Chapter One

Collateral

 

"By the way, Julie, what did you think of Tom Blaine?"

The question was posed by Julie's Master Alex, sitting in his favorite living room chair while Julie, naked and collared, was kneeling at his feet. It jolted her, coming as it did out of the blue, as he had been discussing something altogether different. The conversation, which was more like a lecture, had begun when Alex called her out of the kitchen, saying he had something important to discuss. It concerned his business. Alex owned a small company that sold craft and novelty items over the internet. Julie also worked there, performing a variety of odd jobs. For the past ten minutes she had listened obediently while he held forth about the financial condition of the business, tossing out terms like "cash flow," "leverage," "working capital" and the like. She didn't understand all of it but did grasp the gist, which was that the company was losing money. He seemed to be building to some kind of conclusion when he startled her with this sudden change of topic.

"Did you hear me, Julie; I asked you what you thought of Tom?"

"Yes, sir, I heard you. I was trying to think. I guess I don't really have an opinion about him. I only met him once."

"Huh. I would have thought he'd have made more of an impression."

She felt the blood rush to her face. It was three weeks ago to the day that Tom Blaine had come to the apartment. Alex had informed her of the invitation only a few days earlier. Julie thought she knew all of Alex's friends but had never heard him mention Blaine. Alex said he knew him from playing racquetball at the club. It was only recently that they had become better acquainted. He discovered that they had some common interests. It turned out that Blaine was, as Alex put it, "a major league kinkster." He had even "owned" slaves. "Now isn't that interesting?" Alex said. She agreed that it was interesting. Naturally he told Blaine that he was in a Master/slave relationship himself. "You know, he seemed surprised when I told him that," Alex said, sounding rather pleased with himself. "He expressed an interest in meeting you. So I invited him over."

"For dinner?" she asked.

"No, just for drinks. He'll be coming over around nine. And he's not just a friend, Julie. He's very rich and an important business contact. So I'd like you to make a good impression."

"Of course, sir. I always try to make a good impression on your friends. I like you to be proud of me. What do you think I should wear?"

"Actually, Julie, I expect you to be naked and wearing your collar."

She swallowed hard and said "Yes, sir." One of Alex's slave rules was that Julie always be naked and collared at home, except when she had to admit strangers, such as repairmen, or when they had "vanilla" guests. Blaine was not a repairman, and he was clearly not "vanilla," so naked and collared she would be. Logical though it was, it still came as a shock. Up until now only a few people knew about their kinky lifestyle; these were two of Alex's friends, Peter and Steve, and their wives, Leslie and Diane. The women, who were submissive but not slaves, had become Julie's closest friends. The two couples had been friends for a long time before Alex knew them. Julie's first encounter with them was at a dinner party at Peter and Leslie's suburban home. There was just the six of them. On the drive over Alex casually remarked that the couples were "big time spankos." "Oh," she said. She expected him to elaborate but instead he turned the music up loud and they drove the rest of the way in silence, leaving her to wonder what these "big time spankos" were like. Perfectly normal, friendly people as it turned out. The home was beautiful, the dinner delicious, the conversation innocuous. Julie helped Leslie and Diane clear the table then joined the men in the living room. So what would they do next, she wondered, maybe play a game of Charades? What followed was a charade of a different sort, as the two men picked an entirely specious quarrel with their wives, which ended with the two women sprawled across their husbands' laps being spanked, bare bottom and all. Julie was watching all-agog when Steve asked Alex why he and Julie weren't joining in the fun. Alex turned to her and said, "What do you say, Julie?" She tried to demur but the two women, their bottoms already bare began to taunt her. "Don't be a chicken," said Leslie and the others began to make clucking sounds. Alex leaned forward in his chair and began tapping on his left thigh. "Come on, Julie," he said. Bowing to the inevitable she climbed over his lap, her arms and legs touching the floor. He began with a few swats over her dress; in short order the dress was bunched around her waist and her panties circled her knees. Amidst all the background noise of talking and laughing and flesh striking flesh, Julie soon forgot her embarrassment, descending into her own little world, conscious only of the delicious sensations delivered by her lover. When he finally stopped and told her to get up, she noticed that the room had fallen silent. The two other couples, with the women's clothes still in disarray, were standing around them with big smiles on their faces. They broke into applause. "Congratulations, Julie," Diane said. "You're one of us now."

It was one of the most embarrassing moments of her life and also one of the most exhilarating. The party was the first of many at either Peter or Steve's house. Steve and Diane also lived in the suburbs. Alex was slow to reciprocate because of the smallness of his apartment. It had taken all of his savings just for the down payment on his one-bedroom condo in the city. By the time he was ready to host the others his relationship with Julie had already advanced to the next level. He sternly informed her that she was to appear naked and collared. Julie could still recall how nervous and embarrassed she was at having to greet her friends this way at the door, though they had been apprised of the situation beforehand. But they were all her friends and were supportive and she quickly settled down. Later Diane and Leslie told her how brave they thought she was, which made Julie feel very good.

But this was different for Blaine was a total stranger. At least Alex didn't make her answer the doorbell. Instead she waited in the bedroom, listening through the open bedroom door as Alex greeted his guest and seated him in the living room. She heard Alex ask him what he wanted to drink but didn't hear the answer. Only then did Alex come to fetch her. She followed him into the living room, casting a furtive glance at the man seated on the sofa. He was tall with broad shoulders and wore a gray business suit. He caught her eye and she quickly lowered her head. There were no introductions. Alex told her to bring "Mr. Blaine" a glass of scotch, no ice, and a beer for himself. A new bottle of twelve-year old scotch was already waiting on the kitchen counter. From there she could hear the men talking but couldn't make out what they said. She guessed they were talking about her. Returning to the living room she leaned over to hand Blaine his glass, allowing her another brief glance at his face. He appeared to be handsome and somewhat older than Alex, who was thirty-two. (She was twenty-six.) Alex, wearing a sports coat and tie, was seated in his favorite armchair. She handed him his beer then knelt on the floor by his side, head bowed, staring at the carpet.

The men began to chat. Alex started the conversation by asking Blaine his opinion on the state of the economy, then went on to other topics. Julie was struck by Alex's deferential manner to his friend. Meanwhile the two ignored her as if she didn't exist. Yet she knew that Blaine must be looking at her and her naked body, especially at her breasts and the space between her legs.

The conversation had hit a lull when Alex suddenly asked Blaine what he thought of "my Julie." Blaine replied that she was very pretty and that Alex was a lucky man. Then Alex said, "Would you like to spank her, Tom?" and Blaine replied that he would. This was another shock for Julie, though it too was not without precedent, for she had occasionally been spanked by Steve and Peter at those dinner parties, just as Alex had spanked their wives. Alex ordered her to go over to Blaine. Blaine requested a towel. She brought one from the linen closet and handed it to him. He placed it carefully over his lap then beckoned to her. As she positioned herself over his lap she could already feel his erection under the towel. As he began she closed her eyes and tried to imagine it was Alex spanking her. That was difficult for Blaine had his own style of spanking. Maybe all men did. He also spanked harder than Alex, at least in the opening stage. It went on for a long time during which he spoke to her only once, to tell her to spread her legs more. He would pause at times to rub her cheeks, sometimes spreading them, exposing her anus, or he would stroke the inside of her thighs, the side of his hand rubbing against her labia. Steve and Peter never took such liberties. How much of this Alex saw she didn't know. She could sometimes hear him walking around. Once she heard him go to the bathroom.

When Blaine was done Alex asked him whether he enjoyed it. Very much so, he said, adding that she had a lovely ass. But what would really be nice was if she would suck his cock. Alex said, "Sure, Tom, that's no problem." It was one more shock and this one had no precedent. Since meeting Alex no other man had penetrated any of her orifices. But to refuse would have taken more courage than she possessed. Without further prompting she climbed off his lap and fell to her knees. She noticed a stain of liquid on the towel. It was her cum juice. Blaine tossed the towel aside and unzipped his fly. Her eyes widened at the sight of his erect penis-it was huge, both in length and in width. It was the largest she had ever seen. She leaned over and put it in her mouth while he grabbed her hair.

At the critical moment he jerked back her head and came all over her. Alex told her to go take a shower. She spent as long as she could there until the hot water began to run out. Then she put on her robe and sat on the toilet for several more minutes until Alex knocked on the door and told her to come out. She hastily put her collar back on, took off her robe and opened the door. Alex told her Blaine had left. He ordered her into the bedroom and told her to climb on the bed on all fours. His tone was peremptory; she wondered if she had done something to displease him. She half-expected a strapping. But after undressing he merely climbed on the bed and entered her from behind. He fucked her long and hard and passionately. He was always a passionate lover but tonight he seemed even more aroused than usual. Had it excited him, watching another man spank her and having her give him a blow job?

That was three weeks ago and since then he had not said a word about Blaine or the evening. So why was he bringing it up now? Meanwhile he followed up his remark about the "impression" Blaine had made by asking her if she didn't agree that he was a very handsome man. She replied, "I guess so. I don't know. I didn't get a good look at his face. You told me not too."

"Yes, that's true."

"Sir, may I ask a question?"

"Yes."

"Why are you bringing up Mr. Blaine all of a sudden?"

"Because, Julie, it's connected with what I've been discussing. Did you understand what I was telling you about the business?"

"Not all of it, sir. I understood the part about the company losing money."

"Well it's worse than that. A lot worse. The fact is, in a few months we'll run out of cash. I'll have to close the business."

"Oh, no!"

"Oh, yes. The recession hit us bad. Business is picking up again, but what with interest payments we're still paying out more than we're taking in. If only I could get a loan to tide me over through the end of the year. This year's holiday season is bound to be better than last year's. Only the bank won't give me a new loan. They say they need more collateral. But I'm already mortgaged to the hilt!"

He buried his face in his hands. She was shocked. She had never seem him like this before, nor had she any idea the business was in this much trouble.

He looked up and said, "You asked me why I brought up Tom. It's because Tom might be the solution to our problems. Tom is a very wealthy man. I might be able to get a loan from him."

"That's sounds like good news, sir."

"Maybe. Maybe it is."

She was puzzled by this. For a while he sat there, staring into space.

"Sir, what does Mr. Blaine do?"

"He's an investor. He manages a private hedge fund. That's all I really know, but everyone agrees he's fabulously wealthy."

"But he's offered to loan you money, sir?"

"Yes, only he too insists upon collateral."

"But you said you didn't have any."

"Yes, but Tom is prepared to accept the kind of collateral that the bank won't."

"What kind is that, sir?"

After a long pause he said, "You."

"Me? I don't understand."

"He's offered me a very generous loan at below market interest rates, payable in six months with you as collateral."

"How can a person be collateral, sir?"

"How indeed. He wants you to come live with him as his slave until the loan is paid off."

This stunned Julie into silence.

"So what do you think, Julie?" His face had a wry smile as if he were sharing some weird joke.

"It sounds like he's a little crazy, sir."

"Well, if he's crazy the world hasn't found out yet. He's very well known and respected in the business community. Socially, too. He also gives a lot of money to charity."

"But loaning money on a person?"

"Remember I told you he was a major league kinkster? In his circle of kinksters trading slaves is no big deal."

"Have you met any of these guys? The ones in his circle?"

"Me? No. Guys like Blaine travel in very different circles from people like me. It's only by chance that I got to know him at all. He's an excellent racquetball player and he was looking for competition. Someone mentioned my name.

It began to dawn on Julie that maybe Alex was serious after all. Why else would he be bringing this up?

"So he'd really give you a loan if I came to live with him?"

"That's what he says."

"Why is he so interested in me?"

"That's easy. He likes your body, plus you can take a good spanking."

"I know I have a nice body but so do lots of girls."

"Blaine particularly fancies yours. He went into some detail about it, about your height, weight, the color of your eyes, the shape of your breasts, and of course, your ass. The man happens to be a connoisseur of many things. He collects works of art, vintage wine, rare books. He's told me how he'll go to great lengths to get the exact piece he wants. Well, now he wants you."

"I guess I should be flattered."

She felt a tingling between her legs. The knowledge that her body inspired lust had always acted as an aphrodisiac. It was why she liked being kept naked. It was also one of the things she liked about being spanked, for while doing it he would all the while be looking at her ass. He told her many times how much he loved her ass, what a thing of beauty it was, and she loved to feel his erection while lying across his lap, knowing that it was her body that was making his cock grow hard.

Alex was silent, looking glum. Finally she asked, "Sir, what would happen if you couldn't get a loan?"

"Then it's ruin. Bankruptcy. I'd lose everything, not only the business but even the condo."

She pondered this for a while then said, "I'll do it."

"You mean you'll ..."

"Yes, sir. I'll do what he wants."

His face registered a mixture of shame and relief.

"You don't really have to do this, Julie. We'll get through this somehow."

"No, sir, I can see it's the only way. I do have one question: What would it mean if I did what he asked and he gave you the loan but you couldn't repay it?"

"Well, then I'd be out of business. Then the loan would just have been a temporary reprieve."

"What I meant, sir, was what would happen to me?"

"To you?" He laughed bitterly. "According to Blaine I would lose my 'collateral' as he puts it. In other words you would become his slave permanently. But of course that's ridiculous."

"Yes, sir, that is ridiculous."