Page 36 of Man and Master
Gabriele fell silent at last, shivering with the cold, and deeply shaken by her fear and her anguish. Joshua seized her by the shoulders and fixed her with the steel of his gaze.
“That woman you saw in the restaurant tonight was an old student of mine,” Joshua explained. “I trained her to submit over a year ago. She approached me at the restaurant to thank me, Gabriele. Nothing more than that. She has a Master. She was dining with him in the restaurant. She came to our table to thank me for connecting her to the man she serves.”
Gabriele was frowning, but also slowly shaking her head. “I saw her give you her hotel room key…”
A small smile tugged at the corner of Joshua’s mouth. “No, you saw her give me her Master’s business card. He works as a broker for a big Wall Street firm. He wanted to do some business.”
Gabriele bit on her bottom lip. “But there will be other women, Joshua.”
“No,” he shook his head. “There won’t. I told that woman the same thing I wanted to tell you over dinner. I’m done with training submissives, Gabriele. I’m retiring. There will not be any more women – ever.”
“You were going to tell me that?” Gabriele’s voice was as small as an innocent child’s.
“If you had come back to the table,” Joshua’s smile widened a little.
“Why?”
“So you and I might… might have that chance you want so much, Gabriele,” Joshua said the words. “So that we can have the time to find out if what I feel for you is enough for us to build a future on.”
Gabriele choked back a last sob, and swallowed hard. She sniffed, and then scraped her hand through her hair. Her eyes were huge; her face a smudged mask of make-up that glowed from beneath with a glimmer of hope.
“Really?”
“Really,” Joshua promised her.
He took her in his arms, and she went willingly. Gabriele’s body seemed to melt against Joshua’s chest, and her arms went around the back of his neck with a passion and ferocity that promised she would never let him go. Joshua hugged her back, feeling the heat of her through the damp clinging clothes. She was shivering like a frightened baby animal. He kissed her lips and they were cold with the rain and made salty by all her tears.
“Do you want to become my submissive?” Joshua looked deeply into Gabriele’s eyes.
She sobbed and then choked on her relief. “With all my heart,” Gabriele vowed. “I want that more than anything else in the world.”
Joshua took Gabriele back to the car and then returned to the restaurant just long enough to settle the bill, and to collect the small wrapped parcel he had left on the table. When he got back to the underground parking garage, the windows of the sports car were fogged from the cold and damp of Gabriele’s clothes.
“I’m taking you home,” Joshua said as he settled himself behind the steering wheel. “Tomorrow I’ll phone a moving company, and instruct them to clean out your apartment. You’re going to live with me from now on.”
Gabriele’s eyes were soulful, brimming with deep and burning devotion. “Yes, Master!” she said.
Chapter 13:
Gabriele knelt naked in the training room, and she could not stop herself from trembling. She was not cold; she had chased away the chill of the rain and her soaked clothes. And she was not scared; she had found that place in her mind where submission was pure peace.
She was nervous and excited.
Joshua stood before her, holding a small parcel wrapped in paper. He held it in both hands, somehow making it seem more precious; more valuable.
Gabriele looked up into his face and saw the solemn expression in his eyes.
She was warm and she was wet. Her nipples were naturally hard because she seemed in a permanent state of arousal. And she was wet between her thighs because that arousal had become a deep, desperate state of craving and hunger for Joshua’s cock.
“This is a gift for you,” Joshua said gravely. “It is a reward, and it is an offer. Open it.”
He handed the parcel to Gabriele. She shed the wrapping carefully to reveal a slim box, the same shape as a paperback novel. Gabriele slowly lifted the lid and saw a slim black leather collar sitting on a bed of white silk. With reverence, she took the collar from the jewelry box and caressed it with her fingers.
The collar was half-an-inch thick and made of soft glossy black leather. It felt like velvet in the palm of her hand. Fastened to the collar, near the buckle, was a shiny silver ring.
She was struck by the simple elegance of the piece, but also the profound significance of what it represented. It was the greatest of all prizes – a reward as valuable as a king’s treasure.
“By accepting this collar, you are accepting me as your Master, along with all the terms and conditions of your obedience,” Joshua cautioned her. There were brimming tears of happiness in Gabriele’s eyes. She let them cascade down her silken cheeks. “Once it is fastened around your neck, you will be binding your self to me in every aspect; mind, body and soul. Do you understand that?”
“Yes, Master,” Gabriele said softly. She licked her lips. She could taste her own tears.
“As my submissive you will be expected to be devoted and obedient to me at all times. Do you accept that?”
“Yes, Master.”
“And you will be expected to follow my every instruction without question or hesitation. I’m giving you this collar to claim you as my property, but in return you must give to me your trust for the maintenance of your welfare and wellbeing.”
“I understand, Master.”
“As my submissive you will be used for my sexual pleasure and you will be expected to engage in serious study in the art of pleasing a man. I will use you at any time I so desire, and you will keep yourself in a state of readiness and preparedness. You must be completely available to me to use for my satisfaction when I order it so. From now on you will also dress and behave in a manner I expect from you. I will choose your clothes and undergarments.”
“Yes, Master.”
“You will also be expected to resign from your work and serve me in our home full-time. The work you do is unworthy of you. Instead you will dedicate your free time to education. I will pay for all university studies. You may choose any path that is your passion.”
“Quit my job?” Gabriele looked momentarily alarmed.
Joshua arched a quizzical eyebrow. “Do you like the work you do?”
“No,” Gabriele said sourly. “I hate it with a passion, but…”
“From now on, I will pay for all your needs, and you will live here with me. You will have your own room and only share my bed when I want you for my sexual pleasure. If you have a passion, you will be able to pursue it.”
Gabriele nodded. The prospect of quitting her work at the accounting firm and pursing a university degree thrilled her on an entirely new level. “I understand, Master.”