Their play date with Jennifer had several effects on Cole and Monica. The first was an increase in libido, which kept them extremely active in the bedroom. The second was a realization that dominance and submission was truly the key to their sexuality. Monica's inability to feel submissive was rapidly becoming a crisis. Something vitally important was missing from her life. She envied Jennifer's ability to submit and experience the erotic depths that Monica could only remember now from her past.

Cole could feel her deep distress and was somewhat disturbed himself, since the play with Jennifer had reminded him of his need for sexual dominance. His love for Monica, however, was not in question. They had bonded with each other in a way that was more important than their sexual preferences.

As Fall turned into Winter, they fell into a routine of leaving for work at the same time and coming home to each other every evening. With access to a large kitchen, Monica developed her natural cooking skills and prepared healthy gourmet dinners on nights when they weren't going out to foreign films and unusual restaurants. She joined the same athletic club where Cole worked out and continued to maintain her devastating figure.

Monica continued her friendship with Jennifer, who would occasionally join them for dinner at home or in the city. Unfortunately, Monica began to feel a bit threatened by Jennifer, who had reminded Cole of how much he desired dominant sexual play. No further play dates were scheduled, but the idea was left open for possible future discussion.

They continued to discuss ways to help Monica regain her submissiveness. In early December, they found out about an SM play party that was going to be held on New Year's Eve. This was to be a pan-sexual event and about one hundred and fifty tickets were available. Monica had never been to a pan-sexual play party and was immediately curious. Her reassuring experience at the meeting of the local SM club made her feel better about attending kinky public events. They decided that exposure to a group of happy, playful sadomasochists certainly couldn't hurt Monica's chances for recovery.

A few days after hearing about the party, Cole had a long lunch with a dominant friend who was currently without a partner. They met in an Italian restaurant that was an old favorite for them both. Jason Lederman was a 32 year old CPA who had been active in the Seattle scene since the time that Cole was heavily involved. He was medium height with a slender build and long prematurely gray hair that women loved. At play parties, he needed only to wear his sexy black leather outfit and he would be deluged with play offers from numerous women and several men.

Jason explained that he was tired of the musical partner game that was standard in the scene. He estimated that he had averaged one serious partner every six months for the past five years. He was ready to settle down with one woman and was even ready to consider marriage. Unfortunately, after playing with some of Seattle's most desirable kinky women, his tastes had become somewhat jaded.

With the aid of a nice bottle of Chianti and plates of excellent Tagliatelle alla Bolognese, they analyzed Jason's past partners and constructed an imaginary woman who would fill his needs. As they went along, Jason wrote down the list of characteristics on a paper napkin.

She needed to be reasonably intelligent and physically attractive. In fact, she had to be drop dead gorgeous. Hair color was not important. He liked petite women with long hair and a nice tan or a naturally dark complexion. Most of all, she had to be sexually submissive. It would be nice if she were already in the scene, but Jason was sure he had checked out every eligible woman in the Seattle scene as well as in Portland and Vancouver, BC.

Holding up his wineglass and looking through the ruby liquid, Cole decided that Jennifer might be just the person that Jason was looking for.

"Jason, I think I might be able to help, but it's going to cost you."

"Tell me what it's going to cost me first. I know better than to trust a lawyer," Jason said, grinning broadly.

"Here's the deal. I'll introduce you to someone who meets the description that you have written on that napkin. If you hit it off and stay together for a month, then you buy us both front row tickets to a Sonic's game and all the beer we can drink. How does that sound?"

"You gotta deal, shyster. When do I meet Miss Perfect?"

"Not so fast, bean counter. You need to get to know her a little first. Why don't I give her your email address and you can see if you're compatible first? If you decide to meet each other, Monica and I will act as chaperones so that Miss Perfect will feel safe."

They shook hands to seal their agreement and they both went back to work. Cole wasn't able to accomplish anything useful after drinking three glasses of wine, so he went home an hour early to relax and wait for Monica. He was quite pleased with himself. As much as they both liked Jennifer, she needed more time and attention than they were able to give. He wanted more time to devote to his relationship with Monica. If Jennifer and Jason's relationship flourished, they would make an excellent pair of kinky couple-friends to go out with or stay in with.

When Monica arrived at home, carrying two large bags of groceries, he explained his plan for Jason and Jennifer. She thought it sounded promising enough to contact Jennifer, so they wrote her an email which included Cole's glowing description of Jason and his dominant talents. They sent it to Jennifer and logged off to pursue their usual evening activities, dinner and sex.

Monica went to the kitchen and prepared an elaborate Mexican dinner that filled the house with the wonderful spicy smells of cumin and cilantro. Later, in bed, Monica struggled to let her submissiveness return, but again she failed. Instead of having sex, they lay together in bed and snuggled quietly until she fell asleep. Cole played with her beautiful brown hair and ran his hand along her warm curves until sleep overcame him too.

Jennifer and Jason warmed up to each other immediately. They traded D/S fantasy stories and talked about their ideal relationship in a veritable flood of email. Within a week they knew they had to meet. Monica was getting frequent updates from Jennifer and Cole was kept informed by Jason. It was Monica's idea for the two potential lovers to meet for the first time at the New Year's Eve party. Fortunately, Jason had purchased a pair of tickets when they first went on sale, so he had an extra one for Jennifer.

Cole and Monica concocted a plan to present Jennifer to her new friend in the most dramatic way. Jennifer would attend the party as their submissive. At the height of the party, she would be handed over to Jason who would no doubt be in his most dominant headspace. They decided to keep a few small details from Jennifer to heighten the dramatic effect.

Hearing of the plan from Monica, Jennifer responded, "Oh, man. That's so hot! You got the idea from that fantasy I told you about last year, didn't you?"

"Mmm... maybe," Monica grinned slyly, "You'll do it then?"

"You knew I would, Monica. How could I resist?" she asked emphatically.

On New Year's Eve, Cole and Monica picked up Jennifer at her place and drove through the dark Seattle streets to the site of the party. Cole was dressed in a black tuxedo with black tie that he traditionally wore on New Year's Eve. Somehow, it seemed quite appropriate at play parties. Monica was wearing a black leather jacket over a black corset, black stockings and four inch black heels. Cole's silver police handcuffs dangled at her waist. She was sending an obvious message that she was dominant, at least tonight.

Jennifer was wearing a long black trench coat which concealed the fact that beneath it, she was wearing only her sexiest lingerie, a leather collar and a pair of bright red pumps with three inch heels.

The party was held in a building that was owned by a Swinger's club and rented to an SM group for large play parties. Entering the reception area, they showed their tickets and signed a waiver which indicated their understanding of the safety rules. A woman wearing a red sash was introduced as one of the dungeon monitors who made sure that all participants obeyed the rules. Just inside the inner door, Cole snapped a leash onto Jennifer's collar and led her into the party area with Monica following. They had chosen to arrive after nine o'clock, so the building was already crowded with people in various stages of undress. Some were already playing and some were talking intently with each other, apparently negotiating a scene to come. It was usually easy to tell who was the Top and who was the bottom by how they dressed, but in some cases there was no way to tell.

There were three large rooms with various types of nightclub decor. One room had pool tables that had been covered with plywood sheets to create bondage tables and another room offered an open dance floor that was used for free standing bondage furniture or suspension from the high ceiling.

Since Cole had been to several parties here before, he showed them around, guiding the collared and leashed Jennifer in a dominant manner. She wasn't saying much, just looking around curiously and Cole could tell she was already in a mild subspace.

Monica felt slightly ill at ease seeing Cole in control of Jennifer. However, she knew it had been her own choice to decline his offer to play as a couple and attend dressed as a dominant. Several people waved at him and came over to introduce themselves to the two women who were unknown to most of the kinky folk. Jennifer, who had been forbidden to speak, was introduced simply as "Number Fourteen".

Monica was amazed at how many people seemed to know Howard. Some of the women spoke fondly of times past when he had played with them. The former playmates, who were generally quite attractive, seemed just a bit intimidated by the two ladies who accompanied him tonight.

Observing the crowd, Monica realized that she and Jennifer were attracting a lot of attention. People were sizing them up, wondering what sort of performance they might be planning and trying to decide if it would be worth changing their plans to watch it. She was also aware of a special kind of social energy that seemed to pervade the group. It was a feeling of acceptance and approval of each person's unique sexuality. Here, in this place, they could be themselves and enjoy their sexual fantasies that were not acceptable in society as a whole. She felt herself relax and join with the group as she reached out to hold Cole's arm.

Speaking up over the sound of some odd electronic music, he explained some scenes that were already in full swing. On a plywood sheet atop a pool table, a naked, dark haired woman was bound in a spread eagle position. Her Top was a muscular shirtless man clad in work boots and blue jeans, wearing a welder's leather cap and dark protective goggles. In his hand was a device that Cole described as a Violet Wand, which produced a dramatic purple light inside a six inch glass tube that was bent in a right angle like an arc welding gun. The man moved the bright buzzing rod close to his partner's body. From the end of the glass tube a bright electrical discharge jumped the short gap to the woman's left hip bone. She reacted with a happy writhing and moaning and her Top proceeded to apply the delicious torment to various areas of her attractive body, gradually working his way closer to her genitals.

Cole explained the principles. "The Violet Wand produces only harmless static electricity. It's completely safe as long as you keep it moving to avoid overheating a single spot on the skin. It was invented originally as a magic cure-all device for sale by medical charlatans. Some people love it as an SM toy. It creates a mildly painful tingling sensation."

Looking around the room, Cole pointed out several men and a few women who seemed to be acting simply as voyeurs. They usually weren't dressed as provocatively as the players and most had no partner.

Monica asked, "Why are they allowed to attend a play party if they don't intend to play?"

"That's easy", he said. "Many, if not most, of the players here tonight are exhibitionists. In order for them to have a good time, someone has to be watching. Since the players are often busy with their own scenes, there could be a problem finding someone to watch. Therefore, it's helpful to have some people who are dedicated watchers."

It was a perfect symbiosis and she appreciated the elegance of the solution immediately.

As they moved from room to room, Monica found the number and variety of kinky scenes fascinating. There was a naked man on his knees, tied to a wrought iron stair railing, being flogged by his mistress who was dressed in a dramatic red leather jumpsuit. In another area, a group of women were carving elaborate designs into each other's skin under reasonably sterile surgical conditions.

Next she noticed another bound man in a woodland camouflage uniform who was blindfolded with what looked like a green military scarf. He had his very large cock hanging out through the open fly of his pants. His male Top had tied him with his back to a structural support post and placed a clear plastic cylinder with a thin rubber end cap around his erect organ. The Top was industriously pumping out the air from the cylinder with a small hand pump, which was causing the bound man's shaft to expand into the vacuum. The victim was obviously in some emotional distress. He had been told that his penis would explode if the vacuum was made too strong. Monica could not hear what they were saying, but it appeared to be an interrogation scene.

After several minutes of pumping and verbal threats, the Top suddenly punctured the rubber disk in the end of the tube, which produced a loud bang and a shock to the suffering bottom's quivering shaft. Monica was startled by his blood curdling scream, but was relieved to see that his beautiful long cock was undamaged. The crowd that had gathered around the scene broke into applause and the Top untied his happy bottom.

Moving into another room they watched for a while as an attractive blonde woman was strapped to what looked like an electric chair. Her male partner hooked evil looking electrical devices to her breasts and genitals as if she were going to be executed. Again Cole had to explain that the devices were quite safe. The voltage and frequency of the electrical impulses had been carefully selected for safety. The degree of stimulation could be varied from a mild buzz to a moderately painful shock. At the moment of her mock execution, the woman appeared to have an intense orgasm which suitably impressed the spectators.

Amidst the dramatic scenes, Monica noticed a heterosexual couple that seemed a bit familiar. They didn't quite fit in with the other SM players, she thought. Instead of trying to impress the other partygoers, they appeared to be completely wrapped up in each other. The dominant male was dressed in black leather and the very slim woman was wearing what could only be called a slave girl costume. Although they were not engaged in any flamboyant activities at the moment, there was something special about the way they acted with each other. It was visible in their body language.

Monica moved closer to the couple until she suddenly realized that she had seen them before. Their names were Michael and dina. They were the couple who had hosted the only other play party that Monica had ever attended. Her curiosity satisfied for the moment, she turned around to find Cole and Jennifer in the crowd.

Monica followed as Cole led the leashed Jennifer into the room with the large dance floor. It strongly resembled a seventies disco, with a rotating mirrored ball, mirrors along one wall and a booth for a disk jockey. The ceilings must have been over twelve feet high, Monica guessed.

Cole had picked out a spot where he wanted to stage the planned scene where Jennifer and Jason were to see each other for the first time. Unfortunately that end of the large room had been completely occupied by a large, bulky fellow who had rigged an elaborate system of climbing ropes to suspend his charming red haired girlfriend. Cole did not know the man personally, but had been told that he was an ego-dom from Portland who tended to monopolize the play space and alienate the other players.

They waited while the man whipped his slightly built partner into a screaming frenzy, then released her with lots of hugs and giggling. When the ropes had been moved, Cole slid a large, sturdy table into one corner of the room and asked Monica and Jennifer to wait there while he went to talk to some friends. The plan was for Jennifer to be sold as a slave to the highest bidder. Cole gave several of his friends chocolate coins covered in gold foil, but made sure to reserve enough for Jason to outbid all the other buyers. Jennifer was the only one who did not know that the bidding was rigged.

He met Jason in another room and gave him a brown suede bag filled with the shiny chocolate coins. Jason, who had never actually seen Jennifer, was wearing his full leathers, including boots and a small whip hanging from his belt. His leather jacket was unzipped to show off his flat stomach and his muscular chest covered with an even layer of sexy gray hair. He waited while Cole returned to the room where the women were waiting.

Under Cole's direction, Jennifer pulled her arms inside the trench coat and held them out to allow Monica to place small leather cuffs on her tiny wrists. Both women climbed up onto the table and Monica reached up for a thin cord that went through an eye bolt in a beam along the high ceiling. On the end of the cord was a small snap link, which she used to secure the wrist cuffs together. Then she buttoned the trench coat, skipping one button at waist level to leave an opening for Jennifer's hands.

Standing on the table with Monica behind her, Jennifer was in a truly altered state of mind. The thought of being sold to the highest bidder was making her feel incredibly submissive and terribly horny. She was already getting wet and she was glad her black high cut panties would not show a wet spot. There seemed to be a real possibility that she might faint or that she might have an orgasm in front of the crowd that was now starting to gather in the large room. The cord attached to her leather wrist cuffs prevented her from lowering her hands below waist level. She appreciated that now, since it prevented her from giving in to a strong urge to touch herself. The sleeves of the trench coat hung limp at her sides, making the garment resemble a gray cape.

Jennifer noticed Cole return from his mysterious errand, making his way through a crowd of curious onlookers that now numbered at least forty people. There were only one or two familiar faces that she recognized from meetings of the BDSM club. The rest were total strangers and she would soon be exposed before them. She had agreed to be sold to the highest bidder in an auction for a local AIDs charity, but she still did not understand how Cole could be certain that the successful buyer would be her email friend, Jason.

She wished now that she had asked Cole and Monica for more specific details. Unfortunately, there was no way she could back out now without great loss of face. Even if she could find a graceful way to escape, her submissive mind set at this moment would not permit it.

Cole stood in front of the table and faced the crowd. "Ladies, Gentlemen and Others, as you may have heard, we are conducting a slave auction tonight. Payment will only be accepted in the form of gold coins, so those of you who are not carrying any gold this evening will not be allowed to bid."

He motioned toward the two women on the table, "May I present my lovely assistant Mistress Monica?" Monica simply nodded her head in a serious manner and began running her hands along Jennifer's shiny black hair. This displayed the beautiful hair to the crowd while simultaneously having a calming effect on the nervous Jennifer.

"And of course, our lovely offering, who is known simply as Number Fourteen. Since her capture three months ago, she has been partially trained by experts in the field. She will not be permitted to speak during the auction. Whoever buys her will have a very lovely slave for as long as they wish to keep her."

A few people standing in the rear chanted briefly, "Fourteen, Fourteen, Fourteen."

"Who would like to start the bidding?"

A mild mannered gentleman with a large belly and gray beard shouted, "I bid one gold coin!", he held up one of the gilded chocolate coins.

"Thank you, Tom," said Cole, pointing his finger at Jennifer. Monica saw the hand signal from Cole and unfastened the lowest button on Jennifer's black trench coat.

In the front row of the crowd, muscular woman with a crew cut, wearing a tuxedo held up her hand and announced, "I bid two gold coins!" Monica unfastened the next button.

The three remaining buttons surrendered one by one as the bids climbed higher. Then a slim woman with waist length black hair, wearing a mesh body suit called out, "I'll bid six gold coins if we can see what she looks like under that coat."

Jennifer closed her eyes and shivered in anticipation for a few seconds before Monica finally pulled away the long coat with a matador's flourish. Cole had moved over to the wall, where he held in his hand the heavy cord that led up to the eyebolt in the ceiling. Pulling on the cord caused Jennifer's hands to be hoisted up above her head, nicely displaying her petite body clad only in red shoes, black bra and panties. Below her deeply defined ribs, on her concave, light brown stomach, in black letters three inches tall, was the inscription "14".

The crowd seemed nearly out of control as some applauded, some whistled and others began fondling themselves or their partners. Jennifer opened her eyes and searched the crowd desperately for anyone who met the description of Jason. Things did not seem to be going quite the way she had imagined. They are taking this a bit too seriously, she thought. The rough animal energy of the crowd added to her own nervous exhilaration.

When the bid reached eight gold coins, Monica started snipping Jennifer's bra straps with a large pair of scissors. At ten, the bra was pulled away to reveal her delicate little breasts with nipples already hard from the almost unbearable excitement.

The crowd quieted a bit as a man stepped forward. He simply looked at Jennifer and said nothing. She realized that the handsome face, long silver hair and black leather outfit could only belong to Jason. She found him so attractive that she immediately felt a strong heat inside her slender body. There was a rush of weakness and she had to let the wrists cuffs take part of her weight for a moment.

Monica chose that instant to begin planting several firm slaps on Jennifer's shapely buttocks, which were almost completely exposed by her high cut panties. The sharp cracks of hard palm meeting firm ass startled the crowd and they were briefly quiet.

Cole looked over the crowd and said, "I think it would be worth eleven gold coins just to see what Number Fourteen looks like without those sexy black panties, don't you?"

Jennifer stared directly at Jason and stood up as straight as she could while thrusting out her breasts and cocking her hips at a sexy angle. She was worried by his lack of bidding and thought that perhaps something had gone wrong. If the bidding went no higher, she would go to the last bidder, who was the muscular woman with short hair. Jennifer felt a rush of hope when she noticed that the woman had unwrapped one of her gold coins and was eating the chocolate. She must not be a serious bidder after all. In fact, the coins weren't even real! Howard must have arranged this whole thing, she thought.

Jason looked at Cole and said in an actor's stage voice, "I have fifteen gold coins. Expose the wench completely and I'll consider raising the bid to fifteen." The audience was totally silent.

Monica put her hands on Jennifer's hips from behind and slipped her fingers inside the waistband of the black panties. She slowly slid them down about two inches over Jennifer's rounded hips, then suddenly jerked them down all the way to Jennifer's ankles, revealing her nicely regrown pubic triangle.

The crowd erupted in shouts and whistles, then calmed down after a minute to allow Jason to speak. "I bid fifteen gold coins!"

Since Cole had handed out the coins, he knew that nobody could outbid Jason and he shouted, "Sold, for fifteen gold coins, to the gentleman in leather. Please step forward and claim your property, Sir."

Monica unfastened Jennifer's wrists and helped her off the table where Jason took her in his arms. He pulled her head back by gripping her long black hair so that she was looking up at him and kissed her on the lips. Some form of non-verbal communication passed between them and they walked together out of the room to find some privacy.

Handfuls of gold coins were tossed in the air and the crowd dissolved in a chocolate eating frenzy, leaving Cole and Monica sitting on chairs together at the edge of the nearly empty room. Cole was obviously quite happy about how things had worked out, but Monica seemed lost in serious thought. Seeing Jennifer and several other party guests enjoying their submissiveness reminded her that there was an aching gap in her life. Dressing up as a dominant had been fun, but she knew that her real joy and fulfillment came from submission.

She looked up after a few minutes to see a familiar couple enter the large room. It was Michael and dina. They laid out their kinky toys next to a cage of vertical steel bars that was just big enough for one person to stand in. Monica was certain that it was the same cage she had been locked into at the earlier party. The memory of her intense submission caused a strange feeling to develop within her.

Monica could see that the petite woman, dina, was dressed in a skimpy slave costume. It was apparently supposed to look like rags, but was actually put together with rather expensive red, black and gold silk scarves. Monica could hear the woman addressing her partner as "Master".

Something about the couple caused Monica to stay and watch when Cole excused himself to find the refreshments. She moved a bit closer to them and observed the play. Michael placed his subby partner in the cage and began poking her with various implements. The cage was pressed so tightly against her that she couldn't move, especially after her master slid padded rods through the bars to immobilize her limbs. He pulled away the costume, leaving her naked and revealing a tattoo across the top of her buttocks that read "SLAVE". The slave girl could be heard saying "Please, Master!" and "I promise to be good Master!"

Michael tortured and teased dina for a long time, which was not at all unusual at a BDSM play party. What Monica noticed however, was the loving energy that passed between the couple. She could tell that he would never hurt his little slavegirl. Well, Monica thought with a happy grin, not unless she needed it.

As Monica continued to watch, she started smiling and a feeling of elation crept over her along with a sudden attack of goose bumps when the hair on her arms and neck tried to stand up. She realized what was happening just as Cole returned and sat down next to her.

"You look like you just saw a ghost. Here, have one of Margaret's truffles." He handed her a round topped lump of chocolate about an inch and a half in diameter.

She bit through the thick chocolate coating into the rich bittersweet center that tasted distinctly of Grand Marnier. The delicious intensity of the taste was a surprise and she felt like she was being rewarded for the decision she had just made.

"Master, I need to tell you something," she said in a low, sexy voice.

Cole's attention was immediate. He knew what that voice meant. "What's on your mind, dear heart?"

She held his arm with a strong grip, "I think I'm subby again, Sir. In fact I'm sure of it. When can we go home?"

"Well, I just checked on Jason and Jennifer. He's taking her home tonight," he paused, "Let's leave right now."