Page 17 of The Shame Game

Jack shrugged. “I’m getting a little bored with the submissive shuffle.”

That startled a laugh out of James. “Submissive shuffle?”

“You know what I mean. I’m thirty-seven, and it turns out I might like to try an actual relationship.”

“You got anybody in mind?”

Jack shook his head. “Not at the moment.”

“Want me to ask Amanda if she has any single friends?”

Jack’s dark gaze shot to James, genuine alarm on his handsome face. “Fuck, no,” he blurted out, his normally low voice rising an octave in panic. “No matchmaking.”

James laughed so hard he had to set his drink down. “You should see your face,” he managed, laughing harder when Jack scowled.

“Ass,” he grumbled, but his lips twitched. “Don’t scare me like that.”

“Sorry, I couldn’t resist.” James retrieved his drink and eyed the pool players. Cade and Nick were in the middle of a heated argument about whether or not Cade had prevented the seven ball from rolling into a side pocket, and neither man was paying him or Jack any attention.

“You mind if I pick your brain for a minute on something?” he asked.

Jack eyed him warily. “About what?”

James grinned. “I’m not gathering information for your season on BDSM Bachelor, so relax.”

Jack snorted into his drink, then paused, considering. “I bet people would watch that.”

“No doubt.” James turned in his chair slightly to face the other man more fully. “Amanda and I ran into something new, and I thought you might have some insight.”

“On?”

“We sort of stumbled our way into an erotic humiliation scene a few weeks ago.”

Both eyebrows shot up. “Seriously?”

James nodded, and briefly described how the scene had played out. “We talked it out the next morning, and several times since. We’d both like to explore it further, but neither of us has done this before. I’ve done some internet research, but I thought you might have some experience.”

“Some.” Jack tapped his finger against his glass, the ring clinking dully against the crystal. “I usually prefer to express my sadism in more physical ways, but I’ve done some erotic humiliation. It can be tricky.”

“I know. We’re taking it slow,” James assured him. “Amanda’s been sick this month, too, and I didn’t want to take the next step until she was back to full health.”

“Smart,” Jack murmured, and tapped his glass again. “There are levels to this, right? Humiliation, degradation, dehumanization, objectification.”

“I’ve already been told that human ashtray and/or toilet is off the table.”

Jack grinned. “Okay. Well, that still leaves a lot of room to play. If it were me, I’d set up a few scenes to see what works. Keep them low stakes, keep them brief, but get into it and see what shakes out.”

“I have a few ideas on that,” James began, and laid out the plan he’d come up with.

Jack pursed his lips. “That covers being in public, being on display, dehumanization—I’d keep that one private, by the way.”

“Planned on it.”

Jack nodded. “A lot of people who are into shame play are working out trauma with it. I don’t need details, obviously, but do you know if there’s anything like that in Amanda’s background?”

“We’ve talked about it, and she doesn’t think so. Not that something couldn’t pop up in a scene, of course.” James shrugged. “Brains are tricky.”

“That they are. What about you?”

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