‘Yes, sir,’ I replied, half-delirious, my head swimming with the bliss of his touch.
‘She’s lost her nerves now,’ said Maria. ‘A good whipping often works wonders.’
He didn’t kiss me exactly, but he buried his face in my neck, nuzzling as he stroked and caressed me. I wanted him to breach the barrier of my clothes, but he held back. The fabric rubbing me at his behest was almost too tantalising. I wanted to wriggle away, but I was held fast, totally subject to his will.
‘Mmm,’ he said, raising his face to speak into my ear. ‘I definitely think we should take this further.’
Maria clapped her hands. ‘I’m a very good matchmaker, if I say so myself,’ she said. ‘Perhaps it’s time you two took yourselves off and got a room, as they say.’
‘What do you think?’ murmured Tom. ‘Shall I unhook you and take you somewhere private?’
‘That…could be good,’ I said, hardly able to speak any more. My body was doing the talking for me, and it was saying, ‘Fuck me now’.
‘I’m seeing a girlfriend at eight,’ said Maria. ‘If you don’t mind, I could start setting up for her now. Tom?’
He let go of me and I heard her throw something jingly at him, which he caught. Within seconds, I was uncuffed and able to move. Well, in theory. In practice, I could just about manage a stiff kind of stagger, combined with a fierce rubbing of my backside. He whipped off the blindfold and I blinked at my blurred reflection in the mirror.
‘Look at your thighs,’ Tom prompted, turning me around.
‘Wow,’ I said, impressed. ‘It didn’t feel as if it got them that red. But it obviously did.’
Maria, putting the implements away in the cupboard, shot a brief smile in our direction.
‘Did you find that instructive, darlings?’
‘Yes,’ I said, and Tom added, ‘Very.’
‘Well, now I can send you off to play in the knowledge that Tom won’t be hitting the wrong spot. He certainly seems to have hit the right spot with you, Ellie, and rather hard. I know chemistry when I see it.’
I blushed and stared at my feet.
‘I’ll let you know,’ she said, shutting the cupboard door and leading us to the steps, ‘when there’s an event or gathering on. I’m hoping you’ll want to join in with the scene. We always welcome new faces.’
‘That would be great, thank you,’ said Tom politely.
‘Is the scene very active?’ I asked, grabbing my coat. ‘I mean…lots of stuff going on?’
‘Quite a lot,’ said Maria. ‘We have some wealthy and enthusiastic participants around here – it makes for some imaginative events.’
‘What if…’ I blurted, wondering whether or not to continue. But I’d started now, and both Tom and Maria were eyeing me beadily. ‘What if I wanted to get more…proficient…at this before going to any parties? Is there any kind of…training school, or…you know?’
Maria laughed. ‘A school for submissives? How very Story of O. A lovely idea but I’m not aware of one – at least, not in this part of the country.’
I tried to hide my crestfallen feelings. Was she simply unaware of The Academy, or was it just too big a secret to reveal to newbies? It had been worth a try anyway.
‘You mean they exist elsewhere?’ I said.
She laughed again. ‘Perhaps. But in my opinion, the very best education a submissive can get is from her Dom. After all, you need to be in tune with each other, not with some standard ideal of what a submissive should be. That ideal doesn’t really exist, I’m happy to say.’ She winked. ‘I’m sure you’ll work your own ways out for yourselves.’
‘I’m sure we will,’ said Tom.
We were at the top of the steps now. Maria opened the door.
‘I hope you don’t mind if I don’t show you out. I need to set up for my next session.’
‘Not at all. Thank you so much. It’s been really…’ I couldn’t quite find the right word.
‘Illuminating,’ supplied Tom.