“Mom and Dad, let me explain how I feel about everything. I haven’t discussed how our relationship progressed. Maybe it will shed some light on our connection and my acceptance of Miles.” Elliott sits back, takes Elise’s hand in his, and gives Jules the okay. “When Miles and I first met, it was instant attraction. I’ve never had it happen to me before.” She places her hand over mine. “From there, we fell into a groove. Like I’ve known him my whole life.” Her eyes move to Elliott’s. “We had sex the first day we met.” Elliott coughs, gives Elise an irritated sideways glance, and sighs. “I’m putting it all out there. I understand you don’t want to hear about me and sex, but it’s reality, Dad. Please don’t think I’m disrespecting you.” Elise hugs Elliott’s arm. “In the beginning, it was attraction, yet it didn’t take long for me to fall in love with Miles.”
I cut in. “To be clear, the feelings are mutual.”
Jules gives my hand a little squeeze and continues. “Our time together was intense, and then he left without informing me of our relationship status.” She nudges my shoulder with hers. “Lack of communication. Then Miles left his band to save me.” Another gorgeous smile. “He didn’t have to. And he even opened his house to the two of you.”
Elliott and Elise exchange an unspoken language between them, eyebrows lifting at Jules, and readjusting in their seats. So far, they don’t appear too enthused by what Jules is saying.
“Miles called me Schatzi, which is German. I didn’t catch the significance at the time. When things were out in the open about not being your biological daughter, Miles told me he was German, and explained he wanted a fresh start in the U.S. Of course, it makes sense because plenty of people change their identities, and not just people in the witness protection program. Regular people change their names for many reasons. They dislike the name. Or a stage name. You get what I mean.”
She stops, takes a sip of her coffee, and takes her hand from mine to hug her cup. “This part will be a bit uncomfortable. If you don’t want to hear it, I’ll skip it.” Jules bites her lip. “Do you want me to skip it?”
At the same time, Elliott saysyes,and Elise saysno.
Elliott speaks up. “If it has to do with sex, I don’t want to know.”
Elise frowns at him. “Well, I do. She’s our daughter and I want her to feel comfortable talking about anything.” Elliott gives her a painful look. “Go upstairs if you don’t want to hear it, but I’m listening to what our daughter has to say.”
“Fine. I’ll stay.”
Jules clears her throat. “Okay, well…during my healing period, we kinda…well, we sort of…”
I finish for her. “We ventured into a dominant-submissive relationship.”
Elliott’s face scrunches up. “A what?”
“It’s a kind of sexual relationship we’ve agreed to.”
“What the fuck?”
Elise presses one hand on top of Elliott’s arm, and the other to her chest. “Forgive me for my ignorance, but I’m not understanding.”
I glare at Jules and then answer Elise. “I’m not sure why Jules wants to divulge our private life, but I’ll humor her for now. What this means—”
Jules cuts me off. “What it means is we entered a BDSM relationship. BDSM is—”
Elise cuts her off. “I’ve read about BDSM. I know what it means. So, you decided to allow Miles to what? Take over your life?”
Elliott sits forward. “Why? I don’t understand why you’d allow someone to control you.”
Jules moves her cup over, takes Elliott’s hand, and says, “The thing about our relationship is we both have the control. Miles doesn’t do anything I don’t want done.”
Her mom shakes her head. “This explains why group sex didn’t bother you.”
“BDSM doesn’t necessarily entail group sex. To engage in this type of relationship, you need to have complete trust of the other.”
She points to me. “He hasn’t been very trusting, Jules. Miles has kept plenty of important information from you. And I bet you didn’t find out until after you started this…relationship.”
Jules gives a weak shrug. “Yes, some of the information came later, but by then, I wanted to submit.” Elliott and Elise shift to me. It’s obvious I’m not their favorite person. “Mom and Dad.” They redirect their attention to Jules. “It helps me.”
Elise asks, “Helps you with what?”
“My bipolar. Surrendering myself to Miles is freeing.” Elise shakes her head. “Mom, it’s not all about sex. Yes, it plays a role, but I’ve given Miles permission to control other areas of my life such as food, entertainment—”
Elliott cuts in. “I knew it. He’s been preparing your food and plates for a while now. I hate that, Jules. I hate this whole thing. Why don’t you want a say in your life?”
“Dad, I do have a say. For the most part, I submit to Miles and follow his orders, but when I’m wobbly with my ups and downs, he backs down.” She grabs my hand and kisses the back of it. “He lets me ride whatever sadness I’m facing or takes it away from me.”
Elise wipes the tears from her eyes, and Elliott runs a hand down his face. I don’t understand why Jules told them about our relationship. It isn’t something they need to know, and on top of everything else, it only adds to their dislike of me.