conversation, I had ignored my common sense and said yes.
But now she had really gone too far. “I don’t run away , Kip,” I told her. “Jesus. I can take a hint. You told me you would see me later, at school. What was that about? I don’t stay where I’m not welcome, and you almost pushed me out the door.”
Kip’s smile never wavered. “I did no such thing, Athena,” she told me. “You assume far too much. You need to be taught a lesson. You haven’t seen my basement yet, have you?”
“No,” I sneered. “Is that where you keep the bodies?”
“Not yet,” she replied calmly. “I’ve only lived here for a few months. But the house has a history. One of the previous owners was charged with cruelty to animals for keeping his dogs chained up in the basement. It’s an easy thing to do, not only to animals.”
Now here was the rub, so to speak: bondage could be abandonment and neglect based on contempt. It wasn’t always loving entrapment, delicious conquest, security, and clear limits.
“The foundation of the house is made of limestone, very picturesque. Do you want to see it?”
“Yes, Kip,” I told her, trying to breathe normally.
“I think you’d better call me Ma’am while you’re here, my girl. That seems fitting, don’t you think so?”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“Speaking of what fits, I want you to take off all your clothes before we go downstairs. I want to see you all over, and I want you to be in the proper frame of mind.”
“Here?” I asked, somehow feeling hot and cold at the same time. “K-Ma’am?”
“Right here, baby,” she smiled. “Take your time.”
Trying not to blush, I raised my top up over my head, revealing my lacy black bra. “Nice contrast,” she told me. “Your skin is so pale.”
I managed to unhook my bra and drop it casually on my top. “Ahh,” she told my hard red nipples.
I stood up to unzip my pants, and pulled down my panties at the same time, to get it over with. She licked her lips while looking at the dark triangle of my pubic hair. “You’ve never been shaved there, have you, girl?” she smirked.
“No, Ma’am.”
Kip seemed to be imagining the slit between my legs surrounded by smooth pink skin, completely exposed to her gaze.
After taking off my socks and shoes, I stood naked for her inspection.
Kip walked around me as I stood still, trying not to shake or twitch. She gathered up my hair in one hand and lifted it off my shoulders and back, giving my sweaty skin a chance to breathe. “Stand straighter,” she told me, trailing a hand down my back and leaving gooseflesh in her wake. “No, don’t be stiff.” She tweaked one of my nipples and ran a hand lovingly over my butt. She released my hair. “There’s so much that could be done with you. Wait here.” She disappeared into another room. I heard cupboard doors opening, and the clink of glass on wood.
Kip returned holding a glowing hurricane lamp. “This will help set the scene. Stone looks better in this light,” she told me. “So does skin. You will look luminous as a damsel in distress.” She turned off the electric light, plunging the room into darkness except for a circle of light around her lamp. “Follow me and watch your step,” she ordered, pulling me by the hand.
The steps leading down to the basement were rough grey wood, and they creaked even under my bare feet. The basement in lamplight looked so large and ominous that the square shapes of a washer and a dryer in a laundry room suggested torture devices waiting to be used.
The grey stone of the foundation was only waist-high, with gyprock above it. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I gasped when I saw two thick metal rings set into the wall, screwed into the wooden posts behind the gyprock. Kip was obviously a more experienced player than I had ever guessed. With a pang of jealousy, I wondered whether she had invited other members of the department down here for an unusual interview or meeting or
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