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place. He felt a little silly now, especially since it had interrupted whatever the two of them were doing.
“I wanted to know your thoughts on online relationships.”
“I don’t have a lot of experience, personally,” Luke said. “Several members of the club have, though.”
“Let me rephrase. What do you think of somebody like me having an online relationship?”
“When you say someone like you, you mean . . . ?”
Simon took a deep breath. “A sadist. That’s what I mean.”
“I mean no disrespect,” Luke said. “But how exactly do you practice that online?”
“I wouldn’t be in this case. It would just be more like taking the edge off.” He thought back to Lynne. “I’ve done it once before. We ended up meeting, but nothing really happened along those lines.” He didn’t add that he had been the one to break things off.
“And you think you’ll have a different outcome the second time?”
“I don’t think I’m going to get anywhere by doing nothing. And let’s face it: the club scene hasn’t really worked for me lately.”
“In that case, give it a try. You could start with small things and work your way up. Who knows? You might find someone who’s willing to meet you and take some pain at the same time.”
Simon laughed. “My perfect sub is out there just waiting for me to take the reins?”
“Yes, and to beat her with them.”
They both chuckled and hung up. Simon went back to his computer, feeling encouraged, and typed out an e-mail message to SSG. If she wanted to play online, he’d see how serious she was. He proofed the e-mail and set it up to send automatically at six the next morning.
Chapter Three
Lynne chewed her cereal while reading Simon’s e-mail. It had really been a fluke that she’d checked it at all before she went to class. But for whatever reason, she hadn’t been able to sleep well and had eventually gotten up much earlier than she usually did.
Thank goodness for flukes, she decided, as she read through it one more time.
SSG,
I’ve been thinking about what you said and examining my own goals at the same time. I think you made a valid point last evening when you said trying something online was a good place to start.
I don’t do a lot of this. In fact, I’ve done it only once before. But if you’d like to try, I will as well. I don’t want to start anything too strict or overbearing. We don’t know each other well enough for that yet.
That said, I would like to get to know you better. If you are not comfortable with a phone call, perhaps we can continue with the instant messaging. Please send me an e-mail and let me know which you would prefer. Also, if you’re free tonight, let me know that as well.
Best,
SirSimon
She hadn’t dreamed it. Simon had e-mailed her and wanted to try something online. Tonight. Suddenly, the next twelve hours couldn’t pass fast enough. She typed back a quick reply to let him know that she would be free.
All day, the e-mail kept coming to mind and she had a hard time concentrating in class. She told herself not to be distracted; she was in the city to learn and to get her teaching certificate. And yet he was always there, in the back of her mind. Waiting.
She made it home at three o’clock in the afternoon. In what she thought was a Herculean effort, she would not allow herself to log in to her e-mail until she finished all her schoolwork. Fortunately, there wasn’t much to do. Unfortunately, it was only five thirty by the time she finished. Unable to wait any longer, she turned on her laptop to check her e-mail. She was only mildly disappointed to see that she did not have a response from Simon, since she didn’t really expect there to be anything.
She busied herself making dinner and then spent an inordinate amount of time cleaning the kitchen. It was stupid, as the kitchen was spotless to begin with. And even if it wasn’t, the Wests had a cleaning crew coming by weekly.
She looked at the clock when she finished. Six thirty.
Unable to stay away from her laptop any longer, she glanced over the recent posts on the online BDSM forum. She saw someone who might have been Anna Beth and made note of the username. She wondered if her Dom had liked the corset.
Unable to think of anything else to do, she decided to exercise. Jumping jacks. Stretches. And those god-awful yoga poses Abby had shown her once.
Finally. Finally. It was time.
She hurried over to the place on the couch where she had set up her laptop. Earlier in the day, she told Simon that she preferred to chat online instead of on the phone. She wasn’t sure she could disguise her voice enough so that he wouldn’t recognize it.
Was she being dishonest? Yes. She knew she was, and she knew Simon wouldn’t like it if he ever discovered the truth. In the short time they had been together, he’d repeatedly stressed how important honesty was between partners in a BDSM relationship. She told herself she wasn’t being that dishonest. But deep inside she knew she was wrong to lie to him.
But that wasn’t going to stop her.
At eight o’clock exactly, her laptop chimed with an incoming message.
Hello, SSG.
It occurs to me that I should call you something more meaningful. Unless you like to be called SSG.
It didn’t escape her attention that he was talking as if she were there. He had not asked her if she was present. Nor had he asked for any sort of confirmation that she was, in fact, at the computer. It only proved what she knew. When Simon issued commands, he expected them to be followed.
She thought quickly, not wanting him to think she hadn’t been ready and prepared for his message.
Hello, Sir. SSG does sound a bit too clinical. You may call me Faye.
It was the first thing she thought of. Her middle name. She didn’t think she had told him her middle name when they were dating. There was always a chance he knew somehow, but hopefully he would chalk it up to a coincidence. She also decided to add the “Sir,” believing this new step warranted the title, as it showed her trust in him. If he didn’t think so, he’d tell her.
Thank you, Faye.
It was ludicrous that she felt so happy at pleasing him. Especially since it wasn’t even a name she went by. The fake name wasn’t a rare thing, though. A lot of people played with assumed names. The practice was actually encouraged. But even so, she knew Simon would expect her to tell him who she was since they had a history. Maybe she would. One day.
But that day wasn’t today.
He wrote again.
I thought tonight we’d just get to know each other a bit. How does that sound?
It sounded like a perfectly reasonable thing to do, and if it had been anyone else, she would have jumped in with both feet. Even knowing him the way she did, the thought of getting to know him better thrilled her.
Yet she wasn’t as thrilled about him finding out about her. For the entire conversation, she’d be worried something would strike a chord with him and he’d put two and two together and realize it was her. The only other option was to lie, and that was an even worse idea.
She knew there was nothing to do but agree.
Sounds great, Sir.
His reply came quickly.
I’m aware I’m an unknown. If I ask you anything you don’t feel comfortable with, just tell me. You don’t have to answer.
And that was her out. If he asked her a question and she felt the answer would give away who she was, she would tell him she didn’t feel comfortable discussing that topic.
