Stranger Than Truth

Chapter Four

Training the Actors

Valerie Burbon walked down the hallway of Charles' mansion until she reached the door to his private bedroom. Behind the door, she would find her life partner and fellow submissive, Sally Thatcher, locked in a dog kennel. Valerie was not looking forward to the next few weeks. Sally Thatcher was at a Rubicon in her submission to Charles. For the last six months, ever since the couple's hand fasting ceremony, Sally had not used her safe words at all. Her gift to their Master, Charles Vanquil, had been a new slave contract with no limits beyond her safe words. It seemed now, that even those were not limits since she would not use them.

Valerie trembled at the door. She was entering a new phase in her relationship with her lover. Sally had always been the switch, the dominant submissive who took Valerie's submission in addition to that which Val gave to Charles. Once Val opened the door, all that would change. Sally would be her submissive 24/7, plumbing depths of submission that none of them had dealt with before. Valerie was afraid that she would screw something up and hurt Sally in some yet to be defined way. Only her deep and abiding love for the woman beyond the door enabled her to take on this unaccustomed task.

Stepping through the door, Val saw Sally curled up in the kennel. She was not asleep, but merely resting. Sally looked up at the sound of the door opening and smiled when she saw Valerie. Valerie walked over and crouched next to the door, while Sally rose to her hands and knees. Val stuck her fingers through the grate, watching Sally rub her face against them, kissing each finger with an open mouth.

"Sally?"

Sally looked up into Val's eyes. The love and trust that emanated from them was a palatable presence in the room. Sally continued to rub her cheek against the fingers in the door.

"Do you know where you are going?" Both women understood that this was not about a car ride.

Sally shook her head, letting the fear in her heart show to the woman she trusted more than life itself.

"Do you want to make the journey?"

Sally nodded her head vigorously.

"Very well. I will try to be as good a Mistress to you as you were ever to me. You are still restricted from orgasms and speech. Once we get home, you are to be naked and on all fours until I tell you otherwise. The only exception is working. You can sit on the floor to use your laptop to work from. First thing tomorrow, e-mail your boss and tell him that you need to work from home. Will that cause any problems?"

Sally shook her head.

"Good. I intend to make things very hard for you. Master has told me that you need a deep submission, deeper than we've ever gone before. I don't know yet what that entails, but I will do my best to give you what you need. Remember your safe words."

The look on Sally's face struck terror in Val's heart. Sally looked confused, as if she had encountered a foreign word. "Sally, do you remember your safe words?" Sally shook her head, still confused. Valerie bolted from the room, racing to the lounge where Charles was still sitting.

"Master! We have a problem."

"What is it Valerie?"

"Sally doesn't seem to know what I mean when I mention safe words."

Charles looked grim, but not shocked. "Valerie, Sally may not have the ability to use safe words right now. That's why I've limited her submission to you and myself. I've been her dominant for five years and you two have a love and level of communication that is unparalleled. No one else can dominate her safely."

"I'm frightened Master. No safe words? I will hurt her."

"You won't. Your love won't let you. It will make you extra cautious, exactly what we need right now."

"Are you sure Master?"

"Yes. Partly because you won't be inflicting pain on her. She will let someone injure her in play, that's why no one else can whip her, or anything else painful. I don't believe that there is anything you could do right now that will hurt her emotionally. Anything you do will be taken as an act of love. Do you understand what I mean?"

"I think so Master. I'll do my best."

Valerie returned to the bedroom to find that Sally had not moved from where she was or the position she was in. She looked up expectantly. Val walked over to the cage and unlocked the door, opening it and setting the key on top.

"Sally, come on out." Valerie walked over to Charles' bed and sat on it. "Come over here, lay across my lap."

Sally did as she was told, draping herself over Valerie's knees so that her ass pointed up at Val's face. Valerie saw the bruising from the brutal whipping Sally had endured earlier. There would be no scars, but the bruises would last for several days.

"Sally, I need you to talk to me. Help me to understand what's happening."

Sally hesitated for a few seconds. "Mistress, I'm not sure what it is. I do know that I need so much more from my submission. Something's happened. I've changed. I am changing. It scares me. Do you remember how scared you were that first month when so much changed in your life, even before Francine and the incident?"

"Yes, I do. I didn't know what I was going to become from day to day. You told me that whatever it was, You would always be there for me and with me. You reassured me that I would not become some thing that you would not want."

"Yes." Sally sobbed convulsively. "I don't know what I'm becoming, Val, and I may never be able to dominate you again. Will you still want me, even if I have to be your slave all the time?"

Valerie picked Sally up and clenched her tightly. "I will never leave you, never! If you need to be a slave for the rest of our lives, then I will be the most demanding Mistress you ever could hope for. It will work, whatever it is."

"Thank you Mistress. I so needed to hear that. I love you so much. I would rather become vanilla than lose you."

"You will never have to make that choice." Valerie remembered something Charles had said she should do. "Come with me, slave. There is something you need to do for your Mistress in the dungeon."

Sally dropped to all fours again and followed Valerie downstairs. Valerie led her to the whipping post, after a stop at the toy bench to pick up a cat. This one had long thin lashes that would hurt like hell and leave deep marks.

"Sally, stand up and undress me."

Sally did so, removing each article of clothing with a delicate hand. As each piece came off, Sally kissed Val's newly revealed body. Once she was naked, Val handed Sally the whip, grasped one of the rings on the post and looked over her shoulder.

"Whip me Sally. Whip me hard and fast until I use my safe word."

Sally looked at Val in horror. The strands of the whip dropped to the ground and Sally started to back up.

"Stop, slave! You do what you were told. I want you to whip me and whip me now. Make me scream and weep in pain. Do you understand me?"

Sally flicked the whip against Valerie's back, barely making contact.

"Harder you stupid bitch! I want to feel it." It tore Val up inside to use such language towards Sally, but she needed Sally to be able to do this as a submissive.

The next blow landed with a loud slap, but was still not as hard as Val wanted.

"Harder slut! If I'm not screaming in 60 seconds, you will be severely punished!"

Sally finally accepted that this is what her Mistress wanted. Letting her muscles do what they knew to do, she whipped Valerie, hard and fast. Red stripes appeared with each blow. Valerie was quickly in tears from the pain. Counting them silently, she let Sally whip her 50 times before she cried out her safe word. Again, instinct took over where thought failed. Sally did not consciously recognize the safe word, "Red light," but her muscle memory knew to stop whenever she heard those words.

Normally, Valerie, while not enjoying pain, was able to enjoy letting it happen. This time, however, that was not true. There was no dominant behind the whip, enjoying the taking of her submission. The pain was all there was and Valerie called upon every reserve of strength she had to not collapse once it was over.

"Take me to the recovery room, slave."

Sally preceded Valerie there, where she was instructed to provide after care to Val's back. Half an hour later, Both ladies were dressed and upstairs. Val instructed Sally to wait by the front door and went back to Charles.

"Master. I'm heading home now."

"How did the whipping go."

"It's not as fun when I know there is no enjoyment on the other end."

"That's frequently the case. I called Francine while you were downstairs and let her know what was going on. She's decided to leave you two in the house alone. I don't think she feels up to being around such intense submission. I've arranged for her to have a room at the Davenport for as long as she needs it."

"Thank you Master. I was worried about her. Master, I have a date tomorrow with one of Sally's old friends, and mine as well. Should I cancel?"

"No. I think it will do her good to understand that deep submission involves being ignored. Just be sure she has orders for the night."

"I've given her standing orders that in the house, she is to be naked and on all fours, unless she is working from home. Do you have any suggestions for when I'm planning to be gone the entire day?"

"I'll think on it and send you an e-mail tonight. Be sure to check it before you go out in the morning."

"Yes Master. Thank you. I'll bring her back on Friday. If nothing comes up, can I come by Wednesday to submit?"

"Of course. I'll have instructions for you that morning."

"Until then, Master."

Valerie returned to the front door and drove Sally home. Sally did not talk during the trip and Valerie was not inclined to press any harder about what was happening. In some respects, that was unneeded information. What was important was that Sally was in a deeply submissive place and she needed Val to be dominant. As soon as the pair were in the house, Sally stripped off her clothes and went down on her hands and knees, looking up at Valerie with expectation on her face.

Valerie had waited until after she picked Sally up to have dinner. She had not realized what state Sally would be in. Looking into her lover's eyes, she saw incredible trust. Sally's fear had subsided on the ride home. The younger woman had come to realize just how much Valerie loved her and was convinced that nothing could hurt her while Valerie was with her. Sally would do anything for Valerie and accept anything that Val chose to do to her.

Valerie had seen such trust in Sally's eyes before. They had, after all, played BDSM games before, including those with Valerie as the dominant, though those were rarer than the reverse. It was the extent that gave her butterflies. Sally was trusting her in domination both for far longer than the one or two hours that was the norm for Valerie, but for a journey into unknown waters. Even Charles was untested in this type of domination. Valerie felt an incredible weight on her shoulders. It was dawning on her that 24/7 submission, sometimes referred to as voluntary slavery, was harder on the dominant than on the submissive.

"Come with me, Sally."

Valerie led Sally to the bedroom. Over the last few months, they had installed steel rings as on their bed as tie downs for those times when they wanted to play with bondage in the bedroom. Val retrieved a collar and leash from their collection of toys. The collar was placed on Sally's neck with the leash clipped on. Placing an unused comforter on the floor at the foot of their bed, Val clipped the other end of the leash to a tie down at the foot of the bed, making it impossible for Sally to rise to her feet or move more than three feet from the end of the bed.

"Stay here while I make dinner." Unable to keep herself from asking, she added, "Are you going to be okay?"

Sally nodded, a smile on her face. Then she lay down on the blanket with her hands under her head. Valerie went into the kitchen and fixed the dinner she had planned, garlic shrimp over rice with an Asian blend of vegetables. She made one change and shelled the shrimp so they could be eaten without hands. Once done, she put her plate on the table and Sally's on the floor, glad there was no one else to witness her mate's humiliation.

Valerie missed the conversation that the three housemates normally engaged in at meals. Sally did not react strongly one way or the other to eating off the floor, but merely accepted it as part of her new submission. When she was done, she knelt back on her heels, her face covered with food residue, and waited for Valerie to finish.

After she was done, Val led Sally to the bathroom, washed her face and made her use the toilet in front of Val. Sally showed the first signs of struggle at this. While the two had seen each other on the toilet in the past (an unavoidable occurrence when you live together), they did not make a habit of ignoring this area of privacy. Tears came to Sally's eyes when Val would not allow her to clean herself off. Instead, Valerie wiped Sally off.

Valerie watch TV for a couple of hours with Sally lying on the couch with her, Sally's head in Valerie's lap. They both caressed each other absentmindedly, not so much as to arouse, but to simply be in contact with one another. After the shows were over, they retired to the bedroom. Sally was clipped to the bedpost again, to spend the night on the blanket instead of the bed. She looked up longingly at Valerie, pleading with her eyes to be allowed to cuddle with Val.

Instead, Valerie cuffed her hands to her collar and spent 30 minutes fondling Sally's breasts and cunt, arousing her to near orgasm. When Val stopped, Sally whimpered and tried to reach for Valerie. Valerie put her hands over Sally's, holding them closed.

"No, Sally. I want you frustrated." Orgasm denial was one of Valerie's favorite methods of dominating Sally, seeing as how Val had no tolerance for causing pain. "I know it's hard. Master did not let you orgasm either, did he?"

Sally shook her head, her tears flowing freely now. She was no stranger to sexual frustration. It was a regular part of their play times. She had, however, never faced the prospect of such a long denial at the same time as a prolonged submission. It was occurring to Sally that Val may well deny her all week, since she did not have pain in her repertoire of domination tools. Biting her lip, Sally nodded, still crying.

"I'm so proud of you, Sally. Do you know that I've dreamed of going where you're going?" Sally looked up, surprised. "Yes. I want to much so give of myself to you and Master. I've wanted to be able to submit 24/7, but it frightens me and I can't work from home like you can I would be in the same boat at Susan was, having to put my submission on hold while I worked. I envy her sometimes." Shaking her head, Val continued. "I'm going to make this the most intense submission for you that I can. Can I do that?"

Sally nodded her head through her tears. She wanted everything Val had to offer her, but was frightened of it as well. She knew from past experience that Valerie was quite capable of turning her into a quivering wreck. The thought of being in that place for an extended period of time was daunting. In many ways, pain was the easier part of submission.

Valerie brought Sally to the edge of orgasm again before covering her with a light blanket and going to bed herself. If anyone had been watching, they would have been hard pressed to tell which woman was having the harder night. Sally struggled with a burning arousal that did not seem to want to ease and a hard floor that made itself felt in far too short a time. Valerie struggled with being alone in bed for the first time in many months. Sally and Valerie had not slept alone at night for some time. And when they had done, it was something they accepted and enjoyed as part of their submission to Charles. This time, Valerie had, in effect, kicked Sally out of her bed. It was not something she found enjoyable.

Valerie woke up before her alarm. Looking over, she saw that she had an hour left. Recognizing that it would be impossible to get back to sleep, she rose, slipped a robe on and checked her e-mail. As promised, there was a message from Charles via his your_Master e-mail address. Anxiously, she opened the letter.

"Valerie, I've given some thought to how to handle your date Monday night. I can think of two things that might work for you. First, you can give her things to do. I've read some slave blogs online and 'tasks' are a frequent substitute for a Master's or Mistress' presence, especially in long distance submissions. The other possibility is to give her to one of your fellow submissives for the night. They would not have to know about her 24/7 status, but could be required to maintain any standing orders you have given her. Both of these have the advantage of letting Sally experience pain in her submission without you having to inflict it. I will leave it up to you which option to choose. I have decided I want you two to come by the mansion on Wednesday. I suspect you will want a break by then, anyway. Enjoy your date. Master."

Valerie sighed in relief. She had not had any ideas of her own for tonight and was afraid she would have to cancel on Gwen. Valerie had become close to Gwen over the last few months and was looking forward to her date. Sally always spoke highly of Gwen, both as a person and a lover. She fired an e-mail back to Charles, thanking him for the suggestions and the time for her on Wednesday. Then she called Steven, one of the people she had played with at Charles' place. She knew that Steven owned his own bar and would still be up. Even better, he took full advantage of his position as owner and didn't work weekends or Mondays, even though he kept bar hours.

"Hi, it's your dime."

"Steven, this is Valerie. I didn't wake you up, did I?"

"No, Val, not yet. You would have in one minute. Why are you up this early."

"I woke up early. Steven, I need a favor."

"Shoot."

"I have a date with Gwen, do you know her?"

"I think so. Isn't she one of Sally's lesbian friends?"

"Yeah. She asked me out and, with Sally's encouragement, I accepted,. Anyway, Sally really needs to submit to someone tonight. I can't explain the reasons right now, but I was wondering if..."

"Say no more. As long as Sally's okay, I'm game. When should I come over?"

"Anytime after 6:00 tonight. She'll be waiting for you. The only thing you should know is that she has been on orgasm restriction."

"So she can't cum. Okay. Have her dressed in that black corset of hers with a hobble chain on. I'll show up sometime after 6:00, but won't let her know when."

"I'll do that. Thanks a bunch, Steven. I owe you."

"I'd love to collect on that sometime soon."

Valerie blushed. "Let me get back to you on that."

"You're on!"

"Bye, Steven."

"Bye Val. Take care."

Seeing that it was almost 5:00 AM, Valerie went back to her room and gently shook Sally. Her eyes opened and slowly focused on Valerie. She rolled over onto her hands and knees and started kissing Valerie's feet. Valerie ran her hands through Sally's hair, conveying her love for Sally.

"Sally, you can talk for a bit. How are you doing?"

"Mistress. I'm feeling so needy right now. Can you hold me please?"

"Of course, dear."

Val sat on the edge of the bed, taking Sally onto her lap. Sally held onto Valerie like she was a life line in a raging ocean. Sally was experiencing feelings she was not familiar with. She felt the need to not have to make decisions. If she had been asked to describe her feelings, the best she could have managed would have been, "adrift."

"Mistress?"

"Yes Sally."

"I know it's hard for you, but could you hurt me please? I need to feel you be harsh with me. I need to know you care enough to be."