Nicki Submits Ch. 04

"Look at me."

Nicki raised her eyes to meet his.

"I've not been fair to you. I have to confess that you open yourself to humiliation and punishment like no-one I have ever known. I find that very arousing. I am very lucky that you have chosen to be degraded by me, and I love degrading and abusing you. But..."

Nicki expected Tom to say something like: "But it's all over between us." Instead:

"...with power, comes responsibility. I should have made that plain from the start. I apologise, and I have a proposal for you."

Tom reached into his bag and pulled out a gift-wrapped box. He handed it to Nicki. She took it, her eyes never leaving his face.

"Open it."

Nicki undid the wrapping and opened the box. Inside was a jet black leather collar, her name engraved in a silver metal plate inset into the leather. Next to the collar was a black velvet choker with a silver brocade pattern.

"Now listen very carefully. I want you to go into the bedroom and think, for at least 15 minutes. When you come out, you will either be wearing the collar, or not. If not, I will leave and your life will continue without me. If you choose to put the collar on, you are choosing total submission to me. I will own you. I will control you and the holes in your body. I will decide on how they are to be used and who will use them. I will punish, defile, degrade and abuse you like you have never been abused before. But... I will protect you as well. Although I will hurt you, I will never damage you permanently and I will ensure that any other people I may allow to abuse you do not damage you either."

Nicki seemed to have slipped into a trance state. She was trying to process this information. Part of her was horrified, but she felt her body responding so strongly to Tom's words that she was almost faint with desire.

"If you choose to wear the collar, you will wear it whenever we are together as a symbol of your complete submission to me. When we are not together, you may wear the choker. But you will always wear one or the other. I have another gift for you, one that will add to your humiliation. It is a word. The word is 'Zebra'. At any moment, at any time, you can use this word to end your ordeal. If you are being punished, the punishment will stop as soon as you say it. It is important to me that you realise that you are degrading yourself. You can choose to free yourself from me at any time. Use the word, and everything stops for 24 hours. I go away, you think. Use the word three times in one week, and everything stops permanently. Do you understand?"

Nicki nodded, dumbfounded. She realised she still had her hands behind her head.

"Go into the bedroom. Think. I will wait here. Make your decision."

Nicki tremulously stood up, still looking into Tom's eyes. She picked up the box containing the collar and choker, turned and walked into the bedroom. She closed the door and sat on the bed. She was in turmoil. This was going to be the biggest decision of her life. What was she going to do? Could she go back to her old life, continue as she had before? She realised that she had been profoundly changed, but did she like the person she had become? What would happen to her if she said yes? More importantly, what would happen if she said no?

Tom waited in the living room, sipping a glass of red wine. The minutes ticked away. The silence in the flat hung like an accusation in the air. Had he gone too far? He heard a padding of footsteps, the door opened and Nicki walked into the living room, the collar fixed around her slender neck. Her eyes shone with pride. She walked slowly up to Tom, a naked goddess of eroticism, her sex almost glowing with a radiant energy in the evening light. She had something in her hand. She looked into his eyes and kissed him on the lips, her tongue lingering in his mouth, for the very first time.

"I have made my choice, master. I also have a present for you." she said.

She handed him the tawse.