The days passed peacefully enough until Christmas Eve was upon them and there was a layer of snow on the ground. Olivia walked into the living room and laughed when she spotted her sweet little submissive looking up at her, startled by her unexpected appearance.
"I see someone wants Santa to bring her a lump of coal and a switch for her stocking." Olivia teased as she bent down to gently take hold of Grace's ankles and pull her out from under the Christmas tree where she had been carefully inspecting the presents with her name on them, "You stay out from under the tree, little miss mischief."
"Yes, Ma'am. Ouch!" Grace scrambled to her feet and yelped as Olivia playfully popped her bottom. The young submissive rubbed her bottom and gave her Mistress an adorable fake pout.
"Put the lip away, that didn't hurt. I have one gift for you to open later today, and the rest you can open tomorrow. We are going to take our gifts with us over to Don and Eileen's, and your stocking. Mine is already over there. Have you finished the assignment Dr. Lindstrom gave you to complete before your next session?"
"No, Ma'am." Grace's fake pout turned into a real pout.
"Go do it right now so I don't have to make you do it at the last minute. Your next session is on January third and you've been dragging your feet about this ever since he gave you the assignment. Enough is enough." Olivia gently turned Grace toward the kitchen table and sent her in the right direction with another spank.
"Yes, Ma'am." Grace sighed as she obediently sat down at the table and reached for her therapy journal.
"That's my good girl." Olivia kissed the top of Grace's head and sat down across from her with a small stack of files, and there was a peaceful silence as both got to work on their respective tasks.
A little while later, Grace looked up from her journal, caught Olivia's eye, and tapped her lips twice with two fingers, causing Olivia to smile.
"I'm not on the phone or speaking to anyone, my baby, you can speak to me freely, but good girl for remembering how to get my attention. What's up?"
"I'm finished with my assignment."
"Good girl. I'm just about done here. Go kneel by the tree and when I come in you can open your gift. Walk!" Olivia rolled her eyes when Grace ran out of the kitchen. Grace obediently knelt down by the tree to wait.
"I'm going to start sending you to your corner when you run indoors." Olivia scolded when she walked into the room and found Grace kneeling by the tree. The dominant brunette reached for a box under the tree wrapped in red paper with a white bow. "Merry Christmas, baby girl." Olivia kissed Grace's forehead.
"Thank you, Ma'am." Grace smiled and opened the gift. She took the lid off of the box and her breath caught when she peered inside. Tears filled her eyes and her throat clogged with emotion as she launched herself into Olivia's arms. Olivia was surprised by the sudden impact, but was able to keep them both upright as she caught her sweet little submissive in her arms and rocked her.
"I love you, my baby." Olivia spoke tenderly in Grace's ear, stroking her long brown hair.
"Can I have it now?" Grace asked.
"We can do that if you want. It's up to you, if you want me to put it on you now here at home I will, or if you want to wait until we can have a public ceremony, we can do that too. But since I have to go back to work the day after tomorrow, it might be next weekend before we can pull together a ceremony." Olivia explained kindly.
"I don't really want or need a public thing." Grace said honestly.
"That's fine. Go to the bedroom, take off your bra and panties, and kneel by the bed. I'll be right there." Olivia ordered, handing Grace the box containing her brand new baby pink collar.
"Yes, Ma'am." Grace obediently got up and disappeared down the hall.
Olivia walked into the bedroom and smiled at her naked submissive kneeling by the bed. Olivia sat on the bed and Grace immediately bent down to kiss Olivia's feet, washing them with the tears that were falling down her face. Grace straightened up and received a kiss to her forehead. Grace picked up the box in both of her hands and held it out toward her Mistress.
"From my body, from my heart, from my soul." Grace spoke reverently.
Olivia took the box from Grace's hands, removed the collar and set the empty box aside to be put in the trash later. Grace reached up and pulled her hair back with her hand.
"From my body, from my heart, from my soul." Olivia gently fastened the collar around Grace's neck, and Grace visibly relaxed upon feeling the coolness of the heart-shaped lock against her throat.
Grace squeaked when Olivia took a gentle but dominant hold of her hair and guided her across her lap. Grace settled in comfortably, laid her head down on a pillow, and obediently relaxed her bottom muscles. The young submissive breathed a happy sigh as her Mistress's gentle hand rubbed her bottom. Olivia lightly raked her nails across Grace's bottom and chuckled as Grace gasped and shivered involuntarily.
"Such a pretty bottom. And soon it will be red and hot and sore. So far you've been with me for fifty eight days, so you're due for fifty eight spanks. After each one I want to hear the number."
"Yes, Ma'am." Grace replied obediently.
Olivia raised up her strong right hand and brought it down sharply.
"One, Ma'am." Grace gasped.
Grace was crying quietly, but managed to properly count each spank. After the last spank had been delivered and counted, Olivia gently rubbed Grace's bottom to soothe the sting she had just inflicted.
"That's my good girl. Get up from my lap and bring me the implement of your choice." Olivia ordered.
"You're wearing it, Ma'am." Grace pushed herself up from Olivia's lap, knowing that this was the last part of the collaring ritual.
"Very well, then. Go fetch a chair from the kitchen."
Wiping the tears from her eyes, Grace obeyed and went to the kitchen to retrieve a wooden straight-backed chair. Olivia placed it in the center of the room and removed her belt from her slender waist. Without being told, Grace bent over the back of the chair, placing her hands on the seat, her breasts hanging down. She felt the implement tapping her bottom and once again relaxed her bottom muscles.
"You're going to get fifty eight licks. You don't have to count these." Olivia said.
"Yes, Ma'am." Grace replied obediently.
Grace was sobbing quietly and clinging to the seat of the chair for dear life by the time the final lick landed, but she was proud of herself for being brave and not reaching back or trying to get away. Olivia put her belt back on and guided Grace to stand upright. Grace felt Olivia's strong arms wrap around her and automatically snuggled into them.
"There, now you are officially mine forever." Olivia spoke tenderly into Grace's ear, gently rubbing her aching bottom.
"I love you, Ma'am." Grace wept, although she was beaming happily.
"I love you, my baby. Come lie down over my lap, I'll give you arnica."
Grace once again draped herself across Olivia's lap and settled in comfortably, breathing a sigh of relief as the cool lotion worked its magic on her spanked bottom.
"Ma'am? Can I ask you a question?" Grace inquired from her place over Olivia's lap, now completely calm with dry eyes.
"You can tell me or ask me anything, little one, you know that." Olivia replied kindly, gently rubbing Grace's bottom.
"I think I would like to try using rope again. I know I said it was a hard limit because of what Melissa did to me, but I trust you not to hurt me and to listen to me if I need to use my safeword. Can limits change?"
"Of course limits can change, my baby. Even hard limits aren't set in stone, you can always change your mind about something if you want to. It just means we'll have to adjust your contract, I can call Carisi for that later. What do you say if you get scared or you decide you don't like it or something gets too tight?"
"Red, Ma'am."
"That's my good girl. I think to start with, we'll try something that doesn't require you to be attached to anything. Stand up now, take the chair back to the kitchen, and then come back and kneel in the center of the room." Olivia gently patted Grace's bottom.
"Yes, Ma'am." Grace pushed herself up from Olivia's lap and did as she was told.
Olivia went to the closet and retrieved two options of rope, and waited for Grace to return and assume her position kneeling. Olivia crouched down in front of her and showed her the rope.
"Show me your wrist. Good girl. First things first, we need to find out what type of rope you like. There are several different kinds of rope. This one has more of a stiff, itchy texture against the skin," Olivia gently glided the rope across Grace's wrist, "and this one has more of a smooth, velvet texture against the skin." Olivia picked up the other rope and gently glided it across Grace's wrist.
"I like the smooth one best." Grace decided.
"All right." Olivia set the stiff rope aside and picked up the smooth rope, "I think since it's our first time with this, we'll try a rope corset. Stand up with your legs a little bit apart and breathe steadily."
Grace stood to her feet, spread her legs a little, and breathed steadily as she had been taught. She watched in fascination as Olivia expertly fashioned a rope corset around her body, and found that she loved the experience and actually found it relaxing and meditative.
"How are you feeling, my baby?" Olivia asked, pausing what she was doing and lovingly stroking Grace's face with one hand while holding onto the rope with the other.
"I feel good, Ma'am. I like it." Grace smiled, her big blue eyes dancing happily.
"That's good. I'm going to tie it off now, so I'm going to bring it through between your legs and tie it in the back."
"Yes, Ma'am."
Olivia carefully did as she said she was going to do, bringing the rope between Grace's legs. Grace smiled as the rope lightly stimulated her special spot.
"Such a good girl. You look adorable." Olivia slowly circled around Grace double checking her work, "Let's work on a little more training. Get down on all fours."
Grace did as she was told. Olivia retrieved a leash that was the same baby pink color as Grace's new collar, attached the leash to it, and spent some time teaching Grace to crawl on a leash, guiding her through the apartment, offering correction and showering her with praise. When they returned to the bedroom, Olivia removed the leash and put it away, and then carefully removed the rope corset from Grace's body and helped her back into her bra and panties. Olivia then took Grace out to the couch, sat down, and cuddled Grace on her lap. Grace happily snuggled into Olivia's arms as Olivia turned on the TV to a Christmas music station and gently guided her to drink a bottle of water.
The next day, Olivia and Grace arrived at Don and Eileen's and Grace proudly showed off her new collar, receiving congratulatory hugs from the older couple.
"Little one, go get everyone's stockings and pass them out. Mine is green, Don's is red, and Eileen's is white." Olivia instructed, pointing out where three stockings were sitting on a table.
Grace obediently did as she was told, and then was given her own stocking to open. She was delighted to find a small pouch of chocolate coins, a few candy canes, some nuts, an orange, and an iTunes voucher, as well as an Amazon gift card. Olivia chuckled upon seeing that the chocolate coins were the first thing to be devoured. The four of them then gathered around the tree to open presents.
"This is for you, Ma'am." Grace shyly held out a wrapped gift, having gone out shopping one afternoon and used some of her monthly allowance to buy her Mistress a gift.
"Thank you so much, my baby. I really wanted to read this one." Olivia kissed Grace's forehead after opening the book Grace had bought for her.
Grace was shocked when, in addition to the presents Olivia had given her that included a pass for private time at the shooting range, Don and Eileen handed her a present. The young submissive tore off the paper and lifted the lid off the box with curious excitement to reveal a wax play kit.
"Thank you!" Grace beamed happily, touched that they remembered that she had mentioned that wax play was something she was interested in trying.
Not too long after that, Grace found herself kneeling at Olivia's feet while Olivia fed her the orange from her stocking, and then Olivia cuddled Grace on her lap while the four of them sat around watching Christmas movies and enjoying each other's company. Grace lovingly caressed the heart-shaped lock on her collar, lost in her thoughts until she jumped in surprise and giggled when she felt Olivia give her side a gentle tickle.
"Don is speaking to you, sweetheart." Olivia spoke kindly.
"I'm sorry, sir." Grace looked up at Cragen.
"That's okay, little one. You were deep in thought over there. Go to the kitchen and make us all some drinks, and one for yourself, and bring them in here, please."
"Yes, sir." Grace stood from Olivia's lap to do as she was told.
"Good girl." Olivia praised.
Grace went into the kitchen and began to make drinks for everyone. Her cell phone vibrated in her pocket, indicating that she had a text message, and she pulled it out of her pocket in confusion as she looked at a number she didn't recognize. Then her blood ran cold as she opened the text message and was greeted by a picture of herself and Olivia a few hours earlier that day entering Don and Eileen's apartment building. The caption with the picture simply read 'Merry Christmas'.