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"I think Tyler might be the better person to discuss that fear."
That surprised Regina. She saw the other Domme's eyes had become even more somber. "He has walked that path with a submissive, and had to take extreme measures to save her soul," Marguerite said. "Measures that could just as easily have resulted in her being immolated by her path."
Regina expected it would take a big measure of arrogance--which yes, Tyler had in copious quantities--for a Dominant to tell him or herself that unearthing a person's darkest needs and exposing them to the light of day was worth the risk of the potential consequences.
In Regina's estimation, Marius was a man on a cliff, half of him wanting to fall to the sharp rocks below, while the other part grimly hung on, hoping someone would come by to pull him back to solid land. A wrong step could make the former a tragic reality. She could end up being the boot that stepped on his hand.
Marguerite's hand covered hers, startling Regina. The woman rarely indulged in casual touch. In her eyes, Regina saw equal parts disturbing shadow and reassuring light. Suddenly the world was just the two of them. The intensity in Marguerite's gaze reflected what Regina had glimpsed in Marius's a few times, so similar it startled her.
"I will tell you what I have told Tyler," Marguerite said quietly. "Sometimes a person needs to be destroyed. For some people, that's the only path to love, walking out of the ashes of a fire that consumes us. But if that fire happens, it will be set by Marius himself. Even if it's from so down deep in his soul he can't acknowledge it, that choice is his. You protect yourself enough to move out of the way if it's too late."
Regina locked gazes with Marguerite. "That's not the choice Tyler made. He would have burned in hell with you for an eternity rather than leave you there."
Marguerite went still. Regret jolted through Regina. She couldn't set aside the Domme intuition, but sometimes it was better to keep that shit contained. There was a code, and she didn't want to disrespect that with anyone she considered a friend, or respected as a Domme, the way she did Marguerite.
Before she could form an apology, Marguerite's expression altered. The million emotions it reflected tied Regina's heart strings in a knot, connecting to that indefinable pit-of-her-stomach feeling about Marius.
"Sometimes, deciding there is only one choice is a choice, too." Marguerite lifted the pot. "More tea, Lady Regina?"
They didn't talk much more about the topic of Marius, but not because things were strained. Regina
had what she needed and, apparently sensing it, Marguerite turned the flow of conversation to shared interests. BDSM practices they both enjoyed, new techniques they'd observed in recent sessions, and a smattering of fun, not mean-spirited, gossip about other Dommes. That part of the dialogue was initiated by Regina, but Marguerite's dry wit proved she could keep up when the subject was lighter fare.
At the conclusion of the tea, Marguerite walked her back up front. Chloe was ready with a package of more cakes and another hug. In true Southern fashion, the leave-taking took another quarter hour as Regina chatted with the women and several of the regular customers. Marguerite's clientele were mostly women, so the environment had that pleasant women-bonding, hen-house feel. The soothing cadence of cluck-cluck-cluck from multiple feminine conversations was punctuated by the occasional cackle of laughter or squawk of surprise at an unexpected reveal.
Marguerite bid her good-bye with a curious gleam in her eyes. "When he does come your way again," she said, "you'll be ready for him."
"Probably because I'll have had months to think about my strategy," Regina said. "Though I retain some slim hope he'll try sooner, just because his Zone membership is so important to him."
"That will be his excuse for approaching you again. Not the real reason."
Regina eyed her. "Do you have to practice that, saying things like they're indisputable fact, when it's really speculative bullshit?"
Marguerite assumed a demure expression. "You'll have your answer when you confirm it as indisputable fact."
"It's obvious as a brick in the face why you and Tyler are together," Regina noted wryly, but she touched the woman's arm. "Whichever it is, thanks for the vote of confidence. And for the tea."
"Your company is a pleasure. Good luck. Not that I think you'll need it."
As she emerged from Tea Leaves, Regina puzzled over the emphasis on those final words, but she didn't have long to wonder. Marius was across the street.
"That crafty bitch."
Regina looked through the screen door, but Marguerite was giving instruction to Chloe and the new girl, to all appearances oblivious to what was happening outside the door.
"Yeah, right," Regina muttered, but moved down the steps and walkway, toward where she'd parked her car on the street. She kept her peripheral eye on him, though.
He was sitting on a low brick wall, keeping company with an elderly woman sitting on her porch and a trio of young men playing a card game on her stoop. A little girl rode a bike carefully up and down the sidewalk.
Tea Leaves operated out of a restored historic home surrounded but not overcome by a low-income district that had had its battles with drugs, gangs and petty crime. Marguerite was part of the community watch group taking it back house by house. The elderly woman looked like another active member, if her protective demeanor toward both the young men and the little girl were any indication. Her property was well-tended, despite the age and small size of the simple box of a house.
The young men wore tanks and tees over beltless pants that hung way off their asses. A fashion decision that always made Regina roll her eyes, not just because it was so idiotic-looking, but also since she knew better than most that it had likely been co-opted from gang styles in prisons. Exactly what every young man should aspire to be--a felon. Though at least it did have one benefit. The police loved the style because it made the criminals far easier to catch during foot chases.
Fortunately, these young men sported no gang markers. The fondness with which she overheard one of them call the elderly woman Grandma, and how the others emulated his respect to her, suggested they wouldn't dare come to her door with any evidence of gang involvement. She probably gave them hell regularly about pulling their damn pants up. It made Regina smile. She'd seen firsthand too many young men destroy their lives before they'd barely started. Evidence that those at-risk had some sharp-eyed guardian angels trying to keep them on the right path was always encouraging.
And speaking of at-risk souls... She only had time for those quick impressions before Marius saw her, proving he'd been keeping his eye on the entrance to Tea Leaves. Saying something to one of the men in apparent farewell, he crossed the street to where she was unlocking her car.
She'd been surprised to see him, but was even more bemused by the effect his presence had on her. She wouldn't have chased him down, not in a million years. If he wouldn't come to her, she would have considered it done, no matter how interested she was in pursuing it further. This couldn't go in the right direction if he wouldn't make the effort, regardless of his motives. But now that he'd made that step, she let herself savor the possibilities. And him.
