Faith (as her name suggested) was the daughter of religious parents, raised in an atmosphere of strict Puritan morality. The principle of serving others was instilled in her from childhood, but it took a form they did not expect.
She married Lawrence three years ago when she was 27 and at risk (her mother said) of becoming an old maid. He had been married once before and had a son; Arnold was now 18. He never spoke of his number one.
After a year of living with the two men as wife and stepmother, one day she was straightening up the bedroom and opened a drawer to put some of her husband's things away. In the back was a pair of handcuffs and a ball gag. She had never seen them before. Excited and a little afraid, she took them out.
She held the ball up to her mouth; yes, it would stifle all her cries. And the handcuffs pin her arms behind her. She suddenly wanted him to use them on her. No, what would people think. She put the objects back and tried to forget the idea.
She could not; strange impulses came over her, urges in his presence and even her stepson's that grew and became harder to suppress. She wanted to be their servant, their slave even, used by them as a toy.
Ashamed of her feelings, she went to a psychiatrist and told the woman about them. Patricia said they were perfectly natural. In fact she kept a few girls herself; one of them was Arnold's mother, bought from Larry.
Faith was electrified by the idea; how could she become one of them?
It was a major, a life-changing decision, Patricia replied. She should weigh it carefully, read up on the experience and talk it over with friends.
Faith thanked her and went home. Over the next few months she devoured stories of prostitutes owned by pimps who kept them chained in their rooms, and slaves in earlier times trained to satisfy their owners' needs. The more she learned, the more she craved the experience.
She attended parents' meetings at Arnold's school and began to ask indirectly - "for a friend" - about the subject. The other women smiled at her attempts at concealment; one of them encouraged her to pursue the path and said she was thinking of it herself.
After six months of agonizing over the decision, she took the fateful step. One evening at the end of dinner, her husband was sitting at the table finishing his coffee. Arnold had gone upstairs to do his homework.
Faith knelt at his feet and confessed her need to be his slave. He listened impassively as she poured her heart out to him; this was not a moment's whim she said, but something she had considered and wanted to commit herself to.
She stopped, bent her head and waited for him to speak.
He considered her request. He might agree to own her; he would decide tomorrow. It would let him marry a younger woman he had his eye on. She thanked him.
That evening he made her sleep on the floor of their bedroom. Not on the rug, on the bare wood. And naked.
She saw this as her first test; she undressed quickly and stood before him. From the drawer where she found them he took the gag and the handcuffs, laying them out on the bed. She stared at them in fascination; instruments of her restraint, she had dreamed of this moment and it was about to come true.
He placed the ball in her mouth and tied it in place with the attached straps.
Say something, he told her. She tried, but all that came out was a faint "Nnn". Very good he said, now turn around and put your hands behind you. She obeyed and he fastened the handcuffs on her.
He left her there facing the wall and dressed for bed. When he was ready he told her to lie down. She lowered herself to the floor and stretched out as he turned off the light and retired.
He fell asleep almost at once; she could hear his slow regular breathing. But she could not; on her back, her bound hands pressed into her, on her belly the ball in her mouth choked her.
