Twenty-two years of marriage do take their toll, you know. On one hand people grow together; intimacy and familiarity bring you closer, and mutual care and love bring a certain warm stability to your relationship. On the other hand it also brings you a certain degree of boredom. As if you have experienced it all in years past.

Mind you, Eric Bowles certainly loved his wife, Annika, and he had every reason to do so. At 42 she was a stunning woman. Beautiful, clever, an accomplished and successful industrial designer, and a warm and caring mother and wife. Not that the 'mothering' was much in demand these days, as their only child had left for Copenhagen in September, to study for a degree in chemical engineering.

Eric himself was not faring that bad either. His small business as an interior architect was highly in demand, because of his good tastes and vivid imagination, and these days he did a lot of work for theatres all over Europe, creating stage sets and costumes. In the 'looks department' he was not half bad either. Tall, in a slim, sinewy way, his head covered in blonde curls.

So, these were their surroundings: Very wealthy, a beautiful home, and a marriage running like a well oiled machine, based on 22 years of equality, mutual respect, and love. And with sexual boredom lurking in the corners.

Annika was never the experimenting type, not to mention the kinky. She loved sex the way she thought it should be: With love and emotion. Over the years Eric had seen his proposals of experimenting turned down - mind you, always in a kind and smiling way - but turned down anyway. And he had learned to be content with what he had. And then the invitation arrived in a heavy, cream coloured, embossed envelope. 'Mr. and Mrs. Bowles', 'Stockholm', 'costume ball', 'theme: 2000 miles and 2000 years away', 'New Years eve.'

"Oh, my God," Annika exclaimed. "Those Swedish Opera balls are really something. Do you think we can go?"

"Of course we can go. I'd love to go there with you. Actually I'm working at home all the way through to mid January. I'm preparing the set for Aida to the Madrid opera, and I have tons of material for costumes out of old Egypt. I think we could create some exciting costumes."

"Oh, that would be lovely. I could have my hair straightened and cut short like those sensuous old Egyptian hairdos, you know, hanging straight down and cut like a helmet."

"Ah, with your beautiful black hair you wouldn't even need a wig. I'd have to wear one, or I might dye my hair black. Let's go out into my workshop right away. I'll show you what a lot of possibilities we've got."

The big room was cluttered with dozens of boxes, some of them opened, revealing all kinds of exotic material. Brightly coloured silks, shiny 'gold' spandex, chains and all. "Look, I can turn you into anything you want, all the way from a high princess to an exotic slave girl, and I could go as your incestuous brother or your owner. These eloxated aluminium chains are meant for the choir of slaves. They are very light weight and look like gold, even at a short distance."

"Wow, these things look beautiful. If I was to go as a slave, would you chain me with these?"

"Sure, I'd chain you with them, and partly dress you in them."

"That sounds exciting. I think I'd decide for the slave costume, but you can do some sketches first, and then we'll decide, can't you?"

"Of course, dear. I can have something ready for us to evaluate in about a week."

The thought of taking his beautiful Annika along as a slave stirred some deep emotions in Eric. What he didn't know was, that they stirred something in Annika, which she had never recognised before.

Over the next few days he worked diligently on her costume. His research for Aida had been done a few months earlier, and he had lots of old Egyptian pictures of slave girls to inspire him. Like he had planned for the opera he worked out from the original, and then created the costume to emphasize the emotions he wanted to excite in the audience, and also in the actors wearing it. Thus he came out with sketches of a highly erotic costume, put together from 'gold' chains, manacles, see through silk and heavy make up. When he imagined Annika in the costume he had designed, he felt his cock grow with entirely new desires, and he had a hard time not to reveal it to her, but he wanted to present it on a day when she was in a fine and loving mood.

"Oh, my God, Eric. This looks VERY revealing." He had brought her to the workshop after dinner on Friday. They had shared a bottle of wine with the dinner, and Annika was in a lovely, mellow mood. And still she was a little bit shocked when she looked at the big sketches. He had to admit, that they were very revealing, although all important parts were covered.

"You know, those slave girls were dressed a lot more revealing." He showed her some of the old pictures he had used for inspiration. Some of the women were dressed in nothing but a broad belt around the waist, leaving everything open to the viewer. "I have made them a little more decent by covering you up in see through silk. But even if you went naked under the costume, you would certainly not be the only one to show a bit of skin at that opera ball, you know that. Haven't you seen pictures from last year's ball? Quite a few bare tits, if I may say so."

"Yeah, I saw them. Pretty exotic, some of them."

"You would be one of the decent ones in this costume, though I have to admit I designed it to emphasize your beautiful body. Look at this one." He pulled out a sketch, showing a naked woman dressed only in the chains. Annika gasped.

"THAT is naughty, Eric."

"Not as naughty as it looks. She IS dressed under the chains. I'd take some thin underwear, like panties and a thin bra, and dye them to match exactly the colour of your body make-up. If you trim or shave your pussy so your black curls do not shine through, you'd look stunning and draw a lot of attention, without being vulgar or too inviting."

"Oh, I see. That would be very exciting to wear. Let's make a deal: If you'll dye your hair black instead of wearing a wig, I'll wear this costume. We could be a nice couple to look at, couldn't we, dear?"

"At least I know you'd be exciting to look at. I'm afraid I'll have to wear one of those penis shields to hide my erection, when I see my beautiful wife dressed like this."

"What a nice compliment, love. Maybe I should dress up right now, or do you think you could produce one without? For mutual benefit, I mean?" She leaned in and kissed him lovingly, and that night they only made it into the house after they had fucked fiercely on the workbench, the sofa and on the floor of the workshop.

CHAPTER TWO

Come mid December Eric had finished her costume. "I'll have to do a few final touches, though. I'll have to match the colour of the panties with a body make- up, and maybe a few of the chains need adjustment. Can we meet in the workshop when you get home from work?"

"Sure, I can hardly wait. If you'll take us out to a late dinner, we can do the testing in the afternoon, not having to cook dinner."

"Consider it a promise."

It was only four o'clock when they met in the workshop. Eric had raised the temperature to a comfortable 24 degrees, to make Annika feel comfortable, even if she would have to stay naked or half naked for quite a long time, and he was positively surprised, when he noticed that she must have paid a visit to her hairdresser's on her way home. She had done exactly what she had proposed earlier: Her curls (artificial as it was) had been straightened, and her hair was cut short in a typical old Egyptian style. Very becoming to her narrow beautiful face and her tall neck. She must have put some kind of a conditioner into her hair, because it was a lot shinier than normally, almost as if she had oil or whatever in it.

"That is a VERY exciting hairdo, you've made. You look absolutely stunning with it. Your colleagues saw it?"

"No, I had it done on the way home. I wonder what they are going to say on Monday."

"If you get any negative comments, you can be sure they come out of envy, love. You look very exotic and erotic, and it emphasizes your pretty face."

"Well, thank you, mr. slave-owner. Shall we get on with it?"

"Sure. First you'll have to undress, and then I'll propose that you trim your pussy, so the hairs are very short."

"Too late, dear. I shaved it this morning, when you'd said you wanted to test the costume. I wanted to be ready for this. But if you like it better when it is trimmed, there will be plenty of time for some hair to grow before new years eve."

"Certainly not, dear. I look forward to see you shaved."

With a mocking smile Annika started to undress. She was certainly not performing a strip tease, it seemed as if she wanted to get out of her clothes as fast as possible.

"Well, Sir, your model is ready."

"God, she's beautiful," Eric thought. You should never guess that her pert, small breasts had once been full of milk. No drooping there. And her shaved pussy erotically enhanced her girlish, slim figure. "I really love your shaved pussy," he said. "I shall have to take advantage of it later."

"Be my guest, Master," she said with a smile. "Let's see what you've got for me."

"OK. First I'll fit this broad belt around your waist." He showed her a wide strip of black leather with more than a dozen rings clamped to it. "Some of the chains will go through these rings, and the two on your hips is for fastening your wrists, so you can't move your arms very much. That is for show, of course. I'll free them when you have to hold drinks or snacks or whatever."

A shiver ran through her body while he fastened the belt, and her nipples betrayed her. Eric made no comment on this, but it didn't escape him, and added fuel to the slight excitement he felt. Maybe 'something' new might come out of this charade?

"Now I'm going to fixate your wrists, so I'm sure you remain in the same position while I adjust the chains." He fetched two bracelets, made of polished steel, which looked quite like silver. They locked around her wrists, and with small, self-locking hooks, like the ones used on sailboats, he fastened the bracelets to the rings on her hips. "Try them. See if you can move." And Annika made a few pulls which only served to show, that it was impossible."

"I hope this is not too uncomfortable, as long as you don't try to get free."

"No, it's all right. Actually it's a position where I often hold my arms. But it is a bit disconcerting not to be able to move them."

"Mmmm. You do look vulnerable this way. You couldn't prevent this, could you?" Eric stepped up close and pinched both her nipples lightly. Once again a shiver ran through her, and her nipples stayed hard after the pinch. Hitherto unknown feelings were cursing through her, and she found that she actually liked to feel so vulnerable.

"Now for your necklace. I made one out of steel, like your bracelets, but when I tried it on, I could see it would be uncomfortable in the long run. So I made this one out of soft leather, having the same function, but a lot more comfortable. Though I have to admit, that the steel ring would give you a stronger feeling of being a slave."

"If I'm going to be a slave, I think we should try to do it all the way. Let me try the steel ring. Maybe I can wear it."

"My God, he's right," Annika thought. "It's very erotic to feel it against my skin, knowing why it's there."

"If this wasn't a costume for the opera-ball you'd wear nothing else, you know. I'll hook up a leash to your necklace, like I'm doing now, so I could drag you anywhere I want. And take advantage of your naked body any time I'd want." He made a short, soft pull on the leash, just to emphasize his words.

"Wow, this is exciting, Eric. I really couldn't do anything, could I?"

"Not a thing, dear." He ran his hand down her flat belly, enjoying immensely the feel of her shaved mons, and then he slipped a finger between her slick pussy lips. She was wet already, and for a few seconds he rubbed her clit, spreading her juice. "I could get to like this very much," he groaned.

"So could I, I think." Her cheeks were red, and her nipples really showed, that she meant it.

"Well, as much as I'd love to take you to the ball, dressed like this, for everybody to see, I've better get you dressed, haven't I?"

"I even believe you would, you naughty man. But yes, you've better get me covered up a little."

Eric dragged her across the room to his working-table, where he had laid out a number of 'gold' chains, cut to different lengths. The first was a long one, which he ran through the front ring in her necklace, down through the front ring of her belt, to hang as a double chain between her tits, down to her mid thighs. Through the other rings in her belt he started to arrange chains hanging in bows, the top one leaving part of her belly free, hanging down to about an inch above her mons, the others hanging lower and lower, until her pussy was covered, and the last chain was hanging about two inches below her pussy. He stepped back and looked at her.

"Now, this looks exactly as I had planned. Very becoming." He grabbed Annika's shoulders and turned her towards the large mirror on the wall. "What do you think?"

"Wow, that's very pretty. It covers, what should be covered, but actually it draws your attention almost as much as if it had been naked, I think."

"Yes it does. And as long as you stick to small and slow movements you are not going to display anything. I find it exciting to know, that you are naked underneath, love, and I can always put my hand through the 'curtain', as long as your arms are locked where they are."

"MMmmm, that's exciting too, Master," she mocked him. "And I have to admit that all that metal on my skin tingles in ways I hadn't thought of."

"That's great. Now, you can stay there, looking at your lovely self, while I arrange the chains to conceal your pretty bum in the same way."

The end result was a 'garment' leaving her hips naked all the way up to her waist, in a style like tanga panties would do, while the chains covered all right, what had to be covered, but even the slightest movement would make the chains swing and move, attracting all attention to her lower regions.

"Wow, you certainly look delicious, love. If you were to learn, like a good slave would, to move carefully, I'm sure you wouldn't even need anything under the chains. I'd love that, really."

"You are naughty, Eric. Of course you'd have to dress me up now and then so I could do some training, but I can't promise you that I'd dare do it to the ball. Depends."

"Of course I'll dress you up. But now, let's get started on your torso. Much as I like to look at those wonderful tits, we've better cover them up a bit."

For her top he had designed kind of a camisole, with the chains going up and down between her necklace, and a chain running all the way round her ribcage, a few inches below her tits. Her back was left naked, making it obvious that she didn't need the support of a bra.

"Aaaww, this design is for home-use only, I think. Look, I hadn't counted on your breasts jutting out that strong. They'll peek through the chains all the time. I guess that for the costume I'll have to tie a few of the chains together to conceal your nipples, and only leave the sides free for a peek to the swell of them. For now I won't tie them, though. You look a lot too exciting to cover up yet."

"Have you designed anything for yourself?"

"Oh, yes. I already made my costume. Would you like to see it?"

"No, I'd like you to model it. I'm half naked, and I think you ought to be something similar."

Eric grabbed the long chain, which was fastened to her collar. "I think I've better tie up my slave while I'm busy with something else." He dragged her to a pillar in the middle of the room and tied her chain round it. He then proceeded to dress up in a pair of trousers of typical Arabic design, made of very thin, white cotton. For his torso he had designed a vest, which would never cover up his chest. A pair of red, pointed shoes and a multicoloured bandana round his head finished off his costume. For a prop he had fabricated a whip with a short handle and 7 thongs of the softest, thinnest leather he could find. This whip was hanging from a small hook in his vest.

"Yummy, Eric. You know I could never resist your lovely, smooth chest. You look fabulous. Just like a real slave-owner." A light chill ran through her body as she said it. Slave-owner. Her being the slave.

Eric untied the chain from the pillar and with a slight pull he brought Annika to the table where he had placed the other sketches for her costume and some of the originals. "Are there any of the others that my slave would like to try?"

"Of course I'd like to try one or two, but I think I have decided for this one, at least for the opera ball."

Eric showed her one of the originals, where the slave was dressed only in the wide belt and a necklace. "This one is historically more correct, and for private use I think it's very exciting."