The Gifts of the Masters

by Eva Gill

  Jonah slowly strolled down to his dungeon through the monstrous empty house. He was scared, deep within his heart, of hurting Alice, but each time he saw her he liked her a little more, and against his better wishes he was getting to know her. They had fun, and the glances he caught at the last gathering when she thought he was not watching were amusing. He had found out she leaned toward monogamy too, the way he did, and he sensed she would do anything to kneel in front of him.

  He stopped in the doorway to the play space and pulled the cord to turn on the light, then turned the dial to dim them. He had the polar opposite décor to Alex’s dungeon. The walls were dark and the floor consisted of the same fitted hard rubber tiles, which in practicality made everything easy to clean. He had left the furniture as it was, because everything clearly had its place. The previous owners had enough experience to know how to lay it out. The armchair still stood in the corner. Jonah had placed a chest next to it, to hold the rope he had, and would purchase more soon.

  All the toys he had been gifted hung on hooks against one wall, the most intimidating being a cane, narrow, shiny and scary. Though it was still lacking, he knew his collection would grow as his skills did.

  He’d received an email from Alex earlier in the day enquiring about how things were going with Alice. Alex had kindly attached a document written to educate people new to BDSM about limits, both hard and soft, and how to deal with each. Jonah had not replied. He was seeing Alex for a beer after work on Monday. Alex had mentioned something about classes at The Realm, and Jonah was curious.

  The limits thing was a conversation Jonah had still not had with Alice, as nothing they had done was to his mind risky enough to violate the consent she had already given him. Staring around at his dungeon, he had a thought. Jonah wanted to host the formal dinner in roughly a month’s time, and he wondered if he could allow play after dinner. It would make his house feel inhabited, and would be a lovely way to end an evening, which would no doubt be filled with sexual tension and provide an intense build-up.

  The thought stayed with him as he wandered to his bedroom and undressed. He brushed his teeth, mentally listing who he would invite, what he would serve and many other details.

  Before Jonah dozed off, his thoughts fell on the office, and work the following week, and the inappropriate innuendos from Stavros that made him edgy. He had no idea what the man was up to, or what Stavros knew about him, but he put it aside as petty jealousy. Jonah now owned a bigger house, and to the public eye had a beautiful woman on his arm, and was content, while Stavros constantly complained about his wife, his mortgage and life in general.

  Jonah put the man from his mind, took a few deep breaths and fell asleep.

  ***

  They sat at The Refinery with a tall glass of beer and enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere on Monday evening, with the rest of the local crowd. Alex had pointed this place out as a good after work venue to Jonah when he asked him to drinks a week earlier.

  Jonah turned to face him. “I want to host a high protocol type dinner, and I need your advice on who to invite. I have a basic idea of what to do, God bless the internet, so now I just need people.”

  Alex bobbed his head and took a deep drink of his beer. “How many people are you thinking of inviting? And where are you hosting it? Home?” He had a curious expression on his face.

  Jonah started explaining his idea. “I have space for eight couples in my home, Dominants on the chairs and submissives on the floor. I want to do it at my house because I have so much space. I also haven’t really had a house warming party. I thought we could have a bit of a play party after? I can accommodate five couples sleeping over.” He picked up his burger and took a big bite, chewing thoughtfully while Alex did the same.

  “Well, I can suggest a few guests, and Anya can instruct the submissives on how to behave on the night. You have a lot to do, planning the menu, invitations, the list goes on. The devil is in the details.” Alex put his food down and wiped his fingers. “I would love to come, and I’ll take the night off from club duties when you decide on a date. Oh, as for guest suggestions, I’ll email you a list a bit later.”

  Jonah sat listening while Alex continued making suggestions. After they finished their food and beers and stood to leave, Jonah thanked him.

  “I’ll be in touch.” Alex gave him a hug, and Jonah spent the drive home thinking about how natural it had felt. There was no awkwardness in the physical closeness with the first man he had ever been intimate with. He kept waiting for that horrible moment when he wouldn’t be able to deal with what had happened, but it never came.

  When he got home Jonah walked straight to his office and picked up the stack of snow white cards he had bought and sat down behind his computer. He swiped the mouse pad to wake up the screen and spent his evening choosing designs. When the list of guest names came through from Alex, he scanned them, noticing three very familiar names: Bryce, Michael and Damian. They were three of the initiates from the night he had joined The Realm. He wondered what had happened to the fourth. He couldn’t remember his name. It only came to him much later. Anderson.

  Jonah printed the cards and slipped them into their matching envelopes, placing them in a neat little pile on the corner of his desk to send off the next morning. Alex had kindly included addresses in his email, and with their office courier they would be delivered on the same day.

  When Jonah replied to the email he suggested a date two weeks from now, for Anya to bring the other submissives to his house and do what she needed to regarding training. The logistics of hosting the event were staggering to him as a single man, and he made a list of tasks for Alice to assist him with, and things he still needed to buy, such as extra linen to prepare the rooms. To date, he hadn’t really gotten to each bedroom.

  ***

  Plans fell together smoothly and Anya arrived at Jonah’s house early on a Sunday afternoon with a large bag in her arms, looking completely at ease. After a very casual greeting and awkward hug she followed him through the dining room into the kitchen.

  “They are special occasion outfits for the attending submissives,” she explained, when Jonah frowned at the bag. He faked knowing what she was talking about and Anya giggled.

  “I thought you’d want a unique look for the evening, so I got these put together, so the submissives would look similar, yet unique, for your event.” Anya stopped in the middle of his kitchen and put her hands on her hips. “Right, before everyone gets here, could you show me around? And have you decided on a menu? Who is preparing the food?” She rapid-fired the questions at him.

  Jonah held up a hand. “Woah, firstly, I have a menu idea of a starter soup, roast mains and chocolate mousse dessert. Alice makes lovely mousse. I would like the submissives to prepare the food here, before they serve it to their Dominants at the table.”

  Jonah failed to notice how Anya bristled at the compliment to Alice.

  He showed her where everything was in the kitchen, not sure how she’d remember it all, and then took her through to the dining room. Again, he pointed out linen, crockery and cutlery, watching how closely she paid attention. The few glances they cast each other were loaded with tension and Anya seemed to avoid his gaze as much as possible. Jonah watched her as she squatted down to check the items in the cabinets and enjoyed the sight of her brushing her hair from her face. He had never stopped being in absolute awe of her natural beauty. She always seemed so effortlessly elegant, regardless of how she was dressed.

  He left her in the dining room to occupy himself in his office, and heard the sound of the others arriving a short while later. At one point Jonah stood in the doorway of the kitchen, observing. Anya looked as cool and comfortable being in charge as she always did serving Alex. She stood with the submissives, all female except for one particularly attractive man with dark olive skin and hair as black as coal. Jonah knew from Alex’s email this was Dimitri, one of Bartholomew’s playthings. The cut of his body was evident through his shirt: he had
very fine musculature, and what Jonah was sure was a low body fat percentage.

  They weren’t busy for long when Anya called him. “Mr. MacPherson, have you any orders or requests for the group?”

  Jonah thought for a moment. “No, on the day I will need assistance readying the rooms and house, but nothing ahead of time. Thank you Anya.”

  Anya handed each a list of items to bring, and when they had gone she came to say goodbye to Jonah before leaving to go home herself. Again the hug they shared felt uncomfortable, and Jonah could not figure out why.

  “Anya, it feels so awkward, almost uncomfortable between us, why?” he asked, stepping away from her.

  Anya shrugged. “I don’t know Jonah. I am having a stressful time between work, life in general and my servitude to Alex. Perhaps I am just too absorbed in worry to be good at anything right now. I’m sorry.”

  Jonah placed his hands on her shoulders. “Nonsense, nothing will get the better of you. You are just too good.”

  He pulled her into another hug, and this time she wrapped her arms tightly around him. They stood entwined like a sculpture of two lovers, and when Jonah felt her exhale slowly and soften against him, his heart started pounding. Her face lay against his neck. Her hands were on his lower back, and she stood so close he felt her thighs against his through the layers of their clothing.

  This intimacy, this contact with her, was something he simultaneously craved and was terrified of. His fight or flight response kicked in and he released her, watching her stagger slightly, unbalanced for a moment. They both stood panting, and colour suffused her face. Jonah was pretty sure she could see his pulse from her vantage point, and his hands shook.

  Anya blinked. “I need to go.”

  With that, she practically ran from the room, her ponytail swinging behind her. Jonah moved as if in a dream, walking to his front door to remotely open the gate for her as she sped down the drive. When he closed the door he turned his back to it and collapsed. He sat for a long while on the cool tile floor with his elbows resting on his bent legs, his head in his hands.

  “My fucking desire for that woman will be the death of me.”

  He spent the rest of the afternoon behind his laptop attempting to catch up on work, but try as he might he could not focus. All Jonah smelled was Anya’s perfume on his clothes, and when he closed his eyes he could still feel her soft breath on his neck. To help his craving for knowledge of her, he did what any sane person would do and Googled her name. Her surname had been on Alex’s email, and Jonah found information online that left him pale and shaking in his seat.

  Her past sat spread before his eyes on the computer screen, and staring at the horrific images of the car crash, Jonah wished he had never tried to satisfy his curiosity. ‘Young girl orphaned in horror on the highway’ the headline screamed, in bold text at the top of the screen. By the time Jonah went to bed he was no longer in any doubt about his feelings for her.

  He wanted to protect her, to kiss the scars she surely carried, and to love her. He fell into his bed kissing the chance of that goodbye, though. What could he do that Alex was not doing, or had not already done? What chance did he stand? As he closed his eyes all he could see was the child beside the wreckage, and in his dreams he heard the cries, smelled the blood. He woke with a start at two thirty in the morning, and on a whim dressed in warm clothing to sit on his patio with a whiskey to calm his mind, watching the stars and drifts of cloud. He eventually went back to bed, only to be cruelly awakened by his alarm clock a few short hours later.

  ***

  Monday found Jonah thoroughly bored at the office. He had been thinking for quite a while about changing his life and working privately, starting his own accounting business. He knew he could easily acquire the capital, and he certainly had the skills. Little did he know, destiny was about to make his life choices for him.

  Alice walked toward his office wearing a white dress covered in deep red roses. It had the classic nineteen fifties style waistline and flared widely over her hips, to below her knees. She waited in his doorway drawing the eye of every man in the vicinity.

  “Hey,” she said, approaching him and kissing his cheek when he stood to greet her.

  “Hey yourself. That’s quite a dress.” Jonah couldn’t help but smile at the shyness pervading her demeanour. She held a box in her hands, and placed it down on his desk. “I brought you cupcakes. I baked them and thought you might need a Monday pick-up. I can’t stay though.” She stood blushing, and looked to him for approval.

  “I really did. Thank you Alice. I’ll walk you out?” Jonah placed a hand on her back and guided her toward the elevator. Inside, he dropped a quick kiss on her soft lips. “You shouldn’t come here. Some of these guys are so lewd, the way they looked at you. It’s like they are starving and you’re a lamb chop…”

  She giggled. “I guess I should feel flattered?”

  Jonah smacked her arse playfully. “You should be careful.”

  He followed her to her car and watched her drive off, bracing himself for the comments when he got back to the office.

  His instinct had been spot on. Jonah walked right into Stavros sitting in his office chair. He frowned. He wasn’t particularly close friends with this man, and had a bad feeling about him on the whole. “What can I do for you Stavros?” he asked, mildly irritated at having to deal with him right now.

  Stavros leered, a deeply unpleasant expression on his face. “So rich boy is fucking Barbie. That, my friend, is a nice piece of ass. Is she the one who came to ‘serve’ you a while ago?” he said, and reached for the cupcakes.

  Jonah’s temper flared. “Don’t touch those.” He moved the box from reach. “Listen, Stavros, I am not sure what I ever did to you, but I would very much appreciate it if you didn’t make such inappropriate comments about a female acquaintance of mine. Please get out of my chair. I have a lot of work to do. Friends don’t talk to friends like that, by the way.”

  Stavros moved from Jonah’s chair, and as he got to the door he stopped. “What you can do for me is give me your ‘female acquaintance’s’ number.” He winked. “I can show her a good time with a real man. She can serve me any day.”

  Jonah saw red, and before he had clearly thought through his actions, Stavros was on the floor and he stood over the man, gripping his shirt collar tightly, his fist poised to strike.

  “I have tried ignoring your rude comments and your petty jealousy, and the theft of a card personally addressed to me, but today you crossed a line. Stay away from me.” Jonah dropped the man’s head to the ground and straightened himself, walking away and going straight to his boss’s office.

  Jonah briefly explained the incident and stood waiting for a response while his boss stared in disbelief at him.

  “Jonah, why don’t you go home for the day and let the idiot calm himself and cool off? I don’t need another, possibly worse, situation. You realise you face a disciplinary hearing if he lodges a complaint?”

  It was an unbelievable notion. “I am not the one who started this, Mr. Jones, surely you understand that?” He ran a hand through his hair.

  His boss looked tired as he replied. “I know, and the sad thing is, I can’t do anything about it. The company is partially owned by that man’s family. Just go home, I’ll handle it.”

  Jonah had not known about the involvement of Stavros’s family in the firm, and paled when he heard that. As he stood in the doorway facing Miles Jones, Jonah took a deep breath. “Mr. Jones, I actually know exactly what I want to do. Please accept herewith my resignation. I’ll email the letter to you from home.”

  Miles coughed and stood. “Now Jonah, don’t let one little setback make you leave a secure job…”

  With a smile Jonah shook his head. “It’s not one setback, Miles. I have actually been thinking about it for a while now.”

  With a resigned shrug Miles sat. “Well, think about it before you send me anything, okay? I’ll pretend this conversation didn’t happen unt
il then. You are a good worker and it would be sad to lose you.”

  Jonah walked past everyone, ignoring the glares, admiring glances, and in a few cases frightened looks, as he gathered his stuff and left.

  He walked out of the building, and it felt as though a huge weight dropped from his shoulders. In his car, Jonah turned up the volume on his radio to hear Sting sing quite appropriately about ‘brand new days’. All felt right with the world. He knew that things were getting better, and when he walked into his house the decision he had made to resign sat firmly in his mind. It was time to move on.

  He sat down behind his desk, flipped open his laptop, and spent an hour typing out a letter of resignation. He paused before clicking on the send button, not because he was unsure of his decision, but because he knew this was simply another step in the right direction. Much like joining The Realm, and buying the house, this was part of his growth.

  The next few days were busy for Jonah, as he arranged the payment of his final salary and withdrew his pension fund to re-invest part of it. He kept an amount out to cover his income for three months as he started on his new venture. He could manage for the three month period until he got at least one big client to tide him over.

  Between dealing with his departure from work, he did shopping and preparation for the dinner. Jonah stocked his bar, filled his fridge with the required ingredients, and hired a house keeping company for two days to clean the house from top to bottom. When they were done, the floors gleamed and his home smelled of furniture polish and detergent. It was so wonderful Jonah only used his study, and barely touched the kitchen and his bedroom out of necessity, wanting to preserve the cleanness.

  All he needed was a good suit, so he spent a morning with a well-known tailor, knowing the clothing would be an investment, perfect for any functions at The Realm or out on the town.