Page 18 of James

“I’m pretty much a complete novice,” Laura confessed. “I met a guy recently and we had kind of an impromptu one-night stand and I was intrigued. I’ve read a lot of fiction with BDSM in it, but I didn’t believe it happened for real until I met this guy.”

“So, who’s the guy? Is it anyone we might know?” Julie leaned in slightly, her almond-shaped eyes fixing on Laura.

Laura’s face burned.Remind me why I mentionedthat night?“He’s just someone I ended up with one night. Neither of us wanted to be there, so we decided to make the best of a bad situation. It ended up as one of the better nights of my life, as a matter of fact.”

Kate leaned in, and even with a smile and without raising her voice, managed to exude such authority that they all shut up. “You don’t have to answer any questions that make you uncomfortable. And you two, you know better than to grill a first-timer! How would you feel if she started quizzing you about your personal lives?” Turning to Laura, she added, “Since you’re new, you probably have lots of questions. What would you like to know? Aside from details about Mitch and Julie, that is.”

Laura had so many questions, she wasn’t sure where to start. “Your profile on Fetlife says you’re a sadist. What does that mean in real life?”

Kate’s eyes shone like emeralds. “Being a sadist means I like to inflict erotic pain, and sometimes a bit more than erotic pain. It rather depends on who I’m Topping as to what I do. It’s all a matter of negotiation between the Dom and sub or the Top and bottom, depending on how you define yourself. And listen, this is important.” Kate tapped the countertop, giving extra weight to her next words. “Any Dom who tries to tell you they know what you’ll like without negotiation is someone to run from, far and fast. A good Dom won’t do anything with you without your consent and proper negotiation, and he or she has to consent to do what you want, too. Consent is a two-way street and good communication is key, whether you’re interested in pick-up play partners or in a serious relationship.”

Another man came into the bar, zeroing in on Kateand Laura at once. He was handsome in a low-key way, with a stubble beard and an easy smile on his face.

Kate’s face brightened at the new arrival. “Hi Chris, I didn’t think you were going to make it. James isn’t with you?”

“Nah, I couldn’t talk him into coming. He claimed he needed to go over the books, but the books are fine. Hi,” he said, turning to Laura. “You must be the new girl I heard would be here tonight.”

Laura’s butterflies got going faster when she heard James’s name. Could this be the friend James had mentioned?Yeah, right. Because there’s only one James in the whole wide world. Go ahead and embarrass yourself by asking.

“Hi, I’m Laura,” she said, politely holding out her hand to shake.

“Chris.” He took her hand and gave her a firm shake, but not a painful one, careful with his obvious strength. “Nice to meet you,” he said with a smile.

She already liked him, and the corners of her mouth lifted.

“So what brings you to our little munch?” Chris let go off her hand and settled on a bar stool.

Laura looked down and swallowed. “I’m interested in learning more about BDSM and according to Fetlife, this is the best kind of event to start with.”

Kate’s eyebrows, a shade darker than her hair, arched with curiosity. “Did your one-night-stand get you interested in kink or were you into it already?”

“A little bit of both,” Laura admitted. “I’ve been reading BDSM romances for a while now. I know they’re not realistic, but they sure are hot. When I had my night, I realized I was more than a little interested in the realthing, so I got on Fetlife. How did you get into it?” she asked, turning toward Kate.

“I got started experimenting in college. A boyfriend wanted to tie me up. I learned quickly I’d rather be the one doing the tying. After more trial and error, I discovered I liked tying up both men and women, and then doing other, more–” A smile flashed over Kate’s gorgeous face. “— interesting things with them.”

“I learned about BDSM from a friend in college, too,” Chris interjected.

Laura smiled at him politely, but couldn’t help feeling he was flirting with her and as cute as he was, she wasn’t looking for that tonight. Noticing the young woman in the funny t-shirt had moved over in their direction, she waved. “Julie, isn’t it?” she asked, happy with the distraction. “I love your top. Are you into math?”

“Thanks, Laura. It’s one of my favorites. It’s scary how few people get it. I got my degree in math, but now I do mostly IT. I’m freelance,” Julie explained. “Let me introduce you around some more. Given the chance, Chris will try to keep you all to himself.” She stuck out her tongue at Chris, who threw back his head and laughed as she led Laura to the dining area.

As they moved away, Laura overheard Kate say, “It’s too bad James isn’t here. I think he’d really like her.”

Laura heart leapt as Chris replied, “No, he’s …” the rest of his sentence got lost in the crowd and her own pounding pulse as she and Julie walked into the room to meet with other attendees. It meant nothing. James was a very common name after all.

The rest of the evening was both eye-opening and amazingly normal, with conversations varying between serious debates on paddle crafting, boasting about whocould edge the longest, how the hell the Royals could drop from the World Series to the bottom of their division in only three years, and the woes of puppy teething.

The last members of the munch arrived, and Julie brought them around to meet Laura. Margie and Andy, who were around Laura’s age or a little older, and their daughter, Eileen, who couldn’t be long out of high school.

“Wait, you’re here with your daughter?” Laura asked, blushing at the thought of bringing her father even to this casual public gathering. “How does that work?”

Eileen turned to her parents with a crooked smile. “Yeah, Mom. Howdoesthat work?

Margie giggled like a much younger girl and answered, “Eileen is how Andy and I found out about kink. She had a boyfriend we didn’t like when she was a senior in high school, and we kept a close eye on her phone. When we saw some of the texts they were exchanging we realized their relationship wasn’t… well, we’d say vanilla now, although at the time we thought of it as ‘normal.’” Margie grinned and continued. “We let her know we weren’t happy about the boy, but questioned her about the texts. That’s how we found out about BDSM. We’ve been having a wonderful time ever since. I’m a serious masochist and Andy is just the sadist I need. We also discovered we’re both into poly. That’s the beauty about this community and Club Indigo, everybody is open-minded and accepting.”

“Club Indigo?” Laura lowered the wine glass she had halfway to her lips and blinked.

Margie nodded. “It’s a private club, invitation only. Most of the regulars to this munch attend the club. In fact, most of us will be going there tonight. That’s one of the big benefits of holding a munch. We get to meetpeople, have a safe place to negotiate, and then go to the club and play.”

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