by Van ©2012
		Chapter 8

Freeing the girls from their bonds required nimble fingers and a pair of heavy duty bandage scissors.  Cassie accomplished the task with gentle efficiency.

The sun was up by the time the residents of Sarand-ip had showered, donned their usual sandals, jeans, and blouses and were ready for breakfast—and having missed supper, the girls were more than ready for breakfast.  Cassie did the cooking.  Her bacon, eggs, toast, coffee, and orange juice never tasted so good!

Cassie tasked Tiffany with the chores and Ashley with manning the store.  As a consequence, they had no chance to discuss the events of the night before—not before lunch, not during lunch, not after lunch, and not even during the afternoon.  They did share a few significant glances.  Tiffany would blush and Ashley would smile, but they had no chance to talk.  Cassie didn't explicitly forbid conversation, but the few times they were alone together... it just didn't seem right.  What had happened while serving "detention" remained the 800-pound gorilla in the room—or the 800-pound tongue, in this case.

Finally, the hour of closing arrived.  Ashley ran the vacuum and Tiffany did the dusting, and then they made their way towards the private rooms in the back of the house.

Tiffany was blushing again.  "Uh, about last night," she said to her BFF as they strolled down the hall.

Ashley smiled.  "Yeah?"

Before Tiffany could continue, Cassie appeared.  "There you are," she said with her usual smile.  "Into the kitchen, both of you.  Punishment isn't over."

"What?" the girls responded in unison.

"Now, young ladies," Cassie scolded (still smiling).

Ashley waited for Tiffany to whine and/or pout, but to her surprise the redhead did neither.

"Yes, Mistress," Tiffany answered gravely, placed her hands atop her head, went up on her toes, and minced towards the kitchen.

Ashley shrugged and followed suit.

When they arrived in the kitchen, Cassie pointed to their usual chairs.  "Sit, and no talking.  Mistress will forgo taping your mouths this time, but if I hear any chatter, I'll seal the offender's lips and she'll go hungry.  Nod if you understand."

Hands atop their heads, the Lowly Clerks exchanged a worried glance, then nodded.  Okay, they weren't really worried.  They knew they were in for something, of course, but Cassie was Cassie.  They sat in their chairs and watched Mistress prepare a dinner of meatloaf, oven roasted potatoes, and fresh green beans.

The conversation embargo was probably worse for Ashley than Tiffany.  Whenever Tiffany ate meatloaf—even really good meatloaf like Cassie's—she poured on enough ketchup to gag a maggot.  And Ashley couldn't say anything about it!  It was... torture.

Finally, the meal was over, the kitchen clean, and Cassie led the way to the girls' room.  She watched as the youngsters removed their clothes and put them away, then led the way to the master bedroom.

Naked and their hands atop their heads, Ashley and Tiffany made the journey on tiptoe.  Upon arrival they knelt at their accustomed positions in the center of the room.

Cassie beckoned Ashley with a crooked finger and the brunette gracefully climbed to her feet and tiptoed to the bed.

Tiffany watched as Cassie used the now ubiquitous synthetic hemp rope to bind Ashley's crossed wrists behind her back.  Mistress then tied her ankles, knees, and elbows.  Ashley's elbows weren't touching.  In fact, they were about three inches apart, but the arrangement was enough to roll her shoulders back and make her pert breasts point.  Cassie added the natural rubber ball-gag with the closed loop rubber strap, then strolled to her closet.

The bound and gagged brunette on the bed and the kneeling redhead on the carpet watched their Mistress disappear, then reappear with the cardboard box from the previous evening.

"Ashley," Cassie said, "your detention is actually over.  This is instruction, so pay attention."

Ashley nodded her ball-gagged head, then watched Cassie set the box on the floor and kneel behind Tiffany.

Approximately a half-hour later, Tiffany was in a very helpless state.

Her head was laced in the same black leather hood and caged by the same harness of black leather straps that Ashley had worn the night before—her mouth was filled by the same double-mouthpiece and foam ball with breathing-tube—a pair of rubber plugs filled her ears—and the head-harness' gag-panel, earmuffs, and padded blindfold added the same redundant overkill to the isolation of the underlying hood.

The hood and harness were the same, but the technique Cassie used to bind Tiffany's upper-body was new.  The petite redhead's arms were raised and her crossed wrists bound behind her head.  Neat bands of rope passed around her upper-arms and behind her head and were cinched to her wrist bonds.  In another example of overkill, her thumbs were neatly lashed together with a length of hemp cord.

Tiffany's legs were bound in the same manner as the night before.  Tiffany knew this by feel, but it was Ashley's first opportunity to watch Cassie bind Tiffany's ankles to her upper thighs.  That morning, she'd still been wearing the head-harness and hood when Cassie released her BFF from an identical frog-tie. 

Ashley gazed at her BFF's nude, bound and hooded body from the foot of the bed.  Tiffany rolled onto her right side, squirmed and wiggled a little, then rolled over onto her back.  She may have heaved a sigh, but the hood and head-harness made it difficult to tell.

Cassie walked over and sat next to Ashley.  Her right arm draped over Ashley's shoulders, she used her left to pluck the ball-gag from her student's mouth.  "Isn't she beautiful?" Cassie whispered.

Ashley nodded.  "Uh huh."

"I love Tiffany's complexion," Cassie continued, then kissed Ashley's forehead.  "Your complexion as well, tomboy."

Ashley turned her head towards Cassie.  "Tomboy?"

"Whisper, please," Cassie chuckled.  "Let Tiffany enjoy her solitude."

Ashley's eyes were back on her BFF.  "Is this what you guys did last night?  Did you sit here and whisper about me while I rolled around on the floor, all tied up and helpless?"

"Of course."

Ashley nodded, then swallowed and turned back to Cassie.  "Tomboy?"

"Everything's relative," Cassie smiled.  "You're certainly quite feminine, Ashley, but unarguably a tomboy when compared to Tiffany.  Also, you're Top to her Bottom."

Ashley was skeptical.  "I don't think so."

"Again, everything's relative," Cassie purred.  "I'm not suggesting you're a stern dominatrix and Tiffany is your devoted sex-slave, but yours is the dominant personality."

"I still don't think so," Ashley huffed.

"Oh, it's true, my tomboy," Cassie chuckled.  She kissed Ashley's forehead, again.  "It's subtle.  I can see how you might have missed it.  Anyway..."  She popped the ball-gag back into Ashley's mouth.  "I want you to remain on the bed and watch over Tiffany."  Cassie stood and started unbuttoning her blouse.  "I'm for the hot tub."

Ashley watched Cassie stroll into the walk-in closet.  Less than a minute later Mistress returned, sans blouse, jeans, undies, and sandals.  Her hair was up and her only adornment was the delicate chain with its dangling cat charm that hung around her neck.  She smiled, walked to the French doors leading onto the deck, swung them open, and stepped outside.

God, she's so beautiful, Ashley sighed through her gag as the doors closed.  The sun was setting and she could still see Cassie through the glass.  Their beautiful, naked Mistress removed the hot tub's insulated lid, lowered herself into the bubbling water, and was out of sight.

Ashley returned her gaze to Tiffany.  Her BFF was still on her back, her hooded and harnessed head cradled in her hands and her legs folded and thighs splayed.  I'm the geek's Top? she wondered.  Really?

Tiffany arched her back, lifting her butt off the carpet.  Then, she let her body drop.  Her pink breasts were pert, like Ashley's, and certainly not large and perfect, like Cassie's, but they were big enough to wobble and shake from the impact.  Ashley noted her BFF's nipples were flushed and erect... and realized her own nipples were also pointing.

Ashley flopped onto her back, lifted her bound legs onto the mattress, then squirmed her way to the middle of the bed.  Lying on her side she could still "watch over Tiffany," as per Cassie's orders.  She could also watch the golden orange sunset through the French doors and bedroom windows.  She knew that eventually Cassie would return... and things would happen.

Ashley closed her eyes.  It seemed prudent to marshal her strength and rest while she could.

Ashley's eyes popped open and she flinched in her bonds.

Cassie had returned,  Her hair was down and she was drying her nude, tan, flushed body with a fluffy towel.  Several hairpins were clutched between her pursed lips and she winked at Ashley as she gracefully strolled to the master bath, carefully stepping around Tiffany's helpless form as she made her way.

I went to sleep, Ashley realized.  The sun had set, but there was still a faint glow on the western horizon.  It would be a clear night, unusual for this part of the Oregon coast.

Cassie returned from the bath, without the hairpins and towel and gloriously nude.  She sat on the bed and pulled the ball-gag from Ashley's mouth.  "That was wonderful," she whispered.  "A pity only good girls get to use the hot tub."

Ashley licked her lips and worked her jaws before answering.  "A pity," she agreed, unable to suppress a smile.  She then blinked in surprise.  Cassie was untying her bonds.  First her elbows... then her wrists... her knees... and finally, her ankles.  Ashley was free.

"Coil those ropes, please," Cassie whispered as she stood and strolled towards Tiffany.

Ashley began coiling the first rope, then grabbed the remaining rope and dropped it on the floor.  Cassie had lifted Tiffany into her arms and was carrying her to the bed.  Mistress gently deposited Tiffany on her back on the rumpled covers, then began piling the pillows against the headboards.  Ashley completed her assigned task, then stood at the foot of the bed and gazed down at her helpless friend.

"Just look," Cassie whispered, gazing down at Tiffany.  "Look at her squirm and struggle.  So helpless.  So beautiful."

Ashley nodded.  "Uh huh."

Cassie gestured towards the far side of the bed.  "You sit on the left and I'll take the right."

"Okay."  Ashley sat on the mattress, lifted her right leg onto the bed, and turned at the waist to face Tiffany.

Meanwhile, Cassie sat on the bed, reached out, and rested her left hand on Tiffany's abdomen.  "As Tiffany's Top, there are some things you need to think about."

Ashley swallowed.  "I still don't buy the 'Top' thing," she said, shaking her head.

"Humor me," Cassie chuckled.  Her hand began to move, sliding up and down across Tiffany's navel... from between her breasts... to her fiery pubic bush... and back.  "Look at her wiggle," Cassie sighed, then focused on Ashley.  "Trust is paramount, but trust is not all that's at work.  A great paradox is at play, Ashley."

"Paradox?"

Cassie slid her hand to Tiffany's left breast and gave it a gentle squeeze.  Tiffany's bound body quivered in response.  "She's utterly helpless," Cassie purred, "completely at our mercy."  She took Tiffany's nipple between her thumb and forefinger and squeezed... at the same time lifting her hand stretching the breast into a peachy-pink cone.

"Mrrrf!"  Tiffany went rigid in her bonds.  The muffled cry had been more of a moan than a stifled scream.

Cassie let go and the breast resumed its normal shape.  The pale marks left by Cassie's fingers quickly faded as the blood returned to the erect nipple.  "We can tease her with pain."  Her hand resumed its slow glide across Tiffany's navel.  "Not real pain, of course, but a little spice to add heat and balance the recipe."

Ashley nodded.

"And we can tease her in other ways," Cassie whispered.  "Observe."  She smiled, formed her fingers into very feline claws, then savagely tickled Tiffany's exposed armpits.

"Nrrrf!"  Now Tiffany was screaming, as well as struggling, giggling, and attempting to squirm away.

"Ribs," Cassie chuckled, nodding towards Tiffany's waist while continuing to tickle the redhead's armpits.

"Huh?"

"Her ribs," Cassie reiterated.

Ashley reached down and began tickling Tiffany's ribs.  Her BFF was a moving target, but she managed to deliver a devastating attack.

"Ready," Cassie said, "and... stop!"

The hands disappeared from Tiffany's armpits and her sides and she panted through her nostrils and the breathing tube of her gag.  Her breasts heaved.

"Completely at our mercy," Cassie whispered.  "Shall we tickle her again?  Or I could fetch a pair of nipple clamps.  We could flip her onto her stomach and spank her bottom."  Tiffany continued panting.  "We can do anything we want to her."

Ashley nodded.  Her eyes were on her BFF's erect nipples and flat tummy.

"And yet," Cassie continued.  "Tiffany's the one in charge."

Ashley locked eyes with Cassie.  "Huh?"

"That's the paradox, Ashley," Cassie said.  "You're not a sadist, and neither am I.  You love Tiffany.  I love you both.  Even when she's gagged and helpless, you will stop when she wants you to stop, when she really wants you to stop.  You will know, and you will stop.   And as you continue to play, your ability to listen will get better and better.  Trust is Tiffany's gift to you, Ashley.  Your gift to her is control of the game."

"What if I get it wrong?" Ashley whispered.  "What if I get carried away and things go too far?"

Cassie smiled.  "When that happens, and it will happen, you'll apologize, Tiffany will forgive you, and you will have learned a lesson."

"And we'll talk about it."

Cassie nodded.  "Yes, I expect you two to talk about this, about all of this."

"Yes, Mistress," Ashley sighed.

"Now," Cassie smiled, "what comes next?"

Ashley blinked in surprise.  "Mistress?"

"What comes next?"

Ashley gazed down at her weakly squirming, helpless BFF... her breasts, stomach, fiery bush, and splayed thighs.  "I know what Tif wants to come next."  She shifted her gaze to Cassie.  "And since she's the one in charge..."

Cassie smiled.  "What do you want Mistress to do?"

Ashley pointed at the headboard.  "Please make yourself comfortable and control my 'Bottom' while I do for her what she did for me last night."

"As you wish," Cassie purred, then climbed onto the bed.  She settled her back against the headboard, then pulled Tiffany onto her lap and against her upper body.  She spread her legs and placed them atop Tiffany's frog-tied thighs, preventing the helpless redhead from closing her legs.

Ashley climbed completely onto the bed and flopped onto her stomach with her head near Tiffany's exposed crotch.  She smiled, licked her lips, and locked eyes with Cassie.  "After I do her, I'll do you.  It's what Tiffany would want, and she is in charge."

"Let's not oversimplify things," Cassie chuckled.  "Remember, Mistress is your Top."

"Oh, that's right," Ashley laughed.  "So, I'm in charge of you, right?"

"Just for that, young lady," Cassie purred, "after you demonstrate your tongue skills on Tiffany, you will do the same for me, and you'll be bound as tightly as your fellow student."

Ashley nodded towards Tiffany's upper body.  "Like that?"

Cassie smiled, then cupped Tiffany's breasts and gently squeezed.  Tiffany shivered in response and moaned through her gag.  "You two have barely begun your lessons," Cassie said.  "Get to work while I decide what to do with you."

Ashley licked her lips, again.  "Yes, Mistress," she answered, then extended her tongue and dragged it across Tiffany's labia.

Later that night, after a smashing orgasm for "poor" Tiffany, Ashley learned that the basic box-tie techniques could be applied not only with her forearms parallel, but with her wrists crossed and pulled up to just below her shoulder blades.  This was much less comfortable than the basic box-tie, but it wasn't that bad.

"That will keep you under control," Cassie purred, "and remind you there's a price to be paid for being cheeky with your Mistress."  She then rolled Tiffany onto her tummy and to the right side of the bed.  Next, she pulled Ashley towards the headboard and arranged her with her back and bound arms against the pillows.  "Now, you did an adequate job entertaining Tiffany, but I believe you'd benefit from a demonstration of expert technique.  So..."  She placed her hands on Ashley's knees and gently but firmly pulled her legs apart.  "Pay close attention, and keep the noise to a minimum.  Tiffany might think I'm torturing you."

A smile trembled on Ashley's lips.  "Y-yes, Mistress," she whispered.  Cassie's "demonstration" followed, and Ashley managed to make it through the exercise with only a few stifled moans.

Cassie let Ashley rest a few minutes, then exchanged places with her brown-haired student.  Laced and buckled in her hood and head-harness, Tiffany remained oblivious to what was happening... other than the obvious fact that Cassie and Ashley were moving around on the bed.

Finally, Cassie was in position, her back against the pillows and legs spread, and Ashley had managed to wiggle down the bed, onto her stomach, and was gazing at Cassie's pussy.  "I'll do my best, Mistress."

"I know you will, Ashley," Cassie purred.

Probing tongue.  Sucking lips.  Nibbling teeth.  Ashley proved she had been paying attention—and eventually Cassie enjoyed a smashing orgasm of her own.

Reclined against the pillows, her smooth, tan skin shining with sweat, Cassie stroked Ashley's hair as her breath returned to normal.  "Very good, tomboy," she sighed.

"Thank you, Mistress," Ashley whispered.

"Rest a little while longer," Cassie purred.  "Then, we'll cement the evening's lesson by your entertaining Tiffany one more time."

Ashley smiled, then affected her best much-put-upon pout.  "If I have to, Mistress."

"Stop that," Cassie laughed.  "I've made inroads curing Tiffany of her Spoiled Schoolgirl act.  Don't you start."

"Yes, Mistress," Ashley giggled.

Several minutes later, Tiffany was once again roused from the isolation of her hooded and head-harnessed bondage.  She was pulled back onto Cassie lap, and once again Cassie's long, firm legs settled atop her splayed thighs.  There was no question but that it was Cassie who had her in a firm but gentle embrace.  The full firm breasts pressed against her bound hands certainly weren't Ashley's.  And then, Ashley's tongue was lapping her pussy, her lips and teeth were nibbling her labia, and Cassie's hands were squeezing her breasts.

Tiffany squirmed and wiggled and moaned through her gag.  Cassie's fingers toyed with her nipples and Ashley continued her tongue lashing.  The hood and head-harness were playing havoc with Tiffany's sense of time.  After the first bout of tongue-lashing, she had drifted in a limbo of sensual pleasure, helpless in her bonds but safe and warm on Cassie's bed.  She may have gone to sleep after being left on her own, after Cassie held her close and Ashley licked her to orgasm.  And she may have slept while who-knew-what was going on elsewhere on the bed.  The heaving mattress told her something was happening.  Anyway, she may have slept or simply dozed... but she wasn't dozing now!

"Mmmmpfh!"

Ashley's tongue was magic!  Granted, Tiffany's pussy might have been in a heightened state of receptiveness, but her BFF was doing a really good job with round two. 

The inevitable orgasm happened, the second of Tiffany's evening.  There was another shifting around on the bed and Tiffany found herself snuggling against Cassie's warm, strong body.  Tiffany basked in the afterglow.  Something was pressing against the hollow of her exposed left armpit... something firm and round and...

Cassie's right breast, Tiffany realized, complete with nipple.  A very purr-like moan escaped Tiffany's gag and she quivered with contentment—bound, hooded, and gagged contentment—and drifted off to sleep.

The next day the girls finally found an opportunity to discuss recent events.

Both agreed that Cassie's lessons were fun... lots and lots of fun.

They also agreed the part of the curriculum involving lips, tongues, and pussies was a good thing... in moderation.  That is, neither objected to the activity, as long as it was limited to every now and then, meaning no more than several times a night.

However, they both agreed that Cassie's assertion that Ashley was Top to Tiffany's Bottom was stuff and nonsense.  They discussed it at length on three separate occasions in the privacy of their shared bedroom, once with Tiffany naked, spreadeagled, and bound to her bed with synthetic hemp rope; the second time with Tiffany naked and tied to a straight chair with more of the same rope; and the third time with Tiffany naked and hogtied on the floor, again, with synthetic hemp.

Missed irony aside, these were not random occurrences.  Regular formal lessons happened in Cassie's bedroom, but she'd begun assigning homework.  She presented Ashley and Tiffany with a box of various "supplies"—several lengths of synthetic hemp rope, several more coils of parachute cord, a dozen elastic athletic bandages, an inch-and-a-half diameter ball-gag, and four "medical restraints," leather cuffs with attached leather straps, all in butternut-tan.

The fourth discussion of the Top/Bottom issue happened with Tiffany naked and flat on her back on her bed.  The redhead's wrists were at her sides and buckled in the medical restraints with the attached straps buckled to the middle of the bed-frame.  Her ankles were in the second pair of cuffs and they were strapped to the lower bed-frame.

Truth be told, there was no fourth discussion.  There was some tongue-wagging on Ashley's part, but it was mostly within the confines of her BFF's pussy, and Tiffany's tongue was trapped under the tightly strapped ball-gag.

Over the course of the next three months, both formal lessons and homework continued.  Also, the girls established a regular schedule of running and yoga classes.  The girls ran singly or in company with Cassie, but never the two Lowly Clerks together.  After all, somebody had to watch the store.

The runs happened mostly during working hours, but yoga classes usually happened in the evening, often as a prelude to class.  The students would stretch and execute the various asanas under Cassie's tutelage.  This happened on the deck off Cassie's bedroom with the deck furniture pushed to the sides to make room.  Beachcombers and casual strollers on the beach might have been treated to the spectacle of three beauties exercising in the nude, but the deck's canvas screens and dim lighting provided the necessary privacy.  Inclement weather and the approach of winter eventually forced them inside, but yoga-at-sunset was now a regular part of their routine.

It was now more than six months since Ashley and Tiffany first pulled into Sarand-ip's parking lot, and at breakfast Cassie announced today would be a dress-up day, specifically, it would be what the girls called a Renfair day.

By opening time Tiffany was in sandals, a long skirt of bottle-green, an ivory linen blouse with billowy, full-length sleeves, and a leather waist-cincher in saddle-brown that laced up the front.  Her long, ginger hair was parted down the middle and plaited into a pair of tight braids.  The blouse had a generous neckline, baring Tiffany's peachy-pink shoulders and the tops of her breasts.

Ashley's costume was similar, but her skirt was a deep purple, her blouse white, and instead of a leather cincher, she wore a black linen bodice with narrow shoulder-straps that closed in the front with black laces.  Her hair was loosely plaited in French braids secured behind her back with a purple ribbon.

The Lowly Clerks were eying each other, readying their usual teasing verbal barbs.  Then, Cassie arrived and their jaws dropped in worshipful awe.  "Wow!" they gasped in unison.

Cassie's dress was similar to the girls', but was all black with a deep burgundy over-skirt gathered in folds and parted in the front.  The cuffs of the full, billowing sleeves were lined with black lace, as was the off-the-shoulders hem of the top.  A black-leather cincher with long, black-leather laces squeezed her waist.  The waves of her long, silky, black hair were combed straight back, but for a pair of narrow braids that framed her smiling face.  Finally, a headpiece of silver charms graced her brow.  A cat-charm, a twin of the cat on the necklace around her neck and dangling between her breasts, was centered on her forehead, and various other tiny silver charms and tassels encircled her head and crossed the crown of her head.

Tall, tan, and beautiful, as always—her shoulders and the top slopes of her breasts smooth and tan—her radiant, dimpled smile wise and inviting—Cassie seemed to float into the room.

"A queen!" Tiffany sighed.

"A sorceress!" Ashley suggested.

The girls locked eyes and nodded.  "A witch!" they said in unison.

"You girls are so much fun," Cassie chuckled.

"You'll notice she isn't denying it," Tiffany whispered in Ashley's ear, but loud enough to be overheard.

"How can she?" Ashley shrugged.

"So much fun," Cassie reiterated.

The first hour was devoid of customers.

Then, a hunter-green, luxury SUV hybrid pulled off the highway and into the parking lot.  A yellow-gold and brown sign was painted on the driver's door.  It was a fox with a bushy tail under an orange sun and the words "Foxwood Bed & Breakfast."