Helena was in the kitchen, building some sandwiches, when Acacia came back in from taking Mr. McCluskey the pad and pen. “You think he’s in awe of you,” she said softly, so she couldn’t be heard from the pool. “Hell, I’m awe of you. I’d like to know how you do it.”

“Do what?” Helena shrugged, keeping her voice down.

“He was still pretty pissed when we went back out there, or else he wouldn’t have been smoking that cigarette to calm himself down, but you just melted him down to a puddle. I’m beginning to think I ought to take lessons on how to handle him from you.”

“I don’t know what I’m doing,” Helena confessed. “I just said, ‘Yes, sir’ a lot, and tried to tell the truth.”

“Yeah, you were acting like a true sub out there, and it was well done. But he remembers you from this morning and doesn’t know what to think. Something you did spoke to the Marine in him, I think. Hell, I don’t know what you are, either.”

“Acacia, I don’t know,” she replied, picking up a knife to slice the sandwiches. “In the last eighteen hours I’ve gone through so many different intense emotions that, well, I could believe anything. I do know that I need a chance to sort out the last month, and especially the last day, and I don’t know how I could do it myself.”

“Do you still mean what you said this morning? About being a bondage freak, a pain freak, and like that?”

“Don’t forget lesbian,” she snorted. “I don’t think I am one, but yes, if I am one, fine. I’ll live with it. I do have that much sorted out. I’m not sure what I am, but whatever it is, I propose to accept it and go from there. Like I said, so be it. Acacia, what are you doing on your knees in front of me?”

“Showing respect,” Acacia said. “You don’t have any idea of what you are, but whatever it is, you awe the hell out of me, Helena.”

“Rise, Miss Rose,” Helena grinned. “There has to be something else for sandwich makings around here.”

“My Lord, may we serve you?” Acacia asked as she and Helena, carrying a pair of trays full of lunch offerings, stopped in front of Mr. McCluskey, who was busy making a note on a pad.

“Most certainly, my dear ladies,” he said, putting his pen down as the two women set down the trays and organized a casual meal for him. As they finished, he rose to his feet, and said, “Ladies, I would appreciate it very much if you would be seated and join me.”

“Thank you, sir,” Acacia said, sitting as he held her chair for her. “We would be delighted.” As she sat down, Helena set out a place setting for the two women, then giggled a little inwardly as Mr. McCluskey held her chair for her.

“My dear sir,” Helena said as he sat back down. “I take it from the copious notes on your pad that you have had some thoughts on what we discussed.”

“Indeed, several,” he smiled, picking up a sandwich. “But that is serious business. Might I suggest that we be casual for a few moments, that we might all have a chance for relaxation before we put our minds to the problems involved.”

“Most certainly, sir,” Helena agreed, picking up a sandwich herself. “I would welcome the opportunity.”

“Ms. Curtis,” he grinned. “A point of sheer curiosity has overwhelmed me, and I should like to inquire about it, if I may.”

“Of course you may, sir. What is it you wish to know?”

“Ms. Curtis, I know where My Lady and I learned to speak in this formal, archaic manner that we commonly use. Yet, you fell into it almost automatically the first time you heard it. In fact, you are better at it than we are. Dear lass, how is this possible?”

“My dear sir, I confess it is but an artifact of my undergraduate studies in the field of English Literature, in which I minored,” Helena grinned, laying it on thick. “I have read so much archaic English that it is nearly second nature for me to use it correctly, so when I heard you using it, I spoke it. In addition, I had a professor for several courses that spoke very formally, all the time, and I am sure she had an effect upon it.”

“Did you enjoy those classes?”

“Very much, sir. Dr. Harris was a most engaging person, and I was sorrowed indeed when she got married and moved away before I could complete my studies with her. A very brilliant person, extremely knowledgeable, and quite charming as well. Indeed, literature is not the only field that she is an expert at. She plays the Celtic harp like a dream come alive.”

“Ms. Curtis,” Mr. McCluskey grinned. “By any chance is this professor of which you speak Dr. Myleigh Harris?”

“Why, yes, sir,” Helena smiled. “Are you familiar with her?”

“Yes, Ms. Curtis, My Lady and I are familiar with her. We’ve been to concerts of hers twice now, and have met her. You are correct, she is a most engaging lady. I found her album Harp Strings to be most enjoyable, but Canyon Tours is a veritable gift from the gods.”

“Indeed, sir,” Helena smiled. “I could not agree with you more. I confess, I was among those in attendance at her first public concert, and I first heard Canyon Tours on a proof copy of the album at a small reception she held for her advanced students when she announced her engagement to her fiancé. At the end of the presentation, everyone present was in such a state of awe that no one dared speak for several minutes, so lost in the experience were we.”

“I envy you your association with her,” Mr. McCluskey smiled. “I wish My Lady and I had had the opportunity to learn from her that you have. Our manner of speaking, I must admit rather shamefully, first developed as a mutual tease after watching some old but rather bad English movies. Much to our surprise, we discovered great enjoyment from it, and from the manners that go along with it. It has since become second nature to us. I am sure it is very inauthentic, but we enjoy it, so we persist in it.”

“So long as it is between the two of you and you enjoy it, how could it not be authentic, sir? As you yourself said, it is custom and ritual that you have evolved. That makes it very authentic for you. Despite obvious anachronisms, I find it enjoyable, and I have no problem in following along.”

Mr. McCluskey frowned, then picked up his pen and scratched out a note on the pad, made another one, then picked up another section of sandwich. “Ms. Curtis, perhaps I should explain that My Lady’s and my customs and rituals spring from several different sources. Those old movies were but one of them. My Lady contributed much from those with whom she had been associated before she met me, and we added on more from similar others later. There is also some input from the US Marine Corps, as you doubtless have noticed.”

“Yes, sir, I have noticed,” Helena grinned. “I have noticed some of it in my father, as well. I have been told, and I do agree, that Marines almost never totally cease to be Marines.”

“I believe that to be the case,” he replied, a broad grin on her face. “My Lady, Ms. Curtis. Since we seem to be straying near the subject that we wished to discuss, would you have any objection to our pursuit of it while we dine?”

“I have no objection, sir,” Acacia said.

“Nor I,” Helena agreed. “Indeed, I am most eager to explore it.”

“As I am sure you must be,” he smiled. “I confess, my thoughts are nowhere near in order, and I have many. Some time ago, I was at a workshop, and one of the exercises we were given was to develop a vision statement, seeking to define what we wish to accomplish. I thought at the time it was utter nonsense, as the vision of what we were working for seemed clearly definable to me. Now, in this instance, I believe it to be a good idea, since what we are seeking to define seems hard to state, is often interlocking and, in places, is mutually incompatible. So let us begin with that goal in mind. To contribute toward that goal, I have several observations that we should discuss.”

“As you wish, sir,” Helena agreed.

“Let me begin by observing that you seem to want some discipline and guidance in your life. Is that correct?”

“I believe so, sir.”

“And, at the same time, you have observed some of the practices that My Lady and I observe, are aware of other practices which we have not demonstrated, and suspect more of the same nature. These customs and practices intrigue you, and you suspect but are not sure that you may enjoy some or all of them as much as My Lady and I do. Is that correct?”

“Speaking in very broad terms, yes, I believe that to be correct.”

“Ms. Curtis, you are doubtless aware, are you not, that most of these customs and practices have a very strong sexual connection as their foundation? Things that might be referred to as ‘kinky’, for lack of a better term?”

“Of course, sir. In fact, if I may say so, it is not merely obvious, but stunningly obvious.”

“Ms. Curtis, you must then be aware, especially after the events of this morning, that whatever we decide to do, we must absolutely skirt those areas, avoiding them to the greatest extent possible. In other words, whatever we do, there can be no sexual contact between you and My Lady, or between you and myself.”

“Yes, sir,” she replied. “Although I might wish it otherwise, I understand that while I may be allowed to smell the broth, I would not be allowed to taste the soup.”

“An excellent allusion,” he smiled. “I think you understand why this must be.”

“My Lord,” Acacia broke in. “May I speak?”

“Most certainly, My Lady. I’m sorry, but I thought I had made it clear that I wish you to speak casually. I think your input as a woman would be most valuable.”

“Thank you, My Lord,” she replied. “To carry her allusion a bit further, I fear that her hunger will overwhelm her if she is allowed too much of a smell of the broth, especially if her tastes prove to be similar to mine. If that should happen, she may become hungry enough to seek to fulfill her desires elsewhere, and fall into a trap such as I did.”

“An excellent point, and a worrisome one, My Lady. Have you mentioned those experiences of yours to her?”

“My Lord, I have mentioned them, but not in any great detail. It … it is still difficult for me, My Lord.”

“As it should be,” he said gently. “Ms. Curtis, what I believe My Lady to say is that at one time, she was in much the same position as you are now, having suspicions that several things appealed to her, and wanting to know more about them. She fell into a group of people that did allow her to learn that those tastes she had were real, but who took advantage of her with them. As a result, she was used and abused terribly, and it was only by good luck and chance that I was able to rescue her. There are predators out there, Ms. Curtis, predators who seek young women in the same position that you are in, predators who would take just as much an advantage of you. Somehow, we must deal with this problem. I think it necessary that we explore those areas in detail enough that you are able to make an honest decision if those are the areas that you wish to pursue, but be able to make that choice with an open mind, and neither feel threatened nor led into the decision that you make. At the same time, it’s important that your hungers not overwhelm you while you are reaching that decision. Believe me, Ms. Curtis, your suggestions as to how we can manage this are welcome.”

“Sir, I’m not even a novice at this, yet,” Helena said. “I do not in fact know that these are the areas I wish to pursue. Nor do I know the pitfalls if I do decide to pursue them. Your guidance and counsel would be welcome, of course. But perhaps we might go one step further, in that if I should decide to pursue those areas, I should have your permission to do so with someone else.”

“Ms. Curtis, are you suggesting that you seek our approval of someone before you allow them to become your master?”

Helena thought about it for a moment. “Yes, sir, I believe I am,” she said. “I might not have said it quite like that, but I think that would work.”

“Ms. Curtis, you are aware that My Lady and I are but human? We make mistakes. In fact, we make a lot of them. We have both just proved that to you. Were we to give an opinion, we could make no guarantee that things still might not go sour.”

“I am aware of that, sir. I would expect you to be most careful in reaching a decision like that, and the two of you together know far more than I what to look for. I am aware that things could go wrong, and if they do, I would bear you no malice. But a favorable opinion from you would improve the odds considerably, I would think.”

“I would promise you our best efforts,” he agreed, “so long as you understand that our best may, in the end, not prove to be good enough.”

“I do, sir,” she said immediately.

“My Lady,” he said to Acacia. “What is your opinion of this arrangement?”

“It would have saved me a great deal of grief had I had one like it,” she said. “I think it is an excellent idea. However, we have not dealt with how she might find such a master, nor have we dealt with the question of how she is to deal with her hungers until she finds one.”

“I suggest that we put the first part of the question to the side for the moment,” he said. “I think, before we deal with that, we should deal with the question of whether she will want to find a master in the first place.”

“That is an excellent point, sir,” Acacia nodded. “You are most wise. That would be putting the cart before the horse, otherwise.”

“Indeed,” he agreed. “As to the second. My Lady, you used to possess some interesting devices, the use of which I have forbidden you. Might something like that not help to provide a stopgap?”

“They might, My Lord,” she replied, a twinkle in her eye. “I have adhered to your command, for I learned long ago that they are not as good as the real thing. But, used wisely, they might provide an adequate substitute for a time.”

“Ms. Curtis,” he grinned. “Please accept my efforts in trying to maintain propriety in my next statement, and if it seems too circumspect, seek clarification, if you would. My Lady has acquired certain techniques, some from me, some learned elsewhere, that I as a man find pleasurable indeed. Some of those devices are useful in learning those techniques, I am sure. You would be most wise to seek, shall we say, coaching, from her in the acquisition of those techniques. In time, a lover or a husband would find some of them most pleasurable, even should you decide not to make a decision to explore more advanced and exotic pursuits.”

“I’m not entirely clear on what you are talking about, sir,” Helena smirked. “But it would be foolish for me to not take advantage of coaching if it is available, would it not?”

“Indeed, dear lass,” he smirked back, then grew very serious. “However, I feel I should make clear that My Lady’s physical assistance must be limited to the minimum possible, however much verbal coaching might be necessary. If the situation demands her monitoring it, for example, if it is decided that you are to be bound, then she will be free to assist in the binding, but you will refrain from intimacy. Otherwise, we risk a repeat of the unhappy events of this morning.”

“I understand sir. I would not expect it to be any other way.”

“My Lord,” Acacia said. “I fear you have drawn a broad and rather fuzzy line, but if you give me this task, I will do my best to stay on the safe side of it.”

“If you have questions, you are welcome to bring them to me before you proceed,” he said. “However, if we’re in general agreement, allow me to proceed to another aspect.”

“I will comply, My Lord,” Acacia agreed. “What else do you wish to discuss?”

“Actually, I had wished to start this discussion with a few points about discipline, dominance and submission, but we digressed into other areas. There are still several points that I need to address. Is that acceptable to you, Ms. Curtis?”

“Certainly, sir,” she agreed. “I confess to questions there, myself.”

“I confess to questions there, too, Ms. Curtis,” he smiled. “There are people around – some of them are the predators we mentioned a few minutes ago – who tend to see dominance and submission as black and white, with few gray areas. I find that notion laughable as it applies to the real world. The truth, Ms. Curtis, is that everyone must take on both roles at times, although some more than others. For example, I am naturally more or less a dominant, as you may have noticed.”

“It’s pretty clear,” Helena smirked.

“I suppose,” he snorted. “The fact of the matter is that I must be submissive in many areas, most of the time. For example, I must submit to my supervisor, who is a half-trained idiot with the skills and the personality of a lizard. Yet, he is my superior, and I must accept that I must submit to him. I think it safe to say that My Lady thinks of herself as a pure submissive, but in her job, and in other areas, there are times that she must lead and command, rather than obey. There is little black and white, and many shades of gray. My point may not be very clear in this setting, but imagine me as a Marine, which is where I learned most of my understanding of the theory of dominance, submission, and discipline. As a sergeant, which I was briefly before I left the Corps, I had to command my squad, keep them on task, within defined limits, and do many other things that fall into the category of dominant. At the same time, I had to submit to those above me in the chain of command, my superior sergeants, and officers. I had to accept their command, they had to keep me and my squad on task within their defined limits, and so forth, and I expected them to do so, as they expected me to submit to them.” He shook his head and laughed. “I suspect that Sergeant Hoffman, the Gunny who I had to deal with for much of my career, would be laughing himself to death had he heard me discuss these things in this way, but I’m trying to put them into the context of what we are doing here.”

“I believe I understand your point, sir,” Helena laughed.

“That may well be,” he grinned. “Although I really hadn’t gotten to it, yet. Let me explain that everyone in the Corps, everyone, understands these roles. Granted, some people take some time to learn them, mostly addle-headed boots with too much testosterone and too few brains, but the Corps has learned over the centuries how to instill these facts into the vast majority of them, and has learned how to deal with the few who have trouble with them. It has a time tested system that works. Now, for a number of reasons, that system will really not work all that well with us, so My Lady and I have modified it so that it does. As I mentioned earlier, we have adapted things from other discipline systems, some of them from the world she used to live in where she got burned badly, and some of them from the world of good manners, custom, and courtesy, which, never forget, is just as much a strong and proven system of discipline as the Marines use, if those in the system accept it.

The point I wished to make is that, once you have learned discipline of whatever system, it is relatively easy to pick up a different system. I am making this point for several reasons. You have stated to me that you are seeking discipline, and I believe that to be true. Yet, at the same time, I do believe that you have a good experience in a system of discipline, although you may not see it as such – the discipline of family, of school, of work, of church, and other such things. What you are looking for is guidance, not discipline, and you can get that in any system of discipline.”

“I think I understand what you are saying, sir,” Helena said. “As we worked out earlier, other than work, I have not been in a system of discipline the past several months, and I fear I need it.”

“That says it fairly succinctly,” he agreed. “I think that you would find the system of discipline that My Lady and I have agreed to is rather stiffer than the other systems, although that is the way we like it.”

“My Lord, may I comment?” Acacia asked.

“My Lady, I thought I told you that I value your input.”

“Yes, My Lord. However, you were lecturing, and I did not wish to get in the way. The point that I wished to make is that I fear that in the last year or so, we have gotten somewhat slack. That was one of the things I was impressed with this morning. Had we kept as firm as we were when we moved here, the incident of last night probably would not have happened. I had not really realized it or contemplated it until this morning, but I really think we should consider tightening up a bit.”

“Yes, My Lady, that thought had not escaped me this morning, either, and I had planned on bringing it up with you at another time. But Ms. Curtis may have given us the means to reexamine things and improve on them while we accomplish other things as well.”

“I agree, My Lord,” Acacia smiled. “I just was not sure whether you saw it.”

“Thank you, My Lady,” he smiled back, and turned back to Helena. “Yes, Ms. Curtis, I was lecturing. I have a tendency to do so, and rather think that if things had worked out differently, I would liked to have been a teacher. In any case, I was working up to another point, which is this: the system of discipline that My Lady and I use is ours. It is no one else’s. Other masters will use other systems, and should you decide to accept a master, you will have to learn a different system. But I propose that My Lady and I teach you our system. Should you decide to accept a master, it will be far easier to learn his system than it would be to learn the discipline behind it from scratch. Should you not decide to accept a master, the discipline will still be useful to you in other areas. Is that understandable, or am I being too pedantic?”

“Yes, sir,” Helena said, nodding her head.

“That you understand, or that I am being too pedantic?” he grinned.

“Dare I say both, sir?” Helena smiled.

“Since you have not yet accepted my discipline, I suppose I can let you get away with that,” he laughed, his face warm with his grin. “But you do agree with the point, do you not?”

“Oh, yes, sir,” she replied. “It makes perfect sense to me.”

“All right,” he said, taking the pad in order to take some notes. “Give me a moment to organize things. Ladies, you might take the opportunity to clear away the dishes from the excellent lunch you have prepared.”

It was several minutes before they reassembled around the table. “All right, as I see it,” he said, referring to the pad. “We are seeking to accomplish several things. First, Ms. Curtis, we seek to give you the chance to learn a system of discipline, and receive guidance in your actions that will be of use to you. Second, we seek to give you the opportunity to explore some of the things that you suspect that you might enjoy, without having to commit to them. Third, should you decide to pursue those things, you seek our guidance in involving yourself in them in a safe and acceptable manner. Is that about what we were trying to accomplish?”

“I’d say that covers it in a nutshell,” she agreed. “However, I think there are a lot of details that need to be discussed.”

“Oh, I’m sure there are,” he agreed. “But I think that this outlines what we’re working towards. Now, we can discuss some of those details, and see if they will fit into those goals, or whether they will have to be modified. For example, Ms. Curtis, I am going to have to rely considerably upon your own self-discipline. You are not a Marine boot, with plenty of testosterone and no sense. I cannot watch over you like a hawk twenty-four hours a day. In fact, I doubt you will actually be able to spend that much time with me, especially since My Lady will demand a fair amount of my free time privately. But we shall have to do the best we can in the time we have available, and to do that is going to take your wholehearted cooperation.”

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