Page 48 of S is for…

“Oh yeah.For years.We spent a lot of time on people pleasing.Not a lot on daddy issues though.”

“Good.That means you have a good therapist, because the people-pleasing behavior is an ongoing behavior that can be rectified.But I’ll keep an eye on your reactions, to make sure your need to please doesn’t override the honest communication.And as a Dom, that’s what’s important.”

The word Dom on his lips made her pussy clench.

His gaze held her.Pinned her.“You’re not here to hear me lecture on the brain.”

“No, I’m not.Though it is interesting.”

“You’re here to submit.”

Laney froze with the teacup half-way to her lips.Peter’s voice was deeper than a moment ago, and laced with a calm authority that made her tingle.

“But,” he went on, still with a Dom voice.“I don’t want you to submit to please me.”

“It’s satisfying when you know the other person is enjoying it,” she protested.

“True.Pleasing another person isn’t a bad thing.But when you do it at the expense of your own needs and wellbeing, that’s a problem.When you’re more worried about how the other person will feel than what you need, that’s a problem.”

Laney drank the last of her tea in one quick swallow, taking it like it was a shot.

“Laney, why do you submit?What is it you need from submission?”

“I don’t sit around thinking about it,” she snapped, though part of her cringed at speaking to a Dom that way.

“Tell me if I’m right.”His words were calm but hard.Relentless.“You crave the freedom of giving up control, but also being taken care of.During a scene you… Well, youshouldhave your top’s undivided attention.”

“He ignored me,” she said softly, and Laney wasn’t sure if she was talking about her father or Master Morton, and wasn’t that pathetic?

“And you deserve better.”Peter’s low, soft voice made her shiver.

“Thank you,” she breathed.

The silence that fell then felt satisfying, like that moment after the last frame of a good movie.

Laney set her cup down and leaned back, for the first time fully relaxing into the couch.

Peter pulled a packet of papers out from under his chair.He settled back, the soft fabric of his shirt molding to his biceps and shoulders as he braced his elbows on the armrests.“You know what I learned about you from reading your list?”He tapped the papers against his thigh.

This was it, they were going to start the scene, or at least planning their scene, in earnest.Therefore, the correct response wasNo, Sir.

Instead, she said, “Probably a lot, given that you’re a professional mind-reader.”

His lips twitched.“You marked willing to try for almost everything.”

“Did I put willing to try for serving as furniture?”

“You did.”

Laney jerked upright, stomach tight.That momentary trepidation she’d felt when she saw Peter, when she remembered what he’d done to Diann, roared back, morphing to fear.

Peter watched her, eyes wide before a grimace twisted his face.“You’re afraid of me.”

“I really don’t want to be a table,” she whispered, panic biting at her.

Peter studied the papers on his lap, still grimacing, and Laney crumpled inside.She took every emotion rising behind her sternum and forced it down, locking them all away.She bowed her head, breathing deep, until she felt calm and ready.

Ready to obey.

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