Author's Note: Been awhile since I've posted here. Been focusing on doing illustrations for my stories using DAZ3D and kind of lost track of this site.

This particular story is another one with more story than bondage--for those who enjoy that.


8:15 p.m. Omega Day

Ten years ago, my best friend, Tod, killed his wife.

He caught Alicia sleeping with another man (something she'd been doing frequently behind his back for years) and in a fit of jealous rage, he shot her dead. Tod never seemed like the jealous type; always claimed to trust his wife implicitly. Even when I tried to tell him (in a tactful way) that she couldn't be trusted, he refused to believe me.

But when he came home early one day and caught her red-handed, something in him just snapped. Five minutes later, his wife was lying dead in their bed and the sleazeball who'd slept with her was running down the street with his clothes in his hands.

Such a shame.

I would have shot the damn man. Alicia was a beautiful woman. Unfortunately, she had the kind of face and body guaranteed to draw men to her like a dead body draws flies. She was a force of nature. Nothing could have stopped those dogs from coming around to sniff at her.

The real problem was that she was virtually incapable of saying no. She liked sex. But more than that, she just didn't have any will power. She could tell those men no, but some men only hear yes-and by the third or fourth time they'd ask all of her defenses had been exhausted and she'd say something like, "Fine, but we're only doing it this once."

"Of course," they'd agree, "just this once."

My other friends (and co-workers) all told me that it was inevitable; that Alicia's death was bound to happen sooner or later. That Todd was destined to spend the rest of his life in prison. That I shouldn't waste my life trying to change fate. But some of them were the same men who slept with Alicia behind Todd's back. I guess it's good to know which of your friends are likely to stab you in the back, but I'm not the kind of friend who can just let go.

That one event (that instant when Todd pulled the trigger) has been the guiding force that has given the rest of my life direction. It's not why I got into theoretical physics in the first place, but it is why I've spent the past ten years of my career pursuing a phenomenon that I like to call Temporal Displacement.

Do you like that? It sounds a lot better than time travel, doesn't it?

My colleagues still think the idea is crazy, but ten years ago people thought the idea of a mind-machine interface sounded absurd, and look at us now. Kids are getting cyber secretaries the way they used to get glasses, back when my parent's were in school.

But now I think I've found the key that will show them all.

Or perhaps not. What I've discovered is not a machine that will let me zip back and forth between different times. It's merely a theoretical hole in the space-time continuum. Theoretical, because I haven't tested it yet. To do that, I'll have to jump off the Los Angeles Bridge at sometime between nine and midnight tonight.

If my experiment is a failure, my friends will probably think I've committed suicide. And, if they find this journal, they'll think I've gone insane. If my experiment succeeds perhaps they'll think I've disappeared from the face of the earth. Or maybe this timeline will simply disappear. Maybe the me that goes to the past will show up once I've left this time reference and take over my life. Then all my friends will wonder why I suddenly look ten years older and have trouble remembering so many things, like what I did yesterday.

Who knows? The theories of time travel are all riddled with paradox. But the one thing I've learned in my studies is that life itself is paradoxical. It's the lack of paradox that is the real illusion-and not just at the level of quantum physics. But that's a story for a technical paper. Not something I need to be discussing here. So let's just say that everything in my life will change at sometime around 10:30 tonight.

Why 10:30 instead of 9:00, the beginning of my window of opportunity?

Well, let's just say that I trust my calculations, but I suspect the probability of success will be higher if I depart in the middle of my calculated window rather than attempt to jump at the mathematical extremities. And, as a bonus, it will be darker, harder for passing cars to see a man climbing the metal girders of a bridge.

1:37 p.m. Three Weeks after Alpha Day

I suspect that for every jumper there is a moment of truth. That moment when you've climbed to the point where you need to be in order to jump, and you stand, teetering on the brink, with your toes crowding the edge and the wind whipping at your clothes-and you panic.

That was me.

For a moment, I wasn't sure I could do it.

I've been going over and over my calculations for the past three weeks. But if you're a student of science you know that those scientists that believe reality is all just mathematics are deluding themselves. How many times have empirical experiments proven that reality doesn't always conform to our models and mathematical expectations: the big bang theory, for example, or the mathematical calculations of Ptolemy showing how the planets revolved around the earth, or the absurd models of global warming that predicted earth's immanent destruction in the dark-ages of the early twenty-first century, just to name a few. There have been so many scientific facts, with complex mathematical models to support them, and all of them are now believed to have been proven false.

So there I was, about to test my own beliefs in a mathematically based theory that no one else believed in. And it's not like I could see a shimmering, circular aura where the wormhole was supposed to be. No. What I had to do was take a literal leap of faith.

There aren't that many wormholes littering the worlds temporal fields-although there are places, like the Devil's Triangle, where they're far more prevalent-and even when they appear it's not always easy to gain access to them. A certain amount of momentum is required to activate them. Ships have enough mass that they can activate them, even if they're moving slowly, but for a single man? Well, I had to wait until I found one that was below a long drop off a bridge.

So there I was, standing on the precipice, having second thoughts.

I hoped that my custom made inflatable suit would cushion the fall adequately-if my calculations were wrong. Not everyone who jumps from this bridge dies. Some live and wish they hadn't. But I finally screwed up enough courage to jump-and I didn't even scream on the way down. Not that this was courage, mind you, my heart simply felt like it was stuck in my throat; screaming was impossible.

I hit the water like a feather falling from a tree.

It was just as my calculations predicted. Activating the wormhole sapped all the kinetic energy out of my fall. For a brief moment it was like I could walk on water. Then I began to sink and I was grateful that I was wearing my inflatable for another reason.

I'd had the foresight to make my inflatable watertight, so my clothes were still dry when I reached the shore; and three weeks later I was standing behind a tree in my friend's back yard, holding my goodie bag and waiting for Todd to come home for a little unannounced afternoon delight, only to find his wife fucking another man in his bed.

I looked down at my watch and frowned.

Todd was late.

Had the police records been wrong? They stated that Alicia had been shot at 1:30 in the afternoon. Here it was already 1:37 and Todd hadn't even come home yet. But just as I was thinking that (and wondering if something had caused the timeline to change) Todd's car pulled into the drive.

I breathed a sigh of relief then chuckled at the irony. Here I was, come to save his wife's life, and I was relieved that something else hadn't already prevented it.

Of course, if he didn't try to kill his wife today, that would mean that time had changed. I wouldn't know what was going to happen tomorrow or the next day. So I wouldn't know when (or even if) he was going to try to kill her. My existence here would be rendered meaningless. Worse, it would be redundant, for my other self was here now, living the life he'd lived in my past. If I didn't save my friend from a life in prison, there wouldn't be any point in risking a temporal anomaly by announcing my existence.

Science fiction movies and books always seemed to assume that it was dangerous for a past self to encounter a future self. I didn't believe that. My calculations (and my belief system) didn't support that notion, despite the butterfly paradox: where something as simple as a butterfly flapping its wings could change the historical course of the future and create a paradox where the person who brought the butterfly back in time never existed.

On the other hand, if I wasn't saving my friend, why take that chance. Why risk everything on my mathematical calculations-when history has proven that nine times out of ten, science that is based solely on mathematical calculations turn out to be wrong. There are infinitely many ways to formulate a mathematical model-and sometimes two of them will create similar results. Five minus three produces the same result as ten minus eight. But it is only the mathematical outcome that is the same, not the underlying reality that the two equations represent.

Fortunately, my friend, although late, was here to kill his wife and the risk I'd decided to take once again had meaning.

I watched as Todd entered his house.

I still had my key, from ten years ago. And when I put it in the lock it still worked.

Todd had already discovered his wife and he was quietly searching for his gun. I could hear the bed making thumping noises in the bedroom and hear Alicia screaming, "Oh God, yes! Fuck me! Oh, fuck me!"

She obviously wasn't one of those women who lay there quietly. And maybe that was what was driving Todd's rage. Maybe she'd never screamed that loud when he was fucking her. Or maybe he was just an intensely jealous man.

In any case, I found him in his study loading his gun.

"You can't do this, Todd," I said.

He looked up surprised to see me standing so close. He'd been so intent on loading his weapon that I could have snuck up and zapped him with a taser-which had actually been one of the potential plans that I'd discarded when I was planning my strategy to stop him. Still, the taser was resting comfortably in the case on my belt, just in case I needed it.

"Do what?" He said, as he went back to loading his gun.

"You can't kill her," I said, "You'll spend the rest of your life in jail. And besides, there are better ways of dealing with a cheating wife."

He didn't even look up at me, just kept loading his gun.

"I brought a little something to show you," I said.

With his palm, he slammed the gun's magazine into the handle and began to walk towards the bedroom.

Damn, I thought, this isn't working.

So I dropped my goodie bag and wrapped my arms around his chest, praying that in this timeline he didn't end up shooting two people instead of one.

"Please, Todd!" I said. "Think about this. There are better ways of getting even with her."

Finally, he looked at me. "You think this is about getting even?" He hissed.

"Isn't it?"

"The bitch is in there cheating on me." He took a shaky breath that almost sounded like a sob. "She's going to leave me, I know it."

"And if you can't have her no one can, right."

He glared at me but didn't respond.

"What if I could show you a way to make sure she can't cheat on you any more?"

His scowl deepened into a skeptical frown. "What are you talking about?" He asked.

I let go of him and picked up the goodie bag I'd just dropped, opening it for him. "Ever heard of a chastity belt?" I said, holding up one that was made of soft leather and hard metal. "You put this on her and no one but you will ever get to her pussy again, unless you want them to, of course."

He chewed thoughtfully on his lip for a moment. "You really think this will work?"

I chuckled. "If it doesn't, you can always kill her tomorrow," I said with a teasing grin.

He grinned back and nodded. "Alright," he said, "We'll do it your way."

"Good," I said. "Now let's go throw that cheat dog who's in there with her out into the streets."

As he nodded his agreement, I could see his expression darkening.

"And no killing him either," I said, giving him a hard look.

"I won't kill him," Todd said, "but I can't promise I won't break his arm."

"Here," I said, handing him the taser. "From what I understand, these things hurt like hell... and you should be able to tase him as many times as you want. Well, at least two or three times anyway. We don't want to make his heart stop."

"Speak for yourself," Todd said.

"Life in prison," I replied. "Keep thinking about that. Trust me; you won't like it in there."

He nodded. "Life in prison," he muttered, as if it were a calming mantra.

"Good... I think we're ready to kick some ass and take us a prisoner."

The lovers didn't even see us coming until his muscles were locked in a convulsive spasm.

Alicia rolled off the bed and fell to the floor screaming-but apparently the literature that I'd read was correct. The electrical discharge didn't travel between bodies, even if they were touching.

"Oh my God... Todd!" Alicia said as she looked up at him with big fat tears in her eyes. "I'm so sorry, I never meant..."

"What now?" Todd said, looking over at me for guidance.

I shrugged. "Now we find out if your wife still loves you..."

"I do! I love you Todd. I swear, he meant nothing to me."

"So why did you sleep with him?" Todd said, all but spitting the question at her.

"I don't know," she sniffed, shaking her head. "I just... I can't help myself."

"So?" I said, reinserting myself into the discussion, "the real question is what you're willing to do to keep Todd from divorcing you, and kicking you out on the curb."

Todd shot me an alarmed look, but fortunately Alicia didn't notice. She was too busy giving one of her own. "Please, Todd," she wailed, "You can't leave me. I love you."

"But not enough to resist the advances of other men," I said.

She looked down, obviously ashamed of herself.

"Which means you need a little help."

She looked up, clearly encouraged by my words but not fully understanding them yet.

I reached into my goodie bag and pulled out the chastity belt. "Do you love him enough to wear this when he's not around?"

She looked at it with big round eyes that were more curious than frightened; then, after a few moments she swallowed hard and gave a hesitant but determined nod.

Reached into my goodie bag, I pulled out a phone and activated the voice recording function. "State your name, for the record," I said into the phone, "then indicate whether or not you're doing this willing and describe exactly what you're willing to do in order to avoid having Todd leave you."

I turned the speaker towards her and moved the phone closer to her mouth."

"My name is Alicia Arnett Jones, and I'm giving my husband, Todd, the right to place a... a..."

"It's called a chastity belt," I said helpfully."

"...A chastity belt on me whenever he's not at home."

"And are you willing to let him discipline you for being a bad girl?" I asked.

"Discipline me?"

"Yes," I said. "You've hurt him, by cheating on him. It seems only fair that he should be able to exact a bit of punishment for your thoughtless behavior. Don't you agree?"

"I... I suppose so, but... what kind of punishment are we talking about?"

"Well, when a child is really bad, some parents paddle them-it's a form of discipline that went out of style for a long while, but it's starting to come back again. And I think that if we can paddle children who misbehave, we ought to be able to paddle you when you misbehave. That doesn't sound too unreasonable, does it?"

"Ah... no, I guess not. It's just that... I've never been paddled before."

"I suspect that's why you need one so badly," I reasoned, "but we won't do it unless we have your permission... unless you love your husband enough to make that sacrifice and let him do this."

"I do," she said.

I jiggled the phone in front of her face. "Say the actual words."

"I give my husband permission to paddle me when I'm bad."

"And can he tie you up?"

"Tie me up?"

"So you don't thrash around too much," I said. "Or he might decide that you need to be punished by being tied up for the night. There really aren't any qualifiers here. He might decide to tie you up for any reason, really... including the fact that he just thinks you'd look really sexy all gagged and bound in rope... perhaps with a pair of clamps hanging from your nipples."

"Nipple clamps?" She asked, her eyes widening. But I sensed that it was at least as much out of sexual excitement as it was from fear.

"Well, we can't paddle your bottom every time your bad or you probably won't be able to walk. We'll need to expand our repertoire and find other ways of disciplining you. What I want to know is if you're willing to grant your husband the right to do that, as he sees fit."

She looked at him thoughtfully as she chewed nervously on her lip.

"Do you trust him?" I asked. "Do you love him that much?"

"I do," she said with a nod.

"Then I think it's time your husband tied you up and got started," I said as I reached up and tapped the side of my temple. This activated the pressure plate beneath my skin, manually turning my CamEye on, so that I could record everything.

"What are you doing?" Todd asked as I sat down on the bed to watch them.

"Supervising," I replied with a grin. "You're still angry at your wife for cheating on you. You need someone to make sure that you don't go too far during this vulnerable moment. And besides, I like to watch."

10:37 p.m. Day Zero (back at the beginning)

Ten years have come and gone, and Alicia is still alive.

And she's come a long way during those ten years. Now she knows her place and is an eagerly obedient slave. She only disobeys when she wants a little extra attention, which is all the time, of course.

It really didn't take long to turn her into a full-fledged slave. She's one of those people who are naturally submissive. She's more comfortable being told what to do than she is making decisions on her own. Moreover, she needs constant restraint to keep her in line. She'd still be fucking around on Todd if she weren't always wearing her chastity belt whenever he's away. Todd spends most of his free time with her these days; and when he's at work, she's either wearing her chastity belt or she's locked away in the dungeon he's built for her in his basement.

Todd has come a long way too, and in truth turning him into a decent master was a lot harder than turning her into a slave. It really wasn't in his nature to be controlling or dominant. But knowing that she's at home wearing his chastity belt has totally taken the edge from his jealous nature. I don't think he makes her wear the chastity belt because he's afraid she'll leave him any more, it's just a symbolic reminder that she belongs to him. Like a wedding ring, only with more bite. In fact, he's even been willing to share Alicia, at least with his closest friends. Todd and Alicia keep their new life-style a secret from everyone else. Except, of course, those men who reach under Alicia's skirt and find a plate of metal blocking their intents. She still has trouble saying no, but her chastity belts has a way of saying no for her. The belt models that she wears these days are even capable of telling Todd when she gives in and allowed someone's hands to wander where they shouldn't.

As for me, well, I can honestly say that my life has never been better.

There was a tense moment, when I was introduced to my other self, I can tell you. The night before, I didn't sleep a wink. All night, visions of spontaneous combustion were exploding in my head. But the meeting actually went rather smoothly. I've always been one of those people who accept strange things easily. My other self had no problem coming to grips with the idea that an older self had come back to save his friend Todd from killing his beautiful wife. Of course, it helped that I was standing right in front of him. As they say, it's a fool who refuses to believe the evidence of his own eyes.

In recent years, we've taken turns going to work and staying at home. It's given us a lot of time to pursue our other (none-work related) interests: like playing with Alicia in Todd's dungeon.

It's a good life, and we've both enjoyed it immensely, but after a lot of philosophical debating we've decided that it's time for my other self to go back in time. I'm still against it, but he wants to discover what it's like to travel through time for himself. I still have so many questions about the paradoxes of time. I can't argue too much, though, if he doesn't go back then where did I come from? I wish things could continue to stay as they are, but we've decided that his leaving is for the best.

As I stand here, watching him climb the girders of the bridge, I wish I could be there to write his story as well. But I suppose one story is enough for one life. Mine will continue here, and his will go on somewhere else.

I watch as he jumps from the top.

And falls into the unknown.