Asteroid, Mine

chapter 5

Asteroid, Mine
 [part 3/4]
		   --=--
 Asteroid, Mine  [chapter 5]

 The sun crested the mountains behind us. The line of shadow passed
 slowly across our blanket as we drank our juice and munched cookies
 from the bag Mark had brought out. I was in awe over what Judy had
 said. I felt fear for her and her experiences, mixed with wonderment
 and fascination. I wondered if I had the strength to touch the places
 she had. I wondered if I would ever get the chance to.

 Mark held Judy close to him. When the line of shadow passed over us I
 felt the air cool slightly and a small breeze stirred, lifting some
 strands of Judy's lovely golden hair. Mark looked up and suggested we
 go.

 We put on our clothes and picked up everything, then walked along the
 shore to the ship. After I lifted off I modulated the thrusters to
 smooth the sand where the shuttle had landed and where we had walked.
 I wanted to leave the area as pristine as we had found it, as I had
 done at the last place we had landed. This time Mark realized what I
 was doing and he smiled approvingly at me. I headed south again,
 skimming over the river. In a while the mountains started to level off
 and the valley opened wider. More greenery along the river banks, then
 signs of habitation began to show. Roads, cultivated fields, then deep
 forests. The river led on to a huge lake.

 I brought the ship up to get an overview of the vast area of open
 water. Mark pointed to a river leading east. I followed this river
 which soon began winding through a lush forested area broken by areas
 of thick marsh. We began to see, beneath the thick tree canopy, traces
 of a road. A little farther along the road branched, leading to a low
 hill with open fields around a big structure. "Uncle Jeff's place."
 Mark said.

 I brought the shuttle down beside the house. I saw a man come out of
 the house to eye my ship warily, carrying what looked like some kind
 of weapon. Mark pulled open the hatch to step down. When Jeff saw him
 his face lit up and, leaning the gun against the house, came running
 over to grasp Mark's hand in a hearty handshake. Judy approached and
 Jeff held her at arms length, looking her over before drawing her near
 in a hug and kissing her cheek. Mark introduced me.

 "Donna Rytell, this is Judy's uncle, Jeff Boggs. Donna graciously has
 offered us the use of her shuttle to do our survey."

 I shook Jeff's hand. He looked to be around mid forty's, tall and a
 bit heavy set. He had a very friendly face and his eyes sparkled with
 life. As we walked along the front of the house he picked up his gun,
 an old Earth shotgun I saw.

 "Sorry about this," he said looking at it, "but way out here you can't
 be too careful."

 I put out my hand and asked to see the relic weapon. Jeff handed it to
 me. There was intricate carving in the shiny metal along the sides,
 the stock, polished gleaming wood, looked well worn. I broke the gun
 open and took out one of the shells.

 "It's beautiful." I said. "But where do you get the shells now?" I'd
 never even seen an old shotgun before.

 "Make um." he said as I dropped the shell back and closed the gun,
 handing it back. "Ain't hard. Simple stuff always works the best."

 I could see I would get along well with uncle Jeff. When we entered
 the house Jeff put his gun in a rack near the door. Mark said he'd
 brought some things for dinner so he and Judy went to get them while
 Jeff took me to the kitchen and fixed me a cup of tea. We all sat
 around the big kitchen for a while chatting about work, life, family.
 Jeff took us around his place, showing us his fields where he grew all
 his own food, the barns where he had some animals, chickens and such.
 He told me he sold some stuff at a nearby town to buy other things he
 needed.

 "So you live out here by yourself?" I asked.

 "Yup." he said. "Don't much have need for folks. Prefer being on my
 own. Friends drop by from town, family visits. It's nice."

 The air was warm and damp. Green plants all around, lush, thick. Deep
 forest behind the barn, huge trees. The house was built from big logs
 mostly, additions jutting out at rather odd angles.

 "Stuff grows like crazy round these parts." he said. "Could get off
 five crops a year, if I needed to."

 Jeff led us past his barn and along a path through the trees. A few
 minutes later the path ended at the banks of a wide river, a lovely
 sandy beach along the shore. I went over to dip my feet in the warm,
 clean water.

 "Trout start'en to move up here from the south lake now." he told
 Mark.

 Uncle Jeff had found himself a little slice of heaven and had settled
 right in. We walked back to the house and got started on supper. Judy
 and I worked in the kitchen while Mark and Jeff talked outside. Judy
 pan fried some scallops in garlic butter and after I had prepared
 some potatoes and carrots she cooked those while I made a salad. Jeff
 did the salmon steaks over charcoal on a grill outside. Jeff had some
 fresh baked bread he'd made this morning. Mark had bought some beer
 and two bottles of white wine. We ate on a table out back while the
 sun went down, it's reflection off the river sparkling through the
 trees.

 Jeff was quite interested as I talked about the work I did. I told him
 of my time doing service calls on the mining company's equipment. He
 said that he use to do similar work on construction machines when he
 worked `down south', before he gave it up to live here. After dinner
 Jeff took me out to the barn and showed me around his workshop. I
 looked around at his stuff, familiar with it all. He did some custom
 machining for people in town sometimes, he told me. I showed him my
 shuttle, my fixit table in the back, a miniature version of his setup.
 We talked metal and machinery, then he put his arm around me as we
 walked back to the house.

 Mark and Judy were cuddled together on the couch in the front room.
 Judy had a huge smile on her face. Mark stood up as we came in, saying
 he had an announcement to make.

 "Uncle Jeff, Donna," he began, "I'd like you to be the first to know,
 Judy and I have decided to get married when we return to Mars next
 week."

 Jeff went to his niece and hugged her. When he moved to congratulate
 Mark, Judy hugged me fiercly.

 "Congratulations." I said to her. "I'm so happy for you."

 Mark gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek. I looked deep into his
 pale gray eyes and smiled. I hugged him again. I didn't have to say
 anything, I knew he and Judy would both find many happy years together.

 "This calls for a toast." Jeff said and he pulled a bottle from a
 cabinet beside the wall. "I've been savin' this for somethin'
 special."

 Sarcusian brandy, forty years old. My my. Jeff poured four glasses and
 we toasted the happiness of the new couple. The party moved out back
 where Jeff set fire to some wood in a circle of stones. We sat around
 the fire drinking the brandy and the beers we'd brought, talking and
 laughing. Jeff produced a guitar and a bag of cannabis. We smoked the
 dope from a small nickel pipe and sang songs, or tried to.

 I can't remember having so much fun. We sat around the fire, drinking
 and smoking, getting totally stoned. Jeff would start a song and
 someone would join in. But the words became hard to remember and soon
 we were all laughing hysterically again. It was the middle of the night
 before our party wound down. Jeff managing to get through a couple of
 sweet slow songs, putting me in a most relaxed mood. The house had two
 bedrooms and Jeff offered me his but I had spied a hammock stretched
 between two trees and I said that it would do nicely. He brought me a
 blanket and pillow and I slept under a canopy of stars.

 It was Judy who gently shook me awake the next morning. She handed me
 a cup of coffee, then sat in a chair nearby to sip hers. I looked up
 and saw Jeff heading for the barn. Judy looked radiant. I told her
 again how happy I was for her.

 "I had only another seven months left in the contract with Mark." she
 said. "I was beginning to get worried that he may have grown tired of
 me." She looked down. "Maybe you don't approve of what we do, what he
 does to me, sometimes, but when we talked yesterday and he told me of
 his decision to commit to me, to marry me, Donna, there is nothing
 that I wanted more."

 "Judy," I jumped in, "I never said that I disapprove of what you and
 Mark do. In fact, the way you described it yesterday, in the desert,"
 I gasped, remembering. My voice dropped. "That was the most beautiful
 thing I ever heard."

 It was my turn to stare at the ground. "I. . . I've had thoughts,
 desires like that too, you know. Lately I've been reading things,
 wondering. . . ."

 Judy got up to sit on the hammock beside me, putting her arm around
 me. I saw Jeff return from the barn carrying a bunch of eggs in his
 arms. Fresh eggs. Not powder from a can. Judy spoke.

 "Mark knows a few people who are, you know, like us. If you want. . ."

 "I don't know, Judy. I don't know if I could."

 Judy said "Look, Mark and I want to have a big party before we leave,
 invite everyone we know in Landon. Tomorrow. He has friends you could
 talk to, just talk. Then maybe, if you want."

 I drained my coffee cup. "I don't know, Judy."

 I got up and walked to the house, more confused than ever. I was
 thinking about the scene I'd witnessed that night in the Lambda bar's
 basement. Cindy? Her sleek form stretched up on that cross. The crack
 of the whip. I went in the back door to Jeff's kitchen.. He had broken
 the eggs in a bowl and was mixing them with some milk. I refilled my
 coffee and sat down with Mark at the table.

 "Mornin Donna. How's your head?" Jeff asked.

 "What? Oh." Last night. "Fine thanks. That was really swell last
 night."

 "Uh hu."

 I could tell that Jeff saw something was bothering me. It was nice
 that he didn't press it, as some people tend to do. This wasn't
 something I felt I could share with him. I didn't really want to think
 about it myself. He finished mixing the eggs then began dipping slices
 of bread in and placing them on the griddle. Judy came in to finish
 slicing some cheese onto a plate. She got some jam from the cooler and
 when Jeff finished with the egg toast we all sat down to eat. Mark
 talked about the party he wanted to have. He invited Jeff to hitch a
 ride with us back to Landon, if I didn't mind, so he could be there.
 Jeff said no, that it was O.K.

 "It was real nice you came all this way to see me," he said, "to let
 me see my lovely niece. I know you two'll be happy together."

 After breakfast Mark found out his phone didn't have the range to
 reach the net in town. Much to my surprise Jeff didn't have a comm
 link. Mark asked to use the comm in the ship to call a friend to
 arrange for the party and I said sure, go ahead. I hadn't bothered to
 lock the hatch, no need, way out here. Among friends. I helped Jeff
 clean up the dishes.

 "You really like it out here." I asked him

 "Wouldn't trade it for nothin'." He said. "Always somethin' to do
 round here, and if'n I don't want to do it, grab a rod an' go fishin',
 do a bit o' huntin', maybe drive to town an' get drunk with the
 fellers, shoot the shit."

 I laughed. "Ya." I said. I could see someone settling down here.

 "Smart girl like you could do all right, place like this." he said
 with a grin. "Some folks needs the big city, lotsa people around. Me,
 I do just fine by m'self."

 I turned and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I'm really glad to have
 met you, Jeff." I said.

 Mark and Judy returned from the ship after making their call. Mark
 said he'd talked to Ceylon who was thrilled to bits they were finally
 getting `hitched' as she put it, and had taken over the arrangements
 for the party. He suggested that we should get going. There was much
 hugging and kissing as we said goodbye to Jeff. Judy snuggled into
 Mark's lap as we took off, heading south to circle around the nearby
 town, then north, back to Landon.

 I set the autopilot, then turned to see both Mark and Judy looking at
 me. Mark spoke up.

 "So. I hear you want to get a whipping."

 Oh oh. "Mark. I don't. . . ."

 "Listen." he said. You need a place to stay tonight. I called Steve.
 We'll take you over there. He's the best. He taught me how to do it
 right. Have dinner with them, talk about it. Cindy knows. She
 remembers seeing you with me at dinner in the bar. Then later, it's
 your call. If you want, he can show you the ropes, so to speak. If you
 want to go farther, it's all up to you. They have a farm outside of
 town. Nice and private. You want to try it? You say stop, no problem."

 Judy spoke up. "Do it, Donna. These are people you can trust. I knew
 Steve before I met Mark." Judy lowered her voice. That little girl
 voice I've heard her use before. "He was my first. My first time."

 Mark looked surprised. "I didn't know that." he said. He hugged Judy
 tighter.

 I thought about it as I watched the two cuddle on the seat beside me..
 I thought for a whole half a minute.

 "O.K." I said. "I'll have dinner with Steve and Cindy. I'll talk about
 it with them."

 "Great." Mark used the comm to call Ceylon again. The party was all
 set for tomorrow afternoon and would be held at Steve's farm. Tim said
 friends and family from far and wide had agreed to show up. The food
 and everything had been arranged.

 "Thanks guys." Mark said and clicked off.

 It was mid afternoon before I brought the ship in at Landon spaceport.
 We had a quick lunch at the bar there, then Mark rented a vehicle. He
 drove over to my shuttle and we transferred all his stuff and my bag,
 then he drove me out to the farm. Mark and Judy had to go over the
 data they'd collected so after I was introduced to Steve and Cindy
 they left for their hotel saying they'd be back for lunch tomorrow.

 Their farm looked big. The land around was mostly flat with some areas
 of trees nearby. On the drive up their road I saw fenced in areas with
 horses and cattle. Their house was a sprawling ranch style bungalow
 and Steve briefly took my arm when we went inside. His touch made me
 jump, I was nervous as hell. Cindy showed me to my room down the hall,
 in back of the house. She said to settle in, clean up if I wanted,
 then join them in the kitchen when I was ready.

 The room was cosy and nice. There was a bathroom with a shower which I
 made use of. As the warm water washed over me I looked at the two
 black bracelets still around my wrists. Water didn't seem to effect
 the soft leather, I had noticed. The softer lining on the inside
 stayed damp only for a few minutes before drying. Why was I still
 wearing them? The keys were still safe in my bag, tucked in a pocket
 of my jeans. I stepped out of the shower and toweled myself off.
 Because somehow the two black bands just seemed to feel right on me.
 That's why I'd left them on.

 I dressed in a short skirt and a shirt. Through the window I saw a
 group of men getting into a truck near the barn, then driving away. I
 went out to find Steve at the kitchen table having a beer with another
 man. Steve offered me a beer and introduced the other man as the
 foreman, Bill. Steve said he had five men who worked the farm, taking
 care of most things, the crops and the animals. I saw Steve sign off
 what I guessed was the payroll, then Bill stood and, saying goodbye,
 left to join his crew for the ride to town.

 Steve showed me around the kitchen, one cooler full of beers and wine,
 another crammed with food. They had a bar in the livingroom if I
 wanted anything from there. We went outside and got into a truck, then
 Steve drove me around the farm showing me huge fields of crops in
 various stages of growth. He showed me his regular Earth type animals
 as well as some others native to this planet that we found could also
 be bred for food. Steve promised me a horse ride after dinner. Steve
 parked near the barn and we walked back to the house.

 My anticipation had passed with Steve's kindly nature putting me at
 ease. He looked to be a little older than me, tall and lanky. His hair
 was a little long and shaggy, dark brown. Gentle blue eyes and an easy
 smile. I told him about meeting Jeff and his little clearing in the
 jungle. Steve had never met him but understood the lifestyle choice.

 We settled in the kitchen again, Steve handing me a fresh beer.
 "Farming's sometimes a hard life." He said. "You won't get rich this
 way. Lots of problems sometimes. But it's a good life. Simple, honest
 work. Cindy and I both love it here."

 Cindy walked in with an armload of vegetables and dumped them on the
 counter and in the sink. She began washing the roots and her hands. I
 offered to help her but she said no, I was to be their guest tonight.
 When she'd cleaned up she dried her hands, then poured a glass of wine
 and sat with us. I sensed that it was time to get serious.

 "I remember seeing you at the demonstration we did at the bar." Steve
 began. "Mark tells me you think you might like to explore your
 interests a little farther."

 I said that I'd read some things and had become curious about it. I
 told Steve that the show they'd put on was quite interesting.

 Steve said, "It was a good show, but there was nothing `put on' about
 it. What you saw was quite real. Cindy?"

 Cindy stood up and pulled up her dress, turning to show me her bare
 back. She wore a silver chain around her waist, the ends joined with a
 small padlock. I could still see the marks where that whip had striped
 her, faded a lot now but still plainly visible on her soft pale skin.
 I asked her if it still hurt.

 "Not really." Cindy said. "Most of the pain passes in a day, two if it
 was a severe session. Steve has never pushed me past the limit. Never
 so much as to leave anything permanent on me."

 Cindy let her dress fall over her again and sat down.

 Steve looked at me, waiting. I suddenly found myself telling them about
 Judy's description of it back in the desert yesterday, that seemingly
 wildly improbable outline of her innermost feelings while being
 painfully beaten. That narrative which had shaken me to my core with
 the beauty of it all. When I finished telling it, Cindy's eyes were
 closed and she was squirming on her chair. She was close to cumming, I
 thought. Her eyes opened and she settled.

 "Judy knows." she said. "She has touched that place, as have I. Many
 times now. Steve can take you there too Donna, if you want."

 "The path is long." Steve said. "It takes both a willingness and trust
 to make such a journey. But if you are willing, and can find the trust
 you need to have, I can put you on the right path. Perhaps open the
 door for you and let you peek inside. I must warn you that once you
 touch that place, feel that searing fire, you will be changed. You may
 choose never to go there again, but you will never forget. If you give
 yourself over to it, enter and embrace it, it is something that will
 mark your soul forever.

 "Cindy, why don't you show our guest downstairs while I get started
 with dinner."

 Cindy stood and took my hand to lead me over to a door in the kitchen.
 It opened to a flight of stairs leading down to the cellar. She
 flicked on the light and we made our way down. There was a room,
 perhaps the size of the kitchen upstairs, the walls lined with shelves
 of jars and bins of vegetables. The air was cool and damp. Cindy
 reached behind one row of shelves and pulled something. I heard a low
 thump and when she pulled, the shelves swung out smoothly to reveal a
 tunnel behind. She flicked on the lights. There were five steps down
 and the tunnel with it's arched roof led about ten meters to another
 door. This door was wood, banded with iron straps. Heavy, solid,
 soundproof no doubt.

 Cindy took down a large key from a hook in the wall. The lock turned
 with a solid thump. "Mind the stairs." she said.

 Light from the tunnel showed me five more steps down into the room. I
 saw a dim light glowing on the far side. We went down into the room,
 Cindy crossing over to a panel on the wall. She turned a switch and
 the room was flooded with bright light. I stared around the room with
 a mixture of astonishment, wonder, and a little fear.

 The ceiling was curved, arched, supported by solid stone pillars. The
 lighting was bright, illuminating every corner of the room. I could
 see concealed spotlights, iron holders on the pillars for what,
 torches? Big holders with candles, the wax drops frozen in time. On
 one wall, the massive St. Andrews cross was mounted, the one they'd
 used for the show. Other things, things I've read about but never
 expected to be real, never thought I'd see. A small cage, heavy steel
 bars, the door chained and locked. It was just over a cubic meter
 square. Another in the corner, larger, one could stand in this one, or
 sit. I walked around the room as if in a daze. Manacles solidly fixed
 to the stone wall. A bench, padded on the top, open cuffs at the
 ready. A table piled with black and brown leather things, white rope,
 shiny steel. A circular iron staircase in the far corner led up to
 another heavy door at the top, exit to the barn Cindy told me. On a
 rack by the light switches hung coiled whips, hanging whips, paddles,
 straps, thin wood canes. I had circled the dungeon, a medieval dungeon,
 just like in De Sade's book. I looked at Cindy. "Wow." was all I
 could manage to say.

 The floor was mostly the same gray stone the walls were made from
 except for a few areas which were bare hard pack dirt. The floor of
 the bigger cage was covered in straw. The small cage had flat steel
 bars for a bottom. Cindy switched off the bright tube lights plunging
 the dungeon in darkness save for the pale yellow light over the large
 cell.

 "That light stays on." she said. "It gets annoying after a while for
 anyone locked in the cage. Every time you open your eyes you see the
 bars surrounding you." She spoke from experience.

 Cindy brought up the spotlights one at a time. The different areas of
 the dungeon brightened before me, then dimmed to highlight another area,
 the images etching onto my mind. It was a little warm in the room, the
 air not damp, not dry. I could smell the earth, the solid stone, a
 hint of leather and metal, traces of fear, and arousal. Cindy left the
 lights on low in the center of the room. There was a small raised
 stone platform there and, hanging from above, a solid looking pulley
 with a length of rope through it, the ends pulled over to a nearby
 column and tied to a hook.

 Cindy took my hand and led me from the room, along the tunnel and into
 the storage cellar. She closed the shelf-door before we went up into
 the kitchen. Steve saw my dazed look and handed me a beer.

 "Thanks." I said. "That is quite the set up you have down there."

 "Cindy enjoys it." He said. "I'd prefer if you kept what you saw
 quiet, at the party tomorrow. Mark knows, and a few others. But I'd
 rather that word didn't spread too far."

 Cindy said, "We have a page on the net. We sometimes let others use
 our room, or get abused in it. You would be surprised to know of some
 of the people who've contacted us about it. Some of the requests we've
 had."

 "We keep it all professionally discreet." Steve added. "Someone
 contacts us, names are not used. I go and meet them, or someone else
 does, then, if everything is agreeable, I pick them up, they have
 their fun and I drive them home again."

 "Sounds lucrative." I said.

 "Oh ya." Steve told me. "Helps pay the bills around here. Fun too.
 Maybe twice a month we entertain a guest, or two."

 The potatoes were baking in the oven. Some greens were ready in a pot.
 Steve brought out a plate of steaks from the cooler and headed
 outside. I followed, beer in hand. Steve lit the gas grill, then sat
 beside me to wait for it to heat. He spoke.

 "Cindy and I would be pleased to give you a taste of what it is that
 you desire, if you're still game." When I shook my head he went on.
 "Here's the plan. Although you have a nice soft bed waiting you will
 spend the night in the dungeon, in the cell. You will be shackled. At
 some point during the night I will drag you out and give you a taste
 of the flogger. Not hard. You will feel it, but it will only be a
 sample. Mark said you don't have to leave till day after tomorrow, is
 that right?" I shook my head again. Steve went on. "You will be put
 back in the cell until morning when Cindy or I will let you out.

 "Tomorrow, have fun at the party, think about it. After the party,
 after everyone leaves, it's your choice. Soft warm bed, or, if you
 want, we can take it farther. I can take you as far as you want to go,
 Donna, I'd be happy to. You want to know, don't you?" Yes, I said, I
 did. Steve continued. "Tonight, you will find out if it's right for
 you. If you want to go slow tell me. If you want to stop, fine. No
 problem at all. It's all up to you."

 Cindy had come outside to join us. She heard most of what her husband
 had said.

 "Trust is a big part of it." She said. "You won't have to worry here,
 with us."

 Steve got up to put the meat on the grill. Cindy asked me to help her
 set the table. Inside their kitchen I cut up some fresh bread while
 Cindy tossed the salad. Steve brought in the steaks and we sat down to
 a wonderful feast. After dinner Steve said he'd promised me a horse
 ride so while Cindy and I cleaned up he went out to saddle three of
 the animals. When we got to the barn Steve showed me what to do and
 boosted me up onto the beast's back. I was a little nervous sitting up
 on the big horse as he shook his head and pawed the dirt. Although at
 work, in the digger, I commanded a million horse power with a touch of
 a button this one creature gave me the willies. A big black with white
 spots named Snoop. I soon discovered Snoop knew what he was doing with
 little help needed from me. We rode along the road between fields
 until we came to the north boundary of Steve's farm.

 Looking east was a huge area of wheat, I was told. A large building
 could be seen in the distance. Martin Mills, Steve said, almost all
 the flour used in the area comes from there. There was a wooded area
 and a path through the trees which we took. Past the woods the land
 opened to a big lake. Steve taught me how to make the horse run fast,
 through the water near shore, his hooves kicking up a spray, and more
 importantly, how to get him to stop when I wanted him to. Steve
 passed around a small flask of brandy. We rode along the shore to a
 beach near to where the road ended.

 Dark clouds were starting to move in from the west so we decided to
 head back. We rode along the side of the road and up the driveway to
 their farm. When we reached the barn Steve took care of the animals
 while Cindy and I went to the kitchen to fix coffee and cherry pie. We
 all sat around and talked about things for the rest of the evening
 while the rain pounded down outside. Later on the rain stopped and I
 walked around outside with Steve for a bit. The sky had cleared as
 quickly as it had darkened before. Should be a nice day tomorrow, he
 informed me. When we went back in Cindy looked at me. Steve looked at
 her. It began.

 Cindy took me to my room and told me to take off all my clothes. She
 asked if I had the key to the bracelets I was wearing. I was to take
 them off too. My toe rings could stay. I never take them off, I said.

 "There is to be no talking from now on," Cindy told me, "Unless you
 really need to say something. Use the toilet now. There is a bucket in
 the cell if you need to go later."

 After I'd peed, Cindy led me naked to their living room couch. Steve
 had gotten shackles from the dungeon. I sat while he put them on me.
 They were heavy iron, wide and smooth inside, rounded. The two for my
 wrists had only a 10 cm. chain keeping my hands close together, the
 pair for my ankles had a 40 cm. chain so I could take short steps.
 They locked solidly with a hex wrench, Steve setting them not too
 tight, but I felt their solid, inescapable grasp. Steve told me to
 stand. Cindy took my arm and led me down stairs. The chain on my feet
 pulled up tight at each stair and I had to go slowly. Cindy led me
 through the first door, down the five steps, and along the darkened
 tunnel. My ankle chain rattled along the stone floor, echoing as I
 shuffled along. Steve followed behind.

 Cindy pulled open the heavy dungeon door. A slight chill ran through
 me. She took my arm again to lead me down the last five steps and into
 the room. The stairs were lit by a dim spotlight. Some candles
 flickered in a stand nearby. The light over the cell, over my bed.
 Cindy let go of my arm. I stood for a moment, swaying slightly. Then I
 slowly shuffled over to the cell and stepped in. I turned, the soft
 straw tickling up between my toes. Steve moved towards the cell. He
 swung the door closed, the steel banging, the unmistakable sound of
 the lock engaging as he turned the big key. He shook the door. I was
 stuck.

 Steve went to the candles and one by one, blew them out. He then
 crossed to the lighting panel and pushed a button. A relay dropped
 out, cutting power to the spotlight over the steps, leaving only a
 small, pale circle of illumination around my cell. I watched the two
 dim figures join as one as Cindy and Steve made their way up the
 stairs and through the door. The heavy door then banged and I heard
 the scrape of the lock as the key was turned. Then, nothing, save for
 the pounding of my heart.

 I looked around. A small metal pail attached to the bars in the corner
 by chain. I lifted my hands to touch the steel bars on the door. I
 shook the door. Perhaps two millimeters clearance around the bolt, the
 rattle echoing back to me. The manacles around my wrists heavy. I let
 my hands slide down the bars as I sat down in the straw. I touched my
 ankles where the shackles around them had rubbed as I walked. They
 hurt, a little.

 I lay down on the floor of the cage. I discovered I couldn't stretch
 out fully, there wasn't enough space. My feet pushed through the bars
 in one corner, the shackles banging noisily. My head was pressed
 against the bars on the other side. I brought my legs up as I rolled
 on my side, the handcuffs digging into my breasts as I hugged myself.
 I moved my hands down between my legs. I was wet, down there, had been
 for some time now. Since Cindy had taken me to my room and told me to
 strip. My finger grazed my clit causing me to jump. I began to finger
 myself until I exploded in a huge cum, my chains rattling loud in the
 empty, silent room.

 My breathing slowed. I calmed. Silence. My eyes opened and I looked
 out, through the bars of my cage. A small glint of light. I sat up to
 press my face to the bars. Shiny, small, far away. The light above me
 reflecting off a buckle, or something. I stood. I paced across the
 straw. One. Two. Three. Four.. Four hobbled steps. I looked up at the
 light high above me. Donna, what have you gotten yourself into?

 I lay down on the straw again and masturbated to another massive,
 satisfying cum. I'm locked in chains, I thought, Locked in a steel
 cage. Locked in a room deep underground. And I'm fucking myself. I
 looked out through the bars of the cage. Silence. The straw prickled
 my skin a little. I rolled over to my other side. The straw was
 bugging me. It was in my hair. I brought my hands up, the steel chain
 dragging on my face as I picked some straw from my hair. I saw some
 strands of straw sticking out from under the shackle on my wrist. My
 last orgasm had made my crotch wetter and there was straw sticking me
 there too. I was sweaty and the stuff was all over me. The more I
 tried to brush it off, twisting and turning, the more got stuck to me.
 I brought up my feet to get the straw out from under the shackles. I
 pushed my feet through my arms and rolled over onto my stomach,
 bringing my hands up behind to get the straw off my back.

 Somehow I managed to get the shackles on my wrists twisted around so
 my hands became drawn close together trapping them behind me. I
 couldn't manage to get my arms over my bum again. I twisted and pulled
 mashing my tits against the straw floor of my prison. I shook,
 grinding my thighs together. I was cumming big time, the force of it
 blasting through my brain leaving my body a shaking, breathless,
 trapped, straw covered mess.

 I opened my eyes. I was calm now, that last cum must have knocked me
 out for a while. I looked around. Steel bars. Straw. This damn straw,
 all over me. No. Not really. It wasn't bothering me so much now. Had I
 just gotten use to it? I could feel with my fingers where the chain
 had got tangled around my wrist and the catch on the shackle. I moved
 the chain, twisting my wrist a little until I felt it release. I slid
 my hands over my bum, then rolled over and brought them up over my
 feet. I sat up. How long have I been here now. Did I sleep? How long.
 I was calm now, my skin was dry, the straw falling away from me. After
 a while I lay back down on the soft warm straw. I slept.

 I shook. I jerked awake, the shackles on my wrists biting into me..
 Where am I? Oh. Naked and chained. Locked in a steel cage. Waiting. I
 saw the bars before me. I was waiting. For. . . ? Oh. a whipping.
 Awkwardly I squatted in the corner and peed into the bucket. Not a
 pretty sight. I lay back down in the straw.. I closed my eyes. Slept.

 The scrape of steel, far away. A change. My eyes opened. More light.
 Light spilling into the room from an open door, the shape of a man
 standing in the doorway. I move to sit, my hands on the bars of the
 cell. The man moves down the stairs and crosses to the wall. A thump,
 the hum of power, the center of the dungeon flashes bright,
 illuminating the small stone platform there. A woman is outlined
 briefly in the doorway, then gone, the solid door closes behind her.
 The man goes to the pool of light, takes down the rope from it's hook,
 tests the pulley which hangs from the roof. He wears black pants,
 leather I guess, and a small black vest. His feet are bare. He bends,
 using a tool on the floor. I watch him lift a plug from the surface of
 the platform, replacing it with a metal ring, turning it into place.
 He moves a bit and repeats the procedure. Two strong looking rings on
 the stone platform, about a half meter apart. The rope from above
 hangs in the center. The man looks up, he needs something. He stands,
 steps off the platform to walk towards my cage.

 [end part 3/4]