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“So tell me,” Jess asked, giving Dahlia a warm smile, “how long have you been in the scene?”
Chapter 11
“I don’t know if you can really say I’m in the scene,” Dahlia said. “I mean, Hayden is the first guy I’ve ever been with who’s into BDSM as a lifestyle.”
Jess raised her brows. “No kidding? You don’t waste any time, huh? No online chatting with so-called Masters who promise to rock your world. No dilly-dallying at public clubs or attending those deadly-dull munches for you, huh? You go right for one of the most intense, committed players in the scene.”
“I always did aim high,” Dahlia agreed with a laugh. “Not that I planned it that way this time. It all just sort of…happened.”
“Go on,” Jess encouraged, clearly interested. “How’d you meet Hayden? Obviously not at the club.”
“No, no. We work together. I’m in orthopedics, same as Hayden.”
“Cool. Cameron and I are both attorneys. It’s nice to be with someone who gets it when you have to work overtime—again.”
“Don’t I know it.” Dahlia laughed. “So, what? You work for the same firm?”
“Not now, but we used to. He was my boss, actually.”
“Ah,” Dahlia replied knowingly. “That can definitely get complicated.”
Jess nodded. “Yeah. But that’s not why I left the firm. I got recruited by a company I had done some contract work for. It’s much better this way. No office gossip to contend with, for one thing. And no one insinuating that I was sleeping my way to the top.”
“I totally get that,” Dahlia replied. “The good thing about the hospital is everyone is so crazy busy they don’t have time to notice what anyone else is doing. At least, I hope not,” she added with a laugh.
Sobering, she continued, “But back to you. If you weren’t involved at work, how did you guys figure out you were both into BDSM?”
“He saw me scening at a public BDSM venue.”
“Holy shit,” Dahlia exclaimed. “That must have been super awkward. Talk about worlds colliding.”
“You can say that again.” Jess flashed a wry smile. “Turns out, he was recruiting for pleasure subs for the Masters Club. It’s kind of complicated. But, long story short, I accepted, auditioned, and was offered a position as a pleasure sub in exchange for free membership at a truly awesome private BDSM club.”
Dahlia wrinkled her brow as she tried to make sense of what Jess had just said. “I’m confused. You’re a pleasure sub? Correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t the pleasure subs the property of everyone at the club? I mean, I was just there the one time, but there was this row of naked, collared women kneeling along the wall, waiting to be tapped for play. Hayden told me they’re highly trained to serve any member who wants to use them.”
“You’re absolutely right,” Jess agreed with a laugh. “Allow me to clarify. I was a pleasure sub, briefly. I kept telling myself I had no time for a relationship, and this was an ideal way to scene at a premiere club whenever I wanted with no strings attached. But I was lying to myself. It was Cameron I wanted. Fortunately, though it took him a little longer, Cameron figured out he wanted me, too.” She sighed happily. “Neither of us was looking for love but it found us anyway.”
Again, Jess touched the necklace at her throat, prompting Dahlia to ask, “Is there some special significance to your lovely necklace? I notice you touch it each time you talk about Cameron.”
Jess’s face took on a radiant glow. “Cameron gave it to me.” She slipped her finger through the hoop at its center. “It’s actually a slave collar, or an ownership collar, I guess is more accurate in our case. But one that I can wear outside the scene.”
“Cool. And you’ve got another O-ring on your wedding band.”
“You’re very observant.”
“Do you, uh, wear a leather slave or, um, ownership collar at home?”
“Sometimes. But I always wear it when we’re at the club or some other BDSM venue. As soon as Master Cameron puts that collar around my neck, it’s like I enter this altered headspace. It’s awesome.”
Dahlia tried to get her head around the concept of belonging to another person, of referring to your partner as Master. While she had no issue with Jess’s choices, she could not imagine it for herself.
Jess frowned. “Wait, how did we get so off-topic? I want to know about you. How did you figure out your BDSM connection with Hayden? I’m guessing that’s not a topic that comes up at rounds, ha-ha.”
“No,” Dahlia agreed, grinning. “Not generally. Actually, we were friends first, before we got involved. I’d had a major crush on Hayden for a while, but hadn’t really tried to do anything about it. But then one night at this happy hour thing, we were talking about relationships, and how the first time in the bedroom can be awkward. Hayden jokingly said he’d always found a little bondage and a hard spanking to be good icebreakers.”
