Association

"Now or never."

I couldn't leave. I was afraid to stay. I needed him. I was desperate.

But after swallowing his load and licking him clean, I saw a pale light in the darkness of my soul. Trust. Trust was all it would take. And I honestly, deeply trusted him.

Seconds ticked away. I remained silent, still kneeling between his legs, eyes down, and shaking like a leaf.

"You made your choice, Sabrina," he said.

I had. And that had been the easy part. Now I'd have to live with it.

--GEOFFREY--

"Very good, Sabrina. Stand up."

She rose shakily to her feet.

"Spread your feet apart. Further."

I began walking around her body, my fingers glancing against her ass, her hips, her vulva, her breasts.

"As I said, I am going to completely revise your training. Starting now, I will focus exclusively on your body."

I put my hands around her waist, stretching my fingers in a futile attempt to make them touch.

"Pity. But we can take care of that."

I picked up a large piece of leather from the pile I had brought up from the studio. While the other corsets in my collection were mostly for looks, this one had severe stays that formed a curvy hourglass shape even when unlaced. Up to her breasts, down to her hips. More armor than undergarment.

"Get on your hands and knees. Good. Now, exhale."

I wrapped the heavy material around her waist and began threading the laces.

--SABRINA--

With all that pressure around my gut, I found I could only inhale by taking very short breaths. But not too quickly. The simple act of breathing became difficult, and I had to focus on it exclusively while Geoffrey completed my outfit.

After the corset came a matching armbinder ending in a single mitten; heavy and thick, not built to be worn for pleasure.

Next, he asked me to straighten up and rest on my knees; while I worked on breathing, he placed a posture collar around my neck and adjusted an awful trainer gag with enough straps to cover my entire face with the exception of my eyes. But he would certainly see to that later.

He had to help me stand up so he could outfit my legs with more heavy leather. Soon, my toes were crushed inside the ballet shoes that ended the boots.

I felt new tears form in the corners of my eyes, but tried to remain as calm as possible. I needed to fully concentrate on keeping my balance; with half my brain monitoring my lungs and the other half controlling my feet, I forget there was more to life than breathing and standing.

Somehow, I felt two wide plugs fill my vagina and anus; a loud click between my navel and pubis, right where the lower edge of the corset dug into my skin, put an end to his preparations.

Then, nothing. Silence. I was facing the couch, and behind it, the window concealed by a shutter for the night. I didn't know whether he had left the room, or was standing behind me.

I waited. I had found a suitable breathing pattern, but its slow rhythm forced me to stay very still and quiet. My biggest source of concern was how not to collapse on the floor. My toes hurt so much, they were probably bleeding, and all the muscles in my legs strained to help me keep my balance. I was afraid the slightest breeze would blow me over.

--GEOFFREY--

I sat down on the couch and let myself admire her, even adore her. She couldn't possibly know how exquisite she looked right now. But I knew how to take care of that.

I stood up and checked my watch: 10:30. Plenty of time.

Downstairs, again. The new camera. No need for lights, or even extra lenses. Capture the moment.

I blew through three rolls in minutes. Okay, maybe something to fill the shadows. Back downstairs.

Click, click, click. Such a favorite sound. A screen arrow selects "submit." A light turns off. A door closes. A padlock snaps shut. A vibrator turns on. A lighter flares beneath a candle wick.

Before I knew it, an hour had almost passed. Time to call it a day. Time to make good on my promise.

I bade Sabrina to join me on the couch, where I added wide cuffs and a spreader bar to pull apart her upper thighs so her sex was completely exposed.

"Sabrina, I've been thinking."

Her breathing began to increase in rapidity. Shit, she thinks I'm going to dump her, I yelled at myself. Change course.

"Since you've decided to stay with me on a permanent basis..."

Immediate improvement in the air-intake department.

"And there's nothing in the world I want more than that..."

I reached out and began to stroke her cheek.

"The time has come," I continued, speaking slowly and deliberately. "For you. To show your commitment. To me. On your body."

I stepped back and began to arrange the supplies on the kitchen table. Forceps. Sterilizing solution. Needles. And two gold rings.

"At first, I thought, of course, your nipples. But piercings there can be a problem. They're too obvious in public, and there are so many interesting clamps we have yet to try."

Her breathing went into overdrive again at the mention of the word "piercing," but I wasn't going to worry about that now.

"Next, I considered a ring through the end of your nose. Nothing says 'slave' quite like something ordinarily found on a barnyard animal. Also quite useful as a place to attach a leash."

He began to sterilize the forceps.

"But again, too public. So then I debated something in your tongue, like a round silver ball; a fabulous enhancement for oral sex. Your navel was a possibility, too. I know how sensitive you are down there, and I thought it would be a good way to permanently remind you of my presence in your life."

Next, the needles.

"In the end, though, the choice was clear."

I opened the package of sterilizing swabs, pulled one out, and began cleaning the area surrounding her sex.

"A small ring on each side. With a padlock connecting them until I choose otherwise."

I chose a spot on her outer left labia, then picked up the forceps and clamped them down tight around it.

"This may sting a bit."

I took a deep breath, aimed the needle, and pushed it into her soft pink flesh.

"I love you."

--SABRINA--

I bit on my lips to avoid screaming, but I couldn't repress a loud growl as the needle pierced through my flesh. My whole body tensed under the shock, and the world started to spin. I had blood on my tongue, tears in my eyes, and an awful knot in my stomach as I got ready for the second round.

It felt worse. I moaned and cried at the unbearable pain, wishing I could faint to escape it.

But I was too happy and proud to faint. Geoffrey said he loved me! Despite my blatant imperfections and insubordinations, he wanted me to stay! Those two rings would be a permanent reminder of his power over me, and their location was a meaningful symbol, too. His, only his.

When he locked the rings together, he admired his work for a second, then turned his face close to mine.

I was able to smile through my tears. I wanted to tell him how wonderful I felt, to thank him for his patience and care, to promise him I would do my best to please him and be worthy of him, and to show him how deep my feelings for him had grown. But all I could-- and needed--to say was:

"Yes, please."

FINIS

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Copyright © 2003 by Adrian Hunter and Chelsea Shepard. All rights reserved. Please do not repost nor repurpose without permission.

***

About the Authors

Adrian Hunter is the author of Ace of Slaves, Chain Reaction, Come True, Crash Your Party Dress and Something Just Clicked, and the co- author of Association and Once Bitten with Chelsea Shepard. He began posting his fiction on the Internet in 1993. Four years later, he published his stories on a web site, AdrianHunter.com, which has attracted more than two million visitors. In 2000, he was the recipient of the "Best Bondage Writer" award from SIGNY. His smooth and kinky short stories, novellas, essays and poetry have appeared in dozens of erotica compilations, publications and webzines, including Clean Sheets, Darker Pleasures, MASTER/slave, Prometheus, Touch Words and Sex Writer.

Chelsea Shepard has written two bdsm novels, Once Bitten and Association, with Adrian Hunter, as well as short stories which ap- pear in his compilations, Come True, Crash Your Party Dress and Something Just Clicked. Her new novel, Two Moons: Worthy of a Mas- ter, will be published in 2003.

Adrian Hunter and Chelsea Shepard's books can be purchased online through their respective web sites.