When Andy took a running start, screamed, and leaped over the edge of the slippery slope, the first – and most important – thing that he realized was that if this was going to be a success, he was going to have to be serious indeed. There was no room for half measures – not with a whip laying somewhere in the unseen future. That still scared the living hell out of him, and he prayed that Helena would never come to him with one – but he knew instinctively he had to do his damn best to be ready if she did.

Like a lot of guys his age, Andy was on the casual side, and the sheer theatricality of the formality around the McCluskey house had bothered him more than a little bit, but he soon realized that it served several purposes – not the least of which was that it was kind of fun of itself – but it also helped to define the intricate manners and politeness that underlay the relationship. This was not casual. Some of the things they might talk about were pretty damn serious – whips, especially, but some of the other stuff could get a person sent to jail for a long time if it were not done with a consenting adult, or even if it was revealed to outsiders who wouldn’t understand, consenting or not. The seriousness that was displayed just underlined the seriousness of what they were doing.

The biggest reason, of course, for the formality was that Mr. McCluskey and his lady liked acting like that – and, well, so did Helena. It provided a touch of order, a foundation, in a world that was very complex. While in the next few weeks, Andy learned a lot at Mr. McCluskey’s, and more yet in informal sessions with Helena and Acacia in their apartment – Curt would never have dreamed what was going on with his roommate! In fact, when Andy stepped back and thought about it, he hardly believed it was happening himself, although he very quickly was up to his ears in it.

One of the unforeseen byproducts of the sessions was that they were almost a course in the formal use of the language, and before long, it didn’t take Wade’s sometimes imposing presence or the seriousness of the collars on the ladies to have some serious effects on him. He didn’t totally realize what was going on until his boss spoke up in a staff meeting one day and said, “Andy, you might want to tone your memos down, just a touch. They’re very well written, but I had to get out a dictionary twice to get through your last one.”

“Absolutely, sir,” Andy grinned. “I shall be most happy to accede to your request.” That broke up the whole staff meeting, but got him to thinking. Some of this stuff was slopping over into his everyday life – and frankly, some of the changes it was bringing, he rather liked. He was getting more polite, he was getting more respectful of others, and was getting more sensitive to their feelings. His boss noticed it too, and one day there was an unexpected promotion. “You seem to be growing into the job, Andy,” he was told.

Starting almost immediately, Andy was spending a lot more time with Helena. After the first weekend, there was almost always a weekend day at Mr. McCluskey’s and a weekday night, sometimes two, and more evenings spent with her and Acacia at the ladies apartment – sometimes with Acacia, other times while she was at Wade’s for the evening or for a day. Those times were especially memorable. He and Helena had an unspoken agreement to stay away from some of the more advanced techniques for now, they had a very thorough grounding in the basics – time spent in bed with Helena was never wasted, and almost always exciting. Once again, he was surprised at the raging sexual adventuress that lay under her rather shy and demure exterior, once they got the doors closed. Never had he believed it could be like that with a woman … and what clearly lay in the future hardly seemed believable.

But perhaps the most unbelievable thing was when they went out together. Movies and the like were a thing of the past, since they had more important things to do, but if they had a free Sunday, they usually made the trek to his parents’ house for church and dinner – and Helena remained the same sweet, demure, somewhat shy girl who had visited there the first time, clearly enjoying church and the family setting. There was never the slightest hint of her other life – and it was quickly becoming theirs.

Weird, weird, weird – but he was getting used to it, and it was becoming natural. How could he ever have expected that such raging waters lay under such a still surface? Not just hers … but his …

He soon came to thoroughly enjoy the sessions at Mr. McCluskey’s. It was one of the more intense learning experiences of his life, almost less of a class and more of an ongoing encounter group. In a sense, he had not one teacher, but three, all eager to help him learn, help him understand. He never detected any lesson plan, although on occasion Mr. McCluskey had things he wanted to talk about, but the ongoing discussions usually started with a question or a comment, and could go on for hours, all interesting talk. A lot of it was indeed talk, a lot of it was going over the basics, again – but as time went on, he found it becoming more than mere words, as some of them would translate into insights, understandings that clearly meant more than the words did.

The sessions were usually pretty formal, suit and tie formal, but Andy soon started keeping a couple changes of clothes in the spare closet of Mr. McCluskey’s house, for times when things became a little less formal, when suit and tie weren’t exactly the clothes of choice. This was often the case with what could best be called practical exercises. These usually didn’t get too deep, and never overtly sexual, although some of them positively reeked of sexuality. Early on, he was introduced to shibari, the simpler forms. Andy had been an Eagle Scout; he was good with ropes and knots – and understood rope in a way that even Mr. McCluskey didn’t. At least, in some small area, he could be the teacher.

The exercises were often informal, and one of the more memorable ones came one afternoon in late March, when it turned unseasonably warm and nice. They found themselves in the back yard, by the pool, and for the first time Andy found himself tying Helena into an outdoor katori. What made it extra special was that he was doing it mostly by himself, as Mr. McCluskey tied his lady into a similar one next to them, and Andy got a slow, step-by-step demonstration of the process. The takatakote part he’d done before, several times by now, but actually getting Helena up comfortably and safely was not quite as simple as it looked. After a while, the two women were swinging in the warm spring breeze, wearing only bikinis and quite a bit of rope, each strung to a single tie point high above. There was a little extra rope work involved, which could only have been called decorative, and, following Mr. McCluskey’s lead, Andy had tied a rope to Helena’s hair, to hold her head back so she could look ahead, not at the ground. It seemed cruel, but Helena, already slipping into subspace, said that it actually helped relax her.

The process completed, Andy and Mr. McCluskey found lawn chairs and took coffee cups in hand. It all felt delightfully informal, and that’s how the two of them found themselves talking.

“Are we going to leave them up there long?” Andy asked.

“Might as well,” Mr. McCluskey shrugged. “Both of them have been waiting for this for a long time, so we might as well let them enjoy it. It’s not that warm, they’re going to get chilled like that, so we won’t want to leave them up there overly long. But we can all use the hot tub afterward.”

“I suppose,” Andy said, “we could have had them in sweat suits, or something.”

“Oh, we could have,” Mr. McCluskey agreed. “I would have been willing to do it with My Lady, since I know more about what I’m doing, but we still would have wanted to have Helena mostly in skin. The problem with that arrangement is that you have to monitor it so you don’t accidentally cut off their blood circulation, and at least with skin exposed, you can inspect what’s going on.”

“Makes sense,” Andy agreed. “But you know, that really looks uncomfortable.”

“I suspect if it were you or me up there, that’s exactly how we would find it,” Mr. McCluskey grinned. “But look at them. They’re flying, both of them. They’re out of it, off in a world of their own, one that you and I will never be able to enter. I’ve worked around the edges of it enough to know, and you have, too. Frankly, it makes me more than a little jealous of them.”

“They certainly act like they enjoy it,” Andy agreed. “Me, well, I can accept it, after all we’ve talked about it. Understand it, well, no, I don’t think I will ever be able to. But if that’s what Helena wants, well, as I see it, that’s what she gets.”

“I know exactly what you mean,” Mr. McCluskey smiled. “That’s one of the reasons why I’ve come to enjoy shibari. There’s an art in it that’s a pleasure for me. Sort of a living sculpture that I helped to create. I’ve come to derive quite a bit of satisfaction from it, much more so than some of the other things My Lady likes to do. I’m a lot like you, my friend. I don’t enjoy creating the pain, although I do enjoy assisting My Lady in accomplishing what she wants. I get my satisfaction in other ways.”

“Other ways?”

Mr. McCluskey took a sip of his coffee and leaned back. “I know I told you why I left the Corps, back at the hospital that time,” he said. “I still have problems with creating the pain and death that I caused, and I just could not get it under control in that atmosphere, which is why I left. But in college I missed another part of the atmosphere, the discipline, and frankly, I missed the opportunity to command. Then, one day, I found Acacia crying on the sidewalk, badly misused and nearly suicidal. Andy, at that point, I knew people like her existed, had even met them, but I had never really gotten to know any of them, let alone take responsibility for one. In the first hour that we met, I learned of her desires for the treatment that she wanted, and it astounded me that any woman would wish to have that kind of treatment. But at the same time I learned of her desire to obey.” He sighed and went on. “That much, I could relate to, for if there’s anything you learn in the Corps, it’s how to obey, and how to command. She met my needs to have someone to command, just as I met her needs for having someone to obey. I’m a part time sergeant to a squad of one, Andy, nothing more. I have to do what I have to do to keep my squad happy, so they will keep me happy. As we’ve often discussed, it’s a two-way relationship.”

“I guess I’d heard most of that, in bits and pieces,” Andy commented, “but never in words I could understand like that.”

“Andy, it’s too bad you were never in the service, or even ROTC or something like that,” Mr. McCluskey grinned. “A few weeks of boot camp, and then maybe a good Marine NCO academy, would teach you a lot that you really ought to know. But, for a number of reasons, that’s impossible, partly because it would take time you don’t have, but partly because you would learn things that you don’t need to know, and some things, probably that you don’t want to know. I know I learned things in the service that I still don’t want to know. But you’re an intelligent, dedicated man, and you can learn things intellectually and apply them to the situation, not have to have them beaten into your head by a loudmouthed drill instructor.”

“I sure hope not, sir,” Andy grinned. “I mean, no disrespect intended, but I never saw myself as being a Marine.”

“Well, I never saw myself in this role, either,” Mr. McCluskey grinned. “I mean, when My Lady and I started to develop how we treat each other, I never figured that I’d wind up teaching it to others. I realize some of it seems a little odd to you, but it’s how things have worked out. We were a while working them out. It took me a while to accept, really accept, what My Lady was looking for, and we were a while getting there. There is a lot of Marine in what we do, but not as much as we used to do. I mean, Acacia had learned some different rules and customs from those she’d been with before, and I didn’t understand them. I was working from a different rule set. I’m afraid I had her saluting me and doing pushups, good Marine things like that.”

Andy closed his eyes and pictured the scene. He couldn’t help but let out a laugh. “I’m sorry, sir,” he said, “but I have this image of a nude Miss Rose saluting you, not doing it right, and having you tell her to drop and give you twenty.”

Mr. McCluskey broke up laughing. “It sounds funny,” he said finally. “And it is. Even though I had her doing it just that way, I have to laugh at it, now. I mean, we had to learn how to relate our skills, if you know what I mean.”

“I’m sorry,” Andy laughed. “It’s just such an image.”

“Oh, I agree,” Mr. McCluskey said. “The thing is, we were saying the same thing, but talking in different languages. The idea of her saluting me seems ludicrous, but really, it isn’t. Do you have any idea what a salute means?”

“Well …” Andy said, thinking about it. “I guess it’s showing respect for a superior.”

“At its core, that’s what it’s supposed to mean,” Mr. McCluskey said. “Except that it has become perverted to some degree. My interpretation of it is that a salute from an inferior to a superior means that the inferior is showing respect, yes, recognition of that superior. But it also shows comradeship and presents the expectation that the inferior trusts the superior to lead him wisely. Salutes are returned by the superior, to first show that he acknowledges that respect, and second, that he respects the junior for the salute given him and will indeed do his best to lead him wisely. It is a ceremony, of a sort, and the meaning dates back beyond the Romans.”

“How do you consider it perverted, sir?”

“That wasn’t a particularly good word to use, Mr. Brown,” Mr. McCluskey said. “I should have said abused. I have too often seen junior officers expect the salutes military courtesy demands without having a real understanding of the meaning behind the action. But the point I was leading toward is this: do you see a similarity between the salute and the collaring ceremony you have seen on many occasions?”

Andy was silent for a moment. “Well, of course,” he said finally. “I guess I never thought of it that way.”

“Understandable,” Mr. McCluskey said. “It’s a matter of perception. Ceremony is important, because it is a symbol, and symbols have power. They can have great power. Think of the symbolism of the flag. If you want an idea of the power it carries, go to Arlington Cemetery and look at the statue of the Marines raising the flag on Iwo Jima. But surely you understand symbols. Mr. Brown, may I ask why you have never offered to assist me in placing Miss Curtis’s collar on her when she arrives?”

“It’s not my place,” Andy said flatly. “I understood that from the beginning. I’m not her master, I am at best a potential candidate. You, sir, are acting as a provisional master to her. She takes the symbolism of the collar very seriously, to the point where, when she was having trouble with a necklace the other night, she refused my help. Knowing the significance of the collaring ceremony to her, I did not press the issue.”

“Right on the nose, Mr. Brown,” Mr. McCluskey smiled. “Right on the nose. Can you tell me why the ladies are usually handcuffed, never protest it, and are very comfortable with it?”

“Same thing,” Andy said. “It’s another symbol. Again, I recognized that from the beginning. They are not handcuffed because you force it on them. There are handcuff keys all around this place, but they’re not going to take them off, since you placed the handcuffs on them. It’s a symbol of respect, of submitting themselves to you.”

“As you are no doubt aware, before I met My Lady, she was mixed up with several people who had a perverted idea of what symbols like that mean, what that kind of respect means. Again, perhaps I should modify that statement. They had a perverted idea of it in comparison to what I consider the relation between a senior and a junior to be. They demanded absolute subjugation of the sub, and it was difficult for me to even make My Lady understand that a senior has a responsibility to a junior, the way a junior has a responsibility to a senior. The people she was mixed up with had a very limited understanding of the relationship, not realizing that orders have to carry responsibility with them, and courtesy as well. Andy, I have heard such a person use the words, in very direct terms, “Slave, bring more beer.” I was about ready to kick the crap out of him. He showed no respect for the devotion that had been given him by her actions. Had he said, ‘My dear, would you be so kind’ and so forth … just a few more words, but a very large attitude difference. I cannot bring myself to act with an attitude like that. Now, there are times, albeit rarely, where for the sake of expediency we have to dispense with a lot of the honorifics and politeness, but they do remain understood, if unsaid. From my viewpoint, if I were to use that, “Slave, bring beer” line on My Lady, she would be equally justified in telling me to go fuck myself or busting the beer bottle over my head.”

“Boy, do I ever see that,” Andy said. “I couldn’t act like that.”

“Me, either,” Mr. McCluskey agreed. “Mostly because that is not the kind of person I am. It was something that My Lady had difficulty adjusting to. I was not acting like she expected a master to act, so I was forced to revert to my Marine training to get the point across. Which, in a roundabout way, leads me to a point I’ve been meaning to bring up with you. It’s not a terribly worrisome point, since I think you can work it out. Would you be comfortable discussing it?”

“Sure, that’s what I’m here for, after all.”

“Mr. Brown, I said earlier that I wish you had some military experience. You are very good at giving respect, asking people to do things for you, and you are quite kind to Helena. But, somehow, I think that you are doing just that, making requests, rather than giving orders couched as requests. They are two different things, sir. I suspect once you understand what I’m talking about, you will have little problem with it, but I’m having trouble figuring out a way to make you understand. You’re not comfortable giving orders, are you? I mean, like a sergeant would order a platoon around in close order drill?”

“Never had the experience, sir. I mean, I’ve seen it done, but that’s not really the way it works in the real world, is it?”

“Oh, but it is. A request is a polite way of giving an order. At least, it will have to be that way between you and Helena. But, I wonder … Mr. Brown, have you ever done anything like close order drill? Band, or anything like that?”

“No sir, not at all.”

“That might be an angle to take on it. In fact, it might be an excellent exercise. I don’t think we want to do it this afternoon, since we have the ladies otherwise occupied, but perhaps I should take you and teach you some of the basics. Once we have those, we might just do a little close order drill. That might just be the spark you need to understand something about commanding.”

One evening during one of the sessions soon after that discussion, Mr. McCluskey got Andy off to the side, out of the hearing of the ladies. “Andy, any chance you could slide up here, like maybe tomorrow night, and not let the ladies know about it?”

“I can probably come up with something,” he said. “I think they’ve got karate class tomorrow night.”

“I’m sure they do,” he replied. “And I’m off. That’s why it makes a good time. Make it as early as you can.”

Andy was pretty sure why Mr. McCluskey wanted him to come up alone. He was right.

He got there as Wade was pulling in from work, still wearing his EMS uniform. “Yo, Andy,” he laughed. “Did you have any trouble getting Helena to turn you loose?”

The words told Andy as much as anything that he wasn’t dealing with Mr. McCluskey tonight, but with Divebomber – a name he now knew Wade didn’t like to use. With that, though, he figured his first name was adequate formality. “No, Wade, I told her my roommate had something on his mind. She doesn’t like him. I don’t blame her. I really don’t like him that much myself.”

“You didn’t lie to her, did you?”

“No, hell no, Wade, I know better than that. I just used that same gag she used on me. What Curt had on his mind was which bar he wants to go to tonight. I just didn’t say that it had anything to do with me.”

“Damn, I hate to have you do that,” he said. “But in this case, I think it’s justified. I don’t think that I want the ladies seeing us messing around with whips. It’d give them ideas that I’d really rather they don’t have just now.”

That was just what Andy thought it was going to be. “Yeah, I’ve guessed we’ve been putting it off and we shouldn’t. You know why.”

“We have been putting it off,” Wade said. “Hell, you’re going to be new with a whip, we about have to do it outside so you don’t tear something up, and the weather’s been lousy.”

“Wade, I’m still not very comfortable with this,” Andy protested.

“Why not?” Wade grinned. “You have a good arm and a nice swing, so it shouldn’t be hard to learn. We might as well get you learning now.”

“That’s not what I meant, and you know it. God, this is surreal, when you stop to think about it. I never figured that any time in my life, I’d be practicing with a whip so I could use it on my woman.”

“Yeah, it is, Andy. But do you remember when I said you were taking a step down a slippery slope? This is one of the rocks that you knew you were going to encounter.”

“I know,” Andy sighed. “I wish it weren’t that way, but I guess you have to take the shit along with the sweet.”

“Truer words were never spoken,” Wade grinned.

It turned out that Wade had several whips around the house, mostly collector pieces and practice items. He showed Andy the whip that Acacia had given him – the one that he had used on Helena in that demonstration. He was impressed by the smooth, sensuous beauty of it. Touching the whip, taking it in hand was like grabbing a rattlesnake – it had that kind of power, and imparted that kind of fear. All too soon, in his mind – and too soon meant any time this side of the grave – he knew he’d be picking up a whip not unlike that and using it on Helena. God, that was scary to even think about.

That whip was left on the rack, in its own box; Wade took several others, still whips but not carrying quite as much psychic load as that powerful black snake he’d held in his hand, and went out back, behind the fence, where Andy had never been. It was an open area, and there were several sandbags out there. “I set them up the other day,” Wade said. “Figured we’d get around to this sooner or later. Andy, I know that a whip implies a great deal of power to you. You’ve seen a whip used on Helena, and if you’d had the chance, you’d have killed the man using it, right?”

“I tried to, Wade, I tried. That’s why this scares me so.”

“Andy, I’ve been around whips more than you,” Wade said. “When I watched that from outside, I wasn’t a hell of a lot less scared than you were, mostly because I knew what was going on. Andy, you know I’m not much of a praying man, but you can thank your God at every chance you get that stupid bastard didn’t know what the hell could be done with a whip. At least, now, he’ll never be able to learn, and you did accomplish that much.” Wade selected one whip from the several he was carrying. “Andy, this is pretty much like the whip that joker was carrying,” he said. “It’s a little shorter, but right in the same ball yard. Stand well off to the side, there, and watch what kind of power it has.”

As if Andy didn’t already know … he’d seen all the demonstrations of a whip like that he ever wanted to … twenty-three of them, to be precise. With a flick of his wrist, Wade laid the whip out in front of him, lofted it in the air gently, and brought it forward. There was a flat crack! like the shot of a small caliber gun, and a ten-inch rip appeared in the side of one of the sandbags … holy shit, that robber guy hadn’t known what he was doing! Wade’s effect on the sandbag was a hell of a lot worse than Helena had been hit – and in reality, he hadn’t even swung very hard. “I get the point,” he nodded.

“It’s nothing that you need to know how to do right now,” Wade smiled. “It is kind of fun to learn how to do and know about. Maybe some other time, after you’ve learned what you need to know, we can come out and fool around with it, but let that go for right now. Anyway, this is a horsewhip, and I don’t know anyone who keeps horses who would ever use a whip like this on one. For the crack, yes, but to crack it on the flesh, no. You remember that wisecrack I made at the Halloween Party, ‘Women, like horses, sir, perform much the same to the crack of the whip’?

“Yeah, I thought you were joking.”

“I was being very bombastic, but I was not joking, Andy. A horse would try to kill someone who took a chunk out of its ass like that. So would a woman. Even our women. Have I got you thoroughly scared, yet?”

“I’ve managed to keep from pissing my pants,” Andy said. “Barely managed.”

“Remember all that I’ve told you about our ladies are putting tremendous faith in us when they put a whip in our hands and expect us to use it on them. A man who would abuse that faith deserves to be on the receiving end …” he pointed at the sandbag, still weeping sand slowly from its torn side “… of that.”

“I couldn’t agree more, sir,” Andy said. “Good God, to even think of something like that …”

“A final thought before we get down to business, Andy,” Wade said. Andy could see a scarcely restrained anger in his voice. “I’ve told you how I found Acacia weeping on the sidewalk that time. She had been badly abused by a thoughtless man with a whip. Not as bad as that sandbag, since it was a whip of considerably less power. Andy, when I finally got the whole story out of her, I was extremely angry. I regret that I did not have any skills at the time with a whip or I would have taken one to him, but the Marines left me with other useful skills. That man was made to regret his thoughtlessness.

Needless to say, some time later when Acacia quite unexpectedly came to me with a whip, I was at least as upset as you have been, and probably considerably more, since unlike you I did not have a mentor to turn to for guidance. It took a lot of soul searching, Andy, the same kind you’ve been doing, and a lot of practice before I dared use it. I still don’t take it lightly, and neither should you. You have heard me say many times that we have difficult women to please. I think, for the both of us, that this is one of the most difficult things we have to do. And now you have to learn how to use a whip and not do that,” Wade said, pointing at the sandbag.

Andy looked at the ground, looked out at the sandbag, and looked at Wade. The words came to his lips, reluctantly, but bravely, “Then I guess I better get started learning how to use one, shouldn’t I?”

The whip that Wade taught Andy to use that night was smaller and lighter than the big horse whip, at least partly so it wouldn’t have as large a danger zone in the range of its swing. Andy learned how to use the core of the whip against the target, rather than the tip, and how to keep the tip from causing the kind of damage that had been done to the sandbag. He learned that, like swinging a baseball bat, swinging a whip was less pure power, and more smoothness and skill – although different in approach, the concepts were the same. By the time several sandbags were weeping sand, Andy felt he was starting to get the hang of it, though some of those cuts in the sandbags showed him there were still times that it could get away from him.

“I think we’d better knock it off for tonight,” Wade said finally. “You’re getting the idea, but I think your arm is starting to get tired. Why don’t you put that whip in your trunk, take it home with you, and get out someplace quiet a couple times in the next week, and just work out with it? Work on accuracy, and work on smoothness. We’ll get together in a week or so and see how you’re coming.”

“Sounds good, Wade,” Andy replied. “You’re right, my arm is beginning to feel like it’s about to drop off, but maybe I’m starting to get the hang of it a little.”

“Yeah, that’s a different sort of workout,” Wade agreed, gathering up the several whips he’d brought out, some of which he’d given demonstrations with. “Still pretty early,” he said. “I’m not really up for cooking, and there’s a little bar up the road that makes one of the best bar burgers you’ll ever meet and with those old-fashioned crinkle cut French fries. You up for a beer?”

“Sure, Wade. You talked me into it.”

By now, Andy thought he knew Wade pretty well. He liked the warmness, the formality of Mr. McCluskey, and “Wade” as he occasionally was around the women, was pretty nice, too. But this was the first time he’d ever really gotten to know the “Divebomber” Wade – who proved to be a pretty nice guy, sort of an average Joe, except that some of the formality of Mr. McCluskey still showed through from time to time. It sort of made Andy wonder who he really was – Wade, Mr. McCluskey, Divebomber, or some weird mixture. But in any case a heck of a nice guy, and, he was now beginning to realize, more than just a teacher – he was becoming a true friend. As soon as that thought crossed his mind, he realized why – there were guy-to-guy things that he could only share with him, and almost certainly the other way around, just as Helena and Acacia had things they could share with no one else.

What other guy could Wade share his secret lives with? No one that he knew of, and most likely, no one at all. He’d known for some time that Wade was only a few years older than he was, but somehow, he’d always seemed much older, almost like a father figure, passing down the wisdom of the ages. But Wade had often said that he was feeling his way along, just like Andy was doing. Sure, he had more experience in this area than Andy did, so he did have lessons to teach, and Andy was eager to learn them – but now, it seemed that Wade was the first real adult friend that he had. Not a guy like Curt, who really hadn’t grown up yet, not the way that Andy had done in the last few months. Once, he’d enjoyed going out and messing around with Curt, hanging out, doing baseball and watching stock car races and doing guy stuff. Now, it seemed pretty damn infantile.

Andy had already gone a long way toward pulling away from Curt and his activities – he had more important stuff to do, much of it involving Helena – but over the next several weeks, he got up to Wade’s by himself every week or so on an irregular schedule. Always, there was whip practice, along with plenty of discussion of the practical aspects of the techniques involved. In time, it moved out of the back yard and down into the basement, with a plastic mannequin bent over the horse for realistic practice. That was hairy, the first time he did it – the reality level increased a lot. By this time, Andy had become comfortable with using the whip outside, but he still got nervous when he had to work on the mannequin, for it just reminded him of that reality that was probably not all that far in the future. But the determination stayed with him; if he was going to have to do it, he was going to do it right.

One evening, they were sitting beside the pool after a practice session in the basement, sipping on beers – they’d had dinner earlier – and one thing in the discussion led to another. “Wade,” Andy asked finally. “I know you’ve discussed why you and Acacia haven’t gotten married before, but it’s always been with the ladies around. What’s your take on it when they’re not listening?”

“Pretty much the same,” Wade said. “This has been an issue between Acacia and me for some years, now. She likes this lifestyle, Andy. To my mind, she likes it a little too much, and you know me well enough by now that it’s one part of my life, but only one part of it. It’s a part of my life that I like very much, but I don’t know how we can carry it on with the intensity that we both like on a full-time basis. So long as she’s not actually living with me, we can manage it. It turns into two, sometimes three days a week, depending, some evenings. That’s about what I can handle. I like being My Lord to My Lady, and it’s the best part of my life. But damn it, there are other things I like, too, things that being My Lord doesn’t fit in well with. Frankly, for some years, we’ve gotten along. We’re in an ‘if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it’ mode.”

“I was wondering,” Andy said. “Look, you pretty well know where this is heading with Helena and me, don’t you?”

“It’s pretty obvious,” Wade smiled. “Look, you know that becoming her master is not the same thing as becoming her husband. Acacia and I are living proof of that. But when she wants to offer you a collar, I think you’d better be ready to confront the rest of the question.”

“I know,” Andy said. “That’s why I asked. I really don’t know how we’re going to do it, and I realize this is plowing new ground for you, too. I mean, it’s obvious that I can’t keep a collar and handcuffs on Helena 24/7. We’re like you, we have to lead lives in public, too. For only a little over a year on the job, she’s really grabbed hold of it. I would not be surprised to see her at the senior executive level in a few years, she’s doing that well. As much as she likes this part of her life, it’s only a part of her life. There are other parts, too. We’ve both got families, and they’d never understand a bit of it. I mean, we’re talking guys in white jackets breaking down the door not understand it.”

“Like Acacia and I, you’re just going to have to find a balance,” Wade nodded. “We tried the twenty-four-seven stuff once while we were still in college, and, well, it worked, but we were in a college town, and the best you can say is that it worked there sort of, but we realized that it wasn’t going to work in a vanilla environment. Then I got the paramedic job here, and she got the job at the insurance company, and it was too far to commute. So we decided to do it on a part-time basis, so we could keep the time together intense. You and Helena are in a different situation. Andy, over the last couple of months, I’ve come to think that if Acacia and I are ever going to be married, you and Helena are going to have to teach us how to do it.”

This work is licensed under a
Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.