Chapter 23 Shade, http://www.hotelshade.com We entered into a much-changed dungeon from the dusty enclosure in which we had played the previous night. There were candles lit along every wall and by their flickering light we could see the curved ceiling and the polished stone walls. There was a gleam along each wall that I was able to identify as steel beams set between the stone slabs. The ceiling itself was made up of arched timber and wide planks that glowed a deep red in the light. Gone was the scent of mildew and age, and instead I could smell freshly polished leather and the acid sweet scent of violets. The floor was polished to a high gleam and I realized that beneath the dust we had stepped through the previous night, this floor was made of hardwood planks to match the ceiling. Mistress Nicolette stood in the center of the room, one hand wrapped around the twined ropes of the swing, while the other tapped a two foot crop against the heel of her boot. She was dressed from head to toe in a black and silver pinstripe suit. Her hair was gathered back into a strict bun and on her face was a curious grin. I looked her in the eye and announced our arrival. It felt somehow necessary and appropriate in the solemn moment. Her smile widened and she visibly relaxed. She tucked the crop through a loop on her belt and stepped down off the dais. "Welcome to the pink poodle house of pleasure student Master-in-training Xeno, may I give your order?" Her grin widened as she saw the look of startled confusion on my face. She nodded to a monitor set high above the door and I realized it showed a security camera view of the entry hall. "I saw the two of you coming and decided to perform a pop quiz. You have passed with flying colors I might add, but I did want to discover myself if your ability to recognize a moment of ritual was a mere fluke, or an actual skill of observation." She grinned again and gestured. Her slave girl brought two steaming mugs of coffee and a bottle of water. "I also wanted to break the tension, thus the ''pink poodle house of pleasure'' I''ve been dying to use that line for ages." Her infectious laughter rang out through the dungeon and the walls seemed to brighten with the sound of it. "Have some more coffee. I sent up enough for you and your slave to have a single cup each this morning. I trust you enjoyed your breakfast?" I nodded. "Good. Now your slave is going to have some very high demands placed on her, so I wish her to drink water only for the remainder of our time down here. She will need it to process the toxins of strain and fatigue." She must have seen my look of distress because her voice instantly became reassuring. "Do not worry about your slave, she will be well taken care of throughout your training. When I say the toxins of strain and fatigue, I mean the same toxins that build up whenever people exert themselves. This is something about which you must learn. When you tie your slave to a pole and give her fifty lashes, you are creating in her a sequence of physical reactions. Pain causes her to release endorphins as well as sweat and muscle tension. The fact of her serving you will fill her with a sense of well being. You will also be inflicting, at the very least; small bruising on her body which she will need to heal. And, assuming you are doing it correctly, she will be riding a high that will not allow her to be aware of what is going on. There are more functions that will be going on in her system as well, but these are simple enough to start with." Nicolette walked a circle around us, looking Rose and me up and down the entire time. "Your outfits will suffice for the moment, your slave will be stripped to the skin very soon, and you may find you need to, at the very least, remove your shirt. This is very hot work and you will want to be as comfortable and free of distraction as possible." She reached out and her slave immediately provided her with a bottle of water. She drank in slow sips and handed the bottle back before continuing. "Let us begin with a simple lesson in the mechanics of the relationship between a slave and his or her master. For the sake of brevity, and because both of our slaves are female, I''m going to refer to them as female. Don''t let this bias your mind, Xeno. In general you will find far more male subs and slaves than female. Now, to address the first lesson of caring for a slave. In order to get my water, I could have taken three steps and gotten my own bottle of water. However, a slave, as opposed to a simple sub, or a masochist for that matter, lives to serve. Perhaps not in all of her life, my slave is in charge of three major divisions of her company, during her day-to-day life. But when she comes to me she releases all of that and gives me complete control over her safety, her well being, her thoughts and actions, and her life. She places in me a great debt of trust." Nicolette paused and her slave again stepped forward with the water bottle. Nicolette thanked her slave, sipped again, and sent her scurrying back out of range with a resounding swat on her unprotected ass. I noticed the slave was wearing a basic string bikini, her body glowed in the candlelight, but I didn''t have time to appreciate the view because Nicolette was speaking again. "My slave derives much of her pleasure from simply serving me, we have sex, oh my do we have sex, but sex is so fleeting. It is the thing of moments where a relationship built on this foundation of trust is so much deeper than just a bit of slip and slide between the sheets. When we met, my slave and I, I was in control of my life. I did everything for myself. It had been quite some time since I had found a servant with whom I could share myself and I had fallen out of the habit of being served. My slave recognized in me the dominance she needed to make her life complete, and I recognized the submission in her that I need to make me complete. But as I say, I was out of the habit. I had been without for so long that I had begun to dominate my own life as a surrogate slave." Nicolette sipped from the cup of coffee I had forgotten she also held. "You see. It is easy to do for oneself. It is easy to just drink the coffee and be done with it. But I commanded my slave this morning to do two things. She would attempt to read my gestures and provide whatever I needed when I reached out my hand like this." Nicolette reached out and this time her slave was there, underneath Nicolette''s arm. A hug had happened through teamwork. Nicolette muttered something that sounded remarkable like ''Smart-ass'' under her breath and the slave stepped back out of the circle of light with a mischievous grin on her face. I also ordered her to remain silent unless spoken too, or in case of emergency. I do not like to be interrupted while I teach, and she and I do not always share the same views on some of my methods." Domina Nico laughed at the confused look I gave her. "You are surprised that we have a difference of opinion? But why? We are both human, she is a brilliant woman my slave. I do not pretend to understand her every motivation, nor do I claim to control her mind so completely that she does not have independent thought. A very important part of what we do, both we as a couple, and we as the group in this lifestyle, is aftercare. In aftercare you give everyone involved an opportunity to speak and discuss their impressions of what has happened. In many cases my slave has told me of ways she has thought of to improve my performance. I demand this of her in fact, and it is a very high demand indeed." Domina Nico again sipped her coffee and then settled herself into the swing, which left Rose, and I standing in front of her. "Not only do we discuss additions to our actions, we also discuss the ramifications of what we do, the end result, the sensations and emotions of the moment, and the longer lasting impressions that will stay with us throughout time." "It is very easy in vanilla sex to have quick and easy sex. Well, perhaps easy is not the best of terms, and for that matter, even the five-minute quickie is not as simple as it is made out to be. There are strong emotions generated no matter how uninvolved the sex itself. A quickie between two complete strangers with no trappings other than the meeting of flesh is the purest for of sex for the sake of sex, and even then; each member of the tryst will take away with them impressions, satisfaction, or a lack thereof, and so much more. But now I am rambling. Let us begin with a simple demonstration of the mechanics and then we can further discuss the motivation behind our actions." Nicolette stood and led the way across the room to the fucking machine. I felt Rose trembling beside me and I squeezed her hand reassuringly for a moment until I realized that it was not with fear that trembled. I could feel her hand warm in my own and the flush was back in her throat. I looked sidelong at her and saw her lips beginning to swell and her nipples to harden beneath her linen shift. Nicolette commanded Rose to prepare the machine and gave her a numerical reference for which dildo to place on the machine. While we watched her carefully lube the silicon appendage and affix it to the machine, Nicolette spoke to me. "In giving her the command to prepare this machine herself, we build the tension. She is now guiding the lubricant along the length and width of the shaft that will soon be inside her. She is imagining the sensations that will assail her and she now has a moment of silence to wonder what, if anything, we have planned, in addition to her impalement and excitement." I watched Rose as she went through the slow sure motions of finishing with the lubricant and then reaching behind the machine to retrieve the controls. The dildo was firmly affixed to the plug, and all was ready. Rose was now breathing quickly and I could appreciate Nicolette''s words. The flush of arousal was high in Rose''s cheeks, and her eyes were glazed with her excitement. I had no doubt the lubricant had been unnecessary, but when I glanced back to the dildo, I saw that not only had she lubed it, she had first placed a condom over it''s length. Understanding dawned as I realized that this was a public dungeon that would be used by numerous people. The condom allowed for a much stronger guarantee of cleanliness and the lube would ensure that the condom would not break. Rose came to stand between us, hesitation clear in her face. She looked back and forth between Nicolette and myself while she presented the controller in her outstretched hands. I saw the confusion and reacted immediately. "Give the controller to Mistress Nico my love. She is the Lord of the dungeon and she is teaching both of us right now." I saw the tension melt from Rose''s shoulders as she followed my orders. Nicolette on the other hand tensed and straightened as she accepted the controller. "That was very well done Xeno, I am impressed by both your observation and control of the moment. I would however admonish you on one point. As you stated, I am currently in charge, titles aside the orders are mine to give until I say otherwise. You acted instinctively to free your slave of any tension, but what if you wanted to build that tension a bit? You could have used it power her release and intensify both her emotions and her sensations. I am not saying that confusion is a good state in which to keep your slave, but on occasion, it can be planned and used to your advantage. Also, in this case, the release of being allowed to serve her master has allowed Rose to relax and with that relaxation, some of the sexual tension has also gone of out her system. Not to worry though, it is for this reason that I chose this as our first demonstration. Very soon her tension level will be immaterial." Nicolette grinned and for a moment I was reminded of Devon''s mention of throwing me to the sharks. Nicolette turned to watch Rose as she stepped back to the machine and waited for her next order. I could tell that Rose had at least observed this machine and the protocol''s that she was following, and from her excitement the earlier night, I assumed her knowledge was from personal experience. Nicolette instructed her to seat her self being very specific as to the fact that Rose was to sit facing us, and to impale herself vaginally. I watched, fascinated as Rose knelt above the machine and guided the dildo to herself with her hands. As it cam closer I noted that while short, the dildo was quite wide and I could tell Rose was quite aware of the intrusion as she rocked back and forth a bit to ease her body''s accommodation of the object. "Now the fun begins." Whispered Nicolette. "Observe, and learn." And with those words she twisted a dial on the box she held and then flipped a switch at the bottom of the machine. The effect was instantaneous. Rose convulsed and leapt from the machine as the first vibrations coursed through her body. She lay panting on the ground for a moment and Nicolette again flipped the switch so that the low hum of the machine died away. "Rose, stand and present yourself!" Nicolette exclaimed. Rose was immediately on her feet, her hands behind the small of her back and her face turned to her feet. Her shoulders were back and her body held taut so that all her charms pressed beautifully against the sheer material of her shift. Again Nicolette spoke to me in an aside. "A vibrator alone is just sex play, what comes next is domination. I overwhelmed her on purpose, in effect giving her a nearly undoable task. Now we give her the punishment for failure." She handed me the box and I glanced down to see that the dial had been turned to ten, the maximum setting. Nicolette stalked to Rose''s side and walked a slow circle around her while I watched. When Nicolette spoke, it was with a strong carrying voice and I could see the effect it had on Rose. "You did not have permission to leave the machine Rose. You disobeyed me and nearly spoiled my fun. As you punishment, you will not be allowed to come unless I give my permission. Do you understand?" Rose nodded her head in quiet acknowledgment. "Also my dear, you will not make any move to lift yourself off the machine. You will not attempt to lessen your contact with the dildo or the vibrations, your may make as much noise as you wish, but you must tell me when you are close to cumming. Do you understand?" Again Rose nodded. This time the tremble was back, and I could see her shoulders stiffening with what looked like anticipation. "Now Rose, resume your seat." While Rose sank back unto the phallus, Nicolette returned to my side and retrieved the box. This time I watched her turn the dial down to a setting of one. When Rose was fully seated, Nicolette commanded her to place her hands behind her back and lean forward. This made certain that a swift rise from her seat would be impossible, and increased the contact between her labia and the silicon testes, which would soon be vibrating at potentially tremendous speed. I realized that Rose had no way of knowing the Nicolette had turned down the dial, and I saw Rose''s entire body go tense when Nicolette said "Now let''s try that again." Nicolette waited a half-second to let Rose anticipate the jolt of sensation and then again she flipped the switch. Again the reaction was immediate. Rose''s entire body tightened and a scream broke free from her lips. She shuddered as though under a thousand volts of electricity and in panic I stepped toward her and would have wrenched her from the machine had Nicolette not stopped me with a hand at my shoulder. "No Xeno, nothing is wrong, the machine is not malfunctioning. I have just built the tension to such a level that the lightest touch was enough to wrench an orgasm from her body. She will of course have to be punished, but in a bit. For the moment let us continue to enjoy her pleasure and the control we have over it. Now watch." I did watch, and I saw that while she had convulsed and her entire body had whipsawed over the machine, Rose had held the essence of the pose into which she had been ordered. Now she sat, minute aftershocks of pleasure still coursing through her body as the low vibrations translated directly from the machine to her clit and vaginal nerves. Her cries were quieter now, rhythmic. And she had the most sexual grin on her face that I had ever seen. Nicolette whispered into my ear. "She is beyond words now and all she knows is the orders I give her. Hold your tongue so that we do not introduce confusion to her mind." And then she raised her voice. "Rose, place your hands in front of you and support your weight with them." I watched as Rose did exactly as ordered. She brought her hands around to the front of the machine and leaned forward. Her expression underwent a swift transformation from a relaxed basking in the afterglow of her orgasm to a sudden return to arousal. "Leaning forward releases some of the pressure from her G-spot, but it allows more vibrations to actually hit her there. It also mutes the vibrations against her clitoris by increasing the contact against the silicon. In this case, the change in the quality of the contact increases her arousal. She is deep in sub-space because I have given her complete and total domination to follow. She is now able to release her control and surrender completely to my whim. And I don''t know about you, but I live for this moment. The moment when the slave''s submission is complete and total." Nicolette then turned the dial one notch, to a setting of two. Rose''s stomach began to quiver and her thighs tightened against the tube on which she sat. He moans grew in volume and became even more rhythmic as the vibrations cut through her resolve to stave off her next orgasm. I watched her nipples come to full hardness and the hollow of her throat turned the red of a rose in bloom. The scent of arousal was strong in the room by now and Rose was not the only source. A sideways glance at Nicolette showed me that she was licking her full lips and watching Rose''s sinuous movements ravenously. My own arousal was climbing at the same pace and I could feel the texture of my clothing and a slight breeze from the hall through which we had entered. I noticed a change in the tone of Rose''s voice and saw motion from the corner of my eye as Nicolette worked hurriedly to turn the vibrations back down to their lowest setting. Rose froze for a moment her back arched and her mouth open wide in an "O" of pleasure. The commandment not to cum was now firmly set in her mind and had been reinforced by the lowering of the vibrations as she reached a state of near orgasm. Her body on another hand was striving towards its own pleasures and I watched the internal struggle not to rub herself against the silicon in an effort to reach satisfaction. I realized now the wisdom of Nicolette''s choice in phalluses. The one she had chosen was short, wide, and slick. There was none of the texturing some of the other devices exhibited, and in this it was easier for Rose to stave off that forbidden pleasure. If Nicolette had chosen the one that had so caught Rose''s eye the other night, with it''s hundreds of nubbly tendrils rising off the faux scrotum, the merest beat of her heart would have been enough to push Rose right back over the edge. And the squat nature of the dildo was perfect to allow for long term impalement. It spread her wide open and kept her aware of her situation without stretching her back wall in a manner that while fun in the short term would have precluded the long term torture Nicolette seemed to have in mind. When Rose''s breathing had regained a slower pace and the movements of her body had become more rhythmic, Nicolette again twisted the dial to it''s second setting, this time though she waited only long enough for Rose to react before she twisted it back down. Rose was now gleaming with a sheen of sweat and her eyes were closed to the world; turned inward to a private world of pleasure and waiting. Nicolette began to rotate the dial slowly, bringing Rose''s breath to a gasping peak before turning it back down again, over and over all the while slowly increasing the intensity until the machine was moving back and forth between a five and a three. There was no rhythm to Rose''s cries now, she had been reduced to her nerve endings and the sensations Nicolette could pull from them. Rose''s movements were now tied to Nicolette''s control like a marionette to its strings. "Step up to her now and set your hands on her shoulders. She is well trained, and will do the rest. But please, try not to cum yourself, in the state I have brought her to, your release will be her release and all of our hard work will be ruined." There was a grin in Nicolette''s voice and I could tell she was enjoying herself immensely. I was not sure I liked being given orders anymore, but I complied as I was, at the moment, the student. I walked carefully to stand directly in front of Rose. I stood so close I could feel her chaotic voice washing over me as Nicolette continued to play with the box. I remembered the request not to come and commanded my nerves not to betray me as I gently placed my hands on Rose''s shoulders. The temptation to press down was overwhelming as I felt the tremors of her near state with my fingertips. I wanted to act and make her explode under my hands, but I was fascinated with the process that had been initiated and equally wanted to see it through. The second my hands made contact with her shoulders, Rose opened her eyes and when she saw me her smile turned to one of hunger and joy. Her hands came up quickly and before I knew what was happening we were enacting the fantasy from the night before. Rose had my rigid length out of my pants so quickly that I gasped in surprise when I felt the heat of her mouth engulf me. Her head bucked backward as my muscles spasmed and I nearly drove the length of my erection down her throat. A moment later she had settled into a slow rhythm and I was left standing in bliss with my hands feeling her muscles bunch and release with her movements. Through the haze of my pleasure I immediately understood the intent of Nicolette''s plot. The act of sucking me was drawing Rose''s attention away from the vibrations so that while the sensation still grew and intensified, her brain was now occupied with my pleasure. I could also understand why, in these circumstances especially, my release would spell the end of this cycle of arousal. I held my breath and counted to ten while the pressure began to mount in my groin. I could tell that I was getting close to the point of no return and I turned my head to look at Nicolette who now had a gleam in her eye that I could not interpret. She saw my look though and signaled me to step away. I lifted my hands from Rose''s shoulders and when her eyes again opened to look I took a slow step back from her. Slow partially to avoid startling her and partially to avoid becoming entangled in my pants, which were now around my ankles. I popped free from Rose''s mouth with a pop and for a moment she leaned further forward, her tongue trying to reach me. At the moment that she leaned forward, Nicolette must have twisted the dial to the max because Rose''s entire body again convulsed and her lips drew back in a cry of pleasure. I was certain she was in the throes of orgasm until her body slumped and the hum of the machine died away yet again. Rose was now supporting her entire body on her arms and her shoulders were shuddering with the nearness of her orgasm. Her breath was now coming in quick shallow gasps and I could see the spots high on her cheeks signaling oxygen intoxication. Nicolette led Rose to the whipping post next. I help my breath in mixed anticipation and worry. I had never whipped anyone and I had no idea what it would entail. I understood the basic mechanics of course, hold whip, arm back, arm forward, whip hits victim. But that was as far as my knowledge of the matter went, and when it came down to it, I didn''t even know which whips were safe for human consumption, as it were. Nicolette on the other hand appeared to know exactly what she was doing. As she led Rose to the post, she was speaking in a slow soothing voice. "You understand that you have to be punished for cumming without permission, I am going to deal you nine blows with the cane dearest. When the ninth blow falls, all will be forgiven and we can go back to our fun. Do you understand?" Rose nodded in mute understanding her eyes were wide and her nostrils flared. She was still clearly deep in sub space and Nicolette''s words were going straight to a place in her subconscious that was not normally accessible. I knew that when the ninth blow fell, Rose would feel completely forgiven, and I began to understand a bit more of the importance of choosing one''s words carefully with a slave. Nicolette turned Rose to face the post and when Rose lifted her arms obediently, Nicolette reached down and pulled the shift over my slave''s head in one quick and easy motion. I watched that smooth soft flesh as it was exposed not only to my loving eyes, but to the savage blows that were soon to rain down. Nicolette bound Rose''s wrists to the post and stepped back to admire her work. Rose stood, her back arched and her buttocks quivering in the cool air of the dungeon. I could see the glisten her excitement on her inner thighs and indeed, all the way down to her knees. Her Breath was coming in quick gasps, and I yearned to calm her, but I knew that in this moment, both she and I had agreed to place her safe keeping in Nicolette''s capable hands. Nicolette stepped back to me and lowered her voice so that only I could hear. "Now we let her wait a few minutes. I will let the lesson of what she has done sink in and use this time to instruct you. For this punishment I will be using a cane, basically a long thin stick or rod of some material. My canes are all made of a synthetic plastic that will not splinter or break unless I am doing something very wrong, and you must remember that that is important. Splinters are not a fun pain; they are just a pain in the ass. Now, the rod is an intense tool, it causes sharp stinging pain because the impact is concentrated in such a small area. You have to be careful with a rod because it can cause bone bruising or other damage much more easily than some of the other toys of impact. In Rose''s case, she is slender and her frame is small so I will concentrate all of my attention on her buttocks where she is the most padded. With those who carry a bit more weight, well, in comparison to Rose here, a lot more weight, you can aim for the upper back but always be careful and feel your area before hand." And with those words, Nicolette stepped forward and held out her hand. Her slave appeared from the shadows and placed a foot long cylinder of black plastic in her hand. The cylinder was no thicker than my pinky finger and at one end it had a small loop that perfectly fit Nicolette''s hand. I saw that the plastic quivered as she moved, and for a moment I imagined the plastic remembered its purpose and was impatient to be on with the task. 2005 ©  Shmeng http://www.shmeng.com/