by Robin Roseau
"We can place a screen in front of it or a dark cloth over it," Lila offered.
"A screen, please. Make sure Henry will be satisfied."
Lila disappeared backstage and then reappeared bringing two rolling stands. They were painted black and had a dark curtain over them. She arranged them on the stage somewhat behind the hooks then rolled the cart behind them. Katrina adjusted everything and thanked her.
"Belle, Kinbaku, sometimes referred to Shibari, is a Japanese art of rope tying. It can be completed for a static display or a more dynamic display, almost like a dance. In the latter case, once you are suspended, I might twirl you slowly, or move you from one position to another using fresh ties. Some adherents are quite dynamic in their presentations, but I prefer a more sensual approach. How are you feeling?"
"My stomach?" I asked. She nodded. "I'm fine now, but I don't know if you should tip me upside down. I might be fine, but I don't know."
"Better safe than sorry," Lila added. "It will ruin the film if she gets sick."
"Quite," agreed Katrina. "Lila, I have something in mind that involves one of you inclined upwards, one inclined downwards. As Belle will be upwards, I give you the chose of face down or face up."
She smiled. "If Belle prefers-"
"I asked you," Katrina said immediately.
"Then face down. And you may be as dynamic with me as you like."
"I know you like that," Katrina said. "I'll decide later. May we have music?"
"Taiko or something else?" Lila asked. "We have a Taiko mix that lasts ninety minutes."
"Perfect."
"I'll need to run up to the sound booth." She jumped from the stage, ran up the aisle, and a minute later, we were listening to drum music. A minute later, Lila rejoined us on the stage.
Katrina looked between us then she collected a coil of bright red rope from the cart. She handed it to me, then she stepped behind Lila. She wrapped the blindfold twice around her eyes, and Lila reached up to adjust it before Katrina tied it off. She used an intricate knot along the side of Lila's head, the tails dangling next to her ear.
Then Katrina took the rope from me, unrolled it, and began binding Lila beginning by binding her arms behind her back. She explained to me what she was doing. I watched as she bound Lila's arms tightly, the rope passing around her arms, around her shoulders, over her shoulders to cross between her breasts, and around her waist. Katrina tied a series of elaborate knots.
From the way Lila was jerking back and forth, I could see that Katrina wasn't being gentle, but Lila wasn't complaining.
"Does it hurt?" I asked.
"Not at all," Lila said. "It feels really good. Thank you, Katrina. You're so good at this."
"You are welcome, Lila," Katrina responded.
People began wandering in. Katrina appeared to ignore them, but I realized she was becoming more theatrical, and she repositioned where I stood on the stage so I wasn't blocking anyone's view.
When we had come in, I hadn't realized it, but there was a balcony to the theater. Henry appeared lugging a camera on a tripod. It was a very serious-looking camera. He set it up and then disappeared. A moment later he appeared down below and set up a second camera off towards our left. He disappeared once more, and then he appeared with a third camera. He stepped past us to the back of the theater and appeared a few minutes later pushing a cart with a long boom on it. I realized the camera was attached to the end of the boom. From where he stood, he could direct the camera to move in a variety of directions. I thought it was quite ingenious. He checked the motion, making sure he wouldn't interfere with what Katrina was doing, then walked over to join us.
"You know I don't do sound," he said. "I will synchronize to the music you are playing, but we will not have your voice."
"Thank you, Henry," she said. She stopped and studied Lila, tugging on the ropes briefly, and smiled. "I could prepare her further, but you are here." She looked out. "Will more come?"
"Oh yes," he said. "But you may begin, if you like."
He stepped back to his camera, and Katrina told me to ignore him after this. "Come here," she said, drawing me to Lila. She pulled the three of us together and said, "We're going to tell a story of two lovers. I am to play the part of fate, bringing you together."
I smiled at that.
She turned to me. "Do you mind if I am a little rough with you?"
"No."
"Lila, are you fine with this?"
"Yes," she said with a smile.
"All right. We're going to step away. Lila, you will remain here. Belle, I want you to approach her. She is your lover, but don't make me too jealous."
I laughed nervously. "All right."
Katrina drew me off stage. "Ready, Henry?"
"Yes," he said. I looked up, and the camera was pointed towards us.
"Ignore that," Katrina said. "Look at your lover, smile, and go to her. Offer her comforting touches. I will enter shortly."
I nodded, looked at Lila, took a deep breath, then stepped onto the stage. More people had arrived, but I ignored them.
I walked completely around Lila twice, coming closer during a third pass until I was brushing her with my fingers. I caressed her face, stepping closer, then around behind her again, wrapping my arms around her in a hug. I held her like that for a moment, then allowed my fingers to search for her face, running them over her blindfold gently, her cheek, her lips.
She leaned against me, laying her cheek against my hand.
I caressed her once more and never even noticed Katrina coming up behind me. She pulled me away, and I released Lila, allowing Katrina to pull me backwards. She was rough with it, but not to the point of hurting.
She grabbed the cloth still draped around my neck and wrapped my eyes. I reached for it, adjusting it, and she tied it over my left ear; Lila's had been over her right.
Katrina positioned me with her hands on my shoulders and then was gone for a moment. When she returned, she pulled my arms behind my back and whispered, "clasp your elbows." I did, and she began to wrap rope around my arms, binding them in place.
I knew she was wrapping me differently than she had Lila, but it was similar. She took her time, talking quietly to me the entire time.
"I love doing this, honey. I hope you enjoy it."
I tried to turn my head to respond to her, but she said, "Face forward as if you are bound by magic. Do not talk if you can avoid it. Let me pull you to and fro as I work, but try to return to the same place."
She wrapped me thoroughly, first my upper body, then a second harness around my waist and between my legs. It was snug but amazingly comfortable. Then she moved me about on the stage.
"Stay here," she said. "I have more to do with Lila."
She was gone for what felt like a long time. I stayed where I was, swaying lightly to the driving music. It was all drums, but it was so beautiful, and it helped to get my heart pounding.
And then Katrina returned. She tied ropes to the ropes about my chest, and then she reached above me. Then up and down several more times.
Then she was behind me, whispering into my ear. "This part you must trust me," she said. "Lean directly backwards into my arms. I promise you won't fall."
I leaned backwards, and I was halfway to the floor before I felt the harness about my chest begin to take my weight.
"All the way," she said. "Relax all the way, but keep your body straight now."
And I relaxed, letting the ropes suspend me.
"Good girl," she said. Then she stepped down to my legs and began attaching ropes to the harness at my waist. She did something, and suddenly my feet left the floor as she hoisted my waist from the floor. I shrieked in surprise.
"You're doing well," she said.
I hung there from the ropes, my back arched, my head back. If I relaxed my legs, my heels dragged on the floor, but then Katrina was wrapping a rope around one knee and a moment later, my leg was pulled into the air, bent at the knee. For the other, she tied t
he rope around my ankle and then lifted it from the floor as well. She stepped up to my ear and said, "Keep that leg straight, honey."
It all felt amazing. I wanted to squirm, but Katrina hadn't told me I could, so I held still, not struggling, not moving.
She did something, I'm not sure what, and I felt myself move, but I couldn't have told you how. And then a moment later, hair was brushing against my neck, hair that wasn't mine. The hair went away, and came back, and went away, and came back.
There was applause from the audience.
And then the hair was back, and a moment later I felt breath against my face.
"Hello, Lover," Lila said to me. And I realized she was suspended directly above me. I leaned forward, rubbing my cheek against hers, not willing to trust my voice to speak.
Then Katrina separated us, and the world shifted slightly, and then we drew together again, and Katrina was there with us. "I want you two to kiss the next time you come together, then I will separate you again."
And then we were apart, and I knew I swayed, then grew still, and Lila was back. I leaned my head forward, first brushing cheeks, then slowly we found each others' lips.
It was a chaste kiss, and then we brushed cheeks again before Katrina pulled us apart.
She was gone a moment, then she stepped to me, my head resting on her shoulder. "Are you all right?" she asked.
"Oh god, Katrina," I said. "I'm in heaven."
"More?"
"Yes, please yes."
"I am going to lift you both higher, and then I am going to slowly tip you upside down." She pressed cloth into my hands. "If you can't take that, drop the cloth and I'll tip you right side up."
"All right." I let the cloth dangle from my fingers, but hanging on tightly. Katrina stepped away, and a moment later I felt a jerk and a moment of vibration, and then another jerk. I decided she had raised the bar that was holding me. Shortly after, she returned to me.
"Patience."
And then she was gone again, for a long time. Finally she returned to me. "I'm sorry. That takes longer than I thought it would. Here we go."
She did something, pulling my bent knee higher, and then my straight leg, and then she began lowering my upper body until I was slanted downhill.
It felt fine.
Then, slowly, she began making more changes, and I found myself inclined on my side.
"Can you handle if I make this more dynamic? Will you get sick?"
"I'm fine," I said. "Katrina-"
"I know," she said, caressing my cheek. "I love doing this to you, too. I am going to spin you slowly now." And then she began to spin me, not very quickly, but I know I rotated around and around. While I couldn't see anything, the theater lights were bright, and it grew dark and light and dark and light as I slowly turned.
She let me swing for a while, stopping back now and again to give me another spin.
And then she brought me to a stop, and instead she pulled me to the side, and I suddenly knew Lila was there, right in front of me, her feet pointed opposite of mine. We searched for and found each other, laying our cheeks next to each other, and there was applause.
She kissed my cheek just as Katrina separated us.
Katrina stepped to my head, caressing me gently, and said, "I'm going to do a little with Lila you're not ready for. You can hang out."
"Ha ha," I replied.
"Don't be smart," she said. Then she kissed my cheek and was gone.
I hung there for a long time, but it was comfortable, and I enjoyed it immensely. There was applause a couple of times, and then Katrina was back with me. "One more, if you can take it."
"Only one more?"
"I am getting tired. It's been over an hour."
"Oh honey!"
She shifted me, and in bits and pieces, and I found myself hanging directly upside down, one leg way in the air, the other bent, and my head aimed towards the floor. I never dropped the cloth.
Then I knew she raised me higher. Then she pulled on me one more time, and I found my upside down cheek pressed against Lila's right side up cheek.
We brushed cheeks, and then she turned and kissed my cheek before offering hers to my lips.
There was another round of applause.
We brushed cheeks one last time before we were again separated. "Don't go anywhere," Katrina told me.
She was gone for some time again, and then I felt myself being lowered, descending into someone's arms, and I recognized Katrina's scent.
She untied my legs, one at a time, and then rotated me up, setting my feet onto the floor. It took her several more minutes to free me from the suspension system, but still my arms were bound behind me.
She stepped away, and then there was someone else standing beside me with Katrina behind me. There was another pause, and then Katrina unbound my eyes.
Standing beside me, her arms also still bound, was Lila. We smiled at each other, then Katrina told us to take a bow.
We received applause, then Katrina stepped forward to great applause, and then she pulled us into the wings of the theater.
"Oh god, Katrina," I said. "That was amazing!"
She smiled. "I've never done two at a time before. I'm sorry, but I'm worn out. You guys can untie yourselves, right?"
I laughed.
She untied Lila's arms first, then mine, and the three of us hugged then stepped out onto the stage, Katrina in the center, an arm around both of us. Then she sent Lila ahead to Henry and we walked to him.
There were still people milling about the theater, but we ignored them.
"Brilliant as always, Katrina," he said. "Next time you decide to do two, I will loan you some muscle for assistance."
"Thanks," she said. "But god, that was fun!"
I leaned against her, pressing tightly to her side, and whispered into her ear, "I don't know how to thank you."
She caressed my cheek and sighed. "Henry, I hate to run, but this one has a job interview in the morning, and she must look her best. I won't even have time to properly play with her when we get home. The most I can do is tie her into some compromising position and drive her insane until she begs to be mine forever."
"Promise?" I whispered to her.
"Lila, do you mind cleaning up?" Henry asked her.
"Not at all. Katrina, please come over again soon so we can do that again."
"I'll try to fit it around your schedule here," Katrina said. "And this one's schedule."
She collected my coat, slipping it back over my arms, and then with a hand on my leash, she pulled me from the house.
* * *
"Did you have a nice time tonight?" Katrina asked me sometime later.
"Oh yes." I was still full of glow from the endorphins that had been flowing through me for the last several hours. We hadn't played long at home, but Katrina had indeed tied me into a compromising position and she made me beg over and over before the orgasm arrived. Then, with me entirely spent, and Katrina clearly tired, we cuddled in bed.
And then we slept.
Part Four
I woke early, nervous, but snuggled into Katrina, who had rolled away from me sometime during the night. She murmured at me but was immediately back asleep. I inhaled deeply her scent, also smelling the shared scent from our passion of last night.
A short while later, she rolled over, her eyes awake.
"I don't want to go," I said. "It's a waste of time. Can you call in sick?"
"You are going. And you are going to do your best to impress them. I will ask how it went when you get home, and you don't lie very well."
"Please, Katrina, can't we spend the day together?"
"No. Honey, I would like nothing more." She paused. "We don't know each other very well yet. We don't know if we're truly compatible. You don't know if you really want to be a full time submissive. I don't know if you will unduly try my patience."
Then she stopped, and I searched her face. "What are you saying?" I asked her.
She loo
ked away.
"Hey, I don't get to do that," I complained.
"You're not the dominant," she said.
"Are you breaking up with me?"
And then she turned back to face me. "No, I am not. We're not really together, but what I have in mind is not remotely like breaking up." Then she looked away again, and I lay quietly.
She hadn't figured out what she wanted to say by the time my alarm went off. I rolled over to silence it then rolled back.
"Katrina," I said, "if I get the job, I can't take it. Even if I can afford it."
That got her attention. "Why not?" she snapped, staring at me.
"Because I don't think I could stand living in this town, so close to you, if we're not together. I'll never find someone who treats me the way you do."
"You know, it wouldn't be like this weekend, not all the time. It was an intense weekend."
"So even if we were together, I would only belong to you sometimes? You would still play the field?"
"Oh no, you would belong to me full time. And you would serve me, too. You don't even know what that means though. It wouldn't be wild sex, all the time. I am excessively demanding, and I can be hard on my lovers."
"What are you telling me, Katrina?"
"Get the job. And then we'll talk."
I looked away, but she pulled me back. "Get the job. Go in there and get the job."
"I can't afford this town."
"Jasmine's offer was serious. She won't charge any more rent than you can afford, especially if you cook for her. Heck, she might let you live there for almost nothing, if you're truly a good cook and do most of the meals. She eats out all the time, which costs a mint, because she can't cook toast."
I watched her for a while. There was more she wasn't saying. I thought maybe she was offering a relationship, but maybe she only wanted a longer fling. I couldn't tell.
"Get the job, then we'll talk. Promise me."
"I promise. I have to go."
"Go."
I paused. "Katrina?"
"Go!"
"I can't go to a job interview in your collar."
She studied me, then sighed. "I suppose you can't." She climbed out of bed, and it took her a minute before she freed me from the collar. I missed it immediately.