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“Help me have a breakthrough here.” Mitch set aside her phone and folded her arms on top of the comforter. “How do I crack that woman and get her to tell me everything while I’m wired? How do I make the villainess drone on in a glorious monologue?”
Vanessa glanced down at her tablet screen. It flashed calculations at her, and she knew she wasn’t going to finish them soon. “I don’t want to talk about this while we’re in bed.”
“It’s all I can think about right now.” Mitch pushed herself further beneath the covers, the comforter tickling her chin. “You’re a Domme. Tell me, what kind of read do you have on Candace Lister by now?” Mitch amended that question. “What’s her biggest weakness?”
“Besides being an insufferable bitch whom I would never be friends with even if shewasn’tcommitting federal crimes?” Vanessa snorted. “She’s terribly lonely.”
“You think so?”
“Yes.” Vanessa stretched her arms above her head, allowing the tablet to sink toward the side of the bed. “You can always tell which Dommes are single because it’s their real preference, and which have become so bitter that they’d rather watch the world burn than find genuine happiness. Of course, I hesitate to call her arealDomme because she spits in the face of every tenet I’ve ever held to my morality. She’s not great at consent, I’m thinking.”
She glared at Mitch when she said that, daring her partner to confess to something that may have happened to her in Club Night. Mitch did not flinch, though. Either she had nothing to say, or she wasthatgood at protecting Vanessa’s sensibilities.
“I couldn’t tell you what made her that way,” Vanessa continued, “but I do know her standards in a submissive partner are either way too high or she’s been severely burned before.”
Mitch shifted beneath the covers. “She’s told me I’m perfect, you know.”
An unspent breath strangled Vanessa’s throat. “Perfect at what?”
“The perfect submissive.”
Every hair on Vanessa’s body shuddered. “You are.” She was glad that her throat hadn’t cracked. It would give away her true feelings, and if Mitch was protecting her, then Vanessa must protect Mitch from how she felt. “I’ve only had to train you on etiquette and what to do in an emergency. Everything else is as natural from you as waking up from a dream. Even your kinks perfectly line up with what most dominants are looking for in their ideal partner.”
“I think some of them would prefer I were taller, though. Maybe less military and butch in my everyday life.”
“They don’t know that part of you, though.” Vanessa suppressed a satisfied grin.I know those parts. I love those parts.Every layer of Mitch’s inherent identity was another treasure to behold. Not only was Mitch one of the most complex people Vanessa had ever met, but her lack of drama and penchant for a peaceful existence spoke directly to her partner’s dreams.I helped her become more confident; she helped me come out of my shell.“Besides, you’re selling a fantasy.We’reselling a fantasy. That’s what makes it liberating, isn’t it? To provide people who can’t have what we have with some escape?”
“So, why would Candace Lister, the big, bad Domme in town who happens to be single, repress herself around me? She’s had infinite opportunities to be untoward with me. Other people would have long made their moves to ‘steal’ me away from you. It’s not because she respects you. Ormefor that matter.”
“Why are we talking about this?”
“Because I have a feeling that the only way we’re bringing her down is if she cracks.”
“Mitch.” Vanessa’s grip on her tablet left behind greasy fingerprints. “Don’t. This isn’t on you. Your only job is to collect information that can be proven in court. Let the others who are trained by the FBI decide when to take her down.”
“It’s going too slowly. Next time in there, I’m wearing a camera. I think it’s time.”
“Then I’m going with you. Besides, you need to discuss this with Agent James. She might have another plan.”
Mitch balled two fists on top of the blanket. “I think we might be talking past each other.”
“Are we?”
“I’m trying to tell you that we have to figure out exactly what kind of woman she is. It’s literally Seduction 101, Van. How do I seduce her into telling me what she’s doing? Even if I get a video of her selling off a woman to someone for a weekend or longer, it might not be enough. At that time, someone else is getting hurt again. I’m so… I’m so tired of seeing it. It’s burst the bubble we’ve been living in for the past few years. I miss the parties where I could trust everyone to know whatnomeans.”
Vanessa swallowed. “I don’t see why we – because this is awething, my dear – should seduce this woman. She’s not worth that kind of energy, and I don’t want her touching you.”
“She might have to.”
“I swear to God if you sleep with her…”
“I’d rather cut off my own feet butthank youfor the vote of confidence.”
Mitch wasn’t loud, but she was sassy, and that was enough to slap Vanessa back into reality.Jesus, of course she won’t sleep with her.There was the paranoia again. Vanessahadto get a grip before she pushed Mitch away.
“Anything I do with Candace is to bring her to justice,” Mitch said. “I need you to understand that. If I’m flirting with her, titillating her, or letting her near me, it’s because Ihaveto. You know me, Van. Right?”
Vanessa eased down against her pillow. “Of course I know you…”
