Day One: The Gift
Ian sat on the edge of the unmade bed, his eyes examining the "gift" his wife presented to him. It was a thin, black, nondescript box with a simple red bow tied around it. Emma stood beside him, tapping her foot in anticipation.
"Come on, open it, already!" Emma said with a smile.
Ian was more than a bit suspicious. In their seven years of marriage, Emma was rarely spontaneous and gifts were only exchanged on birthdays, holidays and anniversaries. Okay, maybe he was late in the exchange on a couple of those occasions, but he always made up for it in the end.
Ian carefully untied the ribbon like he was disarming a bomb then gently lifted the lid.
Inside, nestled in soft velvet, were four metal rings. The smaller two were gun-metal black, the kind you would wear on your fingers. The other two were much larger, rounded like doughnuts and looked like high-tech toys. Both of these had a dozen small LED lights embedded into them, facing inward. The size and shape of the rings gave Ian pause.
"What is this?" Ian asked, picking up the largest of the rings. It was cold, heavy, and he noticed small, rounded, springy knobs between each light, similar to the ones on those fitness devices you wore on your wrist.
"It's called a Dikbit," Emma said. "It's a little something I feel we can use in our relationship. You know, to spice things up."
Ian glanced nervously between the rings and Emma. "Spice things up? If it's what I think it is, it looks... intense."
"Oh, it's more than intense, Ian," Emma said, stepped closer and crossing her arms. "It's control. My control. That's what you want, isn't it? That's what you've been looking at online: female domination, chastity, denial..."
Ian's face flushed. "You--how did you--?"
"Let's just say I did a little browsing of my own," Emma said, a mischievous smile playing across her lips. "And I figured, why not make your fantasies a reality?"
Ian swallowed hard. The thought of Emma knowing his secret desires was mortifying, but the idea of surrendering to her, of having her take charge... He couldn't deny it excited him.
Emma took the ring from his hand and spun it around her finger. "Trust me, Ian. You'll love this."
Ian hesitated. Did he really want to do this? Was their relationship ready for this new direction? Again, he looked at the contents of box, then ring in Emma's hand, then the commanding expression on her face. He then realized he had been holding his breath. Exhaling his doubts, he knew the answer: "Okay. I'm in."
With a look of victory, Emma took a step back from the bed. "Smart choice. Now stand and remove your clothes. All of them."
Emma crossed the room to the nightstand as Ian quickly struggled to disrobe. She returned with a bottle of lube and tapped the ring against it impatiently as Ian appeared to have lost the ability to undress himself.
Tossing the last of his socks onto the bed Ian stood, facing Emma, feeling the breeze from air conditioner chill his exposed skin.