My Alice woke to find herself cuffed and bound again. This time, she wore a black leather collar around her neck, with a brass loop for a leash, and a single, tiny brass padlock. Matching cuffs were locked to her wrists and ankles. Not that she needed a collar to remind her of her status, any more than she needed the whip to enforce it. But the symbol added, well, spice. Besides, she looked lovely in it. Her neck was positively made for a slave's collar.
I'd attached her cuffs to the legs of a good, old-fashioned spanking bench that kept her secure and raised her bottom nicely. I'd removed the anal plug and vibrator. I had not bothered to gag her again.
I was seated nearby, clad again in my smoking jacket. I'd poured another glass of wine, but I had not tasted it. Instead, when I saw Alice's eyes fluttering open, I knelt and raised he glass to her lips. She drank gratefully. Then she looked at me. I smiled, but I did not speak.
"So," she said at last, in that lovely British accent. "No gag this time?"
I smiled again. "Not now, I think, my treasure."
"And what if I use my safe word?"
I shrugged. I didn't intend to lie to her, but I saw no reason to tell give her a direct answer, either.
"Do you want to? Really? Do you want to leave here and go back to that drab and empty little flat? Or would you have stay here, treasured and appreciated? For tonight at least?" I smiled again. "Would you like to come like that again?"
Her cheeks grew red as she flushed in a most charming manner. "Oh my God. I've never come like that. I didn't know I could come like that."
"I can show you more, Alice."
"Caroline," she corrected me, firmly.
"Not in here," I said. Then, more gently: "Caroline belongs to your old life. Are you so eager to be her again?"
Alice moved, testing her bonds. "Do I have a choice?"
"You didn't answer my question, pet."
Alice blushed and closed her eyes.
"I remember all those talks we had," I said, my voice low and husky, almost a whisper. Just as I'd said when she first arrived, when I'd first bound and gagged her. "When you told me your darkest, secret fantasies. I made them come true for you. Didn't I, my treasure?"
Alice opened her eyes and met my gaze. "Not like I had a choice, did I?"
"If you'd had a choice, your wish wouldn't have come true, would it?"
She closed her eyes again. Then she shook her head. "No," she said at last.
"No what, Alice?"
"No... no, Sir."
"Very good, my Alice. Now then. Enough of this nonsense. Do you want to leave here? Now? Into the rain and cold? Or do you want to stay here tonight? In my home, where I can keep you warm and protected. Do you want to learn what I can still teach you? About yourself and your lovely, precious body?"
She flushed again and turned her gaze to the floor. I reached down, hooked by finger through the ring in her collar, and raised her face, forcing her to meet my gaze. I kissed her lightly but I spoke firmly. "Answer me. Now."
She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I want to stay here," she said. "With you. Tonight. Sir."
"What is your name?" I asked her.
No answer. I waited. Nothing.
"What is your name?" I repeated, sternly. My command voice that brooked no nonsense.
Again, hesitation, because in her heart, the girl who had been Caroline knew she wasn't just answering a simple question. She wasn't playing a game.
She was surrendering. Caroline was a free woman. Alice was a sex slave. It was time to decide who she wanted to be.
I saw a single tear in her eye before she looked up at me again. "My name is Alice. Sir. Your Alice."
"Good girl," I said, standing. I moved behind her. "You are a very good girl."
"Thank you." Now her voice wasn't even a whisper. "But please. Sir. Please don't hurt me again."
"Alice, my sweet treasure, my cherished prize. Don't you see? The pain is part of the pleasure. Mine, naturally. But yours, too. You will learn that."
I had placed a selection of crops and floggers nearby. I had spanked her soundly before, but it was time her shapely bottom met the whip. I selected a flogger, one longer and more supple than the one I'd used on her breasts. Her nether cheeks had paled; it was time to warm them again.