Hey everyone. I am starting a series 'Homecoming' with this Chapter. So please let me know in the comments section if you have liked my story. I would be highly obliged with your feedback or constructive criticism.
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"You can do this. You can do this, Grace." The pep talk, even though she chanted like a solemn prayer, wasn't helping her anxiety.
Would Daniel give her the courtesy of his time? Would he insult her? Would he even open the door?
Several questions clouded her mind, but she knew, she had to take the chance. A year ago, she had left him—without a word or a respectful goodbye. So, even if he insults her, it wouldn't be his fault.
Grace and Daniel had been dating for months. Grace, in her early thirties, was a lush, beautiful woman with proud curves, gorgeous chestnut-brown hair flowing past her shoulders, and emerald green eyes. But it was her smile that took the breath away from Daniel every time he glanced her way.
Daniel, on the other hand, was the epitome of masculinity—tall, dark, and handsome. His years in the military had shaped his structure rough and rugged, yet the smoldering grey eyes weakened Grace's knees.
What could have been horribly wrong with a couple so enamored with each other?
Daniel, a dominant by nature, mostly had the subs in his place at the privacy and pleasure of his house. He mainly hosted play parties at his place, had scened with the subs until he had the fortune of meeting Grace. A couple of successive scenes later, it turned into a long term contract of D/s as Grace moved into his place. They were going steady until one fine day Grace took off without a word. It didn't just break Daniel's heart but trampled his ego to deprive him of the reason for her abrupt departure.
Mustering all the courage in her bones, she rang the bell. Half expecting that the housekeeper might answer it; she waited until the polished wooden door was swung open, and there he was—in flesh and blood.
At the sight of his magnificent look, air popped out of her lungs. Dear, Lord! The man has only gotten sexier with time. The five-o'clock shadow against his chiseled jaw, the stormy eyes and the back-brushed dark brown hair—Daniel was looking aristocratically masculine and irresistibly handsome. For a moment there, she forgot the world existed until his voice reverberated, and brought her out of the haze.
"Grace," his voice impassive, the tone was sharp.
"Master." The title came out of her lips breathy, like a prayer.
"Daniel," he promptly corrected. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your abrupt visit?"
He had always called like 'peach' or 'bad subbie' when she behaved like a brat, but the use of her name clearly suggested that she has to go out of her way to make her penance.
"I am here to see you," she told him, barely refraining herself from using the word 'Master' at the end of it. "I am here to ask for your forgiveness." Her head bowed in genuine repentance, while she was dying to be on her knees.
Daniel crossed his arms across his chest, his muscles beneath his crisp white shirt. "You were forgiven long before you asked for it."
Her gaze rose defiantly this time as she stepped up. "I am here to talk to you, to tell you the reason I left, and to have you accept me as your sub—you slave," she said boldly.
The stone, cold expression remained the same. "I am not obligated to take you back."
Grace smiled wryly, shaking her head. "No," she agreed. "You are not obligated. But at least, hear me out. I am asking—no, requesting you—for a chance."
So many emotions bubbled and stirred in his mind, in his heart at the sight of her. But Daniel has vowed never to be involved again emotionally, putting an iron casing around his wounded heart.
"I will give you the chance," he decided. "But the moment I ask you to leave, you will leave. Am I clear?"
She sighed internally as her heart leaped with joy. Stepping inside the house, she realized that nothing's changed. Daniel wasn't a man who has whimsical choices, in fact, he was a man who always knew what he wanted and he went after it. Grace was one of them. As she heard the door close behind her, she turned around to face him. Unsure of her next move, her hands dangled at her sides with uncertainty.
Would he ask her to kneel? For she had hardly sat on the couch of the huge living room, and even if she had, she snuggled on his lap—receiving the indulgent aftercare.
"You may sit," he invited, as he busied himself preparing two drinks by the mantle.
Grace sat, taking in the warmth of the home she had once shared with Daniel. It was beautiful, like a haven for her. Her wandering eyes stopped at the sight of the aloe plant she had gardened. She even painted the pot in a bright Prussian blue color. She realized, he missed her as much as she missed him.
"Here." He held the glass of amber-filled liquid before her as she gasped it with trembling fingers. The mere brush of his fingers made her weak.
Daniel took the seat across her, leaning back with his ankle crossed over the other knee. "Begin."
"Once upon a time," she began like it was a fairytale. "You told me, there's a submissive for every dominant. I realized you are the one for me. If there's anyone who can master me, it's you." As careful afterthought, she softly added, "Sir." Daniel didn't respond but merely trained his eyes on her, waiting for her to continue. "I will accept whatever punishment you want to deliver, for the inconvenience caused to you."
He took a long swig out of his glass. "A Master punishes a sub when the sub belongs to him. You are not my sub anymore. You left on your own accord. You played around with other dominants, and when it didn't suit you, you came back." He summarized in the most brutal way possible with an undercurrent of hurt and betrayal in his tone.
"Yes," her voice faltered. "What I did was...grave and disrespectful." Unable to fight her emotions, she kept the glass on the side table and got on her knees on the soft carpet. "I am begging for your forgiveness, Master. I am begging for a chance."
Daniel's fingers around the glass clutched it so tightly that it was a miracle that the glass didn't crack. "I didn't ask you to kneel, Grace. And neither will you get a chance."
Daniel had a firm reputation of a no-nonsense Dom—strict yet reasonable. In BDSM circles, he was carried the persona of the 'Dominant of the Dominants'. A handful of subs had the opportunity to be trained by him. In fact, Grace was envied upon at times, for had the heart of the man. And now, she had to show him how much he meant to her.
Grace inhaled sharply as though she'd just been struck. "Do you...have a new sub now?" Has she been replaced?
The question angered him, made his blood boil. How dare she? She left him one fine morning when it suited her and came back demanding to take her back, and now questioning if he has a new sub on his own? Doesn't she know she was the one who blistered his heart?
"That doesn't concern you. If you are done talking, you may leave."
"I have a proposition for you, Sir," she suggested. "One week. You give me one week worth your time, and I will show that I deserve to get my place back."
"What makes you think you deserve that one week worth of my time and my dominance?" he challenged.
Grace smiled, ever so little. "If you are willing to keep your ego aside for one second, you would know that I am worth your time." This time she dared and added. "Master."
His mind spun at her words. Daniel loved her spirit once. She was a woman who spoke her mind, respectfully, even when she was naked, kneeling and at his mercy. That was the beauty of her submission. He had the control her, but she had the ultimate power. But leaving without an explanation was entirely unlike her.
A part of Daniel knew why she left. But she could have spoken to him, right? She didn't. She fled like a coward from a battlefield.
Rising with lightning speed, he fisted her hair and tipped her head back. "If you think you would get what you want by goading me, you are wrong. If we are going to do this for one week—it will be on my terms."
"I would expect nothing less, Master," Grace revealed.
"The older arrangement remains the same, except a few changes. Seven days, twenty-four-seven—you will be under my dominance, my control. We won't encroach upon your hard limit, but I can come up with a punishment for each one of these seven days. And I will warn you beforehand, each one will be harder than the prior one. Needless to say, you would have your safe-words," Daniel detailed her.
He was exactly she had remembered him—an exacting but a reasonable dominant. He was nothing like the men who thought ordering and abusing women was part and parcel of BDSM. The element of attraction, eroticism, and passion was completely lost on them.
"I accept, Master," Grace told him.
"One more thing, Grace, I will not tolerate a single lie out of your mouth. There will be no secrets between us in these seven days—body or mind. If I think you are lying to me, I reserve the right to cancel this arrangement, right then and there."
A sliver of fear slithered up her back. This was her true fear, to open up her mind completely before him. He was demanding of her honesty, her deepest, darkest secrets. She knew it would be difficult, nearly impossible. But could she let go of her only chance to win him back? Hell no!
