Sensitive Research Ch. 02

"How do you feel about that?"

She sighed as she responded. "I guess I had just accepted that this was the way things were going to be. Don't get me wrong – in all other ways he's a loving husband, he's a great dad to our two daughters, and I know he cares about us. But I think it's just not something that is that important to him. And it certainly had gotten worse after we moved here and he took this job."

I pushed back on her. "And what about you?"

She sighed once again. "I knew that I wanted more; I just didn't know what to do. I had tried all the typical romantic things, getting the kids out of the house for the night so we could relax, take a bath together, that kind of thing. I tried arranging a weekend away at a romantic B&B with just the two of us a couple of times. But nothing seemed to work. He was very sweet and loving, but just showed little interest in sex. I think he knew I was unhappy about it, because he tried to make it up to me by sending me flowers, buying me jewelry – things like that. I just chalked it up to the stresses of his job."

"Did you consider counseling?"

"Yes, we actually went to a marriage counselor a year or so after we got here, but Paul gave up after about six months and said it was a waste of time."

"Did you continue with therapy on your own?"

"I did for a while, but to be truthful, I didn't like the therapist that much and didn't feel like it was helping, so I gave up too."

I hesitated to ask what I knew would be a difficult question for her, but decided to plunge in anyway. "Did you consider looking for another lover?"

"Oh god, no," she replied, almost as if in horror. "I could never cheat on Paul like that with another man."

I was a little taken aback by this response, given what I had just seen occur between her and MC a couple of days earlier, so I pushed on this a little.

"What about with another woman?" I asked her. "I saw on your survey that you said you had had sexual experiences with women before."

Mary hesitated for a moment before answering, as if she was not sure she wanted to get into this topic, but then she did respond. "I had had a couple of experiences when I was in college, not unlike a lot of women back then," she said. "But they were pretty minor, nothing really came of them, and I really only dated men. But I didn't think about cheating on Paul with a woman, either."

I was still trying to reconcile this with what I knew about her being a client of MC's, but I figured we'd get to that eventually. "Okay, so let's get back to 50 Shades of Gray. You had said that you found some of the things in there arousing."

"Yes, I did," Mary replied. I thought she might have been blushing just a little bit to admit this to me. "We talked about the book again a few months later, because by this time about five more of us had read it. I asked a lot of questions about what the others who had read it thought of it. Some said they thought it was silly and said they would never consider something like that, but there were a couple of other women who agreed with me that parts of it were very erotic. Maybe it was the wine, but I was certainly more open about how I reacted to the book than I ordinarily thought I would be. I guess also I've gotten to know these women pretty well, so I felt comfortable and trusting with them."

"So," she continued, "as we were leaving that night, I was walking toward my car with one woman, Linda, who I didn't know that well. She had just joined the group a few months earlier, replacing a friend of mine who had moved away. We hadn't seen each other outside of the group, and she was pretty quiet and didn't contribute too much, at least until that night. She was one of the other women who said she liked 50 Shades of Gray and was very enthusiastic about it."

"As I got to my car, she said, 'Would you like to get a cup of coffee sometime?' I knew she had recently moved to the area and was probably looking to make some friends, so I told her I'd be happy to. We met a few days later at a coffee shop in the town we both lived in."

I asked, "And did she talk about 50 Shades of Gray?"

Mary laughed. "Oh yes, after some opening pleasantries, the getting-to-know-you stuff, she brought it up again, asking me which parts I liked best, how it made me feel, whether I'd done anything like that on my own, etc. At first, I was a little uncomfortable, thinking this was a little personal. But then I realized I had been talking about it at book group, so there's no reason I shouldn't be able to talk about it with her. So I answered her questions."

"And how did she react?"

"Well, she was a very good listener, actually. I'd talk, she'd follow-up with another question, I'd talk some more. After about half an hour talking about the book, she began to ask me questions about my relationship with Paul."

"And were you willing to talk about that with her?" I inquired.

"Yes, I was okay. You know, in book group we tend to talk about our husbands or other relationships quite a bit, it's almost therapeutic," she replied with a chuckle. "So Linda had heard me talk at times about my frustration with Paul, how he traveled so much, even about how our sex life was pretty lackluster. So she understood the basics."

"After listening for a while, she said, 'You know, I have someone you might want to meet.' I asked her who it was, and she said it was a woman who had a specialized therapy technique for women like me, and that she was a client of hers. I prodded her a little to find out more, but she said I should just talk to her, that it would be easier for her to explain it to me directly. She wrote her name and phone number on a piece of paper, and told me that she'd let this woman know she may be hearing from me. She explained that she worked only by referral."

"And did you follow-up with her?" I asked.

"Not at first," Mary responded. "But a couple of weeks later, I found the piece of paper in my purse. It had been a particularly bad time; the night before I had tried to interest Paul in sex, and once again he complained that he was too tired and rolled over and went to bed. I was pretty frustrated, so when I found the paper the next morning after I got our daughters off to school, I called her."

"And what happened?"

"Well, she was pretty vague on the phone about what her therapy technique was, and she said she preferred to do an intake interview face-to-face. I was reluctant to schedule this at first, but as I thought about it I figured I had little to lose, so went ahead and made an appointment with her."

"And what happened at that first meeting?"

"I went to her house, where she explained she had her office. She started by asking me a lot of questions about the history of my relationship with Paul, my current unhappiness with our sex life, and what I thought I was looking for. I explained to her about how I knew Linda, and that we had discussed 50 Shades of Gray. After about an hour of listening and taking notes, she said, 'Well, I think I may be able to help you Mary. Let me explain exactly what my services are.' I listened to her for the next 15 minutes as she explained what she really did, and I'll tell you, you could have knocked me over with a feather."

I laughed. "I imagine you must have been a little shocked, especially since you knew that Linda was a client as well."

"Yes," Mary laughed back. "I thought to myself that Linda must have really trusted me if she had told me about Mistress Cecilia like that, and admitted she was a client as well."

"So what happened after she explained things?"

"At first I thought to myself, 'This is nuts. There is no way I could do anything like that.' And I expressed my doubts to her. But Mistress Cecilia was not pushy at all, she simply said, 'You think about it, and let me now if you want to give it a try.' It took me almost a month, but I finally got up the nerve to call her and schedule a session."

"And what happened when you went back to see her for that first session?"

"Oh my god, I couldn't believe it. It may have been one of the most revelatory and eye opening afternoons of my life."

**********

MC completed the next nine croppings of her client's ass, each one followed by a, "Thank you, ma'am," and the raising of faint red lines on her cheeks.

"Now sit down on your chair, Miss Stevenson," she commanded her.

As the young woman stood up, I looked to see if there were any tears in her eyes, but I couldn't see anyway. It was hard to tell just how much the crop hurt her; it sounded impressive, and I could see the marks on her ass, but she didn't seem too upset about it.

"May I put my pants back on ma'am?" she asked MC.

"No you little slut," MC replied, "I'll let you know when you can do that."

Her client sat down on the chair rather gingerly, leading me to believe that the cropping was probably more painful for her than I had first believed. As she sat, she looked over at me again, catching my eye.

"That was for your unexcused absences, but we still have your other transgressions to deal with," as the domme continued with the role play. "The cheating is very serious, and as you know, is a violation of our school's honor code. And our philosophy here at Miss Cecilia's School" – I had to stifle a chuckle at that one – "is to use behavior modification to encourage our pupils to stay in line. I'm hoping that the punishment I'm about to give you for the cheating will get you to think twice before you'd do that again."

"Yes ma'am," she replied.

MC got up and walked over once again to the cabinet, and took something out and put it in her hand. She returned to the desk and sat down again.

"Take off your shirt," she commanded.

Again, without hesitation, the young woman reached down and grabbed the bottom of her t-shirt with both hands, and lifted it up and off of her body, dropping it on the floor next to her. Not surprisingly, she wore no bra, and I could see that she had two cute and pert little breasts, each sticking straight out, no bigger than a B-cup. While her areaola were very pale and hard to distinguish from the rest of her breasts, her nipples were quite prominent, a mocha brown color, and each was pierced with a small barbell through it.

I found myself growing aroused once again. I hadn't been at first, even when this lithe young woman had taken off her pants, but for some reason the sight of those pierced breasts was very erotic. I could feel that familiar tingling in my own pussy that I had experienced a number of times during those earlier sessions. As she dropped her shirt on the floor, she looked at me again and I thought I saw a very faint smile cross her lips.

MC stood up and leaned over the desk. She opened her hand, and dropped on the table in front of her what I quickly realized were two nipple clamps. With little ceremony, she picked up the first one, reached out and grabbed her client's right nipple, and pulled hard. This elicited a gasp from her, and before her mouth was closed, MC had attached the clamp to her distended nipple. "Silence, you slut – I don't want to hear a word from you." She then proceeded to do the same thing with the left nipple. I could see the effect of the clamps, placed just behind her barbell piercings, was to force her nipples out even further. I could only imagine how painful that must have been for her, but to the young woman's credit, she was stoic and didn't complain any further. But the grimace on her face let me know that she was in some kind of discomfort.

MC sat down again. "Now, let's see how you do with those. Hopefully next time you think about cheating, you'll remember what you are feeling right now."

"Yes ma'am," she managed to get out through gritted teeth.

"Now we have one last thing we have to deal with today. You showed me great disrespect when you came into my office today, do you know why you little slut?"

"No ma'am."

"You were chewing gum, do you remember that?" the mistress admonished her.

"Oh yes, ma'am, I am very sorry, I forgot."

"And you are clothes are in violation of the dress code. Once again, a simple apology will not do. You are too much of a habitual offender for me to allow that. How many times have you had to be called to my office, Miss Stevenson?"

"Oh, I don't now ma'am, but it must be at least 20," she replied.

"I checked your record before you came in this time, this is your 27th visit, and I am getting tired of the lack of respect you are showing this school and me," MC said in her stern voice.

"So I'm going to try a new therapy with you in the hope that you will learn the proper way to show respect. I want you to pay attention and follow directions precisely as I give them to you, do you understand young lady?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good, now stand up."

Subject 1-05 quickly complied, pushing her chair back and standing upright in front of it. As she did, I could see that she her belly button was pierced with a barbell matching those in her nipples. She was totally naked, other than for the flip flops on her feet.

"Now take off those silly shoes, and come over here," MC said. As she said this, she turned her chair sideways, so that she was now facing me.

Her client walked around the table and stood in front of MC, displaying to me, only about six or seven feet away, her tight little butt with the faint crop marks. She stood like that for a few moments, as MC just stared at her. MC then lifted her finger, and waved it around in a circular motion, and her client complied by turning around in a circle a couple of times, allowing her domme to inspect her entire body. She stopped once again with her back toward me.

"Now get down on your hands and knees."

The young woman quickly complied, getting down on the carpeting. I thought maybe MC was going to go and get a dog collar and leash, like she did with subject 1-03 in the earlier session I had observed.

But she did not get up, and instead, much to my shock, she lifted the front of her skirt up, spread her legs wide, and said to her client, "Get up here, slut, and get your head under my skirt."

The young woman immediately crawled forward, and as she did, MC scooted forward so that her ass was perched on the front of her swivel chair. Her client proceeded to put her head underneath the skirt, and MC let it drop over her back. I couldn't see very well, but it was very clear that she was far enough in there that her face must have been right up against her mistress's crotch.

I was flabbergasted to see what was occurring, but I had to admit to myself that my arousal was increasing as well. Here I was, conducting a research study, and I was watching a naked woman – one with cropping marks across her ass – on her hands and knees with her face pushed into the crotch of another woman. A quick thought flew through my mind, that I had never envisioned that I would find myself in this situation when I was in graduate school contemplating a career as an academic! At this point my hands had come off the keyboard, and I was just watching, mesmerized.

"Take off my panties, slut," MC instructed her client. As the young woman reached her hands up, her domme stopped her. "Not with your hands, you little twat, use your teeth."

The young woman immediately put her hands back down and leaned further in. I saw her head move underneath the skirt, obviously trying to get into position to be able to grab her domme's underwear with her teeth. She seemed to have some difficulty, but after about 15 seconds or so, I saw her began to back up a bit. She had to go back and forth, grabbing one side and easing it down an inch or two, and then doing the same on the other, in order to accomplish her task.

As she got them part of the way down, MC raised up her ass a bit from the chair, to assist her. Her client was able to now get the panties down to MC's thighs, past her knees, and down to the bottom of her feet. MC lifted her feet, freeing the panties, and her submissive picked them up with her teeth and put them to the side.

"Get your head back in there, you little slut," MC growled, lifting her skirt once again. The young woman quickly scooted forward once more and resumed her position. As she did, I glanced at her bare ass, and between her legs, where I could see her outer labia quite prominently displayed, uncovered as they were by any pubic hair. As I glanced there, I realized I could see a faint sheen of moisture on her labia and beginning to run down her inner thighs. It was quite evident that the young woman was getting quite turned on by the dominance her mistress was displaying over her.

I tried my best to begin taking notes again, but I found that my own arousal was becoming a huge distraction. As I stared at this woman's private parts and the evidence of her excitement, it was triggering mine as well. As I took a deep breath to try to steady myself and resume taking notes, I thought I caught a scent of that quite unique smell of a woman's arousal. I panicked at first, worried that it was my own, and that the other two women would discover the effect their role play was having on me. But I quickly realized that it was more likely the scent of the young submissive I was aware of, and perhaps even that of her mistress. I did my best to place my fingers on the keyboard and continue working.

"You know what I want, don't you my little pet," MC said, almost in a sweet voice now, the sternness now gone.

The woman mumbled from underneath the skirt, but in a voice clear enough for us both to understand, "Yes mistress."

"That's right, dear, start licking," she said, giving me wink and a big smile.

**********

"Can you explain to me why your first session with Mistress Cecilia was so eye-opening?" I asked Mary, as she was describing for me her first session with MC.

"Well, I think it was because she taught me things about myself that I hadn't known through a quarter century of adulthood," she responded. She paused for a minute, as if to gather her thoughts, and then continued. "She started off by just getting me to relax, and get used to the idea of being alone with her. Her technique was almost like hypnosis; I know that she didn't actually hypnotize me, but it was almost as if I were in an altered state of consciousness. It's very hard for me to explain it to you if you've never experienced it."

I was feverishly taking notes, even though the app on my phone was recording everything Mary was saying. She was right – I had never been in the situation she was describing before, so I asked her to explain it further.

"She got me so relaxed, that I think I was able to open my mind up to possibilities of things that I never would have considered if I were in a normal conscious state. For example, I had been a long time since I had had any kind of sexual experiences with women, but as Mistress Cecilia started to touch me, it seemed the most natural thing in the world."

"And then when she suggested that I simply put myself in her hands, and do exactly what she told me, I went along with her. It was the most freeing feeling I had ever experienced."

This didn't surprise me, as I knew from some of the background research I had read that certain people were very good at getting others to engage in behavior they normally wouldn't consider, largely through the power of suggestion. It is like a form of hypnosis, without actually putting someone into a hypnotic state. If the person doing the suggesting can alter the expectation of the respondent, then they can get them to accept suggestions they otherwise would reject. Psychologists called this "response expectancies."

"And that's how you started with her?" I asked.

"Yes," Mary responded. "From there, we just continued to explore my interest in submission, as if she were taking me on a journey for the last two years."