Eileen sat on the sofa reading. Silence was in his accustomed place on the floor leaning close to her knees. He, too, had a book. His concentration was frequently interrupted as she played with his hair. Silence smiled and leaned his head into her touch. Her hand caressed, her fingers tangled in his hair and combed through the midnight softness.
Silence finally gave up trying to read and just leaned against her knees, falling into memory as she played with his hair. He shivered slightly at the memory of how close he had come to losing that touch. He touched his collar, heavy silver, a thick band around his neck. It was an unusual collar. It settled around his neck easily but did not fasten together or lock. He could remove it anytime. And that was what kept him from doing so. Choice.
When Michelle had lured him into her suite and had her submissives...her slaves...overpower him, blindfold him, and literally string him up, he had been full of rage. The whipping had plunged his mind back into the abyss she had put him in when he had been hers. Each stroke of the whip was accompanied by vicious comments on how he deserved no better, how only she could give him true pleasure and it was his place to be hers, to suffer for her.
His experience with Eileen had given him the strength to resist Michelle, and nothing she did aroused him. He had heard the whip hit the floor when she threw it away. He didn't know that she had picked up a weighted cat o' nine tails. She intended to maim him, to shred his genitals with the metal-tipped lash and render him permanently impotent, a eunuch. The sudden commotion when Eileen and his parents had burst into the suite confused him. Only the fact that Eileen had managed to put her body between him and the whip had saved him. And he almost threw away that most precious gift.
Eileen's hand was still caressing his hair. He sighed softly and turned his head slightly to gently kiss her knee, then relax his head against her. The last few months had been a new beginning of sorts for both of them. Silence thought it had been harder for Eileen than for him. He was submissive by nature, so the shift to consensual slavery had been fairly easy. Eileen had barely gotten used to having a submissive and now she had a slave. His lips brushed her knee again. He closed his eyes and let his mind drift with the pleasure of her touch.
Eileen was watching him. She had felt his shiver and had seen his hand touch his collar. She smiled and continued to play with his hair. He wore if fairly long, just brushing his shoulders, and the silky softness soothed her. She felt him relax and smiled again, filled with wonder that this huge, strong man was hers, had chosen slavery to be hers.
Eileen gently tugged his hair. Silence moved to his knees, eyes down. A slaves posture. Eileen sighed.
"Silence," she said softly, "look at me." His gray eyes raised to her hazel ones. "I...miss...the way you were...before..." Her eyes were sad, her tone wistful. "I know I accepted you as my...slave..."