u/Past-Brilliant-3036

Sorry this one is a bit short. Having trouble with the 40k character limit and formatting.

The next day was another series of speakers mixed with an entertainer and a great deal of self-congratulating executives talking about how well their divisions did the last fiscal year. It was hard to sit through most times. Today was no different except for one exception. When Emma came down for breakfast before things kicked off, Alex immediately noticed the change in her jewelry. Gone were the Ghostface images from her earrings, instead replaced on each side by a particularly shaped key. A third key rested on a thin chain around her neck. All three of the keys for his chastity cage were hanging there in full view, yet completely out of his reach.

Emma's usual quirky style meant that no one even batted an eye at what she was wearing. Alex, on the other hand, couldn't concentrate on anything else but her and his keys. Emma was over the moon with his reaction. She had hoped that he would be unable to focus on anything but her and she wasn't disappointed. She even asked him to get her a cup of water and smiled as he practically jumped out of his chair to comply.

By the end of the day, he was a nervous wreck and she couldn't help but enjoy his growing frustration. She had been as friendly as she had the previous day but had refrained from any mention of the fact that she now held the keys to his chastity cage. Alex was quite content to simply be near her, not needing anything more than the simple secret that they shared. They ate dinner together again, though this time they were joined by another couple who they were familiar with from the conference. Afterwards, Emma suggested they go for a walk before it got too dark and Alex happily agreed to accompany her. The others chose to remain in the hotel and take advantage of the free drinks.

The area around the convention center where they were staying catered to groups like theirs, with bars and entertainment venues all around the first few blocks of the building itself. To actually see the real city, you had to walk at least a few blocks away. Alex was still regularly going to the gym back home, having always maintained his physical self well. Emma was young enough that she still had the energy of youth behind her even without regular bouts of physical fitness. It wasn't long before they'd left the bar scene behind and found themselves walking along commercial businesses, mostly closed for the evening.

Conversation flowed easily between them, mostly focused on work and the occasional mention of leisure activity. It felt strangely like a date for both of them, though neither would have been willing to admit it even to themselves. The chastity cage never came up once, which was perhaps surprising since it was certainly a big part of each of their thoughts. Alex had no idea that Emma was taking a particular route that she'd planned ahead of time. He was enjoying the company far too much to even think that she might have an ulterior motive for the walk.

Most of the storefronts were shuttered now, catering to the business traffic from those who worked the nine-to-five jobs in the area. Occasionally, they would pass an open storefront, though none of them had been interesting enough to lure them in. Not until they came across a place with a most unusual display in the front window, did they do more than give a passing glance.

This store was different. The display window contained a trio of mannequins decked out in a very unusual style. One was wearing a dress made of shiny latex. Another was dressed in leather, complete with a full gimp hood over the head, while the last was in an otherwise unremarkable pair of panties and bra, except that the garments were once again made of latex. There were other props there, too. The mannequin in only undergarments was holding a short multi-strand whip in one hand and a pair of handcuffs in the other. Above the store, in glowing neon lights, was the name of the establishment.

"Kink Box," read Emma aloud with a smile.

"That sounds like a bad name for a video game console," Alex joked. "Hey honey, I'm just going to play with the Kink Box a bit before bed."

Emma laughed at his joke, then turned towards the entrance. "We have to look. I mean, it's right here."

Alex glanced around, wondering if any of his co-workers had made it out this far. "Well, why not?"

Inside, they found a large open space full of old DVD movies and the generic kind of sex toys you'd see in any adult store. The front display had not been misleading, however, as the back half of the store was all about kink. Rack upon rack of leather and latex clothing in more colors than you would have guessed were surrounded by shelf-covered walls, filled with all sorts of toys for the BDSM enthusiast. A lot of the more visible stuff was straight out of '50 Shades', but there was plenty of real equipment to be found as well.

Emma had taken a virtual tour of the store that morning before she'd decided to lead Alex here. He had no idea what to expect, having never even heard of the place before that moment. She let him lead the way through the store, watching closely to see his reactions to the different things they had on sale. Occasionally, she would prompt him by picking something up just to see how he responded. She knew the store allowed you to try on most of the things on display, except for the rubber items.

She watched him as he examined several of the strap-on harnesses and the heavier leather restraints. His eyes gave away his affection for both. She went through the clothing racks looking for something she could try on when a store employee approached her. "Anything I can help you find?" asked the older woman. She was very friendly and easy to talk to.

Eventually, she decided to try a leather skirt that went down to her ankles. It had skulls and smiling emoji faces mixed into a pattern along both seams, and was just funky enough to interest her. She also let the sales girl talk her into trying a leather corset that matched. Fortunately, they were willing to help her with the laces. It really flattered her figure and she was anxious to see what Alex would say when he saw her in it. She stepped out of the dressing room and had to look around for him. He'd wandered over to the shoe section. When he heard the two women talking, he turned to look their way.

His reaction couldn't have been better if she'd planned it. He stood there with his mouth open, staring at her in the outfit. Clearly, he liked what he saw. He recovered faster than most guys would have, but she'd seen his true reaction and that was enough. "Wow, that's...really a flattering look for you," he said lamely.

"You think so," she asked, turning and looking in a mirror, though in reality she was giving him an even better look at her. "It's not too much?"

"Oh, it's, no....it's, wow," he fumbled with the words. "You'd need different shoes with that, though."

She had no trouble seeing through his words. He may have said that she needed them, but what he was really saying was that he was really desperate to see her in shoes that he liked. The point was to tease him, after all, so she decided to indulge him in his own destruction. "You have something in mind?"

He turned towards the shoes so fast his head nearly spun and the saleswoman exchanged a knowing look with her. He picked up a pair of pumps, then put them back as if deciding, even though she was pretty sure he already knew exactly what he was going to select. In truth, she was curious to see what his tastes were. In the end, he selected a pair of Demonia boots that she might have been interested in herself, were it not for the rather tall heels. The name said they were called 'Torment' and that seemed quite appropriate.

The boots were calf high and had at least a five inch heel which was offset by the one-and-a-half inch platform. She knew she could manage a three inch heel with no problem and figured an extra half inch wouldn't be too crazy to try on. She actually liked the boots a lot. They had crossing straps running around the upper part with a little spike-covered steel ball hanging in front ornamentally. Otherwise, they were black leather with a chunky heel instead of a stiletto like she thought he'd pick out. She didn't wear heels often but these boots were actually something she might have considered, if it weren't for the price. At nearly two-hundred dollars, it was a luxury she couldn't afford on top of what she'd already planned to spend.

Still, she humored him and agreed to try them on. The saleswoman brought out the correct size, then offered the box to Alex, reading the pair better than even Emma would have thought. "Would you care to help her put them on?" she offered. Alex was only too eager and knelt by Emma's feet, helping her out of her current shoes. The saleswoman only smiled at her while he knelt at her feet and guided her into the boots. He laced them carefully, almost reverently and she would not have been surprised if he'd given them each a kiss when he'd finished. Emma found herself growing aroused as she sat there while he tended to her that way. It was almost a page right out of her fantasies and she knew she would be pleasuring herself to the memory of this moment later that night.

When he'd finished, he remained on his knees as she stood in the heels. She'd been correct about the heel height, they were easily manageable with the thicker heel than she'd expected and she realized she actually really liked them. Plus, he had good taste. They really did go great with the rest of the outfit. While she walked about in them, he asked the saleswoman if he could take a picture. She frowned. "Normally, we don't allow that here. Since it's just the two of you, I'll make an exception but only if you let me take the photo."

He agreed and handed her his phone, curious about why she wanted to take it. She directed Emma to a spot where there was less items on display, then beckoned Alex forward as well. "I want you here in the picture as well. Down on your knees, right here," she said, pointing a manicured finger towards a spot directly beside where Emma stood. She guided Emma to put her hand on the back of his neck then stood back and snapped several pictures while making silly little jokes to get them both smiling and laughing a bit.

The final three pictures she kept were incredible. The pose gave Emma a sense of control and power over Alex that neither of them would have believed if they hadn't been seeing it themselves. One was light-hearted, another was more straight-faced. The third just perfectly captured the mood of the evening in a way that was hard to put into words. They both exclaimed how good the pictures were, and the saleswoman beamed at the compliments.

"In another lifetime, I used to do photography of a different kind, though the loss of print has robbed us of such careers as of late," she explained.

Emma decided to buy the skirt and corset, which she'd actually already planned before she even got there that evening. As much as she liked the boots, she simply didn't want to charge that much this month on her card.

"I'll pay for her shoes," Alex said, pulling out his own card.

Emma frowned at him. "I don't need you to pay for my shoes, Alex," she said sternly. "I didn't ask you for them."

He lay his card and the box with the boots on the counter and turned to her. "I know you didn't. That's why I want to buy them for you. They're a gift, not a bribe. If you saw the way your eyes lit up when you saw yourself in the mirror the way that I did, you would feel the same way as I do."

She knew he was right. She really did like them. Still, she didn't like the idea of a man buying her a gift like that. "Well, if you're getting them for me, then I'm getting something for you in return," she said with conviction.

"You already have," he replied quietly. She understood his meaning and they stood there silently staring at one another while the saleswoman cleverly remained silent, sensing the moment was a special one for both of them.

Emma conceded. "Very well," she said to the saleswoman. "He may buy them for me, but I'm going to find something for him as well." The two went back to browsing while she began to ring up and pack the purchases to that point.

They found a display case with various chastity cages inside. There was even a full chastity belt, though this one was made for a woman instead of a man. She looked through the glass across from him. "You know, it's odd that I haven't even seen your device, don't you think?"

Her met her eyes through the display case. "I can't exactly pull it out and show it to you."

"I know, but there are ways."

He considered her words. "You really want to see it?"

"Is it like any of the cages here?"

He looked at them but none were quite the same as his. "No, not quite the same as mine, I'm afraid."

"Then yes, I want to see it. After all, I have the keys. I should at least make sure you're actually wearing it correctly."

"Your place, or mine?" he asked.

She smiled at him, satisfied. "I'll let you know."

As they continued to browse, the saleswoman stayed nearby. She wasn't intrusive but was always close enough to help with anything they needed. It didn't take Emma long to see the things that seemed to interest Alex the most were some of the anal toys and obviously, the shoe section. Even the saleswoman noticed it. "You have quite the shoe fetishist on your hands," she commented.

"I'm starting to see that."

The employee smiled. "The question is, does he like seeing you in them, or would he prefer to wear them himself?" The thought stuck with Emma as she perused the merchandise. In fact, she was watching as Alex picked up one pair of shoes after another, aware that most had severe heels and most of them were also lockable.

Meanwhile, she came across a bargain bin item that caught her eye. It was a remote controlled butt plug that came with a rubber harness to keep it in place. The box showed that the harness straps could be locked to keep the plug in place and was also compatible with most chastity cage base rings. Plus, it was marked down to half price.

"That used to be a best seller for the gay boys who shop here," the clerk informed her as she read over the box. "Apparently, it's one of the more powerful vibrators that don't require a cord. It's chargeable from a USB outlet, and has an irregular vibration pattern that you can't resist feeling."

Emma handed her the box. "Add this to my order," she said quietly, before moving to join Alex in the shoe area. She found him looking at a pair of very unusual looking shoes. They were a pair of knee high boots in pink leather with a very unusual looking foot. It took her a moment to realize what she was seeing. The boots would keep the wearer's feet in an en pointe position. It had a heavily reinforced and padded toe that made it a bit easier to stand in. She couldn't imagine wearing them, let alone trying to walk in them. They had a zipper that locked, as well as three separate locking straps across the length of the boot.

"You should try them on," she suggested as she snuck up on him.

Alex was startled by her appearance, having momentarily lost himself in fantasy with the strange ballet boots. He quickly put them down but she merely picked them back up, offering them to him.

"You should REALLY try them on," she said again, this time not making it a suggestion.

"I don't know," he stammered. "I doubt they'd have them in my size.

"You're about a ten in men's, right?" asked the saleswoman as she approached.

"Actually, it's ten-and-a-half," he replied, hoping they wouldn't have them. Alex really did like wearing women's shoes, so long as they had heels on them, especially boots. Of course, he would have been just as happy if a woman were wearing them. Still, he wasn't quite comfortable admitting that fact so openly.

"As a matter of fact, that display pair would fit you perfectly. Care to try them on?"

"Yes, he'd like that very much," Emma answered before he could get a reply out. She saw him blushing as he shrugged his shoulders.

"What the lady wants, the lady gets," he offered.

He took a seat in the chair and the saleswomen unzipped both boots, removing the stuffing paper before helping him to slip his feet inside. She made sure they were fully seated, then slid the zipper up before turning the key and locking them. Then, she buckled all three straps and secured them with the little silver padlocks that went with the boots. Emma and Alex both noticed how she kept the keys once she was finished. "If you'll excuse me for a minute, I need to take care of something. Just come up to the register when you're ready," she said with a knowing smile.

Alex looked at Emma helplessly, who only hid her own smile behind her hands as she watched him sitting there in the tall boots. "Well, at least give them a try," she suggested.

He tried to stand but almost fell, ending up falling back into the chair again. The tall heels pushed his knees higher than his butt and made it a difficult process. Plus, the chair had no arms to hold onto. On the second try, he almost managed it but couldn't quite get steady and Emma helped him awkwardly back into the chair again. On the third attempt, she helped him to get up on his toes in the boots and spun the chair about so he could use it to brace himself. It also left him unable to easily sit back down, as well.

He managed to keep his balance but couldn't quite straighten his knees out. He took a tentative step, and then another without falling. Emma gave a silent round of applause. "I'm not so sure those shoes are made for walking in the first place," she said suggestively.

Alex turned and took another step back towards the chair, but Emma merely moved it further away from him, forcing him to remain on his toes. The saleswoman watched from across the room, appreciative of the effort it took for him to manage even as well as he'd done until then. She came up behind him and took hold of his arms as they flailed around him in an attempt to maintain his balance. She pulled his arms together behind his back, merely holding them in her hands.

"Now imagine doing this with your hands secured behind your back," she teased him, unaware of how much his caged cock was straining against the sensation of wearing the boots. The undercurrent of humiliation that went with it only added to the fetish of wearing the tall heels. "Shall I add them to your purchase?"

"As much as I would love to, I think just the pair for her will be enough for now," Alex managed to say. Emma could see his soft-eyed look prominently on his face as the boots were removed and they finished ringing up the two purchases. A true gentleman, he carried both of their bags back to the hotel. They chatted amiably along the way until they entered the lobby.

Along the way, Emma asked him if he had brought any toys along with him. "I assume you bring some when you see your Domme tomorrow."

"A few, yeah," he informed her. "Mostly, she has plenty of her own. I have my cage, of course. I also have a very nice posture collar that she's fond of and a rubber hood she asked me to bring along as well."

"I saw a few of those for sale in the shop. Rubber seems awfully expensive."

He nodded. "I can be. Hoods aren't too bad unless you get into the more elaborate ones. Mine is pretty simple."

"Would you mind if I saw it?" she asked.

He felt a flutter in his chest. He would like her to see it very much but didn't want to come off as a creep. "Sure, if you'd like."

"I would," she stated. "Let's go to your room and you can show me what it looks like."

"Why don't you go back to your room and get them while I order us something for dessert?" she offered. Her smile could have melted glass right then.

He found himself captivated by this lovely young woman and the offer she had given him. She obviously knew how badly he wanted to do this but made sure they each had an out before saying it out loud. She was exceptional by any measure and a lot more than he normally expected of the younger generation of people he worked with. It hadn't passed his notice that she hadn't pulled her cell phone out once since they'd met for dinner.

His instincts told him this was someone he could trust. He wanted so badly to trust her that he worried he was making a wise decision as he rose from his seat. "I won't be long."

"Good, because if you're not back with them before our dessert arrives, there will be consequences," she said mildly. It was a superfluous threat that she had no idea how she would carry out if he failed. Still, it had the desired effect. He saw the flash of excitement pass through him as he hurriedly headed for the elevator. When he was out of sight, she beckoned to the waiter. "Two strawberry tarts, please, and be sure not to bring them until my companion returns."

Alex rushed to his room and quickly extricated the trio of keys that could unlock his chastity cage. Tucking them into his pocket, he turned and headed for the door, only to stop himself before reaching for the knob. What the hell was he doing? Was he really going to open the Pandora's Box with a young woman that could have been the same age as his daughter, had he ever had a child of his own? How much did he really know about her? Was she discreet enough to keep this between them, or would this spill out into his workplace? Every instinct he had warned him to stop, to put his keys back and to apologize to Emma for what he'd said.

Of course, his arousal had a voice in his head as well, and it was louder than all the rest as he felt himself growing harder than usual inside of the small cage he wore. He couldn't deny the thrill he was feeling at the thought of her holding his keys for a night or two. He'd have to have them back before Wednesday so he could still see the Domme he'd booked with. There was no way he would flake on her. What was the harm, really? It wasn't as though it was going to go anywhere.

He couldn't quite shake the need for caution as he reached for the door handle and opened it. As he headed for the elevator, he pulled the keys from his pocket and glanced at them. He removed one of the three and tucked it in his pocket before pressing the button for the elevator. He wouldn't use it, of course, but at least this way, he had a safety in case he needed it. He wouldn't even admit it to himself but the disappointment had already begun to set in before he reached the restaurant. He kept a brave face on but was cringing at his deception already.

He sat back down with a sigh of relief when he saw that no dessert had been delivered. He didn't want to start things off on a bad foot and wasn't sure exactly what Emma might have decided was appropriate for failing in the very first task she'd asked of him. He smiled at her across the table as she looked at him eagerly.

"I believe you have something for me?" she said, extending her hand in his direction, palm up.

He dug into his pocket and felt the two keys together on the single ring, along with the third that now lay free. Pulling the pair out, he placed them into her open palm, watching intently as she closed her hand and brought it back to herself and out of sight below the table. She placed the keys in her own pocket, feeling the warmth of them against her own thigh.

"How does that feel?"

He looked at her expectant expression. "It feels...good, actually. It's hard to define."

She kept her eyes on his and saw something there that surprised her. A hint of disappointment that she didn't quite understand. She turned to scan the restaurant and saw the waited headed their way with her order, using the time to consider the situation. Had she done something wrong? Had she missed a queue that he'd given her? No, she had been laser-focused and was sure that wasn't the case.

When understanding hit her, she had to stifle a smile. 'You sly old fox,' she thought.

The waiter departed and Alex gave her another smile, which she saw through easily. "Looks good," he said.

"You know what would look even better?" She put her hand back out on the table, palm up. "The rest of the keys your hiding laying here in my hand where they belong."

He saw her arm there and knew there was no easy way out of it. He didn't know how she had figured out the truth so easily and realized that he'd underestimated this woman despite already having a high opinion of her. The arm wasn't moving and he knew what he had to do. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled the last key and placed it in her hand.

She closed her hand again and slowly pulled her arm back, never taking her eyes off his. Her look made it clear she was less than pleased with his deception.

"I'm sorry, Emma. I..." he stammered, trying to find the right words. "Thank you, for keeping me honest. It's hard to trust someone enough, but...thank you for calling me out on it."

The sincerity in his face made it clear that she now held all of his keys. She understood his hesitance, even respected it. It was crazy to just give away the keys to something so important to a near-stranger. Still, his deceptive act had to be addressed.

"You're welcome. And thank you for trusting me with them. Have you given any thought about how long you would like me to hold them?"

He could have slapped himself right then. Of course, he realized he should have completed any negotiation before he gave them to her. Part of him was hoping she was just going to hold them for the evening, but now he realized that she expected more. "I was thinking maybe just for a day. Would you be okay returning them to me tomorrow night?"

"Yes, that seems fine with me," she replied with a smile that slowly fell from her face. "Of course, there's the matter of the penalty for trying to deceive me."

She gave him her best Domme look and saw his eyes go soft once again as he held her stare. "You do want to make that up to me, don't you?"

"I...of course, I do," he replied, feeling the walls closing in around him. "What do you suggest?"

"Suggest?" she quoted back to him. "At this point, I wouldn't call it a suggestion, would you?" He shook his head and she went on. "I thought not. After all, I have the keys, so the decision is really mine."

She reached for her fork. "Let's have some dessert, shall we?" They each ate the dessert she'd ordered, making the appropriate sounds of enjoyment where appropriate but both barely aware of what they were eating. Their minds were somewhere else.

Alex wondered how he was going to be able to swing things. He needed his keys back by Wednesday evening. It was currently Monday and she was obviously hinting at not giving him his keys tomorrow night. Surely, she wouldn't ask for much more than that. He hoped she would be willing to double the original time and still have his keys back in time to meet his Domme.

Emma, unaware of his plans for Wednesday, was already making plans of her own. She'd hoped to be able to talk him into a full twenty-four hours, with plans to find some reason to extend that time even further. As she ate the tart, she thought about how to handle what she was planning. He might balk, but she had the upper hand and they both knew it. She was hoping he would actually like the fact that she increased his time with her as his keyholder, but was determined to keep them unless he truly seemed to be upset about it. When the dessert was finished, she leaned back and gave him an appraising look before speaking. Alex sensed that she had come to a decision and waited for her to speak.

"Your wife had three things she considered absolutes for anyone she chose to be with. I have some similar ideas for anyone I choose to play with," she began. Her voice was different now, he noticed. Not exactly colder, but more determined, as though she were more sure of herself now. It was unsurprising to him, as he knew power exchange went both ways.

"Foremost among mine is honesty. I can stand deception to a point, but an outright lie is a serious breach of trust. Such a thing must be dealt with appropriately. You know you were lying to me by keeping your extra key, don't you?"

"Yes, Emma. I do, and I'm sorry," he replied softly.

"I know you are, and I even understand why you did it. But we both agree that it must be punished." She said the word with emphasis that made it clear where they both stood in this discussion. Despite being twice her age, Alex really felt the weight of his failure. He wished that he could go back and undo what he'd done. He could only nod in agreement.

"I'd planned to keep your keys for a full day," she went on. "Now, I think it's only appropriate that we extend that sentence."

He looked her in the eyes as she spoke. She saw his desire to accept her judgment and went for it. "Your keys will be returned to you on Friday, just before we both leave the conference. Until then, your cock belongs to me."

She watched him closely. She saw the emotions roll across his face. Shock, disbelief, excitement, all rolled together as he tried to process what she'd said. She was going to go on, suggesting that there might be a way for him to earn her favor and get an early release. Ideas were swimming through her own head and she wasn't sure yet what she wanted to do about them, or could do with them. Alex was the first to speak.

"Emma, I...I'll accept your decision, but I have a favor to ask first."

Now this was unexpected. For a moment, she was afraid he was going to ask to be allowed to removed the cage briefly to relieve himself, which was something she not only wouldn't do, but would severely lower her opinion of him. Instead, he surprised her with something totally different and unexpected.

"This Wednesday, I'm supposed to meet a...someone," he began hesitantly.

"A date? Are you telling me that you have a date on Wednesday? You agreed to let me hold your keys and you have a date lined up for later this week?" She felt herself getting upset with him. If this was the case, she had seriously made a mistake.

"No, not exactly," he interjected quickly. He could see where her mind was going and didn't want her to get the wrong idea, though he wasn't sure if the real reason was any better. Still, he knew honesty was the right course of action. "I have an appointment. It's...with a professional dominatrix. It's something I usually treat myself to every year when I come here."

"I see," she said, trying to buy herself some more time.

Well, that was definitely not what she expected. Emma sat there across from him, considering what he'd just said. She was still young but she wasn't a fool. She knew people had needs. She also knew that his were a bit more complex than most men. He wasn't just looking for some hook-up, he was looking for some of the intimacy and fun he'd shared with his departed wife. Somewhere inside of her beneath the firm facade she was trying and succeeding to put on, her heart nearly broke for this handsome, older, and lonely man. He was charming, not bad looking, and yet he was looking for a way to fulfill a desire she knew all too well. For a moment, she almost gave in.

"So, what's the problem?" she asked.

Alex wasn't sure how to reply. "Well, it might be a bit difficult to explain why I don't have my keys to my chastity cage when I show up." He wondered if she understood what a dominatrix actually was.

"Yes, I imagine it will be," she replied. "I'll bet you're really sorry about deceiving me now, aren't you?" Her mind was spinning along with the evolving situation. She was trying to process how odd it would be to show up without his keys, but even better thoughts were filtering in. She hadn't forgotten his mention of humiliation from earlier when he was talking about his wife.

"I suppose if you're too embarrassed, you can always cancel," she offered, quietly hoping he wouldn't do that. She wanted him to do what he'd already planned, what he obviously needed. She simply didn't care whether it was uncomfortable for him to have to explain that someone else was holding the keys to his chastity cage. From what she knew about pro-Dommes, it wasn't a complete deal-breaker for a man to not be able to access his genitals while having a session with her.

"No, I couldn't do that. Not with such short notice," he responded, clearly thinking it through.

"Then I suppose you’re going to have some explaining to do, unless you think your needs supersede my own." He looked at her then, an expression of realization dawning on him. He was thinking selfishly. He'd agreed to this and she had set her terms. Those terms weren't unrealistic, nor was the penalty for his behavior earlier. The problem was that the situation was going to interfere with his prior arrangements. He knew he was better than this.

Emma sighed. "Do I need to go with you to explain the situation?" The offer was genuine, though she wasn't sure she really wanted to do it. More importantly, she made it clear with the offer that she would be willing to help him with the problem but wasn't willing to release him from their agreement. That fact was most certainly not lost on him, either.

"No, that won't be necessary," he replied quietly. His mind was churning with his own thoughts about how he would handle the situation. It wasn't going to be an easy conversation but he knew it wasn't an absolute deal-breaker. He wasn't sure how the Domme would deal with it, though. The best he could do was just be open and up front about it before they began.

"You'll still go?" she asked.

"Yes, I wouldn't want to cancel on her like that. It's considered really bad form."

"Good boy," she replied, surprising even herself when she said it. His eyes told her that it had been the perfect reply.

*  *  *  *

Later, they both lay in their own beds in separate hotel rooms on different floors. Alex was having a hard time falling asleep. His cock had finally calmed down somewhat inside the tight cage, but his mind wouldn't stop spinning the events of the day around and around. Had he crossed a line? He knew he had but Emma had happily stepped right over it with him. He wasn't sure how he felt about her. She was cute in a way he wasn't accustomed to seeing a woman.

She was just a little heavier than ideal but far from being a big girl, not that he would have minded that much. She had a really nice face and dark curly hair that looked great. Her style was a bit far outside his comfort zone, but that wasn't unusual in men his age. Trends changed faster than he could keep up these days. Her looks put her in a category he might have called punk when he was young, but wasn't sure what it was called now. The piercings, the crazy curly hair, the makeup that sharpened her features and made her seem slightly dangerous, somehow, it was really charming to him. He couldn't stop imagining what it would be like to be restrained by her and see her standing imperiously over him. He couldn't shake the thought as he tried to sleep.

A floor away, Emma was lying naked on her own bed with the sheets all asunder. She still held her cordless wand vibrator from the latest session with her pussy and the smell of sex lingered in the room. She'd already climaxed several times since coming back from dinner. Each time, she kept seeing Alex as she did so. On his knees in the corner, restrained to the bed, tied to a chair in front of the big window, hoping she kept the lights off so no one could see him there. God, she hadn't been this horny for months. She was glad she brought her vibrator along now on a whim.

She got up and took a shower before laying back down and trying to sleep. She put her tablet on the charger and idly played with the strap she'd used on both of their nose rings earlier. She hooked it onto her own ring again and enjoyed the feeling of being put on a leash as much as she enjoyed the idea of holding the same strap when connected to Alex's ring. She looked at her vibrator again, and pushed the thoughts away as she tried to sleep. If only her head weren't so full of vivid images.

It was a work conference that the company hosted each year to show appreciation to the staff. Five days of guest speakers and executives explaining how the company was doing great, yet there wasn't quite enough for the big bonuses and raises everyone hoped for. Most of it was boning lectures with the occasional speaker with something interesting to say. Alex had particularly enjoyed a former reporter turned public speaker who talked about effective communication. As a whole, most of the employees were weak in this area. Techs weren't known for their social skills.

Alex had seen the reporter on television over the years and enjoyed her thoughts on how to communicate better, especially as it was a topic he had worked on over his fifteen years with the company. She spoke about confidence and concise wording when talking, which he thought was valuable to the art of translating tech speak to something a customer could understand. It was when she tried to delve into knowing your audience that he was able to really relate with what she was explaining.

It was a skill that Alex had picked up over the years. He knew it involved a lot of subtle things and was really something that couldn't easily be learned. Either you had the talent or you didn't. It was not an easy thing to develop. The former reporter went on about body posture, physical signs, and other things that allowed you to size up who you were speaking to and how to effectively tailor your conversation around those markers. Alex thought correctly that he was pretty good at this. It was something he'd developed many years ago, before there even was a thing like the internet, as a way to meet the kind of women he found attractive.

Alex was kinky. He liked things that weren't run of the mill, like bondage and chastity. He had leather and latex fetishes and loved to see and on occasion, even wear high heeled boots. It wasn't the kind of thing you could bring up in casual conversation. It wasn't even the kind of thing you could bring up when dating. Usually, it was something you might mention after you'd already gotten serious and by then, rejection was so much more difficult. Either you went forward with a relationship that wasn't going to suit you or you had to break things off with a partner who would likely never understand the reason behind the break-up.

Alex had learned to read the subtle signs that could tell him whether or not a woman might be interested in something a little out of the ordinary when it came to these kinds of sexual activities. He couldn't even explain it himself if he tried. He just had a certain sense about it, something he thought of as a 'kink radar'. It rarely steered him wrong. In fact, it had been that skill that had led him to meeting the love of his life.

They'd met, married, and grown old together. She was almost ten years his senior and sadly, had passed away from heart trouble a few years ago. Now in his mid-fifties, Alex found himself with desires and no one to share them with. It was another reason he enjoyed these conferences. He usually met with a dominatrix while he was here. There was one he saw every year who had a place nearby. He'd already scheduled a session with her for an evening in the middle of the week. Here on day one of the conference, he found it hard to really concentrate on the latest speaker.

There were two reasons for that. First was the fact that he was currently on his twelfth consecutive day locked in his chastity cage. Alex was older now and his libido wasn't quite as demanding as it had once been, but twelve days was still more than enough to have him struggling to focus on anything other than his need to find some relief from the building pressure of arousal. His keys were back in his room, and he could have cheated if he wished, but that wasn't the game he liked to play. His Domme had told him to remain chaste for two weeks before they got together and he would abide by her rules.

Of course, she would know if he cheated. His cage had a fitting for his Prince Albert piercing that made it impossible to pull out of, and he'd used metal wire and a special numbered aluminum security tag while on camera to prove he had locked up. He didn't want to think of what she would do if she found that seal broken before they got together on Wednesday.

The other reason was sitting beside him at the table in the conference room. Being generally antisocial creatures, the company always gave everyone assigned seats in order to get them to mingle and engage with other people. Otherwise, they would all congregate towards the same groups of people they worked with everyday. That's how Alex found himself sitting next to Emma. He had never met her before today and had learned her name due to the nametags they all had to wear while they were here.

As the day progressed, he got to know her better. Although he found her rather attractive, that wasn't the motivation behind getting to know her for him. He knew he would be sitting with her all week and figured it would be better to be friendly, if only to make the week go a bit more smoothly. He was all too familiar with what it was like to be stuck with someone who he couldn't get along with, or at least be civil to. So he took the time to chat between speakers and over lunch and began to form a picture of who she was.

Surprisingly, his kink radar went off almost right away. He couldn't put his finger on what exactly it was about her but he was rarely wrong about something like this. It could have been her style of dress, though there was nothing particular that stood out to him. She avoided the regular bland corporate look in a tasteful way by her choice of clothing. Subtle things stood out to Alex as they talked quietly. Her earrings were little rubber images of Ghostface from the Scream movies; she had a slightly heavier gauge septum ring that was considered socially acceptable. She had other obvious piercings that stood out from the rest of the people without crossing the line into the odd category that led to social avoidance by others.

It was also the way she talked, unafraid to share her opinions or thoughts without first testing the waters and playing it safe like most did, too afraid to make a bad impression. She was who she was and she didn't try to hide it. She also doodled on her tablet while the speakers were talking and he found that oddly endearing, especially since he couldn't help but notice the things she was doodling. With hands far more artistic than he could ever manage, she quickly etched out images of the speakers, people sitting in the audience, and other things in the blink of an eye. One image really caught his attention, though she cleared it quite suddenly just about the same time she'd completed the it. The image was of a muscular set of arms crossed over the chest of the person she was drawing, with the addition of a web of rope wrapped around the arms, binding them together. Only when he realized that he had been sitting there with his own arms crossed the whole time he had been listening to the most recent speaker did he make the connection, but the image was gone before he could comment.

It was one of the few he didn't ask her about. "You really have talent doing that," he said to her during a break early on.

Smiling, she continued to sketch and he could tell that she was glad to be recognized for her skill. "It's just something I do to pass the time," she replied.

He still didn't think about bringing up anything kinky. First, it was a work conference. Even if he hadn't met her before, she was a colleague; mentioning anything sexual was not only taboo, it was stupid. Something like that could spell career suicide. But more than that was the fact that she couldn't have been even half his age. Alex was well into his fifties, while Emma couldn't have been much beyond mid twenties. There just wasn't a chance at a connection for them.

That didn't stop him from being friendly with her. It just denoted a line that he knew better than to cross. He had no intention of crossing that line, either. Maybe that was why he felt comfortable talking to her the way he did. She certainly seemed comfortable with him and that let his guard down enough that he was the first to make a step close to the line. They'd just come back from a team-building event and had some time before the next speaker when his curiosity got the better of him.

"Do you mind if I ask what gauge your septum ring is? It looks really good on you, by the way," he asked. There was no malice or flirtation in the question. He was merely curious and she was bit surprised at the question. Most older men had nothing good to say about her most obvious piercing, and she had come to expect most disliked seeing such things.

"It's actually a ten," she replied. When his eyes went wide, she realized he knew more about piercings than she would have otherwise expected.

Wow, that's quite the commitment," he replied, obviously impressed. "How long did it take to get there?"

So, he knew a little about the process of stretching in order to size up. He continued to surprise her. As a fan of body piercings, he'd just caught her attention in a whole new way. He'd been an exceptionally good partner to end up with so far. He was an older man but still good looking in a distinguished way. Although he wasn't wearing a wedding ring, something she noticed right away, although there was the mark on his finger where one had once been. She wondered if he were divorced or widowed. He hadn't hit on her in any way. Even now, she felt he was more curious that anything. She liked the way he dressed. It was business casual but just different enough that she could tell he wasn't someone who followed trends and social rules without some effort. His necklace alone was an obvious queue. He wore a thick silver chain that stood out without being too flashy. Manly, but a clear statement that made her wonder whether or not it was intentional.

She'd even caught herself drawing him at one point. His muscular arms crossed over his chest had intrigued a part of her and she sketched them while letting her mind wander a bit. When she realized she'd covered those same arms in rope restraints, she quickly cleared the image, all-too aware that a single glance and he would have noticed what she had done.

The question about how long it had taken to get to a ten gauge piercing was a point of pride for her. She'd managed it in only a year. It had been a slightly heavier ring for the initial piercing and she'd worked down to a ten since then through a bit of pain that somehow felt right to her. Emma wasn't sure how big she planned to go but knew she was well on the way with it.

"I only got the initial piercing a year ago," she said with a smile. His obvious shock at that statement really made something inside of her smile with a huge, goofy grin.

"Holy...I take it back; you're not just committed. That's something far greater than commitment."

So he recognized what it took to stretch a piercing. She glanced at him to confirm her earlier take on him and saw nothing visible. "Have you had a piercing at some point?" It was her turn to be curious. She couldn't help wonder where his insight came from.

He nodded his head subtly. "Still have them, in fact. Though most aren't even close to that impressive."

She looked at him now out of the corner of her eyes. Her smile was subtle but she couldn't hide it completely and Alex knew he'd touched on something dear to her. "What's your heaviest?"

He blushed. He actually blushed. She felt something inside of her melt away and suddenly felt as though she were looking at someone else, not the man she'd been sitting beside all morning; someone far more interesting than that. She leaned in closer to him and lowered her voice, noticing how good he smelled for the first time. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to embarrass you."

He leaned in as well, answering in a quiet voice so as to not be overheard. "It's not that. I just don't want to say something that might be offensive," he replied.

'Smart, too,' she thought, knowing what he meant. Talk like that could end a career for most guys today.

"Hey, I asked. It would be kind of rude for me to be offended by the answer, don't you think?"

She was really curious now. She wanted to hear the answer now more than ever. It wasn't that she was attracted to him, not that he wasn't a good looking guy for his age, but she sensed that there was something about him that he kept closely guarded and she wanted to unearth what it was. "I swear, you're not going to freak me out." She had been playing with the strap to the protective case for her tablet. It was a loop of leather with a little clip on the end. Spontaneously, she reached up and clipped it onto her septum ring, creating a little leash for her own nose. It was subtle, but it was obvious and when his eyes dilated as she did it, she knew that her guess had at least been close to the mark. "I'm a bit of a freak, already." She removed the clip before anyone else noticed.

Alex had noticed. The sight of her with the little leash clipped to her nose ring would stick in his head for some time. He felt his cock try to swell inside of his chastity cage and found it unable to do so. He had no trouble with getting erections but they weren't as common as they'd been when he was younger. Back then, a stiff breeze could be enough. Now, it took something special to cause that and that had been pretty damn special to him.

To his own surprise, he found himself replying to her honestly. He placed a hand on his chest. "Two tens here, and an eight somewhere else."

It was her turn to be surprised. She raised an eyebrow and gave him a look. It was a look she'd practiced. It was meant to elicit a more thorough reply and rarely failed her with the kind of men she liked to associate with; men who knew better than to lie or try to deceive her with bullshit. It rarely failed her and today was no different. The man looked uncomfortable as he nearly whispered a reply. "A Prince Albert."

Well, if she hadn't been curious about what made the guy tick before, she certainly was now. She'd never expected a guy twice her age to not only have both of his nipples pierced, but also have a ring through the head of his cock. She'd actually tried to talk her ex-boyfriend into getting one but he was too chicken to do it. She knew he was waiting for something, anything from her, if only to let him know he hadn't gone too far. She said the first thing that came to her mind. "Well, aren't you full of surprises?"

They both sat quietly while a group of people filtered by where they sat. When it was clear again, she turned to him curiously. "What made you get that one?"

He blushed again, which she found really quite cute in a man his age. "My wife," he replied somewhat cryptically.

"So you're married?" she asked, an odd feeling of disappointment surprising her until she processed why she felt that way. It wasn't because she was interested, but more that he would be married and still so open about the things they'd been talking about.

"I was. She passed away about five years ago," he replied softly. His voice had changed pitch, gotten a bit heavier, and she could feel the loss in his tone.

"I'm sorry," Emma said simply, feeling silly for not coming up with something better.

He just shook his head. "Don't be, she lived well right till the end."

Silence then as they both processed their thoughts. Alex found himself remembering his wife and the love they'd shared over the years, the kinky games they'd played together and the life they'd built around each other. He stopped before he got to the part where it had all been taken away too soon. Emma, not knowing the depth of the man beside her or the experiences he'd been through, couldn't help but wonder about the details she had and began to put the pieces together, much as you might a jigsaw puzzle. She knew there were missing pieces and realize she was determined to put them all together somehow.

Later that afternoon, they'd just finished another ridiculous team project involving arts and crafts of all things. A box full of random stuff was given to each group and they had to create a sign from the material to represent their team goals. It was a forgettable event except for one part when Alex had found a partial metal ring. It nearly connected but had a small gap at one point. Trying to be silly, he fit the ring on both sides of his septum, simulating a nose ring. It was surprisingly tight and held its position well once he fit it into place. He turned towards Emma.

"What do you think? We match now," he joked.

She smiled at him. "Go, team ring!" She couldn't help notice that he looked good with a nose ring. She'd never seen someone his age with a septum ring, even a fake one like this. Enjoying the joke, she reached for the same leather strap she removed from her tablet's protective case earlier and clipped it to his pseudo-nose ring. Still smiling, she looked at him as she held the leash connected to his nose. Eyes met and a subtle shift of energy swirled around them.

They both felt it in that brief moment; an awareness that this singular moment in time held far more weight than it should have. His eyes softened and his body relaxed visibly, if only for a moment. Emma felt the exchange of power between them and her body felt flush all over from an unexpected surge of arousal. She removed the snap ring, still smiling but certain they'd both felt a similar reaction. Alex was quicker to recover as he returned her smile.

"So, Team Ring it is. Now we need a story to fit the name."

They actually went with it and even came up with some silly story about how the ring showed a circle of support for one another that got at least an acceptable amount of recognition when they were done. The exercise was quickly forgotten, but that one moment would linger with them both for some time.

At dinner an hour or two later, they sat quietly at a smaller table in the restaurant where dinner was provided for them. A few drinks made it easier for Emma to finally broach the subject once more. "So, tell me the real story about your piercings, Alex," she said simply, although there was nothing simple about the question. She'd rehearsed it in her head over and over before actually asking. She put just enough of a command into it to elicit what she hoped was an honest response from him.

Alex reacted to it right away. She saw the slight softening around his eyes that she associated with a more relaxed version of the man, the part of him that spoke with honesty and didn't try to hide behind some silly facade. "It was...something that my wife and I decided on many years ago."

Maybe it was the alcohol, or maybe it was the company but he began to delve into things he didn't really talk about with anyone; things he knew better than to discuss with a colleague, even if she weren't someone he saw on a daily basis. More likely, it was the subtle signs in both the conversation and body language that he'd been picking up on since first meeting his dinner companion. He knew his audience well enough to realize he was talking with someone who would understand. If not receptive, at least she would tolerate what he had to say. Still, he was careful as he approached the subject.

"Are you familiar with the concept of power exchange?" he asked.

She considered her answer. She was very familiar with the term and was certain as to what context he was referring to. Emma had been introduced to kink early in her teens and had always been fascinated by the forbidden and unusual in general. She took to it like a fish to water and had explored her interests with the various men she dated. In fact, it was due to her budding dominance in the bedroom that her last relationship had run its course.

"Are you referring to something like when I attached my strap to that ring you put in your nose?" she asked with a subtle smile.

It worked just as she hoped it would. She saw his reaction and clearly he was put off balance by her boldness. "Yes, exactly that," he replied openly. "My wife and I enjoyed experimenting with the exchange of power in our lives."

"I take it she was the dominant partner," she stated. The choice of the word 'dominant' was not an accident.

"That obvious, eh?" he quipped.

"Just a little bit." Her smile was warm and invited him to continue.

"She wanted me to get pierced and so it happened. It was just that simple."

She gave him an appraising look. "So, both nipples and a Prince Albert." He nodded confirmation. "Did you like them?"

"I did," he responded. "I still do. Plus, they remind me of her. Just like my neck chain." He turned the chain about his neck to show the clasp. "It requires a tool to remove. A kind of key, if you will. I have it now, but she kept it for most of our years together."

Emma couldn't keep the grin off of her face as she realized the true significance of what he was showing her. "So this is like a collar for you; her collar."

"Yes," he replied simply. It was the most honest thing she'd ever heard. It was an admission that he likely never shared with anyone else, and the weight of that one-word admission sat on the table in front of them like a physical thing.

She leaned forward, noticing the three rings that the chain around his neck passed through for the first time. He didn't object as she reached forward and pulled him towards her by the chain so she could see the inscriptions better. There were three words, one on each ring.

'Devotion'

'Humility'

'Chastity'

She looked at him, their faces closer than ever before and the softness around his eyes let her know he wouldn't pull away until she allowed him to do so. She felt herself shift in her seat slightly as a jolt of arousal came over her. It felt very good to hold this older man in her hand this way. "What do these words mean to you?"

"They were key points to our relationship, things my wife expressed were absolutes when we met and remained so during all our time together. Devotion to her needs and desires above all else; a humble way of life for me as well as an expression of her interest in humiliating me from time to time," he trailed off, unsure whether to continue. The fact that he was actually still wearing the cock cage he'd worn with her even as he sat there with Emma in the hotel restaurant, surrounded by co-workers made it almost too much to reveal.

"And chastity," pressed Emma, unwilling to let it go and determined to follow the path they were on to the very end.

"A chaste lifestyle for me, with my wife deciding if, when, and how I was able to release."

'Release'. He'd said the word and she knew what it meant. She was familiar with the concept of male chastity but had never had the chance to experiment with it. It was intriguing to her in a way she didn't fully understand. It also meant she was close to the end of the path. This was something he didn't share lightly.

"This has something to do with the Prince Albert piercing, doesn't it?" she asked, already knowing the answer, but determined to make him admit it.

"Yes," he replied, not expanding on it.

"A chastity cage."

"Yes."

"Are you wearing it right now?" she asked, feeling her pulse thunder in her ears.

"Why do you ask?" he replied, surprising her. She thought he would simply say yes again.

"Because I was going to ask who held your keys."

He grinned back at her. "I have them in my room upstairs. I haven't had an actual keyholder since my wife passed. Well, unless you count some random uses of the chaster website."

"I'm not familiar with that," Emma replies. "What does it do?"

"It lets users self-lock for preset times or even some random times within certain parameters," Alex replied. "It even gives you access to public locks, which are created by other users for that purpose." He explained the ins and outs of the website while she listened intently. Throughout his explanation, she was squeezing her legs together, unwilling to admit how arousing she was finding all of this.

"You use this site? Do you self lock, or do you use other user's locks?"

He moved to leaned back but she kept her hand firmly on the chain around his neck, his collar. He remained leaning towards her, their faces almost intimately close as he replied. "Both, depending on how I feel at the time. Right now, I simply keep the keys in a small box and resist through willpower alone."

She grinned at him. "But having someone else hold your keys is a much better experience, isn't it?"

"Of course. Though the process of finding a keyholder can be challenging, it's always better when someone else holds them for me," he admitted.

She let go of his collar and he slowly sat back in the booth, his eyes never leaving hers. They were both aware of what had been skirted around but not been said. She wanted to get him to ask her to do it and he was hoping she would simply ask. His cock was swollen as far as the small nub of a cage would let it get and he was struggling to keep a clear head.

"I've never held anyone's keys before but I have to admit that the thought intrigues me," she told him, trying to guide him where she wanted him to go.

He saw what she was doing and some part of him seemed to enjoy the game, too. Instead of making the offer he suspected she was waiting for, he tried a different tack. "Seriously? You've never done it? Do you know how much money you could make just holding keys for guys like me? I mean, a week of keyholding and an email or two and you could easily get fifty to a hundred dollars for it," he explained quite animatedly. She could tell that he was more excited right that moment than all the time they'd spent together that day.

"Heck, if you were willing to share a photo, you could even get more, I think," he was still trying to sell her on the idea, unaware or unwilling to realize that she was already sold.

She gave him a look. "I don't know, what if I ended up not liking it?"

What's not to like?" he shrugged. "It really doesn't take much effort and you end up with a guy eating out of your hands."

She still pretended not to be convinced. "Well, maybe I could do a test run or something."

"How so? he asked, not quite seeing where she was going with this.

Her grin turned a bit more sultry. "Maybe I need to find someone to let me hold their keys for a little while before really going all in with it."

There it was, as obvious as she could make it. If he didn't at least nibble at the bait, she decided she would let it go. It wouldn't be a good start if she actually had to ask HIM for his keys. Short of that, she'd made it as clear as she could. Even Alex could see the inevitable direction this was headed.

He was quiet for a few moments, stalling by taking another sip of his beer before raising his eyes to meet hers. In those eyes, he saw the desire, the interest, all culminating in an offer she couldn't have made more obvious if she tried. A keyholder. A real, flesh and blood woman who held his keys. Not a virtual service or some remote process, but a real exchange of his keys with someone right there in person. There was no way he could resist.

"Would you like to hold mine for awhile?" he offered.

He wasn't kidding anyone, least of all her. He'd asked her the question but they both knew she was the one who had set it up. He asked but only because it would have been inappropriate for him to beg her to do it there in the restaurant. He wanted this as much as she did and couldn't hide that from her. Still, she went along with the game for now.

"You'd actually let me do that?"

He smiled warmly. "Of course. It's not like you're going to just disappear on me."

She looked at him appraisingly while she considered the logistics. It wouldn't feel right to follow him back to his room to get the keys. Besides, what if she read him wrong and he tried something with her? That would be incredibly awkward and though it felt unlikely, a woman had to be careful. No, there had to be another way.

"Why don't you go back to your room and get them while I order us something for dessert?" she offered.

“Okay Tyler, it’s time,” said his wife of over eight years. She was as gorgeous as ever, with an athletic figure and long, naturally red hair. Harper was almost as tall as he was, though with a slight build. He had been waiting all day to hear those words. They’d gone for a morning run together and he’d spent the rest of the day cleaning their apartment and doing little errands around town. He’d picked up groceries and even washed her car while he was out.

“Right now?” he asked, putting down the tablet he’d been reading. He’d already closed the tablet and was getting up, despite his words. He knew better than to question fate, or his wife once she’d made a decision.

She smirked at him. “Yes, now, unless you’d rather wait until next time.”

He only partially heard the last few words as he made his way upstairs and into their loft bedroom. He saw that she already had everything ready for him. The sheet and cover had been removed and the restraints were already attached to the bed frame. He quickly stripped out of his clothing until he was wearing nothing but the pink lace panties she’d chosen for him that morning. It was a ritual he’d gotten used to. Each Merit day, she would always make him wear a pair of the feminine underwear she bought for him. He knew she thought he looked silly in them, as did he. That was the whole point.

She followed him into the bedroom a few moments later, surveying everything as she went. He’d learned that she missed nothing, her watchful eyes catching every detail. “You’re making a mess of your panties,” she said as she circled to the far side of the bed. “You might as well take them off.”

This was also a part of the game. The panties remained on until she told him they could come off; a subtle humiliation that reminded them both who was in control in the relationship. When the panties were on, they both knew he was the submissive. Outside of the bedroom, even if things appeared equal, he knew she was the master, and the panties never let him forget it. He took them off and placed on his clothing rack, where they would remain until he washed them later by hand. Now that they were gone, he was as naked as he could get. Only the cage remained.

The cage had become the center of his world ever since he’d first brought it up with her earlier that year. She’d warmed to the idea quickly, just as he thought she would. It made him a better man and they’d both come to realize it. Caged, he was more concerned about her needs, her pleasure. He rarely took anything about her for granted. Even her friends noticed.

“How do you keep him so devoted that way?” they would ask her.

“Just lucky, I guess,” was all she said. But she knew it was more than that, as did he. The cage kept him where they both wanted him to be. It had been one of those things where he’d heard before, “Be careful what you wish for.”

It had started slowly at first. Now, he wore the cage all the time, only allowed out when he was helplessly bound and unable to touch himself. She agreed to hold the key so long as he agreed to play by her rules. The cage was an insignificant thing, really. It was a few ounces of titanium and steel with a lock and a curved hook that fit perfectly with his Prince Albert piercing. He’d had that since before they met, hoping one day to put it to the very use it was now employed for.

The cage was a total coverage piece that left his shaft untouchable within the titanium cylinder that held it in place. She didn’t even need to remove it when she wanted him to fuck her. The realistic sheath that could be fit over it was even bigger than his flesh and blood cock, a fact that she enjoyed reminding him about. With the sheath in place, he could do even more than he could have if the cage were removed. There was no reason to ever remove it if she chose, another thing that she enjoyed reminding him about.

She raised an eyebrow in his direction as she fingered one of the wrist cuffs. She didn’t need words to tell him what she wanted. He didn’t need to hear her to know. He took his place in the center of the bed, stretching his arms and legs out towards the four corners of the bed. Harper wrapped the cuff around his wrist and buckled it closed. Moving to the bottom of the bed, she then did the same with his ankle, closing the buckle and making sure that she could only just get a finger inside. Circulation was important, but so was security. She circled the bed and did the same with his other side before wrapping the center belt around his waist and drawing it as tight as she could.

He was secure now, but the fiery-hired beauty wasn’t satisfied with just secure; she wanted him completely helpless. The remaining four cuffs were connected together under the bed on a pair of pulleys along each side. Pulling on one meant an equal pull on the other. The first went around his bicep. It didn’t have to be as tight as the wrist and ankle cuffs but she made it so anyway. The second went around his thigh. She had to pull to get it tight enough to close. She repeated the same pattern with the opposite side, which brought her back to where she started. She loved seeing her husband bound this way. Spread-eagle with his knees and elbows bent by the second pair of cuffs, he had a bit of wiggle room as long as he didn’t mind pulling against himself.

It was all thanks to him. She’d never even realized that she enjoyed such things until he introduced her to some of his kinks. She had to admit that she enjoyed the feeling of control that it gave her, seeing him reduced to such a helpless position. Even better, he did so willingly because he liked feeling as though she was more powerful than he was. ‘Well, he’s certainly powerless right now,’ she thought as she opened the side drawer and removed a handful of small padlocks. They weren’t exactly necessary since he wouldn’t be able to get free even without them. There was just something symbolic of placing them on his cuffs. The click of the locks closing with each restraint until the last was in place sent a thrill through her that she would never deny herself.

Harper watched as he tested his position, feeling the resistance of the restraints while she crossed the bedroom to where he kept his dressing rack. There was one more thing she liked to do before she really started the game. She picked up his damp panties from where he left them with one finger and moved to sit at the head of the bed. “Open,” she said simply, knowing it was more than enough.

Reluctantly, he opened his mouth for her. This had become one of her favorite parts. Once, she used to use her own panties for this. Her smell, her taste would permeate his mouth and nose while they played. This was less of a reward and far more humiliating for him, which again, was kind of the point. She lifted his wet panties toward his face and began to press them between his lips, filling his mouth not with her scent and taste, but with his own instead. They were both aware of the wet stain he’d made in them throughout the day. She’d selected tangas for him, which were somewhere between a thong and bikini-cut panties. It gave enough material to really fill his mouth without a risk of causing him to choke on them. She made sure his lips touched on the outside before reaching for the piece of tape she already had waiting on the headboard. The microfoam tape was excellent at keeping them in place. He couldn’t spit them out if he tried and reduced him to mere grunts and moans. The last thing she wanted was to listen to him try to plead or argue his case with her.

Satisfied that he was fully prepared, she finally reached for the key to his chastity cage. Removing it was a bit of a chore but she liked things a certain way. If something was meant to be secure, then it damn well better be secure, was how she felt about it. Along with the key, she grabbed a pair of wire cutters as well. Then she turned towards the cage. It used one of those silly cylindrical locks that were so popular now with male cages. Of course, they were easier to get into than a college girl’s pants and she would never rely on them alone. Through the lock, she passed a thin wire that she’d tied into a knot and then covered with an aluminum numbered wire seal. The only way to put the key in was to first remove the seal, which would be obvious to her that he’d tampered with it.

She cut the wire and removed it before inserting the key into the lock and turning it. The cage came free from the base ring and allowed her to remove it. Inside was the inner ring that held the hook through his piercing. She removed it from the base ring and pulled it free, something that couldn’t be done until the lock and cage portion were out of the way. Although she left the base ring in place, it was the first time his manhood was free in seven days. She turned to smile at him. “You see if you can still get an erection while I change,” she said condescendingly to him as she rose and walked to the bathroom.

He lay there alone and completely restrained as he looked at his cock for the first time in a week. He felt himself growing hard and enjoyed the sensation. He didn’t get the opportunity to do so very often. He hadn’t known just how much his wife would embrace the idea of keeping him in a chastity cage back when this had all began. He wasn’t complaining but he did think he’d be able to talk her into letting him out more often than she did.

He could tell that his cock wasn’t quite the same as when they’d started. Back then, he’d been a bit over six inches long. Now, he was just under six. She’d mentioned this before, taunting him about how each month he would be less and less useful without the cage to keep his cock hidden from sight. That was something else he’d learned only after they started playing the game; she liked to humiliate him as much as he enjoyed her doing it. It was something new for both of them.

By the time she returned, his cock had begun to shrink from a lack of stimulation. Try as he might, he had never managed to so much as rub himself against the bed once she had him restrained. Like everything else his wife chose to do, she made sure his restraints were one-hundred percent effective. Two steps into the room and she froze as she looked at him.

She stifled a giggle. “Oh, Tyler, did you forget how to get an erection?” she taunted him. “I thought that this would be enough to get him excited. Maybe you’re no longer interested in how I look?” She gave a small turn from side to side to show off what she was wearing. He never knew what to expect when they played. Sometimes, she would come out in a baggy shirt and sweatpants, other times, she would just be dressed casually the same way she had been all day long.

On a few occasions, she would really go all out and come out looking like a model right out of a magazine. This was one of those times.

The negligee barely concealed anything of her body, yet made her far more attractive by simply being there. It complemented the lines of her body, the green going well with her fiery red hair. She’d put on makeup, just a bit heavier than normal to really cause his libido to strum like a too-tight guitar string. Her scent was laced with a sweet perfume that blended well with her natural musk to make each breath a treasured gift from her. He thought she’d never looked more beautiful than she did right then.

She lay beside him on the bed, her warm, pale skin causing a pleasant tingle all over his body as she sat the bottle of lube down beside her near his pillows. Frowning playfully, she looked him in the eyes. “Not even a word of compliment for all the trouble I went through for you?”

Tyler grunted into the gag as he tried and failed to compliment how lovely he thought she looked. She laughed as he went on making the silly sounds, the only thing he was capable of with the gag in place.”You know it’s not polite to talk with your mouth full. How do you taste, baby?”

Her little reminder of what he had in his mouth rendered him silent once more. She giggled at his reaction and couldn’t resist one more shot at his expense. “I’ll bet it tastes just like frustration, doesn’t it?”

She let her hand slide over his chest as she admired his body. They both stayed fit and were in remarkable shape for their mid-thirties. He still had the same physique he had when she married him, a feat which she was pleased to see. She let her fingers trail across his nipples gently, enjoying the response it got. He’d always had sensitive nipples for a man, but even more so since he’d suggested the chastity cage. Since then, she’d learned he had a lot of sensitive places she could take advantage of.

Her touch caused him to struggle gently against the restraints. Harper enjoyed watching him struggle. Without the restraints, her husband would have easily been able to overpower her if he wished. He’d never once raised a hand against her but she still recalled how he would ravish her in just the right way when they were first learning about one another. She’d secretly enjoyed that even though she had always been the kind of person who preferred to be in control. She’d only realized how much she enjoyed it when he finally worked up the courage to ask her to tie him up that first time.

She let her hand move lower until the tips of her fingers were touching his cock. It had gotten hard as soon as she touched him, which she was happy to see. She truly enjoyed having that effect on him, not that she would ever let him know it. “It’s about time you showed me how glad you are to be out of that cage,” she said seductively. “Another few seconds and I might have just put you back where you belong.”

As she spoke, she wrapped her fingers around his shaft and gave it a squeeze, enjoying the feeling of it as it twitched in her grasp. She gave it a few gentle strokes to prime his pumps before turning to business. “You know why you’re here, baby. It’s time for your weekly merits and demerits to be tallied up. Let’s see if you’ve been good enough to get the chance to come this week.”

His moan was so loud that she could hear the desperation clearly even through his gag. “I know, I know; you’ve been on a real losing streak, haven’t you? Four whole weeks with no release. That must be absolutely terrible for you,” she laughed, putting the lie to her concern for his desperation.

“Just remember, this was your idea. You know that, right?” she chided him, causing him to quiet down. “In fact, you practically begged me to hold the key to your little pee pee, didn’t you? You even helped me come up with the point system for your weekly tally.”

Her hand was gently stroking him while she held his balls with the other. She could always tell when he was getting close that way. When his scrotum began to tighten, she knew he was close and let go with both hands. She smiled as he whined through his panties again. “I’ll bet you remember when you told me you wanted me to be really strict about your demerits, don’t you? You thought I would be too lenient because I care for you. Remember that, baby?”

He nodded, knowing that everything she was saying was the truth. He’d been so excited that she’d agreed that he hadn’t even considered that she might be looking forward to it. He’d pushed her on it and she’d simply doubled down on how strict she’d planned to be with him. Her keen eyes never missed a single mistake, which she happily added to the tally each week.

“I’ll bet your regretting a few things now, aren’t you? Four weeks and only a few minutes out of the cage; that really seems like I’m being strict, doesn’t it?” she smiled at him as she poured a bit of lube on his cock. She reached over to the bedside table and brought her own tablet over, laying it by his side. “Let’s see how well you did this week, shall we?”

As she began to read over the list of his positive merits, she gently stroked his shaft. His eyes rolled back in his head as she gently kept him close without letting him get too close. The list was rather detailed and he’d performed well. He’d begun to do more and more of the chores around the house in an effort to score enough points to have the chance to come. They’d sat down and made a list of the things that gave him positive points, including personal service on her part. She enjoyed being pampered and he gave great massages, foot or full body.

She listed them off one by one until she’d finished the list while he writhed in her grasp and tried to enjoy the slow build-up of pleasure she was providing him with. “Well, you certainly were a good boy this week. That’s almost forty points more than you earned last week. Do you think it will be enough?”

She let her grip get a bit more firm and brought him to the edge again, before letting go again. He really strained against the bonds and she enjoyed seeing him flexing his muscles that way. She waited until he had calmed down a bit, using the time to scroll to the demerit list on her pad. She took a firm grip on his balls before she began.

“Oh, baby, this is quite a list of demerits. I’m a little worried for you, here,” she giggled again. “Let’s see, where do we start? It looks like you failed to get the creases right when you ironed my slacks again. That’s not only a demerit, it also forfeits the merits you earned for my laundry. That one is really going to hurt you.”

She went over the list, giving his balls little squeezes that caused him to grown as each demerit was tallied up. Harper hadn’t been kidding when she’d said the list was long. She should know, she was the one that had been writing them all down. As she tortured his swollen balls, she listed them one by one.

“A sock left on the dryer with no mate; a bit of hair left in the shower drain; crumbs under the toaster, again. That one counts double. Of course, we can’t forget about your biggest demerit of the week, you already know about it, don’t you?”

Tyler nodded his head, eyes closed. He knew quite well what he did to rate such a large demerit. He even suspected it was the reason she was being so critical. He was wrong about that, however; she was being critical because she knew that’s exactly what he had asked her to be, even if he’d been thinking with the wrong head when he said it.

She shook her finger at him slowly. “You’re one short on the number of orgasms you’re required to give me this week. You had all evening to try to bring that number to balance and you forgot, didn’t you?”

He actually had forgotten until she reminded him. There was only one thing that was considered a big demerit and that was it. He must have miscounted, because he thought he had made his goal for the week. Next time, he would exceed it just to make sure. Harper enjoyed seeing his frustrated look when she told him the news. She hadn’t lied. He really did miss it by one. The fact that she’d faked a double orgasm one evening when she’d only had one was surely within bounds of the game.

“So let’s see what we’re left with,” she smiled as she scrolled across the screen of her pad, playing with one of his nipples with her free hand while she did so.

She gave him a frown. “It looks like you at least managed to keep the target in the positive. We wouldn’t want a repeat of what happened three weeks ago, would we?”

He shook his head, recalling the week he’d been feeling lazy and ended up negative for the week. His wife was quite creative when it came to dishing out punishments. She really let him have it that week. Of course, she’d given him a choice.

“The way I see it, we can simply give you a four week penalty where the regular reward is suspended and all you have to do is keep a positive score. Four weeks without a chance of orgasm doesn’t seem so long does it? Or, we can let you work off your negative score with a few creative punishments I’ve been dying to try on you,” she offered. What do you say?”

He couldn’t imagine four weeks without even a chance of orgasm and had taken the punishments instead. Now, three weeks and zero orgasms later, he still wondered if he’d made the wrong choice. She’d used the ball crusher on him for the first time that week. She’d edged him repeatedly while his nuts were squeezed between two sheets of thick plastic. He’d provided her with several orgasms that evening with his mouth and one from his cock while his nuts suffered. The pain had been so great that he hadn’t had a chance at coming despite that being the first time he’d felt her vagina with his cock in months.

No, he definitely didn’t want to repeat that week. Even now, he’d take the alternative offer if he ever found himself at a negative score again. Harper looked up from the pad and he knew the number wasn’t as good as he had hoped.

“Forty-seven seconds. You’ve managed to earn yourself a little over three whole quarters of a minute! Do you think it will be enough?” she said, pretending to be happy for him when they both knew it was very unlikely that he could climax in a mere forty-seven seconds, especially at the speed she would stroke him at.

She sat up suddenly as though she’d just remembered something. “You know, baby, all this stroking and squeezing has really made me thirsty. I’m going to go and get something to drink before we begin.”

She popped up from the bed and headed for the door, leaving him alone. Just before she walked out, she turned back to him. “Can I get you anything?”

Tyler tried to answer through the gag but nothing really came out. His wife rolled her eyes. “Silly me, of course you don’t want anything. You’re still enjoying the taste of yourself in those panties, aren’t you?”

She left him blushing and trying to ignore the taste that he’d been subjected to ever since she’d gagged him. She was gone long enough for his cock to begin to deflate. He was certain that it was intentional. It just meant more of his precious forty-seven seconds wasted as he tried to get hard again. He also knew that the ice from her drink would be used strategically when it came time for him to go back in his cage.

Minutes passed as he lay there helpless and frustrated until she came back in with a glass of water with lots of ice. She took a sip and smiled. “That really hits the spot. Much better than a mouth full of cum-soaked panties, but to each their own, I suppose,” she sighed theatrically.

Sitting beside him on the bed, she tapped on her tablet screen and brought up the timer feature. He saw that it read forty-seven seconds. “Okay, baby, you ready to show me what a big man you are and come for me?” She hit the start button at the same time that she took his cock in her hand; the same hand that had been holding the glass of ice water. Her fingers were so cold that it almost hurt when she touched him. He nearly flinched away, but the straps prevented it.

“What’s wrong, baby? I thought you wanted to come,” she laughed as she took his cock in her hand once more. “You’re wasting precious time.” He saw the clock was already at forty-two seconds as she began to stroke him. Her strokes were firm enough but not quite as firm as he would have likes. The maddening part was the speed. She stroked him once for every tick from the timer as it counted down each second. Forty-two strokes were all he had to orgasm.

“You know, some of the girls at work noticed the key around my neck and asked me what it was for,” she said as she continued the agonizingly slow pace. “You think I should tell them what it’s really for?”

Tyler had been very clear about keeping their game a secret and she always teased him about telling someone about it. He was sure that she never would but the very idea only made it harder for him to come. He glanced at the screen and saw that he was down to thirty-five now.

“You remember Rick from the Christmas party, the one who drank too much and was flirting with every girl in the clinic?” she asked nonchalantly. “He asked about it, too. God, could you imagine if he found out you let me keep your little pee pee in a cage?” she laughed as though she’d said something really funny.

It wasn’t funny to Tyler. His wife was one of the girls he hit on and to say he wasn’t fond of him was putting it mildly. He knew what his wife was doing but was powerless to stop it. With his mouth still gagged, he couldn’t even reply. He had to listen, and watched as his counter ran down below twenty-six seconds. He could feel the come bubbling up in his nuts as he got closer to the orgasm he’d been desperately chasing for the last four weeks.

“Oh, I ran into your mother in town. She asked about coming over tomorrow and I told her you’d be happy to help her with her computer, again.” He could hear the mirth in her voice as she spoke. She was enjoying this. The last thing he wanted to think about was his mother or her laptop when he wanted to come.

Harper moved her knee and the tablet shifted and fell flat on the bed. He could no longer see the countdown but it had been in the teens when he last saw it. She glanced at it now. “Oh, baby, you’re almost out of time. I don’t think you’re going to make it.”

It felt like she was stroking even slower now. She’d gripped his balls with her other hand. At least it wasn’t as cold as the first one had been. In fact, it felt nice when she did that. He only wished she’d play with them a bit instead of just holding them. He was close, very close and he tried to buck his hips to get more stimulation but the counter-pull against his restraints and the pulleys made it impossible.

The alarm sounded on her tablet and she let go in mid-stroke. He had been maybe another five or ten strokes from being able to come and was so close that he could taste it, quite literally. He let out a low moan that was supposed to be a much louder cry of anguish. ‘’Aww, you were so close! Wouldn’t it be great if I just kept going a bit more? I’ll bet you wouldn’t last another couple seconds at most. It’s only us, who would know?”

Tyler was nodding his head, hoping against hope that this was more than just a mind-game. She sighed theatrically. “Then again, you made it clear that you wanted a strict keyholder who wouldn’t bend the rules. You remember when you said that?”

Tyler remembered but kept pleading with his eyes. “You wanted this. You were very clear. I remember asking if you were certain and you told me that you were worried that I would be soft on you,” she laughed low and very pleased with herself. “I’ll never forget that. It was almost like you were challenging me to show you I could be the strict Mistress you wanted me to be. Well, how am I doing, baby? Am I everything you dreamed?”

Tyler nodded. Despite the desperation he was feeling, he had to admit that she was exactly what he’d wanted when it all began.

“That’s good to hear; because I have a little secret to share with you,” she said, leaning closer. “I’m loving the way this is all working out. I get all the sex I want, all the orgasms I need, while you get more and more desperate and anxious to please me. This really works for me.”

Tyler knew she had come to really love the new dynamic between them and although he sometimes wondered if he’d created a monster, it was a monster that fit his dreams of a stern keyholder perfectly. Perhaps, too perfectly. He watched his wife finish the water in her glass and then remove several of the ice cubes, holding them in her hand.

“Now, let’s get you back in your cage. If you’re not going to come for me, then we might as well put your useless little pee pee back where it belongs.” She held the ice against his shaft, making sure to keep her hand firm but without moving it. It didn’t take long for him to begin to wilt under the assault of the cold. As soon as he was semi-flaccid, she reached for the security ring and slipped it through his piercing before setting it against the base ring. His cock already began to try to expand but a few more ice cubes took care of that.

Once his cock gave up the fight again, she lifted the cage portion over the head of his cock. She’d pre-lubed it and it went on better than she hoped. It only took a bit of pushing to get his cock to slide inside and be reduced to little more than a nub of its former self. Harper loved to watch his cock become forced to fit inside the small cage. She knew it couldn’t feel comfortable, but Tyler had admitted that was sort of the point. A tight cage never let you forget it was on, and actually was more comfortable than a loose one. Apparently, the more erect you became while caged, the less pleasant it felt.

“There we go,” she said soothingly. “All nice and snug in your cage where you belong.” She fit the lock into the slot and turned the key, pulling it out and hanging it back on her necklace. Then she reached for the spool of wire and removed a few inches of it with a wire cutter. She threaded the wire through the lock and tied it off in a not after several wraps before closing it in an aluminum security tag.

“There, all locked up. You must really be happy, huh? Getting to live out your dreams like this? I’m so happy you finally worked up the courage to talk to me about this.” She ran her hands around his caged member and balls while she spoke.

“I know, baby, I know,” she said soothingly as his face betrayed his desperation. “If only you’d tried a little harder, you could have earned a few more points and had an orgasm.” She squirreled her face up curiously. “Hmm. Maybe you’re really just not trying because you don’t want to come. Is that it? I know you love chastity, so maybe you’d rather not come, is that it?”

He shook his head but she continued as if she hadn’t seen it. “Yeah, now it makes sense. It must be so stressful for you having to go through this little charade every week, pretending you want to come when all you really want is to be in your little cage. I think we can make this easier for you. How about if we make this a bi-weekly event instead of making you go through this every week? How does that sound?”

Tyler shook his head vehemently. The last thing he wanted was to lose a chance to finally come. He loved chastity but he also liked the occasional orgasm, too. That would mean it would be at least six weeks if he had to wait two more. “No, that’s not good enough? Would you rather make it every three weeks? Or once a month instead?”

His eyes nearly popped out of his skull when she said that. It was unthinkable. “No? You think every other week is enough then?” He saw the trap but had already got his head caught in it, and there was no way out. He nodded agreement, knowing it could only get worse. His wife’s face bloomed into a very satisfied smile.

“Okay, if you think that will help, baby. At least it will give you more time to build up a better score. Of course, that also means more demerits, too. I’m sure you’ll get there next time.”

She continued to lay with him and rub her hands all over his body. He really did have a nice body and she loved touching him. Tied the way he was, she didn’t even have to ask if he minded. Of course, she had other needs, too. She turned and reached for her bedside drawer, where she pulled out the dildo that fit over his cage. She turned to look at him.

“You might be willing to go without orgasms but mama has needs, baby,” she said to him seductively as she placed the sheath of the dildo over his cock and wrapped the band around his balls to hold it in place. “I’ll try to make sure you don’t enjoy this too much.

She climbed on top of him and guided the thick dildo between her legs and inside of her, easing it in and letting the size stretch her out nicely, letting out a satisfied moan and she settled herself onto his hips. He felt only a bit of movement as she slid onto the shaft and then felt her weight settle against his balls. As she began to rock her hips, the pressure caused more than enough pain to offset any sense of pleasure he might have felt.

He could only lay there looking up into her face as she kept her eyes locked on his. The raw sense of joy and control were unmistakable and he knew that this wasn’t just for him; she was truly enjoying this as much as he was. It was everything he hoped for even if it was too much. Seeing how much she enjoyed it made him even more determined to never use the safe word they’d established. He knew she would relent if he did but he couldn’t take this away from her. He’d wanted this and now it was his, and he wouldn’t change a thing.