TRUTH by Sherri Hayes Page B

didn’t want Brianna to be by herself. Her response was perfect. She would bring lunch around noon, and she could stay with Brianna until five. With that taken care of, I leaned back in my chair and pulled up a document I’d been working on the previous day. There was little I could do with it at home, but it would help me pass the time.
    It was about fifteen minutes later when I noticed some movement from her. Her breathing had changed a little as well. The effort of holding the position was getting to her, as was intended.
    Standing, I returned the chair to the dining room and left my laptop on the table. From the way she was acting, I estimated we had another five minutes left before her legs began to tremble with fatigue. I propped myself up against the back of the couch and waited.
    As it turned out, I didn’t need to watch all that closely. In an almost coordinated fashion, her legs began to shake and a weak whimper escaped her lips. Pushing myself away from the couch, I walked across the room to tower over her.
    Brianna glanced up at me, pleading in her eyes. Her lips were pressed so tightly together they were white. I waited for another thirty seconds, unmoving, before I reached down and took hold of the coin.  
    “You may sit down now, Brianna.” A large gush of air left her lungs as she sat back on her heels. I could still see the muscles in her legs flexing, trying to recover from the strain.  
    As I slipped the coin back into my pants pocket, I noted it was warmer than it had been when I’d placed it into position against the door. Hopefully she wouldn’t make me remove it again anytime soon. I was accustomed to using slightly more physical discipline with my submissives, spanking or possibly even gagging them. I didn’t think Brianna was ready for that, however. She might never be. Even if I could get her to the point of enjoying types of play that blurred the boundaries of pain and pleasure, I doubted that would ever carry over into discipline. I didn’t want Brianna confusing the two.  
    Looking down at her, I saw a red mark on the tip of her nose from where she’d pressed it up against the coin. It was rather cute, and it took effort for me not to smile.  
    Brianna wasn’t looking at me, though. She had her head tilted down, and I realized she was crying. Squatting down next to her, I brushed the moisture from her cheek.  
    “Talk to me. Tell me what’s wrong.”  
      “I . . . I’m . . . I didn’t mean to. I . . .”
    I gathered her into my arms and carried her back over to my chair. Laying her head on my shoulder, I let her cry it out while I consoled her the best I could and rubbed the muscles in her legs so they wouldn’t cramp up on her.  
    A submissive was supposed to feel remorse when they received correction for something they’d done wrong, but I hadn’t expected it to cause her tears, especially not to the extent where she was having difficulty speaking coherently. As with so much when it came to Brianna, her reactions rarely made sense unless you took into consideration the whole of her life and circumstances. I could safely say my point was driven home. I doubted she would ever open the door again without checking to see who it was first.  
    It took a long while before her tears subsided, and her breathing returned to normal.
    “How are you feeling, Brianna?”
    “I didn’t mean to do something reckless.”
    I cupped her face gently with my hands and kissed her forehead, before tilting her head up so I could look into her eyes. “I know you didn’t mean to, Brianna, but I can only do so much to try to keep you safe. You have to help me by doing your part. That means not opening the door without knowing who it is. It means paying attention to your surroundings, especially when you’re out in public or not with me. I don’t want anything to happen to you. I don’t know if I could take it.”
    “I’ll do better, Sir.”
    “Good girl.”  
    I gave her a