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Leather & Lace – Book 1

Chapter 20 – The Contest

By The White Knight

I could barely believe that it was real as we walked into the Jacob Javitscenter in New York. The huge conference center was decked out like a Louisiananightclub during Marti Gra, with feathered boas and string beads dangling fromthe metal rafters. Posters spotted the walls depicting the 2004 Bondage Conventionand Contest and all of the thirty previous conventions. Pictures of premierbondage models that had found their first big break at these conventions wereperched on pedestals about the lobby complete with their biographies and aconcise listing of their most famous works. To me it was beautifully exciting,but at the same time had that surreal feeling that somehow I didn't belonghere.

A large sign guided all contestants to the 4 th FloorTerrace Room AB for their formal sign in. I wrapped my arm around Greg's andheld him close to me. After all of my fighting, conniving and training to gethere I could not understand why all of a sudden I felt scared. Holding on tightlyto my man's arm seemed to pass some of his steely confidence down into my quiveringinnards. My stomach flip-flopped as we walked into the Terrace. The large oblongroom was milling with other contestants and their masters and now I reallyfelt out of place.

Greg and I were wearing comfortable Town and Country like clothing. For methis meant a soft print sundress and low-heeled sandals, while Greg sporteda camel colored blazer and dark slacks. I had felt perfectly in place as wehad walked through the lobby of the Dumont Plaza among the patrons of thatwell-heeled establishment, but this was totally the opposite.

Women with piercings and boob jobs that could only have been created by DoctorLovelace walked about in costumes that were put together more to show off theirbodies then clothe them. Leather and spandex seemed to be everywhere, yet aslong as the outfit was skimpy the material didn't seem to matter. In just thefirst few minutes I counted nearly half-a-dozen women that I was ninety-ninepercent certain wore no underwear what so ever. The men were as garish is theirmates, many wearing dark leather biker type clothing and sporting numeroustattoos on most of the flesh that was left showing.

While my mind whirled Greg guided me over to the entrants sign up booth andleft me in line as someone he knew caught his eye. It was almost a shock whenhis arm left mine and I bit my lip and strained to keep sight of him as hewalked across the crowed room. I could barely see him as I was jolted frommy thoughts by a woman's voice behind me.

'You best move forward honey', the voice said in a nasally southern accent,'I think the natives behind us are restless.'

Realizing that I hadn't moved forward with the line, I closed the gap quicklyand then looked back, with a bit of trepidation to see who was talking to me.What I saw shocked and at the same time pleased me. The lady was smiling brightlyat me and just like her voice she sported a very down to earth outfit of abutton down silk shirt and form fitting light blue pants that nearly coveredher natural leather thong sandals. I took her to be about five years olderthan myself, with just a hint of well-hidden crow's feet at the corner of hereyes giving lie to her youngish face. Her curly brunette locks framed her angularfeatures giving them a softer look than they might have had with a more sterncut.

She held out her hand and added, 'Hi, I'm Karen Moraine and since that youngman that left your side was undoubtedly Greg Stanton that would make you SharonGlasser, correct?'

'Why, yes, but how did you know?' I replied aghast.

'Its simple honey', she said in her soft drawl as she took my arm to turnme around and keep us both moving with the line. 'My hubby, who is the gentlementhat Greg took off after, is an old friend of your boyfriend. They knew eachother back in their boyhood days and have kept in touch ever since.' She gaveme a long warm smile and continued, 'I was beginning to despair for the boythat he was never going to find his Aphrodite, but then all of a sudden hise-mails started talking about this wonderfully fresh young lady that had senthis heart all a flutter.' I blushed and looked away, but I couldn't help butbe happy that Greg had told some of his oldest friends about our relationship.'From his description you must be Sharon, as I truly doubt that there is anothergirl-next-door innocent looking goddess about this crazy place.' I blushedeven deeper and felt tears of happiness in the corners of my eyes. 'Yes, thatis a direct quote', she said as if in answer to the question that she knewthat I wanted to ask. 'Now the last I heard you two were living together, butthen we both seemed to lose touch, so how is it going?'

'It's better than my wildest dreams' I gushed. 'He is a wonderful friend,an incredible lover and the most perfect…'

I stopped talking in mid-stream as I realized what I was about to say, butKaren filled the gap for me. '… and the most perfect Master?' she saidwith a knowing smile.

'Yes', I answered relieved. 'It's funny but it still takes some getting usedto, to admit that I am someone's slave… even here in a place where Isuppose all of use are someone or others slave.'

'Don't you fret darling', she said easily, 'you'll get used to it. Heck,I've been my Tom's slave for nearly thirteen years. That's not to say thathe wasn't tying me up and such well before that, but he didn't spring the wholepackage on me until after we were married.' I guess I looked a bit shockedbecause she carried on her explanation. 'You have to understand darlin' thatthat was a different era and what we were doing at the time was barely on thefringe of normality. It isn't like today where anything goes between two consentingadults.'

'But you don't even look thirty…' I said in exasperation as numbersstarted to come together in my mind and I realized that she must be at leastin her mid-thirties.

'Thank God for modern medicine and my ten year anniversary present! A tummytuck removed all evidence of the kids and the breast implants added two fullcup sizes! I must admit that I'm a bit hung up about my looks and my dear Masterwas more than happy to grant my request.'

'But your face..'

'Good genes, darlin', good genes' then in a lower voice 'and of course theproper use of makeup. That Revlon Age Defying foundation is a life saver!'She gave me a long look from toes to hair and than back again. 'Enough aboutme now, what's been happening with you? I thought that Greg painted you outto be new to this world and yet here you are obviously ready to participatein our little contest.'

'Oh, I'm about as new as new can get and that's the truth. Greg and I wereonly going out for about a month before we moved in together and shortly afterthat I convinced him that we should enter the contest as Leather and Lacesrepresentatives. I've just finished a grueling six weeks of what I can onlycall bondage boot camp to get to the point where I am pretty sure that I won'tembarrass him.'

'Six weeks…' now it was her turn to look at me aghast. 'Honey, youmust be something else if Greg thinks highly enough of you to bring you hereafter only six weeks of training. Heck, Tom and I have been practicing on andoff for the last six months, although that was mostly because we missed lastyear. The kids all had the flu you see and we just couldn't leave them.' Sheshook her head a bit as if throwing off some concern. 'Wow… six weeks.OK, so what part of your training did you find the most difficult?'

'Stiletto heels', I replied without even thinking, 'especially six inch pumps!Do you know how hard it is to walk properly in them?'

Karen threw back her head and gave a deep belly laugh, 'Darlin' my Tom'sfirst fetish gift to me was a pair of heels nearly that high… hmm, Ithink I was nineteen at the time. So you might say that I have just a bit ofexperience wearing stiletto pumps!'

I laughed with her and then it was my turn to fill in the form that wouldadmit me as a contestant into the bondage contest. At first I stared at thepaper blankly as the enormity of what I was about to do hit me. I was goingto be putting myself completely at others mercy throughout this whole ordeal,in front of thousands and thousands of strangers. Shaking my head to clearit, I filled in the form by rote until I reached the last page. It was a disclaimersheet absolving both the convention center and the promoters of any liabilityif I received any injuries from the competition. I bit my lip and signed atthe X as my mind asked over and over again if I really knew what I was doing.

Karen was next and she went through the process quickly. She smiled at meas she took my arm and steered me over to where our men were talking. Now thatmy eyes were open a bit, I could see that there were a few other couples clothedin a more normal fashion, but the ornate costumes of the many had caused meto pass them over. Tom was dressed similar to Greg, though his blazer was ofa darker color with patches on the elbows. He was rather lean, though his turtleneckshirt couldn't hide the small paunch that was forming at his middle.

'Karen, great to see you', Greg beamed as he hugged her and gave her a kisson the cheek. 'I see you met Sharon', he said as he took my hand in his. 'Tom,I would like you to meet Sharon Glasser my lover, also know as baby my mostperfect submissive.'

'It's nice to finally meet you Sharon although Greg's description hardlydid you justice', Tom said as he took my right hand in his and bent over tokiss it like some courtier of old.

Karen started to cough behind me, 'Oh my Lord I think that I'm going to betaken ill. I think it's that ripe smell of manure in the air that's affectingme so.' Greg laughed first and I couldn't help but follow.

'That will be enough of that red', Tom said in a mock harsh voice.

'Why, yes of course it is Master', she said diffidently as she waved herhand like a fan in front of her nose. 'You have to watch out for my Tom, he'llcharm the pants off of you if you let him.'

'I'm outraged', Tom retorted with a smile on his face that said otherwise.'And just which event in the past dozen plus years of marriage would ever causeyou to doubt my absolute fidelity!'

'Oh, honey, I have no doubt in my mind that you'll leave with the girl youbought, but those eyes of yours are a whole 'nother story!'

His pained look left his face in a heartbeat as he turned to Greg and spokeas if nothing unusual had passed between them, 'You know red does have a pointthere.'

Greg laughed and clapped his friend on the back. I turned to Karen, lookedat her shapely brunette hair, and asked, 'Red?'

'When I was younger I used to die my hair auburn. Unfortunately, sometimesit turned out a bit more red than I had anticipated… so my lord andMaster decided that red was an appropriate slave name for me.' She shruggedher shoulders in acceptance.

'A bit more red', Tom said loudly, 'Ronald McDonald would have been proudto wear you hair color a few of those times!'

Greg began laughing again and Karen folded her arms and frowned. 'Now, nowyou too be nice', Greg said easily. 'Sharon I've never met two people moreperfect for each other and despite their banter they love each other as ifthere isn't another person in the world that could make either of them happy.'He clapped Tom on one shoulder, 'Now enough of all this, lets finish up theintroductions so that we can all have a nice dinner before we have to facethe competition tomorrow.'

'I do have one more question', I said earnestly, 'how did you and Tom evermet? I mean Karen said you were childhood friends, but you're not exactly thesame age?'

Greg laughed and shook his head. 'You have to understand that Tom was likethe Fonz in our town. No, he didn't wear a leather jacket or ride a motorcycle,but everyone knew Tom. He was also the resident DJ at a local Dinner that hisgenius turned into the coolest place in town. New songs, old songs, it didn'tmatter Tom knew it and if he didn't have it he knew where to get it. Heck,even though he was gone by the time I hit my teens his legend lived on. Sowhen I got into making bondage movies I called on Tom.'

'You see Sharon, Tom here is a musical genius. Every movie that I have evermade he has been the one to put in the background music and let me tell youthe way that he does it makes the action three times as good as when I shotit.' He looked away from his friend and back to me, 'I'm sure that you rememberhow I used 'Bad to the Bone' in one of our sessions…' I blushed brightred as I nodded my head while I remembered him whipping my cunt till I camein time with that rocking tune. '…Well that song was one of Tom's bestadditions and helped me build my very considerable portfolio.'

Tom took a bow and pretended to wave to his adoring fans as he said, 'Thankyou, thank you very much.' He laughed at this own poor imitation of Elvis andcontinued, 'enough about that, what are you doing now that your out of theindustry.'

'You know how my dad has always been after me to get into the family business?'Greg asked and both Tom and Karen nodded yes. 'Well, he finally found a wayto make the offer irresistible.'

'My God', Tom said aghast. 'How did he do that? You were always so adamantthat you wouldn't just be handed the keys to the kingdom and that you weregoing to make it on your own.'

'Two things happened to make me change my mind', he said easily. 'First off,Dad joined his company to Leather and Lace in all but name only as he madea deal to be their supplier of choice. That allowed me to accept a job at Leatherand Lace so that I could learn the business and at the same time offer my ownexpertise to help advance its interests.' He put his arm around me and huggedme close. 'But it was the second thing that sold me hook line and sinker.'

'Sharon' Tom said to me, 'don't tell me that you had something to do withthis.'

Still blushing I smiled at Greg and replied, I guess I did have a small partto play in this drama. You see I started working at L&L about four monthsbefore I met Greg's father. 'During some discussions with both Mr. Stantonand Mr. Thatcher I made it known that I didn't have a boyfriend at the timeand they were kind enough to set up a blind date with Greg for me.'

'If that isn't the most vanilla version that I have ever heard of our meeting,I don't know what is', Greg said with a laugh. 'What baby neglected to tellyou was that those discussions happened with my father and Mike Thatcher whileshe was being used as a newbie bondage model to settle a bet between the two!'I was turning three shades of red, but Karen and Tom didn't seem at all shockedas they smiled at Greg's story. 'Also, when she said blind date she wasn'tkidding. Dad knew that he had really blown it the last time he had tried toset me up…'

'Oh, yeah, the stalker girlfriend', Tom said knowingly.

'Right, so Dad had Sharon blindfolded and bound when I met her.' He shookhis head before he went on. 'I was all set to turn down anyone that my fatherwas trying to fob off on me but… well, to make a long story short… that'swhat made the job offer totally irresistible.' My face was red but I was smilingall the same as I basked in his warm hug.

Karen slid her arm into the crook of mine and pried me away from my man.'Now that the formalities are out of the way, us girls have a lot to talk about,so why don't you boys find us somewhere nice to eat.' She waggled one fingerat the two men before she continued, 'Nothing heavy though or we are not goingto be able to fit into our corsets tomorrow!'

The rest of the evening seemed to pass in the blink of an eye as Karen andTom proved to be wonderful conversationalists. Karen was true to her word andwe talked quite a bit about being a submissive in a relationship. She startedto open my eyes up to things that the little old lady at the hardware storehad started me thinking about, but there simply wasn't enough time to exploreall of the avenues that appeared. What mattered to me the most was that theywere another couple like Greg's dad and Cassy or Mike and Samantha Thatcherthat had chosen the same sort of lives that we were choosing and continuedto enjoy it and each other many years later. It was a wonderful thought onwhich to fall asleep.

I woke up the next day well rested yet feeling strangely disconcerted. Itwas as if I had a bad head cold and was getting ready to go to work, regardlessof the ailment. My brain seemed to be in neutral but my body just kept to itsroutine. I packed the outfits that had been laid out the day before for today'scompetition, while Greg checked and double-checked his schedule and his bagof tricks. He was very quiet and that also added to the unreality of the situation,as he was generally very gregarious in the mornings.

Walking into the Jacob Javits center that morning was a totally differentexperience than yesterday. Early conventioneers mingled around the large vestibulepointing out one contestant or another as they whispered and took pictures.The zippered suit bag slung over my shoulder and Greg's ditty bag must havetipped off these early risers as they descended upon us taking pictures, askingme questions 'like are you new to this?' and begging for autographs. I signedtheir scrap books 'Hope you have a wild time!… baby' which Greg toldme to write quietly in my ear. After about a dozen of these and the flashesnearly blinding me, increasing my disorientation until I wasn't really surewhat I was doing here. I became an automan, doing as Greg told me and posingand smiling as required.

A tug on my arm set me back in motion and I found myself led past a guardedred rope gate and drawn into the warrens of cube like dressing room's set upfor the contestants. Greg pushed aside the curtain entrance that was adornedwith a large number twenty-two. Inside of the dressing room was a totally barren,with the exception of the left and back wall supporting shelf like desks thatran the length of each wall. A couple of metal folding chairs leaned againstthe wall to the right. A breeze from overhead caused me to look upward towardsthe white painted metal rafters far above.

Greg went to work quickly and set up both the chairs and then pulled outa laptop computer, while I hung up my suit bag. While the computer was bootinghe turned back to his ditty bag and pulled out my circular magnifying mirror,followed by my cosmetics case. These he placed in front of the folding chairon the sidewall table. Without even thinking I stripped off my capri's, sleevelesstop and sandals before I slid into my white terry cloth robe and matching isotonerslippers. I began applying my makeup in an automatic an unthinking way justas we had rehearsed over and over again.

Rolled black seamed stockings, textured in a rose pattern, were put intomy hands one at a time and I slid them up my legs. Greg held open a pair ofblack lace crotch-less panties for me to step into as soon as that was completedand then came the corset. It was loosely laced, so snapping shut the busk wenteasily. I stood there holding up the loose red and black material while hetook control of the laces. Those long smooth pulls of his had become so normalas to hardly be noticeable, even as the heavy satin began to mold body to itswill. Breathing in deeply I aided his last few adjustments and then breathedout, when he patted me on my back to signal that my laces were tied off. Iwent through the process of reseating my breasts that were crunched tightlytogether in their demi-cups. Once I was sure that my nipples were over thered satin lip, but hidden behind the black lace fringe I moved on to my nexttask.

The six inch spiked heel pumps were laid out in front of me so I lifted oneleg for Greg to remove my slipper. I shimmied my toes down the arched soleand into the tight toe box while he held the shoe so that it wouldn't slip.My heel slid easily into place and I put all my weight on this foot as I wentto work on the second.

'Fifteen minutes… All contestants are to report to back stage in fifteenminutes', the tinny sounding loud speakers announced.

Greg glanced at his watch and smiled, 'Right on time' and then handed memy collar. I starred at it for a minute, unseeingly, until my training releasedmy eyes and let me secure it about my neck. It felt smooth and comfortableabout my throat and my enlarged reflection in the mirror clearly showed myname written in lower case script letters on either side, 'baby'. My mind wasin a state of total fugue and despite it feeling somehow right for me to bewearing the soft red leather collar, another part of me cried out who is thatin the mirror?

I looked down to see Greg circle my waist with a tape measure, 'Just a hairover seventeen inches. That's perfect, nearly a full inch more than the fourrequired.' He began humming happily to himself as he began to tie my wriststogether. The rope felt just like I knew it would through the black satin glovesthat covered my arms to just above the elbow. Another tie followed on the softflesh of my arms above my gloves. I winced as the cords wrenched at my shoulderblades.

It was like some crazy out of control dream. You know the type where youare worried that you haven't studied for some test back in college and youare forced by the dream to just follow along and go with the flow. Here I wasbarely dressed in a bizarre corset and black textured stockings as I was swiftlybecoming more and more helpless. The crotch rope bought me a bit back to reality,as Greg slid the twin cords of white nylon between my lips and then tied themoff to the bindings at my wrists.

I finally thought to frame a question to Greg, but as my mouth opened inpopped a ball. 'Good timing honey', Greg said as he put one hand behind myhead, 'now just open a little wider and I'll push this bad boy home.' Withoutthinking I complied and the two-inch bright red ball slid between the darkerruby red of my painted lips. My last chance to question going forward withthis craziness faded into inconsequentiality as just like in a run away dreammy dazed mind decided to just go with the flow.

Greg attached a four-foot leash to the metallic D ring centered below mythroat and picked up a few more items as I watched in mute fascination. I wason an out of control roller coaster and all I could do was follow as Greg openedthe curtain and led me out into the passageway. We weren't the only couplein the aisle and we soon entered the cue that was filtering its way to theback entrance to the stage.

Behind the curtain it was sheer mayhem as other slaves and masters foughtagainst the grinding down minutes to complete their preparations. The soundof many voices talking filled the air as the crowd's presence began to intrudeon my dazed state of dream fugue. I felt Greg attaching the small circletswith the number 22 stamped on it, to first the garter over the front of myright thigh and then one of its mates that fell over the rear of my left cheek.We had done this so many times that I need not look to see what was happening,and despite my addled mind I noticed Karen blinking her eyes at me. So shewas stuck in my dream also, that's good I thought at least I have a frienda long. I blinked back at her and nodded my head in recognition.

The drone of the MC's voice had been going on now for a while and the curtainbegan to part. 'This little angel is Angela, direct from LA and brought tous by her Master Tim. Angela's stats boast a large 40D chest, a narrow 26 inchwaist and healthy 38 inch hips. As you can see…' The monologue and theroar of the crowd faded as I escaped into my own mind. Closing my eyes I letmyself slide into a near Zen state as I let the dream wash over me. It wasjust another anxiety dream about the contest, so why should I worry?

I had been having these types of dreams for at least the last month, alwayswith the main theme that I wasn't prepared. All of those dreams ended in disastersthat left me in a cold sweat as I woke in the middle of the night. Things likeI didn't remember to open my legs when Greg passed through the crotch ropeor I pushed the ball gag out of my mouth, causing us to lose the competitionand more importantly me to embarrass my Master. In the worst of the dreamsI would fall off my heels right in the middle of the first event. Lord howI hated that one…

A tug on my leash caused me to open my eyes, only to find total darkness.Ah, but this always happened in my dreams, it was just because I was blindfoldednow. I relaxed and waited for the dream to continue until it ended in anotherof its disastrous consequences.

'Baby, I've given your leash to one of the attendants. Your next in line,so they will be guiding you out onto the runway. Remember everything that wedid in training and I promise that you will do fine!' Greg's removed his handas I felt my leash tugged again and I started walking in the direction indicted.Lucinda always took my leash in training as she forced me to walk like a lady,despite the stiletto heels and blindfold.

'This contestant is Sharon right here from her hometown of NY, NY. Sharonand her Master Greg both work for the lingerie and erotic products companyLeather & Lace and they are here representing their firm. This is the firsttime that we have ever had a couple do this so lets give a big hand for thelittle lady', the MC announce and the crowd roared.

The crowd roared? When had there ever been any noise in my dreams? My mindwas awhirl… I, Sharon, shouldn't be standing here in front of thousandsof people bound and helplessly on display. That didn't make any sense. Thequick jerk on the leash straight downward caused me to stop where I stood.As I had been trained, I moved my feet just a bit to one side or the otheras I centered myself.

My musings continued as the MC droned on about the size of my breasts, thewaspishness of my waist and my tender age. I couldn't help thinking that Lucindawas much better at this than my dream moderator. She used that crop of herto point out all of my best attributes while this ones free hand was maulingme like I was some blow up toy. Just another little quirk of my out of controlnightmare…

The stinging blow of the paddle landed just below my ass cheeks and at thetop of my thighs. It was at that point that the dream exploded and realityflooded in. My mind searched for the last thing that had been said, and I realizedthe MC had asked the crowd if such a new blood such as me deserved the paddle.The overwhelming cheering of approval was what left me on the edge of fallingover onto my face. But, this wasn't a dream anymore and I could once againcontrol my fate. The thought I am baby, Greg's slave and this is where I belonged,making him proud of me flowed through my mind. Now all I had to do was to fallback onto my training and everything would work out.

Greg had told me the MC would hit me just where he had in an attempt to knockme off my heels, so we had practiced this single moment many times. Duringone of those training sessions I used all I had learned during my years ofballet and raised myself out of my heels to stand on my toes, regaining mybalance and hanging there for a good thirty count before lowering myself backinto my pumps. Lucinda jumped on this immediately and Greg agreed that if Icould do this again that we had to put it into our routine. So, I did it again… andagain… and again… and again, till it became a part of me. I stillremember the end of that first session while Lucinda shook her head in wonderand Greg removed my bindings he had told me, 'baby, you are the best submissivea Master could ever ask for!'

I could not see from behind my blindfold, but I could hear that the audiencehad gone quiet as I balanced on my toes. The hit had been perfect and I hadseemingly let it blow me out of my heels, and now it was up to me. I leaneda bit forward and pulled back on my arms so that the crotch rope dug deep intomy pussy. The bite of the rope steadied me and with a slight fanning of myfingers I reached total equilibrium.

I pictured myself standing on tip toe in my six inch stiletto's, knees slightlybent, body arching a bit forward and my arms thrown back as stiff as steelbeams pulling desperately at the rope splitting my pussy to get just that littlebit more balance. The pulsing pain in my thighs was one I had come to knowwell and I'm sure meant that my creamy mocha tanned skin was now a vibrantshade of crimson. I could hear the heavy bells hanging from my nipples pealingbrightly in the silence as I imagined them swinging beneath my out thrust chest.

One thousand, two thousand, three thousand, four… I began the countin my head. At fifteen my feet started to feel the stress, but I pushed thethought away from me. The MC became uneasy with the dead space in his programand decided to fill it in, 'My God, ladies and gentlemen this is amazing. Idon't know if she is going to fall flat on her face or balance like this forever!Looking at the concentration on her face I don't think she knows for sure whichway it's going to go either!' He paused for a second as I hit thirty. My archeswere really beginning to feel like they were on fire and this was normallywhen I would lower myself back into my heels. 'Let's help the little lady outwith a cheer', the announcer continued, 'Sharon… Sharon… Sharon… Sharon…'It started out as a low murmur running through the audience, but in only secondsit became a full blown gale like the home team being cheered on by their fans.Biting down hard on the ball in my mouth I kept my count going until I hitforty-five and then ever so slowly, I lowered myself back into my heels, straighteningmy knees and my body as I let my tired arms dropped to rest against my back.

'That was the most incredible thing that I have ever seen!' The MC said inawe. 'And ladies and gents that's saying a lot for someone like me that's beendoing this for twenty years! You are one very lucky and very talented lady.Once again ladies and gentlemen, Sharon, from Leather and Lace, Incorporated!'

I knew that this was my cue to turn and leave as one of the attendants tookcharge of my leash, but I couldn't help myself. 'iiii 'ame ess aaabbbyyy!'I yelled into my gag.

'What's that?' The MC asked as I felt him pushing the foam covered mike againstmy lips.

'iiii 'ame ess aaabbbyyy!' I yelled again through the mouth filling rubberball.

Then I heard Greg yell from a distance, 'she says that her name is baby,her slave name'.

The MC paused for a minute and repeated what Greg had said to the crowd.'Well folks anyone that can do what this lovely young lady just did can becalled anything she wants as far as I'm concerned. What do you think?'

Slowly the rumbling of the crowd subsided into a low chant. 'Baby… baby… baby… itgot louder and louder until the entire auditorium was filled with my name ringingabout its walls. I smiled behind my gag in satisfaction as I turned on my heelsto leave. I gave them my best Mae West bump and grind imitation as I followedmy tether behind the curtain.

That's right I'm my Master's slave baby and you had best learn that name,because I'm going to win this contest!

I could feel Greg's arms about me as he hugged me and told me over an overagain how proud he was of me. Even the pain of the nipple clamps as they wereremoved couldn't penetrate my happiness. The blindfold came next and he wasworking on the gag when the crowd beyond the curtain simply exploded in pandemonium.

The information flowed towards us like a wave towards the shore as peoplebegan to call from one to the next the news. Someone leaned over and yelledinto Greg's ear, but I couldn't hear what was said over the volume of noise.The next thing I knew Greg was hugging me again and people I didn't know werepounding us both on the back. I moaned though the gag as the hearty thumpsbecame painful given how tightly my arms were bound. Greg immediately surmisedmy predicament and put his arm protectively around me as he began to hurryme out of the sea of contestants and Masters.

It wasn't until we were back in our dressing room that he had time to pullout the huge ball so that I could ask what had just happened. Greg smiled andbegan to untie my arms as he answered cryptically, 'Something that hasn't happenedin fifteen years.'

'Hmmm, that feels good', I moaned as my elbow binding was released. 'OK,I'll bite. What happened fifteen years ago?'

'Anita Ekberg scored a perfect ten during the runway event', Greg said ashe began to whistle tunelessly.

I sat down and kicked off my heels, luxuriating in rubbing my aching arches.Greg moved his seat across from mine and began to massage my feet for me. Now,I was in total heaven. 'So who scored the ten?' I asked as the relaxation sweptthrough my body.

'You did', Greg said softly.

My eyes popped open and I said excitedly, 'I did?'

'That's right baby, you did', Greg said with a grin of smug satisfaction.'The first person to do it in fifteen years and the first newcomer to EVERdo it!!!' We were in each other's arms again even before a conscious thoughtcould cross through my head.

'Knock, Knock', someone said loudly from the other side of the curtain. 'Willyou just kiss her already so that we can come in' said Tom's distinctive voice.Greg swept the curtain away and the couple walked in. Tom walked over and shookGreg's hand and Karen embraced me like a long lost sister.

'That was just incredible honey', Karen said excitedly, 'my goodness whenyou were standing on your toes balancing in mid-air it seemed like you weregoing to stay there forever!'

Tom looked over at me and chimed in, 'She looked like a statue! Totally motionless… itwas just incredible!'

I started to minimize it but Greg cut in before I could give away any ofour secrets and agreed with the two that 'his baby was simply amazing'. I baskedin his praise even as I took his warning to heart. Even best friends don'thave to know everything that happens between a Master and his submissive.

'Pardon my manners', I said to change the subject, 'but I should have askedhow you fared on the runway Karen.'

Tom put his arm around her shoulders and answered, 'A solid eight point eight,which I might add is her best score in the four years that we have competed.'His pride was as easy to see as Greg's and I could see Karen glow.

'It was nothing', Karen said, 'he didn't even paddle me!'

'Oh, no, he didn't paddle you. He just pulled on your nipple clamps untilhe had you bent forward so far I thought that your forehead was going to touchthe floor!'

'Now, don't be exaggerating Thomas Moraine!' Karen admonished him with awagging finger. 'I was never bent at more than at a ninety degree angle!' Shereached up and rubbed her breasts, 'Although it did feel like he was goingto pull my little peaches right off my chest!'

'And they are the most lovely peaches that I have ever seen', said her husbandin a mock gallant tone.

'Why thank you sir', Karen replied as she really laid on her southern accent.'And from a man who ogles as many breasts as you do sir that is high praiseindeed!'

'Quite so, quite so', Tom agreed without even seeming to mind his wife'sattack on his roving eyes. He turned to me before continuing, 'regardless ofthat, you my dear are now the lady to beat!'

Greg reached over and updated the computer screen, which filled with thelatest scores. 'With forty-four of the fifty contestants results posted Sharonis the clear leader. There is one nine point six, but that's your closet competition.Karen, you're doing well with your score putting you in tenth place.'

'That's exactly what I was telling her on our way here', Tom exclaimed. 'Asolid posting in the Lava walk tomorrow and she's a shoe in for one of thetop six places!'

The banter went on back and forth and once again I began to relax. As I satdown in my chair Greg perched himself against the desk and began massagingthe tight muscles in my shoulder blades. He and Tom began an analytical argumentabout how I could easily lock in a place in the finals tomorrow with any typeof a decent showing. That was tomorrow's problem though. As I rested my handlightly on his and looked up into his face, he graced me with that roguishgrin of his and a knowing look that told me just how much he wanted me.

Tom and Karen left a short while later and we did not end up meeting themfor dinner. Greg had an entirely different plan for our evening that was absolutelydelicious and only called for the two of us!

That evening I told Greg about my dreams. It was after an exhausting lovemaking bondage session in which I found myself bound in a ball-like tie whilehe shifted me about at his leisure so that he could play with each of my threeholes. He was very pleased with me and it showed in his words and in the numberof times that he let me cum.

His first reaction to my dreams was the one that I expected as he had beenindignant that I had not told him sooner. This quickly passed as he wrappedhis strong arms about me and began to soothe the tears that I could no longerhold back. I explained that I had been afraid to tell him while we trained,as I feared he might pull us out. But, now that we were committed and withthis big win under my belt, I felt that the time had come. Greg admonishedme, but only gently, as he pointed out that it was his place to decide whetherwe should pull out and that it had been wrong for me to hide anything aboutmyself from him.

I began to apologize and he hushed me with two soft fingers against my lips.'No beloved, don't take this all upon yourself. We've been so busy of latethat it hasn't left enough time just to talk between the two of us…'He paused for a few seconds at my look of confusion. '…Remember whenI first moved in and after every dinner we would sit and talk for an hour ormore. Than after dinner we would walk under the stars where we would shareeverything.' I nodded and he went on. 'Well the last six weeks, heck nearlythe last eight if you include all of the effort we put into Cassy's party,ate up all of that very important time.'

He paused once more and looked away as if thinking of something. 'When Cassymoved in I really hated her, all I could see was a gold-digger. Over time webecame the best of friends for one reason and one reason only. I knew withouta doubt that she loved my father. The reason I knew that was because of somethingshe told me that struck a cord so deep that I will never forget it. She toldme that she loved my dad because he was the first man who ever let her tellhim exactly what she was thinking. That there never needed to be any secretsor walls between them because she knew that there was nothing that she couldn'ttell him.'

He looked over at me and asked softly, 'Do you understand what I am gettingat?'

A host of things that other submissives had told me or that I had witnessedbetween his father and Cassy had led me to believe that my status was not asblack and white as it might seem, flooded through my mind. There was this grayarea where my needs and desires resided that I wanted to express but didn'tknow how. Greg seemed to see my need and it was like he was turning on a spotlightto help me find my way. Yet I still wanted some reassurance.

'But you are my Master, so shouldn't your wish be my command?' I asked softly,praying that he would not get mad at me.

'You've seen much too much "I Dream of Genie" in re-runs when you grew updidn't you?' He replied with a gentle laugh. More seriously he continued, 'Yourthoughts, your needs and especially your desires are important to me. I wantus both to be happy and the best ways to make that happen is to be entirelyhonest which each other. So why don't you start by telling me something importantto you.'

I smiled brightly and nodded my head happily making the ponytail bounce onmy back as I thought for a moment searching for something innocuous to sayfor my first attempt. 'Such as if you are going to ball gag me I like the biggerballs to the smaller ones.'

He smiled and gave me a common on signal with his hand. I took a deep breathand than let it out, 'Like telling you about my nightmares and then tellingyou how much I really wanted to represent Leather and Lace in the bondage competition.'

'Now we are getting somewhere', he said to me as he sat directly across formme, and looked into my eyes as he rested his hands on my shoulders. 'Let melet you in on a little secret. Every night that you stirred in your sleep,I woke up and comforted you by whispering softly in your ear. You would talkin your sleep… mostly gibberish, but some words were easy to understand… suchas scared… excitement… and responsibility.' Pulling me into hiswarm embrace, 'These are the things we used to talk about and the things thatwe need to talk about once more.' My eyes began to tear and I couldn't understandwhy.

'Here', he said softly, 'I'll make it easy for you. I agreed to go to thebondage competition for two reasons and neither of them had to do with Leatherand Lace. My first reason was because of how important it was to you. Secondly,but not far behind, was my own desire to show you off to the world. I am veryproud of you… your beauty, your submissiveness, your brains, your passionand your perseverance. So that's my story… now what really brings youhere?'

The tears really began to fall and I buried my head in his shoulder. I knewthat I did not want to be the independent woman that I once was, but I knewin my heart and my mind that I was as smart and intelligent woman and I wantedto share that with my love. The imaginary walls that I had erected came tumblingdown and the tears that flowed from my eyes were tears of happiness.

'It was all for Leather and Lace at first, but the deeper that we got intoour training the more that I knew that I wanted to be in this competition forone true reason. I realized that I wanted to win. Partly to show everyone thatyou are the best Master and that I am your loving and obedient slave…'Stopping, I wondered if I could get the rest out. Oh, Lord, in for a pennyin for a pound… 'But mainly because I'm a competitive bitch and I knowthat I can be the best!'

'That is the baby that I have come to know and love!' Greg shouted as hehugged me so tightly that I feared for my ribs. 'I want to show you off becauseI know that you're in this for the win and there is nothing that could makeme prouder!' We continued to talk well into the evening until finally his owntiredness overtook him. His light snoring stirred the back of my hair, as Ipressed his protective arm to my chest and sidled back just a bit deeper intohis spoon. Smiling to myself, I joined my lover in slumber.

Wednesday dawned crystal clear and even the city streets seemed cleaner aswe walked over to the convention center shortly after 1pm. It was a much laterstart than yesterday and I felt incredibly well rested, after my first nightin weeks without a single nightmare! Looking over at my man he noticed my happysmile and returned it. The night before had been wonderful in a much more meaningfulway than the sex alone and the bonds that held us together were stronger thanever.

He knew that look in my eye and voiced it for both of us, 'For the gold'.I nodded my head and repeated the words, 'For the gold' and than returned toapplying my makeup. Despite the fact that it was important to look good inpictures and that nothing helped you look your best more than the proper useof cosmetics, the bottom line was that in one hundred and fifty degree heatless was always better! Just a light dusting of shimmering red about my eyes,a hint of blush on my cheeks (and I really didn't care if it is out of fashion!)and Forever Scarlet polish to finish off my nails.

The outfit was what was prescribed by the contest for the Lava Rock Walkevent, a non-flammable body suit that I had chosen to wear in the metallicred. The heavy flame resistant tights were nude colored, but didn't come closeto matching my tan. I poured water into the cushioned insoles of my slippersand let my toes wiggle into the mushy lining. Karen had warned me to do thisand it still burned me that Cristobel, Greg's crazy ex-girl friend had notgiven up that secret.

I had practiced for weeks without the aid of the soaked interior and I hadgotten more than a few minor burns despite the protection of the metallic slippers.Now I felt confident that as long as I got through the course in a reasonableamount of time that the help of the additional moisture would save me fromany more burns. Of course Karen had her own way of making that point, 'If youstay out among those burning rocks too long that water will heat up like atea kettle and boil your little tootsies red. But heck it's either that orhaving them grilled with no protection at all!'

Unlike yesterday there was no fuzziness in my thoughts and Greg and I workedlike a well-oiled machine. I stood so that he could add my restraints thatconsisted of a thick white belt, double buckled about my waist and matchingpadded wrists cuffs that were locked to either side. He added my collar, butbuckled it loosely so that it wouldn't cause me to sweat more. My only otheradornment was a red terry sweat band holding my tightly coiffed hair againstmy head.

Greg gave me a last inspection and then lifted my chin so that I would haveto look him in the eyes. I shivered as this move put an emphasis to his words,'you've trained hard. You know what you have to do. You're my girl and youare going to win!'

I leaned forward and boldly gave him a peck on the lips, 'Yes, Master. I'mgoing to win!' I smiled at him mischievously before I lowered my eyes to theirproper position.

He slapped me on the rear and followed me out into the aisle as the PA systemcalled for all contestants to meet at the Lava Rock pit. Greg and I had studiedthe arena that they had created in past contests and this one wasn't much different.It was built on a raised platform so that the steel plated floor could be heated.The lava rocks were strewn about the floor in no discernable pattern, whiletheir porous surfaces gave off twice as much heat as a similar patch of baresteel. Eight-foot high walls in the shape of a hexagon surrounded the pit itselfcausing the super heated air to sizzle and shimmer. The fans were crowded uponthe tiered seating that circled the pit and rose nearly to the rafters.

The MC walked out onto a copula that had been built above the pit and youcould see that he was already sweating. Even the two bikini clad women thatwere at his sides seemed to be feeling the heat as they waved their arms aboutas if they were models on "The Price is Right". 'The object of this contestis quite simple and that is to have the fastest time in crossing from one sideof the pit to the other. Besides getting badly hurt, contestants that fallwill be penalized. Further any contestant that is found to force another tofall will be removed from the rest of the competition.' The crowd booed atthis but the MC just stared them all down until there was silence. 'Yes, Irealize that some of you would just love to see the lovely bondage babes ina brawl, but let me warn you and them, if anything like that happens I'll turnthe fire hoses on them and then we will just see how they like that!' Withthe sweat sliding off his brow I don't think anyone of us doubted the man'sword, but that was fine with me as my entire game plan centered on a fair game.'Contestants will enter the pit in waves of eight staggered at 10 minute intervals.If a contestant goes down during one of the waves the intervals will be heldup until the asbestos suited monitors clear up the issue.' God, he said itso nonchalantly, but what he was talking about was the horrible possibilitythat one of us would slip on a rock and fall onto the heated plates. In thatcase our fettered hands would make it nearly impossible to get back up andonly the heavily protected monitors could save us from some really terribleburns. I winced and cleared my head of the thought. Greg rubbed my shouldersas the MC started to bring the crowd to a fury pitch of excitement.

'Do either one of you girls want to go down there and join the contestants',the MC asked his swim suit clad entourage. In obviously a well-rehearsed dramathey began to plead with the man not to send them to the pit, going as faras to kneel down and kiss the toes of his shoes! The crowd roared and the MCpatted them on the head and told them that they had been very pleasing so theywere safe… for the moment. The crowd roared again as if looking forits first sacrifice.

There was a large board to our left with our names listed upon it in neatboxes. Eight boxes made up each wave with four boxes and wide and two deep.I knew that this reflected the fact that were only four doors in both the entranceand exit walls, hence even the group of eight of us was staggered with twoentrants thirty seconds apart. I was happy to see that I was following my girlfriendKaren as part of the third wave.

The MC called out the first eight contestants names and the crowd roaredto life as they lined up in two's behind each of the opened doors. At the soundof the bell the first group of four jumped down unto the floor that was a goodeighteen inches below the lip of the floor. Swiftly they began to high steparound the lava rocks and only when they absolutely had too did they walk overthe treacherous rocks. The second wave jumped at the sound of the second belland was shortly followed by the scream of one of the contestants that musthave fallen. The doors had closed, leaving only the exit doors as means ofescape and cutting off my view of the event. Everyone looked up above our headsat the large screen that showed the scrambling contestants.

The woman writhing on the ground in pain must have been one of the firstfour. Her arms showed a number of angry red marks and she was bleeding froma gash in her leggings. The other contestants scattered to get as far awayas possible from the wilding flailing female as they struggled to completetheir run. Women that would have been described as absolute beauties beforehad been reduced to sweating wrecks in just the few minutes that they had beensubjected to the pit. It was a sobering thought, but even more sobering wasthe poor girl that was finally scooped up by a yellow suited monitor and takenthrough a side panel to the in-house infirmary.

Just when it seemed that the worst was over, Cami, a beautiful little Eurasianwoman slipped as she tried to climb up to the door. She screamed as she fellnearly flat on her face, scraping and burning her lovely aquiline cheeks onthe merciless rocks. Her fall had caught the monitors off balance, as theyhad started moving back to their starting positions to wait for the next waveto begin.

Cami screamed again as she rolled and her beautiful dark brown hair beganto smolder and smoke as it came in contact with the super heated rocks. 'Getout of my way', yelled someone who pushed one of the attendants aside and jumpeddown onto the heated plates. In three quick strides he was over to the tinygirl. He grimaced as he bent down and grabbed her as his own finger felt theheat of the burning plates, but when he straightened he held her up and flippedher over his shoulder into a firemen's carry. The crowd was going nuts as theMC reported what was going on. 'That Kiri Yamamoto, Cami's Master who has jumpeddown into the pit to save her. My God look at his boots, the rubber bottomsare melting to the floor!' We all watched horrified as the soles of his bootsbecame like glue, slowing his steps to a crawl as he had to pull each shoeloose. The horrible stench of burnt meat was soon joined with that terriblesmell of burning rubber. As he reached the exit door two attendants snatchedCami off of his shoulder at which point he all but collapsed. The monitorsjust made it to his sides in time to catch him and pass him through the doorbefore the pit claimed its third victim.

'My God, we've never had two contestants down in the first round… andif it hadn't been Master Kiri I fear that things would have been even worsethan this…' The screen diffused from the pit into a score board andthe six contestants who had finished scores were displayed. Cami and the othergirl that had fallen were listed as scratched. Shit! They should have beenlisted as burned! Despite the disaster the crowd went crazy as one of the womenposed a 9.6 with one of the fastest times recorded in the events history.

I couldn't watch anymore and I turned away from the screen. Greg looked veryserious as he asked me if I was all right and when I told him that I was, henodded and left with Tom move over to the exit side of the pit.

I thought of the weeks that we had trained for this event, where I was forcedto walk around and sometimes over these same types of lava rocks. But it wasall so different. The area that we worked in was only a twelve by twelve-footpiece of Lucinda basement where sheets of metal had been put down over theflooring. Greg heated about fifty of the rocks in a large Weber grill on thepatio outside and than threw them haphazardly about the metal flooring. Jumpingfrom an improvised eighteen-inch wooden table, I then would circumnavigatethe floor space again and again, while Greg continuously re-heated the rocks.Over time the metal began to absorb the heat of the rocks, but nothing thatwe had done prepared me for what I had just seen.

'My God it was like Dante's version of Hell', I said out loud without realizingit.

'Yep, it's pretty darn bad, but that's why it's part of the meat grinder',Karen responded brightly. 'But don't you worry honey, I've made it throughall three times without taking a spill so I'm sure that you can do it!'

'What do you mean that it's all part of the meat grinder?' I asked perplexed.

'Oh, baby these first three events are simply here to winnow out the fieldand get the crowd pumped up for the main event', she told me patiently. 'Fiftygirls started and we've already lost four. Two were lost in the runway eventand now two more in the first heat. There are five more waves to go so by theend of today the field should be narrowed down to somewhere between thirty-fiveto forty of us by tonight. Then the gauntlet tomorrow will cull out some more.'She paused and looked at me questioningly.

I nodded my head as understanding dawned on me, 'Right, a meat grinder. Greatand we are the meat!'

A proctor came up to us and directed us to the second door, as the thirdwave was getting ready. I had heard the crowd noises as we talked but hadn'tthought twice about them. Now I realized that the second heat was over andthe board was posting the results. Two nine point fours marks and two morescratches. Good Lord two more down!

I was standing a foot or two behind Karen when the door opened, yet it feltlike I was standing in front of an oven as the heat slammed through the openingand wrapped itself about us. Looking out over the pit I was amazed to see thatthe far wall looked like it was a mile away. I yelled this in Karen's ear overthe roar of the crowd and she called back that it was just a trick of the shimmeringheat. Lines of sweat began to roll down my back and into the crack of my ass.I shifted myself, but it didn't help dispel the uncomfortable feeling.

Karen tensed visibly as the board displayed the ten-second count down andthe crowd joined in yelling out the remaining time. Her gloved hands clenchedand unclenched beneath the cuffs that held them bound to her waist. That beautifullong brown hair of hers was wrapped up into a tight bun and was as soaked asif she had just come out of the shower. She looked ready. Every precautionthat she could have taken had been and yet I had this feeling that somethingwas wrong.

'Good Luck', I said, as it was the only thing that I could think to say.

'Honey, I don't need luck today', she yelled with a smile, 'I've got youcovering my back.'

The bell rang and she jumped down onto the heated steel. I saw her wince,but she regained her composure quickly and began the trek about the heatedrocks. One step, two steps, three steps all placed perfectly. She was doingexactly as I had been taught, keeping her head down and searching for patternsto help thread her way across the dangerous flooring.

I looked up to see the clock winding down. Three more seconds before I wouldbe allowed to start. Just then I heard a scream. Jessica, the busty blond inthe lane next to Karen went down hard. She wasn't able to immediately get backup on her feet so she tried to roll away from the pile of rocks that had causedher to slip. Just as the bell rang I realized that her roll would take herright across Karen's path.

'Karen!!!' I yelled as my knees bent to absorb the impact the jump. I almostscreamed again this time in fear as my slippers sizzled on the heated plates,as the excess water began to burn off. Shit, move I yelled at myself as I beganto run towards my girl friend.

The heat was incredible and sweat soon sprang from my every pore, runningdown my back and chest in little streams. Two steps and only a few secondsand I felt like I had been here forever. Oh, my God this is sheer torture!They might as well just tie us up to a spit and roast us over a bed of coals.Damn, I better not voice that idea out loud or someone might decide to addit into the contest!

The oven like heat sapped my strength as if it were roasting the moistureout of a grilled piece of beef but Karen's scream made me re-focus my thoughts,as my fears became reality. She must have seen Jessica at the last minute andtried to jump over her, but it hadn't worked and she had fallen back on herhaunches. As I ran towards her she tried to do an acrobatic leap to her feet.Even though she did manage to get her feet under her, she couldn't keep herbalance and ended up right back on her rump. She screamed again as her meagerlyprotected skin came in contact with the heated steel for the second time.

The two yellow suited monitors had converged on Jessica, but her wild gyrationstook down one of them before the other could rescue her. The other contestantsscattered away from the two women that were down as they fought their waysacross to the exit. In one instant it was clear that no one was going to beable to help my friend while her flesh was seared to a crisp.

My training flashed through my mind as Greg and Lucinda had yelled at meover and over never stop. It doesn't matter what is going on around you, butrule number one is that you must never stop. Once you stop, your momentum islost and you will never regain that lost time. Lucinda had yelled at me likeI was some type of a marine recruit until I had yelled back at the top of mylungs, 'Never stop… never stop… NEVER STOP!'

Shit! I had promised Greg that I would win… Shit!

A drop of sweat stung my eye as I pulled up to a stop over Karen. I widenedmy stance to steady myself. She looked up at me with tears streaming down herface, 'Don't stop for me. Win the God Damn race!', she yelled in obvious pain.I performed a kind of playboy bunny dip and grabbed her under the armpit withmy strong right hand. 'What are you doing?' She demanded.

'I'm saving your ass, now jump!' I yelled back at her as the streams of mysweat splashed unto her upturned face. Karen's training was every bit as goodas mine and the command to jump hit her like a pail of ice water. Wincing inpain she gathered herself up and snap jumped unto her feet. It was a weak jumpthat would have never made it on its own, but even though her weight nearlybowled us both over, I leaned forward until my weight gave her the balanceshe needed. Slowly we straightened until we were both standing.

I let go of her arm, but soon found my hand filled with hers as she squeezedmine and yelled, 'Move!' Galvanized back into action, I could once again hearand see what was going on around us. The crowd had gone wild as it whoopedand yelled imprecations aimed at helping us back to our feet. Now they werecheering us on, as we were nearly the last two people in the pit.

Hand in hand we navigated the rest of the floor until we made our way tothe exit door. I looked up to see Tom being physically restrained as he foughtto get to his tortured loves side. Greg was yelling at him, that Karen wouldbe scratched if she didn't make it in under her steam, but the angry mask ofTom's face showed that he could care less.

'You first', I yelled at her and she nodded at me to tired and drained toargue further. She yelped when I gave her a final nudge against her butt tomake sure she didn't fall back into the pit. Gathering the last of my own strengthI leapt into the opening that was cleared once more as Tom swept up Karen inhis arms and carried her away.

The roar of the crowd was nearly deafening as Greg held my shoulders andlooked into my eyes. 'You were amazing out there', he yelled with a smile onhis face. Every bit of energy in my body left me and I slumped down to thecool wooden floor. I had been totally prepared for him to ream me up one sideand down the other but now I could totally relax as my love held me.

'Please take off my slippers. My feet are still being fried in them.' Reachingdown with a concerned look he peeled off the offending items and sure enoughtendrils of steam floated up from them.

Lifting me up into his arms, I closed my eyes and rested against his chest.He carried me away from the roaring crowd and soon I was feeling totally chilledas the buildings air conditioning began to freeze the rivulets of sweat onmy body. I curled myself against him to stay warm. In seconds we were backin our dressing room and Greg was wrapping towels about me to clean off thesweat and stop me from shivering.

My feet were starting to hurt and when I looked at their soles what facedme was angry red skin showing right through the nude hose. Greg pushed a tubof ice water over and I sank my pained peds into it. Pins and needles explodedacross the bottoms and top of my extremities in much the same way it hurtsto put your frozen feet into a hot tub of water. I began to struggle to pullthem out, but he held my legs down.

'You leave those feet in that bath baby!' Greg yelled at me sternly. Youdon't have any blisters on your feet yet and if you keep your feet in thisbath for a bit you shouldn't get any.' As soon as he yelled I stopped and gritmy teeth against the pain. 'Good girl', he praised me softly, 'this is goingto make the world of difference tomorrow when you have to be back in your sixinch heels for the Gauntlet event.'

The pain began to subside and I thanked the Gods that be, that at least oneof us was thinking clearly. I could barely even think of putting my scoldedfeet into the narrow confines of a pair of stiletto heels. Those things weretorture all by themselves, but sure as little babies were born I was goingto have to put a pair on for tomorrow's competition.

As I stood in the tub of icy water, Greg stripped off my sweat soaked bodysuitand leggings. I heard a familiar 'Knock, Knock' from behind our curtain doorway.Greg called, 'Come on in Tom' as I belted my robe about me. Tom held the curtainwhile Karen waddled in wincing in pain. She dropped the large cold pack wrappedin a towel on the desk and then sat on it with a sigh.

'My God, why aren't you in the infirmary?' I asked stunned out of my owntiredness.

'Ah, there nothing but third degree burns and some of them aren't even thatbad', she said in her thickest southern accent. 'The so-called doctors in theinfirmary could only tell me to keep the damaged skin cool and apply plentyof aloe… as if I couldn't have figured that out for myself!' She pausedto give me a huge smile, 'Besides there no way that my Tom could keep me awayonce I found out that my brave rescuer had won again!'

'Won again?' I asked perplexed.

'You don't know?' She asked flabbergasted.

'Know what?'

'That you won the lava walk with a nine point eight', Karen replied smugly.

Greg left my side to turn to the computer muttering 'how is that possible'under his breath. Tom was by his side in a flash and they worked there waythrough the scoring until they could get the details on my results. 'By God,it's unbelievable, but you darn well did it.' He said happily as he ran overand hugged me. 'There were four parts to the scoring, speed was only one ofthem, so slowing down to help Karen left you with an 8.5, which bumped up toa 9.0 when they gave you a ten second bonus for good sportsmanship. The judgesgave you tens in every other area.'

'But there are only three scoring criteria, not four', I replied in confusion.

Tom joined in with a smile, 'You know the rule that you aren't allowed toadversely affect another contestant unless it is within the confines of thecontest?' I nodded my head in the positive. 'Well it appears that the corollaryis the fourth grading factor in all events! It has something to do with tomorrow'sevent and the fact that in the past women would keep beating each other evenafter they were down or when they were trying to get up. When they stoppedthat practice they added this rule and it's been sitting there ever since.'That big smile of his seemed to fill the room. 'And you pretty lady found itwithout even trying.'

Karen looked up at the two of us and added, 'Not only that, but since myfall was caused by another contestant I received the maximum time bonus offifteen seconds which raised me to a 9.2 and which puts me in seventh place.So this old girl has got a chance to make it into the finals for the firsttime ever!'

'You're still going to compete tomorrow? But that's crazy they are all goingto be aiming for your burns and that is going to hurt like nobodies business.'I said totally startled that she would even consider going on.

'Baby I bore two children all through natural childbirth and let me tellyou that nothing that anyone can ever do to me will be more painful than that!'Karen replied earnestly. 'So as long as I've got a chance to make it into thefinals, you can bet that I can take whatever they want to dish out!'

'You know I tried to tell her the same thing', Tom chimed in, 'but I couldn'tfault her reasoning.'

'Ah, hmm', someone said from behind the curtain.

Greg stuck his head out of the curtained doorway and asked, 'Can we helpyou?'

The backstage attendant nodded and said, 'The Head Promoter would like tosee you both in his office at your earliest possible convenience.' Seeing thequestion forming on Greg's lips he added, 'And no I don't know why.' He turnedand walked away without another word.

'Ah, well I guess we better be going so we can take care of my brides burntbutt!' Tom said as he helped Karen off the desk. They left amidst a storm ofher grumbling about just how funny her husband thought he was.

The secretary in the outer office sat cross-legged behind a desk that lookedlike it had never been used for work. Her attention was entirely on her nailsas she buffed and shaped them to perfection. I saw Greg's eyes stray to herflagrantly displayed legs and smiled to myself as he scowled. Her impressivedisplay of thigh in her short slit skirt was lost on my man, as it was alltoo obvious that she wore cheap pantyhose.

Pantyhose and my Master did not get along, as he hated having anything betweenhim and what he considered to be his. I'm sure the strappy platform sandalsthat she wore also turned him off. Oh, certainly the seven-inch spike heelwould have interested him but the three-inch platform supporting the ballsof her feet ruined the effect. Knowing him, he would have been much more arousedby a simple pair of four-inch heels.

Her impressive breast works however did seem to meet with his approval. Shewore a brightly stripped shirt that was tailored to her body and ended lyinglightly over the skirts waistband rather than tucked into it. It was a newfashion that many teens were displaying which made me wonder if all of hermakeup hid a much younger woman than I had at first guessed.

She finally seemed to notice us, and her initial look of disdain from beinginterrupted quickly changed to a predatory smile as she licked her lips whileshe looked directly into Greg's eyes. 'And just how may I be of… Service toyou?' She asked suggestively while the fingers of one hand slid down the frontof her open blouse to make sure that she was displaying as much cleavage aspossible.

My Master, I know, has a weakness for large breasts in tight shirts as heoften had me wear blouses a size to small when he wanted to tie me in streetclothes so I felt I should take the lead. 'Your office sent for me. I am SharonGlasser here to see the head promoter.'

She gave a little tinkling laugh, 'Oh, yes the HEAD promoter…' shesaid continuing to watch Greg's eyes as she emphasized the word "head". Hisearlier interest cooled quickly leaving behind an angry gaze. Her smile vanishedas her attempted seduction failed miserably and in another second that hardsteely look forced her to break eye contact. 'Ah… just one second andI see if Mr. DeNoto is in.'

She stood and straightened her skirt, obviously trying to regain her composurebefore she entered the door she had been guarding. Stupid girl, I thought tomyself, what did she expect to happen when she starred directly into a master'seyes! The twit certainly hadn't met one before otherwise her flirting wouldhave taken an entirely different tact.

The door opened and a man with a shark-like smile, which fit perfectly withhis sharkskin suit, emerged. He walked directly toward me with outstretchedhands, but his eyes darted quickly back and forth between the two of us. 'Hello,I'm Danny DeNoto. Sharon it is an honor to meet you', he said in a gravellyingratiating voice as his two clammy hands wrapped themselves around my right.His eyes darted back to Greg, 'and you sir, it is a true pleasure to meet aMaster of your obvious quality, that could create such an outstanding submissive.'

I disengaged my hand while he watched Greg and wiped off his grime on theside of my designer sweat pants. With a sweeping gesture he said, 'Please stepinto my office.' His tone changed, 'Marcy please get us all a cup of coffee.'The secretary, Marcy, gave him a look that said that he could get his own damncoffee, but a hard glance in return forced her to hold her tongue.

After he had closed the door behind us he said softly, 'It is just so hardto find good help these days, isn't it? Marcy is my wife's niece and not muchgood at anything, but I keep her around for her obvious assets… in termsof greeting guests.' I wondered to myself just how much his wife knew abouthis delving into those obvious assets, which was easy to see through theirwell-developed interplay. Regardless, I wasn't there to discuss his infidelity.

He interlaced his fingers on the desk before him as he got down to business.'First I must congratulate you on wining the first two events. That's a firstin the thirty years of this contest and it does make you a bit of a celebrityin the B&D world. If you take that plus the facts that you are a totalunknown to the industry and that you are nearly a shoe in to make the finals,that makes you a very hot property.' I nodded my head in agreement and waitedfor him to get to the point. 'So what I would like to do is ask you're permissionto post pictures of you on the BondageCon 2004 website.' Ah, so that is whatthis was all leading up to!

'That's right the disclaimer that I signed only referred to using my pictureafter the contest was over. Hmm, I suppose your lawyers screwed up on thatone', I replied off-handedly.

He looked pained when he replied, 'Yes, well this is a very unusual situation.'

'Yes, I'm sure it is and if you could get the word out on the net that anincredibly beautiful newcomer was looking at making a clean sweep of the competition,especially with some pictures from say the runway contest with me teeteringin those six inch heels to back it up… hmm, you could probably increasethe attendance by a factor of what? … three perhaps? Add that to howmuch you can charge for people to download those pictures and we are talkingsome very serious money aren't we?'

I ticked off these thoughts on my fingers as they popped into my head. WhatI was doing was merciless, but heck this was business and after watching Mr.Thatcher and Mr. Stanton go at it this was pretty small potatoes. From thecorner of my eye I noticed that Greg was watching me intently and I chose totake his silence as encouragement to continue.

Mr. DeNoto paled visibly as he began to run a finger about his collar, asif it were too tight, before he stopped himself. Reluctantly he agreed, 'Yes,that's about it in a nutshell. So if you will just sign this document we canall get back about our business.'

'I see', I replied thoughtfully as I looked at the paper that had been placedin front of me. 'Hmm, what I don't see is the amount of remuneration that Iam to receive for my services?' I passed it over to Greg, but it was obviousthat it was merely a release form.

'Remuneration?' He asked perplexed.

'Payment… money', I supplied in an effort to broaden his vocabulary.

'Oh, you want a kick back', he said leaning back in his chair with a smile,'I'm sure something like that can be arranged.'

'No, I do not want a kick back', I told him firmly, 'what I was thinkingof was that every picture you post of me or any statements that you make aboutme must have "Leather & Lace, Inc. representative" attached in big boldletters.'

'But we have a firm policy that none of our postings be associated with anyone company!' He replied in an angry voice.

'Ah, then I suppose that we have an impasse', I replied airily.

'An im… what?' He said as his face reddened.

'An impasse… we can not come to an agreement so there is no deal',I explained as I would to a child while leaning back in my seat.

Jumping to his feet, he planted both hands on the desk with a thump and leanedover it towards me, 'Now look here missy…'

That was a far as he got before the noise of Greg's hand slamming down onthe desk stunned him to a stop. 'Danny', he said very quietly, 'you are goingto sit down at your desk nice and easily or this meeting is over.' He waitedtill the poor wretch was looking directly at him before adding, 'Do I makemyself clear?'

'Yeah, yeah…' he said as he sat back down, 'but we don't do that!'

'Danny', Greg continued softly, 'I suggest you talk to the lady and not me.It's her picture that you want to plaster all over the inter-net not mine.'

'Look Sharon, I'm sorry for getting out of line, but I can't agree to whatyou are asking', he said as he relaxed a bit and spread his hands in negation.'Now, if there is some other form of payment that we could negotiate…'

'If you can't agree to it, then who can?' I asked.

'Huh, ah Mr. Del Rizzo I guess, he owns 85% of the business.'

'We can wait while you get him on the phone.'

'OK, but he's not going to like this', he replied disgustedly as he pickedup the receiver and dialed. His conversation was muffled behind his hand, butthe sweat on his forehead made it clear that things weren't going his way.When he put the phone back in its cradle his hand faltered and it took himtwo tries to get it right. He looked up at me from behind his pale complexionand said, 'Ah, Mr. Rizzo has agreed to your request and he told me to thankyou for kindness. He'll have a copy of the revised document ready for you signaturedelivered to your dressing room.'

I nodded, rose and turned to leave. Looking over my shoulder I asked, 'Hethanked me for my kindness? Why?'

The man looked beaten when he replied in a tight voice, 'For having to dealwith me.'

Turning back I asked, 'Can I use your phone?'

'Sure, why the hell not', he said pushing it towards me.

Picking up the receiver I hit the re-dial button. 'Mr. Rizzo I just wantedto call and thank you myself for all your help. Danny had been such a lovelyhost, but when we reached our little impasse he said that you were the truepower in this organization and that only you could make that type of decision.So I apologize from dragging you away from your important work, but I justhad to thank both you and Danny for all your support.' He spoke a few wordsto me and asked that I put on Mr. DeNoto, so I handed the phone to him.

'Yes, Mr. Rizzo. Of course Mr. Rizzo. Thank you Mr. Rizzo.' When he put thereceiver down he had a funny look on his face. 'Thank you… thank youMs. Glasser, that was really good of you.' He pulled himself together as Inodded and turned towards the door. 'I'll have Marcy run down that agreementas soon as it arrives.'

Once we left the room, I looked over to Greg and asked diffidently, 'Wasthat alright?'

'Darling, that was perfect!' He answered as he put his arm around my shoulders.

'But I just ripped that man apart back there, I don't think that that isin the female submissive handbook!' I said in a soft, yet questioning voice.

'Oh, my, my, my', he said with a laugh, 'so you are still trying to figureout what the rules of your new role are, eh?' At my nod of agreement he continued.'Suffice it to say that if I don't tell you not to do something that you areallowed to do it. However since you seem to want more clarification supposeI start by asking you a few questions.' I nodded again and he proceeded.

'At work do you expect me to over-rule your decisions?'

'No. Not unless you thought I was doing something that wasn't in the bestinterest of the company.'

'Would you expect me to berate you for putting an errant male worker in hisplace if he was working for you?'

'I think that I am getting your meaning… what happens outside of oursexual relationship is not your concern, correct?'

'Correct as far as being your Master goes! However as your lover I was veryproud of how you handled yourself in there and as for you handing that stupididiot his head… to bad for him, he deserved it. But that little finishingtouch of making him grateful to you was sheer genius. The last thing we neededwas for him to start stacking the deck against us to get back at you.'

Once I realized how open he was to discussing our roles I continued to askquestions throughout the evening. Slowly but surely all of the gray areas thathad plagued me for so long became more defined. At first Greg was a bit perturbedby all of my requests for clarification, but when he realized that I was asmuch a "type A" personality as he and that my goal was to be the most perfectsubmissive possible his attitude took a huge shift. He became the wonderfullythoughtful teacher listening to my every question and than discussing thempoint by point with me. Even when we lay down to sleep that evening we talkeduntil finally all of the questions that I could think of had been answered.

'You know with all of these little nuances to our roles you would think someonewould have written a rule book!' Greg looked at me incredulously. 'You knowwhat I mean like a golf hand book that tells you how to swing the club on anup hill lie…'

Greg laughed out loud at the thought, but sobered when he saw my hurt expression.'It's an interesting idea baby, but I think that the problem would be thatevery Masters expectations might be different. I've told you what I want. Whatmy father wants of Cassy or what Mike Thatcher wants of Samantha may be twototally different things.' I nodded my head as I began to understand the dilemma.'To make it even more complicated this is what I want today and it is entirelypossible that this may change as our relationship grows.'

Wrapping his arm about me, he drew me into the spoon of his body, as he whisperedsoftly into my ear, 'I love you both for the person that you are and the submissivethat you have become to please me. I see your worry that things may change,but I promise you it will only be for the better as we become closer and closerto becoming one. Now sleep beautiful one so that you are well rested for tomorrow'sevent!' He kissed my hair and I fell off to sleep with the happy thought ofthe two of us becoming one.

Walking into the event on Wednesday I couldn't help but feel totally elated.This was my favorite event and I couldn't stop myself from feeling excitedthat it had finally arrived. My mood was heightened even further by the lifesize cardboard cut out picture of me at the runway event standing in the middleof the lobby. There I was in my tight red corset, standing tiptoe in my uselesshigh heels, while swing bells hung from my nipples. I knew that it was impossible,but the way the photographer had caught me the dimples caused by the gag madeit look as if I were smiling.

Seeing Karen waiting outside the door of my dressing room was the cherryon top of my ice cream sundae. 'How are the burns?' I asked her as we hugged.

Drawing back from me she opened her robe to show off her bikini clad bodyand her still angry red thighs. 'I have enough aloe on these puppies to greasea fleet of New York taxis! So at the moment I'm feeling just fine!' She lookedup at me and asked, 'how are you doing?' Her eyes were piercing and it wasas if she could see my uneasiness as clearly as if I had plastered a sign onmy chest.

'I'm actually kind of excited', I answered slowly and than thought that Ishouldn't sound overly confident, 'but I'm a little scared at being singledout as the number one target.'

Karen gave her hearty belly laugh before replying, 'Darlin' that is the mostnormal thing you have done so far in this competition! Of course you're nervous,you're the new sheriff in town and everyone is gunning for you. But don't youworry honey, because I'm going to be you faithful deputy standing right byyour side so you don't ever have to worry about being alone.'

Tears of gratitude began to well in my eyes as I wrapped her in a hug. 'Nowdon't think that I'm being all altruistic on you here honey, as I'm the mostrealistic cuss you are ever likely to meet! The way I see it is that thereis no chance in the world for me to be the winner. Let's face it, I'm pastmy prime and that's going to show more and more WHEN WE get to the finals.But if it weren't for you darlin' I wouldn't even be looking at a chance tomake it into the finals and in all honesty that has always been Tom and mydream. So you might just say that I still have to pay you back for saving myass… literally!'

I didn't know what to say but Greg stepped in to fill the gap, 'Sounds likea great plan to me. You've got to admit that my little lady is like a lighteningrod out there and where there is lightening there is fire which is what ismaking you two ladies red hot properties!'

'Thanks for reminding me of my ass again Greg, but its high time that westart planning our strategy together!' With that we all gathered round thecomputer and discussed the upcoming event. There were now only thirty-eightcontestants left with the meat grinder taking another ten down in the lavawalk event. Looking at it mathematically only the top twenty had any probabilityof winning their way into the final six. So it all came down to not makingany critical mistakes in my case and in Karen's she had to also outshine theothers.

Tom added, 'Karen has a very high pain tolerance so our basic plan was tosimply have her take the punishment and keep on smiling. However, with thedamage done to her rump that's not going to be as easy as we had anticipated.'

Greg looked at me and asked, 'How do you feel about covering Karen's assagain?'

My smile grew larger than my face as I asked, 'Just what did you have inmind?'

Tom and Karen started to say something and Greg shushed them both and thensaid, 'Here's the plan.'

The Gauntlet was simply two columns of women set into boxes two feet by fourfeet long outlined on the floor with colored masking tape. The two sets ranperpendicular to each other with only four feet separating them to form theaisle that was the gauntlet. All of the remaining contestants would line upone across from the other to fill 18 boxes on each side. The two ladies atthe mouth of the Gauntlet would put down their whips or paddles and then wouldhave there wrist restraints attached to their collars before they were sentdown the path.

The object was to make it through the seventeen pairs of whips, without stumblingand while doing your best to keep a smile plastered on your faces. Just lookingat the layout of the boxes was intimidating. In each alternating box a paddleor a whip was waiting on the floor, just aching to be used. Worse yet the boxopposite to its companion in the aisle always had the opposite implement, whichmeant that while one contestant was going for your front with the whip theother was going for the rear with the paddle.

The paddle was a nasty thing, which was made to look like a cricket bat.The dimensions were about correct with the total length a bit longer than twofeet and the blade being eighteen inches long and three inches wide, but thatwas were the likeness stopped. The blade itself was a flat piece of heavilylacquered wood with holes drilled in it in a checkerboard pattern. From theside it looked more like a spatula, this would have reassured me somewhat ifI hadn't already felt the sting of this little item which with it holes disallowedeven a cushion of air for protection

The whip was one I was well acquainted with, as it was a product that Leatherand Lace sold and Stanton & Sons produced. It was one of Greg's favoriteswith its longish handle and its multiple braided eighteen inch leather tongs.The good news was that this was what was referred to a medium whip, which meantthat the tongs weren't quite as long or heavy as its big brother and most importantlythe ends weren't knotted. The bad news was that having a dozen braided leatherstraps slamming into your unprotected breasts or stomach was not a pleasantsensation… to some at least.

I knew that my own personal experiences with the whip could often be quitedifferent than the torture that some might expect. Greg often used the whipwhile I was bound helplessly to our bed and his desire was not simply to punishme. Far from it he was rewarding me!

For instance I would be bound, gagged and blindfolded spread eagle upon mybig four-poster dressed in the sexy lingerie of his choice. To this he wouldadd a few choice items like a vibrating egg shoved into my vagina and perhapsa pair of overly tight nipple clamps that he would tie painfully to the topsof the tall posts of the headboard. He would then begin to play with my clit,perhaps with his fingers or other times with a vibrator but his passion tomake me cum was very clear. Ah, but I had to pay for my pleasure and he wouldremind of this often. The crop would strike me at the top of my thighs justabove my garter belted stockings, causing me to cry out helplessly into mygag. He would order me to point my toes in my slippers or heels or to humpthe vibrator faster and this would cause me to focus on those things, evenfor a short time. All of these things were used to keep me from focusing onthe one thing that I wanted most and that of course was to cum. This forcedmy climaxes to build and slow, build and slow, build and slow… untilI could think of nothing else but my final climax. It was then that each strikeof the lash and each painful twist of my nipples transcended pain and becamepure excitement traveling down into my loins like wildfire.

This was the state that I sought to replicate before I strode down throughthe gauntlet of angry vixens! Lucinda worked with me on this relentlessly,chasing me about with the whip, paddle or even her favorite crop while shehad Greg ran through a litany of wonderful things that he was going to do withmy quivering flesh once he got his hands on me again. Greg had continued describingexactly what he was doing to me during our sexual bondage sessions and withme blinded this worked even better to bind the litany of love into my mind.It had gotten to the point that I merely had to close my eyes while I walkedto hear his voice in my ears. His tone would become more and more intense asmy orgasm grew. So despite the intimidating air of the event, I felt more confidentthan ever that this was one area that I could excel in.

In my six-inch high heel sandals, which featured crossing straps across theinstep and an ankle strap I felt very confident in my stride while Karen andI were escorted to our respective boxes across from each other. The crowd explodedwith noise. Whistles, catcalls and finally my name being chanted overwhelmedeven the MC as he introduced each of the ladies. I took full advantage of myheavy satin push-up bra to thrust out my chest and show off my very femininecurves. Add to that a straight legged bent at the waist pose with me throwingkisses to the audience and I soon had them in the palm of my hand. As the MCcalled for quiet over the PA and the applause receded I waved to the crowdand smiled my best smile and then gave them a few more Betty Boop type posterposes until I had them cheering again.

This is not to say that some of the other contestants didn't get exactlythe same reaction, as this was the one event that allowed the contestants thefreedom to really bond with the crowd. In fact a few of them that were well-knownfavorites that often brought audience to standing ovations!

It was an intoxicating feeling to know that you were the focus of so muchattention, yet even more satisfying was the smiles of approval that I was beinggraced with by my Master. I picked up the paddle at my feet and waved it athim. He mimed bending over and spanking his own ass and I laughed as I followedhis led. The camera flashes came hot and heavy which was just fine by me. Givingthe photographers plenty of good shots meant that my pictures would be plasteredall over the net yielding L&L a ton of free publicity!

'Contestants numbers one and four please take your places at the beginningof the gauntlet', the PA intoned after the MC had finished his introductions.A tall blond named Clarissa was number one, who even without her heels wouldhave dwarfed the little Japanese Tamoko. Tamoko, even with the six inch heels,head only barely reached the blonds breasts and her slim body and short hairmade her look more like a boy than a girl. Clarissa on the other hand was muscularyet at the same time a bit on the heavy side, but I doubt that her Master mindedas much of her extra weight was carried in her huge chest.

Attendants quickly secured their wrist restraints to their collars, whilemaking sure that all of the buckles were tight with no chance of them comingloose. Soon they were ready and Clarissa was lined up at the starting gate.Tamoko was slightly behind her and would be held back for ten seconds untilthe attendants would let her through the gate.

Clarissa shook her deeply tanned body to loosen the muscles and tested hermules to make sure they were comfortable. Wearing mules with such a high heelseemed incredible to me, yet her California look seemed to suggest that shewore this sort of outfit on a daily basis. This would certainly account forwhy she was so comfortable in her outrageous sandals.

The bell rang and she was off. Clarissa was an old hand at this and refusedto bolt out of the starting gate, this wasn't a race and she knew it. Witha steady stride she started down the gauntlet. She kept her smile even afterthe first blow from a whip lashed her double "D" chest. The paddles flew slammingher cheeks till they turned bright red and the repeated whipping of her chestwas turning the red lines white. Twice she faltered as a wicked paddle strokepushed her forward, but she quickly regained her stride and finished with atight smile still gracing her face.

Tamoko wasn't as fortunate. She bolted out of the gate like a startled fawnand her running like stride left her an easy mark for the veteran paddlers.She hadn't even made it three boxes before one of the contestants felled herlike a tiny sapling. Undaunted she scrambled back to her feet. Still not learningher lesson she ran to catch up. This caught a few of the ladies off guard,but the pair before Karen and I would get our chance found her measure to disastrouseffect. The paddle caught her only on one cheek, but the weight of the blowwas enough to turn her half around making it impossible not to fall over herhigh heeled pumps. The whip, whistling through the air that had been aimedat her chest slammed right into her face as she fell to the floor. Tomoko letout a piercing scream as the whip cut at her mouth and cheeks splitting herlip in a number of places. Crying she got up shakily to her feet right in betweenKaren and I. The crowd began to yell for us to hit her as if this was a Romancoliseum and they were baying for the poor Christians blood. I swung my paddlehalf-heartedly and even this light blow almost knocked her down again. Thegood news was it also got her moving and she passed on out of our reach. Iwas shouting encouragement to her as she continued down the path like a pinballin a machine gone wild. But a quarter of the way from the finish she receiveda perfect one-two punch, where the paddle caught her just below the hips asthe whip hit her right in the chest. Her meager chest was already bleedingfrom the punishment that she had taken so she must have leaned back to avoidthe blow, this combined with the double slam knocked her onto her back andthat was just to much for her. The tears poured down her face, but she refusedto cry out again as she rolled herself into a ball for protection from anyfurther blows.

Despite the crowd braying for the beating to continue, the contestants alljust stood back and waited until two attendants came to pick her up and helpher off the course. I couldn't help but wonder if the shock of yesterdays ruling,regarding what I liked to think of as good sportsmanship, make them hold theirblows. Of course it might simply be that they were protecting themselves frompayback from this very eliminated contestant. You see there were no eliminationstill after the course was completed so Tomoko was helped out of her restraintsand put back into the last box at the end of the left line as we all shiftedback one box.

Clarissa very solid score of nine point three flashed up on the screen andthe crowd roared with approval. Reaching across the lane, the tall blond shookTamoko's hand obviously consoling her. She responded with a deep bow of respectand the crowd once again voiced its approval.

The contest went on and slowly but surely Karen and I moved to the back ofthe lines until it was our turn to face the gauntlet.

When the bell rang for Karen start, she bowed to the audience, smiled andthan burst out into song! 'Just a spoon full of sugar helps the medicine godown, helps the medicine go down, the medicine go down, the medicine go down… inthe most delightful way.' In tune with the song from Mary Poppins she beganto sashay down the aisle as if she were walking across her high school stage.Even the first few blows to her still tender hips didn't faze her as she slowlyworked her way down the path. I laughed as I watched her go singing the onlytune that she was sure that she could remember as she had sang it to her childrenmore times than she could count. This was all a part of the great plan thatwe had derived and my way to make sure that her back was protected.

The attendant watching the time shouted, "go" as the ten-second mark passed.Taking a deep breath I closed my eyes for a second and centered myself on Greg'ssexy voice than I stepped off at a good pace. The blows came and I soaked themup like a sponge, smiling all the wider as I imagined Greg playing with myclit and twisting my nipples. With seemingly no effort what so ever I caughtup with Karen until we were only a yard apart. This forced the contestantsto often decide whether to hit Karen at all or try to get in two strokes onme. Knocking off number one was too big of an opportunity for most of themand more and more shots were directed my way.

Closing my eyes I let the sound of Karen's voice direct me while I slid intomy head and let Greg's litany of love overtake me. Soon I was moaning not inpain but in excitement as the wildfire effect began to take hold of me. Oh,God yes, a whip lashed my breasts and just caught my nipple and the lighteningflowed into my cunny. A heavy blow to my hips sent me up on tiptoe, but I simplydanced forward in my perfectly secured sandals just like the ballerina thatI had once been.

'That felt so good, didn't it baby' Greg whispered in my ear and I shoutedout 'Yes, Master' as a huge smile filled my face. A blow of the whip to mystomach was like multiple lines of fire, but Greg's voice egging me on andtelling me how much I loved it, turned the fire into sizzling excitement. 'Yes,yes, please more' I cried.

'Tell me how much you want it baby', Greg's voice said softly in my mindas the rain of blows came thicker and heavier.

'Hmm, yes, thank you Master may I have another', I replied breathily, 'another… another… oh,yes, another… oh, thank you Master for hitting my cunny… it achesfor your touch… oh, yes thank you Master!'

'Will you come for me if I whip your little cunny?' Greg asked softly.

'Oh, yes Master, please hit my cunny…. Please, please…' I beggedpiteously. The whips shifted there target and more and more strokes made itbetween my legs. The blades wrapped around my thighs leaving just the dangeroustips to lick my lips. 'Oh, yes, yes, yes…'

…and your out' was the last thing the I heard. It was the phrase thatI had been trained with over and over. It was the end where I could let myselfgo. I felt strong arms encircle me and I slumped into them and let the orgasmthat had been building for the last hundred feet burst forth as I cried outin ecstasy, 'YES!'

I felt myself lowered to the floor as my hips bucked to the unleashed tsunami.A blanket was thrown over my body and then Greg's hand was down between mylegs bringing me from one peak of excitement to the next. I don't know howlong he played with me, but as my orgasms finally ebbed, I opened my eyes tosee him smiling brightly.

'Thank you Master that was wonderful', I intoned with pure adoration in myvoice.

Flash after flash caught me unaware making me wince from the bright lightsas the photographers captured it all on film. I smiled to the crowd as Greghelped me back to my feet and then turned when I heard my own breathy voicebehind me. '… And here it is again' the announcer said, as the hugescreen dissolved to a close up of Greg supporting me while the blanket coveringmy waist rose and fell with my hips. His flying fingers could be seen as atent in the wool directly above my gyrating vagina. My eyes were closed andthe excitement on my face was easy to see as my hand clenched the corner ofthe blanket into a knot pulling it away from my breasts. The camera zoomedin on the angry red lines that resembled an insane road map across my chestas it rose and fell to my labored breathing. My final climax was incredibleto behold as I bucked like a wild thing and called out, 'Yes Master, Thankyou Master' over and over again as I came. I finally lay still with a satedlook upon my face until slowly my eyes opened and I said in a very husky breathyvoice, 'Thank you Master that was wonderful'.

The camera zoomed back to the MC, 'that was absolutely incredible ladiesand gentlemen! Once again baby and her Master Greg, our Leather and Lace representativeshave pulled off an absolutely amazing run the likes of which has never beenseen before. Let's just take another look at that run on instant replay…'

It was at that point that the crowd exploded in pandemonium as the scoresappeared up on the big screen. I smiled in satisfaction as the ten point zerowent up on the board next to my name and began to flash. Then I found myselfscreaming and jumping up and down as Karen's name was followed by a glowingnine point eight! Karen and Tom came over and we all hugged each other, withKaren and I continuing to jump up and down in glee.

An attendant came over and cleared his throat to make himself heard, butit took a yell from him to get through our elation, 'Ladies, we are going tobe starting up again in just a few minutes and we need you to take your places.'Oh, darn! That right we still had half of the event to go through to finishthe gauntlet.

Karen started back over to her box and picked up her paddle. I gave Gregone more hug before I did the same. The camera followed us back to our boxesand then the crowd began a low rumbling chant, '…baby… baby… baby… baby…'.I curtsied to the crowd, which is quite a chore in six-inch heels, yet my smileknew no bounds. The camera zoomed in on the wet stain on my bikini bottoms,and I laughed out loud as I waved to the crowd. Then turning to Greg I pointedbetween my legs, then curtsied to him and yelled, 'Thank you Master.' The crowdroared its approval until the MC called for quiet so that the event could continue.But none of that mattered. Karen and I had made it into the finals; Greg wasbeaming his love and approval at me with every glance, so everything was perfectwith my world!