Jillian stared at the ceiling and contemplated her fate. That she was in bed for the night, rather than tucked up in her cage was a plus. However, being stretched out, spread-eagled for the entire night was less than ideal.

On her right, her owner, Mistress Cathy was snuggled into her. Her head resting on her slave's shoulder her upper arm, under the covers, reaching down to cup Jill's sex.

On Jill's left was Mistress' new friend, Linda. Linda too was snuggled into the bound slave. Though her free hand was possessively holding on to the ring on Jill's collar.

There were worse ways to spend the night. Though nights in her cage had conditioned the slave to cooler conditions than those under a duvet sandwiched between two lovers.

The warmth was keeping her awake. So, not for the first time since accepting her owner's collar, Jill found her bondage being about enforced, static waiting.

The last ten days had been very interesting. After being reunited with her owner Jill found things were not as they had been. Yes, she was back in her owners London loft. Yes, her collar meant all it had before her owner had left for the USA. But Mistress had brought someone back with her.

Linda was a Texan. She was almost a cliché of one. Right down to the cowboy boots and the black leather stetson she commonly wore. She was also, as Americans called them, a lawyer.

A high up in the company Cathy worked for, Linda had apparently hit on Jill's owner when she transferred to the New York office. Cathy had been there for a six-week familiarisation period in which she was supposed to put faces to names and get to know how the US branch operated.

Cathy had politely declined the advances of Linda. Explaining there was a very special girl back in the UK. Linda had taken the news well and instead declared she would show Cathy some real Southern hospitality. The next four weeks Linda had taken Cathy out nearly every night. Without hitting on her Linda made it her personal mission to ensure the Brit had a great time while visiting the good old US of A.

Near the end of the visit, on a trip to the movies, Cathy had forgotten herself and lamented that she missed being taken to the movies. The next day an inquisitive Linda had brought the comment up. Cathy, now trusting her new friend, had opened up and told her everything about her girl Jill.

She'd started by explaining that Jill never took Cathy anywhere. That in their D/s lifestyle Cathy did the taking and Jill did the giving. That she was happy, but it had been nice to taken to things again. That being a Domme could be a full-time job. That whilst the relationship was rewarding, being the boss all the time could sometimes feel a little old.

Linda had listened without judging. Before disclosing that she was looking forward to meeting Jill, as she was being sent back with Cathy, for her own six-week liaison, at the end of her stay.

Thus, on emerging from her cage after her fake auction, Jill had been introduced to Linda. To her credit, Linda could see the two women wanted to catch up properly and had left for her hotel almost as soon as the pleasantries had finished.

The conversation after Cathy had made Jill tidy the bedroom the next morning was haunting Jill still.

"So, slave, did you enjoy being sold?"

"No Mistress, I did not." Jill was kneeling facing her owner who reclined in her favourite armchair. "Once again the fantasy was nothing like the reality."

"But you are still happy in my collar?"

"Oh yes, Mistress," Jill beamed up at her lover. "Deliriously happy, Mistress."

"Happy to be a slave?"

"Yes, Mistress," the smile on Jill's face started to fade. Is this going somewhere she wondered to herself?

"I must admit," continued Cathy, "I'm amazed how quickly these last three years have flown by myself. But, as they say, time flies by...  Jill, we need to have a talk about the future, my love."

"Mistress?"

"Now don't panic. I still love you. I love you with all my heart and this is not an 'I'm leaving you talk'."

"Thank you, Mistress," gushed Jill. Panic had nearly set in. It would have been a bitter pill after the fake auction for Cathy to dump her.

"We fell into this lifestyle, in a bit of a rush, three years ago, and I've loved every bit of it. But my recent trip to the States has opened my eyes a bit, dear." Cathy stood up and started pacing. A clear sign she was more anxious than she was trying to let on.

"You have been a perfect slave, and I have tried hard to be your perfect domme."

"Mistress, you have been more than perfect," interjected the submissive.

"Thank you for saying so, my sweet. However, my trip to America... Well, I think I know now why full-time D/s relationships are prone to breaking down."

"Mistress?"

"When did you last argue with me, Jill? What have you bought for me on my birthday or Christmas? When did you last find a new restaurant to take me to? Don't answer, they are all rhetorical of course, you can't do any of those things; you are a slave. You have no money, no independence or free will. As a slave, you are just one rung up from a pet dog. I would expect none of those things from a pet and I don't expect them from you."

Unusually Cathy sat down cross-legged on the floor in front of her slave. "Of course there are benefits. The sex is awesome. I love the latex thing. I mean honestly; wow! It'd not matter now if you told me you didn't like rubber. My fetish now as much as yours. I've taught you to cook and entertain me with music and dance. You are even an asset when we holiday too. I mean you made Russia so much more fun. The thing is... well..."

Jill was shocked to see that tears were running down her lover's cheeks. Cathy started talking quietly, almost a whisper, looking down at the floor as if afraid to make eye contact. "While I was in America, Linda hit on me. Of course, I said no. But..."

"Mistress, why did you turn her down? I was being fucked eight ways and sideways by Ric and Sue."

"Yeah, but I gave you to them and we had played with them before. You were present to object. I know you never did but, back in the early days, if you had made it clear you were unhappy... I have never cheated on you, Jill."

"Mistress, you can't cheat on your slave. It's just a slave."

"Ahh, well I don't see it that way, girl."

"Don't you see me as a slave, Mistress?"

"Oh, I do, girl. That's the problem. You're just a slave. A thing. An object. But I love you. I miss having a girlfriend. It's lonely being a dominatrix all the time. I miss, Jill." Cathy was sobbing now, her tears staining the wooden floor in front of her crossed legs.

Jill broke position. The first time in three years she had deliberately acted against standing orders. She hugged her owner kissing her roughly on the cheek.

"Mistress, I thought you were happy. I don't want to be a problem."

"Ahh... you're not a problem. I'm the one with a problem."

Jill disengaged from the hug and resumed the prescribed kneeling posture Cathy insisted on.

"Permission to speak, Mistress," she blurted an expression of mischief on her face.

"Why stop now, you minx?" Responded Cathy ruefully as she wiped at her tears.

"Mistress, you just compared me to a pet dog."

"Jill, you know I..."

"Mistress," interrupted an emboldened Jill, "the analogy was sound. You love your pet dog. You look after it. You play with it when you're in the mood, exercise it, feed it and groom it. If you like you can dress it up. If it's a working animal you can use it for its purpose."

"But a dog doesn't have feelings..."

"Of course it does, Mistress. Dogs are very empathic creatures."

"You know what I mean. They don't get jealous of their owners if they go dating."

"Mistress, three years ago you spanked me for sulking. Afterwards, you pointed out we are both human and that mistakes will be made. Respectfully, Mistress, you are making a huge one now."

"Go on," allowed Cathy.

"Mistress, I'm your slave. You've expanded on the simple sex slave brief and had me trained to do many things. But you still use me for sex. If I were asked for a title I would say I were your sex slave. We are operating a power exchange relationship. One with consensual non-consent if such a thing can be. You are my owner, I am your possession.

"I have revelled in my submission. Mindlessly I obeyed until I have reached a point when I identified as a slave so strongly I did not object to being sold. I understand I have no rights. I must obey every order. I can be punished, fucked used and abused however my owner chooses. In return, my owner feeds me, cares for me and ensures I need not worry about my future.

"You have reaped nearly all the benefits there are to owning another human being. Sex on demand, how you want it whenever you feel the need. A translator, a chef, a maid and an entertainer as well as a whore. As it happens also a lover. For, Mistress, I really do love you with all my heart. But I. Am. Only. A. Slave. You pointed that out before my first spanking. I don't get to sulk. I don't get to be jealous either, Mistress.

"You can have a new lover a week if you like. You can take me to bed with them, or lock me in my cage. They may stay a while, or just for the night. You may even let them play with me on their own. You get to choose because you own me.

"So this Linda is sweet on you? Cool, I understand why; I think you are amazing. Fuck her or don't, I won't be jealous. Let her take you out and see where it goes, Mistress. Hell, if you want you can marry her.

"I'm your slave, not a ball and chain. If you want to operate a 'love me, love my slave' policy, that's cool. I don't have the right, as your possession, to object either way. You can have a girlfriend as well as a slave. Just as you can own a pet and be in a relationship too. You really can't cheat on me, Mistress. Any more than you can cheat on your favourite vibrator."

"You really feel that way, Jillian?" Cathy's eyes seemed to be welling up with tears again. Jill suddenly realised she'd just lectured her owner with more words than she had uttered in a month.

"Oh, Mistress, just go back to the dog metaphor. She may like me or be scared of dogs. I may, despite my training, get jealous and growl. If I do you punish me. In time I learn the new human is part of the pack and higher up the hierarchy than me. I learn to obey her commands too. But I'm always your dog. I will love you unconditionally for the rest of my life, Mistress."

The next day Linda was invited over. Jill was dressed in her latex french maid uniform which produced a huge grin from the American. After a brief chat, Cathy and Linda headed out for a night on the tiles. Jill awaited her owners return with her heart in her mouth.

The two women tumbled into the flat just after two in the morning. They had started undressing each other in the lift, and once in the flat, they both dragged the slave to the bed with them. No one got to sleep before five.

Linda returned to the hotel the next day to check out and move in with Cathy.

The next night Cathy had lent Linda a catsuit and taken her and the slave to her favourite fetish nightclub. The night had been a wild one and had culminated in the two women flogging Jill, while tied to a cross, on a stage.

After nine nights, last night, Linda had phoned the New York office and extended her stay another two months.

So Jill lay still and listened to the gentle sounds of the women breathing. It was clear that the two were falling in love. Linda seemed to enjoy Jill as much as Cathy. Jill did not feel threatened by the woman. What though did the future hold? Jill stifled the urge to laugh out loud at herself. The submissive is freed of the burden of worrying about their future indeed! Then again, no matter what, Cathy would love her. Just as she loved her Mistress. Though it looked like soon, that title would mean Linda too.