It certainly looked like a castle. Lana's friend, Donna, had recommended the place. If you want to get lost, she said. Lana did want to get lost. Her two week holiday trip to London with her husband had been exactly like she expected. He spent the whole time going from pub to pub and from prostitute to prostitute, leaving her alone to see the monuments. So what the heck, she took a plane and a taxi to to the middle of nowhere in the misty highlands, indeed to get lost.

The castle looked medieval at first sight. The courtyard was surrounded by a two meter wall, with a thick wooden gate. Inside there was a tower, the hotel itself, about four stores high. Couldn't have more than three bedrooms per floor. Aside from the tower there were other buildings such as a restaurant, an administrative office, storerooms, a garage, currently occupied by only one jeep, and others whose use she couldn't fathom. From the outside the castle was all musty rock and darkened wood, but as soon as Lana entered in the office to the left of the main gate, marked as reception, the image changed completely. Everything was up and running. Clean furniture, electricity, air conditioning and carpets not older than a decade. It was warm enough to allow her and the taxi driver to take their jackets off. Aside from the medieval elements used as decoration, such as axes and bows, it looked like a normal hotel. As normal as an empty hotel in the middle of nowhere could be.

The taxi driver carried her suitcase to the office and waited with her, as there was nobody else in the reception. A couple of minutes later entered a man dressed with dirty overalls. The stains of white paint gave a clue of what he had been doing. He couldn't be older than thirty five, around ten years younger than Lana, not like the grumpy old man she was expecting.

-Hi, I called yesterday. Lana Sahiri.- They shook hands. His was callous and strong.

-I'm Cullen. Let's see...- He went behind the countertop and checked his book.- Here you are.- He pointed at the page.- A week, right?

-If you are not very busy.- She joked. The hotel was empty and if he was painting he clearly didn't have more pressing matters to attend to. He didn't laugh or reacted in any other way.- Ahem... Thank you.- She paid the taxi driver and he left.

-Will your husband be coming?- He keep talking in an upsetting monotonous tone.

-No, only me.

-Your husband lets you travel alone?

-I don't need his permission.- Neither he needed her permission to sleep with prostitutes in secret and not so secret.

-Sorry. I may be old fashioned.- Lana nodded.- I'll show you the bedrooms. They are all empty, you can choose.

Lana had guessed right. Three rooms per floor, one slightly smaller than the other two. Each one with a bathroom, a closet, and a TV, all of them with two beds except for the smaller one. They looked clean and cozy, if not luxurious at all. She chose one of the smaller ones, as she intended to sleep alone. She didn't see the special one. The one that Donna had talked about.

-Excuse me. I had heard that there was another room. A special room.

-Adventurous, huh?- Lana didn't know if that was sarcasm because he didn't smile, not even a little, and his voice tone was the exact same.- That has special rules. You choose a normal room to stay. Then if you want to visit the special one, you warn me beforehand, so I have time to prepare.

He briefly explained the rules. She had to tell him at what hour and for how long she wanted to visit the room. That room was hotter than the rest so he advised to use light garments. Any other item would have to be left outside, for security reasons. She also had to ask beforehand for the special equipments she desired to use, and those would have an extra cost. Without those equipments using the room was for free. He did warn that if she decided to spend the night she would have to wait until seven in the morning, as he would be sleeping before that.

When she asked what those special equipments were he didn't describe it in detail. Instead he explained that the special room was supposed to feel like a dungeon, and it included elements that were often used in dungeons. He talked about four levels of severity he had established to make the system simpler. The basic one was what he had already explained, only sleeping garments. The easy level included physical restraints that would limit the movement while still being comfortable. The hard level would include more challenging restraints. The extreme level was for very daring people, he said and didn't add more.

-So I cannot decide what elements I can use?

-Not for the first time in each level. If you had more experience we could discuss them.

-Can I see the room at least?

He guided her downstairs, to the basement of the tower. Right in front of the stairs there was a wall and at its sides two thick wooden doors, reinforced with iron pieces, and padlocked shut. The illumination was much worse as there were no windows. When he opened one of the doors she simply saw a room with a mere dirty cot on the floor and a single lightbulb in the ceiling. It was about two meter deep and little more than one meter wide. There were also lots of eyebolts nailed to the walls, which were covered in mold and dirt. At the sides of the door there were two hooks at knee height with the opening upwards. On the bottom wall there was grate that started also at knee height and almost reached the ceiling. The cot filled most of the floor and the door nearly all of the width. On a second look she noticed that the cot had what looked like blood stains. She gagged in disgust.

-It looks dirty, but I assure you is clean. It's painted to look that way.

-And the elements you mentioned? The restraints?

-In the other room. Any item you may be carrying aside from your sleeping garments will be saved there too.

-Can I?- He nodded. Lana entered in the dungeon and immediately noticed the heat.- It's hot.

-I told you. Light pajama is my advise. With long sleeves if you want to use restraints. Pantyhose if you use a nightgown.

-Underwear?- He shook his head.- You don't like me using panties and bra, horny boy?- She flirted with him. Again he didn't make any gesture whatsoever.

Her husband showed no interest in her, in the sexual sense. He hadn't touched his penis in years. Despite having gained a few kilos lately, as she was leaving behind her best years, she kept going to the gym and considered to be good looking. She didn't understand her husband's slights. Neither did she care, not anymore. She had never loved him much to begin with. If her husband didn't want to touch her she would shed no more tears. Still, Cullen's coldness hurt her pride. The guy lived alone in the middle of nowhere. Not even sheep in the vicinity. By flirting with him she had expected some kind of reaction. Anything.

-You can wear more layers but you will regret it. It is hot enough.

-Understood...- She grumbled.- So..., what kind of fun things can be done around here?

-I can lend you movies and books. Dinner will be served in two hours. Since you are the only guest we can discuss the menu, I'll try to adapt it to your liking. I can show you the surrounding lands with the jeep, but you'll have to wait until I've had a shower.- The guy talked like a robot.

-You and I alone in your jeep?- She tried to flirt yet again. Flirting with strangers was the closest she had been to touching a penis in years, and she had fun doing it, but that guy was specially dull.

-There are no more guests.- Again, no reaction. She decided not to try again.- Two more advises. Here, in the north, sometimes the wind sounds like people yelling. Don't be afraid, banshees are not real.

-No banshees. Understood.

-And second. I've been told that I sometimes sleepwalk. Don't be afraid. Just don't interact with me.

-I will try not to interact with you.- She joked again and again he didn't react.

-And finally, to be clear, the next time you and I come to this basement you obey any and all of my orders or you won't be allowed to come back.

-Yes, sir!- She did a military salute.- I'd like to spend the night in the dungeon with the easy level restraints. Eleven to eight? It's that ok?- He simply nodded and gestured her to go upstairs.

She had picked eleven because she intended to masturbate in her bedroom after dinner. Sadly, she had left her dildo in London, where one of her husband's prostitutes might as well using it. Instead she read a book. There was a small library in the bottom floor of the towel and she borrowed one. No extra cost if the book shows no deterioration, had said Cullen. The dinner had been reasonably good at least. Not very tasty, but healthy and in good quantity. She liked the castle, in general. Would be better with some company, she lamented.

About ten minutes before eleven Cullen knocked on the door. Following his advises she had chosen a satin pajama set. It showed some cleavage so she put on a tank top underneath.

-Did you use the bathroom?- He asked like a true gentleman. She nodded.- Shall we?

-Mylord...- She joked again.

When they reached the basement he asked her to face the wall and place her hands on it at shoulder height. She did so and he started to pat her down with his strong hands. Apparently the rule about not carrying anything was serious. He searched well. Grabbing thighs, breasts, buttocks and even crotch. He did it with his usual coldness but for her it was all the experience because she had never been handled like that, much less by a stranger in a fake dungeon.

Then he unlocked the door and ordered her to lay on the cot, letting her choose face up or down. She chose up because it seemed more comfortable. As soon as she did so he grabbed her slippers and took them to the other room, not before reminding her that she musted obey.

In not time he came back with a bunch of restraints. First, she placed a hood on her head made of a thick, black canvas. It had only a small hole for the mouth. Then around the neck he closed a thick, metallic collar. From a D ring at the front hung a chain ended in two cuffs, that he closed around her wrists, quickly padlocking all three cuffs, trapping the hood underneath. Her hands were trrpped together and she couldn't lower then beyond her belly button. Then he applied another pair of cuffs to her ankles, trapping them together as well.

With that she found herself pretty restrained already, but he wasn't finished. He padlocked a short length of chain to the collar, linking it to an eyebolt on the floor, next to her crown, and another short chain, linking the ankles to another eyebolt on the opposite end of the cot. Then two more chains, quite longer, linking collar and legs to four eyebolts on the corners of the room. As if it weren't enough he grabbed the grille above Lana's head, released it from a carabiner keeping it up and thanks to two hinges on the bottom, lowered it until it met the two hooks on the sides of the door, adding two padlocks as usual. That way only a few inches above her, there was a grille, making impossible to get up, which due to the chains was already hard enough.

-Are you sure this is easy level?

-Yes, shut up or I'll gag you.- She obeyed.- Tomorrow at eight o'clock. Good night.

With that he closed the heavy door, padlocking it as well. The cot was thick enough to be acceptable and the chains allowed a couple of inches of movement, but Lana felt most certainly restrained. She didn't find it very troublesome, aside from the initial shock of being so defenseless, so suddenly. Perhaps that explained his behavior. He musted be polite enough not to seem scary, but cold enough not to seem friendly. Made sense. What Lana truly lamented was not having masturbated in her bedroom, because she was feeling some intense heat in the crotch area. She tried to bend down but it was impossible.

The light was still on but with the hood she could barely see anything, and even without it there was very little light. That was the worst part, waiting in the dark, in silence. She had no way of calculating the time other than her own breathing. Still she had few regrets. The tank top was bothering her because indeed the room was hot. She could feel her pussy gushing. The next day she was going to masturbate, no doubt. She didn't know how many hours had passed when suddenly the door opened.