Red

Quiet day in the book store. One browser that Ann could see, and she returned to her surreptitious reading behind the counter, keeping an eye on the browser - a woman with long, brown-blonde hair. She was a semi-regular in the store, and Ann knew she'd be over with her purchase before too long.

Silence.

Until the bell hung over the door rang, a silvery tinkle. Ann looked up as the new customer entered the store. Tall man, wearing an overcoat. He wandered through the stacks, heading always in the direction of the woman browsing the shelves.

Ann smiled a little; obviously not here for the books. Midday assignation, perhaps? Both were in what might be called business attire, although the woman's skirt was a little shorter and tighter than she'd ever have considered wearing to work. As she watched covertly, the man made his way over to the woman, one hand in his pocket, speaking to her quietly then putting his free hand on her arm. A few more quiet words, and she put the book back on the shelf, walked with him out of the store.

Lucky, lucky, lucky, Ann thought, then returned to her book.

---

The gun hadn't come all the way out of his pocket; it hadn't needed to. Ellie had blinked at the glimpse she'd gotten of it.

"Just act normally," he said. "Behave, and no harm will come to you. Now put the book back on the shelf and walk out of the store. Don't run, don't try to signal anyone for help. Understand."

Light-headed, she nodded, put the book back and did as ordered.

The street wasn't too busy - the book store was in an out-of-the-way location, with not much through-traffic. Very few passers-by too, and none of the few even glanced sideways at the apparent couple walking down the street.

"Just keep walking," he said. "We're aiming for that dark green car up there, see?"

Ellie nodded, not trusting her voice.

Closer to the car, he pulled out a set of keys and pressed a button; lights flashed, and she heard the 'clunk' of locks unlocking.

"Get in the passenger seat," he said.

She did, sitting frozen as he walked around to the driver's side. Keys in the ignition and all the doors locked again with another solid 'thunk', but he didn't turn the engine on. "Open the glove box," he said. "Give me what you find in there."

Ellie swallowed, did so, and sat staring at the pair of handcuffs - matte black metal, cold, purposeful. He took them from her, directed her to sit forward in her seat and face away from him, with her hands behind her back. She shivered at the touch of cold metal on her wrists and the ratcheting sound as he fastened them.

"What - what are you doing, what do you want?" She'd found her voice, a tiny squeak.

"Shut up," he said. "You don't speak unless you're responding to a direct question. Now, sit back; I'm going to put your seatbelt on; I'll be leaning across you, and you might think that would be a good opportunity to attack me. That would be a bad idea - all you'd do is annoy me and you couldn't get out of the car with your hands cuffed like that anyway." He smiled a little. "Plus, I still have that gun...."

So she sat still, trembling, as he seatbelted her in, started the engine and drove off.

Traffic was a blur to her, twenty minutes of confusion as he drove, not allowing her to speak, until he pulled into a garage, the door closing automatically behind them. Her wrists and arms had begun to ache from being cuffed behind her so, in one way, she was grateful the ride was over. Now that it was, though...what now?

He got out of the car, and Ellie watched him apprehensively as he circled the car, coming around to her side and opening the door.

"I'm going to lean across you and undo your seatbelt," he said. "Same caution as before; don't even think about trying to knee me in the head or anything."

She might be able to knock him out like that - but it was a big 'might'. Not certain enough; better to wait for another, more certain, chance. The seatbelt retracted smoothly and she, anticipating, started to stand. His hand on her shoulder stopped that. "Not yet."

He dipped into the overcoat pocket again and her eyes widened; a collar of broad, black leather, metal leash already attacked to a D ring at its front. He let the leash unwind.

"Lean forward," he said.

She did, feeling her hair falling forward, exposing the back of her neck. The collar settled in place around her throat. She felt its weight, closing her eyes as he locked it in place.

"Get used to the way that feels," he said. "You're mine now; my property. You obey me, you belong to me. I'll train you - you obey me."

She shivered as he took up the end of the leash.

"Out of the car, slave, and follow me."

He led her through the house to the bedroom, taking one last item from his coat pocket; a large, heavy padlock that he used to attach the end of the leash to the wrought iron at the bed's foot.

"I don't underst..." The word turned into a yelp as his hand came down hard on her ass.

"You don't need to understand anything," he said. "All you need to do is realise a few things. First, I've just kidnapped you; you are in my power. You're my possession. If I were you, I'd obey; you have a great deal riding on your ability to please me from now on, slave."

"My name..." Another yelp.

"Your name is whatever I say it is," he said. "Right now, I say your name is 'slave'. That may change." She felt his hands on her ass, caressing instead of spanking, working up under her skirt and finding the bare skin beneath. "In fact, given how you're dressed - or not dressed - I may change it right now, to 'slut'. You're asking for trouble, dressing like this. That's one reason I picked you, you know - always in short skirts, and I've always wondered what you wore underneath them."

Ellie felt his hands working the skirt up over her hips, and dropped her head, face flushed. "Please, don't..."

Another hard spank, making her cry out. "I think you need a lesson in how to obey my orders, slave. I've told you to be quiet, but you keep ignoring me."

A quiet, metallic sound; the handcuffs released. Then a sudden, hard shove, pushing her forward into the bed.

"On the bed, face down."

She obeyed as best she could. The leash meant she had to turn around so her head was at the foot end of the bed. Something wrapped around one ankle - more leather, a leather cuff being padlocked into place. The rattle of chain, her foot being dragged backwards and another padlock chaining it into place. The other ankle then, treated the same way; when she kicked out, it didn't do any good, only earned her another smack. Wrists were next, fixed in place the same way, leaving her spreadeagled face down on the bed, skirt bunched up over her hips, shirt still in place.

"Excellent," he said. "Just one thing...." The sound of a drawer in the nightstand being opened, and then metal against her skin - scissors, he was cutting her clothes off, starting at the hem of her skirt and working his way upwards, cutting through her shirt and bra, baring her back.

"Much better." Satisfaction in his voice. "Now, lesson time. Today's lesson is obedience, slut; I ordered you to be silent unless ordered, so the punishment should fit the crime, I think."

The sound of rummaging in the drawer, and he walked back to her head holding...it looked like a big ball of firm red foam centred on a leather strap. "Ball gag," he said. "It should keep you satisfactorily quiet. Open wide."

When she tried to resist by clamping her mouth shut, he dealt with it by the simple expedient of pinching her nose shut until she had to open her mouth to breathe. Once she did, it was a simple matter for him to force the spongy ball into her mouth and buckle the strap around her head. Ellie could feel the gag distorting her mouth, puffing her cheeks out - and reducing her protests to a series of barely audible squeaks.

He disappeared from her field of vision for a few moments, and reappeared holding something new. Whatever reaction showed on her face - Ellie suspected it was wide-eyed terror - seemed to please him, for he swung the flogger in front of her eyes several times. Black and purposeful as the handcuffs - she felt her eyes go wider. "Please, don't," she tried to say; all that came out was a faint 'eeh oh'.

A step or two backwards. "Are you ready, slut?" he asked. A pause while he listened to her attempts to beg him not to use the flogger on her, she'd do anything if only he wouldn't hurt her - then he swung.

Red hot stinging strike across her shoulders, and she yelped around the gag. That was only the first in a series; he started across her shoulders, worked his way steadily down her body to the bottom of her ribcage - skipped a bit, then picked up again, laying a steady pattern of strokes from her ass down her legs to the back of her knees. Every stroke brought a new cry around the gag; her body bucked in her restraints as she pleaded for an end to the punishment, promised to be silent when ordered....

"Now you know what to expect," he said, "the real punishment will start. You determine how long it lasts, slut - as long as it takes you to last five strokes without a sound. Do that, and your punishment is done. You'll have learned your lesson about silence as well, I suspect."

Without warning, he swung the flogger again, and she cried out when it struck her ass. He tut-tutted; "Have to do better than that, slut."

She lasted the next three in silence, gasped too loudly on the one after despite her best efforts; he started the count again. One in silence, another cry; the count started again. This time she managed to last the five strokes without noise, every muscle tense with the effort of staying silent.

"Good slave," he said when a few moments passed after the last stroke without noise. "Good girl. You'll be more obedient now, right?"

She nodded frantically, choking back a whimper as she felt his hands running down her back - a hint of nails on tender skin, making her twist to try and get away. Shoulders, back, ass, legs - then working his way back up her legs to her pussy. She couldn't stop the moan as his fingers invaded her roughly, deep in her for a moment; her hips bucked.

"Very wet - 'slut' is becoming more and more appropriate for you by the minute," he said. She shook her head in denial, moaning again as his fingers thrust into her more deeply, easily - however she tried to deny it, she was aroused and his fingers were finding the truth of it. She shifted again, this time trying to work herself onto his hand, feel his fingers fucking her more deeply, increasing her arousal - he withdrew sharply.

The sound of locks being undone, her ankles being freed. "Up on your hands and knees, slut," he said, reinforcing the order with a solid spank. She obeyed, guessing what was coming next - the guess confirmed when she felt him kneeling behind her, heard the sound of a zip being undone. The feeling of his cock touching her pussy, just barely, then the head penetrating slightly. "For this, you can make as much noise as you want - or as you can, anyway," he amended. "One thing, though - no coming without permission. Do you understand?"

She made a vaguely affirmative noise - it turned into a muffled near-howl as he thrust into her, penetrating her deeply at one stroke. He rested there, hands on her hips, for a moment, then withdrew and thrust in again, just as hard. He took her that way, hard, driving into her - she could hear him gasping with effort, growling. His hands dug into her hips, fingers flexing to draw her back onto his cock as he drove into her harder - she could feel her climax building, and bit into the gag, trying to disrupt its course, moaning around the gag - then hearing him order her come, releasing her. She did, crying out - felt him come just behind her, maybe triggered by the way her cunt tightened around his cock...hard thrusts as he came in her...

He stayed there, buried deep in her for long minutes afterwards, before withdrawing. She whimpered a little at the feeling of his cock leaving her, and stayed waiting as he left the room. Come, her own juices - she wanted to collapse.

He returned, holding a cloth in one hand, something she couldn't make out in the other. "Lift up your head," he said, and she did.

"One more thing to fix." He unbuckled the gag, scrubbed at her lips with the cloth, then showed it to her. She could see streaks of the lipstick she'd put on that morning, a demure creamy coral shade that she'd always favoured.

The other object he was holding turned out to be a lipstick tube - bright red. "This is much more appropriate for you, my slut," he said, and applied it heavily. "This is what you'll wear from now on. Every day. Say, 'yes, Master' if you agree."

She drew breath. "Yes, Master."

He kissed her on the forehead. "Good girl. Now sit up."

She gathered her feet under her and knelt; he unlocked the chains that led to her wrists, settled beside her and held her close. "Happy birthday, little one. Enjoy the experience?"

Ellie laughed a little, leaning into him. He'd promised her something special for her birthday - not that she'd expected this. Flowers, possibly - a book, maybe. But not this. "I did." She nuzzled into his throat, kissing and licking. "Thank you." She'd talked a little about it months before, a new experience in their relationship. "I didn't expect you to remember."

A grin; she felt it. "Now, that book you were looking at in the bookstore...."

She looked down at the ruin of her clothes on the floor. "I think I'll need to find something else to wear."

"That's easily fixed," he said. "This, though," and he touched her lips with a fingertip, "this stays."

"Yes, Master." She rolled backwards, stretching, then seeing the gun on the nightstand. She picked it up - plastic. "Nice touch," she said with a grin.

---

Ann looked up as the silver bell tinkled. Same couple, and they headed for the same shelf the woman had been browsing earlier. She was dressed differently, Ann realised - the red lipstick suited her. And the body language between them said clearly that the interruption to her browsing had been a good one. Ann smiled - and then the expression froze as the woman bent over to pick up the book she'd been looking at earlier. Short skirt - it rode up as she bent, giving both Ann and the man a good view of...red stripes along the woman's thighs, red as her lipstick...