Zara went to her purse and took the collar out. Returning to the sofa, she held it out to him. “Before I put this on you”, Myles said as he took it from her, “I want you to know that I will always respect you, whether or not you have the collar on. I will never do anything to you that you don't want me to do. I will never call you dirty names, that isn't my style. I will never deliberately cause you pain. The only exception to that will be when I give you a spanking. It will sting but I will not go any harder than you can handle. If you want it harder, you may ask for that, but I will not go to extremes. Your ass will be red, but I will not cause you to bleed.

“Anything we do will always be consensual. We will explore and do things you've never done before, but with your safe word, you can always say 'no' if something is too much. I am not into extremes, I won't whip you or make you eat off the floor or scrub it with a toothbrush or anything like that. I am into pleasure, not pain or degradation. You are my pet, not my slave. Which is why I do not want you to call me 'Master' - ever. As I said the last time we were together, you may call me 'Sir' or 'Doctor'. You seem to prefer 'Doctor' and that is fine. When I put the collar on you and tell you 'you are mine', I mean that in a good way, not an abusive way.”

Zara smiled at him. “I appreciate you saying this, Doctor. I don't think I could get into any extremes either. And you are right, I've never done anything like this before.”

“You have my promise that I will never harm you and I will never cross your limits. If you use the safe word, it will always be respected, though I hope to never cause you to have to use it. You are my pet and a pet is something to be treasured. Now, lean forward for me.” She did and he took her scarf off before putting the collar on her. “You are mine”, he whispered into her ear and kissed her once again. Zara felt her juices flowing. Oh god, I'm hot for him, she thought to herself. Myles suddenly broke away from kissing her. “Pet, we need to deal with something and now is a good time.”

“What's that, Doctor?”

“The matter of two cancelled appointments. I cannot let that go unpunished.”

Zara gulped. “I gave you notice”, she said in a small voice.

“Yes, you did – and I appreciate that. But you cancelled because you were avoiding me, not because you were sick or couldn't get away from work or any other legitimate reason. I don't like it when my patients avoid me. Now, come over here.” He got up and took his suit jacket off, putting it over the back of a chair. He went to the bed and sat on it. “Zara. Now”, he said to her in a firm voice. She was still on the sofa.

She got up and slowly walked over to the bed.

“Over my knee”, Myles told her. “Pull your dress up first.” Zara looked at him with trepidation. “Did I not make myself clear?”

“I'm not sure about this”, she replied, her voice quavering.

“You have your safe word, Zara. If it's too much, you can use it.”

She hesitated, then blurted out “Dragon!”

Myles could tell that she was genuinely afraid. “Zara, sit down”, he said, patting the bed beside him. She sat on the edge, almost trembling. He turned toward her and reached out, removing the collar. Her eyes got wide. “I'm taking this off so we can talk as equals. We are Zara and Myles, not Doctor and Pet right now. Okay?” Zara nodded. “All right, tell me, what has you afraid?”

“That it will hurt”, she replied with more confidence now that they were out of role.

“I told you, I will never harm you. If it's ever too much, just say the safe word, like you just did. I stopped everything, didn't I?”

“Yes.”

“And I always will.” After a few seconds of silence, he asked “Zara, were you spanked as a child?”

“No, never. My parents didn't believe in physical discipline.”

“Were you ever hit at all, by anyone?”

“No, not until....” she let the sentence trail off.

“Until you started dating.”

“Right.”

“Is that why you are afraid of me spanking you? Is it triggering you?”

“No, Myles – it's not that. When I was a child, a friend used to get hit by her parents all the time. She showed me the cuts on her bottom and back. I don't want that!”

“What was she hit with?”

“A switch from their tree.”

“Zara, honey, that wasn't a spanking. That was abuse. No child should ever have that happen to them. And I promise you, I will never do that to you.” Myles stressed the word “never”. “Tell you what, let's just skip the spanking. Put your collar away, we won't do any of that tonight.”

“Will you go home?”

“Only if you want me to.”

“I don't want you to.”

“Then I won't. Did you think I'm only interested in being with you if I can tie you up or spank you?”

“I didn't know.....”

“No, my dear. I guess I can see why you would wonder, given the first time we did anything involved you being tied up and I did swat your rear a couple times. But no, that is not the reason I'm here with you tonight. I'm here because I want to be with you, whether or not we engage in any kink.” He leaned over and gave her a kiss on the lips.

Zara smiled. She picked the collar up from the bed where Myles had placed it and held it out to him for the second time that night. “Will you please put this on me, Doctor?”

“If you are sure.”

“I am sure.”

Once again, he put it around her neck and did it up. “We can skip the spanking, Pet.”

She got up off the bed, pulled her dress up to her hips and said “No need to, Sir.” She lay over his knees.

Myles smiled as placed one hand on the small of her back. He had a feeling this arrangement was going to work out. “Remember your safe word, Pet. Use it if this is too much.”

“Yes, Doctor.”

He pulled her panty hose and panties down off her butt. “Now, Pet, we can't have you avoiding me, can we?” He brought his hand down on her behind.

“No, Doctor”, she replied without any reaction to the slap.

“Cancelling two appointments in a row without a good reason is unacceptable.” He brought his hand down harder this time. Zara flinched and an “ouch!” escaped her lips. Okay, I know how hard she can tolerate, he thought to himself. I'll ease up a bit since this is her first spanking. “Do you understand?”

“Yes, Doctor.”

“We'll just make sure you do.” He proceeded to spank her, just a little lighter than the second slap he'd given her. When her bottom was nice and red, he stopped and admired his work.

“C-can I get up now, Doctor?” she asked.

“Yes, Pet, you may.” She rose, and Myles asked her “How was that, Zara? Did it hurt?”

“It stung a bit”, she admitted.

“I kept it light since it was your first. As soon as I heard you say “ouch”, I lightened up a bit. But I had to make it have an impression on you. You need to learn to not avoid me. Want to see your red behind?”

“Uh ... okay.”

“Turn around and lift your dress up.” Myles got his phone and snapped a photo of Zara's red butt. He showed it to her.

“I hope you delete that”, she said to him.

“Why?”

“I don't want it to end up online.”

“Pet, I would never do that to you. I'd like to keep it to look at when you aren't around, but if you really want me to delete it, I will. And I will do it now with you watching.”

“You promise me that's all you will do with it? Look at it yourself?”

“I promise, Pet.”

“Okay.” She granted permission for him to keep it, figuring he had as much to lose as she did if it got out. She hoped her trust was not being misplaced.

“Now, Pet, take your dress off.” She complied, laying the garment over a chair. “Now your panty hose and panties.” When she'd done that, he said “Put your shoes back on.” She was wearing a pair of white shoes with stiletto heels. He got up from the bed and admired her body. He could feel himself beginning to get hard. Walking around to his pet's back, he wrapped his arms around her, caressing her breasts and pushing himself in to her. Zara began to moan. “You like that, Pet?” he asked her.

“Oh, yes, Doctor!”

With his right hand, Myles reached down and between her legs. He stuck two fingers in her. She was so wet. He took them out and held them to her mouth from behind. Pushing them between her lips, he said “Suck your juices off my fingers, Pet.” Until their first tryst, Zara had never tasted herself. Her sex life had been bland her whole adulthood and she'd never thought to do it when she was masturbating.

When he removed his fingers, she blurted out “I want to taste YOU, Doctor!”

“Oh, you do, do you?”

“Yes, Sir.”

“You enjoy my cock in your mouth?”

“Yes, Doctor.”

“Kneel on the floor.” He went to the sofa and retrieved her scarf, then bound Zara's hands together behind her back. He wished he'd brought the leather cuffs, but he hadn't planned on anything but dinner tonight.

Myles unbuckled his belt and undid his pants. He pushed them and his jockey shorts far enough down to release his semi hard cock. “Take this in your mouth, Pet. Get me nice and hard.” Zara opened her mouth and took his head between her lips. She ran her tongue over it and sucked on it gently. “Oh, Pet, that is so good”, he said as he pushed his growing member further into her mouth. He ran his hands through her short hair, wishing it was longer. Holding the back of her head, he began thrusting in and out of her mouth, moaning with pleasure. He could feel the head of his cock hit the back of her throat

with every thrust. When he was ready to cum, he pushed into her mouth hard and held his cock there, feeling the cum spurting out and into her throat. A couple more thrusts and he was spent. Zara swallowed every drop. “Oh, Pet, that was so good”, he praised her as he helped her to her feet. “You will now be rewarded.”

He untied her wrists and told her to get onto the bed. Before joining her, he took his pants and underwear off, removing his belt first. Using the belt for one hand and Zara's scarf for the other, he tied each wrist to a bedpost, secretly thanking her for getting a premium room instead of a cheap one. He lay down beside his pet and kissed her while playing with her left breast. Leaning over her, he took her nipple into his mouth and gently closed his teeth over it. Zara moaned as he began to suckle. “Oh, Doctor!” she exclaimed.

“Do you like this, Pet?” he asked.

“Yes, very much, Doctor.”

Myles flicked his tongue around her nipple, sending shivers up her spine. Then he switched breasts and did the same to the other one. He squeezed both of them together, imagining his cock between them. Not tonight, he thought. But definitely some day.

He sat up and took his shirt and tie off, then got between Zara's legs and began to kiss her abdomen, from her breasts down to her pubic area. She spread her legs for him without being asked. He spread her labia apart with his hands, revealing her clitoris. Lowering his mouth to it, he flicked his tongue around it, licking and sucking. He pushed a couple fingers into her vagina, feeling her wetness. He found her G-spot and massaged it. Zara's moans were getting louder. His cock was hard again. “Oh, Myles...” He took his fingers out of her pussy and slapped her ass. “I'm sorry....Doctor”, she corrected herself.

“That's better, Pet”, he responded. “I know this is new to you, you will make mistakes. But I will correct you when you do.” He went back to giving her clit and pussy his undivided attention. Soon she was moaning again. She began to buck against his mouth and the fingers inside her. “Cum for me, Pet”, he said, giving her permission to do so.

As her orgasm began to come over her, she called out “Oh, Doctor!”

“Call me Myles when you cum, Pet. I want to hear my name as I bring such intense pleasure over you.”

“Oh, Myles!” Zara yelled. She came not once, but three times before Myles took his mouth off her clit and fingers out of her pussy. He got on his knees and entered her in one swift thrust. She wrapped her legs around his hips. He could feel the contractions of her vagina around his cock, which made him even harder. He lay on top of her, holding her head with both hands and kissed her as he went in and out of her, gradually increasing his pace. Zara could feel his soft chest hair on her bare chest. This aroused her even more. She was breathing hard and soon Myles was, too.

He sat back on his haunches and took each of her ankles in a hand. He raised her legs and pushed them back so that her knees were almost to her chest and resumed his strokes. In this position, he was able to get deeper into her and this brought him closer to climax. “You cum first, Pet. I want to feel your orgasm. Don't take too long, though or I won't be able to hold off.”

She called his name again as she climaxed. Feeling her vaginal contractions around his cock brought him over the edge and he followed suit. He had a policy of not calling out his partner's name, but that went by the wayside with Zara. He couldn't help it, she had that effect on him.

Myles untied her hands and they lay in each other's arms enjoying the afterglow. Zara had her head on his chest. “What is that?” Myles inquired as a sound escaped from her throat.

“Oh, my goodness, I haven't done that since I was ... well, 12 or so!” she replied. “I used to do it when I was very happy, like snuggling with my Dad while we watched TV.”

“It sounds almost like a cat purring.”

“I've been told that.”

“I think I will call you 'Kitten' when you don't have your collar on.” He reached behind her neck and took it off.

“Does that make you 'Tom Cat'?” she asked innocently.

Myles laughed. “I guess it does. You may call me that if you like.”

“I like it – Kitten and Tom Cat.”

“You are one of a kind, Kitten.” He kissed her on the top of her head. “But why haven't you 'purred' since way back then?”

“I don't know.”

“Surely, you have been happy – especially when you got married.”

“I thought I was, but in retrospect, I'm not so sure. But we've been over that in my therapy sessions.”

“Zara, what happened to you when you were 12?”

“What do you mean, Myles?”

“Don't play dumb with me, Kitten. It doesn't become you. It's obvious that something traumatic happened.”

Zara clammed up. “Come on, Zara, tell me – please. I know you've refused to discuss your childhood during therapy, except in general terms. Whatever it is, you need to talk about it.”

“There's nothing to talk about.”

“Are you saying nothing traumatic happened back then?”

She hesitated, then replied with a curt “It's not up for discussion, Myles.” She hated being like this with him. He'd been such a good friend and therapist and he had helped her so much with her issues regarding her marriage. But this was one thing that was absolutely off limits. The less she thought about it, or spoke of it, the better.

“So there *is* something.”

“Drop it, Dr Holt.” She was getting pissed off and it showed in her tone. “You said you wouldn't ask again.”

“No, Kitten, I didn't. But I will drop it – for now – though I'm making it my mission to find out what it is. Whether you talk to me as your friend or as your therapist, you need to talk about it. Now, I should be getting going. It's late.”

“Are you leaving because of what we just talked about?”

“No, sweetie. Not at all. It's just getting late and I have a 45 minute drive home.”

“Didn't you say Jolene is staying overnight at your son's?”

“She is.”

“Then why not stay and go home in the morning, after a good sleep?”

“I'd love to, Kitten, but you paid for one person.”

“I'll pay the extra when I check out tomorrow.”

The next morning, before they went their separate ways, Myles made Zara promise to keep her appointment for Tuesday's therapy session. “No more avoiding me or your therapy, Kitten”, he told her.

“All right”, she acquiesced. “I will see you Tuesday.”