Page 72 of Truth

“Oh really? And what misconception is that?”

“BDSM isn’t about a Dominant forcing his will upon another. It’s about fulfilling both individual’s needs.”

He snorted.

“And how exactly does tying a woman up and beating her meet her needs?” His tone was sarcastic, almost daring me to explain what he saw as impossible.

“Some women like pain.” He started to interrupt, but I raised my hand to stop him. “I’m not saying that’s Brianna’s case. Honestly, what she likes and doesn’t like sexually is none of your business. What I’m trying to explain, however, is that there are people who enjoy it, just as there are Doms who like inflicting it.”

“And do you?”

“You do realize that if you were not Brianna’s friend, I wouldn’t be answering your rude questions at all, don’t you?”

“And you realize I couldn’t care less about your view of my rudeness, right?”

I shook my head. He was impossible.

“I prefer to use pain to create sensation rather than for pain itself.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

My frustration was mounting. He was deliberately being obtuse.

“Have you ever pinched a woman’s nipples?”

“I don’t think that’s any of your business.”

I laughed. “You can ask me questions about my sex life, but I can’t ask about yours?”

“It’s different.”

“No. It’s not.”

I waited for him to answer the question. He continued to stare at me, however. It was almost as if he were measuring me up. Then again, maybe he was testing to see if I would break. He’d be sadly disappointed. My first submissive, Sarah, had been extremely bratty and stubborn when she’d wanted to be. I doubted he could match her in that department.

“Yes, he’s pinched my nipples before.”

“Jade!” Ross clearly couldn’t believe she was sharing such private information, which I found rather amusing, considering.

I ignored him for the time being and directed my question to Jade. “Would you say his pinching your nipples hurts?”

“You don’t have to answer that.” Ross’s expression was defiant.

I found it even funnier when she acted as if he hadn’t spoken at all. “Yes, I guess it does. But... it feels good, too. It’s hard to explain.”

Ross flashed an angry glare back at me. “I don’t understand what this has to do with Anna or you or anything else.”

“It has everything to do with what we’re discussing. You want to know about pain as it relates to sensation. As Jade just explained, pain is relative. In fact, I would be willing to bet that if you pinched her nipples right now, she wouldn’t find it pleasurable at all. She’s not aroused. In a sexual situation, though, the body reacts differently.”

“I still don’t understand what this has to do with your... ‘lifestyle,’ as you put it, and Anna. I don’t want to see her get hurt. Period.”

“Cal, honey. I think what he’s trying to say is that you need to butt out.”

I thought he was going to jump off the couch for a second, but he didn’t. “What?”

“Cal, look at her. Stop trying to see something that isn’t there. Anna is calm. She’s happy. The only thing upsetting her is you and Stephan arguing. I know you’re trying to protect her, but this isn’t working. If Anna has truly been through what I think she has, then the last thing she needs is to have more of her choices taken away from her. If this is what she wants, if he’s who she wants to be with, then you need to accept that.”

Ross looked over at Brianna where she still sat in my arms. I wasn’t wearing a dress shirt tonight, so she was playing with the collar on my T-shirt. My petting her hair, along with our more measured tones, had allowed her to relax. Finally.

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