Lost At Sea

To her surprise Scarlett had not only slept like a stone all night, she also felt pretty rested when she finally woke up in the morning. How was that even possible?

She had, after all, been forced to spend the night in tight, uncomfortable bondage: With her body caught in the cruel harness and her arms strapped to her back. She had been forced to sleep collared and hobbled and with the gag in her mouth, and all this should have turned the night into a ridiculous kind of torture for any woman.

But instead, even though Scarlett still was in discomfort and still wished to get out of her predicament as soon as possible, she had to admit to herself that it wasn't all that bad.

Sure, her arms were throbbing a bit and felt stiff, but that was it. The collar had abraded her skin a little yesterday but didn't feel too painful today. And Scarlett's jaw was aching from the gag, but that ache was a minor one. The drool which constantly came from the corners of her mouth and dripped down her chin - as soon as she didn't concentrate in swallowing every few seconds - was worse than all the rest combined.

Chris was in a good mood as well, having rekindled the fire already and frying another fish when Scarlett struggled into a sitting position. He came over and helped her to her feet with a smile. Scarlett found that he too had more energy, his eyes gleaming with newfound strength as he checked on her arms.

"Let's make sure that you haven't taken any damage", he said with the same care he had permanently demonstrated since they had been forced into this weird kind of symbiosis as 'Owner' and 'cattle'. Carefully, knot by knot he tested the bonds. He took his time to make sure everything was in order and then, to Scarlett's surprise, tightened the belt that had been looped around her elbows a little further!

She was baffled when she felt the harness constrain her arms just this little more, especially since Chris didn't really seem to realize what he had done. He had acted like a man on autopilot and now just continued checking the rest of her restraints with the same kind of friendly attention. Scarlett didn't know what to say, even if she had not been gagged... she was so baffled that she didn't even protest.

Chris seemed to be able to read Scarlett's mind... at least partially. "I'll take the gag out of your mouth in a moment", he mumbled, so that no one except Scarlett would be able to hear him, while he let his hands run over her forearms and then tightened another one of the straps, this one running around her wrists. Again it didn't seem to occur to him what he was doing. "You can eat and drink, but if you need to talk please whisper. And afterwards let's... let's get going." He had hesitated there for a moment and she wondered why, but when he took the rubber wedge from her lips she forgot about it instantly because the pain in her cramped jaw served as a perfect distraction.

"Ouhgod... ouch... this is no fucking life for a human..." Scarlett coughed under her breath, talking in the lowest voice possible. Her voice was hoarse and slurred. "Shit, my jaw is killing me... I'll be very fucking glad to finally be able to scratch myself again, especially since you just tightened the straps around my elbows and wrists. What the hell were you thinking?"

Chris was shocked, shaking his head with a baffled face. "Oh wow, shit. I didn't... I mean I wasn't thinking. I'm so sorry! I could just see your arms had adjusted a bit and that they had more leeway now, and it just looked kind of... unaesthetic. Well it looked like it could be tightened a bit further and I did it without thinking."

"Maybe it could be tightened further, but it didn't have to tighten it any fucking further", Scarlett pointed out sarcastically. "You are aware that having ones arms tied like this is very uncomfortable, are you? And that I'm not a piece of art?"

"Yes", Chris said abashed. "Sorry, this will not happen again."

"Well, I don't intend to stay in this outfit much longer anyways." Scarlett smiled at him, trying to show him that she wasn't seriously angry. "I don't need breakfast now. I want to eat with my own hands, once we are at the beach again. Let's get going."

He shook his head, smiling at her with admiration. "No, come on. I know you are tough, but you don't have to prove anything. Eat and drink, we still got time for that."

"No, I just don't want to be naked anymore. And don't you mind my... you know..."

"Your what?" He didn't understand.

"My smell! I've been like this for nearly 24 hours now, I'd do everything for a shower and a deodorant."

He laughed, softly, and then touched Scarlett's matted hair with one hand. He petted her again and, with real affection in his eyes, took a piece of cloth, put in in the water of the lake and used it to clean Scarlett's face and cheek.

"It isn't your fault that you aren't exactly... clean. But you are also beautiful, and nothing will change that. You are a little sweaty, true, but it's not that bad."

Scarlett closed her eyes while she felt the cool cloth on her face, enjoyed his touch and at the same time wondered how much more surreal things could get anymore.

"Why are you smiling like that, Scarlett?"

"I'm smiling because it's a weird situation."

"It definitely is." He cleaned her neck and throat now, wiping the sweat from her skin where the improvised collar had irritated it. He continued with her collarbone and shoulders, touching her very tenderly and carefully, so close to her that she could feel his breath on her cheek and the side of her neck. Scarlett's nipples became a little swollen even before she felt the cool cloth touching them. Her crotch was warm now, definitely warmer than it was supposed to be. Her body was covered in goosebumps.

She quickly opened her eyes.

"I want to get back to the beach, as soon as possible."

"You are right." Chris stopped with what he had been doing, seemingly a little disappointed, obviously very aroused. He gulped, his face extremely red. "You are right", he repeated. "Let's hurry. But still, please eat just a bit. It's like an all-you-can-eat buffet, and everything that's already in our stomachs we don't have to carry."

He offered Scarlett more of the leaves - a whole lot more in fact, one folded bundle after another - and Scarlett ate them all. She found they tasted at least as good as they had yesterday, she wanted another bundle of those spicy, juicy plants as soon as she had swallowed one. The taste was just ... unique. That freshness went through all her body; filled her with new energy.

"I would like... one of the fruits too." She didn't even know why she had said that. Was it intuition? If so, what was her intuition trying to tell her? For reasons that she did not understand, she wanted more of the leaves and at the same times wanted them not.

"Sure... here you go." Smiling he fed her a mango. He also gave Scarlett more water to drink. "How do you feel?"

"Much better. Stronger I guess." That was very true - she felt new strength and was almost literarily filled with energy.

"Good. Let's get going then." Chris put the gag back in Scarlett's mouth with some routine. As he did that, Scarlett noticed something else: How he checked on the head harness and the gag, but not only checked to see if it wasn't too uncomfortable... how he in fact seemed to make sure every strap was in place and tight enough, how he fastened them with the kind of determination that people usually reserved for an important task.

Something about him was weird. She didn't know what it was and she wasn't too worried because...

Wait a moment, why was she not too worried? Fact was that she didn't know for sure. Something felt off, something about Chris and his demeanor was weird, but Scarlett was not too worried. She didn't feel good in this position, in fact she felt exactly as degraded and humiliated as the situation implied. But still... she asked herself, slightly confused, if she should not worry much more than she did at the moment.

Something was weird, yes, but and she just couldn't put a finger on what it was. If you changed, would you notice that you had changed, or would the person that you had become assume that they had always been like this? Was it possible for a person to lose perspective on how they were supposed to be, when they were already different...?

She had zoned out for a moment, but Chris brought Scarlett back to the real world when he touched her again: He smeared more of the balm on her arms, massaging them as thoroughly as he had before. It wasn't entirely unwelcome, but still...

"Nghough...", she tried to tell him that it wasn't necessary, that all she really wanted was get back to the beach and finally get rid of the bonds. The noise that came out of her gagged mouth didn't sound like it of course, and since those leaves always seemed to stimulate her salivation there also came more drool when she tried to speak, but she still hoped he would somehow understand what she meant.

"Let me just finish here", he mumbled, keeping to rub the spicy lotion into her flesh. The straps felt less tight as the balm sank into Scarlett's sin, the pain subsided further. "I still had some of the stuff, so why not use it." She didn't know why she disliked it. But in a way, despite the stuff helping her, she didn't appreciate it at all. Not one bit.