| Chapter
4
The women left the dining room and took a
smaller corridor past the library and then outside. From the
covered walkway, Maddie could make out the trees of the orchard
she had seen from the room she had briefly shared with Ian.
Maddie hugged her arms tightly around her body; she felt chilled
and a bit afraid. The path ended in what was obviously a converted
carriage house. They gathered in a small sitting room on the
main floor.
There was a cheerful fire in the fireplace
and one of the serving girls from the dining room was pouring
camomile tea into delicate china cups and setting out small
cookies. Above the fireplace there was a huge tapestry intricately
embroidered with two Chinese dragons, one white and one black,
intertwined like the Yin Yang symbol. Several of the women
moved immediately to the fireplace to take a closer look at
the tapestry commenting on the quality of the stitches and
the beauty of the pattern.
“Thank you, Stephanie. I can handle
it from here. That will be all.” Claire dismissed the
girl.
Stephanie crossed her hands gracefully over
her chest, and then bowed opening her arms outward. Claire
nodded and Stephanie left without saying a word.
“Help yourself to a cup and make yourselves
comfortable. I’m sure you have lots of questions. Master
Stephen and I want you to feel safe and comfortable here,
so let’s get to know each other and I’ll answer
what I can.”
The women gathered up their cups and arranged
themselves on the couches.
“I’ll start,” said a rather
large woman with silver flecks in her brown hair. “My
name is Elaine, I’ve been married for 4 years. This
is my second marriage and I really want it to work. What Stephen
said about submission… I’m not quite sure I understand.
Why would I want to submit to a man especially to Justin?
Isn’t that like turning back the clock to the Victorian
times? Did the suffragettes work for nothing?”
Claire smiled. “This is always the
first question. Master Stephen did mention our order believes
the natural way of life is the woman submits and the man dominates.
What you will never hear him say is men are superior to women
or women should be abused and neglected. Many people associate
submission with inferiority and abuse. This is simply not
the case. Look at the tapestry. You are all familiar with
the Yin Yang symbol correct? The world is based on energy,
positive and negative, active and receptive, light and dark.
Neither can exist without the other. All people have a certain
predisposition to either dominance or submission. Most people
fall in the middle a bit dominant or a bit submissive, depending
on the circumstance. What we do is look for the people on
the fringes, the ones who are mostly dominant or mostly submissive
but who are having trouble expressing it in their lives.
“The dominant without the submissive
and the submissive without the dominant are like angels trying
to fly with just one wing. Tragic waste. But you asked why
would you want to submit? Because you need to, it’s
in your nature and because you already do. Let me ask you
a question. How many of you have had fantasies of rape, kidnapping
that sort of thing?”
This question made the hair on Maddie’s
head crawl up the back of her head. She looked around and
saw the other women looking uncomfortable. One was tentatively
raising her hand. Maddie took courage and raised her hand
too, shyly smiling at the first. Then the rest joined them.
Claire smiled.
“Master Stephen is never wrong. He
has identified each of you as a submissive woman. Including,
I might add, the woman who left the dinner but she is not
ready to admit it yet. Now I will perform a bit of ‘mind
reading’. When Master Stephen first met you, you felt
like you had been hit in the belly didn’t you? You felt
that you couldn’t move. If he looked you in the eye,
I would bet you could hardly breathe. Am I right?”
There was nervous shuffling and giggling
around the room.
“Then, I would wager each of you fantasized
about him sexually. You wondered what it would be like for
him to take you against your will. To open your body as he
had opened your spirit.”
Most of the women were blushing furiously
into their teacups at this. Maddie felt vindicated she was
obviously not the only one to have gone through this.
“What you experienced is the submissive
response. It can be a very powerful physiological reaction
to the presence of a strongly expressing dominant. Had any
of you experienced this before?”
“I have,” Maddie declared quickly.
“I thought it was love at first sight, or at least lust
at first sight.” There was more nervous giggling, but
the women were beginning to relax.
“Yes, that’s often what people
think. A strongly expressing Dominant like Master Stephen
can open you without your knowledge. He did this to identify
you. You need to be able to recognize this response. You’re
at a critical time in your lives. You are each dissatisfied
with your marriages; otherwise you wouldn’t be here.
But you’re unprotected. If you met a strong but immoral
dominant, or one who simply doesn’t know what he’s
doing, you will do what he tells you without thought or volition.
It’ll feel like the most natural and proper thing in
the world. You will convince yourself this man is your soul
mate and you are absolutely in love with him and him with
you. You’ll destroy your marriages and your lives simply
because you don’t recognize he has invoked a submissive
response within you. Right now you are extremely vulnerable.
What you’ll learn here is how to live with this state
and how to enjoy it and how to protect yourself from unwanted
control by another.”
Maddie felt the blood drain from her face.
This was precisely what had happened to her with Judy! Luckily
she had walked away, but she had been very close to going
the other way and if Judy had been a man, she might not have
made that same choice. She looked around the room. Each of
the women had gone very quiet, some blushing furiously. Evidently
Maddie hadn’t been alone here either. In some ways it
felt good to know others experienced the world the way she
did.
Claire sipped her tea and looked around the
room.
“Ok, it’s getting late so I’ll
tell you what to expect. You’ll be given a set of experiences
that will drive you deeply into your submissive state so you’ll
become completely familiar with it. I assure you that you’ll
be safe and you’ll be returned to your husband at the
end of the training. At any time you may chose to end the
training and leave. In fact, we’ll give you several
‘choice points’ where you can decide if you want
to go further. But I warn you. You will be pushed far outside
your comfort zone. Don’t give up too easily. As well,
if you fail to follow the rules and are uncooperative, you’ll
be punished and expelled. I want to be clear on this. We will
control everything. You’ll work harder than you ever
have in your life. You’ll be frustrated and angry. But
I promise you, if you see this through, you’ll have
achieved something magnificent in your life that will be invaluable.
Now does anyone wish to withdraw at this point?”
The women looked at each other, no one spoke.
“Very well then. I’ll show you
to your rooms.” Claire got up and waited for the others
to follow.
“Claire, wait a moment, I have a question.”
A slender woman with long brown hair and blue eyes held up
her hand.
“Yes, Susan?”
“Say we all learn about this submissive
state, and we are good at it and we know when it happens.
What do we do then? How will that improve our marriages?”
“You serve, Susan. You serve your husband.
You serve at his will and you will be open to his pleasure;
your mind, your heart and your body, open to him at all times.
And you will be absolutely fulfilled doing it.”
Maddie wondered if the rest of the women
felt the intense longing she felt. Could she do this? Could
they teach her to be fulfilled by serving her husband?
Ian watched the women being led away. Well, this was certainly
different! He could not mistake the look of anxious longing
on Maddie’s face. For months he had tried to fix the
problems in their marriage by being more helpful, giving her
more time, more freedom. Wouldn’t it be a kick in the
head to find the solution is the exact opposite!
Ian looked around the group. There were three
other men besides himself and Stephen.
“Well, gentlemen, I am sure you have
questions. Shall we retire to the library for a nightcap and
I will do my best to answer you.”
They followed Stephen down the hall to a
beautiful room with high ceilings. There were three fireplaces
in the room keeping it cozy and dry. Books lined the walls,
of course, right up to the ceiling. Several spiral staircases
led up to a gallery running around the room for easy access
to books higher up. In front of each fireplace was a collection
of old leather armchairs.
Stephen took what was obviously his favourite
chair. “Lori, I think I’ll have the Langavulin
tonight.”
Ian looked around and saw the same girl that
had served Stephen and Claire at dinner pouring drinks at
the bar. She poured the amber liquid into a crystal glass,
added the smallest drop of water and brought it to Stephen
on a silver tray. When she got to his side she sank gracefully
to her knees, lowered her head and offered the tray. Stephen
caressed her hair briefly then took the drink without comment.
Lori rose effortlessly and returned to the bar.
“What would Sir care for?” Ian
turned around to find Alexis on her knees beside him. Evidently
each of ‘their’ girls had followed them from the
dining room.
“Um, I’ll have a scotch too,
Alexis. Thank you.” Alexis bowed with a gracefully sweep
of her arms, and went to fetch the drink.
The men were each served by their girl, all
of whom moved with amazing grace. The simple task of serving
the drinks was elevated to an elegant and beautiful dance.
When Lori was finished she returned to Stephen’s side
and again knelt down, her back was absolutely straight, her
head lowered just slightly, her hands resting on her thighs.
The rest of the girls withdrew to the back of the room kneeling
on the floor silently.
“Very good, girl. Gentlemen I would
like to draw your attention to this beautiful flower.”
Stephen lifted her face up and turned her to the assembled
men.
“She is exquisite, is she not? She
has a master’s degree in ancient English literature;
she speaks several languages including Latin and Greek, but
her Aramaic needs a bit of work. Doesn’t it girl?”
“Yes Sir, Lori works hard, and she
will get it eventually.” Lori bowed her head and Stephen
stroked her hair.
“She has chosen to be owned by me and
I have accepted her. She has given me her exceptional mind
and I use it for some fascinating research. After Claire,
she is the finest of my possessions.”
Ian was vaguely uncomfortable with Stephen
referring to Lori and Claire for that matter as possessions.
It sounded a lot like slavery. But then again, it didn’t
look like these women were here against their will. Ian looked
around at the impressive collection of books and realized
that this might be the perfect place for someone with Lori’s
talents. If she was willing to trade pouring scotch and waiting
tables for the chance to do fascinating research, who was
he to question her? Stephen interrupted Ian from his reverie.
“But enough of Lori, I have promised
to answer your questions. Who would like to go first?”
“Stephen, what makes you think that
my wife would want to submit to me? She is always so controlling.
She has everyone organized down to the last second.”
“Justin, I would put it the other way
around. Are you prepared to dominate her, to set the structure
for her life and take full responsibility for it? All submissive
women have their ‘top’ state. It’s a defence
mechanism. But when she comes to you open and submissive,
what will you do?”
Justin thought for a minute. “I don’t
know. I teach karate. I have absolute control in my studio.
The students and the junior instructors all call me master
and obey me immediately, but when I come home, Elaine is tired
and bitchy. She complains about all sorts of stuff and the
house is a mess. Then she argues with me! I have always wanted
to be able to cut through all the crap and rules and political
correctness and simply say ‘you are my wife, I’m
the head of this house, you will do as I say.’ Grab
her by the hair and take her right there on the kitchen table!”
Justin’s voice had risen; he took a deep breath. “Whoa…
sorry about that, don’t know where that came from. I
would never lay a hand on her. I could do way too much damage!
I just will never go there.”
Stephen laughed. “Don’t apologize
Justin! Let’s take a quick poll, who else has felt like
this?” Stephen glanced around the room.
Ian had felt immediate sympathy. “I
have. My wife has been acting very strange the past year or
so. Sometimes I would just like to shake her and tell her
to snap out of it. But I have been giving her space and time
and trying to hold the family together. I tell you, it’s
getting thin.”
Stephen nodded. “Right, you four are
all dominant men. You each have reached for and achieved mastery
in your lives. Ian you are the foremost paediatric surgeon
in your area. Justin, as you mentioned, you are a martial
arts master. Paul, you have placed in the top 25 of the Boston
Marathon for the past 5 years. And Andrew, you train champion
show horses. Your experiences in particular will be quite
valuable as we go through this week. Dominance is about mastery.
Mastering yourself first, gaining complete self-control, which
you all have done, and then extending your mastery to another.
You just don’t know yet how to express your natural
dominance and you have been erroneously taught it is not proper
to take what is offered. We will fix that.
“But for now I suggest that you enjoy
each others company. You have complete freedom of the manor.
If you need anything, simply ask your girl and she will provide
it. We will meet for an early morning run at dawn.”
With that Stephen rose and left. Lori followed.
The women were led upstairs. Many doors opened off from the
long central hall that ran the whole length of the building.
Claire took her keys and opened the doors for each of the
women.
“You’ll find everything that
you need. There is a bathroom in each room and a nice warm
bed. Unfortunately the electricity out here is a bit erratic.
You’ll have about 15 minutes until the lights go out.
I suggest you get yourselves into bed by then. I know you
have lots more questions and they’ll all be answered
in due time. Have a good night sleep. You’ll need it.
We start training in the morning.”
Maddie found herself in a small cozy room.
There was no window, but a comfortable looking bed with a
deep duvet covering it and a small desk and chair. The Yin
Yang symbol was everywhere. A large reproduction of the tapestry
decorated the duvet and it was carved into the wood of the
chair. Maddie found her toothbrush and hairbrush in the bathroom.
Strangely there was no mirror, but there was a sink, a cup
and a towel, so she quickly washed up and got undressed. She
usually liked to read before going to bed, but as her book
was not there, she thought she would just go to sleep; she
certainly had enough to think about. She looked around for
a light switch and discovered there was none in the room.
Perhaps it was out in the hall. She tried the door; it was
locked. She was looking around for the key she felt certain
Claire had left, when the lights went out. Well, that solves
that problem. The room was completely dark. Not even a sliver
of light from under the door broke the blackness.
Madelyn had always prided herself on her
practicality. There really was nothing she could do naked
in the dark except sleep. So sleep she would. She found the
bed and slipping between the soft sheets she allowed the darkness
to embrace her.
She did not sleep very well. Her belly was
full of exotic foods, her head swimming from too much wine,
and her mind occupied with exotic images. She saw dragons
and Claire and Stephen and Ian. She was never quite sure if
she was asleep or simply lying in the dark with random images
floating across her mind.
In the middle of the night, she had to get
up to use the washroom. She stumbled around in the dark until
she found what she needed and managed to drink a couple of
cups of water before finding her way back to bed. By the time
she crawled between the sheets again she was shivering with
cold, and absolutely wide-awake. She snuggled the cozy quilts
tightly around her until she warmed up a bit but now her mind
was racing. There was no way she was going to fall asleep
again easily. There really was only one thing to be done.
Her hands began to caress her body under
the soft sheets. She started with light feather touches across
her breasts and belly and up her thighs. She wished she had
access to the toys in the bedside table in Ian’s room!
But fingers work and she always had access to them! She gently
spread her folds and dipped her fingers into the wetness in
her core. Using her natural lubrication, she let her hands
do what they knew how to do as her mind searched around for
some fantasy image that would help with her task. Images from
the manor tonight flashed before her eyes. She imagined the
serving girls with their tight dirndl dresses lifting their
skirts and licking their lips. She imagined Alexis tied in
Judy’s bedroom, her legs lashed together around the
vibrator, struggling against her bonds.
Her fingers were working her clit hard and
rhythmically, while her other hand pinched her nipples one
after the other. Her mind took over feeding images to her
passion. She saw Stephen with his steel grey eyes coming closer
and closer. She couldn’t break his gaze; not that she
wanted to. A gasp escaped from her lips, she rubbed harder.
Images of another serving girl bound and struggling, chained
to the massive pillars in the front hall. Her passion was
building. Oh, she wanted to come. Her arm was getting tired,
but she pinched her nipples again and continued to rub.
The images continued, this time it was Judy
again, her arms tied cruelly behind her back by her elbows.
Stephen had her by the hair, tilting her head back caressing
her exposed throat. Maddie imagined Judy falling to her knees.
Stephen unzipped his trousers and fucked her roughly in the
mouth holding her by the hair.
Maddie exploded in release. ‘Oh my
God!’ Her body contracted around her hand as she pressed
her breasts tightly to her body. Waves of climax flowed over
her. Just as she slipped into exhausted sleep a thought floated
into her mind. ‘Where did that image come from?’
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