The Dum Casta Mortgage - Part II: The Decision

When Robert and Gwyneth had left Mrs MacPherson and were on their way home Robert had an uneasy feeling that he had been outflanked. When he'd left home that morning he'd intended nothing more than to make inquiries about a mortgage, and he'd come away wearing a state of the art Securitas belt for the first time, and one with two years' more technology than Gwyneth's. Of course he hadn't made any commitment to long-term wear. On the way home he said very little. But Gwyneth was reassuring.

Back in their rented flat Gwyneth suggested opening a bottle of wine.

"I think a drink or two would be in order," she said. "I've found a lovely little 2013 Burgundy which I tried with Janet recently and I thought it was wonderful. See what you think. The opener's in the cupboard. Would you like to do the honours?"

Robert opened the bottle and left it on the mantelpiece to breathe for a while.

"Now," she said. "How's the belt feeling. It must be a little strange. When I first put mine on I felt quite excited. Do you?"

"No," said Robert. "And I'm not entirely happy about Mrs. MacPherson. I'm not sure I entirely trust her."

"Don't be silly. I do. I know she's had any number of satisfied customers. And anyway you don't actually need to trust her, because everything's written down in black and white. We've got a copy of their terms and either we agree or we don't. There's no compulsion. Now, I don't feel like cooking tonight. Why don't you email that little Vietnamese takeaway and order one of their special menu for two with their extra black bean sauce. Make it for, say, half past seven and we can have the wine with it. I'm going to have a shower."

Gwyneth had long ago got used to showering in her belt. While she was upstairs, for rather longer than she usually took, Robert wondered how he'd manage. When she came down she looked radiant. She was using for the first time a new perfume she'd been recommended and found she loved it. Robert hadn't spotted this, though he sensed her confidence which he found a bit overpowering. He hadn't really appreciated this aspect of her before. Meanwhile he had ordered the takeaway.

"Now my love," she went on. "I suggest you take a shower too. You look a bit tired. And we'll see how the belt measures up to it."

He went upstairs to the bathroom. He found she'd lifted the loo seat just for the fun of it. Only then did it register with him that from now on he'd have to sit down. He tried it. The realisation that he wouldn't even be able to touch himself came to him as a bit of a shock. He too was longer than usual in the shower and by the time he was dressed again and back downstairs there was a ring on the doorbell and the meal had arrived. Gwyneth served it, and poured the wine. The meal was delicious and Robert was especially fond of the black bean sauce, and had nearly all of it.

"The wine's good isn't it?" said Gwyneth.

Robert was fairly knowledgeable about wines and had to agree she'd got a real bargain.

"Now," she said when they'd finished, "have you looked through our today's email?"

"Not yet."

"Well, I have. And look what's come in from the agents."

She handed him a printout of some particulars. One was a two-bedroomed maisonette, not too far away. It was not in a very fashionable area, though not a slum either. It was on the market because the previous owner had gone bankrupt, so the sale was by the mortgagee and the price rather more negotiable than usual. Even so it was almost certain to be more than they could afford and they both knew it.

"I suggest we make an appointment to look at it," she said. "How about it?"

"All right. I expect I can get time off work Thursday if necessary. I worked overtime last week to help David out and I'm sure he'll return the favour."

The library where Gwyneth worked was closed Thursdays and Gwyneth therefore had Thursdays off. She sometimes worked Saturdays in lieu on a rota system.

"Right then. How about another bottle? Or shall we start on that port? I rather fancy it."

Robert agreed, slightly suprised. Gwyneth, on the whole, did not drink very much and one bottle between them was usually quite enough for her. Admittedly she'd had a little less of the wine than he had, but even so this wasn't like her. Robert was very fond of a good port and this was a 2006 vintage he'd been given as a birthday present by his uncle George. They had several glasses and by the time they were ready to go to bed Robert had had a bit too much to want any sex and only needed sleep. Almost as though it was the natural thing, they slept together, both belted, and as soon as Robert was asleep Gwyneth started experimenting on herself with the remote control Mrs. MacPherson had given her. She soon found it a wonderful toy and could get from it at least as much satisfaction as, if not more than, she'd been accustomed to getting from Robert.

Robert, meanwhile, found he had to get up several times diring the night to go to the bathroom. It wasn't just the wine. Something he'd eaten, possibly that black bean sauce, had disagreed with him and had given him a touch of diarrhoea. He wanted to take the belt off but found that Gwyneth was fast asleep (she was a very deep sleeper) and did not respond when he touched her. He didn't know where she'd put the keys so he took another shower in the early hours and dried himself as best he could. He couldn't properly get to sleep again so got up at half past six to make a pot tea and read the morning newspaper in his email.

Gwyneth was down about seven.

"Slept well, dear?" he asked her.

"Like a log. It must have been that port. How about you?"

"Terrible."

He explained, briefly.

"Do you want me to unlock you to see if all's well? If it isn't then we'd better know straight away. After all, if we go through with this then this situation's bound to happen to both of us occasionally, so it's as well to know what it's like now."

"No, it's all right. I'd prefer to check myself, if you don't mind. Where are the keys by the way?"

Gwyneth paused.

"I think it would be better if I kept them," she said. "I want to know, and I think you do too, whether you can cope with a situation where you couldn't free yourself even if you wanted. When you were in New York for six weeks on business I managed it. You saw for yourself that the sealed packet hadn't been opened while you were away. And that included my period. I also want us to go without sex for a while. I love you, Robert, I love you very much. But if it's going to be too much for either of us then we'd better find out now, before it's too late. Once we've committed ourselves there'll be no going back for quite some time. I'm not entirely sure I want this, and I think you aren't either. You've always been free to, well you know, by yourself. Whwn you've gone away you haven't even worn so much as one of those old cb2000s or curves. So you know I trust you. But this is about our future. If we go ahead it's got to be a joint decision. If you say no, then I don't want it either."

Robert looked uncomfortable.

"Trust me," Gwyneth went on. "Put on this hood and I'll check you now. Come, let's kiss."

"All right, then."

Gwyneth put a hood on him so he couldn't see where she'd put the keys, and then she unlocked his belt and took it off. She looked for a while at his naked body, savouring it in her mind. It was as it always had been, with no sign of wear or even soreness where the belt had been in contact with his skin. She kissed him where she knew he loved it most. She watched for signs of hardness, but none came. She wasn't surprised. Only she knew the extra ingredient in that black bean sauce, and wondered what was the word for the opposite of an aphrodisiac. Then she put the keys away in a secret place, and put his belt back on him, with its self-locking mechanism, and took his hood off.

"No problem there at all. You look as great as you ever did."

The rest of the week, until Thursday, was uneventful, except that Robert, as expected had managed to get time off. On the Thursday they went to see the maisonette. She fell in love with it immediately. The asking price was slightly below the market value because the mortgagee wanted a quick sale, the agent explained. Robert, who had a good nose for business, realised that this was a chance unlikely to be equalled for some time. But the immediate area was very untidy. Across the road was a vast building site leaving the property somewhat isolated. He pointed this out to the agent.

The agent was a Mr. David Hawthorne, Branch Manager of Homemakers, a large and reputable company established in 2007 by a merger of several other very well established companies going back from fifty to a hundred years.

"It is a mess, I know," he said. "But it's only temporary. The site's just been acquired by Securitas for one of their new major hotel and conference complexes, with all the latest facilities; and when it's finished it will push up the value of the area considerably. I shouldn't really tell you this, as it's not yet public knowledge, but it will be in a week or two, so you may as well know now. While it's being built you'll have heavy lorries and so on, but the maisonette's soundproofed so you won't hear the work when you're at home. Also the police, as well as the Company private security division, will be regularly patrolling the area to guard against thefts and breakins, so the maisonette will benefit from enhanced crime prevention measures."

Gwyneth was thinking of something else. When that complex was built it might have other benefits of a more personal nature, and right on their doorstep.

"I think we could be interested," she said. "But I'm not sure if we could quite afford it. It would partly depend on a mortgage."

In the end they reached an agreement. This was after Mr Hawthorne had made a telephone call (not an email they noticed) and they could just make out the voice of what they assumed to be the representative of the mortgagee who was selling. The price was reduced, slightly. The terms were on the basis that for a period of one month the property would be taken off the open market and Robert and Gwyneth would have until then to decide whether they were able to raise the finance. If not, there'd be no deal, and the property would be back on the open market again. He wasn't, he explained, able himself to arrange a mortgage for them because of a recent change in the law arising from abuses where an agent had acted both for the seller of the property and the buyer's mortgagee at the same time, and the practice was now illegal. He could make suggestions of course, but Gwyneth said that they'd already seen one finance company (she didn't say who) and would check with them first.

When they got home they had some coffee and talked things over. It was well worth the price and they both liked the property very much. The problem was the money.

"I think we'd better ask Mrs. MacPherson to see if it's manageable," said Gwyneth. "If not, it's a waste of time. If it is, and we still want it, then it's our decision. but at least we'll know where we stand."

"Let's sleep on it," said Robert. "We can email her in the morning."

That night Robert desired Gwyneth more than ever, but she wouldn't unlock either him, or herself. She dreamed of the two of them, in their new home, hopefully married, and able to start a family in maybe two or three years when they'd paid off their dum casta. A sacrifice worth it, she thought. But would Robert?

In the morning Robert felt he'd decided what was best.

"I'll tell you what. Go to Mrs MacPherson if you want, but I'd like to see first if we can get a regular mortgage from someone like First National Bank. If so, we're home and dry. If not, we then see Mrs MacPherson and see what she can do, and if it's on how long they're likely to be controlling us till we've paid off enough to..."

"I agree," Gwyneth interrupted. "First National will see us at any time, even if they turn us down. You can email things in outline. They'll want to see us personally of course, but they're open Saturday afternoons. And if it's no go, then it's back to Securitas on Monday."

Which is what they did. Not wholly unsurprisingly, First National did turn them down (not quite enough joint salary) and they went away a bit depressed, and remained so until the next Monday.

Next Monday they saw Mrs MacPherson, again during their lunch hour. Gwyneth wanted to test the water first, to see what the reaction would be. She'd emailed the details of the price and their latest salaries and all other details. But when they entered their office again they were both very apprehensive, and Mrs MacPherson sensed this. She smiled as she ushered them in.

"It's all right," she said. "I think we can do it. You've got a very good bargain there, and you're lucky. There may even be some flexibility."

She handed them a schedule containing financial calulations.

"Take a look at this," she said. "As you see, your dum casta element could be quite small. You're only slightly below qualifying for a conventional mortgage with no dum casta at all. As it is, at the current rates you should be out of it in fifteen to eighteen months: two years at the very outside. And if you can save that much extra, it could be even less. I see the offer's open for a month."

"A month from last Thursday," said Robert.

"Well, I can give you a written mortgage offer for what you need, effective immediately and valid initially for three weeks. If you want it, it's there. You can take it away with you now and look it over."

"Why only three weeks?" said Robert,

"I should have thought that was obvious. Just think what problems could arise if Gwyneth conceived before the agreement were finalised, and neither you nor we found out until afterwards. We need the extra week to make the checks. As you know, the latest technology means that tests can be virtually certain within a couple of days, but we think a week is safer. We therefore need to fit new belt locks a week before the house purchase. If Gwyneth has conceived the keys will be returned, the agreement will be void, and you'll be able to pull out of the house purchase in time. The agreement is also void, and the keys returnable, if the house purchase falls through for any other reason. It's all in writing. Here, have a look."

Gwyneth saw her press Control + P on her keyboard, and out came three printouts: one for Robert, one for Gwyneth, and one for Securitas. They contained specific terms, more detailed than they'd the previous week, and included the repayment details and calculations tailored to their proposed borrowing.

"Now, one other thing I must impress upon you. This will be a binding agreement. So it is my duty to tell you that it is your responsibility to get proper independent legal advice as well as being satisfied that this is an agreement you are freely entering. You will both need to sign a disclaimer to that effect, and you'll see the details in the printout."

"We understand," said Gwyneth.

"I'll see you again in three weeks, then? It'll be your decision. Yes or no."

"Thank you for setting things out so clearly," said Gwyneth.

They shook hands and left.

Back home that evening it was Robert who first raised the subject.

"I think," he said, "that the first thing is to do what she said we should do and have the agreement properly looked over independently. After all, it's an unusual type of agreement."

"Yes," said Gwyneth. "But I very much doubt whether there'll be any loopholes. Securitas are a very big organisation and they're sure to have covered all the angles. But I know a really good firm to check it out, that one that handled my other matter, you remember? And assuming it is watertight, do we or don't we go ahead?"

"I'm not sure, Gwyneth. Honestly. I genuinely am not sure."

"Nor am I. But I think, that for not much more than a year, I'd be prepared to risk it. We've both got steady incomes and it's time to plan for our future. But we've not even got engaged. You've asked me, more than once, and I haven't answered. I wasn't sure. But now I am. At least about that, and us. Use the three weeks to test yourself. Then, when you're sure too, we can get married, buy the maisonette and have the mortgage all at once. It'll be the beginning of a whole new life for us. How about it?"

Robert didn't answer at first. He just hugged her and nodded before his barely audible murmur of assent came out. Then they kissed and held each other for long enough for them to have lost track of time.

"I'm so glad," said Gwyneth. "Let's celebrate. I'll tell you what. Tonight, and again on the last night before everything's finalised, I'll unlock you and give you something really special. And afterwards I don't mind scrimping and saving so we can be free again at the absolute earliest."

They cuddled and hugged again. For though Robert still had those three weeks to change his mind they both knew he wouldn't. To all intents and purposes the decision had been made.

[ Story Continues in Chapter III ]
[ Back to chastity fiction page ]

Page last updated 03-Nov-25 by: Altairboy@aol.com