The next couple months were busy, so busy they hardly had time to do the things they really wanted to do, although they managed to do some of them. They had expected a long search to find a house that would be something that they really wanted, and that they could afford – but one of the things that Helena’s father had told them that night at her house was that there was a trust fund from a late maiden great-aunt that would come to her and the rest of the children of her family when they married, and it was enough to bring some better places within reach. They soon worked out an offer to buy what looked like the right house. It was on a county road, out of town a ways, backed up to a woods, and with no near neighbors on either side. Best of all, it already had a small pool and an outdoor hot tub. In most respects, it could not have been any more what they wanted, but it did need some work, there were some modifications they wanted to make, and all that took time and energy. Wade and Acacia helped them with the cleaning and moving, but there were still furniture and house wares to buy, lots of things to do, and it seemed like they’d never get done in time.

One Sunday afternoon, when it seemed like they were a little ahead of schedule, they decided to take the afternoon off, just relax, and try to get back a little toward an even keel. “The Bristol race is on TV this afternoon,” Andy announced. “They usually have a lot of fender benders. It can be kind of fun. Would you mind if I just sat back, had a couple beers, and watched it?”

“Not in the slightest, Master,” Helena said. She was wearing shorts and a t-shirt, not a dress like they had become used to, but they had been doing heavy cleaning, so he didn’t think much about it. “If it makes you happy, I cannot complain.”

Andy had been feeling the loss of the stock car races and baseball. One of the things he’d given up this spring, what with everything else he had to do, was playing on the company’s team, which usually got together once a week, so watching the stock cars bang fenders was just about what the afternoon could give him. He didn’t think much about it, until during the replay of the second lap crash, when he glanced up and noticed Helena in high kneel, facing him, not the TV, eyes down, in perfect form. “Helena, don’t you want to sit down?” he asked finally.

“No, My Master,” she said. “I am perfectly happy to kneel before you.”

“Don’t you want to watch the race, My Love?” he asked.

“I have no interest in it, My Master,” she said. “Should you need anything, I shall be ready to serve you.”

Andy looked at her, and looked, and looked some more. The announcer was babbling something about Jeff Gordon, but Andy wasn’t paying attention. Finally, after a long time, he said, “My Love, would you rather be doing something else?”

“If it is your wish, My Master.”

“Perhaps we might go to the bedroom and find something else to do,” he suggested.

“If it is your wish, My Master.”

Something else to do proved to be pretty interesting – probably more interesting than the stock car race could ever have been – and Andy didn’t think too much about it, at first. But there was something there that ate at him, and it continued more and more.

Later that week, they were sitting by the pool at Wade’s, not in formal session, just friends, bringing everyone up to date. They’d been talking about other changes in plans – with Helena moving out, Acacia was going to be left without a roommate. Rather than seeking another one, there had been a radical change in plan. She was going to move in with Wade! They still weren’t real sure how it was going to work out, but they’d decided on trying to balance who they wanted to be and who they had to be, a little better than they had in the past. That was going to change things considerably.

The incident with Helena had by now gotten to Andy so bad that he decided to bring it out in open session, with the four around. “Technically, I suppose I should have said, ‘Fine’, and watched the race,” he told them. “But, damn it, I just kept looking at her, and she just melted me right down like a snowball in hell. Maybe I’m not supposed to be a master after all.”

“Interesting question,” Wade grinned. “Did she break discipline at all?”

“Not in the slightest,” Andy said. “In fact, she was in as full a discipline as I’d ever seen her.”

“Just for a point of interest,” Wade asked. “Did you consider doing something like putting her in a gag and hogtie, setting her in a chair so she could watch the race?”

“I thought about it,” Andy admitted. “But I think if I’d done it she’d have melted me down just as quickly.”

“Miss Curtis,” Wade grinned. “If he had done that to you, would you have enjoyed the race more?”

“Not very likely, sir” Helena replied. “However, I would have enjoyed the afternoon more.”

“Miss Curtis,” Wade asked. “Were you attempting to test your master’s discipline?”

“Not really, sir,” she replied. “Of late, I have so rarely had the opportunity to show my discipline to him, I thought it a good time to accomplish two things at once, as it were.”

“Andy, I think she’s got you,” Wade grinned. “She does deserve your attention, too. That’s part of being a master. It’s even more a part of being a husband. Right on the surface, I’d say she had an excellent idea, considering how busy you’ve been. But at the same time Miss Curtis, there are probably things that he’s going to like to do that you will not be particularly interested in sharing with him, and the reverse is true, as well. Miss Curtis, just as a point of clarification, you were in collar and handcuffs, am I correct?”

“A working collar, sir, one we acquired for wearing around the house, rather than the formal one you presented us. And handcuffs, of course.”

“Pushing on toward my point,” Wade said. “If he asked you to physically go to a race with him, would you accept?”

“Of course, sir. He is my master.”

“Collared, cuffed, and leashed?”

“Of course, sir. He is my master; I would do as he wishes. I am proud that he is my master.”

“My Love,” Andy said. “Are you testing me?”

“No, My Hero,” she said. “I am merely attempting to express the devotion to your wishes that I am eager to display.”

“Come on,” Andy protested. “You and I can be Master and Disciple in private, but in a situation like that? How would I ever manage that?”

“Oh, you could,” Wade grinned offhandedly, more as an illustration than anything else. “If you were going to try something like that, I suggest telling the absolute truth as always. Tell anyone that asks that she told you that the only way she’d go to the race with you was in collar, cuffs, and leash. You took her at her word. Believe me, you will get some interesting looks, and there will be a lot of people envy you. The point being, she’s willing …” He glanced across at the broad grin across Acacia’s face. “My Lady, I doubt I would like to see you burst from repressing laughter. Please share your amusement with us.”

Acacia got as close to an evil grin on her face as Andy had ever seen. “My Master,” she said, “Might we accompany them? I so rarely get the opportunity to show my devotion in public in such a manner.”

“My Lady,” he said, a firm expression on his brow. “Are you testing me?”

“Not intentionally, My Lord,” she said, the glow on her face growing. “But I do think it would be fun, rather like our time in Key West. Perhaps Miss Curtis and I could dress appropriately for such an event.”

Knowing the direction the discussion was taking, Wade shot a now-familiar ‘we’re screwed’ glance at Andy, and asked his lady, “What would you consider appropriate?”

“Oh, I think something that would be otherwise appropriate to the occasion,” Acacia grinned – a huge grin, knowing she’d won and was now just rubbing it in. “I mean, I wouldn’t think that ball gowns or cocktail dresses would be appropriate at a stock car race. Perhaps, if a pleasant day, short shorts and bikini tops, My Lord.”

Wade shook his head and rolled his eyes. “Mr. Brown,” he said finally. “I believe I told you that it wasn’t going to be easy to deal with headstrong and hard to please women like we both have come to love.”

The wedding was fairly big, even if it had been put together with only a couple of months’ notice. Helena’s home church had a good crowd of her own relatives, and a few people had come up from her office to join the crowd, notably Norma and Mr. Young. Andy’s side of the aisle was considerably sparser, since it was a long way from his home country, but there were still a good number of friends and relatives. Not surprisingly, his old roommate Curt had decided not to make the trip, but to go to a stock car race instead – he already had hard-to-get tickets for good seats.

The bride, of course, was lovely, dressed in a strapless white gown, very small and tight at the waist. Sharon had been surprised at the white corset that went under the dress, and even more surprised at how tight the maid of honor had to lace the corset so the dress would go on at all – and still more surprised at how serene her sister seemed at the tightness of it. The maid of honor was dressed conservatively, in a long-sleeved, floor-length wine colored dress, her wild black hair piled high on her head. The groom and best man were dressed in tuxedos, and according to the way things work at weddings of that nature, no one particularly noticed them, nor noticed that the best man was an athletic-looking man noticeably older than the groom.

The ceremony was conventional, right out of the book – right up to the point where the rings were to be exchanged. Rather than turning to her nearly husband, the bride turned to the maid of honor, who produced a rhinestone choker necklace from her sleeve, and handed it to the bride, who took it in her outstretched hands, knelt gracefully, and held the necklace out to the groom. Although the groom had not been expecting this deviation from the normal course of things, he quite ceremonially took the necklace from the bride’s hands, and fastened it around her neck, without anyone saying anything, although the minister did indeed look perplexed. That was the only thing that kept the entire tableau from looking like it had been planned and practiced many times.

But, from that point on, things went as planned. The couple was pronounced man and wife; they walked down the aisle, and they were part of the receiving line to greet the guests at the happy occasion. A dozen times or more, the bride was complemented on the lovely necklace – but only a surprising few asked what the point of that part of the ceremony was. And the bride was open about it, but only somewhat – “It’s just something that we did to put our own touch on the ceremony,” she said. A couple times, when pressed, she commented, “It represents something special between Andy and me.”

And there were other questions along with the compliments. More often, the bride was asked where the couple planned on going on their honeymoon. “Nowhere, right now,” she said. “Andy and I both had trouble getting off work, so we decided to save up our time. We’re going to go down to Florida at the end of October.” Three or four people commented that Disney World was a lot of fun, and the bride freely commented with a huge grin, “We may stop off there, but we really want to spend some time down in the Keys.”

The maid of honor and the best man were the last people past them in the receiving line. “You carried that off well, sir,” the best man said in a formal tone of voice.

The groom just shook his head. “I should have know it was coming, sir,” he said, just as formally. “You were indeed correct, she is hard to please, but she pleases me.”

“Mr. and Mrs. Brown,” the best man smiled. “While we have been waiting in line since the ceremony, My Lady and I have been talking about some important things. As you are aware, there is an issue that we have been at odds over for a number of years, but now we have reached a decision. Following your example, I believe we have reached an adequate compromise. Would the two of you be willing to perform the same service for us?”

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