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She’s trembling. Not in pleasure.

“Are you nervous, my darling?”

Kathleen nods.

“I understand.”

The harsh judgment of her blue eyes pierces into my soul. “Do you?” She takes a deep breath and looks away again. “I’m sorry. I know I’m asking for this. It’s not fair to you.”

“Unfair? Hardly. You can’t help how you feel.” I get up, giving her some space to breathe as I traverse my condo in search of her present. “But I do understand that our blurred lines aren’t helping you any. Just the other night you kept fearing I was going to try Topping you. That’s why I propose something.”

I bring the thin box over and sit next to her again. Her hand in mine, I present the trinket I picked out for her.

She studies the box. She knows where it came from.

“Jewelry.” Her quaint voice almost amuses me. “How original.”

“Open it, Katie.”

I feel like she’s humoring me at this point. Nonetheless, when she pops the lid off and sees exactly what I’ve chosen, her throat tightens and her breasts nearly heave out of her corset. “A collar…”

The fear is palpable. I put a gentle hand on the small of her back in the hopes of reassuring her. “I didn’t buy it lightly, Katie. I bought it because we need it.”

It drops into the box. “Do we?”

Tears threaten the corners of her eyes. I kiss her shoulder again, holding her tight in my embrace. “Take a deep breath, love. I wanted to get you something not to ‘collar’ you, like you’re thinking, but to help you transition your headspace. We need a signal. A physical one.”

She looks at me, hopeful, but still doubtful.

I hate seeing her like this. I want my vivacious Katie, the one who is self-assured and not afraid to speak her mind, even if she’s subbing. That’s the point I want to reach with her. I want her to obey during a scene, but I want her to want to obey. There is no joy in it otherwise. She needs to get off on obeying me as much as I get off on telling her what to do.

“You will wear this only when we’re training. That way, when we’re on a normal date, you don’t have to worry I’m going to pull something without permission… because you’re not wearing the collar. I won’t Top you unless this collar is around your neck. You get it?”

She fingers the chain between two buffed nails. “Yes. Thank you.”

I’m not expecting that. “For what?”

“For thinking this through. I know you’re not a malicious person, Ira. I wouldn’t be doing this if I thought that about you, but it’s good to know that you understand me to an extent. It makes me… feel better.”

Her tight muscles relax beneath my hand. I rub them, hoping she’ll relax even more. “I’m not going to put this on you yet. We need to discuss a few other things first.” I hold up a glass. “Finally care for some wine?”

She accepts.

I hold her close to me as I bring up some sensitive, not-so-fun subjects. I want her to sense my warmth, any gentleness I exude while my thoughts are plagued with how she’s dressed and what I’m going to do to her tonight – and how much I hope she’ll love it.

What I hold in my hand now is a contract. We discussed it on the phone a couple of times, but until now I don’t think she ever thought I would present her with an actual Dom/sub contract. The one night I spent writing this up was more somber than I anticipated. I briefly longed for the times when I could pick up a partner who knew what she wanted and loved serving in the bedroom.

There’s not much unique about this contract. It’s simple. When the collar is on, she is subservient to me. She has to do what I tell her, otherwise she will be punished. This is a part of her training. This is meant to help her embrace her submissive state of mind. The only way that can happen is with hard rules.

In return, she’s given me her hard limits over the past few days. No gagging so she feels powerless to say her safe word. No suffocating. No filming and no recording of any kind. What happens in the room stays in the room – something she should have thought of before telling my mother we’re seeing each other. Surprised the woman hasn’t shown up here yet, trying to catch us in the act.

The last thing I show her is brand new. Something I only thought of last night.

“I’m giving you two safe words. Pink is still one of them, but that will only tell me that you’re hesitant or getting nervous. I’ll slow down or change course, but I’m not going to stop.”

Her eyes widen.

“If you do want me to completely stop and pause the scene, say Red. Do you understand both words?”