Chapter 51: A New Step

Mindy was so helplessly lost in trance that she was unable to comprehend anything that happened to her. She was dimly aware of movement, of leaving her seat, of walking. She felt the chill air on what must be her naked flesh, though she didn't remember undressing. There was a sensation of warm water, and soft, fragrant smells – of oils and then of perfumes. She followed commands. She obeyed.

And then, awareness raced back into her mind. But as her senses returned to her, one of them was cut off: she was blindfolded.

She also quickly realized that she could not move her arms or legs, as they were trapped in such a way that she could only stand in a spread-eagle position. The feeling of rough brick on her naked back and buttocks made her aware that she was locked to a wall.

She was also aware of sounds – the sounds of a busy room! Tossing her head from side to side, Mindy tried to call out in alarm, but couldn't because, in her mouth, was a tightly fitted ball gag. All she could do was to emit a few alarmed grunts as she pulled against her implacable bonds.

"Oh, look, the new girl has come out of her trance."

Mindy didn't recognize this voice, nor did she recognize any of the others that seemed to now gather around her.

"Mistress Catherine has scored again. These past two weeks have just been amazing for her."

"Yes, even the great Mistress Catherine doesn't usually find this many beauties in such a short period of time."

"It's too bad we aren't allowed to play with this one yet – those nipples just look rock hard and I'd love to suck them into my mouth."

"Oh, I bet she's positively dripping, despite her little angsty performance."

And she was. As frightened as this new situation made her, Mindy couldn't deny that being so helpless, and to be surrounded by strangers who would talk of her so brazenly, was having an effect on her. The grunts of fear and frustration that escaped from her gag were also laden with moans of desire.

"Shall we begin?" Mistress Catherine's voice boomed over the bustle that Mindy could still hear in the room.

Mindy heard sounds of chairs scraping, and imagined that everyone must be taking seats. She imaged what she must look like – so on display for what sounded like a fairly sizeable audience. And Mistress Catherine must be at the back of the room, waiting to walk to the front and begin whatever erotic torment she had in store for Mindy, who remained helplessly trapped for all to see.

"Isn't she just lovely?" Once again, Mistress Catherine's voice filled the room, and this time was answered with clapping from the audience.

"Let's remove the blindfolds."

At the last command from Mistress Catherine, Mindy felt hands brush her face as they pulled the blindfold off of her eyes, allowing her to finally take in the scene before her.

Even in the dim lights that surrounded her, Mindy had to squint as her eyes adjusted and, as she did so, she realized that what was happening was not at all what she had imagined.

No one in the room was looking at her. In fact, everyone's back was turned to her. Mindy wasn't on display at all – she was at the back of the room – an afterthought. What had everyone's attention, and what had drawn their applause, was a stunningly beautiful woman on a stage at the other end of the room, who was also blinking as her eyes adjusted from having a blindfold removed.

That beautiful woman was Sandy, and her arms were locked together, and a chain hanging from the ceiling pulled them up so far that she had to stand on the tips of her toes to remain in contact with the floor. This was a struggle, though, as a spreader bar was attached to each ankle, ensuring that her legs would be unable to provide her with any modesty at all.

Mindy sucked in her own breath as the image seared itself into her brain. Sandy was so gorgeous, and so helpless. Her body was completely available to whoever chose to make use of it.

But what really impressed itself upon Mindy was Sandy's expression. Mindy could see that Sandy wasn't entranced, yet she still bore a look of utter and complete submissiveness – a look punctuated by the collar that encircled her throat.

This sight brought tears to Mindy's eyes. Here, before here, was a very frightening and very real demonstration of exactly what she had feared throughout the day: she would have to witness Sandy's submission to Mistress Catherine; she would have to watch Sandy give a part of herself to another woman. Fruitless as she knew it would be, Mindy nonetheless tried to cry out from behind her gag. She wasn't sure if she could watch this.

As if on cue, Mistress Catherine stepped in front of Sandy, and presented a flogger to her mouth. Without hesitation, Sandy lowered her lips to the flogger, and kissed it passionately.

Knowing what would come next, Mindy turned her gaze away and shut her eyes tight. On the one hand, she couldn't bear to see the fiendish device used on her lover. More importantly, though, she didn't think she could stand to see another woman make use of Sandy's body. As she started to hear the steady "thwack, thwack," Mindy felt her own body jerk with each strike.

Even as this happened, though, a strange new level of arousal seemed to ripple through Mindy's body. How this could coexist with the horror and sadness that were creeping into her she wasn't sure, but it was undeniable.

More undeniable, though, was the sensation of pain that suddenly radiated out of Mindy's own nipple, causing her eyes to bug open. She saw that Eve was standing next to her, and Mindy realized it must have been she who had removed Mindy's blindfold. Now, though, she was doing something far more sinister: she was pinching Mindy's engorged nipple mercilessly.

"You are to watch the proceedings. Turning away will only make Mistress Catherine punish her more – and perhaps you, too."

With that, Eve let go. Mindy reluctantly turned her eyes to the stage.

The first of her fears was immediately dispelled. Mistress Catherine continued to bring the flogger down on Sandy's exposed flesh, circling around her so that it would strike different parts of her with each "thwack." But even as the pain from the flogger registered in the expression on Sandy's face and in the jerks of her tortured body, a look of pure ecstasy also radiated from the helpless slave. Mindy immediately realized that Sandy was enjoying this, and that Mindy should feel no worry about the pain that Sandy was enduring.

Even as Sandy's expression alleviated one of her concerns, though, it magnified the other. As she looked at Sandy and watched her submit to her Mistress, Mindy felt a wave of remorse flood through her, mixing with her own arousal to leave her awash in confusion. Mindy definitely wouldn't say that the look on Sandy's face as Mistress punished her helpless body betrayed feelings of a greater intensity than what she had experienced with Mindy, but there was a look – a different kind of intensity – that Mindy had never seen on Sandy's face before, and she was distraught to know that that look was borne of another woman.

As Mistress Catherine handed the flogger to some other woman (that must be Jenny, Mindy realized), only to pull a riding crop from her belt, the only thing that prevented Mindy from bursting into tears was the thrilling heat that still churned within her body.

As the crop began its evil work, Mindy found her body continuing to respond to each strike that landed on Sandy's exposed flesh. Every time the "snick" of the riding crop filled the air, Mindy felt herself jerk in her own bonds. At first, she did this out of fright – the sound of the crop startled her each and every time. But then, the sensations seemed to be something different. Mindy wasn't jerking in her bonds because she was afraid of the sound, she was jerking in her bonds because she imagined the crop landing on her own skin; she started to wonder what the sharp burst of pain must feel like; she started to revel in how wet these thoughts made her.

As Sandy's moans of ecstasy began to fill the air, Mindy felt something inside of herself start to give, as if one more barrier had suddenly fallen. As she witnessed Sandy's body starting to writhe with sexual need, her own responded in kind.

And then, without warning, it all stopped. Mistress stopped striking Sandy and, instead, presented the crop to Sandy's lips. Sandy kissed the crop, and Mistress returned it to the clip on her belt. She circled Sandy a few times, letting her hands trail over the now warm, red, and sweat covered skin of Mindy's lover.