“Do you, though? You sure you want to hear it?”
“If you don’t actually know…”
“Okay, you’ve asked for it. The vibe I get from you is that there’s a big bad dom buried deep in there. Your archetype is the classic Alpha Dominant. He’s the protector, the caretaker. I suspect you’re a generous lover and would be focused on your sub’s pleasure, not at all selfish. I think you’ve got an oral fixation, though I haven’t been able to pinpoint whether it’s a fixation on giving or receiving. You’re turned on by my lipstick, but I can’t decide whether it’s this one specifically or lipstick in general. You’d like to see it smudged on your cock from a messy blowjob.” She hadn’t moved, but it was like she’d flipped an electrical switch and I was now a live wire. “Want me to keep going?” she asked smugly. “Or are you convinced?”
“I can play this game too,” I said, needing to turn this back on her. The words tumbled out before I could overthink it. “You’re a naughty temptress who likes to flaunt the power she has over me in public. You like it when I get hard for you in front of other people and I can’t do anything about it. You like the control, but what you’d really like is for me to snap and let that big bad dom you’ve been fantasizing about come out and have his way with you. You’d be giving me control, but would still be the one with the power because you’d pushed me there. How am I doing, Elena?”
“LadyElena.” She corrected me automatically, cheeks flushed and lips parted.
My smile widened because all she’d done was confirm my theory. She wasn’t used to getting as good as she gave.
“How do you earn the title of Lady?” I gave her an out before we took things too far in public.
“You work your way from sub to Switch to Domme first before that can be a possibility. There’s a practical skills test for each, but it’s ultimately a judgment call by the person testing you. Do you have a grasp of the skills and implements you’ll be expected to use? Do you understand the safety requirements? Are you adept at negotiating a scene, setting boundaries, and fulfilling a fantasy convincingly? Some never progress beyond being a Switch simply because they can make more money with more options. Dommes don’t take sub sessions unless there’s a very rare exception. Becoming a Lady has the most advanced skills test, but it’s also an honorary title based on contributions to the community…so do you mentor and teach others, do you model healthy behavior, are you a role model within the community?”
“Who makes that call?”
“Only an existing Lady can bestow the title on another, but it has to be confirmed by at least three other dommes or Ladies…or their male equivalents.”
“So you’ve busted your ass to get where you are?”
A smile tugged at her mouth. “If you only knew how literal that phrase was in this case…but yes, I’ve worked hard to get where I am.”
“So what’s the end goal? Where did you see this all heading before I came along and disrupted things?”
She paused thoughtfully, stroking her fingers along the stem of her wineglass, not seeming to realize it was distracting the hell out of me. “I hadn’t taken much time to think of an end goal beyond becoming a Lady and paying off my student loans, which you’ll be taking care of for me.”
She toasted me with her glass and took a sip. She’d meant it as a compliment, but the reminder that she was here because I was paying her, was the slap back to reality I needed. She was doing her damn job and I needed to respect her boundaries.
“Spanking lesson tomorrow. You ready for it?” she asked, cocking an eyebrow.
“As ready as I’m going to get. Do I need to bring anything?”
“Just your irresistible ass and an open mind…”
20
Alex
Rami’s loft had worked well for our dance lesson, so we planned to meet there again. I really needed to ask him what the hell he used it for since I hadn’t known of its existence prior to this.
I was absolutely determined to keep things professional. Professionals probably shouldn’t be wondering if their teacher was going to show up in a minidress like she did when we danced. She’d almost killed me with that little number.
I told myself I was relieved when she arrived in a pair of jeans and a black shirt.
She immediately started our lesson without letting us fall into what was becoming our familiar banter. “So from the screening, I know you can act, but going off the table read, this character isn’t working for you yet. I think it would be helpful if we sort of rehearsed a more intense scene from the script so I can get a better sense of where you’re struggling.”
“Okay. What scene should we do?”
“Let’s skip the early stuff and jump to where he’s finally letting his true colors show. We’ll try the scene where he initiates her. You don’t know those lines yet, do you?”
“No, but I can give you the gist of it without having to read it.”
“Okay. Let’s run through it and then we can pause and talk. I’ll stop you if I have a problem with anything, but don’t be afraid to just go for it.”
I stood with my back turned to her for a few seconds, getting in character. Did she have to do the same before her scenes with clients or was she in character the whole time she was at work? There was a surprising amount of overlap between our professions.
When I turned back to her, my expression was serious and my posture was more rigid, but I didn’t feel like I understood this guy’s motivations clearly enough yet to inhabit his head. It was frustrating to feel like he was still eluding me.
