© Greymead 2017
Friday night, when Miranda came home from work, she dropped her briefcase and the mail on the kitchen table and walked to her bedroom, loosening her suit as she walked. She kicked off her shoes and sat on the edge of the bed, rubbing her feet.
Fridays were special for Miranda. Getting away from a job she sincerely hated was enough to make every Friday seem like a mini vacation, and to erase the effects of a long week at work, Miranda always followed the same cleansing ritual.
The aches in her feet finally rubbed into submission, Miranda stepped into the bathroom to start her bath running, dumping a handful of bath crystals into the running water. She checked the temperature of the water and adjusted it a bit, then returned to the bedroom. Stripping her clothes off, she barely glanced at herself in the big mirror of the closed doors. There would be time to look later, after her bath. She grabbed the thick white terrycloth robe from its hook inside the closet and carried it to the bathroom.
She turned off the faucet and stooped to test the water with her hand. Smiling, she stepped into the tub and sank down to submerge herself in the fragrant warmth of her bath.
For long minutes, she simply lay on her back, eyes closed, relishing the heat spreading through her tired muscles, letting the tension, which had been building up all week to drain away.
As she began to relax, Miranda began to work the soap over her body, lathering herself up as she caressed her own body. She thrilled to the warm feelings of sexual response which slowly built to replace the tension which was leaking away from her.
As so frequently happened, her ritual bath turned into a wet self-enjoyment session. She closed her eyes and pretended that the hands which slipped over her wet body were someone else's.
Her imaginary lover cupped a breast in one hand, squeezing the nipple gently between thumb and forefinger while the other hand crept slowly down the smooth curve of her belly and into the thicket of dark, curly hair which hid the center of the warming need she was beginning to feel.
Miranda thrilled to the electric warmth, but did no more than tease herself, touching and caressing without moving toward completion. She relished the building pressures within herself and would allow them to flourish and grow slowly. Eventually, these pressures would culminate in an intense eruption of pleasure that would dwarf anything she could accomplish at this early point in the evening.
As the bath began to cool, Miranda stood and dried herself with a lushly absorbent towel. She pulled it across her nipples, thrilling to the sensation of the towel's texture against the sensitive nubs.
Wrapping herself in a thick robe, she returned to the kitchen to prepare dinner.
The mail, which sat on the corner of the table, seemed to beckon to her. She flipped through the bills and advertisements, dropping several flyers and catalogs into the waste basket unopened, dropping other items back onto the table. At the bottom of the stack was a small envelope of fine paper, addressed in a neat masculine handwriting and with no return address. She wondered who might have sent it as she slipped a butter knife under the flap to open it. On a single sheet of matching paper, in the same handwriting, was a brief note:
Miranda,
In the months since we met, I have learned a great deal about you. You are, in spite of the carefully cultured exterior you present to the world, a woman greatly concerned with the sensual. You devote a great
deal of energy to your own sexual pleasure, and are unusually adventurous in seeking out new avenues to explore. However, you are evidently in need of a sense of method in your life, since it is obvious that you
pursue your desires with a singular lack of discipline.
If you are prepared to begin your disciplinary e ucation, dress in evening wear and eat tonight at RIC's.
Miranda did not know what to think. At first, she was angry at the temerity of the author of the letter for making judgements regarding her private life and then commenting on those judgements. Then she grew a little frightened at the thought that someone had obviously spent a great deal of time observing her and analyzing her actions to arrive at a conclusion which was, the more she thought about it, probably correct. Finally, she grew intrigued at the hidden message that the author of this note was interested and available to introduce her to a world she had given some idle thought to before but had not known quite how to approach.
Abandoning the dinner she had planned to prepare, Miranda walked back to her bedroom. As she selected a black evening gown from her closet, she kept asking herself why she was taking such a chance. There was no way of knowing who the letter was from. He could be some sort of crazed killer preying on single women by appealing to their sexual desires. He could be an unscrupulous con-man setting her up for blackmail. Even if he was as he presented himself, what guarantee did she have that she would find him an interesting sexual partner? He might be terribly ugly, or just too short.
In spite of all her misgivings, Miranda's heart sang as she prepared to go out. She wore her very best black brassiere, her black lace garter belt and the special dark stockings with the seam up the back. She pulled the dress on and zipped it up the back, feeling very naughty that she wasn't wearing underwear. In short, she did not dress or act like a woman who was worried about meeting a serial killer. In fact, she was beginning to feel an erotic sort of sexual anticipation just thinking about what the evening could hold. She slipped her feet into the tallest black heels she owned and went to the car.
Twelve short minutes later, she was at RIC's, studying the faces seated at the tables. From where she stood, she could see no one sitting alone. The mysterious man had not given her instructions about how to recognize him. Come to think of it, he had said nothing more than that she was to wear evening dress and eat at RIC's tonight. When the hostess approached, she asked for a table for one.
She ordered a glass of white Zinfandel and studied the menu, looking up and appraising each man who entered the restaurant, though none entered alone. Alone or not, she felt a familiar twinge of building pleasure each time a man came in. The erotic suspense was growing and as the suspense grew, Miranda grew moister.
When the waiter asked, she ordered dinner, wondering what she should do next. She had no idea what was to happen, and was beginning to feel foolish. Perhaps this whole thing was some sort of prank. She decided to simply treat it as a nice night out, and enjoyed her dinner. When she was ready to leave, she signaled to the waiter. He informed her that her dinner had been paid for and handed her a small package and a single rose.
The package bore her name, neatly written in fancy calligraphy. She opened the package. Inside was a note and something heavy wrapped in paper. The note was written in the same calligrapher's hand. Someone had obviously gone to a lot of trouble.
Miranda,
I am glad you came to dinner.
On your way home, stop at the hardware store and buy a package of cotton clothesline. When you get home, remove your dress and sit at the foot of the bed to await my call.
Again, there was no signature. Miranda began to unwrap the paper, but stopped and looked around, blushing when she realized what was in the package. It was handcuffs. A new urgency was added to the erotic force growing inside her. She hurried to her car and drove to a hardware store.
Inside her front door, she leaned for a moment against the wall. What was she doing? What was she getting involved in? Part of her mind was telling her to stop this silly charade and take control, be safe. But the part she was listening to was the dark voice which told her that all her sexual fantasies might be realized in one fabulous night. She walked through to her bedroom and turned on the light. She felt silly as she slipped her dress off and hung it on its hanger. She felt sillier as she sat down at the foot of the bed, the package of clothesline laying beside her thigh, hard and heavy. She felt just as silly fifteen minutes later when she was still sitting in her underwear waiting for his call.
To pass the time, she unwrapped the handcuffs. She wasn't very familiar with handcuffs, but these seemed just a little odd to her. They seemed to be made for three wrists. Each cuff was attached to a six-inch length of chain, and all three chains were attached to one central steel ring. There was no key included in the package. The feel of the cold steel made a new thrill run through her. This was accompanied by a vague mental image of herself, cuffed helplessly as a faceless man stroked the fine, soft skin of her defenseless body.
She jumped. The sudden ring of the telephone, interrupting her reverie was like a cold, electric blade tickling her inner being. She picked up the phone. This would be her first personal contact with her mysterious stranger.
"Hello, Miranda."
It was a woman's voice. Damn. Wrong number. She did not recognize the voice.
"Did you buy the clothesline?"
Miranda's heart leaped. This put a whole new twist on her adventure. Suddenly all resistance was swept away. Although she could not have explained it logically, the fact that this was a woman allowed her to place a great deal more trust in her mysterious stranger's hands. "Y-yes," her voice seemed about to abandon her, her throat was unusually dry. She knew she must sound unsure of herself, childish. The fact was, that was suddenly exactly how she felt: unsure and childish. "Wh-who are you?"
"Call me Mistress, Miranda."