Lucy woke up to a loud beeping noise coming from the opposite side of the bed. Sean woke up and reached over and tapped the alarm clock, silencing the alarm. Lucy thought it was obnoxiously loud, but she knew that Sean was a very deep sleeper. It made sense that he'd need something raucous to wake him up. But wasn't today Sunday? She looked over at her phone, which was in a charging stand on the bedside table on her side of the bed. Yes, it was, indeed, Sunday. Sean said, "Rise and shine. I want to inspect you, this morning."

She thought, "Inspect me? For what?" She gave Sean a puzzled look as she got out of bed.

"Come over here and put your hands behind your head."

She did as she was told. Sean approached her very, very closely until his face was just inches from hers and looked at every inch of her face. She was starting to feel very self conscious as he did this. He looked particularly closely at her eyes. All the while, saying nothing. He had her open her mouth. She hesitated - she hadn't brushed her teeth yet, and worried about her breath. Finally, she did as she was told. He peered in her mouth. Was he counting her fillings?

"When was the last time you saw a dentist, Lucy?"

"I went just last month. Is something wrong, Sir?"

"No, Lucy. Nothing at all. But as my property, it's my responsibility to keep you in good condition. That means taking into account all necessary regular maintenance. And, I need to take stock of your current condition so that I can tell if anything ever changes."

She felt a bit like an animal. Like a horse before an auction. Still he kept up his minute examination. He looked at her ears. He noted they were pierced twice each. He moved to her hands. He complimented her on her manicure. And worked his way up her arm. He then complimented her on how well she took care of her underarm hair. She blushed and told him she had just gotten waxed for this weekend. He continued with the other arm, noting a scar on her elbow (a skating accident when she was 7). All the while Lucy was not quite sure whether she should be afraid about what he might find, while at the same time feeling a bit degraded. still, she bit her lip and suffered the indignity of his proding.

He moved down to her breasts. He tested their weight in his hands and pinched each nipple. Then he started feeling them, almost like he was checking for lumps. He asked whether she regularly performed self-exams. She said she did, but her family had no history of cancer she knew of. He moved behind her and minutely looked at her back. He asked her about every out-of-place mark he found on her.

"Now, Lucy, hop up on the bed and get on all fours with your legs spread and stick your rear out."

She shut her eyes briefly, but bit her tongue and complied. He examined her ass-cheeks. He noted that the spanking he had given her the night before last had already faded, and that her anal training seems to have left no trace. He pulled her cheeks apart. She had gone to the toilet in the middle of the night and a few traces of paper had stuck. He remarked on them and Lucy turned beet red. She was mortified.

"No need to be embarrassed, Lucy." He picked at her pussy lips a little. "There. That's better."

He continued to paw at her pussy, spreading her lips out and examining the inside of her sex. He pressed a finger inside of her cunt and she gasped as he felt around inside. She continued to be mortified by his attention, but still did nothing to stop him. A voice in her head thought that his explanation about needing to know her condition if he was going to be responsible for her wasn't unreasonable, but another part of her scoffed at that. Sean was a software engineer. He had no medical credentials at all.

Sean went on, asking about her gynecologist. She had annual exams and was due for one in a couple of months. He then moved down her legs. When he got to her feet, he had her sit straight so he could examine them better.

When he was finished, he had Lucy stand back up. She did so and tucked her hands behind her back, but could only look down at the floor.

"What's wrong, Lucy?"

"Sir, I don't think anyone - even my doctor - has done that to me before. It was embarrassing. Especially... The... Um... The paper." As she said that she turned beet red.

"Lucy, come here," and he held her in his arms and picked up her chin with his finger, "You must never be embarrassed about anything with me. Embarrassment stems from having private things exposed. If you are to be my property, then you will have no privacy. What I did just now was strip that privacy away from you. There's no part of you that you will hide from me as long as you are mine. And that includes every bit of your mind and soul as well, Lucy. And since you have nothing to hide, and nowhere to hide it, you have no reason at all to be embarrassed."

She heard this and her eyes grew moist. He saw this and pressed her against his body and held her while she thought about this lesson. After a few minutes Sean suggested they have a shower and start the day in earnest.

They showered and Sean got dressed while Lucy went to the kitchen to start breakfast. She decided to make French Toast with some ham on the side. Sean sat down and Lucy brought two plates to the table. She waited for Sean to take a bite. He hadn't asked her to, but she wanted to hear his reaction and eating herself was secondary in her mind. He took a bite and pronounced it delicious. Lucy smiled at his compliment and then took a bite of her own serving. After breakfast was done, Sean showed Lucy around the house again, this time pointing out where the cleaning supplies and other household essentials were. He spent a few moments explaining how to work the dishwasher and laundry equipment. Sean always bought high-tech appliances and products in general. He explained that the high tech stuff could do more at the cost, sometimes, of being more complicated to use. Lucy hadn't used the newfangled kinds of these machines, but had used older versions, and the new ones didn't seem to her to pose any particular challenge she couldn't handle.

After that was done, Sean said that he wanted to go to the gym. He was a member of a local athletic club that had a pool, racquetball courts and a workout room. He had her dress in her workout clothes and pack a small duffel bag with her bikini and his swim trunks. He explained they would not need towels, as the club supplied them. He also handed her a pair of padlocks (they would have to use separate locker rooms) to put in the bag. They got in the car and drove to the club.

Once there, Sean showed his membership card at the desk and arranged for a guest pass for Lucy. They were dressed for a workout, so they headed to a pair of treadmills near the back. Lucy liked to jog. It was her preferred way to keep fit, but she liked the changing scenery of jogging outdoors. Still, she watched as Sean set up the program on the treadmill and started jogging, while Sean started up his own machine. They talked while they jogged, though the jogging stifled the conversation a little bit. Still, it made the workout go quicker and before Lucy knew it, the 20 minute program was over.

Sean then took them both through a series of weight machines. He said he wasn't an expert, but he tried to explain each machine to Lucy. To Lucy, it seemed like Sean was going particularly easy on her - probably because it was her first time. When they were done, he suggested they go for a swim in the pool. Sean opened the duffel bag and took his trunks and one of the locks and headed towards the men's locker room, pointing out the ladies' as he went. Lucy took the duffel with her into the locker room to change. She found a locker near the back and undressed, putting her clothes into an empty locker. She got out the bikini they had just bought. It was black, and as skimpy as she remembered it, but as she put it on, she checked to make sure it at least covered what needed to be covered. The last thing she did was take off her collar and put it and the duffel in the locker and locked it. Sean had the key. He had said he'd hang on to it for her because his suit had pockets, and hers didn't.

She headed out of the locker room and went to the pool. She found Sean already in the shallow end, wading. He said, "Come on in, the water is nice."

Lucy dipped a toe in, and it was surprisingly warm.

She stepped down the ladder and into the water. Sean came over and splashed her playfully, and she put on a show of fake pouting until Sean stopped. When he was in just the right spot, she splashed him back in a surprise attack and they both laughed.

They spent a few minutes swimming aimlessly around. When they were done, Sean suggested they try the hot tub.

They had the hot tub to themselves, since it was late Sunday morning. They sat on a bench - Sean in the corner and Lucy leaning on him, her head on his shoulder. They stayed like that for a long time. Not moving or talking. Just together. Lucy thought it was the most romantic moment she had had in a long time.

Romantic?

He owned her. She was his slave. How did romance fit in? He had never said he loved her. She had never said as much to him either. Did that matter? Was what he was offering her... Love? Something else? If it wasn't love, could she live without it? Was she without it now? She struggled to think of a difference between how he was treating her and how someone in love with her would treat her. Apart from that one word, she couldn't think of anything else missing. What did that mean? What if she told him she loved him? Would that change what they had? Her pondering was interrupted when Sean looked at his fingers and said he thought that he was pruny enough and stood to get out. Lucy followed as Sean went over to the pile of fresh towels and got one for each of them. He handed her a towel and reached in his pocket for a key and gave her that as well. Both of them walked into their respective locker rooms to shower and change.

They met back outside the locker room. Sean gave Lucy his swim trunks, which he had wrung out, and she put them in their bag and they walked to the car. Lucy felt invigorated by the workout and pool time. On the way home, Sean stopped at a diner and they went in for some lunch. Sean ordered for Lucy, but this time she didn't think twice about it. While waiting for the food to arrive, Lucy's thoughts turned back to her earlier thoughts in the hot tub. As she did, her mind posed a question.

"Sir, may I ask something?"

"Of course, Lucy. What is it?"

"Well, Sir... If you own me, will it be permanent?"

"That's up to you, Lucy. I can't - and won't - force you to serve me." Sean had a concerned look on his face as he spoke.

"Oh, no, Sir. That's not what I mean. What I mean is, what if some day... I can't serve you? I mean, if I get sick or something."

Sean's expression relaxed at that, "Oh, Lucy, don't worry about that. Your service to me is not just in what you can do with your body and limbs. Your body is a tool of your mind, and it's your mind that serves. It's your mind I desire to own. I will never expect more of you than you can give. If you were bedridden, then your service would be to concentrate only on healing. You may choose to leave my service, but I will never cast you out."

Lucy smiled. Maybe "love" really was just a word.

"Thank you, Sir."

Sean just smiled in response and took Lucy's hand and kissed it.

The moment was broken by the waitress bringing their food. Lucy's burger was delicious and she was hungrier than she thought.

When they were done, Sean paid the check and they went home. When they arrived, Lucy took off her clothes and took them and the wet swimsuits to the laundry hamper. Sean reappeared from the bedroom. He had that look on his face Lucy had seen before. He said, "And now, Lucy, I want to have some fun with you."

Lucy shuddered and simultaneously the butterflies returned to her stomach and her pussy began to awaken. She followed him back to the bedroom. 

When they arrived, Lucy saw that the bed was filled with all sorts of S&M equipment. She saw cuffs, a spreader bar, a couple of floggers, paddles... Her eyes grew as wide as saucers. She couldn't help saying out loud, "oh my God..."

Sean just smiled his wicked smile. Lucy froze - half in fear, half simply waiting for instructions.

Sean took the spreader bar bent down and attached it to her left ankle. She knew what was next - she moved her right foot outwards so he could secure it at the other end. The bar held her legs apart just enough to be a bit uncomfortable, but not so much that she couldn't stand. Sean stood back up and put a cuff on each of her wrists. These he clipped together and reached behind her and came back with a length of rope attached to a turnbuckle. Lucy looked up. The rope passed through a pully conveniently located on the ceiling. Sean pulled the free end, hauling her wrists upwards. He tightened the rope until her weight just started to come off her feet. She cried out at being stretched like this. Sean went behind her and tied the rope off. Mercifully, in doing so he allowed her a tiny bit of slack. Now her bondage was merely uncomfortable. He reappeared in front of her. She was nervous bordering on fearful. But a calm part of her brain recalled his promise to her. All she had to do was ask him to take off her collar and he'd let her go.

He walked up to her and stood in front of her and just stared at her. He had his familiar look, like he had X-ray vision. She trembled. He reached behind her head and held her hair and kissed her hard on the mouth. She closed her eyes and kissed him back. He broke away too soon for Lucy's taste. He roughly pawed at her breast with his hand while she whimpered. Then he pinched the nipple suddenly very hard and Lucy winced and gasped. He moved his hand down to her crotch and probed her cunt. It was wet. He smiled at the discovery. She bit her lip.

He turned around and looked at the bed. He picked up a clear plastic paddle and stepped to her left side. He patted her ass cheeks with the paddle and Lucy closed her eyes and moaned - she knew what was coming.

She heard the first impact almost before she felt it. But a moment later, it felt like her entire left cheek was on fire. She cried out. He allowed her a second and then applied a stroke to the right cheek. Lucy cried out again. Sean began a rhythm with the paddle. Each stinging, burning impact drove her further away from rational thought. After only a few strokes, tears were streaming freely down her face. Sean paused his assault and reached between her legs to tease her pussy. The tears kept streaming, but her sobs were combined with moans. He was driving her to the place where pleasure and pain fused together. As he used his finger to rub her clit he reached back and delivered another blow to her burning ass. She cried out again, but not entirely in pain.

He stopped for a moment, Lucy opened her eyes and could see he was back at the bed picking a new implement. He chose a cane and swished it through the air in front of Lucy. It sounded evil to Lucy and she shuddered again. He tapped the cane against her ass and then slashed at her flesh with a full stroke. Her ass felt like it was being branded with a hot wire. She felt a single, thin line of burning fire across the width of her ass and screamed.

Sean resumed toying with her clit, building her pleasure back up again before slashing her ass with the cane again. He kept her on this see-saw - building her pleasure and then breaking it with the cane - a few more times. By that point Lucy was beyond any rational thought. Beyond wanting him to stop or do it harder. She almost felt like she was floating in a haze. What he was doing to her was somehow more distant. Like it was in the next room. She heard herself cry out when he struck her, and moan when he touched her, but almost as if she was watching someone else.

Sean looked at her face and smiled. He put down the cane and sat on the bed.

It took Lucy a few minutes to figure out that he had stopped. As she regained her senses, she tried to figure out what just happened. Had she come? She wasn't exactly sure. She started to feel the burning in her ass and whimpered. Then she looked at Sean. He stood up and spoke.

"Welcome back, Lucy. I'm a little thirsty from that. I'm going to go get something to drink. Why don't you just," he looked at the ceiling briefly, then back at her, "hang out here."

He chuckled to himself as he headed down the hallway.