When Stephanie had finally cried herself out, David rose and leaving her where she sat, moved to the bathroom, where he ran a soft cloth under cold water. He returned to the library and gently wiped the tears from her face before handing her the cloth and instructing her to hold it against her eyes to reduce their puffiness and soreness. She took it gratefully, smiling tremulously up at him. She felt exhausted but somehow her heart felt lighter. She hadn't realised just how heavy the weight of her past experiences had lain upon her!
She pressed the cool cloth against her sore eyes, allowing it to soothe her. She also used the time to try and regain control over her emotions. David allowed her the time necessary to compose herself. He understood how difficult it had been for her to reveal so much. She had been carrying the burden for so long that to have finally revealed it would have cost her a great deal emotionally. He was going to have to be very careful in her training. Anything that even hinted at the type of emotional bullying that she had experienced was likely to do more harm than good!
With Kristy, he had needed to strip everything away before he could rebuild her. Stephanie needed the opposite treatment. She needed love and reassurance at every stage of her training to ensure she had a rock solid foundation to build upon. David keenly felt the responsibility this placed upon him and silently vowed not to let her down!
When Stephanie finally took the cloth from her eyes, David took it from her and placed it on the coffee tray. He walked to the bar and poured her a glass of cold water, returning to her side and allowing her to sip it slowly. When she had finished, he smiled down at her and then held out his hand and drew Stephanie to her feet. Again tucking her arm under his rather than using the leash, he led her from the library into the dining room.
The table had been laid with two place settings, one opposite the other. David drew out a chair and seated Stephanie before taking his place opposite her.
"For this meal only, and as a reward for your honesty and trust in me, you are allowed to eat with me as an equal," David advised. "I know how much it must have cost you to tell me about your past and I have the impression that nobody has ever asked you about what you want from your life! You need to understand that you will no longer be allowed to keep your feelings hidden. Your Master, whether it is myself or one whom I decide will be more compatible with you, will need to know your thoughts and dreams, your needs, your fears. You may not conceal anything. It is not your place to determine what your Master needs to know β he will expect to know everything and complete honesty is expected from you."
Stephanie looked startled. She was so used to hiding her feelings, not wanting to burden anyone with her problems. What her Master was now telling her was completely the opposite. Not only would she be allowed to express herself, it would be demanded of her! The thought was both enticing and frightening at the same time!
David was watching her carefully, gauging her reactions. Now he continued.
"Stephanie," he said firmly, recapturing her attention, "the training you will undergo this week is going to be very intense. It is designed to stretch you limits and break through self-imposed boundaries. It is NOT, however, designed to break you. If at any time you feel as if you cannot continue, you will be expected to tell me. DO NOT conceal your fears because you don't wish to disappoint me. That is not the purpose of your training. I am here to guide you towards your completion and to do that I will sometimes appear to be harsh, but I am not cruel and if you are not completely honest with me, then I cannot help you fully. I cannot stress enough how important this is. NEVER keep quiet if something becomes too much for you to endure! You have a safe word for a reason, use it!"
Stephanie stared at her Master as his words came crashing down on her. She had known, in a kind of abstract way, that he had intended to push her hard, but his insistence on her complete honesty and his caution that she must tell him if things became too much for her to bear, started to impress upon her just how intense things were likely to get! She shivered a little, a trace of apprehension stealing over her. She had thought that what she had already experienced was intense but the weight David was giving to her use of a safe word was telling her that there was a great deal yet to come! She almost bit her lip as she wondered whether she would really be able to cope with the training she had so blithely agreed to, until she remembered her Master's earlier instructions. Instead of biting her lip, she pressed them together and David picked up on the gesture immediately.
"What's wrong Stephanie?" he asked quietly.
"I'm beginning to realise that I may have been hasty in agreeing to this training," Stephanie said in a small voice. "It sounded so enticing when it was in the abstract, but I don't think it had really sunk in that the training would be so intense I might not be able to take it! To be honest, I'm feeling a little scared!"
David smiled at her gently and with understanding. "I would be very surprised if you were not feeling that way!" he told her. "What you will be going through here is no small undertaking. You have a great many inhibitions that need to be broken and the method of doing so may sometimes seem harsh and extreme, but I promise you that they are being done for your ultimate benefit. You need to be able to know and be comfortable with the limits to which pleasure and... sometimes pain, or a combination of both, can take you to. If you cannot break through those barriers your inhibitions have built, then you will never experience those heights. Tell me honestly, Stephanie," he said, capturing her gaze and holding it with his own, "have you ever experienced an orgasm anywhere close to the intensity of those you have had under my control?"
Stephanie flushed. He was right, of course. The way he had been making her feel, even when the stimulation was through pain, had been of a completely higher intensity than anything she had ever felt before!
"No Master," she replied.
"I have another question for you Stephanie," David continued, gently pressing his case. "If you had maintained control, would you have stopped things before you experienced that new intensity?"
Stephanie's mouth fell open as she suddenly comprehended the meaning behind both his explanation and his questions! Left to herself, she had always stopped the action before she became too aroused, usually by faking the orgasm that her partners were expecting! She now realised she had been denying herself the incredible release that under her Master's control, she was now experiencing!
"Yes Master, I would have!" she admitted.
"Why do you think that is?" David questioned her gently.
Stephanie thought hard about her answer. David's questions had prompted her to look deep inside herself, to examine her actions. Slowly the answer came to her.
"I..I think it's because I'm afraid of losing control!" she admitted. "I'm afraid that if I lose control, I'll get hurt! I also..."she paused, trying to find the right words to express herself, "I also feel ashamed to be feeling so good!" she finally said in a small voice.
David nodded in understanding.
"But now you have handed that control to me," he gently reminded her. "How does that make you feel? How do you feel when you cum under my control?"