Before making any major decisions or big purchases, Kim tended to wait it out a few days. She had avoided plenty of regrettable impulse purchases that way and it had served her well. But three days later, she was still of the same mind, despite her initial uncertainty.

She waited until the next Friday before heading out to the club again. She would have invited Alison along, but she had signed for a membership the very next day, being a lot more impulsive with her decision-making.

She looked over her shoulder as she headed up the stairs. There were other businesses underneath the club and she couldn't help but wonder whether the clients heading there knew what was going on above them. Luckily, nobody else was in the stairway with her and so she could discard that thought again quickly.

She took a moment in front of the door to catch her breath. She definitely needed to start working out again if a few stairs got her so winded. For now, though, she didn't want to come in panting.

Just as she reached for the door, it opened in front of her and she quickly took a step back. The woman stepping out was middle-aged, some grey hairs in her tight bun, but carrying her age gracefully. She briefly gave Kim an awkward smile before adjusting the collar of her suit jacket and heading down the steps, heels echoing in the empty stairway.

Kim quickly caught the door while it was closing and slipped in, feeling her cheeks heating up. It had only been a moment, but a single look was enough to recognise what that lady had been here for - what she was here for. Kim silently resolved not to join any group sessions any time soon.

"Oh, hey. You're back." She looked up to see the blonde behind the desk waving at her with a serene smile. Just like before, she was wearing comfy, wide clothes and was leaning back in her chair a bit, like she was on break.

"Yeah. Hi." Kim smiled back and gave herself one last push. She'd been over this in her head for a whole week, she knew what she wanted. She stepped up to the desk and folded her hands in front of her to keep herself from nervously fussing with her hair. "I decided... I want to sign up, please."

The paperwork was done fast, the major part being the waiver - which, as suspected, was more thorough for paying members -, and Kim put her last signature down within ten minutes. Jessica - who had remembered to introduce herself in the middle of the process - dutifully filed it away after giving Kim her own copy.

"Sweet, hope to see you a bunch. Fridays are Girl's Night, except it's all day. And we have an anonymous chatroom if that's up your alley."

Kim carefully folded the papers before putting them in her bag. The longer they were talking, the more normal she felt about being here, but the anticipation as well had been building in her chest. She didn't just come to do paperwork, after all.

"Thanks. Um... now that it's official, I was wondering if... Dana is available right now?"

Jess hummed and scratched her cheek. "Sorry, she's handling another member right now. I could get you somebody else."

"Oh, yeah, I guess..."

"Oh!" Jess clapped her hands and her eyes lit up. "Or we could play for a bit! I'll just get the intern to take my spot."

Kim felt her shoulders relax. She was relieved not having to immediately get used to a different girl and Jessica had been nothing but friendly. But the last detail still gave her pause. "You have an intern?"

"Why wouldn't we?" Jessica tilted her head, pausing as she was already heading down the hallway.

"Well..." Kim paused as well, her mouth slightly open. "You know what, I don't know."

The blonde giggled and went ahead, sticking her head into a room to tell somebody to take reception, before leading Kim to one of the playrooms in the back.

The room was a bit smaller than the one Dana took her and Ally to the week before, but it was laid out with soft carpet as well and while it only had one shelf, it seemed to hold a similar wealth of supplies. The most notable difference was the cylindrical beam of lacquered wood standing almost in the exact middle of the room, reaching from the floor all the way to the ceiling, between five and seven inches in diameter, at Kim's best guess.

Jessica slipped out of her ballet flats, stepping onto the carpet with socks, before turning around to her guest, with arms wide, her long skirt twirling a bit at the quick movement. "Here, pick anything you wanna do. The whole kinky world is your oyster!"

Kim left her sneakers at the door as well, together with her bag, and immediately was drawn to the beam, running her hand over the smooth surface. "There's... a few things I want to try out. But I think I'll stick to one for now."

"Sure, no pressure! You wanna dom or sub today?"

Kim looked Jess over. They were about equal in height and probably just a few years apart at most. But between them, the blonde definitely looked more submissive, with her obvious collar and the sweet attitude besides.

"Um, sub. If that's okay with you."

"'Course. I don't get that much, but I know what I'm doing." Jessica smiled confidently and pulled a scrunchy out of the side pocket of her hoodie to tie her hair back. "Any detailed wishes?"

"Yes, actually." Kim stepped closer and pulled out her phone, bringing up a folder of images. She would have hesitated to show it to anyone else, but Jessica's relaxed openness let her drop her guard much easier.

She showed her a few pictures, feeling her cheeks heat up but focusing on being clear about what she was trying to describe. Jess nodded along, with soft hums of confirmation every now and again, before finally turning to the shelf of tools.

"Okay, then. Make yourself comfortable!"

Kim put the phone down on a side table and looked down at herself for a moment, at the plain sweatshirt, the leggings and shorts. She had deliberately dressed comfortably, as casual as she dared to be with what was practically still a stranger. Her fantasies were a lot more daring, but she didn't feel ready to actually live out that part, if she would ever be.

"I'm fine like this," she said simply as she sat on the floor, her back to the wooden beam.

"Cool." Jess dropped a few coils of rope next to her on the floor before sitting down behind her. "Do you mind if we chat a little? It's a lot less awkward than just doing this stuff silently, don't ya think?"

"I guess so. I'm not going to answer everything." Kim let Jess guide her arms behind her, her spine aligning with the beam. Even though her grip was gentle, it still sent some goosebumps up her arms.

"So, you ever been tied up before?" she started, laying some rope around Kim's wrists and around the beam between them. "Before last week?"

"Mh, nope. I... kind of wanted to, though. For a long time." Kim held still, trying to keep her arms in the position she wanted them.

"You never tried doing it yourself?" Jessica carefully tightened the rope after looping it around both wrists twice and cinching it on either side of the beam, then tied it off with a secure knot.

"I thought about it. But the idea of getting stuck was always pretty scary. Ally offered to do it, when she found out, but I felt really awkward about it."

"I hear ya. Never got stuck myself, but it's not as satisfying unless you have some crazy setup. Ice locks, timed locks, stuff like that." She quickly moved on to the rest of Kim's forearms, lining them up with the beam and looping rope around just under elbows, once again being careful about pulling it tight.

Kim felt the freedom of her arms slip away rapidly and as the ropes gently pressed into her through her sleeves, she could feel her heart pounding. She wiggled her arms a little and swallowed, finding them almost motionless, besides her fingers helplessly pressing against the wood. She shifted her sitting position, managing to back away from the beam slightly to cross her legs.

Jessica crawled over, moving to sit beside her instead of behind her. "You need a moment?"

"I, uh... I'll be fine. You can keep going."

"Okey-dokey. Just let me know when you need a break." She picked up another coil and got on her knees, leaning around the beam to lay the doubled rope around Kim's torso, nudging it up to be just underneath her breasts. As she tightened the initial loop, Kim could feel it pressing in and pulling her back against the wood.

"So, um, how come you have so much to work with? Is every room stocked like this?" she asked to not let the awkwardness set in.

"Pretty much. Apparently the boss had a pretty good collection to start with and we slowly bought the rest when we got more members. Of course the really expensive stuff is limited, but you'd be surprised how cheap you can get rope. And the only stuff we really have to replace is the tape and zip ties."

"You stock zip ties?" Kim looked up at the shelf in front of her.

"Some people are really into the kidnapping roleplay." Jessica paused with the rope taught in both hands and lowered her voice. "Some people is me, sometimes, so I get it." She tugged carefully one more time before tying the rope off.

"You got any favourite fantasies?" she continued as she got up to go back to the drawers.

"That, I think, I'll keep to myself for now." Kim tested the newly added restraint, moving her shoulders and trying to lean away from the beam, but staying trapped against it.

Jessica giggled. "Fair enough." She picked up another two coils and knelt down next to her. "Stretch your legs a bit before I get there. We don't want you cramping up."

Kim did as she was told, stretching her legs out in front of her, while Jess doubled a rope again, laying it around the beam and her waist, starting to loop it around and tighten it just like before.

"So, how did you start working here? I can't really imagine how you'd come across that listing."

"Because I didn't. I knew Dana first, so she got me the job when I needed one. I only got to do the paperwork at first, until I could prove I could do this kind of stuff, too." She picked up the other rope and doubled it, pushing one end through the front of the waist tie with a short "'scuse me", only then tightening and properly tying off that part.

Kim watched her work, as best as she could, though her long hair kept falling into her face and obscuring her view, now that she couldn't brush it back by herself. When Jessica fed more of the rope through the waist tie, she shifted again, pulling her legs back up and crossing them like before.

Jessica shuffled around to sit in front of her, making a loop for the rope to hold, then wound the rest around Kim's ankles where they crossed. "How'd you get interested, by the way? I'm gonna guess internet?"

Kim pressed her lips together as she felt the rope tighten around her ankles as well, now fully watching Jessica's fingers move, skilfully looping it where it needed to go to hold her tight.

"Actually, no. I saw this cartoon, when I was a teenager. I don't even remember what it was. But there was this really cute fairy, I think she was the main character. And in that episode I saw, she was captured and all tied up with small vines, or something like that." She bit her lip at the memory. "She was fighting and wiggling around and... she was a pretty busty fairy, too."

Jess giggled quietly, pushing on Kim's legs gently to move her ankles closer to her waist without making it too uncomfortable for her, as she saw how tight she could pull the rope before making the knot. "Cartoons used to have a lot of that, huh? I know half my fantasies are thanks to superhero cartoons and stuff."

She tucked the slack of the rope into the tie itself before shuffling back on her knees to get a full look at her work, folding her hands in her lap. "How's that?"

Kim relaxed her body for a bit, before starting to pull at the ropes. Her wrists, her arms, her torso, her waist, her ankles, each held securely. She couldn't move, shift, or even adjust herself, couldn't stretch her legs or bring in her arms, or - most importantly - reach any of the knots. Her fingers just uselessly clawed at the smooth wood, and it was clear immediately that she would not get out unless Jessica let her. Her heart beat firmly in her chest and a pleasant tingle spread through her chest as a hot feeling pooled in her middle.

"Really good," she said quietly, feeling the heat rising into her cheeks again.

"Awesome." Jess smiled warmly and leaned forward on all fours, reaching out one hand to gently brush the long hair behind Kim's ear. "Do you want a gag?"

Kim looked up into Jessica's dark green eyes. Immediately, that phantom feeling crept into her jaws and her cheeks, her closest approximation of what it might feel like. "For just a little bit."

She smiled sweetly again and pushed herself up to look at the drawers. "Any preferences?"

Kim hesitated. There were so many ties she wanted to try, so many different restraints she wanted to feel, but more than anything else, she was curious about all the different gags she had seen. Some where definitely advanced, so probably a simple one to start out with? Would tape hurt to take off? Would it feel uncomfortable sticking to her skin? Maybe even simpler than that.

"A ball-gag, maybe?"

Jessica picked up one of the boxes standing in the shelf as drawers and pulled something out of it before kneeling in front of Kim again. She held the two black leather straps in her hands, with a pink rubber ball between them. "This one's pretty cute, right?"

Kim felt her jaw tensing up a little and moved it before opening her mouth for the gag, her heartbeat in her throat.

"Oh, wait." Jessica paused while holding the gag closer to her. "I wanna check on the intern, will you be okay if I leave you for just a minute?"

"Y-yeah, that's fine," Kim said quickly, before opening her mouth again.

Jessica shuffled closer on her knees and carefully set the ball against her mouth and guided it between her teeth. Kim closed her jaw on it, though she could not close it very far with it lodged in there, and tilted her head down so Jess could close the straps behind her head.

Jessica was careful not to trap any of Kim's hair and brushed it all to one side before closing the buckle, before gently arranging it over it again, making sure it wasn't hanging in her face either.

"Okay. I'll be right back." With a smile and a wave, Jess got up and quickly slipped out the door, not even putting her flats back on.

Kim took a deep breath through her nose. It was kind of insane, what she was doing. She had only met the blonde twice, and yet she let her restrain her like this, something she even declined from her best friend. But she felt safe, not just from the legal protection of the membership and everything covered in the paperwork, but also from Jessica's gentle attitude.

Still, the safety didn't make it any less exciting. She tugged carefully, again and again, exploring the very limited movement range in the ropes. And after a few moments, she got a little braver, pulling and fighting harder, properly testing just how tight those ropes were.

She grunted into the gag, her voice muffled, and bent her legs as little as she still could to yank at the rope connecting her ankles to her waist. It all held fast, not budging to any of her attempts.

Some people are really into the kidnapping roleplay.

Kim closed her eyes and tried to imagine it. Tried to transform the comfortable little room into an empty storage closet. She tilted her head and let some of her hair slip into her face to cover a bit of the tinted sunlight to better pretend she was a basement instead, with only a little sliver of light reaching her.

She tried to imagine how she would have ended up there. Maybe some hooded thugs jumped her and dragged her down the steps while keeping a hand firmly clamped over her mouth. She fought against the ropes, imaging doing the same while one of them roughly tightened the ropes.

The soft knock on the door almost made her yelp. "Just me," Jessica announced as she slipped back in, closing the door and moving over to sit in front of her again. "You doing okay?"

Kim took another deep breath and nodded, mumbling a wordless confirmation.

Maybe that fantasy wasn't for her. She would much rather stay here with her for now.