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“I was turning into a man, but like many of my age, I was not there yet and fought with those about me. I resented having to leave my friends and live in a strange country. However, I discovered I had a gift for words in other languages.”
His great-uncle, sensing the young Rob could become a handful and rebellious, nurtured his nephew with lengthy debates and exchanges. It was his uncle who suggested Rob should study law and use his love of words to become an expert. The older man was an author of books and would immerse himself for hours in his study.
Somehow Rob outgrew his rebellion and adapted to living abroad. Eventually, he returned to his native country to study at university and begin his career as a lawyer.
“My great-uncle did not live alone,” said Rob. “He had—for want of a better word—a mistress. They never married, and she lived with him as if she was his courtesan. I thought nothing of it at the time. How Maria behaved with Anton was not something I personally chose to explore. I chased the local girls and saw nothing unusual.”
“Unusual?” queried Casey.
“While I was away studying, Anton took ill and unfortunately died. But not before I had become fond of him and he of me. We had much in common personality-wise, and he left a lasting impression on me. In his will, he left his house and contents to Maria, but to me he left his money, placed in trust until I was twenty-one.”
“A substantial amount, I assume.”
“Yes. His brother was my mother’s father. She spoke little of her family history, and I believe she married against the wishes of her father. It was a match of love between a working class man and a girl whom he met while she travelled. They did love each other dearly. They argued, naturally, but my sister and I never doubted their commitment to each other.”
“Did Maria resent you taking the money?”
“What?” asked Rob, taken aback. “No. She was always generous, and though she never attempted to replace my mother, she certainly wasn’t distant or unwelcoming. She was… different and unique.”
Rob reached over to the table next to his chair and held in his hand a leather bound book. “Anton’s journal. His memoires. He left them to me, and I read them after he died. Then it all made sense to me. I learnt much from those writings, and I found he exemplified the life I wished to lead.”
Once Rob was established in his career, he had gone on to seek his own path, and using his uncle’s writings as a guide, he sought out and found people he preferred. His chosen company were kindred spirits in thoughts and actions.
“You are not my first lover,” said Rob carefully. “You must realise that?”
“Of course. Neither were you my first. Though I never expected to find so much about myself by being with one man.”
“However, you are the first to ever live with me. Just as Anton chose Maria as his lover.”
Casey blushed at his compliment. “So, you grew up with such a mix of experiences while mine were locked into one place. I had to break free from it, and I think I have brought the baggage with me.”
“I have had to reconcile all that I saw as a child—my impoverished parents, the wealth and lifestyle of my great-uncle—and come to terms with it all. I live a life of luxury these days, but I know what it is to have very little. My parents may not have provided me with worldly goods, but they did broaden my mind. My uncle built on that to show me how to grow and develop.”
“And now you are sharing it with me?”
“To the best of my abilities. I’m not perfect.”
“Maria—she showed you what it was to be a submissive?”
&
nbsp; “Not me. They were discreet. But when I went back to visit her once after Anton had died, she showed me his collection. His toys, implements, and things. Other things too, like his private library of books. By then I had entered into my own version, and she and I were quite comfortable talking about it.”
“And?”
“She gave them to me. All the things I have lovingly spanked your bottom with belong to Anton. She had no need of them, and so I brought them here.”
Rob opened a passage in Anton’s journal. “Let me read this to you.
“Maria came to me today, troubled. Weeping and distressed. I asked her why she was so emotional. She confessed she could not do anything right for me. If I asked for black, she came with white. If I said this way, she went the other way. None of it was deliberate, we both knew that, it was simply that she could not provide what I requested. Wiping her tears away, I pointed out that I was not distressed or upset by her actions. From my perspective, she was trying very hard to do as I asked, and it was not her fault things conspired against her.”
“I settled her across my lap, and she asked for me to set her right in her head. I did so with many things which she considered her most favoured. She had no difficulty in fetching and bringing these things. We spent some time with each until she began to slip apart, and then I held her steady in my embrace. While she lay naked across the chaise longue so I could adore her flesh and admire her many marks, I reassured her she was everything to me and that as long as she kept trying, it did not matter if things were not perfect. If we stumbled backwards occasionally, then we would find a way to stride forwards again.”
“I took my time to reach her, moving slowly and carefully. Divesting myself of impediments—my clothes and inner thoughts—I entered her, and she greeted me with a smile of delight. This to me reaffirmed everything, and she gave me such pleasure that night. Tomorrow will be a better day for her. For us.”
Rob closed the journal and returned it to the table. For a few minutes, he and Casey were content to hold hands and feel a pulse cross between their fingers. It merged into one, and he signalled to her. Like Rob’s uncle and lover, Rob spent some time reaffirming what Casey meant to him. By the time he had finished, Casey too lay naked on the sofa with her own set of marks, and she did not have to wait long for him to join her.
Chapter Thirteen: Ending a Contract
