"...naked and fearless..."
James Maynard KeenanβTool
Chapter 1
"Where am I?"
At first, Grace simply knew it was dark. Then she realized that she was blindfolded. In a moment she became aware that her hands were bound behind her back, and then that her ankles were restrained as well. The ground she sat upon was cold and hard against her naked butt and against the backs of her thighs and calves. All naked.
The air stank a bit. The unmistakable aroma of fermented grapes.
They had been planning this for a while. She immediately remembered her safe word: doorknob. Everyone involved would know it, and all she had to do in the event anything exceeded her comfort level was say it. And then it would end. And so she was in control. But, now that it was actually happening, she was surprised by how nervous she was. Excited, too.
It seems she had passed out. That wasn't exactly according to plan, but not beyond the working parameters, either. Having lowered her inhibitions with drink more than once, the experiences usually enjoyable, she had let herself go a bit. It had been such a glorious day, sunny and warm with a slight breeze, and they had all been having such a great time, drinking so many fabulous wines, laughing and taking festive photos of one another in the large limo they hired. Perhaps she had had one too many, but...
Where had she been when she passed out? Where was she now? How long had she been out? It was all somewhat unclear. And so her mind began to backtrack, piecing together the events of the day, leading up to this moment as best she could.
They had been wine tasting in Sonoma, a special outing with new friends. But the destination had been changed at the last minute, to someone named Gordon's house. And so that's where she must be. Gordon must own a winery. It was all according to plan. She was fairly sure.
She'd lost track of the wineries they'd visited. They just seemed to go on and on, one tasting room after another, one tiny glass of this followed by a thimble-full of that, and so on, and so forth, and it was impossible to know exactly how many of those tiny sips of wine she had consumed. She couldn't even be sure how many different tasting rooms she'd been in. But, judging by the pressure she was feeling in her bladder, they'd been to quite a few. Grace was still very buzzed, her head throbbing slightly from too much drink, but the shock of her newfound bondage was spilling some clarity into the alcohol's dull haze.
Outside temperatures had been in the mid-eighties, but the floor upon which she sat, legs out straight and spread slightly apart, was cool and comfortable. She could not feel the sun on her pale skin; she was clearly inside, somewhere.
The floor was uneven and slightly rough, maybe bricks, or pavers. The inside of a winery, right. Gordon's winery. Who was Gordon? Maybe this was one of those underground caves where they store the wine barrels. Or a room for some other stage of the process. She briefly tried to remember the things she had learned in that viticulture course she had taken in college. What was that? Grace thought she heard something, like water splashing, but then it was quiet but for the buzzing in her ears.
She and Sam had discussed this scene in great detail. No gags, no pain, but hardly any other non-obvious limits. So, mostly comfortable this explanation of her situation, she did not panic. There was no gag in her mouth, after all.
Still, she couldn't deny that she was nervous, and maybe a little scared. How long had she been out? How had she gotten tied up. Who was Gordon? Where was everyone? Where was Sam?