Stephanie awoke as David gently shook her shoulder. She blinked as the blazing sunlight streaming into the room dazzled her and automatically tried to raise her hand to her eyes to shade them, only to be brought short by her restraints. David took pity on her and moved so that his body blocked the glare.
"How are you feeling?" he asked.
Stephanie took a moment to consider. There was very little residual pain from the welts across her body although her ass still felt tender from the attentions of the paddle.
"I'm ok, Master," she replied, smiling up at him. "Thank you for your concern."
"Stephanie, you are my sub. Of course I am concerned for you. That is my duty and my privilege!" David replied, smiling down at her.
He removed her restraints and helped her to her feet before clipping a leash to her collar and leading her out from the bedroom. When they reached the passageway, he turned in a direction opposite to the ones they had taken previously. They moved to the end of the passageway, through a wooden door into a lobby, where they faced a wide pair of patio doors, through which Stephanie could see a large paved area, complete with swimming pool.
David opened the doors and led her through to the terrace. He walked over to where there was a pair of sun loungers placed under a large parasol and indicated she should lie face down on the first one.
When she obeyed, he quickly removed his robe. Clad only in swimming trunks that hugged his hips, his tall, broad shouldered physique was emphasised by the sheen of sunscreen on his skin, his abdominal muscles sharply defined. His leg muscles flexed as he bent down and removed the cuffs from around Stephanie's wrists and ankles and the collar from around her throat. He picked up a bottle of sun screen and proceeded to liberally apply the lotion over her back, arms and legs.
Stephanie moaned quietly as the touch of his hands on her skin roused her body to desire. She needed more than just to be touched and was surprised at how powerful the feelings were that she was experiencing. David, however, ignored her moans and coated her skin with professionalism. He was glad, however, that she could not see the smile playing around his lips as he noted how quickly she was now responding to his touch!
He issued a gentle command for her to turn over and proceeded to repeat his actions, smoothing lotion over her torso, arms and legs. Her moans become slightly louder and her breath quickened as his hands ran over her breasts and mound, but again he ignored them and concentrated on applying the lotion in a consistent and uniform layer. When he was finished, Stephanie lay glistening in the sun. Her tongue darted out to lick lips gone dry with desire, the action unconsciously sensual.
David took a seat on the lounger next to hers and placed the sun screen on the small table between them.
"In addition to your yoga classes, for the rest of the week I expect you to swim for at least 30 minutes each day," he told Stephanie. "You are doing well so far, but I want your body to be completely toned and pleasing to the eye."
He held up a finger as he noticed Stephanie's face begin to fall.
"Stephanie, how many times do I need to tell you that you are a beautiful woman?" he chided.
Stephanie blushed.
"I am merely intending to enhance what you already have, my sub," he explained. "Now get yourself into that pool, and bear in mind I want to see real effort from you, no playing around!"
Stephanie rose from her lounger and dived cleanly into the pool, moving straight into a fast and smooth freestyle stroke. David looked on appreciatively as her body cut through the water efficiently with a minimum of splash. Swimming was obviously something she loved and was good at. For her part, Stephanie relished the feel of the warm water sluicing over her bare skin. She hadn't realised how sensual it would feel to swim naked, the water like a caress against her skin.
She concentrated on keeping a strong stroke and regular breathing pattern and it seemed no time at all before 30 minutes had passed and David was standing at the side of the pool with a towel in his hand. He smiled down at her as he held out a hand to assist her from the pool.
"I'm impressed!" he said. "You are obviously a very accomplished swimmer."
Stephanie flushed in pleasure and once again David looked on appreciatively as her exertions caused her to breathe deeply, her breasts rising and falling as she did so. The water glistened as it dripped from her skin to pool at her feet. He watched as her breathing returned to normal, then wrapped the towel around her body and patted her dry.
He ushered her back to the sun lounger and proceeded to once again cover her skin with sun screen. Again Stephanie moaned as she felt her Master's hands sliding over her body and she could feel her pussy growing hot and moist.
"This will be your routine for the rest of the week," David told her. "30 minutes swimming followed by 1½ hours sunbathing. By the end of this week I expect you will have acquired a good tan. I know that when you are back in the UK, it will be difficult to maintain the tan you acquire here and allowing for this, I have opened an account for you at the James Read tanning salon at Harvey Nichols. You will have a regular, weekly appointment to ensure that the depth of colour is maintained through spray tanning. I do not intend to subject you to the harmful effects of tanning beds!"
Once again Stephanie was stunned by the casual way her Master set up appointments at select establishments. She had heard of James Read and knew his treatments were not cheap. Her Master was spending a lot of money on her and treating it in such a matter of fact way. He was obviously a man of great wealth and taste, a fact that was continually being brought home to her.
"Yes Master," she said quietly.
"Good girl," David said approvingly. "Now lie back and concentrate on working on your tan. If you feel like you're starting to burn, tell me. The last thing I need is a sunburnt sub!"
He smiled as he said the last and Stephanie, much to her surprise, giggled. In amongst all the intensity of her training, it was the little things, like the offhanded, light-hearted comments that her Master made that helped to keep her on balance.
For his part, David fully realised the stresses and strains such intensive training was placing on Stephanie and he was treading a very fine line in pushing her so hard. He was being very careful to introduce some lighter moments into the training to provide her with some breathing space and relief from the intensity.
Over the years he had been a Master, he had honed and refined his intensive training courses to achieve the best results. He knew there were some Masters who regarded their subs as little more than chattel, vessels to be used without thought to satisfy their own desires and urges. David thoroughly disapproved of these Masters and their attitudes.
A true submissive was special and wonderful thing, someone to be nurtured and cherished, with every effort made to bring them to their full potential. It required a great deal of dedication, planning and effort as it was imperative to balance the mental and physical training and do so in such a way that it was most effective for the particular submissive in question. Each one was different, with a variety of inhibitions, doubts, desires and mentalities to be taken into account. It was not a case of "one size fits all" but an intensive task of determining the best way forward for each particular submissive. It was not a task he undertook lightly, which is why he was very particular about the women he chose to train.
He watched as Stephanie stretched out on the lounger, her slim body glistening in the sun. She brought up a hand to shade her eyes and David reached down into a bag that was placed under the table between the loungers. He withdrew a glasses case and handed it to Stephanie. When she opened it she smiled as nestled inside was a pair of Gucci sunglasses. Thanking her Master, she put them on and settled back onto the lounger to relax in the warmth of the sun.
Stephanie let her mind drift as she basked in the sunshine. She reflected on how aware she was of her body now, more conscious of the sensations aroused by her Master's touch, the caress of the water when she swam, the heat from the sun. She stretched, luxuriating in the sheer hedonism of allowing the sun access to her naked body, something she would never, under any circumstances, have considered doing just two weeks ago! She could feel her inhibitions slipping away, being replaced by a feeling of self-worth and a confidence she had never known she possessed.
After half an hour, after glancing at her Master for permission, she flipped over onto her stomach and allowed the warmth of the sun to heat her back. Once again, David liberally coated her with sunscreen before returning to his own lounger. They lay in companionable silence, letting the warmth of the sun soothe and relax them. The intensive training was as arduous for David as it was for Stephanie, more so in a way as he had to maintain a calm and commanding demeanour when around her, to help instil the proper attitude and responses that would aid in her continued growth and development.
He also had to maintain strict control over his body's reactions to ensure that she received the full benefit of her physical training. It would do her no good if he allowed himself to succumb too easily to her actions! He didn't mind admitting to himself that this was a part of his responsibilities that he was finding more difficult than usual, especially when Stephanie was instructed to use her mouth. He didn't know where she had acquired that particular talent from but in that area, there was very little more that he could teach her!
Stephanie was roused from a semi-somnolent state by the touch of David's hand against her skin. As she sleepily opened her eyes, she realised that he was once again wrapping the cuffs around her ankles before moving up and securing the wrist cuffs. He held out a hand and assisted her to rise into a sitting position before replacing her collar around her throat. Once done, he rose and with a slight tug of the leash, indicated that they should make their way back inside the house.
Stephanie followed obediently behind her Master, her body moving with an unconscious grace that was already becoming ingrained. They moved through the ground floor of the house before coming to a halt in the bathroom. Once there, David again removed all cuffs and the collar before indicating that Stephanie should step into the shower and rinse off the accumulated sun screen from her body.
