Page 29 of Man and Master

The area was large and open, with natural timber cupboards, a long L-shaped countertop made of grey marble, and in a corner of the slate tiled floor, a wooden table with four chairs. Hanging over the table was an elaborate brass chandelier. Joshua flicked on the light switch and the room filled with a warm cozy glow.

Joshua led Gabriele to the table and ordered her to sit. Then he began pacing across the floor with his hands clasped behind his back, like a military general briefing his troops on the eve of a major offensive.

“During your life as a submissive you must learn to understand that every rule of the lifestyle has its exceptions and variations,” Joshua began speaking, clinical and detached. “Not every Master is the same, and neither is every submissive. And although people share an interest in the lifestyle, the depth of their interest and their particular fascinations will vary greatly. BDSM relationships are just as brittle as traditional relationships. There can be infidelity, lies, and deception… even though the general lifestyle rules might be broader and more accepting than most typical relationships.”

Gabriele was frowning, puzzled by Joshua’s words, but she was also confused about their location. Never before had Joshua brought her into the kitchen.

“I don’t understand,” Gabriele ventured in the silence after Joshua had finished speaking. “Infidelity happens in a Master-submissive relationship?”

“It certainly can,” Joshua was adamant. He stopped pacing for a moment and leaned his weight against the kitchen counter. “Just because the Master is in control, doesn’t mean he can do whatever he wants, with whomever he chooses. That’s the sort of thing a couple in the lifestyle must talk about and reach an understanding on before the relationship builds. In some cases the Master might be at liberty to fuck any submissive he wants. In other relationships that might cross a line the submissive has set as a term of her agreement to serve. Clearly, if the Master goes off and fucks another submissive… or if he brings another woman home to fuck in front of the submissive who currently serves him… she would have every right to feel she is being betrayed; cheated on.”

“I thought a Master would take whoever he wants…” Gabriele said lamely. “I didn’t think a submissive who was owned by a Master had any right to protest.”

Joshua shook his head. “Owning a submissive for some Masters is like owning a piece of property. Some Masters will value that submissive above all else. Other Masters will not take care of their property, nor treat it with the value it deserves… just like a car,” Joshua shrugged. The analogy didn’t seem very fitting.

He changed the subject obliquely. “Masters should be able to remain aloof and detached from an emotional connection with their submissive. That’s my personal opinion – but I believe it is fundamental to a solid relationship.”

“Why?”

“Because crossing those emotional boundaries come with great peril,” Joshua shot back. “The Master should always stay removed and controlled. They need emotional distance from a submissive. Forming a deep attachment can impair a submissive’s training because the Master’s judgment then is clouded by his feelings for the person. In a perfect world he would deliver a punishment based on common sense and what is best for the submissive’s learning and development. If he is emotionally involved with the submissive, he is at risk of having that judgment compromised by weighing in emotional factors.”

“You said peril,” Gabriele challenged Joshua. “What’s the danger?”

“The danger is that the Master-submissive relationship will transcend into deeper feelings that make maintaining discipline and strict control virtually impossible.”

Gabriele nodded. She licked her lips and thought carefully before her next words. “You’re saying there is a risk of the Master and the submissive falling in love – that’s what you really mean by emotional involvement, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

“And you’re saying that love between a Master and his submissive is a threat to the lifestyle arrangement they have because the Master might start changing the way he treats his submissive and therefore diminish the value of her training.”

“Exactly.”

Gabriele shrugged. “What happens in those situations?” she asked with genuine interest. “When a Master falls in love with the woman he is training, does it always collapse?”

Joshua paused for a very long time. “I don’t know,” he admitted at last. “It’s something I’ve never experienced. That’s what makes it perilous.”

Gabriele looked troubled. She bit her lip, but couldn’t hold the question back.

“But you said you and your wife had a lifestyle relationship…”

Joshua’s eyes darkened, but he nodded. “Yes, but it didn’t start out that way. We fell in love and we got married. We were happy for several years. Our mutual interest in the BDSM lifestyle only developed after we had been married for some time. It was never a strict understanding, and we never lived the lifestyle completely. Jan allowed me to learn the craft of domination – I made my mistakes on her.”

Gabriele’s own peril became apparent. The mention of Joshua’s lost wife had cast a grey shadow over his eyes, and she sensed instinctively that he was on the verge of disconnecting from her. She couldn’t let that happen.

“What are some of the differences between Masters?” she asked in the hope that it would keep Joshua’s attention from brooding on the dark memories and hold him in the here-and-now.

Joshua sighed because the subject was exhaustive. He buried his hands in his pockets and stared down at the slate floor for long moments, gathering his thoughts into some kind of logical order. Finally he made a face that suggested everything he was about to say would be inadequate.

“There are as many different types of Masters as there are different kinds of submissives,” Joshua began. “The difficulty is always about finding a partner that serves your own purposes and inclinations. Some Masters will place an emphasis on sex. As a result, most of their training will be centered around using the submissive’s body to derive sexual pleasure; it’s the emphasis of their thinking and the reason they discovered the lifestyle. Other Masters are more focused on discipline and obedience with a punishment aspect that is at the foundation of their desires. Understand so far?”

Gabriele gave a silent nod.

“Another type of Master is looking for a domestic kind of submissive. They’re seeking someone to be trained in performing household tasks. In those instances, discipline and sex are used as punishments and reward for the household tasks the submissive is set. But most of these categories are not clearly defined,” Joshua offered a word of caution. “Often a submissive is sought for more than one purpose and her duties are quite broad… although the emphasis of her submission is usually focused on one aspect more than others.”

“How do I find out what kind of submissive I am?” Gabriele worried suddenly. “I know I’m not very good in the bedroom,” she confessed. “I’ve been told that a thousand times. And I’m not very experienced. My ex-boyfriend was my first and only sexual partner, so I don’t have a secret set of skills I can impress a man with…” she broke off the train of her thought as something more jarring flashed like an alarm across her mind. She sought out Joshua’s eyes and fixed her gaze on his, frowning. “If I discover that I’m most suited to domestic submission… does that mean I’m going to have to settle for an obese old Master who will expect me to cook restaurant quality food every day?”

Joshua looked bemused. He made a broad gesture wit

h his hands that took in the entire room. “Can you cook? I mean, that’s why I brought you down here.”

“No,” Gabriele admitted her shortcoming. “And I’m not very good at cleaning either…”

“Then if you don’t have any of the required skills that a Master might find desirable… you’re going to need to take a crash course in cooking, cleaning… or fucking.”

Gabriele was nodding seriously, her brow creased in considered thought. She pursed her lips, then seemed to reach her decision.

“I want to be a sex submissive,” she announced. “I’m a naturally sexual person – even though I’m not much use to a man. And I think I could learn to give pleasure more easily. I know there are millions of videos I can watch online, and a million books too, I suppose,” she shrugged her shoulders and the gesture made her breasts move in the half-cups of her bra.

Joshua held up his hand like a cop stopping traffic. “Not so fast,” he said. “Remember that your role in any Master-submissive relationship will be strict obedience. That means you need to learn to please your particular Master.”

“But I don’t have one,” Gabriele felt like she was being lead down one dead-end after another. “After you finish training me, I’ll need to find one. How can I possibly prepare for a man I have never even met?”

“You can’t,” Joshua agreed. “So instead you need to prepare yourself. Your emphasis can’t be on learning how to become an amazing sex partner. Your emphasis should be on learning how to detach your own feelings from your physical body. To sexually satisfy your Master won’t require experience or secret skills; it will require you to be ravenously willing to obey. His pleasure will come from the use of your body… not because you can deep-throat him. Just learn to obey every instruction, and to always act with desire. It can’t be substituted by any skills. Wanton willingness is the most powerful aphrodisiac to a man.”

---