On a warm night, the golden skin of the slave was kissed by moonlight as she approached the chambers of the Master. The door was closed, much like her heart, and she timidly knocked upon it. She waited for what seemed like an eternity, there on the threshold, knowing she would wait until he responded. Her breath was shallow. She could hear each one as she drew it in. The quiet overwhelmed her senses. And she waited. Then she heard it, the voice of him, he whom she had been summoned by, as he spoke but two words, "Enter, slave".
With trembling fingers, she pushed open the heavy wooden door. The room was dark after the moon-kissed lighting of the hall and it took a moment for her eyes to adjust. Then she saw him, sitting upon his chair, perched as it were before the fire, his eyes mesmerized by stories in the flames. She closed the door behind her and walked swiftly to his side, falling to her knees and bowing her head. "Before me," he ordered and she crawled about until her knees were but inches from his feet.
"Look at me," he commanded and she lifted her eyes to meet his. They blazed with unspoken words and tales of heartbreak, triumph and pain. They flashed from the flames of the fire, and yet were cold and unsettling. She could not look away even if she dared, so deeply his eyes held hers, trapped and locked within his own. She knew without hesitation that he was Master and that all she was his.
"Wine, slave," he whispered and she stood to slip across the room and pour him out a glass from the bottle he stored there on his shelf. Her feet were light and graceful as she crossed back to him, holding the glass just so until he retrieved it from her hand. She stood silently then beside him as he lifted the glass and emptied the contents with one swallow. His arm wiped across his mouth and he stood quickly from his seat. He towered over her when he stood her head just barely to his chin, and she quickly looked down upon the cold wooden floor before he caught her looking at his wide chest.
The room suddenly became very quiet. The only sounds heard were the crackling of the flames in the fireplace and the quiet breathing of the two occupants. The slave looked at the floor, knowing his eyes were on her. She could feel them burning her flesh. But she did not look up she just listened to the flames hiss until she heard his instruction, "Lips."