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By C. A. Taylor
12 Intermission
Grace led William directly back to her room, dismissing both Selena and Richard, and asking them to report to her in the morning for breakfast. She then sent William into the bathroom, ordering him to take a quick shower.
When he came out, he found the Mistress propped up on two large pillows in the middle of the bed wearing a cream silk robe. “Come here, William,” she ordered, patting the bed next to her. Not certain he understood her correctly, William slowly approached the bed. In response to her coaxing, he climbed up next to her and lay down on his side, facing her.
“The emotional vulnerability is really much harder for you, isn’t it, William,” the Mistress began.
“I'm sorry, Mistress, I don’t understand,” William replied, looking puzzled.
“Tonight for the first time you were displayed bound and naked in front of a whole roomful of strangers who could see you, and whom you could see. And yet, you were far more worried about my apparent abandonment of you than you were worried about being seen or recognized. Isn’t that true?”
Uncomfortable, William remained silent, eyes downcast.
“William, look at me,” Grace said sharply.
Surprised at her tone, William immediately looked up.
“Just because I don’t have you cuffed or restrained in some way does not mean you have the right to disobey me,” she lectured severely. “Now, answer my question.”
“Yes, Mistress,” William replied in a low voice.
Grace was silent for several moments, obviously thinking hard. Reaching her decision she rose and went to the closet, removing several items. She tossed William a pair of black silk drawstring pajama bottoms and a short matching robe.
“Put these on, William and go into the sitting room. Sit down on the sofa and wait for me.” Baffled, but accustomed to obedience, William did as he was told.
Once he left the room, the Mistress removed her robe and donned the matching cream silk pajama set, replacing the robe over top. She picked up a few items she thought she might need, stuffed them into the robe pocket, and joined William.
Taking a seat in a chair directly opposite William, she began, “William, I will not remove your collar until the weekend is over, but I think we need to relax the rules for a bit. We are going to talk, and you will fully answer any question I put to you. You will not move from the sofa for any reason without my express permission. However, beyond that, you may call me Grace, and you may bring up any subject or ask any question you want. If you are not feeling respectful, then you needn’t speak respectfully. You will not be punished for anything that happens here, as long as you stay within the first two guidelines. I’m not going to ask if you understand, because we are just going to have to hammer this out as we go along,” Grace said with the trace of a smile.
“May I ask a question, Mistress?” William asked.
“Go ahead, William,” Grace said, grinning and shaking her head.
“Why the clothing? For me, I mean. Why did you tell me to get dressed?”
“Because we are temporarily suspending the rules of slave and Mistress. I thought it would be easier for you to meet me on equal ground if you were clothed. Oh, I could have easily gotten undressed, but I find your naked body a distraction to serious conversation. Does that answer your question?”
William nodded, but he felt his cock stir at her words.
“Now, to begin, I want you to tell me what you are feeling about this weekend so far. Start with meeting Richard at your door this afternoon, and narrate the rest of the day to me.”
It took William a moment to wrap his head around her directions, then, looking at his hands, he said, “Well, as I’m sure you know, I was expecting to see you this afternoon, not Richard. Having a very large black man greet me when I was expecting a rather small blonde woman was a bit of a shock. I was disappointed you weren’t there, and I was annoyed and upset that you hadn’t told me what to expect.” William looked up at Grace for her reaction.
She was watching his face intently, and nodded for him to continue.
“I have nothing against Richard, don’t get me wrong. We had a pleasant drive out here, and he was very helpful, answering some basic questions for me.
“Then I got here, and you all but threw my collar at me and told me to strip. That may not be exactly accurate, but it sure reflects how it felt. You had never made me feel like an impersonal tool before, and I didn’t like it. It was as though you didn’t even see me as a person. But, I realized from something Richard had said that you were among your peers here, so I didn’t want to make a bad impression. I went along with your directions, and your brought me up to this suite.”
William took a deep breath and stopped.
“What is it William?” Grace asked.
“I'm not sure I can do this. I want to cooperate. To answer your questions. But everything in my head keeps sounding like a whiny little kid. It’s not the details of what you did or what I did that matter. The problem is that everything that was the norm for this relationship—if those words even apply—seems to have gone out the window as of four o’clock today.
“I don’t know what you want or expect from me here. I don’t know if I am capable of giving it, or if I even want to give it. And I don’t know what to do about it.”
“Thank you, William. That last bit sums it up nicely. To borrow the whiny little boy metaphor, I’ve changed the rules and now you are not sure you want to play.”
William grimaced at her last comment, but didn’t argue it. “So now what?” he asked. “Do you just tell the whiny little boy to get over it and expect things to go as you wish?” he asked defensively.
Grace chuckled. “No, William. Of course not. Now we can start the conversation I tried to have earlier in the bedroom. You found the emotional vulnerability I created for you today so much more difficult than the physical vulnerability that you didn’t even react to your public display. Good grief, William. Selena gave you a blowjob in front of God and everybody, and you didn’t even blush.”
Heat suffused William’s cheeks as he realized she was right. He was mortified in retrospect, but had merely accepted the physical release at the time.
Grace laughed at his belated reaction.
Slowly, William grinned, then chuckled at himself, shaking his head. “I guess I should apologize to Selena for not appreciating her efforts at the time.”
The anger and tension slowly seeped away. Taking a couple of slow breaths, William turned to her.
“So, Mistress Grace,” he said lightly. “May I presume you had some purpose in setting me up this way? I should be getting used to it by now, but you always seem to catch me flatfooted.”
“A good trainer works to catch her slave flatfooted, William. It speeds the training process enormously. But, yes, of course I had a purpose in setting you up. Two, in fact. First, it did make your first open public appearance a lot easier for you to bear, didn’t it?”
William nodded, sobering slightly.
“The second reason was a test, William. You have done remarkably well in most of the tests I’ve given you. So well, in fact, that you generally didn’t know there was a test at all. But none of us is perfect, and I’m afraid you didn’t pass this one with flying colors.”
William cocked his head at her. “What was the test?” he asked.
“Trust, William,” the Mistress answered. “The test was whether you trusted me enough to follow my orders even when you didn’t understand them, and when you weren’t receiving any rewards or positive feedback for doing so.
“You are still filtering all my orders through your decision-making processes, and then deciding whether you will obey or not based on whether the order seems good to you or not. Obedience is doing what you are told, immediately, and doing it because you were told to do it, not for any other reason. This is a difficult habit to break for anyone, and your profession makes it more difficult for you than most.”
“So, what do we do about that?” William asked carefully.
“We work on it, William,” Grace said. “We work on it.”
“Along those lines,” William began. “You did say I could bring up any subject I wanted to talk about.”
“I did,” Grace replied, looking at him steadily.
“Well, maybe it would help build trust between us if you would tell me a little bit about yourself. I know your name is Grace and that you are not a cop. Tonight I discovered this mansion is your home. After all these months, that is all I know about you. It’s hard to trust an enigma, Grace.”
Grace paused, choosing her words carefully. “All right, William. You have a point. I have my reasons for limiting your knowledge of me right now, but I can see that a total lack of information could create a stumbling block. Especially for someone with your curiosity.” She smiled.
“So, as your trainer, how about a professional biography to start. I was literally brought up in the BDSM community. My parents were well-respected professionals who helped remove some of the stigma attached to alternate lifestyles in the 1960’s and 1970’s. My mother was a biochemist and my father was a psychologist.
“Anyway, I grew up in the scene, and was trained as a pleasure slave when I was a teenager. I went on the auction block four times, starting when I was eighteen. My contracts included provisions for my schooling, so I received a degree in behavioral psychology by the time I finished my last contract. I currently hold master’s degrees in behavioral psychology and business administration. And I’ve spent most of the last ten years as a professional slave trainer and dominatrix, among other things.”
Grace broke off and looked directly at William. “William, I must ask you for a promise outside the time you wear my collar. Even after I remove your collar, please do not try to find out more about me. I promise you that when your training is complete I will answer as many questions as you wish, as completely as possible. But right now, please respect my privacy and don’t go looking. May I have your word, William?”
William nodded slowly. “You have it,” he said. “Just know that one of the first questions I will ask is your reasons for the secrecy.”
Grace smiled at that. “Oh, don’t worry. Those reasons will be spelled out very clearly for you at the proper time.”
“Well, I guess that will have to do,” William said. “And, now, at the risk of pushing my luck, I’d like to make one more request before we resume our proper roles.”
William quirked an eyebrow at Grace. “Trust is about more than words, Grace. Can we spend the rest of this night together as equals? I promise to resume my proper role first thing in the morning, but it would go a long way towards fostering trust if I could spend the night as a man making love to a woman I care for, rather than as a sex slave servicing his Mistress.”
Grace hesitated. “Jumping in and out of roles is difficult, William. I was reluctant to create this space, but felt you needed it. To further complicate the situation by confusing my role as your Mistress with the role of, what? Your girlfriend? A one-night stand? I’m afraid that will just make things more difficult for you.”
“Grace, I’m not some love struck boy. I’m capable of distinguishing between roles. And, I hate to admit it, but you really shook me today. I need to get back some sort of connection with you. I can’t offer my obedience and submission to the cold, uncaring Mistress you were today. Maybe that’s the ideal goal, but I’m not there, yet. I need to know that you have a personal interest in me. That my efforts, achievements, and even my failures, matter to you.”
Silently, Grace leaned forward and cupped his face in her hand, guiding his lips to hers. The kiss she gave him was long, slow, and sweetly gentle. “I do have a personal interest in you, William. That’s why I recruited you in the first place. And I care very much about your achievements as you strive to reach the goals I set for you. Is that enough to be going on with, for now?” she asked.
Intentionally breaking the rule, William stood and offered his hand to Grace. “Why don’t we go to bed, now?” he suggested.
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