A whole team of editors ended up working on this story. It wasn't planned, but I count myself lucky because all involved contributed immensely to making it much better than it was before they got to it. First there were author/editor
avvarramarie
and story consultant qetesh who whipped the raw material into something readable. H.C. Waller, a German editor who usually only does superb translations of my stories, noticed some major inconsistencies between the personalities of the characters and some of the things they did. After his suggestions were incorporated in the German version, it was obvious that the English version would also be tremendously improved by heeding his advice. Finally, Lesliefraser and TessSoerensen found errors I introduced during revisions and also pointed out major weaknesses that still needed to be fixed. Thanks and my deepest gratitude to every one of you.
The German version of this story is posted in German Literotica as Blinde Kuh by egonhoppe73.
"You have to take off all your clothes first."
Ned looked at Alice with knit brows.
"I heard you the first time, but I still don't understand why."
Alice let out a loud sigh of exasperation.
"Because otherwise, the costume won't fit. The spandex is too tight to wear anything under it. Not only wouldn't it look right, but it would pinch, itch and chafe. You'd be miserable all night. I'm going to this party to enjoy myself, and I'm not giving you any excuse for leaving early."
Ned picked up the strange contraption on the bed and held it up in front of him.
"Whoever heard of a spandex cow?"
"That's the idea. As soon I saw it, I knew we'd win the contest. Remember, this year we're not getting together with our friends and putting twenty dollars into the pool that goes to the winner. Cassie has gotten our invitations to a party being thrown by some of her society friends. The stakes are higher, and that means we're going home with five thousand dollars."
Ned grumbled but began taking off his clothes.
"How is a cow going to win the best costume?"
"You won't understand until you see yourself wearing it. You'll be jumping over the moon. The votes always go to the contestants who do a gag skit when it's their turn onstage. When the others at the party see what I've thought up for us, they're going to go mad, cow. We'll put the competition out to pasture."
When Ned finally dropped his boxers, she walked over to the bed and picked up his costume.
"Hey!"
"Hold still while I put the head on."
His head fits easily into the cow head. There was plenty of room inside, so he barely felt the hard plastic. The support structure spread the weight across his shoulders.
"Tell me when the eye and nose holes line up," Alice said as she twisted the head around to line up with the front of his body.
When the head was finally straight, Ned could see through camouflaged eye holes, although he had no peripheral vision. His nostrils and mouth were hidden by flaps, but his breathing wasn't impaired.
"Stick out your hands," Alice ordered.
He noticed the weight of the head for the first time when he had to bend his neck to look down and watch her pull the tight Spandex cow legs onto his arms. She grunted from the effort.
She worked even harder to force his hands through what seemed like thick elastic bands into the plastic hooves. The bands were so tight that they snapped onto his wrists once his hands were through them. When she finished, the cow's legs went up to his elbows. She collapsed onto the bed.
"I may need to take another shower before we leave," she said with a laugh. "I had no idea that would be so hard. But it was worth it. Look in the mirror."
Ned took a couple of steps to the wall mirror and looked at himself. He saw a cartoonish cow painted on the felt covering his plastic head.
"What kind of cow costume is this?" he asked as he raised his arms.
"This is a bondage cow costume. I got it at Oggbashan Novelties, that little shop that opened down the street last year. I was browsing in the BDSM section when I saw it and knew at once it was going to win the prize this year."
"You were doing what?"
She ignored his question.
"The salesgirl explained that once the costume is all zipped up, your upper arms will be trapped against your sides. You'll only be able to move your little cow legs, from your hooves to your elbows. You can flap them about. Since you're a big man, that will look hilarious."
"Thanks," he said sarcastically. "So the goal is to make me look ridiculous."
"That's the idea of bondage. Two of the three goals are restraint and humiliation."
"What if I don't want to be the life of the party?"
"It's only for a few hours. Think of the five thousand dollars."
He was silent for a moment. Alice wished she could see the expression on his face. That was the only downside to the cow costume.
"It isn't about the money, is it?"
Alice looked away from a moment and said nothing. When she faced the cow head again, her eyes flashed and her face showed defiance.
"You're right. You figured it out. The third goal of bondage is punishment."
"So I'm right," Ned said. "Tonight, you're finally getting your revenge. You're going to humiliate me in front of all our friends. They'll take videos on their phones and I'll be all over the Internet tomorrow. I'll never be able to look them in the eye again. You'll destroy me as a man, and then you'll leave me."
Alice tried to control herself, but she couldn't. She began laughing, and her body shook with her hearty guffaws until she was short of breath.
"What a drama cow you are! We're not going to be with our friends tonight. None of Cassie's snobby high-society crowd will know who you are. I thought of everything.
"As for destroying you as a man, there isn't much to destroy if all it takes is locking you into a silly costume for a few hours and parading you around in front of strangers.
"What else did you say? I'm going to leave you? I've told you before that you are the one who will decide whether we're through, not me."
"I'm not going with you," he said emphatically.
"That's up to you," she said. "I can't make you go. But whether we go to the party or not, I'm getting my revenge tonight. This has already dragged on too long. You're going to be humiliated one way or another tonight. The only decision you have to make is whether you want five thousand dollars."
"Take this off of me," he said.