Page 75 of Heart of Stone

Pleased with my email, I hit the send button.

However, after I clicked the key to send my apology into the world of cyber communications, a wave of sadness came over me. I felt like I was saying good-bye in a strange way. Alexander had cracked open a door that I had managed to keep closed for so long, and it pained me to think that I would have to close it again.

What if he decides to take me up on my offer and cancel our plans for tonight?

For the first time in years, I had left myself vulnerable and I was afraid of the rejection.

Maybe I shouldn’t have given him such an easy out.

After about ten minutes had passed, my computer pinged, signaling the arrival of a new email. It was from Alexander. I eagerly opened the incoming message.

TO: Krystina Cole

FROM: Alexander Stone

SUBJECT: No Apologies Needed

To My Angel,

No worries. It happens to the best of us. As for your behavior, I must admit that I rather enjoyed your loose tongue. You gave me a small insight as to what you are really thinking, something that I find myself struggling with frequently.

I am looking forward to our evening together. Do not consider canceling. I’ll be waiting in anticipation until I can see you again.

Until Later,

Your Anxious Devil

I smiled to myself after I read his response. It looked like I was about to have a very busy day.

****

I knew that I couldn’t go to Alexander’s tonight without a lick of knowledge about BDSM. He was insistent that I know what I was getting into. And if I was honest with myself, I knew practically nothing. Research was key to a better understanding. I had felt very naïve last night, more times than I cared to admit. I needed to broaden my horizons, expand on my awareness – if for no other reason than to protect myself. This was an unknown world to me, but one that I wanted to explore. Walking into it blind would be extremely foolish.

I made myself comfortable in sweats and a T-shirt, and then sprawled out on my bed with my laptop. It was time to get an education.

My initial search results of BDSM turned up descriptive online encyclopedia definitions and various shopping pages.

Boring.

I wasn’t looking to shop for vibrators and leather outfits, and I certainly wasn’t interested in clinical definitions.

Hard limits, soft limits, safe words, blah, blah, blah.

I wasn’t even sure what all of it meant.

So what is it that I’m looking for?

I bit my lower lip, trying to decide on what exactly I wanted to find out. I thought perhaps something with pictures would give me more to go off of. I clicked on the images tab.

Holy fuck!

The extreme images that filled the screen were nothing like what had happened in Alexander’s penthouse last night. Even his crazy insinuations would never have led me to envision the things that I was viewing. Nothing could have prepared me for what I saw on the screen.

The pictures were borderline frightening, and some were out right disgusting. Women brutally tied up and caged, with weird contraptions hooked up to their female parts. It looked painful, and a lot of it looked dangerous.

Is this what Alexander wants?

I thought that I had at least a mild understanding of what he wanted, but now I wasn’t so sure. My eyes grew wide and I felt my heart begin to pound inside my chest as I tried to decipher what the pictures were portraying.

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