Eye of the Beholder (MF, rom, bdsm, semiotics)(9/10)

XVIII.

Elizabeth came slowly awake as the setting sun shown through the window 
across from her bed.  Vivid rose-gold hues burned through the sky, 
matching the fiery leaves on the trees below.  Her eyes drifted to the 
man beside her.  He sat back against the headboard, watching her.  They 
had made love repeatedly through the day, not stopping until she passed 
out from exhaustion.

"Did you sleep well?"

"Yes."

"How do you feel?"

"Lost.  My old life is gone.  I have nothing but that which I have with 
you.  I have given you all I can now.  If you truly love me, as you 
say, you will not ignore that fact.  My future depends on you.  You 
cannot abandon me now."

"I have no intention of doing so."

"You will honor your responsibility to me?"

"Yes.  Much more than you realize, I think."

"What do you mean?"

"You will see.  Get up."

He swung his legs off the bed and began getting dressed.

"Where are you going?"

"I will show you.  Follow me."

She slid off the bed and followed him to the outer room.  But instead 
of walking to the outer doors, he went to the adjacent wall, opposite 
the windows.  He pushed up a section of the chair rail, and a hidden 
door appeared, moving back into the room beyond.

It was a dressing room, hung with dozens of expensive gowns.  A 
mirrored dressing table was against one wall, and beyond was another 
door.

"Please get dressed.  You will find that all these dresses should fit 
you.  Select one you like."

"I don't understand."

"All will be made clear.  Go ahead."

She found a selection of undergarments in the dressing table and began 
slipping them on.  The feel of the cloth against her skin was hot and 
itchy, so long had she been nude.  She realized she almost preferred to 
be unclothed now.  But presumably he had a reason for wanting her 
dressed.

He helped her into her corset, then an ornate beaded gown.  Indeed, as 
he said, it was a perfect fit.  The implications boggled her mind.  As 
she finished her preparations, he stood back and admired her.

"Beautiful.  Come."

She followed him into the room beyond, which proved to be another 
sitting room.  That led into the hallway, where she followed him to the 
grand stairway and down to the first floor.

"Where are we going?"

"You will see in a moment."

He led her into a receiving room off the main hall.  There she saw a 
man sitting on a couch, awaiting them.  With an enormous, soul-
wrenching shock, she realized she knew him.

"Father!"

She lurched toward him, then stopped.  She glanced at her lover, then 
back at her father.  She felt faint and grasped at her breast.

"What are you doing here?"

He smiled at her.

"I came to see how you were doing.  I have been here for the last few 
days."

"But . . ." she glanced again at the man.  "You know each other?"

"Of course.  This is the Duke.  Your husband."

She lost her balance and fell to the couch behind her.

"I do not understand."

The Duke approached and sat beside her.

"Elizabeth, I apologize for this deception, but it was necessary.  Your 
father and I have planned this marriage for years, from when I first 
laid eyes on you.  He warned me that you were proud and uncaring, but I 
sensed that there was a different person inside you, behind that pride.  
What I said was the truth.  I wanted you to love me as I loved you.  I 
knew that was not possible without such extreme measures.  Your pride 
would not allow it.  I had to break through to the person inside."

"But . . . why you could not tell me?"

"Answer that question on your own.  Could you have let go of your old 
self so completely had you known the truth?"

She was still dizzy, but she saw he was right.

"No."

"It was the only way to make you love me, to show you the person you 
could be once you let go of your pride."

She had caught her breath by now, and looked up at her father.

"But your men . . . he killed them."

The Baron shook his head, smiling.

"A clever ruse.  No one was harmed."

Elizabeth looked back at the Duke.

"And Karin and Greta?"

"Have been my guests this past month.  They are staying in the far wing 
of the castle.  They are well and have been asking after you."

A flash of anger grew in Elizabeth's head at being so thoroughly used 
and deceived.  She looked back to her father.

"Will you please give us a moment?"

"Of course."

He stepped out of the room.  When he was gone, she stood up from the 
couch and walked to the window.  She heard the Duke come up behind her.

"Should I be angry with you?" she asked.

"Are you?"

"A part of me is.  You were to be my husband.  What gave you the right 
to do this to me?"

"You heard my explanation."

"And now I am neatly trapped, like a fly in amber.  I have given you my 
virginity, so I cannot marry another."

She turned around and glared at him.  A moment later, she slapped him, 
once, twice, three times.  He stood stock still and took it.

"Does that make you feel better?"

She fought the pounding of her heart, trying to calm herself.

"You took my love under false pretenses."

"You would not have loved me otherwise."

She swirled away from him again, head spinning.  Outside the window, 
she saw a narrow garden planted with roses.  The blooms were mostly 
pale, but a few red flowers spotted the sheets of white.

"You make too much of your predicament, Elizabeth.  I will not keep you 
here if you wish to leave, and with your father's money, I think he 
could easily find another match for you."

"I do not wish to marry another."

"What do you wish?"

"I wish . . . oh!  You have gotten so far into my head that I cannot 
think clearly.  I almost wish you were the bandit and rapist I thought 
you were.  Then I would not be faced with these problems!"

She put her face in her hands and began to cry.

"Would that make you happier?"

She turned and leaned her head against his chest, sobbing quietly.

"You have tasted submission, and are not so ready to return to making 
decisions, I think."

After a few seconds, she leaned back, composing herself.

"When I think now of going back to being a noblewoman, a duchess, 
instead of . . . your plaything . . . I do not like it.  And I hate 
myself for that.  I hate you as well, I hate you even as I love you."

He regarded her calmly, a small smile on his face.

"One does not deny the other.  You may be all three if you wish: my 
wife, my duchess, and my plaything."

She inhaled weakly.

"And what if I do?"

"You have only to say the word."

It took her long moments to do so.

"That is what I want."

He took her hand and kissed it.

"Then so it shall be."

* * *

XIX.

I wrote all of that after skipping my afternoon seminar and running 
home to finish the story.  When I was done, I logged on.  No Dani.  I 
e-mailed it to her and waited, chatting with some other people I knew.

She appeared about twenty minutes later.  I paged her.

"Hey babe =)"

"Hi.  Is this the end?"

"Yes."

"Cool.  I'll read it right now."

So I waited while she did.

* * *

"Oh, God," she paged me a few minutes later.  "I wish you knew how 
horny I am right now."

I laughed.

"Sorry."

"Come over."

"Now?"

"You wait too long and you'll miss your chance."

"LOL, okay I'm on my way."

I logged off and went down to my car.

* * *

She met me at the door and kissed me immediately.  I drew back after a 
few seconds.

"Where is Todd?"

"Out.  Now do me.  This instant."

I picked her up in my arms and carried her to her bedroom.  We fell 
onto the bed, groping at each other's clothes until we were both naked.  
She immediately pulled me on top of her.

"Whoa, girl."

"That story was enough foreplay.  Come on."

She grabbed at my penis, pulling me into her.  I relented and thrust 
forward, finding her indeed quite wet and ready.  After that, we lost 
ourselves in each other for about five minutes.

* * *

"Whew."

She laughed.

"I'm sorry.  I just had to have you after reading that.  I re-read the 
whole thing again while I was waiting for you to get here."

"Happy with it?"

"Yes.  You understand now, I think."

"I finally figured out what my problem was."

"The signifiers?"

"Right."

"I won't ask.  That stuff makes no sense to me.  But I'm glad your 
thesis is working out."

"It is."  

She rolled over, propping herself up on my chest.

"I talked to Mistress Rebecca last night."

"And?"

"She said we could borrow her dungeon on Sunday."

"You're sure about this?"

"More than ever.  I want it like you can't imagine."

"Is she going to be there?"

"Mistress Rebecca?"  She grinned.  "Why?  Do you want her there?"

"Do you?"

"No.  Not this time at least.  We'll have the place to ourselves."

"She actually has her own dungeon?"

"In her basement.  She has a ton of stuff.  More than we'd ever need."

"You've been there?"

"How else would I know?"

"Did you . . . with her?"

She laughed softly.

"Does that turn you on?"

"I don't know.  I'm afraid to ask what you did."

"What do you think?"

"Just tell me."

"She had me and another girl.  She worked us over together.  I was 
pretty sore afterwards, but it was a lot of fun."

"I'll bet it was."

She grinned, breathing hard.

"This is getting me horny just talking about it."

"Give me a few more minutes."

She laughed again.

"No."

She slid down my chest and took me into her mouth.  

* * *

Dani was finally sated about an hour later.  Todd was still out, so she 
went to the kitchen and returned with a bottle of water, which we 
shared in her bed.

"Okay.  This is the other thing I was going to mention before we got 
distracted."

I grinned.

"Distracted.  Right."

"I don't want Sunday to be your first exposure to this.  I want to be 
able to just go straight in and start."

"What do you mean?"

"I want to go over there beforehand so I can explain everything and 
Mistress Rebecca can demonstrate her equipment and anything else you 
don't understand.  That way I don't have to stop in the middle to tell 
you anything."

"Okay.  I guess that makes sense."

"She said tomorrow night would work for her."

"That should be fine."

She grinned.

"Wait 'til you see it."

* * *

XX.

Dani appeared at my apartment around seven the next night, and we drove 
to our destination.  

"What do you know about Rebecca?"

"Mistress Rebecca.  Don't forget the Mistress unless you want to get on 
her bad side."

I laughed.

"Okay.  Mistress."

"You're wondering what kind of person maintains her own dungeon."

"Basically."

"Would it surprise you if I told you she was a corporate lawyer?"

"She is?"

"Yes.  She works for a big firm downtown.  She's rolling in money.  
It's how she can afford to indulge this fetish of hers.  Just wait 
until you see this place."

"She's not married?"

"She was.  She got divorced a few years ago.  Her husband was kinky, 
though.  That had nothing to do with why they split."

We drove up Wilshire Boulevard toward Beverly Hills.  When we turned 
onto Santa Monica, we went another couple of blocks before reaching 
Mistress Rebecca's street.  About a minute later, Dani directed me into 
the driveway of a broad, flat-roofed house braced by a row of Mexican 
palm trees.  It looked like a "tear-down," a new house built on an 
existing lot, which you tended to see frequently in Beverly Hills.

We parked in front and stepped out.  Mistress Rebecca met us at the 
door.  She wore black slacks and a burgundy silk blouse, the top two 
buttons loose to expose her ample cleavage.  I tried not to stare.

"Good evening, people."

Dani kissed her on the cheek.

"Mistress."

I shook her hand.

"So good to see you again, Danny.  I was pleased to hear you and 
Danielle were still together.  Please come in."

We followed her into the marble-floored foyer and thence back toward 
the kitchen.

"Can I offer you anything to drink?"

"It's all right," I said.

She snickered.

"Nonsense.  If you want to be a Dom, you can't be shy about asking for 
what you want."

I laughed.

"All right.  A beer would be good."

"Danielle?"

Dani smiled, glancing at me.

"Whatever pleases you, Mistress."

Rebecca looked to me.

"She usually gets white wine," I said.

"I know, but is that what you want for her?"

I smiled, beginning to get the idea.

"We can indulge her this once."

She returned the smile.

"White wine it is."

She spent a moment preparing our drinks before turning back to me.

"Shall we get started?"

"Sure."

She led us around to the back of the kitchen, where a door led to the 
basement.  The lighting was not bright, and at first I thought this 
dungeon was not what Dani had led me to believe.  The first thing I saw 
was the water heater, and after that, the furnace.  Then I realized 
this was not the dungeon--only an anteroom of sorts.

Beyond the basement equipment was a painted cinder block wall with a 
single wooden door in the center.  The door, painted bright red, was 
secured with a deadbolt lock.  Mistress Rebecca produced a key and let 
us in.

The room was larger than I had expected, and little expense appeared to 
have been spared.  It was probably thirty feet square, floored in rough 
gray stone.  The same stone tiles faced the walls as well, going all 
the way to the fully drywalled ceiling, which had been painted red to 
match the door.  

At first glance, the dungeon appeared to be a stylish exercise room, 
and I was fairly sure Mistress Rebecca had planned it that way--
ostensibly at least--with the contractors who had constructed it.  But 
it was immediately clear that whatever exercise went on here was 
secondary, for it was filled not with Nautilus machines but racks, 
pillories, and a large wooden slab.  One corner of the room was taken 
up by an iron-barred cell about five feet square.  Dozens of whips, 
scourges, dildos, coils of rope, and other items I couldn't identify 
immediately hung from hooks on the walls.  Two sets of bondage poles 
with adjustable crossbars took up another corner.  The back wall, next 
to the cell, was taken up by manacles and other restraints.  Steel 
eyebolts covered the ceiling, and in several places more manacles hung 
down.

As I looked around, I could begin to see the sorts of activities that 
were planned here.  Seemingly endless variations of restraint and 
punishment were possible.  My mind spun with the possibilities.

Dani stood next to me, grinning.

"Pretty neat, huh?"

"I'm impressed.  A lot of work must have gone into this place."

"Indeed it did," Mistress Rebecca said.  "You can't imagine the 
reaction I got from the contractor when I explained about that cell.  I 
told him it was for my dogs, but I think he suspected otherwise."

"Well, in a sense it was, wasn't it?"

She smiled at me.

"Quite."

Dani walked to the rack.

"This is my favorite.  Can we show him how it works, Mistress?"

"Why don't we?"

Dani backed up to it, spreading her legs and raising her arms into the 
air.  As I watched, Mistress Rebecca demonstrated the restraints.

"As you can see, you have the option of restraining her head to foot or 
just wrists and ankles.  For Danielle, I recommend using everything."

"Everything," Dani said.

Mistress Rebecca glanced at her, displeased.

"Be quiet, girl.  You are a visual aid until we're finished here.  
Visual aids do not speak."

Dani grinned but said nothing.  Mistress Rebecca continued.

"Now, if you look up here, you can see that you can raise or lower the 
upper restraints by pulling down on this cord.  This way you can 
stretch out your submissive or even lift her off the floor if you 
wish."

"You'd have to detach the rest of it, though?"

"You can, but you don't need to.  You might want to keep the ankle 
restraints in place.  Why don't you try it?"

I released all the straps except at the wrist and ankles.  Then I 
pulled down on the cords, stretching Dani out.  She grinned at me, but 
I could tell she was getting turned on, even though she was still fully 
clothed and we were just demonstrating the equipment.

"Got it?"

"I think so."

She released Dani and led us to the stocks.

"These are fairly simple."

She lifted up the top half, and Dani bent down, placing her neck and 
wrists into the slots.  Mistress Rebecca lowered the top and secured 
the latch.

"Now you are free to spank her or play with her from behind or whatever 
you wish."

She took down a cat o-nine-tails from the wall and swatted Dani on the 
butt.  I glanced at Dani's face.  Her eyes were closed, and her face 
was getting flushed.

"Try it."

Mistress Rebecca handed the whip to me, and I gave Dani a few playful 
swats.  She moaned, half in jest but clearly half in arousal too.  
Rebecca freed her and led us to the back wall.  She showed me how the 
manacles worked, again chaining Dani up.

"Simple but very effective, no?"

"I like it."

"Danielle especially enjoys this sort of thing."

"I can tell."

Then she led us to the bondage poles.  She showed me how the crossbar 
went up and down, and then strapped Dani into the restraints, which had 
ropes attached, leading to pulleys in the ceiling and the corners of 
the poles.

"You should see how you can restrain her in a variety of positions, or 
lift her completely into the air if you wish.  It's really only limited 
by your imagination."

I played around with the set-up for a few minutes, getting Dani bent 
over the crossbar with her arms pulled forward into the air.  Mistress 
Rebecca smiled and reached under Dani to tweak her nipple.

"This is an excellent position for breast torment.  You can attach 
weights to her nipples or swat them from below.  It's also very good 
for spanking, since, as you can see, her buttocks are more pronounced."

"I've seen some pictures where people were tied to the crossbar, sort 
of suspended into the air by their elbows, tied up so they were hanging 
from the ropes."

She nodded.

"Rope bondage is more complicated.  I'd wait until you have more 
experience.  If you don't do it correctly, you can cause injury.  But 
you're correct.  There are any number of ways you can tie someone up 
with this arrangement."

She freed Dani and led her to the slab.  Dani lay down and Mistress 
Rebecca demonstrated the restraints.

"They work more or less like the ones on the rack.  What you can do 
here is more direct punishment, such as breast torment or tickling.  
It's not so good for flagellation, unless you want to swat her breasts 
or pubic mound.  It's also good for dildo play and the like."

"Does she enjoy that?"

She smiled.

"Indeed she does.  Would you like to look at those next?"

"Sure."

We left Dani where she was, and Rebecca showed me her collection.

"For obvious reasons, you must be careful to clean up after yourself if 
you want to use any of these.  There is a bathroom outside with some 
disinfectant soap by the sink."

"Got it.  What about nipple clips and that sort of stuff?"

She smiled again.

"We have plenty of those as well."

She led me to a bookcase in one corner, where she showed me her 
collection of clips, collars, leashes, nipple weights, and assorted 
other toys.  

"I think I've got it," I said when she was done.  "Is there anything 
else we need to do?"

"For now, I think we've hit the high points.  There's certainly a great 
deal more you and Dani can do someday, but for starting out, this is 
plenty."

"Okay.  Should we free the visual aid?"

"Why not?"

We returned to the slab and let Dani up.

"That's it," Mistress Rebecca said.  "If you'd like to show him 
anything yourself, Danielle, now is the time."

"Thank you, Mistress."

Dani grinned at me.

"What do you think?"

"I think this should be a lot of fun."

"Okay.  Like Mistress said, I like being strapped up to the rack or the 
manacles or the crossbars.  Just like Elizabeth was."

 Mistress Rebecca's eyebrows went up slightly.

"Elizabeth?"

"A story he wrote for me."

"I see."

"I like being spanked.  Anything and everything in that department.  If 
you want to get my butt all red and rosy, go for it."

"Okay."

"Breast torment, like she was talking about, is good too, but don't get 
carried away.  You've got to be careful about my piercings.  Twisting 
and pulling is fine, jerking on them is bad.  That can really hurt, and 
I don't want to risk tearing anything out."

"Got it."

"But swatting my breasts, hanging weights from my nipples or my clit, 
all that is good.  I like that."

"What about the dildos?"

"I like dildos too, but not until we've gotten a long way into it.  
Save that for the end."

"How do you want to do this?  In terms of acting something out, I 
mean."

She took a breath and smiled.

"I want to act out that story.  I'll be Elizabeth, you be the Duke.  
Just get into character and stay there.  Pretend that you're the Duke 
and that you're trying to break me like he broke Elizabeth."

"Okay.  I think that should be fun."

"You have to stay in character, okay?  If you stop and ask me 
something, it will ruin it.  Any questions you have, ask them now."

"How far back do you want to begin?  Acting out the kidnapping might be 
hard."

She grinned.

"But we're going to do it.  You'll pick me up at my place and we'll 
start the role-playing from there."

I thought about that for a moment or two.

"Elizabeth started out in a gown."

"And so will I.  I'm going to use my bridesmaid dress from when my 
cousin got married last year.  I'm never going to need it again, so why 
not?"

"You want me to rip it off you?"

"Just like in the story.  Pick me up, bring me here, and take me down 
to the dungeon.  Just like the Duke did to Elizabeth."

"Okay.  I think I have the idea."

"Your safe word, Danielle," Mistress Rebecca said.

"Oh.  Right.  I explained about the safe word, remember?"

"Yeah."

"The word I like to use is 'rose.'  Like the rose on my tit.  Unless I 
say 'rose,' stay in character and don't stop what you're doing."

"But if you do, we stop?"

"Exactly."

I thought for a moment. 

"I have an idea."

"What?"

"How about if you don't use your safe word unless you want to stop 
completely and go home?  Not just if you want to take a break, or you 
want to tell me something."

Dani paled slightly in surprise, and a grin spread across Mistress 
Rebecca's face.

"My, my," Mistress Rebecca said.  "I'm impressed."

"Oh, God," Dani said.  "Okay, we'll do it that way.  I won't use my 
safe word unless I want to quit.  Which probably means I won't use it 
at all."

I returned her grin, and she turned to Mistress Rebecca.

"I guess we're done.  Thank you so much, Mistress."

"My pleasure.  I'll see you on Sunday, then?"

"Around seven, right."

Mistress Rebecca led us back up to the house and out to the front door.

"You can bring her in around the back," she said to me.  "Since you 
should already be into this charade of yours, I'll meet you there but I 
won't interfere."

"Okay.  Thanks.  Mistress," I added, smiling.

"You're quite welcome.  Good night."