Author's note: I'm so very grateful for the comments and emails and the support of my readers. It's a real pleasure for me to know that you're enjoying my efforts. Thank you again!
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Grey was stretched out naked on her back on Robert's king-sized bed. Her ankles were bound with black rope, secured to the bottom of the bed frame. His black leather belt was wrapped and buckled around her knees, pressing them together tightly. Her wrists, also bound with black rope, were tied off to the iron grille of his headboard. A pillow was under her rear, pressing the butt plug into her ass and raising her smooth-shaven mound invitingly. The blindfold kept her in complete darkness. A shiny black leather collar was secured loosely around her neck by a brass buckle.
The collar was one thing that had changed after she passed the Seventh Gate. He'd found one he liked the following day and buckled it into place as she eagerly knelt in his apartment. He'd admonished her never to remove it on her own; only by his hands would it come off. She was allowed to touch it, though, and often did. Running her fingers over the smooth surface was one of her favourite things. Like her barbell nipple piercings, the collar was his symbol, his mark on her. A visible and welcome reminder that she was his.
Not that a reminder was necessary. They were together most of the day - she would arrive at his apartment shortly before eight in the morning to eat breakfast from his fingers and he'd drop her off at grandmother's apartment shortly before 7:30 every evening. By 9:00pm her webcam was on and she was his again.
Robert was lying beside her in the bed, facing her, propped up on one elbow. While contractors worked on the plumbing and electrical wiring in the new building he had little to do but savour the delights of her body. Right now he was tormenting her with one finger, slowly trailing it over her body, pressing firmly enough not to tickle. He'd been at it for only a few minutes and already the feeling of his finger on her skin had become her universe.
"Are you losing weight, kitten?"
"Yes Master. Seven pounds since you took over feeding me six weeks ago."
She hadn't called him 'Sir' since the Seventh Gate; that had changed, too. He was her Master now. The word fit so well, and having used it for the first time at the end of the photo shoot, she couldn't imagine calling him anything else. It expressed their relationship perfectly. Even more so because she had come to use the word on her own; he hadn't insisted.
"Hmmm. And how do you feel about that?" he wasn't leading her with the question; he sounded genuinely curious.
"I can easily afford it, Master, and more besides that."
"Well, I can't have you starving on me."
"I don't think that will be a concern for a while."
His finger traveled up the right side of her ribcage and started making slow circles in her armpit. She squirmed but couldn't get away and it was that knowledge - the awareness of her own helplessness under his touch - that aroused her. Bound as she was, she could only accept whatever he had in store.
"And how are these piercings healing?" his index finger dipped lower and gently flicked her erect nipples. The touch caused mild pain and a pleasing tingle in equal parts.
"They don't hurt - unless someone plays with them, Master."
"Someone?" his voice was amused, "I'll try to keep people away from them, then."
His finger continued southward and began to make slow circles around her navel.
"And I don't need to ask if you enjoy your plug, do I kitten?"
Her cheeks coloured a soft pink.
"No Master. I get hot just thinking about having it inside me. Is that weird?"
"Weird?"
"To enjoy having something...up there."
"Maybe. But I like you weird."
His finger stroked lower to the top of her mound. She prayed it would dip lower still.
"You have such a pretty slit. And not a hint of stubble. It's cruel of you to deny me the excuse to spank that cute bum."
"Do you need an excuse, Master?"
"Of course! I need to keep up the pretense of fairness, at least."
She giggled. "I'm grateful for your sense of fair play."
His finger stroked the lips of her pussy. She could feel them swell and thicken under his touch.
"The Eighth Gate, kitten. Does it seem like it's been four months?"
"I feel like I've known you longer, Master. I'm starting to forget what my life was like before we met."
He wiggled his finger between her cunt lips and caressed her clit once, then twice, then his finger was drifting idly northward once again. Grey groaned in frustration.
"Do I need to ask what you thought of the Seventh Gate?"
"It changed everything, Master."
She'd learned how much she loved being bound and helpless; how much she enjoyed putting on a show for Robert; how she could inflame him without a touch. And the black and white photos that Bill had taken that day were pictures of a sexy, graceful, beautiful young woman. Robert had framed one of the pictures and hung it on the wall of his bedroom. It showed her in the hockey jersey with her back to the camera, shirt raised to mid waist, her full, shapely ass on full display.
Best of all she'd learned from Trina that a submissive woman could still be professional and articulate and powerful. It didn't define her life, but was one aspect among many. That lesson made it even more of a joy to wear Robert's collar.
"For the better, I hope."
"It made everything
SO
much better."
His finger made tight circles around her nipple.
"I'm changing the rules regarding the Gates."
The announcement caused a pang of apprehension. She'd only just become accustomed to them. What now?
"How so, Master?"
He was quiet for a few moments. His finger moved to circle the other nipple. Both points were fully erect now, and throbbing.
"I've known for a while now that I'm not going to leave you, even if you fail to pass a Gate. Maybe I could have ended it after the first two or three Gates, but I don't think I could anymore. I'm staying, regardless."
"Really?" She had to contain a cry of joy.
"Yup."
"So...we're done with the Gates?" As she spoke the words, she felt an unexpected sense of disappointment. She had done so well with the first seven...and they had improved her in so many ways.
He was using his whole hand now, rubbing her arms in a gentle massage.
"Nope. We're going to continue the Gates. But now instead of passing them because you're worried that I'm going to leave, you're going to pass them because I think they're important."
"Yes Master." she considered his words and found them to be true - doing it because it would please him was a much better reason than because he was compelling her. It made the act an expression of her love and of her power rather than a duty.
"Any questions?"
"Yes Master. Could I please hear the Eighth Gate now?"
His hand was moving over her breasts now, squeezing and stroking and sending welcoming chills all through her.
"The Eighth Gate is this, kitten. You're moving in here with me."
The idea thrilled her but her heart sank as she realized the near-impossibility of it, the obstacles in the way.
"Master, grandmother needs me at night. She can't get around very well on her own and..."
"I know, kitten. I'll drive you down after dinner and you can spend some time with her and assist her, then I'll drive you back here when you're done."
"But...that could be a few hours. You're just going to sit in the car?"
He began to rub the skin just below her navel and his hand seemed to be transmitting heat directly to her sex.
"I'll go to a Starbucks and get some paperwork done. I'm a little behind, to be honest."
She couldn't help a quiet moan as his hot hand slid lower, stroking the tops of her thighs and the outside of her pussy. She wished she could spread her legs to give him better access, but with her knees bound she could only take what he offered.
"My family will disapprove, Master. You and I aren't married, and they're pretty sticky about that."
His hand was stroking her raised mound and slit, gentle caresses of her most intimate skin.
"Does your family approve of you being naked and tied to my bed?"
"They don't know...about that."
"But you approve of it, don't you?"
"I love it, Master. Your hand feels so good."
"So it's fair to say that your values are a little different than theirs?"
It was hard to concentrate when his hot hand was doing such wonderful things to her sex.
"Yes Master, but..."
He interrupted her by leaning in and running his hot tongue over her labia, a slow lick that ended at the top of her mound. She gasped and tried in vain to spread her legs but had to settle for raising her hips a tiny bit.
"Please continue, kitten. I want to hear all your objections." he teased.
His tongue was again on her slit, stealing her breath.
"Ahhh...and...what if grandmother needs help...during the night?"
His tongue burrowed between the tightly closed lips of her pussy, grazing over her swollen clit. She moaned and thrust upwards ineffectually, feeling her tight rear grip the neck of the plug.
"Good point. What would we do then?" he turned the question back on her.
He pressed his wet lips against the soft skin below her navel, sending lustful tingles through her core. She could feel his hot breath on her thighs. She desperately craved the return of his tongue.
"We could promise to go over...anytime she calls, Master? Even at night?"
"Good idea, kitten." as a reward, his tongue returned to her slit, giving long, lingering licks to the smooth-shaven skin.
"Mom...won't like this. Us living together..."
He dragged his tongue over her twice more, in no hurry to respond.
"Whose collar are you wearing, kitten?"
