**Chapter 4: The Weekend Rules**

The fire crackled in the stone fireplace, casting flickering orange light across the wooden beams of the cabin ceiling. I lay completely naked on the thick rug in front of it, wrists bound behind my back with soft black rope, a silk blindfold covering my eyes. The leather collar felt heavier now, a constant reminder around my throat. Every breath I took made the ring shift, sending little sparks of awareness through my body.

Professor Hawthorne Elias, as he had finally allowed me to call him in private circled me slowly. I couldn’t see him, but I could feel his presence, hear the soft pad...