He opened the bedroom door and breathed in deeply: the soothing smell of sage and incense immediately made him feel a little less tired, and the soft glow of the candles was a relief to his eyes. He looked down and smiled at his slave kneeling on her cushion. Her head was bowed, which he thought was a little odd. Usually she was very forward, and certainly not shy at all about expressing her happiness at his homecoming. Perhaps she had a premonition about her future, he thought. No matter – she would soon be enjoying herself. He had brought gifts.
He set his shopping bag on the floor beside her, and bent a little to stroke her hair. He admired its sheen, accented by the light of the candles. It was still ever so slightly damp, he noticed, and smelled of lavender. That was good – she had prepared herself as he had instructed. At least she still remembered how to obey direct orders.
"Hello, my little one," he said. "Did you do everything I asked you to?"
"Yes, master," she said, her gaze still fixed on his shoes.
"Thank you, sweetheart," he replied. "I have several surprises for you tonight, and it would have taken me a long time to get started if you hadn't helped. Where is our tea?"
"In the kitchen, master."
"Then I will go fetch it," he said. "Don't move – you look so good in that position."
"Yes, master," she acknowledged.
"And don't look in the bag," he added waggishly.
"Yes, master."
As he descended the stairs, he mulled over her unwonted demure behavior – she'd been a positive hellion for the past three months. She'd repeatedly broken all his rules – she'd masturbated without permission, avoided serving him sexually unless she happened to feel like it, made inappropriate eye contact, and a few days ago he had actually caught her wearing underwear. The BORING kind. His new job had kept him so busy; he supposed he'd neglected her discipline a bit. But she'd always been like this to a certain extent – he was sure her love never wavered, but her obedience certainly did. Well, he would fix that tonight. Forever.
He picked up the tea tray in the kitchen. She appeared to have done a perfectly adequate job – tea, scones, curd, clotted cream, cheese and sausages with bread. He smiled. She'd enjoy his additions. They were in the bag. Satisfied, he took the tray back up the stairs and into his room.
True to his orders, his slave did not appear to have moved at all. He finally realized she was trying to avoid punishment. The thought made him smile in spite of himself. For the past little while, he'd been adding several…
implements
… to his collection. Perhaps she hadn't liked the look of them, and figured since he had ordered her specifically to arrange several of them on the headboard that he meant to use them on her. Clever girl.
He set the tray down in front of her and then sat down himself. She poured him tea and then poured herself some. "How was your day?" he asked her, knowing she'd spent all day washing the sheets, going to the market, baking, waxing herself, and so on as he had instructed.
She finally looked up and met his eyes briefly. She quickly looked away again and said, "Oh, master. I hate shopping. The idiots were swarming, sir, and some stupid git in an SUV almost killed me."
He couldn't stop himself from grinning. His slave couldn't stand being around crowds of people – in cars, in markets, in malls, it didn't matter where. "But you did it for me anyway. Good girl." He bit into a sausage. It was delicious. She'd bought his favorite kind.
"Well, master, how was your day?" she asked.
"Reasonably tolerable," he said. "Although it occurred to me that you're regressing."
"Regressing, sir?"
"You've been very difficult lately," he said. "Partly it's my fault, I know. You require a firmer approach than I'm initially inclined to take. I know you love me. So tell me – what benefit is it you think that a rebellious, disobedient, ill-kempt, unmannerly little minx of a slave gives her master, anyway?"
As soon as he stopped talking, he could tell he'd been too harsh. She suddenly seemed so small – she looked like she was about to cry. He realized he must have sounded more angry than anything else, and he was by nature a very even – tempered man. Seconds drug on, but his slave made no reply.
"Aw, c'mon. I know you didn't mean to upset your master, did you?" She shook her head. "I know you didn't do it to spite me," he continued. "But you've never been consistently obedient. The funny thing is, I know that being owned is what makes you happy.
Submission
is what makes you happy." He shook his head a bit. "The only thing I can figure out is that you're too smart for your own good. Your head tells you one thing and your heart tells you another." Just then, she looked straight at him. "I think that's our problem, my little slave." He moved around behind her and fastened her collar around her neck. "Tonight, I'm going to fix it," he said.
"How, master?" she whispered.
He put his mouth very close to her ear, so that his beard tickled her neck and his lips brushed her hair. "You'll see," he said. "I don't want to spoil the surprise." He grabbed both of her breasts and squeezed them hard, enjoying their soft fullness. He slipped his hands under the strip of cloth she'd tied them up with and gently pinched each nipple as he kissed her neck. She gave a little moan and pressed back him. The urge to take her immediately was almost overwhelming – he could tell that just now, she wouldn't resist. But he stopped himself eventually and made himself sit across from her once again.
She eyed him as he reached into his bag. He pulled out a container of beautiful chocolate covered strawberries, and then a bottle of the Riesling she so fancied.
"Go get me two wine glasses and a corkscrew," he said.
"Yes, master," she said, and rose a little stiffly. As she walked out of the room, he stared at her pale ass showing through the sheer black material she'd wrapped around her hips.
"Down, boy," he whispered to himself. He made himself wait patiently for her, nibbling on cheese and drinking more tea. Finally, she came back in and sat across the tray from him again. He took the corkscrew, opened the wine, and poured both of them half glasses.
"Enjoy your Riesling, dear," he said. He handed her a strawberry and added, "You should eat more fruit."
"Yes, master," she said.
They ate and drank in silence for several minutes. Finally, he took her hands in his and said, "Do you love me?" She looked a little confused, but then answered, "Of course I do, master, with all my heart."
"And do you trust me always and implicitly?"
"Yes, master," she affirmed.
"And do you truly wish to be my slave forever? Do you really want to be mine for the rest of your life?"
Again, she looked confused. She seemed a little apprehensive again. She knew he had something up his sleeve. Whatever was going to happen tonight, he was not going to beat her and leave it at that. "Of course, master. I swore all this to you when you collared me."
He nodded. "So you agree that it is my right and your desire to take whatever actions are necessary to make you into the perfect slave for me?"