The Gift Of Kneel

I hope you have been enjoying Rika’s Lair, my monthly (and sometimes, more frequent) column dedicated to thoughts and experiences regarding power dynamics in Service-Oriented D/s relationships. Look up “Ms. Rika” in the search box for links to all of my articles in KinkWeekly! 

Last week, I got a note from a man who, with his wife, had read my first book, “Uniquely Rika” as well as my latest, “Uniquely Dominant”. He highlighted the chapter from “Uniquely Rika” called, “Simple Gifts”. Simple gifts are little things a dominant can do that give their subs a quick moment of pleasure, by playing to their personal desires – particularly ones that don’t fall into the dominant’s definition of submission. They are given without provocation or cause and are not considered submission to the dominant. These are easy things done by the dominant, for the submissive. 

From “Uniquely Rika”: 

[Sometimes, the things subs ask for do not match your definition of what serves you…] The good news is that, once you know what they are, you can choose to give them to him, or not. The intent of a gift is found in the context of the Underlying Relationship. You could give them to him even if you weren’t in a D/s-oriented relationship! This is no different from catering to a partner’s fantasies. So, feel free if you like. 

Sometimes a gift can entail a prolonged scene with complex predicaments, however, gifts can also be quick, simple, and easy to give, yet still leave a lasting impression. 

Remember, these are not acts of dominance, these are sub-centric activities. They are ‘Simple Gifts’. 

Simple gifts, by definition, are not elaborate. They can be as quick as making a sub thank you for doing something for you…or can be as seemingly random as making them hold their breath and stand on one leg for as long as you wish…just because you said so. It could be having them do something that you know they enjoy, but you don’t particularly feel serves you. The idea of a simple gift is to let your submissive know that you care about their desires, even if you don’t define those as submission to you. They give the sub a little jolt of excitement, without having to do a whole bunch of stuff yourself. Simple for you, but very effective for them. 

In his note, he told me how his wife had been experimenting with my methodology and had arrived at a definition of submission that served her. They had been practicing the “Routine Task List Exercise” from “Uniquely Rika”, as well as the “Egyptian Pharaoh” exercise from “Uniquely Dominant”. He is spending every moment of the day focused on her and what he can do for her, and loving it. 

What prompted him to write had happened that morning. His wife was putting on her makeup in the bathroom and he was just outside the door folding laundry. Without warning, she turned to him, snapped her fingers, pointed to the ground behind her and said, “Kneel”. He immediately stopped his chores and did as he was instructed, quickly finding himself staring at her behind as she leaned over the sink to get close to the mirror. He loved her backside, particularly kneeling in front of it…and she knew it. She didn’t do anything more to acknowledge him. She just left him there as she continued to work over her makeup. Every once in a while, she’d look over her shoulder at him and softly chuckle before returning to the mirror. 

When she was done, she pushed her butt back a bit until it touched his face. She waited there for a moment. He wrote that he wanted to kiss her ass more than anything in the world at the moment, but she never told him to. She just held it there, in contact for a few seconds, testing his self-discipline. Then she turned to face him and squatted down to run her hand across his crotch. Satisfied that he was sufficiently turned on, she lifted his chin until their eyes met and smiled gently at him before giving him a kiss on the lips. Then she stood up and left the room. He knelt there in the bathroom alone, until she called out to him to rise. Then he went back to finish folding the laundry. 

The rest of his day was a normal day of service. He wrote how invigorated the morning’s events had left him and how much he loved her for showing how much she cares about him. He knew this was a treat designed for him. This wasn’t an act of submission. It was just something she chose to do for him – that she knew he’d enjoy. It took no effort on her part. It wasn’t designed to make him feel more submissive or to serve her better, because he already served her to the best of his ability – it was just a gift from her to him. A single word, “Kneel”, created a complete story of mutual fulfillment, caring, and acknowledgement. He wrote of his gratitude, both to his wife for the treats which she chooses to bestow upon him, and to me, for introducing her to “Simple Gifts”! 

I thought I’d share it this week with you! 

Rika. 

Ms. Rika is a lifestyle dominant, educator, and author; living in the suburbs of NYC with her husband/slave. She has written several popular books on her approach to adding Dominant-Centric, Service-Oriented D/s to relationships. You can find her books (in both print and eBook formats) at Lulu.com (http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/msrika), or at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, the iStore, Books-A- Million, Kobo.com, or anywhere books are sold. Search for “Ms. Rika”.