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“So, you got on a plane to New York to sweep her off her feet in person while the movie soundtrack swelled in the background?” Dominique asked with an arched brow, her expression both skeptical and amused.
“Yeah,” Jack said with a self-conscious laugh. “I guess that’s about the size of it. I honestly wasn’t entirely sure what to expect. But our initial scenes together my first night here confirmed that the spark we’d felt for each other might be fanned into something real and lasting. These past two days together have confirmed it. I said before I think I might be in love. But that was a lie. I know I am.”
Dominique chewed her lower lip as she regarded Jack with a furrowed brow. “I hate to even say this, but I feel it’s my duty, not only to you, but to Cleo, to ask. Is it possible your falling for Cleo now is some kind of rebound from the loss of your wife? You knew her from before—there’s that shared history…”
“No,” Jack asserted staunchly. “It’s not a rebound, Dominique. I know what that feels like, and this isn’t it.”
Dominique nodded. “Okay. You do know Grayson and I own Cleo? She’s our property, along with Brandon, our other service slave.”
“I do know that. That’s why I wanted to talk to you. Cleo mentioned she was very happy serving you, but that the relationship wasn’t intimate.”
“That’s right,” Dominique agreed. “We use them, sometimes intensively, during our play, and they serve us both as slaves and paid employees of the club. But it’s not a romantic connection. They are free to scene with others during their spare time, as they wish. We save the romance for each other, Grayson and I.” She smiled beatifically, her hand going to her heart as she said her husband’s name.
“I can see you’re in love with Grayson, and that’s wonderful,” Jack said, pleased and relieved that polyamorous love wasn’t part of their equation. “And I get it that some submissives are happy in a purely service situation. I presume it has worked well for Cleo during these past few months she’s been in New York. But I think she’s ready for more. I want to take her back with me to London. I want to take her home.”
“I see,” Dominique said slowly. “And you’re, what? Asking me for permission as her owner to take her on vacation?”
“More than that,” Jack countered. “I’m asking for her release from her slave contract with you. If things go my way, she won’t be coming back to New York. I haven’t said anything to her yet, not directly. I wanted to run this by you first, since, as you say, she’s technically your property.”
“Technically, perhaps,” Dominique agreed. “But not legally, obviously. The contract is binding only so long as all parties are happy with it. If she wants out, she just needs to tell us. And while we would miss her terribly, and would be losing a very good employee in the process, we would absolutely respect her wishes. We would never stand in the way of love,” she added with a smile.
“That’s wonderful,” Jack said, further relieved. He wanted all his ducks lined up when he made his pitch to Cleo. Dominique’s blessing would make it that much easier.
“Just don’t fuck with her, Jack,” Dominique cautioned, her smile falling away. “That girl’s been through enough, what with her childhood, and then this mysterious heartbreak you’ve finally solved for us.”
“Her childhood?” Jack queried, confused.
“You don’t know?” Dominique asked.
Jack shook his head. He didn’t know anything about Cleo’s early life. He didn’t know if she had siblings, or what her relationship with her family was now. She’d been able to pick up and move to another country rather easily, so perhaps her ties were not that strong.
“Well, I’m not sure it’s my place to divulge,” Dominique said, “but given the circumstances, I will share that she lost her parents at a very young age. Her father died of cancer when she was just a baby, and her mother committed suicide when Cleo was only three years old. She was an only child.”
“Suicide,” Jack cried. “I had no idea. Poor Cleo.”
“She doesn’t talk about it. But as you know, part of the Master/slave process is a full understanding of your submissive, and that includes any past history that might affect her emotional state or create negative triggers we would need to be aware of. She completed the comprehensive Masters Club questionnaire for us when she was first applying for the spot of service slave. She divulged her early family history as a part of that process of full disclosure.”
“Wow,” Jack said slowly, taking this in. “So, who raised her?”
“An elderly great-aunt, apparently. A loving caregiver, according to Cleo, but she passed away about six years ago, I believe. The Masters Club community is for Cleo, among other things, her family, and we regard her as such as well.”
