A Kitten Called Cat

Chapter Eleven - The Piano

That evening, for dinner, Master had a cheesy, meaty Greek thing called moussaka that I'd never tried before. I was on my knees next to him, as usual, but he fed me from his plate as he ate and he didn't play any of his normal kitten food games which was nice for a change. He even let me try a little bit of his funny Greek wine.

It tasted a bit like toilet cleaner... but in a good way.

And for pudding, as a special treat, there was an amazing thing called Baklava with pastry and nuts and honey... loads of honey! It was delicious but almost too sweet... even for me!

And, when we were done, we strolled back through to the living room together and Master sat at the piano. So I knelt down next to him and he started to play his beautiful Ravel piece and, once again, I found the tears streaming down my face. Whenever I heard that stupid piece, it set me off thinking about my future!

This time, because I was kneeling next to him, Master saw straight away and stopped playing. He hoiked me up, carried me over to the sofa and cuddled me onto his lap.

"What's the matter, Kitten?" he asked when I was in a fit state to talk.

"It's just too beautiful," I explained, "and it tells me so clearly that I just don't belong here. And sooner or later..." the words had started now and I couldn't stop them. "Sooner or later you'll get bored with this stupid kitten thing and find a normal woman and a normal relationship and I'll be back where I was before except that I'll be worse off because now I know there can be more to this life thing than I could ever possibly have dreamt of before."

His Unthinkable Mastership thought about this as he cuddled me and then he popped me down on the floor so I was kneeling in front of him so we could talk properly.

"Firstly, Kitten," he began, "You know that I have promised to look after you for the rest of your life. Now I appreciate that you were telling me the truth about your inner insecurities but I would not be happy if you were to question my word like that in any other situation."

I thought about this then nodded. I suppose that was fair, really.

"Words, please, Kitten."

"Thank you, Master," I forced myself to reply. "I understand. And I'm sorry for doubting your word."

He gave me a little smile to acknowledge my apology but then went on, "And secondly, for reasons I do not wish to discuss right now, I am fairly certain that I will never want a 'normal woman' or a 'normal relationship' in my life. I don't think I could ever love anyone in that way. But I do love you as my kitten and I will always look after you."

"I can look after myself," I snapped.

"Kitten!" His voice was quiet but he paused significantly and I knew I was in trouble. "I understand that you are upset but if you ever raise your voice to me like that again, I will put you over my knee and spank you."

He didn't sound angry when he said it but he was certainly very firm and I knew he'd do it without a moment's hesitation.

He continued to stare at me until I dropped my head and said, "I'm sorry I shouted at you."

He lifted my face with a finger under my chin and kissed me on the end of my nose. "You are forgiven..." he told me, "this time." He continued to hold me, stroking a thumb along the lower edge of my collar in a way that made me squirm with pleasure. That wasn't fair. I couldn't possibly stay cross with him when he did that!

"Now repeat your words in a proper, respectful tone," he said to me and so I did as I was told.

And even I wasn't quite as convinced when I tried to say it properly.