Chapter 94
Voyages of self-discovery

In the quiet interlude before Rick's return, Robert sat in his chair, mauling Merry's breasts while they watched television. Merry relaxed against his knees, boneless, enjoying the attention. Why in the world had she ever made a fuss about him touching her breasts, she wondered? All that fuss over something that felt sooo good...

After a bit, he demanded her attention, "Merry..."

"Master?"

"Have you done any mental preparation for tomorrow night?"

"Master?" Merry was perplexed. She rotated to kneel facing Robert.

"Merry," Robert pointed out gently, "Tomorrow night is likely to be stressful for you if you don't prepare for it mentally. I can't have you doing or saying anything stupid. I'd have to punish you severely."

"What have I done, Master?"

"Nothing - yet," Robert replied, "but consider: Undoubtedly, before tomorrow evening is over, one or both of us will have had sex with Ann."

"Oh." Merry's eyes widened as she took this point in.

"Exactly," Robert returned. "How are you going to react to a requirement to kiss Ann, or to engage in oral sex on her?"

"Um," Merry temporized, "You do it to ME, Master..."

"And that makes it okay for you?" Robert reproved gently. "What are you going to do if I penetrate her? Right before your eyes? Are you ready for that?"

"Uhhh..." Merry staggered mentally, "Master will do as he wishes..."

"The correct answer," Robert approved, "but what will YOU do?" His voice hardened. "The die is cast - we WILL do what is necessary! And if you do or say anything foolish, I will be forced to restrain you, possibly gag you, and certainly punish you! THAT's why I want you to be mentally prepared for tomorrow!"

"We've been together nearly two decades," Robert continued more gently, "and until now, no one else has actually participated in the sex act with us. That will change tomorrow. The nature of our relationship dictates that I cannot allow your opinion to sway me in this matter, but I CAN direct that you prepare properly for this change! I want you to think on this seriously for a few moments, then I will ask you some questions."

"Yes, Master." Her Master had been correct, as usual - Merry hadn't given the whole thing a moment's thought - and the results could have been disastrous!

Robert gave Merry a few minutes' frowning introspection, then asked gently, "How do you feel about the idea of having sex with Ann?"

"A little aroused, Master," Merry admitted.

Robert chuckled, "Am I to assume that you do not anticipate problems?"

Merry remained serious. "No, Master. I like Ann, and I believe that I'll have no problems - giving or taking pleasure."

"Have you ever done this?" Robert inquired, his interest piqued.

"No, Master. The closest I've come was some mutual masturbation with a girlfriend in high school during a sleepover. We didn't follow it up - both of us already had boyfriends." She ducked her head and regarded him through her lashes, "I had you!"

Robert chuckled, "Penny Farnsworth..."

"Master! You knew?" Merry was aghast.

"I suspected," Robert admitted. "You two slept over at her house, and she never treated you quite the same again. I think she was deeper into it than you were..."

"Mmmmm. Perhaps."

"All right," Robert resumed, "let's continue. Are you prepared to handle ME taking MY pleasure with her?"

"I have no choice, Master," Merry replied tonelessly.

"Correct!" Robert replied, "But that may not be enough! How cooperative can you be?"

"Master?"

"Tolerance isn't enough. I may require active cooperation!" Robert pressed. "Can you suck my cock and lick her vaginal lips to lubricate us, then perform the insertion yourself? Can you lave my testicles with your tongue while I plow another woman's pussy? It's your job to see to my pleasure - can you do your job?" Robert demanded.

"I - Uh - !" Merry reeled under the bombardment. The images! But Robert's final words pointed the way. "Yes! I can do this, Master!" Having committed, she chuckled nervously, "Wow! You were pouring it on, there, Master!"

Robert's lips quirked, but he didn't quite smile. "It was necessary. Even THAT may not be the limit of what goes on tomorrow. What if she wants to be dominated? What if she wants to dominate YOU? What if her secret desire is to watch while I beat you? While it is well within my rights, thus far I have avoided punishing you capriciously. Circumstances may force a change in that tomorrow..."

"Master, no matter what you may think, you owe me several good beatings. Please don't feel guilty if you discover that you need to punish me!"

Merry's heartfelt response caused Robert to frown in thought. "Obviously, you have specific incidents in mind?"

Merry smiled tightly, "Master remembers the couch?" The living room set, something Merry (then Marilyn) had insisted upon, had cost almost $9000. The set it replaced hadn't really been that offensive - Marilyn had just been pushing her luck. Ultimately, it was the living room set and it's effect on the finances at a time when a new car was required that had generated the requirement that Marilyn go to work, as the payments had broken the household budget.

"Hmmm, yes." Anger kindled, lighting Robert's eyes. That contest of wills that had ended in the purchase and the fact that it had required him to have to admit to himself that he couldn't handle her excesses alone had been a serious blow to his pride. Even now, anger was easily generated over it. "Remind me - as soon as it's paid for, we're going to have a party. And you're going to destroy the living room set, preferably in the presence of your colleagues at the Firm. In the meantime, you're absolutely correct - I owe you a beating for that!" Robert grated.

Merry was somewhat taken aback by the vehemence of her master's response. "Destroy it?" she echoed.

"Absolutely!" Robert asserted. "Not only will that be the ironic perfect destiny for that ridiculous waste of funds, it will rid me of the cleaning bills that come with it!" Expensive fabrics, light colors, a total lack of stain resistance, and teenagers had added more thousands in cleaning bills to the ridiculous price tag. "Or perhaps I'll just make you manufacture slipcovers?"

Merry shuddered. Her total lack of any ability to use the expensive sewing machine she had insisted upon in another orgy of excess was legendary. Yes, all of her excesses were coming home to roost...

Merry leaned forward and began opening Robert's fly. "What are you doing?" Robert demanded.

"Anticipating my Master's needs?" Merry responded timidly.

"Trying to make Brownie points, more likely!" Robert chuckled. "Well, I won't be caught with my trousers around my ankles - it's uncomfortable, as well as embarrassing! Bring me my robe and pajama bottoms. Run, scheming slave! And hope I don't write you up for being manipulative!" Robert chuckled as he watched her pert derriere disappear jiggling around the corner. After a moment, he roared, "Bring back that riding crop! I want something to hand if you don't perform satisfactorily!"

Merry, already racing to the top of the stairs, cringed. What had happened? She'd suspected that Robert held a grudge over the living room set, but this! Next time, she swore, she'd keep her mouth shut!

Jennifer came home to another voicemail from Mike, gently asking her when he could see her again. This had the effect of confirming her already miserable mood. Listlessly, she prepared a light supper and spent an interminable time indifferently picking at it. Television offered no solace, so she decided to read in bed.

The discovery of Jackie's 'gift' on the coverlet provoked the standard reaction: Jennifer was horrified, and handled the thing gingerly, plucking it off the coverlet with two fingers and generally acting as if it was toxic waste. It DID, however, offer a distraction, so it was with a generally improved frame of mind that Jennifer settled in to read. Her choice in reading materials was poor, however - the kind of mildly spicy romance novel that virtually always has the perfect couple separated at the midpoint over some stupid misunderstanding. Jennifer's blues settled in again. After reading the obligatory scene where the 'other woman' goes to great lengths to entice the male into bed, this time with some success, Jennifer was again depressed and sexually enervated. She decided that she'd had enough punishment, and put the book aside in its normal place on the night table, having already shut off the light. But the book didn't settle into place properly, and something fell onto the floor. "Damn!" Jennifer cursed quietly as she began feeling on the floor for the offending object. "What the...?" Her hand closed upon a soft, cylindrical object with odd ridges. She brought it up and examined it with her hands in the dark. It was soft, rubbery, and shaped like... 'Oh! The - whatchamacallit - dildo?' Jennifer thought, 'What on God's green earth possessed Jackie - it HAD to be Jackie - to leave this thing on my bed?' But Jennifer KNEW why, and after a moment, she admitted it to herself, while she continued to handle the object, which was a source of ambivalence to her. After all, it was a disgusting 'sex toy'! Why did they have to make it look so real? Veins, and everything! On the other hand - and just thinking about it made it worse - it might offer some relief... It had been many years since Jennifer had masturbated - it had been one of the requirements of her renunciation of sex - and she wasn't sure she could really DO it successfully. It would be REALLY ugly if she tried to masturbate and failed to cum; the thought of being even MORE excited without finding release brought simultaneous images of the rack, iron maiden, and other torture devices.

By now, the thing was warm and comfortable in her hands as she rubbed it, getting the feel of the surface. It didn't REALLY feel like a - dick? She found that her memory held vivid images of the soft rigidity of her only lover's cock, as well as the smell, and even taste! Still, it was probably the best that could be done with man-made materials... It DID seem to have a somewhat more solid core under the soft, rubbery surface - God knows how you could ever insert it if it was soft clear through... Without being able to say exactly when she made the decision, Jennifer began to wriggle out of her pajama bottoms. After all, Jackie was out of the house; no one would ever know... She had a bottle of moisturizing hand cream on the nightstand - undoubtedly, THAT would come in handy... The tracery of fake veins tickled her sense of humor, although the head seemed basically right. She began to run the object up and down along the opening of her nether lips, sliding it up and down past her clit and remembering a time in the distant past when she and her boyfriend had dry-humped - him running the velvety head of his cock up along her mound, sliding the shaft in the damp furrow between her labia. She began to fantasize about Mike: the warmth of his caress, the feel of his hands on her breasts... Maybe she wouldn't need the lube after all - the urgent tickling sensation in her clitoris was counterpoint to the dampness she could feel seeping around the rubbery shaft. She remembered the gentle play of Mike's hands over her body a few nights before, and the agony of fear and desire they left in their wake. She remembered that electrifying touch of her left breast, and emulated it with her own free hand, gently kneading the soft flesh and toying with the nipple while continuing to slide the soft rubbery faux penis along her labia past her clitoris, which was rewarding her handsomely for the attention. Her nether lips had by now opened wide, presenting a deep groove from which her natural lubrication was doing a creditable job of dampening the latex intruder sliding along it. The hand working her left nipple was generating gentle shock waves along the inner tunnel of her sex, and she began to wonder if she could work the device inside, after all, as she drifted to the memory of Mike's thumb dragging across her clitoris. She shifted her grip for the experiment, momentarily releasing her breast, and as she reoriented it for the first attempt at insertion, holding it against her clitoral hood while she moved her hand, she noticed the knurled knob at the base, her thumb dragging against a bump protruding from the base. What was this? A switch? Before she had begun to process the implications, her thumb discovered the proper direction to move the slider and Jennifer whited out as the vibrator erupted into motion while lying against her clitoris! The total effect wasn't - quite - instantaneous, but from the moment it came on, moving the vibrator from its position in contact with her clit was unthinkable, and in under thirty seconds, Jennifer was screaming bloody murder without even recognizing the fact as she was overwhelmed by the sensory fireworks display of her second orgasm in less than a week!

The next ninety seconds or so was one long convulsion as Jennifer undulated under the impact of the stimulus, caught between Heaven and Hell as first the vibrator would over-stimulate her clitoris, causing her to withdraw it, then the sense of loss generated by it's absence would absolutely demand a resumption of contact. During this period, thought just wasn't possible; Jennifer was virtually on autopilot when she located a stable compromise location. When she came to herself, she realized that one question was answered at least - the simulated penis, still buzzing merrily, was half buried in her gently pulsing vagina. Obviously, properly stimulated, it was more than capable of handling the dildo. "Ummmmmm," she sighed, but already the vibrator was leaving her feeling jangled. She shut off the vibration, leaving the artificial penis buried, and lay relishing the aftereffects. The effort that she had expended in thrashing around had exhausted her, but while she was mildly sore, the primary effect was a pleasant lassitude.

After a bit, Jennifer reached down and began manipulating the dildo, moving it slowly about in her vagina. It was pleasant, but she found that she agreed with Hilda's assessment of toys - they were NOT an acceptable substitute for the real thing, even in memory. Jennifer toyed with it long enough to ascertain that it COULD bring her to orgasm - but it just wasn't worthwhile. The vibrator function had taken the edge off, and now merely manipulating the latex cock wasn't exciting enough to induce her to continue. It did its job, however; after she removed it, for the first time in several days, Jennifer fell into a restful slumber, holding the latex toy in one hand.

Rick came home to find his father sitting in his favorite chair. His mother, her face a study in concentration, was on her hands and knees on the chair arms, slowly raising and lowering herself over Robert's lap - obviously impaling herself on his erection. Rick stood admiring the action for a moment from a vantage point where he was basically unseen by his mother, but had an excellent view of the action, then gaily announced, "Hi. Mum! Hi Pop!"

Merry stopped dead for a moment as the implications of the announcement hit home, but Robert wasn't having any. He gently flicked the riding crop he was holding against her back - not enough to hurt - merely a reminder that she had duties to perform. "Ah ah ah! No stopping!" Turning to Rick, Robert continued, "Good evening, Son." He then flicked Merry again, gently. "Say hello to your son, silly wench!"

Merry, beet red, turned and regarded her son as calmly as she was able. "Hello, Rick. How was dance practice?" she huffed.

"Fine..." Rick replied absently, eyeing the pair, "I was missing Mandi BEFORE I came in here!" All in all, the sight of his parents coupling in that manner was pretty erotic, and somewhat decadent, as well.

In actuality, however, it looked a lot better than it actually was. Robert was punishing Merry for her blatant attempt at manipulation earlier in the evening. He had started out by surviving 20 minutes of Merry's continuously improving fellatio (a serious act of will), then had moved her to her current effort, which, while nice, was deliberately too slow to provide Merry any enjoyment. In fact it was also too slow to provide Robert any enjoyment, either; he was working hard to maintain an erection!

Merry was exhausted, and it showed. Rick eyed her critically, and asked his father, "So, how long have you been at it?"

Robert affected indifference and mild irritation. "Only about twenty minutes. Silly wench has absolutely no endurance. I'd be doing her a favor to work her harder..." He grinned, out of Merry's sight.

Rick caught on, and smiled slyly. "I'm at loose ends... Need any help?" Merry blanched and turned wide eyes on her son, but said nothing, and didn't DARE look at her master. Shock also created a millisecond delay in her activity, but she recovered instantly, and Robert pretended not to notice.

Robert feigned an effort at serious consideration. "What do you have in mind?"

Rick shrugged, getting into the tease, "Oh, I dunno. Has she been working on her deep throat?"

Robert manufactured a tone of disgust. "Yeah, but I couldn't inflict it on you. She practiced for twenty minutes earlier before I gave up on her. Her mouth's probably all worn out..."

Rick was particularly enjoying the look of mixed horror and indignation crossing his mother's features. The fine mix of insult, shame, fear, and humiliation comprising her expression was a sight to see. The fact that she had absolutely no recourse made the whole thing even sweeter. Rick had watched her belittle Robert for years, and this picture of the shoe going on the other foot was an exercise in long-delayed vengeance that Rick both applauded and could appreciate fully. While he loved his mother, Rick recognized that Robert had yet to put a dent in the principal on that account, let alone the interest - Merry was going to suffer for her crimes, and Rick would help, willingly. "Well, if she's not particularly talented, I could just hold her head and poke it down her throat..." he allowed.

Robert pretended to consider this. "Nah. The whole problem with deep throat seems to be that the silly twit hasn't learned how to breathe with a cock down her throat. I don't want to have to take her to the hospital when she turns blue."

Rick was having a hard time keeping a straight face, and Robert, secure in his position behind Merry, wasn't even trying. Merry, for her part, was horrified, and it showed. The suggestions just kept getting worse...

Robert continued, "So, how is Mandi's technique? Think she can teach your mother anything?"

Rick allowed himself to smile. "Well, she's certainly enthusiastic... Tough to say whether she's any better without a direct comparison...."

"Hmph," Robert replied, "I guess we can put that on our list of fun things to do. It'd be best if they were both present at the same time, to get a good comparison."

"Yeah, side by side, maybe. Then we could swap back and forth!" Rick chuckled. "You know, Pop, you need to put up a mirror. The play of expression on Mum's face..." he shook his head, grinning.

Robert chuckled. "I can feel her cringe," he replied, grinning, "Besides, I get the reflection in the TV."

"Oh! You two! You're just teasing!" Merry erupted, realizing that she'd been had.

Robert flicked his hips, driving his cock into her. "Yes?" he prompted, his voice dangerous.

Merry gulped, "Um, nothing Master! Sorry Master!" If only she'd kept her big mouth shut...

Robert settled back to his previous passive position, but he wasn't done. Merry had stepped in it, and the obvious thing would be to punish her by moving their tease to the next level. Robert thought furiously. Did he want to go that far? He could goad her by having Rick strip down and present himself for a blowjob, but would it be fair to Rick to let it end there?

Rick, watching his father, divined his problem, but didn't, frankly, know what to do about it. He was pretty sure that if Merry even looked at his cock it'd erupt all over the place! The whole idea ran too close to boyhood fantasy...

Robert sighed, and said gently, "Merry, Merry, Merry - you're screwing up by the numbers tonight! Everything was fine as long as you were prepared to take us seriously - but then you HAD to open your mouth..."

Merry went white to the lips. NOW she'd done it!

Robert gave her no time to recover. Flicking her lightly with the crop, he directed, "Get up! I've had enough of this." Merry crawled off of the chair and stood in front of it as Robert rose. Robert pointed at a nearby ottoman. "Go over there and bend over that. I'm going to want to pick up the pace."

Merry bent over and rested her hands on the padded top of the ottoman. Robert walked up behind her, grasped her left hip with his left hand and guided his erection back into her vagina with his right. Once inserted, he moved his right hand to a location on her right hip and proceeded to take a few strokes - not fast, particularly, but faster than their previous activity. The effect was salutary; both of them found that the results now justified the effort.

Robert glanced over at his son, raised an eyebrow, and crooked a finger. Rick could decline the invitation by merely shaking his head - but he didn't. Robert waved him over to stand before the ottoman. Continuing to long stroke Merry, he swatted her on the butt with his hand. "Get Rick out of his pants," he directed.

Merry blushed everywhere above the waist. She took in a breath, and...

...Robert stopped her in her tracks. "Are you sure you want to open your mouth again?" Nodding at Rick, he directed, "Get the riding crop, please. It appears that I'm going to need it; more intellectual forms of persuasion are proving ineffective."

Merry took the hint. When Rick returned to stand before the ottoman, she reached up meekly and began working at his belt. Robert, looking on, sighed. "I had always planned that Merry and Mandi would both be present before anything of this nature occurred, but it looks like it's more important to get your mother's attention!" he declared.

He had Merry's, and she certainly had Rick's! Rick was bug-eyed, taking in the gentle sway of Merry's pendant breasts under the impetus of his father's slow strokes, thinking, 'Wow! For a woman her age, Mum's incredible!'

Arousal was robbing Merry of attention span, and she was having trouble concentrating on the belt. What she wasn't admitting to herself was that the service activity between her legs wasn't the only component of that arousal. Finally, it was undone, and she could move on to zippers and snaps. Robert was taking it somewhat easy on her, since while she was using her hands to undress her son, she couldn't brace herself.

By the time she had shucked his jeans to his ankles, Rick was shaking like a leaf. "I don't know if I can hold out, Pop!" he exclaimed.

Robert shrugged, unperturbed. "Then give her a facial!" Addressing Merry, he directed, "Look him in the eye - make sure you're pleasing him!" Merry, who was now bracing herself by clasping Rick's waist, moved her eyes up from her startled examination of her son's erection to lock with his. "Well?" Robert prompted.

Merry extended her flattened tongue, gently positioning it to cradle Rick's purplish glans...

...And Rick erupted, splashing a gout of semen all over her face!

"Don't miss a drop!" Robert roared, and Merry obediently ovalled her lips around Rick's spurting glans. Rick grabbed her head in both hands and held her there as his knees quivered and his eyes rolled back.

As the first wave of little wigglers poured across her tongue, Merry snapped. Greed replaced fearful obedience, and Merry began actively working to drain her son's seminal vesicles with a combination of strong suction and flickering licks from her tongue. Gone was her earlier reserve - she wanted it all! The illicit act amplified Robert's actions, too, and Merry went from merely enjoying Robert's pounding cock to the early stages of orgasm in one fell swoop!

When Merry's pussy began pulsating around his cock, Robert knew that not only was Merry there, but she was going to take him with her - so he poured it on! Merry, in her turn, started to white out, unconsciously taking in more of Rick's still jetting cock in the process. "MMMMPH!" was all she was capable of uttering as she jittered and thrashed, throwing her pelvis back against Robert's pounding pubis and joining her son in a place where all contact with reality was lost.

The contractions stepped up to the point where Robert could no longer drive into her at speed - but it didn't matter. In return, she provided a wringing clasp of his cock that absolutely insisted upon generating an eruption. Robert obliged, driving himself in deep and releasing his load with a smothered, "Oh, Jesus!" The long warm-up had allowed for copious preparation, so Robert positively flooded his slave/wife's womb with gout after gout of sperm.

Rick, having been the first to check out to another dimension, was the first to return to this one. He became aware of his hands working his mother's curls while she somewhat mindlessly suckled his slowly deflating cock. Taking in the sight through glazed eyes, he cudgeled his mind in an attempt to isolate the implications of the act that he had just completed. God! What was Mum going to think? Somehow, he didn't think he wanted word of THIS to leak out - 'motherfucker' was an epithet, not a compliment, if only a mild one! Gently, he extracted his cock from her lips, but continued to tousle her hair. Merry, eyes closed and still relying on Rick for support, wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her nose in his pubic hair.

Robert struggled up from where he had momentarily collapsed across Merry's back. "Well! That was fun, wasn't it?" he announced, meeting Rick's wondering eyes.

"Well, yeah, but..." Rick replied weakly.

"Oh, come now!" Robert was gruff, "You've treated this subject - I've heard you! You mother is on birth control; besides, you can't get pregnant from fellatio. So the moral position is bankrupt. Given the presence of Mandi, you're not going to become sexually dependent on your mother. The only real issue is the law, and what they don't know won't hurt them! Buck up, Son, your mother doesn't have your moral foundation and will probably need reassurance!"

Rick relaxed. If Pop wasn't excited...

Merry absorbed these comments peripherally, while she drifted back from that pleasant place. Rick's male musk was intoxicating, especially post-coitus... Rick's? Omigawd!

Rick felt her stiffen, and released her as she backed away. Dropping her hands back to the ottoman for support, she began panting and rolling her eyes as shock at the enormity of her recent act flooded her. Worst was the fact that she had enjoyed it! 'Omigawd!' she thought, "I'm a..."

"Mum!" Rick's voice was a whipcrack. "Settle down!"

"B-but..."

"You're about to stick your foot in your mouth again! Think! Never mind WHAT you were doing - who told you to do it?" Rick prompted.

Merry stopped. "My Master!"

"Okay, so - who's opinion is important to you?" Rick prompted.

Merry was visibly settling down. "My Master. But - what about you?"

Robert maintained his silence, letting his son handle things. Rick replied, "Mum, if I wasn't fine with it, I wouldn't have participated."

"Um," Merry murmured, "What we did - it's against the rules for most people."

"Mum," Rick sighed, "Morality is a slippery thing, and usually runs behind reality. Who made those rules?"

Merry blinked, "Somebody, long ago. But..."

"But there was a very good reason AT THE TIME! Somebody dictated this one to keep members of an extremely ignorant race to keep them from peeing in the gene pool. And it worked - but that was BEFORE birth control, BEFORE we understood genetics. But now, it's an outmoded imperative based upon conditions that no longer need exist. You're on birth control, aren't you, Mum?"

"Yes..." Merry admitted.

"Then I cannot get you pregnant. The other possible issue, that I might become emotionally dependent upon you, is easily dealt with - I love Mandi! So the problem is?" Rick asked.

"Um, I guess there isn't one..." Merry replied doubtfully.

Robert interjected here. "There are laws, so we must be discreet. But there are laws in this state against fellatio, too! Frankly, this kind of thing represents the worst case - some group of idiots has LEGISLATED their morality, making it binding on others! But morality is a private thing - generally, you need to puzzle out your own. You, Merry, are an exception, in that, having discovered that you are unable to deal with it, you have ceded your right to dictate your moral code to me. I will do so, and you will obey my directives. Understood?"

Merry looked at her husband and master. "Yes, Master. I understand."

"Can you deal with what you have just done?" Robert prompted.

Merry was thoughtful. "Yes, Master. You don't believe it's wrong, and Rick doesn't - therefore it isn't, I guess!"

"What does Rick have to do with it?" Robert bristled.

Merry looked him in the eye. "Rick is my son - and Dina is my daughter. They're a special case - they can bring me to shame, even if you approve of my actions."

Robert grunted, "Okay. I get that." He shook his head. "I really never planned for this - but between what is coming tomorrow, and your string of mistakes... Even this hasn't been adequate, apparently, to get your attention. You're lucky that I don't add physical punishment to my other efforts to correct your behavior."

Merry rose and draped herself over the ottoman, sighing, "I don't deserve to be lucky."

Robert bristled, "That's for ME to decide!" and Merry relaxed - but it was premature, for Robert continued, "But when you're right..." He collected the riding crop.

Whiiip! Crack! The first strike caught Merry as she began to rise from the footstool, causing her to collapse in shock. Pain flared across her buttocks as the riding crop left a livid stripe.

A moment later, Robert followed it up, bringing the backswing across Merry's left buttock, intoning, "...you're right!"

Robert was merciful, to an extent. He delivered only five strokes, with only short pauses between them, so Merry had barely worked through the shock to the anticipation of more pain before the final stroke fell. Afterward, he sat on the couch and gestured to Merry murmuring, "Come here, and snuggle up." Merry crawled onto the couch and draped herself across Robert's lap without hesitation, and Robert caressed her back softly. Rick backed out of the room, leaving his parents to their own devices.

After a bit, Merry suddenly cringed and wailed "Oh, God!"

Robert frowned, "What?"

"I - I screwed up, Master!" Merry moaned piteously.

Robert sighed. "I guess you'd better give me the details."

"Helen called earlier. She's having a get-together of the mothers - kind of a coffee - before we all jump off to the beauty shop. I said I'd be there. I'm sorry I didn't clear it first..."

"How difficult would that have been?" Robert asked.

"I could have - but I was maintaining the perception that I was still independent..." Merry cringed.

"With Helen? Who knows better?" Robert reproved.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid! I'll call her in the morning and beg off."

"No. You'll go - and you'll have a good time. Tomorrow is an important day for both of our children. You made the right call, even though you exceeded your authority. We'll carry this one on the books for next time. I'm operating under the assumption that your level of pride has already been adjusted?" Robert traced a welt with his finger.

"Yes, Master," Merry replied contritely.

"Let's go to bed. I want to spoon."