It was dark when she woke up. No alarm had sounded, there wasn't any external noise bringing her round, and she felt like she'd had a full night's sleep despite the darkness still lingering. That just added to her sensation that something was wrong.
She knew this bed, she knew this room, it was where she slept every night, but as her eyes slowly adjusted to the darkness it didn't feel like the bed or the room she knew. Things that she was used to having close to her looked further away, others loomed larger in her vision, and the arm that lay across her was softer than the one she was used to.
Michelle's eyes went wide as she remembered what she'd done.
Carefully, she slipped out from under Katrin's arm and swung her legs off the bed, carefully padding across the floor as she took an unfamiliar route from the bed to the door. She opened it gently, trying not to make a noise, then moved through into the bathroom, pulling the cord for the light as she pushed the door closed behind her.
She could see herself in the bathroom mirror, naked except for the thin scarf tied around her neck. She'd never slept naked before this week and standing in the cool night air like that felt strange and odd. She looked at herself, trying to see any physical reminders of what had happened to her earlier, but there was nothing clear and obvious. Her nipples felt tender and there were a couple of patches on her legs that felt sore to the touch, but otherwise she looked as she had.
Michelle tried to remember how it had all felt, the sheer energy of the moment. There was nothing coherent in her mind about what she'd experienced, just the knowledge that it had been as though every part of her was overwhelmed with sensation. The knowledge that it was like nothing she had ever experienced before.
The knowledge that it had been Anne who had experienced it, not Michelle. It had been Anne who Katrin had kissed harshly and savagely, the kiss of someone who had conquered and claimed her, and it was Anne who had passionately responded to that kiss. It was Anne who had whispered for more, pouted as Katrin had untied her and removed the cuffs, protested when Katrin had told her she needed to rest and to accept Katrin's care. It had been Anne who'd felt the sadness as the adrenalin faded and nestled tightly into Katrin's arms as she dropped, understanding and accepting her lover's care and protection. It had been Anne who'd felt loved as she fell asleep in Katrin's embrace.
Then why was it Michelle who'd woken up just now?
They weren't two separate people, but they were two different states of mind. It had begun back when she'd started talking with Katrin, consciously closing away all the stresses of her regular life to focus on her and the wonderful ideas they created together. When Katrin had told her she thought Anne was a nicer name than Michelle, she'd made the decision to change it, ostensibly to comply with her lover's request but also for herself. Anne was an idea of herself that she could become when she was with Katrin, one that didn't have to worry about jobs, bills, cleaning or a husband, and being Anne for the past few days with her had been intoxicating.
So why had she gone now? On the previous days with Katrin, she'd woken up knowing she was Anne, just as surely as she knew she was Michelle now. Was that it? Had she served her purpose? Did some part of her know that she could never top what had happened there? Was that part of her now sated, was she no longer needing to explore? She looked at herself in the mirror, her fingers toying with the fabric around her neck, wondering if she wanted to take it off but it wasn't that.
"I like it." She whispered to herself, properly seeing her reflection now, remembering how she'd felt lying there, taking the pain and embracing it, enjoying it. The sheer depth of her need for it had shocked her, and then she'd given herself to it, discovering just how pain could be pleasure. She'd repeated Katrin's words before, imagining the pain as just a little sugaring of the pleasure, a tiny addition to give it a new note, but now she knew it was more than that. The pain itself was the pleasure. It was something she'd never understood before, never even realised was possible, but now it had opened up a whole new world to her.
She was awake as Michelle because there was no difference now. Michelle was Anne, and Anne was Michelle, this was who she was. Anne smiled as she turned off the light and walked back to the bedroom, slipping in to the place she'd had before, pulling Katrin's arm over her again, smiling as she drifted back into sleep.
Anne remembered the last time she'd driven this way with Katrin. It had only been a couple of days ago, but felt like so much longer. She'd seen and experienced so much with her in that time and discovered so much more of what she was. Right now she was wearing only a thin and short red dress, halter neck and backless, her body showing the thin pink stripes where Katrin had caned her that morning as she lay on the bed, offering her body for each fresh strike. As she drove Katrin's fingers were moving between her pussy and her mouth, feeding Anne her own juices as she was teased, leaving her whole body on edge.
Wearing just a simple black shirt dress and boots, Katrin led her from the car to the workshop and warehouse, Dominique greeting them at the door again. She was cinched tight into a corset, her waist thin while her breasts threatened to spill out on top, a slim lace skirt covering her legs.
"Mistress? They're here."
Helena rose from her desk, smiling. "Good, had to work this one late last night to get it done, but it's ready." She looked towards Katrin. "Will she be seeing it now?"
"No, she gets the full effect tomorrow night."