Page 26 of Man and Master

Chapter 9:

Gabriele phoned in too ill for work again the next morning and spent the rest of the day in her apartment, preparing for the night with Joshua.

She was nervous; she knew that they had parted on tenuous terms the night before. It would take only one false move and Joshua would have the excuse he needed to break their agreement. She knew also that she had drawn him into emotionally deep water – and that Joshua was floundering and unsure how to navigate his way through the turmoil of his feelings.

Joshua was not the kind of hot-and-cold man who could turn his emotions off or on like a tap. The process was much more arduous for him. He was cursed by a loyalty that transcended even death, and that devotion restricted his freedom to feel for others. Gabriele had become a temptation that challenged him.

Would Joshua continue to resist his instincts through the awesome will of his discipline, or would he finally surrender to the basic desire that boiled in the blood of all men?

Gabriele didn’t know.

But she knew what she wanted and needed. She needed Joshua to take her; to fuck her, and thereby make an emotional and physical claim on her body. If she could draw him across that moral line, then the ground beneath him would crumble, and he would be unable to circle back behind the high wall he was hiding his heart behind. If the emotional and physical bond of sex did not bind them, then at least Joshua would be beyond the borders of his past; caught in a no-man’s land of new feelings.

Then Gabriele would have a fighting chance.

At the moment, Joshua’s memories of his dead wife and his vows to remain detached from her were stronger even than his instinctive desire for her body. She desperately had to change that. Somehow Gabriele had to find a way to encourage Joshua to fuck her… and then to make that experience so powerful and intense for him that he would feel compelled to unshackle himself from his past.

But how?

How could she tempt Joshua to take her; to throw her down on the ground and fuck her with all the restrained desire that she knew was churning inside of him? God knows she had tried! She had practically offered herself to him, panted for him, pleaded to him… and always his resolve and will had won the private war in his heart.

What else could she do?

She had bought the most expensive lingerie she could afford, and she had perfumed and powdered her body until it was scented and glowing with the glossy sheen of her youth. She had willed him with her mind, and she had stood naked and wet before him. She’d had her mouth an inch away from his hard cock, and her pussy also. Joshua had defied her every temptation.

Gabriele prowled around the apartment, her arms wrapped around her shoulders, hugging herself as she thought furiously. Perhaps if she had been more experienced with men, then she would know some feminine secret to make herself irresistible. Perhaps mature men like Joshua were so much harder to tempt than boys like Randall, who thought only with their cock, and thought only about their next fuck. Joshua wasn’t like that, and the realization frustrated her and fascinated her at the same time.

Joshua was a man who was immensely knowledgeable in the world, and highly experienced with women. Gabriele wondered how many other girls just like her had reached out to him for submissive training. A dozen? A hundred? Had Joshua fucked them all as a part of their training process? Had he forced them all to obediently suck his cock and learn to pleasure a man with their mouths, while he stood before them with his hands on his hips and his gaze clinical, feeling nothing?

Had he settled himself between their parted legs and licked them to the brink of orgasm, just as he had done to her?

The more Gabriele thought about Joshua’s submissive training, the more uncertain she became.

Why hadn’t he instructed her on how to suck his cock?

Why hadn’t he bent her over the table and fucked her?

What was wrong with her?

Did Joshua not find her attractive and desirable? Were the other women he had trained more sexually skilled or more experienced with men? Did they present themselves to him more provocatively? Were they more overt in their desire to be fucked?

She threw herself down on her bed in a tantrum of frustration. After two days of rain, the sun was back, high in the sky. It burned through the glass of her window and painted warm bright light across her body. She was still wearing just the panties she had slept in. She clutched at a pillow. It smelled faintly of her shampoo.

Damn you Joshua! Gabriele pounded the pillow into shape with a bitter thump from her fist. Her frustration began to change form; twisting and writhing like smoke until it became like the scratching irritation of insects crawling beneath her skin. Her thoughts drifted away from the dilemma of her uncertainty, and when they re-formed, they were sexual. She fantasized about Joshua with other women; kissing them, sucking on their breasts. Then she saw the vision of Joshua with a beautiful blonde girl. The woman in her mind was the same age as Gabriele, her skin tanned the color of honey, her eyes dazzling blue. She was on her knees before Joshua in the training room, sucking his cock and humming contentedly to herself as her head bobbed back and forth along his thick glistening shaft. Joshua had his head thrown back and his eyes squeezed shut. The blonde girl in Gabriele’s fantasy was calm and composed, pleasuring Joshua with secrets she had learned from the men she had known before him.

Gabriele groaned. She needed to cum, but Joshua still hadn’t given her permission. She slipped a hand down inside her panties anyhow; she was very wet. She could feel the ache and the heat of herself, and just the merest touch of her pussy set aflame the dormant ashes of a fire that had been left untended for far too long.

Gabriele rolled onto her back on the bed and spread her legs. The sun was warm across her breasts. She toyed with her nipples, plucking at them with her fingertips and reveling in the delicious tingles that filtered down into her abdomen.

Her eyes were shut. The vision of the blonde woman filled her mind. The blonde was smiling as she sucked Joshua’s cock, playing the length of his shaft like a skilled musician, and Gabriele hated her; hated her for the sexual skill and ability that she herself lacked. Joshua was groaning, gasping for fresh breath to fill his lungs. Then the blonde let his cock slip from between her perfectly painted lips and turned her head to stare directly at Gabriele.

“A girl will never win this man,” the imaginary blonde confided to Gabriele in a whisper. “He needs a real woman.”

The vision shattered; the blonde faded into swirling blackness. Gabriele opened her eyes. Her hand was deep inside her panties, one finger teasing her clit. She withdrew her hand with a soft sob of aching regret and sat up on the bed, startled.

When Gabriele arrived at Joshua’s home just before 8 pm, she saw lights burning in the upstairs bedroom. She paid off the cab driver and straightened her clothes. She was wearing the black dress again; it clung to her figure and was so short that it had ridden high up her thigh during the journey out from the city. She stood on the sidewalk and tugged at the hem, then went quickly up the driveway to the front door.

Gabriele settled herself on her knees at the front door just as she saw the bedroom light turned off and the interior of the house seemingly plunged into darkness. She heard Joshua’s footsteps echoing through the house, coming towards the foyer.

Gabriele clasped her hands obediently behind her back and opened her mouth. Joshua swung the door open and stared down at her.

He was wearing faded blue jeans that were fitted tight to his muscled thighs and grimy from outdoor work. His shirt was sweat-stained under the armpits and clung damp against his chest. There was a wind-swept tousle to his hair and a shadow of gunmetal blue stubble on his chin and jaw.

“Hello, Master,” Gabriele said softly, her face lifted to his gaze.

Gabriele had spent a fastidious hour on her hair and makeup. She knew she looked as perfect as she could make herself. The dress accentuated every curve and contour, and the white lingerie she wore beneath the garment was she

er and brief.

“Come inside,” Joshua’s face was a mask.

Gabriele rose to her feet and stepped into the warmth of the house on a cloud of intoxicating perfume.

In the foyer she stood silent and waiting. She saw Joshua’s eyes roaming over her body, and she felt secretly thrilled for the attention. She waited with her back straight, feet together like she was standing at attention. At last Joshua nodded his approval, and she let out the breath she had been holding.

She had fretted about these first moments. She had feared that Joshua would reject her; worried that he would be remorseful about agreeing to continue to train her. But Joshua seemed slightly distracted and unprepared. It wasn’t like him at all. Her fear of being sent away was replaced by a little tilt of uncertainty.

“Shall I undress for your inspection, Master?” Gabriele asked with polite indifference – even though his answer mattered very much to her.

Joshua – ruled by his discipline and conventions – nodded his head curtly. Gabriele saw that his hands were raw and scratched.

She unbuttoned the front of the dress and shrugged it off her shoulders then shimmied her hips to let the garment fall in a pool about her feet. She turned to face him, clad in just brief white lace panties and a half-cup bra that lifted her breasts high and exposed her hard nipples.

Despite himself, Joshua’s eyes blazed, and Gabriele delighted in the little victory that showed as smoldering lust in Joshua’s expression.

Joshua ran his eyes over Gabriele’s body, soaking in every inch of her exquisite perfection. She had her legs slightly parted, displaying the enticing gap between her thighs and the soft mound of her sex beneath the gauzy lace. Joshua fought against the hypnotizing allure of her.

“Very good,” he said abruptly. “You have made an effort for tonight. I can see that in your preparation. I am pleased.”

Gabriele bobbed her head. “Thank you, Master. I always like it when you admire me.”

There seemed nothing more to say and they lapsed into a brief awkward silence. Joshua was frowning and Gabriele became bothered. Joshua seemed to have no clear intention for her night’s training.

He seemed to come alert suddenly, like waking from a dream. He ran his hands through his hair. “I’ve been working in the yard all day,” he looked down at his clothes as though in explanation. “There was a lot of damage from the storm that needed to be cleaned up. I’ve only just finished thirty minutes ago.”