Page 41 of In Plain Sight

“Pretty sure my whole body is glitching out right now,” he said, his voice back to normal. “That was…intense.”

“It was. How do you feel?”

“Weird. Out of it. Embarrassed.”

“Why are you embarrassed?”

“I…I don’t know.” Something in his voice was off.

“You don’t know, or you don’t want to say?” I asked gently.

“I don’t want to say,” he mumbled.

“Don’t be embarrassed. You have nothing to be embarrassed about.”

He huffed out a laugh. “Pretty sure I do.”

“You don’t,” I insisted. “Do you still feel out of it?”

There was no point trying to talk to him about this while he was still shaking off the subspace.

“Yeah,” he sighed. “I had no idea it could be like that.”

“Me either,” I said honestly.

“That was good for you?” he asked, sounding shy all of a sudden.

“Amazing. I loved every second of it.”

“I thought you’d hang up,” he said, still not fully with it.

“Not until I know you’re okay. It’s my job to take care of you. Not just during our calls, but after too.”

“You’re a nice guy.” He snickered. “Mr. Nice Guy.”

“This is called aftercare.” Hopefully he was alert enough to understand what I was saying. “It’s hard to do over the phone, but it’s an important part of what we just did.”

“It is?”

“Yes. Coming out of subspace can be disorienting, and it’s my responsibility to make sure you don’t experience a crash.”

“A crash?” I couldn’t be sure, but he sounded like he was mostly with me.

“Adrenaline,” I said. “The floaty feeling is what happens when you let go. But as you come out of it, your body releases adrenaline. That’s why you might be cold or shaky or feel a sense of impending doom. It’s natural, and it’ll pass, but it can really mess you up if you try to deal with it alone.” I paused, jealousy curling in my gut. I didn’t want to say this next part, but it was important. I needed to put whatever the fuck was going on with me aside to make sure he stayed safe in the future. “If you talk to someone else on here, make sure?—”

“That’s not gonna happen,” he said on a laugh. “Talking to someone else after that would be the same as going to a fast-food restaurant after a steak dinner.”

I laughed and tried not to think too hard about what he was saying. He was still dealing with the effects of subspace. Nothing he said could be taken as a fact right now.

“That would be a huge disappointment,” I agreed. “But in case you do, make sure it’s with someone who knows what they’re doing. If they don’t bring up limits or triggers or safe words, then they probably have no idea that kind of power exchange isn’t just about orgasms and getting your bossy on.”

“Okay. I’ll be careful.” A pause. “That was really hot.”

“It was.”

“I’m glad you were online tonight.”

“Me too. How do you feel now?”

---