Beyond 10 Nights (22 page)

“Do you raise horses here?” She was a little confused,
there was a lot of land surrounding them, and it was clearly farmland, but she
didn’t have a clue why he would need to keep it secret if he was raising cattle
or horses.

“We do have a stable here,” he said with a chuckle,
thinking he would definitely have to show her what type of ‘horses’ he raised
before she understood what the property was used for.

“I love horses, you’ll have to show them to me,” Leah
said eagerly, looking around for any sign of the horses. One of the few luxuries
her family had been able to afford when she was growing up was the horse rides
at a nearby farm.

“My horses are a little different to those you might
be used to,” he told her, resisting the urge to chuckle as he reminded himself
that she had no idea what he was referring to.

As he opened the front door and held it for her to
walk inside, Leah’s mouth dropped open in shock. The sight that greeted her
eyes was even more startling than what she had witnessed the night Janie took
her to Rhett’s dungeon. Stopping in the doorway she found herself unable to do
more than stare at the people before her, who were for the most part undressed,
and wearing some very strange items.

Alex watched Leah’s face as she got her first glimpse
of the pony girls and boys, and knew instantly that she had never even dreamed
such a lifestyle could exist. “Are you okay with me giving you a tour?” He
didn’t want to push her, but he did want to share with her a little of the
person he truly was.

Still in shock Leah could only nod, not able to move
any more than that until he took her elbow to lead her forward. If she had any
common sense, she told herself, she would demand he take her back to the hotel
right then, but there was a part of her that was curious about the people she
was seeing, just as she had been curious that first night in Rhett’s dungeon.

More than a few of the people she could see seemed to
be wearing objects that belonged on a horse, not a human, and even had strange
imitation tails protruding from their backsides. Though she didn’t know what
was going on, there was one thing she was certain of, she hadn’t come across
anything like it when she was researching Rhett’s lifestyle on the internet.

Alex led Leah away from the small crowd of people and up
a long flight of stairs. “Years ago I was brought here by a wonderful woman,
who became my Mistress.” He wanted her to understand a little about his past.

“But I thought you were a Master,” Leah said in
confusion, looking down the long row of doors that graced either side of the
hall.

“I am now, but originally I was trained as a pony
slave.” He noted the confusion in her eyes and smiled as he waited for her
questions.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Leah
admitted. “Do you mean you were trained to pretend you were a horse?” Even
compared to the things she had seen on the internet and in Rhett’s dungeon it
was a strange idea to her.

“You could say that,” he said with a grin. “The
relationship between the Master or Mistress and their pony is very intense, and
one you would have to experience to understand, at least I believe so.” The
training to become a pony could take years, and in his opinion, intense was a
mild description for it.

“But why?"  Leah tried to understand but
couldn’t. “Why would anyone want to be treated like an animal?”

“Why would anyone want to be tied and beaten?”
Grinning he saw that she was thoroughly confused.

“Touché,” Leah said with a smile after a few moments. “Why
are there so many rooms?” she asked, looking around her at the number of doors
that were visible.

“Open one and find out.” He held out a hand to gesture
at the closest of the doors, curious to see how she would react to what was on
the other side.

Unable to contain her curiosity, and not actually
wanting to try, Leah took hold of the door handle and turned it. She found
herself looking at a small and strangely decorated room. At the back of the
room was a small cot, and on the floor was a pair of sterling silver dishes
that looked like dog bowls. An assortment of riding crops and other items she
couldn’t identify hung from hooks on the walls. “People sleep in here?” She
couldn’t keep how she was feeling from her voice; the thought of what happened
in that place left her nauseated and filled with a desire to leave, as quickly
as possible.

“The ones that have earned the right to be housed, the
others remain in the barn.” Seeing the expressions that crossed her face, he
knew she was shocked and out of her element. Being so new to their world, this
was something she couldn’t possibly be prepared for he conceded.

“You make people sleep in a barn?” Leah bit her lip to
stop herself saying what was crossing her mind; she knew she was being
judgmental, just as she had been when she first entered Rhett’s dungeon, but
she couldn’t help it.

When he nodded curtly in response to her question she
found herself looking at her feet as she tried to work out how to word what it
was she wanted to say. “I don’t really like this,” she said finally. An
understatement if she had ever uttered one; she was sure that there was nothing
anyone could do or say that would encourage her to even consider participating
in something so deviant.

Alex gave a quick chuckle at the look of distaste on
Leah’s face. “It is something that a woman or a man can choose to do if they
want to be completely submissive. There is nothing forced about any of this, as
with all other aspects of the lifestyle it is completely voluntary.”

“This turns you on though, doesn’t it.” She just
didn’t get it, she couldn’t begin to imagine what it was about being a horse,
or a pony as he called it, or the Master of a pony, that he found arousing.

“It does, I enjoy having a woman surrender herself to
me completely and allow me to take care of even her basic needs.” He knew she
didn’t understand, he also knew that she was only seeing the strangeness of the
lifestyle from an outsider’s point of view.

“The master spends long hours training his pony for
this; it’s a very intimate experience. She is fed, bathed, trussed up, and
trained, while at the same time giving over to him completely. “There are few
relationships in this world as committed, or as filled with trust, as the one I
am sharing with you tonight.”

“I hope you’re not offended, Alex, but I just don’t
see you as being that controlling.” He had been so nice to her, and had let her
lead everything up to then, which made it difficult for her to connect the
human horse man to the sweet lover he had been with her the previous night.

Her remark amused him, though he could see how his
treatment of her up to then had her confused. “We train these women and men to
go to other owners, Leah, and while I hope that one day I can share this with
my own submissive, it is not something that anyone can enter into without a
great deal of trust and respect, on both sides.”

“So this is like a boarding house for untrained human
horses?” She couldn’t help it; the thought was amusing enough that it brought a
grin to her lips.

“We offer a service.” He shook his head at the way she
had described what happened at the farm, but couldn’t help seeing the humor in
it. “Maybe one day you will let me run you through a day of training here,
perhaps it would give you a better understanding of this place and what happens
here.”

She thought about telling him that it would be a cold
day in hell before she would allow anyone to dress her up in horse gear and
parade her around. She resisted though, remembering that she had felt similar
just a few weeks before, and that had changed with a simple offer. “I don’t
know, Alex, who can say.” There, she thought, that was a vague enough answer.

With a grin Alex led her from the room. “Well remember
the offer is open if you ever decide you want to give it a try.” He had no
intention of pushing her; the visit there just then was about being open and
honest so that she knew and understood him a little better, and he had
accomplished that. “I need to speak with the manager here and then we can drive
back home.”

As they walked back to the entrance hall Leah watched
curiously as the human horses were led around by their owners, all of them were
led using bridles, just as a real horse would have been. There wasn’t anything
sexual about it, she thought as her eyes moved from one pair to another; with
the exception of all the horses being naked it seemed boring, if more than a
little bizarre.

“If you don’t mind, I’d like to talk to my manager
privately for a few minutes; do you think you will be comfortable waiting in
the sitting room?” He motioned through a door at a leather couch in the center
of the massive room.

“Sure, if anyone gets out of line I’ll just grab a
whip,” she said with a grin, trying to find some humor in the situation.

“Just make sure you okay it with their owner first.”
He led her into the next room and over to the couch where he dropped a quick
kiss on her cheek before walking away.

As the horses and their Masters or Mistresses moved
around the room Leah watched the strange rituals being performed. She didn’t know
if it was because none of what she saw was sexual in any way, at least not to
her, or for some other reason, but once she got past the initial strangeness of
it she found herself more comfortable than she had been that first night in the
dungeon.

“Are you checking in?”

Turning her head Leah saw the inquiry had come from a
middle-aged man who had sat down beside her while her attention was elsewhere.

“Um, no, I’m just here with Alex.” She smiled
awkwardly as she gave the oddly normal looking man next to her the once over.
He could have been her father, or indeed any other middle-aged man she might
meet during the course of a day, she thought to herself. There was nothing
about his appearance to suggest he would be involved with anything as strange as
what went on at the farm. Seeing that he was holding a set of reins loosely in
one hand she looked past him to his pony, a strikingly fit young woman who
remained absolutely motionless, staring straight ahead.

“Ah, pity, you have a beautiful form, I can tell you
keep yourself in shape.” He smiled at her warmly and gave an approving nod.

His comment left her a little flustered, though she
did her best not to show it; she wasn’t sure she liked the idea of him checking
out her form, as he had called it. “So is being in good physical shape
necessary for this?” she asked finally, deciding that she should be sociable
and maybe find out a little more about the place.

“Absolutely dear, it’s a very strenuous lifestyle, and
those that aren’t already in shape have a very hard time committing to the
workouts, which can be quite overwhelming at times. A pony must have incredible
arm and leg strength; pulling a chariot can cause serious injury if one is not
trained properly. And then of course to race, well you can imagine how fast one
must be to win.”

Leah nodded, though she had no idea what the man was
talking about. “I’m sure it does take a great deal of fitness to do those
things.” Feeling out of her depth she smiled politely and fell silent, hoping
the man wouldn’t say anything more.

When the silence had continued for a couple of minutes
the man stood, displaying a riding crop in one hand. “It has been very
enjoyable speaking with you, but I must run my pony through her paces.”
Bringing the crop down smartly on his pony’s backside he moved off, the young
woman following, lifting her knees and walking with high steps.

“Nice to meet you too.” She forced herself not to
shake her head at the odd scenario; she hoped Alex would be finished soon; she
was ready to leave and return to something a little more normal.

“I hope I didn’t keep you too long,” Alex apologized,
holding out his hand to help Leah to her feet when he returned.

“It’s okay.” They were silent during the short walk
out to the car, but when they got there Leah couldn’t help speaking up. “One of
the Masters in there said you race those people as horses, is that true?”

Alex waited until he had pulled away from the house
before he replied. “Yes, some of the horses are raced, if the Masters and
Mistresses wish to race them, and the horses are in condition to be raced. The
races are very exciting, if you’d like to watch one I would be happy to bring
you along.” He was pleased that she was curious, even if he knew she wasn’t
sure about the whole lifestyle.

Leah thought about his offer for a few moments, before
deciding that there would be no harm in it, and it would certainly be something
unusual to see, even if she couldn’t tell people about it. “Okay.” She nodded
her agreement, and then had to quickly cover her mouth with a hand as she
yawned. “Sorry,” she said in embarrassment, it had been a long, yet exciting
day, and she was more than ready for bed.

“If you want to get some rest I’ll understand, we have
a forty-five minute drive ahead.” He wasn’t surprised that she was tired, they
had been on the go for quite a few hours and it was getting late.

“Thanks, Alex, I have to admit I’m beat.” Her grin was
distorted by another yawn and without thinking she curled up as best she could
in the seat, almost immediately she was asleep.