Training Tia

by Isabella Laase

  I should be angry with a man who’d paddled my adult bottom, but my unsettled soul needed the safe comfort from his connection. The clock became my enemy, as minutes turned into an hour and then two.

  Eventually, Nanny said, “We can’t wait any longer, Tia. Come to bed, and he can wake you when he comes.”

  Still, raw emotions sent me into uncontrollable tears. “But he won’t. He’s mad at me, and he won’t come.”

  Nanny took my hand and gently led me to the bathroom. I allowed her to clean me up and put on new pajamas. The sheets felt soft and warm, but my anxiety gave way to more tears.

  Zane found me a few minutes later, and Nanny disappeared with a quiet smile. I flung myself into his arms and cried, “I’m sorry, Zane. I didn’t mean to be so wrong. I just couldn’t help it.”

  He held me to his shoulder. “Hush, pet. That is the advantage of a spanking. It’s over and done with and time to move on.”

  “I didn’t have a good morning. I was mean and rude. You would have been disappointed in me.”

  “I keep up with you all day long. But you were better this afternoon, weren’t you? I saw you working with Hawa, and you did a great job.”

  Praise slowed the tears a little but I struggled to find some balance. “How long do these emotions last? I have cried, yelled, pouted, thrown tantrums, and it’s only the first day. Is this what the rest of my life is going to be like?”

  “The more you relax, the more you will control all this, but the key is you. You can’t rely on us forever. You have to find ways to relax yourself, which is what Nanny and Hawa are trained to do.”

  I whispered, “Simon doesn’t always relax me. Sometimes, he just annoys me.”

  He laughed. “Simon has his own role in your world. You might not always understand, but don’t discredit him without recognizing that he would give his life for you. After me, he’s probably the closest relationship you will ever have.”

  His tone grew firmer. “No more talking. You have had a long and exhausting day. Sleep now.”

  I begged, “Stay with me, please?” Serenity didn’t seem possible unless I could feel his touch.

  “Little one, everybody needs to learn how to put themselves to sleep. Stay here and soon you’ll have the manners to move to my room full time.”

  “Do I have to have the bars on the bed tonight?”

  “You’ll sleep better knowing that you are in a safe place. Just call for Nanny if you need her. You can call for me, too, pet. I’ll always hear you.”

  I wanted more. “Stay, Zane. I want to be with you. I want you inside me. Please.”

  He laughed softly. “You are being manipulative. I have toned your sex drive down to give you time to adjust. Now go to sleep.”

  I wiggled my bottom, and the familiar moisture formed between my legs. I grumbled, “I don’t feel toned down.”

  Zane chuckled and slid his warm hand down my pants. His finger prodded until he found my lips, and he entered me with gentle touches. I opened my legs wider in encouragement as my stress slowly dissipated.

  He admitted dryly, “Keeping your sex drive down is a lot of work. I’ll be glad when I don’t have to do that anymore, too.”

  With his hand still between my legs, he connected with a gentle kiss before he left me with a smile.

  ****

  Nightmares brought terrifying demons and monsters stolen from years’ worth of horror movies. When they caught me with their warm, dry touch, they all tried to take me away from the castle. I tried to struggle, but my feet slowly slid toward their control. I screamed without sound, but nobody helped me.

  Twice during the night, I woke in tears and it was human Simon who rubbed my back to return me to a troubled sleep. By the third nightmare, he removed my bars and lay down with a frustrated sigh.

  “Don’t make a habit out of this, but we all need to get some sleep.”

  After five years of snuggling with him as a cat, he offered my brain a weird comfort. I curled into his side, and he put his arms around me. I was safe, but there was no way I was going back to sleep.

  The night deepened even further and eerie shadows filled the corners of my room. My foot kicked restlessly while he grew quieter.

  I spoke softly, “I can’t do it. This is crazy. I feel like a little kid.”

  “Of course you do, stupid. You are a little kid. That’s how old you were when you lost your powers. All of this just has to catch up to the rest of you. It won’t take long.”

  “Everybody hates me. Even Kim wasn’t really my friend.” The words made me sniffle in self-pity.

  “Geez, Tia. You get snotty when you cry, so don’t start the booger parade. Nobody hates you. Of course, Kim was your friend. Just because she took care of you doesn’t mean she didn’t like you.”

  He absently patted my arm but slurred his words as sleep began to overtake him.

  Minutes ticked by before I had another question. “Can you read my thoughts? Like Zane does?”

  He startled a little as though he’d already drifted off. He mumbled without opening his eyes, “Yeah. You can read mine, too.”

  “Why can’t I do it now? Why can’t I read you or Zane? I think something is broken.”

  He sighed. “We aren’t going back to sleep, are we?” When the tears began in earnest, he turned the lights on. “Four o’clock. Nice, Tia.”

  He sat up and made a vain attempt to shake the sleep out of his body. “Okay. Close your eyes and relax. Zane might shut you out if he’s busy, but you can always find me.”

  Relaxation is a relative state of mind. When he saw my version, he sighed and pushed me onto my stomach. A surprisingly gentle backrub ensued, and my muscles eased under his touch.

  “Now, take my hand. Go to your room and look for my portal. It will look like a window with me in it.”

  The urge to whine about my limited ability was just too strong. “But that’s imposs—”

  “You can do this, stupid,” he interrupted with a glare. “It only takes a second.”

  As a cat, Simon didn’t hold back, and human Simon wasn’t much nicer. The roots of an argument formed, but I really wanted to find him, so I relaxed until I could focus on my room.

  With his hand in mine, a window popped up almost instantly, and his very grumpy face stared back. His image spoke clearly. “Now, go to fucking sleep. We don’t have to be awake for hours.”

  I was immediately back on the bed. “Did you say that out loud?”

  “No, you idiot. I’m always there if you look for me. Okay? Are you done with the pity party?”

  I snuggled into him a little further but continued to explore my subconscious. I couldn’t stay long enough to find anybody else, but Simon provided a familiar comfort, and I checked on him four or five times over the next hour.

  When the sun showed signs of joining the world, I gave up on sleep. Since the bars were already down, I wandered to the kitchen to find some food.

  Simon sighed and followed me with a grumble. His obnoxious presence was always near.

  Chapter Six

  The next few weeks really sucked. I didn’t have the focus to access my powers for more than a few minutes, and juvenile emotions convinced me that I’d never develop the skills. Even teaching snotty kindergarten kids looked good in comparison, and I begged Nanny to let me go back to my old life.

  “I’m sure nobody would find me. I’ll be fine. Simon can come with me.”

  Nanny took me on her lap and held me close. I was not above physical pity and buried my head on her shoulder. “You can’t go back, and you know it. That’s why you’re asking me and not Zane.”

  She was right, but I needed to complain to somebody, and Zane wasn’t an easy recipient of my nagging protest. He despised whining, and my attempts had resulted in a paddled ass more than once or twice. I still didn’t know how to process the whole experience and was mostly left with a crimson bottom and a wet core.

  When I was in his presence, his dominance still overwhelmed
me, and I tried hard to please him. There were long hours without him, however, when I really wished I had the guts to kick him in the balls.

  He sensed my frustration and teased, “Don’t kick me in the nuts, little one. I would have to take a whip to your ass if you did, and you wouldn’t like that a whole lot.” Since resistance had ended badly in the past, I took his not-so-subtle advice.

  I did, however, risk a small whine. “I can’t go on like this. I’m miserable most of the time, especially when you aren’t here.”

  “Relax, little one. It will get easier, I promise. You haven’t even begun to experience your full powers.”

  “I can’t stay in that ‘room’ long enough to find anything, except Simon, and he’s never more than a few feet away from me. It’s impossible.”

  “Keep working on the relaxation techniques. Let Nanny care for your physical needs, and Hawa will train you to use all the parts of your brain. When you master these skills, you will be able to use your powers all by yourself.”

  He rubbed my head gently. “Do you want to take a run, pet?”

  I nodded sadly and went to my symbol. It was the one magical feat I could manage with little help.

  My muscles relaxed, and I entered my subconscious state. My dog sat in the corner, but she moved before I could step into her. Frustration tightened my body, and the room faded.

  With a deep breath, Zane’s gentle hands encouraged me, and I pushed to refocus. My muscles relaxed a little further and the room returned to my control.

  Out of a dark corner, a new portal opened and a fuzzy Owen and Anna appeared. They sat companionably in the kitchen of our Ohio home and smiled in recognition. I wanted to stay with them but involuntarily phased back to my nursery.

  I was almost giddy with success. “I saw them! Owen and Anna. They smiled at me, and I could feel you rubbing my back at the same time.”

  “See, there’s so much in there. You just have to work on finding it. Now, get into your symbol, and the run will do you good.”

  Once I’d established the small opening, my carefully established routines provided a welcome comfort. My staff followed a rigid schedule that began and ended each day with my mate.

  Zane joined me shortly after I finished a ridiculously healthy breakfast, and we ran for miles while I nipped at his heels. His full and uninterrupted attention was probably my most favorite time of day. I cried most days when he left with a gentle kiss and a promise to tuck me into bed that night.

  “It’s not good for me to spend too much time here. You need to work on your own strength. When I am here, you rely on me too much and don’t work as hard.”

  Life was always better when he held me, but he was right. By his side, he was my whole focus, my whole existence, and my whole comfort. His presence sucked the work ethic out of me, and I spent most of my time begging for his warm hands.

  After he left, Nanny took over. I didn’t like to admit it, but she could bring me to the most relaxed state I’d ever experienced. Every morning, she gave me a careful bath and massage that left me pampered and petted. Beautifully scented oils were added to soften my skin.

  It was easy to give up control, even if she did clean me in places I’d never cleaned myself. I still tried to argue the intrusion, but nobody listened.

  When I asked Zane why she had to explore every hole I had, he just laughed. “You wait, pet. It won’t be much longer, and you’re going to wish Nanny’s fingers were the only thing invading your privacy.”

  I stared with an open mouth before an involuntary shudder made my entire body twitch with nervous anticipation.

  With another chuckle, he rolled me over his knees and slid my pants down to my expose my bottom. Abject fear told me to squirm away, but when the electricity ignited between my legs, I knew that I needed to see it through to the end. Literally.

  “Relax, Tia,” he admonished. “If you can calm yourself through this, you can master anything.” I was afraid to ask if he was joking.

  When his scolding had no effect on my stiff muscles, he delivered three or four hard slaps to my ass. The warmth reduced my rigidity, but the bites released the hormones to present me with a second nagging problem.

  His fingers stroked my thighs and worked their way into my swollen channel. There was no friction, and he slipped in and out like a soapy massage. The movement was enough to relax me from the inside, and despite any residual reservations about his ultimate destination, I groaned softly with approval.

  He moved me up a little farther on his lap to get a better view and expose my secrets to his sight. It was the first time I’d ever felt embarrassment over Zane’s knee.

  “I don’t think I want to do this,” I whimpered.

  He continued to play. “Shush. Look at how ready you are.”

  Like Nanny, he pulled and prodded my intimacy with one wet finger, and then a second while he worked his way back and forth between my ass and my pussy to keep himself lubricated. In total betrayal, my body readily gave him what he wanted.

  I couldn’t decide if I should groan in pleasure or discomfort, so I did both. My electrical circuits connected from the dual invasion as he reached deep into my core from all angles.

  Zane spoke softly, “See, not only do these belong here, but soon, you will take all parts of me. Then you will really be mine.”

  I could only whisper, “Why not now. Why don’t you take me now?”

  “Be patient,” he groaned. “I need you to be trained on all levels before I open that up again. You can’t master everything at one time.”

  He waved his hand and took away my burgeoning desire, but I could tell from the bulge between his legs that he felt no relief.

  ****

  Relaxation took on a new goal, and I worked even harder. I spent several hours each day with Hawa to learn deep breathing, imagery, word association, and total muscle relaxation.

  She explained things carefully. “Humans use only ten percent of their brain at a time. Our people have much more access to their subconscious, and that is where your power rests.”

  “How the heck can you do that and still function. I’d walk into walls if you weren’t sitting next to me.”

  “Accessing your subconscious will become instantaneous. With training, you’ll be able to carry an intelligent conversation with somebody and access their thoughts at the same time.”

  I could barely find my own reasoning, and somebody else’s cognition still sounded like an unsurmountable obstacle. “Yeah, right,” I muttered dryly. “And I bet you want to sell me puppies and rainbows, too.”

  She smiled, “Try again, Tia.”

  Deep in my subconscious, I used her techniques to bring fuzzy corners into focus. A long, lost bunny from my childhood was just out of reach, but I wanted to hold it.

  Hawa whispered soothing encouragement and rubbed her quiet hands on my stomach. I relaxed every muscle I could envision, and my body aligned with my mind in a strangely familiar pattern. I wasn’t asleep but floated in that relaxed state just before sleep comes.

  With a deep breath, the bunny was in my hands, and I was in my living room. I grinned and twirled the toy with a reckless arrogance.

  Hawa was pleased for me. “Zane will be proud of you. That was wonderful.”

  “But how did I do that? One minute it wasn’t there, and the next minute it was.”

  “That’s our sixth sense. Humans have only five, but we have the ability to access the energy around us. That power allows us to do everything from bringing memories out of our subconscious to traveling from one place to another.”

  “So, I just can’t make something up? I need to be introduced to it or have already been there?”

  “That’s right. More age and experience brings more power. That’s why our elderly population demands such respect.”

  “So how come I can’t get everything I’ve ever seen? I should have donuts, and hamburgers, and even tigers, and lions. I’ve seen all of them. Where are all of those in my subconsciou
s?”

  “That’s why you’re still in this nursery. You’d be overwhelmed to see everything at once, so your brain is taking its time. That’s what causes the grumpiness and frustration. I bet every time you go to your relaxed state you see something different.

  I nodded slowly, and she continued, “Zane is also keeping some ideas to maintain your safety, just like your parents would have done when you were small.

  “You’re very vulnerable. You have enough power to get into trouble, but not enough to filter danger or protect yourself. Can you imagine if you’d accidentally brought a tiger into the room?”

  I didn’t like the idea my mind was controlled by somebody else, even Zane. “So, how long does this take? Will I be in this nursery forever?”

  Hawa smiled gently. “No, but it doesn’t happen overnight. Trust in Zane, Tia. He’ll do what’s right for you.”

  Subjective trust requests were getting old fast, and I connected with my temper to give the chair leg a childish kick.

  The grade school emotions remained an integral part of my day, and there weren’t a lot of people who appreciated my frustration, so I targeted Simon.

  When I found out my bodyguard had an overwhelming fear of spiders, I put the tiny things on his shoulder and laughed when he jumped a mile. I added salt to his drinks and extra pepper on his food.

  Sharp toys were slipped silently under his butt just before he sat, and I tried to hide from him every chance I could get. It wasn’t easy with a three-room life, but I could sense his quiet panic if he walked into the nursery and didn’t immediately spot me.

  Typical of Simon, however, he kept any complaints about my behavior to himself and returned the favor with fake snakes in my bed and scratchy bath powder in my shampoo bottle.

  Our rivalry did get a little out of control. The staff had their own quarters, but Simon insisted on using my bathroom during the day. My privacy was not his concern, and we had very few physical secrets from each other. He used my moisturizers, soaps, and even my toilet no matter what I was doing in there.

  I snapped from the shower, “Geez, Simon. Point that thing someplace else, will you? Why do you even have to be here? I think you can guard me from the bedroom.”