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Heidi’s lips flattened, but Carine was learning her lesson and didn’t say a single word. If Heidi wanted information, she knew how to ask for it. Carine wasn’t going to voluntarily dig herself a hole too deep to climb out of.
“How do you feel about bruising?”
“If my clothes will cover the evidence, I don’t care. My job requires me to walk and drive a lot, so that’s something to keep in mind.”
“Anything you don’t want to be touched?”
“Nothing comes to mind.”
“Tell me if or when something does,” Heidi said. Her searching stare at that time did seem to be soliciting a response, so Carine nodded briskly. “Are you expecting orgasms or just intimacy?”
“Or—” Carine frowned.Intimacy?She’d apparently overlapped those two ideas in her brain at some point and needed time to peel them away from each other. “I don’t know.”
“I suppose you’ll ask when you know better. Moving on. Are you clear about the dynamics you’re getting when you come into my space?”
To answer that, Carine had to look away from her. Otherwise, her nervous giggle reflex would have activated. She stared at the painted ceiling beams and hooked her index fingers together. “You expect submission from me unless you tell me you’re not playing.”
“Good girl. And do you understand that you can revoke consent any time you’d like? And that you can ask for accommodations?”
“I understand.”
“Then this is what we’ll do.”
Heidi left it at that, but the idea wasn’t complete enough for Carine, so that was her cue to look back down.
Heidi gave her a commending nod. “I like efficiency, so I propose we agree that if I touch you in any way or speak to you in any way, I have your consent to proceed in that manner unless you tell me otherwise.”
The proposal was amorphous, and that could be dangerous. Carine knew that.
But she knew Heidi. While Carine may not have had a thorough enough education of Heidi’s kink proclivities, there was no doubt in Carine’s mind that Heidi would be careful. Heidi was an accountant at heart and knew that the slightest shifting of a variable could ruin all her meticulous work.
“I’m fine with that plan,” Carine said.
“Last question.” Heidi raised her glass to eye level and peered at the nearly invisible residue at the bottom.
Carine looked into her glass, too, and quickly lifted the drink to her lips. She was so engrossed in Heidi’s queries that she’d forgotten she had one.
“Are you looking for a one-night affair, or are you trying to secure a longer-term experiment?”
“Longer-term,” Carine said without thinking because she didn’t have to think. Much like Heidi, Carine had an ego to protect. She didn’t want to believe that she was so unengaging that Heidi would use her scant free time to service some other attention-starved wretch. Being an only child, Carine had never learned to share nicely.
“Then I suggest you pause whatever situation you have going on at Clay’s,” Heidi said. “I’m not going to be working at cross purposes with someone else. Do you understand me?”
“I do understand you.”
“Fine. I’ll see you in the morning if that’s all settled.” Heidi stood and gathered their glasses.
Reflexively, Carine stood as well, but unlike Heidi, she was aimless and confused. “Wait. Did you say morning? I thought—”
“I expect you to leave your skirt nicely on that stack. If you’re bashful, you can tuck your bra and panties into it. You can sleep on the right side of the bed. Do your best not to invade my side. I get cranky when I’m jostled.”
“I—”
“Oh, I forgot to ask. Do you have a recent STD test logged at Clay’s?” As though she’d only asked Carine a mundane thing such as,“How’s the weather right now?”Heidi emptied the glasses’ dregs into the sink and then arranged them in the dishwasher.
“I have one from last month, yes, but—”
“Please turn off the lights in here when you’re done,” Heidi instructed in a placid tone. “I know the sounds of new places can be disorienting. There’s a canister of foam earplugs in the office cabinet. Get a pair. Put them in before you come to bed. And make sure you’ve emptied your bladder. I don’t want to feel the mattress shifting at four a.m.” Halfway between the kitchen and her bedroom door, Heidi paused with her back to Carine. “Did you catch all that, or should I repeat something?”
