by Van ©2010
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		Chapter 5
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THAT NIGHT
DELFINA'S BEDROOM

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Delfina stared up at the underside of the mosquito netting.  Pale moonlight was shining through the open windows and she could just make out the rosette of pleats where the canopy came together at the apex.  Another fun day at Seaglass, she mused.  She's been left to "languish" on the porch for what turned out to be two hours... as a helpless mummy... wrapped from neck to toe in a towel and no less than four sheets... strapped down to the table... something silky and large stuffed in her mouth... her eyes covered with cucumber slices and a sleep-mask... earbuds droning New Age muzak in her ears... her entire head tightly wrapped in some sort of tight, clinging bandage-tape... helpless...

Del's hands were between her legs, slowly, languidly caressing her pussy.  She was naked under the sheet and blanket pulled up to cover her breasts... like she slept at home... like she'd slept her two previous nights as Christina's guest.

It seemed like it was longer, she thought, much longer than two hours... but that's all it turned out to be... two... endless... hours.  At first, she'd tried her best to escape, but that was clearly impossible.  Then, she'd tried to slide her hands under the wrappings and towards her crotch, but that turned out to be as elusive a goal as slithering her way to actual freedom.  Her arms remained pinned to her sides with her palms flat against her outer thighs.  She could slide them around a little, mostly because it was skin-on-skin and there was some lubricating sweat... but only a little.

It had been trivially easy to pretend she was a Terrified Kidnap Victim.  In fact, at the beginning—when she was first strapped down, gagged, her head wrapped, and her total inability to resist made instantly clear—her terror had been genuine!  Okay, not really, but just for a few seconds there... Wow!

Delfina's hands continued to slide against her labia.  She was taking her time.  There was no need to rush.  After all... she was wrapped up tight and helpless (pretending to be, anyway)... just like she was this morning, and she wasn't going anywhere... only this time, her hands were where they could do her some good... but she could barely move, and she was helpless, and her kidnapper...  (Was it Polly?  No, this time it was Christina!)  Her kidnapper could do anything she wanted to do to her, and—

Suddenly, there was a quiet knock at the bedroom door, immediately followed by the barely audible squeak of the door's hinges!

"Del, are you awake?"

It was Christina's whispered voice.

"Uh, yeah," Del whispered back.

Christina's shadowy form crossed the dark room and approached the bed.  Thanks to her dark-adapted eyes and the moonlight from the open windows, and despite the gauzy barrier of the mosquito netting, Del could see that her hostess was wearing a long, cotton robe, cinched at the waist.

"Mind if I come in?" Christina asked.  "I'd like to talk."

Del was a little flustered, having been interrupted in the process of... relaxing, but it didn't show (she hoped).  "Yeah, sure," she answered, and started to sit up.

Christina parted the mosquito net and sat on the bed.  "No, no, lay back," she said, then leaned to the side, towards the bedside table.

"Okay," Delfina answered, and settled back.  Her hands were clutching the edge of the covers, making sure they remained where they were and preserved her modesty, not that it really mattered.  There was a click, and the glass globe of the lantern light on the nightstand began to glow.  Oh, it's a nightlight, too, Del realized.  Christina faced her and smiled, and Delfina smiled back.  Christina's forty-something face was exquisite in the soft, orange-yellow light—but then, Chris was gorgeous in any light.

"I wanted to talk some more about today," Christina said.  "Tell me, again, how it felt to be a kidnapped mummy."

"Terrifying!" Delfina answered—but she was still smiling, so Chris knew she wasn't totally serious.  An involuntary shiver rippled up her spine.  "I was so helpless."

"Are you beginning to appreciate the importance of the time dimension with respect to this sort of thing?" Christina asked.

Delfina nodded.  "Yeah."  (The shiver returned.)  "After a while, you realize just how helpless you really are.  I mean, not like at first.  It's one thing to try and get free and to find you can't, but then..."  She smiled.  "Some writer I am."

Christina chuckled.  "Impotent, defenseless, sequestered."

Delfina grinned.  "See also vulnerable and pregnable."

Christina reached out and caressed Delfina's tousled hair, lifting a tangled strand and easing it away from her face.  "As your mentor and guide in such matters, I believe it's time for us to take things to a new level."

That pesky thrill reasserted itself.  "New level?"

"Wait here," Christina said, and patted Delfina's bare shoulder.  "I have to get some things."  She stood and left the bedroom; but returned, almost immediately.  Apparently, the "things" had been in the hallway, just outside Delfina's door, and consisted of several coils of white rope that glimmered in the dim light.  "Five-sixteenths, solid-braid nylon," Chris explained, dropping all but one coil on the floor.  She sat on the bed, again, and smiled at Delfina.  "Left hand," she purred.

Delfina paused... then, swallowed nervously (a little nervously), and presented her hand as requested (as ordered).

"This is my own take on the 'Two Knotty Boys' repertoire," Christina said, and began wrapping loops of doubled rope around her student's wrist.

"Two who?" Delfina inquired, watching with interest as the rope slithered and slid.

"You can Google them, later," Delfina chuckled.  "They have some videos up on YouTube.  I like combining their 'rope shackle' with the 'flogging cuff'."

Delfina's eyes popped wide.  "Flogging?"

Christina smiled.  "I love it when you do that.  Don't worry.  There will be no flogging... not tonight."

Delfina watched as Christina continued wrapping the rope and forming and compacting loops into what Del considered to be very pretty knots.  A half-dozen doubled bands had already encircled her wrist before the first knot was tied, and now Christina was looping rope across the palm of her hand, across her "life-line".  A series of hitches were looped and tightened, then Christine stretched the remaining, still very long free ends of the rope around the left post of the headboard and tied a quick-release knot.

"Pull on that," Christina suggested, and Delfina did so.  "If I tied things correctly," she said, "you'll find the knots in your hand will do all of the tightening and compacting.  You should be able to pull on that all you want, for however long you want, and the loops around your wrist and hand won't tighten and bite your skin."

"Yeah," Delfina agreed, tugging on the rope.  "I see what you mean."  She could feel the knot clutched in her hand compact and twist as she pulled, but the loops that comprised the rest of the bondage were simply... there.

"Still totally inescapable, of course," Christina said as she walked around the bed to the right side.  "No way you can pull or wiggle your way free."  She pulled back the netting, sat, and began binding Delfina's right wrist and hand.

Of course Delfina offered no resistance.  She was still a little nervous (anxious, excited, see also aroused) but this was a game... another exercise... more instruction.  She watched in silence as the same rather involved process was used to bind her right wrist and hand.  In perfect symmetry, the free ends were looped around the right headboard post and another quick release knot was tied.  Del tugged on both ropes, and knew herself to be helpless.

Christina produced a third coil of rope and moved to the foot of the bed.  She reached under the edge of the top sheet and blanket and gently pulled Delfina's right foot from under the covers.

"Hey!" Delfina objected.  Her concern was modesty.  The covers had slipped down a few inches, exposing her nipples.

"Don't worry," Christina chuckled.  "I'll tuck you back in when I've finished lashing you down."

"How reassuring," Delfina muttered.  She could feel a blush coloring her cheeks, and hoped it wasn't noticeable in the dim light.

"This is just a simple rope shackle," Christina explained as she took a half-dozen doubled turns around Delfina's ankle, tied another elaborate knot, then tied the free ends to the right post of the foot-board.  This time she didn't use a quick-release knot, but tied a clove-hitch, followed by two half-hitches.  She walked around the bed and did the same to Del's left ankle.  "There," she said, as she restored the bottom half of the top sheet and blanket, covering Del's feet.  The ends of the ankle ropes now emerged from the rumpled covers and stretched to the posts on either side.  She then sat on the right side of the bed and pulled the sheet and blanket up to cover Delfina's breasts.  "Try and touch your nose," she ordered.

"Uh, why?" Delfina asked.

Christina smiled.  "Just do it for me, please?  As a favor for your Dastardly Kidnapper?"

"I'll try," Delfina sighed, and did so.  There was slack in her bonds, but her groping, fluttering fingers couldn't come within a foot of her face.

"No, silly," Christina chuckled, "really try.  Use all your strength and stretch your entire body."  Her smile turned slightly wicked.  "If you'd like, I can tickle your ribs, for motivation."

"No!" Delfina gasped, with a nervous grin, and followed her captor's orders by straining to reach her nose with her fingers.  She stretched her body until her ankle bonds were rigid and taut, craned her neck, and flexed her arm.  This shortened the fingers-to-nose gap to perhaps eight inches, but that was all.  She struggled and strained... then flopped back down.  "No can do," she sighed, and locked eyes with Christina.  "And you're right about the ropes not tightening."

Christina nodded.  "One last rope lesson," she said, and released the loop of the quick-release knot securing the right wrist rope.  After removing about two inches of slack, she retied the doubled rope using a clove-hitch, then knelt and tied another knot around the foot of the headboard, down near the floor.  "I know you can't see what I'm doing," she said, "so I'll explain."  She walked around the bed and retied the left rope in the same manner.  "A clove-hitch," she said, pointing at the knot around the post.  She then pointed towards the floor, "and the final, key knot, the knot which must be untied before you can loosen your bonds and wiggle your way out, is two half-hitches, waaaay down near the floor, where you can't possibly reach it."

Delfina's nipples were exposed, again, so Christina restored the covers.  Smiling sweetly, she sat back down and gently combed Delfina's hair away from her face, again.  "So, the Billionaire's Daughter is safely squirreled away in her Kidnappers' secret lair, bound and helpless... and completely at their mercy."

Another thrill manifested itself, and this time it emanated from between Delfina's legs.  She clutched the braided knots in her hands and tugged on her bonds.  Helpless...  Christina's robe was gaping, slightly, as she leaned across Del's body, and the "Billionaire's Daughter" was afforded a peek at the top halves of her beautiful " Kidnapper's" breasts, with a fleeting glimpse of one nipple.  Delfina's eyes darted back to Christina's face, and she noted the coy smile twisting her captor's lips.  Did she notice? Del wondered.  She felt a blush warm her cheeks.
 
Christina reached into the pocket of her robe and produced a roll of flesh-colored tape and a pair of nurse's bandage scissors.  "The final element of tonight's lesson," she purred, and held up the roll.  "Three-inch Elastoplast, the modern version of what the Brit's used to call 'sticking plaster'."  She pulled a generous length from the roll, perhaps nine inches, then used the scissors to snip it free.  "It's hypoallergenic, and adheres to skin like crazy.  The best material for a tape-gag there is, in my opinion, in terms of function and aesthetics."

"Y-you're going to gag me?" Delfina gasped, then felt her blush deepen.  "Of course you are," she muttered.  "What self-respecting kidnapper doesn't gag her victim?"

"No stuffing this time," Christina grinned, "just the tape.  Lips together, please."

Del swallowed, then held her head still.  Still smiling, Christina stretched the tape between her two hands, pressed it over Del's mouth, then used her fingers and palms to smooth it down.

"I just love this stuff," Christina purred, continuing to smooth the tape.  "I can see the outline of your lips in full detail.  Beautiful."  She straightened Del's hair, again, then sat back and smiled, gazing into her prisoner's eyes.  "I'll make sure you get a good look in the mirror before I peel it off... in the morning."

Delfina squirmed and weakly tugged on her bonds.  In the morning?  All night?  This wasn't really a surprise.  She wasn't stupid, there had been that talk of a "new level" and time—but there it was, out in the open.  And I let her do it... I let her tie me to the bed.

Christina gazed down at Delfina for several seconds, letting her student and captive explore her situation.  "Okay, Del," she said, finally, "your homework assignment is... nothing."

Delfina's eyebrows rose in mild surprise.  "Nrrr?"

"That's right," Christina said, with a coy smile.  "Nothing."  She stood, leaned down, and tucked the top fold of the covers between the mattress and box-spring.  "Imagine anything you like," she said, as she walked around the bed to the other side.  "Pretend anything you want."  She pulled the covers taut, then tucked in the edges, making it nice and tight.  The top folds of the sheet and blanket now pressed down, almost like one of the cargo straps that had pinned Del's mummified form to the table out on the porch, this morning.

Christine walked around the bed, again, this time tying back the mosquito netting at all four corners as she went.  She then smiled down at Delfina's spreadeagled, tape-gagged form.  "Fantasy and imagination are irrelevant.  You're my prisoner—for real.  This is the only sure way for you to fully appreciate the mindset of the damsel-in-distress, Delfina, so I've decided to kidnap you, for real."

Del watched her hostess—her kidnapper—turn and stroll through the bedroom door.  She's kidding, of course, she reassured herself.  She's just helping me get into the exercise.  The door closed, and Delfina heard a key turn.  Del blinked in surprise.  She hadn't realized her bedroom door had a lock.  She hadn't noticed.

She tugged on her bonds and squirmed under the covers.  Helpless... kidnapped... bound and gagged...  The thrill returned, again, and Del was very much aware that there was nothing she could do about it, not with respect to "tension relief".  The lantern nightlight was still glowing.  She glanced around the bedroom.  The gauzy drapes of the open windows were stirring in the gentle ocean breeze.  Her travel alarm was on the nightstand, next to the nightlight; however, probably when Christina had turned on the light, the clock had fallen on its face, rendering it useless as a timepiece.  She guessed it was about eleven... possibly eleven-thirty.

Delfina lay back and tried to relax (ignoring the frisson of arousal quivering through her pussy, again).

Fantasy, she mused.  I'm a kidnapped billionaire's daughter... a bound and gagged prisoner in an isolated beach house, miles from nowhere... helpless.

She turned her head and gazed at the tight (but comfortable) loops of white rope binding her right wrist and hand.  She opened and closed her hand around the knots, then tugged on the rope.  The twin strands of braided nylon snapped taut, and held.  Her biceps and forearm muscles tensed, but the rope defeated her efforts with trivial ease.

Reality—I'm a kidnapped, bound and gagged prisoner in an isolated beach house, miles from nowhere... helpless.

She pulled on all four elements of her bonds with all her strength—straining for several seconds—then relaxed.  All she accomplished was a slight slackening in the doubled band of the covers across her breasts.

Helpless...

Christina eased open her bedroom door, quietly crossed the threshold, then eased the door closed, behind her.  She turned to face the bed... and smiled.  "Oh, you're awake," she chuckled.

"Of course," Polly muttered, and the little blonde was, indeed awake.  She was lying on her back on the bed, naked, with her hands behind her head.  Other than the moonlight from the two open windows, the only light in the room was from the glowing TV.

Christina walked to the bed, then turned to gaze at the TV.  On the screen, Delfina was spreadeagled to her bed with a strip of Elastoplast covering her mouth, captured by Christina and the tiny camera hidden in the guest bedroom's ventilation duct.  As Christina and Polly watched, the captive tested her bonds.  The image was dark and a little grainy, but the nightlight on the nightstand shed enough light for their purpose, to allow Del's "kidnappers" to monitor their prisoner.

Christina focused on her protege.  "Have you been a good girl and kept your hands in you hair, like I told you to?"

"Yes, I've been a good girl," Polly huffed.  "The back of my head is the only thing I've been touching."

"Good," Christina purred, then opened her robe and let it drop to the floor.  She was now as naked as Polly.  "Fold your arms behind your back and cup your elbows with your hands," she ordered, and "scoot over."

Polly sighed and followed her Mistress' orders.  Christina lay on the bed and snuggled close to the diminutive blonde.

"I don't know why you're being so mean," Polly muttered.

Christine snaked one arm behind Polly's shoulders and used her other hand to straighten the pouting blonde's hair.  "You know why, silly," she chuckled, "so you'll be in the proper mood for what lies ahead."

"You're still being mean," Polly said.  "If you weren't makin' such a big freakin' deal about it—Mrrmpfh!"

Christina's hand was now off Polly's shoulder and tightly clamped over her mouth.  "Shhh, quiet, Little Bit," she cooed, and caressed Polly's left breast with her other hand.  "Keep clutching those elbows, and I want you to cross your ankles and point your toes."

Polly whined in protest through her mentor's hand-gag, but followed her orders.  Christina's free hand wandered over Polly's upper body, squeezing her breasts, massaging her taut nipples, and slowly making its way to her lower tummy.

"We'll let Delfina simmer for an hour," Christina whispered, "while we watch, and while you simmer."  Her hand slid between Polly's legs and gently caressed her labia—and Polly whined, again.  "Don't cum, Little Bit," Christina warned.  "No matter what I do, don't cum."

Both pair of eyes were on the screen.  Delfina was slowly writhing in her bonds... helpless... kidnapped.

Polly whined, again.  Christina's hand had left her crotch and was gliding over her flat tummy.

"Be strong, Little Bit," Christina purred.  "Be strong, and think about what you're gonna do to Del... in one hour."

Polly shivered in her self-imposed immobility, and stared at the screen.  Del had stopped her pointless struggles and her eyes were now closed.  Apparently, she'd given up pretending she had any chance of escape and had decided to get some shuteye.  Sleep while you can, Del-licious, Polly mused, and shivered, again.  Christina's hand was back between her legs, teasing her labia.

It was going to be a long hour.

Delfina opened her eyes.  She'd finally managed to doze off, after a fashion... but something had woken her up.  She squirmed in her bonds, testing them yet again, but without any real hope of getting free.  She just needed to move.  She was coming to realize that the major downside of being kidnapped and tied to a bed, aside from total loss of control of every aspect of her life, was not being able to roll over onto her side.

So, what woke me up? she wondered, then her eyes popped wide.  Oh!

Polly had stepped from the shadows and was smiling down at her.  The little blonde was wearing a long robe, and from the way it draped her diminutive frame, Del suspected it might be the very same robe Christina had been wearing when she lashed her to the bed.

"So... she really did it," Polly purred, an evil smile on her pixie face.  "Christina tied you to your bed."  She leaned forward and ran her hand across the sheet and blanket folds covering Delfina's breasts.  "This is too good an opportunity to let pass."

Delfina wasn't sure how she should react.  For one thing, if she tried anything subtle, the tape plastered over her mouth might confuse the signal she was trying to send.  Nonchalant indifference?  Might come across as flirtation.  Angry defiance?  Too theatrical.  Might seem... shallow.  Smiling (tape-gagged smiling) and going along with the game?  Waaaaay too much chance of sending some sort of go-signal.  After all, Polly was the "Mad Bomber" with the magic wand (vibrator) who had "blown her up", yesterday.

Polly upped the ante by taking hold of the covers and slowly pulling them away, exposing all of Del's spreadeagled body!  The tiny intruder then stood, stripped the top-sheet and blanket completely from the bed, bundled them up, and tossed them away into the darkness.

This made up Delfina's mind for her, or rather, caused her instincts to take charge.  The captive squirmed, pulled on her bonds, mewled through her gag, and glared at Polly with wide, frightened eyes.

"Don't play coy," Polly chuckled.  She sat down on the bed, again, and began sliding her right hand over Del's flat tummy.  The prisoner shivered and tried to squirm away, without success.  "I've already given you a full-body massage," Polly purred.  "This morning, remember?  Your smooth, tan skin and I have already met."

Delfina tried to assert herself.  "Mrrrf!"  She tugged on her bonds, again, and locked eyes with the grinning blonde.

"Keep it down, please," Polly chuckled, then leaned close and ran her fingers through Delfina's hair.  "The walls are all more or less soundproof, and the doors are thick and solid, both yours and Christina's, and both are closed... at least, Christina's was closed when I tiptoed down the hall."  She continued combing Delfina's hair with her fingers, smoothing it away from her face.  "There's no way Chris will hear you, no matter how you try and scream through that pathetic gag.  But, I want you to keep quiet for me, okay?"

Delfina tried glaring a display of outraged defiance, but wasn't at all sure she was carrying it off... not very well, anyway.

Polly's smiled turned chillingly sinister.  "And just in case you need motivation..."  She seized Delfina's nose and pinched the nostrils closed!

Del squirmed and thrashed, but found her attempts to scream through her gag—and to breathe—were totally ineffective!  The only sound in the room was the quiet thump of her body against the mattress as she struggled and thrashed.

"Three... two... one," Polly whispered, and released her hold.

Delfina expelled the stale air from her lungs, then drew in fresh.  Her heart was pounding and her breasts heaving.

"Do you get the idea?" Polly purred, and Delfina frantically nodded.  "Good."  Polly returned to stroking her captive's abdomen.  "Struggle and move all you want.  You won't escape from Christina's ropes, believe me.  When Chris ties you up... you stay tied up.  Anyway, struggle all you want, I enjoy watching you struggle.  But no noise."

Delfina tried a defiant glare, again, but abandoned the attempt when Polly's hand slid lower and brushed against her labia.  "Mrrf!"

"Shhh," Polly whispered, as she began a gentle massage of Del's pussy.  "I have two hands, remember.  I can reach your nose and down here."

Delfina went rigid in her bonds, and squeezed her eyes tightly closed.  She was trying to squeeze her thighs together, as well, but the ankle ropes wouldn't let her.

Polly continued her gentle massage.  "You're so beautiful, like this," she cooed, then withdrew her hand, and stood.

Delfina opened her eyes and she focused on Polly.  The little blonde was removing her robe—Christina's borrowed robe.  Smiling sweetly, she let it fall to the floor.  Polly was wearing nothing, underneath.  She climbed on the bed and lay against Delfina's spreadeagled form.

"So beautiful," Polly whispered, and resumed teasing Delfina's labia.  "Bound and gagged... kidnapped... naked...  so beautiful."

Delfina squirmed and shivered.  She was becoming increasingly wet.  She couldn't help it.

"Remember," Polly whispered in her ear.  "Wiggle all you want, but no noise... not even when I make you cum.  No noise."

Del was panting through her nostrils and rocking her thighs against Polly's hand—that wicked, evil, wonderful hand.  She was trying to escape, of course, not reacting to being frigged by a tiny, devilishly cute, blond kidnapper—and certainly not cooperating or encouraging the little demon's efforts to make her cum.  Not that it mattered... not that she had any control of the situation... not that she could prevent Polly from doing what she was doing... and doing... and doing!

"Like a bunny, Del," Polly whispered, kissing the writhing prisoner's ear and licking the side of her neck.  "I'm going to make you cum like a crazy little bunny, over and over."

Delfina squeezed her eyes closed, again—and eventually—she came.  She may have been whining through her gag, but she wasn't sure.  It may have just been the buzzing in her head—as her vagina quivered and waves of unendurable pleasure rippled through her body—unendurable unless you happen to be tied down and gagged and have no choice but to endure.

"That's one," Polly chuckled, and kissed Del's cheek.  "I see no need to keep an actual count, of course.  Once we get up around ten or twelve, it'll probably be too difficult to tell the mini-gasms from the multi-gasms, anyway.  And we'll both be waaay beyond caring."

Delfina panted and tugged on both wrist bonds.  The ropes snapped taut and the knots in her closed hands tightened, but her bonds held, as always. Oh, god! she thought.  The little fiend!  Polly's hand was moving again.

"Let's try another finger-fiddle, shall we?" Polly whispered.  "And then... for round three... I'll show you some of the things Christina's taught me to do with my tongue."

Oh, god! Del thought, and squeezed her eyes closed, again.

Christina was on her back, on her bed, with her head and shoulders comfortably cushioned by a pile of pillows.  Her eyes were focused on the TV across the dark room.  She couldn't follow all of what Polly was doing to Delfina.  The light in the guestroom was too dim.  Maybe I should upgrade my cameras, she thought, the one in that room, anyway.  She could see enough, that was for sure.  Polly's having herself a ball!  Christina chuckled.  Inappropriate choice of words, gender-wise.  Polly's having herself a pussy?  No, too precious.  Polly's having a good time.  That'll have to do.  Her smile broadened.  And it certainly seems to be doing it for Del!

Christina reflected that her position mirrored Del's, with the exception of her arms and hands.  Of course, there were no ropes tying her to her bed, and no Elastoplast gag, and her pussy was being stroked by her own fingers, as opposed to Polly's tongue.  Christina never allowed herself to be bound and gagged.  That was Polly's role at Seaglass... and now... Delfina's.

It wasn't like Christina had never been on the receiving end of the damsel-in-distress dynamic, but it had been many years since she'd felt ropes binding her body... and she liked it that way.  She liked being on top.

At the moment, Polly was between Delfina's legs, again, and was giving her pussy a tongue lashing... another tongue lashing.  They'd been at it for more than an hour, and Christina was impressed, with both her protege's and Del's stamina.  She noted that Polly no longer needed to use her hands to hold Delfina's thighs apart, but the Kidnap Victim was still tugging on her bonds and sliding the heels of her bound feet against the taut sheet.  Del probably doesn't even realize she's 'cooperating', Christina thought, a wry smile curling her lips as she worked her own pussy.  She probably doesn't even know she's splaying her knees and making things easier for Polly's tongue.  This is going well.

Christina continued stroking her labia, and mentally reviewed her plans for the next day.  Tomorrow would be crucial—the point of no return for herself and her protege—and the defining moment of Delfina's odyssey.

So beautiful, Christina mused as she stared at the screen, both of them.  Sooo beautiful.