Page 160 of The Holy Grail
“Are you crazy?”
“Yes. You know that.”
“I’ve always been hoping it was just a figure of speech.”
“No. I really am crazy. So, it makes sense I’d double my chances at failure.”
“Remember when you told me threesomes weren’t your thing?”
“Yes, and apparently I was wrong.”
Paige’s expression was as aggravated as Jules had ever seen it. “I’m so pissed at you right now,” Paige hissed, still careful to be quiet, even in the midst of righteous anger. “I’ve beenconstantly worrying about Evan, thinking how shitty it is for him to know you’re with Malcom, and the whole time you’ve been secretly boning him. Who does that?”
“I do, but in my defense, the three of us agreed not to tell anyone for a while, until we were really comfortable with the situation. Then Evan said I wouldn’t be able to keep it from you, so he and I made a bet—”
“A bet?”
“Yes, I bet him I wouldn’t say anything until we agreed to tell you and David together.” Jules paused to listen for Evan, who was pretty light on his feet and was known to sneak up on a person. “So, you see, I really couldn’t tell you—”
“But you did.”
“Only because you threatened me with changing your kid’s name. Who doesthat?”
“I do, but in my defense, I had to.” Paige planted a little smooch on Julian’s mostly-bald head. “And I have zero remorse because it worked.”
The sound of the shower being turned off had Jules speaking faster. “You can’t tell David what I told you, all right? So when we tell you, you’ll have to act surprised, and maybe hit me with that ‘Are you crazy’? line. That was good.”
“Do I really have to? You know I’m not very good at faking things.”
“I have fifty dollars riding on this, and if I lose, I’ll never hear the end of it.”
Chapter 52
Being a Domme is hard work
On nights when Evan didn’t work, he, Jules, and Malcom got into the evening habit of watching TV after dinner, with Jules sometimes reading. Despite the men’s best efforts, she hadn’t become as enamored withThe Great British Bake Offas they were, because it was kind of stressful to watch—and even the host who looked like Professor Snape’s older brother wasn’t enough to completely reel her in. Since the first time they asked her what she was reading, they started doing it regularly, so tonight, when they asked (during a commercial, naturally), she said she was reading a book about a Dom/sub relationship but wasn’t enjoying it as much as she thought she would.
“I’m not surprised. You didn’t likeFifty Shades of Grey, did you?” Evan asked.
“No, I didn’t,” answered Jules, who had decided to read it a few weeks ago. “But I got lured into reading this one because of the extremely hot man on the cover.” She made a face. “That’s how authors get you.”
Evan shook his head, as if to say,Jesus, look into getting some self-control.“Well, you probably don’t enjoy that kind of a storyline, because of your fairly dominant personality, which probably makes it hard to immerse yourself in it,” he said. “Or be able to connect with the submissive female character.”
Surprised at the deep dive he’d taken, Jules nodded. “You might be right. I hadn’t really thought of that, but I’m also not liking the power dynamic that goes along with the relationship. It seems very one-sided, at least in this book it does.”
“It isn’t meant to be, though. The Dom/sub lifestyle isn’t about being controlling to have all the power. It’s about being controlling in order to provide pleasure for the other person, and that’s a lot of responsibility for the Dom.They have to know and understand the sub’s limits, know what they like and don’t like, and know how to make them feel intense pleasure. However, the Dom can’t do this unless the sub has infinite trust in him, andallowsthe Dom to do it, so the sub is actually the one who has the power, which can be taken away with a safe word.”
Malcom tilted his head. “You seem to know a lot about it.”
“I’ve never been a Dom if that’s what you’re wondering. I’ve just come in contact with people who were, and I’m a curious person, so I’ve asked a lot of questions.”
“That surprises me, since you can be a little bossy.”
He chuckled. “Being bossy and being a Dom are two different things.”
“I think I’m getting a better picture,” Jules said, “but I still doubt I could be as submissive as the character in the book.”
“Even without knowing what book you’re reading, I’d have to doubt that, too, because I know you pretty well. But you wouldn’t have to be a sub just because you’re a woman. I mean, that seems to be more common in books, with a man being dominant over a woman, but there are women in real life who are dominant over men, and they’re called Dommes … so I would imagine there have to be books with that kind of a storyline, just waiting for you to read.”
