Author's Note: Ingrid wasn't sure exactly what she was letting herself in for when she accepted the invitation to join her new friend's 'girls night in'.

But getting in proved to be the easy part. It was the getting out again that might just prove to be more of a problem.

"So what shall we say? About seven o'clock round at my flat?"

Anna passed the yellow sticky-note across the desk to Ingrid.

"That's my address. I'm sure the other girls will be thrilled that we have a new member in our little group."

Ingrid took the note and read it quickly, before slipping it into her handbag. But there was something playing on her mind. Nervously, she bit her lip.

"So what is it exactly that you get up to when you meet up?"

The answer was forthcoming in an instant.

"Oh this and that. We dress up, try a few things on, have a bit of a workout, play a few games... just a 'girls night in' really. I'm sure you'll enjoy yourself."

One word jumped out at Ingrid.

"A workout?"

Anna smiled across at her work colleague, trying to put her at ease.

"Yes, nothing too strenuous or anything. Basically just lying on the living room floor flexing your muscles really.... Oh, on that note, do you have any yoga clothes...you know, leotard and tights, or maybe a spandex dance cat-suit, or something of that nature?"

Ingrid nodded. She had indeed done a bit of yoga in the past.

"Good, then bring your kit along. Nothing too loose, as baggy clothes just tend to get in the way."

She looked across at Ingrid, who still seemed unsure of whether to accept the invitation.

"Come on Ingrid, it will be good for you to get out and meet new people. I know what it's like when you're new in town and don't have too many friends. Let your hair down and have some fun. We don't bite or anything!"

Ingrid smiled nervously. Despite slight reservations, she heard herself say that she'd love to attend. After all, what was the worst that could happen?

Anna seemed pleased.

"That's great. See you about seven then."

Ingrid had just turned twenty. The slim, attractive brunette with the long, wavy hair had never lived away from home before, but the opportunities that this new job offered were just too good to turn down. So she'd found herself a bedsit flat and moved the two hundred miles or so away from her hometown, and had begun her apprenticeship in the multi-national telecoms firm, which she hoped would lead her to a glittering career. But if she'd been worried that her natural shyness might hinder her fitting in and making new friends, it soon became apparent that her fears were groundless. For after only a day or two she'd struck up a friendship with one of the other trainees in her office; a local girl, a year older than herself, named Anna. With long, dark hair and eyes to match, Anna had done everything she could to make the new girl feel at home in her new environment. There was, however, something slightly mysterious about her that Ingrid couldn't quite put her finger on. But this was something she could live with, as she was happy just to have struck up any kind of rapport with someone of roughly her own age.

So when Anna had suggested, at the end of Ingrid's first week in the job, that the new girl might like to come around to her flat that Friday evening, in order to meet and socialise with a couple of her other pals - Melanie and Lisette - Ingrid was keen to accept, even though something about the whole set-up didn't seem quite right. But in the end, the need to find people she could bond with overcame any reservations she might have initially entertained. And the more she thought about it, the more certain she was that everything would be alright once she got there and could relax in the company of women her own age, who she hoped would become long term friends.

Checking a local street map, Ingrid found Anna's apartment to be in walking distance from her own. And as it was a warm spring evening, she decided to leave her car at home. Looking out her black long-sleeved cotton/Lycra leotard, together with a pair of tights of the same hue, she left her flat at just after six forty five and arrived almost on the dot of seven.

As the door opened, Ingrid was greeted by the sight of Anna in a shiny black cat-suit which hugged every inch of her limbs and slender frame, from her stirruped feet right up to the collar and down to her wrists. As the sun's rays caught the spandex material in the evening light, Ingrid noticed a slight ephemeral shimmer as the slim figure flexed her muscles.

"Ingrid! So glad you could come. Did you bring your tight fitting outfit as we discussed?"

Ingrid held up the bag carrying her tights and leotard, and confirmed that she had indeed remembered the dress code.

"Great. You can get changed in the bathroom if you like."

It seemed that Anna was keen - impatient even - to get Ingrid into her yoga attire as quickly as possible, as she immediately lead her guest down the short hall and opened the bathroom door for her.

"When you're ready come into the living room..."

She pointed to a door on the opposite side of the lobby.

"...and I'll introduce you to the others."

And with that she turned and sashayed towards the room she'd just indicated; a swishing sound pervading the hall as her spandex-clad thighs brushed lightly against each other.

As Ingrid was closing the bathroom door, however, a sound reached her ears through the wall to her right. This was not a loud noise. In fact it was barely audible at all. But she detected the unmistakeable sound of a woman giggling with laughter, albeit in a slightly muffled sort of way. Must be Anna's other friends, Ingrid assumed, presumably also getting changed ready for their "workout".

Ingrid took no more than a minute or two to discard her jeans, blouse and underwear, fold them up and put them back in her bag, then don the tights and leotard that fitted her like a second skin. As she exited the bathroom, she noticed the door to the next room was still shut, and as she'd heard nobody come out, she guessed that the laughter-maker was still inside.

Ingrid opened the living room door and peered inside. She was met by the sight of Anna sitting in an armchair directly facing her; her legs crossed and big smile on her face. Closing the door behind her, Ingrid looked around the room. Although it was still light outside, the curtains were drawn shut and the only illumination was provided by two lamps, strategically placed on small tables on either side of the room. Next to Anna's chair, Ingrid noticed a large wooden box with the lid closed. There was nobody else to be seen.

"Come in and sit down, make yourself comfortable. Melanie and Lisette are just getting prepared and will be with us in a minute or two."

As if on cue, the door to the room opened once more, allowing two young women to enter. The one in front wore a spandex cat-suit seemingly identical to that currently being modelled by Anna. She too was tall and slim. Unlike their hostess, however, she had red hair that cascaded down past her shoulders almost to her waist. Her smile was friendly but her deep green eyes were piercing.

But it was the sight of the second woman that had Ingrid's jaw dropping in astonishment. For just behind the redhead, being lead by a chain that fixed to a collar around her neck, was a woman whose whole head was almost completely obscured by a black leather hood. Aside from two oval apertures through which a pair of steel blue eyes sparkled, and even smaller holes for each nostril, the only thing visible from her neck upwards was a plume of blonde hair that spouted like a fountain form the top of her head. As Ingrid gawped at this unexpected vision, Anna began her introductions. She gestured towards the redhead.

"Ingrid, this is Melanie..."

Then she turned her gaze towards the second.

"...and this - in all her bound finery - is Lisette. Girls, this is Ingrid who I was telling you about. I've invited her along to our little soirée in the hope that she'll enjoy herself and consider joining our little get-togethers on a regular basis."

After the bit about 'bound finery', however, Ingrid only really semi-digested the rest of Anna's comments. So engrossed had she been with the woman's facial covering, that until now she'd not checked out the rest of her anatomy. But now that she did so, it wasn't so much the fact that this Lisette was wearing a similar costume of leotard and tights to herself that really caught her attention - albeit that the tights were a vivid pink colour - but that her hands were held out of sight behind her back. Taut white ropes criss-crossed her breasts to highlight her perfect figure, and a rope belt had been tightly tied around her waist. To the latter, another length of rope had been attached, which made its way at right-angles to the first and disappeared between her legs. The conclusion Ingrid drew from these observations, was that the woman's wrists were probably bound. And this assumption was soon verified when her arms momentarily became visible as she was led across the room to sit down on the sofa by the window. But another revelation was soon to impinge on Ingrid's already spinning brain, as the pair spoke for the first time.

"Hi Ingrid. Nice to meet you."

Those were the words that Melanie uttered by way of greeting. Lisette probably also attempted to express a similar sentiment. But her words were soaked up by something clearly stuffed firmly inside her mouth and held in place by the unbroken leather mask, and all she managed was a few syllables of mumbled, muffled 'mmmph' sounds. So this poor creature was gagged as well!

Well, not so much of a poor creature either, it soon transpired.

The brief glimpse of Lisette's arms that Ingrid caught as she sat down, informed her that the rope around her wrists had been securely coiled and cinched; much too tight to ever wriggle free from it appeared. But as she watched with a mixture of horror and fascination, events moved at such a pace that she found herself transfixed by the scene in front of her. Firstly, she watched as Anna leant forwards and opened the lid of the wooden box, giving her the first glimpse of the contents. The space inside seemed to be full of ropes, all coiled up neatly and ready for use. She looked on in stunned silence as Melanie stood up and walked over to the wooden casket, took several pieces of the pristine white cord from within and once again sat down beside Lisette. Swiftly, with the receiver of these bonds offering no resistance, she wrapped the first rope three or four times around her victim's ankles, cinched it firmly, then sealed the whole thing off with a well secured knot. Similar movement inhibiting restraints quickly followed just below and just above her knees.

"There you go Lis. Not too tight I hope?"

It was obvious from Lisette's mumbled reply that she had no problems with the way she was being treated. In fact, the gleam in her smiling eyes suggested that she was more than happy with her diminishing scope for resistance.

"Right, it's time to show Ingrid how much fun you can have when you're all tied up and helpless."

Melanie briefly threaded her fingers through the rope that ran at right angles from her captive's severely cinched waist and down between her legs. This brought forth an involuntary yelp from the gagged woman's mouth, followed by a sound identical to that which Ingrid had heard through the bathroom wall.

"Ok, let's get her down on the floor."

Anna stood up as she uttered these words, and both she and Melanie manoeuvred the helpless Lisette into a prone position face up on the carpet, before backing off, leaving the severely bound woman centre stage. Awkwardly, Lisette lifted her lower back and inserted her fingers between the Lycra of her leotard and the stretched rope that followed a path between her buttocks down to her crotch. Immediately she began to pull on this unyielding ligature; gently at first, then gradually building up in intensity, until she had worked herself up into a state bordering on frenzy. The moans and drawn out groans emanating from behind the hood also increased in both power and passion as she became more animated; a sure indication that she was experiencing increased levels of satisfaction from this form of exercise, as her body bucked and writhed in the throes of ecstasy. Finally, her whole torso arched upwards, her hips thrust towards the ceiling, and an almighty sigh of immense happiness rent the air, as she reached what appeared, to the shell-shocked Ingrid, to be a state of total bliss. After a second or two, however, her whole being became limp and she crashed back to the floor, breathing heavily and giggling with delight in the aftermath of her glorious orgasm.

All this time, Ingrid had watched with a sense of both trepidation and anticipation. In truth, this was something totally alien to her, and part of her brain told her that she needed to get away from this place - and these strange people - as soon as she possibly could. But this percentage of her consciousness was in the minority, it seemed, and was overruled by the less prudish part of her brain, which found the whole business fascinating, breathtaking and awe-inspiring. And yes, deep down in her sub-conscious mind - although she couldn't even admit it to herself yet - the need to experiment with this type activity had been planted in her.

Lisette continued to move on the carpet at a more languid pace now, slithering and sliding in slow motion, as if trying to eke out every last ounce of pleasure from her recent accomplishment. She purred intermittently, as she seemed to revel in the recollection of her triumphant achievement. Ingrid looked on from her front row seat, not knowing what to say or how to react. But events were about to commence which would divert her attention away from this already satiated woman.

"Your turn now Melanie. Are you ready?"

Anna picked up a coil of rope and unfurled it as she strutted across the room to where her flame-haired friend sat. Melanie didn't reply with words, but her actions answered this question in the affirmative, as she simply stood up, turned her back and allowed Anna to commence the process of rendering her as helpless as Lisette. And so, in a clear case of role reversal - of the rigger becoming the rigged - Melanie swiftly succumbed to the strict rope-work, with Anna proving to be just as adept in her binding techniques as her comrade.

Melanie winced as the rope around her wrists tightened to an extreme degree, and Ingrid shared her discomfort, as she watched the thin cords bite deeply into the newly submissive woman's flesh. There was no way, Ingrid surmised, that anyone would ever be able to wriggle free from restraints that stringently bound. And for some reason that she didn't fully understand, she experienced a shiver of excitement rushing up her spine at this realisation.

With her hands now out of action, Melanie submitted to facial impediments that mirrored Lisette's to the letter. Firstly, a scrunched up pair of tights were pushed with some force into her mouth, even though she'd obligingly parted her lips to allow this cavity filler to enter unhindered. Then there was the hood; a black leather contraption which, once pulled over the head down as far as the neck, could be tightened by means of both lacing and straps that left the wearer able to see and breathe, but shrouded both mouth and ears beneath its claustrophobic sheeting. With Melanie now incapable of speech, and her hair having been arranged to sprout like a raging fire from the top of the hood, Anna gently urged her to sit. Securing her legs in the same three locations that Lisette's had been bound, she then wove a rope harness around her upper torso; being careful to uplift and thus highlight her perfectly rounded young breasts between the taut strands as she did so. The pièce de résistance of this work of bondage art, of course, was the crotch rope. And to make certain that Melanie also attained the same state of rapture that Lisette had been fortunate enough to undergo, Anna now fixed an excessively taut ligature indistinguishable from that worn by her recently fulfilled sister-in-bondage.

With the binding process now seemingly complete, Anna helped her friend-turned-captive stretch out on the floor, only a few inches from where the now silent and motionless Lisette lay. But if Ingrid had been expecting a similar performance from Melanie, she was soon in for a shock, as Anna turned to her with a broad, devilish grin on her face.

"Ok Ingrid, now it's your turn."

Ingrid's mind, already spinning from the evening's strange events so far, was now in a state of turmoil; a state that encompassed the extremes of fear and joy...as well as just about every other emotion in between. Should she allow herself to be put in a situation from which there was no easy way out? What if this whole evening had been an elaborate hoax; a sham simply leading into a trap from which there was no escape? But on the other hand, Anna had been a friend to her since they'd met, and she'd received no impression tonight that anyone wished her harm, or indeed that this whole occasion wasn't exactly as it appeared to be on the surface; namely a celebration of bondage by three rather kinky young women. And besides this, the stirrings of arousal that she'd felt during Lisette's routine, and also whilst Melanie was surrendering herself to Anna's restraining endeavours, served to tip the scales in favour of her participation.

Tentatively, Ingrid stood up and offered her wrists - palm to palm behind her back - to her work colleague. Wasting no time, Anna began wrapping a doubled up strand of the white cotton rope around her proffered arms, before cinching it with as much force as she could. Ingrid gritted her teeth as the unforgiving cord dug deeply into her skin; Anna clearly had no intention of going easy on her, even if this was her first time. With this first bond knotted to her satisfaction, Anna briefly stooped to retrieve the next affront to Ingrid's liberty from her stash. This gave the wrist-bound novice a second or two to test the efficiency of her rigger's work. And make no mistake about it, Anna passed that test without a shadow of a doubt. For Ingrid may have only had a short time to experiment, but all her straining and struggling during that time told her in no uncertain terms that she wasn't going to get loose on her own...not in a million years!

Briefly distracted, Ingrid turned her head to see Anna smiling at her.

"I take it you approve of my binding technique Ingrid? And I'm sure that you've realised that trying to get away is a futile activity. Just relax and enjoy yourself... like these two are doing. We're planning to give you a night you'll never forget."

She held something up in front of Ingrid's face.

"Now open wide, there's a good girl."

The taste of clean hosiery assaulting her tongue was a new sensory experience for Ingrid, as she allowed the gag to be pushed onto the chasm behind her teeth. Whether she could have spat this out again, given a few second's grace, she had no idea, as almost immediately the smell of leather pervaded her nostrils and everything went dark. This descent into blackness lasted only a few seconds however, as after this brief interlude her eyes and the two peepholes in the soft, pliable fabric came into alignment; Anna also ensuring that her nostrils lined up with the breathing apertures. Her hair too, was pulled through the top of the hood to stand, she assumed, like a ponytail from the crown of her head; just like Lisette's and Melanie's. Then suddenly everything began to tighten around her face, as her rigger removed the slack from the lacing at the back of her head, before tightening the straps around her neck and forehead. She tried to open her mouth, but found that any leeway in the movement of her jaw was minimal. There was great pressure too at her temples, cheeks and chin, with her eye sockets feeling as if they were about to cave inwards.

"There you go. Sorry about the any discomfort, but it has to be tight to avoid slippage, which could potentially lead to those air holes losing their alignment with your nose. Which in turn would have severe repercussions in respect of your ability to breathe."

Ingrid wondered whether she should thank Anna for her thoughtfulness on this issue, but knew that vocalisation was out of the question. And it appeared that her rigger was already focused on the next part of her mission.

Putting a gentle hand on Ingrid's left shoulder, Anna eased her bondage virgin into an armchair, before grabbing her legs, pulling them together, then binding her ankles, calves and knees to the same high standard that she'd performed on her arms. Next she fashioned a complex latticework harness around her ever more restrained victim's arms and torso, in the process firmly lashing the former to the latter. Finally, a rope belt was wound around her waist, and the all important crotch rope teased between her legs, with the securing knot tied off on her stomach, where stretching, prying fingers would be unable to tamper with it. As Ingrid expected, she too now found herself moved onto the floor, next to Melanie, who, along with Lisette, had watched in silence as the latest addition to the gang became enmeshed in their strange little world. Anna stood over her three bound friends now, a look of immense satisfaction lighting up her face.

"Well now, don't the three of you look good all trussed up and helpless?

She grabbed several more lengths of rope from the casket, before continuing.

"Time to start getting paired up, I think."

If Ingrid initially struggled to make sense of this statement, she was soon to be enlightened as to its meaning.

With Melanie turned onto her side, the bewildered Ingrid soon found herself treated likewise, so that she and her bound cohort were facing each other. Quickly now, Anna sought to amalgamate two restrained females into one indivisible whole. This she did by encircling the combined torsos of both counterparts with an extra long piece of rope, which, once pulled tightly to avoid the two halves separating again, was cinched between their bodies at the level of their breasts. But then Ingrid gasped with surprise, as she felt the rope running through her crotch and up her butt-crack slacken somewhat. Surely this potential giver of pleasure wasn't being removed already? Well no. It soon transpired that this easing of the pressure in the most delicate part of her anatomy was only a temporary measure; a means to an end, so to speak. For Anna's reasons for this adjustment to her bonds was merely in order to entwine her crotch rope with that of her partner-in-bondage. Weaving the two vital cords together, their rigger soon had Ingrid squealing once more, as the rope was again pulled up as high as it would go and secured as tightly - if not tighter - than it had been before. It was obvious straightaway, of course, that now, any movement made by either of the bound duo - no matter how trivial or insignificant that shift in position might be - would impact on the other.

But testing the effectiveness of this new connection would have to wait just now. For Anna still hadn't quite finished with the conjoined twosome. To complete their array of bonds, she circled another two lengths of rope around them; one at the top of the thighs, just below their buttocks, the second around their united waists. The upshot of all this activity was that Ingrid and Melanie were now welded together, their masked faces only inches apart. Any attempts to pull away from the other - which Ingrid surreptitiously tried when she thought Anna wasn't watching - would prove impossible.

Ingrid's mind, already reeling, was now in a state of total incredulity. What exactly was going on here? It had been one surprise after another for her this evening, but if she thought this scenario was bizarre beyond belief - not to mention a little scary, if truth be told - she was about to discover that things were about to get a whole lot stranger still.

From her prone and very much immobilised position on the floor, Ingrid watched as Anna returned to her box of bonds and pulled something out. This time, however, a soft metallic clicking sound accompanied the retrieval, and a second or two later she was holding out a set of handcuffs in front of her. Sticking out from one of the bracelets, Ingrid could clearly make out a small key. Anna looked over to where Ingrid lay, smiled and deliberately removed the key from the lock. She walked slowly over to the bookcase, reached up to the top shelf - at least six inches above her head - and deposited the small shard of steel on the ledge. She caught Ingrid's eye again.

"We won't be needing that for a while."

Strutting back into the centre of the room, her spandex covered hips glistening in the light given off by the lamps, Anna retrieved a panoply of ropes from the seemingly never-ending stock, counted out the number she required, then laid them out in a row on the floor beside the unmoving Lisette. Setting the handcuffs down next to the more flexible restraints, the only unbound woman in the room set about rectifying this situation.

"Right, I think it's time I joined the party. After all, why should you three have all the fun?"

Tying her own legs in the customary three places took no more than a minute or two. The stuffing of a pair of tights deeply into her mouth, smothering her head in a leather hood identical to that worn by her three cohorts, arranging her raven-black hair so that it spewed out of the crest, then aligning her sense organs to their appropriate openings, took only a little longer. Now, however, her undertaking became slightly trickier.

Pulling the bound form of Lisette up so that she was kneeling in front of her, Anna began the task of attaching herself to her submissive friend. It was difficult now for Ingrid to see exactly what was going on from her less than ideal vantage point next to Melanie, but it seemed that Anna was fashioning a similarly interwoven crotch rope to that already applied to the other bound pair. Wrapping lengths of rope around her own and Lisette's combined upper torsos, waists and thighs soon followed, in what Ingrid now recognised as Anna's attempt to mirror her earlier creation in her own bondage. The main difference, of course, came with the final flourish. Reaching around awkwardly on the floor, Anna now located the handcuffs, placed her left wrist in one of the obligingly open bracelets, and quickly clamped it shut; the quick-fire sound of the ratchets echoing around the otherwise quiet room. Ingrid could only watch with disbelief now. Surely, with the key out of her reach, Anna wasn't really going to go through with this crazy assignment, was she? It soon became apparent that she was.

Positioning both hands behind her back, Anna placed her free hand into the waiting ring of metal, then contorted the already encircled one around to complete her self-induced captivity. This time, the clicking of the ratchets was much slower, as if Anna was deliberately letting her captive audience know that she was about to join them in their inescapable helplessness. For a second or two, she tested her new found status as a prisoner; twisting her hands around and trying to pull them free. Satisfied that this was not an option, Ingrid saw her sway suddenly to her right and flop down onto the carpet, taking her rope bonded partner Lisette with her.

Whether it was the ratchets indicating that Anna had passed the point of no return, the gentle thud as the fused duo hit the floor, or the slight squeal that emanated from Lisette's filled mouth as they did so which galvanised Melanie into action, Ingrid wasn't certain. What was clear, however, was that some sort of unspoken signal had been activated, which meant that the fun could really start.

Melanie took this as her cue to begin pulling on her crotch rope; gently at first, then gradually becoming more powerful, as she began to work herself up into a frenzy. And these tugs and jerks impacted on her closely bound partner, who would have found it impossible not to get caught up in this rhythmic folie à deux, even if she'd wanted to. But of course, the chaffing of the rope in harmony with the thrusting of Melanie's hips was a duet that she simply couldn't resist, and within seconds of her other half taking the lead, their combined abdomens were working in tandem, in an unspoken pact aimed at bringing their bodies to climax as one. Through the Lycra of her leotard, Ingrid could feel Melanie's nipples, hard and erect, as their breasts slipped and slid against each other. And the rubbing of the ropes on this, one of the most sensitive regions of her whole being, soon resulted in her own nipples standing to attention; interacting with those of her counterpart and thus heightening still further the pleasure gained from their shared experience.

But it was further down where the real action was taking place, and when their orgasms exploded, they did so in complete coalesced harmony; an arching of their spines as the kundalini instantly exploded through the chakras, slicing like a sheet of lightning from their loins up to their brains in a millisecond and sending flashes of light equivalent to ten thousand suns, together with an intense white heat, searing through their entire beings and leading to both physical and spiritual liberation.

By the sounds emanating from close beside them on the carpet, it was obvious that Anna and Lisette were also involved in a simulated act of sexual gratification to rival their own. In fact, just as Melanie and Ingrid bought their common pursuit to a synchronised head, so too did the other, equally animated pair, which resulted in four very hot and bothered, very trapped, and extremely excited females all moaning into gagged mouths at the fulfilment of their group orgasm.

But of course, such intense beauty couldn't last forever, and soon all four participants collapsed back onto the floor; breathing heavily, intermittently sighing, and basking in the afterglow of their glorious achievements. So relaxed was the mood now, that after only a few minutes, the slow rhythmic breathing which emanated from Melanie's nose, informed Ingrid that her opposite number had drifted off to sleep. And soon she found her eyelids becoming heavy, and she too found herself luxuriating in the arms of Morpheus.

Ingrid craned her neck upwards and checked the clock on the shelf above. Ten minutes to midnight. She and her fellow bondage associates had been helplessly trussed up for over four hours now, and although they'd all enjoyed several bondage-stimulated orgasms together throughout the evening, her mind was troubled. Ok, so it had been a lot of fun being tied up and brought to climax every hour or so, but eventually they had to start thinking of getting themselves free. Anna clearly was in no position to release herself, given the positioning of the key to her shackles. And assuming Lisette and Melanie had been tied to the same extremely high standards as herself, she couldn't really contemplate how either of them could get out of their bonds. So what happened now? Did they have to stay like this until someone found them? And if so, when might that be?

As if reading her thoughts, Melanie opened her eyes at this moment and began to move. At first, Ingrid assumed that this was the start of yet another journey to reach sexual nirvana. But it soon became apparent, from the grimace on her face and the muffled grunts of frustration, that the woman bound in close proximity to her was doing everything within her powers to fashion an escape.

It was a long, drawn out process, and for a while Ingrid was of the opinion that Melanie was going to fail in her aim of getting her hands loose. But after more than twenty minutes of twisting, contorting, straining and generally wriggling around, a cry of triumph slipped from under the leather hood of her partner for the night. Seconds later, Melanie's hands came into view, as she rubbed her clearly rope-marked wrists and tried to get the circulation flowing once more. Then, after a minute or two, with the feeling in her fingers now returned to such a degree that she could once more use them, she began the process of releasing the ropes that had kept her and Ingrid cemented together as one single entity for the past few hours.

With the two now separated, Melanie wasted no hand releasing her other bonds and gingerly got to her feet. Unbuckling the straps and loosening the laces on her hood, she pulled her head covering away and carefully removed the saliva saturated tights from her mouth. She exercised her jaw and winced. But if Ingrid thought that her former conjoined associate would help her out of her own bonds now - or indeed either of the others - she was to be disappointed. Instead, Melanie left the room for a minute or two. When she returned, she carried a tray, on which stood a bottle of red wine - already uncorked - plus three glasses. Placing this down on the table, she poured herself an ample measure and took a long sip.

"Ah, that's better."

She looked across at Anna, whose back was to her, but who had twisted her neck to peer over her shoulder and view her friend.

"You certainly excelled yourself with the rope-work tonight Anna. I thought for a few minutes there that I wasn't going to be able to break loose."

She casually sauntered over to the bookcase, reached up, and retrieved the tiny sliver of steel. Ambling back again in no particular hurry, she studied the key for a second or two, as if unsure of what to do next.

"So as you made me work for my freedom, I think it's only fair to make you do likewise."

She bent down behind Anna's back and placed the key on the carpet, about eighteen inches away from her shoulder blades.

"So there's the key to your freedom. If you can get your hands on it, you can use it. If not...well I guess it'll be a long night for you. "

She stood up to her full height and walked back to the sofa, picking up her wine from the table as she did so. Sitting down, she crossed her legs and lay back to watch the unfolding drama.

Trying to drag yourself across the floor when attached to another person must be, Ingrid surmised, an exhausting task. Having to find a tiny key when you're not sure exactly where it's been placed, and you can't view the area in which your fingers are supposed to be searching, must only multiply the difficulty factor tenfold. And so it proved for Anna. Much to Melanie's amusement, the handcuffed woman spread her fingers wide and fumbled around on the floor for several minutes, before the tip of the little finger of her right hand finally detected the prize she was after. It took another minute or so for her to grip the key in such a manner that she could contort her hand around to reach the bracelet on her left wrist, and an equal length of time to then insert the thin, slender pestle into the equally minute mortar. Turning the release mechanism ninety degrees, the steel circle fell easily away from her wrist.

Anna took the next few minutes to extricate herself from the bonds shared with Lisette, then untie those solely restraining herself. While she did so, Melanie simply poured a second glass of deep red Merlot and, once her friend was completely free, handed it to her. Anna sat down on the sofa next to her reclining cat-suited buddy and sipped her wine. Despite the fact that Melanie had made her road to liberation a lot harder than it should have been, she seemed to bear no grudge, and it struck the observing Ingrid that making life difficult for each other was probably an oft practiced routine; part of their whole ritual, in fact. For a few minutes the two drank their wine, compared notes about the night's events, and generally engaged in good-humoured, bondage related banter. Then Anna sighed.

"Well, I suppose we'd better think about sorting these two out for the night."

She stood up, stretched her arms heavenwards and yawned. Stepping over Ingrid, she ignored her newest recruit and instead addressed Lisette, who, like her still bound fellow captive, had been watching and listening to Anna and Melanie's dialogue for the past few minutes.

"Well Lis, I guess it's time we untied you."

A pathetic whine emerged from Lisette's mouth, letting Anna know that she was unhappy with this suggestion; the implication being that she was content to be left tied up. Anna sought to appease her, however.

"Don't worry though. We've got that nice leather sleep-sack that you so adore, just waiting for you in the bedroom."

By now Melanie had joined Anna beside the severely trussed female. Both knelt down and began releasing Lisette from her ropes, before working the hood away from her head and easing the gag from her mouth. Working as a team, this took no more than a minute or two, and with her limbs now once again under her own control, Lisette stood up and exercised her aching muscles. A mane of blonde hair cascaded in a matted tangle around her neck and shoulders, but her face was a picture of contentment as she uttered the first unhindered words that Ingrid had ever heard from her.

"Wow, it's been an amazing evening. You certainly know how to tie a girl up so that she can't escape."

Without even acknowledging Ingrid's presence, Lisette and Anna sat down on the sofa, whilst Melanie filled the third and final wine glass. She handed this to her recently released friend.

Ever since Melanie had appeared with the tray, a question had been nagging at the back of Ingrid's mind. Why only three glasses? Surely they would share the wine equally between the four of them, just as they'd shared the bondage and sexual indulgences? The thought that perhaps the small tray wasn't big enough to accommodate four large red wine vessels plus the bottle, briefly entered her head, and that one or other of them would need to go back to the kitchen and pick up another glass when it was required. However, the saga of Anna's struggles to attain the handcuff key, followed by the release of Lisette, had ensured that this seemingly trivial consideration had temporarily slipped her mind. Ingrid looked up at the clock once more. It was getting on for quarter to one by now, and whilst the evening had been one of immense excitement, her cramped limbs were beginning to make freedom seem like a welcome alternative to bondage. But as the other three showed no inclination or desire to set her free - in fact ignored her completely - she decided that maybe a gentle reminder of her continued presence in captivity might be in order.

"Could you let me go now please?"

Her request came out, she knew only too well, as an incoherent, garbled drone, unrecognisable as human speech. It also seemed to take the trio of wine drinkers by surprise. For a second or two they glanced at each other, as if only now recalling that a fourth person was in the room. Anna was the first to respond. Sliding off the chair, her spandex covered knees appeared right in Ingrid's line of vision. Slowly, her hand came towards her masked prisoner's face, and she gently began stroking the leather covering in the region of her cheek.

"Sorry for ignoring you Ingrid, but I'm afraid you won't be going anywhere just yet. You see, all new recruits to our group have to go through a prolonged initiation ceremony - to see if they're worthy of becoming a member of our happy band of bondage junkies...And your appraisal takes place tonight."

Being transfixed by Anna's words and shocked by their implications, Ingrid only vaguely took on board that Melanie had left her seat and was busy preparing something behind her. Suddenly, however, she felt herself being rolled from her side onto her stomach. A shriek of shock and anguish filled the air, as Anna's words and Melanie's subsequent actions gelled into a coherent whole; namely that she was not going to be set free right now. Quite the opposite in fact. Briefly, however, the rope that cut onto her wrists was loosened, and for a few seconds Ingrid toyed with the idea that Anna's pronouncements had been in jest, and that she was being released after all.

But it was a false dawn, and within seconds the bond tightened to an even greater degree than before, as it became apparent that this had simply been a scheduled maintenance inspection, in order to make absolutely certain that this particular restraint hadn't developed any slack during the evening. A similar test was applied to her crotch-rope, hoisting this, her most treasured bond, even deeper into her. But that wasn't the end of the matter. For once the efficiency of these two ropes had been brought up to scratch, she found her knees being harshly bent upwards, so that they were as close to her hands as it was physically possible to force them.

"Come on Ingrid, let's see how flexible you are. I'm sure you'll find this new position to your liking. After all, who doesn't enjoy a nice strict hog-tie?"

The connecting of Ingrid's wrist and ankle ropes proved to be a relatively straightforward task for seasoned riggers like Anna and Melanie, and once they'd completed their duties, Ingrid's attempts to straighten out her legs again proved to be beyond her capabilities. Nor was the location of the securing knot to this stringently applied extra bond accessible to her clawing fingers. After watching her squirm for a minute or two, Anna continued in her quest to enlighten the bondage newbie as to the trial ahead.

"So Ingrid, I know from your earlier reactions that you're not averse to a few hours of tight bondage. But the question is, when you're left alone for hours on end, are you really up for the challenge? That's what we need to find out before admitting you as the fourth member of our team. If you're still enthusiastic about becoming involved in our gang tomorrow morning, then you'll have passed the test."

Ingrid's eyes were wide as she looked up at Anna's smug, grinning face. But Melanie passing something to the woman kneeling directly in front of her was the last thing to impinge upon her retinas for the foreseeable future.

The thick leather strap that covered her eyes and was then swiftly buckled tightly at the rear of her head, was the catalyst for a prolonged bout of struggling, bucking and writhing from the now severely vexed Ingrid. Ok, so she'd been content to stay bound whilst the others had been restrained, but it appeared now that she was about to be abandoned and left in darkness for the rest of the night. And the contemplation of this sent wave after wave of fear shooting through her. Anna, however, seemed unwilling to show her any compassion or mercy.

"The blindfold is just to deter you from developing a case of wanderlust during the night. Hope you don't mind. Now get some sleep and we'll see you in the morning."

The sound of footsteps crossing the room in the general direction of the door followed, and Ingrid guessed that she was about to be left to her own devices. But as they were taking their leave, Anna addressed her captive one final time.

"Oh, by the way Ingrid, I may have been a little lenient with the truth just a few minutes ago. You are undergoing an initiation test, as I told you, but it doesn't end in the morning. In fact, to make sure you're the sort of person we want in our bondage circle, you need to be tied up all weekend..."

As if to emphasise the timescale, she spelt it out to her stunned visitor.

"...That's right, forty eight hours of varied but continual bondage should tell us all we need to know. Don't worry though, we'll look after you. And there will be plenty of games that we can play to keep you from getting bored."

Shocked into momentary silence, through the leather covering of her hood Ingrid detected the faint sound of lights being switched off, then the slightly louder closing of the door. The final voice she heard, just as the door shut, was Melanie reassuring Lisette that she would soon be all snugly and securely strapped into her favourite sleep-sack. And then there was only silence.

The shutting of the door seemed to rouse Ingrid from her daze. For a few seconds she panicked, thrashing wildly in the strict hog-tie. This she supplemented by screaming as loudly as she could into her gag. The message she tried to convey to her now departed captors, was that there were people who would soon realise that she was missing, and that those people would come looking for her.

But who was she trying to fool? A stranger in a new town, living alone in a bedsit, with no friends or family to raise the alarm when she didn't show up? She knew her words to be untrue, and she felt certain that Anna knew it too.

So what was she to do? Lie still feeling morose and frightened until Anna and her cronies saw fit to release her? Or make the most of the situation she found herself in? For despite the horror of the last few minutes, the memory of what had gone before was still ultra-clear in her memory. And those memories were ones that she would treasure forever, which therefore over-rode the thought of any prospective hardship to come in the near future.

Looping her fingers through the rope that dug deeply into her butt-crack, Ingrid gently jerked on the taut ligature. Immediately, a bolt of energy shot through her; the opening salvo in what she knew would be -if she continued along these lines - another truly fantastic bondage-induced orgasm.

As she rose to the challenge, Ingrid contemplated with a sense of growing glee the games that Anna had promised her in the days ahead. And the anticipation of these unknown yet deliciously enticing pursuits simple spurred her on to greater heights. If this really was an initiation ceremony to find out if she was the right sort to join this merry band of female bondage obsessives... then she was determined to pass those tests with flying colours.