Crawling on my hands and knees, I followed Her down the hallway, past the living room and dining room, and through the kitchen to the pantry. There we came to a closed door. I watched as my Mistress entered a code into the keypad by the doorknob, and heard the click of the lock disengaging.
After opening the door she pulled me to my feet, unclipped the leash from my collar, and took me by the arm. We began to descend a dimly lit stairway, moving slowly and carefully; the stairs were narrow and a little rickety. As we got closer to the bottom my eyes began to adjust to the darkness, and what I saw sent a shiver up my spine: ropes, chains, whips, paddles, and some other things that were completely mysterious to me. The word that popped into my head was "dungeon," and indeed that is what this room is called; I have spent a lot of time there since.
One little thing I've learned about my Mistress -- a weakness, if you want to call it that -- is that she loves to shop. And so she had gotten a little carried away in outfitting this place, buying all sorts of gear, some of which was used rarely if at all. But at the time it was pretty intimidating.
In the middle of the room was a platform shaped like a five-pointed star. My Mistress helped me up onto it and clipped my wrists and ankles into built-in restraints. As I gazed up at the seemingly distant ceiling, I reflected again that I didn't really know Her all that well, in the scheme of things. I could disappear into this dungeon, never to be seen again, and no one would ever know what had happened to me.
But then she bent over me and I looked up into Her eyes. They were serious eyes, the eyes of a person not to be trifled with; but there was also a reassuring warmth there. I felt sure that she would never harm me. If she chose to punish me, it would be for my own good.
Then a blindfold slipped over my eyes and I saw nothing.
2.
Blind and helpless as I was, I could feel every sensation very intensely. At first it was just the cool air of the basement room playing over my naked skin. After a minute I felt something hard being snapped onto my right nipple, then a few seconds later onto my left.