by Van © 2020
			Chapter 11

The trail Donna had chosen dropped into the valley... and now was climbing towards a saddle between two peaks.  Donna explained that the path under their feet was actually a game trail blazed by the local deer and migrating elk.  There was no obvious erosion, so no need for human improvement.

Elke might be a veteran hiker and in excellent shape, but Donna was setting a brisk pace.  Soon, Elke was sweating and her calves were starting to burn.  It wasn't that bad.  Elke wasn't in distress.  In fact, she soon hit her stride, the burn faded, and she really started enjoying herself.

The scenery was stunning, with only a few fluffy clouds in the blue sky, and the air was hot... but it was a dry heat.  Elke rolled her eyes.  'Dry heat,' she mused.  Cliché much?  Also, while the terrain was rocky and sere, in its own way, it was very photogenic.  Elke missed the shade of the conifers down in the valley, but so far so good.

They reached the saddle, the trail more-or-less leveled out, and Donna called a break.  The hikers shrugged out of their day-packs and sat, sharing a large, flat-topped boulder of convenient height, and sipped from their water bottles.  They each had two bottles, just in case, but only expected to empty one.  A gentle breeze was blowing up from the valley, and some distance away they could see a raptor of some sort riding a thermal.  Elke suspected it might a Red-tailed Hawk... then it made a slow, graceful, ascending turn, it's tail flashed orange-brown, and she was sure.

Donna was watching the hawk as well.  "Where do you want to go to graduate school?" she inquired.

 Elke's eyes widened slightly at the unexpected question and she took a sip of water to gather her thoughts.  "Princeton, Harvard, M.I.T., Stanford, UC-Berkley, or Chicago," she answered, then grinned, "not that I've given it much thought."

Donna chuckled.  "What about Oxford or Cambridge?"

"Both have very good math schools," Elke responded, "and living in England would be a great adventure, but... the expense."  She sighed, then returned her bottle to the side-pocket of her pack.  "It's gonna take me years to save for any grad school.  Saving for Oxford or Cambridge?  More years."

Donna nodded, again.  Then returned her bottle to her pack.  "What if you had a scholarship?"

"It would have to be a full scholarship," Elke sighed.  "I applied for a few, and came close on a couple of them... I think.  Everybody with a serious application gets told they got 'honorable mention,' even if they weren't really in contention."

Donna gazed at the landscape for a several seconds before continuing.  "I have a lot to do with handling Abby's assets."

Elke's smirked.  "So to speak."

Donna chuckled.  "Cheeky monkey.  Her financial assets.  For tax reasons, our assets are held in a foundation, and, as it turns out, we're always looking for good charitable donations to satisfy legal requirements.  Sponsoring a worthy graduate student would be a win-win for everybody involved."

Elke's eyes popped wide, again... then her mouth set in a pout and she frowned.  "Charitable?"

Donna smiled and patted her knee.  "Don't be offended.  I mean 'charitable' only in the technical sense.  We'd expect you to earn every dollar with hard work, by which I mean academic work."

Elke nodded.  "A full scholarship?" she whispered.

Donna's smile widened.  "Abby and I can easily afford it.  I know this is sudden, but think about it.  And I'll have our lawyers start working out the details.  And you can start truly serious research into the schools on your list and line up your letters of recommendation.  And feel free to consider Oxford and Cambridge.  We can always make this an international scholarship."

Elke's heart was pounding and her vision was suddenly blurred.  In point of fact, she realized her blue eyes were welling with tears.  She opened her mouth to thank Donna for her incredible offer, but all that emerged was a gasping sob.

Donna leaned close, embraced Elke from the side, and kissed her cheek.  "Just think about it, Elke," she urged.  "Take all the time you need."

Elke was still unable to answer, unable to bleat Yes!  Of course!  Thank you!  Thank you!  Thank you!  She nodded frantically, then began weeping in earnest.  She couldn't help it.

Donna held Elke close.  "Adorable," she whispered.

Elke was very happy.  She couldn't wait to tell Mikki the Big News, and her mind didn't even register that she'd just been called 'adorable,' which she normally found to be mildly annoying.

An hour had passed since Lilly casually made her Big Exit from her workshop—swinging her hips in her usual seductive manner and smiling her usual evil smile—abandoning Mikki to her naked, chained, and caged fate—and Abby to her naked, reverse-prayer-box-tied, and Willie Saddle straddling fate. 

Having nothing better to do, with Mikki not gagged in any way, and with the ball-gag dangling loosely Abby's neck but not plugging in her mouth, the naked captives took the opportunity to chat about the many fun recreational, dining, and shopping opportunities in the extended area.

Mikki had good fashion sense and liked nothing better than to look stunning attractive at all times (as if she could help it with her perfect skin, gorgeous features, and shining ginger curls), but had never been all that enthusiastic about shopping.  As for the rest... she took Abby's word for it.  Mikki had already made up her mind to accept Abby's spectacular and totally unanticipated offer to become a permanent resident of the mansion.  She still needed to bounce the idea off Elke before formally accepting, of course, but she was ready to say yes.

Suddenly (dramatically), the workshop's main door swung open and Lilly made her Grand Entrance—hips seductively swinging (again), lips curled in a wicked smile, brown pageboy swaying, blue eyes flashing, etc., etc.  She was wearing the same jeans and black tank-top (with pokies) and hadn't changed into her Sexy Dominatrix outfit.  Bummer, Mikki thought.

"Miss me?" Lilly quipped as she strolled towards Abby and the Willie Stand.

Still basking in the rush of Abby's incredible invitation, Mikki decided to poke the dragon.  "One hour," she noted, in an overtly sarcastic manner.  "Standard preliminary languishing interval.  How cliché."

Lilly and Abby exchanged smiles, but Lilly otherwise ignored Mikki's incredibly witty observation.

Lilly made a quick side-trip to a worktable, returned to Abby with a pair of wooden blocks, then knelt and slid the blocks under the captive's feet.  The blocks were the perfect height to allow the Prisoner-of-the-Stand to come down off her toes and stand flatfooted.  Her ankles were still locked in the ankle-cuffs rigidly attached near the base of the stand's vertical post, of course, and her pussy was still hovering a fraction of an inch above the saddle's saw teeth, but at least her feet were happier.

"Thank you," Abby purred.

"You're welcome," Libby purred back, then stepped behind Abby's back and started untying the box-tie.  Obviously, the task was going to take awhile.

Mikki watched as the lower-waist-rope-corset melted away, followed by progressively more and more of the many hitches and cinches behind Abby's back.  She'd been promised a good look at the details of the box-tie once Abby was off the stand, but Lilly was releasing her cousin's bonds while she was still on the stand.  Mikki was disappointed, but not stupid enough to do more than pout.  Lilly would probably take anything else as a request for a reverse-prayer demonstration with Mikki as the bindee.

Abby's bonds continued melting away, but her upper arms were still pinned to her sides and she was still at least semi-helpless.  Lilly released Abby's critical reverse-prayer bonds, "helped" her slide her no doubt very sore arms under the horizontal ropes, "encouraged" her to fold them against the small of her back, forearm-to-forearm, then began lashing them together!

"You wicked girl," Abby accused Lilly once she realized what was happening.  "I need to show Mikki her new bedroom.  Stop this nonsense and untie me."

Lilly took a temporary quick-release hitch in Abby's ropes to hold her place, then unbuckled Abby's ball-gag necklace, stuffed the ball into Abby's smiling mouth—"Mrrrf?—then parted her glorious ginger locks and buckled the strap tight!

Mikki watched (with wide eyes and gaping mouth), as Abby glowered and mewled through the ball-gag.  Obviously, Abby was upset, but Lilly seemed totally unconcerned.  Also, Lilly had shown no reaction to Abby's reference to Mikki getting a "new bedroom."  Was Lilly in on Abby's offer of residency?  Probably.

"Silly Mistress," Lilly teased as she resumed revising Big Red's box-tie, "There's no reason Mikki can't have a naked, bound, and gagged tour guide."

Abby, stopped her ball-gagged protests, but it was still quite obvious that she wasn't happy.

When the proverbial dust settled once again, Abby's arms might be in a substantially more comfortable position, but she was just as helpless and her bondage just as tight, intricate, elaborate, and aesthetically pleasing as before (in Mikki's opinion).  Lilly knelt and released Abby's ankles from the stand's cuffs, then hugged Abby's waist with her left arm, took a firm grip on Abby's left breast with her right hand (for stability, of course), and helped her ease herself off the stand.

There were still several feet of rope dangling from Abby's box-tie, but not for long.  Lilly resumed her rigging efforts and soon a pair of horizontal strands encircled Abby's torso, just below her rib cage—four horizontal strands encircled and constricted her waist—and two vertical crotch-rope strands (with knots!) cleaved Abby's pussy, while two more framed and pinched her labia together!

Mikki had never seen a more solidly anchored box-tie, not in real life, and not during her research in books and the internet!  Not even in her imagination!  Multiple horizontal strands of 3/8", coyote-brown, braided nylon yolked Abby's shoulders, pinned her upper arms to her sides, pinned her bound forearms against her back, pinched her waist, and vertical strands cleaved and pinched her pussy!  And all of it had passed the finger test and was uniformly tight.  Also, it was pretty!  Mikki realized she had a lot to learn as a rigger, and she was in just the right place to do it... and to use it in her writing (among other things). 

Yes, Mikki reminded herself, I'll have to remember to take time off from my rigging lessons to write my first novel and/or collection of short stories.  Mikki owed it to her many devoted fans... even though she hadn't yet published anything and the fans in question only existed in her mind.

Meanwhile, Lilly was padding in Mikki's direction.  She watched (carefully hiding her trembling apprehension) as Lilly unlocked and opened the door.  Then, without saying a word, Lilly turned and strolled to the cabinet where she'd fetched the makings of Abby's box-tie, opened the door, and selected a second generous coil of coyote-brown, 3/8", braided nylon rope.  She then closed the cabinet, padded to the workshop's main door, pulled it open... and paused in the threshold.

Mikki stepped from the cage, took a couple of clinking and clattering steps forward, then gazed at Abby.  Abby gazed back.  Quite obviously she was still angry.  Mikki turned her gaze back to Lilly.

Lilly's smile was infuriating (also wicked and sinister).  "The workshop tour is over for today, Little Red," she purred, "Don't you want to see your new bedroom?"

Actually, Mikki most emphatically did want to see her new bedroom, and she was very glad to be out of Lilly's work-in-progress-cage.  She glanced at Abby, again (finding her still naked, box-tied, ball-gagged, and annoyed), then took a few tentative, chain-hobbled, clinking, clattering, and barefoot steps towards the door.  Abby was following, and although Big Red's legs were completely free and unbound, she was allowing Mikki to set the pace... which Little Red thought was very nice.

With Lilly in the lead (of course), Mikki next in line, and Abby as their naked, bound, and gagged rearguard, they exited Libby's workshop and headed for the main mansion.  The open cage, empty Willie Stand, and Abby's neatly stacked clothes remained behind.

About five miles from Abby and Donna's Magnificent Modern Mountainside Mansion, the hikers reached the summit of a minor peak that afforded a spectacular vista of the surrounding sere slopes and forested valleys below.  Elke had a general idea of the direction of the mansion, but from their current location it was completely hidden from view.  Not even the road leading to the mansion was visible.  The distant peak with the crowning microwave tower remained visible, but other than the contrail of an airliner crossing the sky far overhead, there were no other signs of humanity.
 
Donna shrugged out of her pack.  "There are seasonal streams running through some of the valleys, but the only reliable water for miles around is the mansion's very deep and very expensive well.  There are a few nice camping spots in the area, if you know where to look, but they're dry camps late in the summer and early fall.  We don't see many strangers around here."

Elke smiled.  "Your own little pocket of wilderness," she suggested.

"Exactly," Donna purred, smiling back.  "Lunch?"

"I can eat," Elke responded, and they dug into their packs.  She was opening the zip-lock bag holding her half of the food—then froze in place and her eyes popped wide!  Donna had pulled two things from her day pack.  The first was a green thermos, and the second was the cause of Elke's alarm: a neatly coiled bundle of quarter-inch, royal blue, braided nylon rope!

"What's that for?" Elke demanded.

Donna smiled, raised an eyebrow, and held up the thermos.  "Wine," she chuckled.  "Merlot, to be precise.  The thermos keeps it cool."

"N-no," Elke responded, her big blue eyes blinking behind her glasses and one trembling finger pointing at the rope as if it was a rattlesnake coiled to strike.  "That!"

Donna's smile never wavered.  "Just in case, darling," she explained.  "This is a very safe trail, but you know how it goes.  You never need a rescue rope unless you don't have one.  I also have a foil blanket and a waterproof match-case in a side pocket, just in case."

Elke nodded, still staring at the rope.  "I also have a rescue blanket and matches... just in case."  She shifted her gaze to Donna.  "Sorry," she sighed.

"No rope shenanigans on the trail," Donna purred, "and we know you aren't the one who's really interested in such things, anyway... much."

Elke nodded.  "That would be Mikki," she agreed, then pulled a sandwich her bag, peeled back its wrapping, and took a bite.

Donna produced a pair of nested cups, opened the thermos and poured wine into the cups, then handed one to Mikki.

"Thank you," Elke said quietly, then took a sip of wine.  It was cool and delicious.

"Once we get home, Abby will continue your rigging lessons," Donna said as she sipped her wine, "if you wish."

Donna started blinking, again.  "Okay, I mean... that's very kind, only.. okay.  Good.  Okay."

Donna chuckled and sipped her wine, again.  "Delightful," she whispered under her breath.

Elke carefully set down her cup, then took a second bite of her sandwich (sliced turkey, jack cheese, lettuce, tomato, and mayo on whole-grain bread).  She kept a careful eye on the sinister coil of blue rope, just in case.

So, no bondage games on the trail, Elke thought.  Good.  She approved.  Mikki would probably be disappointed, but she was not.  Not even a little.

The sandwich was delicious, by the way, not at all soggy, as sometimes happened when tomato slices were included in a sandwich that isn't eaten immediately.  Also, the wine was excellent, cool but not cold, which was appropriate for a nice red.  Also, no bondage!  The blue rope was Heroic Rescue Rope, not Villainous Bondage Rope, which was also excellent.  However, Elke continued keeping an eye on the coil as she continued eating, just in case.

Mikki was looking forward to exploring her possible new home (Abby's mansion) on her own, upstairs and down, but so far her opportunities for unsupervised snooping had been... restricted.

Lilly led the way down a tastefully decorated hallway that was new to Mikki, opened a door, then smiled and gestured for Mikki to enter the space beyond.  Abby followed, glowering at Lilly as she passed.

"I hope you like it," Lilly said (obviously addressing Mikki).  She also entered the room, then closed and locked the door behind her.  Click!

"Uh... okay," Mikki responded.  "Thanks."  She shifted her gaze to Abby (who heaved a rather ticked off, ball-gagged sigh), then began examining her potential new bedroom.  Her first impression was: Nice!  It was roughly the size of her current guest bedroom (with its weirdly carved trunk/damsel-prison), or maybe a little bigger.  The decor was Modern, like the rest of the non-subterranean mansion.  There were a couple of very pretty paintings hanging on the walls and a few random knickknacks here and there, and while everything was tasteful, the ambiance was rather generic.  Mikki knew she could do better (if she did take up residence).

What was obviously the promised office she could use for writing was off to one side.  She clanked to the area and noted the comfortable office chair and large desk/table facing a large window with a panoramic view.  She also noted a strategically placed power-strip flush-mounted near the back edge of the otherwise blank work surface.  The desk was computer-ready.  There were also bookcases with plenty of room for her personal library (with room to grow), a printer stand (with another built-in power strip), and a pair of comfy-looking overstuffed chairs positioned so she could chat with a visitor, read a good book, sip a cup of coffee or tea, and/or stare through the windows at the very pleasant view.

Meanwhile, Lilly had led (dragged) Abby to the king or queen-size bed, "encouraged" her to flop down onto the bedspread, and was now readying the second, generous coil of 3/8", coyote-brown, braided nylon rope she'd brought with her from the workshop.

It was obvious what was about to happen, so Mikki clattered over to watch.  This time, she didn't want to miss any of the action.

As Mikki expected, Lilly began binding Abby's legs.  Oddly enough (in Mikki's opinion) the Mistress of the Mansion offered no resistance.  Abby did continue sending a steady stream of razor-sharp but ultimately harmless visual daggers at her spouse's little sister, but she didn't kick or squirm or do anything to complicate and/or impede Lilly's rigging efforts.

When the proverbial dust settled once again, a tight, symmetrical, complicated web of rope bound Abby's legs together.  The elaborate tie was anchored to Abby's crotch-rope at the small of her back, then continued all the way down to her feet and big toes!  Multiple horizontal rope bands hitched, cinched, and tightly encircled Abby's legs above her knees, below her knees, and around her ankles, feet, and big-toes.  In addition, the tie incorporated a karada or diamond-hitch lattice all the way down the full length of Abby's legs.

Abby was tied up—really tied up!

Super-box-tie plus karada-leg-tie?  Mikki was impressed.  She was also trying to decide if she should say something... to somebody... about something.  Should she express sympathy for Abby's incredible nude helplessness?  Admiration for Lilly's superb rigging skills?  Of course, commenting on how incredibly hot Abby looked all naked, elaborately bound, and ball-gagged was out of the question.  There was also the issue of protesting Lilly's nefarious treatment of the Mistress of the Mansion, but would that lead to another rigging demonstration?  This time with Mikki as the bindee?  Possibly.  Probably.  Mikki was already naked and "suffering" in a full set of serving-chains, but Lilly could easily fetch more rope.  And for all she knew, there might even be a rope cache in this very room!

Preoccupied by all these issues, Mikki missed it when Lilly quietly turned, strolled to the bedroom door, and inserted her key in the lock.

Click!

The sound of the lock turning wrested Mikki's attention from the very tied up Abby.  She turned her head just in time to watch Lilly open the door, step into the hallway, and close the door.  And she hadn't said anything!  She hadn't even harangued the ginger captives with an abbreviated villainous monologue!

Click!

Mikki and Abby were locked inside her new potential bedroom!  Naked!  In chains and bound and gagged (respectively)!  Alone together!  And Lilly hadn't even bothered to entertain them with her best spine-tingling, diabolical laugh.  How rude!  Mikki heaved a sigh of tragic proportions, then returned to inspecting her new digs... meaning her potential new digs.

There was a door leading to a walk-in closet.  It wasn't huge, but had the shelving, cabinets, shoe-racks, and horizontal hanger-bars to accept Mikki's inexpensive but stunningly stylish wardrobe, with room to grow.  All the closet storage was empty at the moment, but a large number of hangers dangled from the rods, ready for use.  A full-length mirror was mounted on the wall opposite the door.  Mikki returned to the main bedroom.  Abby was still on the bed, watching her look around in a naked, helpless, bemused manner.

A third door led to a spacious, very nice bathroom.  There was a large washbasin with the usual mirror mounted above, a stylish commode, a shower stall, and a Japanese-style soaking tub!  Nice!  The tub even had its own window, so a hypothetical bather would be able to simmer in the tub and enjoy the view.  She inspected the tub more closely and discovered jet-ports strategically embedded in the tub walls and a small touchscreen.  It was a Japanese-style Jacuzzi soaking tub!  Very nice!  She turned and clanked back into the bedroom.

Mikki noted another door, this one of the sliding glass variety, and it led out onto a cozy balcony.  It wasn't big enough to be what she could call a full deck, but there was plenty of room to sit out there in a comfy chair, read, type on a laptop, sip coffee or tea, enjoy the view, etc.  There wasn't any furniture on the balcony/mini-deck at the moment, but she could fix that.  Also, she could line the safety rail with flower boxes, or maybe replace the entire railing system with waist-high planters, with Abby's permission, of course.  She'd have to beg Lilly to do most of the work, and they'd have to install a watering system, but Mikki would help and she wasn't a total klutz with tools.

Mikki blinked in mild surprise as she realized she'd made her decision.  She'd still talk it over with Elke, of course, but unless her BFF came up with a really good reason she shouldn't accept Abby and Donna's kind offer... she would.  Accept, that is.  There was the issue of Lilly, of course; but Mikki was sure that if Lilly wasn't fully onboard with her potential residency, she'd know about it by now.  At the very least, she'd be out of her serving-chains and into a hideous full-body-rope-tie matching Abby's in tightness, complexity, aesthetic value, and helplessness; and would be either lying next to "Mistress" on the bed or possibly dangling from the ceiling.  There were exposed rafters overhead that quite obviously would be entirely suitable as lashing points.  Mikki added a few understated but sturdy steel ring-brackets of some sort, bolted to the undersides of the rafters at strategic locations, to her mental checklist of possible bedroom renovations.  Lilly would know what was appropriate.

There were other possibilities for Lilly's hypothetical demonstration of disapproval, of course, like Mikki being hog-tied, ball-tied, and/or shrimp-tied in the walk-in closet—hog-tied, ball-tied, or shrimp-tied in the bottom of the soaking tub (with the drain closed and water slowly trickling from the tap)—hog-tied, ball-tied, or shrimp-tied out on the balcony with the sun setting and the air temperature slowly dropping—not to mention the numerous and still largely unknown subterranean venues down below!  And with Abby naked, bound, and gagged on the bed, she wouldn't be able to save her innocent and incredibly attractive young cousin!

And speaking of Abby...

Mikki shuffled, clinked, and clanked to the bed... smiled down at the elaborately bound and ball-gagged Abby lying on her back on the soft mattress... then, with even more clinking and clattering, sat on the edge of the bed.  Abby was gazing up at her, waiting patiently, all bound, gagged, naked, and beautiful.  Mikki decided there was no more putting things off, the "things" in question being "dealing" with Abby.

Mikki smiled (shyly) and rested her right hand on Abby's taut, firm, smooth tummy, atop her bellybutton and crotch-rope.  "Lilly is a really good rigger.  Did you teach her?"  Abby nodded.  "I'd offer to moisturize you, but I didn't see any lotion in the bathroom.  In fact, I didn't see any beauty or bathing products of any kind."  Her hand began a gentle, circular massage of Abby's abdomen.  "No soap, toothpaste, or anything."  Abby nodded again.  "So..."  Mikki's hand continued its circular caress, her palm gliding across Abby's taut tummy and tight ropes.  "I guess I could give you a nice massage.  There's a lot of rope in the way, but I'm willing to give it a try."

Abby shook her head.

"Oh."  Mikki heaved a disappointed sigh and her lips pursed in a coy pout.  "Okay."  She continued her circular caress of Abby's abdomen.

Clearly, Abby was smiling.  The ball-gag was putting a damper on her style, but her brown eyes were twinkling and she wasn't unhappy.  And Mikki knew that Abby knew that she was kidding about the moisturizing and the massage.  Speaking of which, Mikki stopped teasing Abby's tummy and placed her hands on her lap, meaning her own lap.

Mikki knew she was already in a little trouble for not untying Abby immediately, but as the saying goes: In for a penny...  Mikki's smile took on a slightly mischievous quality.  Actually, it took on a definite mischievous quality.

"I suppose I could massage your tits," Mikki offered.  "They're a little squeezed by Lilly's ropes, but still accessible.  Let's try that, shall we?"  She reached for the pale, peach-pink, rope-squeezed globes and slightly darker, slightly pointing nipples in question.

Abby shook her ball-gagged head.  "Mrrf."

Still smiling, Mikki leaned forward, gently turned Abby's head to the side, parted her shining red hair, unbuckled the ball-gag, then secured the strap on its first hole.  Abby turned her head back and Mikki helped her expel the ball from her mouth.  The ball-gag was now in Ugly Necklace Mode, which, Mikki noted, was something of a minor fashion trend at Abby, Donna, and Lilly's mansion.

Abby licked her lips, worked her jaw, and smiled at Mikki.

Mikki smiled back.  "There's a cup in the bathroom.  Do you want some water?"

Still smiling, Abby shook her head.  "Not right now, darling.  Thank you."

"You're welcome," Mikki nodded... then continued smiling.

"Well?" Abby inquired.

"Well what?"

Abby rolled her pretty brown eyes.  "Untie me."

Mikki sighed a tragic sigh, held up her manacled wrists, and gave her shining steel wrist-cuffs and their unbreakable connecting chain a hopeless, clattering tug.  "I'm helpless."  It was both true and a baldfaced lie.  Mikki's chains would only trivially impede her ability to tease apart the knots of Lilly's rope masterpiece and free Abby.

"You wicked girl," Abby accused (still smiling).

"Hey!" Mikki objected.  "You said you hardly ever get to sample life as a Bottom.  It would be truly heartless for me to spoil your fun."

"Wicked, wicked girl," Abby purred.  "You give me no choice but to punish you, severely."

Mikki climbed onto the bed and snuggled close to Abby's rope-bound form, pulled her into a warm embrace, then planted a kiss on her right nipple.  "But not as severely as the way you're gonna punish Lilly, right?" she inquired, then kissed Abby's still smiling lips.

"That remains to be seen," Abby answered quietly, then returned the kiss.

Mikki blushed, giggled, and tightened her embrace.  Her hand was still cupping Abby's right breast.  "I'm tired," she stated.  "Are you tired?  Let's take a nap."

"Wicked girl," Abby reiterated.

"A nap it is, then," Mikki whispered, rested her smiling head on Abby's rope-yoked shoulder, and closed her eyes.

Abby heaved another sigh—which caused the ropes encircling and binding her torso to tighten.  Mikki is going to fit right in around here, she mused, then closed her eyes as well.

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Chapter 10

Chapter 12

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