Page 111 of Into the Night

“And with someone like her?”

Mitch eased away from Vanessa’s hold. As she slumped against the shower wall again, she pulled her knees up to her chest and gently pulled on the wet, stringy hair growing from her scalp. “I could never love someone like her. Not like I do you. I had to pretend it was all about sex. From the moment I realized that the only way to make her break was to make her want to fuck me more than anyone else, I was scared.” She still thought about the way Candace leered at her over the weeks, anticipating, wanting. Candace didn’t have a romantic bone in her body. It was all show, all dazzle. Yet she knew sex, didn’t she? She parlayed in the dirtiest, most well-kept secrets among the world’s elites. Whatever they wanted, she had delivered to her door.In the form of a woman who didn’t want to be there…That was what fucked Mitch up the most. As someone who once had terrible things done to her against her will, she deeply empathized with Candace’s victims and reviled her conspirators. They took something that could have been safe and sacred and transformed it into a despicable crime against humanity.

Mitch wondered if she was headed down the same path herself.

“Look at me.” Vanessa gently shook Mitch’s arm, forcing her to glance up. “There’s nothing wrong with you. You’re not broken. You’re not a degenerate who should compare herself to someone like Candace. Whatever you felt for her… it was natural. I won’t tell you that you couldn’t help it. Only you know that. But…” Vanessa sighed, lowering her head and shaking her dampening curls. “She could have ruined us. Even if we weren’t caught up in this mess because of the authorities, she could have been one of them, you know? One of our own clients.”

Vanessa struck the true fear in Mitch’s heart. That on some other inconspicuous night, she might have done something much more sinful with Candace Lister, under the guise of having a good time while Vanessa watched.

Something that should have been consecrated would have been tainted, and it would have been too late by the time they realized it.

“We have to be more careful. Not just the paper trail…” Vanessa slammed her fist against the shower wall. “Who we let around us. I promised you safety. I don’t want consent to be an illusion. Watching you free yourself from whatever shackles hold you down to this earth is the greatest gift you give the world. We don’t want demons in the audience we cultivate.”

Mitch nodded.

“I think a break is in order.” Vanessa pushed herself up to her feet and turned off the shower. “It’s you and me for a while. We need to refocus on what it is we want when the urges grow.” She offered her hand to Mitch. “My dear, the sun will be up in a couple of hours. Let’s get some sleep.”

Mitch took her Mistress’s hand. She had never felt so small as when she stepped out of the shower and into the giant bath towel Vanessa pulled off a shelf. They both wrapped themselves together and embraced each other beneath the hum of the bathroom fan.

I want to stay here forever.Mitch loved that she could wrap both of her arms around Vanessa and pressed her face directly into her Mistress’s chest. There were days when Mitch felt like she had to overcompensate for her short stature, but this was never those times. Because Vanessa had vowed to protect her. For the first time in Mitch’s life, she was the protected, not the protector.

She climbed into bed, naked, Vanessa pulling up the covers while slipping into a robe. She had a couple of things to do around the bedroom before joining Mitch, including turning off the lights and fixing up her hair for sleep.

“What do they call you?” Mitch pulled a pillow close to her body. “The people who say disparaging things because they don’t understand.”And are jealous.Mitch knew her worth now, and there were plenty of powerful people like Candace Lister who didn’t think Vanessa deserved someone so “perfect.”Why not put more pressure on me while we’re at it?Not that Mitch had anything to prove. She was well-respected in the submissive community. She had helped Vanessa win the Summit and the adoration of their peers. Some people offered tens of thousands to have Mitch for the weekend, and Vanessa said no… because they already had plans.

Then we laugh about it before using it to fuel our next scene.Mitch loved the thrill of punishment as much as she did being the center of attention in a room.

“Oh, well…” Vanessa didn’t bother tying up the front of her robe. Somehow, she was more beautiful than when completely naked. Mitch managed a small smile – and was glad she could do that much. “I’m sure you can think of some colorful phrases. They call you a whore, they call me a cuckquean.”

“I like being called a whore, though.”

“Yes,in very certain situations. Don’t make me think you want someone on the street calling you that.”

Mitch opened the covers to let Vanessa in. Almost immediately, her Mistress climbed on top of her.My favorite weighted blanket.Mitch pulled the silk of Vanessa’s robe until she felt the warm, clean skin beneath. Vanessa’s expression of intense adoration did not waver as Mitch lingered on her nipple and descended toward her Mistress’s navel. “I want you calling me that.”

“I haven’t even finished what I was talking about…”

“Yes, you’re not a cuckquean.”

“But you are a hotwife.”

Mitch rolled her eyes and almost forgot every trouble that had weighed her down until now. “I haaate being calledwife.”

“Iknooowyou do.” Vanessa rolled onto her side, taking most of the covers with her.

“Call me your hotmitch.”

“They’ll think I’m saying hotbitch.”

“That works too.”

“Only if you have a leash on. We have to keep a certain aesthetic.”

“That sounds pretty good right now.”

“My dear…” Vanessa threaded her fingers through Mitch’s and drew her close again. “I told you, we need to take a break. Until this all blows over and we’re feeling like our old selves again.”

“I don’t recall you saying we have to take a break rightnow,together.”

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