Chapter 15 – Amanda's Mistake
Amanda slept peacefully on the couch next to Dan as he momentarily set down the user's manual to rest his eyes. He instinctively looked up at the digital clock on the DVD player. It read: "Wednesday 11:30 pm." Dan thought about the last few days. So much had happened. Yesterday at about this time, he was wandering around Juliette's estate as free as could be. Monday at about this time, he and Amanda were asleep in her bed dreaming about their future. Neither one thought it would look like this, and certainly not within 48 hours.
He turned to Amanda, and decided that he should put her to bed. He lifted her in his arms like a life-sized ragdoll, and carried her to the bedroom. He gently laid her on the bed so that her head was on her pillow. After a kiss and a loving glance, he went back to the couch to continue reading.
After another 15 minutes, he thought he had all of the information he needed to unlock the harness. He began to work with more urgency as he realized that he hadn't used the toilet all afternoon, and the harness effectively blocked any bowel movement he may need to have. Clearly, the harness wasn't meant to be a permanent accessory.
Dan moved to the computer and inserted the CD from the toy case. When prompted for the CD-Key, he dutifully copied the digits from the inside cover of Amanda's manual, and the software began the install process. Once it was complete, Dan selected a check-box next to "Run J-2010 Training Harness Utility" and clicked "Finish."
A flurry of high-tech sound effects and a professional, animated splash screen announced the beginning of the utility. Dan impatiently clicked through the introductory screens until the J-2010 Utility Menu appeared. He carefully selected the menu options to transfer control of the harness to the PC. He clicked "Command" from the main menu. He then selected "Controller" from a list of commands and "Wireless Network" from a list of options. Finally, he selected "Enable" from a drop-down menu.
Instantly, as though no thought were necessary, the PC speakers output a pleasant female voice which said "Control error. Please use personal transmitter to authorize control change." It seemed that whenever the pleasant female voice spoke, it was bad news for the person wearing the harness.
Deflated but still determined, Dan selected "Status" from the main menu. He examined the two columns of information and focused on "Controller: Personal transmitter." Dan suddenly realized that because Amanda's necklace, the "personal transmitter," was currently in control of the harness, any controller change would need to be effected using it, not the PC. He was devastated. He sat staring at the screen feeling as helpless as ever.
He decided to make the most of Amanda's sleep, and he surfed through the screens of the utility trying to gain as much information as he could. He had begun to review the personal controller status screen when he read "Master Voice Set: Universal." He moused over the setting to reveal a drop down menu of the possible selections: "Universal," "Juliette" and "Francis."
The corners of Dan's mouth curled into a smile. He remembered reading in the user manual that the necklace could be operated in one of two modes: universal or specific. In the specific mode, the wearer would have to train the necklace to recognize the wearer's specific voice by repeating each and every command. In the universal mode, the necklace would accept commands from whoever wore it, regardless of the speaker's specific voiceprint. Clearly, Juliette and Francis had created their own command sets, but there must not have been enough time to create a command set for Amanda during their stay at Juliette's estate. Instead, they had used a "Universal" command set for the necklace.
Dan quickly made his way into the bedroom and carefully removed the necklace from Amanda's neck. He couldn't help pausing to admire Amanda as she slept. He focused back on the necklace and tried to put it on his own neck, but it was too small. Instead, he walked back to the computer, held the necklace in front of his mouth and said "Harness Unlock," and the straps attached to the front chest pad fell away. Success!
For the next several hours, Amanda slept peacefully as Dan prepared for the next day.
At 8:00 am Amanda's alarm sounded, and it echoed in her head like a car alarm in an empty parking garage. She squeezed her eyes closed and instinctively reached for the snooze button only to find her wrists had been secured to the bed frame. Opening her eyes wide in surprise at her predicament, she was surprised a second time by the blindfold that Dan had applied just after midnight. She pulled at her feet and found her ankles were similarly secured to the bed frame. As the alarm continued to sound, and approaching footsteps grew closer, Amanda began to remember snippets of the night before. The last thing she remembered was Dan going into the kitchen for a drink.
Moments later, the alarm stopped its incessant beeping, and she knew Dan was in the room.
"And how is my little Mistress this morning?" Dan asked cheerfully.
After a pause to clear her head, Amanda decided to play along.
"I'm rather well rested thanks to my servant," she said. "And he's so good to me that he even handles the littlest tasks like turning off my alarm in the morning."
Dan found it curious that her first response wasn't to demand release. Dan sat on the bed next to her wondering whether she knew how beautiful she looked. He also wondered whether she had figured out the full extent of her situation. In her drug-induced hangover, she could tell something was not right, but without her vision or her hands, she was having a hard time putting all of the pieces together.
"Did you sleep well?" Dan asked. "You were out like a light after the movie."
Amanda wiggled a little and realized that Dan had placed her in some kind of chastity belt. Both of her holes were filled, but it wasn't an uncomfortable feeling. In fact, the plugs gave her a warm, slightly aroused feeling.
"Here, have some orange juice," Dan said as he lifted a glass and placed a straw to her lips.
Amanda drank appreciatively. Her mouth felt fuzzy from the pills in last night's drink.
"Thank you," she said as she opened her mouth and the straw fell away. "You're being awfully nice to me after what I put you through yesterday."
Dan smiled but didn't answer.
"I suppose you plan to exact your revenge," she said as though it were a question.
Again, Dan didn't answer.
"Can I have another sip?" Amanda asked in an attempt to engage him, and again Dan lifted the straw to her full, moist lips.
When the straw began to suck in more air than orange juice, Dan asked "What were your plans today?"
"For you, or for me?" Amanda asked coyly.
"For you, silly," Dan replied. "I assume that you need to go in to the shop today. Last night you mentioned that you had hired two of the sorority sisters to work for you."
Amanda explained that she did, in fact, have to go to the shop today. She was scheduled to introduce the new employees to the intricacies of "Leather or Knot," and Dan knew that if she didn't show up, Juliette would send someone to look for her... and him. For all he knew, she had high-level connections in the police department which would only be bad news for him.
Dan ran his hands through Amanda's hair, held her head gently and kissed her.
"Well, one way or another, we need to get you to the shop today," Dan said with purpose.
"One way or another?" Amanda repeated. "That sounds a bit ominous… like 'dead or alive' or 'the easy way or the hard way.'"
"No, not at all," said Dan lightly. "You can either go to the shop alone, or you can go with me."
"Well then, I choose to go alone. You can remove the restraints now," Amanda replied quickly.
Of course, Dan left Amanda cuffed to the bed, and he explained that the decision wasn't quite that simple. Dan told Amanda that he had been tricked into submitting to her completely and that she had been tricked into believing that it was voluntary. He also told her that in the course of a single day, he saw changes in her that he didn't like. By the end of the day, she was taking advantage of her position in a way that was bordering on arrogant and selfish.
Amanda turned her head away from him, realizing that he was right. She told him that she felt horrible for the way she treated him, but she honestly believed that it was what he wanted.
He kissed her again and said "Honestly, I do want to be with you for the rest of my life, but as your partner not your toy."
Amanda smiled.
"So, here's the deal," he continued. "I would never keep you against your will. If you decide not to submit to me today, I completely understand, but if that is your decision, I have decided never to submit to you again."
A silence fell over the bedroom.
"I figure that it's the least you can do to make up for yesterday," he added.
After a moment's thought, Amanda replied.
"First, let me just say that I think it's a dirty rotten trick. This is nothing but a cruel blackmail scheme Daniel Learner. Second, you're right. It is the least that I can do to make up for yesterday's misunderstanding. I trust you completely, and I am yours without question."
Dan was stunned. He didn't know it would be that easy, and he realized again how much he loved Amanda.
"Great! Let's get started," Dan said eagerly as he began to unbuckle the Amanda's wrist cuffs. "Just so we're clear, there is no safe word or gesture. You are mine until I decide to release you."
"Whatever you say, Master," Amanda said with a smile. "But why are you releasing me when I've just agreed to submit to you?"
Even as he continued to unbuckle her second wrist, he replied "Oh, I'm not releasing you."
Once Amanda's wrists were free, Dan began to unbuckle her ankles, and she removed the blindfold. As her eyes grew accustomed to the light, she glanced in the mirror over the dresser and had a sudden realization.
Dan was fully clothed, and she was wearing nothing but the J-2010 Training Harness.
Seeing her amazement, Dan explained that that box of toys that Juliette sent home with them was an all-purpose gift bag that included items for both men and women. He found a number of accessories for the harness that completely transformed it into a restraint for women.
Then, he said "But slaves as beautiful as you should be seen and not heard. Silence slave."
Questions flooded Amanda's head, and she began to ask "What…" when the harness recognized her disobedience. Amanda was immediately overcome with several pleasurable sensations simultaneously, and she almost fell out of the bed.
"Oh, you'll find that I'm not a cruel Master," Dan said nonchalantly. "I have set the harness to pleasure you whenever you disobey, but be careful. The progressively extreme pleasures that I have programmed into the harness have their drawbacks."
Amanda recovered her balance, and silently started her day with Dan's assistance. She showered in the harness, which was water proof. She dressed in a provocative leather outfit that Dan had selected for her. Once she was dressed, Dan wanted to have his way with her right then, but they would have been late to open the shop. Besides, the plugs installed in the harness would have gotten in the way.
They ate breakfast in silence – Dan because he wanted to, and Amanda because she was compelled to. Then, Amanda drove them to the shop in her car. As strangers along the way ogled at the plunging neckline of her leather top, Amanda blushed, and Dan felt proud of his trophy.
They parked in the rear of the store and found Tara and Beth sitting in Beth's parked car. They all got out of their cars and collected at the rear entrance.
"Hi Beth. Remember me?" Dan said politely shaking her hand.
"How could I forget?" she flirted. "You're the cute young man who got caught up in his work when we were planning our sorority party."
"This must be Tara," he said, changing the subject.
As they entered the store, Amanda began turning the lights on and preparing for the day. Dan explained to Beth and Tara that Amanda had laryngitis, and that he would be helping her interview and train them. The two young women exchanged smiles at the word "train," and Dan knew that it would be an enjoyable day.
After the store was opened for business, Dan suggested that Amanda give Tara a tour of the store while he interviewed Beth. After a brief glare from Amanda, she led Tara to the front of the store, and Dan took Beth into the back office and closed the door. Dan sat at the desk and Beth sat across from him.
"Isn't Amanda your girlfriend? Won't she be jealous that you are in here alone with me?" Beth asked.
"Wow!" replied Dan. "I thought I was supposed to ask the questions."
Beth realized that she might have hurt her chance to work at the shop and quickly apologized "Oh, I'm sorry. You're right."
Enjoying his superior position, he smiled and said "It's no problem. You were right that Amanda is my girlfriend, but we trust each other completely."
Dan began the protracted interview with typical questions, but eventually began asking questions that were wholly inappropriate even for position at a bondage shop. He asked if she had a boyfriend; how many lovers she had had in her life; whether she ever experimented with bondage; her favorite sexual positions; and whether it was currently her time of the month. The questions really had no significance other than to embarrass her and to illustrate that between them, he was the dominant.
Meanwhile, in the shop, Amanda showed Tara around as best she could. Amanda considered writing a note to Tara to explain her situation, but she dismissed the thought knowing that it would drive Dan away from her. Instead, she accepted her position reminding herself that she "volunteered" for it.
In the back office, Dan gave Beth an employment agreement similar to the one he signed when he started. He went over the agreement in detail, including discussing the clauses related to bondage safety. Once Beth signed the agreement, Dan asked Tara to come back, and he went through the same procedure with her. By 11:00 am, Dan had thoroughly embarrassed both women and obtained signed employment agreements from them consenting to bondage as part of their employment.
As the four of them gathered at the cash register, Dan asked which girl liked wearing leather.
Tara merely stared at the ground to avoid eye contact. Behind her back, Beth nodded and pointed to Tara.
"Tara, let's start with you," Dan said smiling.
Dan explained that it was the shop's policy that new employees try out the products so that they have a more intimate understanding of their customers' tastes and desires. Dan asked Amanda to select her favorite gear, and assist Tara in trying it on.
For the next few minutes, Amanda silently wandered around the shop selecting merchandise and draping it over her arm. Ten minutes later, Tara was learning firsthand about the high quality leather equipment the shop offered. She was amazed at how quickly Dan and Amanda were able to immobilize her as she stood in front of the three-way mirror at the rear of the store. Looking from mirror to mirror, she saw herself at various angles wearing a leather halter top, a single glove, a hobble skirt and a leather hood. The hood included only nose and eye holes and smoothly covered her lips which surrounded a leather penis gag. As if to accentuate her predicament, Dan finished her ensemble with a locking leather collar. Looking on, Beth was surprisingly aroused as she imagined herself helplessly bound in the same situation as Tara.
Without warning, Dan raised the end of Tara's single glove forcing her to bow to the other women. Bent over as she was, the leather hobble skirt tightly outlined her shapely bottom, and he smacked it loudly with his open hand. It shocked the others, but it awakened Tara in ways she had never imagined. Her ass tingled more than it hurt, and she was so embarrassed that she prayed it would stop. Yet, she silently begged him to continue.
After toying with Tara for several minutes, Dan looked her in the eyes by lifting her chin with his index finger.
"Do you want me to stop?" he asked.
Tara, holding back tears, nodded pleadingly.
"Do you remember the safe gesture outlined in your employment agreement?"
Tara's tears now flowed down the outside of the leather mask, and she hung her head. Slowly, she shook her head.
"Let this be a lesson to you both," Dan said with a superior tone. "Your safe word and your safe gesture can mean the difference between your freedom and your torment." He looked at Beth and asked "Do you think she's had enough?"
"Yes, I think so," Beth said knowing that it could just as easily have been her at his mercy.
Instead of untying her, Dan led Tara toward the front of the store. She hobbled along trying to create some slack in the leash that Dan had clipped to her collar. Dan walked up a small ramp on the side of the elevated front display and Tara struggled to follow. As she stood next to him in the center of the display window, Dan pulled the leash taught and tied the free end of the leash to an o-ring in the ceiling. Tracing his finger along the leash down to the clip, Dan grabbed the clip and snapped the spring-loaded clip several times without releasing her.
"It's only a little spring clip," he teased. "Even a child could unhook it."
Tara wiggled and tugged at the leash as it held her in place for the amusement of anyone passing by the shop. Dan stepped off the display and admired his handiwork. Glancing at his watch, he decided it was time for a lunch break. He told Beth that he and Amanda were going to go out for lunch, and that the shop, and Tara, were in her hands. He directed her to a set of safety rules posted near the cash register, and specifically pointed out the rule that you should never leave a bound person unattended. Then, he escorted Amanda out the back door, and they drove away. As Beth watched Amanda's car drive past the shop. She redirected her attention to Tara, and her eyes smiled mischievously.
Dan and Amanda drove for some time before Dan looked over to see Amanda frowning.
"You don't approve of leaving two new employees alone to run the shop on their first day?" he said, breaking the silence.
After a moment, he said authoritatively "Silence slave off."
"No, frankly, I don't," said Amanda tersely, looking out the passenger window. "Especially when one of them is bound and helpless," she continued.
Dan changed the subject, and he asked Amanda what she would like for lunch. They drove through their favorite fast-food restaurant and ate as they drove to Amanda's apartment. Dan made light conversation, as though they were simply having a quick lunch together. Once at the apartment, Dan said "perimeter on," confining Amanda's movements to the same area she had defined for him a day earlier.
"Silence slave," he said without warning, and Amanda resigned herself to her subordinate status.
Before leaving, Dan told Amanda that he loved her, that he would take good care of her until the weekend and that he expected her not to try to escape. He also told her that he silenced her for her own good. If she felt the need to pleasure herself, all she needed to do was disobey him by talking or moving beyond the defined perimeter. With a smile and a kiss, he left to return to the shop.
Upon his return, Dan parked in the street in front of the shop. As he entered the shop, he could hardly hear the bell above the door due to the grunting and panting of the sorority sister restrained in the display window. He was completely dumbstruck when he looked toward the cash register and saw Tara. He looked back at the writhing figure and realized that it was Beth on display in the front window where he had left Tara just over an hour ago.
"Where's Amanda?" Tara asked as without looking up. She was recording merchandise sold at an employee discount.
"Amanda decided to stay at the apartment for the rest of the day because of her laryngitis," he replied.
Noticing that Tara had just marked down an employee sale for herself, he said "It's only your first day, and you already bought something?" Dan asked incredulously.
"I did," Tara said with a satisfied smile.
Looking closer at the tally sheet, Dan's eyes opened wide in surprise.
"Five hundred dollars? You'll have to work for months to pay that off!" he said in shock.
"It will be worth it. Besides, I used my parents' credit card," Tara said.
"What did you buy that's worth five hundred dollars?" Dan asked.
Tara smiled a knowing smile and shrugged her shoulders playfully.
"Really, what did you buy?"
"My roommate," answered Tara with a giggle as she pointed toward Beth in the window.
Dan walked over to Beth and examined her more closely. He knew something was different, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Same hobble skirt. Same leather halter, same collar, leash and hood, yet something was decidedly different.
"How did she get herself in this predicament?" Dan asked, hoping to piece together the last hour's events.
Tara recounted that after Dan left with Amanda, she pleaded through her gag for Beth to release her. Eventually, Beth removed her gag, and Tara begged for her freedom. Beth laughed and told her to stop being such a baby. Beth told Tara that she had only been in the outfit for twenty minutes.
Knowing Beth's competitive nature, Tara challenged her to last longer than twenty minutes in the same predicament without asking for release. Beth, believing that she could easily last twenty minutes, accepted the challenge on one condition: the one who asked for release in the shortest amount of time had to be the winner's slave for 24 hours. Willing to say anything to get released, Tara agreed.
Tara could hardly move after Beth untied her. Tara stretched her arms slowly and worked out the kinks in her shoulders. Once she began to return to normal, she told Beth to change into a leather halter and hobble skirt. A few minutes later, Beth waddled from the changing room over to Tara who buckled Beth's arms into the strict single glove and locked on the leather collar.
Moving behind Beth, Tara reached around and inserted a ball gag into Beth's mouth. Beth didn't realize that while she was changing, Tara had swapped the small penis gag that she had worn with the 2" ball gag she was now forcing between Beth's pearl white teeth. Beth grunted, and Tara asked "Have you had enough already?" Beth glared at her and "hmphffed" into her gag.
Tara covered Beth's head with the leather mask and tightly laced it behind her head. It created a smooth, nameless visage toward which Tara had little compassion. To complete the preparation, Tara clipped the leash, still hanging from the o-ring, to Beth's collar and took her post at the cash register until Dan arrived.
"So, I assume that you won the bet," Dan said with a touch of uncertainty.
"Yes, but not without a wrinkle," Tara said. "Beth actually lasted twenty-five minutes before using her safe gesture, but I gave her a chance to go for a bigger prize with a second bet."
"So, what was the second bet?" Dan asked.
Tara explained that she challenged Beth to go five additional minutes with an extra accessory of Tara's choosing. If Beth won, Tara agreed to be Beth's slave for 24 hours and buy Beth $500 worth of merchandise from the store. If Beth lost, Beth agreed to be Tara's slave for 24 hours, but Tara would still buy Beth $500 worth of merchandise.
Realizing that either way, she got $500 of new stuff, Beth agreed. But it turned out that Tara's extra accessory was too much for Beth. Tara had wisely selected a remote control vibrating egg which she inserted beneath Beth's hobble dress.
"She only lasted two more minutes before using her safe gesture," Tara said smugly. "So, I won. But Beth didn't realize that I would begin collect on my bet immediately."
Holding out her arm like a model on "The Price is Right," Tara said "Say hello to my slave for the next 23 hours and 25 minutes."
"Okay, I get it. Because you decided to collect immediately, Beth selected her $500 worth of merchandise immediately."
"Well, not exactly," Tara said in a high pitched voice.
"So, what did you buy for $500?" Dan asked, confused.
"Oh, I bought Beth $500 worth of merchandise, and she'll even get to wear it home from the shop tonight. But I never agreed that she would get to pick it out," Tara said smiling coyly.
Beth stomped her foot, twisted her torso against the strain of the leash and "Hmphffed" into her gag in protest.
* * * * *
Links to Leather or Knot Chapters 1-20:
1. First Impressions
2. The Job Interview
3. Dan's First Modeling Session
4. Things Get Personal
5. Amanda’s in a Bind
6. Dan’s Private Modeling Session
7. A Lapse in Judgment
8. Honesty is the Best Policy
9. Dan’s New Position
10. The Employment Agreement
11. Juliette’s Domain
12. Dan’s Preparation
13. Amanda’s Decision
14. The J-2010 Training Harness
15. Amanda’s Mistake
16. Linda’s New Job
17. On The Job Training
18. The Final Tests
19. Test Results
20. Epilogue