Page 226 of End Game

Carter continues before I need to ask.

“She was restrained here.” He gestures toward the overhead bar. “Wrists above her, ankles secured below. She had a very intense orgasm and blacked out.”

Micah's posture changes. “Vasovagal?”

“That was Holden's conclusion afterward.”

“And what did you do?” I ask.

Carter looks directly at me. “I got the choker off her. Called for Holden because he was in the house. I released her ankles while we waited, but once I got to the wrists, her body weight was the problem. Holden supported her while I unclipped her from the bar.”

“What if Holden hadn't been here?”

“I would've gotten her down anyway. It would've been uglier.” Carter glances toward the bar. “After that, we talked through better sequencing if it ever happened again.”

“Good.”

His mouth twitches. “Inspection passed?”

“On that point.”

“Fuck me.”

Micah laughs.

Jeremiah has been quiet through most of the exchange.

I don't miss why.

The incident must have happened during a scene with him.

When he finally speaks, his voice is measured. “It also reinforced the way I think about where a scene actually ends.”

I turn toward him.

“Aftercare,” he adds.

“Always.” Micah and I respond close enough together that Carter looks between us.

Jeremiah nods. “People put a lot of energy into planning the part they find exciting. Restraints. Impact. How far they can push someone. They think if the submissive is conscious, talking, and says they're okay when the cuffs come off, the work is done.”

“It isn't,” Micah says.

“No.”

Jeremiah's tone remains controlled, but something in it becomes more personal. “Alexis can handle more physically than most people expect when they meet her. That doesn't mean it costs her nothing. If anything, the harder I push her, the more deliberate I have to be afterward.”

“What does deliberate mean for her?” I ask.

He considers the answer rather than producing a list immediately. “First, I don't make her transition straight from whatever headspace she's in back into being Alexis-who-manages-everything.”

That catches my attention.

Jeremiah continues, “If she's deep, I keep instructions simple. I don't ask open-ended questions she doesn't need to answer yet. Water gets put in her hand instead of asking if she wants water. If she's cold, I get her warm. If she needs food, I put something easy in front of her. I watch whether she can actually focus on me before I assume she's back.”

Micah nods slowly. “Reduce decisions.”

“Exactly. She spends most of her life making them.”