Glimpses of the Island

The Rising of the Moon

Mark watched Cathy out of the corner of his eye as he drove by the street where they normally turned off to go home. She glanced over at him and started to speak, thinking he had missed the turn. "Mark? Wasn't that our street back there?"

"Yes, but we aren't going home. We have to be somewhere else this evening. I'll explain later." Mark continued to drive, heading toward the shoreline road. "I think you will enjoy this, if it works out." He switched on the headlights as the sun dropped below the horizon. The idea had first come to him a few weeks back, when he overheard a co-worker at lunch discussing the cove. Intrigued, he had made a few inquiries and found out the best dates to visit. A quick trip to the docks and a call back from a helpful fishing boat crewman should ensure tonight would be the moment to be there.

At a stop light he reached over and put his hand on top of hers, in her lap. "Don't worry. I have something special planned. If we're lucky, tonight you will get to see a sight to remember for years to come."

That piqued her interest. "What is it? Or am I supposed to guess?"

"No guessing, but you will have to be patient. When the time is right you'll see." Mark grinned at her before turning his attention back to driving. One of his newfound joys as Cathy's owner was the way he could control the timing between them. He knew she would be dying of curiosity but the simple act of telling her to wait had stopped any further questioning. He could almost hear the imaginary gears whirring inside her head, trying to find a loophole so she could discover what he had in mind.

"You're teasing me. Just because you have me at a disadvantage," she pulled at the handcuffs holding her wrists close together in front of her waist, "doesn't mean you have to take advantage. Okay, so I can't ask. Is there anything I need to do first, to get ready for this surprise?"

"Nope, all taken care of in advance. Besides, if I told you now it might be a clue." He had put one of her sweaters in the trunk in case the sea breeze turned chilly. Otherwise he had made sure she was ready before they had even gone into town earlier today.

He stole a quick glance at her before returning to the road ahead. She was looking out her side window at the passing scenery. They hadn't been along this road before so it was all new to her. The eastern shore wasn't too popular because of the rocky hills coming right up to the ocean. There were few houses on this side as the terrain made it difficult to build. The resort beaches were all along the western shore, on the other side of town. Traffic was light with no more than a handful of cars on the road at dusk.

A quiet moment settled over them as he drove on, each lost in their own thoughts. Mark was looking forward to what he had planned. On a whim he reached out and put a hand on Cathy's knee for a moment. She looked over at him, smiled and turned back to her window. She doesn't mind at all , Mark thought, mine to do with as I please . Not that he'd ever abuse or harm her, but he was not going to ignore that power either. There was a time when Mark would have shaken his head in disbelief if told he would be able to control in the most minute detail the life of the woman he so dearly loved. Now all he had to do was look to his side and he could see it.

Purely for his own pleasure he snuck in a quick look again. She had on a long-sleeved white blouse and close-fitting dark blue knee length skirt, one of his favorite combinations. It was no coincidence that was her choice for the day since he had told her to wear it. Without any explanation either, something he still hadn't gotten used to doing. Around her waist was a steel chain, locked behind her back. In front was the attached pair of handcuffs, at the moment confining her elegant and shapely wrists. Per his standing rules her hands were neatly folded in her lap, left hand on top of right at an angle. The high collar of her blouse nicely framed the metal collar around her neck. For tonight he had left her ankles unrestrained. She had her legs stretched out with ankles crossed, which he allowed. All together a package he found irresistible.

It was a rare moment now when he had to remind her about the precise positioning of her hands. Habit seemed to be taking over as she obeyed without even thinking about it. It was a small matter but seeing how easily he could alter her behavior to suit his own taste still left him in awe of how much influence he had over her.

Up ahead was the turnoff for the observation point. As he slowed down Cathy turned back to the front windshield, to see what was happening. "Is this the place?" she asked.

"Almost there, it's about half a mile down this road," he answered as he guided the car onto the side road. It sloped down toward the ocean. "This is a little cove someone told me about. No real beach, just rocks, but I'm told it's a good place to be around this time of year." They came to the end of the road, a small promontory overlooking the sea about twenty feet below. Mark parked the car to one side and switched the motor off.

Cathy looked around but didn't see anything special about the place. There was a low rock wall at the edge with a few wooden benches. She twisted her head back to Mark, an arched eyebrow and frown stating the unasked question, is this it?

Mark laughed while reaching over to unfasten her seat belt. "Like I said, patience. You stay right there while I check it out first." Mark opened his door.

Leaving her in the car he walked over to the wall at the edge and looked around the place. Satisfied they were alone he went back to her door. Through her window he could see her waiting. When they were together she required permission to enter or leave the car, a little reminder of how much she had to depend on him. Sometimes he felt a few pangs of guilt at forcing her into dependence, but it meant so much to him and she didn't seem to mind. He opened her door and helped her out.

She had definitely been practicing this particularly tricky move when he wasn't home because she now executed her exit with a remarkable grace compared to the first few times. Turning to her side, legs together and trailing as she moved, then smoothly placing her feet on the ground before leaning forward to stand up, all in one fluid motion with her hands still folded properly at her waist. Mark held a hand above her just in case she might misjudge and bump her head but it wasn't necessary. He had never seen her do it so well before.

He put his hands on her shoulders and turned her to face him. "I'm impressed. I know how difficult it is for you to get in and out without using your hands." And she never complains about it either. She must know how much I take pleasure in seeing her so helpless. Mark knew it was essential he encourage her so she could see for herself how important it was to him.

Cathy looked down, pleased that he noticed. She had been practicing for several days. Anna had given her some pointers too. "Let's go sit down on the bench over there." Mark took her arm and led her from the car to the observation point. As she was about to sit down he stopped her, reached in his pocket, and took out the key to the handcuffs. "You won't need these." He unlocked the cuffs, freeing her wrists.

Mark sat down next to her, looking out to sea. He put an arm behind her, resting on the top of the bench. She snuggled in close to him. "Okay, I still don't have any idea what's going on," she said.

"It isn't time yet," he told her, "we have to wait for the moon to rise first." A line of silver was barely visible on the horizon. It would be about a three-quarter moon tonight, which should be plenty of light if his information proved out. A full moon would have been ideal, but Mother Nature worked on a different schedule.

They sat quietly at first, listening to the waves break on the rocks below the wall while the moon slowly climbed into the sky. Cathy broke the silence with a question. "Mark, can I ask you something? Not about your surprise tonight, something else?"

"Sure, you know you can ask me anything." It would be several more minutes before the moon was in the right position. He turned away from watching the waters in the inlet to look at her upturned face. "What is it?"

She hesitated before continuing. "I don't think I'm contributing enough. You do so much, taking care of me, paying our bills, plus you have to work all day. I want to do more to help, especially to please you. At the company picnic I watched Luisa. She was so perfect, always attentive to Kurt, demure and submissive, deferential to all the men. I can do that for you, Mark."

The last thing Mark wanted was for Cathy to copy Luisa. He had to be careful how he answered her, to make sure she got the right message. Fortunately John had warned him something like this might come up. He had to start with the basics. "What is it I want from you?"

"To obey you, to always be there and never leave you, to have you control my life?" Her tone made it into a question.

"Yes, that's part of it, but I want Cathy too. I want the woman I married, the woman I now own. If you try to be like someone else then you take away the Cathy who makes my life worth living. I will not permit you to steal away the one I love so dearly and replace her with a poor imitation."

"But..." she began.

"No, listen to me." Mark dropped into what he thought of as his low-key command voice, a tone that conveyed serious intent. "First, you will not compare yourself to anyone else, Luisa in particular. I promised you I would tell you exactly what I wanted. If you recall what I've told you these last weeks, being just like Luisa was never part of it. I'm not holding back Cathy, when I tell you to do something that's what I want, and what I leave out I don't want.

"Second, you do more for me than you realize. You are a good wife, my best friend, and the type of woman I never dreamed I would find. If my friends from college knew about our life here on the Island they would envy me. Now in public they might criticize me for being the stereotypical male chauvinist pig, but secretly they'd wish they had the same. Don't underestimate yourself because it seems easy and you don't have to constantly work at it.

"We are the perfect fit, Cathy. Where I want to be controlling you are obedient to my every wish. Where I want to be the provider, you are willing to depend on me. When I need someone to talk to, even reveal my deepest darkest thoughts and fantasies, you are there to listen. And when I want my damsel in distress", he pulled at the handcuffs dangling from the chain at her waist, "you are always ready and willing to fall into my evil clutches."

She laughed at his last remark. "Well sir, I'm in no hurry to be rescued from this particular villain." She reached up behind her shoulders and pulled down his arm over her, wedging herself in close against his side. "Mark, do you really mean that? About being your friend and the rest, just being myself? Don't you want someone like Luisa?"

"Yes, I meant it, and no, I don't want a Luisa. Those two are meant for each other. And it's good they found each other, because they'd never be happy with anyone else. Tell me, what's your candid impression of Kurt?"

Cathy hesitated before replying. "He makes me nervous. Not like he's going to attack me, or anything like that. It's more like he's waiting, ready to pounce on me the first time I do something wrong. He's smart and he can be charming, but he keeps his distance. Aloof, that's the word. I can't believe he would ever have close friends."

"That's my impression too. All the qualities someone like Luisa craves. She is the type of person who has to be constantly pushed to the limits of what she can do. When she is out on the edge, and she can stay there, then she is proud of herself. That's what Kurt does. He is never quite satisfied, always demanding a little more, challenging her to do her best every moment of the day. You saw it as waiting to pounce, but if you asked Luisa, she would tell you it is loving attention, the kind she has to have. I don't know how the two of them operate, but I bet you she has a list of rules so complex you'd have to write them down to keep track of it all. Neither of them can ever relax. Every minute of the day she's working to keep on that straight and narrow path, while he is running as hard as he can to keep one step ahead of her.

"You see why I would never want someone like Luisa, and the last thing I want is for you to be like her? I don't want to live like that, spending every free moment supervising, and I don't want you so fearful that you are scared to even move without permission. I can ask you to do something for me and trust you to handle the details. You know me well enough to understand why I ask and how I would like you to do your part. You are free to use your own talents and abilities, and I don't have to work overtime to keep track of you and constantly push you along. If anything you are probably going to do a better job on your own than if I were standing behind you overseeing every little detail. I can sit back and enjoy the benefits of being in charge."

That was something else Mark had to learn, not to sweat the fine points. Even when he was tempted to micro-manage her, it never was as satisfying as letting her proceed on her own. Early on he had noticed how she put more effort into her tasks when left her to work out the details. At times it was eerie how she could become obsessed with his most trivial requests. John had cautioned him to be careful about offhand remarks for just such a reason.

A distant splash out in the cove brought Mark back to the present and the reason he had brought Cathy to this remote spot. The moon was now fully above the horizon and lit up the water like a sheet of silvery white. "Look," he told her as he pointed out toward the ocean.

At the mouth of the bay there were more splashes and long, low figures moving through the waves. Cathy leaned forward, trying to make out what it was. She looked a puzzled question to Mark.

"Minke whales, migrating to their feeding grounds to the south. Something about the depth, water temperature and current around the cove here attracts plankton and krill, whale food. They gather in small pods and come by the Island for a quick snack. A fellow on a fishing boat tipped me off earlier today that some were headed this way. I took a chance they would come by their favorite spot on the Island." As the whales came in closer to shore it was easier to see them in the moonlight.

"Oh Mark! They're beautiful. Thank you for bringing me. I've never seen a whale before. I've always meant to take one of those whale-watching excursions out past Catalina, when we were back in California. This beats a boat load of seasick tourists any day. Can I stand up?"

"Sure, but don't go past the wall. I don't want you to fall in." He stood up with her, leaning out over the retaining wall to get a better look as one of the whales came further in toward the shore. The hills dropped almost straight down so the water was deep enough to preclude any chance a whale might beach.

"Mark, look!" Cathy was excited now, "there's a calf. The one below us is a mother." Sure enough Mark could just make out a smaller shape trailing the adult. "Here comes another one too. They're so close! Will they be all right?"

"The water is deep, and the shore is rocky. No sand bars for them to get stuck on. I think that's why they come here. They can scrape off barnacles on the gravel bed. Whales are pretty bright, you know. They remember the good fishing spots too. Probably better than us." Cathy laughed, thinking back to John's unsuccessful attempt at angling when they visited the reservoir.

For the next half hour Cathy and Mark sat watching the whales as they swam about. Cathy kept up a spirited running commentary, pointing out each one she spotted. Watching the whales in the wild was interesting but to Mark the high point was seeing Cathy so animated. He worried about her being alone during the day, that she might grow homesick and long to return to California. There was plenty to do on the Island but it was isolated. He knew over half the immigrants eventually left, in most cases because they missed the outside world.

Mark didn't want that to happen to her. He made it a point to keep up on activities that she could participate in, and ways she could meet other people and make friends. The company picnic had been part of that strategy. Kurt and Luisa may not have been the best possible choice, but he wanted her to meet a variety of people. After those two Cathy will feel at ease with anyone , he thought to himself.

"Mark?" He looked down at her, nestled in his arm as she sat close by his side. "I just wanted you to know that I'm very happy here. I was a little scared at first, but not now. I'm so glad you met John, and brought me here to the Island.

"One other thing I want to say, then you can tell me to be quiet again." Mark watched as she reached down, opened the handcuffs at her waist, and closed them around her wrists. She carefully placed one hand over the other in her lap. "I really do belong to you now. Whatever you like, tell me and don't hold back. I never thought I'd say this, but these chains?" She jiggled the handcuffs but didn't change the position of her hands. "They don't bother me at all, not when you're with me. I didn't believe Anna when she told me she enjoyed being restrained in public by John, but now I understand. That first day you put these on me and took me out the front door? I saw respect and approval from other people, and that really surprised me."

"Approval?" Mark asked. He had been concerned with her and hadn't paid any attention to reactions from strangers. Keeping one arm around her he placed his free hand on top of hers.

"Maybe you didn't notice. I could tell by the way people looked at me as I passed by. Oh, there were a few frowns. The majority either showed no interest or gave me some encouragement, a smile or a nod of the head. Leers from some of the men, but not as many as I would have expected. And once I think I saw a look of envy from a woman."

"Do you know why I do this?" Mark took his free hand off hers and wrapped his fingers around her wrist where the cuff held it. He ran one finger along the line between the metal bracelet and her skin.

"Because you like it? You like to control me?" She had never thought to ask for an explanation.

"It's not hard to figure out I like it. Seeing you vulnerable makes you look sexy. And yes, it's control too. I think what appeals to me is that you can't do anything about it. I'm forcing you to do what I want, but without violence. You can't get those cuffs off, and even if you tried to run away no one would help.

"It's almost a contradiction. I don't want to hurt you, but there's something about striping away your ability to offer any resistance that turns me on. Here, I'll show you what I mean." Letting go of her wrist he reached up and began to unbutton her blouse, all the way down to where it was tucked into her skirt. Then Mark pulled her blouse out and over her shoulders, down to her waist.

Cathy, caught by surprise, tried to grab her blouse but the handcuffs prevented any movement. She looked up at Mark, confused and worried.

"See? There was nothing you could do to stop me, even if you tried." To underline his point, Mark unhooked her bra in front and pulled it down around her shoulders too. Cathy sat on the bench, exposed for anyone to see.

"Mark? Someone might come by…" she began.

"No. You will remain silent. Do not speak until I give you permission. Face forward, eyes front, sit up straight. You will sit on this bench and not move until I tell you otherwise." He stood up and turned to face her. She started to look up at him. "No! Face forward, don't look at me. I want you to hold still, don't even turn your head." He sat down on the wall in front of the bench, leaning forward to see into her eyes.

"I like to look at you this way too. If I feel like it, I can reach out and touch you." His outstretched hand began fondling one of her exposed breasts. Involuntarily Cathy closed her eyes and drew a sharp breath.

"Open your eyes and look at me." He didn't shout but her eyes flew open at his quiet yet insistent command. He stood up and walked around the bench till he stood behind her. Mindful of his orders she stared straight ahead while concentrating on holding still. He looked down at her bare moonlit shoulders.

Mark knew he had to be careful. He was losing his own inhibitions but he couldn't go too far or she might be at risk. He rested his hands on her shoulders, enjoying the feel of her bare skin. He ran his hands up and down her arms. Leaning forward, his lips almost touching her earlobe, he whispered softly, "You will not forget I am your master, now and forever. Make no mistake, what I want I will demand from you." He tightened his grip on her upper arms. "It is not your choice to give, but mine to take. You offered yourself to me, now I will claim what is mine. I will tolerate no disobedience Cathy, never forget it. I will allow you to tell me what you think, but I will be the one who has the final word. When the discussion is over I expect you to do as I say. Not in a defiant, half-hearted way, but with the determination to prove you will keep your promises to me, just as I keep mine to you." He felt an involuntary tremble go through her, and he could hear her uneven breathing. This was a moment when his words would sink deep into her mind.

Suddenly he let go of her arms and grabbed both of her breasts roughly. She gasped and arched her back. Mark could see her hands struggling in the handcuffs. One word, "master", escaped from her before she recovered enough to restore her silence.

Leaning over her from behind, he next took hold of her wrists where the cuffs held them. "Remember this moment," he whispered. "I love you Cathy, more than you can know. But never doubt I will do whatever I think best. I might tell you first, I might even ask you to give me your opinion and discuss it. Those occasions I do not allow you that privilege, I still expect you to do your part. Even if you disagree, even if it scares you and you are upset." He jerked on the cuffs. "You have to depend on me. You must have my permission, keep that in your mind always."

Power , Mark thought, it's the ultimate aphrodisiac . The rhythm of her breathing, the tremors in her body when he emphasized a point, the warmth of her skin, all told him she was aroused. If he lifted the order of silence she would beg him to take her, right there on the ground. Not yet, I have one more surprise in store for you .

One small detail he had to take care of first. "Close your eyes," he ordered. Mark reached into his back pocket and took out one of her scarves. He covered her eyes and tied the scarf in a knot behind her head. Easy to slip off, but she wouldn't have the opportunity. "Now, stand up." He held onto one arm to steady her as she rose from the bench. He noted with approval how she kept facing forward and didn't try to turn to him.

He came around the bench to her side. He put his hands on her shoulders to turn her to face him. Blindfolded she didn't see the expression on his face. Had Cathy been able to see, it would have been a picture of intense concentration focused on her. "Come with me."

Her blouse still pulled down to her waist where her hands were bound together, she followed meekly as he led her toward the car. Unable to see for herself she had to walk blindly, trusting Mark to guide her. Just before she would have walked right into the front side of the car he pulled her to a halt and spun her around to face him again, her back to the hood. He held her there for a moment, marveling at her beauty in the moonlight.

In the past when he used the chain belt and cuffs he had threaded the chain through the belt loops in her skirt, but not this time. He figured she had noticed but assumed he was in a hurry. If so she had guessed wrong, for it was deliberate, in anticipation of this very moment. Pushing her up against the car he reached down and unzipped the side of her skirt before pulling it to the ground. Her underwear followed, forming a pool of clothing at her feet. He lifted her up and kicked the skirt out of the way.

As he bent her back over the car he heard the chain around her waist hit the car, muffled by the padding of her blouse. This time he would not free her hands. Using his knees he forced her legs apart as he dropped his pants. She must have recognized the sound because she began to squirm, making small involuntary sounds. Mark didn't correct her; he knew she was losing control. Hands on her arms he held her against the hood of the car as he roughly took her. Cathy struggled, trying in vain to put her arms around him, not even realizing her wrists were still trapped in the handcuffs. She cried out his name as he entered her, her head going from side to side, fighting to rise up to him as he held her down. He felt her heels dig into the back of his legs, pulling him in. As he climaxed her whole body shook uncontrollably, moans of pleasure and odd, incoherent sounds he had never heard before escaping from her mouth. Mark was glad he didn't bring the gag or he might have missed something new.