Page 56 of The Ruler
“A few.”
“Why?” I asked.
She arched a brow. “What do you mean, why? I’m thirty-three, not a minor, and I’m allowed to explore my sexuality.”
“But I wanted you to be a virgin.” It slipped out.
She laughed a little. “You are so old-fashioned.”
“How long were you with these other men?” I asked, suppressing the jealousy I felt.
“I wasn’t. They were just casual sex partners.”
Sitting up, I frowned at her. “I thought you were an innocent.”
Pearl folded her arms. “Why are we even having this conversation? I don’t owe you an explanation and I’m certainly not obliged to give you one.”
“When were you with those men?” I asked, unable to let it go.
She pressed her lips together, signaling that she wouldn’t answer that.
“When?” I repeated, feeling my temper flare.
“A long time ago,” she finally answered.
“I want details,” I pressed. “And you might as well spit it out because I can be a stubborn bastard.”
“You don’t say.” She arched her brow and sighed. “All right, I’ll give you details, but then you’ll promise me one thing.”
“What?”
“When I tell you, you will leave it and not mention it again.”
I nodded.
Pearl brushed her long hair back. “In the Motherlands most people go to pleasure parlors to satisfy their sexual needs with sex-bots. Sometimes there are couples who fall in love and become exclusive partners, although it’s rare to monopolize another person like that.” She paused and bit her lip. “There are also some exotic clubs for people who want the human experience but no relationship. We are modern women and men, and it’s completely acceptable to indulge in any sort of sex you want as long as it’s legal and with a consenting partner.”
“You went to a swingers’ club?”
“I’ve never heard that expression,” she said.
“It’s a… a…” I threw my hands up in the air, too upset to speak. “A place where people come and swap partners; they existed before the Toxic War.”
“Uh-uh,” Pearl said and pulled her legs up in front of her. “It’s not a place you go with a partner. It’s a place you go to explore your sexuality.”
“And how many times did you go?”
“A few times,” she admitted without shame. “I was twenty-two and curious, but it didn’t speak to me, so I stopped going.”
“What do you mean it didn’t speak to you?”
She shrugged. “Well, let’s just say that when your mind is more occupied thinking about a report you have to write than the man you’re with, then you’re wasting your time and his.”
“Ah,” I relaxed a little. “So you didn’t find them compelling enough.”
“I think it had more to do with me than them.”
“Oh, yeah? And what about before, when I had you pinned down? Were you thinking about what reports you have to write?”
