A New Beginning Ch. 03

Once everything had been brought inside, Ana was instructed to take the things upstairs and put them away. She obeyed, being sure to find a perfect place for everything before heading back downstairs to the main room.

Kiryu was there, putting a book back on one of the shelves that lined the back wall, and he turned around when he heard her enter the room.

"Is everything put away?" His question didn't surprise her.

"Yes Master, and I put it all away as nicely as I could. I took care with everything, and I truly appreciate the things that you purchased for me to use." She answered with a small smile.

He looked to her, then to the grandfather clock in the far corner.

"I left a schedule for chores on the kitchen counter. Read it, and finish today's chores, and we skipped lunch, so I'm going to want dinner earlier tonight. I want to eat at 5:00 tonight instead of 7:00" He turned back to her.

"Yes Sir.." Her smile seemed to fall at his failure to acknowledge what she'd said, and it almost made him feel guilty, but she left the room before he could say anything else to her.

As Anastasia followed her chore chart, Kiryu sat in his chair simply in silence so that he could think. He tried to think about work, but the slave girl in the other room managed to invade every productive thought that he seemed to have.

When he ultimately gave up on planning for work, he got up and went upstairs to begin a long, strenuous workout, so that he wouldn't think about her anymore, while Ana did her best to catch up the chores before her time ran out.

~*~

A few hours later as it neared the 5 o'clock deadline, Ana finished setting the table, and poured a glass of wine, then knelt down in the corner to wait for Kiryu to come downstairs. It didn't take very long, and when he did enter, he seemed very stressed about something, though Ana knew better than to ask him any questions as it wasn't her business.

He didn't speak to her while he ate, however he did glance over at her a few times, and seemed to be debating something in his mind.

Ana remained still for most of the meal, although she did refill his glass of wine, and bring out his dessert when he was ready. Then, once he had finished, Kiryu stood up, took his mostly empty dinner plate, and set it on the floor in the same spot as usual, but instead of leaving Ana to her dinner by herself, he pulling his chair over to her and sat down to watch her.

The girl was embarrassed when she realized that again, he had no intention of leaving, but she had to eat anyway under his stare, which proved to be a stressful task, even though she'd done it before.

When she did finish, she sat back up on her knees and turned to her Master who hadn't looked away from her, clearly still pondering to himself.

"Now what do you say, slave girl?" He asked after a brief silence.

"Thank You for feeding me, Sir." She answered softly.

"Good..." He stood up and returned his chair, then turned back to Ana.

"Clean up in here, and the kitchen, then come to me in the main room." And with that, he left the room.

As was one of her talents, Ana had everything cleaned up quickly, and was able to meet Kiryu in the main room as ordered, kneeling with her head bowed, and waiting for him to address her.

Unable to ignore her, Kiryu looked down at the girl and permitted her to look up.

Ana offered him a small, shy smile, and he cleared his throat before he spoke.

"If everything has been cleaned up, and your chores are finished, you may bring Mr a glass of wine, and then come and sit again."

Ana nodded and left the room, returning quickly with a glass of merlot, and taking her place on her knees at his feet.

They sat quietly for what seemed like a long time, however it didn't seem like an uncomfortable silence... it was almost... pleasant.

Unconsciously, Kiryu's hand reached down to pet the slave girl's hair, and at first she flinched, not expecting it, but as his fingers gently combed her hair, she began to relax and break position to rest her head against his knee.

Kiryu didn't even notice at first, but once he did notice, he decided not to say anything and just enjoy her closeness. No one had ever wanted to simply sit and lean against him before, but he liked it, and could tell that she did as well.

Damn, what had this slave girl done to him?! Less than 24 hours and she'd already made him go soft! Not Kiryu Jones! He had to stop this before it went too far.

"Slave," He broke the silence. "I am going upstairs to my room, and as long as all of your responsibilities are dealt with, you have my permission to go to your room for a couple of hours before coming to say goodnight to me at 9:00." He said, standing up.

Ana nodded and smiled again at the thought of her lovely new room. Maybe she could even take a bath and soak so that she wouldn't need to shower in the morning... Even the thought seemed heavenly to her as she stood and tried to go upstairs like a normal person, and not a giddy child.

Once she got to her room, she picked a new nightgown, and new undergarments, and then set them out on the back of a chair so that she could get ready to run a bath.

She had just prepared a towel, and was about to turn on the water when she heard her name, but it was somewhat muffled because of her being in the bathroom, so she hurried to get to her Master's room, and knocked on the door.

The door opened abruptly, and Ana was jerked into the room by her wrist, which definitely upset something in her shoulder. At first she didn't understand what was going on, but Kiryu's angry glare made her realize the problem.

In all of the excitement of the day, Ana had completely forgotten about his bedclothes that were still downstairs in the washer... just sitting there...

"So, I bought you new clothes, new shoes, new makeup, new everything, and tell you to get your chores done, and what do you do? Ignore the most important job I gave to you today!" He was very very angry, and Ana didn't know what to do... he was right, she had forgotten, and not done any of it.

She made no excuse, but stood with her head hung, ready to accept her fate.

"Do you have something to say for your yourself, girl?" Kiryu asked expectantly.

Ana shook her head slowly.

"No Master... I did get distracted, and I forgot, but I have no excuse. I should have paid more attention, and I'm sorry. Please punish Your slave however pleases You.. she knows she deserves it..."

The fact that she didn't argue, or try to put the blame somewhere else, or even come up with an excuse surprised him, but he didn't show it in his face.

"Well, girl.. I didn't want to have to do this on your first day, but you've left me no choice. Come here." He said, his voice getting more quiet, but more frightening.

She trembled as she stepped toward him, but sank to her knees and kissed his shoes.

"I really am sorry, Master..." She whispered as two small tears fell on the tops, but she kissed them away before her chin was lifted up again.

"So, I clearly can't sit on my bed, so bring me that chair in the corner of the room." He said cooly.

She obeyed him swiftly, and once she had knelt again, she watched him remove his belt, and then sit down. At that, he didn't have to speak a word to her before she stood and wiped her eyes, then bent over his lap like a good girl.

Kiryu was surprised at this, and it took him a moment to regain his composure.

He was a little bit nervous to punish her, but only because he was scared of what he knew it would do to him. She was a slave, and he could do whatever he wanted, but there were some things he wanted to keep off-limits to himself, and touching her had been one of them...

He lifted the skirt of her dress, and swallowed. He was allowed to do this... It was normal, and expected.

"Just to be clear, you WILL count every stroke, Ana." They were both surprised at his use of her name, but neither said anything about it. Ana simply nodded and swallowed hard, new tears forming already.

He stared at her black thong, but couldn't stand the idea of pulling it down. What was the purpose but just to embarrass her more? Besides, it wouldn't interfere with anything anyway.

He placed one hand on her back to steady her, and keep her held down if she should try to move away, and with the other, he pressed the belt against her backside so that she would become adjusted to the texture, until without warning, he struck down hard with the belt, sending a loud crack, and a line of intense heat across Ana's ass.

She cried a little from the surprise, but managed to lower her volume quickly.

"One. Thank You for punishing Your slave." She said quietly, and Kiryu was surprised again. He understood her words if he'd told her to thank him, but he didn't. Why would she actually be thankful for this?

He struck her again, harder this time, and she flinched, crying a little harder now.

"Two. T-Thank You..." She couldn't finish her sentence, but she hoped he still heard her.

This went on for quite some time, until the poor girl's ass was black and blue from bruises, yet she still managed to thank him for every single stroke, as well as counting them as she had been instructed.

Finally, Kiryu's arm was tired, and from the looks of it, his slave was already going to have a Hell of a time trying to sit and kneel, so he gave her a final lash, and his slave girl who was shaking from sobs, managed to choke out her final number.

"Thirt-ty Fo-ur... Thank Y-You... Master..." She had cried her tears dry, but the sobs wouldn't stop.

Kiryu didn't know exactly what to do, but he did pull her skirt down for her and cover her poor abused bottom. Ana continued to heave painful sobs, and something in Kiryu's heart ached for her. Anyone else would have had no problem hurting her that way, because she really didn't seem to care enough about her work to remember.. but something just didn't seem right about it.. She was so willing.. so submissive to her punishment, and even to thank him for it.

Why was she so good, and so well behaved? He had a hard time believing that it was just from harsh training. Could it be that she really wanted to serve him? Was she upset with herself?

He looked back down at the girl and sighed a little. He lifted her into his arms, taking special care not to put any unnecessary pressure on her bottom, then carried her into her room and laid her down on the soft bed, but on her side, so as not to cause her any more discomfort, and then he covered her with her warm comforter. After merely a few seconds, she cried herself into a deep sleep, and Kiryu sat on the edge of the bed watching her to make sure that she didn't sleep fitfully.

Unknowingly, he sat with her for an hour, with any movement whatsoever, or any uneven breathing causing him to jump, and worry, but finally she laid completely still, and peaceful.

Once he was sure she was going to sleep through the night, Kiryu stood and walked over to her, then gently combed through her hair, but before he walked away, he planted to faintest kiss on her forehead, and then closed his eyes.

"I'm sorry... I know you didn't mean it. You're a good girl..." He mumbled, tracing his finger over her cheek gently as she slept.

After a minute, he walked away and turned her light off before leaving the room and closing the door behind him.

Kiryu ultimately went downstairs and moved everything over to the dryer, and with his hour of wait time, he sat in the main room and watched television for a while until he could hear the timer on the dryer go off.

Back down the stairs he went, and tossed everything into a basket which he carried upstairs, and then to his room. He was able to make the bed up again in no time, but once he laid down, there was no way he was going to sleep. His mind could not stop thinking about Ana, and what he'd done to her, and then her reaction on top of everything else. How perfectly she had responded to everything, and how well she took it...

Those thoughts would not leave him for hours and hours, until he finally did everything in his power to shut them out, and think about work. That was the most important thing, and something he could use to stop the barrage of questions and feelings.

What had that girl done to him..?