Chapter 47
Sixteen
After several weeks of training, Emma had grown to love her new life.
There had been no more painful public punishments like the flogging.
Shay had explained that any punishment should have some element of either arousal or gratification or both.
He said she’d accepted the flogging punishment just to please him, which he appreciated, but he didn’t like inflicting pain unless the sub’s body needed or enjoyed it on some level.
So, her punishments had changed. When she interrupted a conversation between him and Master J without asking for permission, he’d swatted her ass and made her wear a gag for the rest of the night.
She’d been embarrassed of course, but she hadn’t really minded it.
Probably because she’d felt she deserved it.
She supposed that was what he meant when he said accepting punishments that were earned should bring a certain sense of satisfaction.
It had become easy to trust him, too, even when he pushed her limits.
Once for a role-playing scene that had bright lights on her and a crowd clustered too close, she’d repeatedly tried to cover herself and had nearly ruined the scene.
Afterward he’d taken away her baby doll top and tied her arms over her head with ropes in the middle of an aisle way.
Members had lined up to admire and touch her breasts.
It had been difficult at first to be so exposed, but the attention had quickly become flattering and arousing.
It had helped that Master Shay had stood right behind her the entire time with his body touching hers and whispered encouragement in her ear.
Eventually, she’d been so turned on, she begged him to do another scene with her, which he had.
Yes, she trusted him to give her what she needed.
They’d also started seeing each other outside the club.
It began after he’d been on the West Coast for a few days.
They’d talked on the phone several times.
Once, they’d had phone sex, which had been surprisingly fun and satisfying.
Apparently, he was a master of every kind of seduction.
But they’d also talked about other things, her classes, his work, places they’d traveled to, favorite movies, childhood memories.
She’d been anxiously awaiting his return, but then he told her the club would be closed for two nights when he got back. Most of the board member Doms would be gone for a meeting, so they’d decided to go dark for a couple of days. She couldn’t help herself. She’d started to cry.
“I’m okay,” she’d said in a wobbly voice. “I’m just disappointed. I miss you.”
“I miss you, too. Stop crying. The club doesn’t have to be open for me to see you. Tomorrow after class, pack a bag. I’ll pick you up on my way home from the airport. We’ll have dinner, and you’ll stay the night. I’ll have you back on campus before your first class the next day.”
She’d been stunned into silence.
“Did you hear me, Emma?”
“Yes,” she’d said, sniffling. “I didn’t know you’d see me outside the club. I thought you had a personal policy against it or something.”
“Not a policy, more of a habit. Having a playful sub around the house is a distraction. I collared an adorable kitten at the end of college, but when I had her in my apartment, she couldn’t leave me alone.
I decided I needed to set some limits, or I’d spend all my time fucking and none of my time working. ”
An adorable kitten. One who was no longer in his life. Emma’s stomach plummeted. He’d collared others who expected too much from him, and he’d let them go. Practical to a fault. It made her feel lightheaded to think of him releasing her at the end of the training. She was not ready to give him up.
“Well, I’m really happy I’ll get to see you. Thank you for letting me stay the night with you outside the club.”
“You’re welcome, but don’t take it as a romantic gesture, Emma. It’s really a selfish one,” he’d said with a smile in his voice. “You’re mine, and I want you. It’s as simple as that.”
She’d shivered, thrilled by his ownership, but cowed by the warning to not get carried away. “Sir, it’ll be a pain for you to have to bring me back to campus in the morning. Why don’t I drive to your house, so you won’t have to be inconvenienced?”
“No. You’re not driving all the way to my place alone in the dark. It’s door-to-door when you come to my house just like if you were going to the club.”
“Okay,” she’d said with a smile, secretly pleased.
She knew the club considered its subs a precious commodity. It was nice to know Shay felt the same way about her, his personal sub.
When she’d arrived, she’d found that his house was very modern with large rooms full of air and light. Huge windows dominated the house except in one very private space, his personal dungeon.
It was more comfortable than the dungeon scene rooms at the club because it was almost like an apartment with its bed, sofa, bathroom, and media room equipment. But it also had sex toys and bondage furniture, ropes and cuffs.
She’d spent close to two hours bound and had been roughly used in ways that brought her incredible orgasms and a soul-calming release.
Afterward, he’d taken a warm shower with her, soaping and rinsing her body and rubbing her down with lotion, especially her sore parts.
She’d wanted to put on a nightgown. She’d packed several pretty ones. But Shay forbade it.
She’d hoped to be taken to the master bedroom to sleep, but he didn’t even give her a tour of the house.
She was a pet in his home, allowed downstairs, but not in the master’s bedroom.
She felt vulnerable sleeping naked in the bed in the dungeon room, though it was warm enough, and it wasn’t as if she could’ve been more exposed to him than she’d already been.
It was more that maintaining the role all night flustered her.
He remained naked, too, after their shower but there was nothing vulnerable about him. He reminded her of a wild animal for whom clothes were irrelevant. If the temperature was warm enough, why dress?
“Are you tired enough to sleep?” he’d asked her while he sat on the couch working.
“No,” she’d said.
He glanced at her as she sat on the bed with a sheet draped over her. He tossed a large pillow onto the floor next to his feet. “Come sit here.”
She stood, wrapping the sheet around her.
“Leave that. You’re not cold.”
She shivered. “Please?”
“No.”
She discarded the sheet and strode to the cushion. It was wide and thick, so therefore comfortable.
“Lean against my leg. Touching me will help.”
She wrapped her arms around his leg and rested her face against his thigh. He stroked her hair.
“During intense play, subs can suffer from low body temperature, compromised circulation, lightheadedness and numbness. I’m always watching and checking you for signs of that during a scene.
But afterward, it’s not uncommon for a sub to have an emotional drop.
After exposing herself so fully during the scene and being so emotionally and physically connected to her Dom, many subs feel a loss of connectedness when the scene ends.
It can come hours or even days later. Loneliness, depression and feelings of isolation aren’t uncommon. Were you feeling that just now?”
She nodded.
He stroked her hair and rested a hand on her neck, warm and solid.
“It’s normal. Re-establishing a connection with me will ease it.
By submitting to me so fully, you’re giving me a gift.
It’s important that you know how much I value that gift.
I don’t want you to feel isolated or lonely.
If you feel that way when we’re in the club or here in my house, I expect you to come to me.
I enjoy having you this close.” He stroked her shoulder soothingly.
“If the feeling hits you when you’re at school or your place, I want you to text me.
I’ll never be too busy to hear from you.
If I’m in a meeting, I’ll text you when I’ll be free to call and I’ll call you then.
I want you to send me your schedule every week.
Then I’ll know when your breaks are and when it’ll be a good time to call. ”
“I’m okay. You don’t have to worry about me. We’re both busy, and I know you have a lot of work commitments.”
“You’re in my house now, not the club. By bringing you here, I’m signaling I want to take the next step with you. I’m not just training you for the club anymore. I want you as my personal submissive.”
She swallowed against a dry throat, her heart pounding. “Are you—collaring me?”
“If you agree to it, yes.” He stared at her as her heart leapt.
“Yes. It’s what I want, too.” Her voice sounded so eager a blush crept into her cheeks.
Shay smiled and stood. After crossing the room, he took a package from a drawer and handed it to her. Opening it, she found a rose gold chain with a small locked heart.
“It’s beautiful.”
He fastened it around her neck. “By collaring you, I’m making a commitment to you, in the same way you’re making one to me.
Which means that when you need something that only I can give you, like closeness and reassurance, I don’t expect you to deprive me of the opportunity to be a good Dom.
So, it’s your responsibility to communicate with me. ”
“Yes, Sir.”
“Good girl.” He rubbed her back. “You can tell me anything, Em, and I hope you will.”
Her fingers played with the heart. “I’d like to be that close.”
“But?”
“I guess I’m not sure I’ll be able to stay within the boundaries of this type of relationship.”
“I’ll help you do that.”
“I’m sure you will,” she said lightly before chewing on her lower lip.
“I know it’s easier to trust me with your body than with your mind. You still remember when you left the club, and I wouldn’t see you. That made you feel lonely and isolated, right? And it was caused by me withholding myself?”
“Exactly.”