Page 40 of Releasing Reenie

He surprised me by shaking his head. “I trust the two of you to negotiate this amongst yourselves.” He looked away from me, and straight at Maureen. “The only thing I ask is that you do your level best to give up control and place yourself in the position of the submissive for the entirety of the scene.”

Damn. He had her number. But I agreed. That was what she needed. Or maybe it was what I needed. Either way, Master Derek had spoken.

CHAPTER 19

Trent

I pulled Maureen close to me as I led her out of Master Derek’s office with my arm around her shoulder. All I’d wanted since she left the Dungeon was to check on her, to make sure she was okay, and I was so glad to finally have her alone so I could do just that.

It was late by the time we left Master Derek’s office, and the Ranch was oddly quiet for a Friday evening. Pulling her around the corner, I sat us down on one of the couches outside the counseling offices, turned to face her and took her hands in mine.

The moment I did, her face crumpled. “God, Trent, I can’t believe how badly I fucked up. Mira trusted me. She’s never really scened with anyone before, and she was willing to put that trust in me to give her what she needed. And like an idiot, I failed her. It… it hit really close to home, and I got too wrapped up in trying not to think about that, in pushing the feelings and memories away, to focus on her. But I zoned out instead.” Her voice cracked and her eyes filled with tears.

There was something else, something she wasn’t saying, but I didn’t focus on that. Offering her this comfort was far more important.

“Mira is okay. And you didn’t break her trust. She understands it wasn’t intentional. She was only worried about you, she wasn’t mad.”

I wasn’t expecting that to prompt her to cry harder.

“Oh dear.” I gathered her into my arms and whispered, “Come on, let’s get you home.”

“No!” she cried, pushing out of my embrace, and wiping her dripping eyes with her sleeve. “No, I need… I need to talk about this. Are you sure you’re okay with it? With, um… spanking me, I mean? I feel like you kind of got forced into it.”

If only she knew. “I’m more than okay with it. You want to talk it out? Set a time? I’m free all weekend, pretty much. Maybe tomorrow evening after dinner?”

Again, Maureen shook her head. “I… please, Trent. I don’t want to wait. Can we just do it now?”

Raising my eyebrows, I checked my watch. I’d expected her to want to get it over with, but I hadn’t been expecting this. “It’s kind of late. It’s already been a pretty long day. Are you sure you don’t want to just get a good night’s sleep first?”

“I won’t be able to sleep. I won’t. I’m just so… disappointed in myself. Please, Trent… I… I need this.”

It was a big deal for her to admit that. I could see it in her face and I wanted to honor that. I also wanted to make sure she was in the right headspace to be able to fully submit and surrender herself. I’d thought giving her time to process would be the best way to achieve that, but…

“Okay,” I finally agreed. “But, let’s eat first. Did you even have dinner tonight?”

“No,” Maureen admitted, looking defeated.

“I’ll order up room service and we can eat while we negotiate. C’mon,” I coaxed as I helped her to her feet. “Your place or mine?”

CHAPTER 20

Maureen

I chose his place, because I thought being in unfamiliar surroundings would make it easier for me to give up control, but it was also because I didn’t want to admit I had exactly zero implements in my apartment aside from random pervertibles. I didn’t play outside of the Dungeon, and when I played there, I used their implements.

I allowed him to tug me along, still unsure how I’d gotten here, still so mad at myself for not paying close enough attention, for not hearing Mira when there was a problem. I’d told everyone that it was because the details of her therapy session hit a little too close to home and that was mostly true, but it wasn’t the only reason. The truth was, in that exact moment, my mind had been on Trent.

Watching him scene with the young visitor had only added fuel to my earlier fantasies. I’d gotten to know him as a person, but now I was getting to see him as a Dominant in action. And he was just as caring and reasonable as the man I’d gotten to know. His submissive may have been a stranger, but he’dtreated her like she was someone he’d known for years. Firm, but gentle. Caring, but strong. And oh so sexy. The problem was I already knew what it was like to have his fingers in my hair, his lips locked on mine. I already knew the feeling of his muscles rippling as our bodies pressed up together.

But I couldn’t be thinking about that right now. This wasn’t about Trent. This was about my mistake. About my comeuppance. About redemption.

Trent let us into his apartment, and though I’d been there before, I stopped short.

I walked in the door and kind of just… faltered. I didn’t know where to go, or what to do with myself. I felt as if a light breeze could knock me over and I knew emotional exhaustion was setting in, but I didn’t dare let on to Trent. I couldn’t wait. I needed to deal with this tonight.

“Come on.” He led me to a small two-top table in a kitchen nook and watched as I sank into the chair he pulled out for me. “I’m going to call in our food order. What are you in the mood for? I’m thinking high-iron like steak or burgers. Red meat. Something that will fortify us.”

I groaned, holding my stomach. “Ugh. Trent. No. I can’t even think about food right now. I know I need to eat, but something light, please.”

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