What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

It was time once again. Nina had left for the weekend two hours early because she was certain she would burst if she did not do something about the frustration that had accumulated over the working week. Especially about the sexual frustration: She'd left Robert almost four weeks ago and had not had sex since. It was not the case that no willing partner had offered himself though; on the contrary, there had been no shortage of advances since word had spread that she was 'on the market again'. If she'd accepted all invitations for coffee, she probably would not have been able to sleep for weeks - the customary fate of an attractive woman working in a predominantly male domain. Then again, nerd biotope would probably be a more apt description; Nina could not fathom why many of her colleagues apparently tried hard to match the characters from 'The Big Bang Theory' in both appearance and habitus. Consequently, among her would-be consolers, there had been mostly consolation prizes, and not a single man she would have considered fit to satisfy her very special needs. Those which Robert had satisfied like none before him - and perhaps none after.

Nina closed the front door and threw her backpack carelessly into the corner. There was a suspicious rattle, but she had no hope of finally having dealt a well-deserved death blow to the bulky and heavy laptop her employer bestowed on its software developers. Neither sleek nor fast, its imperviousness to almost any kind of abuse was its one redeeming quality, unfortunately - apart from the presumably unbeatable price tag. More stylish and powerful models were, of course, reserved for members of the management caste, which undoubtedly boosted their productivity while creating presentations of supreme importance on the always popular topic of cost savings.

From the direction of the living room a plaintive meowing was heard, then a cat rubbed up against her legs leaving tufts of long, grey hair behind on her black jeans. She sighed and went to her knees to scratch her tomcat Christian under his chin, which he allowed with visible relish, but only for a short time, before turning away. He used his body language to make it abundantly clear that she was expected to follow him immediately and without further delay into the kitchen. She stripped off her sneakers and hung her wickedly expensive Italian, black leather biker jacket (a gift from Robert) on the coat rack, then grabbed the storage jar from the pantry where she kept his dry food and entered the kitchen. Looking at the battlefield of scattered crumbs from breakfast around the food bowl, she wondered once again why the hell cats were reputed to be clean animals. It certainly couldn't be their table manners; even the fact that they didn't get tired of licking their anus and genitals didn't necessarily speak for exemplary personal hygiene in Nina's opinion. Admittedly, they were able to use a litter box for their needs.

But perhaps she had been graced with a special specimen of Felis silvestris catus, because Christian was not found to be lacking in the department of behavioural abnormalities: Unlike most felines, he did not shy away from water or fire, was interested in all kinds of food accidentally left within his reach which by rights any self-respecting carnivore should not give a damn about, maintained a (one-sided) sexual relationship with an old blanket and was a passionate collector of Nina's hair bands. These, he dragged by the dozen to an unknown den, somewhere in the cellar, and Nina suspected that there he would rest upon a mountain of loot, like Smaug on his hoard.

After she had taken care of Christian and cleaned up his mess, she let herself sink with a weary sigh onto the leather sofa in the living room.

"Ana, do I have any new messages?"

"There are two new calls and seven new e-mails," replied a female voice from an inconspicuous little cylinder next to the TV, while at the same time the screen turned on and displayed an overview of the received messages. The phone calls were from her parents. Once again, the PC that Nina had set up for them during an episode of insanity, had presented them with seemingly insurmountable problems. So once again, Nina would have to guide them through the required steps in her self-inflicted role as 24/7 first-level support - but certainly not today.

The mail was mostly spam with only a single one from Robert asking her to meet. His smug tone gave her a sting: How could he dare to not suffer terribly from their separation? After all, it was her who had sent him packing - not the other way around. Why on earth did she get the feeling that she was missing him more actually? In any case, given this sorry state of affairs he would have to wait a while longer before she was ready to face him again.

"Ana, turn off the TV and play some music, but quietly, please!"

The device marketed as 'smart loudspeaker' complied with her wish and immediately the unmistakable bass line of Radiohead's 'All I Need' filled the room. Allegedly, thanks to the built-in camera, the AI technology behind Ana was able to analyse her facial expression and use it to determine her emotional state, which sometimes worked with astonishing success -- thus giving the manufacturer the opportunity to delight her with offers adapted to her current mood and thus increase sales. Orwell probably would not have dreamed that thirty years after '1984', people were not only willing to allow a machine that put his crude 'Televisor' to shame in every respect into their homes, but were paying for the privilege to boot. When Robert had brought his latest toy along, Nina had initially been strictly against it, but as is so often the case, the concrete increase in comfort soon triumphed over abstract concerns. She consoled herself with the thought that given today's technical possibilities, there was only one realistic chance to escape the unpleasant consequences of total surveillance, namely to be sufficiently insignificant and thus get lost in the masses - which was undoubtedly the case for her.

Nina ordered Ana to close the roller shutters, then made a short tour around the house to ensure that all the windows and doors were closed, before she was finally ready to devote herself to her project. As a first step, she took a hot shower to wash the week's stress and tension down the drain. In the upcoming 48 hours she didn't want to waste any thoughts on unrealistic release dates and intractable Heisenbugs. No, this weekend would belong to her alone, work and the rest of the world be damned.

After the shower, she devoted herself to taming her mane of curly brown hair, which took up the next fifteen minutes. A final critical look into the mirror confirmed that only a few strands had escaped her practised efforts to bundle the unruly hair mass into a tight braid. She was pleased with the sight that faced her in other respects as well: her slender, well-proportioned body testified to the hours spent every week doing sports and yoga while her alert, brown eyes and energetic chin signalled intelligence and strength of will. It was by a small margin that she had missed a career as a fashion model -- roughly estimated by about thirty centimetres of additional body height. But as it were, she found it hard to find fashionable clothes in her size and was more often than not referred to the children's department, which at the age of twenty-eight was not only embarrassing, but rather impractical from a stylistic point of view. She even needed an additional seat cushion for her office chair, but at least she was able to fly long distances in the cattle class without having to undergo orthopaedic treatment afterwards.

Her nudity also revealed the submissive side of her personality, which she otherwise hid carefully from the world. Even before she'd got together with Robert, she'd had her nipples pierced and since then, four holes had been added to each of her outer labia, while the existing ones had been stretched further so that now they were all able to accommodate the massive piercing jewellery he had commissioned for her. Incidentally, he had conveniently forgotten to inform Nina that none of her new jewellery's closures could not be opened again once they had snapped closed. When she found out about his little omission, she had been raving mad at first, but in due course and after a few particularly intense sessions - thanks to her new and now apparently permanent adornments - her initial anger had been supplanted by the delightful excitement she felt every time she was reminded of these visible signs of her enslavement. This horniness still affected her even now and was also the reason why she had not yet taken a bolt cutter to the so-called 'jewellery'.

However, there was one piece of her slave accoutrements that was not part of her permanent equipment: the shackle for her nose. Robert had realised that with this, a hard limit would have been violated. Nina had reluctantly, but only after some insistent and at times physical persuasion obeyed his wish to get a septum piercing. Yet this evening, she wanted to indulge her masochistic fantasies to the utmost extent and savour the feeling of being helplessly enmeshed in strict bondage as much as possible. Consequently, she opened the bathroom cabinet and withdrew the inconspicuous box in which she kept the 'jewellery' for her nose.

In contrast to the usual way it was done, her nasal piercing had not been punched through the soft tissue in the lower part of the septum, but higher through the flexible and strong cartilage. This placement accommodated Robert's sadistic desire for a stable fixation point for their bondage games as well as her need for discretion (and not to forget her lust for pain!). After the wound had healed, he'd had the new hole reinforced with a wide-flanged, surgical steel grommet, which - to Nina's horror and chagrin - was also permanently anchored in her flesh with no way for her to get rid of it on her own. Due to the location of the piercing, putting the substantial nose shackle in was not easy, but she had plenty of practice doing it: Before her separation from Robert, this had been the first task she was required to complete every evening immediately after coming home. Consequently, it didn't take her long to insert the short locking pin of the shackle into the eyelet embedded high in her septum, thus fixing the U-shaped steel bracket in her nose. Once in place, it could only be removed by expending some serious effort and making use of the special pliers also in the box.

Nina studied her reflection again. It was amazing how much the prominent nose shackle changed her self-perception. Now, instead of an ordinary young woman, she was confronted by an exotically adorned slave who confidently displayed her status as a challenge and a warning to those who were bold enough to aspire to taking possession of her. The first step of her metamorphosis from demure corporate drone to fetish princess was complete.

Naked as she was, she went into the bedroom and opened the combination lock on the large Chinese lacquer chest next to the bed. She lifted the lid and let her eyes roam across the treasures that had accumulated therein over time. The range of torture and bondage equipment was extensive, with much of it custom-made for her petite physique. She left the choice of her torment to her rising excitement; probably not the most sensible course of action, but today she wanted to, no had to experience the feeling of complete and utter helplessness. She deposited her selection on the bed, only when it came to her chastity belt she hesitated briefly. After all, that had been the stumbling block that precipitated her separation from Robert. His increasingly paranoid, unfounded jealousy and associated control mania had been hurting and annoying her for a long time, but his requirement that she should wear the belt 24/7 had been the final straw.

It was not the case that the idea of having her private parts locked away held no erotic appeal for her (rather the opposite), but this was a matter of principle: there was no basis for a relationship like theirs but total trust, and this assuredly could not work as a one-way street. Robert had disagreed and claimed that she was simply getting cold feet, being terrified of where their common path might lead her, but that was complete nonsense, of course.

With a sigh she threw the steel contraption onto the bed, then closed the chest. Now she needed a plan how to put her intent into practice. Unfortunately, her last self-bondage session dated back years and since then, her partners had taken over the bondage part while she practised being an escape artist. Thanks to her flexibility and dexterous fingers, she had irritated even Robert with some initial successes, until he started to tie her as tightly and securely as possible, regardless of her whining. Later, when their games had become more serious and they had switched to metal cuffs that were more suitable for long-term bondage, he always made very sure that she could not get her hands anywhere close to the keys. He still held onto them even now; but she had the duplicate keys, originally intended for emergencies.

Nina studied the restraints spread out on the bed and pondered how she wanted to proceed. Fancy release mechanisms that required ice cubes, electromagnets and time switches or combination locks were out of the question; she neither had the required gear nor did she consider them to be absolutely reliable. It was better she followed the well proven KISS principle: She would attach the crucial key to her wrist with a rubber band, ensuring that it could not get lost and that she would be able to free herself at any time in case of an emergency. Naturally, this arrangement couldn't satisfy her desire for true helplessness, but she was confident that it would nevertheless be sufficient to put her into the right frame of mind - self-bondage always required a good deal of imagination, which she possessed in abundance.

She drank a large glass of water and visited the bathroom one last time before kneeling on the bed and beginning to adorn herself with the personalised metal restraints. First, she fitted the wide stainless steel bands around her slender ankles and snapped them closed, followed immediately by the corresponding cuffs for her wrists and the wide collar for her long neck. For a moment she closed her eyes and enjoyed the familiar feeling of the intransigent metal tightly clasped around her throat and limbs. Robert had insisted on only the heaviest and most secure style of cuffs and collar, which looked particularly daunting on her petite physique and certainly ruled out any possibility for them to be mistaken for normal jewellery. On the plus side, the wide steel bands with their rounded edges did not cut into her skin, even when she was suspended by them, and hence they could all be worn for long periods without a problem. They could only be opened with a special key, yet the manufacturer also sold a variant which locked permanently, and even offered a conversion kit to this "close-once-only" type. Robert had often mentioned that one day he would avail himself of this offer, a proposition which Nina had rebuffed in sheer horror each time. Now that same memory sent a pleasant shiver down her spine.

Her growing arousal made her breathe faster and she felt her nipples turn hard. She had to exert all her will power in order to refrain from touching herself between the legs and so it was high time for the application of the chastity belt; yet before she closed herself up, she would have to insert her high-tech dildo. This electromechanical miracle was to provide entertainment during her adventure and could be remotely controlled via WLAN. Not only did it vibrate, but was also capable of emitting electrical impulses of varying intensity that covered the entire spectrum from lusty, prolonged teasing to brutally painful torture.

First, Nina wrapped the curved metal band of her chastity belt around her waist. Despite being made of solid steel like her cuffs and collar, the waistband closely followed the profile of her pelvis; clinging to her anatomy like a well-fitting, albeit a little tight jeans, it encircled her narrow waist above the swell of her hips. She cursed her weakness for American ice cream and valiantly held her breath while she struggled to press the two ends of the belt together over her bellybutton. At last, the integrated lock closed with a final sounding snap.

She spread her thighs wide and leaned her upper body far back, then grasped the huge black and silver dildo. A lubricant was not needed to ease the entry of the vibrator into her vagina, thanks to her building excitement. On the contrary, she had to focus her thoughts firmly on the upcoming Monday morning in the office, so as not to ruin her pent-up sexual tension with a premature orgasm. Nina wanted to savour this exquisite agony to the utmost and thereby create a truly memorable sexual experience; one which would not immediately get lost in the daily grind. No half measures!

Despite her efforts to keep calm, she could not suppress a soft moan when the phallus-shaped bulk of the dildo slid slowly and inexorably into her vagina and began to fill her more and more. Probably because of its complex inner workings, the intruder was of a size that she could barely tolerate, but at any rate it was quite a bit larger than she would normally have opted for. Finally, its broadly-flanged base nestled between her labia, while an elongated appendix pressed snugly up to encircle her clitoris, eliciting another involuntary moan.

She had to sit up on her knees in order to swing the crotch band attached to the back of the belt forward between her thighs. She had wisely refrained from attaching the thick and horribly intrusive anal plug, through which she could be given enemas when she was forced to wear the belt for longer periods of time, but putting it on properly was still a complicated process. She cursed silently while patiently teasing the thick rings in her labia one by one halfway through the slits for each in the crotch band, then locked them in place by pushing the long, removable U shackle of a special padlock through the now exposed half circles of the rings. Her labia were now securely attached to the crotch band that was shaped like an elongated, flat bowl and so her sanctum - as she literally knew first-hand -- was securely protected from access by meddlesome fingers. Given what she had in mind, she wouldn't have her hands free to start another futile foray of this kind anyway, but her almost obsessive perfectionism didn't allow her to cut corners when she tied herself up. Hence, it was no wonder that she and Robert had harmonized so well, at least where their shared passion for bondage was concerned. Accordingly, she pushed the lock's body onto the open end of its shackle and let it snap closed, thus accepting her self-imposed fate: She had just locked herself out from the centre of her lust.

Nina briefly straightened to stretch her tense back, then leaned forward again, sucked in her belly and pressed down against the waist band of her chastity belt from above with one hand, while at the same time using the other to pull forcibly upward on the crotch strap. After a short struggle, its wide steel tongue slid with a loud click into the integral locking mechanism in the centre of the belt's waist band. Done! She exhaled slowly and savoured the feeling of how the chastity belt grasped her tightly around the waist and at the same time exerted a gentle, but constant pressure on her crotch and thus the base of the dildo stuck deep in her vagina. The prospect of being helplessly at the mercy of everything and anything that the extremely versatile vibrator decided to put her through made her utter another throaty moan.