The tyres of the taxi crunched up the gravel drive and came to rest at the front of the house, As the three exited, Shadow felt her eyes drawn upwards to the night’s sky, it was one of those fresh cloudless nights that were sprinkled with stars… she breathed in a great lungful of the clear air, allowing it to purge through her and refresh her senses,<br/><br/>Thorn opened the door to their home and with a smile gestured Stine to enter.  This he did, his face etched in curiosity when he caught sight of the inside of the house… as impressive as it was on the outside, its discreet grandeur inside had often caught the eyes of visitors… one of the last pleasant sights that they had unless they had the good fortune to share Thorn’s and Shadow’s bed beforehand.<br/><br/>“Of course one of the benefits of being ‘moneyed’ is the advantage of being able to afford some of the most cutting edge ‘bondage equipment’ and of course… some of it has been custom made especially with our intentions in mind.”  Thorn smiled as she<br/>spoke and slipped of her jacket and lay it across the stair banister.  Shadow closed the door and watched as Thorn triggered the door beneath the grand staircase… with a soft sound the dark heart of the house opened to them and the lights began to trail into the darkness.  The lights gently flickered on and chased the darkness away from the young man that lay strapped so tightly against cold surface of the steel table.  There came a gasping from him as the bright light above the table momentarily blinded his vision.<br/><br/>They made their way down the stairs… Thorn leading the way, Stine following her closely… Shadow paused to secure the door to the basement and followed them down.  She screwed her nose up as she neared the bottom of the stairs, already the air seemed stung with the scent of urine, likely he had woken and in the dark his mind had conjured up all sorts of fearsome spectres of the position he know found himself in<br/><br/>Shadow slipped close to Stine… her voice a whisper as she gently spoke… “Now remember what Thorn spoke of, what you will see will be things that push at the boundaries of human endurance… but so broad is the spectrum of BDSM.  He has a ‘safe word’.” Her eyes flicked at Thorn’s with a grin… “when he uses it, then we stop…all perfectly safe…”  Shadow’s hand lingered a little on his shoulder as she began to move towards the prone figure strapped to the table…<br/>