Safe Haven

  She looks up into my eyes. “What’s that?”

  “You.” I pull her to me and whisper in her ear before I kiss her deeply. “I love you, Ellen.” I feel her tremble in my arms.

  “Oh, Charles, you’ve made me so happy!”

  “I don’t want to leave you behind, but I need to finish what I’ve started. Would you be willing to wait for me? I’ll come back whenever I can take leave. It’ll take longer to make Captain, but it’s worth the sacrifice.”

  “Time away from you will be hard,” she pouts.

  “It will be but, if you’re willing to wait for me, I’ll make it worth your while.”

  Her lips begin to tremble when I get down on one knee and pull out the ring in my pocket. “Ellen, will you marry me?”

  She bounces up and down on her toes. “Charles, I can’t believe this!”

  I cock my head, smiling up at her while I wait patiently for her answer.

  “Yes, of course,” she says, giggling excitedly. “Of course, I will!”

  I pick her up and twirl her in the air several times, ecstatic she’s agreed to be my wife. When I set her back down on the ground, I share my plans with her.

  “I will do what I can to take care of you while we’re apart.”

  She grins, shaking her head. “What do you mean, Charles?”

  “I’m going to get you into a better apartment and get you some real furniture. I’ll even help pay for that art class you talked about.”

  “Oh, my goodness! You’d do that for me? You’re too much!”

  I kiss her again. “I want my fiancé well cared for.”

  “I love hearing you call me that,” she coos. “I love you, Charles.”

  I wrap my arms around her. “I love you, too.” It feels so good to say those words and know they are returned.

  I look down at my hometown below us and feel complete. My future is out there, but a part of that future will tie me to my past when I marry Ellen.

  Making the most of the last few days we have together, I help Ellen pick out new furniture and sign a contract for a more spacious apartment on the west side of town.

  As she’s admiring her new kitchen and full-sized fridge, I tell her, “I’ll send you money monthly to help with your rent and cover costs.”

  “Thank you, Charles, but I feel bad taking money.”

  “Nonsense. I want to know you’re taken care of.”

  “You’re too good to me.”

  I take her hand and press it to my lips. “I plan to spoil you on my return.”

  Ellen sighs as I embrace her. “I hate that you are leaving.”

  I hold her tight, feeling the loss already. “I just need you to keep your sights on the future. I’ll be back every six months, if I can. It might feel like forever, but when you know you’re heading toward something you want, it makes it easier.”

  “Well, I definitely want you,” she purrs, giving me a playful nip. “But you have to promise me you’ll stay away from the girls. No one touches my handsome military man.”

  “Of course.” I play with the engagement ring on her finger. “You and I get to enjoy the challenge of a celibate life, but we can make up for it every time I return.”

  “Then I guess we won’t be leaving the bedroom at all,” she laughs.

  I steal a kiss from her before grabbing a letter from my bag. “I do have a favor to ask.”

  “Anything, Charles.”

  “Could you give this to Jacob? I’m not sure he’s gotten any of my letters.”

  She presses it against her chest. “It would be my honor.”

  “I need Jacob to know I’ve been saving up for his college. If he ends up not wanting to go to the Air Force Academy, I want him to know he has money for traditional college.”

  Tears fill her eyes. “Oh, that’s so sweet of you.”

  I shrug. “Jacob should know that Father’s plan for his life doesn’t have to be his.”

  Ellen throws her arms around me. “You just make me love you more.”

  I raise an eyebrow. “You want to show me how much?”

  “Yes, I do, Lieutenant Walker…”

  I lead her to the bigger bed I’ve purchased and ask Ellen to do a striptease for me. I’m mesmerized by her flirtatious smile as she undresses before me.

  I feel good about my decision. Taking on Ellen’s expenses on top of Jacob’s schooling is not a hardship for me. I’m only one man, and this investment ensures a strong future for both my career and personal life.

  An Invitation

  Candy

  My life now centers around Liege.

  He never leaves the apartment, working from home on his computer and ordering his groceries online. He’s locked my purse and phone in his desk but tells me I can get them back when he’s satisfied with my training.

  I spend my days trying to fulfill his every need and, when I fail, I am punished for it.

  Soon, his voice is the only one I hear in my head.

  It’s shocking how, in the span of a few weeks, I’ve gone from being a girl looking for a kinky escape to feeling like a slave.

  Liege slams his fists on his desk and gets up from his computer, growling irritably, “I have to go out, but you’re staying here.”

  I can’t believe he is leaving, and my heart begins racing as he buckles the cuffs onto my wrists and secures them to the bed. Not taking chances, he gags me before heading out.

  As soon as I hear the distinctive whine of his car engine starting to fade down the street, I struggle against the cuffs. They fit loosely when I bought them, and I’ve lost weight in the weeks since.

  After several minutes of concentrated effort, I wrestle one hand out. I feel positively giddy as I unbuckle my other wrist and rip off the gag.

  I go straight for the computer desk.

  I pull hard on the drawer, hoping to break the internal lock with my bare hands, but I have no luck. So I start searching his desk, hoping to find the key. In my search, I come across a book with a title that catches my attention.

  Bow at My Feet: A Master’s Tale of Online Training

  I open it up and feel a cold chill run down my spine as I skim the pages. It is an autobiography about a Dom who seeks out a girl online and trains her to be his submissive. The author has laid it all out in his book, including the tasks he gives her and the psychological reasoning behind each one.

  What is simply a chronicle about one man’s experience, Liege has been treating like a manual, copying everything this man does to the letter. It suddenly makes sense why the person I knew online was not the person I met when I came here.

  Liege lied about everything. He is not even a Dom!

  After several sweeps of the desk fail to produce the key, I go to the kitchen and grab the hammer out of a junk drawer. I go back to the desk and start whacking at it. I feel a surge of hope when the metal starts to bend. I pull on it again and the drawer opens a crack. I force my fingers inside and start pulling for all I am worth.

  I’m so close…

  I grab the hammer again and hit it even harder. I wrench the drawer open enough to reach inside, and I feel a sense of exhilaration when I touch my purse. I tug on it, but the opening is not quite big enough, so I start hammering at it again.

  My heart skips a beat when the hammer stops mid-strike and is wrenched from my hands. I look up to see Liege and panic. Sprinting toward the door, I cry out when I find it locked and start pounding on it in desperation.

  Dread fills my heart when I turn around to see Liege approaching me with the hammer clutched in his hand.

  I start screaming.

  To my relief, Liege throws the hammer to the side, but backhands me hard across the face, ordering me to shut up—but I refuse.

  He covers my mouth with one hand while choking me with the other. I bite the fleshy part of his palm and he immediately uncovers my mouth, using both hands to choke me instead.

  I see flashing lights as my vision starts to blur.

  I suddenly
can breathe again when Liege lets go of my throat and picks me up to throw me face-first on the bed. With his knee digging into my back, Liege ties the gag back on and secures the cuffs behind my back.

  I lie there, whimpering, waiting for the pain of his belt, but nothing happens.

  I’m left there, bound and helpless, listening to him putting the hammer back in the drawer before quietly straightening his desk as if nothing is wrong.

  It feels like the calm before the storm.

  Finally, Liege speaks, his tone unsettlingly serene. “I told you that you would get your things back when you were properly trained.”

  He pauses for a moment before continuing.

  “Did you think there would be no consequences for disobeying me?”

  I whimper. I was so close…

  “If my car hadn’t broken down, I wouldn’t have been here to stop you from making the biggest mistake of your life.” He walks over and fists my hair, pulling my head back to look at him. “You’re lucky I’m a good Master.”

  I pant with fear, waiting to find out my punishment.

  “You must pay for destroying my desk. Can you guess how you’re going to do that?”

  I shake my head slowly.

  Liege smiles as he pulls out a permanent marker and shows it to me before lifting my skirt and pulling off my panties. Instead of the sting of a belt, I feel the cool ink of the marker as he writes a word on each of my buttocks. Afterward, he chuckles with satisfaction.

  “You have earned a new name. It’s time to show it off.”

  As Liege undoes my bindings, he tells me, “I’m giving you one chance. You either prove you can obey or I will send your parents your sex tapes. You know, that one where you deepthroat my cock while you look at me with those sexy eyes. Or the one where you call me ‘Daddy’ and beg me to fuck you in the ass. You took it pretty deep in that one, I might add. And those are just the tame ones, aren’t they?”

  I feel like I have been hit in the gut.

  “I wonder,” he continues with a smile, “what Mommy and Daddy would say if they found out their little girl has been lying to them. That instead of coming home for spring break, she chose to come here and do depraved things with me?”

  My stomach turns, horrified at the thought of them seeing the tapes. My parents could never live it down—especially my mother. They can never know what I’ve done!

  “So, you will take your punishment without complaint. Do you understand?”

  I nod my head, defeated.

  Liege removes the gag from my mouth and orders me to freshen up.

  “Make yourself pretty for me.”

  With shaking hands, I brush my hair and put on the lipstick he likes. When he looks me over, he seems pleased and hands me my shoes.

  My heart quickens as I slip into the flip-flops, not really believing I’m about to leave this apartment. But when I make the mistake of grabbing for my panties, he clears his throat in warning.

  I quickly set them down and look at him fearfully. To my relief, he opens the door and orders me to follow him. Liege puts his arm around me, as if in a romantic embrace, as we walk out of the building.

  I haven’t been outside in weeks and feel lightheaded as I take in the fresh air and feel the warmth of the sun on my skin. It feels like it’s been forever.

  Liege walks us to the train station with his arm still around me. I try to make eye contact with the other commuters, hoping someone will see something’s wrong, but everyone is staring at their phones.

  We get onto the train together, and Liege pushes me toward an empty seat. I sit down, trying not to cry, wondering what he wants me to do.

  Once the train starts moving, he leans down and tells me in a low voice, “You are going to show off your new name to everyone. Turn around and lift up your dress.”

  I shake my head.

  His eyes flash with anger. “Do not defy me.”

  I close my eyes, knowing I have to, but I can’t.

  He snarls under his breath, “I’m not asking.”

  I lower my head as a tear travels down my cheek.

  When I don’t obey, he warns, “You understand there will be consequences…”

  I shudder, knowing what it will do to my family. My mother might not recover from the shock. I look up at him pleadingly. “I’m sorry.”

  Liege turns away. “Apologies mean nothing.”

  More tears fall. I know I will pay for defying him, but I can’t do this—I won’t let him do this to me.

  “You have one more chance to make this right,” he tells me.

  I glance at the train full of people, my bottom lip trembling as I whisper, “I can’t.”

  A pleasant voice breaks the terrible silence that follows.

  “Sir, may I speak with her?”

  “Who the hell are you?” Liege snaps.

  The young woman lowers her gaze and answers in a pleasant voice, “I’m no one, sir. But I have a humble suggestion for your girlfriend with the lovely collar.”

  Liege snorts, puffing his chest out as he looks her up and down. “Fine, you may speak.”

  The woman kneels beside me and smiles. “Hi, my name is Brie. What’s yours?”

  I look at Liege fearfully for permission to speak before I answer. “Candy. My name is Candy.”

  Her eyes sparkle when she tells me, “That’s a good name. You look perfectly delicious.”

  This girl is like a ray of light in the darkness, and I find myself smiling. I watch as she looks in her purse and holds out a business card to me. “May I humbly suggest this course? It’s changed my life.”

  Before I can take it, Liege grabs it. “What’s this?”

  He laughs harshly. “Yes, this is exactly what you need,” he says, giving me the card.

  I look down at it and see the words:

  The Submissive Training Center

  Twenty-five years of Excellence

  I feel the woman’s hand on my knee. “Trust me. This will change your life for the better.”

  I feel my spirits lift when I look into her honey-colored eyes.

  By the way he keeps looking her over, it is obvious Liege is quite taken by the elegant woman. I gasp in shock when he grabs her chin and tells her, “You are a lovely thing. Come with us so I can see what you’ve learned at this Center of yours.”

  The woman pulls away and returns her gaze to the floor while she answers him in a respectful tone, “I’m sorry, sir, but I cannot.”

  Liege does not like the woman’s answer and glares at her, demanding, “Why?”

  The woman lovingly caresses the collar she wears around her neck and answers, “Only my Sir commands me.”

  Liege laughs unkindly. “Loyal, are you?” He then turns to me and says, “You could learn a lot from this one. Maybe I’ll let you take the class. You need it because, truth be told, you suck.”

  The woman ignores his insult targeted at me and responds instead with a respectful, “Thank you, sir,” before walking back gracefully to her seat.

  I stare at her in awe. She is like an angel in the darkness.

  That short exchange has changed Liege. I can feel his anger dissipating as he stares at the beautiful submissive. He wants her, and that desire just might save me.

  When we return to his apartment, Liege tells me to stand in the corner while he decides my fate.

  He starts pacing back and forth. “Why can’t you be like her?” he complains.

  “I want to be,” I tell him in earnest.

  Liege walks over and looks at me, before stating in disgust, “But you’re not her. You could never be like her.”

  He starts pacing the floor again. “Oh, God, to be able to fuck something like that every night…”

  I want to laugh. That woman would never submit to someone as pathetic as Liege.

  “Give me the card,” he demands.

  I have held it in my hand ever since she gave it to me like it is a ward of protection, and I am reluctant to give it to him, but I
do.

  He looks at the business card and glances at me, before going to the computer.

  Liege types in the website address printed on it and spends the next few hours poring over the sensual photos of submissives in training. I watch in the corner, grateful that he seems to have forgotten my punishment—for now.

  Several days later, a large envelope arrives. Liege rips it open and smiles at me. “You will write down everything I say.”

  “Of course, Master,” I immediately answer, walking over to the kitchen table. I look down at the papers he pushes in front of me and see it’s an application for the Submissive Training Center.

  My heart skips a beat and I stare at it in disbelief. “How?”

  “I emailed them as you. Now you’ll have no excuse for being a shitty sub.”

  I spend the next hour writing down Liege’s answers to the long list of questions on the application. Afterward, he hands me a tiny red plastic stick and tells me to play with myself while he records me.

  I take it from him but have no idea what to do and freeze up when he starts recording. When I fail to do an adequate job, Liege insists on directing me through it as he records me. By the time he is finished, he’s so thrilled with the video that he watches it several times.

  Afterward, he uploads it to a memory stick and throws it into the envelope, along with all of the paperwork. When he sends off the packet, he warns me, “You better make it in or Mommy dearest is about to get the shock of her life.”

  I silently pray I will be accepted, not only to protect my parents, but for myself. The fact is, I want to be like that woman on the train. She looked so confident and beautiful, and I will never forget the way she lovingly caressed her collar.

  I want to know that kind of devotion…

  I can tell that something big is up when a large box is left at the door. Liege brings it in with an excited look on his face. He begins pacing as he reads the attached letter.

  “Hell, yeah!” he shouts, slapping the letter with the back of his hand several times, before pushing it in my face so I can read it.

  Dear Miss Cox,

  It is my pleasure to inform you that you have qualified for a full scholarship to the Submissive Training Center. Your entry was notable, and we believe the opportunity provided by our school will be of great benefit to you, now and in the future.