Liverpool Ch. 12

"It's nothing. It's just it never occurred to me that you like gardening."

"I want to make your home as beautiful as I can."

"'Our home,' you mean?"

"Huh?"

"Not 'my home,' 'our home.' It's yours too now."

"Sir, I've barely been here a week . . . "

"And already it seems like forever, you have fitted in so well here. I struggle to remember what it felt like before you came, other than empty and soulless. In a week, you've brought life back to this place, and for the first time in a long time, I feel as though I could be happy here again. Do you understand that?" He took hold of my arm and turned me to look at His face

"Sir, have you nicked off with my copy of Jane Eyre?" I was shocked with what He was saying to me. I hadn't realised how strongly He felt about me being here, so I was trying to deflect some of the intensity of His feeling with humour.

"Blah, you know I hate feminist books."

"You've obviously never read it then, sweet little sub Jane Eyre."

"Really?"

"Yep, but enough; back to the garden -- am I allowed to put some flower beds in?"

"Yes, by all means. Listen, why don't I go jump in the shower, and then I'll take you to the garden centre. You can buy everything you need. I don't even think I have a spade anywhere." I was relived that He had taken my lead and changed the subject.

"If you're sure?" He nodded and patted my head, grinning when I asked, "Can I jump in the shower with you?"

"Temptress, you have your way with the garden, why are you trying to seduce me now?"

"Can't a girl thank her Master without being accused of wanting something else?"

"Oh well, in that case, I need a shave too. Come on, wench, time to earn your keep." And He swatted my arse with the sketchpad as I got to my feet.

We walked into the house together, Sir leading the way. I put the sketchpad away in Sir's study, and joined Him in shower, our soapy hands sliding over each other's body. Sir tried to tickle me and I twisted closer in to Him, running my hands down His belly and into His groin. He sobered instantly, cupping my face and kissing me softly as I rubbed my thumb over the tip of His stiffening cock.

"God, you are a hot little slut," He groaned deep in His throat as I gave Him a slow sexy smile, and slipped my tongue in between His lips. He pushed me back against the wall, and lifted my leg up over His hip. He brushed His fingers into my pussy, making sure I was wet enough for Him and I shuddered at His touch, aching to feel Him inside me. I got my wish a second later when I felt Him nudge His cock in me. He teased me for a while, only using the tip of His hard cock to rub against my G-spot and driving me crazy. I was digging my fingers hard into Sir's shoulders, trying to hold myself up as the wonderful feelings of pleasure swept through me. He held me against His body and asked, "Are you ready for me, pet?"

I whimpered in reply, and He drove deep inside me. I threw my head back and wailed as He nibbled on my neck. My leg hooked round behind His arse, and tried to pull Him in even deeper as He pushed me back onto the wall and fucked me hard. His big hands wrapped round my shoulders, and held me tight as He pounded into me. His breathing increased with His pace, and I could hear my heart thumping in my chest, matching His heartbeat as He shot me full of His cum. He bowed His head and kissed the side of my neck, His lower body still twitching. When He lifted His face to look at me, He smiled and shook His head, kissing my lips softly before easing Himself out of me. He pulled me back under the water, and began to wash my hair without speaking. I turned slightly and asked, "Are you ok, Sir?"

"I'm fine, pet. Hush now, and let me clean you up." And He pushed me round to face away from Him. He finished my hair and began to wash my body down. His hands were firm as He moved over my back and over my arse, checking my arsehole to make sure I hadn't suffered any damage from last night. Once He was satisfied with me, He switched off the shower and bundled me up in a towel, drying me off before sending me back to the bedroom where my clothes were laid out. He followed me through and watched me dress in the jeans and polo shirt He'd chosen for me. I stood up, facing Him and asked, "Are you sure everything's ok, Sir?"

"I'm fine. I guess I'm just a little nervous about meeting your Dad."

"You'll be fine with him. If you can handle Mother, you can handle Dad with one hand behind your back."

"I know, but I'm worried in case he doesn't approve of me or how we live."

"He has a choice: he can accept who I am or he can't. I wanted to ask you if I could wear my collar when he comes round tonight."

"Are you sure about that? I don't mind if you would feel more comfortable without it."

"No, it's fine. My collar is part of my life, part of who I am, and it'll be easier to explain if there's something right in front of him as an example."

"I'll take your word for that. Well, we'd better get going if we're going to be back in time to put the dinner on." He led me downstairs and took my collar off by the back door. I didn't feel so lost anymore; I knew it would be going back on as soon as we got home.

We had such a nice morning at the garden centre. Sir let me choose anything I like, from a pale limed oak gazebo to trays and trays of flowers that would give me hours of work in planting them, as well as spades and trowels to use in my work. Sir had brought His old car, a dirty red Volvo Estate with more than a 100,000 miles on the clock, rather than His work car that had to be kept clean and tidy. It meant that we had enough room to fit everything in, and we could take it all with us. After lunch and putting the chicken for tonight on to cook, I began marking out the new beds, starting by the drive. It was strangely soothing, all the hard work to dig up the turf and put it to one side for Sir to put in the woods later, then digging in the compost before planting the flowers. By the time Dad arrived, the first bed was finished, and I was cleaning the dirt off my hands.

As he pulled up, I came out to greet him with Sir. I hugged Dad tightly; it was so good to see him after all this time. He drew back and looked me up and down.

"You look well, Meggie. How are you keeping?"

"I'm good, Dad; this is Clive; Sir, this is my Dad."

"How do you do, Mr Swann?" Sir stretched out His hand towards Dad, but he wouldn't take it.

"What's with the 'Sir' thing, Meggie? And this dog collar, what's all that about?" He looked confused and worried and a little confrontational towards Sir.

"Dad, 'the Sir thing,' as you put it, is a mark of respect. My collar is there to remind me of who I belong to; it also lets me know Sir wishes to keep me. It's quite simple really."

"Ahha, and what, he couldn't just tell you he wants you as his slave?"

"Daddy, I am no more Sir's slave than you are. I am His submissive, yes, but there is a huge difference between a slave and a sub."

"Like what? For instance?"

"Well, like, for instance, if at any time I am unhappy with anything, I can tell Sir, and we will talk about it. If I were His slave, I wouldn't have that option. Look, how about I make this really simple for you: you can either accept that this is part of who I am or you can't. If you can't, then I suggest you run away like you normally do. I am going to put the potatoes on. If you want any dinner, you can come in the house, but you will respect Sir's rules while you are here."

I turned on my heel and stormed back in to the kitchen. I was so angry with him for being like this, though I suppose I shouldn't have expected anything else from him. The first sign of trouble, and he would run and hide. Those poor potatoes, they never knew what hit them -- they were stripped of their skins and hacked into little pieces. I guess the sound of a large knife slamming down onto the wooden chopping board was too much for both Dad and Sir 'coz they stayed out in the garden talking until I'd finished clattering pots and pans around quite so vigorously. Sir came through the door first.

"Do you feel better?"

"Is he coming in?"

"Yes, in a minute. I think you scared him a little. Are you feeling calmer now?"

"Yes; sorry, Sir. I know I shouldn't have done that but I thought it would be better than pussyfooting around for the whole evening, trying to be careful."

"I might not have been that forceful with him; he said you reminded him of your mother."

"WHAT?? Oh, my God! OK, next time I get like that, please slap it out of me!"

"You act like that towards me, and I will, pet. Just who do you think you are, bossing people around like that?" He said with a smile on His face to soften His words.

"Sorry, Sir. I promise I will never act like that with you."

"Yeah, I know you wouldn't."

"I'm sorry. I really would never do anything like that ever."

"It's fine; it's over."

"Sorry, Sir."

"'Right -- corner, now," He pointed over by the sink.

"But, Sir . . . ."

"You've just earned yourself another minute. Go."

"Yes, Sir."

I went were I was directed, and stood facing the wall. I heard Sir opening the fridge, and pulling out one of the bottles of wine left over from last night. He took down two glasses from the cupboard over the sink, and took everything out to where Dad was standing by the planting table I'd set up earlier. I heard Sir explaining why I was standing in the corner, and Dad's surprise at His treatment of me.

"She has to learn," was Sir's reply. "And already she's better than she used to be. I don't think she would have stood up to you like that a few weeks ago."

"True. What do we do now?"

"We wait for eleven minutes, and then we carry on. She'll have had her punishment, then it's over with and forgotten."

They started chatting about the weather and my first attempts at gardening, and when my time was up Sir came back in and released me.

"Good girl," He said, kissing the top of my head. "Can you get on with dinner?"

"Yes, Sir."

"On you go then."

I finished coating the potatoes in oil, and put them in the oven with the chicken to roast. There wasn't much else to do for the next hour or so, so I went out into the garden, and sat at Sir's feet for a bit while He got better acquainted with Dad. It wasn't like I was excluded from the conversation. It's just it was about business, and I couldn't follow what was being discussed. Dad was still a little wary of Sir, and Sir was still being overly polite to Dad but they were getting there. I rested my head on Sir's knee, and He stroked my hair; this was fast becoming my favourite place in the whole world. I was dozing off when Sir tugged gently on my hair.

"Pet, your Dad asked you a question."

I turned to look at Dad. "What's up?"

"I was wondering how your party went?

"It was fun. Sir has some really nice friends. I'm getting on well with most of them."

The phone rang, and Sir got up to answer it. Dad waited until He was out of earshot, then turned to me and asked in a very serious tone, "Now he's gone, you can tell me the truth. Are you sure you're happy here?"

"I was telling you the truth. I'm wonderfully happy here."

"He's not smacking you around is he?"

"Daddy, Sir doesn't do anything like that. He won't punish me like that. The worst thing that happens is I have to stand in the corner, and compared to Mo -- " I shut up quickly. I'd said too much.

"Compared to whom, your Mother? I know she could be tough on you, but she wasn't that bad was she? Meggie? Megan, answer me."

I ran. I couldn't face him, so I ran to Sir and hid behind Him. Dad followed me in from the garden, and found me on my knees, begging Sir to help me.

"Megan, what's wrong? Why won't you talk to me?"

Sir looked down at me, but I shook my head and begged Him with my eyes not to make me do this. He put His hand on my shoulder, and told me to stay there.

"Mr. Swann, perhaps we should go to the kitchen for a minute. I might be able to explain what's wrong."

He steered Dad out of the room while I curled up at the foot of the sofa and waited. I heard Dad shouting, and Sir soothing him, trying to calm him down. I didn't listen to the words; I was too busy praying for Dad to believe Sir, though I had a knot at the base of my belly about what would happen if he did. I don't know how much time passed. The voices next door eventually dropped, and soon afterwards Sir came back through. He picked me up, and sat with me on His knee, my head tucked under His chin.

"Your Dad was upset that you hadn't told him what had been going on for so long. He's calmed down now, and he's agreed not to talk to you about it until you're ready to have that sort of discussion. I've told Him you're thinking about counselling, and once you've done that you might be able to talk about it, ok?"

I nodded and said, "Thank you, Sir."

"It's fine, pet. Are you able to go see him?"

"'Yes, Sir. I need to finish off dinner anyway, and I take it he's still in the kitchen?"

"Yep, he is. Come on. I don't know about you, but I'm hungry and that chicken smells wonderful."

He let me up, and led me through. Dad glanced up; when he saw me, he came over and gave me a hug. "You've got a good man there, Meggie," he said and kissed my temple. "I'm starving. You know I can't cook, and that smell is making me drool."

"Men, do you ever think about anything other than your stomachs?"

"The best way to a man's heart is through his stomach, didn't you know that?"

"I'm glad you're not a doctor, Daddy. Come on, I've got the veggies to put on still, and the gravy to make." I patted his ribs to make him let go. He released me, and they went back out in to the garden while I finished up. By the time everything was ready, Dad and Sir were on their way to being firm friends. The rest of the evening passed easily, and by the time Dad left, it was nearly nine. My last job for the day was to make sure Sir had a clean, ironed shirt for work before climbing into bed, and waiting for Him to join me. He had a rule about no smoking in the house unless He was having a party, so He would go outside for one last fag before bed. I asked Him once why He smoked when He wanted keep fit; He said he ran because He smoked. Nope; made no sense to me either.

I'd bought a notebook at the garden centre earlier to keep my diary in. I wrote down what happened today, and how I felt about it all. By the time I was finished that, Sir was reaching for me again, curling His body possessively over and around me, keeping me safe from the world.