Journey into Submission: The Failure
“Did you complete your task, sweetheart?”
Ruby froze, “I did, sir. But-“
“But?” AJ tilted her chin so he could watch her face and candid gray eyes.
She quivered just a little, took a deep breath and confessed in a rush, “I walked a complete circuit of the mall with the egg..in…in…as directed, Master. But I had it turned to low instead of high.”
His increased tension did not escape her and when he frowned down at her, Ruby’s heart thumped hard in her breast.
In a voice so quiet that it made the hairs on her arms stand up, he said only, “Explain.”
A sick sense of failure welled bitterly in the back of her throat and she shivered as though suddenly cold. “The egg was too loud, Sir, too noticeable. And I did not have permission to cum. When the egg is on high in my…in my pussy, I nearly always cum, M..M…Master.”
By the end of her explanation, as AJ’s frown deepened, Ruby was hiccoughing with anxiety. In all their time together, she had never before seen in him this profound disappointment.
It had seemed such a small transgression. And AJ had heretofore been an indulgent and understanding Master. It had not occurred to her that she would face his displeasure over it.
Her heart hammered heavily behind her ribs: a knell, a portent. Oh god. Oh god, she had
failed
. It hurt to breathe. She had failed her Master and the enormity of it took her far past tears to a trembling, quivering mass of apprehension.
She sank to her knees before him and whispered brokenly over and over, “I am sorry.” And then, “Master forgive me. I didn’t think it mattered so-“
“You will not always know my purpose, Ruby.” And his voice was so cold, so displeased, that his words fell in an icy shower over her huddled form. She flinched and shook so hard that her teeth chattered.
“Do you consider then that you need only obey those commands that you think matter?”
“N…no-“ she breathed it thickly, anguished.
“Did you think I had forgotten how often you cum when the egg is turned to high?”
“I…”
didn’t think I could cum without permission…thought it the lesser of two bad choices
…Ruby drew a shuddering breath and settled for, “I don’t know, Sir.”
Her throat ached, her lungs ached, her heart ached and in her misery it was physically painful to speak. She was suffused with a bone-deep sense of panic.
She had failed her Master
. She would be released. The prospect devastated her.
She gulped air, dragged it audibly into lungs that refused to function properly and whimpered in her pain. “Please, Sir.”
“Please what?” he prompted. Then before she could answer, added, “Look at me when you speak.”
Obediently she lifted her face, shivering. “
Please
forgive me, Sir.” Had she but known it, her blonde hair held more color than her cheeks.
“Oh Ruby-mine-“ he sighed.
She blinked, uncomprehending, as AJ abruptly gathered her in his arms and strode to the couch where he sat holding her trembling body. He rocked her gently against his broad chest, pressed her face over his heart and chafed warmth back into her quivering form.
“Sweetheart, I will
always
forgive you.”
And there was such warm ardor in his voice that Ruby began to weep uncontrollably. She wept out her sorrow, her self-disappointment, her relief. Throughout the storm of emotion, AJ kept her wrapped in his arms and murmured soothingly into her hair.
A century or so later, when her tears had dried to faint hiccoughs, he tenderly dried her eyes and kissed her forehead.
“Ready to talk?”
Ruby nodded, blowing her nose into the tissue he handed her.
“You were instructed to dress in your blue suit, put the vibrating egg in your pussy, turn it to high and walk one complete circuit of the mall. Tell me why you did not follow my instructions.”
She took a deep shaky breath and plunged ahead, “Even with the egg deep inside me, Sir, I could hear it and thought others could, too. And I knew that if I left it on high that I would cum and I did not have your permission. So I…I turned it down. To low. Oh Master, I am sooo sorry.”
“I know you are, baby. Did you have reservations about this task before you left to carry it out?”
“Yes, Sir.” She admitted forlornly.
He tilted her chin. “This was a test, Ruby. I
expected
you to tell me that the egg would be too loud and if you did not think it was so, then I
expected
you to ask for permission to cum while carrying out this task. Yet you did neither.”
Her eyes widened and she felt her jaw drop. Embarrassed color flooded her wan face. Her Master had given her a task that he
never
expected her to carry out! Her Master had tested her willingness to point out her own reservations. And she had failed. In her own arrogance and pride, she had seen fit to alter his directions rather than speak up and in so doing she had failed him utterly.
It had never occurred to her that he would test her this way. In a rush, Ruby realized that in failing to comply with his instructions, in failing to divulge her reservations, she had been guilty of topping from the bottom. She had threatened the trust between them – AJ’s trust that she would follow his commands implicitly. And she had no real excuse. AJ always listened to her and sometimes even changed his directions. No, her folly had been in believing that she knew her Master’s goal and therefore thinking that there would be no harm in altering her compliance as long as that goal was met.
She was devastated all over again. Fresh tears welled at the depths of her failure.
“Enough tears, darling girl.” AJ said bracingly, hugging her close. “Have you understood this lesson?”
She nodded, sniffling and wiping at her eyes. “I will carry out your directions exactly as you have delineated them and if I have reservations or questions, I will make them known to you before-hand. To do otherwise,” she added tearfully, “would break your trust in me and would be topping from the bottom.”
He smiled at her with pride. “Exactly. You understand that - even knowing your reservations - my commands may not change?”
“Yes, Sir.” She answered, and then asked with a catch in her voice, “Will you
really
forgive me? Always?”
“
Absolutely.
” He smiled tenderly at her and stroked his thumb across her damp cheek.
Ruby hugged him hard as her heart leapt. “Oh, Master! Though I had to displease you to learn it, this is a wonderful loving gift you have given me! Knowing that you will forgive me my failures is…is-” she started to cry again in her relief.
“It does not mean that I will forgo punishing you however.”
“P..punish me?” her tears dried magically at this even as her pulse sped to a gallop.
“Yes, lover. You did not obey my command, for this you will be punished. You did not tell me what was in your heart when you were given this command, for this you will be punished.
“The truth is, lover, it delights me to give you pleasure and the thought of you cumming - perhaps even moaning softly – while touring the mall in your prim teacher’s clothes gave me a huge erotic charge. Your actions denied us both. For this you will be punished.”
She stared intently into his beloved face, took a couple of deep breaths and tilted her trembling chin.
“I understand, Sir. I am proud to be yours.”
“I love you, my jewel.”
She caught her breath on a low moan as an orgasm rolled over her in a cresting wave of exquisite release. AJ had confirmed for her weeks ago that ‘jewel’ when spoken by him did indeed trigger her climax although he had long since removed the hypnotic post-suggestion that originally accompanied the word. She had been conditioned to the trigger long enough that it worked without hypnosis.
AJ held her close and murmured; “You please me well, darling Ruby.”
Journey Into Submission: The Punishment
That evening, Ruby presented herself to AJ wearing only her basic attire: her collar engraved with Celtic knots and adorned with two rubies, 3-tiered nipple chain hooked through nipple rings, black lace silk stockings and tiny garter belt. She wore her hair loose about her shoulders and went shoeless at his orders.
“I am ready, Sir.”
She trembled a little before him, unable to look away from the leather crop lying upon the table. Next to it was something floating in a bowl of water. Ginger, she thought, with a sniff. Gingerroot that had been peeled and shaped…shaped like…Ruby swallowed hard.
“Come here, baby.” He patted his lap and smiled warmly.
With a sigh of relief, she sat in his lap and curled into him. AJ put one arm around her shoulders and cupped her hip with his other hand. His breath stirred the hair at her temple. She licked and kissed his neck; quick flicking licks and sucking kisses.
“Did you see what’s in the bowl, baby?”
“Ginger, Sir?”
“Correct. What shape would you say it is?”
She shivered, “It is shaped like a small ass plug.”
“Yes.” He rewarded her with a claiming kiss and Ruby melted into him with a murmur of joy. He stroked his tongue along hers, nibbled on her full lower lip, sank his heated claim deep into her moist receptive mouth.
When he at last lifted his head, she gasped for air while he asked, “Have you heard of ‘figging’ Ruby?”
She wrinkled her brow in thought. “An old English custom wasn’t it? Something to do with anal play, ginger, and spanking or c..caning.” She stuttered as she recalled the crop.
“Exactly. I’m impressed, love. You have been doing your homework.”
Her blush spread upwards from the tops of her breasts to her entire face at his praise. It was a ceaseless joy, that mere words from this man could give her such physical pleasure.
“Figging refers to the practice of inserting gingerroot into the ass of one about to be caned. The ginger…heats up and prevents the disobedient one from clenching their ass.”
‘Disobedient’ echoed over and over in her brain and locked up her throat.
