Standing on the doorstep when he answered the summons of the doorbell was Jess. Dressed in a black wrap dress and heels, hair down, hand on hip and giving him a sassy stare.

"I’d thought I’d see if you’re as good as your word," she says by way of greeting, sliding past him into his house.

Slightly confused and trying not to hope too much, Mark closes the door behind her and follows her into the living room where she’s taken a seat on the couch.

"Pardon?" he asks. Visions of Jess naked and hogtied on the carpet swim in front of his eyes, as they have done since they met a few years ago.

"You keep promising me that you can tie me up and show me the time of my life. The biggest orgasm of my life. Well, I’m here to find out if it’s true," Jess explains, though it’s not much of an explanation.

Jess has let Mark know, in their many drunken flirting sessions, that she’s at least a little kinky. But whenever Mark has pushed it, she’s backed decorously off, and they have returned to vanilla friendship. To have her now in his living room asking to be tied up was just too good to be true...

"What’s brought this on?" he asks. "And what’s the catch?"

Jess lounges back on the sofa, far too confidently for a purported submissive woman. "No catch," she smiles. "And it is your birthday tomorrow."

Mark looks suspiciously at her as he fetches the last of his wine. Jess has rudely interrupted him in the middle of dinner.

"You serious? Cos I’m not in a mood to be teased."

Jess nods. "Serious as a vicar with a part time job as a magistrate," she says, not breaking eye contact.

Mark shrugs. Whatever she’s up to, it’s too good an opportunity to miss. He reckons their friendship could survive all but the most calamitous of bondage disasters, so he decides to go for it.

Leaving Jess on the sofa, he heads upstairs to collect his things.

By the time he gets back downstairs, Jess has stripped off down to her knickers and for the first time Mark gets to see her naked body. He raises his eyebrows and gives a low whistle. Jess throws a cushion at him.

"Get on with it," she complains. "Impress me."

Still a little unsure what she is up to, but pretty certain she is serious about being tied up, he stands in front of her.

"You’ve never told me if you’ve actually been tied up before or not. How strict can you take it?" he asks, letting a coil of white rope slither to the floor, one end still in his hand. Her eyes follow it down and then return to his.

"Not sure," she replies. "Try me," she orders, with a grin.

"OK..." says Mark, devious thoughts running through his head. "Turn around."

Jess sashays herself around till her back is towards him, and places her hands behind her back.

"Not yet," chides Mark. "Be patient." He places her hands above her head and reaches forward to loop the rope around her chest, under her ample breasts. He runs it round three times, then ties it securely off before repeating the operation above her breasts, the upper loops squeezing her breasts against the lower loops. Cinching the upper and lower bands together both between, and to either side of her breasts makes them swell up, red and sensitive.

Jess is breathing hard now, her eyes closed, though she’s trying to maintain her cool. So she is really into this, thinks Mark, and she’s not just teasing me. Watching her face, he positions two nipple clamps and screws them on. Her eyes pop open and she gazes back at him, lost already in the sensations.

"What’s next?" she murmurs, trying to act all unflustered but he can see right through it.

Mark gestures for her to turn around and she does so, a little wobbly this time.

"Put your shoes back on," he says on second thoughts, and waits for her to return to her position, now 4 inches taller on the unstable heels.

Mark places her arms behind her back, palm to palm, and starts to bind them in position. He works slowly, carefully, making sure to eliminate every last millimetre of movement. Soon her wrists and elbows are wrapped in turn after turn of white rope and tightly cinched. Her elbows are only a couple of inches apart, the strain pushing her breasts harder into their ropes. Her head is bowed, her hair falling over her face.

"Jesus..." he thinks he hears her whisper. Then she flicks up her head and urges him on again.

Her attitude really isn’t very sub-like, muses Mark, wondering how he can actually get to her: not just tie up her body, but win her mind. The confident front is clearly just an act, but how to break through...?

He squats before her and pushes her legs together till she wobbles on her heels, without her arms to help her balance. He binds her legs at ankle, knee and thigh, but not before running a leather strap between them, right next to her knickers which are now clearly wet with her arousal. But she left them on, so that probably means no sex, tonight at least...

Fair enough, thinks Mark. He buckles a belt tightly round her waist, one that ultimately connects to the strap between her legs to form an effective chastity device. It locks on with a padlock at the front. Mark threads the key onto a cord and hangs it around Jess’s neck.

Jess, bound hand and foot, teeters in the middle of his living room, unable to move and barely able to stay upright. Her now wide eyes stare at him as he admires her.

"Not bad," she teases.

"That’s it," says Mark, stepping quickly towards her and pulling a roll of duct tape from his pocket. "Nothing more out of you." He gags her swiftly, subduing her protests and helping her down gently to the floor as she finally loses her balance.

Jess writhes softly on the floor, eyes closed, a low moan coming from behind the gag.

Mark rolls her onto her front and bends her knees so that her ankles meet her wrists. He debates strictness with himself for a while, but knows what he’s going to do. Soon she is securely hogtied, her shoulders straining backwards. Her bound and clamped breasts press into the rough pile of the carpet.

Jess’s breath is coming in swift gasps through her nose. Mark checks all her limbs to make sure no blood has been cut off, then stands and stretches.

"You interrupted me in the middle of dinner," he says casually. "I’ll be back when I’ve done the washing up."

Jess mmphs into her gag as he switches off the light and closes the door.

**********

Mark spends much longer than he normally would clearing the kitchen and washing the dishes. He hums to himself as he sweeps the floor and puts on the coffee machine.

When he opens the living room door and turns on the light an hour later, the sight that greets him is beautiful.

Jess, oblivious to his presence, lies helpless in her bonds. Some muscles are twitching with the strain but otherwise she’s given in to their embrace.

Mark sits beside her and strokes her hair. ‘Hope this is what you were looking for,’ he murmurs. Jess moans slightly. Her face around the gag is flushed and damp.

When he releases the gag, she doesn’t say anything.

Slowly, he frees her, winding up the ropes as he unties them to draw out the process, make her feel like nothing more than a task on his list. He leaves the chastity belt in place.

Jess stands up shakily and reaches for her clothes. She touches the key around her neck.

"You said you wanted the biggest orgasm of your life," says Mark as she pulls on her dress. "Well, either you can go home and unlock yourself and give yourself that orgasm. Or you can leave the key alone, come back here tomorrow on my birthday, kneel in front of me and ask me nicely to give it to you. And maybe I will. It’s your choice," he concludes cheerfully, showing her to the door.

Jess looks thoughtfully at him for a long while. Then she takes the key from round her neck and places it firmly in Mark’s hand.

"Happy birthday," she whispers with a smile, as she heads out into the night.