Without

When He stepped through the front door, she was kneeling in the front hallway, just to His left, as usual. she was wet, her long stringy hair obscuring her bowed face; likely, she had just recently returned from her near-daily jog through the nearby park; her wet body caused her to shiver. He closed the door behind Him, cutting off the chill from the cold winter outside, then slowly set His briefcase aside, kicked off His shoes, and removed His coat and hung it on an unused hook in the wall.

Feeling His hand upon her head, she looked up at Him for the first time in many days, the smile on her face unable to be concealed. When He held His arms wide, she practically leaped to her feet and plastered herself against Him, hugging Him tightly and threatening to never let go. He simply held her close for several long minutes, His hands caressing her back and fondly toying with her hair.

In time, they shared a long, warm kiss, then separated. Taking her hand, He guided her into the main room and sat on the sofa, indicating for her to sit in His lap. There they continued their cuddling in silence, the naked submissive slowly drying while leaving her wetness on her Master's clothes.

Eventually, her head resting upon His shoulder, they spoke about His trip to Paris. The project team had not needed the extra two days they had built into their schedule in case of problems, so He and a few of His colleagues had decided to return home immediately, while the rest of the team remained in Paris to wait for their originally-scheduled flight. Having been to Paris several times before - both as a tourist and on business - He had decided to instead spend the extra time with her.

she related her days of quiet in His absence. The majority of her time had been spent reading, drawing, writing a few letters to old friends, and jogging in the park each afternoon. she admitted that she had just stepped out of the shower after her daily jog when she heard His car in the driveway, and - once over her shock of hearing His car two days early - rushed to greet Him as usual. As she spoke, her mind began to wander as His hand lifted and cupped a breast, his fingers tweaking the nipple as she spoke.

Soon, she began to leave another kind of wetness on His clothes. she could also feel His arousal through His slacks, pressing against her leg. she simply closed her eyes and reveled in the gentle attention, almost afraid that it would come to an end if she even shifted position.

Finally, she moved to her knees, straddling His legs, and kissed Him - a hot, hard, passionate, tongue-battling kiss accompanied by groping hands by both parties. Eleven days without Him had made her extremely horny, although the jog and shower had helped to calm that need temporarily. How that He was here, she intended to do everything she could to satisfy her need.

He gently pushed her back, breaking the kiss, then kissed her between her breasts as she wrapped her arms around His head. For a few moments, He kept moving from breast to breast, licking and gently biting, before slowly moving up the sternum, kissing along the collarbone, and up to the neck.

she froze in horror as He repeatedly kissed her neck, in the same spot, again and again, over and over. Tears formed in her eyes, and she soon could not keep herself from sobbing softly. Yet she could not understand why He kept kissing her neck, despite the disappointment He must have felt upon seeing her without The Collar without His permission.

Without thinking, she suddenly pushed herself away from Him, scrambled to a bowed kneeling position on the floor, and apologized profusely between her now-loud sobs. Inwardly, she was severely lashing herself for forgetting to put The Collar back on before rushing downstairs to greet Him. In her mind's eye, she could see the thin leather collar, its three diamonds sparkling, still resting upon the counter, next to her shampoo bottle and her brush. The vision she had carried with her for several days now - being pinned beneath His sturdy frame as He filled and refilled her core after the long business trip - shattered into the thousand pieces of a broken mirror.

she watched His feet shift position as He stood before her, yet she dared not look up at Him. her body continued to shake visibly as she cried, the tears threatening to never cease. When she noticed His feet leave her field of vision - severely reduced by her own long, stringy hair - she was certain that He was removing His belt to administer a punishment. When she heard Him leave the room, she was certain that He was going to return with some other method of punishment, one which could be administered there in the main room.

Perhaps ten minutes later, when she heard Him leave the house and start the car, she knew that He was indeed furious deep inside.

It was nightfall when she finally dared to move from her position, her lower back especially sore from being arched for so long. Her body was now dry, except the streaks of her tears on her cheeks. With a little effort and discomfort, she rose to her feet and decided to look for a clue as to when He would return.

After searching several obvious places in the house, she finally ventured into His den. In the center of the immaculate desk, she found a note which had not been there previously when she was cleaning.

"Thursday-Sunday, $375." A telephone number was also given.

she recognized the telephone number from when she had made reservations for them in Chicago for their vacation a few weeks before.

her heart sank as she sank once again to the floor, the tears flowing anew. This was her punishment: one extra day without having her dire need fulfilled.