He was a man who had grown used to surprises. Quite blasé about it now in fact. When he opened the door to the front room and had a tentative glance around he saw nothing to faze him. He had already seen the hire car downstairs, so the bottle of red wine on the coffee table with FOUR glasses around it didn't unduly concern him. The television was on. Nothing unusual there. Looked like a Bond film, Goldfinger? Probably a video. They both liked old films. Not a problem.

 It was only when he turned to his left, toward the computer, that things started to become surreal.

Seated in a swivel chair was a naked woman. Fairly normal for this house! Her toenails were painted black and her ankles were handcuffed together. It could have been worse! The handcuffs were joined to the steel base of the chair by another pair of handcuffs. One cuff was closed around the chain; the other was attached to the shaft of the chair. Nothing to worry him unduly there, Sheila was a past master at Self Bondage!

The chair turned slowly towards him.  Her light (sun bed) tan was more noticeable against the fabric of the chair and her small breasts had nothing attached to them for once. Three broad straps at abdomen, stomach and shoulders were holding his partner tightly in place and more straps just below the elbows held down her arms. Unusual for other people maybe, but fairly normal for Sheila.

When he saw the hood he kissed normality goodbye.

Only her eyes were visible! It was dull and black and probably rubber. It followed the contours of her face until it reached the mouth area where an oblong rubber box, buckled and padlocked at the back of her neck and secured tightly under her chin by a thick strap, made speech difficult, if not impossible. Her nostrils were clear and there were small air holes to allow breathing. He guessed there was something INSIDE her mouth too, she might be able to make sounds but talking would probably be out of the question.

The hood was held in place by a wide, but thickly padded collar with two straps and buckles at the back. Both were padlocked. The figure swiveled back to the computer keyboard and began to type with handcuffed hands.

Recovering his composure he walked over to the chair. She couldn't speak. He rested his hands lightly on her shoulders and watched words appear on the monitor.

GOOD MORNING MR BOND. NONE OF THAT NOW! I HAVE A MISSION FOR YOU.

"Oh dear God!"
 
NOW PAY ATTENTION DOUBLE O SEVEN, THIS IS IMPORTANT. DOUBLE O FIVE AND DOUBLE O SIX HAVE GONE MISSING. WE NEED YOU TO FIND THEM AND BRING THEM BACK ALIVE.... DO YOU UNDERSTAND?

His mind, which was only wobbling slightly, had previously blotted out the fact that there was a cat in her bare lap. A very contented looking black Persian who was currently asleep. Fortunately for her, Bruce seldom used his claws.

"And who are you exactly?"

GOOD GRIEF DOUBLE O SEVEN DON'T YOU RECOGNISE YOUR OWN BOSS WHEN YOU SEE HER? I'M "M" OF COURSE!

"Yeah MMMMM more like! By the way is that your car downstairs?"

YES DOUBLE O SEVEN "Q" IS HAVING IT MODIFIED RIGHT NOW!

"But a Hyundai Pony for Gods sake!"

SORRY IT ISN'T AN ASTON MARTIN JAMES, BUT WE HAVE TO MAKE DO WITH WHAT WE'RE GIVEN.

The bizarre figure swiveled round to stare pointedly at his crutch area and then returned to the keyboard.

AS I KNOW TO MY COST!

He raised his head ceiling ward, silently calling upon anyone there present to explain this to him quietly and in words of one syllable. His darkness was not lightened. Just then he became aware of music from the television.

 The James Bond theme! So she was "M" was she? Fine!

He walked, as nonchalantly as was possible under the circumstances, over to the window and looked out on to a sunny, but cold, January morning. Ten floors below him he could see buses and cars and lots of people doing the normal things that they normally did on a Saturday, while he was talking to a naked woman who was tied to a chair and gagged and who thought she was "M" from the James Bond films!

"One question "M". When you refer to Double O Five and Double O Six, I presume that you mean Linda and Sarah." There was no answer. So much for nonchalance! If he wanted to know, then he was just going to have to paddle back across the room and read the monitor. So much for James Bond!

She had just finished typing when he reached her.

SSH JAMES! YOU OF ALL PEOPLE SHOULD KNOW THAT WE ONLY USE CODE NAMES HERE. ANYONE COULD BE LISTENING!

He sincerely hoped that NO ONE was listening. He had no desire to be sectioned under the Mental Health Act. He tried another tack.

"Where are the keys to the padlocks and the handcuffs"?

 THAT INFORMATION, JAMES, IS ON A STRICTLY NEED TO KNOW BASIS, AND YOU DON'T NEED TO KNOW!

She swiveled round to face him and their eyes locked in a silent battle of wills.  If there were honours given for boneheaded stubbornness both parties would have been knighted several years previously

He sighed heavily and reluctantly dropped his gaze. He guessed that the keys might still be in the fridge, frozen in a block of ice, but knowing her, they could be anywhere!  She looked safe enough at the moment, as safe as Sheila ever could be, so he turned his frazzled mind to the problem of Linda and Sarah.

They must be in the flat somewhere, so it shouldn't be that difficult to find them. The absence of any sound suggested that they might be gagged and might need help. He was about to walk away when she started to type again.

OH JAMES, BEFORE YOU START YOUR MISSION, THERE IS SOMETHING I NEED YOU TO DO.

He sighed again.

"What?"

WOULD YOU SCRATCH MY LEFT TIT PLEASE? IT'S ITCHING LIKE MAD!
 

                                        -------------------------------------
 
 

He checked the kitchen first. Geri was asleep in her basket and there were several opaque containers of ice in the freezer that probably held keys, but there was no sign of Linda or Sarah.
 
 

In the bathroom he pulled back the shower curtain. ...And found nothing.
 
 

To reach her bedroom he had to walk through the living room. She was watching the television now and stroking Bruce.

 He wasn't sure if he was "working" for M or Blofeld!

 What he was sure of though, was that her bedroom and all the cupboards were empty.  Empty of people anyway. He checked under the bed for good measure and found nothing, apart from a fair amount of dust that made him sneeze violently....
 
 

As he walked past her for the second time and saw the amused look in her eyes, he had the urge to give her backside a good hard slap but since she was currently at one with the chair, it was not only pointless, but would result in him hurting his hand to boot.
 
 

Her cursed her quietly when he entered the spare bedroom because she KNEW it was the last place he would look. Linda was naked apart from the same type of hood and collar that Sheila wore!

She was lying face down on the bed. Her nails were painted black like Sheila's. On her wrists and ankles she wore leather cuffs with D rings, but these were not holding her. Separate ropes, tied and cinched close to the cuffs, held her spread-eagled to the bedposts. Her hood held the same type of gag that was currently silencing Sheila so effectively. It also had two additions - a thick padded blindfold and a hole at the top, which allowed her braided waist length hair to hang down her back.

Her bottom was moving gently and rhythmically up and down.

Linda was six foot two shoeless and he couldn't help but admire her long legs and muscular arms. He didn't know if she was aware of his presence. He thought he detected a shiver but dismissed it as imagination and then without really thinking, gave her bottom a little pat.

Through her gag Linda screamed and screamed again and again.
 

                            ----------------------------------------------------
 

They were sitting on the end of the bed together, her blue eyes smiling at him, their arms around each other's shoulders, her large but unmodified breasts looked even larger than usual without any covering.

Through necessity he had become something of an expert at untying ropes quickly and efficiently. It had taken less than two minutes to untie and debindfold her. He was apologizing.

"Linda I really am sorry, I just didn't realize how close you were to a, er, well, you know, er, well, a climax, or I would have warned you that I was in the room!" Her eyes full of mischief, Linda snuffled through her gag and gave him a playful punch on the arm that still carried a lot of force.

                                 ---------------------------------------------------
 

"But you must know where she is. She can't be far away!"

Linda disengaged herself from him and unfolded elegantly to stand in front of him on her surprisingly small bare feet. She held up a finger.

"One?" he asked mystified. She shook her head, put her hands together and then opened them. " That sign ...Oh that's like a book in charades". She nodded her head enthusiastically and pointed at him.

" Oh right, we're playing charades. Okay, Well to be honest, I think this whole morning's been one big charade! " She put one index finger crosswise to the other.

"First word... THE," She nodded and made hobbling movements, her left hand sticking out as if holding something, " You look old." She nodded and clapped her hands.

"Second word  ....OLD!"

Now she was attempting to put an imaginary item in the area where her mouth should be.

 "You're eating something... Sandwich? No. Cake! . Pie?? .... Oh.... TART!  THE, OLD and TART!" She pointed back to the living room with her thumb.

"THE OLD TART - I gather you 're referring to my, er, other half! " He paused for a second and studied Linda. Here he was playing charades with a naked and hooded woman, who, until she "retired" a month previously, used to BEAT men for a living.

 Lady Linda Hutton - Professional Mistress and founder of www.ladylinda'slair.com.   So tightly gagged that she could not utter an intelligible word, let alone dominate anybody. He thought about that for a few seconds and decided that he was probably a very long way from the truth there.

Linda was looking at him with concern in her eyes.

"Sorry Linda just had a sort of reality check then. Okay, I think I've got this now; the old tart tied you up..."

 She put her left hand above her head and bought it spiraling down around and around her face.

 "... And she wrapped your head once she'd tied you, so that you couldn't hear what was going on.... and then took it all off later, I presume."

She nodded and began to sit back down on the bed next to him. He was studying the unfamiliar room around him. When he saw the door to the walk in cupboard, over to his left, he jumped up from the bed, grabbed Linda by the hand and, pointing to the door, almost ran towards it with her in tow.
 

                               ------------------------------------------------------
 

He wasn't totally surprised to see Sarah when he opened the cupboard, but he wasn't totally prepared for what he saw either.

She too was naked. She too was hooded and collared. She too had leather cuffs on her ankles and wrists and she too was tied in such a way that the cuffs were not utilized. It would probably be unfair to say that she was naked because although she wore no clothes, she was still covered. By rope. Black rope to match her hood. A hood that held the same type of gag as the others and also a blindfold.

The thick, black, soft cotton rope started at her ankles and wound neatly and precisely around and around and around her body, trapping her arms at her sides. It continued to wind up and around her, around her thighs and her abdomen and her stomach. It continued inexorably, to compress her large, soft breasts to her body and ended up tied off snugly at her shoulders.

Sarah was in a rope cocoon in which movement was impossible. The only parts of her uncovered were her bare feet. Her toenails were painted the same black as Linda's and Sheila's. Her hood was the same as the others as well, with one exception.

At the top was a large D ring through which a yellow rope had been threaded and tied tightly to the rail above her head holding it bolt upright. A rail that under normal circumstances would have held clothes, now held just one item: Sister Sarah Beaumont, sensible, practical, health professional and Linda's partner, mummified in rope, gagged, blindfolded and unable to move a muscle.

Linda stared in amazement. Before he could stop her she had darted into the closet and wrapped her arms around her friend in a tight hug.
 
 

                                    ------------------------------------------------------
 

Linda began by untying the rope holding Sarah's head. When he took off the blindfold her eyes snapped suddenly open making him start. There was no fear there, but they seemed much bigger, and much brighter than usual. He recognized that look. He had seen it in Sheila's eyes so many times before.

Untying her took much longer than it had to untie Linda, even with two of them doing the untying. One reason for this was the care he took when he touched her. He knew an extremely excited woman when he saw one and he didn't want her going off unexpectedly like Linda had earlier, consequently he let Linda do most of the undoing.

He was holding the rope away from Sarah's body when he heard a muffled tsk. Linda had broken a nail! The expression in her eyes suggested that someone was going to suffer for that later, he rather expected that someone might be Sheila.

Once Sarah was completely free the two women hugged warmly. He noticed Linda's right hand traveling slowly down Sarah's body until it reached her hip. It rested there for a second and then glided gently between her legs. Paradoxically, it was Linda, not Sarah, who gave a muffled gasp of surprise.   She looked over at him with mock disgust in her eyes and tsked again, holding out her glistening hand for him to see.

 Sarah was wet, very wet.  He decided it was time to leave. As he began to move, a hand, Sarah's, gently gripped his and pulled him back towards her. Linda held her in her arms; he put a gentle hand on her shoulder and stroked her bare back with the other.  The rope had left slight indentations all over her body

 Linda made little cooing noises through her gag and stroked Sarah's hood. Sarah whimpered a few times and made a little coughing noise before achieving the quietest gentlest and most dignified orgasm that he had ever seen, or heard.
 
 

                              ----------------------------------------------------

 They sat her down on the bed to recover her composure. Linda took her wrists and began rubbing them to restore the circulation. Kneeling at her feet and looking up at her, he did the same to her ankles. A question had been in his mind for most of the morning. When both of them looked ready he asked it.

"Sheila tied you both up...willingly?" Sarah's eyes and posture showed embarrassment, Linda gave him an amused stare, both nodded.

"It's pointless me asking what the bloody hell is going on here because you couldn't answer me even if you wanted to...." He didn't think it was possible to nod ironically but they both managed it.

"Right" he said resignedly " let's go and see "M" shall we?" They both sprang off the bed and positioned themselves eagerly on either side of him; Sarah grasped his left hand, Linda his right.

 He looked from one to the other and decided that they were both grinning under their hoods; he thought he heard a giggle.

 Like some bizarre reinterpretation of the Wizard of Oz, one fully dressed man and two naked, hooded women, one tall and poised, the other shorter and plumper but with a purposeful step that people got out of the way for, headed silently, hand in hand, toward the bedroom door.
 

                           ------------------------------------------------------
 

AH  JAMES! ANOTHER MISSION SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED ....... ALMOST.... GET HIM GIRLS!

It didn't take long. One moment he was looking at Sheila's bare back, the next he felt their hands disengage his and then something thick and black was being worked over his head and fastened in place. He didn't feel any fear or panic. He DID feel gentle hands undoing his shirt, taking off his shoes and socks, undoing his belt and pulling off his trousers and underpants and then he felt things being fastened to his ankles and wrists. He heard a soft clacking noise and his arms and legs were lifted in turn as some kind of attachment was added to them.

Something was put against his mouth and fasted behind his head. The inside was soft. A pair of hands held him by the shoulders, another pair stroked his head and he felt liquid being tipped gently into the holes around his mouth. The soft substance inside began to expand. It pushed into his already open mouth and grew there. It pushed down on his tongue but stopped before his gag reflex kicked in. He was comfortably, but effectively, gagged!

He felt bare feet rubbing against his own and hands stroking his chest and legs. He guessed correctly that he now looked very much like the other three. Naked, hooded and gagged. There was something else however. When he tried to move his left hand he felt something attached to it! Something not unlike another hand in fact.

He tentatively moved his left foot and something followed - another foot! He could hear giggling. This was surely too much for even Sheila's overworked imagination.  He wasn't sure, but it seemed highly likely that Linda, Sarah and himself WERE ALL CHAINED TOGETHER!

                                    ----------------------------------------

When the blindfold was taken off he could see that he had guessed correctly. Lengths of dull black chain with unusually small links had been employed to attach their wrist and ankle cuffs together, there was some slack, but if he wanted to scratch his nose with his left hand, then Sarah had no option but to scratch it too and vice versa. Her left cuff and Linda's right had about a meter of chain leading from it to their respective ankle cuffs leaving their otherwise "free" hand with very little movement.

He heard typing.

HI BILL I'M SHEILA AGAIN NOW! HOW D'YOU LIKE IT?

He felt that he lived his life these days in a constant state of perplexity. . He felt a hand on his thigh and he looked down in a detached way to see that it was heading towards his private parts!
 

STOP THAT SARAH! YOU WON'T LIKE IT IF IT SPITS AT YOUAND NEITHER WILL I!

Linda giggled and stroked his bottom, he idly wondered if Sheila had grown a pair of eyes in the back of her head. She was typing again.

THE LAST TIME I HAD TO GO AWAY FOR A SEMINAR YOU GOT ILL. REALLY ILL - PINING FOR ME I SUPPOSE!

He couldn't help but snort through his gag.

I DIDN'T WANT TO LEAVE YOU ON YOUR OWN AGAIN. IF SOMETHING HAPPENED TO YOU I'D NEVER FORGIVE MYSELF.

 She swiveled round and her eyes were big and doleful. He felt a catch in his throat that had nothing to do with the gag.

SO, WE ALL PUT OUR HEADS TOGETHER AND CAME UP WITH THIS LITTLE PLAN FOR YOU TO HAVE COMPANY FOR THE WEEKEND!
 OH THE KEYS TO THE GAGS ARE IN THE FRIDGE BY THE WAY. YOU'LL BE ABLE TO EAT; YOU JUST WON'T BE ABLE TO GO VERY FAR, UNLESS IT'S TOGETHER OF COURSE.
 I'VE HIDDEN THE KEYS TO THE CHAINS AND THE CUFFS AND I'LL LET YOU ALL OUT WHEN I GET BACK!
 OKAY LINDA, YOU CAN UNTIE ME NOW; THOSE KEYS I GAVE YOU SHOULD UNLOCK ALL THIS LOT... LINDA! LINDA! WHAT'S THAT IN YOUR HAND? LINDA, UNTIE ME NOW!
 

                     ------------------------------------------------------------------
 

Three naked hooded and chained together figures sat comfortably on the floor of the living room eating Sushi. At their feet sat two cats. One large black Persian, one smaller Egyptian Blue. They were waiting for pieces of Sushi to be thrown to them by their strange looking part owner and his friends, they were not disappointed.

Sarah sat between Bill's legs, her blindfold back on at her own request. The chain linking them was over her shoulder. Linda was lying next to them; they were both feeding her the pieces of Sushi the cats didn't get and watching Casablanca on the video.
 

"Oh, this is so...decadent. It's so different from the hospital!" Sarah worked in casualty. Even after eight years it still gave her sleepless nights.

"I know sweetheart," said Linda, kissing her solicitously on the cheek.

"Linda, what WAS it you put on Sheila before she left?"

"Insurance!" She said grinning, "It's like a g string, but it's got a little Kevlar inset that goes over and around her clit. She can't play with it. She can do anything else but she can't TOUCH her clit and I'VE got the key. A mail order firm asked me to try it out for them."

"Kevlar? That's bullet proof isn't it?"  Bill poured wine for the three of them." Is it Sheila proof though? I mean I'm not!"

"No," Said Linda thoughtfully," And if she can't get at it, she's going to be like a tomcat on heat when she gets back Monday night! A girl's best friend is her clitoris remember!"

"After me I hope!"

"You'd better have some more of that Sushi, you need to keep your strength up mate! Oh Bill, look I'm sorry, but I've got a really itchy pussy. You'll have to put your glass down and.... you know. Actually, as you're down there you might as well do it for me... Oh that's nice, thanks."
 
"Is that why this vegetarian Sushi tastes of fish?

"Shut up Sarah!"

"This chain we're all "wearing", it's not normal is it?"
 
"No it's a carbon fibre mix, very light, very strong. It's almost impossible to cut and it's warm to the touch. Expensive, but more comfortable than steel."

"For the humane Master or Mistress!"

  "It's another thing they asked me to test. Same with the gags; EZGAGG it's a synthetic sponge. When you pour water on it it expands. You can't talk but you CAN breath...you know, I owe you for helping me with the Website."

"Er, Bill, Linda, I'm sorry, but I've got to go to the toilet...."

"Which means that we've all got to go to the toilet!"

They stood up carefully, to begin the long slow shuffle to the bathroom.

"You know something girls... I think this could be the start of a beautiful friendship!"

Linda grinned mischievously.

"Tell me that after we've been to the toilet a few times!"
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

                                THE END
 
 

 (c) Wallace 2002. The writer asserts the right to be recognized as the author of this piece. This is a work of fiction and bears no intentional resemblance to any real events, or to any persons living or dead.