Sunday night we both had trouble sleeping. For some reason, Sunday night is usually bad for me. I guess I’m already thinking about things I need to do in the coming week and it messes with my head so I don’t sleep well. This past Sunday was, of course, the night before Lion’s first day of work. I think I was nervous for him. I knew he’d do great, but there’s always a fear of the unknown. I’m sure he was thinking about it too. Plus he’s had a cough he can’t shake. That never helps when you’re trying to sleep.

Yesterday I surprised myself by not feeling tired until about 2 pm. Then I was struggling to keep my head from hitting the desk. By the time I made it home I was done for. Then we were missing ingredients for the dinner I was going to make. When it rains, it pours. I grabbed something out of the freezer that would do in a pinch. Lion snoozed through parts of Jeopardy. I managed to make it until bedtime before I actually fell asleep.

Lion sent me emails throughout the day, telling me how things were going. It sounds like a fun place to work. Everyone was very welcoming. There were some hiccups here and there but overall it was great. I’m very glad he’s getting settled in quickly.

Tonight we’ll get him ready for his first business trip on Wednesday. Lion won’t get home until late Thursday. It’s the first time we’ve been apart for a very long time. Obviously we won’t be able to play either of those nights. It’s possible we’ll sneak some snuggling in tonight, but I don’t know if we’ll have time for anything else. That’s perfectly fine. We can catch up on the weekend.

I know many caged males travel without their cages on, but lock themselves up when they reach their destination. I don’t know how many trips Lion will be going on, but it seems unnecessary to me for him to lock himself up. I’ve just decided that he’ll be wild this week. New job, travel, etc. seemed like a good time for him not to have to worry about the cage. Once things settle down into more of a routine and we know how often he’ll travel, we’ll come up with a system. It’s quite possible that he won’t have to travel regularly anyway. So many things are done by conference call and video conferencing there’s less of a need to be physically in a specific location. But we’ll work that all out as we find out how the job is going to work.

Actually, a travelling Lion may necessitate different rules. Obviously, he can’t wait for me to eat before he eats. We won’t be together. He’d have no way of knowing. He could potentially interrupt me during a phone call. I suspended his rule of emailing me before noon yesterday because I wasn’t sure if he’d have time to do so. As it turned out, he was excited to share things with me as they happened. I’ll have to think of rules that a travelling Lion could do without being too obtrusive. He is there to work, after all.

Lots of change in the Lion’s den.

My first day of work was great. I was made to feel very welcome. I can’t go into more detail, but I am very happy. Sunday night I had a very nice orgasm; my last for a while. I’m fine about that. Other, non-sexual things are on my mind. We are both going easy on the BDSM while I get used to my new job and my allergies subside. Wouldn’t you know that I would start coughing and sneezing on my first day at work? I guess it’s always something. Sunday night neither of us got very much sleep. I was restless for obvious reasons. Mrs. Lion didn’t sleep much either. I hope I wasn’t disturbing her. There’s a chance we will be more rested tonight. Maybe we will be a bit more frisky.

This is one of those periods when things are quiet here and FLR/enforced chastity just isn’t what we are thinking about. That’s not entirely right. We don’t need to talk about it. I have no expectation of sex for over a week. The rules are in place and understood. We don’t have any new “training” projects. So, barring me forgetting my place, we are your normal married couple; normal until you notice the paddles around the house and in Mrs. Lion’s purse.

This isn’t very exciting reading I know. But today all I am doing is checking in to let you know that I love being back to work and I am looking forward to my business trip on Wednesday. More interesting stuff tomorrow; I promise.

Lion did, in fact, get his last orgasm from his all-you-can-come buffet. I used the Magic Wand on him. Over the course of his bonus round he had quite a few orgasms in different ways. A few were hand jobs. A few were oral. At least one was with the Magic Wand. And, perhaps his favorite, was with me riding him. He’s been a very lucky boy. Unfortunately for him his next date is August 13. He’ll have to wait almost as long for the next one as he enjoyed all the bonus orgasms. I’m pretty sure he can make it though.

Today is Lion’s first day of work. They welcomed him with open arms. They even made a welcome sign for him. It’s nice to work someplace where they are genuinely happy to see a new person start. Usually you’re thrown into paperwork and people ignore you except if they need to train you and then it’s a very quick training. Why didn’t you get that? I did it for you twice. Sheesh! I think Lion will be very happy in his new home away from home.

I have no doubt that once we get settled into Lion working again, he’ll be ready for play again. I don’t know if he’ll suddenly decide he’s ready or if I’ll just decide to play with him. Either way, I suspect it will happen fairly quickly. Given his travel schedule this week, it may not happen till the weekend, but it’s coming. I don’t think I’ll plan anything. It’s not like I plan anything normally anyway, but I can’t see having the clothespins all ready to go whenever he’s ready. We’ll play it by ear like we do most things.

I still owe him some swats for something I can’t remember right now. It seems to me it was either for interrupting or annoying me in some capacity. Unless he re-offends, I’ll probably hold that till the weekend as well. He hasn’t been on a business trip in a while, so there’s a lot to do to get him ready. I don’t want to throw punishment into the mix. His butt is still mine. There’s no rush.

Today I am starting my new job. I’m very excited. I realize that I’ve been depressed and worried for the two months  I have been out of work. I realize that was truly pointless. I had been sent signals from my new company since the first interview that eventually I would get the job. I read the signals correctly, but wouldn’t allow myself to trust them. I know why I didn’t. I just refused to trust the fact that things were working out. It didn’t help that the recruiting process took almost three months to complete. I can’t hold my breath that long.

This experience reminded me that when it comes to a female led relationship or enforced chastity, most of us can’t hold our breath at all. What I mean is that it is very hard to patiently wait for our partners to fully adopt the lifestyle we want. It’s not all our fault. The stuff we read describes a process that is virtually instant. Boy wants chastity. Girl agrees to keyhold. Girl immediately turns him into her toy. Boy almost never gets to come. That’s the typical story. It isn’t how things happened in the lions’ den.

First of all, very few partners are ready, willing, or able to become effective keyholders or disciplining wives when they first start out. For that matter, very few men are able to accept the level of control they requested when they begin. It takes time to learn to gracefully accept enforced abstinence. When we started, I found it very difficult to manage waiting more than a very few days between orgasms. Mrs. Lion was more than willing to jerk me off when I got grumpy. Why not? She didn’t see any point in all this beyond entertaining me.

I had no real idea what benefits she should get from this new arrangement. The same is true of FLR. Despite the stories, very few women are seeking more authority and responsibility. Nor do they get any particular pleasure out of disciplining their partners. Mrs. Lion doesn’t get anything out of spanking me. In the beginning, I got hard just thinking of her holding a paddle. I would be hard when she started the spanking. The erection disappeared almost immediately after the first swat. But she could see that I seemed to like the idea of being spanked. I do. But the reality is no fun at all.

The stuff that we think should be rewarding to our partners, usually isn’t. The value proposition didn’t appear until much later when Mrs. Lion realized that our relationship is improved by our new lifestyle. Until she heard the music, I had to hold my breath and provide the motivation for us to continue.

Right now we are at a fork in the road. For some time, I haven’t been enthusiastic about either enforced chastity or domestic discipline. Mrs. Lion has been very understanding; perhaps too understanding. Punishments are forgotten. I’ve liked that. She’s let me stay uncaged longer than she planned because I like being wild. More significantly, I think, she has let me control whether or not I get edged or even teased. On the surface, this is a reasonable accommodation to my low spirits and distraction caused by being unemployed.

It makes sense on one level. She can’t force me to get hard, can she? Technically, she can’t. In fact, application of the Magic Wand or her mouth overcomes any lack of interest. She’s said that it makes no sense to arouse me if I don’t want to be aroused. After a lot of thought, I disagree. She is in control and sex is no different than any other part of my life. If I decide I want to be a messy eater and cover my shirt with stains, would she accept that and not punish me? I don’t think so. By the same token, why should she accept I don’t want to get hard and be edged? If she wants me hard, then I should have an erection.

Of course, that is more difficult to accept than stained shirts. But in reality, if I don’t get hard when she wants, then I am disobedient. I realize that in her mind, getting hard and edged is supposed to be fun for me. She’s right; it is. But, more significantly, if she wants me to be aroused and edged every day, then that is as firm a rule as not interrupting or spilling food. If she is unable to get me to perform, then shouldn’t I be punished too?

She owns my sexuality. I’ve interpreted that to mean she can make me wait for orgasm. But there is more to it. She can require me to be aroused and responsive on her schedule regardless of my preference at the moment. I wonder if dealing with this the same way as interrupting her will deliver a new, stronger message about her control of me. I don’t get locked in a chastity device only when I want. Why should I be allowed to avoid sexual arousal when I am not in the mood?