My Life

Grateful 2 U CTB

Starbucks was busy as usual as Kyle stood in line to order his usual iced cappuccino. It was past the early morning rush when most people would have been trying to get their over-priced cup of liquid caffeine, but the line was still nearly to the door. He had thrown on an old pair of board shorts, a classic Hobie tee shirt and an old pair of flip-flops. This is why he had given up the corporate world, being able to dress however he pleased and not having to keep a regimented schedule was a good fit with his personality, and at least tolerable for his professional life.

With his order in hand he made his way to the far table on the veranda where a woman was waiting. She was fit and attractive, dressed professionally in a black skirt and neatly creased button-up shirt. At first glance, she appeared to be in her late thirties; but the lines at her eyes and the corners of her mouth made her look older. Her hair was mostly blond, but darker roots could be seen underneath, she was moderately tanned and wore glasses with a thicker frame.

Kyle took his seat and took the woman's hand into his own, "Miriam," he said, kissing the top of her hand lightly.

"Oh stop being such a flirt, Kyle," she said with a smile.

Kyle sat back into his chair and sipped at his coffee, "So how have you been?"

Miriam put her cell phone and purse on the table and took a sip of her own coffee before answering, "Busy as I want to be."

"Well that's good," A low-rider truck with a loud stereo thumped a rhythmic beat as it passed by, "It's going to be a hot one today."

"Come now Kyle; let's not talk about the weather. We don't need to go through the motions. I want to know about this girl who has kept you so busy lately that you can't find time to call."

Kyle snorted and laughed, "You never were one to waste time," he said. He then pulled out his phone, went to the photo gallery and handed the device to her.

"Oh my god, Kyle! How old is she? She can't be more than sixteen! What are you—"

"—She's old enough," Kyle interrupted, holding up his hands for her to keep her voice down. "I promise I'm not going to end up in jail."

The woman looked dubious but eventually nodded, "She's gorgeous... and so petite," she said, studying the few pictures Kyle had taken without Jamiee knowing.

"What's her name and how did you meet her?"

"Jillian Aimee Boyack but most people call her Jamiee. She's my best friend's little sister," Kyle explained.

"Ha, I bet that's been awkward."

"Well, not yet. He doesn't know—I mean this just happened."

"Boyack... Boyack..." she said to herself, thinking about the people she knew from Kyle's past. "I think I remember the Boyacks – you used to almost live at their house in high school if I remember correctly."

"Yep, that's them."

"But I thought they only had boys."

"Nope, little Jamiee snuck in there at the end. She's the youngest but has spent most of her time at an all-girls boarding school in England. She has the accent to prove it," explained Kyle briefly.

"The mother was English if I remember right," said Miriam.

Kyle nodded and sipped his coffee, "She is," he confirmed, "she was always really good to me growing up, almost like a second mom sometimes. But I think she and her husband do a lot of traveling these days visiting grandkids and for business. Jamiee doesn't act like she's very close to her parents."

"That's too bad," said Miriam, "that can be a perfect recipe for a girl to fall into the clutches of someone like you," she said half-joking. But then the smartly dressed woman looked suddenly serious, "you better not hurt this child, Kyle, or so help me?"

"Hey, I have no intention of hurting her," Kyle said equally as serious.

Miriam nodded reluctantly and returned the phone, "I hope not for your sake. She looks like a sweet girl, which makes me wonder why you're interested."

"Fair enough, and to be honest, this girl probably would be a lot better off being with someone else. But I really do like her. I can't explain it, but I felt this connection the first time I saw her."

"Which was how long ago exactly?"

"A week, she's home for the summer and then she'll head back for her final year of school."

"I know that girl's not old enough to be in college, so that means she's what, a senior in high school?"

Kyle shrugged uncomfortably, "Yeah, but I swear she's legal."

"Kyle Brooks! Of all the—," Miriam stopped herself before she began to attract unwanted attention.

"I promise, Miriam. Jamiee's old enough and I haven't done anything to trick her or drug her or anything else you're imagining."

Miriam gave him a hard, skeptical look, "While I agree that one can never guess who wants to be in the Lifestyle, I can't see this cute little girl wanting to call you master and suck your cock like a good little submissive. And there's no way you're going to convince me that you're going to be able to go straight and just have a plain-Jane relationship with her."

Kyle tried not to look guilty but couldn't bring himself to look the woman sitting across from him in the eye, "Well, no...I'm not exactly going straight..."

Miriam sat forward in her chair, "What have you done?" she demanded to know, pronouncing each work slowly and carefully.

Kyle looked uncomfortable and hesitated to answer before finally saying too quickly, "Imadeherminelastnight."

"What? Repeat that slowly."

Kyle sighed; he knew he was going to have to tell Miriam everything anyway. He had known her for over two decades. She had been the one responsible for helping him understand why he was the way he was and how to act on his desires without ending up in jail, or worse. He had never intended to keep this a secret, but he knew that Miriam was going to have a hard time believing what he was going to say.

At last he took a deep breath and repeated, "I made her mine last night, Miriam. She took me as her master last night."

Miriam looked up at the sky, closed her eyes and shook her head, "Kyle, I'm really surprised at you. Every other girl you've been with was certainly beautiful, but they all knew what they were getting into. How could you do this to such a young child?"

"She's hardly a child, but I know, trust me I know," Kyle said, feeling exasperated at not having a better answer. "Look, you'll understand better when you meet her. But she's not exactly an innocent. She's been in a lesbian relationship for almost a year with her roommate at school, and she's read a lot about the Lifestyle online. She's like a fucking submissive prodigy, Miriam. I fell for her like a bee finding a truck full of pollen."

"Nice comparison. I'm sure you were working like a bee trying to pollinate her last night."

Kyle looked slightly ashamed, "Well, yes."

"Are you telling me the truth about her being a little pussy licker?"

Kyle nodded seriously, "I am, and I bet her roommate, Brooklyn by the way, loves her because god save me if Jamiee doesn't have the longest tongue I've ever seen on a girl. I mean I don't know how she fits it into her mouth."

"Huh," said Miriam thoughtfully, "I've been in the Lifestyle long enough to know not to judge, but I'm just shocked. And wishing I was her roommate... that lucky girl," then after a moment asked, "so what are you going to do, Kyle? Your past relationships haven't ended well, and some of those women were really hurt emotionally."

"That won't happen, Miriam," Kyle said forcefully. "I won't let this girl get hurt."

Miriam shook her head, "That's not always up to you."

"You're right," Kyle admitted, "I realize that."

"So what then, what do you want?"

Kyle took a deep breath and tried not to let his frustration get the best of him, "I want this girl to be mine forever. If I were like everyone else I would marry her and have a dozen kids with her, but the Lifestyle will always be a part of me. I know that now, and I truly think Jamiee is wired the same way we are.

"I want this girl, Miriam, but I don't know how to reconcile that with how I am inside. But you and John have made it work for what, twenty years? I want what you have—or at least something close to it. If I thought for a second I could just be in a normal relationship I would do in in a heartbeat."

Miriam sat for a long time, thinking about how much Kyle had changed in some ways, and not at all in others. "When can I meet her?"

"Really?" asked Kyle. "You'll take her on?"

The woman gave a noncommittal shrug but said, "I'll need to meet her before I make a commitment, but you've piqued my interest."

Kyle closed his eyes and let out a breath he'd been holding in anticipation. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, Miriam. I'm falling hard for this girl and I don't want to hurt her. I'll take whatever help you can give me."

"It's only been a week, Kyle. You're letting yourself get carried away," chided Miriam, "I'll help just to make sure you take care of this girl. You know I care for you like you were my own son, Kyle. But the rules apply to you as well as everyone else. Don't let me down."

"I won't I promise. I guarantee I'll toe the line."

Miriam nodded, "Then when do I meet her?"

-_-

The hours had just flown by and it was late in the afternoon before I realized I was going to be late getting back to Kyle's. I glanced at my watch as I went through the door and was happy to see that it was only ten minutes after six. I stepped into the kitchen and found Kyle cutting vegetables at the sink.

"Good evening, Master," I said as I picked a piece of broccoli off of the counter and popped it into my mouth.

"You're late," was all Kyle said, a look of irritation clearly showing on his features.

"Just ten minutes," I said, confused as to why he might be angry.

"Six o'clock is six o'clock. Being ten-minutes late is unacceptable, so there will be a punishment for this."

I guess I knew deep down that there might be punishments but I really didn't think being ten-minutes late would be enough to earn one. At school I was a master at getting detentions and demerits for minor and major infractions. None of that seemed to make any difference in my behavior. This new 'Lifestyle' thing as Kyle called it, might be trouble for me.

"What kind of punishment?" I hesitantly asked.

"I'll start off simple. One swat with this wooden spoon for each minute you were late, and five more for not removing your clothes before you entered the house."

"Oh," I had completely forgotten to take off my clothes I was so fixated on getting into the house. I instantly got moving and removed my shorts, tee shirt and kicked off my flip flops. Next I slipped off my knickers and bra so that I was standing there starkers as usual. "Sorry."

"Please pick up and fold your clothes," he said, but I could hear his annoyance growing.

Before it could escape my lips I let out a sarcastic sigh and bent down and picked up my clothes. They were old and well-worn but I took an extra minute to fold them nicely to make sure I didn't provoke any other ridiculous rules I didn't know about.

Kyle stepped up next to me, wooden spoon in hand, "Right now?" I asked in disbelief.

"Bend at the waist and grab your ankles," he instructed.

Oh, he was serious, I realized. I did as I was told and as soon as I had my ankles firmly in my hands I heard a loud smack. There was a microsecond where I couldn't figure out where the sound had come from, but then a stinging pain seared my right arse cheek.

"Ouch!!! Son of a—"

"—Smack!" another stinging whack in the exact same spot; this was a lot more than I was prepared for. My memory reached out for my safe word but two more blows landed on my cheek before I could remember it.

"Holy mother of—"

"—Whap-whap," two more quick cracks with the spoon. I was reeling at how much it stung when I felt the other cheek explode in pain. I didn't think to count and just tried to endure it, wondering how much of a mark that damn spoon was going to leave. I hadn't been spanked since the girls and I found an old cane at school and tried using it on each other.

The blows finally ceased and I tried to blink a tear away that was trying to escape the corner of my eye. I wasn't going to cry.

"Recover," Kyle said simply and I took that to mean I could stand up.

I stood and instantly turned around to try to see the damage that had been inflicted on my rear. It was almost glowing as it turned into a bright shade of red. Probably nothing that would leave a mark, but damn that was painful.

"Jillian, part of your training has to do with exactness. I will give you instructions and I expect them to be followed perfectly. Not just closely: perfectly. Do you understand?"

I sniffed and nodded my head, stupid runny nose.

"So when there are infractions I will make corrections. But when my orders are followed I will make sure to reward you

very lavishly,

and when it's over it's over. We won't dwell on mistakes."

I nodded again and gently rubbed my arse cheeks.

"Good, now please set three places at the table, we're expecting company."

I didn't move and after several long seconds Kyle turned to look at me, "Did you hear me, pet? I said to set three place settings at the table."

"I—I heard... I'm sorry," I sputtered and began to take the plates down from the upper cabinet. Was Kyle expecting me to be naked when this supposed 'company' arrived, I wondered? I had a deep feeling I knew what the answer was going to be, and it definitely didn't bring a smile to my face. Just when I thought I was figuring things out Kyle would go and change things up on me.

The question and doubt nagged at me until I couldn't stay silent, "Do I have to be naked?" I asked in a quiet voice once I'd finished setting the table.

Kyle set a plate of baked salmon onto the center of the table; it had a slight scent of maple to it that made it smell divine. Once done, he came to stand in front of me, "You have no idea how much I want to say yes to that question, little one, but no, not tonight. Tonight I need you to be completely comfortable."

A wave of relief passed over my body and it must have shown on my face because Kyle's demeanor changed and he caressed my cheek as he spoke, "Someday you would be, as you call it, 'starkers' all of the time, including in the presence of certain company. But I really don't want to move too fast with you and scare you off or burn you out. I know there's only so much a person can take at a time, and you've only just seen a peek at what's to come. My goal is to keep you happy, not crush you. There is a place for humiliation, however. We'll get to that later."

I dipped my head in gratitude and then asked myself if I would have really done it, and my answer scared me because I knew I would have. But at the same time I knew I was only going to play this game for the summer and then I'd have to call it quits. I would go back to Brooklyn and have one hell of a story to tell.

"Who's coming to dinner?" I asked.

Kyle went back into the kitchen and removed a bowl of green beans from the microwave, "She's an old friend—and no, not a girlfriend," he added before I had a chance to ask. "She's more like a mother figure slash close friend."

"You have friends?" I said cheekily.

Kyle set the bowl on the table, "Ha. Ha," he laughed sarcastically. "Your brothers are my friends."

"Until I tell them you spanked me with a wooden spoon."

An eyebrow arched smartly at me, "Hmm, but then I'd really have to punish you," he said. He came next to me, knelt down and rubbed his hand over my still very red arse. "Did this surprise you?" he asked.

"Yes, but I guess I should have known to expect that," I said truthfully. I knew punishments were part of this game, or at least I'd read that a thousand times on the internet.

"And did it excite you?" he continued to question. I was about to answer when he pushed his hand between my thighs and ran his index finger over the top of my vagina. The touch jolted me and I was surprised to see that the side of his hand was glistening from my wetness. "I'll take this as a yes," he said proudly.

I scoffed, "That's from something else," I quickly said. "I was thinking about, you know, last night."

"And it was making you this wet?"

"Yeah, I guess so."

Kyle shook his head, "No, that's not true—is it," I didn't move. "My little puppet liked how it felt when I stung her ass with a spoon, didn't you?"

I felt that familiar blush coming but was saved when a knock sounded from the front door.

"Get dressed if you'd like—but do not put your bra or panties back on. Just leave those in the bathroom. Miriam won't care either way, but you can put your clothes on if you'd like," he went to the door and I grabbed my small pile of folded clothes and bolted to the loo to dress.

When I came back out I saw a tall woman standing near the table talking with Kyle. She was dressed as if she had just come from a high-end Wall Street office. She was stunningly beautiful and equally intimidating. She looked to be about ten years junior to my mum.

She turned to greet me, "You must be Jamiee," she said warmly, and then extending her hand, "I'm Miriam Brandt."

I shook her hand and nodded, "Very pleased to meet you, Miriam."

"Oh you are precious aren't you," she said softly and I wasn't sure how to take that. I forced an awkward smiled and diverted my gaze to Kyle.

I wasn't sure what tonight was meant to be about, if it was about anything at all. It looked like it was just a simple meal between old friends. I happily tucked in, taking a large bite of the salmon, and of course it was melt-in-your-mouth delicious. I was content to eat and listen as they talked about mutual acquaintances and people I didn't know. I gathered that she had known Kyle for many years and a number of her questions were similar to what my own mother would ask me. As the hour passed I found that I liked Miriam. She was direct when she wanted to be but always genuine and engaged in what Kyle was talking about. But then Miriam turned her attention to me.

"Jamiee," she began, "would you mind if I asked you to tell me a little about yourself? And then if you'll indulge me I would like to tell you a little about who I am."

I swallowed a bite of rice and then wiped my mouth with my napkin. I thought about what to say and figured that I should start off on safe ground, "I just met Kyle about a week ago," I said, "but he's friends with my oldest brother Brandon."

"I actually know your older brothers, Brandon and Derek. I used to live here in the neighborhood but moved to Orange County years ago with my husband," Miriam explained.

"Do you know my parents?"

"Not well, but I did talk to them on occasion. You see, I was very close to Kyle's mother before she died, so I kind of kept an eye on this one," she pointed at Kyle, "ever since."

I looked at Kyle, "You never told me that your mum died," I said, shooting him a hurt look.

Kyle shrugged, "Not a subject I bring up much to anyone."

I wanted to yell, '"but I'm your...'" what? What was I going to say? Wife certainly wasn't accurate and neither was girlfriend really, although maybe it did feel a little like that. Argh, this is a stupid game I'm getting involved in, and getting more confusing by the minute.

Miriam interjected, "Jamiee, I want to be completely open with you tonight, but I need to know that what we talk about stays in this room."

That took me by surprise. I looked at her thoughtfully for a long moment and tried to understand what she meant by that request, but she looked sincere and I didn't feel like she was the type of person to waste someone's time.

"Of course," I finally said.

She smiled and nodded, "Thank you. I really do want to get to know you, but I feel like I need to explain a few things so you understand the context here."