Chapter 24: The Sale Date

Monday came. I made an excuse to Jane and hung up before she could protest.

For two weeks after we said good-bye to Alice, I worked Sarah relentlessly. A part of me wanted to ensure that I’d put the finishing touches on my masterpiece — to be sure that she would perform with unparalleled skill, submit without hesitation, and display the spirit and flight our client claimed to desire. A part of me, I confess, wanted to spend as much time with Sarah as I could before I was forced to say good-bye to her forever.

To Sarah, I remained cold and aloof, as a trainer should. I was careful to show her no outward sign or warmth or affection. I needed her to get past this unfortunate attraction she held for me. She needed to fall for her Master, not for me.

As much as I wanted her to.

I certainly couldn’t let her know that I had strong feelings stirring in my own heart. That wanted to keep her, to possess her utterly, to make her mine.

That I wanted, more than anything in God’s creation, to heat her to call me Master.

For the love of God, I could let her know that I had fallen deeply, truly, and irrevocably in love with her.

The time was coming. She was to be sold. I had a job to do.

She would, of course, be better off. I tried to convince us both.

I failed.

When the day drew nigh, I made some excuse and insisted that Jane delay the delivery by yet another week, and then a week after that. In all, I earned another month with my Sarah, though my partnership with Jane grew strained. No matter, after Sarah, I was through. My heart was no longer in it. My masterpiece was complete, anything else would be shadow and ashes.

I would never find another Sarah.

I explored her as I have never explored a woman, and I learned every inch of her most secret and sacred geometry. I memorized the slopes of her inner thigh, the curves of her hips, the swell of her red lips, the rise of her breasts. I entered her mouth and her bottom, but mostly I used her cunt. I took her again and again, and again after that. I drank from her like a grail. I found her limits and pushed her far beyond them. Together, we redefined the meaning of hollow words like joy and elation. With Sarah, for the first time, I understood, deep in the soul, the meaning of the world arise. We breathed bliss, and every exhale was a hymn of praise.

The days bled away too quickly. Two days before the month was up, Jane phoned again. I scowled when I saw her number. Jane knew very well I did not like to be disturbed before bloody 9am. I took the call anyway.

“Jack. Darling. It’s time.”

My eyes opened and sleep fell from me like a shroud. The morning was cold. “Jane—”

“No! No, Jack, listen to me. We have made a commitment. We took a bloody deposit for God’s sake. Our go-betweens have already arranged to deliver the balance of the payment. The girl must go. Do you hear me? Do you?”

“Listen to me. I—”

“Tomorrow. Eight in the morning. Have the package ready.”

“First,” I said, coming truly awake, “we agreed two days hence, not tomorrow.”

“The client insists, Jack. Remember, he has paid us, and paid dearly. I have already agreed. Our go-betweens will not renegotiate again, even were I to ask it, which I bloody sure will not.”

“Without my consent?” I felt my ire rising. I found myself wishing, just for a moment, that I could have Jane alone in my training room, bound, gagged, and helpless — and at the mercies of my many whips, paddles, and clamps — just for an hour or two. I would have a few things to teach her, I dare say.