Leon held up the first leather jess. It was a simple cuff, more like a leather anklet with fringe cut into the top and bottom. Small brass jingle-style bells were sewn into the solid center of the outer face, along with a small D-ring. For any sort of real restraint he’d have to add sturdier BDSM cuffs, but the purpose of these was subtler than bondage. He buckled the jess in place, then eased her foot to the floor. The bells tinkled softly.
He tapped his other knee and repeated the process. With her foot still on his knee he grabbed her ass, steadying her as he leaned in to chastely kiss her mound.
Cessie’s hips bucked and she moaned.
He eased her foot down. “Wrists.”
The jesses for her wrists were a little different. The leather was much softer, almost a suede texture, with a double-ring closure. He carefully threaded the long tail through and back over the double rings, making sure it wasn’t too tight on her wrist. There were three small grommeted holes on the dangling bit of leather. He looped tiny O-rings through the holes, then in turn clipped two bells to each O-ring.
“The bells are larger than the rings of the belt buckle.” He demonstrated by pulling the leather until the top bell hit the rings and stopped, unable to get through. “These are called hawk’s bells—they’re almost like jingle bells, but they have only one slit opening rather than a cross slit. These particular ones are made of nickel brass, and custom-made by a falconry supply company in the UK.”
“Custom-made?”
“These bells are too big for a bird, but just right for you.”
He tightened the jess back to the original position then tapped the dangling lead so the bells chimed. The tone was low and melodious compared to the higher-pitched tinkling of the bells on her ankles.
“Walk for me.”
Cessie turned and walked around the couch. Her first few steps were normal, and the sound of the bells filled the room. She stopped, then tried a few slow, deliberate steps. The bells chimed less but weren’t silent.
“What if this gets annoying?” she asked.
“For me? I don’t think it will, but I can remove the wrist bells so you’re still wearing the jess but no bells. If you find themannoying…” He gripped her hips as she stopped in front of him. “I want you to tell me if they start to annoy you, okay?”
She nodded.
He reached up and touched her cheek until she looked at him instead of submissively at her feet. “I want to know what you’re thinking and feeling. Little things and big things.”
Her eyes closed for a moment, and she tipped her face against his hand before nodding.
“I will.”
“Good girl.” She still had her eyes closed, so he reached into the box and pulled out the hood.
When she finally opened her eyes, the first thing she saw was the hood he held up for her inspection.
The hood was made of nylon and leather. She stared at it for a moment before her gaze jumped to him. She was anxious, maybe even a little scared, but there was heat in her gaze too. A softness in her expression that he only saw when she was feeling submissive.
“Kneel,” he commanded softly.
She knelt between his feet. Rather than putting her hands in her lap, she gripped his knees, her fingertips indenting the fabric of his pants.
Leon ran a hand over her still slightly damp hair, which had stayed in the brush-back style. Perfect for the hood.
“This is your hood. Any time you’re not in the cage you’re wearing it.”
He put his fist inside so she could get a better sense of what it looked like and how it would fit.
“Most of it is made of thin nylon designed not to trap heat, but as you can see, parts of it are leather.” He’d had to have the hood custom-made from scratch, not only because he had very specific requirements but because he wanted it made of dark-brown leather and oak-toned nylon.
The hood consisted of a nylon open-face hood that covered her from the top of her head to her neck except for the oval cut out for her face. Attached to it was a large, padded blindfold made of leather that covered her eyes. The inside of the blindfold had cushioning to ensure it didn’t press against her eyes, like an expensive sleep mask. Leather straps led from the sides of the blindfold around the back of her head. Four narrower straps arched from the top of the mask over her head.
Once on, her mouth, nose, and most of her cheeks would be exposed, but the top and back of her head, ears, and neck would be covered in nylon.
“The blindfold piece is padded,” he pointed out. “And see here in the back? There’s a slit right at the base of your skull to pull your hair through so it’s not pressed against your neck.”
She relaxed a little at that. “I hate having my hair tight against my neck.”
