"I'll think about it. Depends on how cooperative you are."

She paled. But nodded. Anything to see her daughter again.

I concentrated fiercely. Locating Autumn's small bubble of time. I removed the bubble and she slipped back to the prime time line. She hadn't even been here. I staggered a bit. Manipulating time at any physical distance was far more difficult than close, line of sight, manipulation. It could be done, but it took a lot out of you.

Amy's eyes widened as she saw me stumble and she unconsciously reached out to catch me if I fell. But I regained my balance and forced the world to stop spinning. I recovered quickly and Amy took a step back as she realized that I was alright. I saw the look in her eyes. Just a very fleeting flash of bravery. Wondering if she could somehow take advantage of the brief moment of weakness. But any chance she had, was far gone. And she knew that.

The woman on the floor had no idea what had just happened. But I could see that Amy had a pretty good idea. I'd have to watch that.

"Wrists."

Amy, resigned, padded over and held her hands behind her back. Karen watched in fascination as I slipped the steel handcuffs around Amy's wrists. Karen watched as the bare girl just let me bind her. No complaints. No struggling. Just mute acceptance of her situation; that I would bind her, no matter what she wanted.

I guided Amy to a chair on the other side of the table. Allowing her to sit for now. Her bound wrists lying easily around the back of the chair. She was probably just thankful that I hadn't tied her into it, like I had Elizabeth.

I turned to Karen.

"Why are they bound like that?"

I was about to answer but Elizabeth spoke first. "Karen. You may as well ask why we are nude. Why you are nude. Why he's going to hurt us. Why he's tormenting you and your daughter. He likes it. It gets him off humiliating, tormenting and embarra.s.sing women. You get used to it after a while. Being nude. You never get used to the pain, the bondage, the humiliation. But you learn to accept it."

"Oh G.o.d. Are you ever going to let me go? Please. You don't have to hurt me." the frightened woman asked me. "I'll do whatever it is you want. I swear I will."

I looked at her again. Her small shaking naked body. "Karen. If you do exactly what I want, I'll let you go. I promise you." I fully intended to let her go. I had enough problems. Five women in my direct power. Granted most of them were a bit more accepting by now, but Sheila was an unknown. And any of them would still do nearly anything if a chance to escape or incapacitate me presented itself. Last thing I needed was an unstable mother worried about her daughter. I didn't know for sure, but I suspected that this would be a very dangerous situation if I let down my guard. Or tried to keep her for any length of time. She'd value her daughter's safety far above her own, and I didn't have the strength or resources to bring along her daughter to keep my control over her. No. I couldn't keep her. Luscious as she was.

"Please. What do you want? Me? Would giving you s.e.x make you let me go? You want to rape me?"

I heard Elizabeth mutter behind me. "Never that easy, lady. Good try though."

"I told you I didn't want to rape you."

"It wouldn't be rape if I consented."

"You'd willingly give me s.e.x?"

"If it would make you go away and get me my daughter back unharmed. I swear. I'd be good. The best you ever had."

I seriously doubted that. But I had to give her credit for trying. I answered her. "So. Let me get this straight. If I let you go. With your daughter. You'd be willing to have s.e.x with me? Not because you particularly want to. But to save yourself and your daughter?" She nodded. Tears forming in her eyes. "Doesn't sound much like consent to me."

"But I'd let you have me."

"How?"

"Any way you want."

"You'd let me tie you up?"

"If you must."

"And you'd let me have a.n.a.l s.e.x with you while you're trussed up?"

She swallowed. Tears forming again. "Oh G.o.d. Please. I've never. I couldn't. It would hurt."

"Yes. It would hurt. A lot. Would you still consent?"

She gulped again. Tears actually running down her face now. She slowly nodded her head. Her bare body shaking in fear. Still on her knees.

"Please. W-wouldn't my vagi ... I mean c.u.n.t," she swallowed at her use of the word, "feel better?" She probably thought I wanted her to talk dirty to me. Degrade herself.

"I'm not going to rape you. I told you that already. I have two women right here that I could have s.e.x with, a.n.a.l or otherwise, if I wanted." Both Elizabeth and Amy paled at the suggestion of a.n.a.l s.e.x. But they kept quiet.

Karen began to protest, probably about the consent thing. "But ..."

I cut her off. "However, I do want you to crawl for me."

"Crawl?"

"You know. Hands and knees."

"Why?"

Elizabeth spoke again. "Karen. Honey. It's better than being raped. He just wants to see you humiliated. Please. Just do what he wants."

Karen flushed but obediently fell to her hands and knees.

"Where do you want me to crawl?"

"Just around the kitchen. I'll tell you when to stop."

She concentrated on controlling her breathing, and began to move on her hands and knees. Slowly moving her bare body in a small circle in the middle of her kitchen. I watched her. Her muscles straining at the unfamiliar motion. Her small bare b.r.e.a.s.t.s hanging beneath her, swaying slightly as she moved. Her thigh muscles moving her bare legs across the tile. Quick flashes of her spa.r.s.e pubic hair and the lips it concealed. After a few tight revolutions, I stopped her.

"Okay. Enough. Stay on your hands and knees. Look at me."

She raised her head, her hair falling around her tear streaked face. Her eyes betraying fear, humiliation and hatred. I left her on her hands and knees for a few minutes and just gazed at her. She was breathing a little hard from the exertion of the unfamiliar motion. She tossed her head, tossing her hair like a mane as she patiently waited for me to tell her what else to do.

"You ever been tied up before?"

"Please. You don't need to tie me up. I'll do whatever you want without ropes. I swear it."

I wasn't sure of that. "I know. But I like to see a woman restrained."

"Oh G.o.d."

"So. Have you ever been tied up?"

She thought about it, and she didn't lie. Good thing. I suspect in her state I could have told a lie pretty quick.

"When I was a kid."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Just the standard cowboys and Indians type stuff. I was a squaw or something. My neighbour was a cowgirl and I was tied up to a picnic bench for a while. Not tight. I could have gotten out if I wanted to. We were kids."

"Anything else?"

"Oh G.o.d. In college. I tried it once."

"Tried what?"

"An old boyfriend wanted to tie me up. I let him."

"What happened."

"Must I?" I nodded and she hesitantly continued. "This guy just wanted to try it. He'd read about tying someone up being fun in bed. So I agreed to try it. He tied me down to the bed, spread-eagled with some scarves. He f.u.c.ked me. And then untied me. It didn't do anything for me. It was kind of boring actually. I broke up with him shortly after that."

"Nothing else?"

She shook her head; her hair tossed around with her movement.

"I'm going to tie you up."

"I know." She sounded resigned. "Are you going to rape me when I'm tied up. You can you know."

"I'm not going to rape you. Why do you keep offering? You want to be raped?"

"Oh G.o.d. Please no. Don't think that. Oh G.o.d. I. I just thought that you'd want that. And I just want to stop this. I just want you to leave. Please." I understood. She was frightened. "How do you want me?"

I was confused. "Huh?"

"How do you want me tied up? Hand behind me? In front? Hands to feet?" She'd risen back to her knees. She used her hands to demonstrate where I could tie them.

"I'm going to tie you to the ceiling."

"How?"

I pointed to a hanging plant which was hanging high off to the side of the kitchen. Her mind registered comprehension. She began to rise to her bare feet. Just wanting to get this over with.

She held out her wrists. Palms together in front of her and waited. Surprised at her compliance, I wrapped the rope around her offered wrists and lashed them tightly together. She cringed a bit at the tightness of the rope, but didn't complain. I'd have to release her hands reasonably soon. That rope would cut off her circulation. Her hands were already a bit redder than her arms from the restricted circulation. But for now, she'd be fine.

I took down the plant and began to feed a rope through the hook. It didn't look particularly st.u.r.dy, but I suspected that it would hold most of her weight before pulling out of the ceiling. She wasn't a particularly big girl.

As I turned around, I noticed something not quite right.

Chapter 75.

I caught a flash of her calf as she moved swiftly out of the kitchen. Running. Amy was struggling to get up out of her chair to go after the woman. Elizabeth was pulling at the ropes holding her to the chair. Frustrated.

I calmly turned to the women. Elizabeth shrugged and began speaking rapidly.

"She just ran. I wasn't paying attention. Oh G.o.d. She's just frightened. Don't hurt her. She doesn't understand. Please."

I motioned for Amy to stay put and she sank back into her chair allowing her bound wrists to relax behind it. She sighed but didn't say anything.

I sensed Karen's time bubble. She hadn't gone far. That was certain. I was willing to bet that she was heading for the stairs. To her daughter.

I walked swiftly to the front hallway and took the stairs two at a time. I poked my head into Autumn's room. Karen wasn't there as I'd expected. I suddenly became disturbed. Her hands were bound, but she could still be dangerous. No need for me to get killed here. She knew the house better than I.

"Karen?"

No answer. Not surprising. She couldn't have gotten out of the house. Outside the doors was a no time zone. She'd just return to the kitchen if she stepped out the door. Where was she? How many places could a mostly bound, naked woman hide?

I walked back down the hallway. Slowly. Readying the time defenses if she tried to attack me. Though I suspected that if her intent was to attack me, she would have tried it in the kitchen where there were weapons. Knives. Perhaps, she had a gun stashed in the house. I walked back down the stairs cautiously. I could still sense the time bubble. Close.

As I reached the bottom of the stairs, I noticed that the front closet was closed. I had opened it to chain Amy and Elizabeth to the clothes rack earlier. I'd never closed it.

"Karen?" I stood by the closet. No answer. Perhaps Amy had closed it earlier. I had left her unbound here for a while.

I heard a small whimper. My ears located it. In the closet. The frightened woman hadn't had time to get upstairs. So she had simply ducked into the open closet and was sitting in the dark. Frightened. Bound. Nude.

"Karen. I know you are in the closet."

A very small voice from the bottom of the closet. Near the floor. "Oh G.o.d. Please. I'm so scared."

"Come on out."

The door cracked open. Just a touch. I watched as she used her toes to open the closet door from the inside. Her face was tear streaked. And her whole small body was shaking. She was seated on the closet floor. Hugging her knees with her bound arms. Underneath the hanging jackets. Pulling weakly at the rope around her wrists.

Her voice was shaking. "I. I'm sorry. I just couldn't. I had to try."

"I thought we had an agreement. You did what you were told, and I wouldn't hurt Autumn."

Her face went pale. Frightened. "Please. I didn't mean to run. I. Please don't hurt my daughter. It was me that ran. Punish me." Sobbing.

"Karen. I'm going to give you one more chance. You will be punished for this. That I can promise you. But I won't hurt your daughter this time."

I reached down to the sobbing woman. I'm not even sure if she heard anything I had said to her. Didn't matter. I helped her to her bare feet and walked her back to her kitchen. Elizabeth and Amy both wouldn't meet my eyes. They both knew that they were in trouble for not warning me that Karen had run. To be fair, they probably didn't know until it was too late either. But, no matter. It was an excuse to punish them. I had to take care of Karen first.

As I led Karen back into the kitchen, Elizabeth moaned. "Please. Don't hurt her. She was just scared."

I ignored the bound girl and led Karen back under the plant hook. She was docile as she watched through teary eyes as I looped the rope through her bound wrists and pulled on the other end. She willingly raised her arms above her head and gasped as I increased the pressure. Soon she was stretched to her limit, her arms lifted above her. She was positioned about four feet from the corner where her counters met. I had increased the pressure on her arms such that it was actually easier for her to stand on tiptoe to relieve the pressure of her own weight on her wrists. There was enough give in the overhead rope to allow her to stand flat on her feet, but that caused her pain in the wrists. She stared back at me defiantly. She had managed to stop crying and was realizing her precarious position.

I stepped back. Her b.r.e.a.s.t.s rode high on her chest as her arms pulled them upwards. They were going to be a fun target. Her eyes, a strange mixture of hate and fear. Her long brown hair cascaded down her back and over her shoulders. I just gazed at the picture of her standing there. Helpless.