EVE'S CAGE

Eve brought home a box and set it down on the coffee table in front of them.

Allan looked at her, she'd just returned from one of Chris's encounters. As usual, her hair was disheveled, her pupils were dilated, she was slightly flush, she moved with a kind of boneless loose limbed grace. Despite herself, she smelled of sex and submission. Even her breath smelled slightly of him, of his cock and his semen.

Whenever she came back from Chris, she was a little off, as if he'd changed her head space and it took a little time to refocus as herself.

Allan knew Chris ruthlessly demanded deep submission from her, he enforced it. And in their psychological and sexual dance, she yielded. It excited him to see her totally subsumed like this, imagining what she did or would do or would be capable of doing.

When Eve was like this, he felt a subliminal excitement. He saw the pictures, the text messages, even the video clips. He listened to Chris's heavy handed innuendo, always just short of openly saying 'I'm fucking your wife, and fucking you over.' He heard her stories.

But when she was like this, after a session with Chris, bottoming out in submission, when the woman he knew and loved had been replaced and reshaped... there was something about that, which made his heart pound.

She put the box on the table and nuzzled up to him on the couch, curling against him like a cat.

"What's that?" he asked.

"A gift from Chris."

&&&

It was like a frog in a pan of water, slowly heating up.

Eve had always had a submissive streak. Perhaps that was why he'd won her. He had pursued, and she'd allowed herself to be taken, to fall in love, to grow close.

But Allan was never truly dominant. He wasn't submissive either. His personality, and his world view, the way he thought and lived simply didn't operate on that narrow spectrum. He could do it, but his heart wasn't in it. He simply wanted to live, to love, to enjoy life. Games and hierarchies touched no innate need within him.

But it was in Eve. There was something there, a need, a craving, ignored or overlooked, but a little crack in her soul that ran down all the way to the core. A crack that could be opened, that wanted to open. There was something Eve needed, that Allan hadn't understood. And because it wasn't truly in him, it was a need that he couldn't meet for her.

Which was where Chris had come in. He'd been Allan's co-worker. They hadn't been friends, perhaps not technically rivals. But they were associates, they socialized and inevitably, Chris had met Allan's wife.

And then... He'd seen something in her. Or she'd seen something to him. A like calling to like, reversed poles inevitably attracted to each other, some irresistible chemistry.

The thing was, Eve loved Allan with all her heart, with her entire being, she could never let him go, could never be without him. He was her life.

But there was her flaw, her need, the crack in her he couldn't fill or touch.

But Chris could.

Eve was fulfilled, and Allan, who loved her more than anything, could not find it in him to deny her the fulfillment of a need, the satisfaction of a craving. If he couldn't understand it, he at least recognized it. If he could not meet it, he could help her in other ways.

So the journey had begun. A conversation, and then another conversation. A negotiation. A tentative try. Something very small, very confined. Then something else. Step by step. Eve remained with Allan, their relationship stronger than ever. But Eve also walked another path, descending slowly towards the deepest part of her soul.

Sometimes, to Allan, it seemed that there were two Eve's. The woman he loved, and the thing that Chris owned. Allan maintained his boundaries, he didn't play Chris's game. He had his life with Eve. Eve had another life with Chris.

It's amazing what you could find yourself accepting, if it all happened slowly enough. That, he would tell himself, is what happened to Eve, what Chris had made her into. But it was also their marriage.

&&&

"A gift from Chris?" he repeated.

That was intriguing. Chris was far too selfish for any thoughtfulness. It could only be something evil, some diabolical humiliation Chris had cooked up.

His cock stiffened in his pants. Eve, her hand laying casually in his lap, felt his response. He felt the sharpening of arousal.

"Oh?"

Eve's hand slid around his cock. He was hardening rapidly.

"It's a chastity device?"

"A what?"

"A cock cage," Eve said, "to contain a man's cock and balls, and keep him from getting fully erect, and to make sure that he can't do anything with it. It's a tungsten-steel alloy one, almost impossible to cut, with a lock built in. Very expensive and high end."

Allan's breath caught in his throat.

"Once it's on," she said, "it's on permanently. It can only be taken off with the key."

"Interesting," Allan replied. It was the most neutral thing he could think of.

"He wants me to put it on you," she said. "To make you wear it."

Suddenly, Allan's heart was beating rapidly, his cock was rock hard.

"Does he now?"

"I agreed to it of course," she said. "You know what happens to me when I'm under his control I want to serve him, to please him, I have this craving to do anything he tells me. I promised him that I would do whatever it took to persuade you to be locked up."

Her hand was stroking his cock.

"When I'm with him, he controls me. When he gave me the box and told me what he wanted, all I wanted to do was obey him completely, and put my husband's cock in a cage."

"How about now," Allan breathed, flushing. His arousal was reaching fever pitch.

"I've got better things to do with my husband's cock than lock it up," she teased. "That would be such a sin."

"Still," Eve hesitated. "I can feel a little bit of his influence over me. It's fading though."

"Well," Allan said. Eve's hand was stroking him gently, her warm body, pressing against him. He could feel her breath against his neck as she laid against him and whispered.

On the coffee table, the box radiated malevolent sensuality.

"I hear some men like to caged up," Eve said. "Sometimes for the denial, sometimes for the submission. I hear some women like to cage their men, to show them their place, to take their power."

Allan swallowed. Staring at the box.

"Have you ever thought of it," she teased.

It occurred to Allan that she might not be completely free of Chris's spell, that she was still under his influence, still bent to his will. Was she trying to tempt him, persuade him?

"Not really."

"Not really?" she teased. "So a little? It crossed your mind."

"No," he said.

She pouted. His loving wife or Chris's willing slave, where was the boundary line?

The box sat in front of them on the coffee table, full of mystery. Allan vaguely understood chastity devices, he'd never really seen or handled one. But there'd been remarks, and glimpses in pictures.

And now one was sitting right in front of him like a coiled Cobra, full of danger and menace and excitement.

One specially for him.

Contained and hidden inside that cardboard frame.

Something of gleaming steel, and curves and bands, and a locking mechanism.

He swallowed.

"Shall we take a look?" he said finally, trying to keep his voice normal.

"Sure."

Eve leaned forward to pluck it off the table, and the held it in their lap.

"Have you seen it," Allan asked.

"No," Eve lied. "It was just in the box. But it cost Chris a hell of a lot of money, apparently it's very high end. Top of the line. Nothing but the best," she joked.

"Or he wanted something that was escape proof," Allan said.

Eve frowned slightly. Those were almost Chris's exact words.

Together, they opened the box. The device was covered in plastic sheets, sitting in molds. Piece by piece, they excavated it, pulling each piece of plastic off, examining every piece of metal. The thing was build like a puzzle, of pieces to assemble together.

"Here's a picture of what it looks like, honey," Eve said, holding up a glossy page.

Allan held up different pieces, trying to fit them together, the way they showed on the brochure. It made his heart race with both anticipation and panic.

Eve read from the back. "Lifetime guarantee," she announced. "Well, that's not disturbing. It says here, it's a blend of tungsten-titanium-steel. No wonder it's so expensive. Almost impossible to cut, trying to cut through it would heat the metal enough to burn."

"Yikes," Allan said, holding a series of curving loops on a frame. This, he thought, would be where his cock goes.

"There's a built in locking mechanism to hold it together," she said. "Once locked, it can only be opened with a special key."

She read further.

"Listen to this, each lock is precision engineered. This is made in Switzerland. It can only be opened with the key, and only two keys are made - they guarantee it."

She looked in the box and reached in, lifting a little plastic bag out. She handed it to Allan, who pulled out the keys.

"These right here. These are the only keys in the world for this lock. If they get lost, that's it."

"There's a warning against tampering with the locks. Apparently, if they're tampered with, that's it, they break and its locked forever."

Allan controlled his breathing.

"Pretty scary stuff," he said, putting it down.

Carefully, they replaced the plastic covering on each piece of hinged metal, laid them back in the fitted cardboard in order. Chris sealed the box and put it back on the table, the Cobra coiled back in its basket.

"Well," Allan joked. "I'll say this about Chris, he doesn't skimp."

"No," Eve said. "When Chris wants something, he goes all the way... to the limit... and past."

Allan glanced at her. There was something worshipful in her purr. He knew Chris had taken her all the way to the limit and past again and again. Was she completely back.

Allan tried to laugh.

"I don't think I'll be going in a cage tonight," he said. "I've got somewhere else I want to put my cock."

He kissed her, and she giggled joyfully. The old Eve was back.

"I want you to put it there hard," she said. "As many times as you can."

Laughing, they headed up to the bedroom to make love. But before they did, Eve said one more thing, the old Eve faded for just a second, and whatever Chris was shaping seemed to look out.

"Chris gave me a week to cage you."

&&&

The sex was amazing. Wild, exhausting and uninhibited.

When it was over, she held his cock, and told him the things Chris had done to her, how willingly she'd accepted his domination, how utterly she submitted.

She always told him everything that happened, everything he did to her.

He was hard and fucked her all over again, his mind full of images of Chris using her perfect body.

Afterwards, she cuddled up against him and went to sleep. He spooned her, thinking about Chris, and about the box on the coffee table.

&&&

The next day, the box was still sitting where they'd left it, on the coffee table. He ignored it, except that he couldn't ignore it. He was completely aware of it sitting there, brooding, no matter what he did, no matter what he and Eve said, as they went about their day, Allan was entirely aware of the box, where it was, what was inside it.

Whenever he thought of it, he would start to get hard.

&&&

The next morning when he woke up beside Eve, her body pressing against him, he knew two things. The warmth of her, and the damned box waiting downstairs on the coffee table. The cobra coiled I n its basket.

Neither of them mentioned it, going downstairs and having breakfast together. Eve went off to work.

Allan sat down on the couch, staring at the coffee table.

He stared at it for a long time.

Finally, he hunched forward and opened the lid. Once again, he carefully took each piece out of its molded saddle, carefully pulled the plastic sleeves off and laid each gleaming silver component out on the coffee table side by side, turning each piece over, examining it, weighing them, running his fingers along the polished metal. It was cool to the touch, rigid and unyielding, supervising light weight even when collected together.

It was almost beautiful in a way. Not clunky or heavy, but like a work of art, all gleaming ribs and curves, soft angles. It was graceful, like the bones of a bird. A thing of elegance, made to capture, contain and control.

Allan picked up the piece which was supposed to fit around his cock, like a bird's arching neck. He squeezed it in his hand, it was unyielding. He placed it on the table and put all his weight on it, it didn't bulge a millimeter. Despite the temptation to put it in a vise, or apply a hammer, he didn't dare do anything more, for fear of scuffing its gleaming polish.

When he picked it up, he found it had left a dimple in the coffee table.

He stared at the instructions, and carefully following them, tried to assemble it on the table, fitting the pieces together, until it laid there complete but empty, a gleaming bird skeleton.

Then hastily, he dismantled it, replacing each plastic sleeve, fitting the components back in their molded cradles. He sealed the box, and moved it to exactly where it had been.

The dimple he covered with a coaster.

Allan unzipped his pants and took his cock out, staring at the box. He was already rigid. He masturbated, starring at it, and came violently.

In his mind, he heard Eve's words.

"Chris gave me a week to cage you."

&&&

When he came home from work, Eve was already home. The box was still on the coffee table. As far as he could tell, it had not been moved. The coaster was still there.

They did normal things, had wild sex, went to sleep.

Downstairs, the box waited for him.

&&&

The box remained where it was the next day when he went to work, and when he came home.

But when they went to bed that night, it was in the bedroom, laying on the bedside table.

Eve did not acknowledge it. It was as if it had moved there on its own, closing in on him.

As they took off their clothes, all he could think of was the box and Chris, and Chris touching his wife. They made love, it was wild and passionate. When it was over, she lay panting and sweating against him.

He couldn't help himself.

"You brought it upstairs?" he asked her.

Eve yawned.

"Yeah," she replied. "I couldn't leave it on the coffee table forever. What if one of our friends came by and opened it. What would they say?"

Allan laughed.

"That would be pretty embarrassing."

He let a long pause drag out.

"What's Chris going to do when you tell him you didn't put it on me?"

She shrugged.

"I don't know. Maybe I'll lie."

"Maybe he'll check? Then you might be in trouble."

She laughed.

"He's not going to grab your junk to see," she told him. "He doesn't have the nerve."

"No," he said. "But he might demand a picture."

She nodded thoughtfully.

"Then I'll just say no," she said. "What's he going to do, punish me?"

Waited a few more beats.

"Want to take another look at it?" Allan offered. "I mean since it's here."

"Sure," Eve said. Was that a touch too quick? She reached for it, bringing it onto the bed between their naked bodies. Allan scooched back a little to make room for it. Eve opened it up and with swift sure movements, pulled out each component laying it on the bed. Was she too swift, too sure, had she unpacked and repacked it repeatedly when he wasn't around, familiarizing herself with it.

Allan's cock was filling out, the post coital erection becoming thick and heavy. They both ignored it.

Allan pulled off each plastic sleeve.

"It's something," he said finally. "Shiny."

"We'd better not lose the keys," she cautioned, looking at the instructions.

Allan picked up two of the components, and fit them together. Eve glanced at him. Allan froze.

"It looks like how they go together," he said. He toyed with random pieces, carefully not joining them.

She nodded, turning back to the instructions.

"You know, it's a whole sequence, putting them together. They have to be assembled in just the right order or it doesn't fit at all. And there's a whole process recommended. You should be shaved."

"Shaved?"

"Oh yes," she noted, "and moisturized. And it's recommended that you be tied up, spread eagle, for the fitting. That's what they call it."

"Not me," Allan protested. "The personally."

"Yeah," Eve said. "Sorry. It just says 'subject.'"

She teased him. "Feeling a little insecure?"

"Yes," he said lightly, making a joke of it.

"There's some further instructions on maintenance."

"What?" he asked. "It rusts?"

"Subject maintenance, that's you dummy! So it doesn't chafe, or constrict or injure. Lubrication, or moisturizing. There's a whole section about risks, shrinkage, reduced sperm count."

"Shrinkage!"

"Oh yes," she said. "We'd have to keep putting you in smaller units over time. What a rip, they're just doing it to sell more cages! It's a scheme!"

"Let me see that," Allan said, reaching for the instructions. She held it away from him and he lunged at her. They play wrestled on the bed, the pieces jumping around between them, until he had her on her back pinning her down with his weight on top of her.

"Now let's see," he said, pulling the paper away and examining it. "Liar! There's nothing here about shrinkage!"

Eve giggled.

Her eyes were luminous. She was grinning up at him. His cock was hard between them.

"So," she said grinning, "are you going to put that to use... while you still have it?"

And then the grin turned into something else as he slid all the way up inside her. The sex was passionate and energetic, and the components bounced all over the bed, knocking against them as he thrust into her willing body.

Afterwards, he laid there watching, as she efficiently collected the pieces and put them away in the exact proper order with no hesitation. She didn't bother to put the plastic sleeves back on the components, leaving those scattered on the bed and the floor. Somehow, this seemed significant. Allan watched her, with a tiny flutter in his stomach, but he didn't say anything.

&&&

The next day, she shaved him smooth. They pretended there was nothing to it. He shaved her regularly of course, it was one of his thrills. She had shaved him now and again. This was just one more time. Nothing extraordinary at all.

Neither of them mentioned the box or even looked at it all through. It just sat there.

It sat there, watching them make love as they ignored it.

"Chris gave me a week to cage you."

&&&

They were cuddled up naked on the couch after lovemaking.

"Do you want to put it on me?" he asked out of the blue. It was never far from his thoughts.

Eve looked away from him.

"Chris wants me to," she said quietly. "And I want to do what Chris tells me. I want to obey him. I want whatever he wants. I don't even want to, it's like I need to. It's like a compulsion, a craving. When I'm with him, he controls me totally, I want him to control me, I submit completely."

"It's so satisfying to obey," she sighed. "It's a need inside me, building and building. And when I obey, all the pressure goes away, and I'm fulfilled."

"Is that all the time," Allan asked.

"Yes and no," Eve said. "When I'm with him, I go into it, and I can go so very deep into it. When I'm away from him it's not so bad. It fades. But not completely, it's like there's this tiny urge in the far back of my mind. But I can ignore it."

"I see," Allan said. "But what about you, do you want to cage me?"

She thought about it for a long time.

"Yes," she said finally. "Maybe just for fun. But it's there, I want to use it. I want to put it together on you, and look at it."

"I want to tease you in it, excite you, and you not being able to do anything."

"I want to come back from Chris, his cum dripping from my cunt and show you my pussy, wet and swollen and gaping from his cock, and know you're so hard in your cage you're crazy, but you can't do anything except lick his come out of me."

"I want to obey. To satisfy the need to obey, and cage you. I hate him, he's an awful, arrogant, bullying child. But its like a compulsion."

She stared up at the ceiling, blushing mildly.

Allan's cock was rock hard. He was excited and frightened all at once.

"I don't know," she said. "He makes me want to obey. And that feels dangerous. But it's kind of exciting for me too. It's tempting. You're curious aren't you? Curious about what it would feel like to wear it. To take that step?"

She looked down at his hard cock between them. He didn't have to say it, his erection spoke for itself. Staring, she let her fingers drift down to it, curling around it loosely, as it throbbed. Neither of them needed to speak. The same thoughts were running through their heads. Finally, the words came.

"We could try it."

"Temporary. Just to see."

"That's not what Chris wants."

"No. But he's not here. It's just us."

"He won't know."

"Unless," she said, "I'm lying to you now, to get you to accept it."

"Are you lying to me."

"I would never lie, unless Chris ordered me."

"Did he order you?"

"No."

"Temporary?"

"On... and then right back off."

"Yes."

"All right," he said, swallowing. "Do it."

His cock was the hardest it had ever been in his life. So rigid it felt like a steel bar. It felt like each pulse of blood through it was a hammer blow. It felt urgent and alive in a way he'd never felt before.

She stared at it a moment longer.

Then her head descended, lips forming a taut seal, parting slowly as she kissed it. His cock slid like a piston into the tight, wet, flexing cavern of her mouth.

He lasted only a minute.

It was the most powerful orgasm of his life.

&&&

It was the seventh day. Allan laid back, body covered with sweat, Eve curling around him. He could almost swear that steam was coming off them. The sex had been incredible. There'd been something hungry about it, something ravenous. They'd each felt it, a wild desperate quality, a sense of overwhelming need.

Both of them had been incredibly aware of the box beside the bed, as if it had been watching them. Although the sex had been mind blowing, although they'd lost themselves again and again, no matter how desperate or frantic the fucking, no matter how strong the orgasm, there had never been an instant when the box hadn't been there.

Allan had screamed while ejaculating into his wife, the sensation so powerful it felt like his heart stopped, he'd forgotten her under him, forgotten her pussy wrapping around his cock, had forgotten her name and even his own name.

But even then, he'd been aware of the box.

He took a deep shuddering breath.

"Wow," he said, "that was amazing."

"I hope you enjoyed it," she said softly, playing with his chest hair. "I wanted it to be memorable. It may be the last time your cock enters my pussy. Or any pussy at all. Ever."

He shivered.

"I have chills," he joked.

She leaned up and over him, letting her nipples brush over his lips. He lifted his head to suckle, taking a nipple ring between his teeth. Distracted, he didn't quite realize that she was leaning forward and stretching his arm out. Not until the cuff snapped shut around his wrist.

Allan jerked instinctively with shock. Eve reared up, grabbing his other arm, stretching it out before he realized what was happening. He realized she was cuffing him, tying him down.

Should he resist? Ask her to go slower? Tell her to stop? Or just go with it? While he was debating, the second cuff snapped shut around his wrist.

Without a word, she climbed down, reaching for his ankle. He didn't kick. When she crossed the bed, he let her guide his other ankle into position, waited silently as she fastened it. There was something so gentle about the way she did it.

One by one, she tightened the straps, pulling his arms and legs straight and then taut, but not uncomfortably so, until he was spread eagled helpless on the bed. The silence with which she worked was unnerving. He tried to catch her eye, but she simply ignored his gaze and performed her tasks with focused efficiency.

Then she climbed up onto him, straddling him. He could feel her wet vagina on her chest, gaping, the lips parted, his semen slowly smearing from her pussy onto his flesh.

"You promised," he said looking up at her. Impossibly, he could feel his cock getting hard all over again.

"Yes," she smiled down at him. "On and then off," she agreed.

He stared up at her.

He nodded.

"All right then."

Eve straddled his chest, drawing herself up to her full height, teasing his nipples as she looked down on him. She had the ghost of a smile, her blue eyes were unreadable.

"Oh," she whispered, she teased his hard cock with her fingernail. "Isn't this beautiful? Your last free erection."

She hesitated, glancing at the cuffs that stretched him out tight. She pouted.

"Well... your last erection, anyway. Isn't it going to be a shame to make it go away."

"Oh it might be pretty persistent," he said. "How are you going to make it go."

Would she blow him? Ride him? Nothing but a mind blowing climax would neutralize that erection, and since he'd already come, he expected to last a good long time.

She bent down to kiss him on the forehead, for a moment, her nipple rings brushed his chest, and then she hopped off, and left the room without a word.

Puzzled, he watched as she returned a moment later, with a small table that she set beside the bottom of the bed, near his left foot. A moment later, she came back with a small box and a bottle of lotion, setting it on the table. She smiled reassuringly at him and left the room.

More moment passed, and she returned carrying a large bowl almost reverently, in her two hands.

"Ice water," she said cheerfully told him, placing the bowl on the table. "Sorry I was so long. I had it chilling in the fridge overnight, but I had to empty ice cubes from the freezer into it. I got special plastic ice cube trays, they're like little lozenges."

Allan realized she had been preparing for a while. The thought disturbed him.

She sat on the bed between his spread legs.

"I wanted this to be special, for us," she explained. She squirted lotion into her hands, and climbed up to kneel between his legs. She reached down, grabbing the base of his erection in one hand, and gave the tip of his cock an affectionate kiss.

She looked up at him.

"How are we doing?" she asked. "Are we okay?"

"Eve," he whispered.

But she ignored him, working the lotion along his shaft, onto his head, and gently spreading it on his scrotum and pubic area.

"You know," she said, "I remember once, looking at your hard cock, and thinking it was the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen. That's what love is. To look at something and to see its beauty, your beauty. You made me happier than I imagined possible. I hope I made you happy."

She looked down. "Moisturizing is very important," she spoke absently. "It's important to keep the skin healthy. Once a week, I'll service. Taking it off, shaving you, moisturizing, taking care of you."

She smiled apologetically. "You'll be tied hand and foot of course, while it's being serviced. You won't be allowed to come. And it'll go right back on before you're released. But I'll take care of you."

Eve shuddered. "I've seen pictures of dried cracking skin, it's not pretty."

"You're talking a little scary," he said. A cold fear was creeping up his spine. This was a mistake. "Temporary right?"

She smiled and nodded vacantly. It didn't make him feel better.

"Now," she said, her manner changing, becoming professional and brisk. She reached into the box. "There's an issue of temperature. Your balls require a specific temperature to produce viable sperm. That's why they're in your scrotum, outside your body. Temperature regulation. When it's cold out, they retract close for warmth. When it's hot, they descend to shed heat."

"For what we need to do, your balls have to be at maximum distension. So I've got a series of heated damp cloths from the dryer and the microwave."

Allan kicked hard, or tried to. He thrashed around in his bonds, struggling against them. But they were anchored too tight, the nylon straps too strong. Try as he might, they wouldn't give. She must have drilled anchors into the wooden bed frame. With massive strain, he physically lifted his hips and back off the bed, before his muscles gave out and he fell back.

Eve watched patiently. When he fell back, panting, she moved in with a cloth from the box.

"Eve! No!" he shouted.

"It's okay," she said, wrapping the cloth around his shaved scrotum. His scream died in his throat, it wasn't burning hot. It was simply... warm. Even pleasantly warm, enfolding, like a snug blanket. He sighed, more from relief than pleasure. "It's okay," she reassured him, "I won't hurt you. We're going to do it gradually. That's how your body works. We ease into it."

"Stop," he ordered. She ignored him and played with the cloth, massaging its warmth into his balls. Despite his nervousness, he could feel them loosening. After a moment, she nodded, and reached for the next.

"I said stop," he said. "Or I'll scream."

Eve looked up at him, her face pleasantly neutral.

"No one will hear you," she said. "But I will find that unpleasant, and I'll have to gag you. Please don't make me do that."

The warm cloth was replaced again, this one hotter. He could feel his balls almost dangling, his scrotum loose. And then one that felt actually hot, the hottest part wrapping around the base of his scrotum. He didn't think he'd ever hung lower.

Eve plunged her hands into the bowl.

"Woo!" she said, her pleasant neutrality giving way. She shivered. "Cold!"

"Your cock," she said, holding her hands in ice water and clearly not enjoying it, "is just the opposite. We need it to shrink."

She smiled ruefully.

"I mean look at it! You're still hard! You've been harder than ever since I tied you down. You're scared, but you trust me, and you're into it. On some level, this is incredibly exciting for you. But we'll never get that monster into a cage."

"So we have to reduce you. Cold for the shrinkage, to reduce the blood flow. We'll go slow, first my hands. Then cold wraps soaked in ice water, until you're re-sized to fit. Once you're in, of course... It won't matter any more."

She took her hands out, shaking them to fling off excess droplets.

"Okay," she smiled ruefully, "here goes. This might be a bit of a shock. It's okay to scream a little. I'll understand."

Eve wrapped her hands around his erection. Allan screamed, her touch was so cold, so shocking. Her ice cold fingers curled tight around his hot hard cock, and he was breathless. It wasn't painful, but it was extreme.

Gently, she moved her hands up and down, the fingers curling around his head, making sure every bit of him was chilled, a reverse masturbation. He could feel himself softening rapidly as chills ran up his spine.

"Oh wow," she said vaguely, "look at it work. We'll have you right sized in no time."

The cloths were applied, shocking but less so.

"Allan," she whispered, "look!"

He lifted his head. His cock was shriveled, shrunk the smallest he'd ever seen it. It looked almost unfamiliar, a child's appendage replacing his normal one.

She replaced the cold wrap and crawled up onto the bed on all fours for a moment, to kiss him on the forehead.

"You've been such a good boy," she said. "I'm proud of you."

He tried to stare into her eyes.

"Temporary, right?" he said. "We'll try it a few hours and then we take it off."

He didn't believe it.

She ignored him, and stood up off the bed, picking up the box and returning to her post between his legs. With calm precise movements she opened the box and started laying out the components.

"The hard part is over," she said without looking at him. "This will be so easy."

"Eve," he said desperately, "stop for a second. Wait a moment, okay? Let's just slow down a little. Can we talk a bit more. I think we need to discuss this, discuss some rules."

She ignored him. She didn't even glance toward him, as she fitted the pieces into place with smooth, delicate movements, her face a mask of concentration.

The movements were too precise, too knowing. As Allan watched her, he realized she must have been practicing all week. Everything that had happened this week, every word, every gesture, every act, had been carefully engineered to bring him to this moment. She'd intended it all along, had always been fixed relentlessly on her goal.

"Eve!" he cried out.

His hips lifted up off the bed again. He screamed himself hoarse. He thrashed futilely with all his strength, but he was so stretched out, he could barely move. He swore and cursed. She waited patiently for him to fall back, expression neutral. She slid the underpiece into place. He could feel the cold metal against his swollen distended balls.

"Eve," Allan cried, "listen to me for a moment."

She ignored him. The cage descended over his penis, even through the numbed flesh, he could feel it. He bucked wildly, thrusting his hips this way and that, trying to shake it off. She waited him out, keeping one hand on the contraption to make sure he didn't dislodge it.

"Wait, please," he begged. "I'm not ready."

She didn't look at him, but this time, she bothered to respond.

"Of course you are ready," she said. "I spent all week getting you ready. You're just afraid."

"Please!" he begged. "Eve!"

"Shush," she whispered to him. "Don't be afraid, it's going to happen, it's happening, it's already happened. It happened already the moment I brought it home and showed it to you. It happened the moment Chris gave me the orders. It happened the moment he decided. This has all just been waiting. It's okay, darling. Relax. It happened long ago, this is just catching up. You were always going to be here, you've always been here."

She squeezed, and he felt it, everything snapping into place. His heart sank.

Then he felt something, a series of clicks down below, constricting his scrotum and pushing his balls down further.

"Adjusting," she explained. "Not too tight so as to cause blood loss. Just to ensure you can't escape. Ever."

She gazed at his distended scrotum.

"I hope that's not too comfortable?"

"Maybe loosen it?" he begged.

But she didn't, instead she ignored him again. Instead, she reached down again, he felt more clacks and tightening against the base of his cock.

She looked up at him then and held up the key.

"One final thing. Any last words?"

Here eyes were shining, her expression distant. Allan just stared at her, trying to find any trace of his wife.

"Eve," he whispered.

She lowered the key, fitting it into the lock and turned. He felt tumblers falling into place.

"Done," she whispered.

Abruptly, without speaking, she got up from the bed and walked away. He watched her naked butt swivel as she walked from the room. He thought about calling after her, but she seemed utterly indifferent.

She returned with her camera phone. Without speaking to him, she took several pictures, from up close, showing different angles of the cage, to medium and full shots.

She hit send.

Then, watching him, she punched in a number, Allan knew exactly whose, and said very plainly.

"It's done."

Allan recognized the voice that answered, and his stomach did flip flops.

"Good girl," Chris said, and hung up.

Eve dropped the phone and knelt on the bed between Allan's legs. Naked, breast swaying, she slowly crawled up the bed, one limb at a time, like a cat. Her swaying breasts brushed against him as she made her way up. Finally, she was looking down at him, face to face, looking into his eyes as her pubic mound rubbed lightly against his cage.

Eve kissed him passionately.

"Fuck you," he snarled with cold fury. The sudden hurt in her eyes, gave him pause.

"I understand," she said and got off him.

She settled into the chair beside the bed, simply sitting there, watching him.

"Are you going to let me go now?" he demanded.

"Will you attack me?"

"Of course not," he lied.

"In a while," she said. "Chris is coming over to pick up the keys. I'm going to wait for him here, with you. He'll explain things. I'll let you go after that."

"Fuck you," Allen said sullenly.

"You're my husband," she whispered. "And I love you, I do truly love you with all my heart, and always will."

She paused.

"But Chris is my master, and I obey him."

&&&

"Hey asshole," Chris said, jovially. He was dressed casually in a black suit, red shirt, no tie. His hair was black and curly. His smile easy. Chris always seemed casual, sailing through life with effortless arrogance.

Allan glared daggers at him.

Chris surveyed the naked man, tied spread eagled to the bed, his genitals locked away in a glistening steel contraption.

"Love the look, by the way. It suits you." He sucked air in his teeth. "You shouldn't stay too long like that though. Might start to lose circulation. She didn't gag you? I told her too."

He grinned.

"But I guess you couldn't talk her out of it, could you?"

"Just fuck off," Allan said quietly.

"Hey pal," Chris mocked hurt. "Don't be like that. Hey, I know what will cheer you up. I've got a magic trick! Look!"

Allan turned to look.

"Two keys!" Chris held them up.

"Pliers!" He pulled a set from his pocket. He took the pliers and used them to snap one of the keys in half.

"One key!"

He pocketed it.

"One fucking key. I can snap it. I can melt it down. I can mail it to Antarctica. And then you're in that thing for the rest of your fucking life. I paid a lot of money for it. It would take surgery to remove it without the key."

"So welcome to the rest of your life, asshole. Welcome to the new rules, and you'll fucking obey or else," for a moment, he seemed demonic. His face a mask of hate and triumph.

Chris sat back on the chair, where Eve had been sitting. He folded one knee over the other, cheerful again. Allan looked around for her.

"Oh," Chris said and chuckled, "I told her to stay downstairs. There were some things we had to talk about privately. Not for her ears."

He glanced around himself.

"Nice room," he said casually. "You know, after we're done, you and I, I'm going to call her back up here. And I'm going to fuck her brains out, right in front of you. I mean everything. Every kind of position. Up her ass, down her throat, you name it. And she's going to come, she's going to come like crazy. I'm going to fuck her until she's a wet rag while you watch. She'll do everything. I'll fuck her like I own her, which I do."

"Why are you such an asshole?" Allan asked coldly.

Chris went still. His face turned cold.

"You say one more fucking word," he said quietly, "and I will gag you. Then I'll pulverize your balls. Then I'll make her leave you alone up here for however long it'll take you to shit and piss yourself over and over and leave you laying in your own filth."

"Well?" Chris demanded.

Allan didn't respond.

"Okay," he said pleasantly. "Where were we? You know, it's funny. I hated you. Did you know that? Do you want to know why? Yes? No? I'll tell you anyway. Eve. The minute I saw her, I knew I was going to have her. I knew I could break her. And I broke her. Over and over, all kinds of ways, I broke her and kept breaking her. The things I made her do! The things I made her love doing! You'd be amazed."

Chris leaned back.

"Except for you. No matter what I did, and I tried, god fucking help me, I tried. I couldn't break her of you. She loves you. Crazy, right! Who does that! It made me insane. I punished her. I did everything I could imagine. But she wouldn't give you up. Wouldn't let you go. There was always that one part of her, I could never touch, never bend, never even scratch!"

Chris waved airily.

"I thought of getting rid of you, but knowing her, that wouldn't make a difference. She'd still be pining away. Do you know," he said, "I actually thought of getting rid of her, permanently. I was that frustrated. Mental, right? I mean the complications of getting rid of someone..."

"So then I thought to myself: What we need is a realignment. We need to rearrange. We need to correct your status, eliminate certain things, put you in your proper place. That was the solution... And here you are!"

Allan watched him.

"Yeah," he said, "I know. Sucks to be you. I imagine you're pretty pissed off? Rebellious? Thinking revenge? Looking for a way out? Don't worry, that's all normal. You shouldn't though. I'll fuck you up. You have a new reality, my friend, and sooner or later, you'll learn to live in it. Better for you if it's sooner."

He leaned back.

"Don't be too hard on her. It was insane how hard I had to work, how much time I spent, how long it took to get her to this point. She really does love you. She'll always love you."

Chris rolled his eyes.

"You're her 'everything.'" he mocked and rolled his eyes.

Then he looked thoughtful.

"Actually, no. Go ahead, take it out on her. I don't mind. Punch her out, slap her around, let her know how you're feeling. Kick her out! Leave! Divorce!"

"Anyway," Chris smiled. "I'm glad we had this talk. I've wanted to clear the air between us for so long. Now, I'm going to fuck your wife in front of you in ways you never imagined, and you'll never have a chance to do again. Then I'll leave you to marital bliss."

"EVE! Get your slut ass up here!"

&&&

Chris made her wait for another three hours after he left, to release Allan. By that time Allan was too broken and exhausted to do anything. He waited patiently for her to release the bonds, then without saying a word, he turned and crawled to the far side of the bed and curled up on his side, facing away from her.

Eve crawled into bed. She reached out an arm to touch his shoulder. He didn't react. After fifteen minutes, she took her hand away, rolled over and crept to the other side of the bed. She began to weep. Allan stared at the wall.

He didn't sleep at all that night. He just stared at the wall.

All he wanted was to be dead.

His heart was broken.

&&&

For the next few days, they tried to make life as normal as it could be. They showered, ate, went to work and came home. They barely spoke to each other.

Finally, on Wednesday, Allan spoke to her.

"I love you," he said. "I always will. I am going to forgive you, I want you to know that. I just... need... to work at it. But I will forgive you. I'm working at it."

Eve stared at him blankly.

He wasn't even sure if it mattered to her any more.

But it mattered to him.

Then she nodded.

They finished breakfast, and got through the rest of the day without exchanging another word.

&&&

Seven days had passed, when Eve asked him to sit at the table with her. The hurt was still there. Day by day, he diminished it. Like a man carrying a boulder up a mountain, he forgave her bit by bit. But it took time.

She placed a white square of cloth on the table and unfolded it. There were two objects in it. She slid it towards him.

He stared.

"What is this."

"Those are the real keys."

Allan looked up.

"Explain."

Eve looked up at the ceiling, and then down at her hands.

"I can't fight him," she said. "Maybe I could have, once, in the beginning. Maybe. Or maybe not even then. But I can't fight him. I can't even try. Not any more. Not for a long time. We both know it. I do what he wants. I can't resist. I can't not obey. He's done things to me. He's made me do things. When I'm with him, I'm not who I am. I'm something else. This other me. Something that obeys."

Allan watched her.

"But I thought that maybe I could lie to him," she said. "So I had fake keys made, to give to him. I kept the real ones. For you."

"He's cruel. He's like a hawk. He's watching us," she said. "He'll check on you. Test you. You'll have to wear it a lot. At work. A lot of the time. But not all the time. We can fool him. You'll have the keys. You can take them, free yourself and leave me if you want. I will understand. You can do what you want."

Allan picked up one of the keys, turned it around in his hand. He felt a weight lifting off him, a life sentence, lifted with a key. It felt strange.

He stared at Eve, looking calm and sad, waiting for whatever was going to happen next. She had plans, apparently. And hopes. But it was up to him, really. He could do whatever he wanted.

He could leave. The thought of letting her go wrenched his heart, and he knew that under all his hurt, he still loved her. He could leave her with him. And that thought tore at him.

"You waited a week," he said.

"Yes," she replied quietly.

That was the part he couldn't understand. This week of suffering, the unbearable wall between them.

Eve stared at the table.

"I wasn't sure. I didn't know that I could lie to him. He's taken so much of me, he's taken so much from me," she said. "But apparently, I can."

Her fingers clasped, and twisted against each other.

"I... Me... the me you know," she said, "and... the other me, the one he made..."

She looked up at him.

"We both choose you."

Allan reached out and took her hands in his. Chris was dangerous. They were in danger. It had been slowly developing for a long time. A pair of frogs in a pan of water on a stove. But they were together, Allan and Eve and the other Eve. Together they could deal with Chris, navigate to safety, find a way through and to meet her needs. Not quickly, not easily, it hadn't been quick reaching this point. But together...

"I love you," they said at the same time, their voices matched step by step.

"I always will."