and finally adding
a single cinch to bind Tina more closely to the desk's legs.

	Janet noted that Tina's breaths were short, and she knew that Tina's heart
was already beating fast with anticipation.  After being Janet's slave for
so long, she could read all of Tina's body language perfectly.  Janet knew
that Tina was aching with desire to be used by her Mistress.

	Janet reached her hand forward and began to massage Tina's upraised
bottom, feeling the warm skin (which was going to be a lot warmer before
the night was over); and making Tina squirm with want.  Then she reached
between Tina's thighs, and found that Tina's sex was already engorged with
blood, her pussy wet with her juices.

	"Did you long for your Mistress?" sternly demanded Janet.

	"Yes, Mistress Janet."

	"Did you use any sex toys while I was gone, a dildo up your sex, perhaps?"
asked Janet.

	"Yes, Mistress," quickly answered Tina.

	"In spite of my direct orders for you not to do so in my absence!" 

	"Yes, Mistress.  Sorry Mistress!  It's just that I...."

	"If I want your answer, I'll ask for it," said Janet, "for being a
disobedient slave, you shall bear the consequences."

	Janet found the leather-covered paddle, one that would redden Tina's
bottom nicely.  She displayed it to Tina, than whacked it against her palm
for effect a couple of times.

	"How long since I last used the paddle on you, Tina?" Janet demanded.

	"I don't know, Mistress."

	"You should know.  You should remember every time an instrument is used on
you, so that you can report to your Mistress," stated Janet.

	Janet smiled, remembering that after every session that they did with a
submissive Janet and Tina quickly wrote down what instrument they used, how
many strokes and their severity, and how long a session lasted.  Also how
the slave responded to discipline, and if the session was pleasing to them
or not.  All of that went into the slave's file, both so Janet knew how
their training was progressing and if the submissive understood what was
happening to them.  Then Janet would make certain that they would have to
write in their Journal their feelings about their submission.

	Being a Dom involved a lot of paperwork!

	"Did you desire me while I was with Mistress Stephanie?" Janet demanded.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Then your desires have been answered," replied Janet.

	Thwack!  Janet struck Tina's bottom with the paddle with a mild stroke,
one that left a red imprint behind.  Thwack!  Janet struck Tina's other
buttock.  Thwack!  Janet struck again.

	"Thank you, Mistress!" Tina cried.

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	After a series of mild strokes, Janet would pause, only to begin again. 
Tina would moan and cry, and pull at the ropes tying her to the table.  But
Tina was tied quite tightly, and couldn't really move in her position.

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	Tina's bottom, which had been pink before, was now turning a deep shade of
red as Janet continued her discipline.  Janet glanced at Tina's face, and
saw that Tina was smiling as each stroke was delivered.

	When Janet had counted to twenty, she stopped.

	"Enough!"

	"Thank you, Mistress Janet," cried Tina.

	"Kiss the paddle," ordered Janet.

	Janet offered the paddle to Tina, who kissed it as ordered.  She then
reached between Tina's reddened ass cheeks into her sex, making Tina squirm
and moan.

	"Wet, aren't you?" demanded Janet.

	"Yes, Mistress," Tina answered.

	Still standing behind Tina, Janet reached forward and took Tina's breasts
in her hands.  Janet began to pinch and fondle Tina's breasts, and finally
located her erect nipples.  Janet pinched them with a gradual and ever
increasing pressure that made Tina moan in her captivity.

	"Don't come!" ordered Janet.

	"No, Mistress," moaned Tina in return.

	"I am not finished yet," said Janet as she selected a riding crop with a
leather pad at the tip.

	Janet then started to deliver very mild strokes of the crop under Tina's
arms, which barely marked her skin.  The new strokes drove Tina ever wilder
with desire, and she pulled at the ropes holding her.

	"Mistress, please!" begged Tina.

	"Not yet, slave," Janet ordered.

	Janet continued using the crop on the back and inside of Tina's legs,
where she knew that the skin was the most sensitive.  Tina moaned with
every stroke, even moving the table when Janet struck a particularly
sensitive area.

	"Enough with the crop!" stated Janet, as she offered it to Tina, who
kissed it just as she had the paddle.

	"Thank you, Mistress," cried Tina in response.

	Janet began to loosen the ropes that bound Tina to the table.  When all
four had been released, Janet stepped backwards from her slave.

	"You may rise, Tina," commanded Janet.

	Tina slowly got to her feet, putting on her weight gradually before she
stood erect.

	"Thank you, Mistress," said Tina.

	Since it was June, the bed now had a light summer quilt, which Janet had
thrown backwards.  On the night table was a dildo, a small riding crop and
quirt.

	"On the bed, Tina," Janet ordered.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Janet locked Tina's collar to the chain hanging from the ringbolt set in
the wall.  Just the night before, Stephanie had done the same with Janet,
after using her severely.  In truth, Janet did not even need to dress up,
but she wanted to.  It was her turn again to wear her Domme outfits,
instead of being a naked submissive.

	"You will now serve me, slave," Janet commanded.

	Janet unzipped her boots, undid her leather bra and skirt, and was
promptly nude.  She got on the bed, and opened her legs.

	"Service your Mistress."

	Tina placed her head between Janet's thighs and her tongue reached between
the lips of Janet's labia, quickly arousing her.  Then her tongue played
with Janet's clit, making her moan with desire.  Janet pressed her head
back into the pillow as her sexual excitement quickly increased from Tina's
attentions.

	"Make me come!" Janet ordered.

	Tina continued, thrusting her tongue inside Janet's sex, licking the walls
of her Domme's sex, and making her moan with want.  Janet bucked against
the bed, her aching sex nearing climax.

	"Aaaaah!" Janet cried as the sexual tension inside her was released in a
series of powerful orgasms that left her breathing ragged.  She bounced on
the bed, with Tina still between her thighs.  Gradually, the sensations
subsided, and Janet regained her senses.

	"Thank you, Tina," said Janet.

	"You're welcome, Mistress."

	"You may now lay down," ordered Janet.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Tina now lay upon the bed, and opened her legs, even though she had not
yet been ordered to.  Janet picked up the dildo, and ran her hands over the
plastic surface.  The dildo was a flesh colored shaft about ten inches
long, and Janet placed it between Tina's thighs at the entrance to her sex.

	Tina arched her back to make the penetration easier, and Janet thrust the
shaft within.  Tina's sex was already wet with desire, and Janet had no
trouble pushing the dildo inside, making Tina moan and shake.

	"Have you missed me?" Janet demanded.

	"Yes, Mistress," moaned Tina.

	"Than I shall make you scream with pleasure, slave."

	Janet thrust the dildo within, then partially removed and thrust it again
and again within Tina's sex.  Tina moaned with pleasure, then bounced on
the bed as she quickly reached orgasm.  Once she climaxed, Janet withdrew
the dildo, and buried her face between Tina's legs.

	Janet made love to Tina's sex, tonguing her labia and finally bringing her
to climax again by stimulating her clit.  She brought Tina one orgasm after
another, making her scream her pleasure out in spasms of joy.

	She moved up the bed, and enfolded Tina in her arms, passionately kissing
her Tina after time.  Janet tasted her own juices on Tina's lips, and Tina
tasted herself on Janet's.  Hugging and kissing her slave, they warmed each
other up, sweating in the summer heat.

	When they finished, Janet looked at the clock.  It was after midnight, the
bed and sheets were a mess and sticky with their sweat.  Janet fell asleep
after Tina, a smile of contentment on her face.

Part Two: The Challenge

Friday June 5, 1998

	The next morning, Janet unlocked Tina's collar.  They showered together
quickly, since Janet had to get to work.  After a fast breakfast, Janet
dressed in her blue business suit, got her case from the library, and was
off to work.

	Her job at Xylex did not demand a lot of her time, unless she was working
on a special project or report.  When she arrived at the company, her
secretary had copied the report as ordered, so Janet would make her
presentation on time.

	The meeting was brief and to the point.  Janet delivered the report and
her findings, made her suggestions, and everything was done by noon.  The
other executives removed their papers from the desk as the meeting broke
up, and Janet prepared to check in her office, then leave for the day.

	"Janet?" asked Ronald Jarvis, the company president.

	"Yes, Ron."

	"Could you stay for a moment, please?" he asked.

	"Sure," Janet answered, not moving from her seat as the others left.

	Janet studied Ron's face, wondering what he wanted.  Was she going to get
canned again?

	"Janet," he said when they were alone, "you've done a fine job here.  I
admit that I was a little skeptical of the way you were brought on board,
but you've proven yourself."

	"Thank you," Janet answered.

	"Which is why I'd like to expand your position to full time.  You'll get a
bigger office, a car, an expense account, and travel too.  You've earned
it."

	"Thank you, Ron, but no.  I have to refuse, I'm sorry," Janet said in
reply.

	"But why?"

	"Ron, I don't need the money, I'm quite well set in life.  I have
something else in life that occupies most of my time, so this is a nice
change of pace for me, really.  But I don't want one to impact on the
other."

	"The job is always open, if you want it," he said, disappointment clearly
evident on his face.

	"Thank you," Janet answered.

	They left the boardroom together, making small talk.  Janet checked in
with her secretary, did some minor paperwork, and was off the premises by
two PM.

	Driving back to the estate, with her briefcase on the car's floor, Janet
wondered just how Ron might react if he knew that one of the company's
stockholders, Jessica Danvers, was Janet's slave.  Just before her vacation
to Stephanie, Jessica had stayed over for two days.  Jessica had been
naked, collared, and kneeling on the floor with a ballgag in her mouth,
waiting to serve her Mistress.

	Now that was a thought!

	Later that evening, after doing her Domme work at home, Janet changed into
a modest designer dress.  Then she picked up Jessica at her home, and they
drove together to the fundraiser.

	The Cultural Center was a place for artwork, concerts, and book readings. 
As a member of Greenwich society, Janet had contributed.  Now, she was
expected to make an appearance.

	Janet recognized some of the people there from the newspapers, and Jessica
could identify almost everyone there.  In her position as a Domme, Janet
had kept a low profile in Greenwich.  She was polite when introduced, and
when someone tried to draw her into conversation she politely answered a
few questions and moved on.

	She was known as the woman who had inherited the Riken Estate, and little
else.  Janet was determined to keep it that way, which was why her job was
so important as a cover story.

	After an hour and a half, with the band playing in the background, Janet
was about to seek out Jessica and suggest that they leave.  Janet did not
have any sessions planned for tonight, so she wanted just to sleep.  She
got a drink from a passing waiter, and stood, alone for a moment.

	"Janet Davis?" asked a female voice, behind her.

	"Yes," Janet answered, turning to face the woman.

	Her companion was a smartly dressed woman in a designer gown, which Janet
had glimpsed twice in the last hour.  She was in her thirties, with an
attractive figure (Janet undressed every woman with her eyes), black hair,
a pretty face with high cheekbones, and red lips.

	"Could I speak to you privately?" she asked.

	"I'm really just about to leave," Janet replied as she sipped at her
drink.

	"It's about a business and personal matter."

	"What can I do for you?" asked Janet, ready to give the woman Blanca's
number, and let her lawyer warn this person off.

	"My name is Cheryl Branford.  Here is my card," she said, pressing it into
Janet's hand, "read the front and back."

	On the front was Cheryl's name and phone number.  On the back, neatly
typed, were the words:

	Mistress Janet Davis, I know all about you.
	If you wish to remain a Mistress,
	I want to be trained as your slave.
	Else I will expose you.

	Janet's blood ran cold when she read the words, even though it was quite
warm.  The sweat on her back suddenly turned to ice.

	"Do we understand each other?" asked Cheryl.

	"Is this some kind of joke?" Janet asked.

	"No joke," answered Cheryl, "I'm deadly serious."

	"I don't know what you're talking about."

	"Let's not play games, Mistress," Cheryl softly replied.

	"What do you want, money?" asked Janet, suddenly afraid of blackmail.

	"It's not money that I'm after, Mistress.  I'll even give you the usual
gift that your other affluent slaves bestow on you.  I want to be trained
by you, no other Mistress will do."

	"This isn't how I work," Janet answered.

	"Then you'll just have to learn to accept me, Mistress.  Unless you want
me to expose you as a Dominatrix in public and face the embarrassment.  You
have my number, call me to arrange a schedule.  I'll be waiting.  You have
a week, do you understand?"

	"Yes," Janet answered.

	"Lastly, you must not tell Mistress Blanca Sanchez or Mistress Stephanie
Richards about me, or have me investigated in any way.  I shall tell you
this again in a package that I will have delivered to your house on Monday
morning."

	"Why?"

	"That's for me to know, Mistress Janet.  I'll expect your call in the next
few days."

	With the threat still in the air, Cheryl walked away, just in time for
Jessica to suddenly appear at her side.

	"Janet?" asked Jessica, "are you all right?  You look like you've seen a
ghost."

	"No.  Please drive me home, Jessica.  I don't feel very well."

	"Yes, Mistress," answered Jessica softly.

	Later than evening, after Janet had tried to sleep, she awoke at 2 AM. 
Her sleep had been filled with nightmares, which made her feel even worse. 
Tina had slept in her own room, and had not asked Janet what was wrong when
she locked herself in her bedroom sobbing.

	Janet put on a light robe and slippers, and walked down to the kitchen for
a drink.  After a glass of water, she went to the library, and poured a
large sherry.

	"Now what?" Janet asked herself.

	Janet walked to the wall safe, unlocked the wooden panel, then opened the
safe itself.  She removed the first of Erica's Diaries, then seated herself
behind the desk. Taking a deep breath and a swallow of sherry, she opened
it to the first page, and began to read...............

The Challenge
Chapter 02: Death and the Resurrection

Part One: The Debt

June 1980

	For Alana Peters, life could not get any better this June day.  The stock
deal to take the client's company public had hit the street this morning,
and she had made it happen.  She had worked for the investment firm on Wall
Street, and this was her first big deal.

	All the months of hard work, negotiations, nights spent in New York, all
were paying off now.  She had taken an old family firm public, and her
investment firm was issuing the stock.  For them and her it meant
commissions, fame, and fortune.  Already there was talk of an article about
her in the Wall Street Journal, and she was sure to make partner.

	She had spent the night before in NY, and had taken the car, a red Mustang
convertible, into the City.  Once the deal went public, let the big boys
get on TV.   Alana decided to hit the road and take a few days off.  She
would swing by her mother's house in Greenwich, pick up a few clothes, and
then head up the coast, maybe end up in Boston.

	She was driving north on the Merritt Parkway and the two lanes and sharp
curves challenged her driving, forcing her to downshift to maintain
control.  She enjoyed the sound and feel of the five liter V8 and manual
tranny as she raced, well over the limit, into Connecticut.  Her black hair
streamed behind her in the wind, as she had forgotten to wear a scarf. 
Driving with the top down was the most exhilarating feeling!

	Beep!

	She turned to her left, and saw a red Pontiac Firebird.  The man behind
the wheel gestured, and floored his gas pedal.  Alana, not wanting to be
outdone, responded in kind, and slammed the Mustang into fifth gear.  The
speedometer jumped to over a hundred, and she was pushed back into her
seat.

	Rounding a curve, the Mustang encountered a puddle of water and oil.  It's
rear wheels lost traction, and it began to spin.  First the car hit the
center median, then bounced back to the shoulder; it's tires screaming in
protest.  The car hit a pole at nearly a hundred, ejecting Alana who had
not worn her seatbelt.  Alana screamed as the car disintegrated, her body
buffeted by the forces tearing the car apart.  Her body flew through the
air, finally striking the pavement, her bones and flesh breaking on impact.

	Police Report: Connecticut State Police PO Richard Parker
	While on patrol on the morning of June 16, I observed two vehicles, a
Pontiac and Ford Mustang, racing at a high rate of speed on the Merritt
Parkway.  Even before I could turn my lights on and pursue, the Mustang had
spun out of control after sliding on a wet patch of road, and ejected the
driver onto the pavement.  Exiting from my patrol car, I called for an
ambulance.  The driver, a young woman, was badly injured given the force
with which she hit the pavement.  I was surprised that she was still alive
when I reached her.
	The driver was very lucky, given that right behind me was a doctor from
Greenwich Hospital who stopped after seeing the accident.  She was a trauma
doctor, and kept the woman alive.  Else she would have died quickly from
her injuries.

	Medical Report: Dr. Stephanie Richards
	While driving on the Merritt Parkway to work on June 16, I was witness to
a horrible road accident.  Alana Peters was driving a red Ford Mustang
Convertible, and was ejected during an accident.
	I stopped to provide emergency medical aid, and was assisted by PO Parker
who was already on the scene.
	Her right leg was broken, along with collarbone, skull fracture,
concussion, multiple broken ribs, punctured lung, and massive internal
injuries and bleeding.  Luckily, an ambulance was returning empty and heard
the call from PO Parker, and was on the scene in 2 minutes.  Even with the
proper equipment, Alana went into cardiac arrest before we got her to the
hospital.  It took all of my skill to restart her heart, saving her life.
	Alana Peters is lucky to be alive.  However, when she awakens, she will be
spending months, maybe a year in the hospital to recover and will require
physical therapy to restore normal use to her body.
	Her constant companion now will be pain as her body slowly heals from the
heavy injuries that she has sustained.
	She may regret surviving the accident given the long and painful path to
recovery.
	End Medical Report

Part Two: The Conscious Choice

July 1981

	Alana drove her new BMW into Manhattan and had parked it at a garage not
far from the address that she had been given over the phone.  Scared like
hell, she had walked without the cane a couple of blocks to a residential
building.  She had pressed the button, and been admitted within.

	Her first view of the House of Domination was a letdown.  Just an office
where she was asked a few simple questions by a receptionist.  Then she was
conducted into another, private office, where she faced another woman.  Her
companion was an attractive woman in her early 30s, nicely dressed in a
silk blouse and plaid skirt.

	"Take a seat please," she directed, "drink?"

	"Diet Coke."

	"Sure."

	The woman stood up and walked to a refrigerator, and removed 2 cans.  One
she handed to Alana then reseated herself in her chair.

	"Thank you," said Alana.

	"How may we help you?" asked the woman.

	"I want to be used by a Dominatrix," bluntly stated Alana.

	"No doubt in your mind?" asked the woman as she drank her Coke.

	"None."

	"Why?"

	"I want to know what it feels like to be in submission," Alana replied,
sipping at her soda, her throat suddenly bone dry from fright.

	"Have you ever had these fantasies before?" asked the woman.

	"Why all of these questions?  I'm not a cop."

	"No need to worry," the woman laughed, "we have some highly prominent
people amongst our customers.  If we were ever shut down, I just have to
make one phone call and the heat would be off.  Which is why you never see
a place like ours busted."

	"Sounds interesting," Alana replied.

	"Why do you want to submit?"

	"I want to feel a lash and riding crop, to be used, to be dominated by
another woman."

	"All right, we can provide that," said the woman, "and you must learn to
obey all of my orders."

	"Are you a Mistress?"

	"Yes, Mistress Martine.  Before any client goes under the lash, I like to
ask a few questions.  You pass.  Payment will be in cash, used bills only.
Small ones, please.  You will be conducted to one of our Dungeons where my
slave maid will have you undressed and ready for my use.  You can still
back out now, if you want."

	"No," sighed Alana, "this is what I came here for."

	"Good," answered Martine as she stood up, "see you in the Dungeon, then. 
Naked."

	Another woman then conducted Alana, this time in her early 30s to the
Dungeon.  Except that this was the first time that she had seen anything
related to Domination.  The Maid was dressed in a form fitting rubber
outfit in black, and she was perched on very high heels.  She escorted
Alana to a small anteroom, when she was made to undress.  Silently, Alana
removed all of her clothes.  Her blouse, skirt, underwear and shoes were
all taken from her.  The Maid then produced a box, inside of, which were
leather cuffs, which were locked around her wrists.  Then a collar was
placed around her neck, to which a leash was attached.  Alana was made to
stand up, and her wrists were locked behind her back.  Finally, a fur lined
leather blindfold covered her eyes.  She was now naked and helpless, and at
the mercy of others.

	"Come," she was instructed, feeling a tug at her collar.

	Alana obeyed, and let herself be led a few steps.  She had no idea what
room that she was in, except that she was soon made to kneel.  Just a few
months before, she would have been incapable of doing that simple action. 
Even though the room she was in was quite warm, she still shivered, and
Goosebumps covered her skin.

	She heard the unmistakable sound of the click of a woman's heels, and then
her blindfold was suddenly removed.  She looked up, and there was Mistress
Martine!  Except that now she was dressed in a black leather corset, elbow
length black leather gloves, black stockings, and matching black high
heels.

	"Mistress?" asked Alana.

	"Silence, slave, you will speak only when you are spoken to," Martine said
in a firm tone of voice.

	Alana swallowed from fright.  This was what she had sought out, what she
wanted.  To submit to someone, and finally to feel the lash.

	"Have you ever been whipped before, or spanked?" asked Martine.

	"No, Mistress."

	"Then we shall have an easy session.  I don't want to scare you off, so
that you won't return."

	Alana then was pulled to her feet like that of an errant child.  Martine
marched her over to a chair, and Alana was then draped across Martine's
knee.  She was going to be spanked!

	"You will count out each one," ordered Martine, "if you fail to do so,
then I have a paddle waiting.  Several, in fact, everything from leather to
wood."

	"Yes, Mistress," answered Alana.

	Thwack!

	"One!"

	"Two"

	"Three!"

	"Four!"

	"Five!"

	For the first time since childhood, Alana was over someone's knee, being
spanked.  Martine delivered each blow so that it struck in a different
place on her bottom.  Alana had the unmistakable feeling that she skin was
gradually becoming warm.  Also that she was slowly starting to be sexually
aroused by her little punishment.

	"Twenty!" cried Alana, who was startled when Martine stopped.

	"Thank your Mistress!"

	"Thank you, Mistress Martine," cried Alana.

	Alana was the pulled to her feet by Martine, who marched her over to a
chain hanging from the ceiling.  Her wrists were released, then locked
above her head to the chain.  Then Martine locked similar cuffs around her
ankles that were attached to a bar that would keep her legs open.  Martine
gestured, and the chain was suddenly pulled taut.  Alana strained to keep
her toes on the floor.

	Her slave handed Martine a riding crop, and she flexed it in her gloved
hands.  Alana remembered how for her 16th birthday, she had been sent to
England for a summer to learn how to ride a horse.  She had been given a
crop, but had never used it.  Her friends had played around by using them
on each other, but she had not joined in.  Plus there were those stories
that she had heard about the crop being used on people!

	"Prepare to feel the crop, and you will not have to count, slave," taunted
Martine.

	Alana tensed, and she soon felt a stripe of fire run across the outside of
her left thigh.  Swallowing, but remaining silent, she felt each stroke of
the crop as it struck her exposed nakedness.  Martine was keeping to her
word, as the strokes only stung Alana's flesh.  They were quite mild in
reality.  Compared with the effort and pain of getting back up and walking
between two parallel bars.

	"Stronger," whispered Alana.

	"What was that, slave?" asked Martine.

	"Stronger, Mistress, please?" begged Alana.

	Martine then began to strike Alana with even more force in each stroke. 
She drew her arm back and delivered each stroke methodically.  Alana felt
the finally she was in the position that she wanted to be.  Her breathing
was fast and flushed, her nipples were erect, and she knew that she was wet
between her legs.  Just like during therapy.  Alana was sexually around by
the pain that she was undergoing once again.

	Then she felt the gloved hand of the Mistress probe her between her opened
legs.  Alana moaned when she felt as Martine push the gloved fingers into
her sex, happy at the invasion.

	"My, you're wet!" exclaimed Martine, surprise on her face.

	"Whip me, Mistress?" begged Alana, "Please?"

	"Have you ever been used by a Dominatrix before?" asked Martine.

	"No, Mistress."

	Martine exchanged the crop for a long, sinuous, black leather whip.  The
oiled leather gleamed in the light, and Alana wondered just how it would
feel.  Suddenly, a lifetime of watching old movies on television came back
to her.  She was going to go under the lash!

	"Kiss the handle," ordered Martine.

	Alana did as she was ordered.  Martine then coiled the whip, and drew her
hand back to strike.  The whip lashed out, and coiled itself around Alana's
stretched form.  When the tip struck, Alana cried out.  Not with pain, but
pleasure.  For the whip in its first stroke had released the sexual energy
that the spanking and crop had stored within her.

	Martine delivered stroke after stroke, each one with increasing severity.
Alana's body pulsed and shook as she was wracked with one orgasm after
another.  This was like what she had experienced in therapy, but multiplied
many times.

	Finally, Martine ceased.  She presented the handle to Alana, who kissed it
again.

	"I would like to see you after you've dressed," said Martine.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Alana was let down by the Maid.  She was escorted to a bathroom, where she
could freshen up and dress.  She washed her sweat-covered body off with a
wash rag, and found that her pussy was sopping wet.   Her body was covered
by the marks from the crop and whip, but she was happy.  Not in any pain at
all.  Alana dressed, and was helped by the Maid.

	In the same anteroom where she had been questioned, Martine was waiting,
still in her leather outfit.  She was drinking another Coke, and smoking a
cigarette.

	"Have a seat.  I've written you a bill," directed Martine.

	"Thank you," said Alana.

	Alana looked at the bill, and opened her purse, extracting her wallet. 
Nothing had been touched.  She removed the fee, plus a generous tip for
Martine, who had earned it.

	"You're either a liar about not having been used before, or you're a
natural that's used to pain.  I watched your face when I was using you. 
You loved it, didn't you?" demanded Martine.

	"Yes."

	"Serving a Mistress before, or loving the pain?"

	"The pain," Alana answered.

	"Then you're a painslut," observed Martine.

	"A what?" asked Alana.

	"Painslut.  Were you satisfied by my work?"

	"Yes, Mistress.  I'll be back again.  Thank you."

	Alana took her exit, convinced that what she had paid for was worth every
dollar.  She had gotten what she wanted.  Walking around the neighborhood
she entered the first bar that she passed.  She ordered a stiff drink, and
bummed a cigarette from the bartender.  Alana inhaled the smoke deep into
her lungs, her skin still smarting from the use that she had taken from the
Dominatrix.

	She sat quietly at the bar, watching the daily life of Manhattan pass by
the windows.  Just a few miles from here stood Wall Street, and her job,
where she was still on Medical leave.  But somehow, that no longer seemed
important.

	Alana smoked her cigarette, recalling the weeks-spent in pain after the
accident as her body slowly healed.  The days she did nothing but cry in
her hospital bed, begging for painkillers.  Her mother Eve, shouting at the
doctors for something to dull her daughter's agony, only to be told that it
wasn't proper medical practice just to give medication for that purpose.

	Then slowly she had begun to heal.  Her body repaired itself, and she was
taken out of bed.  First to sit up, then to stand, next to therapy.  Every
step that she took was sheer hell; every time she used her arms to lift
weights was torture.

	One day, during an intense session to force her to walk Alana found that
the pain had excited her sexually.  Her pussy was wet when the therapist
had exercised her legs to force her to walk.  The first time, she had been
ashamed of herself.  But each time that she had gone for therapy, Erica
found that she would enjoy the pain.  Her sex became wet, her nipples hard
with desire.

	When she had been recuperating at home, with a Nurse to take care of her
and a visiting therapist to continue her exercises Alana suddenly
remembered the Voice.  She had read the paper while she worked in
Manhattan, and had looked with wry amusement at the ads in the back from
Professional Dominatrixes.

	So Alana had resolved that when she was finally able to walk on her own
that she would find a Dominatrix who would provide her with both pain and
pleasure.

	Alana had done that, and would go back for many visits to see Mistress
Martine, who would take her a little further along with each session.  She
enjoyed being placed under the crop and lash, having a gag between her
teeth.  Afterwards, at home she would look and admire the marks on her
skin.

	Deciding that she wanted more, she then discovered the S&M clubs in
Manhattan.  She learned to disguise herself by using makeup and a wig. 
Then she rented an apartment in Rye, and bought an old car and took that
into the city at night instead of the new BMW.

	Alana Peters, daughter of wealth, Ivy League University Graduate, and
future Wall Street Partner realized that she was now playing a dangerous
game.  That people in her position in society didn't just enter the world
of D/s, without a huge scandal erupting.

	So she resolved that she would use the wealth that her position in life
had given her to create another life: where she could become another
person. 

	  
	*		*		*		*		*

Greenwich CT: January 1982	

	"Don't make this any harder than it has to be," cried Eve Peters, as
mother and daughter sat together on the couch in the library.

	"Mother, please!  We've already argued about this before.   There's
nothing that will change my mind," said Alana, swallowing, as she brushed
her black hair away from her eyes.

	"Maybe another doctor or clinic," suggested Eve.

	"No, I've had enough doctors," shouted Alana.

	"Alana, please!  You don't know what you're doing!"

	"Yes, I do mom, please!" begged Alana.

	The afternoon sun shone through the library windows, and a breeze came
through the open windows.  Mother and daughter, arguing, as they had for
months.  They sat on the couch together, and tears flowed onto both their
faces.

	"I've had you followed, do you know that?" asked Eve, "what's the benefit
of wealth if you can't use it?  I know you have an apartment in Rye, just
over the border.  That you bought an old car so you wouldn't use the new
BMW I bought for you after you finished therapy.  That you dress up on
Friday and Saturday nights in a wig with plenty of makeup and go to those
horrible sex clubs in the city and.....and," Eve buried her face in her
hands, tears streaming from the corners of her eyes.

	"And what, mother?"

	"The first couple of times, the detectives couldn't get in.  But then they
bought some leather clothes, and billed me, and followed you.  And saw you
getting whipped in public!" cried Eve.

	"I'm sorry mother, but it's true."

	"You're not going to deny it?"

	"No."

	"That's even worse!"

	"Mom, I've got a confession to make.  During therapy, I found that I liked
pain.  After I could walk again, I started going into Manhattan and found a
Dominatrix to use me.  I enjoyed it!"

	"Is that what you like, being beaten?" asked Eve shock on her face.

	"It's not like that.  Then I wanted more, so I started going to the S&M
Clubs."

	"No, no!" cried Eve, aghast at what her daughter was telling her.

	"Mother, I just can't explain it, maybe I was just this way all along, and
didn't know it.  Until the accident, and the therapy, and all the pain I
underwent, brought it to the surface."

	"That you're a sex pervert!" accused Eve.

	"No mom.  Slave, submissive, bottom.  But it's just what I feel."

	"You might be discovered.  Think of the scandal!"

	"I already have.  Why do you think that I disguise myself?  One night, I
was in a club, and saw a Wall Street lawyer that I once worked with.  He
didn't recognize me."

	"What happened to the debutante?  To the girl we hosted a ball for in
Manhattan?  Who went to Radcliffe and Harvard?  Who learned horseback
riding in Europe?  Is that what you want to be, a sex slave?"

	"If that is what it takes to be fulfilled, yes, mother."

	Eve broke into tears, sobbing.  Alana reached outwards and held her mother
tightly to herself, trying to comfort her.  She grabbed a handful of
tissues from a box on the couch, and dried her mother's cheeks.

	"No, no, I've already lost one daughter, I won't lose another," cried Eve.

	"She left of her own accord, you know that.  Just as I must, but I'll
always be nearby.  I promise I'll always live near here, in Greenwich,
Darien, or just over the border in New York," consoled Alana.

	"But what about the scandal?"

	"I'm taking care of that," answered Alana.

	"You're planning something, tell me what.  Now!" demanded Eve, "I know
that you've been seeing a plastic surgeon in Manhattan, and a lawyer."

	"You won't like it," cautioned Alana.

	"I don't like the fact that my daughter is going to sex clubs, either. 
What are you up to?"

	"All right, mother.  You said it yourself just now.  What is the use of
great wealth if you can't use it?  Well, I'm going to use some of it, for
me."

	"How?"

	"In a few weeks, you won't have to worry about Alana Peters going to sex
clubs, because Alana will no longer exist.  I'm having the plastic surgeon
give me a new face.  Meantime, the lawyer is creating a new identity for
me.  Everything from birth certificate to college degree."

	"No!" screamed Eve, "no!"

	"Mother, it's the only way that my face won't end up on the Daily News! 
The only way to avoid a scandal is to cease being Alana Peters.  I've
decided to give up my former life and create a new one, one where I can
explore my sexuality without worry.  I'm going to take a normal job, live
in a regular apartment, and cease to be one of the upper class.  I gave up
my Wall Street job because I want something else in life!  I'm sorry,"
comforted Alana, as she held her mother in her arms, and dried her tears.

	"What's going to be your new name then?" asked Eve, disbelief in her
voice.

	"Erica Riken," answered Alana.

	*		*		*		*		*

	In February, Alana had gone for plastic surgery.  Alana Peters had
disappeared into South America.  Erica Riken then suddenly appeared and
rented an apartment.  She had gone from working a Finance job on Wall
Street to being a bookkeeper for a liquor distributor in Darien.

	When she looked in the mirror, Alana no longer looked back at her. 
Instead, there was someone different.  Someone new that could explore the
new life that she had chosen.

	Gone were the Yacht Races, Horse Shows, Golf (that she had hated anyway),
and summers at Martha's Vineyard.  Along with the Gucci gowns, unlimited
expense accounts, and Louis Vuitton handbags that she had liked.

	'I've crossed the Rubicon,' Erica said to herself one evening, as she
drove into the city.

	Erica was wearing a clingy black dress, heels, and had even made some
friends in the scene.  Finally she was free to find a Dom, someone that she
could be serve as a slave.

Part Three: The Wrong Dom

September 1982 

	Erica drove her seven year old Chevrolet up the driveway to her Master's
house.  She had spent the day shopping, doing chores, fully aware that she
wouldn't be returning home until late Sunday.  Past the point where she
would be able to get anything done before the workweek again started. 
Daniel had been lately asking for her to begin her slavery after work on
Friday night, but Erica had refused.

	While it was true that she did want to serve, Erica still needed time to
recreate herself.  To let the two women who inhabited the same body to
reconcile themselves into Erica Riken.

	Daniel owned a house in Portchester, NY, just over the border in New York.
 About a forty-minute drive from her apartment in Darien, CT.  He owned a
company, or so he told her.  They had met one night at an S&M club in
Manhattan.  Erica had found him very attractive.  Slim, athletic, well
built, he seemed the very model of a man that she had always been attracted
to.  He usually dressed in black, leather of some kind.

	For several months now, she had belonged to him.  They had started by
going to dinner together, and he had charmed her thoroughly.  Since Daniel
was to be her first Master, he had told her that everything that she was
going to learn about submission was to come from him.  So he had ordered
her not to read any books about S&M, and she had obeyed.

	Erica locked her car, and put her keys in her purse.  She walked to the
front door, and opened it with a key that Daniel had given her.  Since it
was summer and still quite warm, all she was wearing was a blouse, skirt,
and modest heels.

	Locking the door behind her, she quickly stripped herself of all of her
clothes, hanging them in hall closet.  On the small table was a collar and
bracelet set, which Erica rushed to lock upon herself.  Erica locked the
cuffs around her ankles, then her wrists.  Brushing her long black hair
around her neck, she locked the leather collar around her neck.  New to her
confinement in recent weeks was a ballgag.  Erica picked the object from
the table, opened her mouth wide, and inserted the red rubber ball into her
mouth.  She buckled it tight at the back on her neck, breathing through her
nostrils.  Finally, she knelt down on the carpet, and locked her collar to
a chain attached to the wall.  Then she locked her wrists together.  Erica
was now bound and helpless, with a key nowhere in sight to release her. 
She leaned herself again the wall to wait.

	It took only a short time for the ball between her teeth to become
uncomfortable.  Once, she had not closed the leather straps tightly enough,
and Daniel had punished her severely.  So afterwards, Erica had always
obeyed his orders.

	Bound as she was, Erica didn't know if she was alone in the house, or if
her Master was upstairs.  She had been ordered not to enter the house
beyond the foyer.  Some weekends Daniel would be in the house, other times
he would be returning home.

	Either way, Erica felt vaguely uneasy about her vulnerable position, that
she shouldn't be helpless this in this manner.  Resting on her knees, even
though she was on a piece of carpeting, soon became uncomfortable.  While
she had told Daniel about her accident, and that her body really wasn't
fully healed, he didn't seem to care.

	After what seemed like an eternity, she heard the key turn in the lock. 
Erica felt a breeze of outside air brushing against her naked skin, and she
remained rock still, facing into the house.  She didn't know who had
entered.

	She felt like squealing when her ass cheeks were roughly parted, and a
finger probed her tightly closed anal opening.  Erica was glad when she
received a couple of spanks on her behind.  That meant her anus was safe. 
For now.

	Erica was then pulled to her feet, and she quickly took a glance at
Daniel.  He was dressed in a summer shirt, shorts, and sandals.  He
unlocked the chain from the wall, and led her into the living room.  He
made her sit down on the couch, and removed her ballgag.

	"Thank you, Master," said Erica as she took several deep breaths.

	"You're welcome, slave.  Did you wait long?"

	"No, sir."

	"Good.  I made Dinner earlier; all you have to do is reheat it.  I'll
unlock your hands, and then you can put everything in the oven.  Then we'll
eat."

	"Yes, sir."

	While Erica considered herself a good cook, and had offered to prepare
Dinner on numerous occasions, Daniel still insisted on cooking himself. 
Even though he was a lousy cook, in Erica's opinion.

	Still, he had roasted a Chicken, which he had managed to cook without it
being dry or tough.  They ate together, him clothed, Erica naked.  When
they were done, Erica cleaned up, and washed the dishes.

	"Thank you, sir," said Erica.

	"You're welcome, slave."

	Glancing at the clock, it was now 9 PM.  She knew that Daniel would take a
shower, change, and would be ready to use her.  Which was what she wanted,
she desired.  To be used and wanted by a her Master.

	Erica was then pulled over to a chair, and her wrists were locked behind
her back.  Her collar chain was then locked to the chair, making her
helpless once again.  Daniel's hands touched her breasts, and her nipples
quickly became erect.  He touched her stomach, and playfully tickled her,
making her giggle.

	"Be back soon, slave.  And don't go anywhere!" he admonished.

	"Yes, sir," Erica said in response.

	Erica waited patiently, indeed, what else could she do, as Daniel prepared
himself.  Some weeks, he had blindfolded her.  But not this time.  Erica
wondered if this was by design, or just what she perceived as erratic
behavior.

	Daniel preferred to use her while wearing a black leather vest and
matching leather shorts.   Once he had finished bathing & dressing, he
reappeared in his usual outfit.

	"Ready, slave?"

	"Yes, Master."

	Alana was released from the chair.  In the basement of the house, Daniel
had built a small playroom.  While nothing like the Dungeon that Erica had
been used in by Mistress Martine, it still contained an impressive amount
of D/s toys.  Daniel pulled Erica along, down the stairs.  Erica was glad
she wasn't hobbled, else she would have had trouble negotiating the steps.

	The playroom was one of the basement rooms, and the walls had been painted
black.  Small but intense lights shone from the ceiling, which provided
some illumination.  Ringbolts were mounted on the walls to secure slaves
to, there was a bondage chair that would allow access to the occupant's
sex, a leather clad bench, and a cabinet to hold various toys.

	Erica had been Daniel's slave for months, and she never knew what would be
awaiting her.  In recent months though, something had changed.  It had
begun when Daniel had told her to stop seeing her friends that she had just
recently made, and that she wasn't supposed to read any books on the scene.
 She had uneasily complied with his orders.

	She was placed on a rug in the center of the playroom, and made to kneel.
She did so in silence, awaiting Daniel's next move.  He got a riding cop
from the wall, where it had been hanging.  Then he walked back to her, and
placed its tip under her chin.  She shivered, nervous about what would
happen next.

	"Do you accept your discipline, slave?" Daniel asked.

	"Yes, Sir," Erica quickly answered.

	"Prepare to be used then."

	Erica soon found herself hanging from a ceiling chain, her legs opened by
a spreader bar.  She was now totally vulnerable to whatever Daniel would do
to her.  This was what she had waited for, what she had wanted all week. 
First striped and then used sexually by her Master Daniel.  She didn't have
to even look at herself to know that her nipples were hard.

	"Count, slave!" Daniel ordered.

	The first stroke with the thin crop was delivered across her exposed sex,
making Erica cringe with pain.  Normally, Daniel would work gradually up to
striking her sex.  Instead, he had begun there, and Erica suddenly feared
what would happen next.

	"One!"

	"Two!"

	"Three!"

	Daniel maintained a steady rhythm of strokes with the crop, each one
landing on a different place on her exposed body.  Hanging by the chain,
her legs held open by the bar, and counting each stroke, Erica soon began
to perspire.  She could feel the drops running down her exposed flanks, and
she grew ever more excited after each series of strokes.

	"Twenty."

	"Twenty-five."

	"Thirty."

	Erica realized that she was now in for a severe session, having been
cropped far longer than usual.  In spite of the large numbers of strokes,
and the fact that she felt like her skin was on fire, she had entered the
point where she could "ride the pain."  Divorcing her mind from her body,
she went beyond the usual pain/pleasure feeling that she usually felt while
being used.

	"Kiss the crop," ordered Daniel.

	Erica suddenly came back to Earth, her mind and attention elsewhere as she
again realized where she was.  Quickly, she kissed the crop's handle, again
and again.

	"Thank you, Sir!" Erica stuttered.

	"You were somewhere else."

	"Yes, Sir!"

	He held her in his arms, which were also covered in sweat from his
exertions, and kissed her.  He forced his tongue into her willing mouth,
and she kissed him passionately in return.

	"Would you like to be whipped?" he asked.

	"Yes, please, Sir!"

	Daniel smiled, then walked over to the cabinet.  He replaced the crop on
the wall, then withdrew a long sinuous black leather whip from the cabinet.
 It was a supple, oiled piece of leather.  And it would hurt terribly!

	"Ready, slave?" Daniel asked.

	"Yes, Sir!"

	"No need to count, darling."

	With the first stroke of the whip, Erica exploded into a series of
explosive orgasms.  The whip would curl itself around her naked body, then
come to rest with an explosive crack.  It struck between her breasts, and
legs.  She screamed with both pleasure and pain, all at the same time. 
Tears fell from her eyes and down her cheeks as she felt the wonderful
release that she had been waiting for all week.  The strange inversion of
pain and pleasure that she had craved since the accident and therapy.

	Erica didn't know, nor did she care, how long she was whipped, or even how
many strokes.   But when it was finished, and she hung limply from the
chain, she was glad.  Daniel first released the cuffs on her ankles, then
released her wrists.

	"Thank you, Master," breathed Erica.

	"You're welcome, slave."

	Daniel carried Erica upstairs into his bedroom.  He washed her off with a
towel, then he proceeded to strip and clean himself off as well.  Then he
jumped onto the bed, and began to kiss her all over.  He started at her
feet, and moved up her legs to her sex, then stomach, her breasts, and
finally her mouth.  Erica enfolded him in her arms, and opened her legs to
accommodate him.  

	His cock was already erect and hard, and he entered her wet slit easily. 
His cock was long and hard, and he penetrated her, making Erica moan with
desire and want.  In no time, he established a rhythm as he drove her into
the bed.  Again and again, time after time.

	Having already experienced orgasms while being cropped and whipped, Erica
came quickly.  Daniel held back, extracting the maximum amount of pleasure
that he could from her.

	"Ooooooh!" Erica moaned, "ooooh!"

	Finally, they came together, both experiencing orgasms at the same time. 
He then lay beside her, tired after his exertions of having used her both
in the playroom and in bed.

	"Thank you, Master," said Erica.

	"You're welcome, darling.  I'd like to ask you something."

	"Yes, Sir?"

	"You work for a liquor distributor, don't you?"

	"Yes, Sir."

	"I want you to steal me a case of whiskey," he asked.

	"I can't do that.  I've never stolen anything from any place that I've
worked," Erica answered, "and liquor is valuable stuff.  We have a security
firm keeping an eye on everyone, and tight inventory controls.  And liquor
is a controlled substance, too."

	"I want you to steal a case of whiskey," Daniel repeated, even louder.

	"Sorry, I can't.  I'll gladly buy you one, sir, as a gift......."

	Enraged, Daniel got up off the bed and removed a cane from the dresser. 
With pause or mercy, he delivered ten swift and harsh strokes to Erica. 
Cringing from the unexpected and sudden attack, Erica curled into a ball to
shield herself from the cane's impacts.  Crying from the sudden change from
pleasure to pain, Erica was then slapped by Daniel.

	"Disloyal Bitch!" he roared.

	He then turned her onto her stomach, flattening her onto the bed.  Before
she realized what was happening, Erica felt her ass cheeks being forced
apart.

	"No!" cried Erica in horror, "no, please!" she begged.

	Erica had never really liked having her behind invaded; the very thought
had always repelled her.  She knew that Daniel's stiff cock would deeply
invade her, opening her anal hole.  Daniel didn't bother to use any
lubricant of any kind.  His cock was rammed inside her, forcing its way to
her puckered opening.

	"Open up, cunt!" roared Daniel.

	"No, sir," cried Erica, "please," she cried as tears fell from her eyes.

	Even though her bottom hole was closed tight, Daniel managed to force his
cock inside her.  Erica resisted, then tried to open herself.  But Daniel
pushed himself inside her, and Erica's anus hurt from the unwanted
intrusion.  When he finally penetrated her, Erica screamed.  Then she felt
his hot come squirt itself into her anus, the final humiliation.  She had
not screamed that way since the day she had been ejected from the Mustang,
with death a certainty facing her.

	That night, Erica cried herself to sleep, with Daniel totally oblivious to
her, uncaring.
	*		*			*			*
	The next day, she took a shower in the morning, and was horrified to see
red in the tub's water.  Her ass was sore, and hurt!  Later, she took some
toilet paper & Vaseline, and cleaned out the blood from her behind.  Erica
wanted to cry.  What had happened to Daniel?  He had been a kind, caring
Master for months.  He had fulfilled all of her desires, training her,
disciplining her.  But taking her in the rear against her wishes!

	Afterwards, they ate breakfast together, which Erica had prepared.  She
had made batter, and had heated up a waffle iron, which had gone unused
until she had become his slave.  They ate juice, waffles, and coffee
together.  The Times was spread on the far end of the table, but neither of
them looked at the paper.

	After they had finished, Erica brought the dishes into the kitchen to
clean up.  She was washing the dishes in the sink, wearing an apron, when
she suddenly felt Daniel's hands surround her and hug her from behind.

	"Erica, I'm sorry," Daniel began, "I don't know what came over me."

	"Daniel....."

	Daniel turned Erica towards her, and kissed her.  He held her tightly,
pressing her apron-clad form against his.  He was wearing an old sweatshirt
and pants, and looked slightly mussed.

	"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have used you against your will like that.  I'll
never do that again."

	"Thank you, Sir," replied Erica.

	For the rest of the day they made leisurely love in the bedroom together.
Sometimes, Daniel would strike her with the crop, but it was only for a
mild reminder of Erica's position.

	It rained, and seeing the drops on the windows made the day seem even more
dreamlike and lazy.  Finally, though, afternoon had come and Erica had to
leave.  She again showered, and dressed.

	"Erica?" Daniel asked.

	"Yes, Sir?"

	"Before you leave, I have to tell you something."

	"Yes, Sir."

	"Next week, I'm taking on a new slave, who will be a companion for you,"
said Daniel.

	"Thank you."  The thought of sharing Daniel was one that Erica had never
considered!

	"Her name is Lauren Singer."

The Challenge
Chapter 3: The Interview

Part One: The Gordian Knot

Monday June 8, 1998

	Mistress Janet sat behind the library desk, staring at the photographs and
file on the blotter.  The pictures and personal information had been
delivered to Janet's estate Monday morning by a messenger service, and Tina
had signed for them and given the large envelope to her Mistress.  When
Janet opened the envelope and removed the manila folder, it had taken all
of her strength not to display her shock to Tina.

	Instead, she had fled to the sanctuary of the library, and closed the
doors behind her.  As long as she was inside, it would take something
important for Tina to intrude.  So Janet could study the file in peace, at
least for a while, before she decided on just what to do next.

	Inside the folder, which tab bore the label "Branford, Cheryl" was all of
the usual information that Janet would have about a new slave.  Pictures of
her, clothed and naked, complete with measurements.  A recent medical
report.  A lengthy biography, beginning with her date of birth (August
1963), her education (a degree at Stamford University), and a job history.
Lastly, there was a sealed envelope on which was typed "Mistress Janet
Davis."

	'How in hell does this woman know what information I need before taking on
a new slave?' Janet thought to herself.  'Everything here but the final
interview and her explanation before going under the lash for the first
time!'

	Of course, Janet had written her explanation on her second day in slavery,
after having seen Tiffany used in the Dungeon.  Janet, as Mistress, always
provided a demonstration to a new prospect before putting them under the
lash.  This gave them a chance to see a scene, and to back out.

	A few did, thanking Janet for her honesty.  But the rest, just like Janet
herself, had stayed.  Then they were forced to write a lengthy bio before
going under the whip.  It was, Janet thought, the only really practical way
of working.

	Sitting back in her chair, Janet gazed at the pictures, which must have
been taken by a professional photographer.  It was the nude photographs of
Cheryl that worried Janet most.  She was seen standing up, seated at a
chair, and finally reclining on a couch.

	'Why should a woman do that?' Janet asked herself silently, 'to be sent to
a complete stranger?  And a Domme at that?'

	Janet studied the photographs, trying to connect them to the few seconds
of conversation that she had with Cheryl.  She looked carefully at Cheryl's
eyes and face, her body language, the way that she held herself.  The
manner that she displayed her bare body, breasts and sex, even her bottom.

	'Surely she knows that I am going to mark and use that body of hers, to
stripe and leave welts on her flesh,' Janet thought to herself, 'why?'
  
	What sort of woman, a wealthy woman at that judging by her job history, be
doing forcing herself on Janet?  Cheryl lived in California, and Janet
would have to check the address.  But it was obvious that she lived in an
affluent manner.

	Cheryl could have any Domme she wanted, so why had she come East to impose
herself on Mistress Janet Davis?

	The woman was quite pretty, and had a beautiful body.  A good figure,
moderate sized breasts, a narrow waist, tight ass, and pretty legs made her
a nice looking girl.  An attractive face, with high cheekbones and a mane
of black hair made her quite good looking.

	Janet again considered Cheryl's date of birth.  Cheryl was 35, and here
she was placing herself in submission to a Mistress.  Janet recalled that
she had been 25, and sexually bored, when she had been introduced to
Mistress Erica.  Here she was at age 31, a successful Domme, and Cheryl was
older than her by a few years.

	So why did this woman want to submit to Mistress Janet Davis?  What had
driven her from her home in California to Greenwich?  To come out of the
blue, and threaten Janet with exposure.

	Why?

	If Cheryl had come to her via the usual route, recommendation from another
one of her slaves, or from another Domme, there would have been no problem.
 Instead, it was a mystery.  And Janet hated mysteries.

	"Okay, Mistress Janet, what next?" Janet asked herself.

	Janet opened the envelope, and inside was a typed letter.  Janet read:

	Dear Mistress Janet,
	Enclosed you will find all of the usual relevant information that you
require for a new slave in training.  If you wish any additional
information, you may contact me and I will gladly provide it.
	Under no circomestances are you to reveal my presence to Mistress Blanca
Sanchez and Mistress Stephanie Richards, two Dommes who I know you are
connected with.
	Lastly, if I hear that you have engaged any kind of private detective or
law enforcement to check up on me in any way, I will expose you as
promised.

								Cheryl Branford

	Janet felt like balling up the letter and hurling it across the room. 
Ever since she had met Cheryl, she had briefly entertained the idea of
having Cheryl investigated in some manner.  However, Cheryl had already
anticipated that avenue!

	Exhaling in frustration, Janet got to her feet to pace the library.  What
the hell was she going to do now?

	In all her time as a Domme, she had never heard of this particular problem
ever coming up.  It was one thing to get blackmailed.  But Cheryl was
willing to pay her for being trained!

	Janet felt boxed in.  Every avenue that she would have taken had been
blocked or anticipated by Cheryl Branford.  There was only one thing now
that Janet could do, which would be to take Cheryl on and hope for the
best.  After all, Cheryl had said that if Janet trained her, then Janet's
position would be safe.

	Just yesterday, Janet thought, she had been secure wearing Stephanie's
chains.  Today, somehow, nothing seemed secure just now.

	Janet seated herself again behind the desk and picked up the cordless
phone, and dialed Cheryl's number.

	"Cheryl Branford."

	"This is Janet Davis calling."

	"I was waiting to hear from you.  Did you get my package this morning?"

	"Yes," Janet answered.

	"Is that all of the usual information that you require?"

	"Yes, how did you know?"  Janet asked.

	"That's my affair," replied Cheryl, "have you made your decision?"

	"Yes, I'll do as you ask," Janet softly replied.

	"Good.  When do you want me to drive over?" Cheryl asked.

	"I usually send a car."

	"But I know about you, Janet.  That won't be necessary."

	"Yes it will be.  My Maid and assistant, Tina, will know that something's
not right if you just come on your own.  I have a standard operating
procedure.  And you will be just one more new slave."

	"I understand.  When do you want me?" asked Cheryl.

	"Since I already have your address, tomorrow at 9PM, for an interview. 
After that, I'll schedule your first session for the weekend.  The car will
be at your place at eight fifteen."

	"Thank you," said Cheryl.

	"Be prepared to learn," Janet advised.

	"I will, Mistress."

	Janet then cut the connection, and placed the receiver on the desk.  Who
was really in control here?  Mistress or slave?  Janet sat back in her
chair, comparing just how popular culture made Dominatrixes out to be some
kind of all-powerful Amazons.  When in reality, D/s was a complicated
interplay between Dominant and submissive.

	But that didn't solve her immediate problem, which was Cheryl Branford. 
Janet was interrupted by a knock on the door.

	"Come," Janet ordered, glad for the interruption.

	The door opened to admit Tina, who brought in a tray of coffee and
cookies.

	"Mistress, can I offer you something?" asked Tina.

	"Thank you Tina, that was very nice," said Janet as she folded the letter
and replaced it inside the envelope, "place the tray on the table, and pull
up a chair."

	Tina did as she was ordered, and poured Janet a cup of coffee and selected
a few cookies on a dish, and handed both to Janet.  Only after Janet had
taken a few sips of the steaming black liquid and approved did Tina pour a
cup also then sat down as well.

	"Why the treat?" asked Janet.

	"You seemed a little down, Mistress," Tina answered, concern evident on
her face.

	Since she had become a Domme, Janet had become an expert on reading body
language and facial expressions.  She had to be, to properly gauge a
slave's reactions.  During interviews, under the lash, while being sexually
used, even while sleeping.  Janet had learned about the fine line between
pleasure and pain, and what she had to do with her slaves.

	"Thank you Tina.  I'm sure that you'll quickly replace the five pounds I
lost while being in servitude to Stephanie."

	"Yes, Mistress.  Is that file for a new slave?" asked Tina, indicating the
pictures on the desk.

	"Yes," Janet answered, passing her the pictures and bio.

	"Very pretty," commented Tina, "I wonder why she wants to be a slave?"

	"We'll know tomorrow when she comes for an interview, and then perhaps
I'll make her stay the weekend to be used."

	"Haven't had a novice for a long time, Mistress," observed Tina.

	"No, I guess not," smiled Janet in response.

	They both finished the coffee and cookies together, and Tina piled the
cups and saucers on the tray.

	"Thank you, Tina," said Janet.

	"You're welcome, Mistress Janet," Tina answered as she left the library
and closed the door.

	In the years that they had been together, Janet had made Tina her
assistant.  If Janet had been a selfish, wanton Mistress, she would have
used Tina again in the library for a quick orgasm or two.  And Tina, as
slave, would have had to oblige her, delaying her tasks.  Tuesday afternoon
Tina had requested that she have off, and Janet had agreed, giving her the
Toyota.  Janet even wanted her to have the BMW, but Tina had refused.  Tina
would finish up her chores, get dressed, and have a few hours personal
time.

	Janet exhaled, and realized that she was behind on writing the reports on
her own slaves.  In addition, she had to answer correspondence from other
Dommes.   Finally projects from her cover job as well.

	It was going to be a long time until tomorrow evening, and Janet was more
scared that she had ever been in her time as a Domme.

	*		*		*		*		*
	Janet and Tina watched the limousine pull up from the front windows.  Tina
was dressed in a normal Maid's outfit of black satin, stockings, and modest
heels.  Janet had decided that a regular white silk blouse and black
leather skirt would be just fine.

	"Conduct our new prospect into the library," Janet ordered, as she walked
to the library.

	"Yes, Mistress," said Tina as she walked outside to help Cheryl, who was
wearing the dark glasses that cut off her sight.

	Janet closed the library door behind her, then seated herself behind the
desk and turned her chair around so that she was facing outside.  In a few
moments, she heard a knock on the doors.

	"Enter," Janet ordered.

	She heard the footsteps of two people enter the library and come to rest
in front of her desk.

	"Mistress Janet, Cheryl Branford is here," said Tina.

	"Thank you," said Janet as she swiveled the chair around to face her
companions.

	Janet surveyed Cheryl, still as beautiful as she had been the previous
night.  She was wearing a blue dress, with a matching handbag and heels. 
Her lips were colored with a bright red lipstick, her hair was set, and she
exuded a trace of expensive perfume.

	"Welcome.  I am Mistress Janet Davis. Tina, you may leave us," ordered
Janet.

	"Yes, Mistress," said Tina as she closed the library door.

	"Now then.  We can be alone, take a seat and we can talk in private."

	"Yes, Janet," Cheryl answered.

	"That was your first mistake, Cheryl.  You must address me as Mistress
while you are in this house."

	"I'm sorry, Mistress," answered Cheryl as she seated herself.

	"Why are you here?" demanded Janet.

	"To serve, Mistress," answered Cheryl.

	"You live in California, yet you have come to Connecticut.   You are
wealthy enough to have any Domme you want.  Why do you want my services?"

	"I'm told that you are one of the best Mistress Janet."

	"So you have come clear across the country to be my slave?  You'll have to
do better than that, Cheryl," criticized Janet.

	"I have my reasons which I shall disclose at the proper time," Cheryl
answered.

	"Really, and when will that be?" Janet asked.

	"At the end of my successful training as your slave, providing you fulfill
my conditions."

	"And what would they be?" questioned Janet.

	"I ask three things," began Cheryl, "first that you train me like any of
your other slaves.  Second that when I'm ready, you loan me to another
Mistress, but not to Blanca or Stephanie.  I understand that's quite a
normal procedure to loan out a slave to experience a new Mistress.  Third,
when I have been fully trained, I shall extract a price from you.  I want
to see just how devoted to the idea of being a Dominatrix you are."

	"That's quite a list of demands," countered Janet, "why can't I tell my
two closest friends about you?"

	"That's my affair."

	"What kind of price are you talking about?" Janet asked, "money? 
Blackmail?"

	Cheryl opened her designer purse and removed an envelope, which she
lightly tossed onto Janet's desk.  It landed, right on target, in front of
Janet.

	"I said I was willing to pay," said Cheryl, "I believe that's your usual
fee for taking care of your wealthy clients, Mistress Janet."

	"I can still refuse, I don't like any of this," angrily replied Janet.

	"I could still expose you," threatened Cheryl.

	"Yes, you could.  Except that I'm rich enough myself never to have to
worry about working again.  It might be a little embarrassing, I would have
to stop for a while, perhaps set up shop elsewhere.  But then you wouldn't
get trained by me, would you?"

	"That's true, Mistress.  So in exchange for my silence, I would like to be
trained, Mistress Janet."

	"If I accept, your silence in exchange for training, then you must be like
all of my other slaves.  You must obey me, take all of my orders, and
discipline.  Allow yourself to be used by me, or my Maid, or any of my
Domme friends.  Do you understand?"

	"Yes, Mistress.  I accept all of your conditions in order to be your
slave," replied Cheryl.

	Janet paused to look carefully at her new prospect, who seemed sincere and
honest.  She didn't have any of the signs of someone lying to her.

	"What makes you think that you are worthy of serving me?" asked Janet.

	"I don't know, Mistress."

	"Good.  I prefer honesty.  Have you ever served a Mistress before?  Been
spanked?  Naked in front of other women?" demanded Janet.

	"No, Mistress, never."

	"Excellent.  I have not had the pleasure of training a novice for quite
some time."

	"I'll try to be a good slave, Mistress," said Cheryl, sudden fright in her
voice.

	"If you become a slave, there will be all of that, and more.  You will be
kept naked, or any way that I desire.  You will be used, sexually. 
Punished physically with anything from a hairbrush to a whip, and covered
in red welts.  Is that what you desire?"  Janet demanded.

	"Yes, Mistress," Cheryl answered.

	"I shall use you in any way that I want.  You shall learn your limits, and
a safeword beyond which you will not be used.  Do you understand?"

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"You can still back out now," Janet pointed out, "except that since you've
pressured me to train you, I don't think that you'll want to leave."

	"Yes, Mistress," answered Cheryl.

	"Ordinarily, at this time, I would ask that my Maid serve as a little
demonstration.  But I'm a little tired of using my devoted slave Tina to
serve as my whipping girl.  Since you're so enthusiastic about being my
slave, why don't you remove all of your clothes so that I can see what a
lovely body you have?  That's not a polite request, Cheryl, that's an
order," coldly said Janet.

	Janet noted that Cheryl appeared to be stunned by her order, and visibly
shaken.  It was direct, and to the point.

	"You do want to serve a Mistress, now don't you?" said Janet, "are you
disobeying my first order?" Janet asked in a stern tone of voice.

	"I....."

	"Strip, slave, and quickly," commanded Janet as she removed a riding crop
from the top drawer of her desk, and displayed it to her companion.  Janet
placed it over the envelope that Cheryl had tossed on the desk.

	Casually, Janet took the envelope from the desk and opened it with a
letter opener.  Inside were several brand new hundred-dollar bills, crisp
from the bank.  Whoever Cheryl was, she didn't want for money.

	"I gave you an order, slave," said Janet coldly.

	Cheryl removed her heels, then stood up and unzipped her dress, which she
carefully placed on the chair.  She removed her bra, and then her pantyhose
and panties.  In a matter of moments she was naked before Janet.

	"Turn around slowly, with your hands clasped behind your head.  I want to
inspect you," ordered Janet.

	If the photographs showed Cheryl as lovely, in person she was one of the
most beautiful girls that Janet had ever seen.  Janet desired nothing more
than to have this beauty service her.  But that would come later.  After
Cheryl had her first taste of the whip and crop.

	Cheryl did as she was told, slowly displaying herself.  The photographs
didn't lie at all.  When she was done, she again faced Janet, but did not
look at her directly.

	"Very good," said Janet as she rose from her chair, "now we move on."

	Janet circled Cheryl two times, before she finally stood in front of her.
Janet reached out, and took Cheryl's right breast in her hand, squeezing it
slightly.  Cheryl gave her no response.  Janet then pinched Cheryl's erect
nipple, making her flinch.

	"There is more to come."

	With her index finger, Janet traced the outlines of Cheryl's breasts, her
underarms, and her flat stomach.  Then she felt Cheryl's ass, finally
giving her a mild swat on her behind.

	"Owww!" cried Cheryl.

	"Place your hands on the desk, with your legs spread," coldly ordered
Janet.

	Cheryl did as she was told, and stood in silence, waiting for Janet's next
move.  Her breathing was already rapid and short.

	Janet then pushed Cheryl downwards, and she complied quickly.

	Janet opened Cheryl's ass cheeks, and peered at her puckered anal opening.
 Just for good measure, she swatted Cheryl's behind a couple of more times.

	"You'll have to keep that behind of yours clean," commented Janet, "lest I
make you wear a butt plug all day.  Do you understand?"

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Then Janet reached between Cheryl's legs to her sex, and played with her
pussy lips.  Then Janet held Cheryl's outer lips between her fingers and
squeezed tightly.

	"Owww!" cried Cheryl.

	"Silence!"

	Janet then pushed her fingers inside Cheryl's already wet sex, and then
pressed Cheryl's clit, making her move in response.

	"Stand still, slave.  You wanted to serve a Mistress, didn't you?"

	Continuing, Janet pressed further, digging her nails into Cheryl's labia,
finally making her cry out, tears flowing from the corners of her eyes. 
Which was exactly what Janet had wanted.

	"At least you're not a virgin," observed Janet as she pressed her nails
into Cheryl's nether lips. 

	"Owww!" cried Cheryl.

	Janet then delivered four swats with the flat of her hand to Cheryl's
bottom, one after another, steadily increasing the force of each blow.

	Swat!

	Swat!

	Swat!

	Swat!!

	"Owwww!" cried Cheryl.

	"Silence until you are spoken to," said Janet, "or I'll strike you again,
and much harder."

	The final blow had been delivered with such force that Cheryl lost her
footing and staggered under the impact.  Her bottom was now a nice shade of
red and would be sensitive for days to come.  Cheryl would now have a
reminder of her first visit with Mistress Janet.

	"If you react this way now," suggested Janet, "how will you react when a
whip wraps itself around you?  Or when I deliver one series of strokes
after another with the riding crop?  How will you hold up then?" demanded
Janet.

	"I, I don't know, Mistress Janet," stammered Cheryl.

	"Good," said Janet, "you may stand back up."

	Janet faced Cheryl, and placed her hand under Cheryl's chin.  Then she
reached forward, and planted a kiss on Cheryl's mouth.  When Cheryl
responded, Janet forced her tongue inside Cheryl's mouth, holding her
tightly.

	Finally, Janet released Cheryl, and left her gasping for breath.

	"I can use any part of your body at any time, for whatever reason.  I can
place you in a constricting corset for weeks to alter your figure.  Or a
dildo up your cunt all day and perhaps a butt plug in your behind.  Or whip
you for my own amusement and pleasure till you are covered in red stripes.
Or anything else that I might possibly desire to do with your body.  Do you
think that you are equal to being used like that?" Janet questioned.

	"I'll try, Mistress Janet."

	"Good," said Janet as she resumed her seat, "what were your plans for this
weekend?"

	"I wanted to see some friends on Long Island, Mistress."

	"Cancel them," Janet bluntly ordered, "one of my most loyal slaves has had
a family problem, and could not be with me.  You shall now have your
desire, Cheryl.  Your first weekend with me as your Mistress.  You will be
here from Friday night until Sunday at noon.  You will work naked with my
Maid, who will have the freedom to use you.  I shall whip and crop you,
chain you at night, use your body in any way that I want.  Do you
understand?"

	"Yes, Mistress," tearfully answered Cheryl.

	"This is your final chance to back out.  Be warned that you are going down
a dangerous path, and when you finish, it will be too late," stressed
Janet.

	"I want to be trained as your slave, Mistress Janet."

	"Good, then get dressed and I shall call the car for you," Janet answered,
"and beginning Friday, your life shall never be the same again."
	*		*			*			*
	"If you were still wearing my collar, Janet, I'd pick up a crop and give
you a good thrashing," said Stephanie as she rested on the bed, "for being
such an uninspiring lover this evening."

	Janet and Stephanie were in Janet's bed, after a night out together that
had begun with Dinner, a late movie, then drinks and finally lovemaking at
Janet's Mansion.  Their date had been arranged long before, and Janet had
been looking forward to it.  Until Cheryl had arrived to unsettle her
composure.

	"I'm sorry, Stephanie," apologized Janet.

	"What's wrong Janet?" asked Stephanie.

	"Nothing."

	"Liar."

	"Just worried about something, that's all," lied Janet.

	"The last time that you were silent about something was Erica's grand plan
to have you and Tiffany compete to replace her.  I hope it isn't something
like that," commented Stephanie.

	Stephanie rolled onto Janet, enfolding her into her arms.  The bed was a
mess, the sheets wet with their sweat.  In short, a normal evening of
lovemaking for two good friends.

	"Let me give you a massage," offered Stephanie.

	Janet turned over onto her stomach, and Stephanie straddled her. 
Stephanie's firm hands began to massage and knead Janet's back.

	"You're a mass of tension," commented Stephanie.

	"Guess so," Janet answered.

	Stephanie continued to massage and knead the muscles on Janet's back,
gradually loosening up the tension.  Janet relaxed under her friend's
efforts.

	"That's better," commented Stephanie, "relax, and that's an order!"

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"I'm going one day to have to send you Wendy," offered Stephanie.

	"Who's that?"

	"One of my slaves, she's a masseuse at a local health club.  She can do
wonders with her hands and some scented oil.  But she's very particular,
though."

	"How?" Janet asked.

	"Only, and I say only, use your hand, a leather covered paddle, or a
riding crop on her.  Nothing else!  She hates the whip, period!"

	"We have to abide by her wishes," said Janet.

	"That's better, now turn over," ordered Stephanie.

	Janet did as she was told and Stephanie began to suck on Janet's right
nipple, quickly making it erect from her attentions.  One of her hands
reached under the sheet, and began to fondle Janet's engorged sex.

	"Wet little minx, aren't you?" asked Stephanie.

	"Yes, Mistress," Janet answered.

	"Since you serviced me so indifferently, perhaps I can make you feel a
little better," said Stephanie.

	"Thanks, lover," said Janet.

	Somehow, it wasn't the sex that Janet wanted from Stephanie.  Rather, she
wanted just being in bed with her best friend holding her close.  She
stroked her friend's hair and shoulders, and held Stephanie tightly to her.

	'Why,' Janet asked herself, 'do I have to face these problems as a Domme?
First Erica's competition, and now Cheryl?  No other Mistress seems to be
confronted with them.'

	Janet lay back in bed, allowing Stephanie to work on her sex.  All of
Janet's troubles were eased for a while as Stephanie buried her face
between Janet's thighs and began to work on her sex.  Soon, Janet felt wave
after wave of orgasm wash over her.

	'Has it really been four years since Erica's faked death, and Stephanie
becoming my best friend?' Janet asked herself.

	"Stephanie," Janet asked, "kiss me, instead."

	Stephanie was soon kissing Janet, who was lying on the pillows.  Janet
tasted herself on Stephanie's lips.

	"Thank you for being my friend, Stephanie," said Janet, as she held her
lover close to her.

	"You're welcome, lover."

	Janet held Stephanie close to her, and she clung to her tightly.  Janet
longed to tell Stephanie the truth, just as she had during Erica's
competition.  But she held back, and let sleep claim her instead.  She
drifted off, the sounds of the night coming from the open window.

Part Two: Cheryl's First Use

Friday June 12, 1998 

	It was Friday evening nearing 10 PM, and Janet and Tina were waiting for
Cheryl's limousine to arrive.  Janet had chosen a short black leather
dress, and she had ordered Tina to wear a black latex maid's uniform.  The
weather was not yet too hot, still comfortable.  They were together in the
hallway, waiting.

	"Tina," Janet began.

	"Yes, Mistress," answered Tina.

	"I have something important to tell you.  This new slave, Cheryl, is going
to be a little different than normal, but I can't tell you why."

	"Is that why you've been acting strangely, Mistress?" asked Tina, concern
evident in her voice.

	"Yes.  And you're the only one to know about this!  Not a word to Blanca
or Stephanie, please!"

	"Yes, Mistress.  You know I'll do whatever you ask."

	"If it appears that I break procedure, or do anything out of the ordinary,
please understand that there will be a reason for it."

	"Yes, Janet.  I understand."

	Janet reached over and kissed Tina on her cheek, and silently embraced
her.

	"Thank you, Tina.  I love you."

	"I love you too, Mistress," answered Tina.

	Their conversation was interrupted by a buzz from the front gate,
indicating that the limousine had arrived.  Tina pressed the button to
allow the car to gain entrance, and Janet walked back the library, closing
the doors behind her.

	Seated behind the desk, on which she had again placed Cheryl's file, Janet
waited.  She summoned up all her courage, wondering what her third
encounter with Cheryl would be like.  Cheryl had demanded to be her slave,
had forced Janet into a corner.

	Her thoughts were soon interrupted by a knock on the door.  Janet wondered
just how many times that Erica must have sat here, interviewing her slaves.

	"Come," ordered Janet.

	Tina conducted Cheryl into the library.  Janet noted that Tina was wearing
a simple blouse and skirt, and a pair of modest heels.  She was carrying a
command handbag this time, not the expensive one that she had earlier.

	"Thank you, Tina.  We can be alone now," ordered Janet.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Cheryl stood, waiting for Janet's next command.  She did not look directly
at Janet, and remained silent.

	"You may be seated, Cheryl."

	"Thank you, Mistress."

	"Are you prepared to serve me?" asked Janet.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Janet sat back in her chair, and breathed deeply.  On Cheryl's first
visit, Janet had spanked her.  On this visit Janet would introduce Cheryl
to what it fully meant to be a slave.

	"Then nothing further needs to be said.  I agree to your conditions, with
the promise of your silence."

	"Then you'll do as I ask, Mistress?"

	"Yes, Cheryl.  I'll train you, loan you to a Domme, and we'll see what
price you that you want from me.  But that's a long way in the future. 
We'll see if you can make that journey."

	"Yes, Mistress," answered Cheryl.

	"I'm now going to call Tina back.  You will get on your knees, and I will
ask you for your submission.  You will agree.  Then Tina will take you to a
bedroom where you will strip and be outfitted in collar, bracelets and
heels.  Which will be your only clothes until Sunday.  Do you understand?"

	"Yes, Mistress Janet."

	Janet pressed a button on her desk, and Tina appeared at the door a few
seconds later.

	"Enter," ordered Janet.

	"Cheryl," Janet commanded, "kneel."

	"Yes, Mistress," answered Cheryl, as she knelt before Janet.

	"Do you, Cheryl Branford, submit yourself to me, Mistress Janet Davis, of
your own free will, and without coercion?"

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"That you will accept whatever discipline or bondage that I place upon
you, or from others who I may give you to?"

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"That you will faithfully obey the orders of your Mistress?"

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"And that you will no longer have the freedom of your own body, which
shall belong to me, totally."

	"Yes, Mistress Janet."

	"And that you shall be forever silent about what occurs to you here."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Choose your safeword."

	"Sin, Mistress," Cheryl answered.

	"Tina, take her to the bedroom, and get her ready.  She knows what to
expect for this evening.  I'll see you in the Dungeon in thirty minutes. 
If she resists in any way, you have my permission to use the crop on her,"
ordered Janet.

	"Yes, Mistress Janet," answered Tina as she led her charge away.

	'So now it begins,' Janet thought to herself.
	*		*		*		*		*
	Janet had decided not to change out of her leather dress.  It was
comfortable, reasonable cool (since it did not enclose her like a Catsuit)
and allowed her freedom of motion.  She did, however, select a pair of long
matching leather kidskin gloves to go with the dress.  Janet removed them
from a desk drawer, and carefully drew them up to her elbows.  The soft
leather fit her easily, and Janet admired herself in the mirror.

	Leaving the library, Janet walked down the open stairs down to the
Dungeon.  She could have taken the elevator, but Janet enjoyed hearing the
sound that her heels made as she descended.  Erica had both stairs and
elevator installed to reach her Dungeon complex, and no doubt the stairs
was a backup in case the power failed.  Which they did!  One Saturday
night, during an intense scene, the power suddenly went out, plunging the
Dungeon into complete darkness.  While she had been busy downstairs, an ice
storm had knocked out power for all of southern Connecticut.

	She had wasted no time after the storm had cleared to install emergency
lighting and a backup power supply for the Mansion.  That was her second
modification to her inheritance, the first had been a sauna installed
upstairs.  Janet would frequently invite either Stephanie or Blanca over
for a little steam session.  Trouble was, keeping enough birch branches
that they would use to beat each other with....

	Janet's heels clicked on the stairs as she descended, then she reached the
door and opened it.  She walked into the first Dungeon, and found Cheryl
hanging by her wrists from a ceiling chain, a red ballgag in her mouth, and
a blindfold around her eyes.  She was naked, wearing only a collar,
bracelets on her wrists and ankles, and a pair of heels locked to her feet.
 A spreader bar kept her legs open and her sex available.  She was hanging
so that her shod feet could just barely touch the floor.  Her breasts
jutted out, and Janet could see all of her ribs through her skin.

	Janet nodded in silence at Tina, who was standing silently nearby.  No
slave should ever be left alone while bound, thought Janet especially when
gagged.  It had only been much later when Erica had told Janet that all the
times she had been bound that either Andrea or Erica herself had been
nearby, in case something happened.  Even that final time, when Janet had
been cruelly bound with a butt plug and dildo, and seemingly left alone,
Andrea had been in reality quite close to her.

	Janet reached out and released Cheryl's blindfold, and when Cheryl could
see again, she blinked in the sudden light.

	"Have you ever been in a Dungeon before?" Janet asked.

	Cheryl shook her head no.

	"Do you know what will happen here?"

	Cheryl shook her head yes.

	"Good.  It is here that you will be used, here that you will become a
slave.  Both to your own body's desire's, and then to me," explained Janet.

	Janet took Cheryl's right nipple, which was already erect, and pinched it
gently, then with slowly increasing pressure.  Soon, Cheryl squealed from
behind her gag.

	"Being gagged removes the last vestige of your free will, doesn't it?  I
can use any part of you that I want."

	Janet probing hand went between Cheryl's legs, to her sex.  Just as she
had done days earlier, she roughly probed Cheryl's love triangle.

	"Mmmmph!" cried Cheryl, as her most private parts were invaded.

	"Wet already," Janet observed, "you're so easy, Cheryl," as Janet removed
her fingers from Cheryl's sex.

	Janet walked over to the cabinet, and wiped her glove on a paper towel. 
She then removed a riding crop from the wall, and soon stood again in front
of Cheryl.

	"Tonight, I shall use the crop.  Afterwards, I shall use you in bed.  Do
you understand?"

	Cheryl nodded.

	Janet unbuckled Cheryl's ballgag, handing it to Tina.  She then flexed the
riding crop in her gloved hands.

	"You will now count each stroke," Janet began, "and after every five
strokes, thank me for the discipline that you are receiving.  Do you
understand?"

	"Yes, Mistress," replied Cheryl, who swallowed nervously, concern evident
on her face.

	"I shall use you gradually at first, to gauge how you can take being used.
 I shall not break your skin, or make you bleed.  Ever.  I am not that kind
of Mistress," coldly lectured Janet, "but I will leave marks and welts on
your skin that will take time to heal."

	"Yes, Mistress," answered Cheryl.

	"Then thank me for what you are about to receive," ordered Janet.

	"Thank you, Mistress."

	Janet's first stroke was a mild one that landed on Cheryl's right thigh,
which didn't even leave a mark behind.

	"One."

	The second landed on Cheryl's right breast, making her shake within her
chains.

	"Two."

	The third was placed on Cheryl's bottom, making her squeal.

	"Three."

	"Four."

	"Five, Thank you, Mistress!" cried Cheryl.

	The sixth landed on Cheryl's right underarm.

	"Six."

	Eight."

	"Ten!  Thank you, Mistress!"

	Janet paused to give Cheryl a chance to recover, to catch her breath. 
Each stroke had been delivered with more force than the last, and Cheryl's
virgin body was now striped for the first time.

	"Eleven."

	"Twelve."

	The thirteenth stroke was delivered between Cheryl's legs, right onto her
exposed sex.  Cheryl flinched within her chains, and a moan escaped her
lips.

	"Thirteen!"

	"Fifteen, Thank you, Mistress."

	Janet then concentrated her strokes on Cheryl's Venus mound, and between
her legs.  She wanted her new slave to cry in her submission.

	"Sixteen!"

	"Eighteen!"

	"Twenty! Thank you, Mistress."

	Janet ceased, and ran her gloved fingers down Cheryl's taut, sweating
body.  She traced the fine red lines that the crop had left behind, and
Cheryl flinched when Janet touched some of the more sensitive welts.

	"Kiss the crop," ordered Janet.

	Cheryl did as she was told, and then Janet waited in front of her.

	"Thank you, Mistress Janet," Cheryl stuttered.

	"Very good, Cheryl.  You have taken my crop rather well.  Now for your
pussy."

	Janet again felt between Cheryl's legs, and her gloved fingers were coated
with Cheryl's juices.  Janet removed her fingers, then displayed them to
her bound captive.

	"Taste yourself," Janet ordered, "slave."

	Janet stuck her fingers inside Cheryl's mouth, and Cheryl licked away her
own juices from the soft leather.

	"Once you have been trained," said Janet, "the mere sight of the crop will
make you wet between your thighs."

	"Yes, Mistress,"

	"Tina, unchain Cheryl and get her cleaned up.  Chain her at the foot of my
bed.  I shall want her ready in a half-hour.  And make sure that you leave
a riding crop and dildo on my dresser," ordered Janet.

	"Yes, Mistress," answered Tina.

	On her way out, Janet handed the crop to Tina, and walked calmly to the
library.  Cheryl's first session had gone well, and now......

	There were some reports that Stephanie had wanted her to read, and Janet
had used them to pass the time.  Tina would have taken Cheryl to the
bathroom, given her charge a quick sponge bath to freshen her up, and then
her newest slave would be waiting for her in Janet's bedroom.  Janet got
engrossed in reading, and did not notice that she had taken longer than the
half-hour that she had originally ordered.

	When she entered her bedroom, she found Cheryl there alone.  Her collar
was locked to a chain from the foot of Janet's bed, her hands bound behind
her back.  On the dresser was a riding crop, a dildo, and red ballgag. 
Plus a single red rose, which had made Janet smile.  A gift from Tina, for
which Janet would have to find some way to reward her later.

	"Good evening, Cheryl.  Did you enjoy your first session under the crop?"
asked Janet.

	"Yes, Mistress," Cheryl quickly answered.

	"You will learn that there is both pain," Janet began as she unzipped her
leather dress, "and pleasure in being a slave."

	Janet removed her dress, under which she was wearing a matching black lace
bra, panties and garter belt, which held up her stockings.  She removed her
shoes, then opened the garters holding up her stockings, which Janet slowly
removed.  Janet then removed her garter belt, and panties.  She was soon
standing nude in front of her bound slave.

	"That's better," said Janet, "I'm going to go into the bathroom to freshen
up.  When I return, your education is going to be continued."

	Janet washed herself off in the bathroom with a terry washcloth.  Leather
was wonderful and sexy to wear, fit her like a glove, but didn't breath. 
So after wearing any of her Domme gear, Leather, Latex, PVC, or Rubber, the
first thing she wanted was a bath.  Whenever she did a session, she always
slept nude that night, to let her skin breath.

	Re-entering the bedroom, she found the key to Cheryl's collar on the
dresser, and unlocked the short chain.  She then pulled Cheryl up from the
floor, and locked her to a longer chain set into a ringbolt in the wall
above Janet's bed.

	"There now, better?" asked Janet.

	"Yes, Mistress," answered Cheryl.

	"You look very nice, Cheryl.  My stripes have improved your appearance. 
Have you ever been to bed with a woman before?" Janet demanded.

	"What?" stammered Cheryl.

	"Have you ever made love to a woman?"

	"No, no, Mistress."

	"There's always a first time.  Now since you're a virgin in that regard,
I'm not going to blame you for your ignorance.  I didn't make love to a
girl until I became a slave to Mistress Erica."

	"Mistress?"

	"I want you to lay back on the bed, and I'll do everything," Janet
ordered.

	"I'm cuffed, Mistress," Cheryl answered.

	Janet took a pillow from the top of the bed, and placed it midway down. 
She patted it for effect.

	"Put your behind on the pillow, so you don't lay directly on the cuffs. 
I'm not a cruel Mistress unless I'm forced to be.  Go on," Janet ordered.

	Cheryl did as Janet instructed, and put her behind on the pillow,
elevating her behind and sex for Janet's use.

	"Open your legs, slave," Janet demanded.

	Cheryl blushed red when she opened her legs, and Janet began instead by
kissing her on her mouth.  Their lips met passionately, and Janet wondered
what type of lipstick that Cheryl used.  Then Janet began to suck and bite
Cheryl's erect nipples, which she knew would make Cheryl hot with desire.

	"I'm going to have Tina teach you how to rouge your aureole to a deep red,
and properly perfume yourself," said Janet, "but that will come later."

	Janet planted a series of moist kisses as her lips traveled downwards from
Cheryl's breasts to her opened sex.  She enfolded Cheryl's moist love box
with her lips, and her tongue darted inside Cheryl's outer lips to the joys
within.

	"Ohhhh!" moaned Cheryl, shaking as she was excited by Janet's attentions,
"Ohhhh!"

	Janet continued to pleasure Cheryl, and she knew that her slave's
inhibitions were melting away as Janet brought her ever closer to climax. 
Cheryl was wet between her legs, and Janet felt every time that Cheryl
shuddered in response to Janet's stimulation of her.  Continuing, Janet
wanted to draw out Cheryl as long as she could in order to make the orgasm
stronger and more intense.  When Janet finally began to lick Cheryl's erect
clit, she knew that release would not be far behind.  Deciding that she had
kept Cheryl wanting long enough, she sucked and tongued her new slave to a
series of orgasms that made her moan and bounce on the bed.

	"Ohhhh!" cried Cheryl, "Ohhh!"

	Janet noted that tears were falling from the corners of Cheryl's eyes, and
that she lay there, panting with exhaustion.  Janet wondered if Cheryl had
ever had an orgasm before like that in her life.

	"You see," said Janet, sitting up, "there is both pain and pleasure in
this house.  Provided that you are trained and obey.  Sit up!"

	"Yes, Mistress," said Cheryl.

	Janet got the key from the dresser and unlocked the cuffs on Cheryl's
wrists.  Cheryl then began to rub them to restore the circulation.

	"Thank you, Mistress," panted Cheryl.

	"You're welcome, slave."

	For a brief moment, Janet recalled the first time that she had been
approached sexually by another woman.  It happened when she was working
part-time in school, when she had the job in Macy's.  But nothing had come
of it, leaving her frustrated and curious.  Did she desire a man or a
woman?  

Janet remembered that she had never made love before to a woman until she
had been chained in the cell with Tiffany. How Erica had made her wait
weeks before she had been allowed to service her.  Janet had desired to
make love to Mistress Erica!  But Erica had waited (it took Janet time to
figure this out) until she had been trained in lovemaking by Tiffany and
Andrea before she would let Janet service her.

	Now that she was Mistress, Janet would either teach a new slave herself in
the arts of love, or have Tina do it, or a combination of the two.  Janet
now lay back on the bed, and arranged herself until she felt comfortable.

	"Make love to me, Cheryl," Janet ordered, "and taste yourself on my lips."

	Janet had expected Cheryl to hesitate, or pause.  Instead, she quickly lay
beside Janet and began to kiss her new lover with passion and feeling. 
Cheryl's tongue cleaned her juices from Janet's lips, just as they had done
from Janet's leather gloves.  Following what had gone before, Cheryl now
sucked on Janet's nipples.

	However, Cheryl was a disappointment when it came to servicing Janet.  She
tried, but seemed to hesitate and appeared scared when confronted by
Janet's wet sex.

	"Something wrong?" asked Janet, "slave?"

	"I'm sorry, Mistress, I just can't make love to another woman," cried
Cheryl.

	Janet had thoughtfully placed the crop on the night table for just that
reason.

	"Did you enjoy the orgasm that I gave you?" asked Janet.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Well, a girl taught me how to do that.  And you'll learn that also."

	Janet struck Cheryl twice on her back, two light strokes just meant to
sting.

	"Owww!"

	"Now I'll hit you a lot harder next time if you don't satisfy me," said
Janet, "so try again."

	Obediently, Cheryl lowered her head between Janet's thighs to start once
more.  Janet felt Cheryl's tongue on her labia and clit, and was being
aroused in an unfeeling way.

	"Satisfy me," said Janet as she struck Cheryl on her back once more with
the crop.

	'It's going to be a long night,' Janet thought to herself as she opened
her legs to accommodate Cheryl.
	*		*		*		*		*

Saturday June 13, 1998

	Janet awoke on Saturday to the sounds of birds singing through the open
window.  She had been instructing Cheryl deep into the night, before they
had both fallen asleep.  Now the bed was a mess, damp with their sweat and
juices.

	 She stood up from the bed, wanting not to awaken Cheryl.  Nude, her body
felt sticky, and Janet desired a hot bath or shower.  Janet stretched,
admiring her figure in the mirror.

	'Not bad for a girl from Queens,' Janet thought to herself.

	"Mistress?" asked Cheryl.

	"Did I awaken you?" asked Janet.

	"No, Mistress Janet."

	"Good.  Tina will be along shortly to release and give you a bath.  After
breakfast, which you and Tina will serve me in the dining room, I want to
see both of you in the library.  Understand?"

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Good," said Janet as she closed the door to her bathroom and opened the
taps.

	Janet was going to have a nice leisurely long bath, and she selected a
cube of lilac scented bath salts, which she unwrapped and tossed into the
steaming water.  Janet settled into the tub, letting it dissolve away the
stickiness on her skin.

	"Pity this moment can't last forever," Janet said to herself.

	Janet remembered how Erica had told her that the life of a Domme would
sometimes not be an easy one, and she had found that out to be true. 
Slowly, the story of Erica's competition between two of her slaves had
gotten out into the D/s Community.  Janet was a skilled Domme in her own
right, and she had gradually made a name for herself.

	But whenever there was a meeting, Janet sometimes heard the whispers that
"she was the one, she was Erica's slave" induced a look of awe from other
Dommes.

	After soaking away her cares and washing her long black hair, Janet got
dressed in an old shirt and jeans, and lastly a pair of open sandals. 
Summer was nearly here, after all!

	Janet went downstairs to the Dining Room, where Tina and Cheryl were
waiting.  Tina was dressed in a regular maid's uniform, and Cheryl was
naked. Janet noted that she was slightly uncomfortable.  Good.  That was to
be expected.

	The table was set for one, with a glass of orange juice, a copy of the
Times and the local Connecticut paper waiting for her.  Janet seated
herself and sipped at her juice.

	"Breakfast, Mistress?" asked Tina.

	"Yes, Tina, thank you.  Something different today, how about a cheese
omelet?"

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Tina scurried out of the Dining Room, followed by Cheryl.  Janet smiled as
she opened the slim Saturday Times.  Normally, they shared breakfast (and
most other meals) together in the kitchen, and dropped ceremony, since Tina
was her assistant.  But when they had a slave in attendance proper respect
had to be displayed.

	In a few minutes, Cheryl set the plates in front of Janet, and bowed. 
Tina had coached her in what to do while Janet had sat in her bath (another
reason not to hurry); doing her job in helping train Cheryl.

	"Thank you, Tina," said Janet.

	Janet ate her breakfast in silence, with the two standing at the kitchen
door behind her.  She poured herself one cup after another of black coffee
as she leisurely ate her omelet, home fries, and toast.  All the while,
reading from the two newspapers.  Finally, she finished, and stood up from
the table.

	"That was very nice.  After you've cleaned up, please join me in the
library," requested Janet.

	Janet took the papers under her arm, and walked to the library.  She was
determined to get some work done today, no matter what!

	She was joined a few moments later by Tina and Cheryl, who both waited for
her commands.

	Janet went over the chores that Tina would do today, in a formal manner. 
Finally, at the end, Janet had a special chore for her assistant.

	"Tina, there is something else I'd like you to do."

	"Yes, Mistress," answered Tina.

	"Cheryl is willing, but inexperienced, in the arts of love.  Could you
postpone some of your chores this afternoon for a little bedroom training?
The next time that I take Cheryl to bed, I want her to know how to satisfy
a woman."

	"Of course, Mistress," Tina replied a smile on her lips.

	Janet stole a glance at Cheryl.  She knew that Cheryl had first been
stimulated by the crop, then Janet's use of her sex.  Then Janet had
striped her skin even further teaching her the arts of love, deep into the
night.  Cheryl was a mass of raging hormones, eager to feel both a crop and
a woman again between her legs.  Janet knew that Cheryl was probably wet
right now, just from being collared and naked.

	"Good.  Then I don't want to be disturbed, except for lunch and dinner. 
If Cheryl doesn't cooperate while doing household work, you may use the
crop as you wish."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"But there is one other thing, though.  When you have a break, have Cheryl
write down her bio and final interview.  You know what to ask," ordered
Janet.

	"Of course, Mistress Janet.  Come, Cheryl," ordered Tina.

	Janet watched as the two left the library and Tina closed the door behind
her, and Janet sat back in her leather chair.  She sat in the same leather
chair, and oak desk that she had inherited from Erica.  She had kept them
as a tribute to her Domme, now dead two years ago.  Pausing, Janet wondered
how many times that Erica must have sat behind the desk, attending to her
Domme duties.

	"Oh, well," Janet said aloud to herself, "the bad thing about being in
charge is that there's nobody but yourself to tell you what to do."

	Janet fired up her computer, opened her briefcase from her job, and began
to work.  She read reports, downloaded files from the main computer,
printed out reports, and read them.  She considered, made her decisions,
and wrote her conclusions.  Even though the time glared at her from the
computer, and the large grandfather clock ticked away the time, Janet was
in her own insulated world of work.

	It wasn't until hours later that a knock on the door suddenly startled
her.  Janet nearly jumped out of her chair, and noticed that the clock read
1 PM.  She had been working without a break for five hours.

	"Enter," Janet ordered.

	"Lunch, Mistress," announced Tina as she brought in a tray.

	"Thank you, Tina," said Janet as she put away some paper and report, "I
guess I clean forgot about the time."

	"Did you finish?" asked Tina.

	"Yes, Thank you."

	Tina set down a tray, and unfolded a linen napkin on Janet's lap.  She
removed a cover from a steaming cup of soup, next to which was a turkey
sandwich and a small salad.  Janet inhaled the aroma.

	"Thank you, Tina.  Where is Cheryl?" asked Janet as she picked up the
spoon and took a sip.

	"Chained in the kitchen, Mistress.  She's not going anywhere."

	"Good," said Janet.

	Janet was so hungry, she simply devoured the cup of soup.  But before she
could start on the sandwich, Tina placed her hand on Janet's.

	"Mistress, I think you had better read this," said Tina as she passed over
several sheets of paper.

	"Cheryl's interview?"  Janet asked.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"And what do you think?" Janet questioned.

	"I was very concerned when you told me that you had laid a hand on Cheryl
before her submission.  Even more when you used the crop on her before she
wrote her bio.  That breaks all established procedure, Mistress."

	"Get to the point, Tina."

	"Lies, Mistress.  All lies.  The minute I gave her pen and paper she was
off writing, like it had been memorized in advance.  Normally a slave has
to sit and think to dig deep before they can explain why they want to
submit.  But Cheryl just started writing.  No mistakes, nothing crossed out
or started over," explained Tina, in a serious tone of voice.

	"Thank you."

	"Will you stop training her?" asked Tina.

	"I can't Tina.  For reasons I can't explain, I just have to.  You'll have
to take my word for it."

	"I understand, Mistress."

	"Let me read the interview as I finish the rest of my lunch.  How did you
get on with the housework?"

	"Finished.  Once lunch is complete, I'll take Cheryl to bed," Tina replied
with a smile on her face.

	"Did you have to use the crop?" Janet asked.

	"A few times."

	"How did she react?"

	"She won't be questioning my authority any more, Mistress Janet," answered
Tina, a smile on her face.

	"Thank you, Tina."

	Tina left the library, closing the doors behind her.  Janet picked up a
can of Coke that was on the tray, and took a long sip before she took a
bite of the sandwich.  Then sat back and began to read Cheryl's interview.

	It was good all right, Janet thought.  Very good.  Except that Janet had
seen similar phrases from other interviews in the past.  Janet polished off
the sandwich, then started on the salad.  She finished one can of Coke,
then opened another.  As a joke, Tina had chosen two slices of melba toast
for dessert, which Janet ate anyway.

	Janet smiled to herself.  Sunday night, Tina would pay for her little joke
with a paddling on her bottom, which would smart for days afterward.  But
that was all part of the relationship that they shared together.  Mistress
and slave.  Domme and femme.  Lovers.

	Janet's reverie was disturbed by a knock on the door.

	"Enter."

	Cheryl entered, naked.

	"I'm here to pick up the tray, Mistress," stated Cheryl.

	"Go ahead," said Janet as she wiped her mouth on a paper napkin.

	Doing as she was told, Cheryl walked behind Janet and retrieved the napkin
that had been on Janet's lap.  Janet noted the new stripes on Cheryl's
bottom.  When Cheryl reached for the tray, Janet pulled Cheryl to her, and
traced the new welts on her behind.

	"How did you get these?" Janet demanded.

	"I didn't follow an order, Mistress."

	"And what did you learn from these stripes?"

	"That I must obey Tina as I do you, Mistress," Cheryl answered.

	"Good."

	"Thank you, Mistress."

	"Go, Cheryl.  And learn, lest you give Tina more reasons to stripe your
bottom."

	"Yes, Mistress," said Tina as she picked up the tray.

	"I expect you to be a satisfying and attentive lover when next I take you
to bed, else you will be severely punished," sternly admonished Janet.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Go," Janet ordered.

	Janet sat back in the chair, happy that she had not confronted Cheryl
about her interview.  No, that she would do tomorrow, before she left. 
Tonight, Janet would have her under the whip.  Janet wondered just how
strong Cheryl would be when a thin cord of leather would wrap itself around
her, leaving a painful stripe behind.

	Once Cheryl was gone, Janet got up from behind the desk and stretched. 
Yes, a walk around the estate, maybe even a short drive to get out of the
house was called for.  Afterwards, some Domme paperwork, then Dinner, then
Cheryl's second scene in the Dungeon.

	It was going to be a very busy evening!
	*		*		*		*		*
	Mistress Janet admired herself in the bedroom mirror.  She had chosen a
simple outfit call a "Dominatrix Dress."  It was made of PVC, zipped up in
the back, had long sleeves, and reached to almost to her knees.  Black, it
clung to all of her curves, showing off her figure.  She wore a pair of
nude stockings, and a pair of modest heels.

	"Could even wear this to a nightclub," said Janet to herself.

	By now, Tina would have prepared Cheryl, and they would both be down in
the Dungeon awaiting her.  It had been a very good day, after all.

	Janet had managed to read all the reports from other Dommes on slaves in
training, on meetings that she would have, and other affairs.  Beforehand,
she had taken a nice short drive in the Miata to refresh herself.  Dinner
had been interesting, since it had given her the chance to watch Cheryl
closely.  Janet got the distinct impression that Cheryl was used to being
served.  Her file indicated that she was rich enough, and was probably born
to wealth.

	Glancing at the clock, which read 10 PM, Janet decided that she had
already spent enough time.  She exited her bedroom, made her way
downstairs, and walked down the steps to the Dungeon.  Janet had given Tina
strict orders about Cheryl, and she knew that they would be obeyed.	

	In the Dungeon, Cheryl was kneeling on the floor.  Over her regular collar
Tina had placed a posture collar, one that placed her neck in a straight
uncomfortable position.  Her hands were locked behind her back, and the
collar was locked to a chain from the wall.  A leather gag completed her
bondage.  Cheryl was quite helpless.

	"Good evening, Tina," greeted Janet.

	"Good evening, Mistress."

	"I see that Cheryl is prepared for use this evening.  Did she give you any
trouble?" asked Janet.

	"Not after I struck her with the crop a couple of time, Mistress,"
answered Tina.

	"And how did her lessons go this afternoon?" Janet asked.

	"Very well, but she is not ready to share your bed yet, Mistress.  Perhaps
a few more sessions with me in the arts of love before she will be ready,"
offered Tina.

	"I have not yet decided how she will spend the evening," said Janet, "that
will depend on our session here tonight."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Janet smiled to herself.  Even if Tina has said that Cheryl was ready, it
still wouldn't matter.  She had already decided that Cheryl would be
spending the night chained at the foot of her bed on the floor in order to
frustrate her, just as Erica had done with her.  No, Cheryl would be driven
mad with desire to please her Mistress before Janet would again allow her
into Janet's bed.

	Janet reached down, and pinched Cheryl's right nipple, which was already
erect and hard.

	"Mmmmph!"

	Janet took hold of the D ring on the posture collar, and pulled Cheryl to
her feet.  Cheryl shakily rose, her balance off from the posture collar
that she wore.

	"Helpless, aren't we?" stated Janet.

	With the posture collar around her neck, all that Cheryl could do was to
bow her body a little in assent.  The gag in her mouth enforced her
silence.

	"You're going to be used tonight, Cheryl.  With a whip.  I'm going to make
you scream, do you understand?  You wanted to be here, and so you are.  You
will now know what it is like to serve me, slave."

	Janet then unlocked Cheryl collar from the chain holding her to the wall.
Tina passed her the keys, and Janet removed the posture collar from around
her neck.  Pulling her along, Janet positioned her beneath the ceiling
chain.  She unlocked Cheryl's cuffs from behind her back, then locked them
to the chain.  Cheryl offered no resistance.

	"A spreader bar, Tina," ordered Janet.

	Tina produced what Janet had ordered, and Janet motioned for her to attach
it to Cheryl's ankle cuffs.  Then Janet activated the motor, and Cheryl was
soon suspended on her toes off the floor.  She was bound, and totally
vulnerable.

	Janet removed a coiled black leather whip from the wall, and placed its
handle under Cheryl's chin.  Her eyes were wide from fear.

	"Is this what you want?" Janet asked.

	Cheryl nodded yes, and Janet removed the gag from her mouth.  Cheryl took
several deep breaths, her chest heaving.

	"Thank you, Mistress Janet."

	"I hope that you will say that when I have finished," said Janet, "now
kiss the whip, slave."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"I don't have to feel your cunt to know that you're already wet.  That's
the first sign that you desire a Mistress," stated Janet.

	"Yes, Mistress Janet," answered Cheryl.

	"Prepare to feel the whip," threatened Janet.

	Janet took a few steps back and let the whip uncoil on the floor.  It was
long and sinuous, and it gleamed in the lights.  Tina kept it well oiled
and cared form else she would be the one to feel it's effect! 

	"Yes, Mistress," answered Cheryl, fear evident in her voice.

	Janet drew the whip back slowly, then struck forward with a mild stroke
that would wrap itself around Cheryl's exposed figure.  When the thin
leather sailed through the air, it seemed as if time had seemed to stop. 
Then it impacted and wrapped around Cheryl's exposed flesh.

	Cheryl screamed more from fright than actual pain.  Janet had only used
enough force to mark, and not injure.  Still, Cheryl was clearly scared to
death as the thin leather coiled itself around her naked body, and the tip
finally coming to rest between her breasts.  Upon impact, it stung, making
Cheryl jump in her chains.

	"Owww!" cried Cheryl.

	"There is more to come, slave," said Janet with menace in her voice.

	Janet began to deliver a series of regular strokes with the whip, each of
which would land and mark a different place on Cheryl's naked body.  Set
against the marks from the cropping that Cheryl had received the night
before, her skin was no longer virgin.  First Janet's use of the crop, then
Tina's, and now Janet's use of the whip all had left their mark on Cheryl's
exposed body.

	One stroke after another left it's mark on Cheryl's body and Janet
delivered each stroke in groups five.  She paused after each group, in
order to give Cheryl a chance to rest.  Janet noted that tears were soon
falling from the corners of her eyes, running down her cheeks.

	After ten strokes, Janet took Cheryl's right breast in her hand, and
played with it as if it were a toy.  Janet began to squeeze it between her
fingers, finally pinching the erect nipple, making Cheryl squeal in
response.

	"Well, Cheryl," Janet began, "now do you understand what it means to be a
slave?  To lose control of your own body, to be at the mercy of others?"

	Janet then roughly fondled Cheryl's sex, and then inserted two of her
fingers inside her wet slit in the roughest way possible. Cheryl jumped in
her chains, startled.

	"Ahhhh!" cried Cheryl.

	Janet then repeated what she had just done, only rougher the second time.

	"Ahhhh!"

	"Lick my fingers," ordered Janet, as she offered Cheryl her own juices,
glistening on Janet's fingers in the light.

	"Yes, Mistress," cried Cheryl, as she complied with Janet's command.

	Once finished, Janet again held the whip before Cheryl's eyes.  Cheryl was
wide-eyed with fear.

	"You have only had ten strokes for far, Cheryl.  I shall now begin again,
and use you until I'm satisfied.  Do I have your permission?" asked Janet.

	"Yes, Mistress," tearfully answered Cheryl.

	Janet then drew the whip again, and delivered another series of five
strokes.  These she made sure landed between Cheryl's legs, making her jump
when the tip hit her sex.  Cheryl cried after each stroke, tears falling
down her cheeks.

	Once the five had been delivered, Janet paused.  She had sown her mastery
over Cheryl.  Now it was time to show Cheryl that her own body would crave
the pain of the whip, and betray her.

	"Kiss the handle," sternly ordered Janet.

	Cheryl eagerly complied with Janet's orders, kissing the braided handle of
the whip.

	"Your nipples are erect, your sex wet, your breathing fast.  Your body is
filled with desire for the pain and pleasure that the lash can bring.  Do
you now understand what it means to be a slave?" demanded Janet.

	"Yes, Mistress," tearfully answered Cheryl.

	"I'm now going to strike you harshly for your last five strokes, Cheryl. 
You're going to carry these welts for a long time until they heal.  But I
won't make you bleed, for that is the difference between a good Domme and a
bad one.  Between discipline and abuse.  Be glad that you now serve a
Mistress who will teach you the difference," explained Janet.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Janet struck out, making Cheryl scream.  Each stroke impacted and left
it's mark, but Cheryl's skin was reddened, but not broken.  When Janet was
done, Cheryl hung limply in her chains.

	"Kiss the whip," Janet ordered, offering the handle to Cheryl.

	Cheryl did as she was told, in silence, tears falling down her cheeks.

	"I don't think that Cheryl will be much use in bed tonight, Tina.  Treat
her wounds, bathe her, then chain her in a bedroom tonight," Janet ordered,
"and you may spend the night with her, since I think that she'll need a
shoulder to cry on."

	"Yes, Mistress," answered Tina.

	"I'm going to attend to some paperwork in the library, then have a bath,
then go to bed.  It's been a long day," said Janet as she placed the whip
back in its proper place.

	"Thank you, Mistress," weakly said Cheryl.

	"You're welcome, slave," replied Janet.

	Janet's last view of Cheryl that evening was that of Tina releasing her
from the bonds that held her from the ceiling chain.  Cheryl looked weak
and beaten, her eyes dark from the experience that she had undergone.
	*		*		*		*		*

Sunday June 14, 1998

	Sunday morning, Janet was wearing a T-shirt and a pair of jeans as she sat
behind her desk.  She was waiting for Cheryl, since she wanted to speak to
her before her departure.  There was Tina's distinctive knock on the door,
perfectly on time.

	"Enter," Janet ordered.

	Tina and Cheryl entered the library, Cheryl wearing the same clothes that
she had worn on Friday night.

	"Thank you Tina, we can be alone.  Cheryl, you may take a seat."

	"Thank you, Mistress," said Tina, as she closed the library door.

	Janet sat back in the chair, and surveyed her companion.  Cheryl, now
clothed, had regained her composure and bearing, but she still didn't look
at Janet directly.

	"All right, Cheryl," said Janet, "we're alone.  Is there anything that you
want to say?"

	"Thank you, Mistress."

	"No complaints that I used you too harshly?" Janet asked.

	"No, Mistress.  I came to you wanting to be a slave, and I'll accept
whatever training you impose."

	"Good," said Janet, "tonight, or maybe tomorrow, you will experience a
strange feeling.  You will stand naked in front of a mirror, and trace the
marks that I have placed upon you.  First, you will feel intense shame. 
For you will have placed yourself in submission to another woman.  But then
you will feel intense pride, remembering how my use placed the marks on
you."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Excellent.  I shall see you next weekend.  Your body now belongs to me,
Cheryl.  Remember that."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Go," Janet ordered, "and when you return, your descent into slavery shall
continue."

	Janet watched as Cheryl rose, and left the library.  For Janet knew that
Cheryl would be back, since Janet had opened a door for her that she had
willfully entered.  One that there was now no turning back from.
	*		*		*		*		*

>From the Diary of Cheryl Branford:
	When the limousine deposited me back at my rented apartment, I ran inside,
ready to cry.  Just days ago, I had been confident and headstrong.  I was
going to confront Mistress Janet, fence verbally with her, and coerce her
into training me as a slave.
	But now all I want is to pack my bags, abandon the whole idea, and flee
back to California, and the safety of home.
	When I met Mistress Janet at the Charity event, she looked simply
beautiful.  Long black hair, a designer gown, handbag and matching shoes,
tasteful but not ostentatious jewelry.  I made it a point to quickly
deliver my message and leave, before her companion, Jessica, might
recognize me.  Janet looked suitably shocked and stunned, and I vanished as
quickly as I could.
	But it was on Wednesday night when I had my first doubts about this entire
idea.  We talked, and reached an agreement.  I made my demands on her, and
she accepted.
	But nothing I had read, or any of those silly tapes I watched, prepared me
for the order to strip.  I suddenly felt vulnerable and exposed for the
first time in my life.  Then she inspected me, fondling my breasts and
invading my sex, finally spanking me several times to show her mastery over
me.
	That was, however, just a taste, a prelude, of what was to come!
	This weekend, I was kept naked, for there is a difference between being
nude and naked, collared and braceleted, made to serve and submit, and
used.  I was beaten with a crop and whip, and the marks burn in my flesh
even now.
	But what has shocked me most was her sexual use of me.  I had never been
made love to before by a woman, and first Janet, then Tina, took me to bed.
 My slavery shall include not just physical punishment, but sex as well.
	How can I deny that I am now sexually attracted to Mistress Janet?  Her
long black hair, beautiful face and lips, and lush body all make me wet
with desire.  When Janet took me to her bed, she gave me the best orgasms I
ever had in my life.  Then, she wanted me to please her.  I failed, because
of my inexperience, and was beaten with a crop in bed.  From now on, Tina
shall teach me.
	I am also frightened that I am also attracted to women sexually, for
Janet's use of me has awakened strange repressed feelings that I have tried
to keep secret even from myself.  Am I attracted to both women and men? 
Janet's leather clad figure, her breasts and sex, the scent of her body,
made me want her.  I loved the taste of her sex in my mouth, and want more.
	When Mistress Janet told me that I should back out, else it would be "too
late"; I did not understand what she meant.  I fear that I do now!  For at
the end of my training, I shall be her slave!
	Back home, when I thought up this idea, I believed that I could make
Mistress Janet pay a price to demonstrate her dedication to that title.
	But I now know that I shall be paying a higher price than she will!
	For Mistress Janet has already proven herself both as a slave and a Domme,
has felt the bite of the lash and crop, endured her bonds, and justly won
her position.
	I do not know whatever possessed me of the idea that I was somehow ever
fit to confront her.
	Even as I write this, I am somehow proud of the red marks on my body, and
my sex is wet with desire to please Mistress Janet.  Will I really be
trained as a slave?  Can my body betray my mind, and adapt to the uses I
have subjected myself to?  Will I eventually crave being bound and whipped?
	Worst of all thoughts to contemplate would be that if I am trained as a
slave, I might forget the reason I have come here. I would enjoy being her
slave, serving Mistress Janet both in the Dungeon and her bed.  Instead of
punishing her, as I fully intend to.
	The next morning, I took a steaming hot shower, attempting to wash away my
emotional confusion with water and soap.  After drying my hair in the
bathroom, I removed my terry bathrobe.  I gasped when I saw my naked
reflection in the mirror, seeing the red marks on my skin, the welts from
the riding crop and whip.  I was ashamed and proud at the same time, just
as Mistress Janet said I would be.  Then I ran to the bedroom and jumped on
the bed beating my fists against the pillows, tears flowing from my eyes.
	I am terribly afraid of what I have begun.

The Challenge
Chapter Four: Rejection

Part One: That Feeling of Power

February 1983

	Erica Riken sat at her desk, a cup of black coffee in front of her, papers
neatly organized, and the IBM PC humming away.  Trouble was, she just
couldn't concentrate on her work.  In her new job of bookkeeper she was
managing the finances of the liquor distributor, which handled hundreds of
cases of hard liquor every day.  Oddly, all she ever drank was perhaps wine
with dinner or a whiskey sour once in a great while.  

	Under her business suit, she massaged the latest welts that she had
acquired the previous weekend.  She had been used severely by Daniel, who
had beaten her with a riding crop until she had bled.  Crying when she
returned home, she had managed to clean her back off, and bandage her
wounds by herself.  She had decided to wear a business suit all week to
work, just in case the stripes should begin to bleed.

	It had been weeks now that she had to share Daniel with Lauren, who had a
strange effect on him.  Originally, Daniel had used her alone.  But then,
one night, Daniel had handed the riding crop to Lauren.  Her companion in
slavery then took the crop and used it savagely on Erica.

	Erica chewed on a pencil, aware that it was late Friday afternoon. 
Before, she would only see Daniel on Saturday.  Now she had been asked to
begin her period of slavery on Friday night.  It was therefore quite a rush
to do food shopping, laundry, and other domestic errands before the weekend
should arrive.

	She watched as the other employees completed their tasks, and talked about
the dates that they would be having.  Erica wondered just the others would
think if they knew what was going to happen to her.

	In just a few hours, she would be wearing nothing but an apron, cooking
Dinner for Daniel, Lauren, and herself.  Afterwards, she would clean up. 
Finally, she would be used in the playroom.  Sighing, at least she realized
that he had taken no further interest in using her bottom again beyond a
spanking.  She just couldn't bear the thought of going through that again!

	Erica realized that her project was done, so she saved her work, then shut
the PC down.  She locked her papers in her briefcase and desk, checked to
see what the others were working on, then bade them goodbye for the
weekend.

	She would now have to rush to get things done!
	*		*		*		*		*
	Beginning in childhood, she had been urged to help in the kitchen.  While
they had servants and a cook, she had been told that one day she would have
to keep a house.  That cooking was a skill that everyone should learn,
along with the other myriad skills in running a household.  So she had
learned to cook, and her mother had even sent her for cooking lessons at
some school in Manhattan.

	At the time, she would have rather loafed with her rich girlfriends.  Now
that skill was coming handy in her new life!

	Erica had shopped, and she would prepare roast duck.  The problem with
duck was that it contained a lot of fat, and had to be pierced continually
during cooking.  Nor could it be overcooked else it would be dry and tough!

	So Erica had rushed to Daniel's house (he would pick up Lauren) to start
Dinner.  She had cleaned and prepared the birds, and stuck them in the
oven.  So she stood there, watching them cook, piercing them with a fork,
draining off the fat.

	Erica was glad when she heard the door open, and she rushed over to the
foyer.  Daniel & Lauren had entered the house, and Lauren was closing the
door behind her.

	"Sir?" greeted Erica.

	"Good evening, Erica.  Is that dinner cooking?"

	"Yes, Sir." Erica answered.

	"Then you and Lauren had better attend to it.  I'll be changing."

	"Yes, Sir," they both answered in unison.

	Lauren set the table for three.  Erica had chosen a blush wine, since Duck
was dark meat, unlike chicken or turkey.  Erica was removing the two birds
from the oven when they were ready then Lauren intervened.

	"Shouldn't you cook those a bit longer?" asked Lauren.

	"No," pointed out Erica, "now that the fat has drained out, the meat's
done.  Any longer, and it'll be tough and dry.  I took a few cooking
classes."

	"Okay," Lauren answered.

	Of course, Erica didn't say that they had been in one of the most famous
cooking schools in Manhattan!

	Dinner that night went off rather well.  Lauren had set the table
properly, according to Erica's instructions.  They had dined on Duck,
parsley potatoes, asparagus, the red wine, and a cake that Erica had
bought.  The Dinner went off rather well, without any problems, since Erica
had directed Lauren in what to do.

	Daniel had clearly appreciated the meal, which was clearly of restaurant
quality.  Impressed, he had complimented Erica a few times afterwards.  But
it was only after they had cleaned up together, that all the dishes were
drying in the rack, that Erica realized just how jealous that Lauren was.

	"Do you think that by cooking dinner that will get you off?" asked Lauren.

	"What are you talking about?"  Erica replied.

	"Daniel asked you to do something.  You refused."

	"That's none of your affair," said Erica, nervously.

	"Yes it is, girly.  And Daniel is mine, slut!" snapped Lauren.

	"I was his before you came along."

	"Erica, Lauren!" called Daniel from the living room.

	Both of them quickly walked to attend Master Daniel, and knelt before him.
 He surveyed his two slaves quietly.

	"Erica, thank you for dinner this evening.  I had no idea that you were
such a good cook."

	"Yes, sir."

	"Did you go to school for that?"

	"I took a few classes over the years."

	"Had I known about your ability, I would have let you make dinner a long
time ago."

	"Thank you."

	"Tonight, I have something special planned.  Lois, a Dominatrix friend of
mine is going to be bringing over her slave Jasmine.  I had wanted to use
her myself, but since Erica made the fine dinner I think that the two of
you should be given the right to use her."

	Erica and Lauren stared at each other in silence, not replying to Daniel's
statement.

	"Erica, have you ever used the whip or crop on another slave?" Daniel
asked.

	"No, Sir."

	"Good.  It's an essential part of any slave's training to learn how to use
the crop as well as receive it.  So this will be your first time.  Lauren,
how about you?"

	"Not for a long time, Sir."

	"Excellent.  Master Richard and I will remain up here, and the two of you
can entertain Jasmine down in the playroom."

	"Thank you," they both said in unison, "Sir."
	*			*		*		*
 	About an hour later, Erica and Lauren were called out of the playroom to
attend the arrival of their guests.  In order to pass the time, Daniel had
ordered them to clean the playroom and the instruments of their torment. 
Daniel had not wanted to bother to supervise their every move, and had left
it up to the two of them to divide the tasks between them.

	Lauren had chosen to sweep the floor, and clean the X cross and wooden
cage that Daniel used to confine them during a session.  Erica had taken
the more careful task of cleaning and oiling the leather instruments of
discipline.  Naked, they both worked in silence, even though Daniel had not
ordered them to be silent.

	For weeks now, Erica had watched in silence, not saying anything as she
watched Lauren slowly manipulate her into Daniel's favorite.  No demand of
his was too humiliating, and Erica knew that she was there almost every
day.  One Friday night, she had entered the house, only to see Daniel
taking Lauren up her bottom in the living room.

	True, Daniel had respected her wishes and had not asked to use her there
again.  But she wondered just when the idea might again occur to Daniel. 
Or even if Lauren might suggest it, as a way of demeaning Erica still
further.

	Erica surveyed the instruments of her torment, laid out on the table in
front of her.  With a shock, she realized that they all had been used on
her at one time or another.  The whips, the crops, and the paddles that had
made her into a slave.  The gags, and the dildos all had been used to
introduce her to being Daniel's possession.  Which she was, at least until
Lauren had arrived.

	'How do I react in a love triangle when I'm a slave?' Erica asked herself
in silence.

	Since Lauren's arrival, Erica had slowly and inevitably felt herself being
pushed out of the way.  She had been confined in the wooden cage when
Daniel had used Lauren, then taken her up to the bedroom.  Or she had been
chained at the foot of the bed and ignored all night as Daniel used Lauren
sexually. 

	Just as she had finished oiling a leather paddle that was the last
instrument, Daniel had called to them to finish up.  Lauren had scurried to
put away her cleaning tools, and Erica had carefully replaced everything
back in its proper place in the cabinet.  Daniel would be down later to
make an inspection to pronounce the playroom suitable before use that
evening, and no doubt to show to his friend.

	Erica took one final glance inside the cabinet to make certain that
everything was correct and closed the doors.  The pushed the table back
there it had been and gathered the cloths and jars of polish that she had
used on the wood and leather instruments.

	"I'll be right along," said Lauren.

	"Okay," said Erica.

	Upstairs, Erica stowed the oils beneath the kitchen sink, and Lauren
joined her a few moments later.  They toweled off the dirt and oil that had
accomeulated on their naked bodies as they had worked.  Erica wished that
they had given an apron to work in, instead of being kept nude all the
time.

	"Girls!" called Daniel from the living room.

	They both scurried out to the living room, and quickly stood at attention,
though with their eyes downcast as they had been instructed.  Erica nearest
the door, since she was his primary slave, with Lauren next to her.  Daniel
had opened the front door to admit 2 women guests, and had embraced the
first to enter, which would have been the Dominatrix Lois.  Following
behind was another woman, which would have been Jasmine, her slave.

	Lois was an attractive woman in her early 30s, wearing an attractive red
dress.  She was tall, well built, and pretty.  She was wearing a knockoff
of a designer dress, carried a Coach handbag, and was wearing a set of
modest heels on her feet.

	Jasmine must have been in her late twenties, and was quite pretty as well.
 She was wearing a blouse and skirt, and Erica guessed that she wasn't
wearing anything underneath.  Her breasts were free under the fabric of the
print blouse, and her hips didn't betray a panty line.  Nor was she wearing
hose either.  She was perched on what Erica guessed was a set of five in
high heels, which must have been uncomfortable to walk in.  To complete her
outfit was a leather collar that was locked around her neck.

	"Daniel, how nice to see you again," said Lois as she held onto Daniel and
kissed him passionately on the lips.

	"You're looking well, darling," said Daniel in return as he held her
tightly and kissed her roughly.

	"Mmmmm, plenty of time for that later dear.  You already know Jasmine,
here.  So are these two yours?"

	"Yes," said Daniel as he closed the door behind Jasmine, "this is Erica,
who has been my slave for some time now, and this is Lauren, who is new."

	When they heard their names mentioned, they each curtsied to Mistress
Lois.

	"I see that you've trained them quite well," complimented Lois.

	"Yes, they know what would happen if I become displeased."

	"Excellent, there's nothing better than a well trained slave."

	"I'm only sorry that I didn't plan to have you over for Dinner.  Erica
made the most wonderful meal, I had no idea that she was such a good cook.
So I thought that if it was alright with you that we might let Erica and
Lauren use Jasmine for this evening."

	"Fine, but what does that leave for us to do?" asked Lois.

	"I think that we can find something that we can do together," answered
Daniel.

	"Yes," beamed Lois, "I agree."

	"Erica, why don't you prepare Jasmine in the bedroom?  I've laid out a few
things on the bed to get her ready.  Meantime, I can show Lois the house
and Lauren."

	"Yes, Sir.  This way," indicated Erica.

	Erica conducted her charge into one of the bedrooms.  Jasmine showed no
surprise at being greeted at the door by two naked girls, and followed
Erica in silence.  Laid out on the bed were a set of wrist and ankle cuffs,
red ballgag, and a leash.

	Jasmine said nothing, but merely unzipped her skirt and passed it to
Erica, who folded it and placed it on the bed.  Then she opened the buttons
on her blouse, and handed the garment to Erica, who placed it on a hanger
and hung it inside the closet.

	Just as Erica had assumed, Jasmine wore nothing underneath her clothes. 
She had been naked, without bra or panties.  Her white skin was well marked
with evidence both of the riding crop and whip, with welts both fresh and
fading from past use.

	"Aren't you going to get me ready?" Jasmine asked.

	"Yes," Erica answered, "I'm sorry, I was just looking at your marks."

	"That's OK," Jasmine answered, "I see that you've been well used
yourself."

	"When were you last used?" Erica asked.

	"Yesterday.  I was late returning from work, so Mistress punished me. 
You?"

	"Last week."

	"Do you live with Master Daniel?"

	"No."

	"Living with my Mistress makes me available for her constant use," Jasmine
stated.

	"I had better get you ready," said Erica.

	"Yes."

	Jasmine stood impassively as Erica locked the cuffs around her wrists and
ankles, then locking her wrists behind her back.  Erica then picked up the
ballgag, and stood behind Jasmine as she placed it inside her mouth. 
Jasmine opened her mouth wide to accommodate the red rubber ball, then
Erica tightened the roller buckle at the back of her neck.  Lastly, she
attached a leash to the collar of the bound slave.

	"Mmmmph!" grunted Jasmine from behind her gag.

	With her wrists bound behind her back, Jasmine's breasts jutted outwards
from her chest.  Erica noted that they had been used recently also, having
been marked.  Jasmine was evidently a slave that was used to being used
quite frequently. 

	Pulling on the loop at the end of the leash, Erica led Jasmine out of the
bedroom back into the living room.  Lauren had been pressed into service to
offer drinks to Daniel and Lois, who were both seated on the couch
together.

	"Ah, excellent," Daniel observed when Erica pulled Jasmine into the room.

	"Thank you, Sir," said Erica.

	Daniel rose, and inspected Jasmine.  He placed his fingers under her chin,
and looked at her face.  Then her fondled her erect breasts, and pinched
her nipples.  Tracing the outlines of her female curves with both of his
hands, he massaged her naked behind.  Then, finally, he pushed two of the
fingers of his right hand into her wet slit, making her moan in response.

	"She's well trained," Daniel commented.

	"Yes, I like to keep her on the edge of climax at all times, and used
constantly.  This way she only associates a sexual climax with the crop,
mixing together pain and pleasure."

	"Is she wet all the time?"

	"Mostly." 

	"I see then that you've trained her quite well."

	"Thank you.  You haven't done badly with Lauren," Lois replied, seated on
the couch.

	Erica then noticed that there was a riding crop on the table and that
Lauren had several fresh stripes on her bottom.  Evidently when Erica had
been preparing Jasmine, Lois had been allowed to use Lauren for her own
pleasure.

	"You have each been granted the use of Jasmine for thirty minutes only. 
You may mark or use her in any way you wish.  After that, you shall draw a
card.  The winner will get to spend the night with Jasmine, the loser will
have to service the two of us in the bedroom.  Do you understand?" Daniel
asked.

	"Yes, Sir," answered both Erica and Lauren.

	"Sir, may I ask a question?" asked Lauren.

	"Go ahead."

	"Mistress Lois, how severely may I use your slave?"

	Lois sat back in the couch, and twirled around the drink in her glass. 
She stared at the ice cubes, then took a sip.

	"You may use her until she calls her safeword, Mercy."

	Erica's interest was suddenly piqued.  Safeword?  She had never heard the
term before, and she was determined to ask about it, but only when the time
was right.

	"Mmmmmph!"  Jasmine cried from behind her gag, shaking her head from side
to side.

	"Behave Jasmine, or else you know what will happen when you return home!"
Lois cautioned in a harsh tone of voice.

	"Thank you, Mistress," Lauren replied.

	"Lois and I are going to change, then we'll be down to the playroom. 
Don't begin until we arrive," Daniel ordered.

	"Yes, Sir."  

	Lauren joined Erica, and they pulled Jasmine along by her leash.  Wearing
the high heels and without the use of her hands made going down the steps
to the playroom difficult.  Erica held onto her change, helping Jasmine
maintain her balance as she walked down the steps.

	Once inside, they locked Jasmine's leash to a bolt on the wall.  Erica
turned around, only to see Lauren already holding a riding crop.

	"We were told to wait," Erica told her companion.

	"So I'm waiting," Lauren answered.

	"Who shall use her first?"

	"You, since you've never used the crop on anyone before.  Then it will be
my turn," Lauren answered.

	"Okay," Erica agreed.

	A few minutes later, Daniel & Lois joined them.  Daniel had changed into a
pair of leather pants & vest, and Lois was now wearing a leather bra and
skirt.  Erica was reminded of Mistress Martine, and missed her terribly.

	Because they both had been granted the use of another slave, neither Erica
or Lauren was naked.
Clothes had been left for them in the playroom, and they had dressed
together.  Erica wore a leather top, skirt, and heels.  Lauren wore a
leather bodysuit, and boots.  They still wore Daniel's collar around their
necks, but they were each going to be using a slave for discipline. 

	"Erica, since you've never used a woman before, I think that you should
have the honor of using Jasmine first," ordered Daniel.

	"Thank you, Sir," Erica said in response.

	Erica was handed the set of keys by Lois, and a riding crop.  She held the
leather and bamboo object in her hands gingerly.  Some two years now, she
had felt the sting of the crop on her own naked body.  Her flesh had been
decorated by the marks that the crop had left behind, and she had screamed
in both pain and pleasure from it's application.  Prior to her slavery, the
only time before that when she had handled a crop had been when she had
learned horseback riding in Europe.  But that was long ago, and in another
life.

	Walking on the heels over to Jasmine, the shoes clicked on the surface. 
Soon Erica stood in front of the bound slave that she had locked to the
ringbolt.  Jasmine was truly beautiful!  A magnificent mane of black hair,
wide shoulders and high breasts, a narrow waist, and a delicious looking
pussy all made her something to look at.

	Erica reached out with her right hand, and touched and fondled Jasmine's
right breast.  Excited from being bound and naked in the playroom, the
nipple was hard and erect.  Tracing a path downwards on her flat stomach,
Erica's hand reached the slave's sopping wet sex.  It had taken her descent
into slavery to discover that she was attracted to both men and women, that
she wanted ever so much to suck at Jasmine's cunt.

	"Mmmmmph!" grunted Jasmine, her mouth filled by the gag as Erica massaged
and inserted her fingers inside of the slave's wet slit.

	Conscious of the fact that she only had a limited amount of time to use
Jasmine, Erica removed her fingers from the slave's cunt, and unlocked her
collar chain from the ringbolt.  Holding Jasmine by the elbow, she walked
her over to the whipping post.  Erica unlocked Jasmine's cuffs from behind
her back and then locked them to hooks above Jasmine's head.  Then she
unlocked the ball gag and removed it from the slave's mouth.

	"Thank you, Mistress," said Jasmine.

	"You're welcome, slave," answered Erica.

	Erica then presented the crop to Jasmine's lips, and she did not even have
to be ordered to kiss the instrument of her torment.  Jasmine quickly began
to kiss the crop, her wet lips touching the leather.

	"Prepare to be used, slave," stated Erica.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Erica stepped back, and delivered her first stroke of the crop on a
person.  Done without any force or power behind it, it made no sound as it
struck Jasmine's flesh.  Erica swallowed conscious of the fact that three
people were watching her.  So she began to strike Jasmine ever harder, with
each stroke now leaving a mark behind.

	Bound to the post, all that Jasmine could do was to rub her naked sweating
body up against the wood.  Erica struck at Jasmine's back, behind, thighs,
and her underarms and breasts.  It took little time for Jasmine to begin to
sweat from punishment that she was taking.

	After a few minutes, Erica stopped.  Jasmine's body was now covered by a
series of red welts, which covered the parts that Erica had been able to
reach.  Erica then looked at her Master, who beckoned her to continue.

	"Kiss the crop," Erica ordered.

	For the first time since the accident that had nearly claimed her life,
Erica had felt a strange surge of power surging though her.  Before, she
had enjoyed being under the lash, being used by her Master.  But now,
suddenly, she was thrust into a new plane of existence.  Erica gasped when
she realized that after two years of being a slave, she had entered the
Domme space.

	"Are you all right, Erica?" Daniel asked.

	"Yes, Sir!"

	Erica then unlocked Jasmine's hands from the post.  There wasn't much time
left, so she pulled Jasmine over to the Bondage cross.  She secured
Jasmine's wrist cuffs to the sides, then her ankle cuffs down below.  The
front of Jasmine's body was now available to Erica for her to use.

	She displayed again the crop to Jasmine, then began to strike her breasts
and between her legs with a series of stokes that made Jasmine moan and
shake within her bonds.  Erica knew that what Jasmine was now experiencing
was a series of sexual orgasms and pain at the same time that was driving
her to ecstasy.  The slave moaned and bucked under the crop.

	"Ooooh!" cried Jasmine.

	Finally, sensing that her time was just about up, Erica stopped and found
a dildo in the toy cabinet.  She held it firmly in her hand, and pushed it
deep into Jasmine's wet slit.  Jasmine moaned, then came in rush of moans
and screams.

	"Time's up, Erica," said Lois, "that was very good."

	"Thank you, Mistress," answered Erica, as she bowed to her audience.

	"Erica, go clean Jasmine up before her use by Lauren," ordered Daniel.

	"Yes, Sir!" Erica answered.

	Erica placed the crop back in the cabinet, then released Jasmine from her
confinement.  Jasmine was used to being a slave, and was able to accompany
Erica upstairs to the bathroom.  Erica filled the bathroom sink with water,
and washed off Jasmine with a wash cloth.

	She ran the cloth over her shoulders, breasts, but hesitated when she
reached Jasmine's mons.

	"It's all right," laughed Jasmine, "my cunt won't bite."

	"I've never washed another woman before," said Erica.

	"Are you attracted to men or women?" Jasmine asked.

	"I'm not sure," Erica answered.

	Jasmine grabbed the cloth from Erica and proceeded to clean her sex and
the inside of her thighs.  Erica watched in silence.

	"After I get used by Lauren, I get the distinct feeling that Daniel and
Lois are going to take her to bed.  So that leaves us," hinted Jasmine.

	"I've never been to bed with a woman before," said Erica.

	"Well, there's always a first time."

	Erica then returned to the playroom with Jasmine.  After her brief wash,
she had combed her hair and tied it behind her head.  Jasmine seemed
totally free with her naked body, holding it like a proud object on
display.  For a brief moment in the bathroom, Erica had brushed against
Jasmine, and their breasts had touched.  Jasmine smiled, and Erica had seen
that look of lust before.

	"Are we ready to proceed?" asked Lois.

	"Yes, Mistress," answered both Erica and Jasmine.

	"Then you belong to me," said Lauren.

	Suddenly, Erica feared for Jasmine.  She had seen that look, that sadistic
leer in Lauren's face before.  Whenever Daniel had allowed Lauren to use
Erica, a different Lauren emerged.  Not the submissive slave or even the
caring Domme that she had seen in the City clubs.  But someone else,
someone vicious and perhaps dangerous.

	Lauren took Jasmine from Erica, and led her over to a chain hanging from
the ceiling.  She locked Jasmine's cuffs to the chain, and ordered Erica to
get her a spreader bar.  Jasmine's ankles were locked to the back, opening
her legs about two feet.  Jasmine was now totally available for whatever
that Lauren had in store for her.

	"Erica, please bring me the whip?"

	"Yes, Lauren."

	Doing as she was told, Erica then found the whip, neatly coiled from when
she had cleaned and oiled it before.  The leather reflected back the
playroom's lights, showing that Erica had done a good job in cleaning it. 
Erica then passed the fearsome device to Lauren.

	"Prepare to be whipped, slave," threatened Lauren.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Lauren began without even offering the whip's handle to Jasmine, but
instead merely began to administer a series of light strokes.  Every time
that the whip would strike Jasmine's body the girl would shudder in her
chains and moan both from pain and pleasure.  Steadily Lauren increased the
power behind each stroke, and the whip molded itself to the female curves
that it was being applied to.

	Each stroke of the whip ended with a crack against Jasmine's naked flesh.
Tears fell from her eyes and moans of pain escaped her lips, but she did
not call the safeword that Erica had wondered about so much before. 
Instead, Erica knew that Jasmine was riding the pain, divorcing her body
from her mind so that she could endure the ordeal of being whipped.

	Sweat fell from her armpits, and ran down her flanks.   It seemed as if
the only thing that measured the passage of time was the regular crack of
the whip against Jasmine's skin.  Lauren would deliver a series of ten
strokes, pause, and then begin again.  After all, she had been having
plenty of practice.  On Erica's flesh.

	"Times up," said Lois.

	Lauren then drew her arm back to strike Jasmine once again, only to have
Lois rush over and grab onto her hand, stopping her.

	"I said, time's up.  You forget yourself, slave!" 

	"I'm sorry, Mistress, I beg your forgiveness," replied Lauren, bowing to
Lois.

	Lois then slapped Lauren strongly across her cheeks, and her hands left a
red mark on her face.  She continued holding Lauren, and then pressed
against her.  She forced her mouth against Lauren's then planted a savage
kiss on her lips, and forced her tongue inside Lauren's mouth, making her
moan.

	"Daniel, I think that for this slave's insolent behavior this evening we
should take her to bed with us for a little session, don't you agree?"
asked Lois when she had released Lauren.

	"Yes, I think that would be a very good idea.  I think that it would do
Lauren good to be sucking on your pussy when I'm going up her cunt, or
maybe her bottom."

	"Don't forget the riding crop.  I'm sure that a few strokes will do her
good as well," Lois observed.

	"Of course, you're my guest."

	"That leaves Erica & Jasmine, doesn't it?" asked Lois.

	"Let them spend the night together," Daniel offered.

	"Excellent idea!"
	*		*		*		*		*
	From the next room, Erica and Jasmine could hear the sounds of Lauren
being used.  After the session in the playroom, Erica had watched as
Jasmine took a quick shower, followed by Erica and finally Lauren.  Then
they had all adjourned to the bedrooms, and being used.

	On the dresser was a riding crop, cat, and dildo.  Both Erica and Jasmine
wore collars, but their bracelets from their wrists and ankles had been
removed, and neither had been secured to the wall.  Erica felt strange
being naked in a bedroom with Jasmine.

	She had not felt this way with Mistress Martine in the city, but that was
because Martine had not taken her to bed.  When she had been young in her
early twenties, she had worked at Gucci, interning there for a summer job.
She had been taken to bed by an older woman in her thirties, and had
enjoyed the experience.  In the years since, she had gone to bed with both
men and women, leading her into sexual confusion.  What sex was she
attracted to? 
  
	"Scared?" asked Jasmine, a smile on her lips.

	"No……no," stammered Erica.

	"I can guarantee that it won't hurt at all, unlike a session," said
Jasmine as she embraced Erica.

	Jasmine began by tenderly kissing Erica on her cheeks and lips, while her
hands roamed over Erica's body.  Her washed body smelled of Jean Nate,
which she had sprayed on herself in the bathroom.  Erica responded to her
slowly, by holding the other woman to her.

	When Jasmine began to suck and playfully bite her erect nipples was when
Erica finally became aroused by her partner's attentions.  They were
rolling around on the bed, not even bothering to get under the covers.

	Then Jasmine's hand cupped Erica's mons and slit, and inserted two of her
fingers inside Erica's sex.  Erica didn't flinch or stop, but instead
opened her legs to accommodate the other woman's attentions to her sex.

	"That's good, Erica," breathed Jasmine.

	Erica didn't reply, but instead held Jasmine closer to herself, their
breasts pressed tightly against one another.  She loved the scent of
another woman, and the feel of her companion against her.

	Jasmine disengaged her arms from Erica, then made Erica lay back on the
bed.  She planted a trail of kisses on her stomach as she made her way down
to Erica's wet sex.

	"I'm now going to make you scream with pleasure," Jasmine said softly.

	Erica felt her pussy sucked and tongued by Jasmine, and when the woman's
tongue entered her lips and played with the bud of her clit she moaned with
excitement.  Erica opened her legs still further, and played with Jasmine's
long hair as the woman sucked and lightly bit Erica's sex.  Sweat broke out
on Erica's body as she pulsed with new found erotic feelings, then she
finally came with a rush that left her panting and breathless.  Erica
moaned with the greatest pleasure that she had ever known in her life.

	"Thank you," said Erica as they snuggled up against one another
afterwards.

	"You're welcome."

	"Jasmine, can I ask you something?"

	"Well, we're naked and in bed, you've used me with a riding crop and your
fellow slave has whipped me, so I guess that there are no secrets between
us," laughed Jasmine, "what do you want to know?"

	"What's a safeword?"

	"You mean that you're a slave and you don't know what a safeword is?"
asked Jasmine.

	"No."

	"You must be joking!"

	"No, really," Erica answered.

	"A safeword is something that you as a slave agree to with your Master or
Mistress beforehand.  When you've reached the limit of your pain or
endurance, you call mercy or something else, and that stops the action. 
Period."

	"I have never heard that before," said Erica.

	"How long have you been a slave?"

	Erica related how she had met Daniel and been attracted to him, how he had
run her life and prevented her from reading anything about Dominance and
submission.

	"Hmmm," Jasmine answered, "I've never heard of anything like that, but
being a slave doesn't mean having to turn your mind off."

	"What can I do?" Erica asked.

	"Well, there's plenty of books available.  Why don't you look around in
Manhattan and you'll find a whole group of shops that sell clothing and
whips, and they all have books on the subject too.  That was how I started,
by reading, going to clubs, then I met Mistress Lois."

	"Oh," answered Erica.

	When Erica was between Jasmine's thighs and exploring her sex and tasting
another woman for the first time, Erica resolved that her period of
ignorance was over.  She was going to learn more about D/s no matter the
cost, which she was prepared to pay.  She had been under Daniel's spell
long enough, kept in ignorance, and only having to say "Yes, sir."

	Just as she had crossed one divide by having her appearance changed and
becoming Erica Riken, she would now recreate herself again.
	*		*		*		*		*
	"Good evening," said Lauren.

	Erica awakened to find herself on a bed, lying face down.  The last thing
that she remembered had been Lauren using her with a cane, then she had
passed out from the beating.

	"How do you feel?"

	"Hurt," Erica answered.

	"You took the cane very well, before you passed out," complimented Lauren.

	"Why?" asked Erica.

	"Because Daniel said that you were disobedient, which was why I punished
you."

	"Why are you so vicious, Lauren?"

	"What do you mean, vicious?"

	"Why are you so anxious to hurt someone?" cried Erica.

	"Because all my life I've been taking it from others.  I was raped and
abused by a family member when I was young.  An athlete in school beat me
when I wouldn't put out for him.  Now I have the chance for a little power,
and I'm going to use it," explained Lauren.

	By then, Erica had ceased to care about, Lauren, Daniel, or much of
anything else.
	*		*		*		*		*
	Erica's chance for knowledge had arrived just three weeks and six beatings
later.  One Wednesday morning the phone rang just as she had been dressing
to go to work.  Her boss had called to tell her not to come in, since a
power transformer had exploded near work.  Power had been knocked out to
the entire block, and the police had cordoned the area off.  So there was
going to be no work today!

	Erica quickly stripped off her work clothes, and looked at herself in the
mirror.  Daniel, in a violent episode, had punched her in the eye.  Erica
had covered up the bruise with makeup, and it was finally beginning to
heal.  However, she had been subject to a series of very severe beatings
that had left her sore and stiff.

	One night, Daniel had used her, then handed the whip to Lauren.  Lauren
didn't stop until Erica had hung limply in her chains, and her back had
bled.  Erica had wanted to scream mercy, but had managed to keep silent.

	In the last three weeks, Erica had planned her city trip carefully.  She
had bought the paper again, and found that fetish shops did indeed exist. 
So she had called all of them, had noted their locations in the city, and
had resolved to visit as soon as possible.

	Now she had her chance, and Erica decided to take it!  She dressed in an
old blouse and jeans, sneakers, and would drive into the city.  She had
resolved to buy every book that she could lay her hands on, to finally
learn.

	Regardless of what her Master had told her!	

	The drive in to Manhattan was done after rush hour.  Erica parked her car
at a lot closest to the fetish shops that she could manage.  Walking down
the streets, she realized just how long it had been since she had last set
foot in the city.  How she missed it's excitement, and pulse!

	Entering the first shop, she was immediately turned on by the aroma of
leather, rubber & PVC.  She had seen the outfits that Martine had worn, and
wondered where the Dominatrix had bought them.  Now she knew.  But it was
the bookrack that had been her reason for coming here, not clothing.

	Feeling like the first time that she had set foot into the famed library
at Harvard, she walked with purpose to the large display of paperbacks and
hardcover books.  Swallowing, she selected one at random, leafed through
it, and started reading.  Here was something that was not coming from her
Master.

	One by one, she looked over a copy of each book, then placed in on the
counter.  Soon, she had a pile of books on proper D/s practice; D/s
devices; books written by Doms & Subs about the D/s experience; and
fiction.

	"Starting a library?" asked the store clerk.

	"Kind of," Erica answered.

	After selecting the pile of books, Erica took some time to satisfy her
curiosity to try on some of the fetish garments.  She enjoyed the feel and
smell of their materials, and how sexy that they made her look.  The woman
helping her noticed the marks on her body, but said nothing, instead
helping Erica select garments that fit her perfectly.

	Erica left the shop with a big bag of books, plus some clothing after all.
 She realized that she couldn't get this sort of stuff in Connecticut! 
Stowing the goods in the car trunk, she walked to the next shop.  She
wasn't surprised to find that there were only a few publishers of D/s
books, nor of fetish clothing.

 	How often had she gone from Macy's to Stern's and then finally Gimbel's
and seen the same dresses?  So it was no shock that her choices were
limited.

	She ate a late lunch at a restaurant, and read a book about D/s while
eating.  While her choice of reading material raised the eyebrows of the
waitress, Erica didn't care.  The drive back was uneventful, and Erica half
wished that she could have taken the train.  But then she would have been
limited to the amount that she could carry, not keep in the car.

	Bringing the bags back to her apartment was a chore, but one that she did
gladly.  Finally, she opened each bag and emptied the contents on the bed.
Having brought a few cans of Coke with her already, Erica took a notebook
and pen, and opened a book that looked good.  She began to read, and learn.

	Erica Riken would no longer be a slave to ignorance any longer, no longer
blindly accept whatever Master Daniel had told her.  Her belated education
had begun. 
	*		*		*		*		*
	"Deep throat me," Daniel ordered one evening.

	Still dazed from the punishment session with the whip that she had
endured, Erica wasn't sure if she had heard Daniel's order correctly.  She
had been made to hang from the ceiling chain for what had seemed like an
eternity before first Daniel and then Lauren had consented to use the whip
on her.  Her shoulders ached, and her arms felt like they were going to rip
themselves from their sockets for hanging so long.

	Her feet were inches from the floor, but they may have been miles away for
all the good that it did her.  Every muscle in her body was strained from
having been kept in suspension for so long, and she felt like she had been
placed on a rack.

	But it was the lash that had hurt her.  Used by both Daniel and Lauren, it
had been applied without mercy.  In recent weeks, it had been made plain to
Erica that while both she and Lauren were slaves, Lauren had taken her
place.  So Lauren was allowed the freedom to use Erica, which she took at
every opportunity.

	After this session, Erica had slumped to the floor after being released,
not even having the strength to stand.  She felt like crying, since this
was not the way that she had been treated before Lauren had arrived.

	Daniel had then walked over to her, and unzipped the leather outfit that
he had been wearing and exposed his hard erect cock.  His shaft was long
and hard, and Erica had not minded taking him in her mouth before.  But not
after she had been beaten into submission first.

	"Deep throat me."

	"Please Sir, I don't feel well!" Erica protested.

	"You'll feel a lot worse if you don't do as I say!"

	Reluctantly, Erica got to her knees and with her right hand, guided his
organ into her mouth.  She licked and sucked, and Daniel remained hard. 
But without warning, he plunged his shaft deep into her throat, making her
gag.

	"Take my cock, slave!"

	It took all of Erica's concentration to avoid pulling her mouth away from
his shaft, and he came quickly.  Erica tasted the salty pre-come before his
shaft came alive and began to pulse with orgasm.  His hot come shot into
her throat, and Erica swallowed the salty fluid, hoping that it would be
over soon.

	Once he had finished, Erica slumped again to the floor.  The floor cooled
her heated flesh, and Erica wished that this nightmare of abuse and
punishment would end.  But she had no idea how she might leave Daniel.

	Later that night, both Daniel and Lauren had taken her to bed.  She had
been made to suck Lauren's pussy as Daniel had used both of her bottom
holes.  First, she had liked the feel of his cock in her sex, and she had
been driven to orgasm.  But Lauren, in her desire to show that she was a
better slave, had always let Daniel use her anus without complaint.

	The next day, Daniel had informed her that they were all going to attend a
D/s play party next week, and that he was going to have Erica perform her
submission in public.  The following weekend, Erica knew, was going to be
very difficult on her. 

Part Two: Rejection

March 1983

	The party was held the following weekend at a house in Westport, just up
from Greenwich.  Daniel had worn a black outfit and was carrying the
toybag, in which he had brought a short whip, a crop, and a few other
things.

	Erica had worn a black dress, with nothing underneath, leaving her feeling
strange not be wearing at least a bra and panties.  Lauren had worn a
blouse and skirt, also without any underwear either.  Daniel had been
acting even more strange than normal, and had asked Erica over to his house
during the week.  The sole purpose of her coming over on Wednesday had been
to lubricate her bottom and make her wear a large butt plug for several
hours.

	It was one thing, Erica thought, to be used in a consensual manner in
public, as she had been in NYC before she had met Daniel.  But now, in
spite of the face that she had politely asked him how she was going to be
used, he had refused to tell her.  In fact, he had belted her in the jaw,
leaving her in pain and shock.

	The house was a large one, and several cars were already in the driveway.
Daniel parked the car, and he escorted his two slaves to the door and rang
the bell.  A woman wearing a halter-top, skirt, and leather collar around
her neck admitted them inside.  

	Their hosts were Keith and Beth Simon, a married couple.  He was her
Master, and she the slave.  He was a doctor at a local hospital, she was a
teacher at a local school.  They were quite an attractive looking couple
together.  

	Several others had arrived before them, a mixed group of Masters,
Mistresses, slaves both male and female, some in various states of undress.
 The Dom(mes) were the only ones talking, unless given permission to by
their owners.

	Shortly after their arrival, Daniel had placed collars on them both.  That
way, anyone would know that they were both slaves.  He had gotten them both
drinks, and they circulated amongst the other guests.  One female slave had
undressed, and was displaying her marks.  Her nipples were ringed, and her
Master had said that he wanted to have her sex pierced as well.

	After everyone had arrived, everyone went downstairs to the playroom. 
There, Erica noted a X frame, a bondage cross, chains hanging from the
ceiling for suspension purposes, a wooden cage (which Keith had said that
he had built by himself) stocks, and plenty of other things.

	The first person to be used was a female slave named Daphne by her Master,
Jason.  He undressed her, then locked her wrists to one of the ceiling
chains.  He had a long coiled whip in his bag, and used that on her.

	Daphne had been well trained, for she took fifteen strokes with only moans
escaping her lips.  Once the series was over, she kissed the whip and
Jason's hands, then bowed at his feet.  Everyone applauded the performance.

	Next was a Dominatrix named Regina, who had brought her slave William.  He
was tied to the X frame, and cropped for twenty strokes, which he counted
off perfectly.  Again, everyone applauded.

	As each Dom(me) used their slave, Daniel had gone to the bar and taken
another drink.  Erica knew that Lauren had been giving alcohol to Daniel as
a gift (since she had refused to steal it from her firm) and that he was
perhaps becoming dependent upon it.

	Finally, their turn came.  Erica stripped, and was braceleted as usual. 
She was made to lie down on a wooden platform, and her arms and legs were
stretched apart.  Daniel used a riding crop, and used her bottom and the
back of her thighs, and finally between her legs.

	Much to her surprise, she was released after her use.  Puzzled, Erica
wondered why her anus wasn't going to be used.  She rose from the platform,
only to be pushed down again by Lauren.

	"Now then," Daniel said, "you've all seen just how submissive my slave
Erica is.  Just to prove how good a slave she is, I'm now going to take her
up the ass with my cock."

	"No," said Erica.

	"What did you say?" Daniel asked.

	"No, Sir, please don't use my ass in public, please!" Erica begged.

	Daniel unzipped his black jeans, and everyone watched in silence, waiting
to see what happened next.

	"No, please, mercy," cried Erica.

	"What was that, slave?" Daniel demanded.

	"Mercy, Master, mercy!" Erica cried.

	Erica felt his hard cock at the entrance to her bottom and jumped away. 
When she turned to face Daniel, she was punched in the stomach, and then in
the jaw.

	"Disloyal slave!" Daniel roared.

	"Now that's enough," said Keith, as he placed his body between Erica, who
was cowering on the floor, and Daniel.

	"Go away!  She's mine."

	"She's called Mercy, and has indicated that she doesn't want to be used up
the ass," said Keith.

	"She's mine, and mind your own business, damn you," screamed Daniel.

	Just as Erica was rising from the floor, Daniel maneuvered around Keith
and struck a blow with his fists that left Erica staggering.

	"Stop!" screamed Keith, "or I'll put you in the hospital!"

	"If you want this worthless slave so much, then you can have her," said
Daniel.

	It was then that Erica passed out, and slumped to the floor, unconscious.
She had taken a severe blow to the head, and it finally had knocked her
out.
	*		*		*		*		*
	Erica awoke to the feeling of a cold compress on her forehead.  Keith was
standing over her, and his wife Beth was holding her hand.

	"Are you all right?" asked Keith.

	"Where am I?"

	"In one of our bedrooms."

	"Where's Daniel?"

	"After he gave you to me, which was witnessed in public with everyone
there, he took Lauren and left right away.  How do you feel?"

	"My head's ringing."

	"Not unusual after the blow that you took.  Have you ever had a concussion
before?"

	"Yes."

	Erica thought to herself that Alana Peters had a great fall and all the
king's horses and all the king's men couldn't put Alana back together
again.

	"Well, get some sleep, and we'll talk in the morning.  One of us will be
with you all night."

	Keith pulled a sheet and a winter quilt over her naked form, and Erica
quickly drifted off into a deep and dreamless sleep.
	*		*		*		*		*
	Erica awoke to the wonderful aroma of tea.  Beth had placed a tray with a
teapot, and cup and saucer on the bed next to her.

	"Good Morning," greeted Beth, "how do you feel?"

	"Okay, I guess."

	"Sit up then and drink something."

	Erica sat up, and Beth arranged the pillows behind her back.  She was
naked, and bruised from the session the night before, but that didn't
matter.  Erica and Beth were both slaves, after all.

	"Thanks," said Erica.

	Erica drank a few sips of tea after Beth had filled the cup for her.  It
warmed her, and felt so good going down.

	"Can I have something to eat, I'm starved?" asked Erica.

	"Not yet," answered Keith as he entered the room and sat on the bed, "no
solid food since you might have a concussion.  I want you to have x-rays
first."

	"You're a doctor?" asked Erica.

	"Yes.  It's Sunday morning, and the hospital will be quiet now.  I've
arranged a private x-ray for you all on my account.  So drink up, and let's
get going," ordered Keith.

	"All I have is my evening dress," answered Erica.

	"I'm sure that Beth can find something for you to wear, can't you,
darling?" asked Keith.

	Thirty minutes later, Keith. Beth and Erica were on their way to the
hospital.  Beth had found a top, and jeans and sneakers for Erica to wear.
Erica and Beth sat in silence in the back, and when they pulled onto the
hospital grounds, Erica felt like she was having a panic attack.

	The Hospital.  Not the same one that she had been in before, but they all
looked the same.  All smelled the same.  They drove to the doctor's private
lot, and went in a side entrance.  Outside of security, maintenance and a
few visitors, the place was empty.

	It took all of Erica's will not to break down and cry in remembered pain
from her accident and recovery.  She lay on the x-ray table as she was
scanned from head to toe.  The technician developed the film, and handed
the pictures to Keith in an envelope.  They then walked to his office, and
Keith placed the pictures on a light box, and said nothing as Erica and
Beth waited in silence.

	"Beth, could you leave us for a few minutes, please?" asked Keith.

	"Yes, Sir."

	Once she had left, and they were alone, Erica waited for Keith to begin.

	"Daniel has been using you in more than just a D/s manner, hasn't he? 
You've covered up a black eye in makeup, you have evidence of being kicked
and punched, and a few hairline fractures.  Is that the way he's been using
you?"

	"Yes, sir," Erica answered softly.

	"I've never liked him, he's an embarrassment to us all in the scene.  One
day, he's likely to kill someone.  At least that won't be you, since
everyone heard him give you to me.  Do you want a new Master, Erica?  Do
you want to continue?"

	"Yes, Master."

	"I'm not your Master yet.  First, I want to interview you, see why you're
a submissive, your sexual orientation, and so on.  Being a slave means more
than being on the floor and saying Master."

	Erica sat in silence, and swallowed.

	"Your x-rays showed something more than just his abuse.  You've had some
pretty severe injuries lately.  A car accident?"

	"I fell off a ladder," lied Erica.

	Keith sat back in his chair, the leather squeaking as he shifted his
weight.  Erica could see that he was considering his next words.

	"I've been a doctor here for a long time, Erica.  There are the rich, the
old and new money, and everyone else.  Families going back to colonial
times.  There's a strange story running around the country clubs lately,
Erica.  About the daughter of a prominent family who survived a car
accident, who quit her Wall Street job and was seen going in a sex club in
Manhattan, then vanishing."

	"What does that have to do with me?  I'm a bookkeeper at a liquor
distributor in Darien," protested Erica.

	"You must have fallen off some ladder then, to sustain those kind of
injuries."

	"Yes, and it hurt like hell."

	"Do you know anything about a woman named Alana Peters?" bluntly asked
Keith.

	"No," Erica lied.

	"Good, then let's go out for brunch.  You must be hungry."

	"I'm starved."

	"I'm going to train you Erica.  In posture, in submission.  In using the
lash also.  It's time you had a proper Master."

	"Thank you, Sir," answered Erica.

The Challenge
CH05: The Test of Wills

Part One: Submission

Friday July 10, 1998

	Janet sat behind the library desk, chewing on a pencil.  She had watched
from the windows as Cheryl's limousine had pulled up to the landing; and
Tina had then conducted her into the house.  Outside, the rain was pouring
down in sheets and flashes of lightning and sounds of thunder could be
heard.  In short a typical summer thunderstorm for this time of year.

	Her only concession to her Domme status was that she was wearing a leather
skirt and silk blouse, with stockings and modest heels.  Which was
perfectly ordinary dress for a date.

	Given the summer heat, she had told Tina just to wear a normal outfit, not
made of any fetish fabric.  True, the house was air-conditioned; but Tina
still had looked disappointed by Janet's orders.

	Janet had noticed that Cheryl had worn a rubber mackintosh raincoat.  Once
Tina had taken Cheryl into one of the bedrooms to be stripped and readied
for use, Janet had looked over the coat in the hall closet.  It was an
expensive ladies English coat that Janet had seen when she had vacationed
in London the previous year. 

	The only reason that Cheryl could have chosen to wear such a coat would
have been to antagonize Janet in some fashion.  Janet had specifically
ordered her newest slave NOT to purchase or wear any fetish or scene attire
at home without her permission.  She recalled Erica's surprise when her
Mistress had discovered just what Janet had been doing at home by herself;
and the punishment that she had received for it.

	Resuming her library chair, Janet opened the manila file that she had on
Cheryl.  Inside was all of the information that Cheryl herself had
provided, plus everything that had been added since.

	"Why, Cheryl, why?" Janet asked herself, softly.

	During the past four weeks, Janet had introduced Cheryl to the world of
submission.  Cheryl had been stripped of her clothes, made to wear a collar
and bracelets, and used.  She had borne the crop and the lash, had her
breasts and sex used by Janet and Tina, and was in the process of being
trained.

	The strange part of this entire situation was that Cheryl was actually
responding well to her training.  She bore her marks well; Tina had
informed Janet that she was now ready for her bed; and Janet was now ready
to probe her bottom and other actions.

	But none of that answered the question of who she was and why!  Janet
reflected that if she had been Lauren, Cheryl would have been whipped until
she bled to force Cheryl to confess her reasons.  Instead, here was Janet,
wearing her Domme outfits and heels, at the mercy of her submissive.

	Cheryl had not once threatened since her initial interview to expose
Janet.  Janet thought that she would bring it up at every chance.  Instead,
Cheryl had gone tight-lipped into her training, obeying every order given
to her.

	Until now, with the raincoat.  Should Janet even bring it up to her?  Make
it an issue, and thrash her for it?  Or just ignore it totally, and get on
with her usual schedule with Cheryl?

	No, Janet decided that Cheryl had done this deliberately.  Just as Cheryl
had come out of the blue to impose herself on Janet, now she was defying a
specific order.  In less then just a month, she had broken one of Janet's
rules.

	But what would be the correct course of action?  Beating her harshly in
the Dungeon?  Denying her sexual release?  Locking her in the cell all
weekend?

	Janet reopened Cheryl's file looking for something that simply wasn't to
be found.  There was something in Cheryl's life that had propelled her to
seek out Janet in particular.

	And Mistress Janet Davis could not afford the luxury not to know why.
	*		*		*		*			*
	"Enter," Janet ordered.

	Tina led Cheryl into the library, as usual.  Cheryl was naked, and
collared, with her wrists locked behind her back in a set of leather
bracelets.  Her ankles were locked in a similar set, and her feet were
locked into a pair of high-heeled shoes.  She was quite helpless in her
current state.

	"Thank you, Tina," said Janet, "on your knees, Cheryl!"

	Tina pushed Cheryl to her knees on the carpeted floor, and stood in
silence awaiting Janet's next command.

	"Good evening, Mistress Janet," greeted Cheryl.

	"Good evening, slave," said Janet in return, "you have been my slave for
just one month, and you have already displeased me."

	"Mistress?"

	"That rubber mackintosh you just wore, shall I get it out of the closet? 
I gave you specific instructions that you were not allowed to wear anything
made of leather, rubber, or PVC except shoes.  And you have deliberately
disobeyed one of my instructions to you."

	"Mistress, I wore it because it was raining!" protested Cheryl.

	"You break my heart, Cheryl.  That's a special English mackintosh raincoat
made by a firm in London that's not even imported into the United States. 
You didn't buy that at Macy's, Cheryl."

	While she was talking, Janet opened the top drawer of the desk and removed
the small crop that she always kept there.  She held it between her hands,
and flexed the rod to display her power.

	"Mistress?" asked Cheryl.

	"This is not a game, Cheryl, you have come here of your own volition.  You
have displeased your Mistress by a deliberate act of disobedience, even
though until now you have performed quite well.  For that, you are going to
be punished."

	"Mistress, no!  I didn't mean any harm or disrespect!"

	Janet rose from her seat, and walked over to Cheryl.  She placed the tip
of the crop under Cheryl's chin and forced Cheryl to look directly at her.

	"What did you think that you were doing then?  This isn't a trivial matter
that you are involved in but deadly serious business," lectured Janet to
her captive.

	"What are you going to do to me?" asked Cheryl with fear on her face.

	"Tina," softly asked Janet.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"I want you to hang Cheryl by her wrists from the Dungeon ceiling so that
her toes can just touch the floor.  Then we'll leave her alone for a while
so she can contemplate her disobedience to me."

	"Yes, Mistress," answered Tina as she pulled Cheryl to her feet, "come,
slave."

	"No, please!" begged Cheryl.

	"You still haven't learned yet, have you?" asked Janet.

	"Mistress?"

	Janet responded to Cheryl by slapping her across the cheeks with a
stinging blow that brought tears to her eyes.  Then Janet swiftly delivered
one stroke with the riding crop across her breasts, leaving a single red
stripe behind.

	"It's time that you learned the true meaning of submission Cheryl, and by
your own actions, this weekend you will find out just how strong that you
can really be.  Take her away, Tina."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Tina pulled the sobbing Cheryl out of the library, and Janet returned to
her place begin the desk.  She would let Cheryl hang for about an hour,
until her arms would feel like they were going to come out of their
sockets.  Then the real discipline would begin.
	*		*		*		*		*
	After an hour, Janet walked into the Dungeon.  She had changed into a
leather bra, a simple skirt, and a pair of modest heels.  Hanging from the
ceiling chain, as ordered, was Cheryl.  She was clearly uncomfortable from
her ordeal.

	While Janet had ordered that she should be left alone, in reality Tina had
always been close nearby keeping an eye on Cheryl.  Janet reflected that
when she had been here hanging in the same position Andrea had been with
her.

	A Domme, a good Domme, should never leave a slave alone and in bondage. 
Janet looked at the cell, from which she had released Tina from Tiffany's
careless action.

	"Good evening, slave," said Janet.

	"Mistress, please!" begged Cheryl.

	Cheryl's ribs showed clearly beneath her skin as she strained for her toes
to reach the floor.  Sweat ran down her flanks and between her breasts.

	"Are you more tractable now?" asked Janet.

	"Mistress, I'm sorry about the coat."

	"Then where did you buy it?" demanded Janet.

	"At that rubber shop in London, just like you said.  I didn't buy it here,
I had to go all the way to London."

	"Very good, Cheryl.  Tina, the whip, please?"

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Tina removed the whip from the cabinet and handed it to Janet, who ran the
oiled leather through her fingers.  The whip would leave marks that Cheryl
would remember for quite some time.

	"Kiss the handle," Janet coldly ordered.

	Cheryl did so, meekly and in silence.

	"I want you to count out each stroke.  Failure to do so will result in
five additional strokes.  I will indicate when I have finished with you. 
Understand?"

	"Will I only be whipped, Mistress?" asked Cheryl.

	"No, slave.  That will be only the beginning."

	Janet lashed out the whip with a modest stroke, one that had the effect of
curling the whip around Cheryl's body.  It left a thin red stripe behind.

	"One!"

	"Two!"

	"Three!"

	"Four!"

	"Five!"

	Janet noted that thin beads of sweat had formed on Cheryl's skin, which
reflected the Dungeon's lights.

	"Six!"

	"Seven!"

	"Eight!"

	"Nine!"

	"Ten!" screamed Cheryl.

	Janet coiled the whip in her hands, giving Cheryl as rest from her use. 
Tears dropped from her cheeks onto her breasts.

	"Thank you, Mistress," said Cheryl, weakly.

	"Your punishment is not yet over, Cheryl.  It has just begun," calmly
replied Janet.

	"Eleven."

	"Twelve."

	"Fifteen!"

	Janet resolved to pause every five strokes to give Cheryl some time to
recover.  In the last few weeks, Cheryl had been used for progressively
longer sessions.  Now Janet was going to prove to Cheryl just how much of a
submissive that she could be by using her beyond what she thought her
limits might be.

	"Sixteen."

	"Eighteen."

	"Twenty."

	"Twenty-five!" screamed Cheryl, sobbing.

	"Twenty eight."

	"Twenty nine."

	"Thirty!"

	Cheryl had just undergone thirty strokes of the leather whip, her body was
covered in thin red welts.  Janet paused to let Cheryl recover her senses.
Just a little more.

	"Thirty one!" screamed Cheryl when Janet started again.

	"Thirty three!"

	"Thirty five!" sobbed Cheryl.

	"Enough!" said Janet as she coiled the whip, "Tina, release her."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Janet held onto Cheryl as Tina activated the motor that lowered the
ceiling chain.  Cheryl was limp in Janet's arms, almost a dead weight. 
Janet released her wrists from the chain, and pulled her over to a
leather-covered bench, and sat her down, followed by Janet herself. 

	"Tina, get a glass of water," ordered Janet, "and some tissues."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Cheryl burst out into a flood of tears, and Janet held her closely.  Their
breasts touched, and Janet let Cheryl hold her tightly.  Cheryl sobbed, and
Tina brought her a box of tissues, which Janet used to dry the tears from
her cheeks.

	"You were very brave, Cheryl," complimented Janet, "and very strong."

	"I didn't thank you for my punishment!" gasped Cheryl, "please don't hurt
me again, Mistress!"

	"It's all right, Cheryl," soothed Janet, holding her slave close to her.

	Janet let Cheryl cry it out, she would wait until the woman regained her
senses.  For Cheryl was on fire, her mind and body ablaze with sensations
that she had not felt before.

	Cheryl had undergone a severe session with a fearful instrument, the whip.
 Her flesh had been marked, she had taken thirty-five strokes and had not
called her safeword.

	"Mistress, I'm so sorry, I'll never disobey you again," sobbed Cheryl.

	"You did very well, Cheryl.  You have proved your submission to me.  Thank
you.  Are you all right?"

	"I think so."

	"Good enough to go upstairs?" asked Janet.

	"I think so, can I have a drink?" begged Cheryl.

	"Of course.  Tina, please."

	Tina held the glass as Cheryl slowly drank the entire glass of water down.
 The shock that she had undergone was now slowly fading.  Cheryl was
recovering from her punishment.

	Janet lifted Cheryl to her feet, and held the slave to closely to her. 
She gently walked Cheryl to the elevator, and took her to one of the first
floor bedrooms.

	"Mistress?" asked Cheryl, "didn't you want to take me to bed?"

	"Are you able to make love to me after your ordeal?"

	"Yes, Mistress.  Please?"

	"Then we'll stay here, not in my bedroom this evening.  Let me strip and
rub some salve onto your skin.  Then we'll see about making love."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Janet walked into the bathroom, and filled a glass of water.  In the
medicine cabinet, indeed in every one in the house, was a full medical kit
that both Janet and Tina had been trained to use by Stephanie in the event
of a medical problem.  Janet removed a tube of salve, and brought back both
to the bedroom.

	Cheryl was seated on the bed, and Janet passed her the glass.  The woman
held it for a few moments, her mind off somewhere else.  Cheryl drank,
without shaking, her grip firm and tight.

	"Feel better?" asked Janet.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Am I really hurt?"

	"No, just shock mostly.  You're already over most of it, and you've
learned to take the whip.  After this, you'll be able to take even longer
sessions under the lash, to divorce your mind from your body."

	"I still hurt," said Cheryl.

	"I can fix that."

	Janet removed her shoes and peds, then her leather bra and skirt, and
finally stripping off her panties.  The aroma of the leather clung to her
like a perfume.

	"On your tummy," Janet ordered.

	Janet opened the tube of topical anaesthetic, and spread some on the welts
on Cheryl's back,  moaning in response as it was applied and absorbed into
her skin.  She soothed the pain, relaxing Cheryl gradually.

	"Feel better?"

	"Yes, Mistress, thank you."

	"On your back," said Janet softly.

	Janet repeated the treatment that she had given to Cheryl's back.  She
gently applied the ointment, soothing Cheryl's welts.  Janet spread some on
her fingertips, then applied it to the inside of Cheryl's opened thighs. 
She had carefully delivered a series of strokes that had terminated between
Cheryl's legs that had driven the slave to a frenzy of excitement.

	"Are you all right?" asked Janet.

	"Yes, Mistress.  Make love to me?" asked Cheryl.

	Janet remembered the times that Erica had whipped her, then soothed before
Erica had taken her to bed.  Now here she was, Domme herself; doing the
same thing with her slaves.

	"Tina said that you're ready to service your Mistress, Cheryl.  Time to
prove it.""

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Janet lay down on one side of the bed, with her head on the pillow and her
legs opened.  She had expected that Cheryl would begin by sucking on her
clit.

	Instead, Cheryl began by holding Janet tightly to herself and kissing her
on the mouth, their tongues playing together.  Cheryl's hands explored
Janet's waist, thighs, and sex.  Cheryl again kissed Janet on the mouth,
then on the cheeks and neck.  She sucked and playfully bit one of Janet's
nipples, then the other.  She left a trail of kisses as she gradually made
her way down to Janet's sex.

	Finally, Janet felt her outer lips being bit and sucked, then Cheryl's
tongue on her erect clit.  She moaned and bucked as Cheryl serviced her,
bringing her to sexual climax.

	There was no doubt that handing Cheryl over to Tina for this part of her
training had been a good idea.  First because Tina had proven that she was
much better then Janet at teaching lovemaking; and secondly because denying
Cheryl the privilege of Janet's bed only made her desire it even more. 
Just as Erica had done with her!

	Janet's thighs exploded with one orgasm after another, and Cheryl kept her
teeth and tongue busy making sure that her Mistress knew that she had been
trained in the arts of love.

	"Ooooh!" Janet cried as one orgasm after another raced though her body.

	After what seemed an eternity, Janet was finally spent.  There was no
doubt that Tina had done her job well.

	"Thank you, Cheryl," gasped Janet.

	"You're welcome, Mistress."

	"Tonight I do something different with you," said Janet.  

	Janet removed a belt from the night table, and strapped it around her
waist.  She removed another belt, which already had a phallus attached. 
Janet locked the second belt though her legs, so that the phallus pointed
outwards.

	"Ready, Cheryl?"

	"Yes, Mistress, please!" said Cheryl as she arranged herself on the bed.

	Janet climbed onto Cheryl, and guided the erect phallus into Cheryl's wet
slit.  She didn't even have to check to know Cheryl's condition, as there
was no doubt that she was ready and waiting for Janet's next move.  Janet
pushed the shaft deep between Cheryl's legs, making her moan in response.

 	"Oooooh!"

	She next began a steady thrusting motion, and Cheryl returned each thrust
of Janet's with one herself.  Cheryl had become a willing, sensual lover,
not just lying there unmoving as she had done the first time.

	The erect shaft drove Cheryl wild with passion, and Janet's sweat mingled
with Cheryl's own as Cheryl soon bucked and moaned with orgasm.  Janet felt
Cheryl's fingernails dig into her back, pressing her tighter to her
Mistress.

	"Aaaaah!" Cheryl cried when Janet and the phallus finally drove her to
climax.

	Finally, they lay together, side by side.  Cheryl was resting, recovering
from the climaxes that had driven her wild with desire.  Janet undid the
belt from around her waist, and placed the belts back in the night table
and the phallus in the bathroom sink.

	"Mistress?" sleepily asked Cheryl.

	"Go to sleep Cheryl, I'll use you again tomorrow."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Janet pulled a single sheet over the two of them, then fell quickly asleep
herself.  She had not even bothered to chain Cheryl's collar to the
ringbolt above the bed.

	During the night, Janet partially awoke and remembered one of her actions
three summers ago………

	After a year of being a Dominatrix in her own right, Janet had decided to
redo the Dungeons downstairs.  She had wanted most to get rid of solitary,
that silly vinyl lined prison that had reminded her of an MRI.

	So she had moved things around a bit and had solitary confinement torn out
and had placed a small office and fridge back there.  She had a desk,
chair, another computer (linked to the main one upstairs); making the whole
place quite nice to work.

	In celebration, she had held a party, inviting many of her Domme friends
and subs.  They had a BBQ on the sundeck, and when they sun went down,
demonstrations in the Dungeons.

	Late that evening, after all the guests had left and Camille and Tina were
cleaning up, Janet and Stephanie were alone in the Dungeon.

	"Stephanie," Janet began, "are you mad at me for redoing Erica's
Dungeons?"

	"No Janet," answered Stephanie, as she sat on a chair, "I'm not, actually
proud of you."

	"Proud?" asked Janet.

	"Yes.  Had you left the Dungeons exactly like Erica left them, as some
kind of Memorial to her, I'd have been very disappointed.  You're a
different sort of Mistress than Erica was.  More caring, more sensual. 
Less addicted to props than Erica was," Stephanie explained.

	"Do you remember that day shopping?" asked Janet.

	"How can I forget?"

	Since she was dispensing with solitary, Janet decided that she wanted to
buy a cage of some kind.  Since the fetish shops all wanted a premium over
what the pet supply shops cost, the two of them had gone to a large pet
store.

	There they found the biggest steel cage for a pet (which was the exact
same one from the S&M shop) and Janet looked it over.  Finally, she crawled
inside and locked the door behind her, explaining that if she was going to
place her pet within, she wanted to check it out for herself.

	The staff had tried to ignore her, and Stephanie tried not to look
embarrassed and laugh until Janet had her fill of the cage.  Finally,
Stephanie let her out, and Janet got to her feet.

	"Do you want it delivered?" asked the clerk.

	"I'll call to order it," Janet answered.

	When they were driving home, Janet said that she was going to dispense
with solitary, and she didn't want a cage either, explaining that it didn't
fit in with what her idea of what a Mistress should be.

	"Okay, doggie."

	"I'm going to paddle your behind for that, Stephanie."

	"Woof!"

	Later that night, Janet had fulfilled her promise to Stephanie, who would
remember her remarks each time that she sat down for a while to come.

Part Two: Changing the Plan

Saturday July 11, 1998

	The next day, Janet decided would be a special one for Cheryl.  Tina had
taken her just after awakening for a beauty treatment.  Tina had gone to
school for that too, and was an expert at making a slave feel pretty.

	So Cheryl first had been bathed, and her hair been done and set.  Then her
nails and toenails had been trimmed, and polished.  Her lips and breasts
had been rouged, and perfume had been sprayed several times between her
legs, in order that the scent should linger.

	It was true that her naked body was covered in red welts, but those were
the marks of her position as slave.  Finally, Cheryl had been readied, and
Tina escorted her downstairs before Janet.

	Janet had gone back to sleep in an effort to kill time as Cheryl was made
ready for her.  Still, she had awakened early, showered and dressed, read
the Saturday papers, and finally started work on the computer.

	"Mistress Janet, Cheryl is here for your approval," said Tina.

	"Thank you, Tina.  Cheryl, step forward."

	Cheryl did as she was ordered, and stood rock still.  Her hair shone, and
was drawn backwards by a clip.  Her nails were all done in a bright red,
along with her lips.  Janet looked over every part of her, inspecting her
slave.

	"Thank you Tina, you've excelled yourself today.  She's beautiful."

	"Thank you, Mistress."

	"How do you feel, Cheryl?" asked Janet.

	"Fine, Mistress."

	"Did I hurt you last evening?" asked Janet.

	"No, Mistress."

	"Good.  You will now learn how to take more and harsher strokes from me. 
You will desire the lash and crop.  Do you understand?"

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"You may now prepare and serve breakfast."

	Janet ate in the dining room, after Tina and Cheryl had prepared a meal of
scrambled eggs, bacon, and toast.  Janet ate leisurely, keeping an eye on
Cheryl.

	Her charge held herself, erect, almost proud to display the marks on her
flesh.  Even as Janet remembered how Cheryl had restrained herself from
screaming in pain as Janet had applied them just the day before.

	There was no better or effective action than to take a slave in your arms
after a session, sooth their wounds and minds, and make them feel wanted
and loved.  Janet knew that Cheryl felt prized by the attention that Janet
had given her after last night.

	That stood in marked contrast, Janet remembered, how Erica had ignored her
sexually for months only allowing her to make love to Tiffany.  How Janet
had pined for Erica, yet her Domme would chain her at the foot of her bed.

	The same bed that Janet now encouraged her slaves to join her in, to show
that they were wanted and loved, and that their stripes were not applied
just for whims of a selfish, capricious Mistress.

	For the rest of the day, Janet decided, Cheryl would be taught posture and
submission.  Tina had been teaching her that already for some time.  But
now it would fall onto Mistress Janet to teach her slave by herself.  

	"Cheryl, you may join me in the library after you have cleaned up and
eaten breakfast," ordered Janet.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Janet rose from the table, and left Cheryl and Tina to both clean up and
eat themselves.  She estimated that Cheryl would be with her in about an
hour, and that would be just fine, as she had work to do.

	"Enter," Janet ordered from her desk chair.

	Cheryl entered the library and stood in front of Janet's desk, in silence,
awaiting the next orders from her Mistress.  Janet had been working on some
Xylex projects, and on the desk were groups of paperwork and reports, with
the Company name and logo displayed.

	"Slavery of a different kind," commented Janet.

	"Mistress?" asked Cheryl.

	"Nothing, just thinking aloud."

	Janet opened the desk drawer and removed a crop, nipple clamps, a butt
plug and dildo, and a few other things.

	"Do you know what these are?" asked Janet.

	"The instruments of my slavery, Mistress."

	"Yes.  All of these things can produce both pain and pleasure in a slave,"
Janet described.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"I want you to come and rest your hands on the desk, with your legs
apart," Janet ordered.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Cheryl did as she was told, and Janet got to her feet, walked around to
Cheryl's rear, and probed deep into her sex.

	"Ooooh!" cried Cheryl.

	"You wet so easily, Cheryl.  Did you always get wet so fast before you
came to me?" asked Janet.

	"No, Mistress."

	"Then Tina's training has proven successful, hasn't it?"

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Janet picked up two small metallic objects in her right hand and displayed
them to Cheryl by opening her palm.

	"Do you know what these are?" asked Janet.

	"No, Mistress."

	"Clamps for those erect nipples of yours.  Hold still."

	Cheryl gripped the edge of Janet's desk tightly as the nipple clamps were
first applied them tightened onto her nipples.  Since she was already
sexually excited they had become erect and distinct.

	"Aaaah!" cried Cheryl.

	"It's all right to cry out Cheryl," said Janet, "I did the first that they
were used on me also."

	Cheryl bore her ordeal in silence, her eyes wandering over the surface of
Janet's desk, her eyes finally fixating on the company stationary and
reports from Xylex.  She swallowed nervously, and memorized the company's
name for future reference.

	Janet next picked up the crop, and issued several stinging blows to
Cheryl's exposed bottom, leaving a red stripe behind on her flesh.  Cheryl
jumped slightly after every stroke was delivered.

	"Aaaah!" cried Cheryl, in response to Janet last and most severe stroke.

	"There now," said Janet, "now you're in the proper frame of mind.  Kiss
the crop."

	Cheryl did as she was told, in silence.  Her painted red lips left traces
of color behind on the black leather surface of the crop.

	"Now the real training begins.  On your knees, Cheryl," Janet ordered.

	"Yes, Mistress," Cheryl answered, as she assumed her position on the
floor, her knees opened wide with her hands on her kneecaps.

	"How do your nipples feel?"

	"Numb, Mistress."

	Janet noticed that Cheryl made no attempt to remove them.  Good, that
meant that Cheryl was learning her place.

	"I'm going to put you though a series of postures, so that you will know
many submissive positions.  You'll continue to wear the clamps at all
times, until I remove them.  If you remove them, I can promise you at least
twenty strokes with the crop.  So the only choices that you have are the
ones that have been given to you by your Mistress, or not to serve me at
all.  Do you understand?" asked Janet.

	"Yes, Mistress," answered Cheryl.

	"Then we begin," said Janet.

	For the next hour, Janet taught Cheryl numerous submissive positions. 
Cheryl was made to place her body into many different postures, with Janet
carefully teaching her each one.

	When Cheryl couldn't properly do a position on her own, Janet showed her
by assuming the position herself.  Then forcing Cheryl into the position
through the use of the riding crop.

	Finally, after an hour, Janet ordered Cheryl to her knees again, then
suddenly removed both nipple clamps, making Cheryl jump in response.

	"Aaaaah!" cried Cheryl, as her nipples became pinpoints of fire.

	"It will pass," said Janet.

	"Thank you, Mistress."

	"Once you've recovered, Cheryl, I want you to demonstrate all of the
positions that you've just learned.  Without the clamps this time."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Cheryl did as she was ordered, and when she made one mistake Janet
delivered a few strokes of the crop onto Cheryl's exposed thigh, leaving
stripes behind.

	"I hope that you're not planning on going to the beach this summer," Janet
cautioned, "since welts are a little hard to explain."

	"No, Mistress."

	"Good."	

	Cheryl's training was interrupted by a knock on the door, exactly at
twelve noon.

	"Come," Janet ordered.

	"Lunch, Mistress," Tina announced.

	"Thank you, Tina."

	Janet was served a lunch of roast beef sandwich, salad, and iced tea on
the sundeck outside.  The weather was simply too good to stay indoors all
day!

	"Cheryl, you may eat with Tina, then resume your chores.  I have some
other work to do, though I may call you later."

	"Yes, Mistress," answered Cheryl.

	It was at four in the afternoon when the phone rang, and things began to
go horribly wrong.  Janet picked up the phone, wondering who was calling,
since she had not been expecting anyone.

	"Janet here."

	"Janet, it's Lori.  I'm so glad I got you, look I'm in trouble.  My car
overheated, and I'm on Lake Avenue, first exit I could find off 95.  Since
I was going to see you later tonight anyway."

	"I'll be right over," offered Janet, "sit tight."

	"Okay."

	"Tina!" called Janet as she grabbed her purse.

	"Yes, Mistress," answered Tina from upstairs where she and Tina were
working together.

	"Mistress Lori just called, she's stuck on Lake Avenue.  I'm going to go
get her."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	It wasn't until Janet was on the road that she began wondering what Lori
meant that they would be seeing each other later that evening.  After a
drive of a few minutes, Janet saw Lori's car, a red Chevrolet, on Lake
Avenue not far from the Parkway Exit.

	Janet pulled her car to the other side of the road and parked behind
Lori's, who came running to her.

	"Janet, thank you, I wouldn't know who else to call," greeted Lori.

	Mistress Lori was a Domme from Brookline, Massachusetts.  Lori was just
thirty, blonde, five feet five inches tall with a nice figure and a
pleasant personality and was one of Janet's friend's in the scene.  She
owned a house that she shared with her sub, Gina.  They had a small
playroom in the basement that they used for entertainment, and Janet had
been there a few times.

	"Glad I could help, what's the problem?"

	"I overheated, I think."

	Janet raised the hood, and opened the radiator, which was empty.  She
always carried a gallon of water and anti-freeze with her, so she refilled
the radiator.  She had Lori crank the engine, which emitted a metallic
whine.

	"Water pump," concluded Janet, "you're stuck."

	"Can it be fixed?"

	"I know a garage that can tow it, and they'll fix it tomorrow.  This is at
least a three-hour job, Lori.  Looks like you'll be spending the night with
me," offered Janet.

	"Well, since we're both going to that party for Nina at the Lock & Key
this evening in Manhattan."

	"That's next week," stated Janet.

	"It's this week."

	Lori opened her purse, and withdrew an envelope.  She removed the
invitation, and displayed it for Janet to read.

	"Damn!" exclaimed Janet, "I thought it was next week!"

	"Surprise!  Glad I happened by.  So we'll get my car towed, and we can all
go into Manhattan together," answered Lori.

	"Damn, there go all my plans," said Janet, thinking of Cheryl.

	Janet withdrew her cell phone, and called the garage.  They said that they
would be over in about a half-hour to tow Lori's car.

	"Tina," said Janet as she called home.

	"Yes, Mistress?"

	"I've made a terrible mistake!  Dig out my desk calendar and find the
invite for Nina's party, it's tonight!"

	"Yes, Janet."

	"Then make dinner for two, we'll be having Lori over as a guest, then send
Cheryl home early and go to the party."

	"Good thing we got our clothes already, Mistress."

	"It will be a little tawdry for Cheryl to serve naked, so get her into a
Maid's uniform and tell her to behave, or else!"

	For the last month, Janet and Tina had been training Cheryl in how to
behave as a slave.  Janet also recalled that Cheryl had wanted to be given
to another Domme.  She wasn't ready yet, but she was ready to be displayed
to another Mistress.

	"Yes, Mistress," answered Tina.

	"Thanks, Tina," said Janet as she cut the connection.

	"Who's Cheryl?" asked Lori as Janet stowed away her cell phone in her
purse.

	"A new slave I'm training," Janet answered.

	"Any good?"

	"She has to learn submission.  Where's Gina, normally you two are
inseparable?"

	"Her brother was injured in a car accident, so she flew home three days
ago."	

	"Will he be all right?" asked Janet.

	"I think so, at least that's what Gina said last night."

	"Good."

	In due time, the flat bed truck arrived, and the two women watched as
Lori's car was pulled onto the truck's bed.  Lori had unloaded her
suitcases and clothes into Janet's Toyota while they had been waiting.

	The mechanic said that he could do the car tomorrow, and it would be ready
by one or two.  Janet thanked him, and the two women got into Janet's car.
Janet started the engine and they pulled out into traffic and towards
Janet's Mansion.

	"One of the benefits of living in a wealthy area is that there's a shop
open on Sunday."

	"Guess the rich get special treatment, right?" asked Lori.

	"Yes, at the business end of my crop," Janet laughed.

	Janet drove towards home, and looked at her watch.  It was already almost
five.  There was enough time for dinner, then showing off Cheryl to her
guest. Then Janet, Tina and Lori would have to go into the city to the
party.

	"So, tell me all about Cheryl?" asked Lori as Janet drove home.

	"Thirty five, nice figure, has never served a Domme before."

	"I'm jealous," commented Lori.

	Janet wondered just how jealous Lori would really be if she knew the truth
about Cheryl, how the stranger had forced herself onto Mistress Janet.

	"How is she responding to you?" Lori asked, clearly curious.

	 "Very well, but she disobeyed an order yesterday, so I gave her a
punishment that she's not likely to forget."

	"The whip?"

	"Thirty-five strokes."

	"I think that she'll remember that for a long time," observed Lori, "and
how is she in bed?"

	"Learning."

	"I'm sure that when you're done, she'll be a superb slave," complimented
Lori.

	"Thank you."

	Janet pressed the button as she pulled the car into the driveway, and the
gate swung open then closed behind them as the car passed the gates.  She
pulled to a stop in front of the house and cut the engine.

	"Home," said Janet.

	They exited the car together, and walked up the landing, where Tina had
already opened the door.  Tina and Cheryl were dressed in matching satin
Maid's uniforms, complete with a kerchief on their heads.

	"Mistress Janet," greeted Tina.

	"Tina, you know Mistress Lori."

	"Yes, greetings Mistress," answered Tina, as she took a small curtsy.

	"Tina," replied Lori, "nice to see you again."

	"This is Cheryl, who is still being trained," introduced Janet.

	"Mistress Lori," greeted Cheryl.

	"Cheryl, you are owned by a truly wonderful Mistress.  Learn from her."

	"Thank you, Mistress Lori," replied Cheryl.

	"Tina, remove Lori's clothes from the Toyota and place them in the guest
bedroom.  We'll freshen up and be in the library.  When will dinner be
ready?"

	"Forty minutes, Mistress."

	"Excellent," answered Janet, "come with me Lori, we have much to discuss."
	*		*		*		*		*
	"Dinner is served," announced Tina.

	After their arrival, Janet had shown Lori to her bedroom and moments
later, Tina and Cheryl had arrived carrying her bags and clothes.  Janet
and Cheryl had both taken a quick shower, then dressed into the clothes
that they would be wearing into the city.

	The birthday party for Mistress Nina would be held in the Lock & Key, an
S&M club in the meatpacking district down in Manhattan.  Since it would be
highly impractical to drive down wearing their scene clothing, they would
change at the club.

	Janet was wearing a red DKNY dress that she had bought at Macy's, along
with sheer nude pantyhose and sensible heels.  Lori was wearing a blouse
and skirt combination from Anne Taylor, in blue, with matching blue shoes.

	After hanging her things in the closet, Lori had phoned the friends that
she was supposed to dine with in Manhattan to explain about her car
breaking down and she would be driving in with Mistress Janet.  So Lori
could dine with Janet without having stood up her other friends.

	Janet and her guest had been talking in the library, drinking from a
bottle of white wine and sharing scene stories together.  Lori told her all
about Boston, a city that Janet adored, but rarely visited.  Lori was
overwhelmed by New York, and could not imagine working or even living
there.

	"Thank you, Tina," said Janet, "come let's see what Tina has made for us."

	Carrying their glasses, they two Dommes walked the few steps to the dining
room.  Tina and Cheryl had set the room for a semi-formal dinner.  They
would not have the time for a formal, multi-course Dinner.  But the table
was set with the best dishes, silverware, and flowers adorned the table.

	Janet sat at the head of the table, and Lori at her side.  Cheryl pushed
their seats in behind them, then offered more wine.

	Tina then rolled in a cart from the kitchen, and placed a large covered
platter and two smaller ones on the table.  She then removed the covers,
placing them back on the trolley.

	"Roast Chicken, parsleyed potatoes, and steamed broccoli, Mistress Janet,"
announced Tina.

	"Thank you, Tina, excellent," complimented Janet.

	"Mmmmmm, smells good," agreed Lori.

	Tina cut the chicken with a large knife and fork, then served each
Mistress in turn.  She gave both of them a generous helping of her cooking,
which they consumed eagerly.  Cheryl would only serve wine or water, as she
was just a new slave in training.

	"If I ate like this every day, I'd be big as a house," laughed Lori.

	"Why do you think I have a weight room?" answered Janet.

	"Do you have any exercise clothes for tomorrow?" asked Lori.

	"Exercise clothes, who needs exercise clothes," laughed Janet, "you've
never been in my sauna upstairs."

	"You have a sauna?"

	"Yes," answered Janet between sips of wine.

	"I should visit you more often, Janet," Lori replied.

	"I also have a constant supply of birch branches to use on one another,
and towels are strictly optional in this house."

	Lori laughed, and Janet joined her in mirth.  The world of D/s was so
serious, so solemn, it was easy to forget that humor helped to break the
tension.

	Dinner was a short affair, and had to end quickly.  They both looked at
their watches, and it was already nearly seven.

	"Cheryl, once you've helped Tina clear the table and stow away everything
in the kitchen, please come to see us in the library."

	"Yes, Mistress," Cheryl quickly answered.

	Janet was describing the training of some of her other slaves when Cheryl
knocked on the door some time later.

	"Enter."

	Cheryl entered the library doors, and closed them behind her, but remained
close to the doors.

	"Report."

	"The table has been cleared, Tina and I have eaten, the dishes are in the
washer, and the leftovers stored in the refrigerator, Mistress."

	"Excellent, you may approach me, Cheryl."

	Cheryl did as she was told, standing before her Mistress in silence.

	"You may unzip your Maid's uniform and show your body and marks to
Mistress Lori," Janet ordered.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Hesitantly at first, Cheryl did as she was told.  She was now displaying
herself to another Domme, which was what she had requested.

	"Very pretty, Cheryl," commented Lori, "now turn around."

	Cheryl did as she was instructed, blushing and feeling embarrassed by
displaying herself to another Domme.

	"May I?" asked Lori.

	"Of course, you're my guest," offered Janet.

	Lori walked forward, and fondled Cheryl's breasts, pinching her erect
nipples.  Then she walked around to Cheryl's back, and traced the marks
that Janet had placed there the previous night.

	"You have been well used, Cheryl.  With the whip?"

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Bend over," casually ordered Lori.

	"Aaaah!" cried Cheryl as Lori roughly forced two of her fingers into her
sex.

	"Are you always that wet, Cheryl?" demanded Lori.

	"Yes, Mistress," cried Cheryl.

	"Thank you, Janet," said Lori as she withdrew from Cheryl.

	There was a moment of silence in the library, with Cheryl and Lori both
awaiting Janet's next orders. 

	"Cheryl, I'm sorry to say that I have to send you home.  I have made a
mistake about dates, and I have an engagement tonight.  I am therefore
sending you home, and will continue with you next weekend.  Tina will free
you, and has called the car.  Good evening," dismissed Janet.

	Cheryl looked like she was going to protest, and Janet could see both the
disappointment and anger in her face.  But she said nothing in protest.

	"Thank you, Mistress," answered Cheryl.

	Cheryl picked up her Maid's uniform that she had draped over a chair while
Mistress Lori had examined her.  She bowed, and left the library, closing
the door behind her.

	After she had left, Lori turned to Janet with clear concern on her face.

	"Are you sure that she's a good choice to be trained as a slave?" asked
Lori.

	"Why?" asked Janet.

	"Because she's dangerous, Janet.  Watch yourself with this one," cautioned
Lori.

	"Thank you."

	"You usually like to loan a slave out to another Domme so that they have
someone to compare to their own Mistress.  Janet I know that you use
Stephanie or Blanca for that purpose.  Once she's been trained, let me have
her instead," offered Cheryl.

	"Why?"

	"Because I think that I've seen her before."
	*		*		*		*		*
>From the Journal of Cheryl Branford

	I have learned this weekend that I cannot confront Janet.  At least, not
yet.
	I wore the rubber mackintosh raincoat in pure defiance of her orders, and
was severely punished for my transgression.  Mistress Janet ordered me hung
by my wrists from the Dungeon ceiling chain, my toes straining to reach the
floor for what felt like an eternity.
	Next Mistress Janet used a long thin leather whip on me for thirty-five
strokes that I was made to count out, one after another.  I felt like
screaming from fear as I thought that the flesh was being torn from my
body, but I counted out every stroke of my punishment.
	After my use was over, she released me.  I thought that I was going to be
left on the floor, a sobbing beaten woman.  Instead, she tenderly took me
in her arms, comforting my hurt mind and body.  She helped me to one of the
downstairs bedrooms, and rubbed salve onto my hurt flesh.
	When I had recovered, I proved what I had learned by making passionate
love to her.  I have been both captivated and enslaved by Mistress Janet.

	In the month that Janet has trained me, I have recently had to confront a
disturbing truth about myself: am I submissive?  When I devised this plan,
I thought that everything that would happen to me here I could somehow wall
off from the rest of my personality and self.  Instead, I first found
myself sexually attracted to Janet after her very first use of me.  Now, in
less than one month, I have found that strange, disturbing submissive
feelings and fantasies that I had kept buried deep within my mind have
become free to manifest themselves in my conscious mind.
	I now actually enjoy Janet pulling me over her knee and spanking me until
my bottom hurts.  I become excited when I am suspended from the ceiling,
and flogged until I cry.
	I fear that when all of this is over, I shall be changed forever, just as
Mistress Janet had cautioned me from the beginning.  I now know that I am
attracted to both women and men sexually.  Now I realize that I crave the
feel of the lash and crop.
	What else will I learn about myself next?
 
	The next day Janet put me through what she called posture training.  I was
made to stand, lay on the floor, and assume various submissive positions. 
My mistakes were quickly corrected with a crop, and I have no desire to
repeat them.
Saturday afternoon something important happened also.  Janet got a phone
call, left, and returned with another Dominatrix.  I was dressed, and made
to serve wine during Dinner.
	After dinner, Mistress Lori fondled my breasts and sex, invading me
sexually and subjected me to a close examination.  I had wanted Janet to
loan me to another Domme, and now one was seeing me naked.
	When I glanced into Mistress Lori's eyes, I saw what I thought was the
look of recognition.  Has my plan collapsed already?	
I then realized that Tina and Janet had been talking on the phone about a
party, and Janet had gotten the dates confused.  I was going to protest in
front of Mistress Lori that I wanted Janet to take me, then stopped myself.
 For I realized that my place as her slave was to be silent, lest she take
me to her Dungeon and give me a thrashing for misbehavior.  In addition any
party that Janet would be invited to would also have Blanca and Stephanie
attending, and I must keep my presence a secret.
	I have learned one very important fact, that Janet has a job in Marketing
for a firm called Xylex.  Great wealth is of no consequence if it is not
used occasionally.

The Challenge
Chapter 06: Triumph and Tragedy

Part One: Family Obligations

June 1983

	Wednesday night was the slowest day of the week, so that was the day that
mother and daughter usually met.  Each time, they met at a different diner
or restaurant, in a different town or city.  Erica had promised Eve that
she would always live nearby, and had rented an apartment in Darien near
where she worked.

	After she had begun to serve Master Daniel, she had given up her apartment
in Rye that she had taken as Alana Peters.  At least that place had cost
less, and had been closer to Greenwich.

	Darien lay further up the coast, and they were meeting for Dinner at a
restaurant in Stamford, midway between Greenwich and Darien.   Erica had
returned home, changed, then after fighting traffic arrived at the
restaurant just before seven.

	Eve's Mercedes was already in the lot, and Erica knew that her BMW was
probably in the garage, unused.  Or rather, Alana's BMW. Erica Riken drove
a Chevrolet, and parked it in the first available spot.  She rolled up the
window, grabbed her purse, and locked the door behind her.

	The restaurant was mostly empty, and Erica recognized Eve seated in a
booth at the back.  She made her way there, and Eve saw her and raised
herself out of her seat to kiss Erica.

	"Erica, how nice to see you," greeted Eve.

	"Mother," Erica answered softly.

	They both sat in the booth together, facing one another.  Eve, who was in
her early sixties, looked tired.  Erica guessed that there was something
wrong.

	"Drink?" asked a waitress, who appeared suddenly.

	"Any Tap beer will do," Erica answered.

	"One for me also," added Eve.

	The waitress took their orders, then walked away, to return quickly with
their drinks.  Only after she was gone did they really begin to talk
together.

	"How are you doing, Erica?  Everything all right?"

	"Yes, the man I'm serving now is wonderful, not like the first.  He cares
and understands, and uses me properly."

	"Does he beat you?" asked Eve.

	"Not in the usual sense, that you're thinking about, no.  But I get
spanked, cropped, and whipped.  Does that answer your question?" Erica
replied.

	"How can you talk about something like that so honestly?" Eve questioned.

	"Would you rather I lie?  This is what I came looking for when I decided
to become Erica."

	"Does he make love to you?"

	"No, he's married, and his wife is his slave also."

	"When a mother talks to her daughter about sex, she expects to hear more
normal things.  Like who snores, not her daughter being beaten."

	"We've been though this before, Mom.  I know that it doesn't make any
sense.  But it makes me feel good," stated Erica.

	They were interrupted by the waitress bringing their dinners, Eve had
ordered a Chef Salad and Erica a cheeseburger and fries.  They both started
eating before conversation resumed.

	"I have changed the will to make Erica Riken the beneficiary of my estate,
since Alana Peters was declared dead on the Amazon River," described Eve.

	"Thank you," said Erica between bites.

	"Erica, I just want to say that whatever you do, I still love you."

	"Thanks, Mom."

	"Is this what you really want to be?  A slave?"

	"Yes.  I know that it's not rational."

	They finished their meal making small talk together, then Eve had to
excuse herself to go to the bathroom.  Erica kissed her good-bye, and Eve
left the restaurant first.  

	While Eve had gone to the bathroom, Erica had searched her mother's purse.
 Inside, she found a bottle of nitroglycerine tablets that had not been
there before.  Eve did not mention that fact, and Erica's eyes grew moist
from the realization of what this meant.

	"Mother," cried Erica, as she pounded her fists on the steering wheel in
the parking lot as she prepared to leave.

Part Two: The Uncertain Slave

June 1983

	Erica pulled her car in Keith's driveway, happy that the weekend was here.
 Happy again that she could be a slave to Keith, for she now looked forward
to serving her Master.

	It had been five months since the party when her former Master Daniel had
publicly given her to Keith when she had refused to let herself be
sodomized in front of others.  Daniel had taken special delight, often with
Lauren's urging, to use her in the one way that she detested.

	When Keith had told her that she would be serving a proper Master, she
really didn't have any idea what he had meant.  Now she did, and was truly
happy as a result.

	For the first month, while her injuries from Daniel had healed, Keith had
made her write out extensive biographies of herself.  She had been
examined, and all of her sexual feelings brought out in the light of day.

	Erica was glad now for the money that she had spent to create her new
identity.  When the lawyers had recommended some shadowy people to her, and
a high price, she had balked.  What they had done was to create a new
identity for her, then ruthlessly drill it into her after her recovery from
the plastic surgery.

	Where she grew up, her schooling and friends.  Her grades, boyfriends,
sexual encounters, and all of the other details of ordinary life.  At
first, Erica had resented all of this silliness.  It was only later that
she learned that the people she had hired were retired agents from the CIA
and Justice Department, who had trained undercover operatives for spy
missions.

	Erica was then able to recite from memory her new life, and she believed
that Keith accepted it.  He had not asked her about Alana Peters again, but
she always felt that he harbored some doubts about who she really was.

	Still, that did not matter.  For Keith was a wonderful Master.  Every
encounter with him left her satisfied, and wanting more.  She adored being
with him, feeling his lash, and following his training.  Which often left
her exhausted, and hurting.  

	She had done the shopping the previous night, and everything was in the
car.  She would cook dinner for Keith and Beth!

	Erica parked the car and opened the front door of the house, then unloaded
the groceries.  She quickly brought them into the kitchen, where Beth had
laid everything out for her in advance.

	Repairing to a bedroom, she stripped off all her clothes, then donned an
apron.  She would not wear her collar and bracelets until later that
evening when she would be used in the playroom downstairs.  Dashing back to
the kitchen, she glanced at the clock, and set about preparing Beef
Stroganoff.

	First, she cooked the meat and spices in a Dutch oven on top of the stove.
 That would take about an hour.  While that was cooking, she prepared a
salad, and set the table.  She placed candles on the table, since she
wanted this dinner to be special.

	Just before the meat was ready, Erica heard the front door open.  She
rushed out of the kitchen to see Keith standing in the foyer, carrying his
case.

	"Erica," he greeted her.

	"Master," said Erica when she knelt before him.

	"You had better get back to the kitchen, that smells wonderful!" he
commented.

	"Thank you, sir," said Erica as she rose.

	When the beef was done, Erica heard the door open again, and guessed that
Beth must have come back from work.  She was soon joined in the kitchen.

	"Mmmmm," said Beth as she entered the kitchen, "I can't cook like that."

	"I took a few classes," said Erica.

	"Can I help?" asked Beth.

	"We can start with the Salad and Black Bread, and by the time we're
finished with that, the noodles will be done and we'll be ready for the
main course."

	The three of them sat down, and opened a bottle of red wine before eating,
and started on the salad first.  Erica would glance at the clock to gauge
how the noodles were cooking.  She finished her salad, then excused
herself.

	The noodles were done, and Erica drained them.  Beth joined her, and they
carried a pot with the noodles and another with the main course itself into
the dining room.  They placed both on the table and uncovered them both. 
Erica ran back to the kitchen and placed some sour cream into a dish, then
placed that on the table as well.

	Beth placed a generous helping of noodles onto a plate, and then Erica
topped it with the Stroganoff, finally followed by some sour cream.  She
placed it in front of Keith, who inhaled the fragrant aroma rising in front
of him.

	There was also a pitcher of hot tea, making it as Russian a meal as
possible.

	"Excellent," he said after sampling some of Erica's cooking, "simply
excellent."

	"Thank you, Sir," replied Erica.

	"You're welcome."

	With that, Erica and Beth served themselves and they began eating,
exchanging small talk about work.  Erica had finally found peace in serving
and submission.  Her search had finally ended.

	In the first month of her service to Keith, she had not been used.  He had
insisted that her injuries from Daniel heal first.  He had ordered that she
read all of the books that she had bought about D/s; then assigned some of
his own as well.  She had to write commentary on each one, and understand
the point that the author had written.  Once, she had failed to read a book
as ordered, and he had paddled her until she could barely sit down.  After
that, she had obeyed all of his orders without question.

	After Dinner, Erica and Beth were washing up the kitchen and stowing
everything away when Keith walked in.

	"Sir?" asked Erica.

	"When you're done with the dishes, I would like to see you in the study. 
Alone."

	"Yes, Sir," Erica answered quickly.

	Deep down, in the pit of her stomach, Erica was suddenly afraid.  His look
and tone had told her that something important was going to happen.  But
she had no clue what it might be!

	After Erica and Beth had finished, Erica removed her apron that she had
worn since she had entered Keith's house and started cooking.  Naked, she
felt vulnerable again, even though the apron really hadn't covered her much
at all.

	She was wearing mules, and walked to Keith's study.  The door was open,
and she knocked the frame, holding her breath.

	"Enter," Keith ordered, "and kneel."

	"Yes, Sir," Erica did as she was told.

	"Are you satisfied with your training?" demanded Keith.

	"Yes, Sir.  You have tested both my body and my mind."

	"Good.  Then I have achieved my objective.  Do you consider yourself to be
a Dominant, or a submissive?"

	"I am your slave," proudly stated Erica.

	Keith opened the top drawer of the desk, and removed a flogger the strands
of which were made of rubber.  Erica remembered that it had been used on
her before.

	"Hands behind your head," Keith coldly ordered.

	Once she had done so, and her breasts stuck out, Keith rose from his chair
walked the few steps over to her, and struck her breasts several times with
the flogger.  The multiple strands stung each time they impacted on her
flesh.

	"Answer the question," ordered Keith, "Dominant or submissive?"

	"I," Erica stammered, "I………I'm not sure, Sir."

	"Better," Keith answered, striking her breasts several times more with the
flogger, before resuming his seat.

	"Why?" cried Erica, "why?"

	"You can put your hands on your knees, Erica.  You have been an eager and
willing slave these last few months, and I'm proud of your progress."

	"Thank you, Sir," Erica answered as she did what she was told.

	"But you must understand what we have discussed earlier.  I can't keep you
as a slave, Erica."

	"Sir, I want to owned by you."

	"I can't do that, Erica.  I'm sorry, but that's the way it has to be. 
Perhaps your destiny lies along a different path."

	"Sir?"

	"I'm not really sure that you're a submissive.  At least, not totally. 
When I let you Domme that female slave Rachel last month, you displayed
excellent skills with her."

	"Thank you, Sir."

	"Tonight, for preparing such an excellent dinner, I shall use you in the
playroom.  Then perhaps I can arrange a surprise for tomorrow."

	"Thank you, Sir," Erica answered, happy that she had made her Master feel
the same way.

	"Rest for a while, and then don your collar and bracelets.  I'll be along
shortly.  Thank you," said Keith.

	"Thank you, Sir," Erica answered.

	On her way out of the room, Erica wished that he would have fondled her
breasts, pinched her nipples or bottom, or done something with her. 
Instead, he would only use her in the playroom.

	After she had been with Keith and Beth for a month, he had told her that
they were called "Trainers;" a couple that would train slaves for others,
both Doms and Dommes.  They would train her, but probably not keep her as a
slave themselves.

	At the conclusion of their training, they would help find Erica a suitable
Master.  Indeed, last month, they had introduced her to one.  He was
attractive, handsome, and he had been allowed the use of her.  However,
Erica didn't like him very much, there hadn't been any chemistry between
them.

	Pausing outside Keith's study, a wave of melancholy swept over Erica.  She
desired something else, and she returned to his door.

	"Sir?" asked Erica.

	"Yes," he answered.

	"Could I be chained in the playroom for a while, alone, before my use,
please?" asked Erica.

	"Yes, go ask Beth and tell her that I said that it would be all right. 
You wish to be alone, then?"

	"Yes, Sir."
	*		*		*		*		*
	Erica rested her bare bottom and the soles of her feet on the polished
wooden floor of the playroom.  Her neck was encased in her collar, and her
wrists were wearing the familiar leather bracelets. A single chain that
began at a ringbolt set in the wall was first locked to her collar, then
her wrist bracelets, and finally ended in a pair of steel cuffs that had
been locked on her ankles.

	Bound like this, she could extend her legs until they were flat on the
floor, but instead she preferred to draw her knees up and rest her hands
and head on her kneecaps.

	Erica sat in silence, not knowing or caring how long she was bound.  Keith
had first placed her in this position in the playroom, and she had been
forced to endure it for hours.  But over time, Erica had decided that she
liked being bound, and she even tugged at the steel cuffs on her ankles.

	It was strange, she thought, that her mind could roam at will, and think
of all kinds of things, even as her body was chained to the wall.

	She fingered the steel cuffs on her ankles, and thought of Irene at work.
Irene was a secretary who was an active vital woman, indeed Erica had
tagged along one day after work to happy hour and had shared a few drinks
and dances with her.  Irene had just announced her engagement, and she had
begun to wear both a ring around her finger and a chain around her ankle.

	While she didn't double date with Irene, she had heard from the other
girls who did that Irene was now playing dumb towards her fiancée. She
would agree with whatever he had to say, did what she was told, and keep
her opinions to herself.

	The usual rationale that a woman gave in life for doing that to herself
was that sort of conduct was the price of having and keeping a man.  That
was the price of a diamond ring.

	Was that so different than the price that she was paying to be a slave? 
Except that in exchange for being a slave and wearing chains, she was free
to be whipped and striped by her Master.

	At least what Erica did in being a slave was more honest, submitting
herself and her body to the use of a Master.  It took a lot of strength to
do that, thought Erica.  To endure the lash and the crop showed not her
weakness, but her courage as well!  

	Seated on the floor, Erica thought that it just wasn't fair!  She had
endured so much, suffered so much, had finally found a Master who she could
love, and he couldn't own her for long!  He would interview other Masters
for her, and finally select one and that would be the last that she would
see of Keith.

	She had wanted to be chained so that she wouldn't even have the illusion
of freedom.  There was something implacable about steel and leather
restraining her.  Which had made slavery very real to her in a physical
sense.

	Erica looked at the other toys in the playroom.  There was an X frame, a
padded bar that a slave could be bent over and bound to, a set of stocks,
and various other chains that a slave could be secured to.  In the last few
months, Erica had experienced all of these.

	But nothing hurt a much as the knowledge that soon Keith would find a
Master for her.  She felt like crying, but tears wouldn't come.  All of her
life, she had been taunted as the rich girl.  First at Greenwich High
School, next at Radcliffe, then at Harvard.

	She wondered just how many other female graduates from Harvard were into
D/s.  Probably not many, and Erica thought that the experience might be
good for some of them.  Might just make them humble and teach them a thing
or two.

	If her concerns about Keith weren't enough, her sexual confusion was
causing her problems as well.  Prior to making love to Jasmine that night,
she had never before been made love to by a woman.  She thought that she
had always been attracted to men.

	But now every time that she passed an attractive woman in the street or
the mall, she undressed them with her eyes.  More than once, her nipples
had hardened and she felt her panties wet with desire.

	Erica rubbed her toes together, enjoying the sound of the chain clinking
together.  She pulled at it with all her strength, fantasizing that she
could pull it from the wall.  Instead, all it did was to make the muscles
stand out in her arms, and she still remained chained.

	"All you all right, Erica?" asked Keith.

	Erica had not heard the door open or his steps to her.  She had been so
wrapped up in thoughts that she had kept hidden for weeks.

	"No, yes, I don't know!" declared Erica.

	"Are you doing penance for something?  Would you like to be locked in the
stocks?"

	"No, sir.  Chained on the floor is just fine."

	"I'm sorry I don't have a cell of some kind, but I never got round to
building one."

	Erica laughed, and his comments brought a smile to her face.

	"What do you want, Erica?"

	"Make love to me, Sir.  Take me on the floor, spread my legs, and fuck me.
 Hard, any way you like.  It doesn't matter."

	"You know why I can't really do that," said Keith.

	Erica then clinked her chains in response.

	"Do you still consent to be used tonight?" asked Keith.

	"Yes, use me, please.  Hard," begged Erica.

	"As you wish.  Beth will be by shortly to hang you from the ceiling.  I
won't keep you waiting too long."

	"Thank you, Sir."

	Erica hoped that she would be in for a really intense session.  One that
would leave her body marked, one where she would be screaming in pain and
pleasure afterwards.

	Pain, she had read, sharpens the mind.

	She waited in her chains for what would happen next, and drew her knees up
to her chin.  Erica reached down between her legs and pulled at the steel
around her ankles.  Bondage brought patience, if nothing else.  After all,
she had nowhere to go.
	*			*			*			*
	After some time, Beth joined her, who then released Erica from the floor.
She glanced down at herself, and hoped that when Keith would be finished
with her that she would be thoroughly striped.

	"Come," directed Beth.

	Erica had not worn her ankle bracelets, and the chain that had bound her
terminated in two gleaming stainless steel cuffs.  So Beth had handed them
to her, and Erica had locked them upon herself.

	Beth was now wearing a black rubber bodysuit, and Erica noted that she had
nothing on underneath.  Beth's nipples protruded under the rubber, and the
outlines of her slit were visible from the tight rubber as well.  She was
wearing a thick black rubber collar around her neck, earrings, and a pair
of matching black heels.

	Erica remained silent as she was led to a ceiling chain, and Beth secured
her wrist cuffs.  Then, Beth retrieved a spreader bar from the cabinet, and
locked Erica's ankles apart.  Finally, Beth activated a small motor, and
Erica rose off the floor a few inches.

	Hanging from the ceiling made Erica's breasts stick out, and made her
conscious again of just how exposed she was.  But that didn't matter,
nothing did.

	However Keith would use her, she wouldn't protest.  She wouldn't beg for
mercy, or cry.  She wanted all of the punishment that her Master could
give.

	"Are you ready?" asked Beth.

	"Yes," answered Erica, "I don't care what Keith does to me."

	"I'll be sure and tell him that."

	"Thank you."

	Erica didn't know and didn't care how long she hung by her wrists.  Her
feet were within touching distance of the floor, which she could feel with
her toes.  After a while, her shoulders had begun to hurt, but it didn't
matter.

	She could not be possessed by the man that she loved so what better than
to be severely used by him instead.  His marks would be the indication of
his love for her, and those alone.

	"Kiss the whip."

	Keith's sudden orders startled Erica back to reality, for she had been
captivated in her own little world.

	"Yes, Sir!"

	"Your use will come in two parts.  First, I am going to whip you severely.
 I shall not strike you hard enough to break the skin, or make you bleed. 
But I shall leave many stripes behind that will sting and marks behind that
will last.  Do I have your consent?"

	"Yes, Sir!"

	"Then you shall be taken down and strapped tightly over the bar.  I will
then use the cane on your bottom and thighs.  Do you consent to that also?"

	"Yes, Sir!"

	"Is this by your own choice?"

	"Yes, Master."

	"Do you want a gag?  You can hold a coin and when dropped it will be your
safeword signal."

	"No sir, I don't want a gag.  Please proceed?" she asked.

	"Very well then, you will not have to count the strokes.  Prepare to be
used."

	Erica tensed in her bondage, aware that this was the path that she had
chosen for herself.  Her muscles tightened by themselves, in anticipation
of the ordeal that she was about to undergo.  

	"Now we begin," said Keith.

	In the months she had been trained by Keith, she had learned to recognize
his mood by the force and rhythm of his strokes.  He had asked her a direct
question, and she had deliberately avoided giving him a direct answer. 
Then she had asked to be chained in the playroom and given a severe
punishment.

	It was no wonder that his strokes were firm and effective, as the whip
slapped itself against her flesh then wrapped around her.  With each
stroke, her moved a bit, gradually circling her, so that the whip would
strike a different part of her body each time.

	With her legs opened, every few strokes she would feel it reach inside and
strike the outside of her sex.  Then either her breasts or underarms would
feel the sting of the whip.

	"Ten!" cried Erica.

	"There's no need to count, Erica," said Keith.

	"I'll count anyway," answered Erica.

	"As you wish."

	Nothing else in the world mattered now, as each stroke of the whip
impacted on her flesh.  Nothing!  She was just a naked woman, going under
the lash of the man that she desired, but couldn't have.

	When Keith and Beth had taken her under their wing, and had begun to train
her, Erica thought that she finally had found what she had always wanted. 
But when she had discovered that they were only going to have her for a
short period of time she had felt betrayed.

	"Twenty!"

	 Keith had fulfilled everything that he had said that he would do with
her.  He had first ordered her to begin reading and understanding just what
she had chosen.

	When her wounds from Daniel had finally healed, he had started to use her.
 The very first thing that she had chosen was her safeword, which was
mercy.  Not very original, but it would do!

	"Twenty-five!"

	He had begun training her slowly, gradually at first.  Her posture had
been corrected, and she no longer slouched.  Instead, she held herself
straight, and her breasts stuck out.  Beth had taught her how to walk, and
show off her body.

	Even her co-workers had noticed something different in her as the weeks
passed, and one woman had tried to set her up with a neighbor.  Erica had
politely declined.

	"Thirty!"

	At a scene party that Keith and Beth had taken her to, she had overheard a
conversation about a sub that would wear out her Dom.  The woman could
simply absorb so much punishment that she would tire her Dom out.

	Erica never knew how long that Keith could use her, since he had never
used her in anger before.  But now she didn't care!

	"Thirty-five!"

	The sweat was pouring off her body, dripping down her breasts and between
her legs.  She felt the drops join and run together, her skin heating up
from the constant strokes of the whip.

	"Forty!"

	Her mind had divorced itself from her body, and she felt herself floating
outside, looking down at herself.  Just as she had learned to do while in
the hospital bed, as they had denied her the painkillers that she had
begged for.

	"Fifty!"

	"Enough," said Keith, "Beth, take her down quickly!"

	Erica had not realized that she had been crying until she tasted the
saltiness of her own tears running into her mouth.  Keith unlocked her
spreader bar, then the ceiling chain.  Erica slumped into his arms, her
body unable to support it's own weight.  He pulled her over to a
leather-covered bench, and sat her down, holding her closely to his body.

	"Are you all right?" Daniel asked.

	 "Fine," Erica sobbed.

	"I should have stopped long ago."

	"No, it's all right.  Really."

	Erica's entire body was slick with her sweat, and she felt Keith's hands
grip onto her strongly so that she wouldn't slip out of his grasp.  Her
body was warm, like it was on fire.  But she didn't feel any pain at all,
but rather a dull ache throughout her whole frame.

	Keith held onto her, and Erica remained silent, slowly regaining her
faculties.  She rubbed her hands together, and her hands and arms were the
only part of her body that had not felt the lash.

	Erica looked at her legs, and saw that they were extensively marked.  Even
though it was summer, she would have to wear pants until the marks healed,
as a skirt would be out of the question.

	"What are you thinking about?" Keith asked.

	"Pants, I'm going to have to wear pants until my legs heal."

	"Would you like a drink?"

	"Yes."

	Beth handed Erica a glass of water, and she drank it slowly, a swallow at
a time.  After a session, she had once tried to drink too fast, and had
choked.  So Erica had learned to take water slowly after an ordeal like the
session that she had just done.

	"Are you all right?" asked Keith, again.

	"Fine, Sir."

	"We don't have to continue, we can stop now.  You've just had a harsh
session, not many slaves could have taken that much use."

	Glancing down at herself, Erica was shocked to see the marks between her
legs, on her breasts, her stomach.  Everywhere except her bottom!  Which
was why she could sit down in the first place!

	Keith had not beaten her behind since he intended to use the cane there
later.  She would have been unable to sit down with her bottom on fire.

	Erica guessed that a half-hour or more had elapsed, and she had drunk two
more glasses of water.  She wondered just how much she had sweated out when
she had gone under the lash, and she desired a bath, badly.

	"I'm ready to continue," stated Erica firmly.

	Had she really asked to be further used?  Keith had shown her all of the
instruments in his cabinet, including the cane.  She had weighed the rod in
her hands, and feared the day that it would actually be used upon her.

	"Are you sure?"

	Erica had wanted to answer that if she could not have his shaft inside
her, then she would settle for the cane instead.  But she had stayed
silent. Merely nodding her assent.

	Erica rose shakily from the bench, glad that she was barefoot and not
wearing any kind of heels, high or otherwise.  There was a full-length
mirror set into the wall, and Erica walked over to it.  It was hidden
behind a panel, which she unlocked.

	Naked, she unlocked the panel and swung the door open.  She almost wanted
to gasp when she saw the fresh marks on her body, though she realized that
she had regularly heard stories about slaves who were often whipped until
they bled.

	She closed the panel in silence, then walked over to the vinyl-covered
sawhorse.  Erica opened her legs, then bent over, her hair cascading down
around her legs.

	 All that she needed now was for either Beth or Keith to bind her to the
horse, and her second ordeal could begin.  She waited, wondering is Keith
would continue, or decide to stop.

	"Bind me," Erica ordered, "then cane me, please?"

	"There's no need for this, Erica, you've already proven yourself tonight.
You deserve praise for a Dinner like that, not a severe beating instead,"
said Keith.

	Dinner seemed like a million years ago, had she really done that?  Twice
now in her slavery she had made an extravagant meal, and both times she had
been severely used.  Though for different reasons.

	"Use me, please?"

	"Beth," Keith ordered, "bind her."

	Erica dully watched as her bracelets were locked to the sawhorse and
pulled tight.  Her arms and legs were stretched, and her bottom was
sticking up high in the air.  Her stomach was resting on the vinyl-covered
surface.  Beth pulled the chains binding her taut, and Erica would no
freedom of movement at all.

	Keith displayed the cane for her in his hands.  He held it tightly in his
fingers.

	"This is a rattan cane, made from bamboo.  It will hurt you very much. 
There is no need for this Erica, you have proven your submission to me."

	"Go ahead, Sir.  I am ready to receive your punishment," Erica replied.

	"As you wish then."

	In her time as a slave, Erica had been used with a whip, crop, cat,
paddle, and other instruments of punishment.  But nothing had prepared her
for the impact of the cane, which felt like a streak of fire across her
bottom.

	"Aaaaaah!" Erica cried.

	Strokes with the cane were delivered slowly, one at a time, each one
calculated to bring the most agony to the intended subject.

	"Aaaaaah!"

	Erica quickly realized why she had been bound in this manner.  The only
parts of her body that Keith would use the cane on would be her bottom and
the back of her thighs, two parts that had the most fat to cushion the
impact of the cane.

	"Aaaaaah!"

	Even though she had been harshly whipped for a long time, Erica realized
that not even the most trained and experienced slave would ever be able to
take many strokes from the cane.

	"Aaaaaah!"

	Not even the pain that she had endured in the hospital bed as her body
healed from the accident had been like this.  This was different.

	"Aaaaaah!"

	Erica had not called mercy, even as she had been whipped.  But now, for
the first time in her slavery, she considered using her safeword.

	"Aaaaaah!"

	The sixth stroke of the cane landed on the inside of her exposed thighs,
and Erica was concerned that she would lose control of her bowels, which
stayed clamped shut.

	"Aaaaah!"

	Tears fell from her eyes onto the floor, and she saw the playroom lights
reflected in them.

	"Aaaaaah!"

	The eighth stroke across her bottom left Erica wondering not if she would
sit down, but if she would ever sit down again

	"Aaaaaah!"

	Pain, she had read, ennobled a person.  Evidently the person who wrote
that had never been used with a cane.

	"Aaaaaah!" cried Erica.

	She had counted ten stokes, and then there were no more.  Her body was
again ablaze, even more than before.  Erica had come close to calling her
safeword, for the first time.  There was a limit to her endurance and
tolerance for pain, which she had thought was limitless.

	"Beth, release Erica," ordered Keith.

	"Yes, Sir!"

	Erica was released, and led over to the bench.  She sat down gradually,
her behind on fire.

	"I have to get some salve, Erica," said Beth, "you'll feel better in a
bit."

	Erica looked at Keith, directly into his eyes, which was also forbidden.

	"Thank you, Master," said Erica.

	"You're welcome, Erica."

	Keith then left the playroom, and Beth to take care of Erica.  Beth would
massage salve onto her skin, bathe her, and give Erica plenty of fluids. 
Finally, she put Erica to bed, and Erica fell quickly to sleep.
	*		*			*			*
	It was during the early hours in the morning when Erica heard a noise in
her bedroom.  She was naked under the single sheet, and still weak from her
ordeal.  Beth had told her that she would be all right after a night's
rest.

	The noise had awakened her, and she was afraid, was there a burglar in the
house?

	"Erica?" asked Keith's voice, "are you awake?"

	"Yes, sir," she softly answered.

	"How are you feeling?"

	"Punished."

	In the dim moonlight, she saw that Keith was wearing a short black kimono
robe.  She watched as he removed it, and draped it over a chair.

	"Sir?"

	Keith lifted the sheet and slipped into the bed next to Erica, and faced
her in the darkness.

	"I have explained your feelings to Beth, and she has understood them.  For
just this one night, Erica, I shall make love to a slave that I am
training.  Never again with you, or anyone else."

	"Keith," said Erica as she grabbed hold of him, before he wrestled her
onto her back.

	Erica did not need to be told what to do.  She opened her legs to admit
his shaft, which was already hard.  He had a few foil wrapped condoms in
his hands, which he deposited on the night table.  He tore open one and
Erica unrolled the latex on his hard cock.

	Her sex was already wet, and he penetrated easily.  Erica arched her back
so that her could drive his shaft deep inside her, and she moaned with
pleasure.

	He soon began to piston his thighs back and forth, and Erica matched him
stroke for stroke.  She had not been made love to for a long time, and his
cock rammed into her.  This was more than sex, somehow.  He had whipped and
caned her, had brought her to tears and the edge of her safeword.  Now he
was taking her sexually, between her legs.  Everything else this night had
been a prelude.	

	Erica came quickly, moaning softly as her nails dug into his back.  She
held him tightly to her, not wanting to believe that this was actually
happening.

	They made love three times, before Erica was completely exhausted.  He
kissed her, and she returned his kiss.

	"I love you," said Erica.

	"Sometimes we love things and people that we can't have," said Keith, "go
to sleep, and you can sleep as late as you want."

	By then, Erica was soundly asleep, with a smile on her lips.
	*		*		*		*		*
	Erica awakened slowly, her body had needed the long rest from the events
of the night before.  She felt her naked body under the sheet, and her
fingers flew to her sex.

	In a flash, she remembered everything.  Her request that Keith harshly use
her, since her could not be her Master once her training was over.  The
whip and then the cane, followed by his visit to her bedroom late in the
evening.

	Erica sat up in bed, and got to her feet.  She walked into the bathroom,
and drew one cold glass of water after another.  She was still wearing her
collar and cuffs, and Erica decided that she looked like quite a sight in
the mirror.

	Beth had left the keys on the dresser, so Erica unlocked the steel and
leather from her neck, wrists, and ankles, then stepped under the hot
shower.  Erica had never felt so exhausted or used in her entire life.

	Keith was a skilled Master with the whip.  Though she had endured fifty
strokes, there was no blood on the tub's floor as she showered.  Her body
ached, and she would feel the effects of the cane whenever she sat down for
days, but she was not seriously injured or hurt.

	After her shower, she dried and perfumed herself, then set her hair. 
Finally, she replaced the collar and bracelets, and put on a pair of modest
heels that Beth had left for her.

	She walked out of her bedroom, and through the house into the Kitchen. 
Erica glanced at the clock, and found that it was already eleven AM.

	"Good morning," greeted Beth.

	"Morning."

	"Did you have a nice rest?"

	"Yes, thank you."

	"How do you feel?"

	"Fine."

	"Hungry?"

	"Starved."

	"We'll be having lunch at one, but I'll make you coffee and toast."

	"That would be just fine, thank you."

	What does one say to your Master's wife after he has made love to you,
Erica thought silently to herself.  She ate in silence, and the juice,
toast, and coffee quieted the rumblings in her stomach.

	"Keith would like to see you in the study," said Beth after she had
finished eating.

	"Thank you," said Erica as she finished her last cup of coffee.

	Erica knocked on the door of Keith's study, which was closed.

	"Come," she heard from inside.

	Erica opened the door, and Keith was seated behind his desk, papers lined
up neatly in rows.

	"Have a seat."

	"Thank you," said Erica as she sat down, naked, in a leather chair facing
him.

	"How do you feel?"

	"Fine, though my bottom will be tingling for days, Sir."

	"I have been thinking about your situation all day, Erica.  A slave that
wants no Master except the Trainer that she can't have.  You have been a
good student, Erica.  And you would make a superb slave for any Master, but
you don't want that either."

	Erica stayed silent, her legs open and her hands on her knees.  She felt
the leather on her bottom, and she knew that her skin had stuck to the
surface.

	"Until now, I have trained slaves.  It appears that you are the first
Mistress that I have trained."

	"Sir!" Erica exclaimed in shock, "Mistress?"

	"Erica, when we begin a path in life, sometimes we finish up on a totally
unexpected direction.  I read how you used that slave Jasmine months ago. 
I read it in your interviews, below the surface.  That's why I wanted you
to use another slave sometimes."

	If Erica had been confused before, now she was totally confused.  Slave to
Dominatrix?  In less than two years time?

	"Do you want to be a Domme, Erica?  Will that settle your dilemma with
yourself?

	"I don't know, Sir."

	"There's always the stocks, I can lock you in them after lunch.  Great way
to think, and they did a lot of that in New England during Colonial times."

	"No sir, that will be quite all right," Erica answered.

	"Your assignment today will be to write down all of your Dominant
feelings, in between doing the housework.  Since the house is mostly clean
anyway, you'll have plenty of time.  And you had better prepare yourself
for tonight."

	"Sir?"

	"I said that I was going to have a surprise for you, and I will.  Beth and
I have a hospital dinner to attend, a long and boring rubber chicken dinner
and plenty of speeches as we try and raise community money for the
hospital."

	"What am I going to do, Sir?" asked Erica.

	"I have a good friend, Mistress Sharon.  She has a policy that once a year
she likes to be used by me, so she doesn't forget what the whip feels like.
 I'm giving you the chance to use a Dominatrix, Erica.  That will be your
test to see if you can be a Domme yourself."

	Erica swallowed, as she had a huge lump in her throat.

	"You're going to be graded on your posture, how you handle her, your
language and bearing.  Also how you use her in the playroom, if you've
learned what I've taught you.  If she pleases you, you can take her to bed,
or chain her on the floor next to you.  Whatever you do, Sharon will give
me a complete report on your use of her.  That will determine your future,
Erica.  Are you up to this?"

	"Yes, Sir.  But I admit that I'm scared."

	"A fork in the road is always scary, Erica.  But I think that your talents
lie holding a whip's handle," said Keith.

	"Thank you, Sir."

	"You may go."

	"Thank you, Sir," said Erica as she took her exit, rising from the seat,
the leather sticking to her bare bottom.

Before she started the housework, she donned an apron, and sat in the
kitchen, drinking a soda and wishing for a cigarette.  Had it been just 2
years ago that she had sought out Mistress Martine in the city?	
	*		*		*		*		*
	Keith had chosen to wear a tuxedo, and Beth had chosen a blue dress.  They
had both showered and cleaned up, and Erica had helped them dress.  She was
no longer naked and collared, but instead wore a blouse and skirt.

	Just as Keith and Beth were leaving at 7 PM, another car drove up. 
Erica's stomach was in her throat as she watched as the tall blonde exited
the car, and walked up to the landing.

	"Erica Riken?" asked the woman.

	"You must be Sharon," replied Erica, "please enter."

	Erica escorted her inside, and closed the door behind her guest.  The
woman was wearing a red dress, and modest heels, just like she was going
out for a date.

	"Have I missed Master Keith?" she asked.

	"You just missed them," Erica answered.

	"So I guess that I have to introduce myself.  I'm Mistress Sharon Kelly,"
she said, extending her hand.

	"Erica Riken."

	"I'm your final exam," said Sharon calmly.

	"You don't mind submitting yourself to a slave?" asked Erica.

	"No, because I started as a slave.  Keith trained me, I had a Master, then
I became a Dominatrix."

	"Would you like something to drink?" asked Erica.

	"A soda would be nice," replied Sharon.

	Erica was really not sure what to make of Sharon.  All the time they
spoke, she had to resist the urge to kneel in front of her.  They shared a
soda in the kitchen together, making small talk.

	"I'd like to freshen up and prepare," said Sharon when they finished.

	"Sure, in the bedroom, then meet me in the study," answered Erica.

	As she watched Sharon leave, Erica was more scared than when she had
learned again to walk.  Or sought out Mistress Martine for her first
experience under the lash.

	When Sharon emerged from the bedroom she would be naked and collared. 
Erica rushed to the other bedroom to change into a leather bra and skirt.

	Her final exam had begun.
	*		*		*		*		*
	Erica looked at herself in bedroom mirror for the last time.  She had
chosen to wear a pair of elbow length opera gloves in black leather to
compliment her outfit, but now wished that she had worn something else
besides the leather bra.  The marks on her stomach were showing, and the
choice of the bra was just too revealing.  Still, it was too late now to
change.

	She walked out of the bedroom into the study and seated herself in Keith's
leather chair.  How often in the last few months that she had knelt naked
on the carpet in front of his desk!  Now she has the one in control.

	Erica was startled by a knock on the closed door, and she prepared
herself.

	"Enter."

	The door opened to reveal Sharon, and her beauty almost took Erica's
breath away.  The woman was naked, wearing only her collar and bracelets,
and shoes.  Clothed, she had been pretty, model quality. Naked, she was the
loveliest woman that Erica had ever seen, outside of a centerfold in a
men's magazine.

	"Kneel, with your legs open and your hands on your knees," ordered Erica
firmly.

	Sharon quickly did as she was told, and she knelt on the carpet in front
of the desk.  

	"What is your name, slave?" firmly asked Erica.

	"Sharon, Mistress."

	"What is my name?"

	"Mistress Erica.  Mistress Erica Riken," repeated Sharon.

	"Touch yourself, your nipples, your breasts, play with your pussy, but
don't give yourself an orgasm," Erica ordered.

	Erica watched, fascinated, as Sharon did as she was ordered.  Her hands
began to feel the outlines of her breasts, and circled her erect nipples. 
With her right hand on her breast, Sharon's left began to massage her slit.
 Erica watched the woman closely, making certain that Sharon did not insert
her fingers into her slit.  Sharon moaned, as she was close to giving
herself an orgasm.

	"Stop, slave!"

	Sharon ceased immediately, placing her hands on her knees, bowing her head
in front of her Mistress.

	Erica suddenly realized that every other time that she had been allowed
the use of another woman, her Dom had been nearby, or supervising her
actions.  But now she was alone!  Sharon was in her power, however briefly.

	Memories returned to her, of Daniel abusing her, ramming his cock up her
behind as she begged him not to.  Her anus sore for days afterward.  His
beating her without mercy until she had bled, tears streaming from her
eyes.

	Erica picked up the riding crop that she had placed on the desk, her hands
electric with power.  For the first time, she really felt down deep inside
what it mean to be a Dominatrix.

	'I swear,' she thought silently to herself, 'I'll always arrange a
safeword with a slave first, and never go beyond it.  I shall always
respect a slave's dignity, and never humiliate them, in public or in
private.  I shall never hurt or cause harm.  I will never force a slave
into doing something that they refuse to do.  I will look out for a slave's
welfare at all times.  I shall be known as Mistress Erica Riken."

	"Mistress?" softly asked Sharon, "are you all right?"

	Erica glanced at the clock, and found that she had been deep in thought
for several minutes.  She wondered just what Sharon had been thinking when
Erica had gone off into her own space.

	"Fine, Sharon, just fine.  What is your safeword?"

	"Desire, Mistress Erica."

	"What do you desire?"

	"To serve my Mistress," answered Sharon.

	"So you shall," said Erica as she rose from behind the desk, then walked
over to the leather couch and seated herself, "over my knee!"

	Sharon scurried to place herself over Erica's knees, and Erica was not
used to the weight of a naked woman resting on her thighs.

	"To begin, I am going to give you a light spanking."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"You will count each one," ordered Erica.

	"Yes, Mistress Erica."

	Thwack!

	"One!"

	Thwack!

	"Two."

	Thwack!

	Erica watched as each stroke of her hand left a red mark on Sharon's
bottom, how she jumped slightly with each impact.  Up close, Sharon wore an
alluring perfume that only served to entice the novice Domme.  Erica
marveled at Sharon's silky smooth skin, and she instantly desired her.  She
decided that Sharon would not spend the night chained on the floor next to
Erica's bed, but would instead be serving her Mistress within.

	"Ten!"

	Erica ceased spanking, leaving Sharon panting from the session.  Sharon's
bottom was slightly red, the skin warm to the touch.  Erica had decided
that a mild spanking would just serve as a warm-up for the nights other
activities.  She rubbed Sharon's warmed ass cheeks, then opened them to
reveal the anal bud within.  Reaching between Sharon's legs, she felt
upwards to Sharon's wet slit.

	"Already wet, slave?" Erica demanded.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Kneel on the floor," Erica ordered.

	"Yes, Mistress," Sharon quickly did as she was told.

	Erica rose from the couch, and went to the desk drawer where she knew that
Keith kept all of his toys.  She opened it, and found just what she wanted
inside.

	She withdrew a leash, blindfold, and ballgag, plus a small metal link. 
Erica held that in her hand, feeling the stainless steel in her fingers.

	"Hands behind your back."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Erica quickly walked over, and locked Sharon's hands behind her back.  She
noted that the woman held herself proudly in her slavery.

	"Prepare to be made helpless."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Erica first locked the collar around Sharon's neck, brushing her long hair
out of the way, then closing the collar with a satisfying click.  Then she
held the red ballgag by the straps, and Sharon did not have to be told to
open her mouth wide.  Erica buckled the ballgag snugly, but not tight so
that Sharon would be uncomfortable.  She watched as Sharon's nostrils
flared with each breath that she took.  Finally, Erica placed the fur-lined
blindfold over Sharon's eyes, than locked the leash onto her collar.  The
metal chain fell between her breasts.  Sharon was now totally helpless, and
at Erica's mercy.

	How often Erica had been in this position, first beginning with Mistress
Martine, then finally ending with Keith.  Now she was the Domme, with all
of the responsibility that it entailed.

	Erica grasped Sharon by her bound arms, and pulled the naked slave to her
feet.  Sharon grunted from inside her gag.

	"Stand up, slave," ordered Erica, "we're now going to the playroom."

	Erica pulled her captive along behind her, guiding her so the she didn't
trip against any of the furniture.  She unlocked the cellar door, and
helped Sharon down each step.  Finally, she opened the door to the playroom
itself, and pulled Sharon along behind her.

	She guided Sharon over to the stocks, and placed her ankles in the half
circles of the wood, then closed and locked the second bar.  Then she
unlocked the leash, and the link holding Sharon's wrists together.  Sharon
did not resist when Erica placed her neck and wrists in the half circles,
then closed and locked the yoke.  Sharon was now bent over, and helpless.

	"Mmmmmmph!" cried Sharon when Erica probed her sex, squirming within her
wooden prison.

	"Silence!" ordered Erica, as she swatted Sharon's bottom a few times,
"else I will not remove your gag and blindfold!"

	Sharon ceased her squirming, and stayed silent.

	"Better," commented Erica.

	True to her word, Erica soon removed the gag and blindfold.  Sharon
blinked several times as her vision was restored to her.

	"Thank you, Mistress."

	"You're welcome," replied Erica, "I think that we shall start with a
flogger."

	From the cabinet, Erica selected a deerskin flogger.  It was made of
plenty of soft strands, and unless used very harshly, was actually quite
gentle form of discipline.  Unlike a leather cat, especially one with each
strand knotted at the end.

	"Kiss the flogger, slave."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Erica began by applying the flogger softly, swinging each stroke for
maximum effect.  The multitude of stands struck onto Sharon's flesh, with a
slapping sound.  Sharon jerked with each impact in her leather prison, held
tightly inside the stocks.

	"Aaaaaah!" cried Sharon.

	Erica paused and rubbed her hands over Sharon's heated flesh, massaging
and calming the girl under her control.  Just for effect, she pinched
Sharon's nipples, making her moan.  

	Sharon's face was flushed and red as Erica began again, striking her
bottom, thighs, and between her legs.  After a series of strokes, she would
pause to run her hands over her slave's body, her attentions helping to
drive Sharon into an even greater sensual frenzy.

	"Kiss the flogger, slave!"

	Sharon did as she was ordered, in silence, her red lips leaving some
lipstick on the leather bindings.  She kissed the instrument that had been
used to create physical torment like the lips of a lover.

	"Thank you, Mistress for using me," said Sharon.

	"Your use has not yet begun," answered Erica.

	Returning the flogger to it's regular place, Erica decided that it was
time to use the front of Sharon's body.  She unlocked Sharon from she
stocks, and pulled her over to the X frame.  Sharon mounted the X frame
when ordered, and Erica restrained her by tightening the straps.  Soon,
Sharon was tightly held against the wood, her ass against the wall.  Also,
Erica had locked her bracelets to the frame as well.

	Erica retrieved the riding crop, which she held in her gloved hands.  She
flexed it for effect in front of Sharon, who did not look directly at
Erica, but did look at the crop itself.

	The one that she had chosen had a folded leather pad at the tip, and that
would be what Erica used to strike Sharon's body with.  It would leave a
nice red mark behind, and would sing her flesh.

	But first Erica massaged Sharon's sex with her right hand, then inserted
two fingers into her sex.  Sharon jerked within her bonds, and Erica
withdrew and the leather of her gloves was wet with Sharon's juices.

	"Taste yourself, slut."

	Erica forced her fingers into Sharon's mouth, and she sucked at the
leather.  After a few seconds, they were clean of her juices.

	"Thank you, Mistress."

	"Kiss the crop," ordered Erica.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Sharon kissed the handle of the crop when it was offered to her, and Erica
watched as Sharon tried to anticipate what her Mistress would do next.

	Instead of just starting to beat her with the crop, Erica instead pinched
both of Sharon's nipples at the same time.  Sharon squealed with both pain
and pleasure at the same time.

	"Silence!"

	Then Erica began to use the crop, slapping the leather pad against
Sharon's exposed flesh.  She began, not on her breasts, but on her
underarms instead.  Sharon had evidently just shaved her armpits, as the
skin was smooth and there was no trace of hair.  

	Next, she used the crop on Sharon's breasts, making her squirm on the X
frame.  Erica made certain not to strike the same area twice in a row, and
to strike hard enough to gently redden the skin.  Erica wanted her charge
to slowly heat up, to be released later.  Much later.

	But when Erica began to slap the pad between Sharon's thighs and sometimes
onto her sex did the slave become truly animated, moaning in response each
time that the tip struck her flesh.

	"Ooooh!" cried Sharon, "ooooh!"

	"Moan all you want slave, there will be no respite for you yet," stated
Erica.

	Erica used the crop repeatedly, until the front of Sharon's body was quite
red.  The leather had left a mark behind with each impact, and when Erica
felt Sharon's flesh, she found it warm to the touch.

	"How do you feel slave?" demanded Erica.

	"Fine, Mistress," replied Sharon.

	"Kiss the crop."

	Sharon did as she had been told.  Erica knew by then that her slave was
quite ready for her final use in the playroom, followed by her use in the
bedroom.

	"It is now time for the cat," calmly explained Erica, "as you hang from
the ceiling, your legs kept open."

	Erica removed Sharon from the X frame, wishing that she had an assistant
to help her.  If she should ever have a house with a playroom, she resolved
that she would have a Maid.  A Maid clad in black Latex, obeying her every
order, in the Dungeon and the bedroom.

	She pulled Sharon over to the ceiling chain, and locked the D rings on
Sharon's cuffs to the last link.  Erica had readied a spreader bar in
advance, and locked that to Sharon's ankle cuffs.  She activated the motor
from the control, and Sharon's body was pulled taut, and she could barely
reach the floor with the toes of her shoes.

	"You look divine, with your ribs showing," said Erica as she lightly
tickled Sharon's flesh, making her laugh.

	Before her last use in the playroom, she wanted Sharon relaxed.  For the
next use might not be so pleasant after all.

	Once Sharon had been calmed down, Erica removed the rubber flogger from
the cabinet.  The strands were made of rubber, and would mark easily.  They
would sting, and make Sharon moan with pain when applied.

	"Did you think that I would whip you?" asked Erica.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"I am a bit more creative than that, slave.  You shall taste the rubber
flogger, next time I shall use the lash instead," said Erica.

	'If I ever get to use you again,' Erica thought to herself, 'more than
likely it will be Sharon who puts me under her lash.'

	"Thank you, Mistress," said Sharon.

	"Kiss the flogger."

	Sharon did as she was told, and soon Erica began to punish her with it. 
The strands were heavy, and each one could mark.  Instead, Erica slapped
Sharon's body with the flogger, so that the strands did not always mark. 
Erica wanted to show that she could control whether or not she could mark,
demonstrating her control.

	"Oooooooh!  Oooooh!" cried Sharon as the flogger was applied to her.

	"Do you submit to me, slave?"

	"Yes, Mistress, yes!"

	"Kiss the cat, I shall now use you further."

	Erica allowed Sharon to kiss the cat, then ran her fingertips over
Sharon's flesh.  The woman was burning up with excitement and passion. 
Erica then replaced the cat in the cabinet, and released Sharon, who fell
into her arms.

	She helped Sharon to a bench, and held and soothed the slave in her arms.
Then she took her by the hand, and walked her upstairs to her bedroom.  She
locked Sharon's collar to a chain the other end of which was locked around
the bedpost, which would limit her freedom of movement.

	Erica then stripped until she was nude, and she noticed that the aroma of
leather had clung to her like a perfume.  She lay down upon the bed, and
make certain that a crop and dildo were on the night table next to the bed.

	"Satisfy your Mistress, Slave," Erica ordered, "else you will be punished.

	When she felt Sharon's tongue and lips on her clit, Erica had no doubt
that her charge was very experienced in the arts of lovemaking as one
explosive climax after another rocked her body.

	Sharon then sucked on Erica's nipples, and then Erica wrapped her arms
around Sharon as they rolled on the bed together.  Erica then grabbed hold
of the dildo, and inserted in between Sharon's legs.  Sharon opened her
legs to accommodate the phallus inside her.

	Erica did not know, or care, when they stopped.  First Sharon drifted off
into an exhausted sleep, and Erica followed.  Her body was sticky with her
sweat and Sharon's juices, and she had never felt so wonderful in all her
life.
	*		*		*		*		*
	The next morning, Erica showered and was allowed to do her toilet.  Then
Beth cuffed her hands behind her back, locked a collar around her neck,
then a ballgag and blindfold.  Erica was made to kneel for what seemed like
hours, her stomach grumbling from hunger.

	'At least Beth didn't put a plug up my ass,' thought Erica, 'I never have
to wait for grades like this in Harvard.'

	Finally, she was made to rise, and she was walked into what she presumed
was Keith's study.  Then she was sat in a chair, and her blindfold and gag
were removed.

	Keith was dressed in a casual shirt and jeans, and in the chair next to
her was Sharon.  She was dressed in a white cotton blouse and denim skirt.

	"Good morning, Erica."

	"Good morning, Sir," Erica replied to her Master.

	"Sharon and I have been discussing your use or her.  Would you like to
hear the results?"

	"Very much, Sir!"

	Erica was so intent on Keith's words that she didn't see Sharon lean over,
enfold her in her arms, and kiss her on the cheek.

	"You pass, Erica," said Sharon with a smile on her face.

	"I passed?"

	"Yes, darling," answered Sharon, "you do.  Keith will want to go over how
you used me, which was quite nice.  But you passed."

	Erica broke out into tears, something that she had not done since she'd
passed that class in Economics.  Sharon released her wrists, and passed her
a box of tissues.

	"Thank you, Master Keith," sobbed Erica.

	"You're welcome, Erica.  You've earned it.  Breakfast?"

	"I'm starved," Erica replied.

	When the four of them sat down to breakfast, Erica was allowed to wear a
short robe.  She had graduated from nakedness to clothes, and she helped
Beth prepare and serve.  They cooked cheese omelets, toast, and home fries,
and served Keith and Sharon first, before they sat down.  Erica greedily
tore into her food, as she was famished.

	After the meal and washing up was done, Sharon packed her bags and made
ready to leave.  Erica was divested of her collar and bracelets, and helped
Sharon carry her things outside.

	"Erica?" asked Sharon.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"One day you must come up and visit me, I'm sure that I can paddle that
bottom of yours to a lovely shade of red."

	"I'd love to," said Erica in response.

	"You were very good, darling.  Very good indeed.  Be a good Dominatrix,
please?"

	"I will," said Erica, remembering the silent conversation that she had had
with herself, "I swear."

	Afterwards, Keith and Beth provided her with a detailed examination of how
she had performed.  The only real criticism was that she had held herself a
bit too stiffly, like a robot.  Still, Sharon had said that she was a
skilled Domme, and had lots of promise.

	"Looks like I've trained my first Dominatrix," said Keith as Erica
prepared to leave.

	"Yes, Master."

	"I'm not your Master any more," answered Keith, "we'll have a public
ceremony for you in a club in Manhattan, or a leather bar.  Then you'll be
on your way."

	"Thank you………Keith," Erica answered.

	"Don't disappoint me, Erica."

	"I won't, ever."

	"I know you won't, Mistress Erica," said Keith as he reached over and
kissed her, a kiss that she returned.

	When Erica drove away, she realized that her life had changed again. 
Slave to Dominatrix.

Part Three: Triumph and Tragedy

September 1983

	It happened when Erica had gone to the supermarket in Darien.  She had
forgotten to go shopping, so after work and dinner, she had to get back in
the car and go food shopping, since she had nothing in the apartment.

	The days of summer were over, and night came earlier as the days
shortened.  When she had finished checking out, the sky was dark with the
oncoming night.

	She loaded her bags into the trunk of her Chevrolet Nova, then closed the
lid, only to find Daniel standing on the driver's side of the car.

	"Good evening, Erica," said Daniel, softly.

	"Go away, please!" Erica answered swiftly.

	"Is that any way to greet your Master?"

	"You're not my Master any more, you gave me to Keith."

	"Only because you were such a disobedient slut that night.  If I hadn't
taken you up the ass, you'd still be mine now."

	"I'm a Domme now, so go away, Daniel!"

	"Yes, I heard about next weeks little party for you in Manhattan, at that
little gay leather bar.  What's wrong, Keith's little pet can't have her
ceremony in a proper Dungeon?"

	"It's my ceremony, so don't spoil it!" cried Erica, as she withdrew the
keys from her purse.

	"I have no intention of spoiling it.  What they don't know is that you're
really just a fake, just a true slave at heart.  Who was never happier when
I was using you."

	"You mean beating me to a pulp, abusing me, and keeping me ignorant, don't
you?" Erica demanded.

	"You seemed pretty happy at the time, slave."

	"Go away," said Erica as she slid the key in the door.

	"You'll be back on your knees, begging me in six months," Daniel sneered.

	"You should live so long," Erica answered as she opened the door, jumped
in the car, started the engine and drove off.

	She was half-afraid that he would try to do something physical to her
outside, but he didn't.  He was too smart for that, which was good for her.
	*		*		*		*		*
	Keith had rented the leather bar for a closed party.  All of his friends
were there, Dom(mes) and their subs, plus a couple of friends that Erica
had managed to make in the scene.

	Keith was dressed in a leather outfit, and Beth was wearing a black dress
with a collar around her neck.  Erica had decided on a vinyl Dominatrix
dress, pantyhose, and sensible heels.

	She was kneeling on a raised platform, before Keith, who held a crop in
his hands.

	"Do you, Erica Riken, understand the position that you are assuming?"

	"Yes, Master."

	"That you shall be responsible for the well being of a slave at all
times?"

	"Yes, Master."

	"That you shall never place your desires over the safety of another?"

	"Yes, Master."

	"That you must always remember that absolute power corrupts?"

	"Yes, Master."

	"Based on my experience as a Trainer, and a Dom, I pronounce Erica Riken
fit to be a Dominatrix.  Arise Erica," Keith ordered.

	Keith handed Erica a riding crop, with a leather pad on the end.  She
flexed it in her arms.

	"Thank you, Master Keith," Erica answered, tears at the corners of her
eyes.

	"Welcome, Mistress Erica," said Keith as he kissed her on the cheeks.

	"Thank you," she whispered in his ears.

	"I know you won't disappoint me," he replied.

	"Never."

	The rest of the party that night was composed of small demonstrations. 
Erica did not have any slaves of her own yet, so she was allowed the use of
others.

	It was the best party ever, Erica thought as she made the long drive back
to Darien, even better than the one when she had graduated Harvard.  But
that had been in another life.

	Or so she had thought that night.
	*		*		*		*		*
	Erica was seated at her desk when she saw something that chilled her to
the bone.  Her mother's lawyer, Robert Alexander, had entered her firm's
offices!

	He spoke to her boss Jason, who called her over to his office.

	"Erica, this is Robert Alexander, a lawyer.  He would like to speak to you
in private.  Use my office," said Jason, as he left the two of them alone
then closed the door behind him.

	 Robert sat down behind Jason's desk, and pulled a picture of Erica from
his briefcase.  Erica recognized it as the one she had given Eve when she
had recovered from her surgery.

	"What's this all about?" asked Erica.

	"Are you Erica Riken?"

	"Yes."

	"Eve Peters died this morning, two hours ago of a sudden massive heart
attack."

	"No!" cried Erica as she placed her head in her hands.

	"You have been named as beneficiary of the estate," Robert said calmly.

	Erica cried, for last week she had skipped her weekly meeting with her
mother to instead use a woman for the first time.  Eve had given no hint in
her voice just how sick she was, and now Erica was paying the price.

	Robert rose from the desk and whispered in Erica's ear, "Eve told me who
you really are, Alana, why you gave up your life to become Erica Riken. 
You're not the first person in Greenwich Society to fall off the wagon, you
know."
	*		*		*		*		*
	Eve's funeral had been well attended, and everyone from Greenwich had
attended.  Erica had bought a black dress, and had sat in the back, alone.

	Everyone said that it was such a tragedy that Alana had disappeared,
leaving Eve alone in her last years.

	Erica had done everything possible to cease being Alana Peters, but in the
end, she had instead come full circle.  Robert Alexander was working
overtime to keep her name out of the papers, and the publicity down to a
minimum.

	She would work at her job for a few more days, then quit and move into the
mansion.  Erica would inherit a vast estate, of money, stocks, and real
estate.

	In her mind, plans circled like exciting dreams.  The vast basement, which
now housed a pool table, bar, and entertainment center.

	Erica imagined a vast Dungeon complex, like the one that Mistress Martine
had at the House of Domination in NYC.  There was room for two Dungeons, a
cell, and plenty of space for other things down there.

The Challenge
Chapter 07: Invasive Procedures


July 17, 1998

	When the limousine arrived to bring Cheryl to Janet's Estate, it was
Mistress Janet herself who opened the front door.  Cheryl had been picked
up as normal, and driven to the Estate like any other week.

	"Please come in, Cheryl," welcomed Janet.

	"Mistress?" asked Cheryl, puzzled that Tina had not been the one to greet
her.

	"Enter."

	Cheryl did as she was told, and Janet closed the door behind her.  Janet
looked over her slave very carefully.  It had been just one week since she
had disobeyed Janet, and Cheryl had been severely punished.

	The weather was in the 80s, and it had not rained.  Cheryl did not have a
coat of any kind this week.

	"Please come into the library," ordered Janet.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Cheryl followed behind Janet, and Janet seated herself behind the library
desk.  She remained standing, not sure if she should sit in the chair, or
ordered to kneel.

	"You may use a chair, Cheryl, you're not naked yet," ordered Janet.

	"Thank you, Mistress," said Cheryl as she seated herself.

	Janet looked Cheryl over very carefully.  Her slave was wearing an Ann
Taylor dress, matching hose, and Nine West Shoes.  She had gone to the
beauty parlor, and not a hair was out of place.  She exuded a trace of
Poison, yes that was the perfume that she was wearing.  Cheryl looked every
bit like a model, and played that image of her to the hilt.

	In contrast, Janet was wearing just a plain denim dress and a pair of
flats on her feet.  Those fetish shoes had begun to hurt lately, and Janet
knew that she had to watch carefully just how often she would wear them.

	"How do you feel about your training so far?" began Janet.

	"I like it, Mistress."

	"Have you found what you came here for?"

	"Yes, Mistress," Cheryl answered.

	"Being naked, bound, and whipped excites you?" Janet demanded.

	"Yes, Mistress Janet."

	"No complaints about how I used you last weekend?"

	"No, Mistress, I was wrong to defy you."

	Janet paused, because she knew that her next words would have a shocking
effect on her charge.

	"When you first came to me, I described to you how you would be used.  Do
you remember what I said?" Janet asked.

	"That I would be beaten with a whip, crop, or even your hands, Mistress."

	"Anything else?"

	"No, Mistress," proudly answered Cheryl.

	"Then you have forgotten the part about how I will use your whole body."

	"Mistress?"

	"Before you forced yourself upon me, what were your sexual experiences?"

	"Just normal male female sex, Mistress," stated Cheryl, a blush on her
cheeks.

	"Judging by your reactions when Tina and I took you to bed, I'll accept
that as fact.  Or else you are a very good actress.  Did you ever give a
man a blowjob, or take his cock up your ass?" calmly asked Janet.

	"No, Mistress," quickly answered Cheryl, her calm demeanor shaken by the
bluntness of Janet's intimate questions.

	"The first day that you were here, I told you that I was going to train
your entire body.  That meant not only placing you under the lash, but
using all of your orifices as well.  I said that I would make you wear a
dildo in your cunt, and train you to accept a butt plug.  Do you remember?"

	"Yes………yes, Mistress," realization dawning in Cheryl's face at the meaning
in Janet's words.

	"Good.  I was planning to begin that last Saturday, but Mistress Lori
intervened."

	Cheryl remained silent and shaken, her face red and flushed.

	"I now give you the option again Cheryl to back out, as your training will
now become very hard indeed.  Do you want to leave?"
 Janet asked.

	"No, Mistress."

	"Good.  Since Tina is off this weekend, I want you to go the downstairs
bedroom where you will find your collar, bracelets, and heels.  You will
voluntarily outfit yourself in the instruments of slavery.  Then you may
return here," directed Janet.

	"Yes, Mistress," hesitantly answered Cheryl.

	"One last thing before you go."

	"Yes, Mistress?"

	"Don't wear Poison again, the connotation is rather obvious.  You are
ordered to wear something feminine like White Linen, else you will be
severely punished.  Understand?"

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Go!" firmly commanded Janet, "and when you return you had better be
properly outfitted."

	"Yes, Mistress," quickly answered Cheryl as she rose to leave.
	*		*		*		*		*
	When she returned to the library fifteen minutes later, Cheryl was naked,
wearing only her collar, bracelets, and high heels.  Janet smiled when she
saw Cheryl, since the woman was a natural blonde.

	"Do not kneel," ordered Janet.

	Cheryl stood silently on her feet, awaiting Janet's next command.  Janet
rose from the desk, and walked towards Cheryl.  She played with Cheryl's
nipples, squeezing them between her fingers.

	"Do you enjoy it when I take you to bed and fuck you with the strap on
dildo?" asked Janet.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Good.  Since you have already been introduced to the phallus in my
bedroom, you will not need as much training with it.  But still, tonight,
you shall wear one."

	Janet walked back towards her desk, and opened the lower right hand
drawer.  She removed a broad leather belt, and a smaller one that already
had a flesh colored and shaped phallus attached.

	Cheryl gasped when she saw the device; her eyes wide open in shock.

	"Stand still, Cheryl," Janet ordered.

	Janet drew the wide belt around Cheryl's waist, and tightened it until it
was snug.  Then she attached the smaller belt to the front of Cheryl's
waist, and pushed the phallus upward between Cheryl's legs.

	"Oooooh!" gasped Cheryl as the phallus filled her sex.

	At Cheryl's back, Janet tightened the second belt, then finally secured it
with four tiny locks around Cheryl's waist.  She pulled at the belt to make
sure that it was truly snug, and that Cheryl couldn't remove it.

	"Walk," Janet dictated.

	Cheryl took a few halting steps on her heels before she moaned, and she
climaxed to orgasm quickly.  She stood, panting in her erotic agony.

	"I see that my training has taught you to be in a state of sexual
excitement at all times," stated Janet.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Good.  I now want you to wash the dishes in the sink in the kitchen, then
clean the Dungeon downstairs.  Since Tina has already trained you in that
task, you know what to do.  I used another slave there last night, and Tina
wasn't available, so that task falls to you also.  Go!"

	"Mistress, not with this thing inside me!" protested Cheryl.

	"Are you backing out?" demanded Janet harshly, "refusing my orders?"

	"No, Mistress."

	"You have forced yourself upon me, and demanded to be trained like any
other slave.  I shall do nothing unusual with you, or different.  But you
either accept my training, and all it's consequences, or leave," lectured
Janet.

	"Yes, Mistress, I will accept my training."

	"Good, your chores await you.  Just remember, you have one other opening I
shall use tomorrow," coldly answered Janet.

	Janet looked at Cheryl's face as the woman left the library, a look of
shock and horror on her face at Janet's last statement.  If the full impact
of her slavery had not been made clear last week, then the dildo locked
inside her made it clear once again to Cheryl.
	*		*		*		*		*

	"Mistress?"

	"Yes, Cheryl."

	"The dishes are washed and the Dungeon has been cleaned, Mistress Janet."

	Janet looked up from her desk, and glanced at her watch.  She had been so
engrossed in her work that she had not seen that an hour and a half had
passed.  Cheryl had arrived at nine, and after she had been readied, had
worked till eleven.

	The woman who had been the model of composure before was now quite
different.  Beads of sweat were visible on her flesh, and her makeup was
smeared.  Her hair was still held in place by the spray, but a few stands
had worked themselves loose.

	"Excellent, I shall inspect both," said Janet rising from the desk.

	With Cheryl dutifully following along behind her, Janet first checked the
kitchen.  The dishes (Janet had made certain not to wash any for two days)
had all been washed, dried, and stored in the cabinets.  Then she walked to
the Dungeon elevator, and they both rode downstairs.

	Cheryl had cleaned everything, including the leather bench, X frame,
dusted the stocks, and oiled the whips.  Janet glanced in Cheryl's
direction, and she saw the look of desperation in her eyes.

	Janet knew that Cheryl was desperately hoping that the job that she had
done was good enough to escape a punishment of some sort, and that she
would be free of the thing inside her.  Every few steps must have been a
new form of agony for her, driving her to orgasm, then repeating the
ordeal.

	"Very good Cheryl," Janet complimented her slave.

	"Thank you, Mistress."

	"Do you wish to be released from the phallus?"

	"Yes, Mistress, please!" begged Cheryl.

	"What if I were to tell you that you had to wear it all day.  How would
you react?" asked Janet.

	"I would wear it, Mistress."

	"Good.  Come upstairs," Janet ordered.

	Janet led, and Cheryl followed behind her.  Much to Cheryl's surprise,
Janet shut the Dungeon lights behind her.  They rode the elevator upstairs,
then Janet closed the door and the hidden wall paneling that concealed it.
Janet retrieved the key from the library, and closed all of the downstairs
lights as well.

	"Ascend the staircase, Cheryl, I'll be right behind you," Janet ordered.

	It must have been sheer agony for Cheryl as she walked up every step, with
the dildo frictioning itself against her sex with every step that she took.
 Cheryl waited for Janet at the top of the stairs, then followed behind her
Mistress to the bedroom.

	Janet glanced at the clock, and saw that it was already midnight.  She
looked at Cheryl, and decided that it was time to release her slave for
tonight.

	"Stand still," Janet ordered.

	"Yes, Mistress, ohhh!" moaned Cheryl as Janet unlocked the cross belt and
removed the dildo from her dripping sex.

	"Feel better?" Janet asked as she removed the waist belt from around
Cheryl's hips.

	"Thank you, Mistress," sighed Cheryl in relief.

	Janet then took another key, and unlocked Cheryl's heels, collar, and
bracelets, leaving her without any of the instruments of her slavery.

	"You may now clean the phallus," ordered Janet as she handed the belts to
Cheryl, "belts, and yourself, because you stink of sweat, in the other
bathroom."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Then report back here," ordered Janet.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Janet had finished her shower and had dried her hair first before Cheryl
had rejoined her.  She enjoyed being nude, since none of her fetish attire
breathed like normal fabrics.  Janet had started to leaf through a
magazine, waiting for Cheryl to rejoin her.

	"Mistress?" said Cheryl as she knocked on the door.

	"Enter."

	Cheryl presented Janet the phallus harness by kneeling on the floor and
holding it in front of her in both her hands.  The dildo was clean of her
juices, the leather cleaned and polished.

	"Stand!"

	Janet ran her fingertips over Cheryl's skin, and found that she had indeed
showered.  Cheryl's sex was clean of her juices as well.

	"Replace your collar and bracelets," Janet ordered.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Janet watched as Cheryl obeyed her orders, locking the leather and steel
on herself.  Cheryl seemed to hesitate, somehow.

	"Are you ready to serve your Mistress?"

	"Yes, Mistress Janet."

	"Hands behind your back then," Janet ordered.

	The look on Cheryl's eyes was one of sheer amazement as Janet first locked
her hands behind her back, then seated her on the floor.  Janet then locked
a chain from the bedpost to Cheryl's collar, and placed a small pillow on
the floor.

	"You may lay down, and stretch out on the floor for the night, chained at
the bed of your Mistress this evening.  If you make a sound, you shall wear
a ballgag all night.  Do you understand?"

	Janet shut the lights, and got under the single sheet nude.  She didn't
have to be a mindreader to know that either Cheryl desired to join her in
bed, or resented her treatment.  But that was just a part of the slavery
that she had chosen.  Janet soon drifted off to sleep, remembering when
Erica had chained her in the exact same place.
	*		*		*		*		*

Saturday July 18, 1998

	The next day opened with a crash of thunder.  An early morning
thunderstorm passed through Connecticut, awakening both Janet and Cheryl.

	Janet opened her eyes just in time to see a lightning bolt touch down
nearby and the sound of thunder shook the house a few seconds later.  A
powerful gust of wind blew in the open window, making the curtains billow
in response.  Before Janet even got out of bed, a powerful wall of water
descended some entering through the window screen.

	"Damn!" Janet exclaimed.

	Jumping out of bed nude, she closed the windows in her bedroom, then raced
through the entire house closing on window after another.  It was only
after shutting the library windows downstairs did Janet realize that she
had left Cheryl chained in her bedroom.

	She then raced back upstairs, to find Cheryl sitting up on her bottom.

	"Good morning, Cheryl."

	"Good morning, Mistress," greeted Cheryl in response as Janet unlocked her
collar and wrists.

	"You may attend to your toilet, then cook breakfast in the kitchen.  Tina
has provided a list for you on the refrigerator of meals that you are
expected to prepare this weekend.  I shall be waiting in the Dining Room."

	"Yes, Mistress," answered Cheryl as she took her exit.

	As part of her training, Cheryl had been taught how to bathe and prepare
herself.  Tina had shown her how to shave her legs and underarms so that no
hair remained, and that her skin would be smooth at all times.  In
addition, to rouge her aureole and perfume herself as well.

	Janet went to the bathroom, and realized that she had overlooked something
else with Cheryl.  She had forgotten to order Cheryl to leave the bathroom
door open when she performed her toilet.  That would be another small, but
important part of her personal dignity that Janet would take away from her.

	The thunderstorm that had begun the day would continue all day, so Janet
and Cheryl would remain in the house.  Janet wore a white cotton top, no
bra, and jeans and white sneakers.  Since Cheryl was still busy in the
kitchen, Janet put on her raincoat and grabbed an umbrella, then walked
down the driveway to retrieve the paper.

	The mailbox was in a hole in the concrete wall, and she paid the papergirl
extra to place the Times inside instead of just throwing it on the exterior
lawn.  Janet opened the box, and found that the Times and local Connecticut
papers were already here.  Good!

	Janet walked back to the house, just before another storm hit.  She folded
the umbrella in the foyer, then hung her raincoat in the laundry room to
dry.

	"Breakfast is ready, Mistress," announced Cheryl.

	"Thank you," said Janet as she assumed her place at the head of the Dining
Room table.

	As she was being served her cheese omelet, Janet realized that it wasn't
going to take Stephanie long to figure out that something was going on.  It
was quite common for them to share breakfast or lunch together, to compare
notes on how training on new slaves was progressing.

	Sooner or later, Stephanie was going to become suspicious.  When that
finally happened, trouble was sure to begin.  Except that trouble had
already started, in the person of Cheryl Branford.

	"You may clean the table," ordered Janet when she had finished, "but I
only want you to eat a light breakfast this morning."

	"Mistress?"

	"Some juice, coffee, and a couple slices of toast.  I don't want you to
have a lot of food in your stomach," ordered Janet.

	"Mistress?" repeated Cheryl, a look of astonishment on her face.

	"That was an order Cheryl, do not disobey.  When you are finished, you may
join me in the library," ordered Janet, "where your training shall
continue."

	Janet rose from her chair, and she hoped that Cheryl remembered what had
been said to her the previous night.  Cheryl watched her Mistress leave the
Dining Room in silence.

	After working for an hour in the library, Janet was interrupted by a knock
on the library door.  She had been so engrossed in her work, that she had
forgotten the passage of time.

	"Enter."

	Cheryl opened the door, then closed it behind her, and walked in front of
Janet's desk, where she dropped to her knees, then placed her hands on her
kneecaps.

	"Breakfast is finished, Mistress Janet."

	"Good, we may now proceed," said Janet as she closed the manila file
folders and reports that she was working on, saved her work on the PC, and
could now concentrate on Cheryl.

	Cheryl remained on the floor, silent, awaiting Janet's next orders.

	"Yesterday, you told me that you had never given a man a blowjob, or
sucked a cock.  Is that correct?"

	"Yes, Mistress," quickly answered Cheryl, embarrassed at Janet's direct
question.

	"I train both male and female slaves for Masters and Mistresses, but I
prefer to train women since they are more interesting.  Since you have come
to me to be trained, I have decided that you shall be trained to serve both
a Master and a Mistress.  Since you have already learned how to service a
woman, it's time you learned how to service a man."

	"Mistress?"

	From the desk drawer, Janet removed a lifelike latex cock with attached
balls.  It was a moderate sized one, not one of those silly monstrosities
in display in the sex shops.  It was the size of one that average man would
have, perfect for training.

	"You're now going to learn how to suck cock, Cheryl.  An important skill
that may one day delight a Master, or a husband.  If you resist learning,
then you have another opening that I can use."

	Janet had terrified Cheryl the previous night into believing that it would
be her bottom that was going to be used.  Instead, she had surprised Cheryl
by insisting on training her in cocksucking.  Janet did not have spell out
to Cheryl what else she could do this morning.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Janet rose from the desk, walked the few steps to Cheryl, and handed the
cock to her.  Cheryl took the object in her hands, holding it like a live
object.

	"Since you're a mature woman, I presume that you've probably seen at least
one sex film in your life showing a woman sucking cock.  It's not something
from outer space, Cheryl.  You may begin," Janet ordered.

	Cheryl's cheeks blushed red as she drew the cock towards her mouth, then
opened her lips and began to suck on the rubber cock.  She opened her
mouth, and took the head of the cock inside, past her lips and teeth.

	Janet watched with wry amusement as Cheryl sucked gently on the cock,
taking it deeper inside her mouth.  She knew that Cheryl was acutely
embarrassed by having to perform this in front of another woman.

	The only sounds in the library were those of Cheryl sucking on the cock,
and the distant peals of thunder outside.  Janet had wanted to play Wagner
on the stereo, but didn't want to embarrass Cheryl any further.

	After what seemed like a good session (Cheryl had taken only half the
length of the cock into her mouth, but she hadn't gagged) Janet motioned
for her to stop.

	"Very good, Cheryl," Janet complimented, "you may stop.  If you had been
doing a man, I'm sure that he would have came in your mouth by now."

	"Thank you, Mistress," breathed Cheryl in relief.

	"But of course you will be expected to take the cock fully down your
throat after you've been fully trained.  You may take the cock with you,
and practice in between your chores today."

	"Yes, Mistress," answered Cheryl in embarrassment.

	"Stand up, please."

	Cheryl did as she was instructed, and Janet removed the same harness from
the desk that Cheryl had worn the previous night.

	"Please, no, Mistress!" gasped Cheryl, "not again."

	"Silence!" Janet ordered, "it is not for you to decide what I use upon
you."

	Janet then removed the rubber phallus from the cross strap, and motioned
for Cheryl to stand.  She then locked the belt around Cheryl's waist, then
the crotch strap and the four little locks that held it.

	"I can't have you being driven mad by the cock, since you might succomeb
to the temptation to place it within your sex.  So without the phallus, it
can serve as a Chastity belt instead."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"In the event that you have to go the toilet, find me and I shall release
you, then lock you back into the harness afterwards."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"One last order, Cheryl.  Don't stimulate yourself by playing with your
nipples.  I have a very nice latex bra that has inward facing warts for
your aureole that will drive you crazy.  Understand?"

	"Yes, Mistress Janet."

	"Good, Tina has left you a list of chores to do, you may proceed."

	"Thank you, Mistress," said Cheryl when she departed.

	Janet decided that she would inform Cheryl about the leaving the bathroom
door open the first time that she had to perform her toilet.  Cheryl had
closed the library door, and Janet was left alone.

	It was ten thirty, and lunch was not until one.  Somehow, Janet didn't
want to work anymore, but loaf.  She resumed her seat, then pondered what
to do next.  She had considered calling Stephanie to ask her to look at
Erica's Medical Records, then stopped herself.  Suppose there was something
there that Erica had not wanted her friend to know?

	One of her other slaves, Gwendolwn, was a nurse at a local hospital.  She
would ask her to look over Erica's records one day, to decipher the
doctor's mad scrawl.

	Janet had read the first three volumes of Alana's Diary, from 1980 to
1983.  Every page had held her spellbound, as if Erica was here beside her.

	She only read the diary late at night, alone, when Tina was asleep or
busy.  She had never told her companion what had been in the safe, and had
stayed silent.

	Alana Peters had been born to wealth and power, yet had turned her back on
it after a car accident had nearly claimed her life.  She had changed her
face and name, and lived as a working class person in order to pursue her
desire to serve a Master.  Only to find that her true destiny was as a
Dominatrix.

	Just when Janet herself had become accustomed to the idea that she loved
being Erica's slave, and wanted to serve her in the Dungeon and her bed,
Erica had unleashed the competition upon her and Tiffany.  
	
	'Damn you Erica,' Janet thought to herself, 'I wanted to be your slave in
all things.  I had never experienced true love or wanting until I wore your
collar, chains, and marks.  Instead of training me as a slave, you trained
me to replace you.'

	A lightning bolt that struck outside made the lights dim in response
interrupted Janet's thoughts.

	'Bravo, Erica,' Janet thought, 'you always had a flair for the dramatic.'

	It was of course just a figment of her imagination to believe that her
Mistress had arranged the lightning bolt at that moment.  But it was still
a nice idea!
	*		*			*		*		*
	Janet had been writing her household checks when Cheryl knocked again on
the library door.

	"Enter."

	"Mistress, may I go to the bathroom?" asked Cheryl.

	"Yes, Cheryl, of course," replied Janet as she rose from her chair.

	"Thank you, Mistress."

	Having control over a simple bodily function like going to the bathroom
was just one more way that Janet exercised her mastery over Cheryl.  One
more decision that Cheryl had been able to make on her own had been taken
away from her.

	Janet took Cheryl to the bedroom downstairs, and when they stood there
together, she unlocked the four small locks and removed the crotch strap. 
Janet placed the strap on the dresser, and sat on the bed.

	"Go," directed Janet, "but leave the door open."

	"Mistress?" a look of shock was on Cheryl's face.

	"If you can't use the toilet, then I'll give you a bedpan instead and you
can do it on the floor.  This is another part of your modesty that I take
away Cheryl."

	"Mistress?"

	"Go!"

	Meekly, Cheryl sat on the toilet.  Her bodily needs must have been great,
since it wasn't too long before she peed and moved her bowels.  Red faced,
she found Janet watching her the whole time from the doorway.

	When she had finished her toilet, Cheryl cleaned her bottom with toilet
paper and a gob of Vaseline, since Janet had insisted that she keep her
anus clean.  The she cleaned her bottom and sex with a scented towelette, a
box of which was in every bathroom in the house. 

	"Very good, Cheryl," complimented Janet, "at least I won't have to order
you to use a bedpan."

	"Thank you, Mistress."

	"Have you sucked on the cock?" Janet asked.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"You can demonstrate after lunch, Cheryl."

	"Thank you, Mistress Janet."

	Janet locked the Chastity belt back onto Cheryl's belt, turned on her
heels and left Cheryl alone.  Glancing at her watch, she found that lunch
was an hour away.

	Lunch, she already knew, was just salad, roast beef sandwiches, and cake.
Dinner would be a baked flounder, which would require some preparation. 
Cheryl had demonstrated in the last month that she knew how to cook.  Janet
resolved to ask her if Cheryl had gone to cooking school.  If Cheryl didn't
answer, then she had other ways to extract an answer from her slave. 

	Lunch itself was totally uneventful, and Janet ate quickly.  She drank two
cans of soda during the meal, and then ate her cake quickly.  Cheryl
cleared the dishes away, and Janet adjourned to the library to wait for
her.

	Janet waited behind the desk, reading a magazine that Stephanie had sent
her.  It was a Ponygirl magazine, and Janet wondered if it was worth the
expense to purchase an outfit that like for her slaves.  Once, on vacation
upstate, she had gone to a farm run by a husband and wife team.  Janet had
allowed herself to be outfitted and used as a Ponygirl for three days, and
had found the experience interesting, to say the least!

	"Mistress," greeted Cheryl when she entered the library.

	"Enter," said Janet.

	"I am ready to show you my progress," stated Cheryl.

	"Go ahead."

	Janet watched dispassionately as Cheryl sucked on the rubber phallus,
taking it deeper and deeper into her mouth.  Judging from the length, Janet
knew that the cock was far into her throat, the head scraping the back of
her throat.

	"Excellent, Cheryl," Janet complimented.

	"Thank you, Mistress."

	"You have done very well on your own, in a rather short time.  I have a
little test for you."

	Janet rose from her chair, and knew that Cheryl would still be here
kneeling when she returned.  She unlocked a drawer in the kitchen, and
removed another phallus.  Except that this one had a small bulb inside each
rubber testicle that Janet filled with warm water.

	"Try this one," ordered Janet when she returned.

	Cheryl again took the second phallus into her mouth, her cheeks puckering
as she sucked on the rubber cock.  Janet held onto the phallus with her
right hand, and didn't even have to push it into Cheryl's mouth.

	When Janet was satisfied that the head was scraping the back of Cheryl's
mouth, she pressed lightly on one of the rubber testicles, shooting a jet
of warm water into Cheryl's throat.  Janet expected that Cheryl would choke
or gag, but instead she watched as Cheryl's throat muscles worked and she
swallowed the warm water.

	Janet pressed again, then emptied the first testicle, and Cheryl repeated
her performance once more.  Cheryl knelt, with the cock still in her mouth.

	Finally, Janet pressed the other testicle, emptying the second in one
shot.  Cheryl swallowed, and didn't gasp for air.  Janet released her hold
on the phallus.

	"You may remove the phallus, Cheryl."

	"Yes, Mistress," Cheryl answered when her mouth was free of the rubber
cock.

	"Very good, Cheryl."

	"Thank you, Mistress."

	"Perhaps I'll call a Master friend of mine and you can demonstrate your
skill on him," suggested Janet.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	It was early afternoon, and Janet was suddenly at a loss.  She had
expected that Cheryl would fail at cocksucking.  Instead, she had succeeded
in less than a day.  Now what?

	"You may prepare dinner," Janet ordered.

	It wasn't after Cheryl had departed that Janet realized that she had left
the chastity belt locked on Cheryl's waist.  Janet decided that she would
unlock the belt, when her cell phone buzzed in her purse.

	"Janet?"

	"Yes, Lori, how are you?" asked Janet.

	"I'm fine, but that's not why I'm calling."

	"Go ahead."

	"Remember last week that I told you that I'd seen Cheryl before?"

	"Sure."

	"Now I remember where.  I was in Los Angeles last year, on vacation.  My
girlfriend and I went into a few sex shops in LA for a few laughs.  Cheryl
was in one, buying every book that they had on D/s."

	"Do you remember what she was saying to the clerks?"

	"No, I was too far away."

	"She was researching D/s?" asked Janet.

	"Either that, or starting a library."

	"Thanks Lori, I owe you one."

	"Who's counting, and I still want to use Cheryl."

	"You'll have her."

	"Bye," said Lori as the connection was cut.

	Janet sat in her chair, terrified.  Lori had been right last week in
saying that Cheryl was dangerous.

	From the first moment that Cheryl had appeared in Janet's life, Janet
thought that every action that she had taken was premeditated.  Now Janet
had the confirmation that she needed.  Trouble was, it still didn't answer
the question of why Cheryl was here!

	Janet wished that she could grab her riding crop, march into the kitchen,
and beat Cheryl until she was left sobbing on the floor and confessing her
reasons for being here.

	"I'm not Lauren!" Janet said aloud to herself.

	Janet began to wonder if Cheryl's appearance and demands weren't some evil
plot that Lauren had devised to trouble her.  Every now and then, she and
Lauren crossed paths, and Janet had ignored her.

	The image of Cheryl preparing dinner, wearing the apron and chastity belt
came into her mind.  Cheryl had bought books and researched D/s; maybe even
had gone under the lash of another Mistress.  She knew more than she was
letting on.

	Janet had toyed with the idea of using Cheryl in the library for a little
session, and now rejected it.  Any use of her now might lead to Janet
beating Cheryl harshly.

	'Erica gave me her house, estate, and title of Mistress because I
understood the responsibilities of being a Dominatrix,' thought Janet, 'and
I won't start acting wrong now.'

	A baked flounder was on the menu for dinner.  Cheryl would be having a
butt plug for dessert.
*		*		*		*		*
	Dinner had proven to be uneventful.  Cheryl had baked a flounder as per
Tina's instruction, except that she had used the Indian spices that Tina
had recently purchased, and made a rice curry to accompany the meal.  The
fish was spicy, but not hot or burning, and quite good.

	Cheryl had made a determined effort to please her Mistress, Janet noted. 
She had served naked, though she still wore the chastity belt around her
hips.

	Was it just Janet's imagination, or did she perceive that the belt made
Cheryl look and act sexier?  Cheryl carried herself proudly, holding her
body straight, her shoulders straight and her breasts flaring in response.

	Cheryl had served the dinner, then stood in silence to pour wine as Janet
ate.  In this position, Janet hated eating alone.  She missed conversation,
and discourse with another person.

	It was only after the meal that Cheryl asked to be released from the belt,
before she sat down to eat by herself.

	"Did you like wearing the belt?" Janet asked.

	"Yes, Mistress Janet."

	"How did it make you feel?"

	"The leather against my hips gave me an additional reminder of my slavery,
Mistress."

	"Perhaps I should make you wear it again," Janet suggested.

	"As my Mistress desires," offered Cheryl.

	"After you have cleaned up and eaten, you may come to see me in the
library," ordered Janet, "where your training shall proceed."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Janet watched the rain pound the library windows.  Normally a rainstorm
this time of year meant a fast moving thunderstorm.  Instead, this storm
was composed of one layer after another, soaking Connecticut repeatedly.

	Tired, Janet yawned and decided that she would take a short nap.  She
programmed the clock radio, and settled down into the leather couch for a
short 30-minute catnap.  She lay down, kicked off her shoes, and settled
down for a nice little sleep, her eyes quickly closing as sleep overcame
her.

	When Janet awoke, she was startled to find Cheryl kneeling on the carpet,
her arms behind her body, in one of the submissive postures that she had
been taught.

	"Cheryl, what are you doing here?" Janet asked.

	"You had fallen asleep, Mistress and I was waiting for you to awaken."

	Janet looked at the clock, and found that over an hour had passed.  Had
she misprogrammed the clock, or had Cheryl shut the alarm off?
		
	"Thank you, Cheryl, I guess that I was more tired than I thought," said
Janet.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"I want to freshen up, and then we shall proceed."

	Janet walked to the bathroom, and slashed warm water on her face to wake
herself up.  She soaped her hands, and washed her face as well. 
She then drank two glasses of water, and pondered her next move.  Glancing
at her watch, it was after 9 PM.  Plenty of time to introduce Cheryl to her
next ordeal.

	Janet had expected that Cheryl would have trouble with the cock.  She
hoped that she would have gagged, needing weeks of training.  Instead, she
had proved to be a natural, or else had been trained before.

	'You're getting paranoid,' Janet said to herself, 'even paranoids have
enemies, though.'

	Janet re-entered the library, and sat behind her desk.  Cheryl was
kneeling on the carpet, her head bowed in submission to her Mistress.

	"Cheryl?"

	"Yes, Mistress?"

	"Have you ever had a man fuck you up your bottom?  Have a proctology exam
at the doctor's?"

	"No, Mistress, to both questions."

	"I want you to lay on the leather footstool," Janet ordered, "I'm going to
probe your bottom."

	"Yes, Mistress," meekly answered Cheryl as she rose to her feet, then
draped herself over the leather footstool.

	Janet recalled how Erica had chained her to the sawhorse when she had her
bottom examined.  She had been scared to death, yet Erica had been
surprising gentle with her.

	"If you wish, I can rope you to the stool," Janet offered.

	"No thank you, Mistress," replied Cheryl.

	Janet removed a pair of rubber gloves, a jar of lubricant, and two butt
plugs from the desk.  She then donned the gloves carefully, making sure
that her nails didn't break the rubber.

	"Hold still Cheryl," calmly said Janet.

	Janet was amazed that Cheryl did not ever stir as Janet opened her ass
cheeks, then inserted a lubricant-coated gloved finger up into her anal
opening.  When Erica had done this, Janet had been almost ready to scream
in fright, except that Erica had placed a ballgag in her mouth.  She looked
at the condition of Cheryl's anus, in the way that Stephanie had taught
her.  Stephanie had shown Janet the medical books that she still had, had
trained her to look for anything amiss. 

	"You're fine," said Janet as she completed her examination.

	"Thank you, Mistress."

	"You may stand."

	Janet pointed to the objects on the desk and picked up the smaller one in
her hand.

	"This is a butt plug, a small one.  I want you to place some lubricant on
it, then insert it up your bottom, until it fits snugly," Janet ordered.

	"Yes, Mistress," said Cheryl in response.

	Janet had expected that Cheryl would protest or reject the idea.  Instead
she opened the jar of lube, then spread some on the plug.  She then took
some in hands, and bent down a bit, then inserted that into her ass. 
Finally, she pushed the plug inside herself grimacing until her anal
muscles closed over the narrow portion.

	"Ahhhh!" cried Cheryl as it popped into place.

	"Are you all right?" Janet asked.

	"Fine, Mistress," said Cheryl as she straightened up, wiping her hands on
a tissue.

	"You will wear the plug for two hours, after which I shall use you in the
Dungeon.  Until that time, you may read, or watch TV in the bedroom, but
not remove the plug," ordered Janet.

	"Yes, Mistress," said Cheryl as she bowed, and walked out of the library.

	Janet could just see the base of the plug in her bottom as Cheryl
departed.  She knew that Cheryl wouldn't remove it, or even touch it. 
Because she was so damned eager to serve.

	Seated behind the desk, Janet wanted to throw a book at the double doors.
What novice slave could take a cock in her mouth and a plug up her ass in
the same day?  Either Cheryl was a very determined submissive, or else she
had been trained by another Mistress.
	*		*		*		*		*
	After two hours, Janet had ordered Cheryl to remove the plug in the
bathroom.  She had found Cheryl in the downstairs bedroom calmly reading
Vogue and Cosmopolitan, which Janet subscribed to.  There Cheryl had been,
reading about fall fashions, naked while wearing her collar and bracelets.

	Cheryl had removed the plug, and performed her toilet.  Janet had ordered
her to stay on the toilet, in order to pass out all the lubricant.  Which
she had done over a period of time.  Cheryl didn't even protest about the
open door.

	Janet had then chained her in the bedroom, as she dressed for the night's
session.  She had not used Cheryl the previous night, except for the dildo.
 Saturday had been devoted to the cock and the butt plug, which Cheryl had
performed well with.

	But now it would be her turn under the lash, and Janet walked through her
closet naked trying to decide what she should wear.  She would wear a
Catsuit in the winter, but not during the summer.  Too hot and confining,
even with the a/c on.

	She selected an outfit composed of a PVC bodysuit, black sheer to waist
pantyhose, gloves, and a pair of modest heels.  Janet dressed quickly,
wishing that Tina was with her.

	How she missed Tina!  Her slave and assistant.  But she had been called
away for a family emergency, leaving Janet alone.  Janet had driven her to
the airport, and kissed her before she had left her at the terminal.

	Janet looked at herself in the mirror.  Either the outfit was a little
tight, or else she had put on a few pounds.  She decided to weigh herself
naked the next morning.

	Her final thoughts while dressing were about the clock radio in the
library.  She was sure that she had programmed it correctly, then hit the
switch to activate the alarm.  When she had examined it later, the alarm
switch was in the off position.

	If Cheryl had turned the alarm off, why?  Had she searched the library? 
Just to kneel and watch Janet sleep, something that she had already seen in
the bedroom?

	Or had Cheryl fallen in love with Janet?  That was what usually happened
when a slave was introduced to D/s; they loved the person holding the rod.

	Suppose that Cheryl had done this just to unhinge Janet?  The woman had
not said anything at all about her training, regardless of how many stripes
that Janet had as yet placed upon her. 

	She walked downstairs, and found Cheryl still chained where she had left
her.  Her hands linked behind her back, a collar chain locked to the
ringbolt on the wall.

	"Are you ready to submit?" Janet asked.

	"To have your body and flesh striped and used by your Mistress?"

	"Yes, Mistress Janet, use me," Cheryl answered.

	Janet unlocked Cheryl's collar chain, but did not blindfold her or attach
a leash on her collar chair.  She pulled Cheryl to her feet, and looked her
in the eyes.

	"Prepare to be used."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Janet pulled Cheryl along to the elevator, and they rode down to the
Dungeon in silence.  Normally, Janet would have placed a blindfold and
ballgag on a slave.  But after Cheryl's extraordinary performance today,
she wanted to look into her eyes.

	She placed Cheryl into the stocks, first closing the bar the locked her
ankles into place.  Then she unlocked her hands, and indicated that Cheryl
place her head and hands in the half circles of wood.  Janet then closed
the yoke, and locked it shut.

	"Are you ready, slave?" asked Janet.

	"Yes, Mistress," Cheryl answered.

	Janet had removed a leather paddle from the cabinet.  It would sting and
hurt, but not really mark, since it was so soft.  But it could be used for
a long time.

	"Kiss the paddle," Janet ordered.

	Cheryl did as she was instructed, then remained silent.

	Holding the paddle in her gloved hands, Janet looked directly at Cheryl.

	"It's really a good thing that Tina is away this weekend, Cheryl," Janet
began, "else your little performance would have amazed even her.  No
inexperienced woman could take the cock like that, or place a plug up her
ass, unless they've been trained first.  You know a lot more than you're
telling me, which is nothing," said Janet.

	Cheryl stayed silent in her wooden prison as Janet spoke to her.

	"Last week I whipped you harshly because you disobeyed me.  Tonight, I'm
going to use you harshly again because you're not telling me the truth."

	"I told you I want to be trained as a slave, Mistress Janet.  Your slave."

	"You've prepared for this, haven't you?" demanded Janet.

	"That's my affair, Mistress Janet."

	"To come clear across the country and force me to train you?" 

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Since you desire my use, then you shall have it."

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	Janet struck the paddle on Cheryl's bottom, watching as each stroke left a
red mark behind.  Each time that she struck Cheryl, she moaned slightly.

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	Janet wondered if Cheryl had a martyr complex, if she could take endless
amounts of punishment.  Or if she was a painslut, perhaps.  Tonight, Janet
wanted the tears to flow from Cheryl's eyes.  Then she would take her to
bed.

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	"Kiss the paddle," Janet ordered suddenly.

	"Yes, Mistress," cried Cheryl as she did as she was told.

	After a paddling like that, Cheryl would be reminded each time that she
sat down that Janet had used her.  Janet then released Cheryl from the
stocks, and pinched her erect nipples.

	"Owww!" cried Cheryl.

	"Who does your body belong to?" Janet demanded.

	"You, Mistress Janet!"

	Janet then slapped Cheryl across the cheek, surprising her charge.

	"Are you a slut?"

	"Mistress?"

	"I said, are you a slut?" asked Janet.

	"I am whatever my Mistress wants me to be," Cheryl answered.

	"In that case."

	Janet pulled Cheryl over to the ceiling chain.  Originally, she had wanted
to bind her to the X frame or the cross, but had decided against it.  Last
week, in the same position, she had used the whip on her.  Since it was
already late, she had another weapon in mind.

	From the inside of her leather bodysuit, Janet extracted two nipple
clamps.  She displayed them for Cheryl's benefit, then closed then on
Cheryl's erect nipples, making her moan as each one was applied.

	"Ahhh!" moaned Cheryl.

	Janet selected a rubber flogger.  The rubber strands would sting and hurt,
and Cheryl would be reminded all week about how Janet had used her.

	"Kiss the flogger, slave," directed Janet.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Janet began with a light series of strokes of five, with the last one
being the most severe.  Then Janet would pause, and begin again.  Cheryl
had been pulled taut by the ceiling chain, and her ankles were locked to a
spreader bar.  She was helpless and exposed, totally vulnerable to whatever
Mistress Janet wanted.

	Why?

	Her interviews were a lie, Lori had told her that she had bought every D/s
book at a shop in LA, and she had probably been trained in the use of her
mouth and bottom.

	Where would this lead?  When and why would she call her safeword?  If she
would ever call it at all?

	"What is your safeword, Cheryl?" demanded Janet.

	"Mistress?"

	"I said what is your safeword."

	"Sin, Mistress Janet."

	"Good, I wanted to make sure that you haven't forgotten it.  One day, it
may save your life," cautioned Janet.

	"Yes, Mistress Janet, thank you."

	"Now we can continue," said Janet.

	"Thank you, Mistress."

	Had Cheryl forgotten her safeword, Janet had been prepared to release
Cheryl, dress her, then throw her out of the house.  Instead, Cheryl had
remembered her safeword, so Janet would continue.

	Janet then struck Cheryl several times on her breasts, making tears come
to her eyes.  After a pause, Janet then used the flogger between Cheryl's
legs, making her cry and squirm.  She made sure to strike the inside of
Cheryl's exposed thighs when she did so. 

	After removing the nipple clamps, Janet made certain to strike Cheryl's
tender breasts with five strokes each.  Her white skin was now marked red
from every impact of the rubber flogger.

	Janet had kept an exact count of the number of strokes that she had used.
She would write it down when she replaced the flogger in the cabinet.

	"Kiss the flogger."

	"Yes, Mistress," tearfully answered Cheryl.

 	Janet unlocked Cheryl, and placed her, sobbing, on the leather bench. 
She gave Cheryl a box of tissues to dry her eyes.

	"Are you expecting me to comfort you?" Janet demanded.

	"Mistress?"

	"Last week, I comforted you because I had punished you harshly after your
disobedience.  This week, I shall not, because you have not told me the
truth, slave."

	"Mistress Janet, don't hurt me?" begged Cheryl.

	"I'm not going to hurt you, Cheryl.  Just take you to bed.  If you fail to
please me, though, then I shall use the crop on you."
	*		*		*		*		*
	"Please your Mistress."

	Janet lay back on her bed, her legs open.  Cheryl was on the floor,
kneeling, where Janet had ordered her after she had cleaned herself up
after the Dungeon session.  Cheryl had been tearful and forlorn looking
after Janet told her that she was not going to be held in Janet's arms,
even after the session that she had endured.

	Cheryl's body was marked by the rubber flogger, the marks a dull red in
color.  The marks would be there for a long time, and combined with the
paddling, she would remember this visit for quite a long time.

	Cheryl rose from her kneeling position, and climbed onto the bed.  She
placed her mouth over Janet's sex, her lips, tongue, and teeth working on
Janet's sex.

	Janet knew of some selfish Dommes who viewed their only goal in life was
to get orgasms from their slaves.  If they should fail to please, then they
were severely beaten.

	That was not the way that Janet had been trained by Erica, nor was that
the way that she had conducted herself.  Janet trained her slaves to submit
and to serve, but sexually pleasing her was not her only goal.

	When another woman submitted herself to Janet, she was introduced to
physical discipline.  But she was also treated tenderly afterwards, shown
just how much courage it took to submit, and encouraged to proceed even
further.

	"Oh!" Janet cried as the first orgasm pulsed through her thighs.

	Janet bounced on the bed, since Cheryl had excited her quickly.  Cheryl's
tongue played itself over her clit, darting in and out, stimulating with
each touch.  Each touch exciting her, making Janet hotter and hotter with
touch.

	Cheryl's tongue went deep into Janet's love canal, sucking her,
stimulating her to orgasm.  Janet knew that she was wet, felt Cheryl's
tongue inside her, lapping at her juices.

	"Ohhhh!"

	Janet held onto Cheryl's hair, gently keeping her slave between her legs.
She wanted Cheryl to satisfy her, to drive her wild with pleasure.  Even if
Cheryl herself was still smarting from the session that she just endured.

	"Ohhhhh!"

	One orgasm after another rocked through her, leaving Janet stunned and
weak.  She bounced on the bed, her bottom slapping against the sheet.

	"Thank you, Cheryl.  That was excellent," complimented Janet.

	"You're welcome, Mistress."

	Janet kissed Cheryl on the lips, tasting her own juices.  She rolled her
tongue over her lips, eager now to taste Cheryl as well.

	"On your back," Janet ordered.

	Cheryl did as she was told, and soon Janet was between her thighs.  Janet
wanted to tease Cheryl, so she slowly tongued her, drawing her climax out
slowly.  She excited Cheryl gradually, licking her sex as the woman
gradually lubricated in response to Janet's attentions.

	After the harsh punishment that Janet had given Cheryl, she wanted to show
her slave that she could pleasure as well as pain.  But somehow Cheryl
seemed to want to satisfy her Mistress even more than usual this evening. 
Perhaps the experience of spending the night chained on the bedroom floor
next to her Mistress had taught Cheryl submission.

	Janet drove Cheryl to climax, making her companion moan and rock on the
sheets.  Cheryl clearly responded to Janet's attentions, her nipples hard
and her sex wet.  Cheryl held onto her Mistress tightly, their breasts and
lips close together.

	Resting on the table was a dildo, and Janet held it in her hand as she
used Cheryl with it again and again, driving her to climax.  The bed was
wet with their sweat before Cheryl dropped off to sleep first, with Janet
following afterwards. 

Sunday July 19, 1998

	"Cheryl, I have something for you," said Janet.

	Janet and Cheryl were in the library.  Tina had not yet returned, so
Mistress Janet had to train the slave all weekend by herself.  In the
morning, Janet had unlocked Cheryl, and she had let Cheryl serve as her
bath girl.  Cheryl had bathed and pampered her Mistress, just as Janet had
taught her to.

	While Cheryl bathed, Janet had prepared breakfast herself.  Janet ate in
the Dining Room, Cheryl in the kitchen.  Finally, they faced one another in
the library.

	After a solid day of storms, the weather had finally broken.  Rays of
sunlight peeped through the clouds, and the forecast was going to be for a
good day.

	"Yes, Mistress?"

	Janet opened a desk drawer and removed a wooden box.  She stood up from
her chair, and walked over to Cheryl's.

	"Extend your left hand," Janet ordered.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"These are my slave rings," described Janet, "any Mistress that knows me
will see you wearing my ring and know that you are serving me."

	Janet tried a number of rings on Cheryl's index finger until she found the
right sized one that fit correctly.  The rings were made of sterling silver
and had links incised on their outer surface.

	"Do you understand what wearing this ring means?" demanded Janet.

	"That I am your slave, Mistress."

	"Very good, Cheryl.  Ordinarily, I wouldn't give a slave ring so soon. 
But since I have discovered your deceit in taking the cock and anal
training, you are more advanced than you are letting on."

	"Thank you, Mistress."

	"I have one other gift for you," said Janet as she resumed her seat.

	"Mistress?"

	Resuming her seat, Janet removed the jar of lubricant and the larger butt
plug that she had shown to Cheryl on Saturday.

	"This is a moderate sized butt plug, larger than the one that you wore on
Saturday.  You are to wear it for two hours each day at home until next
week.  If you cannot insert it easily by then, then you shall be very
harshly used," threatened Janet.

	"Mistress?"

	"Those are your orders, Cheryl.  The car will be here in three minutes,
and you will wait in the foyer."

	"Yes, Mistress," answered Cheryl as she placed the two items in her purse.

	Janet watched Cheryl leave, and was even more worried about her than she
had been before.  Not only had the woman posed naked for a photographer she
had also researched D/s and probably trained herself in sucking a cock and
placing a plug up her ass.  Then forcing herself on a Mistress clear across
the country.  Why?

>From the Diary of Cheryl Branford:
	If last weekend I made the mistake of disobedience, this weekend I made
one of submission.  I was proud of the fact that I had guessed that a
Mistress would want to use my mouth, sex, and bottom, and had trained
myself in advance using sex toys.
	On Friday night, I was made to wear the dildo harness while I performed
housecleaning tasks.  Afterwards, Janet chained me at the foot of her bed
that night, and I have never felt so helpless or humiliated in my life.
	On Saturday, I made my mistake.  I took both the cock and anal plug
without effort or protest.  Janet accused me of having been trained in
advance, and I had no defense.  I was severely used that night in the
Dungeon, and I shall be wearing her marks for a long time.
	She has given me a larger butt plug, which I am now wearing in my bottom.
It was about the same size one that I had used at home, and slid easily
into my anus.
	I dare not disobey her again, even as I now put my plans into effect.
	I continue to be sexually attracted to Mistress Janet, and her use of me
in bed is what I look forward to.  With my naked body striped by the lash,
I cannot wait to serve Mistress Janet sexually.
	I gaze at the silver ring on my finger, and wonder, have I truly become
her slave?

The Challenge
Chapter 08: Progressions

Part One: The Power and the Responsibility

April 1984

	"Mistress, are you all right?"

	The question startled Erica out of her thoughts back to the real world. 
She had gone down to the Dungeon to think, and had entered a dream world
all her own.  Glancing at her watch, she saw the reason for the
interruption.  It was long past the time that Lisa was supposed to serve
lunch, and she had gone down to the Dungeon to find her Mistress.

	"I'm fine, Lisa," replied Erica.

	Erica was seated on the leather-covered bench in the basement Dungeon,
still not quite believing what she had created.  What once had been the
family playroom was now a room of quite a different kind.

	Gone were the bar, pool table, large screen TV, and all of the other
amenities necessary for the affluent to entertain their guests.  Taking
it's place were two Dungeons, a cell with bathroom (so a slave could spend
the night); and even a vinyl prison that Erica called solitary.  Erica had
also purchased a set of stocks and a vinyl covered sawhorse, an X frame,
and had hung chains from the walls and ceiling.

	In short, it was every toy that a Dominatrix could ever want.  Erica had
spared no expense because she didn't have to.  She could afford everything
that she had ever wanted because it was all pocket change.

	After the dust had settled and Erica had taken possession of the estate
she had asked around and found a contractor in the scene that would covert
the basement into a Dungeon.  But first she had an elevator installed and
had hidden the basement steps behind a false wall.  Only someone who knew
its location would be able to enter the Dungeon, and Erica had also
installed locking systems.

	"Lunch is served, Mistress," announced Lisa.

	"Thank you, Lisa, I'll be right up," Erica answered.

	Erica rose from her seat, and walked past Lisa, who quickly followed
behind her Mistress.  They entered the elevator together, and Erica punched
the button to the first floor.  She exited, and made her way to the Dining
Room and sat down at the head of the table.

	"Lunch will be out in a minute, Mistress," stated Lisa.

	"Thank you."

	Lunch was a quiche that was still warm from the oven, French bread, salad,
and a bottle of white wine.  Erica decided that Lisa was quite a good cook,
and she wondered if her Maid's skills exceeded her own.

	Erica ate leisurely, since she didn't really have anything else to do.  In
fact, since she had quit her job and inherited the Mansion her only job had
been designing and contracting for the Dungeon.  Gone were the power
lunches on Wall Street, or the forty-five minute ones at the liquor
distributor.

	But now, in her position as Dominatrix, things seemed different.  Gone
were the times that she could serve Master Keith, who made decisions for
her.  Now she was the one holding the lash, a submissive under her control.
 With the power that she now had came responsibilities that she had never
thought of before.

	"Lisa?" asked Janet when the Maid was clearing away the dished from the
table, "could you please join me in the library when you're finished?"

	"Yes, Mistress," quickly answered Lisa.

	Erica rose to her feet and walked out of the Dining Room.  She often
wished for a companion, someone to share meals with.  Having a slave was
nice, and Lisa would do all of her bidding.  But it was getting lonely.

	Seating herself behind the desk, it was still hard to believe that the
house was really hers.  Erica opened a report that she had been writing,
and wondered when IBM would be sending along the PC that she had ordered.

	Erica heard a knock on the library door, and she closed the report that
she had been writing.

	"Come," Erica ordered.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Sit down, there's something that I have to discuss with you."

	"Mistress?" asked Lisa as she did what Erica instructed.

	"Last night, why did you fondle the new slave, Ingrid?"

	"Just a little fun, Mistress," answered Lisa.

	"You were clearly ordered to strip and prepare her, NOT to enjoy yourself.
 As Mistress, I have to evaluate why she places herself in submission and
plan methods to encourage her to continue.  This does not include a wanton
use of her, before she is ready."

	"Mistress?"

	"Place yourself in her position.  You go to a strange place, and are
stripped naked, made to wear a collar and bracelets, and are made helpless.
 You are to be used by a Mistress for the first time, and are scared out of
your wits.  The very first thing that happens to you is that the Maid
pinches your nipples and thrusts her fingers into your sex."

	"I thought………"

	"What you thought was unimportant," Erica answered, "your conduct with a
new prospect was improper.  What you fail to understand is that I am
ultimately responsible for everything that occurs in this House.  That
includes the selection, assessment, and training of possible slaves."

	"That wasn't the way that Mistress Judith conducted herself," protested
Lisa.

	"I am going to be different than Mistress Judith," replied Erica, "and if
you cannot abide by my rules, then you shall not be serving me."

	"I was a good slave to Mistress Judith," protested Lisa.

	"You were, that was why I chose you.  But as a slave, you know that you
have to obey orders, paramount above all.  For disobeying me, we shall now
go down to the Dungeon, and I shall use you."

	"Mistress?"

	"I said now, Lisa.  Being a slave means that you are available for my use
twenty-four hours a day.  Or have you forgotten?

	"No, Mistress."

	"Then I want to see you in the Dungeon, naked on the carpet, waiting for
me.  I want to go dress in something, street clothes aren't quite correct."

	"Yes, Mistress," agreed Lisa.

	"GO!"

	Erica watched as Lisa scurried out of the library, fright evident on her
face.  She had not meant to frighten Lisa, but the girl had more than once
disobeyed her.

	Rising from the desk, she walked upstairs to her bedroom.  Every time that
she visited NYC, she visited a fetish shop and purchased a new item of
clothing.  Slowly, she was creating a nice wardrobe for herself.

	Erica stripped down her panties, and admired herself in the mirror.  Her
body had healed from the car accident, and the only reminder of her near
fatal ordeal was the occasional pain and ache.

	She stood five feet seven, with moderate sized breasts and a tight ass
that was very attractive.  In her bare feet, she rummaged through the
closet, trying to decide what to wear.

	The Catsuit was nice, but a little too confining; though she loved how she
looked and felt while wearing it.  It gave her the feeling of power, with
all of her curves covered in latex or PVC.  Perhaps she would order one
made especially out of leather for her birthday.

	Deciding that simplicity was best, she chose a PVC bodysuit, sheet to
waist pantyhose, and a pair of five-inch heels.  She dressed quickly, and
admired herself in the full-length bedroom mirror.

	Lisa had come to her from Mistress Judith with good references.  She could
cook, clean, and maintain a house, serve Erica sexually, and assist her in
the training of slaves.  However, Lisa could not follow her orders, and
Erica wondered was she just badly trained or deliberately disobedient.

	Finally, her unauthorized use of Ingrid had been the last straw, and Erica
had now decided that this would be a good time to use her.  To show Lisa
that she must follow the instructions of her Mistress.  Or else she would
not be serving Erica for long.

	When Erica opened the Dungeon Door she found Lisa kneeling on the carpet
as instructed.  Lisa was just five foot three, with natural blonde hair, a
flat stomach, and small breasts.  Still, she was very attractive, and her
face was very pretty.

	"Do you submit to your Mistress, slave?"

	"Yes, Mistress Erica."

	"Good," said Erica as she seated herself on the bench, "over my knee.  I
want to start by spanking you."

	"Spanking?"

	"Haven't you ever been spanked before?"

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Than get over my knee, slave!"

	Lisa did as she was instructed, draping herself over Erica's lap.  Her
tight little bottom looked quite good when covered by a pair of designer
jeans.  It would look even better after having been warmed by Erica bare
hand.

	"Count out every time that I spank you," ordered Erica.

	"Yes, Mistress, One!"

	Lisa had thought that Erica would delay somehow, instead the Mistress had
started immediately with a swift stroke that made Lisa rise with the impact
on her bottom.	

	"Two!"

	"Three!

	"Four!"

	"Five!"

	Erica delivered one blow after another, giving Lisa time to recover before
the next one would redden her behind.

	"Ten!"

	"Thirteen!"

	"Fifteen!"

	"Twenty!" cried Lisa, when Erica finally ceased her spanking.

	Erica waiting in silence, surely she would not have to tell Lisa
everything.

	"Thank you, Mistress!" sobbed Lisa.

	"That's better, Lisa.  But the afternoon is young, and I have a lot of
ground to cover.  You may kneel," ordered Erica.

	Lisa did as she was told, and awaited Erica's next instructions.

	"Kiss my shoes.  Now!"

	Lisa bent to kiss Erica's offered black leather shoe, kissing the material
with her red lips.

	"At least you can obey some orders," commented Erica.

	"Yes, Mistress Erica, I'm sorry," sobbed Lisa.

	"That's better.  Kneel!"

	Lisa knelt again, her hands on her knees, eyes down, and silent.  She
awaited the next commands from her Mistress.

	"Should I hang you from the ceiling, and whip you, Lisa?" asked Erica
aloud, "will that make you obey my commands?"

	"Whatever my Mistress desires," Lisa answered.

	"Judith is a good Mistress, and a good trainer.  But you must understand
that you are in my house now, and that I intend to be a different sort of
Mistress that any you have served before," stated Erica.

	"I don't understand," answered Lisa.

	"Lisa, if you wish to be my assistant, you will have to follow all of my
orders.  In this house, a safeword once established will be absolute. 
Slaves will not be humiliated in this house, no eating out of dog dishes or
any other such nonsense."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"I'm not going to beat you, just use the flogger on you for a few strokes,
Lisa," said Erica.

	"Thank you, Mistress."

	"This is the first and only warning that you will get from me, Lisa.  You
will attract my attention by obeying my commands, not disobeying them.  I
must have a slave and assistant that I can totally rely on, in order to be
the Dominatrix that I wish to be.  If you cannot serve me, if I cannot rely
on you, then I shall find another position for you."

	"I shall obey you in all things, Mistress."

	"Talk is cheap, Lisa.  I shall judge you by your actions.  Rise and lock
the leather cuffs on your ankles and wait by the ceiling chain."

	Erica watched as Lisa did as she had been ordered.  She walked over, and
locked the cuffs to the chain, then activated a motor that pulled the chain
taut.  She next removed a flogger of soft deer hide from the cabinet, and
displayed it to Lisa.

	"Prepare to be flogged," Erica cautioned.

	Erica used the flogger moderately, almost sensually.  She struck at the
most sensitive and exposed parts of Lisa's body.  Her breasts were first,
followed by her underarms.  The leather slapped against Lisa's body, making
her moan and try to avoid the many strands as they struck her flesh again
and again.

	"Open your legs," ordered Erica.

	Tearfully, Lisa did so, exposing her vulnerable sex next for the flogger.

	"Are you wet, dearest?" asked Erica.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Do I have to fondle your cunt as you did with Ingrid to know that you are
wet and excited by the use of your Mistress?" asked Janet.

	"No, Mistress, I'm wet."

	Erica then struck gently with the flogger between Lisa's legs, striking
not her sex but the inside of her thighs.  She noted that tears were
flowing from the corners of the girl's eyes.  Lisa had not been flogged
enough to be in actual pain.  Instead, she was close to orgasm.

	The flogger was then used for a few more strokes before Erica ceased, and
presented the handle for Lisa to kiss.

	"Mistress?" begged Lisa.

	"Kiss the handle," ordered Erica.

	Once Lisa had done as Erica had requested, she had been ordered to stand
motionless by the cabinet as Erica procured the next item.  Erica then
locked a belt around Lisa's waist, then attached a crotch strap, which
locked with four small locks.

	"Mistress?"

	"It's a chastity belt, Lisa.  I didn't want you to cum, not until I
decide.  Maybe later tonight, in bed, but only at my discretion."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Now run along and get on with your chores," ordered Erica, "and remember
what I have told you."

	"Yes, Mistress Erica."

	When Lisa had left the Dungeon, Erica remained along, by herself, in the
leather bodysuit.  Erica had watched her slave depart, with the belt locked
around her waist.  The freedom to cum was denied to Lisa, for the moment
anyway.

	'What is freedom?' Erica asked herself.

Part Two: Truth and Lies

May 1984

	"Dr. Keith Simon to see you, Mistress," announced Lisa.

	"Thank you, Lisa," answered Erica as she rose from the chair behind the
library desk, "Keith, how nice to see you."

	"Erica," greeted her guest.

	Erica walked to Keith, hugged him, and kissed him on the cheek.  She held
him tightly for a moment, then released him.

	"Lisa, we can be alone."

	"Yes, Mistress," said Lisa as she bowed, then closed the library doors.

	"Would you like a drink?" asked Erica.

	"Bourbon," he answered, "straight."

	Erica walked over to the bar, and placed two ice cubes each into two
glasses, then poured Jack Daniels into the glasses.  She handed one to
Keith, and they clinked their glasses together.

	"Skoal," said Erica.

	"Skoal."

	"Have a seat, Keith.  We have a lot to discuss."

	They both drank from their glasses, and Erica thought that this was going
to be very awkward for both of them.

	"You lied to me," bluntly accused Keith, "you said that you weren't Alana
Peters.  Yet within weeks of being promoted to Dominatrix, you inherit the
Peters estate.  A complete stranger would not have inherited this estate. 
You changed your name, and face, but the x-rays didn't lie.  You are Alana
Peters."

	"Yes, I am Alana Peters, or rather, I was.  I am now Erica Riken,"
confessed Erica.

	"You admit it now, but you lied to me when I took you as my slave."

	"I had to," answered Erica, "just suppose that I had admitted who I really
was?  Would you have taken the daughter of one of the wealthiest families
in the nation as your sex slave?  You wouldn't have wanted anything to do
with me."

	"You could have explained, told the truth!"

	"No.  To you I would have been just a poor little rich girl out for a
thrill.  You wouldn't have taken me for a slave, would you?"

	"I don't know what I would have done had I known."

	"Master Keith, I'm sorry that I had to lie to you.  As Alana, I realized
the dangerous game I was playing after I recovered from the accident by
first seeing a Professional Dominatrix in NYC; then going to clubs and
being used.  I couldn't continue much longer before I would have been
recognized, then my picture would have been all over the papers.  Daniel
was a bad Master; he kept me ignorant and was abusive.  You were a good
Master, and you encouraged me, taught me to grow in my submission.  But I
couldn't have you for a Master, and you decided that I was better as a
Domme.  So please, forgive me," begged Alana.

	"I don't know what to say."

	"I had to give up who I was, and what I was, to become a slave.  A
graduate of Harvard, a future Wall Street Partner, born with a silver spoon
in my mouth.  I gave all that up so that I could be hung by my wrists,
naked, and feel the lash.  There was nothing else that I could do,"
explained Erica, swallowing the lump in her throat.

	"That still doesn't justify your lying to me, Erica."

	"I'm relying on your professional discretion as a doctor, and the fact
that you were my trainer, to keep silent about who I really am.  Or was."

	"I would never betray your secret, Erica, you know that.  But for lying to
me………"

	Erica rose from behind her desk, and knelt before Keith's chair.  She
crossed her wrists, and presented them to Keith.

	"Please forgive me, Master, for lying to you, and this humble slave begs
your forgiveness.  I have lied to my Master, my owner, and my friend.  I
have equipped an extensive Dungeon downstairs with everything that you need
to use your slave.  Please discipline me as you see fit for my
transgressions."

	Keith remained silent, and looked down at Erica.  She stayed in her
position, kneeling on the carpet, her arms outstretched.

	"For the offense of lying to your Master, I accept your offer of
discipline.  You may call in your Maid, Lisa," ordered Keith.

	"Lisa!" called Erica, loudly.

	"Mistress?" asked a puzzled Lisa when she entered the library and saw her
Mistress kneeling before her guest.

	"This is Keith, who was my Master.  I have willingly submitted myself to
him for a personal reason," explained Erica, "in the bedroom closet you
will find a leather vest, and black jeans that he can wear in the Dungeon."

	"Thank you, Erica," said Keith.

	"Once he has dressed, you may collar and bracelet me, then take me down to
the Dungeon for my discipline," instructed Erica.

	"Yes, Mistress Erica."

	Keith rose from the chair, leaving Erica on the carpet.  She would remain
in this position until Lisa came to get her, to be stripped of her clothes
and prepare her to be used.

	Twenty minutes later, after Erica had been divested of her clothes in the
downstairs bedroom, Lisa was locking a leather collar around her neck.

	"Mistress?" asked Lisa.

	"Yes, Lisa?"

	"Master Keith said that I should ask you the reason why he is about to
discipline you."

	"Because I lied to my Master," replied Erica, "that is the reason why you
are going to see your Mistress punished."

	"I have never heard of a Mistress going under the lash."

	"Bind my wrists, place a gag in my mouth and a blindfold over my eyes, and
attach a leash to my collar.  Then you shall see me used," stated Erica.

	After Lisa had done what Erica had ordered, her Mistress was pleased that
her slave did not take the opportunity to fondle or use her in any way,
even though she was helpless and at her mercy.  Erica bit down on the
rubber ball in her mouth, and tested the cuffs that held her wrists
together behind her back.

	She felt herself pulled along by a tug on her leash, and obediently
followed behind Lisa.  Erica had counted the exact number of steps to the
elevator, and knew when she stepped over the threshold.  She was wearing a
pair of modest heels that Keith had ordered locked upon her feet, and the
strap chafed her ankle.

	When they finally reached their destination in the Dungeon, Lisa removed
Erica's blindfold.  The light had been turned way down, and Keith was
seated in the throne like chair that Erica had selected because it looked
powerful and imposing.  Erica was then pushed to her knees in front of
Keith, but she held herself proudly in her submission as he had taught her.

	"Remove her gag," ordered Keith.

	"Thank you, Master," said Erica the moment her gag was free of her mouth.

	"Do you submit to me of your own free will?" asked Keith.

	"Yes, Master," Erica replied.

	"What is your safeword?" Keith asked.

	"Forgiveness."

	"Hang Erica from the ceiling chain, Lisa, and attach her ankles to a
spreader bar," ordered Keith, "I am going to use her."

	"Yes, Master."

	Without resistance, Erica was made to stand, then walked over to the
ceiling chain.  Lisa unlocked her wrists, then quickly locked them to the
chain.  A spreader bar was next locked onto her ankles, then Erica was
pulled taut when a motor removed the small amount of slack in the chain.

	"Erica is now ready for your use, Master," said Lisa.

	"Thank you, Lisa," replied Keith as he rose from the chair, a riding crop
in his hands.

	Keith was wearing the vest and jeans, which Erica had bought for him for a
future occasion.  She had wanted to surprise him one day, instead they were
more suitable for him to wear than the casual clothes that he had worn for
just a visit.

	"Kiss the crop," ordered Keith.

	Erica kissed the crop handle when it was offered to her, her red lips
leaving a small imprint of her lipstick on the leather.

	"We now begin."

	Erica was struck with the leather pad that the end of the crop, which
slapped against her skin as one stroke after another impacted against her
naked and exposed body.  It had been months since Keith had used her last,
and she was grateful that it was her former Master that was again using
her.

	The leather struck her underarms, her breasts, both the outside and inside
of her thighs, her sex and her bottom.  No part of Erica's body would
escape the crop, and she had resolved that she would not call her safeword
either.  Just as she had done that climactic time when Keith had told her
that she was better suited to be a Dominatrix.

	Erica snatched a glance at Lisa, who stood back from Keith, ready to take
any of his orders.  The expression on her face was one of bafflement.  Here
was her Mistress, being used right in front of her.  Surely this was just
part of an incredible dream?

	Keith made certain to strike her body in one place with one stroke
overlapping another, then would move on somewhere else.  From past
experience, Erica knew that this meant that she was in for a through and
severe punishment.

	"Ahhh!" Erica cried when the leather struck her right nipple.

	"Ahhh!" She cried again when the left was struck with equal force.

	"Ahhh!" Erica cried when the pad struck between her legs in a metronome
like fashion, as Keith swung it from the inside of one of her thighs to the
other.

	She had entered sub-space, where she felt, but at the same time, did not
feel the pain of the crop.  Erica had placed herself in submission to a
Master, who was now using her as he had done many times before.

	Her flesh had warmed by the crop, her mind once again on fire.  The same
feelings of both pain and pleasure that she had experienced when she had
been in therapy and afterwards coursed through her body.  She longed for
Keith to throw the crop away, unchain her, and then take her on the Dungeon
floor.  But she knew that he wouldn't do that, and that brought a tear to
her eyes.

	"Kiss the crop," ordered Keith suddenly.

	Erica had not realized that he had even stopped striking her with the
crop, she had been so deep in thought, the pain forgotten from the session.

	"Yes, Master," cried Erica as she followed his instructions.

	Keith reached out, and began to pinch and play with her erect nipples,
tweaking them between his thumb and forefinger.  Erica felt like gasping
each time that he did so, but stayed silent.  She knew that she could
absorb a lot of use, as she had done before.

	"How do you feel, Erica?"

	"Fine, Master."

	"Then we shall continue with a flogger.  Lisa, get me the deerskin flogger
from the cabinet," ordered Keith as he handed the crop to the slave.

	"Yes, Master."

	Keith ran his fingers through the soft deerskin hide, feeling the strands
on his skin.  Erica watched, hanging by her wrists, her body still exposed
to the next part of her punishment.

	"Prepare yourself."

	"Yes, Master."

	Again Erica felt the impact of a deerskin flogger on her flesh, the
strands slapping aginst her skin.  She dug her nails into her palms,
disassociating her body from her mind.

	The brief respite from the crop had left her body soaking in sweat, and
she knew that her flesh was red and warm to the touch.  The flogging that
she was now receiving would only increase the warmth of her flesh.

	It was not Keith's style to insert his fingers into her exposed sex, and
Erica knew that the flogging was making her sexually excited and wet
between her legs.  The first that this had happened during therapy it had
shocked her, the association of pain and sexual pleasure together.

	When she had served as a slave the mere sight of an instrument like the
crop or the flogger would bring her juices flowing.  Erica had always
wondered if she really had been a painslut after all, as she had been
called many times.

	"Ahhhh!" cried Erica after a harsh stroke landed on her Venus mound.

	Her whole body seemed on fire, like she was a human torch.  She wanted to
cum again and again, never to stop.

	Erica did not know, or care, how much time had elapsed since her session
had begun.  The entire universe had shrunk to the confines of the Dungeon,
and her use by her Master.  Nothing else mattered, nothing else existed.

	"Lisa?" asked Keith.

	"Yes, Master?"

	"Have you ever been in a state called flying?"

	"No, Sir."

	"Erica is in that state now, her body is on fire, yet her mind has
divorced itself from her body."

	It seemed strange for them to talk about her like she really wasn't there,
but Erica did not answer, wanting instead to remain in her present mental
state.

	"Take her down," ordered Keith when he had delivered the last stroke.

	Erica could not at first keep to her feet when the chain lowered her to
the ground.  Keith held her tightly to his body as Lisa unlocked her
wrists, then ankles.  He carried her over to the bench, and sat her naked
form on the leather.

	Then he sat next to her, and held her sweat covered and red marked body
close to his, whispering things into her ears that Lisa could not hear.

	Gradually, Erica returned to her faculties, moving her fingers, arms, and
legs.  Her chest heaved with each breath, her breasts rising and falling.

	"Are you all right?" asked Keith.

	"Fine, Master."

	"It is now late in the evening, I have to go.  Your final use this night
will be at the hands of your slave.  Lisa has been allowed to take you to
bed, which I cannot."

	"Yes, Master."

	"Until that time, you will wear a chastity belt around your waist," calmly
said Keith.

	"Yes, Master."

	Erica was taken to the cell, where there was a small sink and toilet.  She
was allowed to empty herself, but not touch herself afterwards.  Lisa
cleaned her bottom and her sex, then locked the belt around Erica's waist
with Keith watching her closely.

	"Very good, Lisa," complimented Keith.

	"Thank you, Sir."

	Lisa held her Mistress as the three of them went back upstairs in the
elevator, and Erica was conducted to the couch in the library.  She did not
touch either the belt around her waist, or her exposed nipples.

	The sky was now dark, and Keith changed back into his street clothes.  He
kissed Erica on the cheek, then bade good-bye to both Erica and Lisa.

	"Are you all right, Mistress?" asked Lisa as she held a glass of water for
Erica to drink.

	"Fine, Lisa."

	"I was going to say this later, when we are in bed.  I am truly amazed by
the amount of use that you took.  I would have been screaming in pain,
begging him to stop.  But you took the strokes without calling your
safeword."

	"Thank you, Lisa."

	"Do you want me to unlock you from the belt, now that Master Keith is
gone?"

	"No."

	"Why?"

	"Because he ordered that you were to take me to bed, and not remove the
belt until then," pointed out Erica as she got to her feet, "at least he
didn't put a dildo inside me until then."

	Erica smiled, since the reason that Keith had locked the belt around her
waist was so that she wouldn't be able to sexually relieve herself.  Had he
placed a dildo inside her, Erica would have cum immediately.  Instead, her
sex was imprisoned inside steel and leather, forbidden to her touch.

	"Are you hungry?" asked Lisa.

	"No thank you, I'll eat tomorrow."

	Erica glanced at the clock, it was now Midnight.

	"Let me clean up, and then we can go to bed," said Lisa.

	"That will be fine," said Erica, as she stood shakily on her own two feet
again.

	Erica pulled at the chastity belt around her waist, and toyed with the
small locks.  A lifetime ago, she had interned for a summer at the offices
of Vogue in New York.  She gazed at herself in the library mirror.

	"Mistress?" asked Lisa, "what are you thinking about?"

	"This will never make the fall fashion collections in New York," stated
Erica as she modeled her striped and naked body with her sex imprisoned by
the leather chastity belt in the mirror, "never."

	The summer following after she had worked at Vogue, she was again working
in New York City.  Except that she was at the very pinnacle of women's
fashion.  A friend of her mother had gotten her a job at Gucci for the
summer.  While it was true that the fall fashions were already sold, there
was the work on the fashions for next spring, since fashion works six
months ahead of the calendar.

	She had done everything from modeling to sewing, to photo layouts.  During
that summer, she had been seduced by both a man and woman, and had bedded
both.  In all, her two summers working in the fashion industry had been
interesting, but she finally decided that she didn't want to work there
after all.

	But it had certainly been fun for a young woman in college!

	It wasn't until they were in bed shortly afterwards did their laughter
subside, as Lisa used her Mistress sexually.  Erica sucked at Lisa's cunt
lips, plunging her tongue inside to excite Lisa's clit at the same time. 
Her slave moaned and bucked as Erica made love to her, but she did not tap
Erica with the crop that she was holding.  As if she was afraid to, given
the harsh use that Erica had already sustained earlier that night.

	The next morning, Lisa released Erica's collar and bracelets, then sank to
her knees in front of her Mistress.

	"Mistress Erica, may I say something?" asked Lisa.

	"Of course you may."

	"I never really understood submission before.  I only thought that I did,
and Mistress Judith always backed away from making demands that would truly
test me.  It wasn't until I saw Master Keith use you, saw you flying as
Master Keith called it after such a harsh session did I really understand
what submission really meant.  And when you refused my offer to release you
from the belt until we went to bed did I understand that your honor and
your word were at stake."

	"Thank you."

	"I promise to obey all of your orders, to truly learn from you.  I
understand now that this isn't a game, but very serious business."

	"Thank you, Lisa.  Now let's have a bath and get cleaned up, and plan the
future of this House together."

	"Yes, Mistress Erica."

	As Lisa knelt before her Mistress Erica sensed that her slave had meant
what she had said.  Lisa now held her body tightly, differently that she
had before.  Proudly in submission to her Mistress Erica.

Part Three: The Client

June 1984

	Erica paced the library, walking back and forth.  She had achieved the
position of Domme, yet she had been disturbed by events in the last few
weeks that she had not even been a part of.

	First came the news that her former Master Daniel had promoted Lauren
Singer to Dominatrix in a large S&M Club in Manhattan.  He had thrown a
huge party that everyone in the scene had attended, unlike the small
gathering that Keith had thrown for her months earlier.

	Then came the news that Daniel had died in a drunk driving accident.  He
had gone out drinking, then rammed a tree at over 90 miles an hour after
falling asleep.  Finally, alcohol that had turned him mean and vicious had
helped to take his life.

	But it was the last piece of news that had been the most shocking of all.
All the time that she and Lauren had been Daniel's slaves, Lauren had been
separated from her husband.  He had died of a sudden heart attack, and
Lauren had inherited his estate.

	The thought that Lauren was a Dominatrix and now possessed financial power
frightened Erica down to her core.  Lauren was full of Daniel's ideas about
power and submission.  With all that wealth at her disposal she would be a
dangerous Domme indeed.    

	"Mistress Erica, Joann Robins is here," announced Lisa.

	"You may conduct her into the library," ordered Erica, as she resumed her
seat behind the library desk, placing Lauren out of her thoughts, in order
to interview a new candidate.

	Joann Robins was one of the wealthy in Greenwich, who had not waited to
inherit a fortune from her family, but had instead gone out and made one of
her own.  She had started two companies, then sold them, and then made a
killing on Wall Street afterwards.  She was thirty-five, beautiful, thin,
muscular, and tanned.  Her hair was a dark brown, an expensive salon had
done her hair and nails, and she owned an estate outside of Greenwich.

	She was wearing a blouse, white linen skirt, no stockings, and matching
heels.  Under the blouse, the outlines of her white bra could be seen, and
under her skirt a pair of panties outlined her bottom.  Joann was a very
beautiful woman, indeed.

	Alana Peters and Joann Robins had met once, at a formal ball in Manhattan.
 But that had been in another lifetime. 

	"Thank you, Lisa.  Leave us," directed Erica.

	"Yes, Mistress," replied Lisa as she closed the door behind her.

	"I am Mistress Erica Riken," Erica said softly, "pleased to meet you."

	It was early evening, and Erica now had the golden opportunity in her
career as a Dominatrix.  Joann Robins was a wealthy woman, prominent in
Greenwich Society, who wanted to seek out a Mistress rather than travel to
New York City.  Erica had arranged for Joann to be "collected"; blindfolded
so she would not know the location, then driven to Erica's house.

	"I am not sure how to address you," replied Joann.

	"Mistress Erica will do.  Are you nervous?"

	"Yes."

	"Drink?"

	"Diet Coke would be fine, thank you, Mistress Erica."

	"Two Diet Cokes, Lisa," ordered Erica after she pressed the intercom
button on her desk.

	They waited a short time before there was a knock on the door, and Lisa
entered.  She placed a large glass containing ice and soda in front of
Erica and her guest, bowed, then closed the door behind her.

	"Is she?" asked Joann.

	"Is she what?"

	"Your………slave?"

	"Yes," answered Erica as she sipped at her drink.

	"Then this is all for real," said Joann.

	"You do want to be used by a Mistress, don't you?" asked Erica.

	"Yes."

	"Why?"

	"Last year, I was involved in a strange relationship.  I went riding and
misused the horse.  My boyfriend took the riding crop to my bare bottom
after he pulled down my riding breeches."

	"And what happened?" asked Erica.

	"I got wet between my legs, I was so embarrassed.  Later on, he spanked me
one night in bed.  It turned me on!  However, he went off to Europe, and I
haven't found anyone since who could………"

	"Fulfill your desires," said Erica finishing the woman's sentence.

	"Yes."

	"If you want to serve a Mistress who will fulfill your desires with the
utmost discretion, then I am the one that you seek.  I can answer your
fantasies, and provide you with an experience that you will never have
otherwise," stated Erica.

	"I have these strange feelings," admitted Joann, "that I cannot reconcile
with myself."

	"Of submission?" asked Erica as she sipped her drink.

	"No.  Yes," confessed Joann.

	"Do you envision yourself at the feet of a leather clad woman who will use
your body, cover you in stripes, keep you naked and bound?"

	"Yes," admitted Joann.

	"You realize that these desires of yours place you outside the normal
scheme of things, don't you?" asked Erica.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Are you prepared to feel the confines of steel and leather, be kept naked
at all times, and endure the lash and crop?"

	"Yes, Mistress, I am."

	"You do understand that you are free to leave at any time, that I am not
forcing you to become my slave?"

	"Yes, Mistress Erica."

	"Good," answered Erica as she took another sip of her drink, then reclined
back in the chair.

	"What do you want to me to do, Mistress Erica?" asked Joann as she placed
her empty glass on a nearby table.

	There was dead silence in the library as Erica carefully considered her
next move.  What to do?

	"Since you have not written your bio yet, nothing serious.  But I would
like you to strip so that I can see that lovely body of yours," Erica
ordered.

	"Strip?" asked Joann.

	"Naked," answered Erica, "unless you know some other way."

	Hesitantly, Joann rose to her feet, her eyes looking all around the
library.  Slowly, she unzipped her skirt, revealing white panties
underneath, then folding her skirt and placing it on the chair.  Her blouse
followed, and then she undid her bra, then slipped her panties from her
hips.  She stood in silence, naked before Erica.

	"Turn around," Erica ordered.

	"Yes, Mistress," answered Joann as she followed Erica's instruction.

	"Have you ever been naked in front of other women?" asked Erica.

	"Sometimes in the steam room at the health club, Mistress."

	"You have a beautiful body," observed Erica, "if you choose to serve me,
you may be marked.  You will either have to hide your marks, or explain
them away somehow."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Get dressed," ordered Erica, "I shall not use you this evening."

	"Not even to be spanked, Mistress?" asked Joann.

	"Not until you have written your bio.  Are you busy this weekend?"

	"I was planning on going on a friend's yacht, if the weather is good,
Mistress."

	"Cancel it," Erica ordered, "you're going to be spending the weekend with
me."

	"Mistress?" asked Joann, a look of bewilderment on her face.

	"You shall spend the weekend here, with me, naked and collared.  Only
after you have written a sexual biography will I use you for the first
time.  What time do you want the car to collect you on Saturday morning?"
asked Erica.

	"Mistress?"

	"You have gotten your wish, Joann.  I am a Mistress who can help you to
experience your deepest and darkest sexual desires.  If you do not take
this chance now, I shall never see you again."

	"Nine AM, Mistress," hesitantly answered Joann.

	"Excellent," answered Erica, "think long and hard for the rest of the week
about your sexuality, as you have never done before.  If you have the
slightest doubt about what you are to begin, then you should refuse me."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"You are about to abandon your station in life, Joann.  You shall be kept
naked, on display at all times, free for my use or my Maid, so should I
order.  You will be wearing a collar around your neck, bracelets on your
wrists and ankles, and your lovely body available for whatever use I
decide.  That includes my hand, the lash or the crop, or anything else that
I decide.  Do you understand?"

	"Yes, Mistress, I think so," shakily answered Joann.

	"Good," said Erica as she rose from her chair, "once dressed, Lisa will
call the car for you."

	"Yes, Mistress Erica."

	Erica and Lisa watched at the car pulled away, Joann riding in the back
seat a pair of dark glasses covering her eyes.  Erica had watched as Joann
replaced the clothes that she had removed earlier, her guest blushing
throughout.

	"Will she be back, Mistress?" asked Lisa.

	"Yes," Erica answered confidently, "yes."
	*		*		*		*		*
	Erica sat at her desk, sipping from a can of Diet Coke.  She was staring
at the words on the computer screen that she had just written.  She chewed
on the eraser at the end of a pencil, thinking.

	There, on the screen, were her plans for training a slave.  Having them
strip, and wear only a collar and cuffs.  Except if a woman was having her
period, of course.

	They would write a sexual biography of themselves, explaining what they
had or had not done sexually.  Erica would then assess what she would do,
or not do with them, since she would never force a person to do an activity
that might hurt them.

	The memory of Daniel's cock forcing itself into her anus was all too
recent, how she had begged him to stop.  The pain she felt when he rammed
himself into her hole.

	'I'll never do that to a slave,' thought Erica.

	She would explain what a safeword was, then never go beyond it if a slave
ever used it.  She would test a slave, of course.  But never harm or cause
injury.

	She would not humiliate in public, or play sex games.  Whether a slave was
a woman of means or an average person, she would only use them within the
confines of the Mansion.  No going out to Dinner with a slave, and leaving
them without money to pay the check.

	Erica sipped at her drink, knowing that what she had written was just the
beginning.  

	Keith's use of her last month had energized her, and had demonstrated to
Lisa the commitment involved in submission.  Lisa now obeyed Erica
implicitly, following her every word.

	Erica's journey as a Dominatrix had begun.
	*		*		*		*		*		*
	"Enter!" commanded Erica.

	"Joann Robins is here, Mistress," announced Lisa from outside the library
doors.

	"Conduct her in here."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Joann Robins followed Lisa into the library.  It was now Saturday morning
and she had been collected, placed dark glasses on her eyes, then driven to
Erica's estate.  She was wearing a loose sundress, and Erica wondered if
she was wearing any underwear, since she did not seem to have a visible
pantyline under her clothes.

	"Welcome," greeted Erica, "Joann, you may be seated."

	Joann assumed a seat in front of the library desk, and Lisa remained
standing at her side.  She was clearly nervous, the way that she was
clutching her handbag.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Have you made your decision?" asked Erica.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"What is it to be?"

	"I want to serve you, Mistress Erica," softly answered Joann.

	"Thank you, your trust in me shall not be misplaced.  Lisa shall now
conduct you to the bedroom where you shall be prepared.  Have you done as I
asked, thought deeply about your sexuality?"

	"Yes, Mistress," quickly answered Lisa.

	"Lisa," Erica ordered, "please prepare our guest in the bedroom."

	"Yes, Mistress Erica."

	Twenty minutes later, Lisa again interrupted Erica.  Except that this time
it was to bring Joann back to the library.  The woman was now naked, with a
collar around her neck, and leather bracelets on her wrists and ankles. 
Her wrists were locked behind her back, but her feet were not hobbled.  She
had brought a pair of modest heels with her on Janet's orders, and they
were now locked upon her feet by a series of small leather straps.

	"Thank you, Lisa.  You may release Joann's hands, and lock her collar to
the school desk.

	Erica had pushed the leather chairs off to one side, and had placed and
locked a school desk that she had purchased directly in front of her
library desk.  On the desk was a lined legal pad, and a pen and pencil.

	Lisa did as she was instructed, and her charge was now locked to the
motionless desk, which was in turn locked to the floor.  Joann would not be
going anywhere soon.

	"Before you begin serving me, Joann, you are ordered to write a sexual
biography of yourself.  Your sexual experiences the fantasies that you have
about yourself and others.  Especially those that involve serving a
Mistress."

	"Yes, Mistress Erica."

	"I shall leave you alone in the library, and you may call Lisa or myself
if you want a drink or have to go to the bathroom.  You must write, or else
I shall not use you, do you understand?"

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"One last order, you must select a safeword.  That will be your choice."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Erica and Lisa then walked out of the library, leaving Joann alone to her
thoughts and writing.  She had pulled at the desk and her chain on Erica's
orders, and found them to be implacable.  She was a prisoner until
released.
	*		*		*		*		*		*
	After three hours of working, and one call for a drink, Joann called and
asked that Erica return to the library.  Joann had written about a dozen
pages in a clear distinctive handwriting that Erica would have no problem
reading.

	"Excellent," complimented Erica, "thank you, Joann."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Lisa, take Joann to the kitchen, and give her lunch.  I'm going to read
what she has written, and then have her clean house with you as instructed.
 I'll check on your progress a little later."

	"Yes, Mistress," replied Lisa as she unlocked Joann from the school desk.

	Erica sat down behind the desk to read, and she wondered just how Joann
would take to being ordered around by a Maid dressed in black satin.  But
that would be after her lunch, of course.
	*		*		*		*		*
	In the past few weeks, Erica had sketched out the broad outlines of how
she would conduct herself as a Domme.  She would primarily service the
wealthy women of Greenwich and the environs of Connecticut and New York. 
Though if someone interesting came along who couldn't pay her for the
exclusive services that she offered, that would be forgiven.  Perhaps
payment was too strong a word, she would instead use the word "gift."

	Erica read Joann's bio after lunch in the library.  Joann may have been a
wealthy woman with her name in the society pages, but she hadn't said
anything when Lisa ordered her to put on an apron over her nakedness and
assist her in house cleaning.

	Having Joann come on Saturday morning really didn't allow for enough time
for her training.  Erica decided that from now on she would have a prospect
come on Friday night.  There was barely enough time to have her outfitted,
do a few chores with Lisa, then serve a meal or two, and have a session on
Saturday night before she would have to leave the next day.

	That was going to be all part of her decisions as a Domme, and Mistress of
her House.
	*		*		*		*		*		*
	"Mistress?"

	Joann had been called from her chores by Erica, and was now kneeling in
front of her on the library carpet.  The apron had been left in the
kitchen, and she was naked once again.

	"I have read your biography, and have found you suitable.  You have a
desire for submission, and you want your body used by a Mistress.  Is that
correct?"

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"I gave you an order in the library besides writing down your bio.  Do you
remember what that was?"

	"I had to choose a safeword, Mistress."

	"Have you chosen one?" asked Erica.

	"Yes, Mistress.  I would like my safeword to be passion."

	"Very good choice, Joann."

	Erica looked at her watch.  It was already five, and Dinner had been
scheduled for seven.  That had left enough time for Joann's first use,
which would be just a prelude for her real use later that evening in the
Dungeon.

	"You told me that the first time you had been physically used was in the
club, a man had taken down your riding breeches and used a crop on your
behind.  Is that correct?"

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"And you have been spanked as well?"

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"And how did you feel after both incidents?"

	"I enjoyed them, Mistress Erica," replied Joann, her cheeks blushing red.

	"Good," said Erica as she rose to her feet, then walked over to the couch,
a hairbrush in her hand.

	Erica noted the Joann suddenly grew nervous at the sight of the wooden
hairbrush in the hands of her Mistress.  What was before just an innocuous
household object was now something quite different in the hands of a Domme.

	"Drape yourself over my knees," ordered Erica as she sat on the couch, the
brush in her hands.

	"Have I done anything wrong………Mistress?" protested Joann.

	"No you haven't, Joann.  So far, you have obeyed all of my orders
perfectly.  Your reward then shall be your first use, a mild one on your
bottom.  So get on my knees, your training has just begun."

	Meekly, Joann rose to her feet, then placed herself gingerly over Erica's
lap.  Erica admired her fine body, perfect figure and skin.  She had
decided that she would not invade Joann sexually until after her first
spanking.

	"Prepare to be spanked."

	"Yes, Owwww!" shouted Joann as the hairbrush struck her bottom.

	Erica had begun with a mild stroke, one that was barely harder than if
Joann had fallen to the ground.  Her shock was mainly due to the surprise
that she felt on having her bottom used by a Mistress for the first time.

	"Owww!

	"Owwww!

	"Owwww!

	Erica would strike Joann's bottom in one place, then move on to another. 
Just a few weeks before, she had seen Joann's picture in the paper in the
society pages.  Now the same woman, a socialite, was draped over knees
being spanked.

	"Owww!

	"Owww!

	"Owww!

	"Owww!" cried Joann each time that the hairbrush struck her behind.

	Erica had imagined that Joann would rise to her feet, screaming about the
indignity of her use by Erica, but instead she remained on Erica's lap,
absorbing every blow to her bottom and perhaps her dignity as well.

	"Enough," said Erica, "you may kneel."

	Erica had moderately used Joann's bottom, so that her skin was a mild
shade of red.  She did not want to either use Joann so severely as to
frighten her off, just enough to make her want more.  Judging from her
response to a spanking that had consisted of just ten strokes with the
hairbrush, she was definitely interested in continuing with Erica.

	"Very good," complimented Erica.

	"Thank you, Mistress," answered Joann, her hair slightly in disarray and
her entire body excited by the spanking.

	"Are you wet?"

	"Mistress?" asked Joann in surprise.

	"I said, are you wet?  You have permission to touch yourself."

	"I don't, I mean………"

	"While you are in my House, you are forbidden to touch your breasts or
your sex, unless given express permission my myself or Lisa.  You are also
forbidden to give yourself an orgasm, or to sexually excite yourself.  Do
you understand?"

	"Yes, Mistress Erica."

	"Good, I therefore give you permission to place your hand between your
legs, and tell me if I have excited you."

	Hesitantly, with a huge red blush on her cheeks, Joann inserted her right
hand between her legs, then moaned slightly as her fingers penetrated into
her womanhood.

	"Ohhh!" cried Joann.

	"You may remove your hand," ordered Erica.

	When Joann did so, her index and forefinger were coated with her juices. 
Joann, it seemed, had been stimulated quite easily, by just a mild
spanking.  Erica wondered what the effect that the crop would have on her.

	"Taste yourself."

	Have crossed one divide, it was easy to cross another.  Joann drew her
fingers to her mouth, and sucked at her own juices from between her legs.

	"Very good, Joann," complimented Erica.

	"Thank you, Mistress Erica."

	"Have you ever masturbated yourself in the presence of another woman or
man?" asked Erica.

	"No, Mistress," replied Joann, embarrassment evident in her voice.

	"Here, you shall learn how to do just that, on my command."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Now go and rejoin Lisa in the kitchen.  You are to prepare Dinner with
Lisa, then serve me in the Dining Room.  Later this evening, you shall be
used."

	"Thank you, Mistress," said Joann, still kneeling on the carpet.

	"One last thing before you go.  Now that I have used you for the first
time, I have given Lisa permission to discipline you if you fail to obey
and order or make a mistake.  You are to take her orders as if they were
mine, do you understand?"

	"Yes, Mistress Erica."

	"You have taken your first steps into slavery, Joann.  Do not disappoint
me.  You have my leave to go."

	"Thank you, Mistress."

	Erica watched as Joann rose to her feet, bowed, then left the library. 
Joann was clearly excited and afraid at the same time.  It would be up to
Erica to get her prospect over her worries to make her comfortable with her
new found submission.

	But that was her job as a Domme, of course.  Just as Mistress Judith had
done with her in NYC, and later Daniel (at least in the beginning) and
Keith had done with her.
	*		*		*		*		*
	Lisa and Joann had prepared a somewhat elaborate Dinner for Erica, and it
had all gone off rather well.  Since it was summer, they had prepared Clam
chowder, and baked flounder with salad, and to drink, white wine.

	Joann had served under Lisa, and she had taken all of her orders
perfectly.  Erica wished that she could have had another Domme present, but
that would be for the future.  Time to make friends with other Dommes and
learn from them, to develop a stable of slaves eager to serve Mistress
Erica.

	Erica was served coffee and cake in the Dining Room after the dishes had
been cleared.  Lisa and Joann would eat together, then clean up after
Dinner was over.  Lisa would keep Joann busy until she would be taken down
to the Dungeon to be used.

	While finishing her coffee, Erica had a strange thought, one that rose
unbidden, from her days back on Wall Street: she wondered how many slaves
it would take to amortize the investment that she had made in the Dungeon
and all it's contents?
	*		*		*		*		*
	Erica dressed that night in a black PVC Dominatrix dress that had long
sleeves and the hemline of which ended above her knees.  She had not yet
totally gotten used to wearing very high heels, so she instead decided on a
more modest pair.  She modeled herself in the mirror, admiring the way the
fabric molded itself to her figure.

	Lisa had taken Joann down to the Dungeon, and was already down there
waiting for her.  It was after 10 PM, and Erica had wanted Joann to get a
little rest.  Her slave in training was going to be having a busy night.

	Erica walked down the steps, only wishing that the Mansion had an elevator
installed to reach the second floor as well.  Still, it was exciting to
wear a fetish dress in her House, to feel the PVC hug itself to all of her
curves.

	She took the elevator downstairs, then walked into the Dungeon.  There,
just as she had ordered, was Lisa and Joann.

	Lisa was dressed in a black satin Maid's outfit with black hose and a pair
of matching heels.  The outfit was cinched mildly tightly around her waist,
which expanded her bust.  Erica wondered if she should buy a corset or
basque for her to wear, since she had already bought some for herself.

	Joann was naked, and kneeling on the floor.  Her hands were locked behind
her back, and she was wearing a blindfold and ballgag, and Lisa was holding
onto a leash that was attached to her collar.  Her prospect was already
quite helpless.

	"Very good, Lisa," complimented Erica.

	"Thank you, Mistress."

	Joann stayed silent in her position, then Erica signaled for Lisa to
remove her blindfold.  Joann blinked in the sudden light as her vision was
restored to her.

	Her eyes registered surprise as she took in the tableau in front of her,
as she recognized the various devices that were now before her.

	"You may remove her gag."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Thank you, Mistress," said Joann when the ball was removed from her
mouth.

	"Do you recognize what these things are?" asked Erica.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Do you submit to me of your own free will, without coercion or duress?"
asked Erica.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"That I shall have the freedom to use your body in any way I choose while
you are here?"

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"That you will remain silent about what happens to you here?"

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"That you have consented to be my slave?"

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Then prepare to be used," said Erica.

	"Yes, Mistress," replied Joann, softly.

	"Lisa, tie her to the to the post," ordered Erica.

	The post was something that Erica had seen in a catalog and had ordered. 
It was more like an inverted T, and a slaves arm's could be bound behind
her and attached to the post, and her bracelets on her ankles would be
bound to the ends of the bar.  This would make her breasts protrude, and
leave her sex exposed to whatever Erica could devise.

	Once secured, Erica selected a riding crop with a leather piece at the
end.  It would leave a red mark and sting, but not really hurt.  But it was
perfect for introducing a new prospect to the crop.

	"I shall crop you first, Joann."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Erica began by using the crop on Joann's breasts.  Every time that the
leather struck her, Joann emitted a low moan.  Erica struck her breasts,
shoulders, stomach, thighs, and lightly on her sex.

	She delivered her strokes in-groups of five, paused, then began again. 
Erica wanted Joann to slowly get used to the crop, and began with a series
of very mild strokes that she soon increased in intensity and strength.

	"Ahhh!" cried Joann.

	"Are you excited, slave?" asked Erica.

	"Yes, Mistress, yes!"

	"Then I will continue, however," paused Erica.

	Erica reached out and pinched Joann's right nipple, which had grown hard
from her sexual excitement from having been cropped.  Then she reached
down, and ran her fingers through Joann's pussy hair, and stroked her Venus
mound.

	"How pretty a woman you are, yet you long to be whipped and disciplined by
a Mistress.  That lovely skin of yours will bear the marks of my lash and
crop, and be virgin no more.  Have you ever been to bed with a woman?"
asked Erica.

	"Just once, Mistress."

	"Then in this House you shall also learn how to please your Mistress in
bed.  But that will be later."

	"Ohhhh!" cried Joann as Erica gently inserted her index finger inside
Joann's cuntlips, making her squirm and moan.

	"Your body belongs to me now, Joann.  I will use you in any way that I
desire."

	"Yes, Mistress Erica."

	Erica then made Joann suck her juices off of her finger, then used the
crop on her a few more times, leaving a series of red marks on her skin. 
Joann moaned and pulled at her bonds without effect, and she looked like
she was about to cry, but did not.

	"Kiss the crop and thank your Mistress," ordered Erica when she had
finished.

	"Thank………Thank you, Mistress Erica," stuttered Joann, in shock from her
first real use.

	"Lisa, hang Joann from the ceiling.  I shall flog her next," calmly
described Erica.

	The use of the word "flog" had clearly disturbed Joann.  As Lisa took her
down from the post, then secured her wrists to the ceiling chain, Erica had
glanced into the woman's eyes.  Though Joann said nothing, and meekly
submitted as she was again made helpless, Erica could just image what
horrors must be going through her mind.

	Once a spreader bar had been locked to Joann's ankles, Lisa had activated
the motor and pulled her taut.  Her feet were still resting on the floor,
but now Joann was straight as a ruler.  

	Erica removed a flogger made of a soft felt material.  It would strike the
flesh, and leave a mark.  But not really sting or hurt.

	"Kiss the flogger," ordered Erica.

	"Yes, Mistress," answered Joann as she did as she was told.

	"You are ordered to count each stroke."

	"One!"

	"Two!"

	"Three!"

	"Four!"

	"Five!"

	As she delivered each stroke Erica carefully watched Joann's facial
expressions.  In the beginning, Joann had been very scared.  But after a
few strokes, when she had realized that the flogger would not strip the
skin from her, Joann had relaxed.  She pulled at her chains, the muscles
visible under her skin.  But the fear slowly had dissipated.

	"Eight!"

	"Ten!"

	"Twelve!"

	"Fifteen!"

	Since this was her first real use, Erica did not want to scare Joann.  On
Monday morning, she wanted Joann to gaze at her marks with pride and she
had been courageous enough to take them onto her body, and to want to
return.  Her strokes were modest, and stung, and left a mark behind.  Their
mild pain had been transmuted into pleasure.

	"Twenty!" yelled Joann, slightly her voice slightly hoarse from counting
out each stroke.

	"Very good Joann," complimented Erica, "very good, indeed."

	"Thank you, Mistress," panted Joann.

	"Lisa, please take Joann upstairs, clean her up, then chain her at the
foot of my bed?  I'll want her about forty five minutes."

	"Yes, Mistress Erica," smartly answered Lisa.

	Erica presented the flogger to Joann, who kissed it without having to be
told.  From the way that Joann was pulling at her chains, Erica knew that
Joann was now excited sexually in a way that she had never been before.  If
the mild cropping and spanking that her boyfriend had done before had made
her wet, her first use in the Dungeon had brought her to a new level of
sexual energy.  It would be up to Erica to provide a release.

	"Lisa, make sure that she doesn't touch her nipples or her pussy, could
you?  I don't want her to climax," ordered Erica.

	"Yes, Mistress Erica."

	"Thank you Lisa, I shall be in the library."
	*		*		*		*		*		*
	Just after Midnight, Erica entered her bedroom.  Joann was kneeling on the
carpet, naked and bound, as per her instructions.  Erica had spent the time
in the library reading while Lisa had prepared her slave.

	Erica stripped off the PVC dress, and hung it in the closet.  Then she
walked into the bathroom, and quickly washed the sweat off her.  She dried
herself, then emerged back to the bedroom.

	"Are you ready to serve your Mistress in bed?" asked Erica.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Erica unlocked Joann's collar chain, then her wrists.  She lay down on the
bedcovers, then opened her thighs.

	"Please your Mistress, else the crop awaits."

	Erica was more than pleased to discover that she did not have to use the
crop to encourage Joann.  The woman was insatiable once she began to suck
and lick at Erica's pussy, and drove her Mistress to one climax after
another.

	Then Erica used her own mouth and lips and released all of Joann's pent-up
sexual energy in one shattering sexual climax after another.  Then Erica
used a dildo, which she pushed deep into Joann's sex, making her moan and
buck with one climax after another.

	Erica failed to notice what time they finally stopped making love, but she
didn't much care either, since she was exhausted.  She looked at Joann, who
had fallen asleep first, and the woman had a pleased expression on her
face.  Even if her collar had been locked to a chain from a ringbolt on the
wall.
	*		*		*		*		*
	"Will she be back, Mistress?" asked Lisa as they watched the car drive
away with Joann in the back seat.

	Joann had been bathed the next morning and had breakfast with Lisa, then
she had been ushered into the library for a exit interview with Erica.

	Erica had asked her all kinds of questions about her use, and she was sure
that Joann had replied truthfully.  The woman had enjoyed her first taste
of slavery, and had wanted more.
	
	"Yes," answered Erica, "she'll be back."

	What Erica had not counted on was that after a few months of use, Joann
would ask if she could send some of her girlfriends to be used by Erica, to
experience submission.  Mistress Erica and her Maid Lisa would be very busy
in the months to come.

The Challenge
Chapter 09: The Other End of the Crop

Part One: The Contract Fulfilled

Friday September 11, 1998

	While Janet was not supposed to put in an appearance at her job at Xylex,
she had forgotten some papers in her office and decided to drop in and
retrieve them so she could work over the weekend.

	She had dressed in a DKNY blouse and skirt, unlike her usual blue business
suit.  Janet had carried her briefcase (black leather, of course) inside
the building, and intended to be no more than ten minutes within her
office.

	"Coffee, Janet?" asked her secretary, Clara.

	Janet had to stop herself for verbally disciplining Clara for not calling
her Mistress.  She had to remember that she wasn't at home now, and that
Clara wasn't her slave.  She was a secretary that she shared with three
other executives.

	"Yes, thank you," answered Janet, frustrated that she was unable to find
the papers that she had been searching for.

	After a few minutes more, Janet gave up and slammed the desk drawer
closed.  She wanted her coffee now, and wondered what was causing the
delay.

	She walked outside her office, furious and angry at not finding her
papers, and wanting her caffeine fix.  But her anger melted away when she
approached Clara's desk.

	"Oh!" said Janet.

	Standing next to her secretary's desk was Clara's daughter, Amy.  Clara
had just shown the pictures around the office last week of her little
girl's fifth birthday party.

	"I'm sorry, Janet.  I got busy with Amy here.  My sister will be over to
take her for the day and………"

	"That's all right, Clara.  Your daughter is more important than my cup of
coffee," said Janet as she poured herself a cup from the machine next to
Clara's desk.

	Janet glanced at her secretary's desk, at the family picture of Clara, her
husband, and their two children.  She often stared at the picture, looking
at her secretary's family.

	"I'll just go back to searching, Clara," said Janet.

	"Yes, Janet, call me if you need anything," answered Clara.

	Exhaling when she searched through her file cabinets, she wondered if
family life would have been in store for her had she not asked Sally to
liven up her sex life.

	Would Janet now be in Clara's place, a secretary with a husband and a
couple of children?  Instead of Dominatrix, being a wife and mother (not
that those roles were mutually exclusive, she had met couples with a Domme
wife and submissive husband) living an extraordinary domestic life.  

	Now here she was, Dominatrix, and Corporate Executive, who still couldn't
find that damn file!

	"Shit!" she said aloud.

	The file that she had been looking for was inside of another file, which
was why she couldn't find it.  It was just one back from being where it
should have been, but her own frustration had prevented her from seeing it.

	Janet grabbed the damn file and a couple of others, and threw them in her
case and locked it shut.  She drained the coffee in one swallow, then
pitched the disposable cup into the wastebasket.

	"All done, Janet?" asked Clara when Janet passed her desk.

	"Yes, thank you."

	"You should have been here yesterday, and heard all the commotion."

	"Really, about what?"

	"There's some gossip about someone buying our stock.  Not just here in New
York, but also on the Philadelphia exchange as well."

	"Well, that is all well and good, but I have a project to do," said Janet.

	"Good-bye, Janet."

	"Good-bye, Clara," answered Janet as she left her job.

	She was going to have a busy night with Cheryl, so Janet wanted to get as
much work done as possible beforehand.  What she really wanted to do was to
just go for a nice long drive in the Miata, with the top down and the wind
blowing in her face.

	It was getting a little hard for Janet to conceal Cheryl from her closest
Domme friend.  She and Stephanie were very close, sharing almost
everything.  They would lend slaves to one another, so that the slave could
experience a different Mistress.

	When they went out on their last Dinner date, Stephanie had asked why
Janet was always busy on the weekends.  She had told her that she was
training a new slave, which had proven to be a mistake, for now Stephanie
was very curious.  Even asking when the new girl would be loaned to her.

	BEEP!

	The car horn that went off behind her broke Janet's chain of thought about
Cheryl, bringing her back into the real world.  Janet pressed on the gas,
and continued driving.

	'All right, Cheryl, you've been a good slave so far,' Janet thought to
herself, 'let's see how you perform now.'
	*		*		*		*		*
	With the coming of September, the temperature had gotten colder.  The
library windows were now kept mostly closed, though Janet would open them a
crack to get some fresh air inside.

	When she had a slave in the house naked, all of the windows were closed
and the house kept warm, so that the slave would not catch a chill.  If
Janet wanted some fresh air, she would take a walk outside by herself.

	"You may enter, Cheryl," ordered Janet.

	"Yes, Mistress," replied Cheryl from the library doors.

	Cheryl was already collared and naked, and Tina had gone to attend to
something.  It was late, past ten, since Cheryl asked to be picked up later
than usual for a personal reason.

	It was too late, Janet thought, to go down to the Dungeon for a scene, and
she was a little tired after working all day.  Tina had even had to force
her to eat lunch; she had been so busy.

	"Sit down," ordered Janet.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Ever since July, when you gave me trouble on those 2 weekends, you have
been a model slave.  You have taken all of my sessions without complaint,
you have served me well in bed, and have read all of the books on
submission that I have ordered you to read."

	"Thank you, Mistress.  I want to be a good slave," calmly explained
Cheryl.

	"Just like that, like you were buying a new dress."

	"Mistress?"

	"I have had submissives who have agonized for weeks over why they are
here, to be used as a slave by me.  Who cannot reconcile their feelings
with the way that they have been brought up by society to behave."

	"I don't understand, Mistress."

	"You planned all of this very carefully, Cheryl," accused Janet.

	"I choose not to respond, Mistress."

	"You probably read a lot about submission, trained yourself at home with
sex toys, were photographed nude, perhaps even hired a Domme to use you a
few times.  Why?"

	"As I said in June, Mistress Janet, I wanted to be trained by you alone."

	"You have surrendered your clothes and your dignity, have had your flesh
striped and your body invaded sexually, all because you wanted me for your
Mistress?"

	"Yes, Mistress Janet."

	Janet sat back in her chair, the leather rustling when she shifted her
weight.  The chair squeaking in response as well.

	"There are many Dommes who play games with their subs that can be rather
harmful or embarrassing," Janet began, "one Domme I know has constructed a
special panty composed of a small dildo rigged to a beeper and power pack.
When she wants her slave to call her, off goes the dildo giving the slave a
climax at what could be a very sensitive moment.  Another will go out to
Dinner with her slave, and leave her there with the check and no money."

	"Mistress, what does that have to do with me?"

	"I used you very harshly last week, didn't I?"

	"Yes, Mistress," quickly answered Cheryl.

	"You still carry my marks, don't you?"

	"Of course, Mistress."

	"What if tomorrow I were to order you to dress, take you to a dress shop
and have you try on clothes?  So that the sales help would see your marks
when you were in your underwear?  Also have you wear my collar with just
the single front ring.  Would you do so, humiliate yourself in public?"

	 "I don't know, Mistress," answered Cheryl, visibly shaken.

	 "I don't play those kind of games, Cheryl.  Whatever I do occurs within
the boundaries of this house, or if I loan a slave to another Domme, or if
I take a slave to a play party.  I only use a slave with their consent. 
But I don't play games with my slaves, even if other Dommes consider me a
bit conservative and dull."

	"Thank you, Mistress."

	"Are you satisfied with your training?" asked Janet.

	"Yes, Mistress, very much.  Thank you."

	"Is this what you desired in your job as a Corporate Executive back home,
to be stripped naked and used by a Dominatrix?"

	"Yes, Mistress," answered Cheryl.

	"To be a slave?" demanded Janet.

	"Yes, Mistress.  To be a slave."

	"It's rather late this evening, and I'm a bit tired.  I have decided that
I'll use you now in the library instead of the Dungeon."

	"Yes Mistress Janet, whatever you desire."

	"I want you to get on the black leather footstool, face down," ordered
Janet.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Cheryl obediently rose from her seat and walked the couple of steps, and
draped herself over the footstool as ordered.  Janet opened a desk drawer,
and removed four coils of rope and four smaller pieces, a red ballgag, a
riding crop, and a dildo.

	Janet then pushed her chair back, and stood up, carrying everything in two
handfuls. She placed them on a table next to the footstool.

	She then began to rope Cheryl's arms and legs to the legs of the
footstool.  First she wrapped the rope a few times around, then knotted and
pulled it tight. Then she used another piece, and cinched the ropes,
pulling them tighter.  It had taken Janet plenty of time to learn just how
to use rope without cutting off a person's circulation. Which was why she
preferred the familiar cuffs of leather and steel.

	Once Cheryl had been roped to the footstool, Janet buckled the ballgag in
her mouth, silencing her slave.

	"Mmmmmph!" cried Cheryl.

	"The footstool is a quite sensuous little piece of equipment," described
Janet, "and it was Mistress Stephanie who introduced me to it the first
time.  But I was a slave then, of course."

	Janet watched in amusement as Cheryl rubbed her breasts, stomach, and
thighs against the black leather.  She clearly liked the aroma of the
polished leather, and how it felt against her skin.

	"Mmmmmph!"

	Janet reached under Cheryl's bound form, and began to pinch and play with
her captive's nipples, which were already hard and erect.  Cheryl was
clearly excited.

	"It's rather good to bind a slave to, since I can do all sorts of things
with you, can't I?"

	"Mmmmmph!" Cheryl emitted a long low moan from behind the gag.

	"Wet, aren't you?" asked Janet, "and hot also, but not quite ready yet. 
Since you've been such a good slave to train, let's see just how much
control you have been able to learn."

	Janet displayed for Cheryl the dildo, which was a regular, sized one.

	"I am not going to make you come or climax, Cheryl, that is not now my
objective.  Rather, I'm going to insert the dildo in your sex, and you're
going to learn to hold it inside."

	Cheryl squealed as Janet slowly pushed the dildo into Cheryl's sex, then
left it there instead of simulating sex.

	"There now, that's good.  Now I want you to hold it inside," ordered
Janet, "clamp those cunt muscles of yours around the dildo, and hold it in
place."

	"Mmmph!" cried Cheryl.

	Janet again sat behind her desk, and she had a clear view of Cheryl's
bound form on the footstool.

	"I'll even give you a little piece of advice, Cheryl.  Don't rub yourself
against the leather, you won't excite yourself that way."

	"Mmmmph!"

	Janet watched with wry amusement as Cheryl struggled to keep herself from
climaxing with the dildo inside her.  She remembered her own struggles of
control when Stephanie had bound her in the position.  Then she had
succeeded in keeping the dildo inside her, even as Mistress Blanca had
paddled her.

	"Very good, Cheryl," complimented Janet.

	"Mmmmmph!"

	"You make too much noise, Cheryl.  There is, of course, a second part to
being roped to the footstool."

	Suddenly, Cheryl had stopped moaning from behind the gag.

	"Shall I use the paddle, my hand, or the riding crop?" asked Janet.

	"Mmmmmph!" cried Cheryl.

	"Definitely the paddle," quickly said Janet.

	From the desk, Janet procured a leather paddle, which she held in her
hands as she displayed it to Cheryl.

	"You must keep the phallus inside your sex, Cheryl.  If you come and it
slips out, I can think of all kinds of nasty things that I can do with
you."

	Janet stood over Cheryl, holding the paddle in her hands, flexing the
black leather, her fingers a nice contrast against a dark background.

	"You told me earlier that you wanted be a slave, Cheryl," said Janet,
"prepare to be used."

	Crack!

	Crack!

	Janet made sure not to strike Cheryl too hard with the paddle.  She didn't
want Cheryl to panic, and since she was gagged, Janet kept a very close eye
on her.  Rather, Janet wanted Cheryl to be able to keep the shaft in her
sex.

	Crack!

	Crack!

	Crack!

	The paddle had been her first introduction to Mistress Blanca, her lawyer.
 But all she knew then was that Blanca had been Stephanie's guest that
night, and she had tested Janet's limits of control.

	Crack!

	Crack!

	Janet stopped to run her hand over Cheryl's reddened bottom, feeling the
heated skin.  The shaft was still inside Cheryl's thighs, and Janet touched
it slightly.

	"Mmmmph!" cried Cheryl.

	"We continue."

	Crack!

	Crack!

	Crack!

	Janet made certain to use a different spot each time, never striking the
same place twice.  She had specially avoided using Cheryl's bottom last
week, just so that she could use it this week.

	Crack!

	Crack!

	"Very good, Cheryl," complimented Janet, "ten strokes with the paddle and
you've kept the shaft in your sex."

	Janet placed the paddle on the floor and unbuckled Cheryl's ballgag. 
Cheryl took deep breaths when the ball was freed from her mouth.

	"Thank you, Mistress," panted Cheryl.

	"You're welcome, Cheryl.  I generally don't like to use a slave when
gagged unless they have a signal or I'm very close at hand."

	Almost casually, Janet reached between Cheryl's legs, held onto the shaft,
and began a slow steady rhythmic motion with the phallus.  Cheryl
immediately began to moan and buck, since now Janet wanted her to climax.

	"You may now come," ordered Janet.

	Once Janet had given her permission, Cheryl climax, and with her limited
freedom of movement, impaled herself on the phallus.  She moaned, and made
sounds of pleasure as one orgasm after another coursed through her body.

	"Aaaaaah!" cried Cheryl.

	"Very good, Cheryl."

	Janet began the slow process of releasing Cheryl.  Rope, while more
confining and intimate than cuffs, took longer to both bind and release
that the snap locks or padlocks that she usually used.

	"You may kneel," Janet ordered.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Legs apart, hands on your knees."

	Cheryl did as she was instructed.  Janet looked at her watch, and found
that it was near Midnight.

	"Are you a slut, Cheryl?" Janet asked.

	"Mistress?"

	"I asked you if you were a slut, Cheryl.  Were you predisposed to being a
slave even before you came to me to be trained?  Did all your research into
submission excite you and make you wet?"

	"I'm not a slut, Mistress."

	"So the Corporate woman finally speaks, does she?" Janet taunted, "then
you have certainly fooled me, since you now act like any of my other
slaves."

	Cheryl stayed silent, and Janet walked over to her and placed her thumb
and index finger under Cheryl's chin and raised her head to directly look
into Janet's eyes.

	"Before you came here this evening, you rouged your aureole and perfumed
yourself as Tina has taught you.  You know how to satisfy a woman, since
Tina has shown you that as well.  I have given you pain and pleasure from
the lash and crop.  Your sex is wet from just the sight of a riding crop. 
And you are kept naked and collared.  You're a slave and a slut, Cheryl."

	"No!" cried Cheryl as she buried her face in her hands, the leather of her
bracelets a stark contrast against her skin.

	"There comes a time," Janet lectured Cheryl, who was still crying, "when
every woman who enters my service finally realizes what she has become. 
You're a slave, Cheryl.  You hold your body proudly as one, you wear my
collar and take my discipline."

	Cheryl sobbed quietly on the floor.

	"You have achieved what you came here for, Cheryl.  You're my slave,"
concluded Janet.

	Instead of spending the night with Janet, Cheryl instead was allowed to
clean herself up and spent the night in a bedroom by herself, unchained. 
While Janet could have taken her to bed and used her without mercy, instead
she knew that Cheryl's realization of what she had finally become would
have a far greater effect than any number of strokes with a riding crop.

	Janet left Cheryl in a bedroom, quietly sobbing to herself.
	*		*		*		*		*
	Sleep eluded Janet, and she lay quietly in bed.  She glanced at the
doorframe, and saw silhouetted against the blackness the figure of a woman.
 In the dim moonlight, she could make out that she was nude.

	"Mistress?" asked Tina softly; "may I join you?"

	Janet did not reply, but instead opened the covers.  Tina got into bed
with her Mistress, and enfolded her in her arms.

	"Tina, I'm sorry that I've been neglecting you," explained Janet.

	"Hush, Mistress," ordered Tina as she kissed Janet on the lips.

	Tina unbuttoned Janet's silk pajamas, exposed her nude body.  She gently
ran her fingertips over Janet's breasts, Venus mound, and sex, exciting
Janet quickly.  Janet pulled Tina closer to her, their hot breaths mingling
together.

	They made quiet, leisurely and passionate love under the covers.  Janet
did not need, or want, to use a crop or phallus.  Instead they serviced
each other, then tasted themselves on each other's lips.

	Tina rested on Janet's shoulder after their lovemaking, and Janet ran her
fingers through her lover's hair.  Janet then lovingly stroked Tina's nude
body under the sheets.

	"Thank you, Tina," softly said Janet.

	"I love you, Mistress."

	"I love you too, Tina," answered Janet as she fell asleep, her slave and
lover in her arms.

Part Two: Pillows Don't Have Safewords

Saturday September 12, 1998

	In the morning, Tina had released Cheryl from the bedroom to perform her
toilet.  The pillow was wet with her tears, though the sheets were clean. 
Evidently Cheryl had not sexually stimulated herself to orgasm without
Janet's permission.

	Tina and Cheryl had served Janet breakfast in the Dining Room, then Janet
had gone to change into a sports bra and shorts, and spent the rest of the
morning in the exercise room.  She had turned on the stereo to play a
classical station, and exercised to the sounds of Bach and Beethoven. 

	Once Janet had finished, and recorded her progress on a clipboard in the
room, she went in search of a soda.  Her body was covered in sweat, and she
wanted a shower.

	"Mistress, can I help you?" asked Cheryl as she snapped to attention from
a seat at the kitchen table.

	"No thank you, Cheryl," answered Janet as she removed a can of Coke from
the refrigerator, popped the top, and took a long swallow of its contents.

	"Mistress, why didn't you chain me in the bedroom last night?" asked
Cheryl.

	"Because I didn't need to," Janet answered, "you're already bound to me
with something stronger than steel."

	"Mistress?"

	"Your slavery, Cheryl.  You are a different person now than when you
entered this house," Janet answered calmly.

	"Yes, Mistress," answered Cheryl.

	Janet drained the last of the soda in a couple of swallows, then washed
out the can and placed it in a container that they kept for recycling.

	"Would Mistress Janet like to bathed by her slave?" offered Cheryl.

	"Yes, Cheryl, thank you, that would be very nice."

	Janet sat back in the tub, with Cheryl attending to her.  The water had
been scented by a cube of lilac bath salts, and Janet relaxed closing her
eyes.

	She had used the exercise equipment to work off some calories and
frustrations, and had worked up a good sweat.  While it was true that she
had quite a bit of work to do, she had decided to take Cheryl up on her
offer to bathe her Mistress.

	Tina had been training her as a Domestic, so she would learn how to serve
a Mistress in all ways.  Including bath girl and Janet smiled when she
realized how Tina had taught Cheryl to pamper her during training.

	Now Cheryl could demonstrate what she had learned, and she soaped and
washed Janet's nude figure, then waited as Janet soaked away her
frustrations in the tub.

	Afterwards, she dried and set Janet's hair, clipped and polished her
nails, then finally massaged her Mistress on a table.  Janet had asked Tina
to delay lunch, since she did not want to rush Cheryl.  She had wanted to
see if Cheryl had learned her lessons, which indeed she did.

	"Thank you," said Janet as she rose from the massage table, nude.

	"You're welcome Mistress," replied Cheryl, kneeling on the floor.

	Janet pulled a robe around her nude body, then slippers on her feet.  She
looked at herself in the mirror, and was very pleased.

	"You have done very well in serving your Mistress, Cheryl.  For that I
have arranged a surprise for you this evening.  Go and tell Tina I shall
dress and then you can serve lunch.  You are about to enter a new phase in
your slavery."

	"Yes, Mistress," answered Cheryl, as she rose to her feet, then left Janet
alone in the exercise room.

	Janet had been bathed in the bathroom of the downstairs bedroom and then
they had gone to the exercise room where the massage table was located. 
The sauna had been installed in the next bedroom, leaving just two full
bedrooms downstairs.

	Lunch was a simple affair, just salad, soup, and a sandwich.  She had
decided to wear a simple blue denim dress around the house, something a
little heavier than light summer clothing.

	Cheryl had been given some time off, and had spent the afternoon reading
and sleeping.  She had performed the rest of her chores with Tina, staying
silent most of the time.

	Janet noted that Cheryl cringed slightly whenever she sat down, a reminder
of the paddling that she had received yesterday.  Her bottom was going to
be a little sore for days to come, which would serve to keep the memory of
Janet's use fresh in her mind.  Even when she would be wearing clothes.

	Nothing else happened until after Cheryl and Tina had eaten and the Dinner
dishes were washed and in the drying rack.  The gate buzzer sounded, and
Janet pressed the switch to admit a car.

	The car followed the driveway, then parked in the open space next to the
garage next to the house, near Janet's Toyota.  The door opened, and a
smartly dressed woman emerged, and made her way up to the landing, then
pressed the doorbell.

	"Good evening, Valerie," greeted Janet to her guest.

	"Mistress Janet," greeted the woman, who kissed Janet on the cheek.

	"Thank you for coming on such short notice," said Janet.

	"Anything that my Mistress desires."

	"You already know Tina, and this is Cheryl, one of my newest slaves."

	Valerie removed her jacket, and Cheryl hung it in the closet, not really
sure just what was going on between Janet and her guest.

	Valerie was in her thirties, and was wearing a white blouse and red plaid
skirt.  She stood at five feet five, wore flats on her feet, stockings, and
carried a small handbag.  

	"Tina, you may conduct Valerie to the bedroom and prepare her, I shall
take Cheryl and prepare her myself," Janet ordered.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Please come with me, Cheryl."

	Cheryl dutifully followed behind Janet, and they ascended the staircase to
one of the secondary upstairs bedrooms.  Janet noted on the clock that it
was already past nine.  Good, since she did not want to get too early a
start.

	"Now hold still," ordered Janet.

	Cheryl looked surprised when Janet released her collar, ankle and wrist
bracelets.  Janet saw confusion and bewilderment in her eyes.  Good, that
was what she had intended.

	"Mistress?"

	The evening before, she had not been chained to the wall.  Now she had
been divested of the instruments of her slavery.  She was now totally
naked.

	"Go into the closet, and select something to wear, including a pair of
shoes," ordered Janet, as she sat on the bed.

	Cheryl opened the closet, which was smaller than her own (the closet in
Janet's bedroom was larger than her first apartment); and she gasped when
she saw that it was filled with the fetishwear that only a Mistress was
allowed to wear.

	"Mistress, I don't understand," commented Cheryl.

	"Every slave of mine is offered the chance to switch, to use another of my
slaves.  Valerie has consented to be used by you, after my request."

	"I've never held the crop before," protested Cheryl.

	"There's a first time for everything," Janet observed.

	"I just can't, Mistress!"

	"You have a choice, Cheryl.  Either use Valerie, or I shall take you down
to the Dungeon, and give you a session that you will never forget,"
threatened Janet.

	"Mistress!"

	"Now get dressed, and then you shall help me dress as well," ordered
Janet, "or else suffer the consequences."

	Janet noted the hesitation and indecision in Cheryl's mind, as she thought
about the offer and threat.  Cheryl stood motionless, clearly frightened by
what had been offered to her.

	"In order to be a slave," Janet began, "you must also experience what it
means to properly hold the crop yourself.  This is all part of my training,
Cheryl."

	"Yes, Mistress," Cheryl hesitantly answered, "I'll do it, I'll use
Valerie."

 	"Then get dressed, something simple.  You'll find clothes in your size in
the closet.  Now go!"

	In the end, Cheryl selected a black PVC bra and skirt, black pantyhose,
and matching shoes.  Janet helped to dress her, making sure that she was
comfortable in her Domme wear.

	"Thank you, Mistress," said Cheryl as she looked at herself in the mirror.

	"You're welcome, Cheryl, now you may help me dress."   

	Janet had chosen a sleeveless red PVC Catsuit in advance.  Not as
confining as the regular one with sleeves, it was still stunning to wear,
and Janet held still as Cheryl zipped her up in the back.  She then placed
a pair of knee high boots onto her feet, and Janet made certain that the
garment fitted her correctly.

	She the removed a riding crop from her dresser, and handed it to Cheryl.

	"Mistress?" asked Cheryl with a puzzled look on her face.

	"Strike the pillow a few times with the crop, Cheryl," Janet instructed.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	The crop that Janet had chosen for Cheryl to use was the one with a broad
leather pad at the end.  She did not want Cheryl to use one where the rod
itself would be used to strike flesh, since that required experience and
knowledge to use.

	Janet watched as Cheryl whacked away at the pillow, which was an excellent
device to use before using a slave for the first time.  She wondered why
Stephanie had not given her the pillow first, before she had been allowed
to use Camille.

	"Did you ask the pillow for a safeword?" asked Janet.

	"Mistress?"

	"Just a joke, Cheryl," Janet smiled in response to Cheryl's question, "now
that you have learned to be my slave, what must you know before using
another?"

	"I must determine if and how a slave has ever been used or trained.  How
much use that they can take, get a bio of their sexual history in order to
understand them.  Establish a safeword and never go beyond it, and never
hurt or maim," answered Cheryl.

	"Very good, Cheryl.  You have learned just as I did, from my Mistress. 
Holding a crop in your hands does not give you the right to abuse or harm,"
said Janet.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Good, now we go down to the Dungeon where Tina is waiting with Valerie."

	"Yes, Mistress Janet, and thank you, Mistress," said Cheryl, swallowing a
lump in her throat.

	"You're welcome, Cheryl.  That crop can be left here in the bedroom, I
have others downstairs.  And if you do something wrong with Valerie,
prepare to suffer a punishment."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Cheryl dutifully followed behind Janet as they walked down the staircase,
then descended in the elevator down to the cellar Dungeon.  Janet opened
the heavy wooden door, and they entered together.

	Tina was wearing her regular Maid's outfit of black satin, and Valerie was
now kneeling naked on the floor, collared with matching bracelets on her
wrists and ankles.

	Janet ascended to her throne like chair, and seated herself.  Tina walked
over to her side, attending to her Mistress leaving Cheryl standing next to
Valerie.

	"Do you, Cheryl, understand and accept the responsibilities that I give
you involved in the temporary use of my slave, Valerie?"

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Proceed," ordered Janet.

	"How have you been used, Valerie?" asked Cheryl.

	"With the paddle, crop, and flogger Mistress, but I am not to be used with
the whip."

	"Are you gagged during use?"

	"No, Mistress."

	"What is your safeword?"

	"Charm, Mistress."

	"Mistress Janet, may I have Tina assist me?" asked Cheryl.

	"Yes, of course.  Tina, please assist Cheryl."

	"Valerie, do you accept my use of you?" finally asked Cheryl.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Tina?" asked Cheryl, not quite believing that she was now the one giving
the orders in the Dungeon.

	"Yes, Mistress?"

	"Tie Valerie to the X frame."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Cheryl watched in silence as Tina pulled Cheryl to her feet, then walked
her over to the X Frame, and quickly secured her to it, first locking her
cuffs, then using a series of straps to tightly tie her to the wooden
beams.

	"Mistress, Valerie is now ready," said Tina.

	"Thank you, Tina," answered Cheryl.

	Cheryl selected a riding crop from the cabinet that was similar to the one
that Janet had allowed her to use in the bedroom.  She held it in her
hands, feeling the leather handle that she had oiled herself under Tina's
guidance.

	"You may proceed, Cheryl," ordered Janet.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Cheryl walked over to the X Frame, and held the crop in her hands.  She
offered the handle to Valerie's mouth.

	"Kiss the handle, slave."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Valerie did as she was instructed, her red lips caressing the woven
leather handle of the crop.  She kissed the handle a number of times before
Cheryl removed it, and slapped the pad at the end against her hand.

	"Prepare to be used, Valerie."

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	Thwack!
 	
	Thwack!

	"Oooooh!" cried Valerie as the pad struck her repeatedly.

	Cheryl had begun using the crop like every novice.  Her strokes were mild
ones, which barely made a sound or marked.  She delivered one after
another, sometimes looking back at Janet.

	'Cheryl is nervous as hell,' thought Janet, 'that's to be expected.  But
is there something else?'

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	"Ahhh!" cried Valerie when Cheryl struck the crop between her legs.

	With each stroke of the crop, Cheryl gained greater confidence.  Her
strokes were header and better aimed, and left a red mark wherever the pad
struck Valerie's body.

	Valerie moaned, and pulled at her leather restraints, putting up a good
show.  The strokes that Cheryl was using were no more than mild pats to
her, given the sessions that she had experienced with Janet.  From her
seat, Janet smiled at her slave's performance.  Perhaps next time when she
had Valerie again under her crop, she would give her slave something to cry
about.

	"Does, does this make you wet, Valerie?" asked Cheryl.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Cheryl inserted her free hand between Valerie's legs into her sex, and
found that the slave wasn't even sexually excited.

	"Liar!"

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	"Ohhhhhh!" cried Valerie, with a lot more feeling this time as she was
repeatedly struck with the crop time and again.

	From her seat, Janet guessed that Cheryl had delivered about thirty
strokes before she finished and presented the handle again to Valerie to
kiss.

	"Thank you, Mistress," panted Valerie.

	"Do not release her yet," ordered Cheryl.

	Cheryl replaced the crop in the cabinet, then placed a number of objects
in her hands.  She walked back over to Valerie, and displayed them to her
captive.

	"Have clamps ever been used on you?" asked Cheryl.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Cheryl attached one to Valerie's right nipple, making her squirm and moan.
 A second was placed on her left nipple, then Cheryl attached one each to
her pussy lips.

	"Ahhhh!" cried Valerie.

	Cheryl ran her hands over Valerie's warmed and reddened flesh, stroking
the bound girl's naked and exposed figure.  She pulled at the clamps,
eliciting a response each time from Valerie.

	"Aaaaah!"

	After about fifteen minutes, Cheryl removed the clamps, then called Tina
over.

	"Hang Valerie from the ceiling and place a spreader bar on her legs,"
ordered Cheryl.

	"Yes, Mistress," answered Tina.

	Once Valerie had been confined as ordered, Cheryl stood in front of her,
holding a flogger in her hands.  Janet had said nothing when Cheryl had
chosen the flogger made of rubber strands.

	Unlike the ones made of a softer material like deerskin, or soft leather,
the rubber flogger was quite severe.  The strands were heavier, and the
edges sharp.  Used properly, it would sting and mark.  Used improperly, it
could damage and break the skin.

	Janet had used many of her floggers on Cheryl, and Tina had pointed out
the many different kinds that there were and the possible effects that they
could have.

	Cheryl had grabbed the rubber flogger in haste and perhaps exasperation at
not getting the desired response from Valerie.  Janet had especially asked
Valerie to be Cheryl's guinea pig, since she wanted a slave that could
absorb a lot of pain.

	Mistress Janet watched in silence as Cheryl handled the flogger, and
finally realized what weapon that she had chosen in haste.  The look of
recognition spread across her face, that this was not one of the softer
ones that she had wanted instead.

	"This is a rubber flogger," began Cheryl, "that is quite severe.  I want
you to count out each stroke."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Thwack!

	"One!"

	"Two!"

	"Three!"

	"Five!"

	Janet noted that Cheryl did not put the full strength of her arm into each
stroke, and she avoided hitting Valerie with just the ends of the flogger.
If she did, then each strand would mark.  Instead, Valerie was struck with
the length of the strand rather than the tip itself.

	"Owwww!" cried Valerie, as she turned her torso to avoid the sting of the
flogger.

	"Eight!"

	"Ten!"

	"Fourteen!"

	"Sixteen, please stop, Mistress!"

	"Twenty!" called Valerie.

	"Kiss the flogger," ordered Cheryl.

	"Thank you, Mistress," panted Valerie, tears falling from her eyes.

	"Ahhh!" suddenly cried Valerie.

	"Wet, aren't you?"

	While Valerie had been kissing the flogger, Cheryl had roughly inserted
her fingers into the girl's sex.  The crop had not excited her, but the
flogger had instead.

	Valerie's body was now a dull red, and her skin was warm to the touch. 
Cheryl had used the flogger over every part of Valerie's body, and the girl
was now covered in sweat, her hair a mess, since she had shaken her head
from side to side during the flogging.  Cheryl had used progressively
stronger strokes as the session went on, to bring Valerie up to a new
threshold beyond her cropping.

	"Thank you, Mistress," cried Valerie.

	"You're welcome, slave."

	Cheryl then replaced the flogger back into the wooden cabinet, then asked
Tina to take Valerie down.  She helped Valerie over to the bench, and sat
her down carefully.  Then she walked over to Janet's chair, and knelt
before her.

	"I thank my Mistress Janet for the use of her slave, Valerie," said
Cheryl.

	"You're welcome, Cheryl.  You may take her to bed, if you want," offered
Janet.

	"Mistress?"

	"Don't make me have to repeat myself, Cheryl.  You heard what I said."

	"Yes, Mistress, thank you.  I accept the use of Valerie this evening."

	"Very good.  Tina could you take Valerie upstairs and get her cleaned up,
I want to have a word with Cheryl?"

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Janet waited until they were alone, and the heavy door closed behind them.

	"You did very well Cheryl," complimented Janet.

	"Thank you, Mistress."

	"You picked the wrong flogger, didn't you.  You chose something in haste
because you didn't get Valerie to respond to the crop, is that correct?"
accused Janet.

	"Yes, Mistress.  But I recognized my mistake."

	"Good, because if you had not, if you had used the rubber flogger
improperly, I would have stopped you, had you stripped, then hung from the
ceiling and beat you as you had been beating Valerie."

	"I understand, Mistress.  What if she had called her safeword?"

	"Then you would have stopped, of course.  That is absolute."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Give Tina a few minutes, then you may use Valerie in bed.  Just remember
that one-day I will ask you to be used by another of my slaves."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Good, then we shall walk up together," said Janet.
	*		*		*		*		*
	Janet lay nude on the bed, and Tina straddled her, massaging her back. 
Her fingers kneaded the flesh, and worked out the knots in Janet's back
muscles.

	"That feels so good," complimented Janet.

	Tina opened a bottle of scented oil, and began to massage the oil into
Janet's skin, adding a fragrance to the room.

	"Thank you, Tina."

	"You're welcome, Mistress."

	"When was the last time that I used you, Tina?" asked Janet.

	"I don't remember, Mistress."

	"Four weeks ago," answered Janet.

	"Let me do your shoulders, Mistress."

	"Tomorrow night, Tina, I'm going to give you the thrashing that you
desire."

	"Thank you, Mistress.  I'll be looking forward to it.  Will that be before
or after Dinner?"

	"After, Tina.  But not all that long after," laughed Janet.
	*		*		*		*		*

>From the Diary of Cheryl Branford
	This weekend Mistress Janet played a cruel psychological game with me,
that both plunged me into the depths of despair and gave me an emotional
high as well.
	On Friday night, I was not used in the Dungeon, as I thought I would be. 
Instead, Janet verbally fenced with me, and I did not understand the reason
why.  Then she used me in the library, tying me to the footstool, inserting
a dildo into my sex, then paddling my behind.  What made it such an
effective punishment was that I had to keep the dildo inside my sex while
my bottom was being paddled.
	Biting on the ballgag in my mouth, I strained with every ounce of my being
to keep the dildo inside me, and I succeeded.  Afterwards, Janet made me
realize that I was truly her slave, and I broke down crying.  I spent the
night unchained in a bedroom, not even bothering to bring myself to climax.
	On Saturday I was offered the chance to use another of Janet's slaves, a
woman named Valerie.  She was one of the prettiest women that I have ever
seen, yet she enjoys Janet's lash.
	I used her, first in the Dungeon, next in bed.  It wasn't until I returned
home that I realized what I had done.
	I am no longer purely submissive, having used another woman.  I have
experienced, however briefly, the feeling of power that comes with using
another.
	I gaze at the ring on my finger, and my body grows hot with desire for
Mistress Janet.  If she were to call, I would run back to her house, and
strip myself of all my clothes, and beg for her use.
	Am I now nothing more than a mouth, a cunt, and an anus waiting to be
stimulated and used?  Can only the lash and crop bring me to sexual climax?

The Challenge
Chapter 10: The Rescue

Part One: The Debt Recalled

February 1986

	The party was held at the country home of Mistress Marcia, and her
husband, Simon.  They owned a successful catering business in New York
City, and lived there during the week.  But on weekends, they stayed in
their country house up in Pawling, New York.

	They owned an old farmhouse, with plenty of room.  They had converted the
basement to a D/s playroom that they kept locked unless they were having a
party.

	Erica and Lisa had been invited, and they stayed together almost all of
the time.  Food and drinks had been served upstairs, and the playroom had
been reserved for play and demonstrations.

	While there was a substantial interest in showing off homemade toys,
whips, floggers, and the like, Erica really wasn't into that sort of thing.
 She much preferred to just go to the city, and buy all of her toys there
in the shops.

	Erica and Lisa sat together in the playroom, sipping their drinks.  They
chatted with other Masters and Mistresses that Erica knew, and made small
talk.

	"You're very successful," whispered a Domme in Erica's ear.

	Erica turned and hugged her friend Erin, and kissed her on the cheek.

	"Erin!  I didn't know that you were here," greeted Erica.

	"I didn't either, but my husband just begged me to come.  I'll punish him
later for that," laughed Erin.

	"You're looking well," commented Erica.

	"Thank you, a little dieting helps."

	Erin was an Irish Redhead who Dommed only men, and then she turned around
and married one of her slaves.  They lived over in New Jersey, and they
both had their own careers.  She stood 5 foot five in heels, and was
wearing a leather bodysuit, and long gloves.

	"Someone's just come in upstairs, and she's going to Domme a new prospect
of hers."

	"Really, who's that?" asked Erica.

	"I've never seen her before, have you ever heard of a Mistress Lauren?"

	"Yes," replied Erica, "I've heard of her."

	"I want to get a drink upstairs, I'll see you later," said Erin.

	Erica and Lisa had been sitting up front, in the front row of folding
chairs next to some of the toys that their hosts had in the playroom.  They
had a set of stocks, some ceiling chains, a padded sawhorse, bondage
platform, and finally a bondage cross.

	"Do you want to leave?" asked Lisa.

	"No, but let's sit in the back," said Erica.

	"I think that I saw some masks around here."

	"Get two," ordered Erica.

	While Erica got two seats in the back, Lisa removed two masks from a table
against one of the walls.  According to D/s etiquette, once masked, nobody
would identify them to anyone else.  They sat in back, next to a male and
female couple.  He was her master, she wore a collar, and he was holding
onto her leash.

	Erica and Lisa sat down together, and placed masks on their faces.  Their
companions nodded to them in knowing silence.

	"I would now like to introduce Mistress Lauren, and her painslut," said
Mistress Marcia, "who are going to provide a little demonstration for us
this evening."

	Lisa glanced at her watch, because she knew that they had a meeting
tomorrow in Manhattan.  She pointed at the dial, and Erica indicated that
they should stay seated.

	Lauren walked out in front of the small audience, wearing a Dominatrix
dress in black leather, and matching heels.  She was holding the leash of a
cloaked and collared woman in a black mask that was walking behind her.

	"Thank you, Mistress Marcia.  This is my painslut, named simply S.  I am
going to provide a demonstration of how a slave can take an extraordinary
amount of use."

	The audience sat in silence as Lauren unlocked the leash from the slave's
collar, then removed her cloak.  Under the cloak, the woman was totally
naked, except for wrist and ankle bracelets.  Erica noted the signs that
she had been harshly used before.

	'No surprise, given that she serves Lauren,' Erica thought to herself.

	Without even asking for a safeword, Lauren pulled the woman over to the
bar, forcing her legs apart then locked her ankles, then after bending her
over, her wrists to the legs of the padded sawhorse.

	From her bag she then removed a paddle, and displayed it to the audience.

	"I shall start with a paddle on her behind," said Lauren.

	Without ceremony or any other prelude, she began by delivering a modest
blow to the slave's bottom, who remained silent during her use.  Then she
followed that up with a regular series of strokes, each one harder than the
last.

	There was no counting of the strokes by the slave, or by Mistress Lauren.
But in the back, Erica's trained eye counted each stroke.  Soon, the slave
began to emit little cries after every stroke or two.

	Her bottom was fast progressing from lightly to mildly onto harshly
punished, as Lauren rained blow after blow on her exposed and vulnerable
ass cheeks.  Lauren did not stop, pause, or show any mercy.  Or any concern
for her slave, either.

	"Do you want to leave?" softly asked Lisa.

	"No, hush," replied Erica.

	After Erica had counted thirty blows with the paddle had been delivered,
and the last series the hardest of all, did Lauren abruptly stop.

	"Thank you, Mistress!" cried S.

	There was scattered applause from the audience, most of who did not know
of Mistress Lauren, Erica guessed.  After this night, though, everyone
would.

	"Thank you," Lauren said to her audience, "now I shall continue."

	Lauren then released S from the padded sawhorse, and wasted no time in
locking her wrists to the ceiling chain.  She attached a spreader bar to
her ankles, opening her sex to whatever Lauren intended.

	Casually, Lauren pinched the slave's nipples so hard as to make her cry
out, then dug her nails cruelly into her sex.

	"I shall make you scream," threatened Lauren.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	From her bag, Lauren then selected a crop.  This one was a long straight
object, a piece of bamboo reed wrapped in leather.  Unlike other crops,
this one was intended for harsh use.  There was no leather pad at the end,
which was usually used on a slave.  So the rod itself would be used.

	Again, Lauren began to issue one stroke after another onto the taut form
of S.  While the first strokes were quite mild, others were considerably
more severe.

	Erica counted each stroke, her eyes recording each one and her mind
counting them one by one.  S would cry out occasionally, a stifled moan. 
The sound of someone who no longer cared whatever happened to her.

	Lauren continued without pause or mercy again, heavily striping her slave.
 Erica somehow managed to keep count, even when Lauren circled around her
slave.

	S endured strokes to the inside and outside of her thighs, her sex, her
breasts, and also to her injured bottom.  She was not hanging off the
floor, but instead was standing on the soles of her feet.

	"Ahhhhh!" S cried sharply when the crop struck her sex, making her jump
within her confinement.

	"Silence, slave!" ordered Lauren, who slashed at S even harder.

	Erica believed that she counted forty strokes before Lauren stopped.  The
stripes that Lauren had left behind would last for weeks, thought Erica,
and would become real welts the next day.

	'What sort of woman would want to endure such punishment?' Erica asked
herself.

	"Kiss the crop," ordered Lauren.

	S reached forward and kissed the crop that Mistress Lauren offered her. 
She was allowed a few moments rest, before Lauren then produced a flogger.

	Erica thought that at least the flogger wouldn't leave welts behind.  It
was made of broad soft leather strands that would hurt, but not mark.

	Still, Lauren appeared to be putting all of her strength into each stroke,
making S cry out with every other blow.

	"Please, Mistress!" cried S, tears streaming down her cheeks.

	"Silence!"

	'I know that voice,' Erica thought to herself, as she continued to count
each stroke with the flogger.

	"Do you want to leave?" asked Lisa.

	"If you ask again," quietly answered Erica, "I swear I'll thrash you
tomorrow.  We stay here."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Erica had counted about thirty strokes with the flogger, with her
concentration interrupted by Lisa.  Her maid would pay for her
transgression later.

	"Thank you, Mistress," cried S.

	"As you can see, S is a remarkable painslut.  For my final use, I shall
use the single tail whip."

	A murmur of concern emanated from the crowd.  The single tail whip was a
dangerous instrument, one that could slice flesh easily if not used
correctly.  Erica refrained from using it, and only kept it for display
purposes.

	Lauren exchanged the flogger for the whip, which she cracked a few times
in the air for effect.  Then she began to use it on S, who cried out from
both fright and actual pain when it struck her already punished flesh.

	Erica noted that tears were streaking down the cheeks of the slave's face,
under the mask.  Either this woman was a true painslut, or there was
something else at work here.

	"Ahhhhh!" cried S.

	"Silence, slut."

	Lauren continued until Erica had counted twenty, then ceased, and offered
the handle to the sobbing and beaten slave.

	"Thank you very much," said Lauren to the crowd.

	"Talk to Lauren, distract her, keep her away from S," Erica softly ordered
Lisa, "I want to talk to her, alone."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Don't remove your mask, she must not know who you are!"

	"I understand."

	Two of Marcia's other guests helped release S, and sat her down on a
wooden bench.  S winced when her beaten bottom touched the hard wood, and
Erica noted the tears on her cheeks.

	Lisa engaged Lauren in conversation, and the Mistress made no effort
either to comfort or to help her slave after her ordeal, as Erica would
have done under the same circumstances.  Erica was pleased that Lisa obeyed
her orders, even if sometimes she did not understand them.

	Erica poured a glass of water from a pitcher, and removed a few tissues
from a box on a nearby table.  S had been left alone, sobbing on the bench,
with nobody to help her.

	"Here," said Erica, "drink this."

	"Thank you," replied S as she drank greedily.

	Up close, Erica was shocked at the condition of the slave's body.  While
the single tail whip had not sliced the skin, drops of blood were visible
on the woman's back.  Not just at the recent marks, but evidence of past
marks as well.  But it was her voice!  A chill went down Erica's spine!

	"Dry your eyes," suggested Erica.

	S undid her mask, and covered her eyes with the tissues, drying her tears.
 She then looked up at Erica, and the universe seemed to stop.

	It was the face of Dr. Stephanie Richards, the woman who had saved Alana's
life that June morning six years earlier, and in another life.
	*		*		*		*		*		*
	The drive back from Pawling to Greenwich was made in silence, and Erica
had asked that Lisa do the driving.  Plans and ideas ran through Erica's
mind, but they would have to wait until she had information first.

	When they arrived back home, Erica took a glass from the kitchen cabinet,
and placed three ice cubes within.  Then she walked to the library, and
poured straight bourbon over the ice.  Finally, she seated herself behind
the library desk.

	"Mistress, are you all right?" asked Lisa.

	"Go to bed, Lisa.  I'll be along in a minute," ordered Erica.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Erica stared at the ice in the glass, then took a long hard swallow of the
bourbon.  The whiskey set her throat on fire, burning as it went down to
her stomach.

	'What's the use of great wealth if you can't use it?' she asked herself.

	Erica walked to the library safe, and opened it.  There were, for people
in her position, special services available.  Karla was one such provider
who would do a job for her, no questions asked.  She removed a manila
folder, inside of which was an envelope.  Erica opened the envelope,
extracting a sheet of paper within, then picked up the phone on her desk. 
She pressed the buttons, and after a few rings, someone picked up on the
other end.

	"Hello?"

	"Is this Karla?" asked Erica.

	"Yes."

	"This is Erica.  I have a job for you."

	"Go ahead."

	"I want to know everything that has happened in the last six years to a
Dr. Stephanie Richards of Greenwich Hospital."

	"When do you want it?"

	"Yesterday."

	"This could be expensive," replied Karla.

	"Money is no object."

	"Forty-Eight hours.  I'll call with the location and price."

	"Done."

	The connection was cut on the other end, and Erica replaced the receiver
and drained her glass.  Then she poured another, and drank that too, a
burning anger building within her.

	'What could have happened to Dr. Richards to make her serve a sadist like
Lauren?' Erica asked herself.

	Erica gripped the glass so strongly that it broke within her hand,
scattering glass, ice, and blood on the desk.  She ran to the bathroom, and
cleaned and dressed the cuts on her hand.

	'I swear that I'm going to find out,' thought Erica, 'I swear.'
	*		*		*		*		*
	Two days later, Erica was seated in the library.  She had met Karla, and
paid him a sizeable amount of cash for the report on Dr. Richards.  While
driving home, she had wanted to tear the heavy manila envelope open and
begin reading.  Instead, she had waited until she returned home, ordered
Lisa to hold all her calls, then locked herself in the sanctuary of the
library.

	Karla had excelled even himself.  The report started not six years ago,
but instead was a report on Dr. Richards entire life.

 	Like Alana, Stephanie had been the daughter of an old Connecticut family.
 Instead of following the family to Wall Street, she had decided to become
a doctor.  Stephanie had gone to Medical School in Los Angeles, had trained
as a trauma doctor to treat accident and gunshot victims, and was a
talented and respected doctor in her field.

	The year before Stephanie had saved Alana's life she had married, but had
not taken her husband's name.  Alana gazed at the wedding announcement in
the Times, and at the picture of her attractive husband.  How happy they
looked together.

	It was two years after Stephanie had saved Alana's life that things began
to go horribly wrong for her.

	First an incompetent doctor had misdiagnosed her brother, and by the time
he was correctly diagnosed, a fatal cancer had spread through his body,
killing him.  Stephanie had protested to the Medical Authorities, and the
entire affair had been swept under the rug.

	Two years later, after a car accident, another incompetent doctor killed
her husband in an emergency room.  Again, Stephanie tried to have the
doctor's license removed.  This time, the doctor got off by retiring, then
began to practice again in another state.

	Stephanie had begun drinking, and after she had been convicted of a DWI
offense she had made a minor mistake in a hospital, and placed on
suspension.  After being criticized by others in the Medical field, she had
quietly retired.  Or had she been forced out?  Then she began to drink
again, eventually passing out in a bar one night in Cos Cob, according to a
police report.

	The report didn't say how Stephanie had ended up serving Mistress Lauren.
But it didn't have to, for Erica had found out what she wanted to know.

	Now the only question was what she was going to do about it.
	*		*		*		*		*		*
	"Keith, how can I take a slave from another Domme?" asked Erica.

	"I was wondering when you were going to ask me something," answered Keith
as he sipped his after dinner drink.

	Erica had taken Keith out to restaurant for a private dinner, but he knew
just by looking at her that she had an ulterior motive for seeing him.

	"I have a real problem here, and I need your help."

	"Do you have a special interest in this slave?  Is she very attractive,
well trained, good in bed?"

	"It's nothing like that, I have other reasons."

	"All right, thank you for dinner, by the way," he began, "do you know if
the slave been collared or has signed a contract with her owner?"

	"I don't know," answered Erica.

	"If she hasn't, then you're in the clear.  She can just tell her former
Domme that she has a new owner."

	"What if?"

	"If she has signed a contract, then either you will have to wait until the
end of the contract, or provide a service to the other Domme in exchange
for the slave," described Keith.

	Erica realized that if Stephanie had signed a contract, then Lauren would
never let her go if Erica wanted her.  Lauren would want nothing better
than to keep Stephanie for no other reason than that alone.

	Even if she would trade Stephanie for something, Erica could imagine that
she would do it in exchange for only one thing.  Lauren's chance to get
Erica under her lash once more.

	"What are you going to do?" asked Keith.

	"Hope that she hasn't signed a contract," answered Erica.   	 

	"Good luck, Erica."

	"Thank you, Keith."
	*		*		*		*		*		*
	Karla's next job had been to find out Stephanie's daily life and schedule.
 She was tailed for a week, and all of her habits observed and written
down.

	Meantime, Erica had used her sources in the D/s community, and had found
that Stephanie had not been collared by Lauren, nor had there been any talk
of a contract between them.  Lauren would take her little toy to parties,
then beat the crap out of her in public.  Erica had heard criticism of
Lauren's behavior from others in the community.  Good.

	After a week's time, Karla delivered another report, this time on
Stephanie's personal schedule and habits.

	"Why are you interested in this woman?" asked Karla as he handed Erica the
second envelope, as they sat together in a parked car.

	"I thought that you were the one who never asked questions?" answered
Erica as she passed him an envelope containing her payment.

	"Just read what she did this week," suggested Karla.

	"OK, sure.  I may need you for other services as well."

	"See you soon," said Karla.

	Erica sat behind the library desk, Karla's report spread out before her. 
The report had documented all of Stephanie's movements, where she lived,
and her personal habits.

	Dr. Stephanie Richards had indeed fallen from grace.  Though she possessed
wealth, she had out rented the Mansion that she had shared with her
husband.  She lived alone in a small apartment in Rye, not far from the one
that Alana had rented.  She now drove an old Ford, not the Jaguar that she
owned before.

	Just as Erica had done, she had tried to assume a modest life away from
the one of wealth and privilege that she had led before.  Both of the paths
in their lives had somehow led them to one in submission, and both involved
serving a wrong Master or Mistress. 

	Karla was right about last week.  She had gone to a gay bar, met a butch
femme, who then had beaten her up after some kind of disagreement.

	The report listed where she shopped for food, her lack of friends, her
choices in reading, and where she went everyday (mostly to a bar for happy
hour) and how she spent her time.

	Erica did not have to be a psychologist to figure out that Stephanie
blamed herself, and her profession, for killing her brother and her
husband.  She guessed that Stephanie had been very close to them, and she
was seeking out physical punishment as a way of doing penance for their
deaths.  Even if they had not been her fault.

	She remembered how Stephanie had seen her in the hospital, even though she
had now been passed onto other doctors who would put her back together. 
They had talked on many occasions, and Alana had looked forward to seeing
the woman who had saved her life.

	Outside, snow was falling, covering everything in a carpet of pure white.
The radio was warning everyone to drive slowly and get off the roads.

	"Lisa!" called Erica.

	"Yes, Mistress," answered Lisa from the kitchen.

	"Come here, I want you!"

	Lisa entered the library, and sat in a chair, silently waiting for Erica's
orders.

	"Do you remember the woman at the party, S?"

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"I have taken an interest in this woman, and have been compiling
information about her.  I want her as my slave," stated Erica.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Erica smiled to herself, since Lisa had not asked her the reason why. 
Good that after two years her slave, she had learned not to question her
Mistress unless given permission to do so.  For Mistress Erica had
distinguished herself in her first two years, successfully training many
slaves, writing articles on Dominance and submission, and was known in the
community.

	"I do not know if this task will be easy or difficult.  But there is a
reason for why I want her."

	"I understand, Mistress."

	"Thank you, Lisa.  That will be all for now."

	"I'm making some hot chocolate, Mistress.  Would you like a mug?"

  	"Yes, thank you."

	Erica sipped her hot chocolate from the mug, and watched as the snow fell
silently onto the estate.

	'I owe you a debt for saving my life,' thought Erica, 'and you don't
deserve a cruel Mistress like Lauren.'

	Erica knew that sooner or later, Lauren would be unable to control
herself, and would hurt Stephanie, just as she had done with Erica.

	'By that time, Stephanie will be my collared slave,' thought Erica, 'I
hope.'

Part Two: The Rescue Begins

March 1986

	Stephanie Richards, was if nothing else, a creature of habit.  Her day was
composed of going to the library, walking countless hours, window shopping
at the mall, then finally ending up for happy hour two or three days a week
at the Cork & Board; a bar and restaurant in Rye.

	In the beginning, one of Karla's men had shadowed her, until Erica
realized that Stephanie followed a set and predictable routine.  Then Erica
took over the job herself, and began the slow process of gaining
Stephanie's confidence.

	Erica began to go the Cork & Board for Dinner alone almost every other
night or so, even on days that Stephanie wasn't there.  She wanted to
become one of the regulars, so that the bar and wait staff would know her
face.

	Her mother had loved to read spy and espionage novels, and had avidly
watched all of the TV shows during the 1960s.  Alana had sat next to Eve,
soaking up everything.  She had read all of her mother's books as well, and
had learned from them.

	Years later, she would put into effect the lessons that she had acquired
from her mother's choice of entertainment.  She would worm herself into
Stephanie's confidence, then proceed from there.

	Erica would eat Dinner at the bar, watching Stephanie.  Her target would
eat alone also, sometimes talking to another man or woman, even leaving
with a complete stranger on occasion.

	Lisa had complained that Erica was no longer eating Dinner at home, and
Erica had explained what she was doing.  Her Maid no longer protested and
kept silent.

	It took weeks, but over time Erica gradually ingratiated herself into
Stephanie's confidence.  First by giving her a cigarette, next they played
the pinball machine together, buying her drinks, finally Stephanie invited
Erica back to her apartment.

	Erica had expected to find Stephanie's apartment to be a den of horrors,
with dirty dishes piled high in the sink, bags of trash lying around, and
piles of laundry.  Instead the place was neat and organized, betraying
nothing of the occupant's distress.    		
	
	They first began by having nothing but sex.  Stephanie would invite Erica
into her bed, and they would make love until she passed out from exhaustion
or drink.

	But their lovemaking was strange, to say the least.  Stephanie would
willingly service Erica's breasts and pussy, her tongue driving Erica to
one raging climax after another.  But when Erica tried to reciprocate,
Stephanie pushed her away from her sex. 

	Erica did not comment on her lover's marks, and stayed silent about them.
Stephanie dutifully stripped naked in front of her lover, then climbed into
bed.

	Then Stephanie pushed Erica away, only to invite her back the following
week.  Erica held Stephanie loosely in her arms in bed, their bodies sweaty
from lovemaking.

	Soon, Erica was her bed partner two nights a week.  She never questioned
what Stephanie was doing on the weekend, or the fresh welts that she
possessed seemingly every week.

	Ever so gradually, Stephanie began to respond.  She became animated and
alive again.  Erica noted that she brought fresh flowers into her
apartment, and began to wear perfume.  Her dressing began to improve from
drab to more lively colors.

	One night, finally, Stephanie's wall of resistance broke down.

	"It's my fault!" Stephanie cried.

	"It's all right," comforted Erica as she quickly awakened.

	"I killed them!"

	"Killed who?" asked Erica.

	"My brother and my husband," sobbed Stephanie.

	In between sobs, Stephanie related the story of how her brother and
husband had died, how she felt responsible, and how she had been forced to
retire as a doctor.	

	"Drink this," ordered Erica, as she gave Stephanie a glass of ice water.

	"Wait, I know your voice," cried Stephanie.

	"Where?"

	"The party, I remember now.  You gave me water and tissues after Mistress
Lauren beat me in public.  Right?"

	"Yes," admitted Erica.

	"Why?"

	"Has your Mistress ever taken you to bed, comforted you after a session? 
Found out why you wanted to be used?" asked Erica.

	"No," answered Stephanie, shaking her head.

	"She just beats you, is that correct?"

	"Yes.  That's all she does.  Says I'm a worthless slut," cried Stephanie.

	"I am Mistress Erica Riken, and I have taken an interest in you,
Stephanie.  You are not a worthless slut, just badly treated by an improper
Mistress."

	"I've heard of you.  Other Dommes at parties talk about you, and I saw
some of your writings at a party once.  Lauren snatched them away, called
you a bitch."

	"Bitch no, Dominatrix yes."

	"Why do you want me?" asked Stephanie.

	"For my slave.  You would be collared to me, we would sign a contract, and
I would look after your emotional needs as well as physical ones.  There is
more to submission than just being beaten every weekend," described Erica.

	"I don't know, Lauren is the only Mistress that I've served.  She fills a
need in me."

	"Yes," said Erica, "but only one need.  Which is why you took me to bed,
because you wanted someone to hold you close.  A proper Mistress would know
to fulfill all your needs."

	"I don't know."

	"How did you meet Mistress Lauren?" asked Erica.

	"I was in a gay bar one night, when I met Lauren.  We went back to her
place, and she took me down to her playroom.  I told her that I wanted to
be beaten, and that's been the way she's treated me ever since."

	"That is not what submission is all about.  What's your safeword?"

	"Lauren won't let me have one, says I'm a painslut, that all I deserve is
to be beaten."

	"No, that's not the way a responsible Mistress should conduct herself,"
answered Erica.

	'Lauren has certainly learned all of the wrong lessons from Daniel,'
thought Erica.

	"If you're a Mistress, then use me over the weekend.  Lauren is away so
you can have me.  A few more marks won't matter," offered Stephanie.

	"All right, I have a house in Greenwich complete with a Dungeon."

	"Use me then, Mistress?"

	"Yes, Stephanie.  I will to the best of my ability."
	*		*		*		*		*		*
	"Lisa!" called Erica when she returned home, closing the door behind her.

	"Yes, Mistress," answered Lisa as she put down the laundry basket that she
was carrying.

	"In the library, now!"

	When they had both seated themselves in their familiar places, Erica
almost could not contain herself.

	"My seduction of Stephanie Richards has paid off.  She is not collared or
under contract to Mistress Lauren, merely serves her as painslut. 
Tomorrow, she will join us for the weekend."

	"What are we to do, Mistress?"

	"Unfortunately, Stephanie thinks that submission means that her Mistress
can beat her as harshly as she wishes without a safeword.  Then she is not
comforted or helped by her Mistress afterward."

	"Mistress, you do not use slaves in that way."

	"True, in order to win her over I shall have to beat her severely at first
so that she gets the punishment that she craves.  Then teach her a
safeword, and gradually wean her away from harsh discipline."

	"Mistress Erica, what are we do to with Stephanie?  How am I supposed to
conduct myself? What sort of woman is she?" asked Lisa.

	"We must be very careful here, Lisa.  Stephanie Richards is a woman who
has lost her family, her profession, almost her will to live.  Almost all
that she desires now is to be beaten severely by Mistress Lauren, my
adversary," described Erica.

	"What am I to do?"

	"She will expect to be used, made to serve as a Domestic alongside you. 
If she makes a mistake, you can use her like any other slave.  Except that
if you give her the severe use that she craves, and you can fully expect
her to intentionally do something to merit that use, you must comfort her
in your arms.  That will be the way that we win her over, by convincing her
that she is not worthless."

	"I understand, Mistress."

	"Good, and one last order."

	"Mistress?"

	"Place the good China in the closet and put out the normal dinnerware.  I
strongly suspect that Stephanie will be breaking a few dishes to get our
attention this weekend."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Excellent," replied Erica.

"Mistress, why are you doing this for one of Lauren's slaves?" directly
asked Lisa.

	"I can't answer that, Lisa.  You have to trust me.  Please?"

	"I shall obey all of your orders, Mistress Erica."

	"Thank you, Lisa.  For your loyalty."

	"Yes, Mistress."
	*		*		*		*		*		*
	Later that night, sleep wouldn't come for Erica.  She tossed and turned
all night, her body in a cold sweat.  The same way that she remembered
feeling in the hospital.

	The face of the full moon was visible in the window, but Erica did not see
the man in the moon.  Instead, Erica saw the face of Dr. Stephanie
Richards, wearing her hospital garb, standing over her bed.

	'I owe you my life, Dr. Richards,' thought Erica, 'please let me repay the
debt before Lauren goes too far?'
	*		*		*		*		*
Stephanie Richards was brought into the library, naked and collared.  After
Lisa had brought her into the house, she had been stripped and prepared in
one of the downstairs bedrooms.  Like all of Erica's other slaves, she was
wearing nothing but a collar around her neck and bracelets on her wrists
and ankles.

	Erica sat behind her desk, wearing a white blouse, and plaid skirt.  Her
only indication of her position as Domme was the presence of a crop on her
desk.

	"Thank you, Lisa," said Erica.

	"Kneel on the carpet, Stephanie," softly said Erica.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Do you, Stephanie Richards, agree to serve me of your own free will?"

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"That for the duration of your stay here, I shall own your body totally?"

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"That I have the freedom to use you sexually?"

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"That you shall forever remain silent about whatever happens to you in
this House?"

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"What is your safeword?" asked Erica.

	"I have no safeword, Mistress.  I am nothing but a worthless painslut."

	"Not in my house, Stephanie," softly answered Erica, "your safeword shall
be forgive."

	"Yes, Mistress.  Forgive."

	"The purpose of this little session is so that my Maid can witness your
submission, and give you a final chance to back out.  Do you wish to do
so?"

	"No, Mistress."

	"Excellent, Lisa, you may take out guest down to the Dungeon, and chain
her according to my instructions."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	As Lisa led Stephanie away, Erica wondered if Lauren had ever bothered to
do anything else with Stephanie besides beat her.  Probably not, she
thought.

	In her mind's eye, she imagined what was now happening in the Dungeon. 
Stephanie would see all of the familiar devices, then be led over to the
wall.  Lisa would make her sit on the wooden floor, then lock her hands
together.  A chain would be locked to her ankle bracelets, to her wrists,
then collar, lastly attached to the wall.  Stephanie would have little
freedom of movement chained in this way.

	Erica wanted her to be alone, to feel the same kind of isolation that she
had experienced from Lauren.  Then she would punish her, but add a surprise
also.

	Lisa would be standing nearby, in case of trouble.  Erica would have to
dress herself, of course.

	But that was the one of the responsibilities of being a Mistress.

	After an hour had elapsed, Erica entered the Dungeon with Lisa following
behind her.  She had chosen a black sleeveless Catsuit, and a pair of knee
high boots as her outfit.  She had wanted to wear the leather corset, but
had decided against it.  Too much trouble.

	Lisa had changed out of her Maid's outfit into a leather bodysuit, one
more suited to wearing in the Dungeon.  There was a small closet that they
could keep scene clothing stored in the Dungeon, so they would not have to
run back up if they needed anything. 

	Stephanie had taken her isolation well, and she sat, naked on the wooden
floor, pulling at her chains.  Did Erica detect the presence of tears on
her cheeks?

	"Are you ready, Stephanie?" asked Erica.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"You may release her, Lisa.  I shall start with a spanking."

	"Yes, spanking," answered Erica as she sat down on the leather padded
bench.

	Erica sat her PVC clad bottom down the bench, and in no time Stephanie was
draped over her lap.  In the moderate Dungeon lights Erica could see the
evidence of past beatings that Stephanie had endured.

	Whack!

	Whack!

	Whack!

	Whack!

	Whack!

	Erica used the palm of her hand to begin to spank Stephanie's upraised
bottom.  For all of the effect that she had, Erica might as well have been
using a creampuff.  Stephanie just lay there, unfeeling on her lap as her
behind soaked up every swat like a dry sponge.

	'Most women view this as being highly erotic," thought Erica.

	Whack!

	Whack!

	Whack!

	Whack!

	Whack!

	"Thank your Mistress," ordered Erica after she had delivered 20 spanks
that left Stephanie's bottom red and Erica's hand hurting as well.

	"Thank you, Mistress Erica."

	"Kneel."

	Stephanie resumed her place on the floor, her hands on her knees in
submission.  She looked like she wanted to be punished, and harshly used.

	"Lisa, hang her from the ceiling.  I want to crop her next," ordered
Erica.

	Even Erica's more experienced slaves would display some kind of emotion
when she would announce what their Mistress would do to them next. 
Instead, Stephanie displayed no emotions at all as she was next made to
hang by her wrists from the ceiling chain, and then finally Lisa locked her
ankles apart.

	"Excuse me," said Erica, as she rose from her seat, and walked outside.

	"Mistress?" asked Lisa in bewilderment, since Erica never left a scene in
progress.

	"I'll be right back," said Erica.

	Erica walked outside, and sat on the stairs.  Her plans, to beat Stephanie
until she cried then to comfort her, suddenly seemed worthless.  Stephanie
could take all of the discipline that Erica could give her, and more, until
she wore Erica out.  Because what she craved was pain and abuse.

	She had seen what Lauren could do to her, and Erica suspected that
Stephanie's public performance was only a small indicator of the amount of
use that she could take.  Stephanie would just soak up everything that
Erica would do to her, then beg for more.

	Unless………

	"Okay, Mistress Erica," said Erica to herself, "time to show what you're
made of."

	Erica rose from the steps, dusted off her bottom, and re-entered the
Dungeon.  Lisa was standing next to Stephanie, who was straining to keep
her toes on the floor.

	"Mistress?"

	"Just a minute, Lisa," said Erica.

	Erica rummaged through the cabinet, until she removed the dildo harness
and nipple clamps, and finally the crop that she wanted.  She walked over
to Lisa, and handed her the crop and clamps.

	"Hold these," Erica ordered.

	Erica locked the waistband of the dildo harness around Stephanie's waist,
then pulled the crotch strap through her legs.  She felt Stephanie's slit,
and found that the woman wasn't even wet.  By now, even after a brief
spanking, almost all of Erica's other slaves would be wet and ready. 
Instead, Stephanie had taken her spanking like it had been a medical exam!

	"Aaaaaaah!" cried Stephanie when Erica inserted the phallus into her dry
sex then locked the crotch strap, holding the shaft within.

	'Stephanie has divorced pain from sexual pleasure,' thought Erica, 'unlike
usual D/s practice.  She just wants to get beaten, but she enjoyed me in
bed.  I'm going to put those two parts of her back together.'

	Erica opened her palm, and Lisa placed the two clamps in her hand.  A
smile creased her face, and impish grin.

	Normally, Erica would tease a slave's nipple's erect with her fingers. 
But not this time.

	"You disappoint me, Stephanie.  I thought that Lauren, bad Mistress that
she is, you have at least properly trained you by now to react in the
proper manner."

	"Mistress?" asked Stephanie.

	Erica then bent down, and started to lick and suck at Stephanie's right
nipple.  Her teeth grazed the nipple, and Erica worked hard to tease it
erect.  No matter how long it took.

	For the first time since Erica had become a Mistress, she had a hard time
sexually stimulating a slave in the Dungeon.  Or the library, bedroom,
kitchen, or anywhere else that she had used a slave before.

	Spanked, hung naked, with a dildo in her pussy, Stephanie should have been
sopping wet and horny as hell.  Instead, she was a glutton for punishment.

	Finally, when her nipple was erect, Erica placed the clamp first on the
right nipple, then the left.  She lightly pulled at both, making Stephanie
moan.

	Then Erica took hold of the ring on the outside of the crotch strap, that
way a slave could be pulled along by the phallus inside her.  Erica could
have chosen the ribbed phallus, making even the slightest motion an agony
of pleasure.

	Pulling the ring she made a gentle back and forth motion, limited to a few
centimeters.  She hoped that it was enough.

	"Aaaaaaah!" moaned Stephanie.

	"I want you wet," ordered Erica, "when I take that phallus out, I want it
wet and glistening, do you understand?"

	"Yes………Yes, Mistress," stuttered Stephanie.

	"Crop please," demanded Erica.

	Lisa handed Erica the crop, which she offered to Stephanie's lips. 
Stephanie kissed the instrument, and without pause or ceremony Erica began
to use it on the bound woman.

	Instead of using all of her strength Erica used light almost playful
stokes.  She wanted to stimulate and arouse, not give the pain that
Stephanie seemed to crave.

	After every series of strokes, Erica would pause, and give a pull either
to Stephanie's nipples, or the phallus ring.  Stephanie would moan and
buck, her cheeks red with arousal.

	It was the combination of mild discipline, plus the shaft between her legs
that was breaking down Stephanie's wall of resistance.  Had Erica just gone
ahead and used Stephanie harshly, she would just have replayed what Lauren
had been doing to her.

	"Aaaaaaah!" cried Stephanie.

	"Are you a slut?" asked Erica.

	"Yes, Mistress.  Your slut!"

	Erica then pulled at the phallus ring, and then pushed in as far as she
could go.

	 "Aaaaaah!"

	Erica increased the frequency and force of each stroke of the crop.  Each
time that the leather pad struck Stephanie, she writhed in her chains, the
dildo inside her rubbing itself against her cunt.  Erica knew that she no
longer hand to pull on the little ring on the strap, since every movement
that Stephanie made did the job for her.

	She hoped that having the shaft inside her would awaken her sexually to
the combination of pain and pleasure that every slave was usually familiar
with.  Except for Stephanie, thanks to her own desire for punishment and
Mistress Lauren.

	"Aaaaaaaah!" screamed Stephanie, shaking as one orgasm after another
coursed through her bound body.

	Erica stopped her use, and held the crop in her hands, waiting for
Stephanie to regain her composure.  Normally, she would give a slave
permission to have sexual release.  It was all part of the procedure of
being a Mistress.

	But not this time, since Erica wanted to put together the parts of
Stephanie's psyche that had divorced pain from pleasure.  Which would be
the only way that she would be able to win her over from Lauren.  Or so she
hoped.

	Erica then removed the nipple clamps that had caused Stephanie so much
stimulation, then replaced everything in the cabinet.

	"Lisa, you may take Stephanie up to my bedroom, and chain her on the
floor.  But do not remove the harness."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Thank you, Lisa," answered Erica as she walked out of the Dungeon.

	Erica then walked up to the library, where she resolved to spend at least
thirty minutes.  She wanted Stephanie to wear the phallus inside, to walk
upstairs, to hold it between her legs.

	The shaft would drive her crazy, driving her to climax after climax. 
Which was something that Erica guessed that Lauren had either denied her,
or had instead just wanted to beat Stephanie into submission.

	What would have happened in the future to Stephanie had Erica not seen her
at the party?  She wondered, and it made her flesh crawl at the prospect. 
Stephanie, a woman without moorings or self-respect, used as Lauren's
painslut.

	After a half-hour had elapsed, she walked upstairs to her own bedroom. 
Just as she had ordered, Stephanie was kneeling on the floor, her hands
bound behind her back, her collar locked to a chain from the ringbolt on
the wall.

	"Good evening, Stephanie.  Have you been awaiting your Mistress?"

	"Yes, Mistress Erica."

	"Let me help you stand."

	Erica helped Stephanie to her feet, then produced a set of keys. 
Stephanie looked Erica with expectation in her eyes.

	"I'm going to unlock you, Stephanie.  Remember what I said in the
Dungeon?"

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Normally, Erica would have ordered Lisa to clean up a slave prior to Erica
taking her to bed after a scene.  But not this time, since Erica wanted
Stephanie to bond sexually to her right away.

	Erica unlocked the collar chain, and coiled it and set the chain on the
night table.  Then she unlocked Stephanie's wrists, then the small locks
that held the crotch strap.

	"You may remove the strap," ordered Erica.

	Hesitantly, Stephanie removed the shaft from within her sex.  She moaned
when it slid out of her sex, covered with her juices.

	"Very good, Stephanie.  I shall remove the belt from around your waist,
and then you may clean yourself in the bathroom.  Then I shall use you in
the bedroom."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Erica stripped off her boots and Catsuit, and the plastic scent of the PVC
clung to her like a perfume.  Ordinarily she would have showered first, but
had decided against it.  She wanted the scent to remain.

	She lay on the bed, then waited for Stephanie to join her.  Her fingers
brushed against her sex, waiting for the attentions of another.

	"Mistress?" asked Stephanie.

	"Service your Mistress," ordered Erica.

	Stephanie did not waste any time as she climbed onto the bed, and placed
her lips on Erica's pussy.  She licked and sucked at Erica's sex, her teeth
playfully biting the lips of her Mistress.  Then her tongue reached inside,
and licked at Erica's love box.

	But when her tongue reached Erica's clit, she drove Mistress Erica quickly
from one climax after another.  Erica moaned and bucked, bouncing on the
bed.  Stephanie buried her face between Erica's legs, pausing only for
breath as she put all her energies into pleasing her Mistress.

	"Ah!" cried Erica, as she climaxed time after time.

	Erica did not want, or care, to know how much time had elapsed.  She
already knew that Stephanie was putting all of her being into pleasing her,
unlike the stiff mechanical lovemaking that they had done in Stephanie's
apartment.

	Once Erica was sated, she pulled Stephanie from her, and lay her companion
on her back.  Then she playfully bit at Stephanie's nipples, her hands
massaging Stephanie's wet slit.  Finally, she knew that Stephanie was
ready.  Her kisses left a trail from her breasts down to Stephanie's sex,
and then she serviced her new slave.

	This time, Stephanie did not push Erica away, instead she welcomed Erica's
attention, moaning when her sex was stimulated.  Erica sucked at
Stephanie's pussy, her tongue inside the love canal, tasting her wetness. 
Then she tongued Stephanie's clit, stimulating her love button.

	Shudders of pleasure rippled through Stephanie, her moans increasing in
volume, as she was pleasured time after time.  Again, Erica did not want to
forbid Stephanie her climax.  No, there would be other times to do that. 
She wanted Stephanie to have an earth-shattering climax, one that Lauren
had not even considered for her painslut.

	"Aaaaaaah!" cried Stephanie, finally climaxing, her bottom bouncing on the
bed, shaking Erica along with her.

	When Erica looked up from between Stephanie's legs, she saw tears falling
from the woman's eyes.  Her companion was sobbing.

	"Hold me?" begged Stephanie, "please?"

	Erica had planned to strap on a dildo, and use Stephanie long into the
night.  But just as she had changed her plans about harshly beating her and
then instructing her about a safeword, so she had decided that idea was
wrong as well.

	"Yes, Stephanie," answered Erica as she held the sobbing woman in her
arms, a tissue in her hand to dry Stephanie's tears.

	Erica held onto Stephanie all night, her sleep broken by Stephanie's
occasional crying.  She did not chain Stephanie during the night, and only
once did she go to the bathroom.  Erica had awakened to find Stephanie
gone, then watched as her lover rejoined her in bed.
	*		*		*		*		*
	Saturday went without a hitch, and Stephanie said nothing as Lisa made her
act as a Domestic.  She did nothing wrong, and performed her tasks quite
willingly.

	Stephanie served Janet her lunch and Dinner, then cleaned up with Lisa. 
Erica wanted her in the Dungeon, again for her use.  She had ordered Lisa
to place her on the X frame, wearing a blindfold and ballgag.  Stephanie
would remain there, helpless until Janet used her.  With Lisa waiting,
close at hand.

	Erica walked quietly into the Dungeon, in her stocking feet, not bothering
to place on her heels.  She did not want Stephanie to hear her approach. 
Last year Lisa had bought her a pair of slippers that looked like dogs, but
Erica had forgotten them.  Instead, she liked the feel of the wooden floor
on her feet.

	Lisa was seated on a chair, silently reading a magazine.  They wanted
Stephanie to think that she was alone, yet in actuality someone gagged
should never be left alone under any circumstances.  

	Erica looked over Stephanie's naked body, deciding that she would use a
flogger this evening.  Perhaps she could make Stephanie call a safeword,
instead of just punishing her.

	"Mmmmph!" cried Stephanie when Erica pinched her erect nipples, then her
cry was even stronger when her wet slit was invaded.

	Stephanie pulled at her bonds, trying without effect to free herself from
the X frame.  The leather held her fast to the wood, and her efforts had no
effect.

	"Mmmmmph!" grunted Stephanie when Erica finger fucked her, "mmmmph!"

	'I've got to sexually stimulate her as much as I can, to get her away from
the idea that she's just a worthless painslut,' thought Erica, 'else I'm no
better than Lauren.  I've got to reawaken her sexual self, give her one
climax after another, so that she'll look forward to sex, not just a
beating.'

	"Mmmmmph!"

	"Mmmmmph!"

	When she was finally satisfied that she had stimulated Stephanie enough,
she first drove her fingers as deep as she could into her sex, then
suddenly withdrew them, making Stephanie moan in frustration.  Cleaning her
hands with a tissue provided by Lisa, she then removed Stephanie's
blindfold and gag.

	"Thank you, Mistress," panted Stephanie.

	"You're welcome, Stephanie," answered Erica, "tonight, I shall flog you."

	"Yes, Mistress, thank you," answered Stephanie.

	Lisa had replaced her copy of Cosmopolitan back in the cabinet, and handed
Erica her weapon of choice for the evening.  Tonight, she would not place a
dildo inside Stephanie's sex.  From her finger fucking, she already knew
that it wasn't necessary.

	"Kiss the flogger," ordered Erica.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Erica had chosen a heavy leather flogger, one that would moderately hurt
and mark.  She knew that Stephanie still craved punishment and use, and
wanted it.  Changing her expectations would take time and effort, not done
in a single night.

	"What is your safeword?" asked Erica.

	"Forgive, Mistress."

	"Good," said Erica.

	Erica offered the handle to Stephanie, who kissed it without being
ordered.  She then began to carefully deliver one stroke after another,
ones that would give Stephanie the amount of pain that she wanted, but not
step over the line into actually hurting her.

	Thirty strokes later, including some onto Stephanie's breasts and between
her legs, she was done.  Stephanie was covered in sweat, her body marked
and red.  Just to make sure, Erica again finger fucked her a few times, and
she was indeed wet.

	"Take her to my bedroom," ordered Erica, "I'll be right along."

	"Yes, Mistress," answered Lisa.

	Erica strapped the dildo harness to her hips, and always laughed silently
to herself when she saw her reflection in the mirror.  After all those
years of men chasing her, she was the one with an erect cock.

	"Aaaaaah!" cried Stephanie when Erica drove the erect shaft between her
legs, "aaaaaah!"

	"I'm going to make you come all night," said Erica.

	"Yes, Mistress," sobbed Stephanie.

	By the time that Erica finally unstrapped the harness from her waist,
Stephanie was totally exhausted, and Erica was also.  She had driven
Stephanie to screaming more than once.  They barely had enough energy left
to tongue each other's sex before they fell asleep in their arms.
	*		*		*		*		*
	Erica sat at her desk, writing out the future course of her plans for
Stephanie.  The woman had pledged her loyalty to Erica, and said that she
would return next week.

	She would continue to sexually stimulate Stephanie, showing her the
difference between herself and Lauren.  Next collar her and sign a
contract, and get her away from Lauren once and for all.  Then finally get
her a job, make her go back to work everyday instead of wandering all day
then drinking at night.

	"Mistress," interrupted Lisa as she placed a tray on Erica's desk
containing lunch.

	"Thank you, Lisa," said Erica.

	"Stephanie didn't break any dishes, Mistress.  She performed as a model
slave this weekend, doing everything that I asked," stated Lisa.

	"Good," answered Erica, "thank you Lisa."
	*		*		*		*		*		*
Part Three: Seeds of Resentment

May 1986

	The ceremony was to be a public one, held at a club in Manhattan.  Erica
had invited everyone that she could think of, and she was disappointed that
Keith and Beth couldn't come, since they were in Hawaii on vacation.

	During the intervening weeks, Stephanie had alternately been used by both
Erica and Lauren.  Stephanie would report to her that all Lauren would do
was to beat her.  Once, she had slipped and asked for mercy, then Lauren
had kicked her to the ground, enraged.

	Erica was now the Mistress that Stephanie desired, and had seen less and
less of Lauren, until she had broken off all contact with her three weeks
earlier.

	She was seated at a chair on a raised dais, in a PVC bodysuit, hose, and
heels.  In her hands was a rubber collar, and silver ring, which would be
for Stephanie's index finger.

	A hush came over the crowd as Stephanie was led in, wearing a cloak.  Lisa
held her by the hand, and walked her over to Erica's chair.

	Mistress Erin and her husband had come in from New Jersey, and she would
do the honors.

	"I now present Mistress Erica, her slave Lisa, and her new slave,
Stephanie."

	Scattered applause came from the audience, who was hushed into silence.

	Lisa removed Stephanie's cloak, revealing her nakedness underneath.  The
harsh marks left by Lauren were slowly fading, as Erica wanted them to. 
Her body looked better than before, much better than the first time that
Erica had seen her beaten by Lauren.

	"Kneel," ordered Lisa.

	Stephanie knelt as she was instructed in silence.

	"Do you accept the collar and protection of Mistress Erica?" asked Lisa.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"That you shall forever honor and obey your Mistress, and follow all of
her orders, implicitly."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"That you shall be always challenged by your Mistress, and used in any way
that she shall desire, except in ways leading to harm and endangering your
personal safety."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Then you may accept the collar and ring of Mistress Erica, and we are
witness to your submission to Mistress Erica of Greenwich Connecticut,"
stated Lisa.

	Erica reached forward, and locked the small rubber collar around
Stephanie's neck.  Her contract had been signed earlier in the presence of
Mistresses Erin and Marcia.  Then she placed the ring on Stephanie's
finger.

	"Arise slave, and name your owner," ordered Erica.

	"I belong to Mistress Erica," said Stephanie, tears of joy in her eyes.

	Erica then gave Stephanie a ritual light spanking in front of the crowd,
then had Lisa dress her back in her cloak.  She did not want to use
Stephanie harshly in front of the crowd, which would have been too much
like Lauren's use of her.

	Circulating the crowd, taking to her friends, Erica did not see the person
approach her that she had wanted to see least of all in the world.

	Slap!

	The unexpected blow, coming in total surprise, staggered Erica, her drink
falling to the ground.

	"Bitch!" cried Lauren, "you bitch!"

	"Out!" said one of the Moniters, who grabbed onto Lauren's hand before she
could strike another blow.

	"You stole my slave!" screamed Lauren.

	"You never signed a contract with Stephanie, had her collared, or anything
else besides beating her every weekend.  She was always free," explained
Erica as she was helped to her feet.

	"She was still mine!"

	"No she wasn't," defended Marcia, who had quickly run over to see what was
going on, "you were just using her."

	"Erica stole her away!"

	"I sensed that Stephanie needed a new Mistress," said Erica, "and I am
glad to fulfill that role."

	"One day, Erica, one day I'll have you under my lash again, and you'll pay
the price," threatened Lauren, who turned on her heels and left without
being ordered to.
	*		*		*		*		*		*
	"Mistress, she's vastly overqualified for this job," protested Jason.

	Mistress Erica sat in the office of one of her slaves, Jason Martin.  The
man owned a small company in Westchester, and was being difficult.

	"Yes, Jason.  I know that she's overqualified for this job.  That's
exactly why it's perfect for her," replied Erica.

	"You're saying that a doctor and a former surgeon is going to work as a
clerk?" asked Jason.

	"Yes, Jason, that's exactly what I'm saying," answered Erica, exasperation
in her voice.

	Erica resisted the temptation to rise to her feet, grab Jason, then set
the man over her knees and give him a good spanking on the behind.  For a
half-hour already she had been arguing with Jason, over what should have
taken no more than ten minutes.

	"Why should she?" asked Jason.

	"You did advertise for workers, didn't you?" asked Janet, "no experience
necessary?  I have the ad in my purse."

	"Yes, Mistress, that's true.  But someone like this doesn't belong here."

	"Ordinarily true," Janet replied, "but this is not an ordinary situation."

	"Are you punishing her in some way?"

	"No."

	"Then why are you suggesting that I hire a doctor for an office clerk?"
asked Jason.

	"All right, Jason.  I'll tell you, since you can't take the orders of your
Mistress.  Stephanie Richards has lost her family, her profession, and her
self-respect.  She spends her days wandering the streets, then drinking at
a local restaurant."

	"What does that have to do with me?"

	"I want her to have a job.  To get up early every day, shower, dress,
work, and come home tired five days a week.  To restore her sense of self
worth, and give her something to do besides wasting her life away," stated
Erica.

	"If I hire her then, she had better work.  I don't want her to loaf, then
have you ask me to let her get away with it."

	"Yes, Jason.  She'll be just like any of your other workers, and if she
does loaf, then you can tell me about it and I will deal with her," offered
Erica.

	"I'm still not sure about this, Mistress."

	"How many women do you hire, then dismiss anyway?" asked Janet, "in the
normal course of business?"

	"Too many," answered Jason.

	"Well, I'm giving you a worker.  But under no circumstances are you to
divulge her past, or embarrass or humiliate her.  She has suffered enough
already in life," described Erica.

	"Yes, Mistress.  I understand," said Jason.

	"I hope that you do, Jason."

Part Four: Picking Up the Pieces

September 1986

	If Stephanie Richards resented the life that Mistress Erica had chosen for
her, she showed no signs of it.  In May, she started the office job that
Erica had found for her.  From Monday through Friday, she went back to
work, instead of wandering the streets all day, then going to a bar and
drinking all night.

	Erica had taken her shopping one-day to JC Penny's, and they had selected
an entire wardrobe of clothing that she could wear to work.  The only hard
part about the entire shopping trip was that Stephanie hid herself in the
dressing room so that the sales help wouldn't see her marks.

	Gone was the hopelessness and despair in her eyes, the desire to go out to
a bar to drink, and to meet the wrong person who would beat her up.  She
had brightened up, her appearance and demeanor had changed for the better.

	Erica saved the report that she had been writing about Stephanie on the
PC, and decided that she would print it later.  She stood up from the desk,
and stretched.

	After every session that she used one of her slaves, she would write a
report on their progress.  How they performed under the lash, and what
instruments could be used on them.  Coupled with their interviews it made a
powerful training tool for a Domme like herself to use.

	It was Saturday morning, and that meant that Stephanie and Lisa were doing
the laundry together.  Except that Stephanie was naked, and Lisa was
supervising her with a crop.

	Glancing at the clock, Erica decided that it was time for a little
stimulation for Stephanie.  Not that she had done anything to merit a
punishment from Erica, but it was her job to keep the woman off balance.

	After Erica had converted the entire basement into her two Dungeons, she
had to alter the former servant's quarters on the first floor into a
utility room.  That was where she found Stephanie and Lisa at work.

	"Status report?" asked Erica.

	"The last load is in the washer now and Stephanie has just folded the
previous load, Mistress," answered Lisa.

	"Perfect, Stephanie?" asked Erica.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Over my knee," ordered Erica as she sat down on a bench.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	Erica used the flat of her hand, not even bothering to take the paddle
from the wall.  It was far more satisfying just to use her hand, to watch
as Stephanie's bottom turned a nice shade of red.

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	"Thank you, Mistress!" cried Stephanie.

	"You're welcome, Stephanie, you may rise off my lap," ordered Erica.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Are you wet?" asked Erica.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Before Erica had entered the laundry room, she had removed the chastity
belt from her toybox.  Erica had carried it to the laundry room, and had
placed it next to her when she had used Stephanie for her brief spanking.

	"Wanton slut," observed Erica as she rose to her feet, "I'm going to lock
the chastity belt on you."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Stephanie stood impassively as Erica locked the chastity belt on her.  A
belt was first locked around her waist, then a crotch strap was drawn up
though her legs and locked.  The leather belt would be a constant reminder
of her slavery, and her reddened bottom would still be exposed should Erica
or Lisa want to use her again.

	"There now, that should keep your hands from that sex of yours without my
permission," commented Erica.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"You may finish the laundry and your chores, then serve me Lunch.  You
will be used tonight," stated Erica.

	"Thank you, Mistress."

	Sitting down to read a novel, Erica reflected that it was all a game that
she was playing.  While some Dommes insisted that their slaves stay with
them constantly, Erica only had them for at most a weekend.  She could not
control what they did at home, only give them orders that she hoped were
obeyed.

	So she would lock them in a chastity belt, or sometimes place a dildo or
anal plug inside all day to drive them crazy, for a few hours.  Next she
would use them both in the Dungeon and bedroom, before sending them home.

	In Stephanie's case, however, Erica had to give the woman at first the
maximum amount of sexual stimulation.  For too long, all she had craved was
either a beating or worse.  Now Erica had taken it upon herself to reawaken
the sexual being within Stephanie.
	*		*		*		*		*		*
	"Kneel," ordered Erica.

	It was nine in the evening time for Erica to start her session and
Stephanie knelt before Erica in the Dungeon.  Lisa had bathed and perfumed
Stephanie before Erica's use of her would begin that night.

	"Do you consent to my use?"

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Rise, and bend over the padded bar, Lisa will lock your wrists and ankles
to the legs," ordered Erica.

	"Yes, Mistress," agreed Stephanie.

	The naked woman rose to her feet, walked over to the padded sawhorse, and
stood motionless as Lisa restrained her as per Janet's orders.

	"Thank you, Lisa," said Erica as she removed a paddle from the cabinet.

	"You're welcome, Mistress," answered Lisa.

	"Kiss the paddle," ordered Erica as she held the leather paddle up to her
slave's lips.

	Silently, Stephanie did as she was instructed.  Erica flexed the paddle in
her hands, but before she used it she decided that something else was in
order first.

	"Oooooh!" cried Stephanie when Erica began to caress her bottom.

	The simple act of Erica touching her bottom, feeling her exposed skin, was
enough to make Stephanie moan in response.  In the months that Stephanie
had been her slave, Erica had steadily made her more receptive to pleasure.
 Gone were the sessions that Stephanie had just craved a mindless beating
that had left her hurting and sore by Sunday.

	Erica gently slid her hand into Stephanie's exposed slit that was already
wet and waiting for her.  She pushed two fingers inside the waiting cunt,
and Stephanie moaned in her bonds.

	"Do you desire the use of your Mistress?" asked Erica.

	"Yes, Mistress, please?"

	Crack!

	Crack!

	Crack!

	Crack!

	Crack!

	Erica struck the paddle onto Stephanie's bottom, but not too strongly.  It
would hurt and sting and she would be left with a red mark for every
stroke.  Every time that she sat at her desk on Monday, she would have a
reminder of how her Mistress had used her.

	"Ahhhh!"

	Crack!

	Crack!

	Crack!

	Crack!

	Crack!

	The paddling, coupled with the spanking that she had received earlier, was
quite enough on Stephanie's bottom.  Erica presented the paddle to
Stephanie's lips, and she kissed it would being order to. 

	"Thank you, Mistress," cried Stephanie.

	Erica exchanged the paddle for a rubber dildo, which she displayed to her
bound captive, then slid into her exposed sex.  Stephanie moaned in
response.  She bound Stephanie's hair with some elastic hair bands to get
it out of the way, then raised Stephanie's head with her fingers.

	"I want to see how much control you have, Stephanie," said Erica as she
unzipped her leather skirt, revealing the fact that she wasn't wearing
panties underneath.

	"Mistress?"

	"You must stay bound over the bar, keep the dildo in your sex, and make me
come all at the same time.  Else you shall be severely punished, or perhaps
I'll give you to Lisa for the night.  Understand?"

	"Mmmmmph!" replied Stephanie as Erica forced her fragrant sex onto
Stephanie's face.

	Erica stayed motionless as Stephanie first explored her outer lips with
her lips and teeth, then moved in closer to help her slave explore her sex.
 She did not believe that it was fair to punish a slave for failing to obey
an order that an obstacle made impossible.  So she placed her sex at
Stephanie's disposal, and the woman responded by doing everything possible
to satisfy her Mistress.

	"Ohhhhh!" cried Erica when she felt her clit stimulated, then she was
driven to one orgasm after another.

	Mistress Erica opened her legs slightly to further accommodate Stephanie's
attentions, and she continued to arouse and satisfy her Mistress.

	"Ahhhh!" moaned Erica as she withdrew, "thank you, Stephanie."

	"You're welcome, Mistress."

	Still holding the leather skirt in her hands, Erica walked over to
Stephanie's rear, and found that the dildo was still firmly placed within
the woman's sex.  Erica held onto the base as she thrust it deeper, then
partially withdrew it, before thrusting it inside again.

	"Mistress, please?" panted Stephanie.

	"Silence slut!" ordered Erica.

	If Stephanie had been a painslut six months ago wanting only to feel the
bite of the lash, today she was a sensual slut instead.  Erica had a hard
time keeping Stephanie on the edge during a weekend visit.  But that was
all part of her job of being a Domme.

	"Aaaaah!" cried Stephanie when she felt the dildo finally removed.

	"Tina you may release Stephanie and let her clean her sex while I freshen
up too.  Then I'll decide what to do with her next," ordered Erica.

	While Stephanie would be using the little sink and toilet in the cell,
Erica had to go upstairs.  In her design of the Dungeons, she had made some
mistakes, like not having a place where she could properly refresh herself.

	Erica cleaned her sex with moistened towelettes, enjoying the scent that
they left on her.  Then she slipped a pair of white cotton panties over her
hips, then zipped up the leather skirt again.  She straightened her leather
bra and skirt in front of the mirror, and brushed her hair.

	'I'm going to use this brush on Lisa's bottom tomorrow,' thought Erica,
'and she's going to enjoy it too!"

	Erica then rejoined her two slaves in the Dungeon, who were waiting for
her.

	"Ready, Stephanie?" asked Erica.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"I just bought a new flogger made of rubber, and it stings so nicely. 
Lisa, please hang Stephanie from the ceiling, spreader bars on both wrists
and ankles."

	"Yes, Mistress," answered Lisa.

	Erica waited as Lisa carried out her orders, and soon Stephanie was just
as helpless as before, her toes straining to reach the floor.  Her naked
and exposed body held in the shape of an X.

	"Do you submit to your Mistress?" asked Erica, as she stood directly in
front of Stephanie, the new flogger in her hand.

	"Yes, Mistress!"

	"Prepare to be used, slave!"

	Stephanie could do nothing except twist in her bonds as Erica used the
rubber flogger on her.  Each strand of rubber stung and marked, and each
could be plainly felt as it impacted on Stephanie's naked body.

	Erica made certain to flog her breasts, underarms, thighs, stomach, and
between her legs.  Stephanie moaned and bucked, and Erica knew that she was
having one climax after another in response to the flogger.  It was her
favorite instrument above all, even surpassing the crop and whip.

	Every time that she said that she would use the flogger on Stephanie,
Erica had observed how she desired the strokes of the many-stranded
instrument.  Once, Stephanie had presented Erica with a flogger that she
had bought as a present, and that had been what Erica had used on her that
night.

	"Aaaaaah!" cried Stephanie.

	"Silence, slave, or I'll clamp your nipples," threatened Erica.

	Stephanie remained silent throughout the rest of the session, and kissed
the flogger eagerly when it was offered to her.  Her body was reddened, and
covered with sweat.  But she looked happy after having been used by her
Mistress.

     "Lisa, have her in my bedroom, I want to use Stephanie tonight,"
ordered Erica.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Erica knew full well that in the past, Stephanie would have only desired
that Erica continue flogging her, preferably until she either passed out or
bled.  But now Stephanie, after having been excited by Erica's use, would
eagerly await her use in the bedroom.
	*		*		*		*		*
	"Mistress?" asked Stephanie.

	"Yes, Stephanie?" sleepily answered Erica, "what is it?"

	Glancing at the clock, Erica saw that it was nearly three in the morning.
She had used Stephanie in the Dungeon, then in the bedroom for hours. 
Couldn't the woman ever fall asleep, or was she insatiable?

	"I just wanted to say that you, Mistress."

	"For your use in the Dungeon tonight?"

	"No, Mistress Erica.  You've saved my life, and I'm grateful.  The job
restored my self-respect and gave me a purpose back in life, and you've
reawakened my sexual self as well."

	"Yes, Stephanie," said Erica, tasting Stephanie on her lips.

	"I have a secret," admitted Stephanie.

	"You must have no secrets from your Mistress," ordered Erica.

	"I'm really wealthy, I own a large estate in Greenwich."

	"Then what are you doing in that apartment?" demanded Erica.

	"Hiding, Mistress.  Hiding from the life I once led, and the family and
job that I lost."

	"You will tell me about it in the morning," ordered Erica.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"What do you want to do from now on?" asked Erica.

	"To rebuild my life, Mistress Erica.  And thank you," answered Stephanie,
tears in her eyes.   

The Challenge
Chapter Eleven: The Test

Friday October 2, 1998

Part One: The Betrayal

	It was good, Janet thought, to get out of the house and her normal
routine.  The pressures of her job, her Domme duties, and now training
Cheryl, all added to up a frustrating combination that threatened to
overwhelm her.  So Janet had asked Tina if she wanted to change and go into
Greenwich for a little shopping as a break.  Tina had declined, so Janet
had gone alone, eventually finding herself at Saks Fifth Avenue.

	Wandering the sales counters, Janet felt like a teenager again, when she
had gotten her first job at Macy's in Queens.  Still in High School, and
before College, she had found a part-time job starting as a cashier. 
Gradually, over the years she had finally worked her way up to the
expensive dress department in Women's wear which was the most glamorous
department in the store.  She had worked there to earn money, and to get
the employee discount for buying clothes.  Janet had worked there all
during College, full time during the summer and Holidays and then on
weekends after she had started working full time.

	It was therefore startling to realize that she now had a wallet full of
charge cards with credit lines more than she had earned during a whole year
as a Secretary.  Now Janet could afford all the jewelry, Hermes scarves,
Gucci dresses, and Louis Vuitton luggage that she might desire.

	Except that Janet didn't need, or want, any of it.  Sure, she would buy a
new dress or gown each season in case she had to go to a charity event. 
But just to buy on impulse was a waste of money, for Janet had learned to
distinguish needs from wants.

	But there were other memories for Janet from those years.  The men who
offered to take her out, who wanted to seduce her.  Both single and
married!  Janet laughed at the time she and a boy had nearly been caught
making out in a stockroom one evening.

	It was the memory of Angela that Janet remembered most.  How the older
woman had maneuvered her into an empty office, had begun to kiss and arouse
her.  Angela had embraced Janet, kissed her, and forced her tongue into
Janet's mouth, scaring her.  Then Angela had inserted her hand into Janet's
blouse, and fondled her breasts.  Janet was sexually aroused, and hot with
desire for the older woman.  Just when Angela was going to continue, she
suddenly ran out of the office, leaving Janet alone and frustrated.

	Angela had then transferred to the flagship store on 34th street, never to
return.  Janet had always wondered why, if it had been related to her, or
if Angela had committed some other sexual transgression in the Queens
store.

	Janet smiled to herself, standing at the jewelry counter, where Angela had
worked.  She wondered how Angela might gasp if she knew that Janet had
become a Domme and a lover of Women!

	"Janet?"

	The sound of her name brought her back to the present, and Janet was
shocked to see who was addressing her from behind.

	"Tiffany," said Janet, stunned at seeing her former companion.

	"Janet, please," plead Tiffany, "I have to talk to you."

	"No," said Janet, "we have nothing to say.  Bye."

	Janet began to walk, but Tiffany grabbed onto her forearm and held her
tightly.

	"Please, I've waited months for this, hoping I might see you in town. 
Please, just a few minutes?" begged Tiffany.

	"Let me go, you're making a scene," said Janet.

	"Please?" begged Tiffany, "please, Janet?" 

	Janet noted that tears had formed at the edges of Tiffany's eyes.

	"Is this person bothering you?" asked a man in a dark suit who had
suddenly appeared, and Janet knew that he was store security.

	"No, it's all right," said Janet, "just an old acquaintance, thank you."

	"All right," said the man, who walked away, but remained in visual range.

	"Let's talk," offered Janet, "in the restaurant, someplace private."

	Inside Saks was a pricey restaurant, with private booths.  Janet and
Tiffany had taken one, and Janet had ordered coffee for two.  It was only
after they had been served and were alone, did Janet properly begin the
conversation.

	"Okay, Tiffany, what do you want to say?" Janet demanded.

	"Buy me from Lauren, please!  She's a cruel, horrible, Mistress," stated
Tiffany.

	"Why should I do that?" Janet asked.

	"For the love we once shared, for Erica's memory," cried Tiffany.

	"Which you betrayed," accused Janet, "tell me, why did you betray Erica?"

	"Janet, there were weeks when I didn't see Erica.  She didn't send me to
other Dommes, so I got fearful that she wanted to dump me.  So one night,
when I went to a bar, I met Lauren.  I didn't know that she was a Domme, or
even that she knew Erica either.  But I was seduced by her, she used me,
pumped me for information about Erica, and soon I was serving her, I was in
love with her," explained Tiffany.

	"Really, how convenient," mocked Janet, "except that Erica loved you, just
as she loved me.  You were always a little too emotional, Tiffany, a little
too impatient, always wanting immediate gratification.  And was that the
reason why you betrayed Erica?" accused Janet.

	"Yes, and I'm sorry, Janet.  For everything that happened."

	"Including trying to kill me," bluntly stated Janet.

	"I didn't know that was going to happen, honest!  All Lauren had said was
to bring you to the house, and she would do the rest.  I had no idea that
you were being set up until...."

	"Until I had a ballgag in my mouth and she was beating me without mercy?"
demanded Janet.

	"Yes," Tiffany cried, "Yes!"

	"Why didn't you stop her?" Janet asked.

	"The others restrained me, kept me back, placed something in my drink."

	"Really," said Janet, sipping her coffee, "was that also why you defended
Lauren in front of Stephanie?  I heard it from my bedroom, I wasn't asleep,
damn you."

	"She filled me full of lies, I was programmed like a robot."

	"How touching," sarcastically replied Janet.

	"Janet, no sooner than you traded me for Myra did Lauren have my breasts
ringed, and a medallion on Erica's ring on my labia.  Now she's talking
about having me branded!  She keeps me naked most of the time, a collared
slave in her house, for her amusement, and that of her friends.  She beats
me terribly, all the time!"

	"Which was the fate that she had planned for me, no doubt.  So she got you
instead, as consolation prize."

	"Why did you keep me chained, always bound, before you traded me?" asked
Tiffany.

	"Now surely you didn't think that I was that dumb, did you Tiffany?  How
could I let a potential killer run free in my house?  I even asked
Stephanie to keep you for a while, and told her to place you under strict
bondage at all times, so I wouldn't be tempted to hurt you, in retribution
for what you did to me."

	Tears flowed from Tiffany's eyes.

	"Janet, I'm sorry I betrayed you and Erica.  If I could do things
differently, I would, believe me.  But when I go back to her house today,
I'll be naked, and in chains again for weeks, maybe months, before she lets
me out again," cried Tiffany.

	"Do you know what would have happened had I won and you didn't try to kill
me?" asked Janet.

	"No, Janet, please tell me."

	"I would have kept you as a slave for a year, then promoted you to a
Domme.  Which was what Erica would have wanted.  Instead, I traded you for
Myra who recognized the difference between Lauren and myself.  You made
your choice, Tiffany.  I'm sorry, I really wish that it didn't turn out
this way."

	"Please buy me, please," begged Tiffany.

	Janet noted that some of the other patrons were staring, pretending not to
hear.  It wasn't every day that a woman was begging another to buy her, in
public.

	"No.  I'm sorry Tiffany, you made your choice," coldly stated Janet.

	"I'll be a good slave, I'll do whatever you ask, at least you won't beat
me till I bleed all the time," cried Tiffany.

	"Good bye, Tiffany," said Janet as she gathered her purse and rose to her
feet, "I'm leaving."

	Janet left Tiffany in the booth, and pressed a twenty in the hands of the
surprised waitress.  Tiffany remained alone, sobbing, her blonde hair
becoming a mess, tears falling to the table.

	When Janet reached her car, she paused before starting the engine.  She
remembered all of the times that she had made love with Tiffany, how they
had been allowed to use each other with Erica's consent.  Tears flowed from
her eyes.

	'First Cheryl, and now Tiffany,' Janet thought to herself, 'what next?'

	Somehow, Janet really didn't want to know the answer.

Part Two: The Test of Submission

	"Mistress, Cheryl has arrived," stated Tina.

	It was the early evening and Cheryl had arrived for her usual weekend to
serve Mistress Janet.  She had spent the day doing work for her company,
and writing reports about her other slaves, and other assorted tasks. 

	She had also assisted Tina in dirtying the house.  When Janet had been a
slave to Mistress Erica, she would often why the place always needed a
cleaning.  Either Erica was either a total slob, which was highly unlikely
given how organized she was in other sectors of her life, or else she was
always hosting wild parties in the Mansion, which was improbable as well.

	The answer had been that in order to give Janet (and Erica's other slaves)
something to do, Erica and Andrea would dirty the place before every slave
would visit.  She had found notes to that effect when she had been cleaning
out Erica's papers one day.

	"Good, I want to talk to her," said Janet, "please conduct her into the
library."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	After her visit to Saks earlier in the day, Janet had felt like buying
something, but not paying the ridiculous luxury prices that they wanted. 
So she had driven out of Greenwich to the local mall, walked into JC Penny,
and had purchased a few new fall outfits.

	Once, while shopping with Stephanie in Macy's, she had found a nametag
that an employee had dropped, and Janet had taken it for herself, quickly
placing it in her purse.  Over the intervening years, she had lost hers. 
The tag that she had found was a link back to her earlier and less
complicated life, and she wanted to have it.

	Seated behind the desk, she was wearing an outfit that could be worn both
to work and out on a date, a brown jacket with matching skirt that she
rather liked.

	Cheryl had worn a tight fitting blue dress that had shown off all her
curves.  While a dress that like might wind a man around her finger, it
would do nothing for her when Janet had Cheryl naked and under her lash
once more.   

	When Cheryl was seated and they were alone, Janet finally began the
conversation.  Cheryl, as usual, looked like she had stepped out of a
magazine cover.

	"Good evening, Cheryl."

	"Good evening, Mistress Janet," Cheryl answered.

	"I have been reviewing your records, comparing them to the progress made
by my other slaves.  You have done quite well," complimented Janet.

	"Thank you, Mistress."

	"How do you feel about being a slave?" asked Janet.

	"That is what I want to be, Mistress.  Your slave, and yours alone.  I
have taken your crop, been taken to bed, bound and gagged, and used as a
slave.  I am perfectly satisfied, Mistress," stated Cheryl.

	"No regrets?"

	"No, Mistress."

	"Not even after I had beat you severely with a flogger?  Or impaled you
with the phallus?" asked Janet.

	"No, Mistress, none."

	"Or even after I let you use one of my other slaves?  How did you feel
about holding the crop yourself?"

	"I enjoyed it, Mistress, thank you."

	"I am going to test your submission this weekend, Cheryl.  Test you to
your limit and in ways that will surprise you, do you understand me?"

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Janet was doing everything in her power to break through Cheryl's wall of
resistance.  To make her admit the reason that she had forced herself upon
Mistress Janet.  But nothing had worked after Janet had forced Cheryl to
realize that she was a slave.

	"You can still back out," Janet offered.

	"No, Mistress Janet, thank you.  I'll stay."

	"Tina!" called Janet.

	"Yes, Mistress?" asked Tina from the library doors.

	"Please ready Cheryl then return her to me in the library," ordered Janet.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	From the Dungeon Janet had selected a few items that she would begin to
use on Cheryl in the library.  That would be a prelude before she took her
slave down to the Dungeon before tonight's test would begin.

	"Mistress?" asked Tina on her return, "Cheryl is prepared, as you have
ordered."

	"Thank you, Tina.  You may stay with me, I may need you."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Cheryl was naked once again wearing just bracelets, with her wrists locked
behind her back.  Tina had not placed a collar around her neck, unlike any
other time before.

	"What are you missing, Cheryl?" asked Janet.

	"Your collar, Mistress."

	"Very good, Cheryl," answered Janet as she opened the top right desk
drawer.

	Inside was a small wooden box, which Janet withdrew and placed on the
desk.

	"Kneel," ordered Janet.

	Cheryl did as she was told, in complete silence.

	Janet rose to her feet, and walked around the desk to face Cheryl.  She
opened the box, and removed the collar within.  Closing the box, she
replaced it onto the desk.

	"Before I place it around your neck, look at the collar," ordered Janet.

	"You've placed my name on this one, Mistress," observed Cheryl.

	"Correct," said Janet as she locked the collar around Cheryl's neck, "this
collar is yours.  Whenever you are used in this House, you shall wear it
around your neck from now on.  You have earned your own collar, Cheryl."

	"Thank you, Mistress Janet."

	"You may not be so thankful after tonight," firmly said Janet.

	"Mistress?"

	"Tina, help Cheryl to her feet.  Have you ever heard of something called
an armbinder?"

	"No, Mistress," answered Cheryl.

	Tina assisted Cheryl to her feet as Janet opened the closet door, and
removed a very large triangular leather object, with numerous straps
attached.

	"Unlock her arms, and Cheryl I want you to keep your arms straight behind
your back," ordered Janet.

	"Yes, Mistress," replied Cheryl as Tina unlocked her wrists, thankful for
even a brief moment of freedom.

	"This is called an armbinder, and it will render you totally helpless.  It
can also be quite dangerous to the wearer, since it can place enormous
strain on your shoulders.  I shall place it on you very loosely, and if it
hurts, you must tell me immediately and I shall remove it.  Do you
understand?"

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Cheryl stood in silence, her arms behind her back and her legs slightly
open, as Janet opened the armbinder by unzipping it along its entire
length.  She displayed it for her slave, showing her where her arms would
go, the exterior straps that could also confine her arms, and finally the
main long straps that would loop over her shoulders and be buckled back
onto the main body of the armbinder.

	"Are you ready, Cheryl?"

	Cheryl nodded her head in silence, as Janet placed Cheryl's arms within
the device then slowly zipped up the leather halves.  Even though there
were a number of straps along its length; Janet refrained from using them.
After she had closed the zipper, she then looped and crossed the straps
around Cheryl's shoulders, then closing the roller buckles.

	Cheryl was totally helpless and at Janet's mercy.  She tried to pull
against the leather, and found that impossible.  All that she could do was
to move her hands (which were closed palm to palm) a few inches.  The
armbinder forced her pretty breasts to protrude, making them even more
available to whoever might want to use them.

	"Are you in pain, Cheryl?" asked Janet.

	"No, Mistress, I'm fine, thank you," answered Cheryl.

	"This model has a ring at the end," Janet pulled on the ring, "which can
then be chained to your ankles, or a vaginal or anal probe," stated Janet.

	"Thank you, Mistress," said Cheryl.

	"I want you to wear the armbinder for a while before I remove it. 
Tomorrow I shall make you wear it for some time, so that you may become
used to it."

	Cheryl nodded in silence.  Janet took inventory of the marks on Cheryl's
naked body, then reached out with her left hand and pulled on the D ring on
Cheryl's collar.

	"Are you my slave, Cheryl?" asked Janet.

	"Yes, Mistress," quickly answered Cheryl.

	Janet pinched Cheryl's already erect right nipple with her right hand,
making Cheryl flinch under her attentions.

	"I can do anything that I want with you, Cheryl.  Do you understand what
that means?" asked Janet.

	Cheryl nodded in silence instead of answering verbally.

	"Ahhhh!" cried Cheryl when Janet brutally inserted her fingers into
Cheryl's slit, "Ahhhh!"

	Cheryl tried to pull away, but Janet held firmly onto her collar with her
left hand.  She was totally helpless and Janet would not release her.

	"Tell me, Cheryl.  When you are all alone at home, do you desire my use
and my lash?"

	"Yes, Mistress," Cheryl tearfully answered.

	"Have I turned you into a slave?"

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Good," said Janet as she released Cheryl, and she cleaned her hand with a
tissue.

	Cheryl walked a few steps with the armbinder, having trouble maintaining
her balance.  Janet had ordered Tina to place a pair of modest heels on her
feet, and Tina followed Cheryl every step, prepared to catch her, lest she
fall.

	After a half-hour had elapsed, Janet called Cheryl over and ordered her to
remain still.  Cheryl stood silently as the armbinder was removed, and then
she was free of the leather device.

	"You may rub your wrists together, and move your arms to restore
circulation," ordered Janet, "now."

	"Thank you, Mistress," answered Cheryl as she did as she was told, moving
her arms as instructed.

	Janet replaced the armbinder back in the closet, only to remove something
else.  It was a long thin piece of wood that looked rather innocent, at
first glance.

	"This is a cane, Cheryl.  I have not used this on you yet until you were
ready.  You are now.  I want you to bend over the footstool, but you shall
not be bound."

	"Yes, Mistress," dutifully answered Cheryl.

	"The cane is a fearsome thing also," Janet began, "and it can be dangerous
and hurt badly as well if not correctly used.  I rarely use it, since I
prefer my hand, the crop, flogger, or even the whip.  But I want you to
experience it, Cheryl."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"This will hurt, but I shall deliver only a few modest strokes."

	Crack!

	Crack!

	Crack!

	Crack!

	Crack!

	"Owwwww!" cried Cheryl.

	"Thank you, Cheryl, that was quite brave of you to remain in one place as
I caned you."

	Janet had struck Cheryl on her bottom and on the outside of her thighs. 
Had she struck on the inside, Cheryl would have been screaming for her life
right now. 

	"Mistress, that hurt!" cried Cheryl, as she rubbed her sore flesh.

	"As I told you it would.  Tina, you may rub some salve into Cheryl's flesh
and help her to recover for a while.  Then take her down to the Dungeon.  I
shall be getting dressed upstairs, and will join you shortly."

	"Yes, Mistress," answered Tina.

	Janet left the library without another word, and she continued to hold the
cane in her hands.  She placed it under her arm as she ascended the stairs,
holding onto it like it was a good luck charm.

	While she was naked in her bedroom, she glanced at the day calendar on the
table.  October brought back many memories for her.

	Six years before, Erica had loaned her to Mistress Stephanie, who had
treated Janet harshly, then placed her on the rack.  How terrified Janet
had been, scared out of her wits with every click on the fearsome device
that she was restrained on.  However, no lasting harm had come of her
experience, and she had learned that Stephanie's bark was really worse than
her bite.

	Janet selected a long sleeved PVC Catsuit that covered her totally, plus a
pair of matching knee high boots.  Now that the weather had turned colder,
she could wear what was her favorite outfit that hugged her like a second
skin.

	When she entered the Dungeon, Cheryl was naked and kneeling on the carpet,
as ordered, with Tina standing nearby, holding Cheryl's leash.  Tina had
not changed out of her satin Maid's outfit since early in the morning, and
Janet considered having her change into something a bit more appropriate
for doing a scene.

	In the center of the Dungeon was something hidden under a single white
sheet, which betrayed no indication of it's purpose.  Cheryl stared at it,
until Janet broke her concentration.

	"Good evening, Cheryl.  I trust that Tina had tended to your wounds?"

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Be warned that after a time, you shall learn how to take many strokes
with the cane.  Even harsher ones than the mild ones that I gave you."

	"Yes, Mistress Janet."

	"Do you ride a horse?" asked Janet.

	"Mistress?"

	"I asked if you ride a horse.  Are you one of the horsey set at the
country club that plays polo on weekends?"

	"I know how to ride, Mistress, but I don't own a horse," answered Cheryl.

	"Well, that's a start, when did you last ride?"

	"Some time ago, Mistress."

	"It's been too long then," observed Janet, as she removed the sheet from
the object, revealing what looked like a large A made of wood that had
eyelets for attaching chains.

	Cheryl gasped when she guessed the purpose of the thing, which she had
never seen before.

	"It's called a horse, for obvious reasons, Cheryl.  And you're going to
ride it this evening, before I use you.  Help me, Tina."

	Cheryl was helped to her feet and her leash removed and her wrist
bracelets unlocked.  Then she was made to mount the horse, and her wrists
were again locked behind her back, then Janet locked her ankle bracelets to
the horse.  Finally, Janet locked one of the ceiling chains to Cheryl's
wrist bracelets, pitching her forward.

	"Your entire weight now is resting on your sex," described Janet, "which
will become uncomfortable very quickly."

	"Mistress, please?" asked Cheryl, "release me?"

	"I said that I would test you, Cheryl.  You shall remain on the horse
until I decide when to take you down, and not before.  Besides, it is far
less painful than the cane, unless you would prefer a few more strokes with
that instead," offered Janet.

	"No, Mistress."

	"I could have placed a phallus on the horse, which you would now have
inside of you.  Instead, since this is your first time, you shall ride
without it."

	"Thank you, Mistress Janet."

	"Tina you may go and change into something a little more suitable for the
Dungeon," ordered Janet.

	"Thank you, Mistress," answered Tina as she bowed slightly, then walked
out of the Dungeon, leaving Cheryl and Janet together.

	Janet walked over to her throne like chair, sat down, and opened the
newest issue of Vogue.  So this was where Tina had left it!  She had been
wondering where it had been, and Janet had wanted to read it.

	Cheryl, in her uncomfortable position on the horse, tried to shift herself
so that the pain would lessen somewhat.  Instead, nothing that she did had
any effect, and she cried silently to herself.  Janet would glance at her
occasionally.

	She had given Tina a hand signal to indicate that she should take nearly
an hour to change, then return.  Janet wanted to be alone with Cheryl, in
order that she could properly gauge Cheryl's reactions from being on the
horse for a long period of time.

	Under the sleeve of her PVC Catsuit, Janet wore a small watch on the
inside of her wrist.  She would check the time every now and then, but not
be too obvious about it.

	"Mistress, please!" begged Cheryl.

	Janet rose from her seat, and closed the magazine.  She walked over to the
horse, and played with Cheryl's erect nipples.

	"Ahhhh!" cried Cheryl.

	"What's wrong, Cheryl?"

	"My pussy, Mistress.  It's being split in two!"

	"Would you rather that I slice your bottom again with the cane?  That is
the choice that I'm giving you tonight.  Either the horse or the cane,
Cheryl.  Those are your only alternatives today," coldly stated Janet.

	"Please, please," begged Cheryl, tears in her eyes.

	Janet reached between Cheryl's legs, and pulled at a few of Cheryl's pubic
hairs.  She played with Cheryl's pussy, feeling the hot pained flesh
between her slave's legs.

	"Owwww!" cried Cheryl when Janet pulled a few out.

	"Perhaps your next punishment shall be to have that lovely bush of yours
shaved.  If you think that having a bikini wax at a salon can be painful
and embarrassing, you should have your pussy shaved for a few months.  It
will give you a new meaning to the word naked," suggested Janet.

	"I think that nipple clamps are in order, don't you?" asked Janet.  

	Janet unzipped her Catsuit, for in advance she had secreted a pair of
clamps in her black lacy bra that she was wearing under the PVC material. 
She removed them, and without further taunting, placed them onto Cheryl's
erect and extended nipples.

	"Ahhhh!" sobbed Cheryl.

	"That's better, now be quiet, lest I place a gag in your mouth, Cheryl,"
stated Janet.

	Janet noted the mournful look on Cheryl's face as she resumed her seat,
and began to read again where she had left off.  Her slave looked rather
pained in her place on the horse.

	"Cheryl?"

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"I am not seated here to be callous," explained Janet, "but rather to
teach you a lesson.  A bound slave should NEVER be left alone, under any
circumstances, do you understand?" asked Janet.

	"Yes, Mistress Janet," sobbed Cheryl.

	"Especially if they are gagged," added Janet.

	"I understand, Mistress."

	"Good."

	Janet was interrupted when the Dungeon door opened to admit Tina, who had
now changed her satin Maid's outfit for a leather vest and pants.  Plus a
pair of elbow length gloves to complete her outfit.

	"Excellent choice," complimented Janet.

	"Thank you, Mistress," answered Tina, "I desire to wear something besides
the Maid's outfit sometimes."

	"Would you like to use Cheryl?" offered Janet, "and I shall be happy to
assist?"

	"Yes, Mistress, thank you," gratefully answered Tina, "how may I use her?"

	"In any way that you desire, and in the harshest possible manner, which
was what I had intended to do with her."

	"Thank you, Mistress," answered Tina.

	Janet smiled, for if Cheryl resented the fact that Tina would now be using
her instead of Janet that would prepare her for Saturday, when Janet's real
plans for her would unfold.

	"She's yours," said Janet.

	"I see that you've placed nipple clamps on her," observed Tina.

	"Yes," answered Janet.

	"Owww!" cried Cheryl when Tina pulled at one.

	"I thought that you were going to use me, Mistress!" cried Cheryl.

	"I have trained Tina both as my slave and assistant," described Janet,
"and she is perfectly capable of handling you in the Dungeon as well as the
rest of the house."

	"I want to be used by you, Mistress!" protested Cheryl.

	"You're not in a position to demand anything," coldly answered Janet as
she rose from her seat, removed a riding crop from the cabinet, then handed
it to Tina.

	Cheryl looked in shock at the two women facing her, not certain what to
say next.

	"You may begin, Tina."

	"Thank you, Mistress."

	"What is your safeword?" demanded Tina.

	"Sin, Mistress," answered Cheryl.

	"Very good, Cheryl," replied Tina, as she struck her first blow with the
crop onto Cheryl's skin.

	Because of the way that she was bound to the horse, all that Tina could
strike with the crop was the outside of Cheryl's legs, her breasts, and
bottom.  But that was enough, as Tina delivered light strokes that made
Cheryl moan and fight her place on the horse.

	"Aaaaah!"

	"Aaaaah!"

	"Aaaaah!" cried Cheryl each time that she was struck with the riding crop.

	After Tina had delivered about a dozen small strokes, she offered the crop
to Cheryl's lips, and the bound woman kissed the crop without any
complaints.  Then Tina roughly removed the clamps, making Cheryl moan in
response.

	"I want her removed from the horse, she needs to be flogged," ordered
Tina.

	"Yes, Mistress," answered Janet.

	In reality, it took both of them to release Cheryl from the horse, then
help her down.  Sitting on her sex for a prolonged period of time had made
Cheryl stiff and sore, so she was given time to recover from her ordeal. 
In preparation for what would be her next trial to come.

	"Spread-eagle her on the table," ordered Tina.

	The table was one of Janet's newest purchases.  It was a table with chains
at each corner, which could be raised or lowered depending on how it was to
be used.

	Cheryl was placed upon on it, and her wrist and ankle bracelets were
locked onto each corner.  She was then slightly elevated, and tipped
forward to allow for easier use by Tina.

	"Thank you, Mistress Janet," said Tina.

	"You're welcome, you may proceed," ordered Janet.

	Tina selected a common leather flogger, and presented it to Cheryl's lips
to kiss before use.

	"Kiss the flogger," ordered Tina.

	"NO!" screamed Cheryl, "I want to be used by Mistress Janet."

	"I suggest that you obey Tina, Cheryl," suggested Janet as she resumed her
seat, "I did give you to her for the evening, and she can be quite nasty if
provoked."

	Tina then began to strike Cheryl with the flogger.  She had chosen a
leather one, and the heavy strands made a dull thud as they impacted onto
Cheryl's flesh.  She pulled at her chains in an effort to free herself, but
the leather and steel that restrained her was implacable.

	Cheryl moaned as each stroke left it's imprint on her naked body, and she
cried as Tina continued her relentless use of her.  Tina would strike at
her breasts, belly, the inside of her thighs and sex, and her underarms.

	"Ahhhhh!" cried Cheryl.

	"Ahhhhh!"

	Stroke after stroke, Tina made certain that no part of Cheryl's body
remained unscathed by the use of the flogger.  Cheryl may have been defiant
at the beginning, but she would not be at the end of her use.

	"Sin!" screamed Cheryl, "Sin!"

	Tina stopped the use of the flogger, and Janet rose from her seat, and
they both unlocked Cheryl from the table.  She sat on a bench, sobbing into
a tissue that Janet had produced.

	Tina then took Cheryl into her arms, and held her closely as she dried
Cheryl's tears.  Cheryl remembered when Janet had done this before, when
she had been used nearly to her breaking point.

	"Are you all right?" asked Tina, softly.

	"Yes, Mistress.  Can I rest?"

	"Of course you may," said Tina.

	Tina held Cheryl closely in her arms, then took her upstairs and to bed. 
Janet put everything away in the Dungeon, and closed the lights and locked
up.

	They had set up everything together in advance of course, and Cheryl would
never know that.  Janet had wanted to drive Cheryl to her safeword without
actually hurting her.  It was an excellent lesson for her.

*		*		*		*		*		*

Part Three: The Next Day

Saturday October 3, 1998

	In the morning, after breakfast, Janet had asked Cheryl to join her in the
library.  Cheryl was naked, wearing only her collar and bracelets and
heels.  Tina had bathed her, and soothed her punished skin with salves and
creams.  Cheryl's skin was a dull red, but Tina had not broken the skin nor
really hurt her.  Tina was too experienced a Domme for that to happen.

	"How do you feel?" asked Janet when Cheryl sat across from her in the
Dining Room.

	"All right, Mistress," Cheryl answered.

	"Did Tina hurt you?"

	"No, Mistress.  Not really, I was scared and frightened.  I am sorry that
I called my safeword."

	"That is where you are wrong, Cheryl."

	"Mistress?"

	"You must never be afraid to call your safeword, because that may be what
will save your life," answered Janet.

	"I don't understand, Mistress."

	"One day I'll tell you the story, when you're up to it.  Until then,
regard what happened here as a lesson."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Attend to your work with Tina, we have a guest coming later."

	"Yes, Mistress," answered Cheryl as she rose and bowed to Janet before
leaving.
	*		*		*		*		*
"Please conduct our guest into the library," ordered Janet, as she glanced
at Cheryl, who looked suddenly worried.

	Tina conducted a man in his late thirties into the library.  He was tall,
fit, and thin, dressed in black, and very attractive.  Janet watched as
Cheryl's eyes opened wide with desire.

	"Craig, I would like to introduce Cheryl.  She is my newest slave, still
under training."

	Cheryl had looked like she was going to introduce herself, but remained
silent.

	"You may kneel on the floor, Cheryl, address him as Master, and speak only
when spoken to," Janet ordered.

	"Master Craig," said Cheryl after she had assumed her place on the floor.

	"I have been training her in private for a few months, and she has not
been shown to any other Masters or Dommes yet, so she has not yet been
trained in public address yet.  But she will learn," described Janet.

	"What is your name?" asked Craig as her sat in a library chair.

	"Cheryl Branford, Master," shakily replied Cheryl.

	"How have you been trained?"

	"I have been spanked, whipped, flogged, and cropped, Master," replied
Cheryl.

	"Always thorough," Craig said to Janet.

	"Thank you.  It is now time that I test Cheryl's submission, don't you
agree?" asked Janet.

	"Yes."

	"Cheryl, since you have proven yourself, I would now like you to suck
Craig's cock and give him an orgasm with that mouth of yours," ordered
Janet.

	"Mistress?" answered Cheryl with a look of horror on her face.

	"That's right, Cheryl," Janet answered.

	"I, I………," stammered Cheryl.

	"Craig, could you excuse us please for a moment?" asked Janet, "I would
like to have a word in private with Cheryl."

	"Of course," he answered, rose to his feet, and left the library, closing
the door behind him.

	"You have angered me greatly, Cheryl, in refusing a direct order of mine
and embarrassing me in front of a guest."

	"Mistress, I thought that you were only friends with other Dominatrixes!"
protested Cheryl.

	"If you are still worried about me loaning you to another Domme, that will
be arranged shortly.  Master Craig is here from California, he is a good
friend of mine, and I want to show him my newest slave.  That means you,
Cheryl," said Janet coldly.

	"Mistress!"

	"If it's a health problem that you're worried about Cheryl, he will be
wearing a condom.  But is it something more?  Did you think that you could
be submissive to a Domme here in the East without that affecting you when
you went home?  Is that it?" asked Janet.

	"I don't know, Mistress!" cried Cheryl, "don't embarrass me this way,
please?"

	"You have proven that you desire the lash and the crop, have been trained
in the use of your mouth and bottom, and are my slave.  Once you return
home Cheryl, you will desire to be spanked and used, whether it be by a
Master or a Mistress.  You are my slave, Cheryl, by your own admission and
behavior."

	"Mistress, I have never done that to a man before!" protested Cheryl.

	"Only with sex toys?" asked Janet.

	"Yes, Mistress!"

	"Well then, I think that it's time that you put your knowledge to proper
use," said Janet.

	"Please, Mistress, no, not with a man?" begged Cheryl.

	"Are you going to act this way when I loan you to another Domme?"
questioned Janet, displeasure evident in her voice.

	"No, Mistress."

	"What you have failed to understand Cheryl is that you are a submissive. 
That means obeying the orders of men and women, Masters and Dommes.  You
are now going to suck on Craig's cock, then he will use you in the Dungeon,
and then probably take you to bed.  Do you submit, Cheryl, if not then you
are free to leave, never to return," lectured Janet.

	"I submit, Mistress Janet," cried Cheryl, "I submit."

	"Take a tissue from the box and dry your eyes, Cheryl.  Craig will not
want to see you crying as you suck his cock, do you understand, else you
will be embarrassing me.  And you don't want to do that, do you?" asked
Janet.

	"No, Mistress."

	"Then you will compose yourself, and be prepared to be used by a Master,
Cheryl.  You will submit your body, your mouth and probably your sex to
him.  And if you fail to please him, you will suffer the consequences."

	"Yes, Mistress," answered Cheryl.

	After Craig was returned to the library, he removed his boots, black
jeans, and pulled down his shorts before seating himself in a chair.  Janet
passed him a condom, and his cock sprang to erection.

	"Come here," ordered Craig.

	"Yes, Master," answered Cheryl.

	"You know what to do," said Craig as he passed her the foil wrapped
object.

	Cheryl unwrapped the condom, then unrolled the latex onto his swelling
organ.  Then, hesitantly at first, she took his organ into her mouth,
sucking slowly at first.

	Craig did not push or force her, instead sat on the edge of the chair and
let Cheryl proceed at her own pace.  She was clearly embarrassed because of
the blush on her cheeks, but she continued to suck on his cock and draw it
deeper back into her throat.

	Mistress Janet sat behind her desk, watching the activities as an
interested observer.  There were no sounds in the library except for the
occasional sucking sound from Cheryl and Craig's small moans of pleasure. 
Tina had been ordered not to join them, and Janet stayed quiet.

	Once Cheryl had gotten over her initial embarrassment and fright, she took
Craig deep into her mouth.  Her tongue tickled his glans, and she could
feel his pulsating cock deep in her throat.  Her mouth puckered every time
that she sucked on him.

	Craig was known for his ability to restrain himself, but Janet could see
that he was weakening.  For Cheryl had clearly excited him, and was showing
her ability to delight a Master.

	"Ahhhh!" cried Craig, as his body shook with one orgasm after another.

	Janet watched as Cheryl sucked at the latex, suddenly warmed by Craig's
hot come.  It was only after Craig had stopped his climaxes did Cheryl
remove her mouth from his limp organ.

	"Thank you, Cheryl."

	"You're welcome, Master," said Cheryl from her kneeling position on the
floor.

	"The bathroom is behind that door," pointed out Janet to Craig.

	"Thank you, Janet."

	Craig rose to his feet, and picked up his jeans, and walked into the
bathroom, closing the door behind him.

	"You have done well, Cheryl.  I told you that one day that you would make
a Master happy, and you have done so."

	"Thank you, Mistress."

	"Once Craig has cleaned and rested, he will want you in the Dungeon.  I
shall be attending, since Tina has the night off."

	"I understand, Mistress.  Thank you for training me."

	"You're welcome, Cheryl."
	*		*		*		*		*		*
	Dinner that evening was a strange affair.  Craig had placed a suitcase in
a bedroom after Cheryl had serviced him, then fallen asleep from his trip.

	Afterwards, Janet and Craig had been served Dinner, which was Shrimp
Scampi that Tina had prepared and Cheryl had served.  Dinner had gone off
without a hitch, and Janet noted the way that Cheryl looked at her guest.

	There was no doubt that Cheryl was attracted to Craig.  The way she stood
nearby while serving him, how she knelt before him.  Cheryl was clearly
attracted to her Male Dom guest.

	They had eaten late, and talked while Cheryl and Tina first ate together
then cleaned up.  Tina would help to bathe and prepare Cheryl, then she
would be going out by herself.

	Janet would be assisting Craig in the Dungeon, just as she had assisted
Tina that night before.  She wondered just how Cheryl was going to react
this evening.
	*		*		*		*		*
	"What is your safeword, Cheryl?" asked Craig.

	It was late in the evening, and Craig, Janet, and Cheryl were now
downstairs in the Dungeon.  Tina had prepared Cheryl, then showered and
dressed, and had taken the Toyota.

	Craig was wearing a leather vest, black jeans, and boots.  Janet had
chosen a simple leather bra and skirt.  Cheryl was of course naked, wearing
only her collar and bracelets.

	"Sin, Master," answered Cheryl from her kneeling position on the floor.

	"Do you consent to my use, given by permission of Mistress Janet?" asked
Craig.

	"Yes, Master."

	Craig was very attractive in the outfit that he had chosen.  His firm
muscles rippled under his skin and the black leather every time that he
moved, and his black piercing eyes looked like they could discern one's
very soul within.

	"Thank you, Mistress Janet," Craig said to his hostess.

	"You're welcome."

	"Prepare to be used."

	"Yes, Master," Cheryl answered.

	Cheryl knelt on the carpet, her legs open, hands on her knees.  She looked
eager for whatever was going to happen next.  Even if that meant that she
was going to be painfully administered by Janet's guest.

	"Janet, place her against the post, I want to crop her," ordered Craig.

	"Yes, Sir!"

	Janet pulled Cheryl up by her collar then locked her hands onto the post
above her head.  Then she locked a spreader bar on her ankle cuffs so the
Cheryl would remain open for whatever Craig might deign to use her for.

	"Done, Master," said Janet when finished.

	Craig then walked over to the cabinet, and opened it, removing a crop that
he flexed in his hands.  He motioned Janet over to his side.

	"Owwwww!" cried Janet after Craig had struck her unexpectedly with the
crop.

	"You failed to hand me the crop," admonished Craig, a smile on his face.

	"Yes, Sir!"

	"Now onto Cheryl," said Craig as he walked over to the bound woman, "kiss
the crop."

	"Yes, Master," answered Cheryl as she kissed the handle when it was
offered to her.

	"You will count each stroke, and thank me after every five," ordered
Craig.

	"Yes, Master."

	"One!"

	"Two!"

	"Three!"

	"Four!"

	"Five, thank you, Master!"

	Janet watched her friend at work and smiled.  Craig would delivered a
series of five strokes of every increasing force, then every tenth stroke,
use his hand to rub Cheryl's heated body.

	"Eleven!"

	"Twelve!"

	"Thirteen!"

	"Fifteen, thank you, Master!"

	"Eighteen!"

	"Twenty, thank you, Master!"

	Craig was not using strokes harsh enough to really hurt, just mildly sting
and would leave a mark behind.  The crop's tip would land on Cheryl's
bottom, her underarms, and between her legs.

	After a time, Janet observed that Cheryl would deliberately stick her
behind out.  Quietly, she circled around to see the look on Cheryl's face
during her use.

	"Twenty-two!"

	"Twenty-four!"

	"Twenty-five, thank you, Master!" panted Cheryl.

	'She wants him,' Janet thought to herself, 'she's submitting herself to me
for whatever reason, but Cheryl wants a MaleDom.'

	There was no doubt in Janet's mind as she saw the unmistakable look of
desire on Cheryl's face.  It was the look of a person who not only wanted,
but needed a Master (or Mistress) to fulfill all of their desires.

	'I helped Cheryl to bring out her submissive desires, to train her
sexually in submission.  But she doesn't want a Dominatrix to serve, she
wants a Master,' Janet thought in silence.

	Craig then looked past Cheryl to Janet, and she gave him a knowing glance,
then nodded in silence.  Craig understood, and replied in kind.

	"Thirty, thank you, Master!"

	"Kiss the crop," ordered Craig, as her presented the handle to Cheryl's
lips.

	"Yes, Master," answered Cheryl.

	"Janet, you may release her and let her rest for a short time, before her
next ordeal," ordered Craig.

	"Yes, Master," replied Janet.

	Janet unlocked the spreader bar, then released Cheryl's wrists.  The woman
was shaken, but not truly hurt.  She was covered in red marks and sweat,
but was holding herself quite well, considering her use in the last two
days.

	"You have done well, Cheryl," said Janet as she conducted Cheryl to the
bench to rest.

	"Owwww!" cried Cheryl when her sensitive bottom touched the leather of the
bench.

	"You'll be all right."

	"Thank you, Mistress."

	Cheryl was allowed to rest, and drink some water and compose herself.  Her
breasts rose and fell with every breath that she took, but she looked
different somehow.  In how she held herself.

	"Cheryl?" asked Craig after a period of time had elapsed, "are you ready
to proceed?"

	"Yes, Master."

	"Janet has told me that Tina used you yesterday with a flogger.  Is that
correct?"

	"Yes, Sir."

	"Because you have been used with the crop and flogger within the last two
days, and you are experienced according to Mistress Janet, I think that it
is only correct that you select the instrument of your next use."

	"Master?" replied Cheryl, a look of shock on her face.

	"Go to the cabinet and select the instrument of your next use," ordered
Craig.

	"Yes, Master," answered Cheryl.

	Sheepishly at first, Cheryl rose to her feet and walked over to the
cabinet.  She opened it to reveal all of the instruments of her use in the
Dungeon.  Tina had taught her how to care for all of the things within, and
it was usually Erica who used them upon her.

	Naked, Cheryl looked over all of the various instruments that had caused
her pain and pleasure during her training by Mistress Janet.  Finally, she
selected a coiled leather whip, walked back to Craig, and feel to her knees
in front of him, presenting the whip to him in her hands.

	"Please use the whip, Master?" asked Cheryl.

	"Are you sure that is what you want?" asked Craig.

	"Yes, Master, the whip," stated Cheryl.

	"I could hurt you with it," cautioned Craig.

	"I know that you will not."

	"Janet, please suspend Cheryl from the ceiling chain, opening her arms and
legs with a spreader bar?" asked Craig.

	"Yes, Sir."

	Mistress Janet did as her friend Craig requested, and soon Cheryl was
hanging from the ceiling chain, her arms and legs locked to spreader bars
in the shape of an X.  Within her bondage, Cheryl held herself tightly
erect, proud in her appearance.

	"Cheryl is ready, Sir," announced Janet.

	"Thank you, Janet," said Craig as he coiled the gleaming whip in his
hands.

	Craig looked over Cheryl, and ran one of his hands from her shoulders to
the swell of her breast, her flat stomach, her mons, and open slit.  Cheryl
moaned slightly as he tenderly caressed her.

	"Are you ready?" asked Craig.

	"Yes, Master," confidently answered Cheryl.

	"Remember your safeword," cautioned Craig.

	"Sin, Master."

	Crack!

	Crack!

	Crack!

	Crack!

	"Aaaaah!" cried Cheryl.

	Janet watched as Craig carefully used the whip on Cheryl.  In expectation
of the lash, she had held herself tightly, and Janet saw the tension in her
muscles before she was struck with the whip.  Craig was a Dom who was very
experienced with the lash, and knew how to use it correctly.

	Crack!

	Crack!

	Crack!

	Crack!

	Crack!

	"Are you all right, Cheryl?"

	"Yes, Master," answered Cheryl.

	Craig moved a few steps forward and ever so gently used his fingertip to
feel where the whip had struck Cheryl's flesh.  Her nakedness was now
adorned with fresh stripes from his whip.

	"Do you want to continue?"

	"Yes, Master," Cheryl confidently replied.

	Crack!

	Crack!

	Crack!

	Janet noted how Craig would sometimes crack the whip in the air a few
inches from Cheryl's body, so that Cheryl would think that her body was
being struck.  Other times, the whip would wrap itself around her body. 
But those strokes were delivered with such little force that they rarely
marked at all.  Craig would only strike her with the whip in such a way
that the flesh was not broken, but only marked.  A stroke that was
delivered with only a carefully measured amount of force designed to sting
and not maim.

	"Are you all right?" asked Craig.

	"Yes, Master, please continue?"

	Without pause, Craig continued his use of Cheryl.  She would flinch every
time that the whip would strike her body, but she did not cry or scream. 
Instead, she looked confident during her use.

	Crack!

	Crack!

	Crack!

	Crack!

	"You have trained her well, Janet," complimented Craig.

	"Thank you, Master."

	Crack!

	Crack!

	Crack!

	"Aaaaaah!" cried Cheryl.

	"Are you all right?"

	"Yes, Master, I'm fine."

	Stroke after stroke, Cheryl's body was laced with stripes from the whip. 
But Cheryl did not scream or panic, instead holding herself resolutely with
her bondage, absorbing every stroke as Master Craig used her to her limit.

	Crack!

	Crack!

	Crack!

	Crack!

	Crack!

	Crack!

	"Janet, you may take her down," ordered Craig, "your session is over."

	"Thank you Master," panted Cheryl.

	When Cheryl was seated on the bench, her chest still heaving from the
ordeal, Craig offered her the whip's handle.  She kissed it without even
being ordered to.

	"You have been well trained by a good Mistress," stated Craig.

	"Yes, Master, thank you," answered Cheryl.

	"Do you want to join me in bed this evening?" asked Craig.

	"Yes, Master, I would like that very much."

	Craig sensually ran his fingertips over her striped, sweat stained body.

	"You were very brave, Cheryl.  To take the lash from a Master that you did
not know."

	"Thank you, Master."

	"Janet, please give her a bath and have her ready in my room in about an
hour," ordered Craig.

	"Yes, Master," answered Janet.

	Janet helped Cheryl to her feet, and walked with her to the door.  She did
not bind Cheryl, nor did she have to.  Cheryl now obviously wanted the
evening to progress onto the next phase, by the spring in her step.

	Next Janet stripped, and drew a hot steamy bath for Cheryl, which she
immersed herself in.  Cheryl moaned with pleasure when Janet bathed her,
washed her hair and cleaned and prepared her.

	"Mistress Janet?" asked Cheryl.

	"Yes, Cheryl."

	"Why did you bathe me?"

	"Because Craig ordered it, and it's been a long time since I did that for
another woman."

	"You've done that before?"

	"I wasn't always a Mistress," explained Janet.

	"Thank you, Mistress, for training me."

	"You're welcome, Cheryl.  Now Craig awaits!  You don't want to anger a
Master, do you?"

	"No, Mistress, I do not!" 

	When she was finally ready, Janet escorted Cheryl to Craig's bedroom,
where he was sitting in bed, reading a book from Janet's library.

	"Thank you, Janet.  That will be all," ordered Craig, as Cheryl walked
into his bedroom naked, and closed the door behind her.
	*		*		*		*		*		*
Part Three: The Discovery

Monday October 5, 1998

	Doreen Kelly closed the last of Erica's Medical Reports, she had been
reading them at Janet's request.  A slave of Janet's, she was an LRN at a
local hospital.

	She closed the file folder, and walked from the Dining Room to the
Library, where Janet was staring at her computer monitor.

	"Mistress?"

	"Please be seated, Doreen.  And thank you again for your help.  What do
those Medical Reports say?"

	"This woman, this Erica Riken.  Who was she?" asked Doreen.

	"That is of no consequence, Doreen.  What do they say?" demanded Janet.

	"Erica was seriously ill, Mistress.  She was badly anemic, and had
leukemia.  She was receiving treatment, but it doesn't seem to have been
working.  Erica may have been dying, but the reports don't say anything
past June 1993."

	"Thank you, Doreen, that will be all.  Not a word of this to anyone, do
you understand?"

	"Yes, Mistress."

	After Doreen had left, Janet opened the file, reading the notes that her
slave had written about Erica's condition.  Dying!

	Janet broke down in tears sobbing, for she had truly loved Erica with all
of her heart.  The woman who had introduced her to the pain and pleasure of
submission had been in reality hiding a deadly secret from her, even when
she had come to se Janet months after she had won the competition.

	'Erica you didn't stop being a Domme because you got married, you stopped
instead because you were dying,' Janet thought.

	Tears ran down Janet's cheeks, so that was why Erica had referred to Janet
as her last slave.  That had been the real reason why Erica had devised the
competition between her and Tiffany.

	The Medical reports had begun in 1992, just after Janet had begun to serve
Erica.  Janet looked at the diary dated 1992, and wondered if she should
skip ahead and read that now.  But she was still in 1989, and resolved to
read them in sequence.

	'Erica, now I know why you were in a rush to train me as slave, because
you felt you didn't have much time left.  No wonder Andrea later told me
that you loved me so much.  I was going to be your final slave and legacy!'
thought Janet as she cried in the library.
	*		*		*		*		*		*

>From the Diary of Cheryl Branford
	The Sunday Times lays unopened on the coffee table in the living room, and
no matter how I try to interest myself in reading it, the news of the
outside world just doesn't interest me.
	I sit in a chair, crying, trying to sort out my feelings.  But I cannot,
because I am now a storm of raging emotions.
	Last night, after a session with the whip at the hands of Master Craig
that should have left me screaming in pain, I shamelessly joined him in
bed.  I have never been so attracted to a man in all of my life.
	Craig took me into his bed, and used me as fiercely with his cock as with
the whip.  He impaled with his shaft, and I clung tightly to him, my legs
curled around him as he thrust time after time inside me.  I have never had
sex with any other man like him before.
	Three times he took me in my pussy, and by the time he was finished I was
stiff and sore.  Then he rolled me over, placed a new condom on his cock,
then spread plenty of lubricant in my bottom and took me from behind.  I
opened myself to him, enjoying the fullness of his cock in my ass.  He
penetrated me, and I moaned with pleasure, not pain. 
	In my book reading about submission I now remember that a Dominant is
supposed to keep a slave off balance, constantly challenging them with one
new experience after another.
	Mistress Janet has certainly done that by providing me with the man of my
dreams, who would look at home on the beach at Venice.  Except that this
man would not hesitate to place me over his knee to spank me, or hang me
from the ceiling to be whipped.
	When I began this mad scheme, Janet warned me that I was going down a path
of no return.  I should have listened and fled back to California.
	Instead Janet has awakened the submissive inside me, and I now desire the
lash and crop.
	But most of all, I want a Master to own me, and use me in the way that I
desire.  And to make me his slave, forever.

The Challenge
CH12: Changes

Part One: The Promotion

March 1989

	The restaurant was mostly empty as the waitress seated Erica and Stephanie
in a private booth.  She took their orders for drinks, then left them alone
with their menus to decide what they wanted for lunch.

	"How are you today?" asked Erica.

	"Still smarting from the way you used me on the weekend, Mistress Erica,"
softly answered Stephanie, "other than that, just fine."

	They were interrupted by the arrival of their drinks, and then they
ordered so that they could be left alone until lunch arrived.

	"Are you excited?"

	"Yes, Mistress.  I'm very scared," admitted Stephanie.

	"Nothing to be scared about, Stephanie.  You're the first of my slaves to
be promoted to Domme, a singular honor.  You've earned it."

	"Thank you, Mistress."

	"Erica will do in public, Stephanie.  Unless you want me to put you over
my knee and make a scene."

	"That could be rather nice, Mistress.  Er, Erica, sorry."

	Erica wore a white silk blouse, and red leather skirt and matching shoes.
She looked like she was going out on a date, rather than meeting a friend
for lunch.

	"I'll spank you later," threatened Erica.

	"Thank you, Erica."

	Stephanie had chosen a sweatshirt, jeans, and sneakers, dressing even more
casual than Erica did.  Still, she had just had her hair done in the
morning, and she looked wonderful.  Unlike the depressed woman of three
years before, she smiled, paid attention to her appearance, and now dressed
for the occasion.

	"Here's lunch!" announced the waitress.

	They had chosen fajitas for two, and the waitress placed a steaming tray
of steak and chicken and onions between the two women, followed by a plate
of flour tortillas, and bowls containing sour cream, tomatoes, and
guacamole.

	"Can I get you anything else?"

	"Two more beers, please?" asked Erica.

	"Sure, be right back," answered the waitress.

	"How old do you think that she is?" asked Erica, when the waitress had
left.

	"Twenty or so, goes to college.  Just like I did," proudly answered
Stephanie.

	"You waitressed?" asked Erica.

	"Sure," answered Stephanie, taking a swallow from her beer mug, "when I
was at Stamford, far away from home."

	"Tell me about it?"

	"I wanted a job, I didn't have to work.  But my classes were a breeze, and
I whizzed through my homework.  One day, at the local eatery I saw a sign
looking for help, so I got the job."

	"Your drinks," announced the waitress, as she placed the fresh beer mugs
on the table.

	"Thank you," replied Stephanie.

	"You're welcome."

	"What happened?" asked Erica.

	"I worked there for over a year when I was in school.  I rather liked it,
but I kept it a secret from Mom and Dad.  They were just scandalized when
they found out!" laughed Stephanie.

	"Why?"

	"They send me to prep school, tutors, everything!  Then I get a job as a
waitress instead of some cushy internship somewhere."

	Both women had rolled their dinner into the flour tortillas and talked
between bites and swallows of beer.

	"How did they find out?" asked Erica.

	"One of our family friends came into the restaurant and called home.  Dad
called me then visited California on business.  Well, that ended my little
waitressing job.  Damn, I liked it.  Got lots of dates, even had my ass
squeezed sometimes.  Wasn't bad," commented Stephanie.

	"Not the sort of thing for a person in your class, was it?" asked Erica.

	"No, but I liked it.  The late hours and hectic conditions got me ready
for Medical school, though.  But that's over now too."

	"Perhaps you'll practice again someday," suggested Erica.

	"No, Mistress, I don't think so," answered Stephanie, her eyes looking
down at her plate.

	Erica then realized that she should not have brought the subject up. 
Stephanie could be caned until she bled, for the one wound in her mind was
the loss of her family that she blamed herself for.

	"I'm sorry, Stephanie, I shouldn't have said that.  I know that it still
hurts," apologized Erica.

	"It's all right, Erica.  I know that you mean well, and time does heal
wounds.  Some of them, anyway," concluded Stephanie.

	They both ate in silence for a few minutes, rolling one tortilla after
another, then washing them down with fresh drinks that the waitress brought
after Erica had asked her back to the table.

	"Have you thought about what you're going to wear this Saturday?" asked
Erica.

	"A leather bra and skirt will do."

	"That means I'll have to wear something different.  I guess I'll wear that
Dominatrix dress, which is better than a Catsuit," observed Erica.

	After the check had been paid and they lingered at the table, Stephanie
looked very seriously at Erica.  When Erica rose to leave, Stephanie placed
a hand on her companion's hand, imploring her to stay seated.

	"Erica, why?" asked Stephanie.

	"Why what?" answered Erica.

	"Why did you save me?"

	"You know that you're not supposed to ask that, Stephanie.  As my slave,
you were not allowed to keep any secrets from me.  But as Mistress, I'm
allowed to keep secrets from you.  I could say that I found you sexually
attractive, or that I thought that you would make a good slave.  But there
was a reason beyond that, that I felt that you should not be serving
Lauren."

	"Thank you, Erica."

	"You're welcome, Stephanie," answered Erica as she rose to leave, followed
by her companion.

	In the short drive back to her house, Erica was not really sure if
Stephanie had believed the reason for taking her from Lauren.  But it did
not matter if Stephanie had believed her or not.  What counted was that she
had rescued Stephanie, reawakened her sexually and the desire to live
again, and now was promoting her to Dominatrix.

	Which was all that really mattered, after all.

	"Lisa?" called Erica as she hung her jacket up in the hall closet.

	Normally, Lisa would be at the door to greet Erica on her return, instead
her Maid was not there to help her with her jacket.  Erica walked over to
her downstairs bedroom, and found Lisa on the bed, crying.

	"Mistress?" asked Lisa when she saw Erica at her bedroom door.

	"Lisa, what's wrong?" questioned Erica as she joined Lisa on her bed.

	"Mistress, I'm sorry, but I have to leave you," sobbed Lisa.

	"Why?"

	"Family, I have to go home to Oregon."

	"There now," said Erica as she pulled a tissue from a box on the
night-table and dried Lisa's eyes.

	"I'm sorry," cried Lisa, "I'm sorry, Mistress Erica."

	"It's all right, Lisa, nothing is forever.  You have served me well for
five years, and now you have to move on.  There is no shame in leaving me."

	"You're not angry?"

	"No Lisa, I'm not angry.  If you have family responsibilities then they
are far more important than your service to me."

	"Thank you, Mistress.  I love you," said Lisa.

	"It's all right, Lisa.  And I love you too," answered Erica as she held
Lisa in her arms.

	"I'll be giving my two week notice, Mistress," stated Lisa.

	"That will be fine, Lisa.  Thank you."

	Lisa had dried her eyes, then sat up in bed and began to remove her Maid's
outfit.  Once naked, she held Erica in her arms and kissed her Mistress on
the lips.

	"Awfully direct, aren't you?" asked Erica.

	"We don't have much time Mistress.  You can use me tonight after Dinner in
the Dungeon.  Now though, I want to make love to my Mistress.  Please?"

	"Of course."

	Erica unbuttoned her blouse, then unzipped the leather skirt.  She removed
both, then removed her heels, and followed by her pantyhose.  She then was
nude like her companion, and held Lisa in her arms.

	Lisa gently pushed Erica back onto the bed, and kissed her on the mouth,
their tongues dancing together at the joined entrance of their mouths. 
Erica inhaled Lisa's perfume, familiar with the Chanel #5 that her slave
preferred.  Lisa then kissed Erica's neck, and soon took one of Erica's
nipples into her mouth.  Then her hand began to work on Erica's sex, and
Erica moaned in response, opening her legs to Lisa's attentions.

	Erica pushed her head back against the pillows, her body filled with the
heat of desire for Lisa and her lovemaking.  Then Lisa buried her face
between Erica's legs, and her tongue quickly began to tease Erica's love
bud.

	"OH!" exclaimed Erica.

	Lisa pushed herself deeper into Erica's fragrant sex, her mouth sucking at
the juices now flowing from the excited Domme.  Her lips caressed Erica's,
and she playfully nibbled at her pubic hair.

	Erica's chest heaved with sexual excitement, her blood thundering in her
veins, her heart furious with passion.  All that mattered now was
lovemaking, and Lisa had fully applied herself to satisfying her Mistress.

	"Ahhhhh!" screamed Erica, her body bouncing on the bed, wracked by one
orgasm after another that washed through her.

	Lisa continued to drive Erica to one orgasm after another, her tongue
buried deep into Erica's lovebox.  Erica bucked time after time on the bed
as Lisa pursued her relentless assault on her sex, driving her Mistress to
one height of passion after another.

	Next, Lisa advanced up the bed like a predatory cat, snarling from deep in
her throat.  She kissed Erica on her lips, and Erica tasted herself.  They
rolled together on the bed, like two cats in heat.

	Then Lisa lay back, and Erica serviced her slave.  Lisa was already wet
with desire, her body aching for climax.  Erica used her tongue and lips to
drive her from one climax to another, making Lisa moan and buck with every
orgasm.

	If Erica was skilled Domme, she was an even more skilled lover.  She
deliberately wore Lisa out, until the slave passed out from too much
stimulation.  Soon, Erica watched her fall off to sleep after one orgasm
after another, then she closed her own eyes.
	*		*		*		*		*
	Lisa awoke to the aroma of cooking from the kitchen.  She dressed herself
in a robe and slippers, and ran to the kitchen.  The clock said it was past
Seven, meaning that she was late for Dinner and could expect a thrashing
from Erica for missing a meal!

	"Hello, sleepyhead," greeted Erica, her hands encased in oven mitts.

	"Mistress?"

	"Have a seat, dinner will be out shortly."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	The kitchen table was set for two, complete with candles.  A salad, a loaf
of crusty French bread, and a bottle of white wine were already on the
table.

	"Since I wore you out I decided to make dinner," said Erica.

	"Thank you, Mistress."

	"It's been a long time since I cooked anything, so I made a quiche for
Dinner.""

	Erica then opened the oven, and removed the quiche, filing the kitchen
with a wonderful aroma.  She placed the dish on the kitchen table, shut off
the oven, and removed the mitts from her hands.

	"Salad, Mistress?" asked Lisa.

	"Please."

	Lisa served Erica a portion of the salad, then poured some of the dressing
over it.  Then she served herself next.  Erica opened the white wine, and
after sniffing the cork, poured out two glasses for them.

	"Cheers," said Erica.

	"Cheers."

	Erica took a long swallow of her wine, and Lisa did the same.  They began
eating, and after the salad was finished, Erica cut out pieces of the
quiche for both of them while Lisa cut the bread.

	"Thank you for making Dinner, Mistress," said Lisa.

	"You're quite welcome Lisa.  I went to school for cooking in New York."

	"You must have been very good," commented Lisa.

	"Thank you, but I really have let my skills lapse in the last few years. 
You're pretty good yourself."

	"Thank you, Mistress."

	"There's something I've been meaning to ask, and this is as good at a time
as any.  When I promote Stephanie to Domme, she will need a submissive to
do a small symbolic scene with.  She doesn't have any subs of her own yet."

	"She can use me, Mistress," offered Lisa, "I would be honored."

	"Thank you, Lisa.  But there's another question I have for you.  Would you
like to be a Domme also?"

	"Mistress!" answered Lisa, shock registering on her face.

	"Why are you so surprised?" asked Erica, "you served Judith for two years
before you came to me, and have been with me for five years.  You've proven
yourself, Lisa.  That's why I have let you use submissives occasionally."

	 Lisa poured herself some more wine, then took a long swallow to comfort
herself.  She was visibly shaken by Erica's offer.

	"Mistress, I don't want to disappoint you, but I'm happier with a collar
around my neck.  I love being owned, being a slave.  I just don't want the
responsibility that comes with being a Domme," admitted Lisa.

	"Thank you Lisa, for your honesty."

	"Mistress, I've learned so much from you.  Interviews, histories, sexual
backgrounds.  I never understood why you delved so deeply into a person's
background before you took them as a slave until I saw you in action. 
Judith was never like you!"

	"Thank you, Lisa," said Erica as she finished her quiche, "more?"

	"I'm stuffed," answered Lisa, "Mistress.  Thank you for a wonderful
dinner."

	"You're welcome."

	Dessert was cake and coffee, and Lisa insisted on doing the dishes.  Erica
drank more coffee as she watched Lisa clean up, and remembered the time
when she had been in the apartment.  After she had given up the life in
this house that she had tried to escape from, however briefly.

	"I shall want you in the Dungeon, naked and collared at Ten," ordered
Erica, "you will be harshly used both there, and in the bedroom
afterwards."

	"Yes, Mistress," answered Lisa while she dried her hands, "and thank you."

	"I'll be waiting," said Erica as she placed the coffee cup in the kitchen
sink.
	*		*		*		*		*				Erica had decided to wear a sleeveless black PVC Catsuit,
long opera length gloves, and matching black heels for her use of Lisa. 
While she could have worn the thigh high boots that she had just recently
purchased they were a bother to put on and zip up.  So a pair of less
restricting heels would have to do.

	Lisa had showered and prepared herself, and Erica had seen her walking
down the Dungeon steps naked.  Erica had sensed that Lisa was relieved that
she had admitted that she had to leave, and a burden had been lifted from
her.  So Erica had decided that tonight (good thing that she had no
sessions scheduled with her clients) would be a special one.

	Had it really been just five years since Lisa had come to serve her?  They
had trained dozens of slaves together, and had become well known as a team.
 But now part of her House was leaving, and that would leave a void to be
filled.

	Erica preened herself one last time in the mirror, admiring the way that
she looked in the skintight Catsuit.  She had others in leather (expensive)
and rubber (equally expensive) but the most versatile was PVC.  Which she
could wash tomorrow in Woolite and be ready to use again in just two days.

	"Are you ready, slave?" asked Erica.

	Lisa knelt naked on the carpet, wearing only her collar and bracelets. 
Erica saw that she had rouged her aureole a deep red, and the scent of
perfume pervaded the Dungeon.  Lisa had taken special care to prepare
herself for Erica's use, and Erica did not want to disappoint her.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Do you consent to my use?"

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"What is your safeword, Lisa?"

	"Joy, Mistress Erica."

	"Stand up and place yourself against the X frame, legs apart."

	"Yes, Mistress," answered Lisa as she did as she had been instructed.

	Erica then attached straps to Lisa's wrist and ankle bracelets to hold her
to the frame, rendering her helpless.  She bound Lisa tightly to the frame,
her nakedness against the polished wood.

	"Do you desire your Mistress?" asked Erica.

	"Yes, please?" implored Lisa.

	"I shall make you scream with desire," taunted Erica.

	"Yes, Mistress, please!" begged Lisa.

	Erica then removed a simple riding crop with a small leather tip at the
end.  Plus two clamps that she hid in her palm of her hand.  She walked
back to Lisa, who eagerly awaited her Mistress.

	"How lovely you look," commented Erica, "I shall stripe that body of yours
tonight with my lash and crop."

	"Thank you, Mistress Erica."

	"But first," Erica bent down, her tongue and lips playing against Lisa's
right nipple, quickly bringing it erect.

	"Ah!" cried Lisa, for Erica had placed a clamp on the nipple, followed by
the left ones as well.

	Then Erica kneaded Lisa's already wet sex, making her moan and squirm
within her bonds.  She pushed her fingers deep into Lisa's slit, touching
her love bud.

	"Oh!" moaned Lisa.

	"Lick my fingers of your juices, you wet slut," ordered Erica as she
shoved her fingers into Lisa's mouth.

	"Mmmmmmph!" 

	Once Lisa had done as Erica had ordered, Erica then decided that something
else was in order.  She walked to the cabinet, and removed a gag, plus a
gambling token the size of an old full size Dollar Coin that she had taken
from a Casino in Atlantic City.

	"This is a penis gag," described Erica, "complete with an air hole.  Since
you will be gagged and cannot use your safeword, you will drop the coin as
your signal, do you understand?"

	"Yes, Mistress, Oh!" cried Lisa.

	Erica had pushed the head of the penis gag into Lisa's wet slit as far as
it could go, making her moan.  Then she removed the gag from between the
slave's sex, and gently placed it at the entrance to Lisa's mouth.  Lisa
opened her mouth, and Erica pushed the gag inside, buckling it at the back
of her neck.

	"Mmmmph!"

	"You may taste yourself as I use you," said Erica.

	Erica then pressed the coin into Lisa's right hand, and she gripped it
tightly in her fingers.  Lisa held the penis shaped latex gag between her
teeth, and Erica watched as she sucked at the cock like object attempting
to move it around within her mouth.

	"What a slut you are," observed Erica.

	"Mmmmmph!"

	Erica then began to strike Lisa gently with the crop, tapping on her
breasts and underarms at first.  Lisa squirmed in her bonds, and moaned
whenever she was struck.

	"Mmmmmph!"

	The crop was next used between Lisa's opened thighs, with even stronger
impacts leaving red marks behind on her white flesh.  Erica knew that being
used in this way while gagged was intensely sexual, and she observed that
Lisa clenched the gag tightly between her teeth.

	"Enjoying this aren't you?" asked Erica.

	Lisa nodded her head in silent agreement, even as Erica began again to use
the crop again and again.  Erica then used her fingers to pull at the
clamps holding Lisa's nipples prisoner, teasing them and making her captive
squirm in response.

	"Mmmmmmph!" grunted Lisa.

	"I'm not going to let you go, sweetie, not till I'm done."

	The outside of Lisa's thighs were the next target, and Erica made sure
that her strokes were steady and evenly placed, and each left a red mark
behind.  Erica watched as droplets of sweat ran down Lisa's exposed flanks,
her skin warm to the touch from the use that it was receiving.

	Once she had delivered thirty strokes, Erica then placed the crop under
her arm and proceeded to remove the gag from Lisa's mouth, leaving her
panting in response.

	"Thank you, Mistress," said Lisa.

	"Kiss the crop," ordered Erica.

	Lisa did as she was told, while Erica removed the clamps from her nipples,
making her flinch as each one was freed of the metal object.  Then Erica
ran her fingers through Lisa's pubic hairs, pulling at a few, making her
moan.

	"In all the time that you were my slave I never shaved you, did I?" asked
Erica.

	"No, Mistress."

	"Perhaps that should be my parting gift, a shaved pussy?"

	"Yes, Mistress, please?"

	"I'm not done yet, slave.  I want to flog you!"

	Erica then released Lisa, who handed her the coin that she had kept
tightly clenched in her hand.  Then Erica marched Lisa over to the ceiling
chain, and locked her wrists to it.  Activating the motor, the chain was
then pulled taut, and Lisa was as straight as a ruler.

	"How lovely you look," observed Erica.

	Erica gently ran her fingertips over Lisa's naked body, her breasts, back
and underarms, making the girl even more sensitive to her touch.  Lisa
seemed proud, even radiant while being used by Erica.

	When she sensed that Lisa was ready, Erica ceased her gentle caress.  She
next removed the flogger, made of soft leather from the cabinet.

	"Kiss the flogger."

	Lisa did as she was ordered, willingly and quickly.  She swallowed, the
lump going down her throat.

	"You will not have to count, Lisa.  But I will give you twenty strokes
this night."

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	Erica used the flogger with moderate strokes, the leather strands slapping
against Lisa's exposed flesh.  She made sure to strike with enough force to
mark but not break the skin.  Erica wanted Lisa to be hot with desire for
her later, something that the flogger would generate.

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	"Ahhh!" cried Lisa.

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	"What a good slave you are."

	"Thank you, Mistress."

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	"Twenty," announced Erica.

	"Thank you, Mistress," cried Lisa, tears falling from her eyes.

	"Kiss the flogger," ordered Erica.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Erica then released Lisa, who fell into her arms.  She placed Lisa on a
bench to let her recover her senses.  Before the next part of the evening
would begin.

	She replaced the flogger and all of the other instruments back into the
cabinet, then closed the wooden doors.  Lisa was waiting for her, her eyes
wide with expectation, on the bench.

	"Are you ready, darling?" asked Erica.

	"Yes, Mistress!"

	"Then follow me to my bedroom, where your use shall continue!" promised
Erica.
	*		*		*		*		*
	Erica had ordered that Lisa not to clean herself after her use.  Instead,
the Mistress had spread-eagled her to the bed, locking her wrist and ankle
cuffs to the four bedposts.

	Then Erica had leisurely stripped in from of her captive, first removing
her shoes, followed by the opera gloves, then the PVC Catsuit.  She had not
worn a bra, but merely a pair of black panties underneath, that she slipped
off her hips.

	She climbed onto the bed, and approached Lisa.  Then she slipped her head
between Lisa's open legs, and began to lick at the fragrant sex available
for her use.

	"Mistress!" cried Lisa, "Ah!"

	Erica had placed a small pillow under Lisa's bottom, so that her sex would
be easier for her to use.  Under her attentions, Lisa began to respond and
moan quickly.

	Lisa threw her head back against the pillows in response to Erica's use of
her sex.  What she did not see was Erica placing a fur covered glove on her
hand, which Erica began to slowly caress her body with.

	"Oh!" moaned Lisa, "Oh!"

	"Enjoying yourself?" asked Erica.

	"Yes, Mistress, yes!"

	Erica continued to run the fur glove over Lisa's already used and
sensitized naked body.  Lisa writhed and moaned, excited by the sensual
treatment that she was receiving.  Instead of the usual lash or crop.

	"Oh!"

	Erica interrupted her use of the glove to lick and suck at Lisa's already
hard and erect nipples.  This only made Lisa moan further, and bounce
herself against the bed.

	"Ah!"

	"What a slut you are," commented Erica.

	"Yes, Mistress, I'm a slut.  Your slut!" proudly answered Lisa.

	Erica then lay on top of Lisa, and holding the helpless women in her arms,
plunged her tongue into her slave's willing mouth.  They mingled their
tongues together, wet mouths kissing each other again and again.

	"I'm not done with you yet, Lisa," stated Erica, "there is still more to
come."

	From the night table next to the bed, she withdrew a ballgag and
blindfold, and displayed them for Lisa.  Her slave's response was to open
her mouth wide, and Erica buckled the red rubber ball within.  Then Erica
buckled the black leather blindfold over Lisa's eyes, cutting off her
vision.

	Erica removed herself from the bed, and she removed a dildo harness from
the night table.  Silently, she strapped it around her waist, then locked
the crotch strap between her legs.

	In the mirror's reflection, Erica looked at herself and smiled.  Whenever
she used the harness, she loved the sight of it in the mirror.  Her lovely
female body, harnessed, with an erect male shaft.  

	There would be no need to lubricate the shaft.  Lisa was already wet and
excited as Erica climbed onto the bed.  Erica held herself over Lisa, on
her elbows and knees.  Ever so gently, she lowered the shaft's head to the
entrance of Lisa's moist lovebox.  She wanted just the tip to sit at the
entrance, to excite Lisa even further.

	"Mmmmmph!" cried Lisa.

	"Bet you can't guess what's next," said Erica.

	Lisa strained against her bonds, and Erica only wished that she could look
into her eyes.  But she wanted Lisa to be totally helpless as the dildo
took her between her legs.

	Suddenly, without warning, Erica plunged the shaft deeply into Lisa's
cunt.  The time for suspense and play was over, and the dildo slid in
quickly and easily, since Lisa was wet and ready.

	"Mmmmmmph!"

	"Slut!" playfully accused Erica.

	Erica then began to thrust with the shaft, and remove it partially, only
to thrust once again.  Every time, Lisa would buck and moan within her gag,
and fight her restraints.

	Lisa threw her head backward against the pillow, then from side to side as
Erica continued her sexual use of her slave.  The pillow under her behind
had made her pussy even more accessible, and Erica now wished that she had
placed a small butt plug up Lisa's bottom to plug her last orifice.

	That would have been a final crowning touch to her use of Lisa this night.
 But she had not done it, unfortunately!

	'A Mistress can't have everything,' Erica thought to herself.

	"Mmmmmph!"

	'But she can have almost everything.'

	Erica continued using the shaft, until she felt that Lisa was finally
ready.  She knew all of Lisa's responses down pat, and she knew when her
slave was ready to come at her command.

	"Come!" ordered Erica.

	In a rush, Lisa let loose a flood of one orgasm after another, her body
bucking against the bedsheets.  She moaned under the gag as wave after wave
of orgasm erupted from between her legs to surge through her entire body.

	"Mmmmmmph!"

	Erica continued until Lisa was totally exhausted and spent, and her sweaty
body lay still upon the bed.  Then Erica stood up and removed the gag and
blindfold, leaving Lisa gasping for breath.

	"Thank you, Mistress," panted Lisa.

	"You're welcome, Lisa.  Now you may clean the shaft," ordered Erica as she
knelt back on the bed, and placed the dildo at the entrance to Lisa's
mouth.

	Without hesitation, Lisa took the black shaft into her mouth, sucking on
it like it was a real cock, and cleaned it of all of her secretions.  She
took it all the way to the back of her throat, her cheeks puckered as she
sucked at the latex cock.

	"What a wanton little slut you are," commented Erica.

	Lisa didn't answer, since her moth was full of dildo at the moment.  Her
eyes betrayed her feeling of pure lust, as she sucked greedily on the
dildo.

	"Enough," said Erica as she removed herself from the bed.

	"Thank you, Mistress,"

	Erica then unlocked the belt from around her waist, and placed it on the
dresser, the sex toy an interesting contrast on the elegant piece of
furniture.

	"Now it's your turn," said Erica as she unlocked Lisa from her bondage,
then lay upon her side of the bed, and opened her legs, "please your
Mistress, slave."

	Lisa did not have to be told twice, as her tongue dived into Erica's sex,
quickly arousing the Domme.  Their naked bodies mingled together, sweat
pouring from both, soft moans escaping from Erica's lips.

	Erica knew how to control herself so that she would not climax too
quickly.  She wanted Lisa to have to work at bringing her to orgasm, not
simply a quick come.  But she had been excited herself, so it did not take
too long for Erica to moan with an orgasm herself, and cry as the intense
pleasure washed over her.
	*		*		*		*		*		*
	Later on, as they lay under the covers together, but still naked, Lisa
looked steadily into the eyes of her Mistress.

	"I'm sorry that I have to leave, Mistress.  Perhaps I could work something
out, stay here………"

	"No," firmly said Erica, "you have a duty and an obligation, just as you
have had one by serving me.  If we were a normal male/female couple then
you would be torn between families.  But instead, you are my Maid and
slave.  I cannot work if you have to be in two places at once, Lisa.  I
need an assistant to be at my side as I train and evaluate a slave."

	"I understand, Mistress," answered Lisa.

	"If you hadn't, I'd have to paddle that behind of yours until you did,"
said Erica.

	"May I suggest something?" asked Lisa.

	"Go ahead."

	"May I recommend my replacement?"

	"Sure."

	"I know a woman who wants to serve a Mistress.  She's a graduate of a
cooking school, and knows how to keep house for a Mistress.  I talk to her
in the clubs, and she's eager to serve a Domme in a twenty-four hour, seven
day a week arrangement."

	"I always gave you a day off," stated Erica.

	"True, but she wants a Domme, Mistress.  Her name is Andrea Clark."

	"Invite her on Saturday to Stephanie's promotion so that I can met her. 
Unless you might be a little embarrassed for her to be watching as you get
spanked."

	"No, Mistress.  That will be quite all right."

	They both drifted off to a deep sleep after a night of use and lovemaking
that had left them exhausted but happy.

Part Two: Stephanie's Night

	Since Stephanie had been Erica's slave and protégé, Erica had decided to
hold the ceremony at her house.  She had invited about thirty people to the
event, mostly attended by Dom(mes) and their slaves and submissives.

	Erica had dressed in a PVC Dominatrix dress that hugged all of her curves,
but left her legs exposed.  It was much more comfortable to wear for an
extended time than the Catsuit would be.


	Stephanie had chosen a simple leather bra, skirt, hose, and modest heels.
She had looked so good that Erica had taken several pictures of her,
complimenting her on her appearance.

	Mistress Marcia and her slave husband Simon owned a catering business, so
they had agreed to oversee the entire affair.  Not only had they provided
the food, but also the wait staff, parking arrangements, change rooms (the
downstairs bedrooms), and security to make certain that no guest ventured
upstairs or into the library.

	The party was limited to the first floor of the house, mainly the Dining
Room, and the Dungeons downstairs.  Ropes had been stretched across entries
to off limits rooms, and guards (dressed in Domme outfits holding crops)
made sure that the curious were kept out.

	Not that Erica imagined that any of her friends would harm or damage
anything, but she wanted the activities to be strictly focused.

	As Hostess, she had chosen to wear a simple black leather dress, and had
asked Stephanie to dress simply as well.  Even though Erica was known as a
Domme of considerable means, she did not believe in flaunting her position.

	She would greet every new arrival, and then they would be conducted to a
changing room where they could change from street clothes to fetish wear,
and then into another room for cocktails before the formal buffet Dinner
would begin.

	Marcia had made every waitress (indeed all of the staff that she had
provided was female) dress in a rubber Maid's outfit; some in black others
in red.  All wore collars around their neck, and some were quite beautiful
indeed.

	In between the arrival of guests, Erica had wanted to go into the kitchen
to get a drink, and Marcia had appeared at her side and handed her a large
glass of Coke.

	"Thank you," said Erica, taking a sip.

	"Thought you could use a drink."

	"Anything in here?" asked Erica.

	"You're supposed to keep a clear head as Hostess, this isn't a wedding,"
pointed out Marcia, "D/s and alcohol don't mix, which is why I'm pushing
soft drinks."

	"Thank you," answered Erica, happy there was a lull, "do you usually cater
affair with a D/s theme?"

	"Once, in Manhattan.  The client was doing one for Halloween, he thought
it was a joke.  What he didn't know was that all of my girls are into D/s
in one form or another," laughed Marcia.

	"That Coke was good, thank you," said Erica as she handed it to a passing
Maid.

	"You're welcome," said Marcia.

	"How is the party going?" asked Erica.

	"Stephanie is the life of party, and since Lisa is your Maid she's
overseeing things in the kitchen.  But Simon is the one really in charge
there.  Most of your guests have arrived, so I'll open the buffet soon.  In
short, everything's OK."

	"Thank you," said Erica.

	"Someone new," noticed Marcia as the front door opened to admit a new
guest.

	The newest arrival was a woman about 30, alone, who passed her coat to the
waiting Maid.  She was wearing a leather top and skirt, and carried a
matching handbag.  Very attractive with black hair, and Erica couldn't
place her at all.

	"Andrea Clark," said the woman, introducing herself.

	"Mistress Erica Riken."

	"Pleased to meet you, Mistress."

	"Mutual.  Since this is business mixed with pleasure, we'll talk alone
after I promote Stephanie to Mistress."

	"Agreed."

	"I looked at your resume, very impressive," commented Erica.

	"Thank you, Mistress."

	"Lisa tells me that you are eager to serve a Domme.  Is that true?"

	"Yes, Mistress Erica."

	"We'll talk alone in the library later.  Meanwhile, go and enjoy yourself.
 Lisa is about, you'll find her with no trouble."

	"Thank you, Mistress."

	As Andrea walked away, Erica undressed the woman with her eyes.  Andrea
was simply stunning in appearance, not a hair out of place, her nails
trimmed, and the leather fitting her like a glove.

	Erica returned back to her job as Hostess as the final guests arrived. 
She greeted them, made small talk, and a Maid showed her the clipboard
indicating that all of her guests had arrived.

	At least Lauren Singer would not be crashing this party!

	The buffet Dinner went quite well, and Erica and Stephanie actually got to
eat something in between small talk.  Marcia would appear at the strangest
moment with a small plate of something, fork, and drink, so that they got
some Dinner as well.

	But the main event was to occur in the Dungeon, and Marcia made certain to
shepherd the guests downstairs, where further non-alcoholic refreshments
were waiting, and the D/s events would begin.

	Marcia would introduce each little event, and her husband Simon would make
sure that the participants were ready beforehand.  All of the guests were
seated on folding chairs, except for Erica, who occupied a throne like
chair against the wall.

	"Next will be Master Brian and Kim," announced Marcia.

	The audience applauded, and the two participants walked to the main
portion of the Dungeon.

	Brian was tall, over six feet.  In his late thirties, Brian was very
attractive, and worked as a Bond trader down on Wall Street.  He wore a
black leather vest, black T-shirt, and black leather jeans.  Kim, his
submissive, was in her late twenties, and naked except for a collar and
bracelets.  While seated, she had been wearing a black robe, which she had
left on her chair.

	"Thank you," said Brian, "I shall now demonstrate the crop with Kim."

	Brian locked Kim's wrists onto the ceiling chain, followed by her ankles
to a spreader bar.  He nodded to one of the Maids, and Kim was soon
reaching with her toes for the floor.

	He then kissed her on the lips, and held a riding crop which he offered to
Kim, who kissed it without having been ordered.

	"What is your safeword?" he asked.

	"Lust," she answered.

	"Prepare to be used."

	"Yes, Master."

	The crop had a broad leather pad on the end of the crop.  Brian began with
a series of small strokes that left red marks on the outside of Kim's
thighs.

	"Oh!" she cried whenever the crop struck her.

	After every five strokes, Brian would give Kim a firm kiss on the lips. 
She responded just as eagerly to his kiss as his crop.

	Then Brian began to strike on the inside of her thighs, beginning above
her knees reaching to just below her sex.  Kim would moan after each
stroke, and she pulled at the chain holding her wrists together.

	"Ah!"

	"Ah!"

	"Ah!"

	"Ah!" she cried.

	Brian was a skilled Dom; and every stroke would leave a mark behind.  He
was gently using her, in comparison to what a real scene would be like.

	The crop then fell upon her breasts, making Kim moan and writhe in
response.  She did not try to avoid the crop, instead she willingly kept
herself facing her master.

	"Thank you," said Brian when he finished, since each scene had to be short
in order for the evening's main event.

	"You're welcome," answered Mistress Marcia.

	There was applause as Brain released Kim, then kissed her passionately on
her lips.  He helped to a seat, then draped a short robe over her and got
her a drink.

	Soon, everyone quieted down without Marcia's urging.  They all knew the
reason why they had come to Erica's house, and it was now time.

	"Attention," began Mistress Marcia, "be it known that this evening is a
special night in the life of Mistress Erica and her slave, Stephanie.  For
Mistress Erica has an important announcement for us all."

	"Thank you, Marcia," said Erica from the throne like chair, "Lisa, you may
bring in Stephanie."

	Lisa led Stephanie into the Dungeon.  She was wearing her leather dress,
and was not restrained in any way.

	"Kneel, and state your name and owner," ordered Erica.

	"Stephanie Richards, my owner is Mistress Erica Riken."

	"How long have you been my slave?" 

	"Three years, Mistress."

	"In your time with me, what have you learned?"

	"To properly treat a slave, obey safewords, to set limits and respect
them, Mistress."

	"As owner of Stephanie Richards, I let her use others, and found that she
was a talented Domme.  I realized that her proper place was as a Domme
herself.  I have therefore decided both to free Stephanie Richards, and
promote her to Domme as well."

	The audience clapped briefly.

	"Do you, Stephanie Richards accept and understand the power and
responsibilities that you are accepting?"

	"Yes, Mistress Erica."

	"That you will always place the safety of those in your power above all
else?"

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"That you must always remember that absolute power corrupts?"

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Based on my experience as a Dominatrix, I pronounce Stephanie Richards
fit to be a Dominatrix as well.  Arise, Stephanie."

	Erica handed Stephanie a black leather-riding crop, which she took
respectfully into her hands.

	"Thank you, Mistress Erica," replied Stephanie.

	"Congratulations, Mistress Stephanie," said Erica as she kissed Stephanie
on the cheeks.

	"Thank you, Erica, for everything.  Including my life," whispered
Stephanie into Erica's ear.

	"You're welcome, Stephanie."

	"I swear that I'll be a good Mistress."

	"I know that you will, Stephanie."

	The audience applauded as Stephanie held the crop in her hands, then
watched as she rose to her feet in confirmation of her new position.

	"Mistress Janet has graciously allowed the use of her slave Lisa by
Mistress Stephanie," announced Marcia, resuming her role as Mistress of
Ceremonies.

	Everyone watched in silence as a chair was provided for Stephanie to sit
upon.  Then Lisa reappeared, wearing a black cloak.  She walked to the
front, and bowed before Mistress Stephanie.

	"Lisa at your service, Mistress."

	"Strip," ordered Stephanie.

	Lisa removed her cloak, revealing that she was naked underneath, wearing
only a collar and a pair of high heels.  She handed the cloak to a member
of the audience, who held it on their lap.

	"Kneel," ordered Stephanie.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Do you submit willingly to my use?"

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"What is your safeword?"

	"Pleasure, Mistress."

	"Good, you may sit on my lap," ordered Stephanie as she sat in the chair.

	Lisa did as the new Domme told her, aching her back so that her bottom was
easily accessible for use.

	 "Thank you, slave."

	"You're welcome, Mistress."

	Stephanie began to swat at Lisa's bottom with one stroke after another,
making certain that her hand did not strike the same place twice.  Each
stroke was carefully measured, and Lisa moaned when her bottom was hit. 
The skin, which had remained pink, now turned a dull red as one swat after
another was administered.

	"Oh!" cried Lisa, after one particularly strong stroke.

	"Thank your Mistress," ordered Stephanie.

	"Thank you, Mistress Stephanie," cried Lisa.

	Stephanie began another series of strokes, somewhat harsher than before. 
Erica, seated in her chair, counted ten in the first series, and knew that
Stephanie would only deliver ten more.  She counted each one, and they were
administered with stronger force from Stephanie's outstretched hand.

	"I am finished," announced Stephanie, which caused scattered applause from
the audience.

	"Thank you, Mistress," panted Lisa, still draped over Stephanie's leather
clad lap.

	"You may stand, slave!" ordered Stephanie.

	Lisa rose to her feet, followed by Stephanie.  The audience applauded, and
many walked over to shake the hands of both Stephanie and Lisa.  Erica rose
to her feet also, and joined in the crowd to make small talk with her
guests.

	"Mistress?" asked a female voice at Erica's back after she had circulated
in the crowd.

	"Yes," said Erica as she turned, then faced Andrea, "I'm sorry I had
forgotten.  We can talk upstairs, Marcia can run things here."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Erica excused herself, then walked up the steps followed by Andrea who was
two steps behind her.  In the Dining Room the staff was setting out coffee
and cake, and Marcia would soon herd the guests upstairs.

	"Would you like some coffee?" offered Erica.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Erica motioned over one of the wait staff, and ordered a tray of coffee to
be delivered to the library.  Andrea then followed the Mistress to the
library door, and Erica opened it, and the two women went inside.  Erica
sat behind the desk, and Andrea took a chair in front of her.

	"That's better," said Erica.

	They were interrupted by a knock on the door, and the Maid entered and
placed a tray containing a pot of coffee, a pitcher of milk, sugar, and two
cups and a few cookies on the table.  The Maid poured two cups of coffee,
then handed them to Erica and Andrea before taking her leave.

	"Thank you," said Erica to the Maid, "make sure that we're not disturbed."

	"Yes, Mistress," the woman replied, closing the door behind her.

	Erica sipped at the hot coffee, enjoying the aroma of the French Roast
that had always been her favorite.

	"You come to me highly recommended by Lisa, and I have gone over your
resume and sexual history that I asked you for.  Very impressive," observed
Erica. 

	"Thank you, Mistress."

	"Did you go to school in England?"

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"And to cooking school as well?"

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Why?"

	"I thought that I wanted to be a chef in a hotel, Mistress.  Instead,
after I graduated, I began to serve a Mistress.  I decided that I would
rather keep house for a Mistress who would satisfy my sexual desires."

	"Which are?" asked Erica.

	"To be used physically and sexually," answered Lisa.

	"How have you been used?"

	"I have been whipped, cropped, spanked, bound, and used sexually by both
Masters and Dommes, Mistress," answered Erica.

	"If I take you on, there will be a testing period to see if you work out.
I am a very demanding and exacting Mistress."

	"I understand, Mistress Erica.  That is why I want to serve you, in all
things."

	"When can you start?" asked Erica.

	"Monday, Mistress."

	"Very well, then, Monday.  Thank you, Andrea.  I agree to salary, health
care, and other requirements as specified in your resume."

	"Thank you, Mistress Erica.  I will endeavor to please and serve you to
the best of my abilities and skills," said Andrea.

	"Let's rejoin the party, and you can work out the details with Lisa.  Who
will be happy to learn that she has provided for her replacement."

	After Erica rose to her feet, Andrea knelt on the floor in front of
Erica's desk.  She bowed her head, and placed her arms out in front of her,
offering them to her Mistress.

	"Thank you, Andrea, that is a touching display of submission.  I accept,
and you shall be used for the first time on Monday, after Lisa has
explained your duties in the House."

	"Thank you, Mistress," answered Andrea.

The Challenge
Chapter 13: The Loan

>From the Diary of Cheryl Branford

Friday October 23, 1998

Part One: A Different Mistress

	I sit at the window of the fast food restaurant, watching the traffic go
by.  The workweek is over, and the roads are filled with people going home
to family, shopping, and looking forward to the weekend.

	In my purse are the directions to Mistress Lori's house, which Mistress
Janet had given me the previous Sunday.  Mistress Janet has fulfilled the
second request that I have made of her, that she would loan me out to
another Domme.

	Actually, I know Brookline quite well, since I went to school here for a
year.  Janet had provided me with virtually fail safe directions to Lori's
House, but I kept silent that I knew the area.

	I cannot believe that I am here, having driven over a hundred miles for
the purpose of serving another Mistress!  I know that this weekend I shall
be naked, whipped, and used sexually by another woman.  Worse, I desire
this treatment!

	It has been just five months since I have willingly submitted myself to
Mistress Janet.  In that time I have learned both the pleasure and pain
which has come as the price of submission to a Mistress.

	In the back of the restaurant, trying hard not to be obvious, are a pair
of teenagers in love.  They sit on the same side in a booth, hugging and
kissing, the boy's hands roving over her body when he thinks that nobody is
watching.

	I smile, wondering how she might react if she saw the marks I carry.  Or
what the small leather collar around my neck really means, the ring on my
finger, and the chain on my ankle.  When Janet gave me the collar to wear
in public last week, I was pleased and happy.  Until I realized one day
while shopping that I am now collared, ringed, and chained in public.  I
now wear constant reminders of my slavery even when I am not in Janet's
presence.  I am a slave to Mistress Janet, which is what I feared that I
might become.

	Janet broke down my last wall of resistance when she asked me if her
friend Master Craig could use me.  How could I refuse to be used by the man
of my dreams?  He used me as Janet did, then made savage love to me
afterwards.  Had he asked me to return home with him I would have done so,
as his slave.

	I finish my drink, and walk to the bathroom to freshen up.  I wash my
face, and dry myself off.  I apply lipstick, and straighten my sweater and
jeans.

	Summoning my courage, I walk outside, and get behind the wheel of my car.
I start it, then pull into traffic, and the remaining drive to Lori's house
only takes about fifteen minutes.  My heartbeats faster as I wonder what
pain and pleasure await me.

	Mistress Lori and Gina live in a house in an upscale suburb of Brookline.
I follow the directions that Janet has given me, into a winding series of
streets in a new development of large homes.

	I make certain of the address, then pull into a driveway.  In the driveway
I see a Jeep Wagoneer, and place my Lexus beside it.  I exit my car, remove
a small suitcase and clothing bag, then walk to the front door, and ring
the bell, terrified.

	"You must be Cheryl," greeted a woman, "I'm Gina, Mistress Lori isn't home
yet.  Please come in."

	"Pleased to meet you," I reply, extending my hand in greeting.

	"Welcome," Gina answers, "can I take your coat?"

	"Thank you."

	I place my suitcase on the floor, and my clothing bag on top.  Gina takes
my coat and places it in the hall closet.

	"Let's put your things in your room," she suggests.

	I take my clothing bag and Gina takes my suitcase, and we go upstairs to a
nicely appointed bedroom.  There is no hint that Lori is a Domme, no
ringbolt in the wall.  Just a nice brass four poster bed, which I know that
I can be secured to easily.  

	Gina is in her thirties, and quite attractive.  About five feet four
inches, she is wearing an Ann Taylor blouse and skirt in red and modest
heels.

"Mistress Lori is running a little late at work.  I'm making Dinner, want
to help?"

	"Sure."

	I follow her back downstairs and we pass through the Dining Room, where I
notice that the table is already set for three.  My eyes linger on the
table and place settings, and Gina notices my attention.

	"We'll be eating together, unlike at Mistress Janet's House," stated Gina,
"Mistress Lori is a lot less formal than Mistress Janet.  Besides, we don't
own such a grand House like she does."

	"You usually eat together?" I ask.

	"Yes, except when Lori in entertaining a guest, when I may be called on to
serve in a uniform.  Other than that, we eat together, and sleep together
also."

	"Oh!" I answer, recognition dawning that there are different relationships
in D/s than Janet's formality.  I now wonder if Janet and Tina share meals
together also, instead of her being served in the Dining Room whenever I am
there.

	"I'm just about to bread the fish, want to help?" asks Gina.

	"Sure."

	I follow Gina into the kitchen, where a pot of soup is slowly cooking on
the stove, and the table is covered in everything needed for a fish fry. 
Fillets on a dish, a bowl with flour, and another with bread crumbs.

	"I was just about to whisk the eggs," said Gina.

	"I'll do it," I offer.

	I break three eggs into a bowl, then whisk them until the yolks are
completely mixed in. Gina then adds in some spices, and we are ready.  Next
I assist Gina by first coating the flounder in flour, then dipping them
into the egg, then finally coating them in bread crumbs.  We place the fish
into the fridge when finished, and wash our hands together.

	"We're having New England Chowder, Salad, Fried Flounder, and Baked
Potatoes," listed Gina, "is this your first visit here?"

	"I was here long ago," I answer.

	"Perhaps we'll show you around tomorrow.  You won't be cleaning the
playroom all weekend," she laughed.

	"That would be nice."

	"Chowder's just about done," observes Gina as she lifts the pot's lid, the
kitchen filling with a wonderful aroma.

	I hear the front door open, and close.  Gina replaces the cover and walks
quickly to the front door, with me following.

	"Good evening, Gina," greets Lori.

	"Good evening, Mistress."

	Lori hands her coat to Gina, who hangs it in the hall closet.  She is
wearing a dark blue business suit, her hair in a bun at the back of her
head.

	"How was your day?"

	"Very good, Mistress."

	"I see that we have a visitor, welcome, Cheryl."

	"Hello, Mistress Lori," I bow as Janet has instructed me to.

	"I'm going to change and freshen up, and you can start Dinner.  Is
everything prepared?"

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Good, I'll be down in ten minutes."

	Lori walks upstairs, and I help Gina place the salad on the table, along
with bread and butter.  I help Gina in the kitchen, who evidently has had
everything well prepared in advance.

	We are all seated at the table as Gina serves the salad, and Lora and Gina
begin making small talk about work.  Then we have some bread, then Gina
brings out three bowls of steaming New England Clam Chowder.

	"Thank you, Gina," said Lori.

	"You're welcome, Mistress."

	"You're allowed to speak, Cheryl.  I'm not quite as formal as Mistress
Janet, but you must remember how to address me."

	"Thank you, Mistress," I answer.

	Lori and Gina continue making small talk, and then even before she's
finished with her chowder, Gina goes to the kitchen.  I see her light the
fire under a frying pan.  She returns and finishes the soup, which we have
already finished.  She takes the bowls and spoons back into the kitchen,
leaving Mistress Lori and me alone at the table.  Her black eyes bore into
me like drills.

	"How was the drive from Greenwich?" politely asks Lori.

	"Fine, Mistress.  No traffic, I left after lunch.  A very pleasant drive,
thank you."

	"Have you ever been to Boston before?"

	"No, Mistress," I lie.

	"Perhaps we can do some sightseeing tomorrow, show you the town.  I'm not
going to be using you all weekend."

	"Thank you, Mistress.  That would be very nice."

	I suddenly realize that I am in greater danger here than I was in Janet's
house.  There, I am a servant, usually naked, but now allowed to wear a
rubber Maid's outfit.  Here, I am allowed to sit at the table, directly
facing Mistress Lori.  Even to make small talk!  Lori is already suspicious
of me, having recognized me from that damn fetish shop in Los Angeles last
year.  She will try to befriend me, make me slip, do anything to admit why
I am here on the East Coast far from home in Janet's house.

	The sound of something frying suddenly comes from the kitchen, along with
the wonderful aroma of fish frying.

	"May I help Gina?" I ask.

	"Yes," replies Lori.

	I am glad for the reprieve, and I help Lori in the kitchen.  I remove the
potatoes from the oven, and place them in a dish.  There is tartar sauce in
the fridge, along with white wine and soda.

	Gina fries the fish, drying off the excess oil on a paper towel before
placing the main course on a plate.  She has made more than enough for
three, and rushes to place the oval serving dish on the table.

	I follow with the potatoes, and tartar sauce, then another trip with the
soda and wine.  Lori already has an opener on the table, which she hands to
me.  I open the wine, hand her the cork, and wait.

	"That will be fine, Cheryl, you may pour."

	"Thank you, Mistress," I reply.

	I pour the wine into three long stemmed glasses made of finely cut
crystal.  Once everything has been placed on the table, I seat myself after
Gina.

	"Very good, Gina, thank you," complimented Lori.

	"You're welcome, Mistress."

	I eat in silence, only answering when asked a question by Lori or her
companion.  The chowder was excellent, and the fish even better.  Gina
suddenly rises from the table, and retrieves a dish of steamed broccoli. 
The meal is now complete, and we settle down to eat.

	Lori manages an office, and Gina is a graphics designer.  They make small
talk together, and I eat in silence.  Once the main course is complete,
Gina and I remove the dishes, and we bring out coffee and cake.

	"Are you all right?" asks Lori.

	"A little tired, Mistress," I answer.

	"After Dinner, you can rest for a while before I'll want you."

	"Thank you, Mistress."

	Once I help Gina with the dishes I am allowed to go to my bedroom and I
lay down on the bed.  What am I doing here?  To prove that I can serve
another woman?  Or that I can stand up to her use of me?

	I fall into an uneasy sleep on the bed.
	*		*		*		*		*		*
	"Cheryl," I hear a voice waking me.

	"Gina," I answer when I open my eyes.

	"Mistress Lori will want you in an hour.  She has asked that you prepare
yourself for her as you do for Mistress Janet."

	"I'll have to bathe, rouge my aureole, and perfume myself.  That will take
an hour or so," I reply sleepily.

	"I'll help," answers Gina.

	"Thank you."

	True to her word, Gina helps me after I shower and dry my hair.  I remove
my leather collar when I bathe, but not my ring or my ankle chain.  In the
bedroom, she has stripped also, and I see that she is wearing a gold ring
in her right nipple.

	I prepare myself just as Tina has taught me, sometimes painfully, to get
properly ready for Mistress Janet.  The perfume stings as it dries between
my legs, on the tender flesh that has felt the lash and crop.  In between
application, I rouge my nipples, conscious of the fact that I never
prepared myself so thoroughly when I dated a man.

	Then again, he wasn't expected to take a riding crop to me if I failed to
be properly ready either.

	"You've very beautiful," comments Gina.

	"Thank you," I reply.

	In the bedroom mirror I see the marks that Janet has placed upon me last
week.  I wonder if it was my imagination, or did she go easy on me then? 
Were the strokes of the crop lessened in order that Lori would use me more?

	I place my feet into a pair of mules, then follow Gina to a small study
downstairs.  She knocks on the closed door and Lori bids me entrance.

	"Come inside," Lori orders.

	I enter the room, naked.  It is a smaller version of Janet's library. 
Bookcases, a desk and computer.  Including an unfamilar leather clad woman
seated behind the desk.

	"Thank you, Mistress."

	"You may stand in front of the desk."

	I close the door behind me, and stand naked in front of Lori.  In the
past, I would be blushing a deep red by now, embarrassed.  But I am past
such things now, used to being seen and used by others.

	"Hands behind your head, and turn around, slowly," Lori orders.

	I do as I am told, having presented myself to Janet like this before on
many occasions.  My aureole are rouged a deep red, and I can smell the
perfume that I have applied between my thighs.  My underarms are shaved
clean, and I wonder if Janet will eventually demand that I shave my sex as
well.

	"You are quite beautiful," observes Lori, "when were you last used?"

	"Saturday, by Mistress Janet."

	"With what instrument, and how many strokes?"

	"Twenty-five strokes with the riding crop, Mistress," I calmly answer.

	"Thank you, you may put you arms down now," Lori orders.

	"Thank you, Mistress."

	"Place your hands on the desk."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Lori rises to her feet as I follow my orders in silence.  I know that I am
going to be used, even before we go to her playroom, but how?

	"Why are you here?" asks Lori.

	"To serve another Mistress," I answer.

	"Aren't there plenty of Dommes in Los Angeles?"

	"I am here today to serve you, Mistress Lori."

	Thwack!  Thwack!  Thwack!

	I receive three blows on my bottom that would have staggered me before I
was trained and brought me to tears, but I am used to such force by now.

	"Why are you here being trained my Janet, a good friend of mine, three
thousand miles from your home?

	"I wanted to be trained my Mistress Janet," I answer.

	"Her reputation extends to LA, to a woman with no connection to the
scene?" demands Lori, steel in her voice.

	"Yes, Mistress," I calmly answer.

	"Do you consider yourself to be strong?"

	"Yes, Mistress," I answer.

	"Yes, Cheryl, I did remember you from the fetish shop in LA.  It was sheer
coincidence that you were there when I went in with a girlfriend of mine. 
I did tell Janet afterwards that I remembered you, yet you are here, loaned
to me for a weekend.  Aren't you worried that I may hurt you?"

	"No, Mistress Lori."

	"Why?" she softly asks me.

	"Because I know that being an associate of Janet's you would never hurt or
abuse a slave, Mistress," I answer.

	"Ah!" I cry, when Lori's fingers invade my sex.

	"Mistress Janet is a good friend of mine, and a well known and loved Domme
in the scene.  I may not be able to make you explain why you are here, but
I will make you prove to me what you have learned from Janet's training. 
Do you understand?"

	"Yes!" I cry, as her fingers dig into my sex.

	"That's good," answered Lori calmly, as if she had been inspecting a car
for purchase, instead of a woman.

	She wipes her hands on a tissue, then selects a long wooden ruler.  She
hefts it in her hands, displaying it for my terror.

	"Has Janet ever used a ruler on that bottom of yours?"

	"No Mistress." 

	"Do you know why?"

	"No, Mistress," I answer, terror in my voice.

	"Because it has sharp edges, and can break the skin easily if used.  And
it can drive splinters into the wound as well.  I'm not going to use it on
you unless you give me a reason, by not obeying an order.  Understand?"

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Very good, now sit in the chair, I have quite another test in mind for
you," Lori orders.

	I do as I am told, and sit naked on the cool leather.  I had been fearful
and afraid that the hard wood of the ruler was going to be used on me for
the first time, and now I wonder what test Lori wants me to perform.

	She places the ruler on her desk, then removes a vibrator and phallus. 
Holding the vibrator in her hands, she flicks the switch, and I can hear a
slight buzzing sound.

	"You may use your hand, the vibrator, or the dildo.  I want you to give
yourself an orgasm in my presence," Lori orders.

	"I've never done that before in the presence of another woman, Mistress,"
I answer.

	"Nice to see that I can ask something of you that Mistress Janet has not.
Do it!"

	Embarrassed, I place my hand between my legs, inserting my fingers into my
already wet love box.  I tickle and pull at my pubic hairs, then insert two
of fingers inside where Lori has already probed.  Then in begin to move my
fingers in and out, simulating the motion of a man's cock.

	There is a small mirror in the library, no doubt specially placed to
reflect back upon the occupant of the chair.  I look at my red face, and I
feel acutely embarrassed by this action.  Janet has never asked me to do
this, and Lori has already threatened me with a fearsome instrument if I do
not perform.

	"May I have the vibrator, Mistress?" I ask in a soft voice.

	"Yes."

	I take the vibrator from the desk, turn it on, and place the buzzing shaft
between my legs.  The hard plastic is the remaining stimulation that I
need, and I soon feel myself get wet and excited.  My breaths become
shorter, my chest heaves, and soon I climax.

	"Ah!" I cry, one time after another as the waves of pleasure course
through my naked body, for Lori's entertainment.

	"Very good," compliments Lori.

	I place the vibrator back on the desk, the plastic surface wet with my
secretions.  Surely Lori wants to lick my own juices from the device, just
a Janet would?

	"Thank you, Mistress," I answer.

	"That was easy to do, wasn't it?" Lori asks, "much easier to bear than a
session with the cane?"

	"Yes, Mistress," I answer.

	Last week, Janet again allowed me the use of another of her slaves.  I let
the girl choose the instrument, and she wanted the cane.  I had wanted the
crop, but instead the cane was her choice.  It took all of my concentration
to avoid drawing blood, to break the skin.       

	"Since you're now nice and wet, Gina will take you to the playroom, where
I have a few different toys than Janet.  Do you submit to my use?" asks
Lori.

	"Yes, Mistress Lori."

	"What is your safeword?"

	"Sin, Mistress," I answer.

	Gina opens the library door.  She has changed into a leather bra and
skirt, and now wears a collar around her neck.  I wonder what she is
carrying in her hands.

	"Stand up," Gina orders.

	I comply quickly, and Gina takes hold of my right wrist, and I feel the
bite of cold steel around it.  Gina has a pair of handcuffs, and my left
wrist is quickly made prisoner as well.  I suddenly realize that in the
entire time I have been used by Mistress Janet, she has only used the
leather bracelets to bind me.

	"Pull at the all you like," suggests Lori, "you'll never escape."

	Naked and cuffed, I make a vain attempt to free myself from the implacable
steel that holds me prisoner.  But nothing I do is of any avail, and my
wrists remain locked in steel.

	"Take her down to the playroom, and place her in the cage," orders Lori.

	Gina grabs hold of my arms, and I am forced marched down to the playroom.
While the basement of the house is large, it is nothing compared to what
Mistress Janet possesses.

	Against the wall of the basement (done in fake brick, I notice, for
atmosphere) is a large steel cage, of the sort used for large animals.  Or
I realize, big enough for a single person.

	I am marched over to the cage, and I see that the door is open.  On the
cage floor is a wooden pallet, covered by a blanket.

	"On your knees and inside," orders Gina.

	I place myself on my knees, bend down low, and inch myself inside the cage
onto the blanket.  Once inside, the door is closed, and Gina padlocks the
door through a hasp.

	"Place your back to the bars."

	I do as I am told, and my right wrist is freed of the steel, but not the
left.  I turn around, then look at my captor.

	"Lock it back on your wrist, with your hands in front."

	I take the cuff into my left hand, then lock it back around my right
wrist, hearing each click as I close the ratchets tighter around my flesh.

	"Lori will be along after a bit to attend to you, Cheryl.  In the
meantime, enjoy the cage.  There's no escape."

	Gina dims the lights, then closes the door behind her.  With my wrists
enclosed in steel, I pull at the bars without effect.  Next my fingers try
for the padlock.  On my knees, I try to pull my wrists apart, fighting
against the handcuffs that restrain me.

	I am naked, locked in a steel cage in the playroom of another Mistress who
is already suspicious of me.  By my own choice!  Tears fall from my eyes as
I settle down to wait for Mistress Lori.

	The cage is large enough so that I can sit with my legs pulled up close to
my chin, or lay down somewhat.  Regardless, I am a prisoner.  I recall that
Janet has a cell in her Dungeon that I was made to sleep in for a couple of
nights after I had displeased her.

	There is no clock in the playroom, so I have no way of measuring the
passage of time.  I can turn to look outside my steel prison, but a table
or something blocks my view of the rest of the room.

	I settle down to wait for Lori, occasionally pulling at the handcuffs on
my wrists.  My fingers caressing the smooth cold stainless steel that holds
me captive.
	*		*		*		*		*		*
	"Wake up!" commands Lori, as she strikes the bars of the cage.

	"Yes, Mistress," I dumbly answer as I struggle back to wakefulness.  Have
I really fallen asleep in my cage, and how long have I been inside?

	Mistress Lori opens the door, and I wait inside, for permission to come
out.  I have learned from Mistress Janet not to make any moves unless
having been given permission first.

	"You may leave your cage," orders Lori.

	I exit the cage, stiff from my confinement.  I get to my feet, my muscles
stiff from the ordeal of crouching in the cage for so long.

	"There's a bowl of water on the table, plus a cloth to dry yourself with,"
suggests Lori, "let me remove your cuffs."

	I hold out my hands and my cuffs are unlocked.  I spy the bowl and cloth,
and plunge my hands into water that feels like it is freezing cold!  Then I
withdraw my hands in surprise, and look sadly at Mistress Lori.

	"Wash yourself or I'll pour the bowl over you," threatens Lori.

	Even though the water is ice cold, I wash my face with it.  The cold water
instantly awakens me, and I dry my hands and face with a soft white towel.

	It is while I'm drying myself that I look at what I thought was a table. 
At each end is a wheel and chains.  It is a rack!  I stop and stare,
looking in horror at the device.

	"Are you awake?"

	"Yes, Mistress," I answer.

	"Good.  Gina, you may fit her collar and bracelets on."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Trembling, I stand in place as Gina locks on the familiar instruments of
my bondage.  I am made to place my ankles one at a time on a stool so that
Gina does not have to bend all the way to lock my ankle bracelets on. 
Soon, I am attired as usual.

	"Kneel," commands Lori.

	I kneel in front of Mistress Lori, conscious of the fact that I now deeply
long for Mistress Janet.

	"Do you submit to my use?"

	"Yes, Mistress," I answer.

	"You may then select the instrument of your use," Lori commands.

	Against the wall is a wooden cabinet that Gina has opened for my
inspection.  I see all of the familiar instruments of a Domme.  I breathe
deeply, and select a rubber flogger.  I know that the stands will sting and
hurt, and mark easily.  But I know that unless I prove to Lori that I am
both submissive and well trained, she will use me even harder than Mistress
Janet.

	I remove the flogger from the cabinet, stand before Lori, and sink to my
knees in front of her.  Then I present the rubber flogger to her.

	"Please flog me, Mistress?" I ask softly.

	"Your wish shall be granted.  Gina!"

	"Yes, Mistress!"

	"Hang Cheryl from the ceiling chain, with her legs spread.  She's going to
be severely flogged this night, perhaps harder than ever before.  I want
her naked little body totally available to me."    	    

	"Yes, Mistress," answers Gina.

	I stand in silence as I am again hung from a ceiling chain, exposed to
whatever mercies that Mistress Lori has in mind for me.  Janet has never
asked me to select the method of my torment, so I was shaking inside as I
looked at the contents of Lori's cabinet.

	Just a few miles from here I went to school and studied literature before
I went back to Stamford.  I remembered my walks at Harvard, Boston
University, and others with the friends that I had made in my first year of
college.

	But now I'm naked, hanging from a ceiling, again expecting to feel the
bite of the lash.  Nor is it long in coming, as Lori does not even want me
to kiss the flogger or ask for my use.  Instead she draws her arm back, and
lashes me against my outstretched breasts.

	"Ah!" I cry, "ah!"

	My entire body is to feel the flogger, and Lori circles around me,
striking an area a few times, then moving on.  Each stroke stings and
probably marks, but I do not know or care.  I have placed myself in this
position, and I have nobody to blame but myself.

	"Ah!"

	"Ah!"

	There are no sounds in the playroom except for those of the flogger
striking my flesh, the click of Lori's heels as she walks around me, and my
moans and breaths.  In spite of the treatment that I am receiving, I stand
proud and tall, just as Mistress Janet has taught me to.

	"You have learned your lessons well," compliments Lori.

	"Yes, Mistress," I gasp, between strokes.

	My breasts, underarms, and thighs are all singled out for special
treatment, and I feel the sting of each rubber strand as it strikes my
flesh.  I moan with both pain and pleasure, my mind divorcing itself from
my body, as I enter that special submissive place in my mind.  Which I did
not know existed before I began to serve Mistress Janet.

	"Kiss the flogger," directs Lori.

	"Yes, Mistress," I answer, wondering how much time has passed and how many
strokes I have endured, "thank you, Mistress Lori."

	"Are you a bondage slut?" asks Lori.

	"Ah!" I cry, as her fingers enter my sex and rub my clit, "yes, Mistress,
I'm a slut!"

	I have a Masters in Business that I earned from Stamford University,
heiress to a family fortune (though I have kept my name and position out of
the papers so that I can achieve this mad scheme), yet I have been trained
as a slave.  And to my horror, I have come to enjoy it!  Being kept naked,
used physically and then sexually, made to serve another man or woman.

	"Slut!"

	Lori's fingers are coated with my secretions, and she does not have to
order me to clean them when they are placed in my mouth.  I do so
automatically, without prompting from the Domme.

	"Gina, release this slave, I am not finished with her yet," Lori orders in
a firm tone of voice.

	I am released from my bondage, only to be made to kneel in front of
Mistress Lori, who is not seated in a chair similar to the one that Janet
has in her Dungeon.  She is dressed in a skintight PVC Catsuit, complete
with a matching corset around her waist.

	"Lick my shoes," orders Lori.

	Without hesitation I get on my hands along with my knees, and Lori crosses
her legs, and extends her right foot to my lips.  She is wearing a pair of
shoes on her feet that are locked to her ankles by a leather strap and a
small padlock.

	I begin to lick and suck at the PVC material of her shoes without
hesitation or shame.  My skin still burns from the harsh flogging that I
have received, but that only has made me more sexually excited.

	First Lori made me give myself an orgasm in her presence, something that
Janet never did.  Now I am asked to lick a Domme's shoes, and I do so
without question, my sex wet with desire.

	Twice in one night Mistress Lori has made me do something different, and
my heart thunders in my chest.  I have discovered a new level of
submission, and I yearn for more.

	"Does Mistress Janet know what sort of submissive that she has unleashed?"
Lori demands.

	"Yes, Mistress," I answer.

	"Does she whip you to a frenzy?"

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Make you scream with pain and pleasure?"

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Get over my knee, Cheryl.  You need a paddle on your bottom, and I'm
going to administer it!"

	I quickly follow her orders, and I am now resting on her lap.  Then I
smell the PVC that Lori is wearing, and my own scent is that of intense
arousal.  Gina hands Lori a leather paddle, and my bottom is rubbed in
advance of my next use.

	Crack!

	Crack!

	Crack!

	Crack!

	Crack!

	"Thank you, Mistress!" I cry after five harsh strokes, my bottom burning
from the impacts

	Crack!

	Crack!

	Crack!

	Crack!

	Crack!

	"Thank you, Mistress," I gasp, tears falling from my eyes, for Lori has
struck me harder on my bottom than Janet ever has.

	"Kiss the paddle," orders Lori.

	I do so without question, even as I feel my bottom burning from the use
that it has already suffered.  Then I feel Lori's fingers between the
cheeks of my abused bottom, and I wonder if I am going to be used there
too!

	"Should I use all of your holes tonight, Cheryl, or leave your ass for
tomorrow?  Or are you already totally submissive?"

	"I'm submissive, Mistress.  You may use me in any way that you like."

	"On the floor, Cheryl, on your knees," orders Lori.

	I do as I am told, wincing when my bottom touches the heel of my feet.  My
rear has been used quite harshly, and I wonder how I am going to sit down
afterwards.

	"Gina, take this slut to my bedroom in a few minutes after you clean her
up.  I shall have her this night."

	"Yes, Mistress," answers Gina.

	Lori exits the playroom, leaving me alone with Gina.  I am taken upstairs,
and Gina cleans the sweat from my body, and my sex with a scented
towelette.  I am then perfumed again, and my hair brushed and set.  Looking
at myself in the mirror, I am amazed at the stripes that the flogger has
left on my skin.

	In her bedroom, Lori is naked upon the sheets, her fragrant sex open to my
attentions.  Without being ordered to, I quickly apply my lips and tongue
to her sex, thinking of how I pleasured Mistress Janet last week.

	Then I notice that Gina has removed her leather clothes, and joins us in
bed.  She gets under me, then begins to work on my sex just as I am doing
with Mistress Lori.

	I am having a hard time concentrating on pleasing Lori as I am being
pleasured at the same time.  My legs are open wide, and Gina plays her
tongue over my clit, making me moan with pleasure.

	"You must make me come before Gina makes you come, else you shall be
beaten again," describes Lori.

	With renewed vigor, I attach myself to Lori's lovebox, determined not to
succumb to Gina's attentions.  I apply myself, using everything that Tina
has taught me in the arts of pleasing a woman, and eventually I succeed in
making Lori moan and buck with pleasure.

	Gina then removes herself from my sex, and I see that my juices are on her
lips.  We kiss, before Lori pulls me closer to her.  She pulls the quilt
over the two of us, and Gina leaves the room, closing the lights behind
her.

	Lori and I made languid slow love after that, until we both fall asleep
together.  Even though I have been harshly used and my skin burns, I feel
quite happy about tonight.  I fall into a dark, dreamless sleep.

Part Two: The Rack

Saturday October 24, 1998

	It was late afternoon, and I was tired after a day of sightseeing around
Boston.  I have not been a tourist anywhere for a long time, and now my
feet hurt.

	"Would you like to rest?" asked Lori.

	"Yes, Mistress," I answer.

	True to her words of last night, on Saturday morning after breakfast the
two of us had set out together.  We had seen all of the usual tourist sites
in Boston, then trudged through the city.  I had followed her without
question.

	We go into a restaurant, and get a window seat.  I look out the window,
and see the grounds of Harvard University, where I had gone to school for a
year before I transferred to Stamford in California!

	Lori orders coffee for the two of us, and after the waitress delivers it,
we are left alone.  Her eyes bore into me like drills.

	"Have you ever been here before, Cheryl?" plainly asks Lori.

	"No, Mistress," I answer, lying through my teeth.  I wonder if Lori can
detect that I am lying to her?

	"If I contact a friend of mine in the admissions department of Harvard,
will she find your name?" questions Lori as she sips her coffee.

	"No, Mistress," I answer softly.

	"I have contacts and friends in many colleges in the Boston area, some say
that it's the main industry here.  If not Harvard, perhaps Boston
University, or somewhere else?  You don't seem like a Yale type to me,"
observed Lori.

	"I went to Stamford University in California, Mistress, and received an
MBA in Finance.  My background is known to Mistress Janet."

	"I'm sure that it is, Cheryl.  Except that it doesn't answer the question
of why you're here, after my seeing you at that shop in LA."

	"I'm here to be trained by Mistress Janet, then loaned out to you so that
I may experience another Domme, Mistress Lori," I curtly answer.

	Lori says nothing in return but merely sips at her coffee, and stares at
me.  Her black eyes bore into me as before.

	"Tonight, after Dinner, I shall put you to the ultimate test, Cheryl.  Did
you see the full contents of my playroom last night?"

	"Yes, Mistress, I saw the rack," I answer.

	"That shall be your test, Cheryl, the rack.  You can, of course, refuse. 
That is your right."

	"No, Mistress," I answer, "that will be quite all right.  I accept the
rack willingly."

	"Brave words for one clothed in a restaurant in the heart of Boston, but
you may change your mind later."

	It has been five months sine I have entered into the world of submission.
I have been stripped naked, flogged, cropped and whipped.  All of my
orifices have been used repeatedly, and I have been lent out to Janet's
associates.  I wear a collar, ring, and chain on my ankle.  There is
nothing left for me but the rack.

	"Tonight, Mistress," I answer, "I shall prove my submission."
	*		*		*		*		*		*
	We meet Gina for Dinner at another restaurant, Durgen Park outside Fanueil
Hall.  Originally, I had thought that we might have gone to Legal Seafood,
but we had fish the previous night.

	Usually, I would be serving Dinner to Mistress Janet, either naked or
wearing a Maid's uniform.  Instead, someone else is serving us, and I feel
the leather collar around my neck marks me as a slave.

	I eat a large steak and baked potato, and my only deference to Mistress
Lori is that I do not have any alcohol to dull my senses.  We are three
women friends out for Dinner, and a man comes out of the crows at the bar
to try to pick up Gina.  She politely declines, and he leaves us alone
after that.

	After Dinner, we go to an Art Gallery opening.  A friend of Lori's has an
exhibition of his paintings.  I stand off to one side as Lori circulates
the crows, and eat some cheese and more soda.

	We get back home, and Lori suggests that I rest in my bedroom.  I take the
opportunity, undress, and fall into bed, into a deep dream filled sleep of
my time under the lash of Mistress Janet.
	*		*		*		*		*		*
	"Good evening," I hear through the fog of sleep.

	"What time is it?" I ask.

	"Eleven thirty," Gina answers.

	I sit up naked in bed, and rub my eyes.  After my rest, I feel
reinvigorated, ready for anything.  Even the rack.

	"I had better get ready, then," I say aloud to Gina.

	"Yes, I'll help."

	I wash, the warm water returning me back to full awareness.  Much to my
surprise, Gina does not ask me to go through the ritual of rouge and
perfume.  Once I am clean and ready, she cuffs my hands behind my back and
places a blindfold over my eyes.

	Then I am marched down to the playroom, and made to kneel.  I have not
even been gagged, which is a surprise.  My time on the rack is to be direct
and with a minimum of ceremony.

	Gina removes my blindfold, and I see that Lori is seated in her chair. I
remain silent, as my training has taught me.

	"Do you now accept the rack, Cheryl?" Lori asks.

	"Yes, Mistress," I answer.

	"You may still back out."

	"Please place me on the rack, Mistress?" I ask.

	"As you wish.  Gina, please assist me."

	I am released from my handcuffs, and made to lie down on the rack.  My
wrists and ankles are placed within fur lined cuffs, and locked.  I am in
the familiar shape of an X, my body totally exposed.

	"You may still back out, Cheryl."

	"No thank you, Mistress Lori."

	"What is your safeword?"

	"Sin, Mistress," I answer.

	"Remember it well," Lori cautions.

	Lori ever so slowly begins to turn the wheel, and I hear the ratchets
click one after another.  I do not feel anything yet, as merely the slack
is taken up.  But ever so gradually the tension begins, as I am pulled
flat.

	"Are you all right, Cheryl?"

	"Yes, Mistress," I answer.

	I stare resolutely at the ceiling light, concentrating on the light bulbs.
 My body is pulled taut, my breasts flat against my chest.

	Lori begins to fondle me, and my breasts are her first objects of
attention.  She pulls at my nipples, which are erect, then holds one entire
breast in her hand.  Then one of her hands traces the outlines of my sex,
and I moan with pleasure.

	"Ah!" I cry.

	My reward is to hear the ratchets click further and I am pulled tighter. 
If anyone had told me a year earlier that I would be in this position, I
would have told him or her that they were crazy.  Instead this is the final
test of my submission.

	"Ah!" 

	"AH!"

	The pain is intense, and I swallow, my mouth has suddenly become dry and
like paper.  Fear and pleasure mixed together in a strange manner that I
have never experienced before.  I have a achieved a new feeling of total
submission that is new to me.  

	"Are you all right, Cheryl?" Lori asks.

    	"Yes, Mistress," I answer.

	"You are very brave, Cheryl," compliments Lori.

	After what seems like an eternity, the chain is released, and the tension
on my body falls away.  I feel like I am seven feet tall as Gina helps me
to sit up and take a drink of water.

	"Are you all right?" asks Gina.

	"Yes, thank you."

	That night, I am not used again.  I spend the night with Gina in a big
double bed, and I suspect that she is awake through the night to keep an
eye on me.  I go back to sleep, wondering if my time on the rack was just a
dream as well.

Part Three: Remembrance of Things Past

Sunday October 25, 1998

	My apartment is just as I have left it.  The Times is on the doorstep and
I carry it inside with me.  I place my coat back in the closet, and pour
myself a stiff drink.

	For all of the terror that the rack generated in me, I was not seriously
hurt by it.  Lori knew just when to stop before any real damage would
happen.

	Sunday I took a hot bath to relieve the tension in my joints, given
breakfast, then sent on my way by eleven.  Lori gave me a short exit
interview, and then I departed for home.

	My training is now over, and I have the marks to prove it.  I am a slave,
have been loaned to two of Janet's associates.  A Male Dominant has used
me, followed by a Dominatrix.

	It is now time.  From the top dresser drawer, I remove the manila
envelope, and look at the pictures of her.  Before and after, realizing
that I have followed the path that she did, into submission.

	I will call my contact in Hong Kong and set into motion my final plan.  In
scene language, the bottom will control the top.  In plain language, I am
now going to humiliate Mistress Janet, then make my final demand on her
before going home.

The Challenge
Chapter 14: The Legacy

Part One: Borrowed Time

July 1992

	"Mistress, are you all right?" asked Andrea, concern and worry on her
face.

	"What?" answered Erica, struggling back to consciousness.

	Erica realized that she had fallen asleep at her desk, resting her hands
on the desktop, her arms for pillows.  She had gone into the library to
write a report on that new girl, Janet Davis who she had used the previous
weekend.  Then had she had dropped off to sleep, exhausted.

	"Are you all right?"

	"I'm tired," answered Erica.

	"I'll get you some coffee, Mistress.  Then we have something to discuss,"
replied Andrea as she left the library for the kitchen.

	Erica wanted to get to her feet to follow Andrea, but found that she was
too tired even to do that.  She had used Janet all weekend, and now here it
was Sunday afternoon, and she felt like she had run the NYC Marathon!

	"Here's some coffee, Mistress," said Andrea after she returned and handed
Erica a steaming cup.

	"Thank you, Andrea," replied Erica as she sipped at the black liquid, the
heat and caffeine restoring her.

	"You're welcome, Mistress."

	"What do you want to talk to be about, Andrea?  And please take a seat."

	"Thank you, Mistress," answered Andrea as she sat in a library chair
directly opposite Erica, "it's about Janet Davis."

	"Go ahead."

	"Why are you training her?"

	"Sally suggested that her friend wanted to try something new, since her
sex life was a bore.  Which was what she told me verbally, and in her
written bio."

	"Do you really believe that, Mistress?  That a normal heterosexual woman
who is bored with her vanilla sex life would suddenly decide to serve a
Dominatrix?  Plus the face that she has no experience in the scene."

	"What of it?"

	"She must have had some boring sex life then.  I would have thought that
you would have been at least more curious before you placed her under the
lash," commented Andrea.

	"Are you questioning my judgement?"

	"Yes, Mistress, when it concerns your reputation as a Domme," pointed out
Andrea.

	"What else?  I know that look in your face, Andrea, out with it."

	"What happened Saturday night?"

	"I don't know what you're talking about," answered Erica.

	"Did Janet tire you out?  I know how you train new slaves, Mistress.  And
you wimped out on using the whip on her.  That is, unless you want her to
become Tiffany's lover?"

	"I felt that she had been used enough," answered Erica.

	"All right then, I suggest that you compare her training records to those
of the others.  You will find that she hasn't received nearly enough use as
compared with the others at the same stage of their training."

	"Thank you, Andrea, for bringing that to my attention," said Erica.

	"I think that if a new girl like Janet can tire you out, I suggest that
you see a doctor, Mistress."

	"Next week, Andrea," answered Erica, afraid to go back to a doctor.

	"Tomorrow, Mistress.  Please?"
	*		*		*		*		*		*
	"What's the problem?" asked Doctor Anderson.

	Erica sat in the doctor's examination room, on the table.  Now she was the
one being examined, not one of her slaves.

	"I'm tired all the time, sleepy.  Can't concentrate, and I tire easily."

	"All right, then, I'll start with an exam and a blood sample.  Roll up
your sleeve, and let's get started."

	"Yes, Doctor."

	She submitted herself to a full physical exam, including samples of her
blood and urine, being weighed and a heart exam.  Everything that she had
been avoiding for a very long time.  Finally, she was allowed to dress, and
was conducted into the office to sit quietly.

	Erica waited for the results of the blood analyzer.  It was a new device
that could do things that formally had to be sent out to a lab.  

	Doctor Anderson entered his office, and closed the door behind him.  The
serious look on his face told Erica that what he had to say was nothing
good.

	"I'm sorry I took so long," he excused himself.

	"That's all right," answered Erica.

	"Thank you," he said as he sat behind his desk, a manila folder in his
hands.

	"How am I?"

	"I've been a doctor for many years, Erica.  There's no good way to deliver
news like this.  Your hemoglobin count is very low, and I'm going to give
you a prescription for iron pills.  Also, eat as much red meat as you can,
even if you have to have steak for breakfast.  But that's not the main
problem."

	"What is?"

	"Your blood count is very low also, and I want you over in the hospital
tomorrow for further tests.  I think that you may have leukemia, and we
have to determine what type and if it's treatable."

	"Thank you," answered Erica softly.

	"There have been many advances over the years in treating leukemia, Erica.
 Drugs, radiation, marrow replacement, and if we've caught it early you
have a good chance of having a normal life………"

	Erica sat in the bar, and opened a pack of cigarettes that she had just
purchased from the machine.  After all that she had gone through years ago
to quit, now she wanted nothing more than a cigarette and bourbon over ice.

	She lit the cigarette, and inhaled the smoke deep into her lungs, happy
that she didn't embarrass herself by coughing in response.  Then she
followed the puff with a swig of whiskey that burned her throat making her
feel more alive than anything did in days.

	"You OK lady?" asked the bartender.

	"Fine, thank you."

	After hearing the news, she had called Andrea to tell her to cancel the
one session that she had planned for Monday night.  Since she didn't want
to get caught in rush hour traffic, she had pulled into a bar and
restaurant for a drink.

	She had planned a session for Beth Summers, one of her favorite slaves. 
But now her heart wasn't into it, after hearing the news that she was sick.

	Erica then called Andrea back to say that she wasn't having Dinner at home
either, that Andrea should eat alone and that she would be home later.

	Her concentration was broken when the bartender placed a menu in front of
her, and she looked at him.

	"Want some dinner to go with that bourbon?" he asked.

	Erica opened the menu, and finally noticed that other patrons were coming
in and being seated for Dinner in the restaurant section.  She had the bar
all to herself, however.

	"Yes, I'll have the Prime Rib with French Fries, thank you.  Medium Rare."

	"Thank you," he answered, "you don't want to drink and drive on an empty
stomach."

	"No," answered Erica.

	When the Prime Rib arrived, complete with a sharp steak knife and a bottle
of Steak Sauce Erica was actually hungry.  The cut of meat was a good one,
and it was very tender.  So Erica laced into it, and finished the whole
steak with the fries also.

	"Thank you, that was very good," said Erica as the dishes were cleared
away.

	"You're welcome."
	*		*		*		*		*		*

	It came as no surprise after the tests in the hospital when Erica
discovered that she had leukemia.  Overproducion of immature white cells,
also called cancer of the blood.

	She had sat in the doctor's office, and he had given her pamphlets to
read, and had talked about therapies, drugs, and treatments.  But her mind
was elsewhere, her concerns somewhere else.

	"Thank you, doctor," she said, shaking his hand on the way out.

	BEEP!

	The car horn behind her had startled Erica back to the real world, and she
pressed on the gas to get moving into traffic.  She pulled over into a
McDonald's and ordered coffee, and wished for a drink instead.

	Death.

	She had cheated death when Stephanie had saved her life, inadvertently
placing her on the path to submission when she had been a painslut to
Mistress Martine.  Then, in a strange twist of fate she had saved Stephanie
from serving Lauren, who had learned all of the wrong lessons from their
common Master, Daniel.

	Erica had died twice, but as Alana Peters.  First after the car accident
that had placed her on the path to D/s.  Then in her Amazon trip to Brazil
when she abandoned her former life to become Erica Riken.  She swallowed,
and wanted a cigarette.

	After finishing her coffee, she drove the remaining distance home, and
told Andrea that she wanted to be alone in the library.  Fortunately, she
had no sessions today.  Else they would have been canceled also.

	'I don't want to be an object of pity,' Erica thought to herself, 'a Domme
who can't hold a crop.'

	For the first time in years, she buried her face in her hands, and cried.
Tears fell from her eyes, into her hands.  They leaked  onto the desktop
blotter through her fingers, falling like raindrops.

Part Two: Janet Davis

July 1992

	"It's been a long time," said Karla.

	Erica had called Karla to investigate Janet Davis, to have him dig into
her past and provide a full biography for her.  They met in a parking lot
to exchange money for his work.

	"Have you done what I asked?"

	"Yes, here it is," he said, handing it over, "pretty small fry, don't you
think?"

	"That's my affair," answered Erica.

	"Janet Davis, secretary.  Earns eighteen thousand a year.  Works in
Manhattan.  Drives a ten year old Plymouth.  Hardly the type to circulate
in your circles, don't you agree?"

	"Thought you didn't ask questions?"

	"I don't," replied Karla as he opened the car door, "see you next time."

	"Thanks."

	'If there is a next time,' thought Erica.

	It was Saturday morning, and Janet would be helping Andrea with the
household chores.  She was treated like any new prospect: kept naked,
collared and wearing bracelets, and her feet locked into punishing five
inch high-heels.  Before she had left the house, Janet had been paraded in
front of Erica.  Andrea had bathed and perfumed her, and Janet seemed eager
and ready to serve.  Her naked skin was freshly marked from the session
that she had undergone the previous evening.

	Sally had told Erica that her friend was a little sexually inexperienced.
She should have said that Janet was very sexually inexperienced, that had
been a great understatement and Sally would one day pay for her inaccurate
remarks.

	The house seemed like a prison, and Erica had wanted to get away for a
while.  She went to a restaurant, and got a booth all the way in the back,
away from others.  There she ordered a Coke, and sat reading Janet's file.

	Middle class upbringing, public schools, Queens College.  Parents dead,
one brother in Colorado.  No serious debts, disdains jewelry, dresses well
(worked at Macy's starting in High School), owns an old car.  Takes the
train every day to work in Manhattan.

	The very life that Alana had wanted to have was an anonymous one that
would have left her free to enter the world of submission.  But Erica had
not been free, really.  Serving Daniel, unable to have Keith for her
Master, finally discovering that her true talent had been as a Dominatrix.

	Once Erica had gotten Karla's report on Janet she had wanted to demand the
reason for why she had wanted to serve a Mistress.  If necessary, she would
beat the reason out of her, then send her packing.

	'No,' Erica thought to herself in silence, sipping at her Coke, 'I knew
nothing about submission either until I met Martine.  I could afford
Martine, couldn't I?  But Janet certainly can't afford the fee that I
usually charge the rich women of Greenwich to beat their bottoms.'

	"Want some lunch?" asked the waitress, a pretty brunette.

	"No thanks, just thinking.  Please get me another Coke?"

	"Sure."

	Erica stared at the ice cubes floating in the brown liquid, watching them
swirl around in the glass.

	'I'm going to train Janet like all the others, even if I'm sick and she
will be my last slave.  She deserves a good Mistress that will love and
respect her, even I can't love her in return.  Maybe I'll respond to
treatment, maybe my energy will come back so that I can take her to bed. 
She's the first slave to ever wear me out, and she's not even trained yet.'

	Erica placed a few dollar bills under the empty glass, and walked out into
the July heat.  She couldn't wait to get home as she got behind the wheel
of her BMW.  When she got home Andrea had Janet waiting for inspection, but
Erica wanted to place her file in the safe first.  Then she would see
Janet, alone.

	"Enter!" called Erica.

	"Yes, Mistress," answered Janet.

	Janet walked in the library slowly, measuring each step in the heels that
she was forced to wear.  Erica noted that the woman had managed to become
used to be kept naked after only a few weeks.  Good, that was the first and
hardest hurdle to jump.  After that, being used physically and sexually
would come quickly.

	"Kneel."

	"Yes, Mistress Erica."

	"Have you ever served a Mistress before, been whipped or cropped?" asked
Erica.

	"No, Mistress."

	"Ever been spanked by another woman?"

	"Not until I came to serve you, Mistress Erica."

	"Why do you want to serve a Mistress, Janet?" asked Erica.

	"My sex life with men was unsuccessful, so I wanted to try something new.
Sally has told me of how she enjoys submission, so I wanted to give it a
try," nervously answered Janet, as she swallowed a huge lump in her throat.

	"Just like that?  You knew that you would be whipped, cropped, and
sexually used, yet you still wanted to serve a Mistress?"

	"Yes, Mistress Erica, those are my reasons."

	"It's all right, Janet.  They are quite good enough for me, and I said
last month that I was satisfied with your interview," explained Erica, "now
I want you to get on my lap, because I want to use a hairbrush on that
bottom of yours."

	Erica rose from the desk chair, picked up the brush, then seated herself
on the leather couch.  She watched as Janet did as she had been ordered,
presenting her naked bottom for Erica's use.

	"Are you submissive Janet?" asked Erica.

	"I want to learn submission, Mistress Erica," answered Janet.

	Erica fondled Janet's firm breasts, holding the globes in her right hand.
The she placed her hand between Janet's legs, and felt the already wet sex.
 Her slit was moist and wet with excitement!

	"Are you going to behave?" demanded Erica.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"You're such a good girl, Janet."

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	Thwack!
	
	Thwack!

	The hard wood of the brush smacked against Janet's upraised bottom, making
her flinch with each stroke.  Even though each stroke was harder than the
one before, Janet resolutely remained seated on Erica's lap.

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	"That's enough for now, Janet, I'll be using you tonight in the Dungeon
after Dinner."

	"Thank you, Mistress," cried Janet as she got shakily to her feet.

	"You've done very well, Janet, for a new girl in so short a time,"
complimented Erica.

	"Thank you, Mistress."

	"Now go help Andrea in the kitchen with Dinner."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	'Yes,' thought Erica, 'I shall train her with love and understanding.  If
she's so eager to learn submission then I must train her.'
	*		*		*		*		*		*
	"What is your safeword, Janet?"

	"Mercy, Mistress."

	"Make sure that you do not forget it," advised Erica.

	"Yes, Mistress!"

	Janet was on her knees in the Dungeon, her hands bound above her head to
the ceiling chain.  Her breasts protruded, and she was sweating from the
use that she had already undergone earlier.

	Taking a wooden stool from the wall, Erica sat down in front of Janet and
held a crop in her hands, flexing the leather covered bamboo in her gloved
hands.  The crop had a leather pad at the end, which was what would be used
on her.  Erica could see how Janet watched the pad with anticipation in her
eyes.

	"Hold out your breasts."

	Janet did so, and her reward was to have them struck several times lightly
with the crop.  She did not flinch, cry out, or draw back.  Instead she
remained in placed, and took the crop on her pretty well formed breasts,
which bounced slightly after each impact.

	"Very good, Janet."

	"Thank you, Mistress."

	Erica got to her knees, and began to lick and suck at Janet's erect
nipples, making the woman moan in response.  What the crop could not do,
Erica's mouth would do instead.

	"Ah!" cried Janet.

	"Slut!" commented Erica her mouth full of Janet's breast.

	Erica then placed one of her hands between Janet's legs, and the slave
opened her legs to facilitate the entrance of Erica's fingers into her love
box.  Janet moaned as her Mistress probed her privates.

	"Do you want to be my slave?" asked Erica.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Erica could smell Janet's sweat from her use, but it wasn't the scent of
fear.  Rather it was of pleasure, for that was what she wanted.

	"Andrea shall have you tonight, Janet.  Only after you have proven
yourself to me shall I take you into my bed," stated Erica.

	"Please Mistress, make love to me?" asked Janet, disappointment in her
voice.

	"Not yet, Janet, not yet."
	*		*		*		*		*		*
	On Monday morning, when it was just Erica and Andrea in the house, Erica
had ordered a cheese omelet for breakfast.  Instead, Andrea cooked two
scrambled eggs, and a small steak.  Erica ate everything in silence.

	"What's wrong, Mistress?" asked Andrea, "why are you taking those iron
pills, vanishing for hours, then eating beef constantly?"

	"That's my affair, Andrea."

	"Then why didn't you take Janet to bed on Saturday night, she certainly
earned it?"

	"All right, then, Andrea, sit down!" commanded Erica.

	Andrea sat in one of the dining room chairs, next to Erica.  She waited in
silence.

	"I'm sick, Andrea.  I have leukemia, I may be dying," said Erica as she
broke down in tears, "and I'm so scared."

	"Mistress," answered Andrea as she held Erica close to her, as the Domme
cried, the tears falling from her eyes.

Part Three: Excalibur

October 1992

	The treatments had begun to work and Erica had started to feel normal
again.  Her energy was returning, along with her sex drive.  Mistress Erica
had returned to her regular schedule and habits.

	Until the phone call had come from Dr. Anderson.  Even with the
treatments, it was just a temporary respite.  She was still seriously ill,
and had just three years to live.

	Andrea was preparing lunch in the kitchen when Erica walked in.  She was
just about to tell Erica that lunch would be ready soon.

	"Mistress?" asked Andrea.

	Erica removed a can of Coke from the fridge, then opened it and sat on a
chair.  She took a long swallow before she began to speak in a soft voice.

	"That was Dr. Anderson, Andrea.  I'm dying.  I may feel better now, but
it's just temporary.  I'll start to decline again, become weak and sick
again.  If you want, I'll release you from your contract.  Being a nurse
wasn't part of the contract that we signed."

	Ding!

	"Lunch is ready, Mistress.  Chicken pot pie," stated Andrea.

	"Let's eat together in here," said Erica, "screw formality for once."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Mistress and slave sat down to an informal lunch of salad, pot pie, sodas,
and finally cake.  Erica stayed in the kitchen after eating, just to talk
and have some company.

	"You know," said Erica, the funny thing is that I died twice already."

	"Mistress?" questioned Andrea as she did the dishes.

	"Just a figure of speech, Andrea."

	"Perhaps you could die again, and live once more, as someone else,"
suggested Andrea, "but have someone take your place."

	"I wish that I could do that, Andrea."
	*		*		*		*		*		*
	"Wake up, Andrea," insisted Erica as she shook her slave awake.

	"What's wrong Mistress?" Andrea looked at the clock and saw that it was
three in the morning.

	"What did you say after lunch?"

	"Bout what?" sleepily answered Andrea.

	"Dying and living again?"

	"If you were to die and have someone take your place, Mistress," Andrea
answered, still half asleep.

	"Yes, that's it!" said Erica as she sat down on Andrea's bed.

	"What?"

	"I love you, Andrea."

	"Yes, Mistress," replied Andrea, convinced that Erica had finally gone
crazy, somehow.
	*		*		*		*		*		*
	"Sit down, Andrea.  I have a question to ask you.  What do you think of
Tiffany Gray?"

	Erica and Andrea sat in the kitchen after breakfast, sharing another pot
of coffee together.  Outside was a dark gray winter sky.

	"Selfish, unstable, a liar, I have never trusted her, Mistress.  I have
even suggested that you cease being her Mistress."

	"Yes, Andrea, I remember.  What do you think of Janet Davis?"

	"Eager to please you and learn, faithful.  Willing to submit to you in all
things.  The best slave you've had in a long time, Mistress.  I'm sorry
that I ever suggested that you shouldn't train her."

	"Perfect then.  Tell me, Andrea, if you died, would anybody miss you?"

	"You know that I'm all alone in the world, Mistress.  I was an only child,
and my parents are dead."

	"So if you vanished into a harem, you wouldn't be missed?"

	"No, Mistress."

	"How would you like to join me then in death and rebirth?" asked Erica.

	"Wait a minute, Mistress.  You're not thinking of doing what I suggested
yesterday are you?" questioned Andrea.

	"Yes," answered Erica, sipping her coffee, "yes, and I need your help. 
Janet must be trained and quickly while I still have the strength to do
it."

	"Between Janet and Tiffany?  How?"

	"A competition both financial and in Dominance and submission.  Each to be
awarded a portfolio of stock, they have to run the house for a year
supervised by Blanca Sanchez, their activities monitored by her also then
the winner gets the estate.  Plus the loser as her slave," Erica described
in detail.

	"Tiffany will cut her to pieces, Mistress," stated Andrea.

	"That's why we have to train her correctly, now don't we?  When I loan
Janet to Stephanie, I'll tell her not to place Janet on the rack, for
example."

	"She will, anyway, you know how much she loves a new girl.  And Janet is
just the sort that she desires."

	"I'm counting on it, Andrea," answered Erica.

Part Four: The Final Plans

May 1993

	It was only by her strength of will that Erica mad managed to retain
enough strength to continue training Janet.  She had given many of her
other slaves and paying clients to other Dommes, simply because she no
longer had the energy to service them all.

	Some of her wealthy clients were bitterly disappointed, complained that
she had serviced their submissive needs for years.  That Erica had been the
perfect Dominatrix, and that they would gladly pay her anything to
continue.

	Erica had never been a Domme for the money.  She had been quite well off
from the family estate before she had began as Mistress Erica serving the
needs of the elite in Greenwich CT.  Over the years, she had taken her
earnings, and placed them into the stock market.

	In 1987, she had made a killing by suddenly liquidating everything in the
family's stock portfolio, including stock that had been held for
generations.  Weeks before the crash, she had sold everything, sensing that
the market was simply too high.  In just one decision, she had increased
her cash position many times, and she had called on Blanca to keep her name
out of the Wall Street Journal.

	Strange how in 1980, when she had done her first deal as an investment
banker, she had wanted an article about her in the Journal so very much. 
Now, in her position as Domme, even though she had amassed a vast fortune
in her own name, publicity was the last thing that she had wanted.

	She had bought portfolios of stock again for both Janet and Tiffany, and
had arranged for brokers to handle their accounts, beginning after her
death.

	Enough money had been siphoned off into accounts into the Cayman Islands
that would provide her with enough money to live on in the time remaining
to her, and to set Andrea up with a comfortable estate as well.  She could
have used Switzerland for numbered accounts, but the Caymans were a lot
closer.

	Somehow the prospect of her own death no longer frightened her as it did
almost a year earlier.  Creating the competition between two of her slaves
had given her a purpose and goal to continue living.  She would even live
the year to see who would win the competition.

	Janet's slave training had been almost rushed to an incredible degree. 
Used herself one week, she had been allowed to use other slaves the next. 
Every week that Erica had called to arrange for her Friday night pickup,
she had been afraid that Janet would refuse her.  Instead Janet eagerly
sought to please her Mistress, having no idea of what was in reality being
planned for her.

	Even when Stephanie had scared her half to death by placing her on the
rack, Janet still wanted to serve a Mistress.  It was only icing on the
cake when Stephanie had allowed Janet to use her own slave Camille for a
transgression.

	'I'm sorry, Janet,' Erica thought in silence. 'I'm going to place you in a
test that you know nothing about, possibly endanger your life, in a
competition with a woman that you think of as your lover and friend,
Tiffany.  Please forgive me?'

	Janet had been bound and whipped into a sexual frenzy, her body covered in
stripes every week.  Her pussy had been shaved for months now, with Andrea
shaving her each Sunday on her departure.  Janet had never commented or
protested to Erica about that new violation of her womanhood.

	Erica wondered sometimes just how much internal strength that the woman
really had, her personality certainly didn't betray any indication of the
nerves of steel that Janet must posses.  Her choice of Janet against
Tiffany would place two almost exact opposites against the other.

	Janet was cool, calm, and determined.  Tiffany was emotional, easily
excited, and possessed a short attention span.

	Tiffany would no doubt regard her sudden wealth as a gift from heaven. 
Janet would be far more suspicious about her sudden change in status.

	Even more so when she was fired from her job, and would find the clues
around the house that Erica would have left for the two of them.  It would
not take long for them to realize that they were in for the test of their
lives.

	'Forgive me, both of you, for the ton of bricks that are about to fall on
you,' thought Erica, 'but I don't want to go out as an object of pity, a
sick Domme dying in a few years.'

	The week before, she had used Tiffany alone in the house, giving Janet the
week off.  Now it was Janet's turn, and Erica was determined to use her in
the most sensual manner possible, as a last parting gift to her final
slave.

	Erica had also made it her business to bring Janet to a few parties and
clubs to show her around.  She wanted others in the D/s community to know
that Janet was her slave, but for far different reasons than normal.

	"Mistress," interrupted Andrea from the library door, "Janet has arrived."

	"Thank you, Andrea, you may conduct her into the library after you take
her coat."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Janet was soon seated in front of Erica.  She was wearing a white blouse,
plaid skirt, and red hose and heels.  Holding herself stiffly, waiting for
the first orders of her Mistress.

	"What did you do the previous weekend, Janet?" asked Erica.

	"I went out on Friday and Saturday nights as you ordered, Mistress.  To a
local bar and a disco."

	"What happened?"

	"Nothing, Mistress.  A few men tried to pick me up, but none of them
appealed to me."

	"So you disobeyed my instructions that go home with a man to have sex so
that he could see your marks?"

	"Yes, Mistress," truthfully answered Janet.

	Erica had her followed the whole two nights, and all of the contacts that
she had made had been reported back to Erica.  

	"You have disobeyed my instructions, Janet.  You do realize that this will
mean a severe punishment?"

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"I shall use you harshly and make you cry, Janet.  I shall leave your
flesh marked more heavily than usual, for the crime of disobedience."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Strip," ordered Erica.

	Without any hesitation, Janet rose to her feet and silently and quickly
removed all of her clothing.  She folded all of her clothes neatly on the
chair that she had just occupied, and soon stood naked in front of Erica.

	"Get up on one of the other chairs," commanded Erica.

	Janet did as she was told, her knees resting on the leather cushions,
holding onto the top of the chair with her hands.  Her breasts pushed
against the seat back cushion.  She waited for Erica's next move.

	From the desk drawer, Erica removed a paddle, which she held in her right
hand.  She slapped it against her left as a display of power.

	"Do you consent to your use, Janet?"

	"Yes, Mistress Erica."

	"What is your safeword?"

	"Mercy, Mistress Erica."

	Erica rose from the desk and stood behind Janet.  The paddle was offered
to Janet's lips, and she kissed it without having it ordered to.

	Crack!

	Crack!

	Crack!

	Crack!

	Crack!

	"Thank you, Mistress!" cried Janet after five harsh strokes that quickly
reddened her bottom.

	Crack!

	Crack!

	Crack!

	Crack!

	Crack!

	"Thank you, Mistress!"

	Erica placed her hand against Janet's bottom, and the red flesh was hot
from the ten strokes.  The she placed her hand up between Janet's legs to
her shaven sex, and probed within.

	"Do you miss your pubic hair?" asked Erica.

	"Yes, Mistress," cried Janet.

	"How does having your sex like this feel?"

	"I feel naked, even when I'm wearing clothes," answered Janet, "when my
panties rub against my pubes, Mistress."

	"Does this always remind you of me?"

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Get off the chair and take your clothes to Andrea.  She will outfit you
and place you in the Dungeon for my use.  Do not disappoint me this
weekend, Janet."

	"No, Mistress."

	"Go!"

	Erica watched as Janet fairly ran out of the library, naked and holding
her clothes.  There was no longer any doubt; her submission was now total
to her Mistress.
	*		*		*		*		*		*
	Erica had dressed in a sleeveless Catsuit with just a pair of modest
matching black heels.  She had placed a belt around her waist to accentuate
her figure, from which she had hung a pair of gleaming stainless steel
handcuffs for effect.

	In the Dungeon was Janet, already bound against the whipping post.  Her
legs were locked open about two feet, her hands behind her back that was
against the wooden post itself.  Andrea had placed a leather strap above
her breasts and one around her waist, welding Janet to the device.

	"Helpless, aren't we?" asked Erica upon her entrance.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"I'm going to strike you with a crop on your breasts and stomach, with the
rod itself.  It will hurt and mark, but only for ten strokes.  For the crop
and paddle will only be your warmup for tonight."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	"Thank you, Mistress!" cried Janet, tears flowing from her eyes, for Erica
had struck her tender breasts.

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	Thwack!

	"Thank you, Mistress!"

	"Very good, Janet," complimented Erica, "hang her from the ceiling,
Andrea.  Janet shall be flogged tonight, then whipped tomorrow."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	When Janet was hanging by her wrists, Erica made certain to place clamps
on her nipples and shaven sex, making her moan with each application.  She
cried out, but did not ask for their removal.

	"Perhaps I shall use clothespins on you next time, Janet.  They can
provide quite a bit of agony as well."

	"Yes, Mistress," cried Janet.

	"Kiss the flogger."

	Erica had chosen a heavy leather flogger.  It would hurt fiercely, and
mark immediately as well.

	"Two weeks ago, I used you lightly.  Do you remember?"

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"I shall make up for not using you properly, and last week as well."

	"Thank you, Mistress."

	"You shall count each stoke, and thank me after every five."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"One!"

	"Two!"

	"Three!"

	"Four!"

	"Five, thank you, Mistress!"

	The only sound in the Dungeon was the heavy thud of the flogger and
Janet's counting of each stroke.  Her body bound, and now punished severely
by Erica, Janet instead hung proudly in her chains.

	"Six!"

	"Seven!"

	"Ten! Thank you, Mistress!"

	Erica watched in admiration as her slave soaked up every heavy stroke of
the flogger.  Just a year before, Janet had known nothing, indeed had not
been spanked since childhood.  Now she was a true slave in sub-space, able
to divorce her body from her mind.

	"Eleven!"

	"Thirteen!"

	"Fifteen! Thank you Mistress!"

	There were no tears in Janet's eyes as she was flogged, she merely
strained against her bonds.  Her pretty breasts with the clamps on her
nipples shook with every stroke from the flogger.

	"Eighteen!"

	"Twenty! Thank you Mistress!"

	Erica paused briefly to run her fingertips over Janet's heated and
punished flesh.  Janet was going to be severely used this night, but she
did not cry out.  Instead she awaited Erica's next move.

	"You're very beautiful, Janet," complimented Erica.

	"Thank you, Mistress," panted Janet in response.

	"Just a few more strokes, Janet."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Twenty-one!"

	"Twenty-three!"

	"Twenty-five! Thank you Mistress!" gasped Janet, her chest heaving.

	"Twenty-seven!"

	"Thirty! Thank you Mistress!"

	"Thirty-three!"

	"Thirty-five! Thank you Mistress!" cried Janet, tears falling from her
eyes.

	"Thank you, Janet," said Erica, as she kissed her slave on the lips,
"you're very brave, and loyal."

	"Mistress………"

	Janet's body was covered in fresh red marks and drenched with sweat.  Her
hair that had been so nice earlier in the night was now a mess of tangles.
But the girl had never looked so proud under Erica's lash before.

	"Andrea, release her, give her a bath, then have her in my bedroom in an
hour or so.  I want to have my slave show her appreciation in the arts of
love," ordered Erica.

	"Yes, Mistress," answered Andrea.

	"I love you, Janet," said Erica.

	"I love you too, Mistress."

	Erica left the Dungeon, not even bothering to have Janet kiss the flogger
that she handed to Andrea on the way out.  She made it back to the library,
then sank into the chair, exhausted from the ordeal that she had just
inflicted on Janet.

	'I'm dying,' Erica thought to herself as she buried her face in her hands,
then began to cry alone.
	*		*		*		*		*
	Erica entered her bedroom, to find Janet waiting naked on the floor.  Her
hand were locked behind her back, her collar chained to the ring-bolt set
in the wall.

	"Are you ready to make love to your Mistress?" asked Erica.

	"Yes, Mistress Erica!"

	Quickly, Erica removed the shoes and Catsuit, and underneath she wore a
lace black bra and panties, which she quickly removed.  While Andrea had
been bathing Janet, Erica had fallen asleep.  She had needed a short nap to
recharge before sex.

	Erica sat on the edge of the bed, and allowed Janet to begin by servicing
her while she was still bound on the floor.  This way, all she could use
was her lips, tongue, and teeth to bring Erica to orgasm.

	Quickly Janet began to work on Erica's love nest, her lips touching
Erica's sex lips, her tongue probing deep inside her love canal tickling
her love bud.  Janet pushed herself against Erica, inhaling the scent of
her secretions, knowing that she was satisfying her Mistress.

	"Ah!" cried Erica.

	It had not taken Janet long at all for Erica to be stimulated into orgasm
as Janet tickled her clit time after her.  She threw her head back and
moaned, her bottom bouncing on the bed.

	Erica then pulled Janet onto the bed, and quickly released her hands.  She
then lay down on the bed and opened her legs to admit Janet once more to
her sex.

	With only that pause, Janet began again to satisfy her Mistress.  They
both moaned in pleasure as Janet brought Erica one orgasm after another,
all of her energies and training directed at the singular goal of pleasing
the Mistress.

	"Ah!"

	"Ah!" cried Erica.

	Sweat poured off Erica's body as she bounced on the bed, screaming her
pleasure from one orgasm after another.  Janet held onto her thighs, and
continued to bury her face between Erica's legs.

	Finally, Erica was spent, her breaths ragged from the waves of pleasure
that had washed through her like a tidal wave.  She lay on the pillow,
unmoving.

	"Are you all right, Mistress?" asked Janet.

	"Yes, Janet," Erica lied, "just a little jet lag I returned from
California yesterday."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Come here, Janet, I want to hold you in my arms, for you are truly my
best and most loving slave."

	Janet did as she was instructed, and held onto Erica.  Why was her
Mistress sweating so much?

	"Let me make love to you, Janet."

	"Yes, Mistress," said Janet.

	In contrast to Janet's hurried lovemaking, Erica began by playfully
sucking on Janet's nipples.  Her arms enfolded Janet, their scents mingling
together as one.

	Erica then began to suck at Janet pussy, and slowly brought her to orgasm,
her tongue tickling Janet's clit.  Her languid lovemaking continued, until
Janet shook with one climax after another.

	"Janet, would you like a drink?" asked Erica.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Erica got two glasses of water from the bathroom, and they both drank
together.

	"Thank you, Janet," said Erica.

	"For what, Mistress."

	"Everything," answered Erica as she closed the lights, then threw the
sheets and quilt on the bed, then she joined Janet under the covers.

	Erica was asleep within minutes, leaving Janet puzzled by Erica's lack of
energy.  Janet lay upon on her back, and let sleep claim her too, the taste
of Erica still upon her lips.
	*		*		*		*		*
	Erica awoke with a start.  Sunlight poured through the windows, and Janet
was no longer chained beside her.  Instead she was alone in bed, naked
under the covers as she had fallen asleep during the night.

	"Mistress?" asked Andrea from the door.

	"What time is it?"

	"Ten, Mistress Erica."

	Andrea entered the bedroom, carrying a tray in her hands.  She placed it
on the bed after Erica sat up in bed.

	"Where's Janet?"

	"Chained in the kitchen, Mistress.  Since you couldn't awaken, I took her,
gave her a bath and breakfast, and told you had a case of jet lag.  Then I
brought up a tray for you."

	"Oh god, Andrea.  It's the end.  I can't continue," cried Erica as she
buried her face in her hands.

	"Just one more night, Mistress.  One more use of Janet, that's all. 
Here's your juice and pills."

"Thank you," answered Erica as she drank her orange juice, then downed her
medication and iron pills.

	"You're welcome, Mistress Erica.  Breakfast is scrambled eggs, toast, and
coffee."

	"Thank you, Andrea.  Janet wore me out twice last night, once in the
Dungeon, then later in bed."

	"I know.  You were dead to the world, literally," answered Andrea, concern
evident on her face.

	"I just hope that I have the energy to use her again tonight," said Erica.

	"Then I prescribe a bath, then you dress in your pajamas and spend the
whole day in bed.  Janet will bring you lunch, and Dinner can be like
normal downstairs."

	"Thank you, Andrea.  Is the slave now giving her Mistress orders?"

	Andrea reached over and kissed Erica on the forehead, then on her lips.

	"Get some rest, Mistress.  Before I place a collar around your neck and
lock you to wall myself."

	"Yes, Mistress Andrea."

	Later on, Andrea checked on Erica.  She had showered and put on her
pajamas, then had fallen asleep again.  Lunch was forgotten as Erica slept
into the afternoon, to be awakened much later for Dinner, her stomach
rumbling from hunger.

	"What's for Dinner?" asked Erica after Andrea had awakened her.

	"Rib Roast, Mistress.  Medium Rare."

	"Thank you, Andrea.  Set the table for three, I want you and Janet to eat
at the same table with me.  We'll drop ceremony tonight."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	As Erica dressed for Dinner, she watched as snow fell outside.  The
peaceful whiteness brought back memories of her playing in the snow in the
estate during childhood.  Erica chose a Gucci dress with one shoulder strap
that she usually wore to affairs.

	She had ordered that since Janet and Andrea were to share her table, they
were not to wear Maid's uniforms.  Andrea wore a simple blue dress, and
Janet wore a blouse and skirt, though she still had the collar around her
neck.

	Andrea carved off three ribs and served Erica first.  In addition to the
roast was salad, roast potatoes, and steamed green beans.  Plus a bottle of
red wine to top off the meal.

	Janet looked surprised to be dressed and share the table of her Mistress.
She ate silently, only speaking when spoken to by Erica or Andrea.

	Dessert was a chocolate cake and coffee, and afterwards Erica adjourned to
the library to do some paperwork.

	"I want Janet downstairs by nine," ordered Erica to Andrea.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	'I hope that I can perform tonight,' thought Erica to herself in the
library.
	*		*		*		*		*
	For simplicity's sake, Erica wore a Dominatrix dress in black PVC that
covered her arms, but not her legs.  She had taken to storing some of her
fetishwear downstairs so she wouldn't have to run upstairs each time.

	The Domme dress was similar to a Catsuit, except that it ended in a dress
instead of tight fitting legs.  It was quite attractive, and once when she
had gone to a disco, she had seen a woman wearing it.  Erica wondered if
the woman knew the true origin of the dress.

	She stared at herself in the mirror, depressed.  Her career as a Domme was
over at age 36 from exhaustion.  Erica had wanted to do so much, and just
when she had established a name for herself, she was dying instead.

	Dinner was one of the best that Andrea had ever made, the roast had indeed
melted in her mouth.  Erica wondered if next she'd start to gnaw on car
bumpers for iron.

	"Do you submit to your Mistress?" demanded Erica.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Kiss the whip."

	In order to save time, Andrea had hung Janet from the ceiling in advance,
her arms and legs opened by spreader bars.  Erica had always disliked those
Dommes who went right into using a slave without any preliminaries first.

	But there was now no time left, none at all to waste.

	"Yes, Mistress," answered Janet.

	Erica drew the whip back and began to strike Janet with a series of light
methodical strokes.  Unsure of how much energy she had left, she wanted to
make whatever she did last as long as possible.

	Janet had already been well marked the day before, so she didn't have to
be as intense.  Still, she knew that Janet remembered her previous times
under the lash.  She was certain that Janet was already suspicious of her
lack of energy, and any failure of performance now would only confirm her
suspicions.

	"Do you accept my use of you, Janet?" asked Erica.

	"Yes, Mistress Erica."

	"There will be no need to count tonight, Janet.  After I use you, I shall
take you into my bed again."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Erica then began to whip Janet, and she secretly dreaded what would happen
if she should fail.  But then a strange thing happened, her body suddenly
became alive with strength, her muscles energized as they had not been for
months.

	'What's going on?' Erica asked herself.

	The whip struck Janet again and again, and Erica could see the effect that
it was having on her.  Each stroke left a mark behind as the whip wrapped
itself around her body.

	"Ah!" cried Janet.

	Crack!

	Crack!

	Crack!

	The whip continued to strike Janet, and Erica noticed that her slave had
begun to sweat.  Glistening droplets ran down her body, reflecting in the
lights.  

	Crack!

	Crack!

	Crack!

	"Ah!"

	In the past Erica would have stopped, and felt the overheated flesh of her
slave.  But now if she stopped, perhaps Erica would be unable to start
again.  So she continued with the whip, never breaking Janet's flesh but
instead leaving welts behind that would last for some time.

	Crack!

	Crack!

	Crack!

	"Ah!"

	Erica looked briefly between strokes at Andrea, who was captivated by her
performance.  In her mind she had kept careful count of the number of
strokes that she had delivered, mindful of the number that she knew that
Janet could safely take.

	Crack!

	Crack!

	Crack!

	"AH!"

	It was the sudden change in Janet's voice that alerted Erica to the fact
that Janet was close to her limit.  Erica wanted to continue, to use the
newfound energy that her body had provided.  But instead she knew that she
had to follow Janet's limit.

	Crack!

	Crack!

	Crack!

	Erica had delivered twenty-five strokes, all without breaking the skin or
making Janet bleed.  A splendid performance, given that Janet's body was
now covered in red welts.

	"Thank you, Janet," complimented Erica what she ceased, "kiss the whip."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Erica reached between Janet's legs and found that her sex was sopping wet.

	"Slut!  Do you want to make love to your Mistress?"

	"Yes, Mistress Erica," quickly answered Janet.

	"Andrea, I'll be in my bedroom.  Have Janet there in half an hour,"
ordered Erica.

	"Yes, Mistress."
	*		*		*		*		*		*
	When Janet was conducted into Erica's bedroom, she found her Mistress
naked on top of the quilt.  Her legs open, a dildo and crop on the night
table.

	"Please your Mistress," ordered Erica, "now!"

	Janet immediately set to work on Erica's sex, her arms free from any
bondage.  In fact, Erica had not chained her in any way, leaving her slave
free.

	Erica soon moaned and bucked with a satisfying orgasm, her bottom bouncing
on the bed.  Her body covered with sweat, she soon turned over and began to
use Janet.

	Her tongue quickly drove Janet to sexual madness, bringing her to climax
as well.  Then Erica slipped the dildo inside Janet's pussy, then began to
suck her breasts and kiss her on the lips.

	Under Erica's fierce attentions, Janet soon had one climax after another,
with her mouth, sex, and breasts stimulated by her Mistress.

	"Ooooooh!" cried Janet, "Mistress!"

	Erica continued bringing Janet to orgasm, wearing her slave out.  Each
climax seemed to give Erica herself new strength.

	Finally, Janet dropped off to sleep after they cuddled and kissed under
the sheets.  Next Erica slept soundly, naked against her slave.

	During the night, Erica awakened to look at Janet's face in the moonlight
that was streaming through the window.  On her face was the look of a slave
who had been given both pain and pleasure by her Mistress, who was smiling
in pleasure as she slept.

	'Janet, forgive me,' thought Erica.

Part Four: Death and Rebirth

June 1993

	"Are we both packed?" asked Erica, nervous as hell.

	"Yes, Mistress, everything's done," stressed Andrea for the second time.

	Erica had used both of her slaves for the last time, and had removed some
of her fetish and regular clothing from the Mansion.  Next she had left
clues, an empty envelope from Janet's company in the bottom of the library
desk, a letter in the computer.

	The will and codicil had been drawn up months before, along with the
package of documents that Blanca would give to Janet and Tiffany.

	Every last detail had been attended to and gone over several times.  Erica
and Andrea had tried to second guess how Janet and Tiffany would respond
once they inherited the estate, then realized that they were in a deadly
competition with one another.

	Finally, the trip to Mexico, their deaths in the mountains in a plane
crash (which would be faked, complete with a plane that Erica had purchased
for that reason).  Then going into hiding, and the new identities that had
been created.

	"Mistress, why did you leave your journals in the safe?" asked Andrea.

	"Because if Janet finds them, she'll read and cherish them.  Tiffany will
probably ignore them at best, burn them in the fireplace at worst."

	"Who do you think will win?" questioned Andrea.

	"Janet."

	"Tiffany will cut her to ribbons, Mistress.  I believe that Tiffany will
be the winner."

	"No, Andrea, that's where you're wrong.  Janet has nerves of steel, even
if it's not obvious.  She will win, mark my words.  I just hope that I'm
alive one year from now to see that come true."

	At the gate, a black limousine had pulled up.  Erica hit the button to
admit the car.

	"Black, how fitting," commented Andrea.

	"Come, Andrea.  Death awaits."

The Challenge
Chapter Fifteen: Endgame

Part One: Past and Present

Sunday November 15, 1998

	………Janet closed the last of Erica's Journals, dated 1992, tears in her
eyes.  She cried, and placed her head in her hands, and sobbed loudly, no
longer caring if she awakened Tina or not.

	The tears splattered on the leather of Erica's last journal, like
raindrops.  Wetting the dry leather that had remained in the safe for years
until Tina's chance discovery six months ago.

	"Oh Erica!" Janet cried, "I forgive you, I know you loved me.  Why
couldn't you tell me when you were here that you were dying?"

	Suddenly it was all clear to Janet, why Erica had lied about the reason
for her leaving her position as Mistress.  How she did not want to be an
object of pity, but wanted to go out in a memorable fashion.

	Looking at the dates involved, Janet realized that Erica had lived a long
time with her leukemia.  Perhaps it had gone into remission, maybe even a
cure?

	But Erica had not returned to reclaim her estate, instead she had let
Janet continue and develop into the Mistress that she had been trained to
be.

	Janet dried her tears with a tissue, even as more tears flowed.  She
remembered how Erica had placed herself in submission to her last slave,
and Janet's harsh use of her, finally drawing blood.

	"Now I understand, Erica," said Janet to herself.

	Erica's mistreatment at the hands of her first Master, then being beaten
by Lauren.  Janet now understood why Erica came to be the good Mistress
that she was.

	Erica may have been a demanding Mistress who had tested Janet to her
limits, but she had never forced Janet to do anything without her consent.
Janet had never been humiliated by her, in public or in private.

	Finally, Janet had come to love her Mistress Erica, even as Erica was
planning to put her in competition with Tiffany.  Not knowing that Tiffany
had allied herself with Lauren, her enemy.

	Janet glanced at the clock, and saw that it was already past one in the
morning.  Monday morning!  And she had an important business meeting at
nine!

	She replaced the last volume in the safe, then closed and locked it, along
with the wooden panel.  Janet closed the lights, and ran off to bed.

Part Two: The Humiliation

Monday November 16, 1998

	Janet placed her briefcase on her desk before she hung her coat up in her
office.  It was raining, and she had worn her London Fog raincoat.  She had
chosen to wear a conservative DNKY blue business suit since she would be
making her presentation at a major staff meeting.

	"Janet," greeted Clara, her secretary.

	"Yes, Clara.  Lousy day, isn't it?  Is there any coffee?"

	"The President called, he said to join him in his office the minute you
arrived."

	"I'll be seeing him at a meeting in a half hour, I have to go over my
notes."

	"He said immediately," stressed Clara, concern on her face.

	"Ok, I'll go over there now," answered Janet as she grabbed her purse from
the desk.

	"I'll call and say that you're on the way."

	"Thanks," said Janet, wishing that she had gotten some coffee first.

	Walking to Ron's office, she wondered what was so important.  The project
was completed, she would make her presentation, and everything was on
schedule.  So what was going on?

	"He's expecting you," said Audrey, Ron's secretary, "go right in."

	"Thanks," answered Erica as she knocked, then opened the door.

	"Enter."

	Janet opened the door, and entered Ron's office.  He wasn't alone, also in
the office was Steven, one of the corporate attorneys.

	"You wanted to see me?" asked Janet as she closed the door.

	"Yes, Janet, please sit down.  You know Steven."

	"Yes, we met last year," answered Janet as she sat down in front of Ron's
desk.

	"I don't know how to begin this Janet.  Do you remember that takeover
attempt last year?"

	"What about my presentation?"

	"Canceled, along with the meeting."

	"What!  I've been working on that for weeks!" cried Janet.

	"That's academic now, Janet.  Please listen, this is very serious.  Last
year, we fended off a takeover attempt.  Now it's back, with a vengeance."

	"I don't understand?  What does this have to do with me?"

	"In the last few months, a firm that we never heard of before has bought
enough of our stock to hand over control to the buyout firm that wanted to
sell us off last year."

	"You're not making any sense, Ron.  How does this relate to me?"

	"CB Enterprises, Hong Kong, has said that unless you're fired and accused
of misusing your expense accounts, we'll be acquired within days.  I'm
sorry, Janet, but you're the price of our independence.  Here's a letter
for you, I don't know the contents."

	Ron handed Janet a sealed letter, which she opened with her index finger.
Janet read:

Dear Mistress Janet,
	Either you accept being fired in a humiliating manner or Xylex gets sold
off.

Cheryl Branford

	"Can I think this over in my office?" asked Janet.

	"Sure, call me when you're ready," answered Ron.

	Janet sat in her office alone.  She had a cup of steaming coffee in front
of her, and wished that it were a sherry instead.  Outside, it was lightly
raining, which matched her mood perfectly.

	Buzz!

	'Who's calling me on my cell phone?' thought Janet.

	"Janet here."

	"Morning, Mistress."

	"Cheryl?" asked Janet.

	"Gotten the news yet?"

	"What news?" asked Janet surprised to hear from her slave, "wait a minute,
CB Enterprises, Cheryl Branford Enterprises, that's you!"

	"Correct Mistress.  Don't make too much of a scene about your public
humiliation before you leave, there's more to come.  I suggest that you
accept the terms of your dismissal.  Including the misuse of your expense
account, and so on.  It'll go easier on you if you do.  Once you've cleaned
out your desk, come join me in the Diner down the road.  Quickly please? 
Bye."

	The connection was cut on the other end, and Janet was in shock again, for
the second time since Midnight.  She stared at the cell phone, wanting to
smash it to little pieces on the floor.  Tears fell from her eyes, as she
contemplated her firing.
	*		*			*			*		*
	"Good morning, Mistress," greeted Cheryl, seated in a booth, "please join
me."

	After Cheryl's phone call, Janet was delivered a sealed note from her
suggesting that she accept her terms of dismissal.  Tearfully, she had gone
back to Ron's office, and agreed to the humiliating terms of firing.  Which
would include a small notice in the Wall Street Journal the next day.  Then
Janet had been allowed to clean out her desk, and had left Xylex for the
last time.  She had then pointed the car towards the Diner, and the meeting
with Cheryl. 

	"Why?" demanded Janet.

	"Take off your coat first Janet, we're going to be here for a little
while.  Before you drip all over the seat."

	Janet removed her raincoat, and hung it on the nearest rack to their
booth.  It was late morning, and the rest of the breakfast crowd was still
leaving.

	"That's better, Janet.  Much more ladylike."

	When they were seated, Cheryl called a waitress over for coffee for the
two of them, but did not begin speaking until they were alone.

	"How does it feel being fired?" asked Cheryl.

	"I've been fired before.  Why Cheryl?" Janet demanded.

	"Because you liked that job, that's why," answered Cheryl, "no other
reason."

	"I never used you outside of the estate, and Lori only used you in her
house.  I don't play public games with my submissives," Janet insisted.

	"True, except that I have decided on a whim to exercise my financial power
in the corporate world where I reside.  Which includes having you fired in
a humiliating way," answered Cheryl.

	"What you did was blatantly illegal and immoral," protested Janet, "I
could have CB Enterprises hauled up in front of the SEC for what you've
done."

	"True," Cheryl agreed, "except that would be a Pyrric victory if they
decide in your favor.  I could still expose you, couldn't I?"

	"Yes you could," agreed Janet.

	"You've been an honorable Domme for too long, Janet.  Have you forgotten
what the real world is like?  Corporations and people do dishonest and
illegal things everyday, and get away with them!  There are no safewords in
the corporate world, Mistress."

	"Is this how you intend to hurt me?"

	"Just the beginning, Mistress." 

	"Do you own CB Enterprises?" Janet questioned, changing the subject.

	"The family firm."

	"Is that the price you wanted?" asked Janet, fearful of the answer.

	"No," answered Cheryl, sipping her coffee, "that was just a little
demonstration of my power.  Yours is with the lash and crop.  Mine is with
the purse."

	"What do you want?"

	"Don't rush things, Janet."

	"All right, then.  I'm listening."

	"Good," said Cheryl, "you trained me very well, Janet.  I can't look at a
woman with a leather skirt on without wetting my panties, and the thought
of being cropped gets me excited.  I'm a slave."

	"Is that what you wanted to tell me?"

	"This Friday night, Janet, I want to use you, alone in your Dungeon.  Just
the two of us, without Tina present.  Perhaps you could send her off to
Lori, I'm sure that she'd love that cage in the playroom."

	"You want to use me?" asked Janet, "how very predictable."

	"Yes, naked and in your own Dungeon, but with me in control, Janet.  So
you can feel my lash."

	"No," Janet answered.

	"If you refuse, I have several packets of information about you that will
be delivered to local reporters, gossip columnists, and others.  Your world
will crash in on you Janet, you will be the object of scorn and derision in
Greenwich."

	"No!"

	"I made three requests on you, and you have honored two.  It's time to do
the third else you will no longer be a Mistress.  Not in Greenwich,
anyway," threatened Cheryl, steel in her voice.

	"If you want to use me out of anger to punish me physically, and to hurt
or harm me, no.  I did not train you that way and you did not perform in
that manner when I offered you the chance to use others.  If you want to
use me sensually as I have used you to demonstrate what you have learned
from me, then perhaps.  But not alone," protested Janet.

	"Mistress, I am a very rich woman, able to buy and sell companies at a
whim.  I even own an island in the Caribbean with a staff loyal to me.  Now
I could have had a Dungeon built there and had the two of you abducted,
serving me as slaves forever.  Or have Tina silently taken while I force
you under the lash.  Instead I want to do this without force, so please
send Tina away.  Then I'll use you only once, and you'll never see me
again." 

	"I did exactly what you wanted me to.  I trained you like any other slave,
with love and respect, without hurt or humiliation.  This is how you reward
your Mistress?"

	"Yes, in a manner of speaking.  Do you know who I am?"

	"No, you stopped me from investigating you, remember?"

	"Yes I did.  On Friday night, after I unlock you from the thrashing I'm
going to give you, then I'll tell you who I am.  Then you shall never see
me again."

	"Why are you doing this to me?"

	"That's for me to know, Mistress.  Do you accept my use, or even more
humiliation?  Decide now, Janet.  All it takes is one phone call."

	"Yes," cried Janet softly after a short period of time.

	"What was that, slave?"

	"Yes," answered Janet, tears in her eyes, "I accept your use, Cheryl."

	"Friday, Mistress, I'll be in touch.  You can pay for the coffee.  Just be
glad that I don't relieve you of your money and Credit cards and embarrass
you further."

	Janet was left alone in the booth, crying silently, tears in her eyes.  In
less than two hours, she had lost a job that she had liked and enjoyed. 
Then she had been forced to accept humiliating terms of dismissal to save
the jobs of her friends and co-workers.

	Now Cheryl had revealed that she had been behind it all, with a demand
that she wanted to use Janet for her own reasons.  Janet took a few bills
from her purse and placed them on the counter, put on her coat, and left
for home.
	*		*		*		*		*		*

	"Mistress?" greeted Tina, "why are you home so early?"

	"I was fired, Tina.  For misusing my expense accounts," answered Janet as
she handed her wet raincoat to Tina in the foyer.

	"Mistress, you barely used those accounts," pointed out Tina.

	"Yes, Tina.  That's quite correct, I wish to be alone in the library.  I
do not wish to be disturbed."

	"Yes, Mistress.  I understand."

	Janet locked herself in the sanctuary of the library, and poured herself a
stiff drink now that she was finally alone.  She sat behind her desk, and
wanted to cry.  But she was out of tears for the moment.

	Humiliated.  She had been humiliated by a woman that she had placed so
much effort into training correctly.

	They had been together in the diner, with Cheryl clearly wearing the small
leather collar around her neck and Janet's ring on her finger.  Cheryl had
first humiliated Janet by the manner of her firing.

	Now the price of her continuing as a Domme was her use by Cheryl, alone. 
What kind of person would Cheryl be when holding the lash?  Janet had
agreed, there was nothing else that she could do.

	Just like when Cheryl had forced herself upon Janet in June, blackmailing
Janet into training her.  Now Janet was blackmailed into being used by her
own slave.

	In the safe was the money that Cheryl had been giving her for her
training, just like the rest of Janet's other clients.  Janet's blackmail
was of a quite different kind, a physical one.  First it had been to train
Cheryl, now it would be her own body under the lash as the roles of
Mistress and slave were to be reversed.

	Except that when Janet had used Erica, she had been a Domme for more than
a year.  Cheryl, meanwhile, had been a slave for just six months, and had
used another slave only twice before.

Part Two: The Interval

Wednesday November 18, 1998

	"Tina?" asked Janet.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Janet and Tina were in the library together, going over the reports on
Janet's other slaves in training.  It was strange again being home without
her job and she missed both the work and getting out of the house.

	When she had arrived back home on Monday, Tina had been a little
suspicious.  Janet had told her that she was fired, and had fled into the
library, but had said nothing else.

	Then on Tuesday there was a small one-inch long piece in the Wall Street
Journal saying that she had been fired because of misusing her expense
account, and her position at work.  Tina had found the piece, and come
running to show it to Janet.

	"I don't believe it," said Tina, "you've rarely used your expense account,
never had a company car, and refused that promotion.  Why would they let
you go in an embarrassing manner like this?"

	"That's private, Tina."

	"No, Mistress.  That's very public what they did to humiliate you."

	"Thank you, Tina, that will be all."

	Tina had never mentioned it again, but Janet knew that look in her eyes. 
Janet knew that Tina had not believed her, and was suspicious of the
explanation.

	So Janet had plunged back into her work as a Domme, and had realized that
Cheryl had taken up a lot of her time.  When she had weighed herself on the
on the scale this morning (naked, of course) she found that she had lost
five pounds.

	But it was seeing herself nude that had really scared her.  The thought
that she was going to be naked again, and under the lash of Cheryl that was
potentially frightening.

	"What if she does want to hurt me?" asked Janet to herself.

	Janet spent most of time in both her library, and downstairs in the
Dungeons, looking over the place where she had been introduced to
submission.  What had she done differently with Cheryl that now made her
want to possibly hurt her Mistress?  Even though Cheryl had said that she
did not want to hurt Janet, the tone of her voice betrayed her.

	She had been a Domme long enough to recognize when a person was lying, and
Cheryl clearly was.  Cheryl had not come to her as a complete novice that
was certain.  Now Janet had willingly submitted herself into harm's way,
just as she had done once before.  Her skin was covered in Goosebumps from
fright.

	Later they worked together, discussing Dinner, running the Mansion, and
slaves, which was Janet's main concern.  But when to broach the subject at
hand?

	"Tina, I have to tell you something," Janet began.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	They were seated at the kitchen table, manila folders spread out on the
table, drinking Cokes together.

	"I have arranged that on Friday night, you are to be used by Mistress
Lori.  You can take the Toyota to Brookline, be used by her Friday and
spend the night, then return on Saturday."

	"Mistress?" asked Tina, shock on her face.

	"That's right, Tina.  Just a one day use by Lori."

	"Yes, Mistress, it would be interesting to be used by Lori," answered
Tina.

	Janet looked directly into Tina's eyes and saw that her slave was lying. 
Tina would have no intention of going to Lori's. Instead Janet knew she
would go to Stephanie's and tell her the whole story, on Friday.

	"Thank you, Tina," Janet replied.

	"What about Cheryl this weekend, Mistress?"

	"I shall be alone with her, Tina.  I'm quite able to handle her myself,
thank you."

	"Of course, Mistress," answered Tina.	
	*		*		*		*		*		*
	Janet had avoided talking to Tina for the rest of the day when the phone
buzzed into life.

	"Mistress Janet, is it all arranged?" asked Cheryl.

	"Yes, damn you.  It's all set, Tina will be going off to Lori's on Friday
morning."

	"Very good, Mistress.  I see that you know how to take orders as well as
give them.  I hope that you perform as well under my lash."
	
	When the connection was severed on the other end, Janet felt like smashing
the cordless phone against the floor.
	*		*		*		*		*		*
	Wednesday night had been a disaster for Janet.  Dinner had no taste at all
and she had no appetite for eating.  She had tried to entertain herself
with books and television, and nothing held her interest.

	Then Tina had walked into the library wearing nothing but a robe, collar
and leash, and asked Janet to use her.  Janet had refused, and Tina had
left her alone, disappointed.

	Finally Janet had gotten into bed, and after a short time, Tina had joined
her.  They had made love together slowly, and Janet had a series of
disappointing orgasms, and had failed to excite Tina at all.

	"I'm sorry Tina," said Janet, "my mind isn't into sex tonight."

	"It's about Cheryl, isn't it?"

	"You know I won't talk about that, Tina.  Please don't ask again."

	"Yes, Mistress," answered Tina, concern on her face, "then talk about
Mistress Erica."

	Janet lay back on the pillow, in all of the years that they had been
together, Tina had never asked about Erica.  Until now.

	"What do you want to know?" asked Janet.

	"Why did you want to serve a Mistress?"

	"I was always having problems with the strange submissive feelings that I
felt deep inside.  When my friend told me about Erica, I jumped at the
chance to serve her."

	"Did you love Erica?" asked Tina.

	"Yes, very much," Janet answered, "more than I loved another person in my
life.  Even though every weekend I served Erica I had new stripes
afterwards."

	"Did she ever hurt you?"

	"No, never.  She tested my limits all right, scared me a few times, but
no.  It was Lauren that hurt me, remember?"

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Tina, I don't want to be rude, but I've had a bad couple of days.  This
is the best pillow talk we've ever had, but I want to sleep.  We'll
continue this another day, please?"

	"Yes, Janet," answered Tina, "but I can't help thinking that somehow
Cheryl and Erica are connected somehow, that the reason for Cheryl's
presence is because of Erica."

	"Go to sleep, Tina," said Janet as she kissed Tina on the lips.

	"Yes, Mistress."
	*		*		*		*		*		*
	Later that night, Janet awakened.  She looked at Tina sleeping peacefully
next to her, softly snoring.  Janet had been unable to sleep decently, and
now she was again awake.

	Even though she was wearing a pair of flannel pajamas, and they were
sleeping under a thick winter quilt, Janet was cold.  It was a comment that
Tina had made hours before that kept repeating itself in her mind.

	'Cheryl and Erica connected?' Janet thought to herself, 'how?'

	Realizing that she wasn't going to get any more sleep, Janet silently left
her bed, trying not to disturb Tina.  She removed her warm terry bathrobe
from the closet, and her slippers.  Janet walked quietly out of her
bedroom, and closed the door silently.

	She walked downstairs, opening the lights as she went.  Finally, in the
library, she opened the safe, and removed the first few volumes of Erica's
journal.  Taking a Coke from the small refrigerator that she kept in the
library, she began to read again from the first years of Erica's journal.

	It was just one line somewhere, and in almost the beginning of her story.
When Erica had been Alana, daughter of wealth not destined to be a sex
slave.

	"So they are connected," said Janet softly to herself.

	In the rear of the safe, out of view, Janet's hand brushed against an
envelope that was taped to the steel, which she felt as she went to replace
the last volume.  Janet removed several of the Journals, then carefully
pried the envelope away from the safe's rear.

	"What next?" Janet asked, as she seated herself behind the desk, then
carefully examined the envelope.

	On the front, in Erica's distinctive handwriting were the words "To
Mistress Janet Davis, July 1994."

	Janet opened the envelope with a letter opener, then unfolded the single
sheet of paper, and read what Erica had written on her short visit after
the competition; when she had placed herself in submission to her former
slave.    

Part Three: Legacies

Friday November 20, 1998

	Janet watched from the front door as Tina took the Toyota out for the trip
to Mistress Lori in Brookline.  They had packed a small suitcase, and Janet
had kissed Tina on her way out.

	But Janet knew that Tina would disobey her, that she would instead drive
to Stephanie's and tell her the whole story on how Cheryl had forced
herself upon Janet.

	All of the events of the last six months had come to this.  Training
Cheryl and deceiving Tina and Stephanie about her.  Now she was all alone,
having delivered herself to Cheryl as the price of her remaining a Domme.

	She went back to the library, and took a seat.  Janet tried to work,
hoping that it would change her mood.  Instead, she felt like screaming.

	Buzz!

	"Good morning, Mistress," began Cheryl, "have you done as I've asked?"

	"Yes, Cheryl.  I'm alone.  Tina has gone away to Brookline."

	"Excellent.  How would you like to join me for lunch, at the Rye Town
Hilton?"

	"Can't you find somewhere closer?" asked Janet.

	"Greenwich isn't all that far from Rye, Mistress.  Less than a half hour."

	"All right, what time?"

	"Late, Mistress.  About two, I have to do something first."

	"Fine."

	"Just be glad that I don't ask you to dress like a slut, Mistress.  I
could ask you to dress in a skimpy top, short leather skirt, and five inch
heels."

	"Thank you, Cheryl."

	"Your normal clothes will do, Janet.  You're such a good dresser, by the
way."

	"Thank you," Janet answered.

	"Bye, Mistress," answered Cheryl as the connection was cut.

	*		*		*		*		*		*
	When Janet returned to the Mansion, she kept glancing at her watch. 
Cheryl had never shown up at the hotel, even though Janet had waited over
an hour for her.  In frustration, Janet had eaten alone, wolfing down a
hamburger in the restaurant while keeping an eye out for Cheryl.  Angry,
Janet then returned home.

	Janet stripped her clothes off in the bedroom, then padded around naked as
the tub filled.  

	"What?" said Janet to herself when she saw movement behind her when the
closet door suddenly opened.

	It was then that she felt a cloth pressed to her face with the sickly
sweet odor of chloroform before she passed out, the walls spinning.
	*		*		*		*		*		*
	"Good afternoon, sleepyhead," said Cheryl.

	When Janet came to, she found that she was naked, collared, and bracelets
were locked to her wrists and ankles.  She was seated on the floor with her
back to the bed, wrists locked behind her back, and a spreader bar locked
to her ankles.

	"Thanks for undressing Janet, that made my job a little easier," said
Cheryl, who was wearing a sweatshirt and jeans.

	"Cheryl, how?"

	"While you were out, I paid someone to let me in the house.  Money can buy
everything, you know."

	"What are you going to do with me?" asked Janet.

	"Worried aren't you?" smiled Cheryl when she answered.

	"Yes."

	"Anything that I want, Mistress.  You're helpless, and at my mercy.  I can
use you any way I choose, to my heart's desire."

	"You said you wouldn't hurt me," protested Janet.

	"True."

	"Ah!" cried Janet.

	Cheryl had been hiding a riding crop behind her back, and she had cruelly
struck Janet's breasts with an unexpected stroke.  An evil grin spread
across her face.

	Then Cheryl got to her knees next to Janet, and began to lick and suck at
Janet's nipples, teasing them erect.  At the same time, her right hand
snaked between Janet's thighs and began to trace the outline of her sex,
making Janet moan with anticipation.

	"No Janet, I'm not going to give you a climax, not yet anyway.  You're
quite a sexual person, aren't you?"

	"What do you want with me?" asked Janet.

	"I've got everything that I want right now.  The famed Mistress Janet,
helpless at my feet.  Do you mind if I wear some of your clothes?"

	"Go ahead, I can't stop you," answered Janet.

	"Oh how very droll, Mistress.  I'll give you something to think about
while I'm dressing."

	 Janet watched as Cheryl opened her night table, and removed a vibrator. 
Cheryl the flipped the switch on and it made a buzzing noise.

	"Open wide," ordered Cheryl.

	Janet obliged, and Cheryl forced the vibrator into her sex all the way
that she could.  The buzzing vibrator instantly excited Janet, making her
hot and wet.

	"Keep that in your cunt," threatened Cheryl, "or there will be worse to
come."

	Janet watched as Cheryl stripped off her clothes, revealing that she wore
no underwear.  Naked, Cheryl walked around Janet's bedroom, and opened her
dresser drawers.  She stood naked in front of the large mirror.

	"Look at me!" cried Cheryl.

	From her vantage point on the floor, Janet turned her head to look at
Cheryl.

	"What's wrong?" asked Janet.

	"I wear your collar, ring, and ankle chain.  Even when I am not in this
house, I am reminded that I am your slave," answered Cheryl.

	"I never forced you to wear the objects of your slavery, it was always
your decision, Cheryl.  You were pleased when I offered them to you,"
stated Janet.

	"Look at my stripes!"

	"I have done nothing to you that was permanent, Cheryl.  After you return
home, they will fade, in time."

	"Except that I now desire these stripes, Mistress, that can never fade,"
answered Cheryl.

	Cheryl traced the recent marks that Janet had placed on her the previous
weekend, when she had been whipped and cropped without complaint.  Indeed,
she had enjoyed her last use by Janet.

	"You wanted to be trained and used as a slave, and I have done so.  I
fulfilled my contract with you, Cheryl.  You are a far more sensuous woman
now than when you originally came to me," answered Janet.

	"So I am, Mistress," said Cheryl as she walked back to Janet, then
straddled Janet's body and placed her sex at Janet's mouth.

	"Before I came here, I prepared myself as usual, Janet.  Can you smell the
perfume between my legs?"

	"Of course, Cheryl."

	"Give me an orgasm now, Janet.  Or I'll start by beating you here,"
threatened Cheryl.

	Janet thrust her face forward between Cheryl's legs and began to service
her captor.  Using her tongue and lips, it did not take her long before
Cheryl was moaning with pleasure.  Then finally she exploded in a single
orgasm that left her shuddering on her feet.

	"Very good, Janet.  To give me an orgasm with the vibrator in your cunt
must take real skill."

	"Thank you, Cheryl.  But I think that living in California has gone to
your head.  I'm not some defenseless heroine, but a Dominatrix for a number
of years.  I'm stronger than you, much stronger."

	"You won't feel quite so smug under the lash, Mistress."

	"That remains to be seen," answered Janet.

	Cheryl then slapped Janet across her cheek, leaving a red mark behind. 
Then she opened Janet's dresser drawer, and began searching for something
to wear.

	"Nice collection of undies, Janet.  Bet you must be Victoria's Secret's
best customer.  Good thing that we're about the same size."

	Cheryl selected a matching bra and panty set of black lace, and put them
on quickly.  Then she removed one black silk panty from the drawer, along
with a single black stocking then closed it.  Cheryl then advanced on
Janet, who remained helpless on the floor.

	"How's that cunt of yours?" asked Cheryl.

	"Fine, thank you."

	"Vibrator still inside?"

	Cheryl then reached between Janet's legs and tweaked the buzzing vibrator.
 It was still held firmly in place.

	"You must have one trained sex, Mistress," commented Cheryl as she balled
up the panty she was holding, "open wide."

	Cheryl then stuffed the panty into Janet's mouth, then wrapped the
stocking around then tied a knot at the back of her head.

	"Mmmmmmph!" cried Janet.

	"You're mine, Mistress.  All mine for one night.  I'll do with you as I
please, everything from a spanking to suspending you from the ceiling and
striping that lovely body of yours.  And you'll never know the reason why,"
taunted Cheryl as she walked into the closet to select some fetishwear.
	*		*		*		*		*		*
	Cheryl sat in Janet's chair, wearing her black leather bodysuit and a pair
of high heels.  Even though she was acting as a Dominant, she had not
removed her collar, ring, or ankle chain.  On the carpet knelt Janet, naked
and helpless.  Once Cheryl had dressed she had unlocked the spreader bar
and removed the vibrator.  Then she had pulled Janet to her feet, and had
marched her down to the Dungeon, pushing Janet to her knees.

	Janet had not resisted or fought, or even tried to run.  Instead, she had
allowed herself to be taken down to the Dungeon.  She knelt with the gag
still in her mouth, in the pose of submission that she had taught Cheryl.

	"I would have thought that you would have tried something, Janet.  The
fact that you are here at my mercy doesn't scare you?  The whip, the crop,
and the cane are all available for my use.  I could hurt you badly,
Mistress."

	Instead of grunting through her gag, Janet remained silent.  She bit down
on the panty inside her mouth, glad for the dignity that the fabric gave
her.

	Frustrated, Cheryl rose to her feet and untied the stocking, and pulled
the panty from Janet's mouth, leaving Janet gasping for breath as Cheryl
resumed her seat on the throne like chair.

	"Thank you, Mistress!" panted Janet, her chest heaving from the deep
breaths that she now took.

	"You're welcome, slave."

	"Do you mind if I ask you some questions?" demanded Cheryl.

	"Go right ahead," Janet answered.

	"You live quite modestly Janet, for a person not born to wealth.  I would
have thought that you would have bought furs, expensive clothes and
jewelry, new cars every year.  But that's not the case with you."

	"I cannot be too flashy, Cheryl.  I have to be quite circumspect and keep
my name out of the papers, given my position as a Dominatrix in Greenwich."

	"Very good, Janet."

	"Thank you, Cheryl."

	"Tell me, how does it feel to begin life in a working class home then
reside in great wealth?" questioned Cheryl.

	"I have been fortunate because of a unique chain of circumstances that
have led me to this position.  One that I shall never abuse," Janet
answered.

	"Bravo, Mistress."

	Janet remained silent wondering what part of her life that Cheryl would
inquire about next.  

	"I went through your closet, Janet.  Very nice, indeed.  You must have
learned a lot working in Macy's, didn't you?"

	"Yes, in particular the difference between needs and wants," Janet
answered.

	"Very good, Janet."

	"Why do you want to hurt me?" asked Janet.

	"What did you say?" demanded Cheryl.

	"I have trained you with the utmost care and respect that I was capable
of, I tested you to your limits but never exceeded them, and treated you as
a caring Domme and now you want to hurt me.  Why?"

	"That's my affair, Mistress," curtly answered Cheryl.

	"You said that you had me investigated before you forced yourself upon me.
 What did your investigations show?"

	"Mistress………"

	Janet watched as the question that she had planted in Cheryl's mind
brought her to mental confusion.  A few moments earlier, she had been
gloating over having Janet helpless at her feet.

	"What did you find out about me?" asked Janet.

	"That, that, you were a good Mistress," slowly answered Cheryl, her voice
breaking.

	"Have I hurt you?  Humiliated you in any way?  Treated you badly?"

	"No, Mistress," answered Cheryl.

	"Made you kneel on the floor and eat out of a dog dish, for example?"

	"No, Mistress, you did not."

	"Or take you to a clothing store, have you try on clothes and have the
salespeople see your marks?"

	"No, Mistress," Cheryl softly answered.

	"When you left here every Sunday, how did you feel?"

	"Pleased," Cheryl answered quietly, as if she was ashamed of the answer.

	"So you liked your treatment?"

	"Yes."

	"And you found out that I was an honorable Mistress, didn't you?"

	"Yes."

	"There was no need to drug me, Cheryl.  I said that I would willingly
submit to you, and I was going to bathe and prepare myself.  Instead, you
invaded my home and drugged me.  Why?"

	"Because I didn't believe that you would submit, Janet."

	"I have done everything that you asked and more, Cheryl.  Even letting a
MaleDom use you."

	"Why did you have to do that?" suddenly cried Cheryl tears in her eyes.

	"Because I thought that you might want to be used by a man, and Craig was
visiting.  He told me later that you were a good submissive, in the Dungeon
and later in bed."

	"I'll never be able to separate my normal sexual feelings from submission
because of you, Mistress!" cried Cheryl.

	"My purpose as a Domme is to determine your sexual needs, Cheryl.  Even if
you don't understand them yourself."

	"But I didn't want to be used by a man!" protested Cheryl.

	"For a true slave it makes no difference if you submit to a man or a
woman."

	"I was sexually attracted to Master Craig!" protested Cheryl.

	"So you were."

	"Thanks to you I'll always desire to be used by a man," cried Cheryl, her
body shaking.

	"You have learned submission, Cheryl," observed Janet as she pulled at her
bonds. 

	"If you're thinking that I'll release you, I won't.  I have you at my
mercy, Mistress.  I won't let you go."

	"I haven't asked to be released, have I?"

	"No, Mistress," answered Cheryl as she wiped away the tears with a tissue.

	"Then why do want to hurt me?"

	"Because you made me face my own sexuality, Mistress," angrily answered
Cheryl.

	"Are you the worse for your discovery that you are a submissive?" asked
Janet.

	Cheryl suddenly was silent, not answering Janet's question.  Her inner
conflict now played itself out on her face.

	"I'm not a submissive!" cried Cheryl, "NO!"

	"Then you are certainly a good actress, Cheryl.  You have been trained and
have performed very well in the last six months.  I know when a person is
acting, and when they're not.  You're a very good submissive Cheryl.  You
enjoy the cuffs on your wrists, the spankings and other discipline, and
your use in bed."

	"NO!" Cheryl shouted in response, "NO!"

	"Face the truth Cheryl, you're a submissive and you enjoyed my training!"

	"I'm going to use you Mistress, here and now in your own Dungeon.  I'm
going to make you cry and moan, just as you did with me.  Use you as
harshly as I want to because of what you've turned me into, a sex slave."

	"I did as you asked, Cheryl, treated you like another other novice coming
to me for training.  I gave you every chance to back out, warned you of the
possible consequences, told you that in placing yourself in submission you
were going down a road of no return.  Do you remember?"

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"All right, Cheryl.  Just use me as I trained you, with love and respect."

	"For a person helpless on the floor, you're in no position to dictate
terms to me!" exclaimed Cheryl.

	"Yes, Mistress," Janet answered softly.

	"When were you last whipped?" asked Cheryl, "I'll bet that it must have
been a long time since you've felt the whip."

	"Six months ago," answered Janet, "just before you arrived.  Once a year I
submit to Mistress Stephanie so that I may never forget what the lash feels
like."

	"How proper you are."

	"Thank you, Mistress."

"I'm going to spank you now, slave.  Perhaps also a few strokes with the
paddle on your bottom.  Get ready, Mistress!" said Cheryl.

	Cheryl then pulled Janet again to her feet, then marched her over to the
padded bench.  She then sat down, and pulled Janet over her knee.  Janet
noted that Cheryl had already placed the paddle on the bench in advance.

	"You may count each stroke, slave.  And thank me after every five."

	"Yes, Mistress!"

	Cheryl raised Janet's bound arms, and then struck a savage blow with her
hand.

	"One!"

	"Two!"

	"Three!"

	"Four!"

	"Five! Thank you, Mistress!"

	Janet felt the skin on her bottom slowly warm as it was struck.  She had
not been spanked for a long time indeed.

	"Six!"

	"Seven!"

	"Eight!"

	"Nine!"

	"Ten!  Thank you Mistress!"

	Crack!

	"Ah!" cried Janet, the force of the paddle staggering her with its effect.

	"Continue, slut!"

	"Eleven!"

	"Twelve!"

	"Fifteen! Thank you, Mistress!"

	Crack!

	"Sixteen!"

	"Eighteen!"

	"Twenty! Thank you, Mistress!"

	"Very good, Janet," commented Cheryl as she let Janet kneel on the floor.

	"Thank you, Mistress!"

	"Did you like the paddle?"

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Cheryl offered the paddle to Janet, and she kissed it without having been
ordered to.  Then Janet knelt in silence, awaiting Cheryl's next use of
her.

	"I want to flog you," said Cheryl.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Nothing, no resistance?  Or protest?" asked Cheryl.

	"No, Mistress, none.  I would have submitted to you without the
chloroform."

	"Why?"

	"Because I trained you, Cheryl.  Because you know right from wrong.  Or at
least I hope you do," answered Janet.

	"You're not going to beg me to stop?" asked Cheryl.

	"No, Mistress.  Please flog me?"

	Cheryl then slapped Janet across her cheek, the sound clearly audible in
the Dungeon.  Janet fell to the floor, as she lost the balance that she had
on her knees.

	"Why can't you be scared of me?" screamed Cheryl.

	"Because I was nearly killed by a Domme who was evil," Janet answered.

	Cheryl then pulled Janet to her feet, then over to the ceiling chain. 
Releasing her wrists from behind her back, Cheryl then locked Janet's
wrists to the chain.  She then activated the motor control, and soon Janet
was hanging by her wrists.

	"Prepare to be flogged, Janet!"

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"No need to count, Janet."

	"Thank you, Mistress."

	Cheryl had selected a flogger made of heavy leather strands that would
mark on contact.  She hefted it in her hands, feeling the weight.  When
Janet looked into her eyes, Cheryl looked back at her in anger.

	"I'm going to leave your skin on fire, Janet."

	"Thank you, Mistress."

	Cheryl then began to strike with the flogger leaving red marks wherever it
landed.  Janet's entire body shook with every stroke.

	"Ah!"

	"Ah!"

	"Ah!"

	"Ah!" cried Janet with every stroke.

	Janet dug her nails into her palms as she was flogged, her body one mass
of pain as Cheryl would strike her in one place, then move on to another. 
Her underarms, breasts, thighs, and sex all were the target of the flogger,
and Cheryl didn't stop.

	Each stroke left Janet gasping as she cried out after each one marked her.
 Tears fell from her eyes.

	"Open your legs, slave."

	Janet did as she was ordered, and the flogger found it's way onto her sex
and the inside of her thighs.  Cheryl relentlessly continued to use Janet
without pause or mercy.

	"Slut!" cried Cheryl, "you're a slut, Mistress!"

	"Painslut, Cheryl," gasped Janet, "I'm stronger than you, Cheryl.  Much
stronger."

	"No!"

	Cheryl ceased using the flogger, only to take a crop from the cabinet to
replace it.  She flexed it in front of Janet, holding it in her hands.

	"Kiss the crop," ordered Cheryl.

	"Yes, Mistress."

	Janet kissed the crop, only to be rewarded with a series of slicing
strokes across her breasts and thighs.  She hung in her chains, moaning
when the crop would strike her especially hard.

	"Twenty," stated Janet.

	"What was that?"

	"You used twenty strokes on me, Mistress," said Janet.

	"I wasn't counting, slut."

	"You should have, Cheryl.  Because I taught you to be responsible."

	"What does that mean?"

	"To properly care from the submissive under your control, and to know the
amount of use that they can take."

	Janet looked at herself in the Dungeon mirror, and saw that her naked body
was well striped from the crop and the flogger.  Her skin was not broken or
bleeding, but bore the signs of being used by Cheryl.  The only question
was how much harder would she continue to be used by her tormentor? 

	Recessed into the ceiling were the lights, which could be bright or dim
depending on their control.  Janet looked up, and saw that one light had
begun to flash on and off.  The security system override had been
activated.

	"You forgot to ask me for a safeword, Cheryl."

	"Go ahead, then, Mistress."

	"Alana Peters."

	"NO!" screamed Cheryl, "NO! NO!"

	She grabbed a ball gag, then thrust it into Janet's mouth.  Cheryl then
picked up the single tail whip, and lashed at Janet with all of her might,
breaking Janet's skin, the blood flowing down her back.

	Stroke after stroke hit Janet, tears falling from her eyes.  The gag
prevented her from pleading, just like before.

	The only thing that existed now in the universe was the whip as it cruelly
struck Janet and wrapped itself around her naked and helpless body.  Each
stroke of the whip fell on a different part of her body, and her breasts
and thighs quickly bore the marks of the fearsome weapon, in the hands of a
woman inadequately trained in it's proper use.

	Cheryl continued to beat Janet, oblivious to anything else.  The thick
Dungeon door burst open, and Tina and Stephanie raced inside.    	  The
look of horror on Tina's face was shocking.

	"Janet!" screamed Tina.

	Tina broke into a run and tackled Cheryl violently, knocking her off
balance.  From her belt Tina removed a pair of handcuffs that she cruelly
locked on Cheryl's wrists.  Then she placed a ballgag in her mouth, and
drew the roller buckle tight.

	Stephanie removed Janet's gag, then they both released her.  Tina held
onto Janet as they sat her on the bench, Janet's blood on their hands.

	"Are you all right?" asked Stephanie.

	"I hurt," said Janet, "nothing that some rest won't cure."

	"You're bleeding," said Stephanie, "I'll dress these wounds immediately."

	"Yes," Janet weakly answered.

	Tina dragged Cheryl to her feet, then forced her to her knees in front of
Janet.

	"What do you want me to do with her, Mistress?" asked Tina.

	"Take her to the library after my wounds have been treated," ordered
Janet.

	"Why shouldn't I hang her from the ceiling and whip her until she bleeds,
Mistress?" angrily questioned Tina.

	"Because you're holding Erica's sister, Tina," Janet calmly explained.
	*		*		*		*		*		*
	After Stephanie had dressed the wounds, Janet had dressed in her nightgown
and bathrobe.  Janet then asked that they go to the library to conclude the
events of the evening.

	With Stephanie helping her, Janet had opened the hidden safe and removed
Erica's last Journal, with the envelope inside the back cover.  Then Janet
had been seated in her desk chair, with Stephanie beside her.  Cheryl sat
in a chair on the other side of the desk, her arms still bound behind her
back, and the ballgag still in her mouth, with Tina next to her.

	"Janet, you really should go to bed, you've suffered a tremendous shock,"
said Stephanie.

	"I'm all right, Stephanie, thank you.  I'll rest later.  Thank you for
being my friend."

	"I'll always be your friend, Janet," answered Stephanie.

	"You might not be after we're done tonight."

	"Why?"

	"Because I must now reveal a painful truth, Stephanie," answered Janet,
"now we begin.  Tina, you may remove her gag."

	"I'm not saying anything!" protested Cheryl when her mouth was free.

	"You don't have to, your sister will do the talking.  Stephanie, I have a
confession to make.  Erica and Andrea didn't die in the plane crash in
Mexico back in June 1993.  She really died three years later from a car
accident, in a new life that she had created.  Andrea is still alive, and
lives in Taos New Mexico."

	"Why?" cried Stephanie.

	"Because she was dying of leukemia that didn't respond to treatment at
first.  From 1992 on, just after I had begun to serve her, she was sick.  I
always wondered why she never took me to bed, even though I was eager to
please her.  She was sick and dying and did not want to be an object of
pity and sympathy.  Instead, she wanted to choose her replacement in a
grand manner, in the competition between Tiffany and myself."

	"I never knew, I saw that she tired easily, but Erica never said a word to
me!"

	"That's all right, Stephanie.  Now we come to the question of Cheryl,
here.  Tina, unlock her handcuffs.  She has some reading to do."

	"Yes, Mistress."

	"Six months ago," Janet began, "after I returned from my vacation to
Stephanie's, at the Charity event last June. Cheryl forced herself upon me,
threatening to expose me if I did not train her as a slave and fulfill her
demands.  I agreed to them in order to avoid public exposure and
humiliation.  Cheryl did not want me to investigate her to discover her
true identity, which is that she is Erica's younger sister.  Cheryl, I want
you to read this letter that I discovered in my safe this morning."

	Tina removed the cuffs, and passed the letter to Cheryl, who still looked
bitter and resentful.  She began to read silently, then tears formed at the
corner of her eyes.

	"Read it aloud, Cheryl."

	"My dear Janet," Cheryl began, her voice breaking with emotion, "There is
one part of my life that I never told you about, nor did I write about it
in my Journals.  When I submitted myself to you as a slave, I failed to
tell you of my younger sister, Cheryl Branford, who lives in San Francisco.
 Mine was not a happy family, Janet.  When I had you investigated I
discovered that you had been raised in a proper house with a mother and
father.  How I envied you, for money is no guarantee of happiness."

	"Continue, Cheryl."

	"I was born into a wealthy household that was wracked by constant
arguments and fights.  Finally my father left for California, and my
younger sister with him.  My mother changed back to her maiden name, and
changed my name as well.  Cheryl chose her father's name."

	"I did not stay in contact with my sister, but she did say that she was
guilty about not being closer with her mother.  When Eve died of a sudden
heart attack, she grew to hate me, saying that I had abandoned her to live
my life as a slave, having changed my face and name after my car accident."

	"In the year after my faked death in Mexico, I met with my sister a number
of times.  She has been curious and has spoken about placing herself in
submission to you.  If she does so, I am certain that you will treat her
with the same love and respect that you learned from me."

"For you are my heir, Janet.  From the beginning, I had a secret plan for
you to succeed me.  Please forgive me, Janet.  I used you, denied you my
bed, sent you to Stephanie, striped and beat you to ready you for the
competition with Tiffany."

	"Read the end, Cheryl," Janet ordered, as she noted that tears were
falling from Cheryl's eyes.

	"I want to say in closing that the reports that I have heard indicate that
you have more than lived up to my expectations for you.  You have done
well, Janet.  I shall always love you, deeply and with all of my heart. 
Please forgive me, Janet.  I love you, signed Erica Riken."

	Cheryl broke down in tears, the sounds of her crying filling the library.

	"Erica died two years later in a car accident, she never called to tell me
about Cheryl," described Janet, "I'll never know if she was responding to
treatment, or dying.  But once I assumed her position as Dominatrix, she
never came back to reclaim her title or estate, which she gave to me as the
victor of her competition." 

	"I'm sorry, Mistress!" cried Cheryl, "you trained me properly, showed me
love and respect, yet I hurt you."

	"But you did not learn to accept your submission, Cheryl.  You failed to
understand what I taught you.  But worst of all, you used me in a manner
where I could not plead for mercy.  Do you understand the severity of your
mistake?" asked Janet.

	"Yes, Mistress, I'm sorry, I beg your forgiveness," sobbed Cheryl.

	The only sounds in the library were those of Cheryl softly crying and
Janet's labored breathing, caused by the beating of her slave.  Stephanie
and Tina both kept their eyes riveted on Janet, waiting for her response.

	"Do you now truly understand both what it means to place yourself in
submission Cheryl, and that the Domme is responsible for the safety and
well being of the submissive?" asked Janet.

	"Yes, Mistress," answered Cheryl, as she knelt on the carpet, "I'm sorry
for what I have done, for both misunderstanding my sister, and for what you
have taught me.  Please forgive me," begged Cheryl.

	Janet rested for a short while, and sipped at a glass of water that
Stephanie held for her. 

	"I forgive you, Cheryl.  Coming to terms with your sexuality can be very
difficult, especially submission.  I agonized for a long time about
enjoying my submission when I served Erica, and all the while she had a
plan for me to replace her."

	"Thank you, Mistress Janet."

	"Stephanie, I think I'm ready for bed now," painfully stated Janet, her
injuries catching up to her.

	"I'll always be your friend Janet.  Always."

	"Thank you, Stephanie."

Epilogue

Six Months Later

	The leather conference was in Los Angeles, and Janet and Stephanie had
decided to make a true vacation out of it.  They had taken Tina and Camille
with them, to make it a truly memorable experience.

	The conference was held over a weekend, and the four of them attended
numerous panels and discussions, and had played with many other Dommes and
their slaves.  They had filled a couple of suitcases with purchases of toys
to bring back home.

	Then they had gone to Disneyland, since Janet had never been to California
before.  They spent days there, with Janet determined to ride and see
everything.  In the hotel room, they had set the camera to take an
automatic picture of all four of them wearing fetish attire and Mouse ears.

	Before they left for home, there was one final duty to perform.  They had
driven to Santa Monica, to a quiet cemetery.  Purchasing flowers before
they entered, Janet remembered that Erica loved flowers.  There were always
fresh flowers in the house whenever Janet would serve her Mistress.

	The grave was a simple one, with the name "Alana Peters" 1957-1996
chiseled into the stone.  Janet and Stephanie placed the flowers into the
small cups near the grave.

	"She was my Domme, who I loved so much," said Janet, her voice choked with
sobs.

	"Mine too," added Stephanie, "I never knew that the Domme who saved me
from Lauren was the same person who I saved from that car wreck until you
told me.  Erica said that she had a secret, but never revealed it."

	"Why did Erica have to conceal everything?" asked Janet.

	"Perhaps she was insecure."

	"Maybe, we'll never know."

	Janet paused and closed her eyes, her lips moving silently.

	"What did you pray for?" asked Stephanie.

	"To tell Erica that I forgive her, in her journal she was torn with guilt
over what she was doing."

	"I think she would like that," said Stephanie.

	"I know she does, Stephanie.  Let's stay here a while, then go home."

	The four of them stayed in the cemetery in silence, seated on a stone
bench not far from Erica's grave.  Tears would fall from Janet's eyes as
she recalled Erica, and all of the things that had happened to her.

	"Are you all right?" asked Stephanie.

	"Fine, Stephanie, I'm all right.  And I know that Erica is at peace, too."

	After a time, they all returned to the car to leave.  But Janet couldn't
resist one last look at the site.

	'I'll always love you Erica,' Janet thought to herself.

	 

>From the Diary of Cheryl Branford
	It is now six months since I have left Connecticut, and serving Mistress
Janet.  And my life has been changed forever.
	My penalty for using Janet without a chance to plead for mercy was to
serve her for 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for a month.  Which I
readily agreed to.  My punishment, in addition to being used by Janet (once
she had recovered from my beating) and Tina, was to read my sister's entire
journal from start to finish.
	Mistress Janet offered to give me Erica's diaries but I refused, as she is
the one who Erica designated to have them.  But she did ask if I wanted a
copy of them, and I accepted.
	When I was set free to leave, Janet drove me to the airport and pressed an
envelope into my hand.  She said I would know when to open it.
	Two months after returning home, I passed a sex shop in San Francisco and
went inside.  I was immediately sexually excited by the scent of leather
and latex.
	When I went home, I opened the envelope.  Within was a list of Masters and
Mistresses, all friends of Janet in California.
	But the one I wanted was the first, Master Craig.  I called him, and have
been serving him for months now.  Every weekend I drive to Los Angeles
where he lives, and he uses me.  I wear his ring, collar, and ankle
bracelet.  And carry his love inside my heart.
	I went in search of my sister's sexuality to hurt her heir and replacement
and in the process I discovered my own submissive feelings.  I enjoy the
lash and crop, the ballgag and paddle.  Just as Janet told me, she
understood my own sexuality better than I do.  The feeling of freedom and
release when I submit to Craig, and when he takes me sexually I am
fulfilled.
	One day, I shall return to Greenwich and again place myself in submission
to Mistress Janet.  Only after I have served Craig and he allows my use by
another, for I am now his slave.
	There is no way that I can repay the agony that I placed Janet through in
the six months that she trained me, fearing the viper in her midst. 
Strangely, she bore me no ill will.  Instead, she made certain that I
understood the nature of Dominance and submission.
	As I sit here alone, writing my journal I feel a strange kinship with my
sister that I never had before.  Alana must have put herself though hell
making the decision to shed her life and become Erica.  I now partially
understand what she must have felt emotionally.
	I have asked Craig if I may wear Janet's ring on my hand also, and he has
agreed.  For Erica lives on in Janet, of that I am sure.
	In the last twelve months I have experienced the lash and the crop,
bondage, and the love of other women.  My body has been used in ways that I
never conceived even when I devised confronting Mistress Janet.
	In serving Craig I am happier than I have ever been before, a lover who
will place me on my knees or over his.  I go to work with a sore bottom,
and stripes under my designer suits.
	When I am naked and collared, and serving Craig, I am free for the first
time in my life.  For that I must thank Mistress Janet, who I shall forever
love as my first Domme.  Just as Janet, I believe, loved Mistress Erica.
	Mistress Janet confronted me with the truth about my submissiveness, which
I did not want to accept at first.  But now that I understand my sister, I
have also come to understand myself as well.


	The End

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