05

CHAPTER 4 - THE CONTRACT EXPIRES

Author's notes: I recommend that you read chapters 1-3 before starting this one, or it will make very little sense. Dianne is returned to her husband Steve and both struggle with their feelings as they try to come to terms with issues of infidelity and insecurity. May I remind some of the pickier readers that this is a work of fiction. This is my first submission to LW and I am greatly buoyed by some of the generous comments I have received. Thank you.

*****

Helmut rose to his knees and resumed his earlier exploration of her body, running his fingers over her entire torso. Occasionally he would force her to take several fingers in her mouth, then run them down to gently penetrate her rosebud. He tickled her underarms, and then surprised her by licking her armpits while holding both her arms firmly above her head.

He touched her pussy lips, noting that she flinched when he started to penetrate her there. He realised that she was sore from the frequency of their lovemaking and avoided adding to her discomfort there. Turning her over, he rubbed her bruised rump, noting that the bruising was still very blue and angry.

"Are you sore there?"

"No, I know the bruises still show, but there is no longer any pain there. I deserved that spanking though, didn't I?"

He smiled at her, rolling her onto her back again so that he could continue to lavish soft kisses on her damaged breasts. Reluctantly he rose from the bed and holding out his hand to her, helped her to stand.

"Time for one more shower and then we must leave."

Their shower was bittersweet. There was much kissing between the two and when each padded the other dry with the hotel's huge white fluffy towels, the reality that their weekend tryst was at an end was driven home. They dressed in silence and made their way to the elevator to meet the limo at a side entrance. She was thankful for that - the gown she wore over panties and bra could hardly be considered street wear!

Dressed in what would pass for office wear, the auctioneer's assistant greeted the limo at the door and quickly escorted them to a small private room, where a neatly labelled basket contained the clothes she had worn when Steve brought her here. Was it really only last Friday?

Helmut helped her remove the gown she wore and stood back to allow her to also take off the panties and bra. Surprisingly, after having been together naked for so long, she felt self-conscious to stand naked before him while he was fully dressed.

Helmut took her in his arms. "I needed these fifteen minutes because I have some things to say to you. When I selected you a few weeks ago my investigating team came back with information that convinced me you were going to be very special to me. They were right. The last fifty or so hours have brought me more pleasure than I would have thought possible. It is my good fortune that your unfortunate financial circumstances brought us together. You may think that I paid a great deal of money for such a short interlude, but I can assure you that it was worth every dollar. The money will not however, be enough to solve your finances in the long term unless you both find work again and in the present world, that is going to be very difficult so there is every chance that you will find yourselves in the same position very soon."

She was about to speak, but he held up his hand to silence her before she could start. Wrapping her up in his arms, he held her tightly and continued.

"You will find a small bonus has been added to your account, as a measure of my appreciation for this weekend, but that will not solve your long term problem. I would be horrified if you were forced to suffer the humiliation of another auction, which as you have now seen, is no real solution. I have also said to you that I intend to have you again many times and I do understand that this cannot happen unless your husband agrees. I have the means to help you overcome your financial worries and I have the need, from time to time, for female companionship, not in the carnal sense, though I must admit that we have proved very compatible in that department, but in attending industry and social functions where turning up alone is frowned upon. I have an estate just out of Hamburg in Germany and I would like you to consider travelling there to be my companion for such occasions, with the approval of your husband."

"That's not likely to happen in this lifetime," she reflected with a tone of regret. "Steve had second thoughts before the auction and it was only due to the additional cost of reversing our commitment that made him go through with it. Heaven only knows what state he is in at the moment."

"It is approaching the moment when we must say goodbye for now, but I will be making contact with you before long. Please discuss the matter with your husband."

His eyes moist with emotion, he drew her to him tightly, kissed her with feeling and disappeared through the door into the darkness outside and out of Dianne's life.

#

On Sunday morning, Steve's world looked a little brighter. By midnight tonight he would have his wife back again and by noon tomorrow they would be on a plane and on their way back to Australia. He tried not to dwell on the treatment his wife might be suffering right now but slipped on a pair of jeans, a tee shirt and sneakers and decided to take a long walk.

It turned out to be a much longer walk than he intended. Taking little notice of where he was going, he found himself in completely unfamiliar surroundings and had to seek directions from locals to find his way back to his hotel, arriving just before darkness set in.

Going to the dining room, he managed to eat his first meal since the auction and felt much better for it. Back in his room, he took out his carryall and started to pack his belongings. Finally it was time to head for the auctioneer's hotel. This time he took a cab arriving an hour before time, reported his presence to the auctioneer's office and was assured that they would come and escort him to greet his wife when she arrived at midnight. It was very rare, they said, for bidders to return their slaves until their time was up.

Steve was nursing a soda when the auctioneer's assistant approached with a huge smile on her face.

"Follow me, Steve. It's time to collect your wife."

Bouncing from his bar stool, Steve chased the woman from the room, down a length corridor and bumped into her back when she stopped suddenly and quietly tapped on a door.

Dianne was dressed exactly as she was when he last saw her and looked no different. His heart soared as the two came together, but he just could not find the right words to trust himself to speak.

#

A handbasin and mirror allowed Dianne to tidy up her make up. She was surprised to find that she was weeping openly. A feeling of guilt and a melancholy emptiness engulfed her in a way that she had never known. Woodenly she selected her conservative underwear from the basket and then washed the tears from her face. Dabbing a little make up and lipstick to try to cover her emotions, she then dressed in her outer clothes and was just stepping into her shoes when there was a quiet tap on the door. The auctioneer's assistant's face appeared around the corner and with a big grin asked:

"Well young lady, are you ready to greet your husband again?"

Steve brushed past the woman and the two fell together, clinging desperately to each other but saying nothing, each lost in their own thoughts.

Back in the sanctuary of their hotel room a short time later, the questions began.

"Are you OK Darling?"

"Yes, Steve. I'm fine thank you."

"It looks as though you've been crying. Are you hurt?"

"No, Steve. He did not hurt me," she lied. "It's just been a bit overwhelming, that's all."

"I looked at our bank account yesterday. I think they may have made a mistake with the payment. There's more than 150 thousand dollars Australian in there. How high did the bidding go?"

"Well I was the last of the six women up for auction and I think a few men realised that they were going to miss out, which started some spirited bidding from the outset, but the real drive came from a woman, who was very intrusive during the inspection hour and who seemed determined to win the auction. She was finally outbid by a German man, who paid $125,000 US to own me for the weekend."

Steve whistled softly. "So no mistake then. What on earth did he make you do to warrant paying that amount of money?"

"Steve, we've talked about this. What happened during the weekend is over. It was a means to an end, finished much better financially than either of us could possibly have imagined, and I do not ever want to talk about it again. What I can say is that he did not do anything outside our pre-set limits and I was his escort at a very lavish industry dinner last night. We have an early start to get to the airport in the morning, so take me to bed, Steve. Now!"

Lighting in the room was dim and Dianne was careful to face her husband while she stripped, quickly slipping under the covers so that he could not see the bruises on her backside. Steve laid his clothes on a chair in the corner and slipped into the bed to snuggle up against his naked wife.

"Just hold me, please Steve," she whispered. "I need to feel safe and loved."

He wrapped her in his strong arms, her back to his front, his hands coming to rest on her sensitive breasts. She resisted the impulse to flinch at the contact, instead covering his hands with her own. Both exhausted, they quickly fell into a deep, dreamless sleep until an early morning wake up call snapped them back to the real world.

There was no time for discussion as they quickly dressed, scooped the last of their belongings into carryalls and headed to the taxi stand at the hotel lobby for the journey to the airport. The obligatory queues for security and customs added to the sense of frustration they both felt. It had been almost twelve hours since they were reunited and still no meaningful conversation had taken place. Steve found himself clingy, grasping Dianne's hand in his own at every opportunity, afraid to release her in case he lost her again.

Eventually they settled in their aircraft seats, but with a third person sitting beside them, their only communication was small talk. Their long-haul flight stretched across the Pacific, until finally delivering them safely to their Queensland home, completely exhausted.

Every attempt by either of them to talk about their experience of the past weekend was derailed, replaced instead with banal small talk. It was Dianne who brought matters to a head. Frustrated initially by her need to keep her bruised buttocks from his view, she was surprised as she emerged from the shower and surveyed her rear in the mirror, to see that the bruising had all but vanished, leaving a few traces of yellow where the deep blue and purple blotches had been a few days earlier. Her aching breasts and nipples had healed too and for the first time she felt ready to initiate sex with her husband.

"Steve, we can't go on like this. We need to bring our worries into the open and decide how we can go forward from there."

He agreed. "Would you like to start?" he suggested.

"Fine. After you left me at the auction room, I was prepped by a team of make up and hair artists and stripped naked. My only covering for the inspection hour was a calico full length smock. It was loose fitting with no buttons, a neckline open to the waist and splits down both sides of the skirt from the waist down. We were given some fluffy wrist restraints, which when we were taken out for inspection, were clipped to a vertical pole so that our arms were fully extended above our heads. It was quite comfortable at first, but the last half hour or so was agony and my arms were like jello when they were eventually released.

A woman, short, dumpy and fifty-ish was one of the first to come to me. I was shocked at the liberties she took, but we were warned beforehand to expect such treatment and behave as though we enjoyed it because it would inevitably result in keener competition amongst bidders. Steve, she forced several of her fingers into my mouth, pushing them deep enough to make me gag. She then simply went straight for my pussy, spreading my saliva to allow her to penetrate me. It was humiliating, because many people were watching and although her hand was covered by the front part of the skirt, her actions were very obvious. She wasn't done though, by a long shot. She found my clit and teased it until I squirmed, and at the same time used her other hand to work over one of my breasts, pinching the nipples so hard that I almost cried out from the pain.

The Arabian oil guys, who we were warned could be particularly invasive with their inspection, were pussy cats compared to this woman, and most of the other bidders simply checked to feel my nipples and whether or not I was shaved smooth. Some of the guys actually made me feel quite aroused. The guy who eventually won the bidding war hardly touched me during the inspection.

Because there were only six of us being auctioned, bidding was particularly brisk. I was last on the catalogue, which turned out to be an advantage. The dumpy woman started way over the reserve we had set and when bidding passed the 100 k mark I was fearful that she might win, but she could not match the 125 offer that finally won me for the weekend. The next couple of hours were a bit of a blur. We signed paperwork, the bidder transferred funds into the auctioneer's account and I signed off on the amount that would be paid to us. Steve, we thought we might gain a month or so from the proceeds of the auction, but in fact, we are now assured of survival for at least a year, even if neither of us can find work in that time."

"Who was the wealthy individual with the big bucks?"

"He is a German industrialist by the name of Helmut Muller. Apparently he owns a string of factories manufacturing machinery, engine components and mining equipment. His wife died in a motor accident about five years ago and he hasn't remarried."

"I almost hate to ask the next question, but what did he expect you to do?"

"We agreed before we started on this enterprise that we would not go down that path, Steve. What I can tell you is that he honoured all the conditions we placed in the contract and at no stage did I have to object to his actions with me. On Friday evening he found it necessary to punish me for a very obvious infraction on my part, but from there on we developed a mutual understanding and respect. On Saturday evening we attended a lavish industry dinner at one of the big hotels. The rest of our time was spent in the Royal Suite of the hotel, with room service catering for every whim, a formal lounge and dining room and a huge bedroom with an elevated glass enclosed bath and shower. And before you ask the obvious question, we had sex a number of times. I was sold, after all, as a sexual slave, so we knew that was going to happen anyway. And that's all I can tell you. Oh, and as he left me last night, he said he had added a bonus to our account."

"The worst part for me was not knowing. I walked back to my hotel after leaving you at the auction, torturing myself over allowing you to do this for us for a miserable ten thousand dollars. We must have been crazy to have even considered such a desperate move. I imagined you with a third world crazy guy, who had the resources to whisk you out of America and add you to his personal harem. I imagined you being brutally mistreated. My first shock was on Saturday, when I decided to check our bank account. I honestly thought an error had been made. My second thought was the horrors you might have to endure for a person who paid so much for your services."

"Honey, you beat yourself up over nothing. Helmut was never a threat."

"Well now that the pressure is off, we can both do some serious job hunting to make the best of our good fortune. You are sure that you're OK after your weekend with the German? We haven't made love since we were reunited. Is there anything you're not telling me?"

"Never," she lied. "Now let's head for the bedroom and see if we can't remember how to treat each other properly..."

And they did.

CHAPTER 5 - RECONNECTION

Steve and Dianne took time to reaffirm that all was well in their marriage. Steve was unable to fully relieve himself of the guilt he felt for allowing himself to sacrifice his wife to another man for two days simply to overcome their financial woes. Dianne on other hand, felt guilty for having enjoyed exciting sex with a complete stranger. They found themselves unable to discuss their feelings. Dianne would refer to their agreement prior to "that weekend", where each decided that nothing good could come from a detailed analysis of the weekend. Conversely, knowing exactly what went on might in fact create issues that could destroy their relationship and so the matter was never open for discussion.

Over time, things returned to normal. Dianne spent less and less time thinking about her Master when making love to her husband, and Steve slowly came to terms with the fact that the weekend of slavery did not have an impact on their lives and was responsible for getting them out of a terrible financial hole. The remaining worry was finding work.

Steve was offered several overseas positions but was reluctant to be apart from his wife for an extended period. Dianne could find secretarial or waitressing work, but nothing in her field of expertise and of course such jobs came with minimal rates of pay. Accepting low paid work would inevitably place them back in their original position.

Three months passed without any significant change. Steve and Dianne were as comfortable with each other as they ever had been and the elephant in the room was never discussed.

Dianne received a phone call one morning.

"Dianne, this is Helmut. In two weeks from now I want you to come to stay with me at my home in Hamburg for a week, for a visit to an industry presentation in London. Don't answer me straight away. I will talk to your husband to try to avoid any uncomfortable feelings between you. Of course I will meet all your expenses and you will receive a cash payment of $250,000 US for your time. I will expect you to agree to the same conditions as those in the auction contract, so no unexpected surprises. Please talk to your husband about it and I will phone you at this time tomorrow for your answer."

Dianne considered ringing Steve immediately to give him advance warning, but knowing he was talking to a potential employer, did not do so. Instead, she allowed her thoughts to wander to her weekend of slavery in Las Vegas and the guilty, wicked and wonderful feelings Helmut invoked in her. She guessed Steve would be totally opposed to the idea, but how good would the money be. She was conflicted. While she realised and understood that Steve would object strenuously to the thought of selling herself into a week of voluntary slavery, she found herself longing to submit to Helmut again and experience the excitement of his body against hers.

A clearly disturbed Steve strode through the front door.

"You're not going."

"Steve I know you don't want this any more than I do, but a quarter of a million dollars US for a week of my time? It's an insane offer that will set us up for life. What did Helmut say to you?"

"Just that he wants you as his escort to an important industry function in London, and your company for a few days in addition. Honey, we cannot go through life by selling you every time we run short of cash. You can't seriously believe that you want to be with this man again. No, you're not going."

She knew better than to continue the argument, busied herself in preparing their dinner and the two sat in relative silence, neither wishing to reopen the discussion.