Page 27 of The High Price Of Loneliness

She heard his calm voice, encouraging her forward, “I would like you to try it on for a bit to see how it looks and feels on you, Kitten. Would you do that for me?”

“Yes, sir,” she replied as she reached down to take the leather collar. She held it up in front of her, looking at the gothic binder in the mirror, and saw how the buckles might work.

While she studied how the collar was designed, she heard him offer, “May I help you put it on?” as he reached around her from behind with both arms.

“Yes, please,” she replied, relieved.

Gray took both ends of the collar and encircled Angelica’s long, elegant neck with her first collar. He buckled it, leaving room for two fingers to fit between the collar and her neck. It was the perfect fit for safety and comfort. “Next is the leash,” he explained, walking her through the ritual step-by-step.

He reached into the round box and withdrew a long silver leash with a retractable latch clip on one end and a leather loop on the other. Gray turned Angelica to face him to attach the leash to her collar. “There,” he said with a look of satisfaction on his face at Angelica’s completed transformation in the black lace bodysuit, now with the appropriate collar and leash for his submissive.

There was admiration for her in his voice, as he complimented her. “Take a look at how sexy and beautiful you are. And those are two very different qualities,” he added. She loved pleasing him and never tired of hearing his adoration and compliments, especially considering they were coming from him.

Looking at herself in the mirror in the dim red lighting, she saw a glamorous character from a movie. Her reflection showed her transformation with her bright red lips shining as the only color next to the black lace and Edward behind her in all black as well. She looked into his eyes through the mirror—gazing back into hers.

“Remember, your two safe words are yellow and red, but I doubt you will ever need them with me,” Gray reminded her.

“Yes, sir. Thank you, sir,” she said gratefully. He always knew just what to do to make her feel safe. The trembling passed, and Gray added, “One more thing. Last time you wore the beautiful lace blindfold that is still here in the black bag if you like. But I ordered this new one, especially for you. It is made of black silk with very soft padding inside. Here, feel it,” he said, pulling the new blindfold from its clear plastic package.

Angelica listened to Gray’s voice as he told her of yet another item that he had ordered specifically for her. She loved being the center of his attention and that he was thinking of her, even when she was not there, as she reached out to take the newly arrived blindfold, saying, “Oh, it is so soft!” Angelica smiled.

“It is from Alaska, where the sun comes up and never sets for a few months, and some people who live there have a very hard time sleeping with daylight, so they wear these.”

“I love it!” she said, stroking the uber-soft material.

“Would you prefer the black lace which allows you to see easily through it? Or would you feel comfortable trusting me to guide you while wearing the new black silk blindfold?” Gray asked.

Angelica thought about it before speaking and asked, hoping to follow his lead, “Which would you prefer, sir?”

“I would be fine with either choice, with a slight preference for the black silk as another small step forward in your training,” Gray explained.

She shared openly, “I’m totally fine with the black silk. I trust you and feel comfortable with everything you do.”

“Thank you,” Gray said, appreciating her meaning as he helped her slip into the blackness of the silk blindfold. Its elastic bands adjusted to be snug but comfy, and it even had a silk cloth piece that sealed perfectly around her nose blocking out all of the light. She was completely and totally in his world.

Holding on to her shoulder, Gray gently guided her with his words and hands to first sit and then lay on the red bed, placing her in its center. He lay down near her so he could speak quietly and in the lower register of his voice.

“Are you comfortable, Kitten?” he asked.

“Yes, sir. Very,” she replied smiling, “But I literally can’t see a thing.”

She heard his reassuring voice and edged closer to him, as he spoke to her, “Just listen to my voice. Feel my touch on your arm and shoulder as we talk for a few minutes. Okay?” Gray encouraged. “I want to talk about your hard limits. Are you familiar with that term?”

She heard his question but was not sure what he was asking. But Angelica had never been someone who felt the need to pretend to know about something when she didn’t, so she simply replied, “No, sir. Not exactly. What does that mean—hard limits?”

“Well, we will talk about two kinds of limits for just a few minutes. There are some activities that I may suggest like the blindfold or the collar, that you are open to trying now and are completely OK with. Other ideas you might respond to by saying they are soft limits, which means you might be open to trying them someday, in the future, when we are further along in our relationship. And finally, hard limits are things you absolutely and positively know that you do not like or ever want to try and experiment with. Does that make sense?”

Angelica was listening closely to his voice as he described soft and hard limits. It was a bit intimidating. Just the sound of “hard limits” conjured up scary images in her mind. “Yes, I think I understand the difference. But do hard limits mean things like you wanting to hurt me?” she whispered back softly, afraid of what the answer might be.

“Thank you for the question,” he encouraged her wanting to know more. “Let me answer your question with some specific examples. So, I will mention a few activities and would like you to express how you feel about exploring them with me. You may reply ‘yes, no, or maybe one day’ regarding how you feel about trying them. Would that be okay with you, Angelica?” he asked, seeking her consent for the very personal discussion.

“Yes, sir,” she replied listening to his voice from her dark and blindfolded world.

“Excellent. I appreciate your openness to discuss limits,” he encouraged her. “To begin, here are the first ten.”

“The first ten!” she said, surprised. “How many are there? I can’t even think of ten different things to try.”

Gray gave her an affectionate and gentle squeeze as he continued. “There are a vast number of opportunities to explore,” he shared gently, but you never have to do anything you do not enthusiastically choose. Here are your first ten. One–gentle spanking.”

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