One important duty of a Dom or Master is to nourish his slave. Not all times together are rainbows and lollipops or orgasms and paddles. The following describes such a time.

She slowly enters the room with her head down. She sets her purse on the coffee table and looks at me. Her eyes are puffy and she blows her nose with a tissue. Not a word is spoken. Her sadness is felt. The events of the day and circumstances of the world have pushed her into anguish. She is despondent.

I walk to her and slide my arms around her. She grips me like a magnet and our cheeks touch then lips meet. I feel her emptiness. I lift her and carry her to our bedroom and gently set her on the edge of our bed. I motion for her to wait with my finger. Not a word Is spoken.

I walk to the bathroom and begin her bath. When the water is warm, I sprinkle lavender bath beads, then return to the bedroom. Slowly piece by piece I remove her clothes starting with her shoes, then dress, then stockings, then bra and panties. She sits before me naked as she has many times before. I caress her face and bring her face close to my chest. We hug for minutes and I hold her head while she hugs the small of my back. I carefully hang up her dress and set her shoes in their place.

I step back and remove my clothes except for my boxer shorts and put them away, so she need not bother. I extend my hand and she takes it. I lead her to the bathtub which is now ready for my lovely. I shut off the water and swirl the water so the bath flakes are dissolved. The water is warm and scented. I motion for her to enter like a doorman at the Ritz. She steps into the bathtub and lowers herself slowly. I take the loofah pad and soak it then rub it with her favorite scented soap. I begin with her feet and legs carefully and gently scrubbing every inch. I work my way to her neck and make sure to slide my hands behind her. The cleansing stops only occasionally for a kiss of her foot, knee, hands, arms, breasts and lips. My face is wet with the water that coated her chest. Not a word is spoken

We are nose to nose when I set the loofah pad down and pick up her scented shampoo. She slides down so her long hair becomes soaked. Her face disappears under the water. I lift her upward and greet her with a deep long kiss. She smiles. I drizzle shampoo on her head and lather the suds up and around her head carefully massaging her scalp and caressing the sides of her head behind her ears. Because she loves this, I decide to cup some water and extend the washing of her hair by caressing its length between my fingers. We kiss again and our eyes remain in a constant gaze with each other. I lower her to rinse her hair and take the opportunity to massage the top and back of her head while she is underwater. I lean her head and shoulders out of the water and again caress her face. I drizzle the scented conditioner over her head and again lather up her hair for another round of gentle massage and deep kisses. Our noses spar a tender dance, then I lower her to rinse her hair and take one last opportunity to caress its strands under water. I lift her head upward from the water. I stand and pull her with my hand out of the tub onto a towel. She stands dripping until I take a fluffy towel and section by section dry her body. With a fresh towel I dry her hair with a little vigor then wrap the towel around her head. Not a word is spoken.

I lift her. She instinctively wraps her arms behind my neck and rides her chin on my shoulder like a little girl holding Daddy. I carry her to our bed and gently set her down, then pull back the covers and slide her body under the sheets. I remove my shorts and slide along side her. She instinctively caresses my body as her legs pretzel into mine, her arms drape around my waist and her head finds its comforting place on my chest. I hold her tight.

One of the most enjoyable duties of a Dom is to nourish his submissive.

• * Epilogue: To show how fragile the Master/Slave relationship is, the slave of 14 months who I treasured left me shortly after writing this. That story is in my writing titled, "A Master Abandoned." We should never forget we live in the present and enjoy every moment together.