Ballo in Maschera, a Prelude

I walked back into the living room with two espressos. Tatiana was sitting opposite our visitor; her legs pressed together demurely, her hands clasped in her lap and her head slightly bowed. I placed the coffees on the low table at the side of the leather armchair.

'Thank you.'

Our visitor picked up her coffee in a leather-gloved hand and sipped it. I sat down in another armchair.

'This is your woman?'

I nodded. Tatiana blushed and looked down, smoothing her dress down nervously. Our visitor smiled. Her gaze was intent.

'You have both discussed this?'

'Yes'. Tatiana nodded.

'You have a safe word?' She looked to me.

'Yellow for slow, Red for stop.'

Turning to Tatiana, 'This is correct?'

She nodded

'You are willing to submit?' This was directed at Tatiana. She nodded again, and swallowing hard, she struggled to reply.

'We must choose a name for you.'

She stood, and walked to the bookcase, the heels of her boots clicking on the wooden floor. Picking a book, she flicked through the pages.

'Maria. That will make a good slave name for you.'

She put the book back slowly and deliberately. She turned to face Maria.

'Stand, Maria, step forward from the chair so that I may see you.'

Maria stood, hesitantly stepping forward. In stockinged feet, she was much shorter than our guest. She held her hands together at her waist. Our guest circled her slowly, lifting her long blond hair and stroking the side of her neck. Maria shivered. She traced the curve of Maria's back through the fabric of her dress.

'Strip.'

The word was whispered, but cut the silence like a knife. Though I was shocked, I felt my arousal growing to see my wife commanded by another woman. Maria looked at me, her eyes pleading.

'Do as she says, my dear. You will not be harmed. When you are addressed as Maria, obedience must be instant.'

Maria swallowed, and reached behind her back for the zip. Fumbling slightly, she pulled it down and shrugged the dress from her shoulders. It fell, pooling around her stockinged feet. Except for her black hold-up stockings, she was naked.

'Step out of your dress and kneel before me'

Maria obeyed, putting her arms over her breasts and her pussy.

'Head to the floor. Kiss my boots.'

'But...'

'Silence, slut. You will learn to speak only when asked. Kiss my boots. Now!'

Her tone had hardly risen from a whisper. 'That is better, my little one, slowly and more lovingly.'

Maria continued to kiss her boots. My erection was now straining at my trousers. The contrast of Maria's pale skin with her black stockings, her naked softness with our guest's leather boots was the most erotic sight I had ever seen.

'You may stop now. Kneel up, hands behind your back.'

Maria complied. She was flushed, breathing heavily, but her head was lowered. Her breasts were beautiful, round and firm, with erect nipples.

Our guest circled Maria twice more and returned to her chair.

'Maria, you are clearly a natural submissive. I will ask you some questions, and you must answer truthfully. When you answer, you will address me as Mistress. Do you understand?'

'Yes, Mistress.' she murmured.

'You must answer more clearly. You submit to this man as your master?'

'Yes, Mistress.'

'How does he like to use you?'

'Orally, in my pussy and sometimes my arse, Mistress.

'You have been bound?'

'Yes, Mistress.'

'Blindfolded?'

'Yes, Mistress.'

'Gagged?'

'Yes, Mistress.'

'Do you have a collar?'

'Yes, Mistress. A leather collar for private submission, and I wear this pearl choker in public as a secret collar'

'You are under discipline?'

'What do you mean, Mistress?'

'Are you whipped, why, how often?'

'Yes, Mistress. I am spanked if I disobey. I try not to disobey, but I cannot always meet my master's expectations.'

'This is good. I would not take a novice for training at the Palazzo. Do you fantasise about being dominated?'

'Yes, Mistress.'

'Elaborate.'

'I fantasise about helplessly waiting for a master. I am bound. Sometimes spread eagled to the bed. Sometimes I am tied with my hands over my head in a whipping position, and others I am tightly hogtied. I am unable to escape, and my struggles only make my bondage tighter. If I am blindfolded, my master will touch me, lightly, stroking and teasing. If I can see, he watches my struggles. He teases, kisses and touches all my most secret places, refusing my pleas to be released or to be had. When I can take no more he slips his cock inside me, slowly stretching and probing my wet pussy. Sometimes he forces his cock into my mouth, pulling my head back by the hair before he spends in my face, covering me with cum that I am helpless to stop running down my chin and onto my breasts. Then he uses his fingers to make me cum.'

I do not think that Tatiana had ever talked to anyone about our lifestyle. There was something about our guest that gave her an air of authority. Maria had not broken position, and was discussing thoughts and feelings that it could be difficult to discuss between ourselves. We had met, and discovered our roles as Master and submissive together over several years. It had started as play, but we had realised how much more meaningful this had become. Now she was truly mine. We had felt that we needed to move our relationship to a new level, and I knew that an artist friend had stayed somewhere that had seemed a bit like the chateau at Roissy in the 'Story of O'. When I asked, he had said that this was strictly for members only, and that membership was by invitation only. A week later, I had received a hand-written invitation. I had replied to the address, a postal box in Verona, and by return had been told that we would receive a guest at a certain time, who would discuss our needs. Our visitor was a woman, in her mid-thirties, tall, but wearing stiletto heeled knee-high boots that must have added three inches to her height. Her suit was severely tailored, and her hair was tied back into a tight chignon.

'Have you shared her?'

'Never, but the thought is powerfully erotic.' I replied, fighting back the instinct add 'Mistress'

'How strictly have you treated her?'

'What you might call light bondage, I suppose. Soft ropes, silk scarves, soft blindfolds. I usually spank her with the flat of my hand, but have used a slipper before.'

'You are so English!' She laughed, and for the first time I noted a slight accent.

She reached down to her bag, a large soft leather designer handbag, and pulled out a short crop. It can only have been a foot long, small enough to fit, but the sight of it was enough to make Maria shudder. She flexed it between her hands, then standing up, walked over to the kneeling Maria, lifting her chin with the tip. I could see the fear in her eyes, but I was also beginning to smell her arousal.

Looking intently into Maria's eyes, she asked 'Are you ready to submit more deeply than you have ever imagined before?'

'Yes, Mistress.'

'It will involve bondage, stricter than you have ever endured. We will chain you and bind you. You will be blindfolded, gagged and hooded. It will involve pain. You will be whipped, and not just as punishment. We will whip you to let you know your position, and just because it please us to do so. We will degrade and humiliate you. But these will just be methods. You will serve, you will be denied, and you will feel discipline. The goal is your perfection as a submissive.'

She removed the crop from below Maria's chin, stepped back and sat down. She picked up her espresso and sipped at it, watching Maria squirm.

'I will enjoy dominating you.'

Turning to me, she said, 'I must go now. You have our terms. Discretion and anonymity are our guiding principles. We find it helps our clients relax and let themselves explore. I await your next letter.'

To Maria, 'Stay where you are and do not break position. I think your master will have you like you have never been had before.'

I showed our guest to the door, locking it behind her. I returned, and pushing Maria to the floor had her furiously, as I had never had Tatiana. I came in her, and reaching down, caressed her to ecstasy. We lay together silently looking into each other's eyes. Nothing more needed to be said.