Her Butler

She was at his bedside when her butler died. "Complications following his stroke." Memories of a life well lived filled her heart as she processed his final words. Back a half century, when she was not yet 30, she posted her ad on Craigslist.

Jennifer graduated college and law school near the top of her class. She snagged an excellent offer from an international law firm. With hard work and clarity on her goals, Jennifer began climbing the ladder at her firm.

She did not want to live alone, even if she had no plan to find a life partner or get married. Money was not the issue. What she really wanted was a roommate who would share responsibility for taking care of the apartment; someone who would not burden but enhance her life. Of course, she was quite willing to do her part, but she was clear she wasn't looking for a confidant or friend. And she was not about to clean up after anyone twice.

He was not the first to answer that ad. He was not the first she tried as a roommate. When she first signed on as a junior associate in her law firm, she shared an apartment with another young attorney. Both were beginning their career, but the other woman wanted to party instead of building her resume.

That first roommate did not last long at the firm nor in her apartment. Over the next three years there were a succession of three other young attorneys, none of whom as driven as she.

She had enough powerful men in her life. She could bring one home anytime she wanted. She decided she did not want to live with someone full of himself. She began looking for that unique person; someone who would fir in and make her life easier, not more complex.

The first one she chose, in response to her Craigslist ad, was talkative. The bigger problem was that he began to see her as a potential lover even though she clearly stated otherwise. She did not want to have to repel his advances. He was not for her, he cared only about himself.

The second she tried was a young woman who had a lot of growing up to do. While compliant, this one proved more needy than useful. She only lasted three months.

Then Jim showed up. Somehow, she knew right away. There was no question. He was the right one. Almost as old as her father, he displayed all the graciousness of an older generation. In the interview he was deferential, seemingly embarrassed to be in her office.

He had lived alone for a long time. He wasn't looking for a partner, just a different situation. He could take care of himself; like her, he didn't want to be alone. Her intuition told her he would fit into her life without drama.

Already on his third day with her, when he handed her a mug of coffee, her smile was honest. "This is the way it will be," she thought. She could tell he liked her smile.

It didn't take long, just a few weeks, for him decide to clean and take care of the apartment by himself. And she gave back her smile. She found he responded to encouraging gestures and these were easy to give. His service was his idea; he offered himself beautifully. Somehow it felt right to let him serve.

She discovered a look of disappointment from her was overpowering to him. When he overslept one day, she thought, at first, she may have overdone her disapproval. He became sullen and unresponsive. Nothing she said seemed to improve his attitude until, on impulse, she decided to offer a spanking. It made all the difference. His demeanor improved immediately. And a wholly new level of relationship formed.

Truth is, it wasn't really an impulse. Jennifer had long fantasized about spankings. It was not because her mother ever spanked her. Although threatened with her mother's hairbrush once in a while, Jennifer had never been spanked as a child. But she knew her mother had been.

While she always felt her determined drive for success was encouraged by her mother's no-nonsense stance and threats, corporal punishments never happened. Still, there was something about spanking that triggered certain fantasies as a teenager. She often enjoyed holding her mother's antique hairbrush, feeling its weight, smacking her thigh. She delighted in imagining one of her teachers over her lap.

Jennifer believed spanking children was wrong. She knew it was wrong because the thought of spanking someone aroused her. Spanking was not for children, she reasoned, it was for adults. She liked everything about the idea of a power exchange. Imagining spanking another person, spanking a man, put her in control, and she liked being in control.

Jennifer found she loved spanking Jim, even more than she anticipated. Her grandmother's hairbrush was the perfect implement. The story of its use on the women in her family, even if its use on her was made up, provided the perfect level of connection for him.

With spanking their only act of intimacy, Jennifer and Jim made their home together. It remained her apartment with Jim the renter, but it was more than that. Jim found the purpose for his life in her apartment and she accepted his service. His happiness became connected to her wellbeing. For him an hour cleaning when she wasn't there was an hour close to her. But when she was there, he took pains to be out of the way. Odd how this contradiction made sense to him. It certainly worked for Jennifer. She couldn't imagine a better situation.

Jim gave her space while taking care of the apartment and enjoyed doing what he could to make her life easier. She couldn't ask more of a him. His financial contribution was not as great as her former roommates, but he more than made up for it in service to her. Indeed, unknown to him, she began funding retirement account for him.

And the spankings! She reveled in spanking him. His delicious squirming aroused her. His timing was uncanny. She might have a particularly difficult day preparing a legal brief, or with an obtuse client or with office politics, and her hairbrush would appear on the chair by the window. It was his sign he was ready for another spanking.

He always seemed to know the perfect moment to ask. And for the days leading up to their Sunday morning encounter, that antique hairbrush on her chair evoked, in her, the arousal to come. He offered his bottom and she took advantage of his offering. She delighted in his struggle to maintain dignity.

When she made Junior Partner in the firm, they moved to an upper floor condo she purchased with her savings. Her investment paid off when later she made full partner. She used a mortgage on the condo for her partnership buy in. Then, after her second-year distribution, she bought a home in Kenilworth, just north of the city. Jennifer made shrewd choices.

James was one of those shrewd choices. When he lost his job as a warehouse manager, she lowered his rent to something he could afford as a Starbucks barista. It seemed important to his sense of wellbeing that he contribute financially. She put the money into his retirement fund.

He had more time to think up ways to support her, becoming her cook, house maid and maintenance man, all in one. And this made him happy. His depressions became distant memories because anytime he felt low, he could have his time over her knee and in the corner.

The intensity of her law office was balanced by the tranquility of her home. Jim worked at making it a peaceful place. He absolutely never complained to her about anything. He did the shopping and took care of her household. He gave her the receipts and she reimbursed him. It was their way.

Saturday evenings Jim would vanish. She could bring anyone home with her and there would be no sign of his presence. She wondered if he could hear her love making, but he said nothing. Unless they had a date with her hairbrush, she would not see him on the weekend until Sunday evening.

Often, in contract law, her work involved creating compromise solutions. Bending her client just enough to make the transaction happen, but with a profitable result. Until both sides signed, the negotiations were often tense. Like a high stakes game of chess, she had to plan several responses to the next proposal from the other side. She was good at it, this negotiation phase, and she was promoted to ever more intense situations. She liked being in control, especially when powerful men were involved.

Having a peaceful home was a godsend to her. She never felt the conflicts in her personal life others experienced. Because of Jim, Jennifer was able to focus on her clients and their best interest. Often, she understood their best option better than they did. She developed a reputation for positive outcomes when others could see only a stalemate.

When she discovered Jim going through her underwear drawer, she was a little angry. He had violated the implicit boundary between them that made the peace she enjoyed possible. Her first impulse was to end their relationship. But she had invested two years in him and she decided this was an opportunity to take their relationship to a new level. She did her research, finding JoEllen Lake and Midway Disciplinary and Domination Services.

Jennifer contacted Midway Disciplinary and set up the consultation. MS Lake's insights were exactly right and her confidence that corporal punishment would restore their relationship made intuitive sense to Jennifer.

It was JoEllen who came up with the idea of chastity and washing underwear, but Jennifer loved it. Putting the two ideas together, corporal punishment and long-term chastity, was perfect for Jim. And, truth be told, for her as well.

What she had not anticipated was her own reaction to the video of his brutal punishment. She had no clue how utterly intense the scene would be, nor her own fascination with it. She watched it with him and felt his autonomic response to every stroke of the paddle. Her hand on his head, she felt him relive the pain and it was thrilling.

This was hard for her to put into words, but her response to the video was undeniable. The twitch of his abdomen to the sound of every stroke went through her fingers directly to her gut. And it was compelling. She felt a powerful urge to invite someone to her bed; someone she knew would focus on satisfying her.

What she witnessed in the video was his struggle to please, his suffering for her. And his suffering pleased her no end. This was something she had not fully understood about herself. His complete capitulation felt empowering to her. And this led to an insight into her career as an attorney. She loved winning, and when that meant winning in a room full of men, it was uniquely satisfying.

She kept the video of his paddling and sometimes watched it on her smartphone while waiting in airports. It became her little motivational film. Leading powerful men to compromise, to give up a little, created opportunities in her career.

In chastity, Jim became even more attentive. In giving up his sexuality to her, a new, more fulfilling relationship ensued. He was the one who suggested that he might cater a dinner party for one of her clients. She was concerned, so she set up a dinner with some of her staff. That went so well, she agreed to Jim's plan.

Her clients were Jewish, conservative but not practicing. Jim decided on a slow braised brisket with new potatoes and roasted brussel sprouts. He kept the menu kosher even if his kitchen was not. His brisket braise was red wine based with rehydrated wild mushrooms. He used the same pinot noir that he planned to serve and added roasted garlic and fresh rosemary in the braise.

The dinner started with savory asparagus spring rolls with a kosher anchovy-based fish sauce. His salad was simple and lightly dressed. He added dried cherries and walnuts to his balsamic reduction. He offered his own vegan baklava for dessert with Turkish coffee.

Jennifer was pleased and she let him know it. He took the initiative and worked hard at making things right for her. Her guests asked if he was a private chef and could they hire him. She said no, he was just a friend who liked to cook for her.

Up until that very moment, she had not fully considered Jim's future. She realized he had become part of her life. He fit into her life in an unavoidably satisfying way. From time to time she liked putting him over her knee. Videos of the canings he received were unusually stimulating to her. And his service was becoming impeccable. It was all good.

Still, far and away the most gratifying part of their relationship was his chastity cage, both to her and to him. She kept the key locked in a box on her nightstand next to her bed. Sometimes, when she brought a date into her bed, she touched that box. It heightened her pleasure. On Sunday mornings, when she spanked him, she would wear his key on a necklace, visible to him. It made him proud. She cared.

He had become something other than a friend. Her usual answer to the question about him simply didn't make sense. She had invested too much time and money in him for him to be her friend. When she worked long into the evening, he brought her a dinner he prepared for her. He took care of her home, her clothes, her shopping, her life.

So, when he suggested she call him her butler, she like the description: her butler, her servant. His life was devoted to her. She accepted full control and responsibility for him.

She paid him well for his service, but almost all went into tax advantaged funds that were his, controlled by her. He lived on a small allowance, and died a rich man. His will stipulated his estate would endow a scholarship for women in law school in her name.

The idea that Sundays would be on the honor system was hers. She wanted him to learn to defend himself and her. Security became a concern at her firm as they were embroiled in international conflicts over water rights and contractual obligations. James spent Sunday in martial arts and self-defense classes. Jennifer enjoyed feeling for his chastity device on Monday morning.

As an attorney, Jennifer often found herself defending positions with which she did not agree. Her sanctuary, her home, was there for her because James kept it that way. When they moved to Kenilworth, she had the means to make his job as Butler full-time. He took great pride in his position as her servant.

The opportunity to lead the Strasbourg office was too good to pass up. The years there were some of the best in her life partly because her butler went with her. She enjoyed taking up the task of caning him once a month. It was his suggestion. She made it his reward. In return, he made her home a place of peace.

In that hospital, in the sacred moment of his death, she leaned and kissed her butler, she told him she was glad she chose him all those years ago. He whispered to her, "I love you, Jennifer." He smiled. She liked his smile. She was holding his hand when he died.

His death left her alone in her big house back in Kenilworth. Sometimes she got out her grandmother's hairbrush and caressed its backside recalling his suffering for her. She still kept his key by her bedside, now framed. Seeing it never failed to bring her a sense of peace.

Her new live-in butler had none of the grace that endeared James to her. But he was efficient and easily managed. Miss Jacobs, who now owned several Correction and Domination Service franchises, recommended him. She said he responded well to the cane.