“I know, Master, I’m sorry. I’m just scared.”

He took her into his arms, feeling her heart pumping against her chest, beating into his, practically throwing his own heart off its normal rhythm.

“Get on the table, on your stomach,” he whispered, pressing a kiss to her temple.

He went to the wall, expecting she’d do as he’d asked and selected a couple of the less scary items: the flogger and the paddle. Then he went to the toy box to retrieve the last coil of fresh rope.

When he returned, she was on her stomach on the padded table, shivering with her eyes squeezed shut. Leo dragged the thick blanket off the bed. He made it snug around her torso as if she were being tucked in for the night. Her eyes remained closed, but were squeezed less tightly. He took a knife from a drawer and began to cut lengths of rope, knowing exactly how long each should be.

The endless metal rings attached to the table, allowed for extensive and intricate rope bondage in all imaginable positions, but he was content to tie her down in a standard spread eagle. It was convenient and secure, while being the least distressing form of bondage he could use to start. Tying her down wasn’t just about his own pleasure, but for her safety.

If the ropes hadn’t kept him so tightly bound in place when Esmeralda had whipped him, he could have moved in such a way that the whip would have injured him much more severely than it already had. He didn’t plan on doing anything that sadistic and cruel to Faith, but it was safer for her to stay as still as possible so he could strike the places he intended and nothing else.

He changed the record to something more peaceful: Chopin. The first piece was the third Nocturne for piano. He left the player on repeat and went back to the box for massage oil and a few pleasurable toys, as well as a blindfold. If he intended to train her to want what he wanted, he must make sure that all pain came with a sharp dose of pleasure so the lines would blur and she wouldn’t know which she was getting. Her body would eventually respond to both.

It wouldn’t matter how she was wired or what her brain wanted. He could remap that, reprogram it to his liking so that her body did what he wanted it to do. She’d be aroused and ready when he demanded.

Leo didn’t anticipate she’d open her eyes, but he wanted to be sure. She let out a soft, almost begging whimper as he tied the blindfold around her head, but she didn’t seek to remove it.

He gently took one arm and then the other, and looped the rope through the metal, tying her arms so they were stretched over her head in a V. Then he repeated the process with her legs. She was still covered with the blanket. He let her lie like that for a few moments as he carefully stroked her back through the fabric.