The week might have been an anticlimax. Barry had to go back to work and Diane was happy to let herself recuperate from her exertions the week before.

On Wednesday, she headed for the gym and swam a little. On Thursday morning, she decided to put herself into the chastity belt again. She spent the day naked, apart from the belt, cleaning the floors and furniture throughout the day. Barry was surprised to find her scrubbing the kitchen floor when he got home.

“Now that is an interesting sight,” Barry said as soon as he saw her. “Have you been dressed like that all day?”

“Since you left this morning.”

“How was it?”

“You mean was I frustrated and horny?”

“That might be one parameter, I guess.”

“Oh, the scientist is home. I suppose I should have kept a score”

“That might have been informative, but can I ask why?”

“I wanted to find out what it was like.”

Barry loosened his tie, took off his jacket, and sat on one of the kitchen chairs.

“I wonder if it would feel different if I had locked you in it. I’m assuming that you had the key so you could get out if you wanted to.”

Diane got up off the floor, rinsed the mop, and stood in front of Barry.

“I was a bit silly, actually. I went out and put both keys in the post. They should arrive back tomorrow, or maybe the next day.”

“Both keys? A bit reckless, don’t you think?

"Separate envelopes, in case the post lost one. It made me wet doing it, which was kind of awesome. What if something happened to you, I thought? You know, you might have an accident and be in the hospital unconscious, or something, or even decide that you were fed up with me and have another night away. I’d have to get someone to cut me out of this. Imagine. God, it’s making me wet again.”

“Can you pee in it? Did you try that?”

"Peeing is fine but not poo. I tried that before I posted the key. I gave myself an enema before anything else."

“Very thoughtful.” Barry smiled, looked her up and down, and began to chuckle.

“What’s so funny?”

“I was trying to imagine what sort of tradesman you could call on to get you out. A locksmith is the obvious one. They do house calls, but I don’t think they have their pictures on the web like a dating site, so you wouldn’t be able to know in advance what you might be getting.”

“You think they’d want to fuck me?”

“I understand they have been known to  accept money rather than barter.”

Diane laughed, leant forward, and kissed him. “I think I can guess where your mind is going.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Maybe a garage full of greasy mechanics, or some sort of engineering place, full of well-muscled men. It would make a good movie clip.”

She sat on his lap and kissed him again.

“Have you ever wished I took movies and pictures when I was away?”

“You did once or twice.”

“Did you wish I did more?”

Barry sighed. “There were times when I would have liked that…” He hesitated for a second.

“What?" she said. "You were going to say something else.”

“I didn’t let you go on those jaunts because it was a turn-on for me. It was a treat for you to make up for me working too hard and neglecting you. More movies might have been fun, but they might have been… well, you get the idea.”

“You might have been upset by them? So you don’t want to make wicked movies? We could have some cameras around the house. I bet there are guys on the internet who’d love to see me cleaning the house like this, and you could tune in from work.”

“Di, love, you didn’t make films while you were away because you wanted to be anonymous. The few pictures you sent me were carefully edited. It might work if you made the movies from the garage or the garden shed, but not inside the house, please. I don’t want to get fired for bringing the university into disrepute.”

“So, that’s a no then.”

"No, it’s more of a ‘let me think.’ From now on, we are doing this for us. It’s a completely new game.”

~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

One key arrived in the post the next day. The envelope was addressed to Barry and, without thinking, he scooped up the post as he left for the office. He found the key when he went through the metal detector.

He opened the envelope in front of the security officer, took one look at the key, frowned for a second, and then laughed.

"I never thought they would send it back," he said. "Spare key from a suitcase. That will teach me to open the post before I come to work." He pocketed the key and carried on to his office. He thought about phoning Diane but decided against it. It did set his mind working.

For the first time in a few days, Barry found himself at his desk and alone. Facing a screen with a familiar picture, confronting a reassuringly clear desk, with neat hanging files in easy reach, surrounded by order and familiarity. He should have been calm. He was anything but.

Partly, it was other people's fault. He hadn't set up this office; his staff had done it last week when he had not risked the metal detector. When they moved his office, he had insisted on packing the things that were important. He gave instructions and sent others to unpack and set up at the other end. A process that his secretary pointed out that was the exact opposite of the last time he had moved office.

Was that why he was uneasy? When he looked at the job that had been done for him he couldn't find fault. Everything was exactly where it was supposed to be. The only thing that was different was him. Being Diane's master, even if only by default, was a new experience, and brought more anxiety than he had imagined. Being spurred into action by that idiot Spike was one thing, but taking on the role as a permanent thing, that was something completely different.

Did he have to be dominant? Was there another way? A few years back he'd done those seminars...on negotiation. Did that help. What were they trying to achieve? The see-saw was the exact opposite of what they'd taught.

Look for the Win-win
How often had he said that?

What did Diane need? "Don't think in terms of domination and submission," he muttered, those roles are a means to an end. What is the end? The end is an orgasm, but she had toys that produced an almost instant orgasm.

He found he was shaking his head as he thought. Getting there was as important as being there. Di likes being taken to an orgasm, not making herself get off.

Did she masturbate? She must, but she never talked about it. Never? He tried to think. His lawyer brain wanted to settle for 'hardly ever', but he couldn't remember a time when she'd extolled the virtues of do-it-yourself orgasms.

Being taken there, being made to work for it — she'd sure as hell talked about that. So why did the idea of a cell turn her on? That didn't make sense? — or did it? Was denial another side of being out of control? Perhaps it was.

Barry looked at the notes that he had doodled, scrunched the paper, and threw it in the wastebasket. For the next hour, he concentrated on work. At lunchtime, he took a stroll outside and wound up in a cafe he hadn't tried before. He sat near the window, watching the world go by. The jewelers opposite closed for lunch. He saw the shopkeeper twist the sign in the door from OPEN to CLOSED, step outside, and locked the door. After that, he tapped a code into a pad beside the door and a grill rolled down over the window.

Barry knew he'd seen those things a hundred times, but always closed. Seeing it roll down was an inspiration. There it was, an instant jail cell. What did these things cost? How hard were they to install?

It took a few minutes of research when he got home to find that a roller grill was not something that had to be a massive outdoor structure. There were indoor versions, used to secure bars and serving areas when they were not in use.

Barry arrived home to find a concerned Diane.

"What's the matter?"

"I need one of those keys."

"Why?"

"One of them at least should have arrived today. What if it's lost in the post?"

"I take it that you're feeling a little constipated?"

Diane looked at him and relaxed.

"You've got one haven't you?"

"Part of our deal was that we have to tell the truth, wasn't it?"

"You have got one."

Sorry, love, I scooped up the post without thinking this morning. I don't know why you addressed it to me. Was that another turn on?"

"Mmmmm."

"The metal detector spotted it. Just as well, or I might have left the envelope at work."

Barry took the key out of his pocket.

"Can I bargain with you for it? I mean, it was addressed to me, so it's my key."

"What?"

"I was thinking that you ought to make at least one more trip. Spike was such a disaster that we ought not to take that as typical. It seems a shame to end on a sour note."

"Can I have the key, please, Barry?"

"Remember when you used to keep me locked after you got back?"

"Okay, let me have the key and we'll discuss your bargain, I promise."

"Don't I get to unlock it?"

"I'll put it back on as soon as I'm done."

Barry handed her the key, and she dashed to the bathroom. Barry moved to the living room and to wait for her to reappear. Listening for sounds coming from the bathroom, he moved across to the inner wall of the room. The staircase hugged that wall, leaving a space underneath that had always been awkward to use. A little over a meter wide and four meters long, he could see a use for it that had never crossed his mind before. Two phone calls during the afternoon had established that a crew could be found who could do the alterations, but they would take two days. He had to find a way to keep Diane out of the house.

A few minutes later she reappeared, naked apart from the belt, and handed Barry the key.

"Now, about your idea?"

"I was thinking back over the time since you started being a hot-wife."

"Yes?"

"It was good a lot of the time."

"Depends on what you call good."

"True. I'm talking about from my end. If you hadn't brought Spike with you, nothing would have changed. Right?"

"I suppose."

"Were you getting tired of it, or was it less fun than you said?"

"A bit of both love. I did exaggerate, and to be honest, the first ten big cocks are fun, but... after this weekend with you, I don't think they are a lot better than you."

Barry sat for a moment, pensive and distant for a few seconds.

"What was your plan?"

"I thought it would be good to do one more play away weekend, only this time no cage for me. It would mean you'd have to trust me not to do anything naughty. You would have to trust me, and you'd find out how hard that was. I mean, it ought not to be a problem, but if these thoughts are in the back of your mind somewhere, then we need to get them out. I've had to grow up and sort myself out, stop copping out by hiding behind the cage, so I figured you should get out any fears that you have, if you have any. Could you do that?"

"It's that thing you said, if you love someone, you have to let go — or whatever you said. Why don't you go away?"

Barry sighed. "I would have, but with work and everything, unless I stayed at a hotel in town, it wouldn't work. No pressure. It's been bouncing around in my head."

I'm being a manipulative bastard, he thought. If I tell her she doesn't have to go, I bet she does.

It didn't work out that way.

"Why do you want to get me out of the house?"

Barry had to think fast. "Rumbled," he said.

Diane laughed. "I don't want to do that stuff anymore, love. I get what you said about letting go and hoping, but I've come back now, you don't have to push me away to be sure."

She looked at him. "You had a plan, didn't you. You always have a plan."

Barry nodded, trying to think.

"I wanted to do something for you — a surprise, so I don't want you to see it until it's ready and it will take a couple of days."

"Okay," she said. "Does this require planning ahead? Do you have to be here to supervise?"

"I will need to be here, on and off at least. The work needs to be booked about a week ahead."

"Can I make a suggestion?"

"Of course you can."

"I think we should book a hotel for the relevant days. I have a project I would like to research, so we can stay at the hotel, I can get on with my research and you can supervise whatever it is back here. Would that work?"

"So we can both be mysterious at the same time. What do you think?"

"So I surprise you, and you surprise me?"

~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

Ten days later Diane left the house with a suitcase in her car. Barry kissed her goodbye and watched the car pull away. Half an hour later a truck pulled up and two tradesmen appeared. Barry let them in and spent the next half hour agreeing on details for the work.

"So it has to run from the ceiling to the floor, right?"

"Correct. I figured that it could sit proud of the staircase. If you build a filet down the side, it brings it out a few inches. Is that okay?"

"No problem."

"Okay, the other thing is the motors and electronics. It has to have a way of being opened if there is a fire. Is there any way it can have a reserve battery that works a fire sensor and lifts the grill if it's down?"

"Tricky but possible. Why?"

"There are going to be some valuable things behind that grill. If there is a fire and the grill stays down, there would be no way to get them out."

"Can't you insure the things and leave it at that?"

"In theory, but some of these things are irreplaceable. That's the point in having the grill, but I'd like there to be a possibility of getting everything out."

"Fair enough," the foreman said. "You are the one who's paying."

"Do you need me any more?"

"Can we call you if we hit any snags?"

"Sure. I'll call back again this afternoon."

Barry had a quick look at the equipment that was being unloaded and set off towards their hotel. He checked in and scouted around for any sign of Diane. He explained to the front desk that his wife would show up later, sent Diane a text with the room number, and went looking for a coffee bar.

~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

Diane set off from home, curious about what Barry was planning, but determined to ignore that while she set about plans of her own. Her first stop was a rather specialist clothes shop. From there she moved on to the sex shop where she bought her chastity belt. This time they were expecting her.

"The things you ordered have all arrived." The girl running the till seemed excited. "Do you want to look at them here, or take them with you?"

"Would you like to see them on?"

The girl hesitated.

"You would, I can tell you would."

"The thing is, I'm on my own, so I can't leave the till."

"Why don't I try them on in the backroom and then come out and show you?"

"What if some other customer arrives?"

"Do you think they'll mind?"

The girl giggled. "I suppose not."

A few minutes later Diane emerged with a bathrobe wrapped around her. She had a quick look around the shop, stepped into the middle of the room, and opened her robe. She stood still for a second and then did a twirl.

"What do you think?"

Diane was wearing a white leather chastity belt, covered in rhinestones with a tassel on each nipple and nothing else.

"What's it for?"

"I'm trying to get a job in a strip club."

"How do you strip in that thing?"

"I want them to auction the key."

"Oh, wow. So that's why you wanted different ones."

"Got it in one."

Diane paid.

"Good luck," said the girl on the till. "I'd love to know how it goes."

~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

Dianne visited three clubs. The first two turned her down unless she was prepared to agree to a month's contract. The third was more flexible. They were closed on Mondays, so Diane had to do an audition for the boss. He liked her act and agree that she could perform for the rest of the week, but she had to agree to do private sessions.

"You mean lap dances?"

"Yeah, some of those. How far will you go?"

"I thought there were rules, you know, no touch and all that?"

"In here, yeah, but there's a hotel next door."

"How does that work?"

"I have a suite. I give you a key and the punter gets a key. They pay me, you get a bonus."

"I wasn't planning on being a whore."

"Business is business kiddo. If I let you have a slot, there's another girl that doesn't get it. I like your act, but if you're only here for a week... It's not a lot of time to build up interest, so if you want the slot, you do a bit on the side."

Diane looked doubtful.

"What's the problem."

"My husband."

"He can watch. We have voyeurs all the time. Is he into that? The suite is all set up."

"Do they expect to stay the night?"

"Up to you."

"What do I get paid? I mean, do I take cash off these guys or do you do it all?"

"I do the deal, they can tip you if they like, but I'm selling your arse."

"My arse?"

"Your arse, your cunt, your tongue, any part of you the punter wants to play with. That's the deal, take it or leave it."

"I have an idea. What if we auction the key to my belt? The winner gets a closer look of some kind."

"That could work, and it's new, I've never heard of that. Twice a night, the first time they get to unlock you, which has to be very close up."

"Second act, same again or go further?"

Diane looked at him being as suggestive as she could.

"Like what?"

"Add on the room key?"

"You pay for the room."

"How much?"

"Five hundred for the rest of the week."

"So I have to take the room and if I don't make five hundred, I'm out of pocket and fucking for free?"

"It's a tough old world."

"If my husband wants to watch."

"You're paying for the suite, you can have who you like in there. It's a twin, beds in each half. Closed-circuit TV from one to the other. Hubby can watch you on TV."

"I'll pay you the five hundred upfront. Any chance you can rig the TV to see a feed from the club?"

"Yeah, no sweat. You want to shock your husband?"

"Yeah. I'll get hell for it but I gotta do it. Too good to miss. The suite's okay? yeah, I mean it's not some sleazy dump?"

"It's the top floor penthouse. As I said, I did a deal, I needed somewhere when I'm in town, he needed some steady money in the bank. The rest of the hotel I can't speak for, but the penthouse is good. Has its own lift. So how come you're into this?"

"Long story."

"Ever been on the game before?"

"No, but I've fucked around a lot. Let's say I had a deal with hubby."

"Had?"

"This may be the last of it, or maybe not."

"You know what I'm thinking?"

"I have no idea."

"I think we'll put the word around members, by the end of the week that auction is going to be sky high."

"Okay, so I get what the girls usually get, tips while dancing and all that, right? I'll pay the room up front and we split what the auction makes fifty, fifty?"

"Yeah, fair enough. When you're done, I want to be able to see if I can get other girls to play the same game. Is that okay, you're not gonna try to copyright the script?"

Diane laughed. "No problem." She handed him a credit card. "I'd like to take the room now if I can. Can you clear this and let me have the key, I need to get my stuff and deal with hubby."

~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

Diane took the lift up to the suite, satisfied herself that the place was as good as the guy said. What to do about Barry?

She sent a text.

'Barry love, my plans have gotten more complicated. How is your day going?'

What do I do if he is looking forward to this evening? One thing for sure she needed to cancel the booking at the other hotel and get her things from the car. Phoning the hotel was no problem, but then she found that Barry had already been there and dropped some things. She cancelled anyway and promised to collect what he'd left, That reduced the cancellation charge because they could use the room for the night.

By the time she'd parked and moved into the new hotel, there was still no word from Barry. She sent a new text.

'Darling, I've had to change hotels.' She liked that turn of phrase, making it seem as though some force of nature had made the change necessary.

Did she want Barry here this evening? No, better not, he'll wonder why I've changed hotels and he's not stupid. It might be better if he was at home and didn't see her first night. What excuse could she give? Best to say she was exhausted. He could come tomorrow. Would he smell a rat? Would he be curious? Of course he would, but what would he do?

~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

Barry saw the first text. At the time he had made his first check back with the builders. Everything had been going well up to the point where they managed to drill through a water pipe and effectively drain the central heating. Apart from the dirty water everywhere, it was summer and the house was warm enough.

Barry glanced at the text.

It didn't seem to need a reply, so he pocketed his phone and headed for the stopcock to shut off the water and stop the flood. There ought to be a protocol for letting tradesmen into the house. Next time he would produce a leaflet with instructions about how to shut of water, gas, electricity, the position of fire extinguishers. Too late now.

He shut off the water and was paddling through the flood running from the living room, through the kitchen and out of the back door when there was a loud bang and a scream.

Barry ran into the living room to find one of the workers on the floor and the stepladder on its side. The other worker was on his knees trying to revive the man on the floor.

"What happened?"

"He was removing the ceiling to get at that pipe and he hit a power cable, he's been electrocuted."

Barry stayed calm and took the man's pulse.

"He's got a good pulse. We have circuit breakers, you only get half a cycle of juice before it cuts out. I think it was enough to make him fall off the ladder and knocked the wind out of him."

The man on the floor moaned.

"I'll get an ambulance," Barry said. "Better safe than sorry. Will you go with him?"

"I guess I'll have to."

"Do you have any other men to help you clear up and do the job?"

"I can organise someone for tomorrow."

"Okay," Barry said. "Why was he drilling into the ceiling?"

"Trying to find a solid fixing. The whole thing is on a frame to take the weight, but it has to be fixed to stop any lateral movement. Without that, someone could pull the whole thing over."

"Right. You sort out your mate and I'll stay home and clear up."

"I'm sorry."

"Stuff happens. Don't sweat."

Fifteen minutes later the ambulance had appeared, the two men left, the fit one following the ambulance in their van.

Barry hunted around in the garage to find the liquid suction vacuum cleaner that they'd used to clean the carpets when they moved in. He dragged it into the house and then remembered that it needed power.

An inspection of the fuse box and some trial and error established which circuit was damaged. More trial and error and minutes trying to remember what had been altered since they moved in and he knew that all the downstairs power was out, along with the burglar alarms.

He stood looking at the box. "There's no bloody logic to any of this," he muttered. Was this an excuse to rewire the house, something he'd been putting off to avoid the disruption?

An hour of systematic calling tradesmen and a brief negotiation with his insurance company and bank produced an electrician who promised to attend that evening — as a favour — at out of hours rate.

With that settled, and knowing that he would have to sleep at the house tonight, whatever Diane was doing, he remembered Diane's text.

'Darling, I've had to change hotels.'

The thought of writing a text to explain what was happening at home amid the chaos was too daunting.

'Can I call you? Something has come up.'

Understatement of the year, he thought, staring at the mess. He hit send.

Okay, next move, turn on the power upstairs, run a lead, and see if the vacuum cleaner is up to the job. The machine made a lot of noise. Barry had to find a set of ear defenders and hence did not hear Diane's text arrive. Sucking up water had its own charm. He had to move the furniture around, but the water didn't get above the wheels on the chairs and sofa, so there was no damage to the furniture.

Gradually over the next hour, he removed the water from the carpet until the machine wasn't making much difference. He stopped and considered what to do about food.

At that moment the electrician arrived and somewhat to Barry's surprise, it was a woman. He showed her around, explaining that there were two choices — fixing the damage done by the other builders, or if it wouldn't take too long, overhauling the system so that there was more logic to it.

Barry followed the woman around the house as she sized things up.

"It is a mixed bag," she said. "Some of this is old wires that ought to be replaced. Logically, it would be best to do the whole thing."

"How much chaos would that be?"

"The good news is that whoever did the work in the past did you a favour. A lot of these wires are running in trunks, so I can pull the new ones through. Might have to lift a few boards, but unless you want switches or points in new places, we won't need to strip walls or channel into the plaster."

"When could you start?"

"I bet you'd like me to start tomorrow while the other chaos is going on."

"Ideally, yes," Barry said. "I can help if you tell me what to do. I guess that costs extra."

"I can start tomorrow. I have one assistant. I'll produce you estimates for you to approve tomorrow, is that okay?"

"Spectacular," Barry said. "I'm amazed you can do that."

"We haven't been going long and making it in this business as an all-women team isn't popular with everyone."

"Very diplomatically put. Not a problem here."

"As far as I can see the wiring to the heating is safe, can you run it on high overnight? That would help dry the place out."

"Sure."

"Okay, I'll see you tomorrow. How soon can we start?"

"You tell me."

"Seven-thirty? Your wife won't mind?"

"No. No, she's away. Just as well."

"Okay, see you tomorrow."

I'd forgotten about Di, he thought, waited until the electrician drove away and took out his phone. There was a message from Di, replying to his earlier text.

'Yes fine, ring before seven.'

He looked at his watch, seven-thirty, damn. I wonder why seven was important. I should have sent a voicemail earlier. There was a second message within the last hour telling him the address of the hotel.

He called the hotel and left a message telling Diane to check her emails.

He called Di's number, and it went to voicemail. He sent a text and a longer version on voicemail with some pictures.

"Honey, we've had a burst pipe at home. There's a lot of mess. I'm clearing up. Some power circuits are out, so I'm staying here tonight. I'll be here tomorrow supervising repairs. Sorry, I missed your call, I was sucking up water with the big vacuum. Whatever it is you're doing, I hope it goes well."

He sent the same text by email, with added pictures. He ordered a pizza and hoped Diane wasn't too upset.

~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~  ~

Diane read the text and for a moment was paralysed. Should she go home? Would that mess things up? Barry was expecting her to be in town, if she went home, Barry would be bound to ask if this had disrupted her plans. She said to call before seven and it nearer to eight than seven now.

Taking a deep breath she set her phone to silent and set about rehearsing her act. Having closed-circuit TV between the rooms was useful. She set one room to record and then played her music and performed in the other room, facing the camera.

By ten o'clock, she had the act perfected and knew where she could ad-lib if the audience responded.