by Van ©2015
		Chapter 3

Breakfast the next day was coffee, cereal with milk, and freshly squeezed orange juice, significantly lighter than the pancakes, bacon, and sausages of the day before.  Kennedy was glad.  She wasn't really afraid of gaining weight, not with Lena's exercise regime burning off the calories, but it paid to be prudent.

Vivienne announced that she was going to spend the morning painting.  Kennedy, of course, had her work cut out for her.  And however Lena planned to spend the time before the ten o'clock exercise session, she kept it to herself.

Kennedy continued organizing and attempting to reconcile the estate's records and preparing the spreadsheet for her own inventory.  She suspected she might not get to actually recording the contents of the Castle's various rooms until late that afternoon, or more probably, sometime tomorrow.

She was two hours into her efforts when she became aware of a faint droning noise outside the Library window.  It would build in volume but never get too loud, then fade... then build again.  Curious, Kennedy saved her work on the laptop and went to the window.  The view through the glass and bars was mostly forest, but if she stood on her toes and looked down she could see the modest stretch of lawn surrounding the Castle.  An unknown woman was atop a riding mower and making quick work of cutting said lawn.  Even as Kennedy watched, the rider—a slender, fit-looking woman with black hair and brown complexion—was completing the task and driving the mower towards the lake and out of Kennedy's sight.  She was dressed in boots, brown jeans, and an olive-green tank-top—and then she was gone.  Kennedy never did get a good look at her face.  She could still hear the drone of the mower, but just barely.  Apparently, the woman was cutting the grass on the slope down to the lake.

Ten o'clock rolled around and Kennedy changed into her borrowed black shorts and blue sports bra and hurried down to the gym.  Vivienne was already on the treadmill, dressed in the same fuchsia shorts and black sports bra as yesterday and trudging along at a quick walk that was probably the warmup for a run.

"You're late," Lena noted.  She was wearing a sleeveless black leotard and a mildly accusatory expression.

"If I were you," Vivienne said from the running machine, "I'd program Lena's schedule into your phone's alarm clock app, with plenty of time to dress out and be down here waiting.  That's what I do."

"Two demerits!" Lena said with a smile, then pointed to the exercise machine.  "I have you down for an evaluation on the machine, but since you missed the warm-up exercises, we'll start with a minimal resistance circuit to serve the same purpose, then add some weight."

"Uh, okay" Kennedy said as she padded to the machine.  It was a complicated monster, but she'd watched Vivienne use it yesterday and managed to plant her butt on the padded seat and place her hands and feet in the appropriate positions, leaving her in the same seated spread-eagle with her elbows and knees comfortably bent.  There were padded grips for her hands, padded bars across the backs and fronts of her wrists, similar pads at her elbows, shoulders, knees, ankles, and above the insteps of her feet.  They were all positioned to oppose her limbs as she did the various routines programmed into the machine.  Before her and to one side was a small touchscreen.

Lena had followed Kennedy to the machine and swiveled the screen so it was facing her and mostly away from Kennedy.  "Just a second, and..." the tall blonde muttered under her breath as she tapped her way through various menus—at least that's what Kennedy thought she was doing.  She couldn't really see the screen.  "There," Lena said as she tapped the screen a final time and turned it back to face Kennedy.

The machine hummed to life and a rapid series of clicks and thuds sounded and reverberated through the metal frame.  At the same time, the wrist and ankle pads tightened.

"Hey!" Kennedy gasped.

"Those are the safety restraints engaging," Lena explained, then pointed to the screen.  "The machine automatically reconfigures for each part of the cycle, so just go with the flow.  At the same time, the screen will display an animation of the next exercise.  I've already programmed the entire routine, so all you have to do is complete the required number of reps.  Then, the machine will automatically reconfigure for the next exercise."

Kennedy tugged on the wrist pads, which were now more or less wrist cuffs.  "But—"

"The safety restraints will automatically release at the end of the program," Lena added.

Kennedy continued struggling.  She found her ankles were as trapped as her wrists.  The padding was comfortable, but she was pinned in place!  "But I—"

"I'm going to do some stair work in the Castle," Lena said, ignoring Kennedy's protest, again, then turned and sprinted away.

"Wait!" Kennedy called ofter the disappearing blonde.  "I—"  It was too late.  Lena was gone.

"Don't worry," Vivienne said from the treadmill.  The machine had picked up the pace and Vivienne was now in a full run.  "If the machine goes berserk, I'll save you."

"How reassuring," Kennedy muttered.  The screen was displaying a cartoon figure performing leg lifts.  Then, a quiet ping sounded and the number "10" appeared in the upper right corner of the screen.  Kennedy took her clue and lifted her legs.  The machine allowed her to complete the illustrated motion, the only resistance being the weight of those parts of the apparatus "binding" her legs.  As she completed the lift and let her legs drop, there was another ping and the number changed to "9."

"This isn't so bad," Kennedy noted.

"Not at zero weight," Vivienne chuckled.  "Wait 'til Lena puts you through one of her quarterly strength evaluations.  There's a breathing tube strapped in your mouth, a clip on your nose, and a little sensor pad pasted to the side of your neck .  She has a medical machine of some sort that monitors your carbon dioxide production and she keeps increasing the weight setting 'til you can't complete even one rep."

Kennedy stared at her running friend in horror.

"It's all to monitor your progress," Vivienne added.  "It's the only way."

"It sounds like torture," Kennedy muttered.

"Yes," Vivienne acknowledged.  "Your muscles feel like lead when she finally lets you off the machine."  She was still smiling.  "Not to worry.  The sauna and a massage put things right."

"If you say so," Kennedy sighed.  She completed her tenth leg lift.  The machine hummed and she heard and felt another series of clicks and thuds, parts of the machine lowered and rotated, taking her hands and arms with them, and the cartoon figure began demonstrating arm curls.  It was all engineered to reposition her arms in a natural manner, but the sensation of the machine doing it for her was rather disturbing.  There was another ping and the number "10" reappeared.

Meanwhile, the treadmill had accelerated and Vivienne was in a full sprint.  Then, even as Kennedy did her curls and watched, the treadmill slowed and the front slowly rose a few inches.  Vivienne was now running "uphill."  Clearly, this was not the simple walk/run program Lena had put Kennedy through yesterday, but Vivienne was showing no signs of difficulty.  In fact, she was still smiling.

Kennedy sighed as she completed her reps.  Clearly, Vivienne was thriving under Lena's tyrannical regimen.  Kennedy was just glad that she was only a voluntary guest/participant—wrist and ankle "safety restraints" notwithstanding, of course.

Kennedy continued her paperwork after lunch.  She was now positive she wouldn't be ready to start the physical inventory until tomorrow.

Lena had scheduled another swim, and this time Kennedy was on time and the residents and their guest undressed in the Canoe House, as yesterday.  Vivienne and Kennedy started for the pier, but were stopped.

"Hold it, ladies," Lena said.  "Dolphin-kick day."

Vivienne heaved a rather theatrical sigh, but managed a surreptitious wink at Kennedy.  "I hate dolphin-kick days," she pouted.

Meanwhile, Lena had opened a trunk and was rummaging through its contents.  "Ah," she said finally, and held up a net bag full of thick, wide bands and strips of black rubber.

To Kennedy's utter amazement, Vivienne sat on a folding wooden chair, Lena knelt at her feet, and proceeded to bind Vivienne's legs together!

"You know the dolphin-kick, right?" Vivienne asked her wide-eyed friend.

Still staring, Kennedy nodded.  "Legs together and arms at your sides?  It's a killer workout for the abs."

"That it is," Vivienne agreed.

Lena had started by stretching and slipping three closed bands of rubber up and over Vivienne's legs and positioning them at her mid thighs and above and below her knees, binding them together.  The two-inch bands dimpled Vivienne's pale skin and looked tight enough to stay in place as Vivienne kicked her legs, but not tight enough to restrict her circulation.  Next, Lena used a long rubber strip to bind Vivienne's ankles together.  She took three passes around Viv's ankles, two passes between, then tied a tight knot.

Vivienne stood, easily balancing on her feet, then hopped in a half-circle until she was facing away from Lena, put her hands behind her back, and waited patiently while Lena tied her wrists in the same manner as she'd tied her ankles.

"Off you go," Lena said as she completed the final knot.

"Thank you very much, Mistress," Vivienne giggled, gave Kennedy another wink, and started hopping for the end of the pier.

Kennedy started after her thoroughly bound friend with a somewhat stunned expression, then turned back to Lena.

Lena was smiling at her with a long strip of rubber and a single band in her hands.  The band was as wide as the bands binding Vivienne's legs, but significantly smaller.  "Since you're new," Lena said to Kennedy, "I'll start you off easy."  She pointed at the chair.  "Sit."

Kennedy turned and gazed at Vivienne, who was making slow but significant progress down the pier.  Her back was more or less to Kennedy, but she could tell the kangaroo-style mode of locomotion was making Viv's modest breasts bounce and flop.  Kennedy turned back to stare at the chair, then at Lena.  Lena's smile was friendly, but the situation was... sinister?  Well, strange, anyway, that was for sure.

"Uh... the rubber helps with the swimming?" Kennedy asked.

"Of course," Lena chuckled.  "Other than randomly thrashing around, it makes the dolphin-lick your only option.  What's the problem?  Vivienne says you swim like an otter, and you did well enough yesterday."

Kennedy nodded, staring at the rubber in Lena's strong, tan hands.  This was a moment of truth.  Would she wimp out, or accept the challenge?  "This is crazy," Kennedy muttered under her breath, then sat in the chair.

Lena set to work binding Kennedy's ankles.  "We use a strip for the ankles so the condyles won't grind together.  That can be painful."

"Condyles?" Kennedy asked as Lena tied the final knot.  "Oh, ankle-bones," she said.  "I know that."  Kennedy tried flexing her feet and could tell her ankles were well and truly tied together, and her condyles did not grind, as promised.  "Sorry," she said with an blushing smile.  "I'm a little nervous."

"No problem," Lena chuckled.  "Stand."

Kennedy did so, and Lena gathered her hands behind her back and stretched and slipped the rubber band over Kennedy's wrists.  The band was a tight fit, but like the bands around Vivienne's legs, wasn't tight enough to cause harm.  Kennedy thought she could probably free herself, with effort, but the wide band was restrictive.

By this time, Vivienne was nearing the end of the dock, and—"Hey!" Kennedy objected.  Without warning (or permission) Lena had hoisted Kennedy onto her shoulder in a fireman's carry, paused to close the Canoe House doors, and now was striding down the pier.  Feet to the fore, head behind, and balanced on her tummy, Kennedy's view was more or less limited to the stone pier, Lena's feet, legs, and dimpled butt, and her own fluttering ginger curls.

"We don't have all day," Lena explained.  By that time they were at the end of the pier and the blond amazon planted Kennedy on her bound feet at Vivienne's side.  "Swim to the float," she ordered, "rest, and swim back."  She then dove into the lake and swam away, rippling through the water in a powerful dolphin-kick that Kennedy thought was probably faster than her own best Australian crawl.

"She doesn't make me swim laps on dolphin-kick days," Vivienne explained with a grin.  "C'mon.  On three.  One.  Two."  But before saying three, Vivienne swung her hips to the side and bumped Kennedy off the pier.

"Eeeeh!"  Kennedy landed in the frigid water and struggled to the surface.  She managed to spin and face the pier, despite her bonds.  "You rat!" she accused, but was smiling and laughing.

"I know," Vivienne giggled, then dove off the pier and started swimming for the float.

Kennedy rolled her eyes, turned in the water, and started after her friend.

Despite her more stringent bonds, Vivienne made good time and arrived at the float several seconds ahead of her ginger-haired companion.

Kennedy finally arrived and awkwardly kicked and floated at Vivienne's side.  "That is a good ab workout," she gasped.  It was difficult to maintain position without being able to scissor-kick, but she managed.  Vivienne was simply floating.  Apparently (obviously) the brunette pixie was used to finding herself in the middle of the lake, bound hand and foot.

"Let's get on the float," Vivienne suggested.

"And how, exactly, do you expect us to do that?" Kennedy inquired.

"You slip off your wrist band, climb up, then pull me up, of course."  Vivienne grinned.  "That's probably why Lena used a band on your wrists, so you can get me onto the float."

"Where is Lena?" asked.  Their trainer was nowhere in sight.

"She's probably headed for the beaver dam," Vivienne explained.  "When we don't swim laps, we swim the entire length of the lake and back."

"That's one lap," Kennedy noted.

"I stand corrected," Vivienne giggled, "or more accurately, I float corrected."

With effort, Kennedy managed to extricate her wrists from the rubber band, then tossed it onto the float.  She then grabbed the edge and hauled herself onto the gray, weathered wood, sat with her bound feet to one side, and smiled down at her still floating friend.  "The water's cold today, isn't it?" she inquired.

"Very cold," Vivienne agreed.

Kennedy stretched her arms and lifted her face to the sky.  The sun had been out all day and it was pleasantly warm.  "It's very nice up here," she purred, smiling down at Vivienne, again.

"Now who's being a rat?" Vivienne pouted.

Kennedy chuckled, reached down, and managed to haul her bound friend up onto the float.  They lay on their backs, stared up at the clouds, and let the sun warm their naked, wet bodies.  After several seconds, Kennedy sat up, propping herself back on her hands with her elbows locked, and scanned the lake.  She could now see Lena, or rather the disturbance in the water and periodic appearances of Lena's bobbing head as she dolphin-kicked into the distance.

"Beaver dam?" Kennedy asked.

Vivienne frowned, then giggled.  "Oh, yeah.  You can't see it from here, but at the far end of the lake is a beaver colony.  They're the reason the lake is here, or is this deep, anyway."

Kennedy nodded, then frowned and used her right hand to shade her eyes.  Standing on the lake shore, but quite some distance around the lake from the estate and the pier, was a woman.  The distance was great, but Kennedy thought it was the same woman she'd seen mowing the estate's lawns this morning, but instead of the brown jeans and olive tank-top she'd been wearing before, she was now dressed head to toe in camouflage.  Kennedy was sure that if the woman hadn't been standing in the open and at the very edge of the water, she never would have noticed her, and if she took a few steps back into the shadows of the forest, she'd disappear.  "Viv, who's that?" Kennedy asked.

Vivienne wiggled and squirmed until she was sitting on her rump, then squinted in the direction of Kennedy's gaze.  "That's Skylar," Vivienne answered.  "Skylar Smoke.  She's the groundskeeper and gamekeeper."

"Skylar Smoke?"

"Full-blooded Ojibwa," Vivienne nodded, "also known as the Chippewas.  She's nice, but rarely comes indoors.  She likes the woods.  During hunting season, she roams around and warns off the outside hunters; but she does bring in the occasional deer, herself.  The entire estate is posted as a private game reserve."  Her grin widened.  "Wait 'til you taste Lena's venison roast.  Talk about melt in your mouth."

Kennedy smiled at her friend, then shifted her gaze back to Skylar—or rather, back to where Skylar had been.  There was now absolutely zero sign of a human presence on that side of the lake.

"Like a ghost in the mist," Vivienne chuckled, then nodded towards Lena's now very distant wake.  "Keep an eye out for her return.  We need to start back about the time she's a hundred yards or so from the float."  She then eased herself back down on the gray wood and closed her eyes.

Kennedy gazed down at her naked, rapidly drying, rubber-bound friend, then shifted her gaze to her own bound ankles.  The bondage wasn't all that tight.  Inescapable, yes, but not all that tight.  The knot, however, looked very tight, tight enough that she might have difficulty teasing it apart, even with the complete and unencumbered use of her fingers and hands.  As for Vivienne...  Kennedy shifted her gaze back to her friend.  She very much doubted Viv would ever be able to free herself without help.

Kennedy eased herself back down on her back on the hard, dry wood, closed her eyes, and enjoyed the feel of the sun on her naked skin.

That night after dinner, Kennedy and Vivienne watched TV in the home theater.  They were sprawled in sinfully comfortable recliners and watching a rerun of How I Met Your Mother.  Both were wearing the same outfits they'd worn for most of the day: jeans, a faded olive French t-shirt for Kennedy, and a dusky-rose tank-top for Vivienne, but they'd kicked off their shoes for comfort.

"I think I've seen this one at least three times," Vivienne sighed.

"Only twice," Kennedy said, "but there's nothing else on."

"Well...  find the remote and keep looking."

"You find the remote," Kennedy chuckled.  "I'm whipped."

Vivienne grinned.  "First time swimming while tied up?"

"Well, yeah," Kennedy responded, "but it wasn't being tied up that was bad.  That's a long way to dolphin-kick."

"You could have cheated," Vivienne suggested with a saucy smile.  "You could have slipped your wrist band and done the breaststroke on the way back."

"I was thinking about it," Kennedy admitted.  "Anyway, obviously you're very used to being tied up all the time, just like at school."

"How dare you!" Vivienne gasped in mock outrage.  "Anyway, it's all Lena's fault."

"What's my fault?" Lena inquired as she entered the room.  She was wearing jeans and a heather-gray tank-top and her eyes were focused on Vivienne.  "And what's this about you being tied up at school?"

"It's your fault she has to swim the lake bound hand and foot," Kennedy explained with a laugh.  "And actually, she was only tied up twice when we were at school."

"And you, once," Vivienne confirmed.  "My first time we were playing truth-or-dare, and the second time the two of us were taking the ninja challenge.  We had a couple of friends we used to hang with and do stuff like that."

"Megan and Liz," Kennedy said.

"Yeah," Vivienne nodded.  "Anyway, it was only twice."

"And what exactly is this 'ninja challenge' thing?" Lena inquired.

"Your wrists and ankles are tied," Vivienne explained.

"Hands behind your back and ankles crossed," Kennedy added, squirming in her chair and miming the condition described.

"Also, wrists to ankles," Vivienne continued.  "A hogtie."

"And with a piece of duct-tape over your mouth," Kennedy added.

"There are different versions of the challenge," Vivienne said, "but that's the one we went with."

Lena frowned.  "Why?"

Vivienne smiled.  "The duct-tape?  It's a gag."

"No," Lena sighed, shaking her head.  "The whole thing.  Why?"

Kennedy and Vivienne looked at each other, then at Lena.  "It's a challenge," Vivienne said, "to see if you can escape.  If you escape, you win."

Lena was still confused.  "Win what?"

"Not being tied up, for one thing," Kennedy muttered, and the friends laughed.

Lena rolled her eyes, then flopped down onto the sofa.  "Did you?"

"I won," Kennedy said, then cocked a thumb towards Vivienne.  "Her... not so much."

"That's 'cause Megan tied you up," Vivienne pouted, "and she can barely tie her own shoelaces she's such a klutz."

"Which is why she wore boots most of the time," Kennedy agreed with a grin.

"And Liz tied me up," Vivienne continued.  "Liz grew up on a ranch."

"Lucky she didn't brand you," Kennedy giggled.

Vivienne paused to stick out her tongue at her smiling friend before continuing.  "Anyway, it wasn't a fair challenge."

"I can see that," Lena said, nodding her head, then smiled and climbed to her feet.  "Wait here."

Kennedy watched Lena leave the room, then turned to Vivienne.

Vivienne shrugged and went back to watching the TV.

Kennedy squirmed in her chair for comfort and also resumed watching.

Lena reentered the home theater about ten minutes later.  In her right hand she clutched several coils of black rope.  In her left, a wide roll of white tape and a pair of scissors.

The blond amazon stared at Vivienne.  "What did you do with the duct-tape?" she demanded.

"What duct-tape?" Vivienne responded.

"I know there was a nearly new roll in the kitchen," Lena said.  "What did you do with it?"

"Nothing," Vivienne answered.

Lena turned her gaze to Kennedy.

"Don't look at me," Kennedy said with a smile.

"Well, maybe you'll find it in the course of your inventory," Lena sighed, then dropped the rope on the carpet and held up the tape.  "Three-inch Elastoplast medical tape," she announced.  "It should work."

"Work for what?" Vivienne and Kennedy asked in unison, then shared a smile.  Kennedy's smile was less enthusiastic than Vivienne's.

"The ninja escape challenge, of course."  Lena pulled a six or seven inch strip of tape from the roll and snipped it free with the scissors, then slid the scissors into her back pocket and the tape roll down the front of her tank-top, where it was stopped by her ample breasts.  "Who wants to go first?"

Kennedy stared in wide-eyed surprise.

Vivienne giggled and pointed at her friend.  "Deer-in-the-headlights over there, the one with the ginger hair."

Kennedy turned her head, shifting her gaze to Vivienne, then turned back to Lena.  "Oh!"  Quick as the proverbial flash, Lena had closed the gap and was standing more or less in Kennedy's face, looming over the relatively diminutive redhead.

"Hold back your hair," Lena ordered.  The strip of tape was stretched between her hands.

Kennedy stared at the milky white tape, then at the smiling Vivienne.  "We're really gonna do this?"

"Why not?" Vivienne shrugged.

Kennedy sighed, pulled her hair back with both hands, lifted her chin, and—"Mrrrf?"

"There," Lena said, frowning in concentration as she smoothed the tape she had just plastered over Kennedy's lips and lower face.  "Don't touch that," she admonished, then pulled out the scissors, retrieved the tape from her bosom, peeled a second strip of tape from the roll, snipped it free, then placed the scissors and tape on an endtable.

Kennedy watched this mundane process with amazement.  Her amazement continued as Lena plastered the second strip over Vivienne's mouth, but she followed her orders and didn't try and remove her tape-gag.

"Peace at last," Lena chuckled, then started sorting the coils of rope.  "Quarter-inch, solid core braided nylon," she explained.

Kennedy found the specifications of the rope in Lena's hands to be decidedly uninimportant; however, what the blonde was doing with the rope was very important.  Lena had stepped behind Kennedy's back with one of the coils, pulled the still amazed ginger's hands behind her back, and was now binding her crossed wrists with practiced ease.

"M'mpfh?"  Kennedy didn't resist.  It's all in fun, isn't it? she thought.  Fun or not, in wasn't very long before Kennedy's hypothetical resistance was very much a moot point.  Lena tied a final knot, then sauntered away to pick up a second coil of black rope and step behind Vivienne.  Kennedy twisted her wrists and tugged on her new bonds.  Her wrists were now permanently crossed with very little freedom of motion.  Her fingers groped and fluttered, but she could barely brush the closest of the rope bands with her fingertips.  Untying the elusive key knot tied somewhere between her forearms was clearly impossible.

Lena made quick work of binding Vivienne's wrists, then pointed to the carpet and Viv sat on her rump.  "Over here, Miss McKidd," Lena ordered, beckoning with one finger.

Kennedy locked eyes with Vivienne, then followed Lena's order and sat next to her fellow bound and gagged prisoner.  They both watched as Lena crossed and tied first Kennedy's ankles, and then Vivienne's.  Next, Lena knelt behind Kennedy and began preparing yet another coil of rope.

A doubled loop dropped over Kennedy's head and shoulders, tightened around her upper arms and torso, passing under her breasts, and was snugged tight.  A second doubled loop followed, this time tightening above Kennedy's breasts.  Next, Lena passed the twin strands of the remaining rope under Kennedy's right armpit from back to front, up and across her right shoulder, behind her head, back to the front across her left shoulder, then down and under her left armpit.  She pulled out the slack—"Mrrf!"—and the arm and torso bonds tightened significantly.

Next, Lena eased Kennedy onto her stomach (and breasts) and used the remainder of the arm-pinning rope to craft a stringent hogtie.  Kennedy considered voicing another tape-muffled protest, perhaps several, but decided on a tragic gagged sigh, instead.  Her palms were now more or less resting on her heels and Lena was wrapping and hitching rope around her wrist and ankle bonds.  She passed the remaining rope under the strands at the nape of her neck, pulled out the slack—if you could call it slack—and the hogtie tightened even further.

Her body bent in a stringent bow and balanced mostly on her stomach and partially on her breasts and thighs, Kennedy decided a vocal protest was appropriate after all.  "M'mmpfh!"  She wiggled and squirmed.  Not only did her efforts not do her any good, escape-wise, but apparently Lena could care less.  She'd already moved on to Vivienne and was hogtying her in an identical manner.  In any case, the smiling blond amazon ignored Kennedy completely.

"There," Lena said as she finished tying the key knot to Vivienne's hogtie.  She found the remote and turned off the TV, retrieved the scissors and tape roll, then strolled to the open door.  "First one to escape wins," she announced, then turned off the home theater's overhead lights, plunging the space into darkness and silhouetting her in the doorway.  "I have menus to plan and a shopping list to compile and e-mail to the grocer.  My culinary magic doesn't happen all by itself, you know.  You ladies enjoy your fun."

Kennedy squirmed in her bonds and mewled through her gag—"Nrrrf!"—but Lena ignored her protests, continued ignoring her protests.  The smiling blonde slowly closed the door... and was gone.

Kennedy blinked in the darkness and continued squirming.  Her eyes began to adjust and she realized the home theater had nightlights, rows of dim, blue-green LEDs set near the floor.  With some effort, she managed to twist, buck, and squirm her hogtied body until she was at an angle that allowed her to better gaze at her fellow prisoner.

Vivienne was strangely composed—or it seemed that way to Kennedy.  Anyway, the equally helpless brunette was almost relaxed in her bonds.  She was wiggling a little, but obviously wasn't nearly as committed to the hopeless task of regaining her freedom as was Kennedy.

Why the hell did I let Lena do this to me? Kennedy mused.  It was all just in fun, of course, but still...  Anyway, what was done was done, and Lena had certainly done them.  Where did she learn to tie people up like this? Kennedy wondered.

Vivienne was still unconcerned by their plight.  In fact, unless Kennedy was mistaken, the pixie-haired scamp's blue eyes were sparkling.  She's smiling?  It may have just been a trick of the dim light.

We didn't agree on how long this 'game' was going to last, Kennedy realized.  She had no idea how long Lena planned to leave them hogtied and tape-gagged.  But then, Lena hadn't discussed anything before tying them up and abandoning them in the dark.

No more, Kennedy resolved.  No more being clamped into Lena's exercise machine or swimming in the freezing lake with my ankles tied!  And no more bondage games!  Kennedy had been hired to do a job, not to be bullied and tied up!  I'm putting my foot down, right now!  She squirmed and rocked from side to side, testing Lena's ropes with all her strength.  Or rather, I'll put my foot down as soon as Lena unties me.

Kennedy heaved a gagged sigh—causing the strands of her ginger curls than had drifted across her face to lift into the air, flutter, and settle back into place—then set about the task of carefully, methodically testing her rope bonds for any imperfection that would allow her to escape, win the challenge, peel the tape from her lips, and give Lena a piece of her mind.  There has to be a way, she thought, and I'm not giving up 'til I find it!

Meanwhile, Vivienne had settled into her own considerably less vigorous "struggles to escape," but her eyes were on Kennedy's writhing, bucking, quivering body, and they were sparkling.  Also, her lips were smiling, to the extend allowed by the taut strip of Elastoplast plastered to her lower face.  She is sooooo sexy like that, Vivienne thought.  Can't wait 'til Mistress really decides to close the trap.