This story started as a snippet from my drafts long ago.  Thanks to JamesXMorgan’s interest in the story, we’ve co-created the beginning of Delilah’s adventures with Master Graham.  You can find the post here on my blog, and on James’ blog Tall Tales.

Tea with Ms. Constance was always a treat, and Delilah thought that today was no exception. Ms. Constance had a larger-than-life personality that fascinated Delilah, and she could listen to the older woman telling stories for hours. But they didn’t have hours today, just a short visit over tea, a good opportunity to get her advice.

“Yes,” Ms. Constance said, “If you want a little bit different view, Master Graham would be an excellent person to talk to. I highly recommend you reach out to him. In fact, if you like, I can message him myself and make the introduction. That might be best actually.”

Delilah beamed, this could not have gone better. “Thank you so much, Ms. Constance,” she said. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this.”

Ms. Constance nodded, “Of course you’re welcome, Delilah, I’m glad to help. I always enjoy our chats and I’m sure Master Graham will find it interesting to talk with you as well. It’s been lovely today, I do like this new tea you brought over. Honey Lavender you said? It is just the right touch of lavender. Thank you.”

“It was my pleasure – and again, thank you! I’m sure Master Graham will be super helpful.” Delilah lingered over the tea for a few minutes longer, and then left, content knowing she would have someone new to interview for her book.

Ms. Constance, still savoring her tea, smiled. Delilah was such a – well a delightful person, really. Master Graham would be quite an experience for her.

***************

A week went by before anything else happened, and Delilah had begun to think that Ms. Constance might have forgotten about the introduction. But she didn’t think it would be a good idea to nudge her, not yet. So she waited. Finally, she saw the notification come in on her computer – an email from Constance, addressed to her and to “MGraham@gmail” . She smiled, clicking to open the message.

Carefully, Delilah crafted her response, carefully thanking Ms. Constance for the introduction and inviting Master Graham to schedule time to share his wisdom on being a Dominant for her research on a book exploring BDSM as a healing tool for trauma. After a frustrating 45 minutes trying to hit the right tone, she decided it was as good as it was going to get, and hit SEND.

***************

MG looked at the email with more interest than he might have done had Ms. Constance not made the introduction. Had she seen something more than a writer in the girl? As he settled down to compose a reply granting her an interview, he couldn’t help but wonder what in her background had drawn her to write on the subject.  And what she might choose to do in the name of research. He checked himself – all in good time. He would invite her to meet him and draw his own conclusions.

***************

A full day and a night had passed without a response from Master Graham, and Delilah began to wonder if she had already offended him somehow.  Then she reminded herself that not everyone was as quick to respond as she was, and that he was probably a very busy man.  

With a sigh, she decided that she needed to be more patient.  And, just as she thought that, almost like magic, a new message slid onto her screen.  She saw that it was the response from Master Graham.  Almost holding her breath, she clicked it open.

Dear Delilah

Thank you for your intriguing email; what an interesting, and unusual, topic you have chosen. 

I have considered your request and, after hesitating a little, I feel I would be willing to discuss the subject. I hesitated because, while I am a Dominant with some experience, I have not previously come across BDSM as trauma healing. However, having done a little research I can see some aspects that are not alien to my experience. 

I propose, if you are still interested, that we meet and allow ourselves up to two hours and see where that leads. We can meet at my home or somewhere more neutral if you prefer. Alternatively, if it might be useful for your research, we could meet at a BDSM club I frequent. It has a café where we can talk and there would be the option to watch a demonstration. I would of course remain with you at all times.

Respectfully 

Graham

Quickly, Delilah skimmed the message, saw that he had accepted her invitation, and said, “oh, yay!,” feeling relieved and happy.

Then she read it again, taking in more detail.  He thought her email was intriguing. She smiled, what a nice thing to say. And he said he was “a Dominant with some experience.” That certainly left some room for the imagination.

But – a BDSM club?  Omg, omg, Delilah’s heart beat faster, she had read about such things, but to actually visit one?  It was almost too exciting.  Of course they had to go there.  Yes, please.  

But – would he expect her to – quickly she reread the message.  No, there weren’t any red flags, well, if you didn’t count the “Dominant” and “BDSM” part.  She laughed.

This is ridiculous, she chided herself.  You’re thinking like a teenager rather than a researcher.  Pull yourself together.  Every word of this message is perfectly polite and appropriate. In fact, he didn’t even sign it Master Graham.  Just Graham.

But then she began to wonder what that meant.  Ms. Constance had referred to him as Master Graham, and some of the material she’d read had suggested that using “Master” was just a polite honorific, like Mister in the vanilla world.  But she had also read that some Dominants only allowed their own submissives or people involved in the community to call them Master.  This whole BDSM thing could be confusing.  How was she supposed to interpret this?  And what should she call him?

She could feel her anxiety rising, and she took a moment to breathe, hugging herself gently.  “You are a grown-up,” beginning what she thought of as pep talks.  “More than grown.  You can do this. If you don’t know what to call him, you can ask him.  Ok.”

Feeling more settled, she sat down and started to answer right away.  

She began:

“Dear Graham,

I am not sure if Graham is the right thing to call you.”  

She backspaced and tried again, “I’m not sure if Graham is the name you prefer to be called.”  

“I’m not sure if you like to be called Graham or Master Graham.”

After many rewrites, she was nervously satisfied. She hesitated a long time about using “Warmly,” in her signature, but decided that she shouldn’t deviate from her regular practices too much.  Reading it over for the 10th time, she took a deep breath and pressed SEND.

***************

Settling down at his desk with a small brandy, MG opened his inbox. His surprise at seeing such a rapid response from Delilah quickly morphed into an inner smile; had his email put her off? Or was she interested? As he clicked he suspected he knew the answer.

Dear Graham,

Thank you for agreeing to meet with me. I am looking forward to hearing your thoughts on trauma and the experience of BDSM. I would love to meet you at the cafe connected to the BDSM club.  I’ve never been to anything like that, only read about it, so this is a wonderful opportunity. 

I hope that Graham is the right way to address you.  I am really new to the world of BDSM; my expertise is really in the world of trauma.  But I am interested in learning as much as I can about the standards and protocols of the BDSM community.  Please don’t hesitate to correct me if I get it wrong.

My schedule is pretty flexible right now. I could be available Monday, Wednesday, or Friday, anytime after 2:00.  Is there a day/time that would work well for you?

I look forward to hearing from you.   

Warmly

Delilah

The smile now reaching his lips, he sat back. The girl was interested. And very polite – or perhaps deferential? Hmm. Time would tell. MG already knew how he would respond but, he thought, a little pause before replying wouldn’t do any harm.

The following morning he made some calls to friends who might arrange suitable demonstrations at the club and to reserve a corner table in the cafe. Satisfied, he drafted a response to Delilah and saved it, deciding he would send it the following day.

***************

Delilah didn’t expect a response the first day after she sent her message.  The second day, she began to feel hopeful, so she was delighted to see a return message from Graham late that afternoon.  She made herself stop the work she was doing so she could give the message her full attention.  Humming a bit, she settled at her desk and pulled her email up on her computer.    

Dear Delilah

Thank you for your honesty and sensitivity. Please call me Graham for the time being, we can discuss names, titles and protocols more generally when we meet.There’s generally more happening at the club on Saturdays but a quieter evening may be more suitable for our first meeting; there will certainly be enough to see, if you so wish, midweek. I will meet you outside the club next Wednesday evening at 7.30 pm sharp; I will carry a white rose so you will recognise me. I will send the address and my phone number separately.

Respectfully

Graham

Delilah bit her lower lip.  She immediately pictured a handsome older man, very distinguished, with a touch of grey at his temples, wearing a suit and holding a white rose.  She pictured herself in a flowing white dress…  Then she laughed. That was bound to be completely wrong.  For one thing, she didn’t even have a flowing white dress.  And she had no idea what Graham would be like, or even what was appropriate to wear to a BDSM club.   

What would she wear?  She was sure she didn’t have the right outfit.  But what would be the right outfit?  Something that made her look professional, but still attractive, right?  Or maybe not too professional… she didn’t want to look like an old-fashioned school teacher – not even if I kind of am one, she thought, smiling.  But not anything slutty, not too sexy.  

A bit flustered, she headed for her closet.  Delilah preferred to wear dresses and skirts, and she had a wide variety of clothes.  But pulling out one outfit after another, she thought each one lacked something.  With a big pile of rejected dresses piled on her bed, she had about given up when she spotted something that might work.  

It was a simple dress, short-sleeved, with a scoop neck, fitted through the bodice and at the waist; it would enhance her figure.  The skirt flowed to mid-calf.  It was a shade of lavender that she knew worked for her, and the material was soft and a bit silky.  Best of all, there was a row of small buttons that closed the dress down the front and she could leave the bottom three or four open to reveal some leg when she walked.  Now that she was almost 50, she seldom wore short skirts, but she wore heels that accentuated her legs, which was one feature she was rather proud of.  And she was short enough that the extra height was a bonus.

One of Delilah’s secret indulgences was her under garments.  She wore panties and bras that tended to be silky, lacy, and designed to reveal as much as they covered.  She would wait until that evening to choose the right pair.

Satisfied with her selection of clothing, she looked at the pile of clothes on the bed with dismay.  She would deal with that later.  Maybe she’d just pile them on the chair and put them away in the morning.  Now she needed to draft a response to Graham, just confirming the plans.  

She sat down at her desk and hesitated.  She couldn’t believe she was really doing this.  Going to a BDSM club with a – well, Ms. Constance had referred to him as a Master. Of course, it was just for research, and really, she should be reviewing the questions she planned to ask him instead of thinking about what to wear.  The research she was doing was really important to her.

But he had said something about showing her what happened in the club.  if she were honest with herself, which she preferred to be, she knew that some of the material she had read about Dominants, and what they did with submissives, actually – well, it turned her on.  Enough that she would have to touch herself at night until she released the tension that had built up as she read about spankings and nipple clamps and all kinds of things that she thought should have appalled her. 

Instead, there she would be, under her blanket, one hand between her legs stroking herself, the other hand toying with a nipple… imagining what it would be like to be spanked.  She shook her head.  It was so strange.  She had experienced some abuse in an early relationship, and she knew she didn’t want to be hit or hurt.  So why was the idea of being spanked so appealing?

And she had left the abusive relationship, and had never tolerated anything like that again.  Why would the idea of being told what to do, of obeying what a Dominant man said and trying to please him – why would that seem like such a seductive idea?

Annoyed, she shook off that thought. It was ridiculous.  As she did her research, she had begun to get an inkling of an idea on why it would intrigue someone else – not her, but other people.  She was determined to understand that.  But that wasn’t who she was.

Right now, she just had to craft a simple response to Graham.   As she began to write, she thought, “and I won’t send it to him til tomorrow.  Maybe late tomorrow.  I don’t need to look too eager.”

But as it turned out, she was pretty eager to send it.  She did sleep on it, tweaked it a little bit, and dispatched it early the next morning.  

***************

MG smiled when he saw the email arrive on Sunday. He had been wondering when she’d reply and wasn’t surprised she had not responded as quickly as before, probably not wanting to appear too eager. A little restraint. Good girl. But he wouldn’t tell her that. Not yet. Now how had she replied?

Dear Graham,

Thank you so much for arranging this meeting!  I look forward to learning more about titles and other protocol from you, as well as visiting the club itself.  

I imagine I will have the enquiring look of someone about to meet a stranger, but you will be easy to identify by the white rose.  Thank you for thinking of that.  I look forward to meeting you next Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.  I will watch my email for the address and your phone number.

Warmly,

Delilah

MG smiled again. A respectful, modest reply, no mention either way regarding activities at the club. Keeping her options open? Certainly. Controlling her excitement? Perhaps. He would have to control his own too; training a complete beginner would be delightful. Softly, softly. 

He sat back. He would send the address on Tuesday. 

Co-authored by olivia and JamesXMorgan