To have a master, to have a life

[Bsquad]

(Closed for Monique_Minx and Bsquad)

***

John Brooks was...different.

He worked hard at his job because he had to. He had bills to pay and a life to maintain, but he wasn't a corporate lemming, he wasn't the kind of man who spent his life looking for advancement and climbing the corporate ladder. He worked because he had to. But he did a lot of things because he wanted to. He wrote, he was a woodworker; he loved the outdoors and hunted, fished, and camped. He white water rafted, he rode horses, he played paintball and he was a man who was willing to do just about anything once, probably more than once. He loved to play video games, he enjoyed working out. He was...unique. He loved his family and cared about his friends...but today it was something much better than simply rolling out of bed for work.

He had two weeks off because there was something very important happening. As his gray eyes fluttered open as the alarm chirped and he smiled at the first thought that entered his mind...her smiling face. He sighed and looked over at the nightstand of his bedroom; the picture was there, framed and hanging up. It was the two of them there on a beach. He was crouched there, one knee in the sand, wearing a pair of black shorts and a bright aloha shirt that wasn't buttoned. John was looking over his shoulder, his face was smiling at her, the woman he loved...his Helot...and the reason that he was in such a good mood. He sat up, smiling at the picture and then rising up and walking to shave and shower. Looking in the mirror he examined the look in his gray eyes, studying his face. It wasn’t a face that would make you stand out in a crowd…in fact, if you looked at it you wouldn’t be able to tell he was 25, it was the kind of face that you couldn’t pin that kind of thing down from. His hair was short cut, almost military length, but long enough to be ‘civilian’. Dirty blonde, though in august after spending enough time outside it was lighter blonde than during the winter months. He had gray eyes…gray eyes that looked like storm clouds encroaching before a summer rain when he was angry…or that sparkled like silver when he was happy.

John smiled at the reflection in the mirror, seeing the silvery glow in his eyes as he lathered up his face and shaved off a night’s growth of beard. He left the small ice blonde ’soul patch on his lower lip, but shaved himself clean otherwise. The ice blonde color went better with his hair than the vaguely reddish beard. He got into the shower and washed quickly, savoring the warmth as he quickly washed himself off and then got out drying himself and walking back into the bedroom, dressing quickly in black jeans and a white polo shirt. He couldn’t help but feel a little…excited. He almost laughed at the thought, it wasn’t like he hadn’t met her before…but then, before was quite different from the way things were now. Before it was a visit, before it was a meeting, a week or two together snatched away from their separate lives a world apart. But now…now was the day that they would be together. No more chatting online, no more planning and playing on a screen, no more mailed packages, no more saving and scrimping every penny to try and get together. Now they had that chance, it had been a year, but they’d be able to be together.

John headed out of the house, walking through the halls, drinking a cup of coffee and checking his watch. Her flight would be coming in; in three hours…and it was a bit more than two to get there. He chuckled to himself and headed downstairs to the garage getting into his truck and starting the drive towards the airport, music playing on the radio, one of the presets that he’d added the last time she’d been up to see him. He drummed the wheel in tune with the beat as he drove, his own anticipation growing with every mile he drive.

 

[monique_minx]

Nikki sighed softly, looking out the window of the jumbo 747, the thirty hour flight had more than taken its toll on her nerves and butterflies were flapping around in her stomach with every passing minute. She’d arrive soon and it would be for good, she was apprehensive about it, nervous and afraid but he had calmed her on those issues time and again. She wanted to have faith in this, she wanted to trust him heart and soul, most of all she wanted to know she was making the right decision.

Her red hair cascaded down her to tickle the bottom of her shoulder blades; it fell in light waves of delicate fair strands. Her brown eyes sparkled tiredly as she’d just woken to find them a lot closer to her destination. The plane was taxiing on the runway and she felt a lurch in the pit of her gut telling her the journey was nearing its end and she’d shortly find herself in his arms again.

She smoothed her black skirt nervously and muttered quietly to herself, attempting to calm the butterflies. She unbuckled her belt the second the light went off and told her she could; she stepped from her seat and grabbed her handbag from the overhead compartment. Making her way through the long line of people patiently, she ran her hand over her blue halter top and straightened it, hoping she looked alright for someone who’d have an indecent amount of jetlag later.

She slipped her handbag over her shoulder and gave the flight attendant a tight lipped smile as she passed her before she exited into the terminal and stopped short, looking around for him. She took a deep breath and stepped into view, praying he saw her first to save her from walking up without knowing what to say. Nikki curled her finger in her hair nervously, biting her bottom lip as she so often did when she was apprehensive which she had to admit was a rarity. Her black heel tapped on the ground and she looked around at what was a whole new world to her, a new beginning she hoped…

 

[Bsquad]

Alright...so two hours was the optimistic estimate...er...the outside estimate for the amount of time it was going to take. But mind you, when the woman you love is showing up to move in with you after spending a thirty hour plane flight...well...you tend to get a little heavy on the gas pedal. John chuckled a little thinking about the rather fast journey going slightly more than the legal limit. 90 was fine...where Nikki was from 90 was probably average driving speed...but that was kilometers not miles. He chuckled at the thought of that as well...she'd had him thinking bi-measurely for a long time, kiloeters, liters... Either way...a V-8 Vortec Hemi engine in his black Chevy truck had proven just how FAST that he could go when he wanted...and he'd made the journey in record time. Parked and spent about twenty minutes outside blatantly ignoring the No Smoking signs as he lit up to stop his hands from shaking.

Now was sitting at the small sports bar in the regional airport. Not a massive place, but it was closer than driving to Washington or Baltimore to get to one of the massive places. John was sitting there watching the Phillies play on the big screen and sipping a soda while he waited for her, glancing at the terminal and his watch alternatly. The inbound flight from Quantis was supposed to be landing at 11am...and it was 1055am. His sandaled foot had been tapping out a rapid stacatto of sounds as he sat there...growing slowly faster and louder as the minutes had ticked off. One of the servers had tried to talk to him, but he was far to engrossed in watching the clock. Hell, he was far to nervous to cheer at a home run on the screen...it was 11...and he finished his drink, paid the tab and slowly rose on shaky legs. It was funny...a guy who had done everything he'd done...been an EMT in the worst parts of the City...been shot at...hunted things that hunt humans...and right here and now he was nervous! It wasn't like he and Nikki didn't know each other.

That thought made him laugh. They certainly knew each other, in every sense of the words...she knew how to make him stop snoring. He knew just how to make her cuddle up to him in her sleep. She knew what the writing was on the inside of the ring he wore around his neck...and he knew what the tattoo on her hip said. But somehow John knew that the anticipation and nerves were stemming from the fact that this time...this visit...this pickup from the airport would be from a one way trip, he wouldn't be bringing her back in a week or so.

He rose and walked out of the sports bar. Making his way up the stairs to the terminal area, looking past the checkpoints for the face he knew so well, the anticipation making his heart hammer in his chest...the sweet feeling of pleasure that was about to come forth. John shifted his brown cowboy hat on his head and looked at the faces, each one different, each one not her. Carefully he leaned back on the balcony and kept watching the jetway...she would be coming from...right about...there...

His gray eyes blinked and he saw her...that beautiful face that he had seen so long ago, seen for the first time so long ago in a picture. That face that he was supprised to associate with a friend from the internet...a face that made his chest burn when he saw it, that made him hunger for it when he was away from it. The face attached to the woman that meant everything in the world to him. His worried face split into a broad smile, and the fear, the tension in his chest turned into something warm and good, not tense and painful. It was her, it was realy her, it was that face that he cared for...the woman he wanted. Walking across the terminal towards the checkpoint he waved to her and smiled widely, waiting for her to cross the line and get close enough for him to throw his arms around her and hold her tight.

 

[monique_minx]

She set her handbag down on the X ray conveyor belt and walked through the metal detectors without incident, collected her things and kept walking slowly. Her eyes peeled for him, she stopped short when she saw him, the crowd parted enough and she glimpsed him standing at the bar. He started towards her and waved, her face split into a genuine smile at the sight of him and she quickly wandered over.

Without a word Nikki wrapped her arms around him, the butterflies ceasing for the moment as she embraced him tightly. She let go only to look upon his face, she touched his cheek and smiled up at him.

“Just wanted to make sure you’re real my Lord” She murmured softly to him and laid her head on his chest, ignoring the few people that smiled when they saw the pair of them; probably thinking they were two lovers who had been apart for a little while.

She however wasn’t American and now found herself in a whole new land; she also hadn’t seen him in far too long so she supposed that for the most part the people that smiled were right. Nikki was quite rightly nervous, scared, tense, excited…all manner of things she was unable to comprehend but for the moment she felt safe in his arms.

“Suppose I should get my luggage or something.” She smiled up at him, “I’ve missed you…for far too long my Lord.”

 

[Bsquad]

John saw her cross the line and come straight to him. The smile on his features was a fraction of the emotion that he felt as she wandered over to him and without hesitation wraped her arms around him and laid her head on his chest. He smiled at the embrace, savoring it as his own arms wrapped around Nikki and held her close to him. He'd missed her, he'd missed the touch of her skin, the feel of her body, he'd missed everything about her. He laid his chin on the top of her head for a moment and smiled.

"I'm real my Helot...I'm real...and I'm glad you're here." John said, the smile on his lips broad as he looked around and saw the few glances at the pair of them. It wasn't unusual for two people to be so...enthusiastic that they were together after a long flight...and a long time apart. He smiled again, and he knew that there was a future for them. He chuckled a little at the comment that escaped Nikki's lips.

"Yeah...we should get your luggage I think...might be kinda hard to have you walking around the house naked for a few weeks...or not..." John said with an evil little smile on his lips as he finally pulled from the hug, his hand caressing her ass through her skirt firmly, reminding her of all the things that they were deprived of for so long. John's hand grasped Nikki's and held it firmly, smiling at her.

"I know my Helot...I know...and I am immensely glad that you don't have a return ticket this time. No chance to escape." John said with a twisted little smile on his lips as he looked at his love and they headed for the luggage carosels.

 

[monique_minx]

"Yeah...we should get your luggage I think...might be kinda hard to have you walking around the house naked for a few weeks...or not..."

She shivered beneath the familiar devilish gaze of his and gasped softly at his gentle grope of her ass, she had missed that so much, missed him so much. She smiled widely as he took her hand in his and Nikki found she was terribly excited at the prospect of this new life with him rather than scared now.

"I know my Helot...I know...and I am immensely glad that you don't have a return ticket this time. No chance to escape."

She managed to giggle at his words but inside her guts were twisting slightly with the truth that lingered in that as they made their way across the airport to collect her bags. When they reached it, she stayed close to him as she watched other couples hugging and collecting their luggage before she finally spied her own suitcase and grabbed it off the conveyor belt. Nikki shook her head as John seemed to move to take it from her and she smiled at him, pulling the handle out to show it was on rollers.

“You know me my Lord,” She shrugged and let him lead her outside as she wasn’t sure where to go from this point.

 

[Bsquad]

John heard the forced nature of her giggle as they walked towards the luggage carosel. It was hard for him not to sympathize with what he knew she was thinking. This hadn't been anything close to an easy step for either of them. They'd known each other for two years, two years of talking almost daily, knowing everything about each other. They'd met six times, six trips back and forth over two long years...and now...he'd said it as a joke, but it had been his own worry. No escape sounded bleak, but even though it wasn't a ring, even though it wasn't the same kind of comitment that a couple made when they exchanged vows, when they became married.

This...

She was giving up everything, everything that she knew to be with him. The thought of that willingness to commit everything she had to him scared him as much as her leaving everything behind for him. As they walked along through the concorse and down to the luggage carosuels he kept his arm around her, the emotion of the moment was enough that he wasn't quite sure what he sould be feeling. He was overjoyed right now, they were together. Despite everything.

As they walked along, he glanced at her, looking at his helot with a smile and takign in the view of her pale skin. He wanted her, he loved her, she was his everything. He smiled again at the thought as they reached the carosel and she snagged the bag before he could be chivalrous about it. John chuckled lightly and knew that she wasn't the kind of woman who would accept his courtesy and spoiling without having a gun to her head and he simply grinned at her.

"Well, very true. I do know you." John said with a sly smile." He nodded towards the walkway to the parking garages, guiding her along.

"It's a big step my Helot, one of many. But both of us know that this is one of many for us...all of them together." He said quietly, leaning close to her as they walked to his pickup truck in the parking garge.

 

[monique_minx]

"It's a big step my Helot, one of many. But both of us know that this is one of many for us...all of them together."

She finally gave a warm and genuine smile at the sound of those few words, they might mean so little to another but it gave her such comfort to know he could see the butterflies inside her. She got into the cab of the truck after stowing her luggage and gave a soft sigh, she felt a little homesick after all.

Mostly it was anxiety that was plaguing her; she’d never lived in another country before and as near as she could figure; life here would most certainly take some adjusting. Nikki gave a small smile and a soft giggle as she thought of the list that was scrunched up in her pocket even now.

It was a list she’d written the night before she got on the plane, a list of all the things she’d miss in Australia and all the things she wouldn’t. All the things she’d yet to show John of her country and all the things she wanted to see in his. Her favourite television shows would be dearly missed but then thanks to podcasting and the internet; she wouldn’t miss too much.

Her family topped the list but visits and long phone calls, not to mention constant emailing and facebooking would fix that. Technology was suddenly a more wonderful thing than she’d ever considered it to be. As the drive had gone on much in silence she decided it just wouldn’t do though they were both in a little shock as it slowly dawned that they’d be together at last and he wouldn’t be kissing her goodbye at the airport in three weeks time. This was for good.

“So is my accent a sore thumb or hardly noticeable?” She asked with a coy smile, telling him she was joking to break the silence.

 

[Bsquad]

John laughed softly as he heard Nikki's question. He'd kept quiet because he knew that she was still processing. It was an immense step, one that they'd taken two years of talking, of deciding, of planning to come to, something that both of them were on the same page about this. But even now, he felt a little bit of nervousness, and the question...it did go a long way towards breaking the tension. He glanced over at her as they got off the interstate and he smirked.

"Well, only about as much as I stuck out when I came to see you...but of course...my using of 'G'day' in the entirely wrong context might have had something to do with it." John said with a smirk as he took the offramp and pulled up to a stoplight. He looked over at her, and despite the smile, he knew she was nervous...but they knew that they'd wanted this...hell, they'd done enough work for it, he'd gotten a better job, better lifestyle, done a lot so she could come here and know she would be in a better place.

"Of course, we just have to work on your spelling...that and driving on the right side of the road..." John said with a smirk.

 

[monique_minx]

"Well, only about as much as I stuck out when I came to see you...but of course...my using of 'G'day' in the entirely wrong context might have had something to do with it."

Nikki smirked at him, suppressing a snort at the memory of it and were they not in a 24/7 D/s relationship - she might have had something to say about it. She recalled the conversation about real life limits and how apprehensive they had been about meeting in person. She remembered their discussion of safe words and when she had told him of her scary medical news which meant they had to work all the harder together.

She looked over at him and smiled with a warm glow, she saw him in a whole new light now. She knew there wouldn’t be a return to the airport next week or the week after that or even six months from now. They weren’t five minutes away from being parted again and she wasn’t constantly thinking of how horrible it would be to leave. Nikki’s smile softened somewhat as she considered how many more positives there were to gain from this.

"Of course, we just have to work on your spelling...that and driving on the right side of the road..."

Nikki snapped from her reverie as he spoke and glared at him in a playful manner, her lips pouting delicately, “That is so never going to happen…I can’t be a bad speller Master!”

She stuck her tongue out at him and folded her arms in an overly dramatic manner, turning her head to observe the scenery as it passed by her window. Today…they were moving in together, today was huge and today she was completely and utterly His in every aspect; not to be parted for lengthy amounts of time. Six months apart to spend only two weeks together was utter torture but they made no secret of the fact that neither of them were millionaires. They were both very real people with very real problems and when John pulled into the driveway; Nikki realized they’d be sorting them out together…

 

[Bsquad]

John looked over to her. It was an inescapable feeling, that something...here and now was happening, something that had been so long in waiting, something that neither one of them had expected the first time they'd talked, the first time he'd messaged her. Even through all of it, the good times and the bad...this moment had never felt so overwhelming. Sitting there, looking at the ranch house surrounded by trees, parked in the driveway, looking...anticipating, and trying to see just what the furture might hold. But the future surrendered it's secrets to no one.

So John sat there, looking at the house with fresh eyes. Becasue right now, this wasn't the same place he'd left. This morning...it had been his house. Now, it was their house. The very thought of it sent a bit of a nervous twinge through him, but he fought it down. After everything that they had fought through it seemed like the biggest step was just getting out of the pickup. His hand reached over and took Nikki's softly, giving it a squeeze. They were both strong, they were both determined, and they were both madly in love with one another. He moved his eyes from the house and looked over at her. It was hard not to wonder about what might happen, but they'd been wondering about 'what might' for a long time.

Now they faced what was.

"Come on babe, let's go get you unpacked." He said with a smile and opened his door, getting out and heading for the back bed of the truck to lift up her cases.

 

[monique_minx]

She’d blinked and before she knew it; they’d arrived. She looked up at the house she’d visited before once or twice but never for very long; she’d stay a month and then leave again. Now Nikki was starting anew; she had to find a new job to go with the change of scenery and looking up at the house now? She found it hard to imagine she’d ever be able to call it home.

"Come on babe, let's go get you unpacked."

She nodded mutely, almost feeling a little shocked by how quickly everything was happening now as she slid from the cab of the truck. She allowed John to take her bags this time while she tried to get a handle on herself. Nikki was nervous and excited, afraid and happy all at once. She wasn’t sure what the future held but just looking at John as he took her bags inside; it wasn’t a mistake and she finally smiled. The journey was worth it for this.

Nikki followed him into the house, she felt almost lost all over again in here. She tried to figure out where to start with her life, she’d thought about it on the flight over while her stomach did flips but she just didn’t know where to begin. Unpacking was first, then a shower, something to eat and some sleep but that was as far as her plans went. The jetlag would hit her hard in a short while so she didn’t have much time before her drowsy lids closed on her and demanded rest before she made them work anymore.

“Hope you’ve got enough room for me baby…” She smiled at him and followed him to the bedroom…their bedroom.