The Widower

Vicki looked over the table at John, as he spooned veggies onto his plate.

'I don't see Luci in the stables, so I guess she must be in the cells. I guess she's still a troublesome bitch?' She had a smirk on her face. 'Guess you don't really know what you're doing...'

John glanced at Marie. 'Do you want to tell her?'

Marie put down her knife and fork. 'Vicki, I watched John put her there himself. He gagged her, hooded her, stuffed her holes and then chained her up for the night.'

Vicki's eyes grew wide. 'What the fuck?'

John shrugged. 'Guess I might have what it takes.'

Marie was smiling. 'Vicki, believe it or not, John here, 'she pointed with her knife, ' seems to have a previously unknown dominant streak, that's made quite an impression on our American guest.'

Marie and John took some time to tell Vicki exactly everything that had happened that day, even including the fact that Marie had walked in to the sauna whilst Luci was sucking on John, backing away quickly at the time , whilst John made shooing gestures with his hands. She'd helped John put Luci in the cell, bringing some food for the woman whilst John took her over to the cell, guiding John with the finer points of chaining her up, but letting John lead, and not interjecting her own ideas.

'She's going to wrap you around her finger, was all Vicki said at the end of the tale.

Marie looked over at John. 'She's got a point. You're going to have to keep that one on a tight rein'

-*-

John looked into the cell, the same way he had a few days ago. Luci was lying on her side, in the center of the cell, a collar around her neck chained to the wall, her wrists fastened to the same chain. He wondered if she was awake or asleep right now, under the hood.

He'd spent sometime last night talking with Marie, talking things through, learning. She had hit upon the idea of them both looking through the images that Lesley had given him, showing him things that he should consider, explaining how things worked, how this piece of gear provoked this reaction, and how it felt.

Now it was morning, and John was looking at the chained, gagged and hooded form of an otherwise naked girl. In a few minutes he was going to turn on the shower in the cell, wake her up with ice cold water, but for now, he just paused, wondering at the woman in front of him, and the thoughts she provoked in him.

So many people had said this place gave them something, he thought. It gave Joanne a sense of place, of belonging. It had given Lesley a place to straighten her head, a place to gain and maintain discipline.

What was it giving him? For a start, there was a side of himself he didn't know existed, but there was more than that. This felt like a new start. Lesley's death has been so hard. He'd started to look on each new day with trepidation, but the last few days, almost since he had arrived at the stables, that had lifted. There was a new future in front of him, both literally, in the form of Luci, but figuratively, in what he now knew and understood, about Lesley, about Luci, and about himself.

He smiled as he turned the valve, watching Luci react to the spray of water. Time to get the day started, he thought.