Page 31 of At Her Will

“Dominant or submissive,” she said. “Those are two of the terms we often use. As well as Master or Mistress, top and bottom, slave.” At his troubled look, she clarified. “In the BDSM world, it doesn’t mean what it does outside of it. Even inside our world, the terms have various meanings, depending on the desires of the person using them.

“A person with a Dominant sexual orientation may not be an alpha in the outside world, or in a position of power at all. And a sexually submissive male doesn’t mean a weak or docile personality. Far from it. Whistler enjoys submission, and he's also a business owner.”

A driven overachiever, Whistler needed the break that surrendering to a Mistress in session gave him, but it had also spawned a creative twist to his successful cleaning operation.

“He hires submissives for his cleaning business, those with a strong service bent, and many of his clients come from the club. They can get a regular cleaning, but his staff also offers BDSM perks upon request. Role playing and wearing certain kinds of clothing while cleaning. Or…”

The sound of sneakers squeaking down the hallway stopped her. The last period bell had rung, but kids who’d remained for after school activities were still around, as well as other faculty members. Rising, Vera went to the door and closed it. Rev had turned from the windows, wiping his squeegee with a towel as he watched her.

“Wearing restraints,” she finished. “Or having devices strapped to them, or inside them, that stimulate them as they work, so they have to put extra effort into doing the job right. Vibrators, sex toys…”

His eyes widened. “It would be mighty hard to get a window clean with all that going on.”

“Some Doms hope for that. So they can find a missed spot and then punish the sub to ‘improve’ their focus.”

“Does the sub ever mess up on purpose?”

She laughed. “You catch on quick. Sure you haven’t been doing a little Internet surfing?”

He shook his head, but she suspected he didn’t seem more shocked because his own fantasies had wandered down some of those roads. History had proven the human mind didn’t needvisual aids to spawn Dominant or submissive cravings—they were already there, and the human mind was more than capable of pursuing them in creative ways.

“Sometimes the Master or Mistress just wants to watch them clean the house. The sub might do additional things if they’ve negotiated that, and both find pleasure in it.”

“Like taking care of the Master or Mistress, too?”

“Yes.”

The cleaning cloth was twisted in his fingers. He’d put the vinegar solution to the side and was studying her.

She laced her hands on the top of the desk. Her legs were folded at an attractive slant, her ankles crossed. “Are you thinking about kissing me, Rev?”

“I am. I also thinking about how you taste.” His gaze drifted down, then back up. “And the way you felt against me. How much you are, how much you might offer me. What I might be able to ask for. It overtakes me, how much I want to ask for.”

It took effort, but she managed not to betray her own “overtaken” reaction, and focus on what he needed to know.

“You’ll see a lot of things at Progeny that can make you feel that way. Some of them may make you uncomfortable.” She tapped her nails on the desk. “What’s important to remember is that everything that happens there is consensual. If something goes over the line, there are monitors, we call them DMs, for dungeon monitors, who are always circling, watching. If they think somebody has gotten so lost in it they’re missing a safety issue, or their sub is in distress and hasn’t been able to voice it, they step in to help.”

“That’s good.” When his expression relaxed, she appreciated the reminder of his guardian instincts.

“You’ll see things you like, that speak to the fantasies you’ve had about a Mistress. But don’t be surprised if you’re intrigued by things you didn’t think you’d find appealing. You might feeluncomfortable with that reaction, but we can talk about any of it, and see if they’re things you would like me to do to you.”

“Or have me do for you?”

“I like that you think of how to serve me first, Rev. But taking you places in your head you don’t expect, and having you discover the bliss in deeper levels of pleasure and service, that’s where I like to go with a sub, though it takes the right connection for it to happen.”

Those windows might never get finished if she kept distracting him like this. But she wasn’t likely to cut the conversation short, not with his full attention on her and his eyes telling her he was tasting every word the way he wanted to taste her.

“The men you find that with…you aren’t with them right now?” When he asked the question, his tone was neutral, but that warned of what lay behind it.

“Sometimes a Dom and sub are only seeking an outlet for those desires in a controlled environment,” she said. “Like at the club, in a scheduled play session. They don’t desire a relationship outside of that. I have several male submissives with whom I share that kind of relationship, though I also consider them my friends. Whistler is one of them.”

She paused, holding his gaze. “It’s something you figure out as you get deeper into that world, the difference between play and friendship, and what happens between a Dom and sub looking for something deeper together.”

“Is play and friendship what you looking for with me? To be another one of them kinds of subs?” He met her gaze. “Cause that don’t interest me.”

Yes, Cherry was right. Rev had no trouble speaking his mind when necessary. She appreciated and respected that, even as she had no problem asserting herself in kind.

“I can’t tell you what the parameters of our relationship will be right now. I don’t think either of us can.” She pushed down the wall that her fear of the past told her to put up. “But wherever we end up going together, I think this is different from what I’ve known before.”

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