Chapter 6: The Ritual of Ownership
"Touch has a memory."
-- John Keats
He was never formally invited to move in. He just did and I allowed it.
That was how our relationship often worked. We didn't negotiate or define. We understood. It was an instinctive rhythm between us--a current we both felt, even in silence.
After that night, he simply... stayed. He returned to his apartment to pack things in batches. I didn't ask what he was bringing. I didn't offer to help. He showed up with boxes and a quiet sense of purpose, and I watched him settle into the small spare room off the back hall. It had once been a guest room. Now it was his. His bed. His dresser. His corner.
Not his home. Mine.
I didn't change anything to make him feel more comfortable. I gave him space, and I gave him rules. That was more intimate than making room in the closet.
It was time for him to learn my expectations--not casually, not in conversation, but deliberately. This wasn't about teasing him anymore. It was about training.
I told him something very simple:
"You are permitted to ask questions--but only questions that help you serve me."
That became the framework of his education. He started carefully, testing what was allowed.
"Mistress, what kind of coffee should I bring you in the morning?"
"Do you prefer your towels hung or folded?"
"Would you like your robe warmed before your shower?"
These questions pleased me. They weren't about his comfort--they were about making my life smoother.
But then he'd slip.
"Do you want to go out tonight?"
Wrong.
"Ask me," I said softly, "how you may plan an evening I'll enjoy."
He blushed. Nodded. Tried again.
Over time, he began to anticipate the structure of the question: that it had to start with me. Not his idea. Not his curiosity. Not his need to please--but my pleasure, framed on my terms.
He learned what foods made me feel strong, not just full. He learned that I hated to be interrupted before 10 a.m., that I always wanted fresh sheets on Sundays, and that I liked wine chilled until the second glass, then let it sit.
He learned how I liked my back rubbed--deep at the base, light at the shoulders. He learned the difference between my don't bother me silence and my touch me without speaking silence.
He began keeping notes--discreetly. I found a page in his drawer once with a list of phrases:
"Mistress may want her shoes switched midday."
"Check her hairbrush. Replace when worn."
"Always reheat food to her temperature--not mine."
He was learning not just my preferences, but my patterns. My rituals. My body.